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San Sebastián Limestone
The San Sebastián Formation is a geologic formation in Puerto Rico. It preserves fossils dating back to the Oligocene period. It was primarily deposited as limestone in a marine environment, but some localities with a significant amount of terrestrial fauna appear to have been deposited in a deltaic environment. It contains some of the earliest fossils of terrestrial Caribbean vertebrates, including chinchilloid rodents and ''Eleutherodactylus'' frogs. In addition, taxa that are no longer known from the Caribbean, such as gavialid crocodilians Crocodilia () is an order of semiaquatic, predatory reptiles that are known as crocodilians. They first appeared during the Late Cretaceous and are the closest living relatives of birds. Crocodilians are a type of crocodylomorph pseudosuchi ... and geomyoid rodents, have also been recovered from the formation. Vertebrate paleofauna Based on the Paleobiology Database: Cartilaginous fish Amphibians Reptiles Mamm ...
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Formation (stratigraphy)
A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics (lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exposed in a geographical region (the stratigraphic column). It is the fundamental unit of lithostratigraphy, the study of strata or rock layers. A formation must be large enough that it can be mapped at the surface or traced in the subsurface. Formations are otherwise not defined by the thickness (geology), thickness of their rock strata, which can vary widely. They are usually, but not universally, tabular in form. They may consist of a single lithology (rock type), or of alternating beds of two or more lithologies, or even a heterogeneous mixture of lithologies, so long as this distinguishes them from adjacent bodies of rock. The concept of a geologic formation goes back to the beginnings of modern scientific geology. The term was used by ...
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Eleutherodactylus
''Eleutherodactylus'' is a genus of frogs in the family Eleutherodactylidae.Hedges, S. B., W. E. Duellman, and M. P. Heinicke . 2008. New World direct-developing frogs (Anura: Terrarana): molecular phylogeny, classification, biogeography, and conservation. Zootaxa 1737: 1-182. Many of the 200 species of the genus are commonly known as "rain frogs" or "robber frogs", due to their sharp, high-pitched, insect-like calls. They are found from the southern United States south to Central America, and reach their greatest diversity in the Caribbean. Species endemic to Puerto Rico are often referred to as coquís, of which the best-known species is the common coquí (''E. coqui''), which is both a national symbol of Puerto Rico and a notorious invasive species in Hawaii. Two ''Eleutherodactylus'' species, '' E. limbatus'' and '' E. iberia'', are among the smallest known frogs, measuring only 8.5 mm in length (only slightly larger than ''Paedophryne amauensis'', which measures arou ...
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Pleurodira
The Pleurodira are one of the two living suborders of turtles, the other being the Cryptodira. The division between these two suborders represents a very deep evolutionary divide between two very different types of turtles. The physical differences between them, although anatomical and largely internal, are nonetheless significant, and the zoogeographic implications of them are substantial. The Pleurodira are known more commonly as the side-necked turtles and the name Pleurodira quite literally translates to side neck, whereas the Cryptodira are known as hidden-necked turtles. The Pleurodira turtles are currently restricted to freshwater habitats in the Southern Hemisphere, largely to Australia, South America, and Africa. Within the Pleurodira, three living families are represented: Chelidae, also known as the Austro-South American side-necked turtles, the Pelomedusidae, also known as the African mud terrapins, and the Podocnemididae, also known as the American side-neck rive ...
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Pelomedusidae
:''Alternatively, "Pelomedusidae" may refer to the Pelomedusoidea. See below for details.'' Pelomedusidae is a family of freshwater turtles endemic to sub-Saharan Africa, including Madagascar, São Tomé, and the Seychelles (although this population may have been introduced by humans). They range in size from in carapace length, and are generally roundish in shape. They are unable to fully withdraw their heads into their shells, instead drawing them to the side and folding them beneath the upper edge of their shells, hence are called African side-necked turtles. The family contains two living genera, '' Pelomedusa'' and '' Pelusios''. They are distinguished from their closest relatives by a hinge in the front section of the plastron.Obst, Fritz Jürgen (1998): elomedusinae ''In:'' Cogger, H.G., & Zweifel, R.G. (eds.): ''Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians'': 112-113. San Diego: Academic Press. . Pelomedusids spends most of their time in the mud at the bottom of rivers or ...
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Aktiogavialis
''Aktiogavialis'' is an extinct genus of crocodylian that lived from the Oligocene until the Miocene in what is now the Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America .... Two species have been described: ''Aktiogavialis puertoricensis'' from the Middle Oligocene of Puerto Rico and ''Aktiogavialis caribesi'' from the Huayquerian of the Late Miocene of Venezuela. As a typical Gavialidae, gavialoid, ''Aktiogavialis'' followed the standard crocodilian body plan. An elongated, squat quadrupedal body terminated in a long, laterally flattened tail at one end, and a specialized, narrow snout at the other. As with the other members of its family, the snout of ''Aktiogavialis'' was extremely long and narrow, tapering into a thin structure past the orbit (anatomy), eye sockets. Bas ...
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Coquí En La Finca
Coquí is a common name for several species of small frogs in the genus ''Eleutherodactylus'' native to Puerto Rico. They are onomatopoeically named for the very loud mating call which the males of two species, the common coqui and the upland coqui, make at night. The coquí is one of the most common frogs in Puerto Rico, with more than 20 different species found within its territory, including 13 in El Yunque National Forest. Fossil and genetic evidence supports coquís having inhabited Puerto Rico for more than 30 million years. Other species of this genus can be found in the rest of the Caribbean and elsewhere in the Neotropics, in Central and South America. The coquí is an unofficial national symbol of Puerto Rico; there is a Puerto Rican expression that goes, "Soy de aquí, como el coquí", which translates to "I'm from here, like the coquí." Characteristics ''Eleutherodactylus'' spp. are small tree frogs that can vary in color. These frogs can be a mixture of brown, ...
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Frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough skin texture due to wart-like parotoid glands tend to be called toads, but the distinction between frogs and toads is informal and purely cosmetic, not from taxonomy (biology), taxonomy or evolutionary history. Frogs are widely distributed, ranging from the tropics to subarctic regions, but the greatest concentration of species diversity is in tropical rainforest and associated wetlands. They account for around 88% of extant amphibian species, and are one of the five most diverse vertebrate orders. The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is known from the Early Triassic of Madagascar (250Myr, million years ago), but molecular clock, molecular clock dating suggests their divergent evolution, divergence from other amphibians may exte ...
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Coquí
Coquí is a common name for several species of small frogs in the genus ''Eleutherodactylus'' native to Puerto Rico. They are Onomatopoeia, onomatopoeically named for the very loud mating call which the males of two species, the common coqui and the upland coqui, make at night. The coquí is one of the most common frogs in Puerto Rico, with more than 20 different species found within its territory, including 13 in El Yunque National Forest. Fossil and genetic evidence supports coquís having inhabited Puerto Rico for more than 30 million years. Other species of this genus can be found in the rest of the Caribbean and elsewhere in the Neotropics, in Central and South America. The coquí is an unofficial national symbol of Puerto Rico; there is a Puerto Rican expression that goes, "Soy de aquí, como el coquí", which translates to "I'm from here, like the coquí." Characteristics ''Eleutherodactylus'' spp. are small tree frogs that can vary in color. These frogs can be a mixtu ...
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Ginglymostomatidae
The Ginglymostomatidae are a cosmopolitan family of carpet sharks known as nurse sharks, containing four species in three genera. Common in shallow, tropical and subtropical waters, these sharks are sluggish and docile bottom-dwellers. They are the most abundant species of shark found in shallow coastal waters. Nurse sharks typically attack humans only if directly threatened. The name nurse shark is thought to be a corruption of ''nusse'', a name which once referred to the catsharks of the family Scyliorhinidae. The nurse shark family name, Ginglymostomatidae, derives from the Greek words ''ginglymos'' () meaning "hinge" and ''stoma'' () meaning "mouth". Description The largest species, called simply the nurse shark ''Ginglymostoma cirratum'', may reach a length of ; the tawny nurse shark ''Nebrius ferrugineus'' is somewhat smaller at , and the short-tail nurse shark ''Pseudoginglymostoma brevicaudatum'' is by far the smallest at just in length. The first of the three speci ...
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Geomyoidea
Geomyoidea is a superfamily of rodent that contains the pocket gophers ( Geomyidae), the kangaroo rats and mice ( Heteromyidae), and their fossil relatives. Characteristics Although dissimilar in overall appearance, gophers have been united with kangaroo rats into a common superfamily for a considerable time. The superfamily Geomyoidea is among the few superfamilial relationships in rodents that is not subject to much controversy. Overall morphology, the fossil record, molecular analyses, and biogeography all support this relationship. Geomyoids are most noticeably characterized by the position of the infraorbital canal. Unlike all other rodents who have the opening of the infraorbital canal facing forward, geomyoids have an infraorbital canal that faces to the side. Instead of passing through the zygoma, the infraorbital canal of geomyoids has moved to the side of the snout. This condition is so pronounced and the snout so narrow in heteromyids that the infraorbital c ...
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