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Kongonaphon
''Kongonaphon'' is an extinct genus of lagerpetid avemetatarsalians from the Middle to Late Triassic of Madagascar. It contains a single species, ''Kongonaphon kely'', which is known from a fragmentary partial skeleton. This fossil hails from the late Ladinian or early Carnian-age "basal Isalo II beds". As the first lagerpetid found in Africa, ''Kongonaphon'' extends the range of the family significantly. It possessed a combination of features from various other lagerpetids, but developed particularly long and slender leg bones. ''Kongonaphon'' is also the first lagerpetid for which fossils of the snout and teeth are known. It was likely an insectivore based on the shape and texture of its teeth. ''Kongonaphon'' is notable for its minuscule size, even compared to other small early avemetatarsalians. The proportionally elongated femur was only about 4 cm (1.6 inches) long, and the total height of the animal was estimated at around 10 cm (3.9 inches). Alongside other min ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lagerpetid
Lagerpetidae (; originally Lagerpetonidae) is a family of basal avemetatarsalians. Though traditionally considered the earliest-diverging dinosauromorphs (reptiles closer to dinosaurs than to pterosaurs), fossils described in 2020 suggest that lagerpetids may instead be pterosauromorphs (closer to pterosaurs). Lagerpetid fossils are known from the Late Triassic of Argentina, Arizona, Brazil, Madagascar, New Mexico, and Texas. They were typically small, although some lagerpetids, like ''Dromomeron gigas'' and a specimen from the Santa Rosa Formation attributed to ''Dromomeron'' sp., were able to get quite large (femoral length ). Lagerpetid fossils are rare; the most common finds are bones of the hindlimbs, which possessed a number of unique features. Description As with most early avemetatarsalians, the most characteristic adaptations of lagerpetids occurred in their hip, leg and ankle bones, likely as a result of these being the bones most commonly preserved. Hip material is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lagerpetidae
Lagerpetidae (; originally Lagerpetonidae) is a family of basal avemetatarsalians. Though traditionally considered the earliest-diverging dinosauromorphs (reptiles closer to dinosaurs than to pterosaurs), fossils described in 2020 suggest that lagerpetids may instead be pterosauromorphs (closer to pterosaurs). Lagerpetid fossils are known from the Late Triassic of Argentina, Arizona, Brazil, Madagascar, New Mexico, and Texas. They were typically small, although some lagerpetids, like '' Dromomeron gigas'' and a specimen from the Santa Rosa Formation attributed to ''Dromomeron'' sp., were able to get quite large (femoral length ). Lagerpetid fossils are rare; the most common finds are bones of the hindlimbs, which possessed a number of unique features. Description As with most early avemetatarsalians, the most characteristic adaptations of lagerpetids occurred in their hip, leg and ankle bones, likely as a result of these being the bones most commonly preserved. Hip material is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dinosauromorpha
Dinosauromorpha is a clade of avemetatarsalian archosaurs (reptiles closer to birds than to crocodilians) that includes the Dinosauria (dinosaurs) and some of their close relatives. It was originally defined to include dinosauriforms and lagerpetids, with later formulations specifically excluding pterosaurs from the group. Birds are the only dinosauromorphs which survive to the present day. Classification The name "Dinosauromorpha" was briefly coined by Michael J. Benton in 1985. It was considered an alternative name for the group "Ornithosuchia", which was named by Jacques Gauthier to correspond to archosaurs closer to dinosaurs than to crocodilians. Although "Ornithosuchia" was later recognized as a misnomer (since ornithosuchids are now considered closer to crocodilians than to dinosaurs), it was still a more popular term than Dinosauromorpha in the 1980s. The group encompassed by Gauthier's "Ornithosuchia" and Benton's "Dinosauromorpha" is now given the name Avemetatars ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isalo II
Isalo II, also known as the Makay Formation, is an informal Triassic geological unit in Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa .... It is described as "thick beds of mottled red or green clays associated with soft cross-bedded sandstones, light in colour and much finer-grained than the Isalo I sandstones." It is prominent in the Makay Massif.Brenon, P. (1972). The Geology of Madagascar. In: Battistini, R., Richard-Vindard, G. (eds) ''Biogeography and Ecology in Madagascar''. Monographiae Biologicae, vol 21. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi-org.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7159-3_2 Fossil content Amphibians Reptiles Synapsids References {{reflist Geologic formations of Madagascar Triassic System of Africa Triassic Madagascar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period of the Mesozoic Era. Both the start and end of the period are marked by major extinction events. The Triassic Period is subdivided into three epochs: Early Triassic, Middle Triassic and Late Triassic. The Triassic began in the wake of the Permian–Triassic extinction event, which left the Earth's biosphere impoverished; it was well into the middle of the Triassic before life recovered its former diversity. Three categories of organisms can be distinguished in the Triassic record: survivors from the extinction event, new groups that flourished briefly, and other new groups that went on to dominate the Mesozoic Era. Reptiles, especially archosaurs, were the chief terrestrial vertebrates during this time. A specialized subgroup of archo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bipedalism
Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an organism moves by means of its two rear limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped , meaning 'two feet' (from Latin ''bis'' 'double' and ''pes'' 'foot'). Types of bipedal movement include walking, running, and hopping. Several groups of modern species are habitual bipeds whose normal method of locomotion is two-legged. In the Triassic period some groups of archosaurs (a group that includes crocodiles and dinosaurs) developed bipedalism; among the dinosaurs, all the early forms and many later groups were habitual or exclusive bipeds; the birds are members of a clade of exclusively bipedal dinosaurs, the theropods. Within mammals, habitual bipedalism has evolved multiple times, with the macropods, kangaroo rats and mice, springhare, hopping mice, pangolins and hominin apes ( australopithecines, including humans) as well as various other extinct groups evolving the tra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vertebra
The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates,Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristic irregular bone whose complex structure is composed primarily of bone, and secondarily of hyaline cartilage. They show variation in the proportion contributed by these two tissue types; such variations correlate on one hand with the cerebral/caudal rank (i.e., location within the backbone), and on the other with phylogenetic differences among the vertebrate taxa. The basic configuration of a vertebra varies, but the bone is its ''body'', with the central part of the body constituting the ''centrum''. The upper (closer to) and lower (further from), respectively, the cranium and its central nervous system surfaces of the vertebra body support attachment to the intervertebral discs. The posterior part of a vertebra forms a vertebral arch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maxilla
The maxilla (plural: ''maxillae'' ) in vertebrates is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxillary bones are fused at the intermaxillary suture, forming the anterior nasal spine. This is similar to the mandible (lower jaw), which is also a fusion of two mandibular bones at the mandibular symphysis. The mandible is the movable part of the jaw. Structure In humans, the maxilla consists of: * The body of the maxilla * Four processes ** the zygomatic process ** the frontal process of maxilla ** the alveolar process ** the palatine process * three surfaces – anterior, posterior, medial * the Infraorbital foramen * the maxillary sinus * the incisive foramen Articulations Each maxilla articulates with nine bones: * two of the cranium: the frontal and ethmoid * seven of the face: the nasal, zygomatic, lacrimal, inferior n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isalorhynchus
''Isalorhynchus'' is an extinct genus of hyperodapedontine rhynchosaur from the late Triassic period (Carnian stage) of Toliara Province, southwestern Madagascar. It is known from the holotype MDE-R18, a nearly complete maxilla and from other specimens from the same locality, Malio River area. It was found in the Makay Formation (or Isalo II) of the Morondava Basin (or Isalo beds). It was first named by Eric Buffetaut in 1983 and the type species is ''Isalorhynchus genovefae''. The majority of ''Isalorhynchus'' specimens are isolated jaw bones, but two nearly complete skeletons were found in 1998. Langer ''et al.'', 2000 concluded that ''Isalorhynchus'' is a synonym of ''Hyperodapedon ''Hyperodapedon'' is a genus of rhynchosaurs (beaked, archosaur-like reptiles) from the Triassic, Late Triassic period (Carnian stage). Fossils of the genus have been found in Africa, Asia, Europe and North and South America. Its first discovery ...'' and referred it to a new species of ''Hyperod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhynchosaur
Rhynchosaurs are a group of extinct herbivorous Triassic archosauromorph reptiles, belonging to the order Rhynchosauria. Members of the group are distinguished by their triangular skulls and elongated, beak like premaxillary bones. Rhynchosaurs first appeared in the Middle Triassic or possibly the Early Triassic, before becoming abundant and globally distributed during the Carnian stage of the Late Triassic. Description Rhynchosaurs were herbivores, and at times abundant (in some fossil localities accounting for 40 to 60% of specimens found), with stocky bodies and a powerful beak. Early primitive forms, like ''Mesosuchus'' and '' Howesia'', were generally small and more typically lizard-like in build, and had skulls rather similar to the early diapsid ''Youngina'', except for the beak and a few other features. Later and more advanced genera grew to medium to medium large size, up to two meters in length. The skull in these forms were short, broad, and triangular, becoming muc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) because they are the most resistant minerals to weathering processes at the Earth's surface. Like uncemented sand, sandstone may be any color due to impurities within the minerals, but the most common colors are tan, brown, yellow, red, grey, pink, white, and black. Since sandstone beds often form highly visible cliffs and other topographic features, certain colors of sandstone have been strongly identified with certain regions. Rock formations that are primarily composed of sandstone usually allow the percolation of water and other fluids and are porous enough to store large quantities, making them valuable aquifers and petroleum reservoirs. Quartz-bearing sandstone can be changed into quartzite through metamorphism, usually related to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
University Of Antananarivo (Madagascar)
University of Antananarivo (french: Université d'Antananarivo) is the primary public university of Madagascar, located in the capital Antananarivo. History The university traces its founding to 16 December 1955 and the formation of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Antananarivo. It established itself as the main center for higher education in the country, and was renamed the University of Madagascar in 1961. It later opened five more branches in Antsiranana, Fianarantsoa, Toamasina, Toliara, and Mahajanga. Robert Mallet taught in Madagascar from 1959 to 1964, where he founded the Faculty of Letters at the University of Antananarivo, of which he was the first Dean. The University of Antananarivo runs the Museum of Arts and Archaeology. The Institute of Higher Education of Soavinandriana Itasy and the Institute of Higher Education of Antsirabe Vakinankaratra are its two regional branches. With the Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Scientifique ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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