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Rhagamys Orthodon
''Rhagamys'' is an extinct genus of rodents in the subfamily Murinae, the Old World mice and rats. The genus was established by the Swiss zoologist Charles Immanuel Forsyth Major to accommodate ''Rhagamys orthodon'', commonly known as Hensel's field mouse or the Tyrrhenian field rat, which is the only species in the genus. It was endemic to the Mediterranean islands of Corsica and Sardinia, where it first appeared in the fossil record in the Late Pleistocene, and was relatively large in size, weighing up to 50 g. Its closest living relatives are of the genus ''Apodemus''. Taxonomy and evolution The ancestors of ''Rhagamys'', belonging the widespread genus ''Rhagapodemus'', first arrived in Corsica-Sardinia during the Early-Late Pliocene transition, around 3.6 million years ago. Three chronospecies of the lineage have been named, including "''Rhagapodemus''" ''azzarolii'' from the earliest Late Pliocene, followed by "''Rhagapodemus''" ''minor'' from the Early Pleistocene, succeeded ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Immanuel Forsyth Major
Charles Immanuel Forsyth Major (15 August 1843, Glasgow – 25 March 1923, Munich) was a Scottish-born, Swiss physician, zoologist and vertebrate palaeontologist. Major was born in Glasgow and studied at Basel and Zurich Universities in Switzerland and later Göttingen in Germany. He graduated in medicine at Basel in 1868 and became a physician in Florence, Italy. Like many early naturalists he spent his free time studying fossil mammals. His first publication was on fossil primates in 1872. The Italian government supported him in 1877 and he collected fossils from Calabria, Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily. In 1886, he stopped practising as a physician and began to study fossils in the Greek Archipelago with his collections going to the College Galliard at Lausanne and to the British Museum (Natural History). In the British Museum collections he took a keen interest in material from Madagascar. He studied the lemur fauna, both extant and extinct, discovered the new family Megaladap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Striped Field Mouse
The striped field mouse (''Apodemus agrarius'') is a rodent in the family Muridae. The range of this species stretches from Eastern Europe to Eastern Asia. Synonyms Accepted synonyms include ''Apodemus albostriatus'' (Bechstein, 1801), ''Apodemus caucasicus'' (Kuznetzov, 1944), ''Apodemus chejuensis'' (Johnson and Jones, 1955), ''Apodemus coreae'' (Thomas, 1908), ''Apodemus gloveri'' (Kuroda, 1939), ''Apodemus harti'' (Thomas, 1898), ''Apodemus henrici'' (Lehmann, 1970), ''Apodemus insulaemus'' (Tokuda, 1939 and 1941), ''Apodemus istrianus'' (Kryštufek, 1985), ''Apodemus kahmanni'' (Malec and Storch, 1963), '' Apodemus karelicus'' (Ehrström, 1914), ''Apodemus maculatus'' (Bechstein, 1801), ''Apodemus mantchuricus'' (Thomas, 1898), ''Apodemus nicolskii'' (Charlemagne, 1933), ''Apodemus nikolskii'' (Migouline, 1927), ''Apodemus ningpoensis'' (Swinhoe, 1870), ''Apodemus ognevi'' (Johansen, 1923), ''Apodemus pallescens'' (Johnson and Jones, 1955), ''Apodemus pallidior'' (Thomas, 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mustelidae
The Mustelidae (; from Latin ''mustela'', weasel) are a family of carnivorous mammals, including weasels, badgers, otters, ferrets, martens, minks and wolverines, among others. Mustelids () are a diverse group and form the largest family in the suborder Caniformia of the order Carnivora. They comprise about 66 to 70 species in nine subfamilies. Variety Mustelids vary greatly in size and behaviour. The smaller variants of the least weasel can be under in length, while the giant otter of Amazonian South America can measure up to and sea otters can exceed in weight. Wolverines can crush bones as thick as the femur of a moose to get at the marrow, and have been seen attempting to drive bears away from their kills. The sea otter uses rocks to break open shellfish to eat. Martens are largely arboreal, while European badgers dig extensive tunnel networks, called setts. Only one mustelid has been domesticated; the ferret. Tayra are also kept as pets (although they requ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ictonychinae
Ictonychinae is a subfamily of the mammal family Mustelidae found mainly in the Neotropics (three species) and Africa (three species), with one Eurasian member. It includes the grisons, Patagonian weasel, striped polecats, African striped weasel, and marbled polecat. These genera were formerly included within a paraphyletic definition of the mustelid subfamily Mustelinae. Most members have a mask-like bar or larger dark marking across their faces; the African representatives of the group are striped. A defense mechanism common to the group is use of a chemical spray similar to (but not necessarily as strong as) that of skunks. Species Subfamily Ictonychinae Fossil genera *'' Cernictis'' *''Enhydrictis'' *'' Martellictis'' *'' Lutravus'' *'' Oriensictis'' *''Pannonictis'' *'' Sminthosinis'' *'' Stipanicicia'' *''Trigonictis ''Trigonictis'' is an extinct genus of mustelid related to the living grison. It lived in North America during the Pliocene to Pleistocene. Fossil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sardinian Dhole
The Sardinian dhole (''Cynotherium sardous'') is an extinct insular canid which was endemic to what is now the Mediterranean islands of Sardinia (Italy) and Corsica (France), which were joined for much of the Pleistocene. It went extinct when humans began to settle on the island. Its scientific name means "dog-beast of Sardinia", the genus name from the and and the specific name from the , alt. form of . The oldest fossils of the ''Cynotherium'' lineage on Sardinia, belonging to the species ''Cynotherium malatestai'' likely ancestral to ''C. sardous'' date to the Early-Middle Pleistocene transition, corresponding to faunal turnover between the older '' Nesogoral'' Faunal Complex and the younger ''Microtus'' ('' Tyrrhenicola'') faunal complex. The genomic analysis of a 21,000 year-old Sardinian dhole specimen indicates that the Sardinian dhole lineage and the Asian dhole lineage diverged from each other 885,000 years ago. Gene flow continued between the two lineages until b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Talpa Tyrrhenica
The Tyrrhenian mole (''Talpa tyrrhenica'') is an extinct species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It was endemic to the Mediterranean islands of Corsica and Sardinia during the Pleistocene epoch. First described in 1945 by Dorothea Bate, this species is known from several palaeontological sites of Sardinia ranging in age from Lower to Upper Pleistocene, and in one site of Middle Pleistocene age in southern Corsica. See also * List of extinct animals of Europe This list of European animals extinct in the Holocene features animals known to have become extinct in the last 12,000 years on the European continent and its surrounding islands. Dependent territories of European countries in other continents, l ... References Prehistoric mammals of Europe Fauna of Corsica Fauna of Sardinia Extinct mammals of Europe Pleistocene extinctions Talpa Fossil taxa described in 1945 {{Paleo-talpidae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mole (animal)
Moles are small mammals adapted to a subterranean lifestyle. They have cylindrical bodies, velvety fur, very small, inconspicuous eyes and ears, reduced hindlimbs, and short, powerful forelimbs with large paws adapted for digging. The word “mole” refers to any species in the family Talpidae, which means “mole” in Latin. Moles are found in most parts of North America, Europe and Asia. Moles may be viewed as pests to gardeners, but they provide positive contributions to soil, gardens, and ecosystem, including soil aeration, feeding on slugs and small creatures that eat plant roots, and providing prey for other wildlife. They eat earthworms and other small invertebrates in the soil. Terminology In Middle English, moles were known as ''moldwarp''. The expression "don't make a mountain out of a molehill" (which means "exaggerating problems") was first recorded in Tudor times. By the era of Early Modern English, the mole was also known in English as ''mouldywarp'', a wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asoriculus
''Asoriculus'' is an extinct genus of terrestrial shrews in the subfamily Soricinae (red-toothed shrews) and tribe Nectogalini. The best known species, ''Asoriculus gibberodon'' was widespread in Europe from the Late Miocene to the Early Pleistocene. Insular species are known from the Mediterranean islands of Sicily (''A. burgioi'' Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene), and Corsica-Sardinia including ''A. corsicanus'' (Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene) and ''A. similis'' (Early Pleistocene-Late Pleistocene/Holocene). ''A. similis'' likely survived into the Holocene, when it became extinct after human settlement of the islands. The genus ''Nesiotites'' (Late Miocene/Early Pliocene-Holocene) from the Balearic Islands, including the chronospecies ''N. rafelinensis'' (earliest Pliocene), ''N. ponsi'' (Late Pliocene) and ''N. hidalgo'' (Middle Pleistocene-Holocene) is considered to descend from ''Asoriculus,'' likely ''A. gibberodon.'' The insular species of ''Asoriculus'' from Sicily and C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prolagus Sardus
The Sardinian pika (''Prolagus sardus'') is an extinct species of pika that was endemic to the islands of Sardinia, Corsica and neighbouring Mediterranean islands until its extinction likely in Ancient Rome, Roman times. Unlike living pikas, which all belong to the genus ''Ochotona,'' the Sardinian pika was the last surviving member of the genus ''Prolagus,'' a genus of pika once widespread throughout western Eurasia and North Africa during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs. Anatomy The full skeletal structure of the Sardinian pika was reconstructed in 1967, thanks to the numerous finds of bones in Corbeddu Cave, which is near Oliena, Sardinia. Some years later, from these remains, the same researchers led by paleontologist Mary R. Dawson from the US were able to create a plaster reconstruction with good accuracy. The Sardinian pika was probably much stockier and more robust than extant species of pikas, and it probably resembled a sort of cross between a large wild rabbit and a pi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microtus Henseli
''Microtus henseli'', the Tyrrhenian vole or Hensel's vole, was a rodent found in Sardinia and Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of .... It is believed to have become extinct around 2000–3000 years ago, as a result of pressure and competition with dogs, foxes and weasels which were brought to the islands by humans. The humans themselves may have also played a role in the Tyrrhenian vole's extinction. References henseli Holocene extinctions Fossil taxa described in 1905 {{paleo-rodent-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mammuthus Lamarmorai
''Mammuthus lamarmorai'' is a species of mammoth which lived during the late Middle and Upper Pleistocene (between 450,000 and perhaps 40,000 years) on the island of Sardinia. ''M. lamarmorai'' is a dwarf species, as it is estimated to have reached a shoulder height of only 1.4 m and weighed about 550 kg. This pygmy mammoth has been found mostly in the fine-grained sediments of the western part of the island. Features There is a great deal of fossil material known for ''M. lamarmorai'', which includes cranial, dental, and post-cranial findings. Despite this wealth of material, no complete skeleton is known. Of the few known molars only one represents the rearmost tooth, which is 13 cm long and 6.9 cm wide, with at least eleven ridges on the enamel.Maria Rita Palombo: ''Elephants in miniature.'' In: Harald Meller (ed.): ''Elefantenreich – Eine Fossilwelt in Europa.'' Halle/Saale, 2010, pp. 275–295 The humerus reaches a length of 45 cm. The few discov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mammoth
A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus'', one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair. They lived from the Pliocene epoch (from around 5 million years ago) into the Holocene at about 4,000 years ago, and various species existed in Africa, Europe, Asia, and North America. They were members of the family Elephantidae, which also contains the two genera of modern elephants and their ancestors. Mammoths are more closely related to living Asian elephants than African elephants. The oldest representative of ''Mammuthus'', the South African mammoth (''M. subplanifrons''), appeared around 5 million years ago during the early Pliocene in what is now southern and eastern Africa. Descendant species of these mammoths moved north and continued to propagate into numerous subsequent spe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
