Ancalecetus
''Ancalecetus'' (from Greek ''ankale'', "bent arm", and ''ketos'', "whale") is an extinct genus of early whale known from the Late Eocene (Priabonian, ) Birket Qarun Formation (, paleocoordinates ) in Wadi Al-Hitan, Egypt. The species is named after anthropologist and primate researcher Elwyn L. Simons who discovered the type specimen in 1985. The holotype is a partial cranium (the top of the skull was destroyed by erosion), both dentaries, 20 vertebrae and some sternal elements, partial ribs, and most of both forelimbs. ''Ancalecetus'' differs from other archaeocetes and modern whales in having narrow scapulae, very limited mobility in the shoulder joint, and fusion of the humerus, ulna, and radius at the elbow joint. In the wrist, the carpal bones are small like in ''Zygorhiza'', but, unlike in this other basilosaurid, the magnum is fused with the trapezoid in ''Ancalecetus''. Forelimbs The well-preserved forelimbs are the most distinctive parts of ''A. simonsi''. A broad sca ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Archaeoceti
Archaeoceti ("ancient whales"), or Zeuglodontes in older literature, is a paraphyletic group of primitive cetaceans that lived from the Early Eocene to the late Oligocene (). Representing the earliest cetacean radiation, they include the initial amphibious stages in cetacean evolution, thus are the ancestors of both modern cetacean suborders, Mysticeti and Odontoceti. This initial diversification occurred in the shallow waters that separated India and Asia , resulting in some 30 species adapted to a fully oceanic life. Echolocation and filter-feeding evolved during a second radiation . All archaeocetes from the Ypresian (56–47.8 mya) and most from the Lutetian (47.8–41.3 mya) are known exclusively from Indo-Pakistan, but Bartonian (41.3–38.0 mya) and Priabonian (38.0–33.9 mya) genera are known from across Earth, including North America, Egypt, New Zealand, and Europe. Although no consensus exists regarding the mode of locomotion of which cetaceans were capable during ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Basilosauridae
Basilosauridae is a family of extinct cetaceans. They lived during the middle to the early late Eocene and are known from all continents, including Antarctica. They were probably the first fully aquatic cetaceans.Buono M, Fordyce R.E., Marx F.G., Fernández M.S. & Reguero M. (2019). "Eocene Antarctica: a window into the earliest history of modern whales". ''Advances in Polar Science'' 30(3): p. 293-302. doi10.13679/j.advps.2019.0005/ref> The group is noted to be a paraphyletic assemblage of stem group whales from which the monophyletic Neoceti are derived. Characteristics Basilosaurids ranged in size from and were fairly similar to modern cetaceans in overall body form and function. Some genera tend to show signs of convergent evolution with mosasaurs by having long serpentine body shape, which suggests that this body plan seems to have been rather successful. Basilosaurid forelimbs have broad and fan-shaped scapulae attached to a humerus, radius, and ulna which are fla ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Infraspinous Fossa
The infraspinous fossa (infraspinatus fossa or infraspinatous fossa) of the scapula is much larger than the supraspinatous fossa; toward its vertebral margin a shallow concavity is seen at its upper part; its center presents a prominent convexity, while near the axillary border is a deep groove which runs from the upper toward the lower part. The medial two-thirds of the fossa give origin to the Infraspinatus; the lateral third is covered by this muscle. Additional images File:Infraspinatus fossa of left scapula- animation.gif, Left scapula. Infraspinatous fossa shown in red. File:Infraspinatus fossa - animation.gif, Animation. Infraspinatous fossa shown in red. File:Infraspinatous fossa of scapula01.png, Still image. File:Gray203.png, Left scapula. Dorsal surface. ("Infra-spinatous" fossa visible at bottom right.) File:Scapula post.jpg, Left scapula. Dorsal surface. Infraspinatous fossa not labeled, but visible at center. File:Infraspinatus muscle back2.png, Infrasp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Prehistoric Cetacean Genera
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of symbols, marks, and images appears very early among humans, but the earliest known writing systems appeared 5000 years ago. It took thousands of years for writing systems to be widely adopted, with writing spreading to almost all cultures by the 19th century. The end of prehistory therefore came at very different times in different places, and the term is less often used in discussing societies where prehistory ended relatively recently. In the early Bronze Age, Sumer in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley Civilisation, and ancient Egypt were the first civilizations to develop their own scripts and to keep historical records, with their neighbors following. Most other civilizations reached the end of prehistory during the following Iron Ag ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mandibular Foramen
The mandibular foramen is an opening on the internal surface of the ramus of the mandible. It allows for divisions of the mandibular nerve and blood vessels to pass through. Structure The mandibular foramen is an opening on the internal surface of the ramus of the mandible. It allows for divisions of the mandibular nerve and blood vessels to pass through. Variation There are two distinct anatomies to its rim. * In the common form the rim is “V” shaped, with a groove separating the anterior and posterior parts. * In the horizontal-oval form there is no groove, and the rim is horizontally oriented and oval in shape, the anterior and posterior parts connected. Rarely, a bifid inferior alveolar nerve may be present, in which case a second mandibular foramen, more inferiorly placed, exists and can be detected by noting a doubled mandibular canal on a radiograph. Function The mandibular nerve is one of three branches of the trigeminal nerve, and the only one having motor in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mandibular Symphysis
In human anatomy, the facial skeleton of the skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, t ... the external surface of the mandible is marked in the median line by a faint ridge, indicating the mandibular symphysis (Latin: ''symphysis menti'') or line of junction where the two lateral halves of the mandible typically fuse at an early period of life (1-2 years). It is not a true symphysis as there is no cartilage between the two sides of the mandible. This ridge divides below and encloses a triangular eminence, the mental protuberance, the base of which is depressed in the center but raised on either side to form the mental tubercle. The lowest (most inferior) end of the mandibular symphysis — the point of the chin — is called the "menton". It serves as the origin for ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Acromion
In human anatomy, the acromion (from Greek: ''akros'', "highest", ''ōmos'', "shoulder", plural: acromia) is a bony process on the scapula (shoulder blade). Together with the coracoid process it extends laterally over the shoulder joint. The acromion is a continuation of the scapular spine, and hooks over anteriorly. It articulates with the clavicle (collar bone) to form the acromioclavicular joint. Structure The acromion forms the summit of the shoulder, and is a large, somewhat triangular or oblong process, flattened from behind forward, projecting at first lateralward, and then curving forward and upward, so as to overhang the glenoid fossa.'' Gray's Anatomy'' 1918, see infobox It starts from the base of acromion which marks its projecting point emerging from the spine of scapula. Surfaces Its superior surface, directed upward, backward, and lateralward, is convex, rough, and gives attachment to some fibers of the deltoideus, and in the rest of its extent is subcuta ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Glenoid Cavity
The glenoid fossa of the scapula or the glenoid cavity is a bone part of the shoulder. The word ''glenoid'' is pronounced or (both are common) and is from el, gléne, "socket", reflecting the shoulder joint's ball-and-socket form. It is a shallow, pyriform articular surface, which is located on the lateral angle of the scapula. It is directed laterally and forward and articulates with the head of the humerus; it is broader below than above and its vertical diameter is the longest. This cavity forms the glenohumeral joint along with the humerus. This type of joint is classified as a synovial, ball and socket joint. The humerus is held in place within the glenoid cavity by means of the long head of the biceps tendon. This tendon originates on the superior margin of the glenoid cavity and loops over the shoulder, bracing humerus against the cavity. The rotator cuff also reinforces this joint more specifically with the supraspinatus tendon to hold the head of the humerus i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Trapezoid Bone
The trapezoid bone (lesser multangular bone) is a carpal bone in tetrapods, including humans. It is the smallest bone in the distal row of carpal bones that give structure to the palm of the hand. It may be known by its wedge-shaped form, the broad end of the wedge constituting the dorsal, the narrow end the palmar surface; and by its having four articular facets touching each other, and separated by sharp edges. It is homologous with the "second distal carpal" of reptiles and amphibians. Structure The trapezoid is a four-sided carpal bone found within the hand. The trapezoid is found within the distal row of carpal bones. Surfaces The '' superior surface'', quadrilateral, smooth, and slightly concave, articulates with the scaphoid. The '' inferior surface'' articulates with the proximal end of the second metacarpal bone; it is convex from side to side, concave from before backward and subdivided by an elevated ridge into two unequal facets. The '' dorsal'' and ''palmar s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Capitate Bone
The capitate bone is a bone in the human wrist found in the center of the carpal bone region, located at the distal end of the radius and ulna bones. It articulates with the third metacarpal bone (the middle finger) and forms the third carpometacarpal joint. The capitate bone is the largest of the carpal bones in the human hand. It presents, above, a rounded portion or head, which is received into the concavity formed by the scaphoid and lunate bones; a constricted portion or neck; and below this, the body.'' Gray's Anatomy'' (1918). See infobox. The bone is also found in many other mammals, and is homologous with the "third distal carpal" of reptiles and amphibians. Structure The capitate is the largest carpal bone found within the hand. The capitate is found within the distal row of carpal bones. The capitate lies directly adjacent to the metacarpal of the ring finger on its distal surface, has the hamate on its ulnar surface and trapezoid on its radial surface, and abuts t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Zygorhiza
''Zygorhiza'' ("Yoke-Root") is an extinct genus of basilosaurid early whale known from the Late Eocene (Priabonian, 38–34 Ma) of Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi, United States, and the Bartonian (43–37 Ma on the New Zealand geologic time scale) to the late Eocene of New Zealand (). Specimens reported from Europe are considered Dorudontinae ''incertae sedis''. ''Zygorhiza kochii'', along with ''Basilosaurus'' under the designation "prehistoric whales", is the state fossil of Mississippi. Taxonomic history Reichenbach (1847) erected ''Basilosaurus kochii'' for the posterior skull fragment MB Ma.43248, found in the Late Eocene (middle-late Priabonian) Ocala Limestone of Clarksville, Louisiana. Meanwhile, Muller (1851) erected a new subspecies of ''Zeuglodon brachyspondylus'', ''Z. brachyspondylus minor'', for not only MB Ma.43248 but also MB Ma.43247, TM 8501 (holotype of ''Zeuglodon hydrarchus'' Carus, 1849), and several vertebrae. In the late 19th century there was ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |