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Multituberculata
Multituberculata (commonly known as multituberculates, named for the multiple tubercles of their teeth) is an extinct order of rodent-like mammals with a fossil record spanning over 130 million years. They first appeared in the Middle Jurassic, and reached a peak diversity during the Late Cretaceous and Paleocene. They eventually declined from the mid Paleocene onwards, disappearing from the known fossil record in the late Eocene. They are the most diverse order of Mesozoic mammals with more than 200 species known, ranging from mouse-sized to beaver-sized. These species occupied a diversity of ecological niches, ranging from burrow-dwelling to squirrel-like arborealism to jerboa-like hoppers. Multituberculates are usually placed as crown mammals outside either of the two main groups of living mammals—Theria, including placentals and marsupials, and MonotremataAgustí-Antón 2002, pp 3-4—but usually as closer to Theria than to monotremes. They are considered to be clo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taeniolabis NT Small
''Taeniolabis'' ("banded incisor") is a genus of extinct multituberculate mammal from the Paleocene of North America. Description It is the largest known member of the extinct order Multituberculata, as well as the largest non-therian mammal: ''T. taoensis'', a species known from Danian deposits in the Denver Formation of Colorado, possibly exceeds 100 kg. Taxonomy It is within the suborder of Cimolodonta and is a member of the superfamily Taeniolabidoidea. The genus was named by Edward Drinker Cope in 1882. Species have also been placed with the genera '' Catopsalis'' and ''Polymastodon''. The species ''Taeniolabis lamberti'' was named by N.B. Simmons in 1987. It has been found in the Puercan (Paleocene)-age Tullock Formation of Montana. It is not quite as large as ''T. taoensis'', but still a hefty size for a multituberculate. The species ''Taeniolabis taoensis'' was named by Cope E.D. in 1882. It is also known as ''Catopsalis pollux'' (Cope, 1882); ''Polymastodon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catopsbaatar
''Catopsbaatar'' is a genus of multituberculate, an extinct order of rodent-like mammals. It lived in what is now Mongolia during the late Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous epoch, about 72 million years ago. The first fossils were collected in the early 1970s, and the animal was named as a new species of the genus ''Djadochtatherium'' in 1974, ''D. catopsaloides''. The specific name refers to the animal's similarity to the genus ''Catopsalis''. The species was moved to the genus ''Catopsalis'' in 1979, and received its own genus (''Catopsbaatar'', Greek and Mongolian for 'visible hero') in 1994. Five skulls, one molar, and one skeleton with a skull are known; the last is the genus' most complete specimen. ''Catopsbaatar'' was a member of the family Djadochtatheriidae. The skull of ''Catopsbaatar'' was up to long and, as in other multituberculates, proportionally large. The external appearance of these animals' heads may have been similar to those of rodents. The skull ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plagiaulacida
Plagiaulacida is a group of extinct multituberculate mammals. Multituberculates were among the most common mammals of the Mesozoic, "the age of the dinosaurs". Plagiaulacids are a paraphyletic grouping, containing all multituberculates that lie outside of the advanced group Cimolodonta. They ranged from the Middle Jurassic Period to the early Late Cretaceous of the northern hemisphere. During the Cenomanian, they were replaced by the more advanced cimolodontans. Kielan-Jaworowska and Hurum (2001) divides “Plagiaulacida” into three informal lineages, the paulchoffatiids, the plagiaulicids, and the allodontids. Allodontid line The Allodontid line may be a superfamily, Allodontoidea. Both allodontids and paulchoffatiids (below) were among the most basal of the plagiaulacids. The Allodontid line contains: The family Allodontidae is known from two genera from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of North America. The family Zofiabaataridae contains a single genus, '' Zofia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allotheria
Allotheria (meaning "other beasts", from the Greek , '–other and , '–wild animal) is an extinct branch of successful Mesozoic mammals. The most important characteristic was the presence of lower molariform teeth equipped with two longitudinal rows of cusps. Allotheria includes Multituberculata, Gondwanatheria (which may be part of Multituberculata, as the sister group to Cimolodonta), and probably Haramiyida, although some studies show them to be more basal mammaliaforms rather than true mammals, therefore differing from true allotheres significantly. Allotheres also had a narrow pelvis, indicating that they gave birth to tiny helpless young like marsupials or laid eggs and gave milk to feed their young like monotremes do. This is a feature of all non-placental mammals. Interpretations When he first identified Allotheria in 1880, Othniel Marsh regarded this group as an order within Marsupialia. However, in 1997 McKenna and Bell classified Allotheria as an infraclass I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cimolodonta
Cimolodonta is a taxon of extinct mammals that lived from the Cretaceous to the Eocene. They were some of the more derived members of the extinct order Multituberculata. They probably lived something of a rodent-like existence until their ecological niche was assumed by true rodents. The more basal multituberculates are found in a different suborder, "Plagiaulacida", a paraphyletic group containing all non cimolodontan multituberculates. Cimolodonta is apparently a natural (monophyletic) suborder. Remains have been identified from across the Northern Hemisphere. They first appeared during the Aptian, and completely replaced the more primitive plagiaulacidans by the early Late Cretaceous. The taxon is recognized as the informal Paracimexomys group and the superfamilies Djadochtatherioidea, Taeniolabidoidea, and Ptilodontoidea. Additionally, and of uncertain affinities, are the families Cimolomyidae, Boffiidae, Eucosmodontidae, Kogaionidae, Microcosmodontidae and the two genera ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic, Mesozoic Era and is named after the Jura Mountains, where limestone strata from the period were first identified. The start of the Jurassic was marked by the major Triassic–Jurassic extinction event, associated with the eruption of the Central Atlantic magmatic province, Central Atlantic Magmatic Province. The beginning of the Toarcian Stage started around 183 million years ago and is marked by an extinction event associated with widespread Anoxic event, oceanic anoxia, ocean acidification, and elevated temperatures likely caused by the eruption of the Karoo-Ferrar, Karoo-Ferrar large igneous provinces. The end of the Jurassic, however, has no clear boundary with the Cretaceous and i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Euharamiyida
Euharamiyida also known as Eleutherodontida, is clade of early mammals or mammal-like cynodonts from the Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous of Eurasia and possibly North America. The group is sometimes considered a sister group to Multituberculata, or part of an earlier divergence within the synapsid line. It is disputed whether or not they are related to the Haramiyids from the Late Triassic, such as ''Haramiyavia''. The morphology of their teeth indicates that they were herbivorous or omnivorous. Some members of the group are known to be arboreal, including gliding forms similar to modern flying squirrels or colugos. Evolution The position of euharamyidans is contested. They are either considered crown group mammals as members of Allotheria, related to multituberculates, or they are considered to stem-group mammals within the Mammaliaformes. The position is often dependent on the relationships of euharamiyids to the Late Triassic haramiyids such as ''Haramiyavia'' and ''Thom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska
Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska (25 April 1925 – 13 March 2015) was a Polish paleobiologist. In the mid-1960s, she led a series of Polish-Mongolian paleontological expeditions to the Gobi Desert. She was the first woman to serve on the executive committee of the International Union of Geological Sciences. Early life and education Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska was born in Sokołów Podlaski, Poland, on April 25, 1925. In 1928, her father, Franciszek Kielan, was offered a job for the Association of Agriculture and Trade Cooperatives in Warsaw, to which her family moved for five years. Zofia and family returned to Warsaw in 1934 and lived in Żoliborz - a borough of Warsaw. She began her studies in Warsaw, following the destruction after the war when the Nazis had attempted to completely destroy the city, resulting in the Department of Geology joining the ruins. She attended lectures given instead by the Polish paleontologist, Roman Kozłowski, in his own home. This is her where her passion b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or hair, and three middle ear bones. These characteristics distinguish them from reptiles (including birds) from which they diverged in the Carboniferous, over 300 million years ago. Around 6,400 extant species of mammals have been described divided into 29 orders. The largest orders, in terms of number of species, are the rodents, bats, and Eulipotyphla (hedgehogs, moles, shrews, and others). The next three are the Primates (including humans, apes, monkeys, and others), the Artiodactyla ( cetaceans and even-toed ungulates), and the Carnivora (cats, dogs, seals, and others). In terms of cladistics, which reflects evolutionary history, mammals are the only living members of the Synapsida (synapsids); this clade, together with Saur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gondwanatheria
Gondwanatheria is an extinct group of mammaliaforms that lived in parts of Gondwana, including Madagascar, India, South America, Africa and Antarctica during the Upper Cretaceous through the Paleogene (and possibly much earlier, if '' Allostaffia'' is a member of this group). Until recently, they were known only from isolated teeth, a few lower jaws, two partial skulls and one complete cranium. They are generally considered to be closely related to the multituberculates and likely the euharamiyidians, well known from the Northern Hemisphere, with which they form the clade Allotheria. Classification For several decades the affinities of the group were not clear, being first interpreted as early xenarthrans, or "toothless" mammals similar to the modern anteater. A variety of studies have placed them as allotheres related to multituberculates, possibly even true multituberculates, closer to cimolodonts than "plagiaulacidans" are. However, a more recent study recovered them as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vertebrate Palaeontology (Benton)
''Vertebrate Palaeontology'' is a basic textbook on vertebrate paleontology by Michael J. Benton, published by Blackwell's. It has so far appeared in four editions, published in 1990, 1997, 2005, and 2015. It is designed for paleontology graduate courses in biology and geology as well as for the interested layman. The book is widely used, and has received excellent reviews: *"This book is a ′must′ for a biology or geology student and researcher concerned by palaeontology. It perfectly succeeds in showing how palaeobiological information is obtained". Review of 3rd edition, ''Zentrallblatt fur Geologie und Palaontologie'', 2007. *"One anticipates that Benton's ''Vertebrate Palaeontology'' will become the 'industry standard', and as such it should occupy space on the shelves of all involved in undergraduate teaching". Ivan Sansom, School of Earth Sciences, University of Birmingham. Review of the 2nd edition for the Micropalaeontological Society. *"... his expertise in a ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle Jurassic
The Middle Jurassic is the second epoch of the Jurassic Period. It lasted from about 174.1 to 163.5 million years ago. Fossils of land-dwelling animals, such as dinosaurs, from the Middle Jurassic are relatively rare, but geological formations containing land animal fossils include the Forest Marble Formation in England, the Kilmaluag Formation in Scotland,British Geological Survey. 2011Stratigraphic framework for the Middle Jurassic strata of Great Britain and the adjoining continental shelf: research report RR/11/06 British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham. the Daohugou Beds in China, the Itat Formation in Russia, and the Isalo III Formation of western Madagascar. Paleogeography During the Middle Jurassic Epoch, Pangaea began to separate into Laurasia and Gondwana, and the Atlantic Ocean formed. Eastern Laurasia was tectonically active as the Cimmerian plate continued to collide with Laurasia's southern coast, completely closing the Paleo-Tethys Ocean. A subduction zone ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
