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Herpetotheriidae
Herpetotheriidae is an extinct family of metatherians, closely related to marsupials. Species of this family are generally reconstructed as terrestrial, and are considered morphologically similar to modern opossums. Fossils of herpetotheriids come from North America, Asia, Europe, Africa, and perhaps South America. The oldest representative is '' Maastrichtidelphys'' from the latest Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of the Netherlands and the youngest member is '' Amphiperatherium'' from the Middle Miocene of Europe. The group has been suggested to be paraphyletic, with an analysis of petrosal anatomy finding that North American ''Herpetotherium'' was more closely related to marsupials than the European ''Peratherium'' and ''Amphiperatherium.'' The family includes the following genera: *'' Amphiperatherium'' (Early Eocene to Middle Miocene, Europe; synonyms: ''Oxygomphius'', ''Microtarsioides'', ''Ceciliolemur'') *'' Asiadidelphis'' (Late Eocene to Early Oligocene, Kazakhstan and Pakist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metatheria
Metatheria is a mammalian clade that includes all mammals more closely related to marsupials than to placentals. First proposed by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1880, it is a more inclusive group than the marsupials; it contains all marsupials as well as many extinct non-marsupial relatives. There are three extant subclasses of mammals, one being metatherians: #monotremes: egg laying mammals like the platypus and the echidna, #metatheria: marsupials, which includes three American orders ( Didelphimorphia, Paucituberculata and Microbiotheria) and four Australasian orders (Notoryctemorphia, Dasyuromorphia, Peramelemorphia and Diprotodontia), and the # eutherians: placental mammals, consisting of four superorders divided into 21 orders. Metatherians belong to a subgroup of the northern tribosphenic mammal clade or Boreosphenida. They differ from all other mammals in certain morphologies like their dental formula, which includes about five upper and four lower incisors, a canine, three pre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peratherium
''Peratherium'' is a genus of metatherian mammals in the family Herpetotheriidae that lived in Europe and Africa from the Early Eocene to the Early Miocene The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages: the Aquitanian age, Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages. The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 annum, Ma to .... Species include the following: *''Peratherium africanum'' *''Peratherium antiquum'' *''Peratherium bretouense'' *''Peratherium cayluxi'' *''Peratherium constans'' *''Peratherium cuvieri'' *''Peratherium elegans'' *''Peratherium lavergnense'' *''Peratherium matronense'' *''Peratherium monspeliense'' *''Peratherium perrierense'' *''Peratherium sudrei'' References Further reading * * External links Prehistoric metatherians Oligocene mammals Oligocene mammals of Europe Paleogene France Fossils of France Quercy Phosphorites Formation Prehistoric mammal genera [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maastrichtidelphys
''Maastrichtidelphys'' is a Late Cretaceous genus of metatherian (marsupial lineage) mammal from the Netherlands in Europe.Martin, J.E., Case, J.A., Jagt, J.W., Schulp, A.S. and Mulder, E.W., 2005A new European marsupial indicates a Late Cretaceous high-latitude transatlantic dispersal route ''Journal of Mammalian Evolution'', 12(3-4), pp.495-511. The genus contains a single species, ''M. meurismeti''. It is known from an extremely small right upper molar, and analysis of it suggests that ''Maastrichtidelphys'' is most closely related to the North American herpetotheriid marsupial, '' Nortedelphys'', which is Lancian in age. ''Maastrichtidelphys'' belongs to a group of mammals with their origins in North America, the Herpetotheriidae Herpetotheriidae is an extinct family of metatherians, closely related to marsupials. Species of this family are generally reconstructed as terrestrial, and are considered morphologically similar to modern opossums. Fossils of herpetotheriids com . ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herpetotherium
''Herpetotherium'' is an extinct genus of metatherian mammal, belonging to the possibly paraphyletic family Herpetotheriidae. Native to North America from the Eocene to Early Miocene, fossils have been found in California, Oregon, Texas, Florida, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, and Saskatchewan. The oldest species, ''H. knighti'', is dated to around 50.3 mya, and the most recent, an unnamed species, may be as recent as 15.97 mya. A morphological analysis of marsupials and basal metatherians conducted in 2007 found ''Herpetotherium'' to be the sister group to extant marsupials. It is the youngest known metatherian from North America until the migration of the Virginia opossum from South America within the last 2 million years. Some authors have regarded the species assigned to ''Herpetotherium'' (for instance, ''H. comstocki'', ''H. marsupium'', and ''H. merriami'') as belonging to African and European genus ''Peratherium'' Aymard, 1850 on the basis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miocene
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] |
Amphiperatherium
''Amphiperatherium'' is an extinct genus of metatherian mammal, closely related to marsupials. It ranged from the Early Eocene to the Middle Miocene in Europe. It is the most recent metatherian known from the continent. Description Like modern opossums, to which it was distantly related, this animal had a 15 centimeters long body and a 17 centimeters long tail. Its body size was relatively larger than some of its earlier relatives, such as ''Peradectes'', but its tail was proportionally shorter. Classification ''Amphiperatherium'' is part of an evolutionary radiation of opossum-like metatherians, known as Herpetotheriidae, typical of the Early Cenozoic of Europe, Asia and North America, currently considered either the most primitive of all marsupials, or the sister taxa of Marsupialia. ''Amphiperatherium'' was not only the more recent herpetotheriid known, but also the last marsupial known in Europe, becoming extinct during the Middle Miocene, 15 millions of years ago. Its exti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic 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 13C in the atmosphere was exceptionally low in comparison with the more common isotope 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 Siberia and in what is now Chesapeake Bay. As with other geologic periods, the strata that define the start and end of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Early Oligocene
The Rupelian is, in the geologic timescale, the older of two ages or the lower of two stages of the Oligocene Epoch/Series. It spans the time between . It is preceded by the Priabonian Stage (part of the Eocene) and is followed by the Chattian Stage. Name The stage is named after the small river Rupel in Belgium, a tributary to the Scheldt. The Belgian Rupel Group derives its name from the same source. The name Rupelian was introduced in scientific literature by Belgian geologist André Hubert Dumont in 1850. The separation between the group and the stage was made in the second half of the 20th century, when stratigraphers saw the need to distinguish between lithostratigraphic and chronostratigraphic names. Stratigraphic definition The base of the Rupelian Stage (which is also the base of the Oligocene Series) is at the extinction of the foraminiferan genus ''Hantkenina''. An official GSSP for the base of the Rupelian has been assigned in 1992 (Massignano, Italy). The transi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the Latin word for the white limestone known as chalk. The chalk of northern France and the white cliffs of south-eastern England date from the Cretaceous Period. Climate During the Late Cretaceous, the climate was warmer than present, although throughout the period a cooling trend is evident. The tropics became restricted to equatorial regions and northern latitudes experienced markedly more seasonal climatic conditions. Geography Due to plate tectonics, the Americas were gradually moving westward, causing the Atlantic Ocean to expand. The Western Interior Seaway divided North America into eastern and western halves; Appalachia and Laramidia. India maintained a northward course towards Asia. In the Southern Hemisphere, Australia and Ant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
