|
Aphrosaurus Furlong
''Aphrosaurus'' was an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Maastrichtian. The type species is ''Aphrosaurus furlongi'' (LACM 2748), named by Welles in 1943. The holotype specimen was discovered in the Moreno Formation in Fresno County, California in 1939 by rancher Frank C. Piava. A second specimen - LACM 2832 - was also found in the same formation and initially diagnosed as a juvenile of the same species, but has since been removed from the genus. Discovery In 1943, Samuel Welles described ''Aphrosaurus furlongi'' along with several other plesiosaurs from the same fossil assemblage in Fresno County, California. ''Aphrosaurus'' was found below a different juvenile species, '' Morenosaurus stocki'', within the Tierra Loma Member of the Panoche Hills. The Moreno Formation dates back to the early Maastrichtian, and is composed of depositional layers of turbidite, sandstone, and shale. It is part of the larger Chico Formation, which contacts the Panoche Formation and, during the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elasmosauridae
Elasmosauridae, often called elasmosaurs or elasmosaurids, is an extinct family of plesiosaurs that lived from the Hauterivian stage of the Early Cretaceous to the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous period (c. 130 to 66 mya). The taxon was initially erected in 1869 by Edward Drinker Cope to include the type genus '' Elasmosaurus'' with the related '' Cimoliasaurus'', although he did not argued in detail why. Over the following years, many authors recognized this classification on the basis of predominantly postcranial features, becoming one of the three groups in which plesiosaurs were often classified during the 19th century, along with the Pliosauridae and the Plesiosauridae. However, most of these traits led to many genera since recognized as belonging to other plesiosaur families being classified as elasmosaurids. Another family historically considered as distinct, the Cimoliasauridae, has since 2009 been recognized as a junior synonym of the Elasmosauridae. Along ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent 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, Aus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panoche Hills
The Panoche Hills are a low mountain range in the Southern Inner California Coast Ranges System, in western Fresno County, California, Fresno County, California. They are east of the Diablo Range, on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. They define the eastern side of the Panoche Valley. Parks Panoche Hills Recreation Area The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) maintains the Panoche Hills Recreation Area, a recreation area within the hills. The entrance to the BLM area is across County Route J1 (California)#J1, Little Panoche Road from the Mercey Hot Springs, California, Mercey Hot Springs resort. This BLM land is under Fire Season Vehicle Restrictions from mid-April to mid-October. No motorized access is allowed during this time period. Panoche Hills Ecological Reserve The California Department of Fish and Game also maintains the Panoche Hills Ecological Reserve, an Nature reserve, ecological reserve within the hills. Natural history The Hills contain examples of fossili ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scapula
The scapula (: scapulae or scapulas), also known as the shoulder blade, is the bone that connects the humerus (upper arm bone) with the clavicle (collar bone). Like their connected bones, the scapulae are paired, with each scapula on either side of the body being roughly a mirror image of the other. The name derives from the Classical Latin word for trowel or small shovel, which it was thought to resemble. In compound terms, the prefix omo- is used for the shoulder blade in medical terminology. This prefix is derived from ὦμος (ōmos), the Ancient Greek word for shoulder, and is cognate with the Latin , which in Latin signifies either the shoulder or the upper arm bone. The scapula forms the back of the shoulder girdle. In humans, it is a flat bone, roughly triangular in shape, placed on a posterolateral aspect of the thoracic cage. Structure The scapula is a thick, flat bone lying on the thoracic wall that provides an attachment for three groups of muscles: intrinsic, e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suture (anatomy)
In anatomy, a suture is a fairly rigid joint between two or more hard elements of an organism, with or without significant overlap of the elements. Sutures are found in the skeletons or exoskeletons of a wide range of animals, in both invertebrates and vertebrates. Sutures are found in animals with hard parts from the Cambrian period to the present day. Sutures were and are formed by several different methods, and they exist between hard parts that are made from several different materials. Vertebrate skeletons The skeletons of vertebrate animals (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals) are made of bone, in which the main rigid ingredient is calcium phosphate. Cranial sutures The skulls of most vertebrates consist of sets of bony plates held together by cranial sutures. These sutures are held together mainly by Sharpey's fibers which grow from each bone into the adjoining one. Sutures in the ankles of land vertebrates In the type of crurotarsal ankle, which is fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pelvic Girdles
The pelvis (: pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of an anatomical trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis or pelvic skeleton). The pelvic region of the trunk includes the bony pelvis, the pelvic cavity (the space enclosed by the bony pelvis), the pelvic floor, below the pelvic cavity, and the perineum, below the pelvic floor. The pelvic skeleton is formed in the area of the back, by the sacrum and the coccyx and anteriorly and to the left and right sides, by a pair of hip bones. The two hip bones connect the spine with the lower limbs. They are attached to the sacrum posteriorly, connected to each other anteriorly, and joined with the two femurs at the hip joints. The gap enclosed by the bony pelvis, called the pelvic cavity, is the section of the body underneath the abdomen and mainly consists of the reproductive organs and the rectum, while the pelvic floor at t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shoulder Girdle
The shoulder girdle or pectoral girdle is the set of bones in the appendicular skeleton which connects to the arm on each side. In humans, it consists of the clavicle and scapula; in those species with three bones in the shoulder, it consists of the clavicle, scapula, and coracoid. Some mammalian species (such as the dog and the horse) have only the scapula. The pectoral girdles are to the upper limbs as the pelvic girdle is to the lower limbs; the girdles are the part of the appendicular skeleton that anchor the appendages to the axial skeleton. In humans, the only true anatomical joints between the shoulder girdle and the axial skeleton are the sternoclavicular joints on each side. No anatomical joint exists between each scapula and the rib cage; instead the muscular connection or physiological joint between the two permits great mobility of the shoulder girdle compared to the compact pelvic girdle; because the upper limb is not usually involved in weight bearing, its stabil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Appendicular Skeleton
The appendicular skeleton is the portion of the vertebrate endoskeleton consisting of the bones, cartilages and ligaments that support the paired appendages ( fins, flippers or limbs). In most terrestrial vertebrates (except snakes, legless lizards and caecillians), the appendicular skeleton and the associated skeletal muscles are the predominant locomotive structures. There are 126 bones in the human appendicular skeleton, includes the skeletal elements within the shoulder and pelvic girdles, upper and lower limbs, and hands and feet. These bones have shared ancestry (are homologous) to those in the forelimbs and hindlimbs of all other tetrapods, which are in turn homologous to the pectoral and pelvic fins in fish. Etymology The adjective "appendicular" comes from Latin ''appendicula'', meaning "small addition". It is the diminutive of ''appendix'', which comes from the prefix ''ad-'' (meaning "to") + and the word root ''pendere'' (meaning "to hang", from PIE root ''* ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Axial Skeleton
The axial skeleton is the core part of the endoskeleton made of the bones of the head and trunk of vertebrates. In the human skeleton, it consists of 80 bones and is composed of the skull (28 bones, including the cranium, mandible and the middle ear ossicles), the vertebral column (26 bones, including vertebrae, sacrum and coccyx), the rib cage (25 bones, including ribs and sternum), and the hyoid bone. The axial skeleton is joined to the appendicular skeleton (which support the limbs) via the shoulder girdles and the pelvis. Structure Flat bones house the brain and other vital organs. This article mainly deals with the axial skeletons of humans; however, it is important to understand its evolutionary lineage. The human axial skeleton consists of 81 different bones forming the medial core of the body and connects the pelvis to the body, where the appendicular skeleton attaches. As the skeleton grows older the bones get weaker with the exception of the skull. The skull ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eustace L
Eustace ( ) is the rendition in English of two phonetically similar Greek given names: *Εὔσταχυς (''Eústachys'') meaning "fruitful", "fecund"; literally "abundant in grain"; its Latin equivalents are ''Fæcundus/Fecundus'' *Εὐστάθιος (''Eustáthios'') meaning "steadfast", "stable"; literally "possessing good stability"; its exact Latin equivalents are ''Constans'' and its derivatives, ''Constantius'' and '' Constantinus''. Equivalents in other languages include Ostap (Ukrainian, Russian), Eustachy (Polish, Russian), Yevstaphiy (Russian), Eustachio (Italian), Eustache or Eustathe (French), Eustaquio (Spanish), Eustáquio (Portuguese), Eustaqui (Valencian), Ustes (Guyanese) and Eustice (English). The originally Hebrew name Ethan or Eitan can also mean "steadfast" or "stable". The Greek ''Eústachys'' is no longer used; ''Eustáthios/Ευστάθιος'' (usually transliterated ''Efstáthios'') on the other hand is still popular and often used in the in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Autapomorphy
In phylogenetics, an autapomorphy is a distinctive feature, known as a Synapomorphy, derived trait, that is unique to a given taxon. That is, it is found only in one taxon, but not found in any others or Outgroup (cladistics), outgroup taxa, not even those most closely related to the focal taxon (which may be a species, family (biology), family or in general any clade). It can therefore be considered as an apomorphy in relation to a single taxon. The word ''autapomorphy'', introduced in 1950 by German entomology, entomologist Willi Hennig, is derived from the Greek language, Greek words αὐτός, ''autos'' "self"; ἀπό, ''apo'' "away from"; and μορφή, ''morphḗ'' = "shape". Discussion Because autapomorphies are only present in a single taxon, they do not convey information about relationship. Therefore, autapomorphies are not useful to infer phylogenetic relationships. However, autapomorphy, like synapomorphy and plesiomorphy is a relative concept depending on the ta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east. At in area (as defined with a southern Antarctic border), the Pacific Ocean is the largest division of the World Ocean and the hydrosphere and covers approximately 46% of Earth's water surface and about 32% of the planet's total surface area, larger than its entire land area ().Pacific Ocean . ''Encyclopædia Britannica, Britannica Concise.'' 2008: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. The centers of both the Land and water hemispheres, water hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere, as well as the Pole of inaccessi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
