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Rhynchotherium
''Rhynchotherium'' is an extinct genus of proboscidea endemic to North America and Central America during the Miocene through Pliocene from 13.650 to 3.6 Ma, living for approximately . This gomphothere had two tusks and may have evolved from ''Gomphotherium''. Taxonomy ''Rhynchotherium'' was first described in 1868 on the basis of a lower jaw from the Miocene of Tlaxcala, Mexico. Later, the type species epithet ''R. tlascalae'' was erected for the jaw by Henry Fairfield Osborn in 1918. In 1921, a gomphothere skull from the Mt. Eden area of southern California was described as a subspecies of ''Trilophodon shepardi'' (a now-defunct combination for ''Mastodon shepardi''), ''T. s. edensis'', but was subsequently reassigned to ''Rhynchotherium''. Other species subsequently assigned to ''Rhynchotherium'' included ''R. falconeri'', ''R. paredensis'', ''R. browni'', and ''R. simpsoni''. It was the closest relative to ''Cuvieronius'', and may be ancestral to it. Lucas and Morgan (20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhynchotherium Falconeri
''Rhynchotherium'' is an extinct genus of proboscidea endemic to North America and Central America during the Miocene through Pliocene from 13.650 to 3.6 Ma, living for approximately . This gomphothere had two tusks and may have evolved from ''Gomphotherium''. Taxonomy ''Rhynchotherium'' was first described in 1868 on the basis of a lower jaw from the Miocene of Tlaxcala, Mexico. Later, the type species epithet ''R. tlascalae'' was erected for the jaw by Henry Fairfield Osborn in 1918. In 1921, a gomphothere skull from the Mt. Eden area of southern California was described as a subspecies of ''Trilophodon shepardi'' (a now-defunct combination for ''Mastodon shepardi''), ''T. s. edensis'', but was subsequently reassigned to ''Rhynchotherium''. Other species subsequently assigned to ''Rhynchotherium'' included ''R. falconeri'', ''R. paredensis'', ''R. browni'', and ''R. simpsoni''. It was the closest relative to ''Cuvieronius'', and may be ancestral to it. Lucas and Morgan (2008) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Notiomastodon
''Notiomastodon'' is an extinct proboscidean genus of gomphotheres (a distant relative to modern elephants) endemic to South America from the Pleistocene to the beginning of the Holocene. ''Notiomastodon'' specimens reached a size similar to that of the modern Asian elephant. Like other brevirostrine gomphotheres such as ''Cuvieronius'' and '' Stegomastodon'', ''Notiomastodon'' was characterized by its short snout and tall, highly arched skull. The short jaw was due to the loss of the lower tusks found in more primitive gomphotheres. ''Notiomastodon'' was a generalist feeder capable of consuming various types of plants, which varied according to local environments. In the course of the last glacial period, there was an adaptation towards the consumption of grasses. The genus was originally named in 1929, and has been controversial in the course of taxonomic history as it has frequently been confused with or synonymized with forms called ''Haplomastodon'' and ''Stegomastodon''. Ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gomphotheres
Gomphotheres are any members of the diverse, extinct taxonomic family Gomphotheriidae. Gomphotheres were elephant-like proboscideans, but do not belong to the family Elephantidae. They were widespread across Afro-Eurasia and North America during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs and dispersed into South America during the Pleistocene following the Great American Interchange. Gomphotheriidae in its broadest sense is probably paraphyletic with respect to Elephantidae, which contains modern elephants. While most famous forms such as ''Gomphotherium'' had long lower jaws with tusks, which is the ancestral condition for the group, after these forms became extinct, the surviving gomphotheres had short jaws with either vestigial or no lower tusks (brevirostrine), looking very similar to modern elephants, an example of parallel evolution. By the end of the Early Pleistocene, gomphotheres became extinct in Afro-Eurasia, with the last two genera, ''Cuvieronius'' persisting in southern North ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gomphothere
Gomphotheres are any members of the diverse, extinct taxonomic family Gomphotheriidae. Gomphotheres were elephant-like proboscideans, but do not belong to the family Elephantidae. They were widespread across Afro-Eurasia and North America during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs and dispersed into South America during the Pleistocene following the Great American Interchange. Gomphotheriidae in its broadest sense is probably paraphyletic with respect to Elephantidae, which contains modern elephants. While most famous forms such as ''Gomphotherium'' had long lower jaws with tusks, which is the ancestral condition for the group, after these forms became extinct, the surviving gomphotheres had short jaws with either vestigial or no lower tusks (brevirostrine), looking very similar to modern elephants, an example of parallel evolution. By the end of the Early Pleistocene, gomphotheres became extinct in Afro-Eurasia, with the last two genera, ''Cuvieronius'' persisting in southern North ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gomphotheriidae
Gomphotheres are any members of the diverse, extinct taxonomic family Gomphotheriidae. Gomphotheres were elephant-like proboscideans, but do not belong to the family Elephantidae. They were widespread across Afro-Eurasia and North America during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs and dispersed into South America during the Pleistocene following the Great American Interchange. Gomphotheriidae in its broadest sense is probably paraphyletic with respect to Elephantidae, which contains modern elephants. While most famous forms such as ''Gomphotherium'' had long lower jaws with tusks, which is the ancestral condition for the group, after these forms became extinct, the surviving gomphotheres had short jaws with either vestigial or no lower tusks (brevirostrine), looking very similar to modern elephants, an example of parallel evolution. By the end of the Early Pleistocene, gomphotheres became extinct in Afro-Eurasia, with the last two genera, ''Cuvieronius'' persisting in southern North ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cuvieronius
''Cuvieronius'' is an extinct New World genus of gomphothere, named after the French naturalist Georges Cuvier. Alive, specimens typically stood about tall at the shoulder, weighed about and would have superficially resembled a modern elephant with spiral-shaped tusks. Taxonomy The species now known as ''Cuvieronius hyodon'' was among the first fossil animals from the New World to be studied. The first remains of this species were recovered from Ecuador by Alexander von Humboldt, at a location the local population referred to as the "Field of Giants".Mayor, A. (2005). Fossil legends of the first Americans. Princeton University Press. Humboldt recognized that, rather than being bones of giant humans as had been thought by the local population and previous Spanish colonists, they were similar to the giant elephants (''Mastodon'') being described from Ohio. Humboldt sent teeth that he had collected from Mexico, Ecuador, and Chile to French anatomist Georges Cuvier, who classifie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinomastodon
''Sinomastodon'' ("Chinese mastodont") is an extinct gomphothere genus (of order Proboscidea), from the Late Miocene to the Early Pleistocene deposits of Asia ( China, Japan, Thailand, Myanmar, Kashmir, and Indonesia). It is not to be confused with the genus ''Sinomammut'' from a different proboscidean family, whose members are commonly called "mastodons". The animal was very similar to modern elephants with sizes ranging from 3.6 to 5.3 m. Several species are known from China, the best-known being ''S. hanjiangensis'' from the Late Miocene and Early Pliocene of the Shanxi province. It is known from an incomplete skeleton of an adult (measuring 5.3 m) including maxilla, mandibles, teeth, tusks and other materials has been discovered. The Japanese species ''S. sendaicus'' described in 1924 from dentary materials from Pliocene deposits has been ascribed to the genus, as well as the species ''S. bumiajuensis'' (formerly ''Tetralophodon'') from the late Pliocene of Java. One in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stegomastodon
''Stegomastodon'' ('roof breast tooth') is an extinct genus of gomphotheres, a family of proboscideans. It ranged throughout North America from the early Blancan ~4 Ma, to the early Irvingtonian (~1.2 Ma). The South American species have been synonymized with '' Notiomastodon platensis''. Species The following definite species have been described:''Stegomastodon'' at Fossilworks.org * ''S. aftoniae'' * ''S. mirificus'' * ''S. nebrascensis'' * ''S. primitivus'' ''S. waringi'' is considered synonymous with ''S. platensis''. A dispute now exists over whether ''S. platensis'' should remain within the North and Central American genus ''Stegomastodon'' or should be moved over to the exclusively South American gen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eubelodon
''Eubelodon'' is an extinct genus of gomphothere (a family in the order Proboscidea, which also includes modern elephants) which lived in North America during the Miocene Epoch. It contains a single species: ''Eubelodon morrilli''. Like other gomphotheres, it had a superficially elephant-like appearance with a trunk and tusks. Fossil distribution Fossils are restricted to what is now the Great Plains of the United States. Remains were found in the Poison Ivy Quarry, Antelope, Brown County, Nebraska, and Tripp County, South Dakota. Taxonomy ''Eubelodon'' was named by Erwin Hinckly Barbour in 1914. It was synonymized subjectively with ''Trilophodon'' by Osborn in 1918 and again by Tobien in 1973 with ''Gomphotherium''. It was assigned to Gomphotheriidae Gomphotheres are any members of the diverse, extinct taxonomic family Gomphotheriidae. Gomphotheres were elephant-like proboscideans, but do not belong to the family Elephantidae. They were widespread across Afro-Eurasia a ... [...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] |
Hugh Falconer
Hugh Falconer MD FRS (29 February 1808 – 31 January 1865) was a Scottish geologist, botanist, palaeontologist, and paleoanthropologist. He studied the flora, fauna, and geology of India, Assam,Burma,and most of the Mediterranean islands and was the first to suggest the modern evolutionary theory of punctuated equilibrium. He studied the Siwalik fossil beds, and may also have been the first person to discover a fossil ape. Early life Falconer was the youngest son of David Falconer of Forres, Elginshire. In 1826 Hugh Falconer graduated at the University of Aberdeen, where he studied natural history. Afterward, he studied medicine in the University of Edinburgh, taking the degree of MD in 1829.Arnold, David (2006) ''The Tropics and the Traveling Gaze: India, Landscape, and Science, 1800–1856'' University of Washington Press, Seattlepp. 156–157 During this period he zealously attended the botanical classes of Prof. R. Graham (1786–1845), and those on geology by Prof ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neogene Mammals Of North America
The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. The Neogene is sub-divided into two epochs, the earlier Miocene and the later Pliocene. Some geologists assert that the Neogene cannot be clearly delineated from the modern geological period, the Quaternary. The term "Neogene" was coined in 1853 by the Austrian palaeontologist Moritz Hörnes (1815–1868). During this period, mammals and birds continued to evolve into modern forms, while other groups of life remained relatively unchanged. The first humans (''Homo habilis'') appeared in Africa near the end of the period. Some continental movements took place, the most significant event being the connection of North and South America at the Isthmus of Panama, late in the Pliocene. This cut off the warm ocean currents from the Pacific to th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
