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Mene Rhombea
''Mene rhombea'' is an extinct perciform fish belonging to the family Menidae. During the Middle Eocene (Lutetian epoch), about 48 to 40 mya, these fishes lived in the Tethys Ocean, a large tropical sea in the area corresponding to the current Mediterranean. This ocean was extended between the continents of Gondwana and Laurasia. At this time, where Monte Bolca is today, ''M. rhombea'', and its relative, '' M. oblonga'', lived in a tropical lagoon. Description ''Mene rhombea'' had a laterally compressed body, very long and slim pelvic fins and a wide triangular tail fin. As suggested by their fossils' small, upturned mouths, and by comparison of its living relative, as ''Mene maculata'', fishes of this species were planktivore. The species shows close affinities with contemporary species inhabiting the coral reef environment of the Indo-Pacific warm seas. Distribution Their greatly valued fossils comes from the laggerstat Monte Bolca, about 30 kilometres north-east of Verona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " dawn") and (''kainós'', "new") and refers to the "dawn" of modern ('new') fauna that appeared during the epoch. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Paleocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the Eocene is marked by a brief period in which the concentration of the carbon isotope 13C in the atmosphere was exceptionally low in comparison with the more common isotope 12C. The end is set at a major extinction event called the ''Grande Coupure'' (the "Great Break" in continuity) or the Eocene–Oligocene extinction event, which may be related to the impact of one or more large bolides in Siberia and in what is now Chesapeake Bay. As with other geologic periods, the strata that define the start and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bolca
Bolca is a village in the Veneto, on the southern margin of the Italian Alps. It is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Vestenanova, in the province of Verona. The area is famous for the marine fossils from the lagerstätte of ''Monte Bolca''. It was one of the first fossil sites with high quality preservation known to Europeans, and is still an important source of fossils from the Eocene. Geography Bolca lies in the Lessini Alps. Monte Bolca was originally at the bottom of the Tethys Ocean before being uplifted from the ocean floor during the formation of the Alps. This happened in two stages, one 24 million years ago and one between 30 and 50 million years ago. History The area was settled in prehistoric times, there are remains of a hill fort on Monte Purga dating from around 1000 BC. The Romans were active in the area, and by 1000AD the village had come under the control of a convent of the Augustinian Eremitani. In the thirteenth century the fortunes of the Vestenanova a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Verona
Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in northeastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona covers an area of and has a population of 714,310 inhabitants. It is one of the main tourist destinations in northern Italy because of its artistic heritage and several annual fairs and shows as well as the opera season in the Arena, an ancient Roman amphitheater. Between the 13th and 14th century the city was ruled by the della Scala Family. Under the rule of the family, in particular of Cangrande I della Scala, the city experienced great prosperity, becoming rich and powerful and being surrounded by new walls. The Della Scala era is survived in numerous monuments around Verona. Two of William Shakespeare's plays are set in Verona: '' Romeo and Juliet'' (which also features Romeo's v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giovanni Serafino Volta
Giovanni Serafino Volta (1764–1842) was an Italian priest, naturalist, and palaeontologist, best known for his studies of fossil fish from Monte Bolca. Volta was an ''Abate'' (or abbot) and theologian. He was a Canon of the Imperial Basilica in Mantua and the curator of the natural history department at the University of Pavia. He wrote ''Ittiolitologia Veronese del Museo Bozziano ora annesso a quello del Conte Giovambattista Gazola e di altri gabinetti di fossili Veronesi con la versione Latina'', published at Verona between 1796 and 1809. Illustrated with 76 fine plates this is the first treatise on fossil ichthyology in Italy and describes 123 species of fossil fish from the fossil site of Monte Bolca. With Louis Agassiz he also wrote ''Revue critique des poissons fossiles figurés dans l'Ittiolitologia veronesé'' (Neuchatel, 1835). Most other widely known works include: *''Elementi di Mineralogia Analitica e Sistematica '' Manimi, 1787 *''Prospetto Del Museo Bellis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perciform
Perciformes (), also called the Percomorpha or Acanthopteri, is an order or superorder of ray-finned fish. If considered a single order, they are the most numerous order of vertebrates, containing about 41% of all bony fish. Perciformes means "perch-like". Perciformes is an Order within the Clade Percomorpha consisting of "perch-like" Percomorphans. This group comprises over 10,000 species found in almost all aquatic ecosystems. The order contains about 160 families, which is the most of any order within the vertebrates. It is also the most variably sized order of vertebrates, ranging from the ''Schindleria brevipinguis'' to the marlin in the genus ''Makaira''. They first appeared and diversified in the Late Cretaceous. Among the well-known members of this group are perch and darters (Percidae), sea bass and groupers (Serranidae). Characteristics The dorsal and anal fins are divided into anterior spiny and posterior soft-rayed portions, which may be partially or complete ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Menidae
The moonfish of the genus ''Mene'', the sole extant genus of the family Menidae, are disk-shaped fish which bear a vague resemblance to gourami, thanks to their thread-like pelvic fins. Today, the genus is represented only by ''Mene maculata'' of the Indo-Pacific, where it is a popular food fish, especially in the Philippines, where it is known as ''bilong-bilong'', ''chabita'', ''hiwas'' or ''tahas''.Small-scale fisheries of San Miguel Bay, Philippines: options for management and research. . As a genus, ''Mene'' has a long fossil history, with species found in marine sediments throughout the Cenozoic Era. The earliest accepted species, '' M. purdyi'' from the Paleocene of Peru, resemble later species, such as '' M. rhombea'' of the Monte Bolca lagerstätte, and even the living species, ''M. maculata''. Experts remain undecided whether the Tunisian species, '' M. phosphatica'' is from the Lower Paleocene, thus making it older than ''M. purdyi'', or whether it is from the Ypres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lutetian
The Lutetian is, in the geologic timescale, a stage or age in the Eocene. It spans the time between . The Lutetian is preceded by the Ypresian and is followed by the Bartonian. Together with the Bartonian it is sometimes referred to as the Middle Eocene Subepoch. Stratigraphic definition The Lutetian was named after Lutetia, the Latin name for the city of Paris. The Lutetian Stage was introduced in scientific literature by French geologist Albert de Lapparent in 1883 and revised by A. Blondeau in 1981. The base of the Lutetian Stage is at the first appearance of the nanofossil ''Blackites inflatus'', according to an official reference profile ( GSSP) established in 2011. Of two candidates located in Spain, the Gorrondatxe section was chosen.See thwebsite of Eustoquio Molinafor these candidates. The top of the Lutetian (the base of the Bartonian) is at the first appearance of calcareous nanoplankton species ''Reticulofenestra reticulata''. The Lutetian overlaps with t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tethys Ocean
The Tethys Ocean ( el, Τηθύς ''Tēthús''), also called the Tethys Sea or the Neo-Tethys, was a prehistoric ocean that covered most of the Earth during much of the Mesozoic Era and early Cenozoic Era, located between the ancient continents of Gondwana and Laurasia, before the opening of the Indian and Atlantic oceans during the Cretaceous Period. It was preceded by the Paleo-Tethys Ocean, which lasted between the Cambrian and the Early Triassic, while the Neotethys formed during the Late Triassic and lasted until the early Eocene (about 50 million years ago) when it completely closed. A portion known as the Paratethys formed during the Late Jurassic, was isolated during the Oligocene (34 million years ago) and lasted up to the Pliocene (about 5 million years ago), when it largely dried out. Many major seas and lakes of Europe and Western Asia, including the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, and the Aral Sea are thought to be remnants of the Paratethys. E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gondwana
Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages of break-up, involving the separation of Antarctica from South America (forming the Drake Passage) and Australia, occurred during the Paleogene. Gondwana was not considered a supercontinent by the earliest definition, since the landmasses of Baltica, Laurentia, and Siberia were separated from it. To differentiate it from the Indian region of the same name (see ), it is also commonly called Gondwanaland. Gondwana was formed by the accretion of several cratons. Eventually, Gondwana became the largest piece of continental crust of the Palaeozoic Era, covering an area of about , about one-fifth of the Earth's surface. During the Carboniferous Period, it merged with Laurasia to form a larger supercontinent called Pangaea. Gondwana ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laurasia
Laurasia () was the more northern of two large landmasses that formed part of the Pangaea supercontinent from around ( Mya), the other being Gondwana. It separated from Gondwana (beginning in the late Triassic period) during the breakup of Pangaea, drifting farther north after the split and finally broke apart with the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean c. 56 Mya. The name is a portmanteau of Laurentia and Asia. Laurentia, Avalonia, Baltica, and a series of smaller terranes, collided in the Caledonian orogeny c. 400 Ma to form Laurussia (also known as Euramerica, or the Old Red Sandstone Continent). Laurussia then collided with Gondwana to form Pangaea. Kazakhstania and Siberia were then added to Pangaea 290–300 Ma to form Laurasia. Laurasia finally became an independent continental mass when Pangaea broke up into Gondwana and Laurasia. Terminology and origin of the concept Laurentia, the Palaeozoic core of North America and continental fragments that now ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monte Bolca
Monte Bolca is a lagerstätte near Verona, Italy that was one of the first fossil sites with high quality preservation known to Europeans, and is still an important source of fossils from the Eocene. Geology Monte Bolca was uplifted from the Tethys Ocean floor during the formation of the Alps, in two stages: one 24 million years ago, and one between 30 and 50 million years ago. The entire formation consists of of limestone, all of which contain fossils, but interspersed in which are the lagerstätte layers that contain the highly preserved specimens. Within these layers, the fish and other specimens are so highly preserved that their organs are often completely intact in fossil form, and even the skin colorWilliams, MattTaphonomy of Monte Bolca University of Bristol can sometimes be determined. The normal rearrangement of the specimens caused by mud-dwelling organisms in the layer before it turned to stone has been avoided—it is assumed that the mud in question was low in o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mene Oblonga
''Mene oblonga'' is a species of ray-finned fish that first appeared in the Monte Bolca Lagerstatten during the Lutetian epoch of the Eocene. For a menid, it has a very shallow body, especially in comparison with the sympatric '' Mene rhombea''. Its fossils are very rare in Monte Bolca. A single fossil from the early Oligocene, referred to as "''Mene oblonga'' var. ''pusilla''," was found in Chiavon, Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical .... References"A new species of Mene (Perciformes: Menidae) from the Paleocene of South America, with notes on paleoenvironment and a brief review of menid fishes." Menidae Eocene fish Oligocene fish Rupelian species extinctions Prehistoric life of Europe {{paleo-perciformes-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
