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Yaksha Perettii
''Yaksha perettii'' is an extinct species of albanerpetontid amphibian, and the only species in the genus ''Yaksha''. It is known from three specimens found in Cenomanian aged Burmese amber from Myanmar. The remains of ''Yaksha perettii'' are the best preserved of all albanerpetontids, which usually consist of isolated fragments or crushed flat, and have provided significant insights in the morphology and lifestyle of the group. Etymology The generic epithet is named after the Yaksha, a class of nature and guardian spirits in Indian religions, while the specific epithet honors Dr. Adolf Peretti, who provided some of the specimens, including the holotype. Discovery The paratype specimen was originally described in 2016 amongst a collection of fossil lizard species from Burmese amber, and was initially identified as a stem-chameleon. However Professor Susan E. Evans, a researcher who has extensively worked on albanerpetontids, recognised the specimen as belonging to the group. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cenomanian
The Cenomanian is, in the ICS' geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or the lowest stage of the Upper Cretaceous Series. An age is a unit of geochronology; it is a unit of time; the stage is a unit in the stratigraphic column deposited during the corresponding age. Both age and stage bear the same name. As a unit of geologic time measure, the Cenomanian Age spans the time between 100.5 and 93.9 million years ago (Mya). In the geologic timescale, it is preceded by the Albian and is followed by the Turonian. The Upper Cenomanian starts around at 95 Mya. The Cenomanian is coeval with the Woodbinian of the regional timescale of the Gulf of Mexico and the early part of the Eaglefordian of the regional timescale of the East Coast of the United States. At the end of the Cenomanian, an anoxic event took place, called the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary event or the "Bonarelli event", that is associated with a minor extinction event for marine spec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convergent Evolution
Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last common ancestor of those groups. The cladistic term for the same phenomenon is homoplasy. The recurrent evolution of flight is a classic example, as flying insects, birds, pterosaurs, and bats have independently evolved the useful capacity of flight. Functionally similar features that have arisen through convergent evolution are ''analogous'', whereas '' homologous'' structures or traits have a common origin but can have dissimilar functions. Bird, bat, and pterosaur wings are analogous structures, but their forelimbs are homologous, sharing an ancestral state despite serving different functions. The opposite of convergence is divergent evolution, where related species evolve different traits. Convergent evolution is similar to parallel evo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prehistoric Amphibian Genera
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of symbols, marks, and images appears very early among humans, but the earliest known writing systems appeared 5000 years ago. It took thousands of years for writing systems to be widely adopted, with writing spreading to almost all cultures by the 19th century. The end of prehistory therefore came at very different times in different places, and the term is less often used in discussing societies where prehistory ended relatively recently. In the early Bronze Age, Sumer in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley Civilisation, and ancient Egypt were the first civilizations to develop their own scripts and to keep historical records, with their neighbors following. Most other civilizations reached the end of prehistory during the following Iron Age. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albanerpetontidae
The Albanerpetontidae are an extinct family of small amphibians, native to the Northern Hemisphere during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. The only members of the order Allocaudata, they are thought to be allied with living amphibians belonging to Lissamphibia. Despite a superficially salamander-like bodyform, their anatomy is strongly divergent from modern amphibians in numerous aspects. The fossil record of albanerpetontids spans over 160 million years from the Middle Jurassic to the beginning of the Pleistocene, about 2.13-2 million years ago. History of Research The earliest specimen of an albanerpetontid to be discovered was that of '' Celtedens megacephalus'' from the Early Cretaceous (Albian) Pietraroja Plattenkalk of Italy, described by Oronzio Gabriele Costa in 1864, and originally placed in the genus ''Triton,'' a junior synonym of the salamander genus ''Triturus''. Jaw elements of albanerpetontids from the Cretaceous of North America were assigned to the salamander g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wesserpeton
''Wesserpeton'' is an extinct genus of albanerpetontid amphibian known from the Isle of Wight, southern England. Description ''Wesserpeton'' is known from the holotype NHMUK PV R36521, nearly complete fused frontals and from the referred materials NHMUK PV R36522–36568 and R36595–36611. All specimens were collected from seven localities of the Wessex Formation on the southeastern coast of the Isle of Wight of southern England. The type locality (Bed 38) is exposed at Yaverland while the rest (Bed L2) are exposed high in the cliff at Sudmoor Point but have yielded only NHMUK PV R36539, R36522 and R36553–36558. All specimens are dating to the Barremian stage of the Early Cretaceous. Etymology ''Wesserpeton'' was first named by Steven C. Sweetman and James D. Gardner in 2013 and the type species is ''Wesserpeton evansae''. The generic name is derived from ''Wess'', from Wessex, an ancient British kingdom which included the Isle of Wight, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Celtedens
''Celtedens'' is an extinct genus of albanerpetontid amphibian from the Early Cretaceous of England, Spain, Sweden and Italy, and the Late Jurassic of Portugal. Taxonomy * †''Celtedens ibericus'' McGowan and Evans 1995 La Huérguina Formation, Spain, Barremian * †''Celtedens megacephalus'' Costa 1864 Lulworth Formation, United Kingdom, Berriasian Pietraroja Plattenkalk, Italy, Albian * Indeterminate remains attributed to the genus are also known from the Late Jurassic Alcobaça Formation The Alcobaça Formation, previously known as the Guimarota Formation and also known as the Consolação Unit, is a geological formation in Portugal. It dates back to the Kimmeridgian stage of the Late Jurassic. It is an important source of inform ... of Portugal, as well as the earliest Cretaceous (Berriasian) of Sweden. Phylogeny From Daza et al. 2020. References Albanerpetontidae Prehistoric amphibian genera Cretaceous amphibians of Europe Jurassic amphibians of Europe C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anoualerpeton
''Anoualerpeton'' is an extinct genus of lissamphibian in the family Albanerpetontidae. It is the oldest and most primitive albanerpetontid known. Fossils have been found of two different species, ''Anoualerpeton priscus'' from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) aged Forest Marble and Kilmaluag formations of England and Scotland, and ''Anoualerpeton unicus'' from Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous (Tithonian-Berriasian) Ksar Metlili Formation of Morocco. ''A. unicus'' is the only named albanerpetontid from Gondwana. Etymology The name "''Anoualerpeton''" is composed of Anoual, the name of a city in the eastern High Atlas (Morocco), in whose relative proximity the type material of the type species ''Anoualerpeton unicus'' was found, and the ancient Greek word ἑρπετόν herpeton, which means 'creeping animal" and is often used in the generic names of fossil amphibians. The epithets "priscus" and "unicus" mean 'old' and 'unique', which refers to the fact that ''Anoualerpeton'' ''p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albanerpeton
''Albanerpeton'' is an extinct genus of salamander-like lissamphibian found in North America and Europe, first appearing in Cretaceous-aged strata. There are eight described members of the genus, and one undiagnosed species from the Paskapoo Formation, with the most recent, ''A. ektopistikon'' being described by Carrano ''et al.''in 2022. Members of the genus had a robust head and neck which likely allowed them to actively burrow, characteristic of fossorial species, and they lived in a wide range of environments. This genus of amphibian was the last of its order, surviving until the late Pliocene in southern Europe, and into the Early Pleistocene (Gelasian) of northern Italy. It likely became extinct when the region developed its present Mediterranean-type climate, having preferred one that was cold and humid. The monophyly of ''Albanerpeton'' has recently been questioned History and Discovery Albanerpeton was first described by Estes and Hoffstetter in 1976. However, the genus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shirerpeton
''Shirerpeton'' is an extinct genus of albanerpetontid amphibian from the Early Cretaceous Kuwajima Formation, which is located in Japan.Fujita, M. (2003). "Geological age and correlation of the vertebrate-bearing horizons in the Tetori Group". ''Memoir of the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum''. 2: 3–14. The type species is ''Shirerpeton isajii'', which was described by Masumoto & Evans in 2018. ''Shirerpeton'' represents the first record of Albanerpetontidae in East Asia and the holotype is SBEI 2459, a small block bearing most of a disarticulated but associated skull with some postcranial Postcrania (postcranium, adjective: postcranial) in zoology and vertebrate paleontology is all or part of the skeleton apart from the skull. Frequently, fossil remains, e.g. of dinosaurs or other extinct tetrapods, consist of partial or isolated s ... elements present as well. Phylogeny From Daza ''et al'' (2020): References {{Taxonbar, from=Q49000628 Albanerpetontidae Fossi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chameleons Tongue
Chameleons or chamaeleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 202 species described as of June 2015. The members of this family are best known for their distinct range of colors, being capable of shifting to different hues and degrees of brightness. The large number of species in the family exhibit considerable variability in their capacity to change color. For some, it is more of a shift of brightness (shades of brown); for others, a plethora of color-combinations (reds, yellows, greens, blues) can be seen. Chameleons are distinguished by their zygodactylous feet, their prehensile tail, their laterally compressed bodies, their head casques, their projectile tongues, their swaying gait, and crests or horns on their brow and snout. Chameleons' eyes are independently mobile, and because of this there are two separate, individual images that the brain is analyzing of the chameleon’s environment. When hunting prey, they ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyoid Bone
The hyoid bone (lingual bone or tongue-bone) () is a horseshoe-shaped bone situated in the anterior midline of the neck between the chin and the thyroid cartilage. At rest, it lies between the base of the mandible and the third cervical vertebra. Unlike other bones, the hyoid is only distantly articulated to other bones by muscles or ligaments. It is the only bone in the human body that is not connected to any other bones nearby. The hyoid is anchored by muscles from the anterior, posterior and inferior directions, and aids in tongue movement and swallowing. The hyoid bone provides attachment to the muscles of the floor of the mouth and the tongue above, the larynx below, and the epiglottis and pharynx behind. Its name is derived . Structure The hyoid bone is classed as an irregular bone and consists of a central part called the body, and two pairs of horns, the greater and lesser horns. Body The body of the hyoid bone is the central part of the hyoid bone. *At the fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albanerpetontid
The Albanerpetontidae are an extinct family of small amphibians, native to the Northern Hemisphere during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. The only members of the order Allocaudata, they are thought to be allied with living amphibians belonging to Lissamphibia. Despite a superficially salamander-like bodyform, their anatomy is strongly divergent from modern amphibians in numerous aspects. The fossil record of albanerpetontids spans over 160 million years from the Middle Jurassic to the beginning of the Pleistocene, about 2.13-2 million years ago. History of Research The earliest specimen of an albanerpetontid to be discovered was that of ''Celtedens megacephalus'' from the Early Cretaceous (Albian) Pietraroja Plattenkalk of Italy, described by Oronzio Gabriele Costa in 1864, and originally placed in the genus ''Triton,'' a junior synonym of the salamander genus ''Triturus''. Jaw elements of albanerpetontids from the Cretaceous of North America were assigned to the salamander genus ''P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
