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Loxomma
''Loxomma'' (meaning “slanting eyes”) is an extinct genus of Loxommatinae and one of the first Carboniferous tetrapods. They were first described in 1862 and further described in 1870 when two more craniums were found. It is mostly associated with the area of the United Kingdom. They share features with modern reptiles as well as with fish. They had 4 paddle-like limbs that they used to swim in lakes, but they breathed air. Their diet consisted mostly of live fish. They are of the family Baphetidae which are distinguished by their keyhole shaped orbits, while ''Loxomma'' themselves are distinguished by the unique texture on their skulls, said to be honeycomb-like. History and discovery The genus ''Loxomma'' was discovered and named by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1862 via a near perfect cranium, a vertebra and a rib in the Lanarkshire coal-field of Scotland. The family Baphetidae were among the first Carboniferous tetrapods to be found and were first described by William Da ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baphetidae
Baphetidae is an extinct family of early tetrapods. Baphetids were large labyrinthodont predators of the Late Carboniferous period (Namurian through Westphalian) of Europe. Fragmentary remains from the Early Carboniferous of Canada have been tentatively assigned to the group. The phylogenetic relationships of baphetids is uncertain; while many studies have placed the group as a close relative of Amniota, other analyses have found Baphetidae to be a more basal clade of early stem tetrapods. Baphetids were among the first of the Carboniferous fossil tetrapods to be found and were originally described in 1850 by John William Dawson. The baphetids have been referred to the family Loxommatidae, but this group was later shown to be a junior synonym of Baphetidae, which was named earlier in 1865. Baphetids are known mainly from skulls; very little postcranial material has been found. Palaeobiology The presence of lateral lines and the long rows of needle-like teeth show that most were f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loxommatinae
Baphetidae is an extinct family of early tetrapods. Baphetids were large labyrinthodont predators of the Late Carboniferous period ( Namurian through Westphalian) of Europe. Fragmentary remains from the Early Carboniferous of Canada have been tentatively assigned to the group. The phylogenetic relationships of baphetids is uncertain; while many studies have placed the group as a close relative of Amniota, other analyses have found Baphetidae to be a more basal clade of early stem tetrapods. Baphetids were among the first of the Carboniferous fossil tetrapods to be found and were originally described in 1850 by John William Dawson. The baphetids have been referred to the family Loxommatidae, but this group was later shown to be a junior synonym of Baphetidae, which was named earlier in 1865. Baphetids are known mainly from skulls; very little postcranial material has been found. Palaeobiology The presence of lateral lines and the long rows of needle-like teeth show that most wer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baphetoids
Baphetoidea is a superfamily of early tetrapods. It includes the family Baphetidae and several more basal genera such as '' Eucritta'' and ''Spathicephalus'' (which has been given its own family Spathicephalidae). The superfamily has also been called Loxommatoidea, but this name is a junior synonym of Baphetoidea. Taxonomy Baphetoidea was named by Edward Drinker Cope Edward Drinker Cope (July 28, 1840 – April 12, 1897) was an American zoologist, paleontologist, comparative anatomist, herpetologist, and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested ... in 1875. The name Loxommatoidea was erected by D.M.S. Watson in 1929 for baphetids such as '' Loxomma'', which were then known as loxommatids. Loxommatids were later shown to be members of Baphetidae, and Loxommatoidea was synonymized with Baphetoidea as a result. Because Baphetoidea was the first erected name, it has priority over Loxommatoidea. References ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megalocephalus
''Megalocephalus'' (meaning "big head") is an extinct genus of baphetid animal from the late Carboniferous ( Westphalian A-C) of the British Isles and the United States (Ohio). It contains two species, ''M. pachycephalus'' and ''M. lineolatus''. History ''Megalocephalus pachycephalus'' ''Megalocephalus pachycephalus'' is one of the most common large amphibians from the Carboniferous of Britain, and is known from several sites in England, Scotland, and Ireland. The first known fossils of the genus were cranial fragments which were misattributed to ''Rhizodus'' jaw bones upon their discovery in 1864. These fragments, and many subsequent discoveries, were recovered from a quarry near Newsham, Northumberland. Other ''Megalocephalus'' fossils found in the 1860s had been referred to other large amphibians, namely ''Pteroplax and'' ''Anthracosaurus''. Two well-preserved skulls and associated jaw bones were found in Newsham in 1870 and 1871, though these were also mistakenly refe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Labyrinthodontia
"Labyrinthodontia" (Greek, 'maze-toothed') is an informal grouping of extinct predatory amphibians which were major components of ecosystems in the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras (about 390 to 150 million years ago). Traditionally considered a subclass of the class Amphibia, modern classification systems recognize that labyrinthodonts are not a formal natural group (clade) exclusive of other tetrapods. Instead, they consistute an evolutionary grade (a paraphyletic group), ancestral to living tetrapods such as lissamphibians (modern amphibians) and amniotes (reptiles, mammals, and kin). "Labyrinthodont"-grade vertebrates evolved from lobe-finned fishes in the Devonian, though a formal boundary between fish and amphibian is difficult to define at this point in time. "Labyrinthodont" generally refers to extinct four-limbed tetrapods with a large body size and a crocodile-like lifestyle. The name describes the pattern of infolding of the dentin and enamel of the teeth, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kyrinion
''Kyrinion'' is an extinct genus of baphetid tetrapod from the Late Carboniferous of England. It is known from a skull that was found in Tyne and Wear county dating back to the Westphalian (stage), Westphalian stage. Along with the skull is part of the lower jaw, an arch of the Atlas (anatomy), atlas bone (the vertebra that connects to the skull) and a rib possibly belonging to a cervical (neck) vertebra. The type species ''K. martilli'' was named from this material in 2003. Description The holotype skull of ''Kyrinion'' is well preserved with the back of the skull and both stapes, or ear bones, intact. The orbit (anatomy), orbits, or eye sockets, are somewhat triangular in shape. Areas connecting the palate with the jaws and braincase make the skull inflexible. Lateral lines, used for sensory perception in aquatic environments, are present on the quadratojugal bone behind the eyes. The lower jaw lacks the distinctive features of some other baphetids, such as teeth on the paras ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carboniferous'' means "coal-bearing", from the Latin '' carbō'' ("coal") and '' ferō'' ("bear, carry"), and refers to the many coal beds formed globally during that time. The first of the modern 'system' names, it was coined by geologists William Conybeare and William Phillips in 1822, based on a study of the British rock succession. The Carboniferous is often treated in North America as two geological periods, the earlier Mississippian and the later Pennsylvanian. Terrestrial animal life was well established by the Carboniferous Period. Tetrapods (four limbed vertebrates), which had originated from lobe-finned fish during the preceding Devonian, became pentadactylous in and diversified during the Carboniferous, including early amphibian line ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crocodilia
Crocodilia (or Crocodylia, both ) is an order of mostly large, predatory, semiaquatic reptiles, known as crocodilians. They first appeared 95 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous period ( Cenomanian stage) and are the closest living relatives of birds, as the two groups are the only known survivors of the Archosauria. Members of the order's total group, the clade Pseudosuchia, appeared about 250 million years ago in the Early Triassic period, and diversified during the Mesozoic era. The order Crocodilia includes the true crocodiles (family Crocodylidae), the alligators and caimans (family Alligatoridae), and the gharial and false gharial (family Gavialidae). Although the term 'crocodiles' is sometimes used to refer to all of these, crocodilians is a less ambiguous vernacular term for members of this group. Large, solidly built, lizard-like reptiles, crocodilians have long flattened snouts, laterally compressed tails, and eyes, ears, and nostrils at the top ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paleobiology Database
The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals, plants, and microorganisms. History The Paleobiology Database (PBDB) originated in the NCEAS-funded Phanerozoic Marine Paleofaunal Database initiative, which operated from August 1998 through August 2000. From 2000 to 2015, PBDB received funding from the National Science Foundation. PBDB also received support form the Australian Research Council. From 2000 to 2010 it was housed at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, a cross-disciplinary research center within the University of California, Santa Barbara. It is currently housed at University of Wisconsin-Madison and overseen by an international committee of major data contributors. The Paleobiology Database works closely with the Neotoma Paleoecology Database, which has a similar intellectual history, but has focused on the Quaternary (with an emphasis on the late Pleistocene and Holocen ... [...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] |
Humerus
The humerus (; ) is a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. It connects the scapula and the two bones of the lower arm, the radius and ulna, and consists of three sections. The humeral upper extremity consists of a rounded head, a narrow neck, and two short processes (tubercles, sometimes called tuberosities). The body is cylindrical in its upper portion, and more prismatic below. The lower extremity consists of 2 epicondyles, 2 processes (trochlea & capitulum), and 3 fossae (radial fossa, coronoid fossa, and olecranon fossa). As well as its true anatomical neck, the constriction below the greater and lesser tubercles of the humerus is referred to as its surgical neck due to its tendency to fracture, thus often becoming the focus of surgeons. Etymology The word "humerus" is derived from la, humerus, umerus meaning upper arm, shoulder, and is linguistically related to Gothic ''ams'' shoulder and Greek ''ōmos''. Structure Upper extremity The upper or pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
