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Phosphatherium Skull 1996
''Phosphatherium escuillei'' is a basal proboscidean that lived from the Late Paleocene to the early stages of the Ypresian age until the early Thanetian some 56 million years ago in North Africa. Research has suggested that ''Phosphatherium'' existed during the Eocene period. Description ''P. escuillei'' possessed rather flat features, centered around a low skull and a long, straight dorsal profile. The skull itself was rather disproportionate, consisting of an elongated cranial region and a rather short rostrum. The sagittal crest, the ridge along the dorsomedian line of its skull, spans across nearly half of the skull itself. The nasal cavity is high and wide, suggesting a large snout in life. One of the main factors of ''Phosphatherium'' body is its nontraditional musculoskeletal system. The shape of its head is composed of attributes of a snout, more vividly, turning into a mouth with a rounded jawline. Similar mammals in its order retained a more snout-like nose, wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paleocene
The Paleocene, ( ) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name is a combination of the Ancient Greek ''palaiós'' meaning "old" and the Eocene Epoch (which succeeds the Paleocene), translating to "the old part of the Eocene". The epoch is bracketed by two major events in Earth's history. The K–Pg extinction event, brought on by Chicxulub impact, an asteroid impact and possibly volcanism, marked the beginning of the Paleocene and killed off 75% of living species, most famously the non-avian dinosaurs. The end of the epoch was marked by the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), which was a major climatic event wherein about 2,500–4,500 gigatons of carbon were released into the atmosphere and ocean systems, causing a spike in global temperatures and ocean acidification. In the Pal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phosphatherium Escuilliei Distribution
''Phosphatherium escuillei'' is a basal proboscidean that lived from the Late Paleocene to the early stages of the Ypresian age until the early Thanetian some 56 million years ago in North Africa. Research has suggested that ''Phosphatherium'' existed during the Eocene period. Description ''P. escuillei'' possessed rather flat features, centered around a low skull and a long, straight dorsal profile. The skull itself was rather disproportionate, consisting of an elongated cranial region and a rather short rostrum. The sagittal crest, the ridge along the dorsomedian line of its skull, spans across nearly half of the skull itself. The nasal cavity is high and wide, suggesting a large snout in life. One of the main factors of ''Phosphatherium'' body is its nontraditional musculoskeletal system. The shape of its head is composed of attributes of a snout, more vividly, turning into a mouth with a rounded jawline. Similar mammals in its order retained a more snout-like nose, wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barytherium
''Barytherium'' (meaning "heavy beast") is a genus of an extinct family (Barytheriidae) of primitive proboscideans that lived during the late Eocene and early Oligocene in North Africa. The type species is ''Barytherium grave'', found at the beginning of the 20th century in Fayum, Egypt. Since then, more complete specimens have been found at Dor el Talha, Libya. More fossils were also discovered in 2011 in the Aidum area in Dhofar by Oman's Ministry of Heritage and Culture, which was named ''Barytherium omansi''. , ''The Omani Observer'', May 22, 2011, retrieved May 22, 2011. Description [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Numidotherium , has been reassigned to its own genus, ''
''Numidotherium'' ("Numidia beast") is an extinct genus of early proboscideans, discovered in 1984, that lived during the middle Eocene of North Africa some 46 million years ago. It was about 90-100 cm tall at the shoulder and weighed about 250-300 kg. The type species, ''N. koholense'', is known from an almost complete skeleton from the site of El Kohol, southern Algeria, dating from the early/middle Eocene period. The animal had the size and the appearance of a modern tapir. In appearance, it was more slender and more plantigrade than an elephant, its closest modern relative.Libya |
Numidotheriidae
Numidotheriidae is an extinct family of primitive proboscidean that lived from the late Paleocene to the early Oligocene periods of North Africa. Fragmentary fossils (mainly teeth) of the early Eocene genera, ''Daouitherium'' and ''Phosphatherium'', have been found in the Ouled Abdun Basin, Morocco. ''Numidotherium'' is known from an almost complete skeleton from late early Eocene deposits in southern Algeria and Libya. Compared to modern elephants, the Numidotheriidae were quite small. ''Phosphatherium'', for instance, was only 60 cm long and weighed about 15 kg. ''Numidotherium'' was about 1 m in length. They occupied a similar ecological niche to the modern hippopotamus and the related early proboscid ''Moeritherium ''Moeritherium'' ("the beast from Lake Moeris") is an extinct genus of primitive proboscideans. These prehistoric mammals are related to the elephant and, more distantly, sea cows and hyraxes Hyraxes (), also called dassies, are small, thick ...'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tapir
Tapirs ( ) are large, herbivorous mammals belonging to the family Tapiridae. They are similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile nose trunk. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South and Central America, with one species inhabiting Southeast Asia. They are one of three extant branches of Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates), alongside equines and rhinoceros. Only a single genus, ''Tapirus'' is currently extant. Tapirs migrated into South America during the Pleistocene epoch from North America after the formation of the Isthmus of Panama as part of the Great American Interchange. Tapirs were once widespread in North America until the arrival of humans at the end of the Late Pleistocene, around 12,000 years ago. Species There are four widely recognized extant species of tapir, all in the genus ''Tapirus'' of the family Tapiridae. They are the South American tapir, the Malayan tapir, Baird's tapir, and the mountain tapir. In 2013, a group of researchers said they ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moeritherium
''Moeritherium'' ("the beast from Lake Moeris") is an extinct genus of primitive proboscideans. These prehistoric mammals are related to the elephant and, more distantly, sea cows and hyraxes Hyraxes (), also called dassies, are small, thickset, herbivorous mammals in the order Hyracoidea. Hyraxes are well-furred, rotund animals with short tails. Typically, they measure between long and weigh between . They are superficially simi .... They lived during the Eocene epoch. Description ''Moeritherium'' was a rotund semi-aquatic mammal with short, stubby legs that lived about 37-35 million years agoDan Koehl, Koehl, D. 200The genus ''Moeritherium'', ancestor of elephants.Downloaded on 6 December 2006. Its body shape and lifestyle demonstrate convergent evolution with pigs, tapirs, and the pygmy hippopotamus. ''Moeritherium'' was smaller than most or all later proboscideans, standing only high at the shoulder and weighing . The shape of their teeth suggests that they ate soft w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proboscidea
The Proboscidea (; , ) are a taxonomic order of afrotherian mammals containing one living family (Elephantidae) and several extinct families. First described by J. Illiger in 1811, it encompasses the elephants and their close relatives. From the mid-Miocene onwards, most proboscideans were very large. The largest land mammal of all time may have been a proboscidean; ''Palaeoloxodon namadicus'' was up to at the shoulder and may have weighed up to , almost double the weight of some sauropods like ''Diplodocus carnegii''. The largest extant proboscidean is the African bush elephant, with a record of size of at the shoulder and . In addition to their enormous size, later proboscideans are distinguished by tusks and long, muscular trunks, which were less developed or absent in early proboscideans. Three species of elephant are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. Elephantidae is the only surviving family of the or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to the east, and the disputed territory of Western Sahara to the south. Mauritania lies to the south of Western Sahara. Morocco also claims the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta, Melilla and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, and several small Spanish-controlled islands off its coast. It spans an area of or , with a population of roughly 37 million. Its official and predominant religion is Islam, and the official languages are Arabic and Berber; the Moroccan dialect of Arabic and French are also widely spoken. Moroccan identity and culture is a mix of Arab, Berber, and European cultures. Its capital is Rabat, while its largest city is Casablanca. In a region inhabited since the Paleolithic Era over 300,000 years ago, the first Moroccan s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maxilla
The maxilla (plural: ''maxillae'' ) in vertebrates is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxillary bones are fused at the intermaxillary suture, forming the anterior nasal spine. This is similar to the mandible (lower jaw), which is also a fusion of two mandibular bones at the mandibular symphysis. The mandible is the movable part of the jaw. Structure In humans, the maxilla consists of: * The body of the maxilla * Four processes ** the zygomatic process ** the frontal process of maxilla ** the alveolar process ** the palatine process * three surfaces – anterior, posterior, medial * the Infraorbital foramen * the maxillary sinus * the incisive foramen Articulations Each maxilla articulates with nine bones: * two of the cranium: the frontal and ethmoid * seven of the face: the nasal, zygomatic, lacrimal, inferior n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daouitherium
''Daouitherium'' ("Sidi Daoui beast" from the name of the site where it was discovered) is an extinct genus of early proboscideans (a group including modern elephants and their extinct relatives) that lived during the early Eocene (Ypresian stage) some 55 million years ago in North Africa. Remains of this animal, fragments of jaws and teeth, have been found in the Ouled Abdoun Basin in Morocco. It is estimated to have weighed between , making it one of the earliest large mammals known from Africa and one of the oldest known proboscideans. Another estimate gives a weight of . Description ''Daouitherium'' is known only from lower jaws and associated cheek teeth. It had lophodont and bilophodont molars, i.e. molars with large ridges. The second and third premolars had a notably large cusp called the hypoconid. Gheerbrant et al. described the teeth as similar to those of other early proboscideans ''Phosphatherium'', ''Numidotherium'', and ''Barytherium''. See also *Fauna of Africa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eritherium
''Eritherium'' is an extinct genus of early Proboscidea found in the Ouled Abdoun basin (early Thanetian age), Morocco. It lived about 60 million years ago. It was first named by Emmanuel Gheerbrant in 2009 and the type species is ''Eritherium azzouzorum''. ''Eritherium ''is the oldest, smallest and most primitive known elephant relative. Description The holotype (specimen number MNHN PM69) is now in the Musée d'histoire naturelle - Guimet in Lyon and includes an upper jaw (with approaches of the zygomatic bone and two maxillary branches, each of the two posterior premolars (P3 and 4) and three molars (M1-3)). The piece is about 6 inches long, 5 inches wide and just over 3 inches high. In addition, the fossils include 15 more objects including the skull bones (frontal and nasal bones), lower jaw fragments and teeth and the upper and lower jaw. It was about 20 cm tall at the shoulder and weighed about 5–6 kg. Generally, ''Eritherium ''shared similarities in the st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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