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Simocyoninae
Simocyoninae is an extinct subfamily of Ailuridae (of which the only recent member is the red panda). The taxonomic history of this group was complicated, as researchers placed various fossil caniform genera into the subfamily. In addition to ''Simocyon'', there was also ''Oligobunis'' (an early mustelid), ''Cephalogale'' (a stem-bear), and ''Enhydrocyon'' (a hesperocyonine canid). This subfamily was initially classified within the Canidae or dog family. This idea went even further in 1910 when American paleontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn considered dholes, African wild dogs, and bush dogs to be the only extant representation left of the simocyonines. This was in large part to the overall similarity in the morphology of their molars, which suggested a shared ancestry of hypercarnivory. This view point was not supported by European paleontologists who believed that ''Simocyon'' was more closely related to musteloids. Soon the Simocyoninae were found as extinct subfamily of procy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ailuridae
Ailuridae is a family in the mammal order Carnivora. The family consists of the red panda (the sole living representative) and its extinct relatives. Georges Cuvier first described ''Ailurus'' as belonging to the raccoon family in 1825; this classification has been controversial ever since. It was classified in the raccoon family because of morphological similarities of the head, colored ringed tail, and other morphological and ecological characteristics. Somewhat later, it was assigned to the bear family. Molecular phylogenetic studies had shown that, as an ancient species in the order Carnivora, the red panda is relatively close to the American raccoon and may be either a monotypic family or a subfamily within the procyonid family. An in-depth mitochondrial DNA population analysis study stated: "According to the fossil record, the Red Panda diverged from its common ancestor with bears about 40 million years ago." With this divergence, by comparing the sequence difference betw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simocyon
''Simocyon'' ("short-snouted dog") is a genus of extinct carnivoran mammal in the family Ailuridae. ''Simocyon'', which was about the size of a mountain lion, lived in the late Miocene and early Pliocene epochs, and has been found in Europe, Asia, and rarely, North America (Peigné et al., 2005) and Africa. Classification The relationship of ''Simocyon'' to other carnivores has been controversial, but studies of the structure of its ear, teeth, and ankle now indicate that its closest living relative is the red panda, ''Ailurus'' (Wang, 1997; Peigné et al., 2005), although it is different enough to be classified in a separate subfamily (Simocyoninae) along with related genera ''Alopecocyon'' and ''Actiocyon''. While the red panda is primarily herbivorous, the teeth and skull of ''Simocyon'' indicate that it was carnivorous, and it may have engaged in some bone-crushing, like living hyenas (Peigné et al., 2005). The skeleton of ''Simocyon'' indicates that, like the red panda, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dhole
The dhole (''Cuon alpinus''; ) is a canid native to Central, South, East and Southeast Asia. Other English names for the species include Asian wild dog, Asiatic wild dog, Indian wild dog, whistling dog, red dog, red wolf, and mountain wolf. It is genetically close to species within the genus ''Canis'', but distinct in several anatomical aspects: its skull is convex rather than concave in profile, it lacks a third lower molar and the upper molars sport only a single cusp as opposed to between two and four. During the Pleistocene, the dhole ranged throughout Asia, Europe and North America but became restricted to its historical range 12,000–18,000 years ago. The dhole is a highly social animal, living in large clans without rigid dominance hierarchies and containing multiple breeding females. Such clans usually consist of about 12 individuals, but groups of over 40 are known. It is a diurnal pack hunter which preferentially targets large and medium-sized ungulates. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Actiocyon
''Actiocyon'' was an extinct genus of ailurid that existed from the Middle Miocene of North America. The type species, ''Actiocyon leardi'', was described in 1947 by the American paleontologist Chester Stock. Description The holotype consisted of portions of a snout containing the palate with some teeth. Stock noted overall similarities to their contemporary genus '' Alopecocyon'' of Europe, though he tentatively classified ''Actiocyon'' as a procyonid Procyonidae is a New World family of the order Carnivora. It comprises the raccoons, ringtails, cacomistles, coatis, kinkajous, olingos, and olinguitos. Procyonids inhabit a wide range of environments and are generally omnivorous. Characteri ... due to the structure of fourth premolar and first molar. Some later authors have suggested ''Actiocyon'' to be a junior synonym of ''Alopecocyon'', though others have maintained the two as separated but related genera due to difference in dental and jaw morphology. A second and e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paleontologist
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossils to classify organisms and study their interactions with each other and their environments (their paleoecology). Paleontological observations have been documented as far back as the 5th century BC. The science became established in the 18th century as a result of Georges Cuvier's work on comparative anatomy, and developed rapidly in the 19th century. The term itself originates from Greek (, "old, ancient"), (, ( gen. ), "being, creature"), and (, "speech, thought, study"). Paleontology lies on the border between biology and geology, but differs from archaeology in that it excludes the study of anatomically modern humans. It now uses techniques drawn from a wide range of sciences, including biochemistry, mathematics, and engineering. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyena
Hyenas, or hyaenas (from Ancient Greek , ), are feliform carnivoran mammals of the family Hyaenidae . With only four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the Carnivora and one of the smallest in the class Mammalia. Despite their low diversity, hyenas are unique and vital components of most African ecosystems. Although phylogenetically closer to felines and viverrids, as part of suborder Feliformia, hyenas are behaviourally and morphologically similar to canids in several elements due to convergent evolution; both hyenas and canines are non-arboreal, cursorial hunters that catch prey with their teeth rather than claws. Both eat food quickly and may store it, and their calloused feet with large, blunt, nonretractable claws are adapted for running and making sharp turns. However, hyenas' grooming, scent marking, defecation habits, mating and parental behavior are consistent with the behavior of other feliforms. Hyenas feature prominently ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and borders fourteen countries by land, the most of any country in the world, tied with Russia. Covering an area of approximately , it is the world's third largest country by total land area. The country consists of 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four municipalities, and two Special Administrative Regions (Hong Kong and Macau). The national capital is Beijing, and the most populous city and financial center is Shanghai. Modern Chinese trace their origins to a cradle of civilization in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. The semi-legendary Xia dynasty in the 21st century BCE and the well-attested Shang and Zhou dynasties developed a bureaucratic political system to serve hereditary monarchies, or dyna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shaanxi
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), Ningxia (NW) and Inner Mongolia (N). Shaanxi covers an area of over with about 37 million people, the 16th highest in China. Xi'an – which includes the sites of the former Capitals of China, Chinese capitals Fenghao and Chang'an – is the Xi'an, provincial capital as well as the largest city in Northwest China and also one of the oldest cities in China and the oldest of the Historical capitals of China, Four Great Ancient Capitals, being the capital for the Western Zhou, Western Han, Sima Jin, Jin, Sui dynasty, Sui and Tang dynasty, Tang List of Chinese dynasties, dynasties. Xianyang, which served as the Qin dynasty capital, is just north across Wei River. The other Prefectures of China, prefecture-level pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Procyonidae
Procyonidae is a New World family of the order Carnivora. It comprises the raccoons, ringtails, cacomistles, coatis, kinkajous, olingos, and olinguitos. Procyonids inhabit a wide range of environments and are generally omnivorous. Characteristics Procyonids are relatively small animals, with generally slender bodies and long tails, though the common raccoon tends to be bulky. Because of their general build, the Procyonidae are often popularly viewed as smaller cousins of the bear family. This is apparent in their German names: a raccoon is called a ''Waschbär'' (washing bear, as it "washes" its food before eating), a coati is a ''Nasenbär'' (nose-bear), while a kinkajou is a ''Honigbär'' (honey-bear). Dutch follows suit, calling the animals ''wasbeer'', ''neusbeer'' and ''rolstaartbeer'' respectively. However, it is now believed that procyonids are more closely related to mustelids than to bears. Procyonids share common morphological characteristics including a shortened ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Musteloidea
Musteloidea is a superfamily of carnivoran mammals united by shared characters of the skull and teeth. Musteloids are the sister group of pinnipeds, the group which includes seals. The Musteloidea consists of the families Ailuridae (red pandas), Mustelidae (mustelids: weasels, otters, martens and badgers), Procyonidae (procyonids: raccoons, coatis, kinkajous, olingos, olinguitos, ringtails and cacomistles), and Mephitidae (skunks and stink badgers). In North America, ursoids and musteloids first appear in the Chadronian (late Eocene). In Europe, ursoids and musteloids first appear in the early Oligocene immediately following the Grande Coupure. The cladogram is based on molecular phylogeny Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ... of six genes in Flynn (2005), with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bush Dog
The bush dog (''Speothos venaticus'') is a canine found in Central and South America. In spite of its extensive range, it is very rare in most areas except in Suriname, Guyana and Peru; it was first identified by Peter Wilhelm Lund from fossils in Brazilian caves and was believed to be extinct. The bush dog is the only living species in the genus ''Speothos'', and genetic evidence suggests that its closest living relative is the maned wolf of central South America or the African wild dog. The species is listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN. In Brazil it is called ''cachorro-vinagre'' ("vinegar dog") or ''cachorro-do-mato'' ("bush dog"). In Spanish-speaking countries it is called ''perro vinagre'' ("vinegar dog"), ''zorro vinagre'' ("vinegar fox"), ''perro de agua'' ("water dog"), or ''perro de monte'' ("mountain dog"). Description Adult bush dogs have soft long brownish-tan fur, with a lighter reddish tinge on the head, neck and back and a bushy tail, while the underside is d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Wild Dog
The African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus''), also called the painted dog or Cape hunting dog, is a wild canine which is a native species to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest wild canine in Africa, and the only extant member of the genus '' Lycaon'', which is distinguished from ''Canis'' by dentition highly specialised for a hypercarnivorous diet, and by a lack of dewclaws. It is estimated that about 6,600 adults (including 1,400 mature individuals) live in 39 subpopulations that are all threatened by habitat fragmentation, human persecution, and outbreaks of disease. As the largest subpopulation probably comprises fewer than 250 individuals, the African wild dog has been listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1990. The species is a specialised diurnal hunter of antelopes, which it catches by chasing them to exhaustion. Its natural enemies are lions and spotted hyenas: the former will kill the dogs where possible, whilst hyenas are frequent kleptoparasites. Like ot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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