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Cygnus Falconeri
''Cygnus falconeri'' is an extinct species of very large swan known from Middle Pleistocene-aged deposits from Malta and Sicily. Its dimensions are described as exceeding those of the living mute swan by one-third, which would give a bill-to-tail length of about (based on 145–160 cm for '' C. olor''.). By comparison to the bones of living swans, it can be estimated that it weighed around and had a wingspan of about . Due to its size, it may have been flightless. Its remains on Malta are associated with dwarf elephants (the smaller '' Palaeoloxodon falconeri'' and the larger '' Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis''), giant dormice ('' Leithia,'' including the largest dormouse ever, the rabbit-sized ''L. melitensis'' and the smaller ''L. cartei'' and '' Maltamys gollcheri''), the giant tortoise '' Solitudo robusta'' and other birds, including raptors and members of the crane genus '' Grus''.C. Savona-Ventura, A. MifsudA review of the Pleistocene deposits in the southwestern coast o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palaeoloxodon Falconeri
''Palaeoloxodon falconeri'' is an extinct species of dwarf elephant that lived during the Middle Pleistocene (sometime between around 500–200,000 years ago) on the Mediterranean islands of Sicily and Malta. It is amongst the smallest of all dwarf elephants, under in height as fully grown adults. A member of the genus ''Palaeoloxodon'', it derived from a population of the mainland European straight-tusked elephant (''Palaeoloxodon antiquus''). Taxonomy In 1859, during the digging of a watertank near the town of Zebbug in central Malta, a sediment filled cavern was excavated, leading to the discovery of an elephant molar, which the owner of the property later presented to Malta Library Museum. This prompted Thomas Abel Brimage Spratt to search through the excavated sediment as well as to continue further excavation of the cavern (now known as Zebbug Cave), yielding additional elephant molars as well as other animal remains.V.L. HerridgDwarf Elephants on Mediterranean Islands: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palaeoloxodon Mnaidriensis
''Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis'' is an extinct species of dwarf elephant belonging to the genus ''Palaeoloxodon,'' native to Malta and possibly Sicily (depending on what remains are included in the species) during the Middle Pleistocene and Late Pleistocene. It is derived from the European mainland straight-tusked elephant (''Palaeoloxodon antiquus''). Taxonomy and evolution ''Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis'' was first named in 1874 based on material from Mnaidra gap in Malta by Andrew Leith Adams in 1874 as ''Elephas mnaidriensis.'' The lectotype of the species is the molar tooth NHM 44304, from Mnaidra gap. The species continued to be treated as a species of ''Elephas'' by later authors (who sometimes synonymised it with the species "'' Elephas melitensis''" previously named from Maltese material) until a 1942 posthumous publication by Henry Fairfield Osborn, which considered it a member of the genus ''Palaeoloxodon.'' Later 20th century authors again considered the species a mem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quaternary Birds Of Europe
The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the Phanerozoic eon. It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ago to the present. The Quaternary Period is divided into two epochs: the Pleistocene (2.58 million years ago to 11.7 thousand years ago) and the Holocene (11.7 thousand years ago to today); a proposed third epoch, the Anthropocene, was rejected in 2024 by IUGS, the governing body of the ICS. The Quaternary is typically defined by the Quaternary glaciation, the cyclic growth and decay of continental ice sheets related to the Milankovitch cycles and the associated climate and environmental changes that they caused. Research history In 1759 Giovanni Arduino proposed that the geological strata of northern Italy could be divided into four successive fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pleistocene Birds
The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''Ice Age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in 2009 by the International Union of Geological Sciences, the cutoff of the Pleistocene and the preceding Pliocene was regarded as being 1.806 million years Before Present (BP). Publications from earlier years may use either definition of the period. The end of the Pleistocene corresponds with the end of the last glacial period and also with the end of the Paleolithic age used in archaeology. The name is a combination of Ancient Greek () 'most' and (; Latinized as ) 'new'. The aridification and cooling trends of the preceding Neogene were continued in the Pleistocene. The climate was strongly variable depending on the glacial cycle, oscillating between cold glacial periods and warmer interglacials, with the sea levels being up to lower than ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cygnus (genus)
Cygnus is the Latin word for swan and may refer to: Astronomy * Cygnus (constellation), a northern constellation ** Cygnus A, a radio galaxy within the constellation ** Cygnus X (star complex), a star complex within the constellation ** Cygnus X-1, a binary system within the constellation ** Cygnus X-3, a binary system within the constellation Business & industry * Cygnus 20, a Canadian sailboat design * ''Cygnus'' (spacecraft), a space vehicle developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation and Thales Alenia Space * Cygnus Air or Gestair Cargo, a Spanish cargo airline * Cygnus Business Media, a U.S.-based business-to-business publishing company * Cygnus Solutions, a company that provided commercial support for free software and the original developer of Cygwin Other uses * ''Cygnus'' (genus), the genus of most swans * Cygnus (mythology) or Cycnus, a number of characters in Greek mythology * Cygnus X-1 (song series), a 1977–1978 two-part song series by Rush * Cygnus X (m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birżebbuġa
Birżebbuġa (; sometimes shortened to B'Buġa) is a seaside town in the Southern Region, Malta, Southern Region of Malta, close to Marsaxlokk. It is approximately from the capital Valletta, and has a population of 9,736 as of March 2014. The town is popular among Maltese holidaymakers, and is known for its sandy beach, Pretty Bay. The town is also notable for its important archaeological sites, especially Għar Dalam, Ta' Kaċċatura Roman villa, Ta' Kaċċatura and Borġ in-Nadur. Etymology "Birżebbuġa" means "well of olives" in the Maltese language. History Prehistory Għar Dalam is a natural cave and important archaeological site in Birżebbuġa. Għar Dalam was where the earliest evidence for human presence on Malta was discovered until excavations in Latnija Cave in 2025. Artefacts from Għar Dalam date back to the Neolithic Period some 7,400 years ago. The display area consists of two parts: the cave and the museum, which exhibit finds from animal bones to human arte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Għar Dalam
Għar Dalam (; "Cave of Dalam", Dalam being a fifteenth-century family name) is a 144-metre long phreatic tube and cave, located in the outskirts of Birżebbuġa, Malta. The cave contains the bones of animals that lived on Malta during the Pleistocene and Holocene epochs. It has lent its name to the Għar Dalam phase in Maltese prehistory, and is viewed as one of Malta's most important national monuments. Pottery similar to that found in Stentinello was found at Għar Dalam, but lacking details such as stamp decorations. Dwarf elephant, hippopotamus, giant swan, deer and bear bone deposits found there are of different ages. The deer species became extinct much later, about 4,000 years ago during the Chalcolithic. Until 2025, Għar Dalam was thought to have the earliest evidence of human settlement on Malta, some 7,400 years ago. Recent history The cave was first investigated for its Neolithic remains in 1865, with excavations by Italian palaeontologist Arturo Issel. An ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grus (genus)
''Grus'' is a genus of large birds in the crane family. The genus ''Grus'' erected by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The name ''Grus'' is the Latin word for "crane". The German ornithologist Peter Simon Pallas was sometimes credited with erecting the genus in 1766 but the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature ruled in 1956 that Brisson should have priority. The genus formerly included additional species. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2010 found that the genus ''Grus'', as then defined, was polyphyletic. In the resulting rearrangement to create monophyletic genera, the sandhill crane, the white-naped crane, the sarus crane and the brolga were moved to the resurrected genus ''Antigone'' that had been erected by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach in 1853. The Siberian crane was moved to the resurrected monotypic genus ''Leucogeranus''. Species The genus contains eight species: The HBW/BirdLife and Clements checklis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Solitudo
''Solitudo'' is an extinct genus of tortoise that was found during the Pliocene and Pleistocene on the Mediterranean islands of Menorca, Malta and Sicily. The genus includes three described species, ''Solitudo robusta'', ''Solitudo gymnesica'' and ''Solitudo sicula'' as well as a likely fourth, undescribed species from Monte Pellegrino in Sicily. ''Solitudo sicula'', the youngest of the species, died out approximately 12.5 thousand years Before Present, BP. The largest species, ''Solitudo gymnesica'', has been estimated to have reached a carapace length of . History The oldest discoveries of fossil turtles now included under ''Solitudo'' were made in the 19th century, with Leith-Adams describing remains from Zebbug Cave (Malta) as ''Testudo robusta''. In 1914 ''Testudo gymnesica'' was described based on Pliocene material found on Menorca. Younger material was later discovered in the Zubbio di Cozzo San Pietro cave in northern Sicily. These remains, which include a femur, phalanx ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leithia
''Leithia'' is an extinct genus of giant dormice from the Pleistocene of the Mediterranean islands of Malta and Sicily. It is considered an example of island gigantism. ''Leithia melitensis'' is the largest known species of dormouse, living or extinct, being twice the size of any other known species. Discovery and taxonomy The species were first named by Andrew Leith Adams in 1863 from remains found in caves in Malta and were assigned to the living genus '' Myoxus.''Adams, A. L. (1863), ‘Observations on the Fossiliferous caves of Malta’. ''Journal of the Royal Society,'' 4 .2. pp.11–19. ''Leithia'' was proposed in 1896 by Richard Lydekker as a new genus, suggesting an arrangement currently recognised as the subfamily Leithiinae; the names honour Leith Adams. Two species of ''Leithia'', namely ''Leithia melitensis'' and the smaller ''L. cartei'', lived in Sicily and Malta. (in Italian) Description The skull of ''Leithia melitensis'' reached a length of approximately , ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dwarf Elephant
Dwarf elephants are prehistoric members of the order Proboscidea which, through the process of allopatric speciation on islands, evolved much smaller body sizes (around shoulder height) in comparison with their immediate ancestors. Dwarf elephants are an example of insular dwarfism, the phenomenon whereby large terrestrial vertebrates (usually mammals) that colonize islands evolve dwarf forms, a phenomenon attributed to adaptation to resource-poor environments and lack of predation and competition. Fossil remains of dwarf elephants have been found on the Mediterranean islands of Cyprus, Malta, Crete, Sicily, Sardinia, the Cyclades Islands and the Dodecanese Islands, which are mostly members of the genus ''Palaeoloxodon'', descending from the large tall straight-tusked elephant (''Palaeoloxodon antiquus'') of mainland Europe'','' though two species represent dwarf mammoths. Dwarf species of elephants and '' Stegodon'' have been found on the islands of Indonesia and the Philippi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
