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Hadropithecus
''Hadropithecus'' ("bulky ape" from Greek ἁδρός (hadros), "bulky, large" + πίθηκος (pithekos), "ape") is a medium-sized, extinct genus of lemur, or strepsirrhine primate, from Madagascar that includes a single species, ''Hadropithecus stenognathus''. Due to its rarity and lack of sufficient skeletal remains, it is one of the least understood of the extinct lemurs. Both it and ''Archaeolemur'' are collectively known as "monkey lemurs" or "baboon lemurs" due to body plans and dentition that suggest a terrestrial lifestyle and a diet similar to that of modern baboons. ''Hadropithecus'' had extended molars and a short, powerful jaw, suggesting that it was both a grazer and a seed predator. The monkey lemurs are considered to be most closely related to the living indriids and the recently extinct sloth lemurs, although recent finds had caused some dispute over a possible closer relation to living lemurids. Genetic tests, however, have reaffirmed the previously pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monkey Lemur
The monkey lemurs or baboon lemurs (Archaeolemuridae) are a recently extinct family of lemurs known from skeletal remains from sites on Madagascar dated to 1000 to 3000 years ago. The monkey lemur family is divided into two genera, ''Hadropithecus'' and ''Archaeolemur'', and three species. Classification and phylogeny The genus ''Archaeolemur'' consists of two known species, ''Archaeolemur edwardsi'' and ''Archaeolemur majori''. Recently, there have been findings of fossils in the north to northeast of Madagascar. Reconstructions indicate that the extinct lemurs did not climb very often and imply that they were much more adept at terrestrial living, more than any other extant strepsirrhhine. They are not believed to have been exclusively terrestrial, but rather to have had a combined habitat of ground and arboreal life. A modest degree of curvature found in the remains support this idea. The hands and feet are very robust and large in size, but are very short, and said to be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Subfossil Lemur
Subfossil lemurs are lemurs from Madagascar that are represented by recent (subfossil) remains dating from nearly 26,000 years ago to approximately 560 years ago (from the late Pleistocene until the Holocene). They include both extant and extinct species, although the term more frequently refers to the extinct giant lemurs. The diversity of subfossil lemur communities was greater than that of present-day lemur communities, ranging from as high as 20 or more species per location, compared with 10 to 12 species today. Extinct species are estimated to have ranged in size from slightly over to roughly . Even the subfossil remains of living species are larger and more robust than the skeletal remains of modern specimens. The subfossil sites found around most of the island demonstrate that most giant lemurs had wide distributions and that ranges of living species have contracted significantly since the arrival of humans. Despite their size, the giant lemurs shared ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archaeolemur
''Archaeolemur'' ("ancient lemur" from Ancient Greek From Ancient Greek ἀρχαῖος (arkhaîos), "Ancient" + Modern Latin lemur, "lemur") is an extinct genus of subfossil lemurs known from the Holocene epoch of Madagascar. ''Archaeolemur'' is one of the most common and well-known of the extinct giant lemurs as hundreds of its bones have been discovered in fossil deposits across the island. It was larger than any extant lemur, with a body mass of approximately , and is commonly reconstructed as the most frugivorous and terrestrial of the fossil Malagasy primates. Colloquially known as a "monkey lemur," ''Archaeolemur'' has often been compared with anthropoids, specifically the cercopithecines, due to various morphological convergences. In fact, it was even misidentified as a monkey when remains were first discovered. Following human arrival to Madagascar just over 2000 years ago, many of the island’s megafauna went extinct, including the giant lemurs. Radiocarbon dating in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ludwig Lorenz Von Liburnau
Ludwig Lorenz von Liburnau (26 August 1856, Fiume - 9 December 1943, St. Gilgen) was an Austrian zoologist. He was the son of naturalist Josef Roman Lorenz von Liburnau (1825-1911). In 1879 he obtained his PhD from the University of Vienna, receiving his habilitation in zoology in 1898. From 1880 to 1922 he was associated with the ''Naturhistorisches Museum'' in Vienna. In 1899 he was the first scientist to provide analysis of '' Hadropithecus stenognathus'' (an extinct species of lemur), a study based on a mandible discovered by fossil collector Franz Sikora at Andrahomana cave in southeastern Madagascar. At the time, Lorenz believed the specimen to be the mandible of an anthropoid primate species. The North Island kaka ('' Nestor meridionalis septentrionalis''), a nationally endangered bird from New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lemur
Lemurs ( ) (from Latin ''lemures'' – ghosts or spirits) are wet-nosed primates of the superfamily Lemuroidea (), divided into 8 families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 existing species. They are endemic to the island of Madagascar. Most existing lemurs are small, have a pointed snout, large eyes, and a long tail. They chiefly live in trees and are active at night. Lemurs share resemblance with other primates, but evolved independently from monkeys and apes. Due to Madagascar's highly seasonal climate, lemur evolution has produced a level of species diversity rivaling that of any other primate group. Until shortly after humans arrived on the island around 2,000 years ago, there were lemurs as large as a male gorilla. Most species have been discovered or promoted to full species status since the 1990s; however, lemur taxonomic classification is controversial and depends on which species concept is used. Lemurs range in weight from the mouse lemur to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lemur
Lemurs ( ) (from Latin ''lemures'' – ghosts or spirits) are wet-nosed primates of the superfamily Lemuroidea (), divided into 8 families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 existing species. They are endemic to the island of Madagascar. Most existing lemurs are small, have a pointed snout, large eyes, and a long tail. They chiefly live in trees and are active at night. Lemurs share resemblance with other primates, but evolved independently from monkeys and apes. Due to Madagascar's highly seasonal climate, lemur evolution has produced a level of species diversity rivaling that of any other primate group. Until shortly after humans arrived on the island around 2,000 years ago, there were lemurs as large as a male gorilla. Most species have been discovered or promoted to full species status since the 1990s; however, lemur taxonomic classification is controversial and depends on which species concept is used. Lemurs range in weight from the mouse lemur to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sloth Lemur
The sloth lemurs (Palaeopropithecidae) comprise an extinct family of lemurs that includes four genera. The common name can be misleading, as members of Palaeopropithecidae were not closely related to sloths. This clade has been dubbed the ‘‘sloth lemurs’’ because of remarkable postcranial convergences with South American sloths. Despite postcranial similarities, the hands and feet show significant differences. Sloths possess long, curved claws, while sloth lemurs have short, flat nails on their distal phalanges like most primates. Diet Members of the family Palaeopropithecidae appear to have eaten a mix of fruit, nuts, and foliage. The sloth lemurs were mixed-feeders rather than specialized browsers who ate a mixed diet based on seasonality. On the basis of highly robust mandible, ''Palaeopropithecus'' and ''Archaeoindris'' can be considered highly folivorous. The family Palaeopropithecidae exhibited molar megadonty, small deciduous teeth with low occlusal length ratio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paleontologist
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossils to classify organisms and study their interactions with each other and their environments (their paleoecology). Paleontological observations have been documented as far back as the 5th century BC. The science became established in the 18th century as a result of Georges Cuvier's work on comparative anatomy, and developed rapidly in the 19th century. The term itself originates from Greek (, "old, ancient"), (, ( gen. ), "being, creature"), and (, "speech, thought, study"). Paleontology lies on the border between biology and geology, but differs from archaeology in that it excludes the study of anatomically modern humans. It now uses techniques drawn from a wide range of sciences, including biochemistry, mathematics, and engineerin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mandible
In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bone of the skull (discounting the ossicles of the middle ear). It is connected to the temporal bones by the temporomandibular joints. The bone is formed in the fetus from a fusion of the left and right mandibular prominences, and the point where these sides join, the mandibular symphysis, is still visible as a faint ridge in the midline. Like other symphyses in the body, this is a midline articulation where the bones are joined by fibrocartilage, but this articulation fuses together in early childhood.Illustrated Anatomy of the Head and Neck, Fehrenbach and Herring, Elsevier, 2012, p. 59 The word "mandible" derives from the Latin word ''mandibula'', "jawbone" (literally "one used for chewing"), from '' mandere'' "to chew" and ''-bula'' (ins ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central Highlands (Madagascar)
The Central Highlands, Central High Plateau, or Hauts-Plateaux are a mountainous biogeographical region in central Madagascar. They include the contiguous part of the island's interior above 800 m (2,600 ft) altitude. The Central Highlands are separated from the Northern Highlands of the northern tip of Madagascar by a low-lying valley, the Mandritsara Window, which has apparently acted as a barrier to dispersal for species in the highlands, leading to species pairs such as '' Voalavo gymnocaudus'' and '' Voalavo antsahabensis'' in the Northern and Central Highlands. Species restricted to the Central Highlands include the bats ''Miniopterus manavi'' and ''Miniopterus sororculus''; the rodents ''Brachyuromys betsileoensis'' and ''Voalavo antsahabensis''; the tenrecs ''Hemicentetes nigriceps'' and ''Oryzorictes tetradactylus''; and the lemur ''Cheirogaleus sibreei Sibree's dwarf lemur (''Cheirogaleus sibreei'') is a small nocturnal lemur endemic to Madagascar. The n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lemuriformes
Lemuriformes is an infraorder of primate that falls under the suborder Strepsirrhini. It includes the lemurs of Madagascar, as well as the galagos and lorisids of Africa and Asia, although a popular alternative taxonomy places the lorisoids in their own infraorder, Lorisiformes. Lemuriform primates are characterized by a toothcomb, a specialized set of teeth in the front, lower part of the mouth mostly used for combing fur during grooming. Evolutionary history Lemuriform origins are unclear and debated. American paleontologist Philip Gingerich proposed that lemuriform primates evolved from one of several genera of European adapids based on similarities between the front lower teeth of adapids and the toothcomb of extant lemuriforms; however, this view is not strongly supported due to a lack of clear transitional fossils. Instead, lemuriforms may be descended from a very early branch of Asian cercamoniines or sivaladapids that immigrated to northern Africa. Until discov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
