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Megaceroides
''Megaceroides algericus'' is an extinct species of deer known from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene of North Africa. It is one of only two species of deer known to have been native to the African continent, alongside the Barbary stag, a subspecies of red deer. It is considered to be closely related to the giant deer species of Eurasia. Taxonomy The species was first described by Richard Lydekker as ''Cervus algericus'' in 1890 from a maxilla with teeth found near Hammam Maskhoutine in Algeria. The species ''Cervus pachygenys'' was erected for a pachyostotic mandible and an isolated molar found in Algeria by Auguste Pomel in 1892. Léonce Joleaud in two publications in 1914 and 1916 synonymised the two species, and suggested affinities with the giant deer of Europe, and placed it in the newly erected subgenus ''Megaceroides'' within the genus ''Megaceros'' (junior synonym of '' Megaloceros'') as the type species. Camille Arambourg in publications in 1932 and 1938 raise ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Praemegaceros
''Praemegaceros'' is an extinct genus of deer, known from the Pleistocene and Holocene of Western Eurasia. ''Praemegaceros'' is considered to be a genus of "giant deer", with many species having an estimated body mass of around , considerably larger than most living deer. The genus contains the subgenera ''Praemegaceros,'' ''Orthogonoceros'' and ''Nesoleipoceros''. It has sometimes been synonymised with '' Megaloceros'' and '' Megaceroides'', but is regarded as a distinct genus by most studies. Some authors have considered the genus closely related to ''Megaloceros'', but this has been disputed by others. The earliest species like ''P. obscurus'' and ''P. verticornis'' appeared in Europe between 2 and 1.5 million years ago. The genus was widely distributed across Europe, West and Central Asia during the Early-Middle Pleistocene, with fossils having been discovered in France, Georgia, Germany, England, Greece, Israel, Italy, Romania, Russia Spain, Syria, and Tajikistan. The genus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barbary Stag
The Barbary stag (''Cervus elaphus barbarus''), also known as the Atlas deer or African elk, is a subspecies of the red deer that is native to North Africa. It is the only deer known to be native to Africa, aside from '' Megaceroides algericus'', which went extinct approximately 6,000 years ago. Description The Barbary stag is smaller than the typical red deer. Its body is dark brown with some white spots on its flanks and back. The antlers lack the bez (second) tine. Range/habitat The Barbary stag is the only member of the deer family that is native to Africa. It thrives in dense, humid forested areas of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. It had initially been hunted to extinction in the latter, but specimens from the Tunisian population were reintroduced in the 1990s.Le programme d'espèces d'UICN et la Commission UICN de la sauvegarde des espèces et TRAFFIC"Résumés des Analyses UICN/TRAFFIC des propositions d'amendement aux Annexes de la CITES pour la Quatorzième session de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megaloceros Giganteus Irish Elk Skeleton (Pleistocene; Peat Bog Near Dublin, Eastern Ireland) 3 (15257223660)
''Megaloceros'' (from Greek: + , literally "Great Horn"; see also Lister (1987)) is an extinct genus of deer whose members lived throughout Eurasia from the Pleistocene to the early Holocene. The type and only undisputed member of the genus, '' Megaloceros giganteus'', vernacularly known as the "Irish elk" or "giant deer", is also the best known. Fallow deer are thought to be their closest living relatives. ''Megaloceros'' has been suggested to be closely related to other genera of "giant deer", like the East Asian genus ''Sinomegaceros,'' and the European ''Praemegaceros''. Nomenclatural history '' Megaloceros giganteus'' was originally described in 1799 as ''Alce gigantea'' by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach based on specimens found in Ireland. With ''Alce'' being a variant of the genus ''Alces'' used for elk/moose.''Blumenbach J. 1799. Handbuch der Naturgeschichte' (6th Ed.) 16: 697'' In 1827 Joshua Brookes, in a listing of his zoological collection, named the ''Megaloceros ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megaloceros
''Megaloceros'' (from Greek: + , literally "Great Horn"; see also Lister (1987)) is an extinct genus of deer whose members lived throughout Eurasia from the Pleistocene to the early Holocene. The type and only undisputed member of the genus, '' Megaloceros giganteus'', vernacularly known as the "Irish elk" or "giant deer", is also the best known. Fallow deer are thought to be their closest living relatives. ''Megaloceros'' has been suggested to be closely related to other genera of "giant deer", like the East Asian genus '' Sinomegaceros,'' and the European '' Praemegaceros''. Nomenclatural history '' Megaloceros giganteus'' was originally described in 1799 as ''Alce gigantea'' by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach based on specimens found in Ireland. With ''Alce'' being a variant of the genus '' Alces'' used for elk/moose.''Blumenbach J. 1799. Handbuch der Naturgeschichte' (6th Ed.) 16: 697'' In 1827 Joshua Brookes, in a listing of his zoological collection, named the ''Mega ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irish Elk
The Irish elk (''Megaloceros giganteus''), also called the giant deer or Irish deer, is an extinct species of deer in the genus '' Megaloceros'' and is one of the largest deer that ever lived. Its range extended across northern Eurasia during the Pleistocene, from Ireland (where it is known from abundant remains found in bogs) to Lake Baikal in Siberia. The most recent remains of the species have been radiocarbon dated to about 7,700 years ago in western Russia.International Code of Zoological Nomenclature">International Code of Zoological Nomenclature">/nowiki>International Code of Zoological Nomenclature/nowiki> (article 12) to validate ''Megalocerus''." The original spelling of ''Megalocerus'' was never used after its original publication.In 1844, Richard Owen named another synonym of the Irish elk, including it within the newly named subgenus ''Megaceros'', ''Cervus'' (''Megaceros'') ''hibernicus''. This has been suggested to be derived from another junior synonym of the Iris ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taxon
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and given a particular ranking, especially if and when it is accepted or becomes established. It is very common, however, for taxonomists to remain at odds over what belongs to a taxon and the criteria used for inclusion, especially in the context of rank-based (" Linnaean") nomenclature (much less so under phylogenetic nomenclature). If a taxon is given a formal scientific name, its use is then governed by one of the nomenclature codes specifying which scientific name is correct for a particular grouping. Initial attempts at classifying and ordering organisms (plants and animals) were presumably set forth in prehistoric times by hunter-gatherers, as suggested by the fairly sophisticated folk taxonomies. Much later, Aristotle, and later st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fallow Deer
Fallow deer is the common name for species of deer in the genus ''Dama'' of subfamily Cervinae. There are two living species, the European fallow deer (''Dama dama''), native to Europe and Anatolia, and the Persian fallow deer (''Dama mesopotamica''), native to the Middle East. The European species has been widely introduced elsewhere. Name The name fallow is derived from the deer's Fallow (color), pale brown colour. The Latin language, Latin word or , used for roe deer, gazelles, and antelopes, lies at the root of the modern scientific name, as well as the German language, German , French language, French , Dutch language, Dutch ', and Italian language, Italian '. In Serbo-Croatian language, Serbo-Croatian, the name for the fallow deer is ''jelen lopatar'' ("shovel deer"), due to the form of its antlers. The Modern Hebrew name of the fallow deer is (). Description The Persian fallow deer is the larger of the two living species, with an average body mass of around , and a s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dama Clactoniana
''Dama clactoniana'' is an extinct species of fallow deer (genus ''Dama''). It lived during the Middle Pleistocene (with fossils spanning around 500-300,000 years ago). It is widely agreed to be the ''Dama'' species most closely related and likely ancestral to the two living species of fallow deer (being sometimes treated as a subspecies of '' Dama dama'' as ''Dama dama clactoniana'') and like them has palmate antlers. Description While the size of the species is variable, specimens tend to be on average larger than both living fallow deer species. The fourth lower premolar is not molarized. Unlike earlier species of ''Dama'' and like living fallow deer, the antlers are palmate (flattened), with the palmation being narrower than in living European fallow deer (''Dama dama''). Distribution Specimens are known from Western Europe, including Italy, Britain, France and Spain. Palaeoecology Dental wear analysis of remains from the site of Fontana Aruccio in Italy suggests that ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morphology (biology)
Morphology (from Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ) "form", and λόγος (lógos) "word, study, research") is the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features. This includes aspects of the outward appearance (shape, structure, color, pattern, size), as well as the form and structure of internal parts like bones and organs, i.e., anatomy. This is in contrast to physiology, which deals primarily with function. Morphology is a branch of life science dealing with the study of the overall structure of an organism or taxon and its component parts. History The etymology of the word "morphology" is from the Ancient Greek (), meaning "form", and (), meaning "word, study, research". While the concept of form in biology, opposed to function, dates back to Aristotle (see Aristotle's biology), the field of morphology was developed by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1790) and independently by the German anatomist and physiologist Karl Fried ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Pleistocene
The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as the Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. It is currently defined as the time between 129,000 and c. 11,700 years ago. The late Pleistocene equates to the proposed Tarantian Age of the geologic time scale, preceded by the officially ratified Chibanian (commonly known as the Middle Pleistocene). The beginning of the Late Pleistocene is the transition between the end of the Penultimate Glacial Period and the beginning of the Last Interglacial around 130,000 years ago (corresponding with the beginning of Marine Isotope Stage 5). The Late Pleistocene ends with the termination of the Younger Dryas, some 10th millennium BC, 11,700 years ago when the Holocene Epoch began. The term Upper Pleistocene is currently in use as a p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atlas Mountains
The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. They separate the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range, which stretches around through Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The mountains are associated with the Greek god Atlas (mythology), Atlas. The range's highest peak is Toubkal, which is in central Morocco, with an elevation of . The Atlas Mountains are primarily inhabited by Berbers, Berber populations. The terms for 'mountain' are ''Adrar'' and ''adras'' in some Berber languages, and these terms are believed to be cognates of the Toponymy, toponym ''Atlas''. The mountains are home to a number of animals and plants which are mostly found within Africa but some of which can be found in Europe. Many of these species are endangered and a few are already extinct. The weather is generally cool but summers are sunny, and the average temperature there is 25 °C. The Atlas Moun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monophyly
In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population), i.e. excludes non-descendants of that common ancestor # the grouping contains all the descendants of that common ancestor, without exception Monophyly is contrasted with paraphyly and polyphyly as shown in the second diagram. A ''paraphyletic'' grouping meets 1. but not 2., thus consisting of the descendants of a common ancestor, excepting one or more monophyletic subgroups. A ''polyphyletic'' grouping meets neither criterion, and instead serves to characterize convergent relationships of biological features rather than genetic relationships – for example, night-active primates, fruit trees, or aquatic insects. As such, these characteristic features of a polyphyletic grouping are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
