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Megalictis
''Megalictis'' is an extinct genus of large predatory mustelids that existed in North America during the "cat gap" from the Late Arikareean (Ar4) in the Miocene epoch. It is thought to have resembled a huge ferret, with a body mass of up to . History of discovery The genus ''Megalictis'' was first described by W. D. Matthew in 1907, and assigned to the family Mustelidae.Paleobiology Database Two similar genera discovered at the same time, ''Aelurocyon'' (Peterson, 1907) and ''Paroligobunis'' (Peterson, 1910) were identified as synonymous with ''Megalictis'' in 1996Andersson, p.39 though ''Paroligobunis'' was re-established as a separate genus in 1998. P. R. Bjork, in 1970, assigned the genus to the subfamily Mellivorinae, whilst J. A. Baskin reassigned it to Oligobuninae in 1998. Three species have been identified in the genus: ''M. ferox'', ''M. petersoni'', and ''M. frazieri'', whilst two more, ''Megalictis brevifacies'' and ''Megalictis simplicidens'', have since been det ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megalictis
''Megalictis'' is an extinct genus of large predatory mustelids that existed in North America during the "cat gap" from the Late Arikareean (Ar4) in the Miocene epoch. It is thought to have resembled a huge ferret, with a body mass of up to . History of discovery The genus ''Megalictis'' was first described by W. D. Matthew in 1907, and assigned to the family Mustelidae.Paleobiology Database Two similar genera discovered at the same time, ''Aelurocyon'' (Peterson, 1907) and ''Paroligobunis'' (Peterson, 1910) were identified as synonymous with ''Megalictis'' in 1996Andersson, p.39 though ''Paroligobunis'' was re-established as a separate genus in 1998. P. R. Bjork, in 1970, assigned the genus to the subfamily Mellivorinae, whilst J. A. Baskin reassigned it to Oligobuninae in 1998. Three species have been identified in the genus: ''M. ferox'', ''M. petersoni'', and ''M. frazieri'', whilst two more, ''Megalictis brevifacies'' and ''Megalictis simplicidens'', have since been det ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Largest Prehistoric Animals
The largest prehistoric animals include both vertebrate and invertebrate species. Many of them are described below, along with their typical range of size (for the general dates of extinction, see the link to each). Many species mentioned might not actually be the largest representative of their clade due to the incompleteness of the fossil record and many of the sizes given are merely estimates since no complete specimen have been found. Their body mass, especially, is largely conjecture because soft tissue was rarely fossilized. Generally the size of extinct species was subject to energetic and biomechanical constraints. Non-mammalian synapsids (Synapsida) Caseasaurs (Caseasauria) The herbivorous ''Alierasaurus'' was the largest caseid and the largest amniote to have lived at the time, with an estimated length around . '' Cotylorhynchus hancocki'' is also large, with an estimated length and weight of at least and more than . Edaphosaurids (Edaphosauridae) The larges ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oligobuninae
''Oligobuninae'' is an extinct subfamily of the family Mustelidae known from Miocene deposits in North America. The subfamily was described by J. A. Baskin in 1998; of the genera that he assigned to this clade, seven are recognized today - ''Brachypsalis'', ''Megalictis'', ''Oligobunis'', ''Promartes'', ''Zodiolestes'', '' Floridictis'' and '' Parabrachypsalis'' - representing thirteen separate species. ''Potamotherium ''Potamotherium'' ('river beast') an extinct genus of caniform carnivoran from the Miocene epoch of France and Germany. It has been previously assigned to the mustelid family, but recent work suggests that it represents a primitive relative of p ...'', usually considered to belong to Oligobuninae, has been reclassified as a basal pinnipedomorph in the family Semantoridae, which also includes '' Puijila'' and '' Semantor''.Berta, A., Morgan, C., & Boessenecker, R.W. (2018). "The Origin and Evolutionary Biology of Pinnipeds: Seals, Sea Lions, and Walruses". Annua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miocene Mustelids
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern marine invertebrates than the Pliocene has. The Miocene is preceded by the Oligocene and is followed by the Pliocene. As Earth went from the Oligocene through the Miocene and into the Pliocene, the climate slowly cooled towards a series of ice ages. The Miocene boundaries are not marked by a single distinct global event but consist rather of regionally defined boundaries between the warmer Oligocene and the cooler Pliocene Epoch. During the Early Miocene, the Arabian Peninsula collided with Eurasia, severing the connection between the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean, and allowing a faunal interchange to occur between Eurasia and Africa, including the dispersal of proboscideans into Eurasia. During the late ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ekorus
''Ekorus ekakeran'' is a large, extinct mustelid mammal. Fossils, including largely complete skeletons, are known from the late Miocene of Kenya. Description ''Ekorus'' reached almost , comparably to a wolf and much bigger than the modern honey badger ('' Mellivora capensis''). Standing tall at the shoulders, its build was not similar to that of modern mustelids. Small, modern-day weasels have short legs and can only achieve short bursts of speed. Living large mustelids are either aquatic predators (the otters, Lutrinae), or terrestrial animals with a crouching stance and heavy limbs with adaptations for digging (the wolverine, and various groups called badgers). ''Ekorus'' is a representative of an extinct ecological type of mustelid – large stalking and running mammals comparable to dogs, cats, hyenas, and amphicyonids. The legs of ''Ekorus'' are built like those of leopards. The face is short, with a felid-like tooth pattern; Ekorus was a hypercarnivore. Analysis of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern marine invertebrates than the Pliocene has. The Miocene is preceded by the Oligocene and is followed by the Pliocene. As Earth went from the Oligocene through the Miocene and into the Pliocene, the climate slowly cooled towards a series of ice ages. The Miocene boundaries are not marked by a single distinct global event but consist rather of regionally defined boundaries between the warmer Oligocene and the cooler Pliocene Epoch. During the Early Miocene, the Arabian Peninsula collided with Eurasia, severing the connection between the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean, and allowing a faunal interchange to occur between Eurasia and Africa, including the dispersal of proboscideans into Eurasia. During the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cat Gap
The cat gap is a period in the fossil record of approximately 25 million to 18.5 million years ago in which there are few fossils of cats or cat-like species found in North America. The cause of the "cat gap" is disputed, but it may have been caused by changes in the climate (global cooling), changes in the habitat and environmental ecosystem, the increasingly hypercarnivorous trend of the cats (especially the nimravids), volcanic activity, evolutionary changes in dental morphology of the Canidae species present in North America, or a periodicity of extinctions called van der Hammen cycles. Cat evolution All modern carnivorans, including cats, evolved from miacoids, which existed from approximately 66 to 33 million years ago. There were other earlier cat-like species but ''Proailurus'' (meaning "before the cat"; also called "Leman's Dawn Cat"), which appeared about 30 million years ago, is generally considered the first "true cat". The increase in disparity through t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miocene Mammals Of North America
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ... Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern marine invertebrates than the Pliocene has. The Miocene is preceded by the Oligocene and is followed by the Pliocene. As Earth went from the Oligocene through the Miocene and into the Pliocene, the climate slowly cooled towards a series of ice ages. The Miocene boundaries are not marked by a single distinct global event but consist rather of regionally defined boundaries between the warmer Oligocene and the cooler Pliocene Epoch. During the Early Miocene, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mustelid
The Mustelidae (; from Latin ''mustela'', weasel) are a family of carnivorous mammals, including weasels, badgers, otters, ferrets, martens, minks and wolverines, among others. Mustelids () are a diverse group and form the largest family in the suborder Caniformia of the order Carnivora. They comprise about 66 to 70 species in nine subfamilies. Variety Mustelids vary greatly in size and behaviour. The smaller variants of the least weasel can be under in length, while the giant otter of Amazonian South America can measure up to and sea otters can exceed in weight. Wolverines can crush bones as thick as the femur of a moose to get at the marrow, and have been seen attempting to drive bears away from their kills. The sea otter uses rocks to break open shellfish to eat. Martens are largely arboreal, while European badgers dig extensive tunnel networks, called setts. Only one mustelid has been domesticated; the ferret. Tayra are also kept as pets (although they requ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mustelidae
The Mustelidae (; from Latin ''mustela'', weasel) are a family of carnivorous mammals, including weasels, badgers, otters, ferrets, martens, minks and wolverines, among others. Mustelids () are a diverse group and form the largest family in the suborder Caniformia of the order Carnivora. They comprise about 66 to 70 species in nine subfamilies. Variety Mustelids vary greatly in size and behaviour. The smaller variants of the least weasel can be under in length, while the giant otter of Amazonian South America can measure up to and sea otters can exceed in weight. Wolverines can crush bones as thick as the femur of a moose to get at the marrow, and have been seen attempting to drive bears away from their kills. The sea otter uses rocks to break open shellfish to eat. Martens are largely arboreal, while European badgers dig extensive tunnel networks, called setts. Only one mustelid has been domesticated; the ferret. Tayra are also kept as pets (although they requ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prehistoric Mustelids
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of symbols, marks, and images appears very early among humans, but the earliest known writing systems appeared 5000 years ago. It took thousands of years for writing systems to be widely adopted, with writing spreading to almost all cultures by the 19th century. The end of prehistory therefore came at very different times in different places, and the term is less often used in discussing societies where prehistory ended relatively recently. In the early Bronze Age, Sumer in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley Civilisation, and ancient Egypt were the first civilizations to develop their own scripts and to keep historical records, with their neighbors following. Most other civilizations reached the end of prehistory during the following Iron Age. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
