|
Phosphatosaurus
''Phosphatosaurus'' is an extinct genus of dyrosaurid crocodylomorph. It existed during the early Eocene, with fossils having been found from North Africa in Tunisia and Mali. Named in 1955, ''Phosphatosaurus'' is a monotypic genus; the type species is ''P. gavialoides''. A specimen has been discovered from Niger, but it cannot be classified at the species level. ''Phosphatosaurus'' is closely related to the Cretaceous genus ''Sokotosuchus'', which is known from Niger and Mali. Because ''Phosphatosaurus'' is only known from Paleogene localities, the close relationship with ''Sokotosuchus'' implies that there is a long ghost lineage extending back into the Maastrichtian that is not known in the fossil record. Description ''Phosphatosaurus'' is a large dyrosaurid estimated at in length, with blunt teeth. The tip of the snout is spoon-shaped from a lateral expansion of the rostral portion of the mandible. The dentition is nonhomodont. Alveolar "couplets" are present in the lower ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phosphatosaurinae
Dyrosauridae is a family of extinct neosuchian crocodyliforms that lived from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) to the Eocene. Dyrosaurid fossils are globally distributed, having been found in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America. Over a dozen species are currently known, varying greatly in overall size and cranial shape. A majority were aquatic, some terrestrial and others fully marine (see locomotion below), with species inhabiting both freshwater and marine environments. Ocean-dwelling dyrosaurids were among the few marine reptiles to survive the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. The dyrosaurids were a group of mostly marine, long jawed, crocodile-like quadrupeds up to long. The largest dyrosaurid was probably ''Phosphatosaurus'' estimated at in length. Based on bone tissue evidence, it has been hypothesized that they were slow-growing near-shore marine animals with interlocking closed jaws, able to swim as well as walk on land. External nostrils at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dyrosauridae
Dyrosauridae is a family of extinct neosuchian crocodyliforms that lived from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) to the Eocene. Dyrosaurid fossils are globally distributed, having been found in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America. Over a dozen species are currently known, varying greatly in overall size and cranial shape. A majority were aquatic, some terrestrial and others fully marine (see locomotion below), with species inhabiting both freshwater and marine environments. Ocean-dwelling dyrosaurids were among the few marine reptiles to survive the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. The dyrosaurids were a group of mostly marine, long jawed, crocodile-like quadrupeds up to long. The largest dyrosaurid was probably ''Phosphatosaurus'' estimated at in length. Based on bone tissue evidence, it has been hypothesized that they were slow-growing near-shore marine animals with interlocking closed jaws, able to swim as well as walk on land. External nostrils at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arambourgisuchus
''Arambourgisuchus'' ("Prof. Camille Arambourg's crocodile") is an extinct genus of dyrosaurid crocodylomorph from the late Palaeocene of Morocco, found in the region of Sidi Chenane in 2000, following collaboration by French and Moroccan institutions, and described in 2005 by a team led by palaeontologist Stéphane Jouve. ''Arambourgisuchus'' was a large animal with an elongated skull 1 meter in length. History and naming The fossils of ''Arambourgisuchus'' were unearthed in the Spring of 2000 thanks to the collaboration of French (French National Centre for Scientific Research, National Museum of Natural History, France) and Moroccon (Office Chérifien des Phosphates, Ministére de l’Energie et des Mines, Morocco) researchers in the phosphatic deposits of the Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco. The deposits of the basin range from the latest Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) to the middle Eocene (Lutetian), with the deposits yielding ''Arambourgisuchus'' dating to the Thanetian age of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), 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 Carbon-13, 13C in the atmosphere was exceptionally low in comparison with the more common isotope Carbon-12, 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 Popigai impact structure, Siberia and in what is now ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heterodont
In anatomy, a heterodont (from Greek, meaning 'different teeth') is an animal which possesses more than a single tooth morphology. In vertebrates, heterodont pertains to animals where teeth are differentiated into different forms. For example, members of the Synapsida generally possess incisors, canines ("eyeteeth"), premolars, and molars. The presence of heterodont dentition is evidence of some degree of feeding and or hunting specialization in a species. In contrast, homodont or isodont dentition refers to a set of teeth that possess the same tooth morphology. In invertebrates, the term heterodont refers to a condition where teeth of differing sizes occur in the hinge plate, a part of the Bivalvia Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of w .... References See also * D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Congosaurus
''Congosaurus'' is an extinct genus of dyrosaurid mesoeucrocodylian. Fossils have been found from Lândana, in Angola and date back to the Paleocene epoch. In 1952 and 1964 ''Congosaurus'' was proposed to be synonymous with ''Dyrosaurus''. The genus was later thought synonymous with ''Hyposaurus'' in 1976 and 1980. It has since been proven a distinct genus of dyrosaurid separate from both ''Dyrosaurus'' and ''Hyposaurus''. In 2007, a new species of ''Congosaurus'' was constructed after previously being assigned to '' Rhabdognathus'', and named ''C. compressus'', extending the geographic range of the genus into the present-day Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , .... Lateromedially compressed teeth show its close relation to ''C. bequaerti''. References Pal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chenanisuchus
''Chenanisuchus'' ("Chenane crocodile") is a genus of dyrosaurid crocodyliform from the Late Cretaceous of Mali and the Late Palaeocene of Sidi Chenane in Morocco. It was described in 2005, after expeditions uncovered it in 2000. The type species is ''C. lateroculi'' ("lateralis", lateral; "oculi", eyes), in reference to the laterally facing eyes. Currently, ''Chenanisuchus'' is the most basal known dyrosaurid. Material Two specimens of ''C. lateroculi'' – OCP DEK-GE 262 (holotype, nearly complete skull with mandibular fragments) and OCP DEK-GE 61 (nearly complete skull) – come from the Sidi Chenane area in Morocco, which is Late Palaeocene (Thanetian) in age.Jouve ''et al.'', 2005. Fossils of ''Chenanisuchus'' were also found in Maastrichtian age strata in Mali, showing that ''Chenanisuchus'' survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. Systematics ''Chenanisuchus lateroculi'' is referred to Dyrosauridae by Jouve ''et al.'' (2005), based on three morphologic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dyrosaurus
''Dyrosaurus'' is a genus of extinct crocodylomorph that lived during the early Eocene. The name ''Dyrosaurus'' comes from () the Greek for lizard or reptile, and Dyr for Djebel Dyr (mountain) close to where the type species was discovered. It was a large reptile with an estimated body length of . Species Although the family Dyrosauridae is quite diverse and contains a variety of species, the genus ''Dyrosaurus'' has only two described species: ''D. phosphaticus'' and ''D. maghribensis''. ''D. phosphaticus'' was first discovered in Algeria and Tunisia whereas ''D. maghribensis'' has only been found in Morocco. ''D. maghribensis'' differs from ''D. phosphaticus'' by several synapomorphies, most notably: a smooth dorsal margin of the parietal and widely opened choanae, interfenestral bar wide and strongly T-shaped instead of moderately T-shaped. In ''D. maghribensis'' the lateral and medial dorsal osteoderms are not sutured and have no serrated margin. The anterolateral margin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyposaurus
''Hyposaurus'' is a genus of extinct marine dyrosaurid crocodyliform. Fossils have been found in Paleocene aged rocks of the Iullemmeden Basin in West Africa, Campanian–Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) Shendi Formation of Sudan and Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) through Danian (Early Paleocene) strata in New Jersey, Alabama and South Carolina. Isolated teeth comparable to ''Hyposaurus'' have also been found in Thanetian (Late Paleocene) strata of Virginia.Denton Jr., R. K., Dobie, J. L. and D. C. Parris, 1997. The Marine Crocodilian ''Hyposaurus'' in North America. from Ancient Marine Reptiles, editors J. M. Callaway and E. L. Nicholls, Academic Press. It was related to ''Dyrosaurus''. The priority of the species ''H. rogersii'' has been debated,Norell, M. A. and G. W. Storrs. 1989. Catalogue and review of the type fossil crocodilians in the Yale Peabody Museum. Postilla 203:1-28 however there is no sound basis for the recognition of more than one species from North America. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhabdognathus
''Rhabdognathus'' is an extinct genus of dyrosaurid crocodylomorph. It is known from rocks dating to the Paleocene epoch from western Africa, and specimens dating back to the Maastrichtian era were identified in 2008. It was named by Swinton in 1930 for a lower jaw fragment from Nigeria. The type species is ''Rhabdognathus rarus''. Stéphane Jouve subsequently assessed ''R. rarus'' as indeterminate at the species level, but not at the genus level, and thus dubious. Two skulls which were assigned to the genus ''Rhabdognathus'' but which could not be shown to be identical to ''R. rarus'' were given new species: ''R. aslerensis'' and ''R. keiniensis'', both from Mali. The genus formerly contained the species ''Rhabdognathus compressus'', which was reassigned to ''Congosaurus compressus'' after analysis of the lower jaw of a specimen found that it was more similar to that of the species ''Congosaurus bequaerti''. ''Rhabdognathus'' is believed to be the closest relative to the extinct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eric Buffetaut
The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* aina(z)'', meaning "one, alone, unique", ''as in the form'' ''Æ∆inrikr'' explicitly, but it could also be from ''* aiwa(z)'' "everlasting, eternity", as in the Gothic form ''Euric''. The second element ''- ríkr'' stems either from Proto-Germanic ''* ríks'' "king, ruler" (cf. Gothic ''reiks'') or the therefrom derived ''* ríkijaz'' "kingly, powerful, rich, prince"; from the common Proto-Indo-European root * h₃rḗǵs. The name is thus usually taken to mean "sole ruler, autocrat" or "eternal ruler, ever powerful". ''Eric'' used in the sense of a proper noun meaning "one ruler" may be the origin of ''Eriksgata'', and if so it would have meant "one ruler's journey". The tour was the medieval Swedish king's journey, when newly elected, to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Subfamily (biology)
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoological names with "-inae". See also * International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants * International Code of Zoological Nomenclature * Rank (botany) * Rank (zoology) In biological classification, taxonomic rank is the relative level of a group of organisms (a taxon) in an ancestral or hereditary hierarchy. A common system consists of species, genus, family, order, class, phylum, kingdom, domain. While olde ... Sources {{biology-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
