|
Darkwing (novel)
''Darkwing'' (known as ''Dusk'' in the United Kingdom) is a 2007 young adult fantasy novel by Canadian author Kenneth Oppel. It is the prequel and fourth book of the '' Silverwing'' series, and takes place 65 million years before the events of the first book. It describes the origins of the war between the birds and the beasts. Setting Set 65 million years ago, at the very beginning of the Paleocene epoch, a huge natural disaster has wiped out most of the dinosaurs (referred to as "Saurians" within the context of the story). A few managed to survive in the aftermath, albeit weakened by climate change, a shortage of food, and a flesh-rotting virus. The mammals, who were once at the Saurians' mercy, decide to form ''The Pact'': unable to wage battle against them on their own terms, they decide to band together to exterminate the remaining Saurians by destroying their eggs. Plot summary Dusk, a young Chiropter, is being taught by his father to glide. Dusk is different from the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenneth Oppel
Kenneth Oppel (born August 31, 1967) is a Canadian children's writer. Biography Oppel was born in Port Alberni, and spent his childhood in Victoria, British Columbia and Halifax, Nova Scotia. He also lived in Newfoundland and Labrador, England, and Ireland. In 1985, Oppel wrote his first book ''Colin's Fantastic Video Adventure'', while at St. Michaels University School. He attended at the same time as actors Andrew Sabiston and Leslie Hope, fellow writers John Burns and Bert Archer, and just before the NBA's Steve Nash and Flickr founder Stewart Butterfield. Oppel forwarded the newly completed manuscript to a family friend who knew Roald Dahl, who in turn recommended it to his agent. Oppel went on to receive his Bachelor of Arts degree in cinema studies and English at Trinity College in the University of Toronto, writing ''The Live-Forever Machine'' (1992) during his final year. Oppel moved to England and wrote a number of books during that period, gleaning several ideas while ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly existed before that. Evidence of ritual human sacrifice can also be found back to at least pre-Columbian civilizations of Mesoamerica as well as in European civilizations. Varieties of ritual non-human sacrifices are practiced by numerous religions today. Terminology The Latin term ''sacrificium'' (a sacrifice) derived from Latin ''sacrificus'' (performing priestly functions or sacrifices), which combined the concepts ''sacra'' (sacred things) and ''facere'' (to do or perform). The Latin word ''sacrificium'' came to apply to the Christian eucharist in particular, sometimes named a "bloodless sacrifice" to distinguish it from blood sacrifices. In individual non-Christian ethnic religions, terms translated as "sacrifice" include the Indic ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spider
Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all orders of organisms. Spiders are found worldwide on every continent except for Antarctica, and have become established in nearly every land habitat. , 50,356 spider species in 132 families have been recorded by taxonomists. However, there has been debate among scientists about how families should be classified, with over 20 different classifications proposed since 1900. Anatomically, spiders (as with all arachnids) differ from other arthropods in that the usual body segments are fused into two tagmata, the cephalothorax or prosoma, and the opisthosoma, or abdomen, and joined by a small, cylindrical pedicel, however, as there is currently neither paleontological nor embryological evidence that spiders ever had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bisonalveus Browni
''Bisonalveus'' is an extinct genus of shrew-like mammals that were presumably ground-dwelling and fed on plants and insects. ''Bisonalveus'' fossils have been discovered in the upper Great Plains region of North America, including sites in modern-day Wyoming, North Dakota, Montana, and Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter .... The fossils have been dated to 60 million years ago, during the Tiffanian North American Stage of the Palaeocene epoch. ''Bisonalveus'' is the last known genus of the Pentacodontinae sub-family to have arisen, replacing the genus '' Coriphagus'' in the early Tiffanian. ''Bisonalveus'' itself appears to have gone extinct by the middle Tiffanian. ''Bisonalveus'' is represented by two known species: ''B. browni'' (Gazin, 1956) and ''B. h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyaenodon
''Hyaenodon'' (" hyena-tooth") is an extinct genus of carnivorous hyaenodont mammals from tribe Hyaenodontini, within subfamily Hyaenodontinae in family Hyaenodontidae,Malcolm C. McKenna, Susan K. Bell (1997."Classification of Mammals: Above the Species Level" Columbia University Press, New York, 631 pages. that lived in Eurasia and North America during the middle Eocene to early Miocene, existing for about 25.1 million years. Description Typical of early carnivorous mammals, individuals of ''Hyaenodon'' had a very massive skull, but only a small brain. The skull is long with a narrow snout - much larger in relation to the length of the skull than in canine carnivores, for instance. The neck was shorter than the skull, while the body was long and robust and terminated in a long tail. Compared to the generally larger (but not closely related) ''Hyainailouros'', the dentition of ''Hyaenodon'' was geared more towards shearing meat and less towards bone crushing. Some specie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phenacodus
''Phenacodus'' (Greek: "deception" (phenax), "tooth' (odus)) is an extinct genus of mammals from the late Paleocene through middle Eocene, about 55 million years ago. It is one of the earliest and most primitive of the ungulates, typifying the family Phenacodontidae and the order Perissodactyla. Description The typical ''Phenacodus primaevus'' was a relatively small ungulate about long and weighed up to , of slight build, with straight limbs each terminating in five complete toes, and walking in the digitigrade fashion of the modern horse. The middle toe was the largest, and the weight of the body was mainly supported on this and the two adjoining digits, which appear to have been encased in hooves, foreshadowing the tridactyl type common in perissodactyls and certain extinct groups of ungulates. The skull was small, with proportionately minute brain; and the arched back, strong lumbar vertebrae, long and powerful tail, and comparatively feeble fore-quarters all proclaim kinship ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crocodile
Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant taxon, extant members of the order (biology), order Crocodilia, which includes the alligators and caimans (family Alligatoridae), the gharial and false gharial (family Gavialidae) among other extinct taxa. Although they appear similar, crocodiles, alligators and the gharial belong to separate biological family (biology), families. The gharial, with its narrow snout, is easier to distinguish, while Morphology (biology), morphological differences are more difficult to spot in crocodiles and alligators. The most obvious external differences are visible in the head, with crocodiles having narrower and longer heads, with a more V-shaped than a U-shaped snout compared to alligators and caimans. Another obvious trait is that the upp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gastornis
''Gastornis'' is an extinct genus of large flightless birds that lived during the mid Paleocene to mid Eocene epochs of the Paleogene period. Fossils have been found in Europe, Asia and North America, with the remains from North America originally assigned to the genus ''Diatryma''. ''Gastornis'' species were very large birds, and have traditionally been considered to be predators of small mammals. However, several lines of evidence, including the lack of hooked claws in known ''Gastornis'' footprints and studies of their beak structure and isotopic signatures of their bones have caused scientists to reinterpret these birds as herbivores that probably fed on tough plant material and seeds. ''Gastornis'' is generally agreed to be related to Galloanserae, the group containing waterfowl and gamebirds. History ''Gastornis'' was first described in 1855 from a fragmentary skeleton. It was named after Gaston Planté, described as a "studious young man full of zeal", who had discover ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Primate
Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including humans). Primates arose 85–55 million years ago first from small terrestrial mammals, which adapted to living in the trees of tropical forests: many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging environment, including large brains, visual acuity, color vision, a shoulder girdle allowing a large degree of movement in the shoulder joint, and dextrous hands. Primates range in size from Madame Berthe's mouse lemur, which weighs , to the eastern gorilla, weighing over . There are 376–524 species of living primates, depending on which classification is used. New primate species continue to be discovered: over 25 species were described in the 2000s, 36 in the 2010s, and three in the 2020s. Primates have large bra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alphadon
''Alphadon'' (meaning "first tooth") is an extinct genus of small, primitive mammal that was a member of the metatherians, a group of mammals that includes modern-day marsupials. Its fossils were first discovered and named by George Gaylord Simpson in 1929. Description Not much is known about the appearance of ''Alphadon'', as it is only known from teeth, a lower jaw and skull fragments. It probably grew to about and may have resembled a modern opossum. Judging from its teeth, it was likely an omnivore, feeding on fruits, invertebrates and possibly small vertebrates. ''Alphadon'' had a very good sense of smell and sight to track down its food, both during the day and night. Its possible whiskers could have also aided in its search for food. Taxonomy and classification The type species is ''Alphadon marshi''. Eight other species are known. The species ''Alphadon jasoni'' was originally described by Storer (1991); it was subsequently transferred to the herpetotheriid genus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paramys
''Paramys'' is an extinct genus of rodents from North America, Europe, and Asia. It is one of the oldest genera of rodents known and probably lived in trees. While the genus name literally means "near a mouse", it coexisted with ''Thisbemys'', a similar rodent, thus yielding a reference to Pyramus and Thisbe Pyramus and Thisbe are a pair of ill-fated lovers whose story forms part of Ovid's ''Metamorphoses''. The story has since been retold by many authors. Pyramus and Thisbe are two lovers in the city of Babylon who occupy connected houses. Their r .... References Further reading * Matthew, W. D. 1910. On the osteology and relationships of ''Paramys'' and the affinities of the Ischyromyidae. ''Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History'', 28:43–72. * Kenneth D. Rose, 2006. ''The Beginning of the Age of Mammals''. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore MD. pp. 306–335 * Kenneth D. Rose and Brenda J. Chinnery. The Postcranial Skeleton of Early Eocene ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quetzalcoatlus
''Quetzalcoatlus'' is a genus of pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous period of North America (Maastrichtian stage); its members were among the largest known flying animals of all time. ''Quetzalcoatlus'' is a member of the Azhdarchidae, a family of advanced toothless pterosaurs with unusually long, stiffened necks. Its name comes from the Aztec feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl. The type species is ''Q. northropi'', named by Douglas Lawson in 1975; the genus also includes the smaller species ''Q. lawsoni'', which was known for many years as an unnamed species before being named by Brian Andres and Wann Langston Jr. (posthumously) in 2021. Discovery and species The first ''Quetzalcoatlus'' fossils were discovered in Texas, United States, from the Maastrichtian Javelina Formation at Big Bend National Park (dated to around 68 million years ago) in 1971 by Douglas A. Lawson, then a geology graduate student from the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Primate")
