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Meraxes Gigas
''Meraxes'' is a genus of carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Huincul Formation of Argentine Patagonia. The genus contains a single species, ''Meraxes gigas''. Discovery and naming The holotype of ''Meraxes'', previously called the "Campanas carcharodontosaurid", MMCh-PV 65, was discovered in 2012. Known bones include a nearly complete skull, pectoral and pelvic elements, partial forelimbs, complete hindlimbs, fragmentary ribs and cervical and dorsal vertebrae, a sacrum, and several complete caudal vertebrae. It has the most complete carcharodontosaurid skeleton known from the Southern Hemisphere. ''Meraxes gigas'' was described in 2022 by Canale ''et al''. based on these remains. The generic name, "''Meraxes''", honors a dragon from the George R.R. Martin fantasy novel series, ''A Song of Ice and Fire''. The specific name, "''gigas''", is derived from a Greek word meaning "giant", in reference to its large size. Description ''Meraxes'' was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the Latin word for the white limestone known as chalk. The chalk of northern France and the white cliffs of south-eastern England date from the Cretaceous Period. Climate During the Late Cretaceous, the climate was warmer than present, although throughout the period a cooling trend is evident. The tropics became restricted to equatorial regions and northern latitudes experienced markedly more seasonal climatic conditions. Geography Due to plate tectonics, the Americas were gradually moving westward, causing the Atlantic Ocean to expand. The Western Interior Seaway divided North America into eastern and western halves; Appalachia and Laramidia. India maintained a northward course towards Asia. In the Southern Hemisphere, Australia and Ant ... [...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] |
Meraxes Gigas Ilustración Científica Realizada Por Carlos Papolio
''Meraxes'' is a genus of carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Huincul Formation of Argentine Patagonia. The genus contains a single species, ''Meraxes gigas''. Discovery and naming The holotype of ''Meraxes'', previously called the "Campanas carcharodontosaurid", MMCh-PV 65, was discovered in 2012. Known bones include a nearly complete skull, pectoral and pelvic elements, partial forelimbs, complete hindlimbs, fragmentary ribs and cervical and dorsal vertebrae, a sacrum, and several complete caudal vertebrae. It has the most complete carcharodontosaurid skeleton known from the Southern Hemisphere. ''Meraxes gigas'' was described in 2022 by Canale ''et al''. based on these remains. The generic name, "''Meraxes''", honors a dragon from the George R.R. Martin fantasy novel series, ''A Song of Ice and Fire''. The specific name, "''gigas''", is derived from a Greek word meaning "giant", in reference to its large size. Description ''Meraxes'' was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alvarezsauridae
Alvarezsauridae is a family of small, long-legged dinosaurs. Although originally thought to represent the earliest known flightless birds, they are now thought to be an early diverging branch of maniraptoran theropods. Alvarezsaurids were highly specialized. They had tiny but stout forelimbs, with compact, bird-like hands. Their skeletons suggest that they had massive breast and arm muscles, possibly adapted for digging or tearing. They had long, tube-shaped snouts filled with tiny teeth. They have been interpreted as myrmecophagous, adapted to prey on colonial insects such as termites, with the short arms acting as effective digging instruments to break into nests. ''Alvarezsaurus'', the type genus of the family, was named for the historian Gregorio Álvarez. History of study Bonaparte (1991) described the first alvarezsaurid, ''Alvarezsaurus calvoi'', from an incomplete skeleton found in Patagonia, Argentina. Bonaparte also named a family, Alvarezsauridae, to contain it. He a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tyrannosauridae
Tyrannosauridae (or tyrannosaurids, meaning "tyrant lizards") is a family of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs that comprises two subfamilies containing up to thirteen genera, including the eponymous ''Tyrannosaurus''. The exact number of genera is controversial, with some experts recognizing as few as three. All of these animals lived near the end of the Cretaceous Period and their fossils have been found only in North America and Asia. Although descended from smaller ancestors, tyrannosaurids were almost always the largest predators in their respective ecosystems, putting them at the apex of the food chain. The largest species was ''Tyrannosaurus rex'', one of the largest and most massive known land predators, which measured over in length and according to most modern estimates to in weight. Tyrannosaurids were bipedal carnivores with massive skulls filled with large teeth. Despite their large size, their legs were long and proportioned for fast movement. In contrast, their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abelisauridae
Abelisauridae (meaning "Abel's lizards") is a family (or clade) of ceratosaurian theropod dinosaurs. Abelisaurids thrived during the Cretaceous period, on the ancient southern supercontinent of Gondwana, and today their fossil remains are found on the modern continents of Africa and South America, as well as on the Indian subcontinent and the island of Madagascar. Isolated teeth were found in the Late Jurassic of Portugal, and the Late Cretaceous genera '' Tarascosaurus'' and ''Arcovenator'' have been described in France. Abelisaurids first appear in the fossil record of the early middle Jurassic period, and at least two genera (the Moroccan ''Chenanisaurus'' and the Madagascan ''Majungasaurus'') survived until the end of the Mesozoic era 66 million years ago. Like most theropods, abelisaurids were carnivorous bipeds. They were characterized by stocky hind limbs and extensive ornamentation of the skull bones, with grooves and pits. In many abelisaurids, such as ''Carnotaurus'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carcharodontosauridae
Carcharodontosauridae (carcharodontosaurids; from the Greek καρχαροδοντόσαυρος, ''carcharodontósauros'': "shark-toothed lizards") is a group of carnivorous theropod dinosaurs. In 1931, Ernst Stromer named Carcharodontosauridae as a family, which, in modern paleontology, indicates a clade within Carnosauria. Carcharodontosaurids include some of the largest land predators ever known: ''Giganotosaurus'', ''Mapusaurus'', ''Carcharodontosaurus'', and ''Tyrannotitan'' all rivaled or exceeded ''Tyrannosaurus'' in size. A 2015 paper by Christophe Hendrickx and colleagues gives a maximum length estimate of for the largest carcharodontosaurids, while the smallest carcharodontosaurids were estimated to have been at least long. Evolution Along with the spinosaurids, carcharodontosaurids were the largest predators in the early and middle Cretaceous throughout Gondwana, with species also present in North America (''Acrocanthosaurus''), Europe (''Concavenator'') and Asia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convergent Evolution
Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last common ancestor of those groups. The cladistic term for the same phenomenon is homoplasy. The recurrent evolution of flight is a classic example, as flying insects, birds, pterosaurs, and bats have independently evolved the useful capacity of flight. Functionally similar features that have arisen through convergent evolution are ''analogous'', whereas '' homologous'' structures or traits have a common origin but can have dissimilar functions. Bird, bat, and pterosaur wings are analogous structures, but their forelimbs are homologous, sharing an ancestral state despite serving different functions. The opposite of convergence is divergent evolution, where related species evolve different traits. Convergent evolution is similar to parallel evo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acrocanthosaurus
''Acrocanthosaurus'' ( ; ) is a genus of carcharodontosaurid dinosaur that existed in what is now North America during the Aptian and early Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous, from 113 to 110 million years ago. Like most dinosaur genera, ''Acrocanthosaurus'' contains only a single species, ''A. atokensis''. Its fossil remains are found mainly in the U.S. states of Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming, although teeth attributed to ''Acrocanthosaurus'' have been found as far east as Maryland, suggesting a continent wide range. ''Acrocanthosaurus'' was a bipedal predator. As the name suggests, it is best known for the high neural spines on many of its vertebrae, which most likely supported a ridge of muscle over the animal's neck, back, and hips. ''Acrocanthosaurus'' was one of the largest theropods, with the largest known specimen reaching in length and weighing approximately . Large theropod footprints discovered in Texas may have been made by ''Acrocanthosaurus'', although there ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meraxes Size Comparison
''Meraxes'' is a genus of carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Huincul Formation of Argentine Patagonia. The genus contains a single species, ''Meraxes gigas''. Discovery and naming The holotype of ''Meraxes'', previously called the "Campanas carcharodontosaurid", MMCh-PV 65, was discovered in 2012. Known bones include a nearly complete skull, pectoral and pelvic elements, partial forelimbs, complete hindlimbs, fragmentary ribs and cervical and dorsal vertebrae, a sacrum, and several complete caudal vertebrae. It has the most complete carcharodontosaurid skeleton known from the Southern Hemisphere. ''Meraxes gigas'' was described in 2022 by Canale ''et al''. based on these remains. The generic name, "''Meraxes''", honors a dragon from the George R.R. Martin fantasy novel series, ''A Song of Ice and Fire''. The specific name, "''gigas''", is derived from a Greek word meaning "giant", in reference to its large size. Description ''Meraxes'' was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greek Language
Greek ( el, label=Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy (Calabria and Salento), southern Albania, and other regions of the Balkans, the Black Sea coast, Asia Minor, and the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning at least 3,400 years of written records. Its writing system is the Greek alphabet, which has been used for approximately 2,800 years; previously, Greek was recorded in writing systems such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic, and many other writing systems. The Greek language holds a very important place in the history of the Western world. Beginning with the epics of Homer, ancient Greek literature includes many works of lasting impo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Song Of Ice And Fire
''A Song of Ice and Fire'' is a series of epic fantasy novels by the American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. He began the first volume of the series, ''A Game of Thrones'', in 1991, and it was published in 1996. Martin, who initially envisioned the series as a trilogy, has published five out of a planned seven volumes. The fifth and most recent volume of the series, ''A Dance with Dragons'', was published in 2011, six years after the publication of the preceding book, ''A Feast for Crows''. He is currently writing the sixth novel, ''The Winds of Winter''. A seventh novel, ''A Dream of Spring'', is planned. ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' takes place on the fictional continents Westeros and Essos. The point of view of each chapter in the story is a limited perspective of a range of characters growing from nine in the first novel, to 31 characters by the fifth novel. Three main stories interweave: a dynastic war among several families for control of Westeros, the risin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
