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Paroodectes
''Paroodectes'' ("near '' Oodectes''") is an extinct genus of placental mammals from clade Carnivoraformes, that lived in Europe during the middle Eocene.Robert L. Carroll (1988."Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution."W. H. Freeman and Company, New York, It lived in rain forests and swamps and was a prehistoric predator that had the size and appearance of a cat and was well adapted to climbing, as is apparent from its limbs, joints and shoulder bones. Its long tail gave balance for tree climbing and jumping from branch to branch. ''Paroodectes'' probably hunted insects, rodents, and small primates in the tree tops. Only one species of ''Paroodectes'' (''P. feisti'') has been found, and this was at the Messel Pit located southeast of Frankfurt, Germany. The pit was formed during the Geiseltalian Period (or Middle Eocene) about 50 million years ago. The fossil was found by private collector Otto Feist in 1974. It was described in 1980 by Rainer Springhorn who said the following a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miacids
Miacidae ("small points") is a former paraphyletic family (biology), family of extinct Primitive (phylogenetics), primitive Placentalia, placental mammals that lived in North America, Europe and Asia during the Paleocene and Eocene epochs, about 65–33.9 million years ago.IRMNG (2018). Miacidae Cope, 1880 †. Accessed at: http://www.irmng.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=102911 on 2019-01-22 These mammals were basal to order Carnivora, the crown-group within the Carnivoraformes. Miacids are thought to have evolved into the modern carnivorous mammals of the order Carnivora. They were small carnivores, superficially marten-like or civet-like with long, lithe bodies and long tails. Some species were arboreal, while others lived on the Terrestrial animal, ground. They probably fed on invertebrates, lizards, birds, and smaller mammals like shrews and opossums. Their teeth and skulls show that the miacids were less developed than modern carnivorans. They had carnivoran-type carnassials, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carnivoraformes
Carnivoramorpha ("carnivoran-like forms") is a clade of placental mammals of clade Pan-Carnivora from mirorder Ferae, that includes the modern order Carnivora and its extinct stem-relatives.Bryant, H.N., and M. Wolson (2004“Phylogenetic Nomenclature of Carnivoran Mammals.”''First International Phylogenetic Nomenclature Meeting''. Paris, Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle General characteristics The common feature for members of this clade is the presence of the carnassial teeth. The carnassial teeth of the Carnivoramorpha are upper premolar P4 and lower molar m1.Floréal Solé & Thierry Smith (2013."Dispersals of placental carnivorous mammals (Carnivoramorpha, Oxyaenodonta & Hyaenodontida) near the Paleocene-Eocene boundary: a climatic and almost worldwide story"Geologica Belgica 16/4: 254-261 Classification and phylogeny Traditional classification Revised classification Recent phylogenetic studies indicate that the superfamily Miacoidea and family Miacidae are pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Messel Pit
The Messel Formation is a Formation (geology), geologic formation in Hesse, central Germany, dating back to the Eocene Epoch (geology), epoch (about 47 Ma). Its geographic range is restricted to the Messel pit. There it unconformably overlies crystalline Variscan basement and its Permian cover (Rotliegend) as well as Eocene volcanic breccias derived from the basement rocks. The formation mainly comprises lacustrine laminated bituminous shale (‘oil shale’) renowned for its content of fossils in exceptional preservation, particularly plants, arthropods and vertebrates (e.g. ''Darwinius masillae''). Messel pit The Messel pit () is a disused quarry near the village of Messel (Landkreis Darmstadt-Dieburg, Hesse) about southeast of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Bituminous shale was mined there. Because of its abundance of well-preserved fossils of the Messel Formation dating from the middle of the Eocene, it has significant geological and scientific importance. Over 1400 taxa o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miacinae
Miacidae ("small points") is a former paraphyletic family of extinct primitive placental mammals that lived in North America, Europe and Asia during the Paleocene and Eocene epochs, about 65–33.9 million years ago.IRMNG (2018). Miacidae Cope, 1880 †. Accessed at: http://www.irmng.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=102911 on 2019-01-22 These mammals were basal to order Carnivora, the crown-group within the Carnivoraformes. Miacids are thought to have evolved into the modern carnivorous mammals of the order Carnivora. They were small carnivores, superficially marten-like or civet-like with long, lithe bodies and long tails. Some species were arboreal, while others lived on the ground. They probably fed on invertebrates, lizards, birds, and smaller mammals like shrews and opossums. Their teeth and skulls show that the miacids were less developed than modern carnivorans. They had carnivoran-type carnassials, but lacked fully ossified auditory bullae (rounded protrusions). Classifi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 from the Ancient Greek (''Ēṓs'', 'Eos, Dawn') and (''kainós'', "new") and refers to the "dawn" of modern ('new') fauna that appeared during the epoch.See: *Letter from William Whewell to Charles Lyell dated 31 January 1831 in: * From p. 55: "The period next antecedent we shall call Eocene, from ήως, aurora, and χαινος, recens, because the extremely small proportion of living species contained in these strata, indicates what may be considered the first commencement, or ''dawn'', of the existing state of the animate creation." 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 isoto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skeleton
A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of most animals. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is a rigid outer shell that holds up an organism's shape; the endoskeleton, a rigid internal frame to which the organs and soft tissues attach; and the hydroskeleton, a flexible internal structure supported by the hydrostatic pressure of body fluids. Vertebrates are animals with an endoskeleton centered around an axial vertebral column, and their skeletons are typically composed of bones and cartilages. Invertebrates are other animals that lack a vertebral column, and their skeletons vary, including hard-shelled exoskeleton (arthropods and most molluscs), plated internal shells (e.g. cuttlebones in some cephalopods) or rods (e.g. ossicles in echinoderms), hydrostatically supported body cavities (most), and spicules (sponges). Cartilage is a rigid connective tissue that is found in the skeletal systems of vertebrates and invert ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Procyonidae
Procyonidae ( ) is a New World family of the order Carnivora. It includes the raccoons, ringtails, cacomistles, coatis, kinkajous, olingos, and olinguitos. Procyonids inhabit a wide range of environments and are generally omnivorous. Characteristics Procyonids are relatively small animals, with generally slender bodies and long tails, though the common raccoon tends to be bulky. Because of their general build, the Procyonidae are often popularly viewed as smaller cousins of the bear family. This is apparent in their German name, ''Kleinbären'' (small bears), including the names of the species: a raccoon is called a ''Waschbär'' (washing bear, as it "washes" its food before eating), a coati is a ''Nasenbär'' (nose-bear), while a kinkajou is a ''Honigbär'' (honey-bear). Dutch follows suit, calling the animals ''wasbeer'', ''neusbeer'' and ''rolstaartbeer'' (curl-tail bear) respectively. However, it is now believed that procyonids are more closely related to musteli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viverridae
Viverridae is a family (biology), family of small to medium-sized feliform mammals, comprising 14 genera with 33 species. This family was named and first described by John Edward Gray in 1821. Viverrids occur all over Africa, in southern Europe, South Asia, South and Southeast Asia on both sides of the Wallace Line. The word viverridae comes from the Latin word . The species of the subfamily Genettinae are known as Genet (animal), genets and Poiana (genus), oyans. The viverrids of the subfamily Viverrinae are commonly called civets; the Paradoxurinae and most Hemigalinae species are called palm civets. Characteristics Viverrids have four or five toes on each foot and half-retractile claws. They have six incisors in each jaw and Molar (tooth), molars with two tubercular grinders behind in the upper jaw, and one in the lower jaw. The tongue is rough with sharp prickles. A pouch or Anal gland, gland occurs beneath the anus, but there is no cecum. The male's Urinary meatus, urethr ... [...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] |
Plantigrade
151px, Portion of a human skeleton, showing plantigrade habit In terrestrial animals, plantigrade locomotion means walking with the toes and metatarsals flat on the ground. It is one of three forms of locomotion adopted by terrestrial mammals. The other options are digitigrade, walking on the toes and fingers with the heel and wrist permanently raised, and unguligrade, walking on the nail or nails of the toes (the hoof) with the heel/wrist and the digits permanently raised. The leg of a plantigrade mammal includes the bones of the upper leg (femur/humerus) and lower leg (tibia and fibula/radius and ulna). The leg of a digitigrade mammal also includes the metatarsals/metacarpals, the bones that in a human compose the arch of the foot and the palm of the hand. The leg of an unguligrade mammal also includes the phalanges, the finger and toe bones. Among extinct animals, most early mammals such as pantodonts were plantigrade. A plantigrade foot is the primitive condition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metatarsals
The metatarsal bones or metatarsus (: metatarsi) are a group of five long bones in the midfoot, located between the tarsal bones (which form the heel and the ankle) and the phalanges (toes). Lacking individual names, the metatarsal bones are numbered from the medial side (the side of the great toe): the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth metatarsal (often depicted with Roman numerals). The metatarsals are analogous to the metacarpal bones of the hand. The lengths of the metatarsal bones in humans are, in descending order, second, third, fourth, fifth, and first. A bovine hind leg has two metatarsals. Structure The five metatarsals are dorsal convex long bones consisting of a shaft or body, a base (proximally), and a head (distally).Platzer 2004, p. 220 The body is prismoid in form, tapers gradually from the tarsal to the phalangeal extremity, and is curved longitudinally, so as to be concave below, slightly convex above. The base or posterior extremity is wedge-sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scaphoid
The scaphoid bone is one of the carpal bones of the wrist. It is situated between the hand and forearm on the thumb side of the wrist (also called the lateral or radial side). It forms the radial border of the carpal tunnel. The scaphoid bone is the largest bone of the proximal row of wrist bones, its long axis being from above downward, lateralward, and forward. It is approximately the size and shape of a medium cashew nut. Structure The scaphoid is situated between the proximal and distal rows of carpal bones. It is located on the radial side of the wrist, adjacent to the styloid process of the radius. It articulates with the radius, lunate, trapezoid, trapezium, and capitate. Over 80% of the bone is covered in articular cartilage. Bone The palmar surface of the scaphoid is concave, and forming a distal tubercle, giving attachment to the transverse carpal ligament. The proximal surface is triangular, smooth and convex. The lateral surface is narrow and gives attachm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
