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Lapitiguana
''Lapitiguana impensa'' is an extinct giant (1.5 m long) iguanid from Fiji. It probably became extinct following the human colonization of Fiji 3000 years ago. All extant Fijian iguanas are in the genus ''Brachylophus'', together with an extinct species from Tonga. The closest living relatives of the Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...n iguanas are found in the Americas. See also *'' Brachylophus gibbonsi'' *'' Pumilia novaceki'' References External linksFossil remains of the giant iguana ''Lapitiguana impensa'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iguanid
The Iguanidae is a family of lizards composed of the iguanas, chuckwallas, and their prehistoric relatives, including the widespread green iguana. Taxonomy Iguanidae is thought to be the sister group to the collared lizards (family Crotaphytidae); the two groups likely diverged during the Late Cretaceous, as that is when ''Pristiguana'' and ''Pariguana'', the two earliest fossil genera, are known from. The subfamily Iguaninae, which contains all modern genera, likely originated in the earliest Paleocene, at about 62 million years ago. The most basal extant genus, '' Dipsosaurus,'' diverged from the rest of Iguaninae during the late Eocene, about 38 million years ago, with ''Brachylophus'' following a few million years later at about 35 million years ago, presumably after its dispersal event to the Pacific. All other modern iguana genera formed in the Neogene period. A phylogenetic tree of Iguaninae is shown here: Description Iguanas and iguana-type species are diverse i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iguanidae
The Iguanidae is a family of lizards composed of the iguanas, chuckwallas, and their prehistoric relatives, including the widespread green iguana. Taxonomy Iguanidae is thought to be the sister group to the collared lizards (family Crotaphytidae); the two groups likely diverged during the Late Cretaceous, as that is when ''Pristiguana'' and ''Pariguana'', the two earliest fossil genera, are known from. The subfamily Iguaninae, which contains all modern genera, likely originated in the earliest Paleocene, at about 62 million years ago. The most basal extant genus, '' Dipsosaurus,'' diverged from the rest of Iguaninae during the late Eocene, about 38 million years ago, with '' Brachylophus'' following a few million years later at about 35 million years ago, presumably after its dispersal event to the Pacific. All other modern iguana genera formed in the Neogene period. A phylogenetic tree of Iguaninae is shown here: Description Iguanas and iguana-type species are divers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viti Levu Giant Pigeon
The Viti Levu giant pigeon or Fiji giant ground pigeon (''Natunaornis gigoura'') is an extinct flightless pigeon of Viti Levu, the largest island in Fiji. It was only slightly smaller than the dodo (''Raphus cucullatus'') and Rodrigues solitaire (''Pezophaps solitaria'') and is the first giant, flightless pigeon to be discovered on a Pacific island. Remains of this species were discovered in Quaternary (probably Holocene) Cave deposits in October 1998 and November 1999. Its first description was published in 2001. The holotype is in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. It is known from the holotype tarsometatarsus and paratypes including various parts of the wings and legs. No parts of the skull are known apart from a possible referred premaxilla (MNZ S37306). The generic name "''Natunaornis''" is named after Natuna, the oldest chief of the Volivoli people in the Sigatoka Valley, wherein the fossil bones of the type species were first found. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pumilia Novaceki
''Pumilia novaceki'' is an extinct iguanid that lived in what is now Palm Springs, California, from the Blancan to Irvingtonian stages of the Pliocene to Early Pleistocene. It is currently known from a partially crushed skull. Features of the skull show both basal iguanian features, and characters very similar to the extant ''Iguana'', suggesting that the living animal may have resembled a juvenile green iguana. Etymology The genus name, ''Pumilia'', means "diminutive" in Latin, in reference to how the living animal would have resembled a very small iguana. The specific name honors Michael J. Novacek, a colleague and friend of the describer, Mark Norell. See also * '' Lapitiguana'' * ''Brachylophus gibbonsi ''Brachylophus gibbonsi'' is an extinct species of large (~1.2 m long) iguanid lizard from Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean. Its remains have been found associated with cultural sites on Lifuka, four other islands in the Haʻapai group, and Tonga ...'' References * N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brachylophus
The genus ''Brachylophus'' consists of four extant iguanid species native to the islands of Fiji and a giant extinct species from Tonga in the South West Pacific. One of the extant species, ''B. fasciatus'', is also present on Tonga, where it has apparently been introduced by humans. Etymology and taxonomy The name, ''Brachylophus'', is derived from two Greek words: brachys (βραχύς) meaning "short" and lophos (λόφος) meaning "crest" or "plume", denoting the short spiny crests found along the backs of these species. ''Brachylophus'' species are the most geographically isolated iguanas in the world. Their closest extant relatives (the genera ''Amblyrhynchus'', ''Conolophus'', ''Ctenosaura'', ''Cyclura'', ''Iguana'' and '' Sauromalus'') are present in primarily tropical regions of the Americas and islands in the Galápagos and Lesser and Greater Antilles. Several of these genera are adapted to xeric biomes. Phylogenetic evidence supports the ''Brachylophus'' lineage to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brachylophus Gibbonsi
''Brachylophus gibbonsi'' is an extinct species of large (~1.2 m long) iguanid lizard from Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean. Its remains have been found associated with cultural sites on Lifuka, four other islands in the Haʻapai group, and Tongatapu. It was consumed by the early Tongans and probably became extinct within a century of human colonization of the archipelago 2800 years ago. The four extant members of ''Brachylophus'' are much smaller, and are found in nearby Fiji. '' B. fasciatus'' is now present on Tonga as well, but was probably brought there from Fiji by humans about 800 years ago. ''B. gibbonsi'' is estimated to have been about 1.8 times the length of its living relatives. An even larger Fijian iguana of the genus '' Lapitiguana'' was also formerly present, and also became extinct shortly after the arrival of humans. The genus ''Brachylophus'' is thought to have reached the South Pacific by rafting on the South Equatorial Current 9000 km westward from the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holocene
The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene together form the Quaternary period. The Holocene has been identified with the current warm period, known as MIS 1. It is considered by some to be an interglacial period within the Pleistocene Epoch, called the Flandrian interglacial.Oxford University Press – Why Geography Matters: More Than Ever (book) – "Holocene Humanity" section https://books.google.com/books?id=7P0_sWIcBNsC The Holocene corresponds with the rapid proliferation, growth and impacts of the human species worldwide, including all of its written history, technological revolutions, development of major civilizations, and overall significant transition towards urban living in the present. The human impact on modern-era Earth and its ecosystems may be considered of global si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fossil Taxa Described In 2003
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 absolut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reptiles Of Fiji
Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the Class (biology), class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsid, sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, Squamata, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians (tuatara). As of March 2022, the Reptile Database includes about 11,700 species. In the traditional Linnaean taxonomy, Linnaean classification system, birds are considered a separate class to reptiles. However, crocodilians are more closely related to birds than they are to other living reptiles, and so modern Cladistics, cladistic classification systems include birds within Reptilia, redefining the term as a clade. Other cladistic definitions abandon the term reptile altogether in favor of the clade Sauropsida, which refers to all amniotes more closely related to modern reptiles than to mammals. The study of the traditional reptile Order (biology), orders, historically combined with that of modern amphi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quaternary Reptiles
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). 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, although a third epoch, the Anthropocene, has been proposed but is not yet officially recognised by the ICS). The Quaternary Period is typically defined by 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 formations or "orders" ( it, quattro ordini). The term "quaternary" was introduced by Jules Desnoyers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, recognising excellence in science, supporting outstanding science, providing scientific advice for policy, education and public engagement and fostering international and global co-operation. Founded on 28 November 1660, it was granted a royal charter by King Charles II as The Royal Society and is the oldest continuously existing scientific academy in the world. The society is governed by its Council, which is chaired by the Society's President, according to a set of statutes and standing orders. The members of Council and the President are elected from and by its Fellows, the basic members of the society, who are themselves elected by existing Fellows. , there are about 1,700 fellows, allowed to use the postnominal title FRS (Fellow of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The American Naturalist
''The American Naturalist'' is the monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal of the American Society of Naturalists, whose purpose is "to advance and to diffuse knowledge of organic evolution and other broad biological principles so as to enhance the conceptual unification of the biological sciences." It was established in 1867 and is published by the University of Chicago Press. The journal covers research in ecology, evolutionary biology, population, and integrative biology. , the editor-in-chief is Daniel I. Bolnick. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the journal had a 2020 impact factor of 3.926. History The journal was founded by Alpheus Hyatt, Edward S. Morse, Alpheus S. Packard Jr., and Frederick W. Putnam at the Essex Institute in Salem, Massachusetts. The first issue appeared in print dated March 1867."American Naturalist," in International Magazine Co., ''Periodicals,'' vol. 1, no. 1 (October-December 1917), pg. 5. In 1878 the journal was for sale and Ed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
