Proavis
Proavis refers to a hypothetical extinct species or hypothetical extinct taxon and was coined in the early 20th century in an attempt to support and explain the hypothetical evolutionary steps and anatomical adaptations leading from non-avian theropod dinosaurs to birds. The term has also been used by defenders of the thecodontian origin of birds. History The term "Proavis" was first coined, although under the form "Pro-Aves", by English osteologist and zoologist William Plane Pycraft in "The Origin of Birds", a 1906 article published in the magazine ''Knowledge and Scientific News''. Pycraft added to his article his own drawn depiction of the hypothetical animal, a restoration entitled "One of the Pro-Aves". Pycraft's "Pro-Avis" (singular of "Pro-Aves") was arboreal, as suggested Professor Osborn six years before, in 1900, in an article dealing with the hypothetical common ancestors of dinosaurs and birds. Pycraft assumed that birds had developed as tree-dwelling dinosaurs, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Origin Of Avian Flight
Around 350 BCE, Aristotle and other philosophers of the time attempted to explain the aerodynamics of avian flight. Even after the discovery of the ancestral bird ''Archaeopteryx'' which lived over 150 million years ago, debates still persist regarding the evolution of flight. There are three leading hypotheses pertaining to avian flight: Pouncing Proavis model, Cursorial model, and Arboreal model. In March 2018, scientists reported that ''Archaeopteryx'' was likely capable of flight, but in a manner substantially different from that of modern birds. Flight characteristics For flight to occur, four physical forces (thrust and drag, lift and weight) must be favorably combined. In order for birds to balance these forces, certain physical characteristics are required. Asymmetrical wing feathers, found on all flying birds with the exception of hummingbirds, help in the production of thrust and lift. Anything that moves through the air produces drag due to friction. The aerodynami ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Franz Nopcsa Von Felső-Szilvás
Baron Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás (also Baron Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás, Baron Nopcsa, Ferenc Nopcsa, báró felsőszilvási Nopcsa Ferenc, Baron Franz Nopcsa, and Franz Baron Nopcsa; May 3, 1877 – April 25, 1933) was a Hungarian aristocrat, adventurer, scholar, geologist, paleontologist and albanologist. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of paleobiology, and first described the theory of insular dwarfism. He was also a specialist on Albanian studies and completed the first geological map of northern Albania. The essay, first published on Elsie's website, is the basis for the "Introduction" to Nopcsa's memoirs titled ''Traveler, Scholar, Political Adventurer'' (2014) edited by Robert Elsie. Life Nopcsa was born in 1877 in Déva, Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary (today Deva, Romania), to the Hungarian Nopcsa aristocratic family of Romanian origin. He was the son of , a member of the Hungarian Parliament. In 1895 Nopcsa's younger sister Ilona discovered ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gerhard Heilmann
Gerhard Heilmann (later sometimes spelt "Heilman") (25 June 1859 – 26 March 1946) was a Danish artist and paleontologist who created artistic depictions of ''Archaeopteryx'', '' Proavis'' and other early bird relatives apart from writing the 1926 book '' The Origin of Birds'', a pioneering and influential account of bird evolution. Heilmann lacked a formal training in science although he studied medicine briefly before shifting to art. His ideas on bird evolution were first written in Danish in the ''Dansk Ornitologisk Tidsskrift''. Heilmann received little help and often got considerable opposition from Danish professional zoologists of the time and he in turn often made dismissive remarks on the ideas of some of the established scientists of the time. The English edition however reached out to a much larger audience and influenced ideas in bird evolution for nearly half a century. Life Heilmann was born in Skelskør, Denmark where his father was a pharmacist. He joined a pol ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hypothetical Species
Several species have been assumed to exist, but due to a lack of evidence they can only be regarded as potential species. They have caused confusion, as they may have been a separate species, a subspecies, an introduced species or a misidentification. List of hypothetical species Birds *Dominican green-and-yellow macaw *Gallus giganteus *Guadeloupe amazon * Guadeloupe parakeet *Jamaican red macaw * Lesser Antillean macaw *Martinique amazon *Martinique macaw * Hypothetical relatives of the Rodrigues Parrot * Red-headed macaw * White Dodo/Réunion solitaire (probable misidentification of the Réunion ibis) * Réunion swamphen * Painted vulture Dinosaurs *Archaeoraptor *Proavis Insects *Venezuelan poodle moth *''Battus polydamas antiquus'' (Possibly based on a misidentification) Mammals *Chilihueque *Sumxu *Kting voar *Steller's sea ape *Marozi *Andean wolf *Kallana *Zhejiang unknown canid Fish *Bathysphaera *Bathysidus *Bathyembryx See also Chimera (paleontology) In paleon ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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William Plane Pycraft
William Plane Pycraft (13 January 1868 – 1 May 1942) was an English osteologist and zoologist. Pycraft was born on 13 January 1868 in Great Yarmouth in Norfolk the elder son of William John Pycraft and Margaret Fiddes Pycraft (née Blake). His father was in the Merchant Navy and drowned at Llanelli on 14 August 1868 when William was only 8 months old. His mother remarried Clement Watson, a Butcher on 14 January 1872 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. In 1891 Pycraft was a Museum Assistant to Montague Browne, the Curator of the Town Museum in Leicester. In 1892 Pycraft became assistant to Edwin Ray Lankester, and in 1898 moved with Lankester to the staff of the Natural History Museum. He married Lucy Agnes Shee, daughter of Jeremiah Dunlay Shee in 1899 in Chelsea. In 1907 Pycraft took charge of osteology at the museum. Pycraft wrote many articles and books on natural history, including ''The Story of Bird-Life'' (1900), ''The Story of Fish-Life'' (1901), ''The Story of Reptile Life'' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Denmark
) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , established_title = Consolidation , established_date = 8th century , established_title2 = Christianization , established_date2 = 965 , established_title3 = , established_date3 = 5 June 1849 , established_title4 = Faroese home rule , established_date4 = 24 March 1948 , established_title5 = EEC accession , established_date5 = 1 January 1973 , established_title6 = Greenlandic home rule , established_date6 = 1 May 1979 , official_languages = Danish , languages_type = Regional languages , languages_sub = yes , languages = GermanGerman is recognised as a protected minority language in the South Jutland area of Denmark. , demonym = , capital = Copenhagen , largest_city = capital , coordinates = , ethnic_groups = , ethnic_g ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Czechs
The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, culture, history, and the Czech language. Ethnic Czechs were called Bohemians in English until the early 20th century, referring to the former name of their country, Bohemia, which in turn was adapted from the late Iron Age tribe of Celtic Boii. During the Migration Period, West Slavic tribes settled in the area, "assimilated the remaining Celtic and Germanic populations", and formed a principality in the 9th century, which was initially part of Great Moravia, in form of Duchy of Bohemia and later Kingdom of Bohemia, the predecessors of the modern republic. The Czech diaspora is found in notable numbers in the United States, Canada, Israel, Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Ukraine, Switzerland, Italy, the United Kingdom, Australia, Fr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Josef Augusta (paleontologist)
Josef Augusta (17 March 1903, Boskovice, Moravia – 4 February 1968, Prague) was a Czech paleontologist, geologist, and science popularizer. From 1921 to 1925 Augusta studied at the Masaryk University in Brno. Between 1933 and 1968 he held posts at the Charles University in Prague as lecturer, professor, and dean of the faculty. In addition to his scientific work (about 120 publications), Augusta wrote about twenty books popularizing his profession, mostly targeted to the youth. He is best known for his reconstructions of fossil flora and fauna, together with the painter Zdeněk Burian (1905–1981). He participated as a science adviser in the movie ''Journey to the Beginning of Time'' (1954). The dinosaur '' Burianosaurus augustai'' was named after him in 2017. See also * List of Czech writers Below is an alphabetical list of Czech writers. A * Daniel Adam z Veleslavína (1546–1599), lexicographer, publisher, translator, and writer * Michal Ajvaz (born 1949), novelist ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Zdeněk Burian
Zdeněk Michael František Burian (11 February 1905 in Kopřivnice, Moravia, Austria-Hungary – 1 July 1981 in Prague, Czechoslovakia) was a Czech painter, book illustrator and palaeoartist whose work played a central role in the development of palaeontological reconstruction. Originally recognised only in his native Czechoslovakia, Burian's fame later spread to an international audience during a remarkable career spanning six decades (1930s to 1980s). He is regarded by many as one of the most influential palaeoartists of the modern era, and a number of subsequent artists have attempted to emulate his style. Introduction Burian was an extremely prolific artist whose works are estimated to number fifteen thousand paintings and drawings (ink pen and pencil). He illustrated many books (including natural history subjects and numerous classic novels such as ''Robinson Crusoe'', ''Tarzan of the Apes'', '' Plutonia'') and book covers, but it is within the fields of palaeontology and pa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Grant Museum Of Zoology And Comparative Anatomy
The Grant Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy is a natural history museum that is part of University College London in London, England. It was established by Robert Edmond Grant in 1828 as a teaching collection of zoological specimens and material for dissection. It is one of the oldest natural history collections in the UK, and is the last remaining university natural history museum in London. Notable specimens and objects held by the museum include a rare quagga skeleton, thylacine specimens, dodo bones and Blaschka glass models. History Robert Edmond Grant was the first Chair of Zoology in England, the founder of the Grant Museum collection and its first curator. He set the precedent that the Chair of Zoology at UCL (then the University of London) was also the curator of the comparative zoology collection. On his death Grant left his own collection to the museum, and was briefly succeeded by William Henry Allchin before care of the collection passed to invertebrate ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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