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Presbyornis
''Presbyornis'' is an extinct genus of anseriform bird. It contains two unequivocally accepted species; the well-known ''P. pervetus'' and the much lesser-known ''P. isoni''. ''P. pervetus'' was approximately the size and shape of a goose, but with longer legs; ''P. isoni'', known from a few bones, was much larger, more than swan-sized. Other fossils, more doubtfully assigned to this genus, are also known. Fossils The fossil record of ''P. pervetus'' includes many complete skeletons from Green River Formation sites (Early Eocene), suggesting that the birds nested in colonies and possibly were liable to succumb to botulism, similar to many colony-nesting waterfowl or shorebirds today. ''P. isoni'' is known from the Late Paleocene Aquia Formation (Maryland, 61-62 MYA) humerus ( USNM 294116) and a fingerbone (USNM 294117) that were initially described, as well as from the humeri that were initially believed to be from '' Headonornis'' ( BMNH PAL 3686, 5105, 6240). As these are L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Presbyornis Enhancement
''Presbyornis'' is an extinct genus of anseriform bird. It contains two unequivocally accepted species; the well-known ''P. pervetus'' and the much lesser-known ''P. isoni''. ''P. pervetus'' was approximately the size and shape of a goose, but with longer legs; ''P. isoni'', known from a few bones, was much larger, more than swan-sized. Other fossils, more doubtfully assigned to this genus, are also known. Fossils The fossil record of ''P. pervetus'' includes many complete skeletons from Green River Formation sites (Early Eocene), suggesting that the birds nested in colonies and possibly were liable to succumb to botulism, similar to many colony-nesting waterfowl or shorebirds today. ''P. isoni'' is known from the Late Paleocene Aquia Formation (Maryland, 61-62 MYA) humerus (USNM 294116) and a fingerbone (USNM 294117) that were initially described, as well as from the humeri that were initially believed to be from '' Headonornis'' ( BMNH PAL 3686, 5105, 6240). As these are Late ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colton Formation
The Colton Formation is a geologic formation in Utah. Its age is based on its position between the Upper Cretaceous-Paleocene North Horn Formation and overlying Green River Formation. The name was first used by P.T. Walton in 1944 for strata below the Green River Formation at the base of the Roan Cliffs, Utah. However, the type section was first given by E.M. Spieker in 1946. for exposures near the town of Colton on Soldier Summit, Utah County, Utah. Previously, the strata were assigned to the Wasatch Formation, which had become a rather generic name by the US Geological Survey for mudstone-sandstone strata of Eocene age. The formation is composed of reddish-brown to green beds of mudstone and shaly siltstone, interlayered with yellowish- to grayish-orange and grayish-brown, thin, fine- to medium-grained quartzose sandstone beds. The mudstones are locally variegated in shades of red and gray. Many sandstones are cross-bedded in large and small trough sets and the thicker samdsto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anseriformes
Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which includes over 170 species of waterfowl, among them the ducks, geese, and swans. Most modern species in the order are highly adapted for an aquatic existence at the water surface. With the exception of screamers, males have penises, a trait that has been lost in the Neoaves. Due to their aquatic nature, most species are web-footed. Evolution Anseriformes are one of only two types of modern bird to be confirmed present during the Mesozoic alongside the other dinosaurs, and in fact were among the very few birds to survive their extinction, along with their cousins the galliformes. These two groups only occupied two ecological niches during the Mesozoic, living in water and on the ground, while the toothed enantiornithes were the dominant bird ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
University Of Kansas Natural History Museum
The University of Kansas Natural History Museum is part of the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute, a KU designated research center dedicated to the study of the life of the planet. The museum's galleries are in Dyche Hall on the university's main campus in Lawrence, Kansas. The galleries are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. on Sundays. Dyche Hall has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since July 14, 1974; it was listed for its connection with Lewis Lindsay Dyche and for its distinctive Romanesque style of architecture. The exterior is constructed of local Oread Limestone, while the window facings, columns, arches, and grotesques are carved from Cottonwood Limestone. Dyche Hall is also the site of one of only three Victory Eagle statues in Kansas, once used as markers on the Victory Highway. Among its more than 350 separate exhibits, the museum is famous for its Panorama of North American Wildlife, part of w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waterfowl
Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which includes over 170 species of waterfowl, among them the ducks, geese, and swans. Most modern species in the order are highly adapted for an aquatic existence at the water surface. With the exception of screamers, males have penises, a trait that has been lost in the Neoaves. Due to their aquatic nature, most species are web-footed. Evolution Anseriformes are one of only two types of modern bird to be confirmed present during the Mesozoic alongside the other dinosaurs, and in fact were among the very few birds to survive their extinction, along with their cousins the galliformes. These two groups only occupied two ecological niches during the Mesozoic, living in water and on the ground, while the toothed enantiornithes were the dominant bird ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded on August 10, 1846, it operates as a trust instrumentality and is not formally a part of any of the three branches of the federal government. The institution is named after its founding donor, British scientist James Smithson. It was originally organized as the United States National Museum, but that name ceased to exist administratively in 1967. Called "the nation's attic" for its eclectic holdings of 154 million items, the institution's 19 museums, 21 libraries, nine research centers, and zoo include historical and architectural landmarks, mostly located in the District of Columbia. Additional facilities are located in Maryland, New York, and Virginia. More than 200 institutions and museums in 45 states,States without Smithsonian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natural History Museum, London
The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The Natural History Museum's main frontage, however, is on Cromwell Road. The museum is home to life and earth science specimens comprising some 80 million items within five main collections: botany, entomology, mineralogy, palaeontology and zoology. The museum is a centre of research specialising in taxonomy, identification and conservation. Given the age of the institution, many of the collections have great historical as well as scientific value, such as specimens collected by Charles Darwin. The museum is particularly famous for its exhibition of dinosaur skeletons and ornate architecture—sometimes dubbed a ''cathedral of nature''—both exemplified by the large ''Diplodocus'' cast that domina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bembridge Marls
The Bouldnor Formation is a geological formation in the Hampshire Basin of southern England. It is the youngest formation of the Solent Group and was deposited during the uppermost Eocene and lower Oligocene. Stratotype and occurrence The Bouldnor Formation was named after Bouldnor, a small hamlet east of Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, Yarmouth, Isle of Wight. The formation is exposed along ''Bouldnor Cliff'' between Yarmouth and Hamstead, Isle of Wight, Hamstead occupying the core of the east-southeast-striking ''Bouldnor Syncline''. Yet the stratotype of the formation is found at ''Whitecliff Bay'' on the east side of the Isle of Wight. History The Bouldnor Formation was scientifically established 1985 by A. Insole and B. Daly, who also defined its member (geology), members. The paleogene strata on the Isle of Wight had already been described in 1853 by Edward Forbes. Forbes was followed in 1921 by H.J.O. White, a geologist from the Geological Survey. Stratigraphy The Bouldn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AMNH
The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 interconnected buildings housing 45 permanent exhibition halls, in addition to a planetarium and a library. The museum collections contain over 34 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains, and human cultural artifacts, as well as specialized collections for frozen tissue and genomic and astrophysical data, of which only a small fraction can be displayed at any given time. The museum occupies more than . AMNH has a full-time scientific staff of 225, sponsors over 120 special field expeditions each year, and averages about five million visits annually. The AMNH is a private 501(c)(3) organization. Its mission statement is: "To discover, interpret, and disseminate—through scientific research and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. Baltimore is the largest city in the state, and the capital is Annapolis. Among its occasional nicknames are '' Old Line State'', the ''Free State'', and the '' Chesapeake Bay State''. It is named after Henrietta Maria, the French-born queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, who was known then in England as Mary. Before its coastline was explored by Europeans in the 16th century, Maryland was inhabited by several groups of Native Americans – mostly by Algonquian peoples and, to a lesser degree, Iroquoian and Siouan. As one of the original Thirteen Colonies of England, Maryland was founded by George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, a Catholic convert"George Calvert and Cecilius Calvert, Barons Baltimore" William Hand Browne, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wasatch Plateau
The Wasatch Plateau is a plateau located southeast of the southernmost part of the Wasatch Range in central Utah. It is a part of the Colorado Plateau. Geography The plateau has an elevation of and includes an area of . Its highest point in the South Tent Mountain, with an elevation of . The plateau is roughly bordered by the Spanish Fork Canyon on the north, the Price Canyon on the northeast, the Castle Valley on the east and southeast, Interstate 70 on the south, the Plateau Valley and the Sevier Plateau on the southwest, and the Sanpete Valley on the northwest. The majority of the plateau is within the boundaries of the Manti–La Sal National Forest and is managed by the United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc .... See also References ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
