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Plesiadapiformes
Plesiadapiformes (" Adapid-like" or "near Adapiformes") is an extinct basal pan-primates group, as sister to the rest of the pan-primates. The pan-primates together with the Dermoptera form the Primatomorpha. '' Purgatorius'' may not be a primate as an extinct sister to the rest of the Dermoptera or a separate, more basal stem pan-primate branch. Even with ''Purgatorius'' removed, the crown primates may even have emerged in this group. Plesiadapiformes first appear in the fossil record between 65 and 55 million years ago, although many were extinct by the beginning of the Eocene. They may be the earliest known mammals to have finger nails in place of claw A claw is a curved, pointed appendage found at the end of a toe or finger in most amniotes (mammals, reptiles, birds). Some invertebrates such as beetles and spiders have somewhat similar fine, hooked structures at the end of the leg or Arthro ...s. In 1990, K.C. Beard attempted to link the Plesiadapiformes with the o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plesiadapis
''Plesiadapis'' is one of the oldest known primate-like mammal genera which existed about 58–55 million years ago in North America and Europe. ''Plesiadapis'' means "near-Adapis", which is a reference to the Adapiformes, adapiform primate of the Eocene, Eocene period, ''Adapis''. ''Plesiadapis tricuspidens'', the type specimen, is named after the three cusps present on its upper incisors. Taxonomy The first discovery of ''Plesiadapis'' was made by Paul Gervais, François Louis Paul Gervaise in 1877, who first discovered ''Plesiadapis tricuspidens'' in France. The type specimen is MNHN Crl-16, and is a left mandibular fragment dated to the early Eocene epoch. This genus probably arose in North America and colonized Europe on a land bridge via Greenland. Thanks to the abundance of the genus and to its rapid evolution, species of ''Plesiadapis'' play an important role in the zonation of Late Paleocene continental sediments and in the correlation of faunas on both sides of the At ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carpolestidae
Carpolestidae is a family of primate-like Plesiadapiformes that were prevalent in North America and Asia from the mid Paleocene through the early Eocene. Typically, they are characterized by two large upper posterior premolars and one large lower posterior premolar. They weighed about 20-150g, and were about the size of a mouse. Though they come from the order, Plesiadapiformes, that may have given rise to the primate order, carpolestids are too specialized and derived to be ancestors of primates. Historically, the almost twenty species included within the family were thought to have given rise to each other over time in a linear and straightforward manner. Still today it is widely assumed that '' Elphidotarsius'' from the mid to late Paleocene gave rise to '' Carpodaptes'' which lived in the late Paleocene and subsequently gave rise to '' Carpolestes'' from the early Eocene. As a result, they have been used as biostratigraphic indicators in a variety of paleontological digs. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Euarchonta
The Euarchonta are a proposed grandorder of mammals: the order Scandentia (treeshrews), and its sister Primatomorpha mirorder, containing the Dermoptera (colugos) and the primates (Plesiadapiformes and descendants). The term "Euarchonta" (meaning "true rulers") appeared in 1999, when molecular evidence suggested that the morphology-based Archonta should be trimmed down to exclude Chiroptera. Further DNA sequence analyses supported the Euarchonta hypothesis. Despite multiple papers pointing out that some mitochondrial sequences showed unusual properties (particularly murid rodents and hedgehogs) and were likely distorting the overall tree, and despite earlier studies showing near total congruence of mtDNA-based and nuclear-based trees when such sequences were excluded, some authors continued to produce misleading trees. A study investigating retrotransposon presence/absence data has claimed strong support for Euarchonta. Some interpretations of the molecular data link Primates ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plesiadapidae
Plesiadapidae is a family of plesiadapiform mammals related to primates known from the Paleocene and Eocene of North America, Europe, and Asia. Plesiadapids were abundant in the late Paleocene, and their fossils are often used to establish the ages of fossil faunas. Classification McKenna and Bell recognized two subfamilies (Plesiadapinae and Saxonellinae) and one unassigned genus ('' Pandemonium'') within Plesiadapidae. More recently '' Saxonella'' (the only saxonelline) and ''Pandemonium'' have been excluded from the family, leaving only a redundant Plesiadapinae. Within the family, '' Pronothodectes'' is the likely ancestor of all other genera, while ''Plesiadapis ''Plesiadapis'' is one of the oldest known primate-like mammal genera which existed about 58–55 million years ago in North America and Europe. ''Plesiadapis'' means "near-Adapis", which is a reference to the Adapiformes, adapiform primate of th ...'' may be directly ancestral to both '' Chiromyoides'' and '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plesiadapoidea
Plesiadapoidea was an extinct superfamily of primates that existed during the Paleocene and Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ... in North America, Europe, and Asia.Thewissen J.G.M., Williams, E.M., and Hussain, S.T. (2001). "Eocene mammal faunas from northern Indo-Pakistan". ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 21 (2): 347–366. DOIbr>10.1671/0272-4634(2001)021[0347:EMFFNI]2.0.CO;2Fox, Richard C.; The dentition and relationships of Carpodaptes cygneus (Russell) (Carpolestidae, Plesiadapiformes, Mammalia), from the late Paleocene of Alberta, Canada/ref> References Plesiadapiformes Paleocene mammals Eocene mammals Paleocene first appearances {{paleo-mammal-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Purgatorius
''Purgatorius'' is a genus of seven extinct eutherian species typically believed to be the earliest example of a primate or protoprimate, a primatomorph precursor to the Plesiadapiformes, dating to as old as 66 million years ago. The first remains (''P. unio'' and ''P. ceratops'') were reported in 1965, from what is now eastern Montana's Tullock Formation (early Paleocene, Puercan), specifically at Purgatory Hill (hence the animal's name) in deposits believed to be about 63 million years old, and at Harbicht Hill in the lower Paleocene section of the Hell Creek Formation. Both locations are in McCone County, Montana. They have also been found in the Ravenscrag Formation and widely discovered in the early Paleocene Bug Creek Group, along with leptictids. These deposits were once thought to be late Cretaceous, but it is now clear that they are Paleocene channels with time-averaged fossil assemblages. It is thought to have been rat-sized ( long and 1.3 ounces (about 37 grams)) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Purgatoriidae
Purgatoriidae is a basal plesiadapiform family that includes, ''Purgatorius'' and '' Ursolestes''. Purgatoriids are thought to represent the earliest members of the Plesiadapiformes Plesiadapiformes (" Adapid-like" or "near Adapiformes") is an extinct basal pan-primates group, as sister to the rest of the pan-primates. The pan-primates together with the Dermoptera form the Primatomorpha. '' Purgatorius'' may not be a pr ... – as well as primates. References Paleocene mammals Purgatoriidae Prehistoric mammal families {{paleo-mammal-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Primate
Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers and simians (monkeys and apes). Primates arose 74–63 million years ago first from small terrestrial animal, terrestrial mammals, which adapted for life in tropical forests: many primate characteristics represent adaptations to the challenging environment among Canopy (biology), tree tops, including large brain sizes, binocular vision, color vision, Animal communication, vocalizations, shoulder girdles allowing a large degree of movement in the upper limbs, and opposable thumbs (in most but not all) that enable better grasping and dexterity. Primates range in size from Madame Berthe's mouse lemur, which weighs , to the eastern gorilla, weighing over . There are 376–524 species of living primates, depending on which classification is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Micromomyidae
Micromomyidae (Micromomids) is a family of extinct plesiadapiform mammals that include some of the earliest known primates. The family includes five genera that lived from the Paleocene epoch into the early Eocene epoch. Micromomyids first appeared in the fossil record between 61.7 and 56.8 million years ago with the ''Micromomys'' genus. All but one specimen has been discovered in modern-day inland North America, more specifically in Wyoming, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, with one unlabeled Eocene species found in Shandong, China. Like other known Plesiadapiformes, it appears that the micromomyids were small, tree-dwelling insectivores A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores wer .... They are thought to be some of the smallest of their order, with estimates for some species aro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paleocene
The Paleocene ( ), or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name is a combination of the Ancient Greek ''palaiós'' meaning "old" and the Eocene Epoch (which succeeds the Paleocene), translating to "the old part of the Eocene". The epoch is bracketed by two major events in Earth's history. The K–Pg extinction event, brought on by an asteroid impact (Chicxulub impact) and possibly volcanism (Deccan Traps), marked the beginning of the Paleocene and killed off 75% of species, most famously the non-avian dinosaurs. The end of the epoch was marked by the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), which was a major climatic event wherein about 2,500–4,500 gigatons of carbon were released into the atmosphere and ocean systems, causing a spike in global temperatures and ocean acidification. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dermoptera
Colugos (), flying lemurs, or cobegos (), are arboreal gliding euarchontogliran mammals that are native to Southeast Asia. Their closest evolutionary relatives are primates. There are just two living species of colugos: the Sunda flying lemur (''Galeopterus variegatus'') and the Philippine flying lemur (''Cynocephalus volans''). These two species make up the entire family Cynocephalidae () and order Dermoptera, from Ancient Greek δέρμα (''dérma'') "skin" and πτερόν (''pterón'') "wing". Characteristics Colugos are nocturnal, tree-dwelling mammals. Appearance and anatomy They reach lengths of and weigh . They have long, slender front and rear limbs, a medium-length tail, and a relatively light build. The head is small, with large, front-focused eyes for excellent binocular vision, and small rounded ears. The incisor teeth of colugos are highly distinctive; they are comb-like in shape with up to 20 tines on each tooth. The incisors are analogous in app ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glires
Glires (, Latin ''glīrēs'' 'dormice') is a clade (sometimes ranked as a grandorder) consisting of rodents and lagomorphs ( rabbits, hares, and pikas). The hypothesis that these form a monophyletic group has been long debated based on morphological evidence. Two morphological studies, published in 2001 and 2003, strongly support the monophyly of Glires. In particular, the 2003 study reported the discovery of fossil material of basal members of Glires, particularly the genera '' Mimotona'', '' Gomphos'', '' Heomys'', '' Matutinia'', '' Rhombomylus'', and '' Sinomylus''. Their description, in 2005, helped to bridge the gap between more typical rodents and lagomorphs. Data published in 2001, based on nuclear DNA, supported Glires as a sister of Euarchonta to form Euarchontoglires, but some genetic data from both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondrion, mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
