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Xenocranium
''Xenocranium'' ("strange skull") is a monotypic genus of extinct epoicotheriid mammal whose fossils were recovered from late Eocene of the American state of Wyoming. The single species is ''Xenocranium pileorivale''. Etymology The name ''Xenocranium'' comes from the Ancient Greek words ''xenos'' and ''cranios'', meaning "strange" and "skull" respectively, after its unique skull arrangement. The specific epithet is derived from ''pileus'' meaning "hat" and ''rivale'' meaning "brook", in reference to the nearby township of Hat Creek, Wyoming, U.S.A. Description ''Xenocranium pileorivale'' possesses many traits indicative of a subterranean lifestyle, including small eyes, an upturned snout, muscular arms with large attachment points for the triceps, teres major, and carpal and digital flexor muscles. The dental formula is . Palaeoecology The holotype of ''Xenocranium pileorivale'' was recovered from the Brule Formation, 160 feet below the top of the Oligocene outcrop in the a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epoicotheriidae
Epoicotheriidae ("strange beasts") is an extinct family of insectivorous mammals which were endemic to North America from the early Eocene to the early Oligocene 55.8—30.9 Ma existing for approximately . Epoicotheriids were highly specialized animals that were convergent with the golden moles Golden moles are small insectivorous burrowing mammals endemic to Sub-Saharan Africa. They comprise the family Chrysochloridae and as such they are taxonomically distinct from the true moles, family Talpidae, and other mole-like families, a ... of Africa in the structure of their skulls and forelimbs, and would have had a similar lifestyle as subterranean burrowers.Kenneth D. Rose, Robert J. Emry (1983"Extraordinary fossorial adaptations in the oligocene palaeanodonts ''Epoicotherium'' and ''Xenocranium'' (Mammalia)"Journal of Morphology 175(1):33 - 56 Classification and phylogeny Taxonomy Epoicotheriidae was named by Simpson in 1927. It was assigned to the Palaeanodonta by Ros ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White River Fauna
The White River Fauna are fossil animals found in the White River Badlands of South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska in the United States including Badlands National Park. The fossils have been found in the White River Formation, Chadron Formation, Brule Formation, and the Arikaree Formation. Animals from the White River Badlands date from the Eocene, Oligocene, the Miocene, and the Pliocene Epochs. List Genera include: See also * :White River Fauna Further reading * Rachel Benton, ''The White River Badlands: Geology and Paleontology'', Indiana University Press 2015 * William Berryman Scott William Berryman Scott (February 12, 1858 – March 29, 1947) was an American vertebrate paleontologist, authority on mammals, and principal author of the White River Oligocene monographs. He was a professor of geology and paleontology at P ..., ''A history of land mammals in the western hemisphere'', MacMillan Publishing Company, 1913 References Paleogene animals ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pholidotamorpha
Pholidotamorpha ("pangolin-shaped") is a clade of mammals that includes the orders Palaeanodonta and Pholidota (the pangolins). In the past both orders were formerly classified with various other orders of ant-eating mammals, most notably Xenarthra, which includes the true anteaters, sloths, and the armadillos which pangolins superficially resemble. Newer genetic evidence, however, indicates their closest living relatives are the Carnivora with which they form the clade Ferae. Some palaeontologists, placing family Ernanodontidae in a separate suborder Ernanodonta of Cimolesta near Pholidota, have classified the pangolins in the order Cimolesta, together with several extinct groups indicated (†) below, though this idea has fallen out of favor since it was determined that cimolestids were not placental mammals. A 2012 study from new remains found in Late Paleocene Mongolian strata have led to the assessment that ''Ernanodon'' is closely related to ''Metacheiromys'' within the orde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', "dawn") and (''kainós'', "new") and refers to the "dawn" of modern ('new') fauna that appeared during the epoch. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Paleocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the Eocene is marked by a brief period in which the concentration of the carbon isotope Carbon-13, 13C in the atmosphere was exceptionally low in comparison with the more common isotope Carbon-12, 12C. The end is set at a major extinction event called the ''Grande Coupure'' (the "Great Break" in continuity) or the Eocene–Oligocene extinction event, which may be related to the impact of one or more large bolides in Popigai impact structure, Siberia and in what is now ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Priabonian
The Priabonian is, in the ICS's geologic timescale, the latest age or the upper stage of the Eocene Epoch or Series. It spans the time between . The Priabonian is preceded by the Bartonian and is followed by the Rupelian, the lowest stage of the Oligocene. Stratigraphic definition The Priabonian Stage was introduced in scientific literature by Ernest Munier-Chalmas and Albert de Lapparent in 1893. The stage is named after the small hamlet of Priabona in the community of Monte di Malo, in the Veneto region of northern Italy. The base of the Priabonian Stage is at the first appearance of calcareous nannoplankton species ''Chiasmolithus oamaruensis'' (which forms the base of nanoplankton biozone NP18). An official GSSP was ratified in 2020, and was placed in the Alano di Piave section in Alano di Piave, Belluno, Italy. The top of the Priabonian Stage (the base of the Rupelian Stage and Oligocene Series) is at the extinction of foram genus ''Hantkenina''. Sometimes local rock ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pangolin
Pangolins, sometimes known as scaly anteaters, are mammals of the order Pholidota (, from Ancient Greek ϕολιδωτός – "clad in scales"). The one extant family, the Manidae, has three genera: '' Manis'', '' Phataginus'', and '' Smutsia''. ''Manis'' comprises the four species found in Asia, while ''Phataginus'' and ''Smutsia'' include two species each, all found in sub-Saharan Africa. These species range in size from . A number of extinct pangolin species are also known. Pangolins have large, protective keratin scales, similar in material to fingernails and toenails, covering their skin; they are the only known mammals with this feature. They live in hollow trees or burrows, depending on the species. Pangolins are nocturnal, and their diet consists of mainly ants and termites, which they capture using their long tongues. They tend to be solitary animals, meeting only to mate and produce a litter of one to three offspring, which they raise for about two years. Pangol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merycoidodon
''Merycoidodon'' ("ruminating teeth") is an extinct genus of herbivorous artiodactyl of the family Merycoidodontidae, more popularly known by the name ''Oreodon'' ("hillock teeth"). It was endemic to North America during the Middle Eocene to Middle Miocene (46—16 mya) existing for approximately . Taxonomy Most researchers in paleobiology and paleontology now use the antecedent genus ''Merycoidodon'' to refer to this Oligocene epoch oreodont, even though it was once widely known by the younger synonym of ''Oreodon''. Taxonomically speaking, ''Merycoidodon'' belongs to the family Merycoidodontidae (once known as "Oreodontidae"), a group of artiodactyls related to camels that were endemic to North America. Its ancestors date back to the Eocene and its last descendants are known from the end of the Miocene, so that oreodonts, broadly speaking, lived throughout most of the Tertiary era. Morphology ''Merycoidodon'' would have somewhat resembled a pig in appearance, but had a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oreodont
Merycoidodontoidea, sometimes called "oreodonts" or "ruminating hogs", is an extinct superfamily of prehistoric cud-chewing artiodactyls with short faces and fang-like canine teeth. As their name implies, some of the better known forms were generally hog-like, and the group has traditionally been placed within the Suina (pigs, peccaries and their ancestors), though some recent work suggests they may have been more closely related to camels.Spaulding, M., O'Leary, M.A. & Gatesy, J. (2009): Relationships of Cetacea (Artiodactyla) Among Mammals: Increased Taxon Sampling Alters Interpretations of Key Fossils and Character Evolution. '' PLoS ONE'' no 4(9): e7062.article/ref> "Oreodont" means "mountain teeth", referring to the appearance of the molars. Most oreodonts were sheep-sized, though some genera grew to the size of cattle. They were heavy-bodied, with short four-toed hooves and comparatively long tails. The animals would have looked rather pig- or sheep-like, but features ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyracodon
''Hyracodon'' ('hyrax tooth') is an extinct genus of perissodactyl mammal. It was a lightly built, pony-like mammal of about 1.5 m (5 ft) long. ''Hyracodons skull was large in comparison to the rest of the body. ''Hyracodon's'' dentition resembled that of later rhinoceroses, but it was a much smaller animal and differed very little in appearance from the primitive horses of which it was a contemporary (32–26 million years ago). It had a short, broad snout and its long, slender limbs had three digits. Like the primitive horses, hyracodonts inhabited open forests and wooded steppes and turned from browsing foliage to grazing grass. They died out without leaving any descendants and they mark the end of the phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyracodontidae
The Hyracodontidae are an extinct family of rhinoceroses endemic to North America, Europe, and Asia during the Eocene through early Oligocene, living from 48.6 to 26.3 million years ago (Mya), existing about . The Hyracodontidae thrived in the rainforests of Kazakhstan, Pakistan, and southwest China Southwest China () is a region in the south of the People's Republic of China. Geography Southwest China is a rugged and mountainous region, transitioning between the Tibetan Plateau to the west and the Chinese coastal hills (东南丘陵) and ..., a former coastal region. Fossil evidence also extends their geographical range to Germany. References Further reading * Lucas, S. G. & Sobus, J. C., (1989), The Systematics of Indricotheres. 358–378 in Prothero, D. R. & Schoch, R. M., (eds.) 1989: The Evolution of Perissodactyls, Oxford University Press, New York, New York & Oxford, England. Prehistoric rhinoceroses Oligocene odd-toed ungulates Rupelian extinctions Prehist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesohippus
''Mesohippus'' (Greek: / meaning "middle" and / meaning "horse") is an extinct genus of early horse. It lived 37 to 32 million years ago in the Early Oligocene. Like many fossil horses, ''Mesohippus'' was common in North America. Its shoulder height is estimated about 60 cm tall. Description ''Mesohippus'' had longer legs than its predecessor ''Eohippus'' and stood about 60 cm (6 hands) tall. This equid is the first fully tridactyl horse in the evolutionary record, with the third digit being longer and larger than its second and fourth digits; ''Mesohippus'' had not developed a hoof at this point, rather it still had pads as seen in ''Hyracotherium'' and ''Orohippus''.MacFadden, B. J.. 1992. Fossil Horses: Systematics, Paleobiology, and Evolution of the Family Equidae. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. The face of ''Mesohippus'' was longer and larger than earlier equids. It had a slight facial fossa, or depression, in the skull. The eyes were rounder, and were set wid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herbivorous
A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthparts adapted to rasping or grinding. Horses and other herbivores have wide flat teeth that are adapted to grinding grass, tree bark, and other tough plant material. A large percentage of herbivores have mutualistic gut flora that help them digest plant matter, which is more difficult to digest than animal prey. This flora is made up of cellulose-digesting protozoans or bacteria. Etymology Herbivore is the anglicized form of a modern Latin coinage, ''herbivora'', cited in Charles Lyell's 1830 ''Principles of Geology''.J.A. Simpson and E.S.C. Weiner, eds. (2000) ''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. 8, p. 155. Richard Owen employed the anglicized term in an 1854 work on fossil teeth and skeletons. ''Herbivora'' is derived from Latin ''herba' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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