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Sivatherium
''Sivatherium'' ("Shiva's beast", from Shiva and ''therium'', Latinized form of Ancient Greek θηρίον -'' thēríon'') is an extinct genus of giraffids that ranged throughout Africa to the Indian subcontinent. The species ''Sivatherium giganteum'' is, by weight, one of the largest giraffid known, and also one of the largest ruminants of all time. ''Sivatherium'' originated during the Late Miocene (around 7 million years ago) in Africa and survived through to the late Early Pleistocene ( Calabrian) ''S. giganteum'' remains have been recovered from the Himalayan foothills, dating around 1 million years ago. Suggestions have been made that ''S. maurusium'' may have gone extinct as recently as 8,000 years ago, as depictions that resemble it are known from ancient rock paintings in the Sahara and Central West India. But these claims are not substantiated by fossil evidence, and the depictions likely represent other animals. Description ''Sivatherium'' resembled the modern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sivatherium Warsaw
''Sivatherium'' ("Shiva's beast", from Shiva and ''therium'', Latinized form of Ancient Greek θηρίον -'' thēríon'') is an extinct genus of giraffids that ranged throughout Africa to the Indian subcontinent. The species ''Sivatherium giganteum'' is, by weight, one of the largest giraffid known, and also one of the largest ruminants of all time. ''Sivatherium'' originated during the Late Miocene (around 7 million years ago) in Africa and survived through to the late Early Pleistocene ( Calabrian) ''S. giganteum'' remains have been recovered from the Himalayan foothills, dating around 1 million years ago. Suggestions have been made that ''S. maurusium'' may have gone extinct as recently as 8,000 years ago, as depictions that resemble it are known from ancient rock paintings in the Sahara and Central West India. But these claims are not substantiated by fossil evidence, and the depictions likely represent other animals. Description ''Sivatherium'' resembled the modern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giraffidae
The Giraffidae are a family of ruminant artiodactyl mammals that share a common ancestor with deer and bovids. This family, once a diverse group spread throughout Eurasia and Africa, presently comprises only two extant genera, the giraffe (one or more species of ''Giraffa'', depending on taxonomic interpretation) and the okapi (the only known species of ''Okapia''). Both are confined to sub-Saharan Africa: the giraffe to the open savannas, and the okapi to the dense rainforest of the Congo. The two genera look very different on first sight, but share a number of common features, including a long, dark-coloured tongue, lobed canine teeth, and horns covered in skin, called ossicones. Taxonomy Evolutionary background The giraffids are ruminants of the clade Pecora. Other extant pecorans are the families Antilocapridae (pronghorns), Cervidae (deer), Moschidae (musk deer), and Bovidae (cattle, goats and sheep, wildebeests and allies, and antelopes). The exact interrelationships a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bramatherium
''Bramatherium'' (Brahma’s beast) is an extinct genus of giraffids that ranged from India to Turkey in Asia. It is closely related to the larger ''Sivatherium''. Etymology The first part of the generic name, Brahma (Sanskrit masculine ', nominative ' ), is in reference to the Hindu god of creation. The second part, "therium", comes from the Greek word ''θηρίον'' (transliterated ''therion''), meaning 'beast'. Description ''Bramatherium'' was built very similarly to ''Sivatherium''. Alive, it would have resembled a heavily built okapi and had a crown-like set of four, radiating ossicones. Fossils, and examination of teeth in particular, suggested the living animals dwelled woodlands and wetlands.Khan, M. A., Akhtar, M., & Irum, A. (2014). Bramatherium (Artiodactyla, Ruminantia, Giraffidae) from the middle Siwaliks of Hasnot, Pakistan: biostratigraphy and palaeoecology. Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences, 23(3), 308-320. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ossicone
Ossicones are columnar or conical skin-covered bone structures on the heads of giraffes, male okapi, and some of their extinct relatives. Ossicones are distinguished from the superficially similar structures of horns and antlers by their unique development and a permanent covering of skin and fur. Structure Giraffe ossicones consist of a highly vascularized and innervated bone core covered with vascularized and innervated skin. The base of an ossicone is attached to the skull with vascularized innervated connective tissue. Ossicones are formed at late gestation, but in early development they are not bony and not fused to the skull yet. Ossicones usually fuse to the skull at sexual maturity. All male and female giraffes have a pair of parietal ossicones on the parietal bones of the skull. Males also usually have a single median ossicone on the frontal bone that is larger in northern animals and smaller in southern giraffes. Giraffes can also have small additional paired occipita ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hydaspitherium
''Hydaspitherium'' is an extinct genus of giraffid artiodactyls. Giraffids are represented in the late Miocene of the Siwaliks by large Sivatheriinae such as ''Sivatherium'', ''Bramatherium'', '' Helladotherium'', and ''Hydaspitherium''. ''Hydapitherium'' has been proposed to be synonymous with ''Bramatherium ''Bramatherium'' (Brahma’s beast) is an extinct genus of giraffids that ranged from India to Turkey in Asia. It is closely related to the larger ''Sivatherium''. Etymology The first part of the generic name, Brahma (Sanskrit masculine ', no ...''. ''H. megacephalum'' is restricted to the Dhok Pathan Formation (, paleocoordinates ) in northern Pakistan. Four separate species of ''Hydaspitherium'' were described more than a century ago, but concluded that their differences can be explained as sexual dimorphism and intraspecific variability: ''H. birmanicum'' () is based on a single right upper molar. ''H. grande'' () and ''H. magnum'' (Pilgrim 1910) are only s ... [...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] |
Prolibytherium
''Prolibytherium'' is an extinct genus of prolibytheriid artiodactyl ungulate native to Middle Miocene North Africa and Pakistan, from around 16.9 to 15.97 million years ago. Fossils of ''Prolibytherium'' were found in the Marada Formation of Libya, Vihowa Formation of Pakistan, and the Moghara Formation of Egypt. Description The long creature would have superficially resembled an okapi or a deer. Unlike these, however, ''Prolibytherium'' displayed dramatic sexual dimorphism, in that the male had a set of large, leaf-shaped ossicones with a width of , while the female had a set of slender, horn-like ossicones. The taxonomic status of ''Prolibytherium'' remains in flux. At one time, it was described as a relative of ''Sivatherium'' (as a precursor to "Libytherium maurusium" (''S. maurusium'')). Later, it would be regarded as a palaeomerycid, or either as a climacoceratid, or as a basal member of Giraffoidea Giraffoidea is a superfamily that includes the families Clima ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in 2009 by the International Union of Geological Sciences, the cutoff of the Pleistocene and the preceding Pliocene was regarded as being 1.806 million years Before Present (BP). Publications from earlier years may use either definition of the period. The end of the Pleistocene corresponds with the end of the last glacial period and also with the end of the Paleolithic age used in archaeology. The name is a combination of Ancient Greek grc, label=none, πλεῖστος, pleīstos, most and grc, label=none, καινός, kainós (latinized as ), 'new'. At the end of the preceding Pliocene, the previously isolated North and South American continents were joined by the Isthmus of Panama, causing Great American Interchang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vishnutherium
''Vishnutherium'' (Vishnu's beast) is an extinct genus of the Giraffidae. It was first named by Lydekker in 1876. Its fossils have been found in India. External links ''Vishnutherium''at the Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals, plants, and microorganisms. History The Paleobiology Database (PBDB) originated in the NCEAS-funded Phanerozoic Marine Pale ... Prehistoric giraffes Prehistoric even-toed ungulate genera {{paleo-eventoedungulate-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miocene Mammals Of Africa
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern marine invertebrates than the Pliocene has. The Miocene is preceded by the Oligocene and is followed by the Pliocene. As Earth went from the Oligocene through the Miocene and into the Pliocene, the climate slowly cooled towards a series of ice ages. The Miocene boundaries are not marked by a single distinct global event but consist rather of regionally defined boundaries between the warmer Oligocene and the cooler Pliocene Epoch. During the Early Miocene, the Arabian Peninsula collided with Eurasia, severing the connection between the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean, and allowing a faunal interchange to occur between Eurasia and Africa, including the dispersal of proboscideans into Eurasia. During the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shoulder
The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle (collarbone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the humerus (upper arm bone) as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder make up the shoulder joints. The shoulder joint, also known as the glenohumeral joint, is the major joint of the shoulder, but can more broadly include the acromioclavicular joint. In human anatomy, the shoulder joint comprises the part of the body where the humerus attaches to the scapula, and the head sits in the glenoid cavity. The shoulder is the group of structures in the region of the joint. The shoulder joint is the main joint of the shoulder. It is a ball and socket joint that allows the arm to rotate in a circular fashion or to hinge out and up away from the body. The joint capsule is a soft tissue envelope that encircles the glenohumeral joint and attaches to the scapula, humerus, and head of the biceps. It is lined by a thin, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hypsodont
Hypsodont is a pattern of dentition with high-crowned teeth and enamel extending past the gum line, providing extra material for wear and tear. Some examples of animals with hypsodont dentition are cows and horses; all animals that feed on gritty, fibrous material. The opposite condition is called brachydont. Evolution Since the morphology of the hypsodont tooth is suited to a more abrasive diet, hypsodonty was thought to have evolved concurrently with the spread of grasslands. Grass contains phytoliths, silica-rich granules, which wear away dental tissue more quickly. Analysis has shown however, that the development of this morphology is out of sync with the flourishing of grasslands. Instead, the ingestion of grit and soil is hypothesized to be the primary driver of hypsodonty (the Grit, not grass hypothesis). Morphology Hypsodont dentition is characterized by: * high-crowned teeth * A rough, flattish occlusal surface adapted for crushing and grinding * Cementum both above ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
