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Enaliarctos
''Enaliarctos''From Greek , ''enalios'', of the sea; and , ''arktos'', bear, "referring to the arctoid, including ursid, Carnivora" (Mitchell & Tedford, 1973, p. 218). is an extinct genus of pinnipedimorph, and may represent the ancestor to all pinnipeds. Prior to the discovery of ''Puijila'', the five species in the genus ''Enaliarctos'' represented the oldest known pinnipedimorph fossils, having been recovered from late Oligocene and early Miocene (ca. 24–22 million years ago) strata of California and Oregon. Description It had a short tail and developed limbs with webbed feet. Unlike modern sea lions, it had a set of slicing carnassials; the presence of slicing teeth (rather than purely piercing teeth as in modern fish-eating pinnipeds) suggests that ''Enaliarctos'' needed to return to shore with prey items in order to masticate and ingest them. Still, ''Enaliarctos'' had some sea lion-like characteristics, such as large eyes, sensitive whiskers, and a specialized inner ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enaliarctos Emlongi
''Enaliarctos''From Greek , ''enalios'', of the sea; and , ''arktos'', bear, "referring to the arctoid, including ursid, Carnivora" (Mitchell & Tedford, 1973, p. 218). is an extinct genus of pinnipedimorph, and may represent the ancestor to all pinnipeds. Prior to the discovery of ''Puijila'', the five species in the genus ''Enaliarctos'' represented the oldest known pinnipedimorph fossils, having been recovered from late Oligocene and early Miocene (ca. 24–22 million years ago) strata of California and Oregon. Description It had a short tail and developed limbs with webbed feet. Unlike modern sea lions, it had a set of slicing carnassials; the presence of slicing teeth (rather than purely piercing teeth as in modern fish-eating pinnipeds) suggests that ''Enaliarctos'' needed to return to shore with prey items in order to masticate and ingest them. Still, ''Enaliarctos'' had some sea lion-like characteristics, such as large eyes, sensitive whiskers, and a specialized inner ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enaliarctos Mealsi NT
''Enaliarctos''From Greek , ''enalios'', of the sea; and , ''arktos'', bear, "referring to the arctoid, including ursid, Carnivora" (Mitchell & Tedford, 1973, p. 218). is an extinct genus of pinnipedimorph, and may represent the ancestor to all pinnipeds. Prior to the discovery of ''Puijila'', the five species in the genus ''Enaliarctos'' represented the oldest known pinnipedimorph fossils, having been recovered from late Oligocene and early Miocene (ca. 24–22 million years ago) strata of California and Oregon. Description It had a short tail and developed limbs with webbed feet. Unlike modern sea lions, it had a set of slicing carnassials; the presence of slicing teeth (rather than purely piercing teeth as in modern fish-eating pinnipeds) suggests that ''Enaliarctos'' needed to return to shore with prey items in order to masticate and ingest them. Still, ''Enaliarctos'' had some sea lion-like characteristics, such as large eyes, sensitive whiskers, and a specialized inner ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pinnipedimorpha
Pinnipedimorpha is a stem-clade of arctoid carnivorans that is defined to include the last common ancestor of ''Phoca'' and ''Enaliarctos ''Enaliarctos''From Greek , ''enalios'', of the sea; and , ''arktos'', bear, "referring to the arctoid, including ursid, Carnivora" (Mitchell & Tedford, 1973, p. 218). is an extinct genus of pinnipedimorph, and may represent the ancestor to all ...'', and all of their descendants of that ancestral taxon. Scientists still debate on which lineage of arctoid carnivorans are the closest relatives to the pinnipedimorphs, being more closely related to musteloids. Below is an overall phylogeny of the taxa covered in the article followed after a composite tree in Berta et al. (2018) and a total-evidence (combined molecular-morphological) dataset in Paterson et al. (2020): See also * List of fossil pinnipeds References Further reading * A. Berta, C. E. Ray, and A. R. Wyss. 1989. Skeleton of the oldest known pinniped, Enaliarctos meals ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douglas Emlong
Douglas Ralph Emlong (April 17, 1942–June 1980) was an amateur fossil collector from the Oregon Coast in the northwestern United States. His collections contributed to the discovery and description of numerous extinct marine mammal species, many of which are ancestral to extant groups. Described as an 'indefatigable' fossil collector with 'Promethian prowess in discovery of unprecedented vertebrate fossils', he contributed substantially to the field from the age of fourteen. The ancestral pinniped '' Enaliarctos emlongi'' was named in his honor by Annalisa Berta in 1991. Discoveries Fossils discovered by Douglas Emlong include: Marine Mammals: *''Aetiocetus cotylalveus'', an early, toothed relative of baleen whales and evolutionary link between ancient and modern cetaceans *'' Simocetus'', a genus of bottom-feeding pug-nosed whales which may have had comparable echolocation abilities to modern toothed whales *''Behemotops'', a genus of primitive, elephant-like desmostylians ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Odobenidae
Odobenidae is a family of pinnipeds. The only living species is the walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus''). In the past, however, the group was much more diverse, and includes more than a dozen fossil genera. Taxonomy All genera, except ''Walrus, Odobenus'', are extinct. *†''Archaeodobenus'' *†''Prototaria'' *†''Proneotherium'' *†''Nanodobenus'' *†''Neotherium'' *†''Imagotaria'' *†''Kamtschatarctos'' *†''Pelagiarctos'' *†''Pontolis'' *†''Pseudotaria'' *†''Titanotaria'' *Clade Neodobenia **†''Gomphotaria'' **Subfamily Dusignathinae ***†''Dusignathus'' **Subfamily Odobeninae ***†''Aivukus'' ***†''Ontocetus'' ***†''Pliopedia'' ***†''Protodobenus'' ***†''Valenictus'' ***''Walrus, Odobenus'' In re-analyzing ''Pelagiarctos'', Boessenecker et al. (2013) proposed the phylogenetic relationships of Odobenidae as follows (this analysis excluded ''Archaeodobenus, Titanotaria, Nanodobenus,'' and ''Pliopedia;'' and included ''Enaliarctos, Pteronarctos, Allodesmus, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Annalisa Berta
Annalisa Berta (born 23 July 1952) is an American paleontologist and professor emerita in the Department of Biology at San Diego State University. The focus of her research is the evolution and fossil history of whales and other marine mammals, and among her contributions is the description of the early pinniped ''Enaliarctos''. Berta received her Ph.D. from the Department of Paleontology at the University of California, Berkeley in 1979, after which she was a postdoctoral researcher at University of Florida before starting as a faculty member at San Diego State University in 1989. Berta served as president of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in 2004-2006 and was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puijila Darwini
''Puijila darwini'' is an extinct species of stem-pinniped which lived during the Miocene epoch about 21 to 24 million years ago. Approximately a metre (three feet) in length, the animal possessed only minimal physical adaptations for swimming. Unlike modern pinnipeds, it did not have flippers and its overall form was otter-like, albeit more specialized; its skull and teeth are the features that most clearly indicate that it is a seal. It is considered to be the most primitive pinnipedimorph yet found. The genus name is an Inuktitut word for a young seal; the species name honours the English naturalist Charles Darwin. The holotype and only known specimen is a nearly complete fossilised skeleton. It is being housed at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, Ontario. Background ''Puijila darwini'' was a semi-aquatic carnivore which represents a morphological link in early pinniped evolution. Its fossil remains demonstrate the presence of enlarged, probably webbed feet, rob ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puijila
''Puijila darwini'' is an extinct species of stem-pinniped which lived during the Miocene epoch about 21 to 24 million years ago. Approximately a metre (three feet) in length, the animal possessed only minimal physical adaptations for swimming. Unlike modern pinnipeds, it did not have flippers and its overall form was otter-like, albeit more specialized; its skull and teeth are the features that most clearly indicate that it is a seal. It is considered to be the most primitive pinnipedimorph yet found. The genus name is an Inuktitut word for a young seal; the species name honours the English naturalist Charles Darwin. The holotype and only known specimen is a nearly complete fossilised skeleton. It is being housed at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, Ontario. Background ''Puijila darwini'' was a semi-aquatic carnivore which represents a morphological link in early pinniped evolution. Its fossil remains demonstrate the presence of enlarged, probably webbed feet, robu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fossils
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in amber, hair, petrified wood and DNA remnants. The totality of fossils is known as the ''fossil record''. Paleontology is the study of fossils: their age, method of formation, and evolutionary significance. Specimens are usually considered to be fossils if they are over 10,000 years old. The oldest fossils are around 3.48 billion years old to 4.1 billion years old. Early edition, published online before print. The observation in the 19th century that certain fossils were associated with certain rock strata led to the recognition of a geological timescale and the relative ages of different fossils. The development of radiometric dating techniques in the early 20th century allowed scientists to quantitatively measure the absolute ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hemingfordian
The Hemingfordian on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), typically set from 20,600,000 to 16,300,000 years BP. It is usually considered to overlap the latest Aquitanian and Burdigalian of the Early Miocene. The Hemingfordian is preceded by the Arikareean and followed by the Barstovian NALMA stages. The Hemingfordian can be further divided into the substages of: *Late/Upper Hemingfordian: Lower boundary source: base of Burdigalian The Burdigalian is, in the geologic timescale, an age (geology), age or stage (stratigraphy), stage in the early Miocene. It spans the time between 20.43 ± 0.05 annum, Ma and 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago). Preceded by the Aquitanian (sta ... (approximate). *Early/Lower Hemingfordian (shares lower boundary) References Miocene geochronology Miocene North America {{geochronology-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oligocene
The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the epoch are slightly uncertain. The name Oligocene was coined in 1854 by the German paleontologist Heinrich Ernst Beyrich from his studies of marine beds in Belgium and Germany. The name comes from the Ancient Greek (''olígos'', "few") and (''kainós'', "new"), and refers to the sparsity of extant forms of molluscs. The Oligocene is preceded by the Eocene Epoch and is followed by the Miocene Epoch. The Oligocene is the third and final epoch of the Paleogene Period. The Oligocene is often considered an important time of transition, a link between the archaic world of the tropical Eocene and the more modern ecosystems of the Miocene. Major changes during the Oligocene included a global expansion o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oligocene Pinnipeds
The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the epoch are slightly uncertain. The name Oligocene was coined in 1854 by the German paleontologist Heinrich Ernst Beyrich from his studies of marine beds in Belgium and Germany. The name comes from the Ancient Greek (''olígos'', "few") and (''kainós'', "new"), and refers to the sparsity of extant forms of molluscs. The Oligocene is preceded by the Eocene Epoch and is followed by the Miocene Epoch. The Oligocene is the third and final epoch of the Paleogene Period. The Oligocene is often considered an important time of transition, a link between the archaic world of the tropical Eocene and the more modern ecosystems of the Miocene. Major changes during the Oligocene included a global expansion of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
