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Cryptolacerta
''Cryptolacerta'' (Ancient Greek and Latin for "Hidden lizard" – κρυπτς or ''crypto'' meaning "hidden" and ''lacerta'' meaning "lizard") is an extinct genus of lacertoid lizard which lived during the Eocene epoch (Lutetian stage, about 47 million years ago) in what is now Germany. It is known from a nearly complete and articulated skeleton including the skull, which was found in the Messel Pit locality of Germany. ''Cryptolacerta'' was named by Johannes Müller, Christy A. Hipsley, Jason J. Head, Nikolay Kardjilov, André Hilger, Michael Wuttke and Robert R. Reisz in 2011 and the type species is ''Cryptolacerta hassiaca''. Cladistic analysis conducted by Müller ''et al.'' suggests that ''Cryptolacerta'' is a sister taxon to Amphisbaenia Amphisbaenia (called amphisbaenians or worm lizards) is a group of typically legless lizards, comprising over 200 extant species. Amphisbaenians are characterized by their long bodies, the reduction or loss of the limbs, and rud ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphisbaenia
Amphisbaenia (called amphisbaenians or worm lizards) is a group of typically legless lizards, comprising over 200 extant species. Amphisbaenians are characterized by their long bodies, the reduction or loss of the limbs, and rudimentary eyes. As many species have a pink body and scales arranged in rings, they have a superficial resemblance to earthworms. While the genus '' Bipes'' retains forelimbs, all other genera are limbless. Phylogenetic studies suggest that they are nested within Lacertoidea, closely related to the lizard family Lacertidae. Amphisbaenians are widely distributed, occurring in North America, Europe, Africa, South America, Western Asia and the Caribbean. Most species are less than long. Description 200px, left, Close-up of the head of'' Rhineura'' Despite a superficial resemblance to some primitive snakes, amphisbaenians have many unique features that distinguish them from other reptiles. Internally, their right lung is reduced in size to fit their narrow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2011 In Paleontology
Protozoa New taxa Plants Ferns and fern allies Gymnosperms Gymnosperm research *An amplified whole plant reconstruction of the Ypresian Princeton chert pine ''Pinus arnoldii'', expanding the diagnosis to include ''P. similkameenensis'' (Miller, 1973 in paleontology, 1973) foliage and wood plus unnamed pollens cones found in attachment to the ''P. arnoldii'' ovulate cones is published by Klymiuk, Stockey, & Rothwell. Angiosperms Nematoda Lobopods Vetulicolians Molluscs Arthropods Fishes Amphibians Newly named lepospondyls Newly named temnospondyls Newly named lissamphibians Basal reptiles Newly named captorhinids Newly named basal diapsids Newly named ichthyosaurs Lepidosauromorphs Newly named saurosphargids Newly named sauropterygians Newly named lizards Newly named snakes Turtles Newly named turtles Archosauromorphs Newly named basal archosauromorphs Archosaurs Synapsids Newly named non-mammalian synapsids Mammals Fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lacertoidea
The Lacertoidea is a group of squamate reptiles that includes the Lacertidae, Teiidae, Gymnophthalmidae, and Amphisbaenia. The finding from molecular phylogenetic studies that the burrowing Amphisbaenia were nested in a clade with the lizard forms led Vidal & Hedges (2005) to propose a new name for the group based on shared morphogical characters, Laterata, "referring to the presence of tile-like (squarish or quadrangular, and sometimes raised) scales that form the rings in Amphisbaenia, and are also present ventrally in Lacertiformata and Teiformata". Studies of anatomy have traditionally grouped the lacertoids with skinks; however, more recent studies focusing on DNA have placed them as a distinct group of lizards, more closely related to the venomous Toxicofera.Wiens, J. J., Hutter, C. R., Mulcahy, D. G., Noonan, B. P., Townsend, T. M., Sites, J. W., & Reeder, T. W. (2012). Resolving the phylogeny of lizards and snakes (Squamata) with extensive sampling of genes and species. Bi ... [...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] |
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] |
Fossil Taxa Described In 2011
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in amber, hair, petrified wood and DNA remnants. The totality of fossils is known as the ''fossil record''. Though the fossil record is incomplete, numerous studies have demonstrated that there is enough information available to give a good understanding of the pattern of diversification of life on Earth. In addition, the record can predict and fill gaps such as the discovery of ''Tiktaalik'' in the arctic of Canada. Paleontology includes the study of fossils: their age, method of formation, and evolutionary significance. Specimens are sometimes considered to be fossils if they are over 10,000 years old. The oldest fossils are around 3.48 billion years to 4.1 billion years old. Early edition, published online before print. The ob ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eocene Lizards
The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). 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.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 isotope 13C in the atmosphere was exceptionally low in com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lacertidae
The Lacertidae are the family of the wall lizards, true lizards, or sometimes simply lacertas, which are native to Afro-Eurasia. It is a diverse family with at about 360 species in 39 genera. They represent the dominant group of reptiles found in Europe. Habitat The European and Mediterranean species of lacertids live mainly in forest and scrub habitats. ''Eremias'' and ''Ophisops'' species replace these in the grassland and desert habitats of Asia. African species usually live in rocky, arid areas. '' Holaspis'' species are among the few arboreal lacertids, and its two species, '' Holaspis guentheri'' and '' Holaspis laevis'', are gliders (although apparently poor ones), using their broad tail and flattened body as an aerofoil. Description Lacertids are small to medium-sized lizards. Most species are less than 9cm long, excluding the tail. The largest living species, '' Gallotia stehlini'', reaches 46cm, and some extinct forms were larger still. They are primarily insect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cladistics
Cladistics ( ; from Ancient Greek 'branch') is an approach to Taxonomy (biology), biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived (phylogenetics), derived characteristics (synapomorphies) that are not present in more distant groups and ancestors. However, from an empirical perspective, common ancestors are inferences based on a cladistic hypothesis of relationships of taxa whose Phenotypic trait, character states can be observed. Theoretically, a last common ancestor and all its descendants constitute a (minimal) clade. Importantly, all descendants stay in their overarching ancestral clade. For example, if the terms ''worms'' or ''fishes'' were used within a ''strict'' cladistic framework, these terms would include humans. Many of these terms are normally used Paraphyly, paraphyletically, outside of cladistics, e.g. as a 'E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Type Species
In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological Type (biology), type wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or specimens). Article 67.1 A similar concept is used for suprageneric groups and called a type genus. In botanical nomenclature, these terms have no formal standing under the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, code of nomenclature, but are sometimes borrowed from zoological nomenclature. In botany, the type of a genus name is a specimen (or, rarely, an illustration) which is also the type of a species name. The species name with that type can also be referred to as the type of the genus name. Names of genus and family ranks, the various subdivisions of those ranks, and some higher-rank names based on genus names, have suc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert R
Robert Lee Rayford (February 3, 1953 – May 15, 1969), sometimes identified as Robert R. due to his age, was an American teenager from Missouri who has been suggested to represent the earliest confirmed case of HIV/AIDS in North America. This is based on evidence published in 1988 in which the authors claimed that medical evidence indicated that he was "infected with a virus closely related or identical to human immunodeficiency virus type 1." Rayford died of pneumonia, but his other symptoms baffled the doctors who treated him. A study published in 1988 reported the detection of antibodies against HIV. Results of testing for HIV genetic material were reported at a scientific conference in Australia in 1999. However, the data has never been published in a peer-reviewed medical or scientific journal. No photos of Rayford are known to exist. Background Robert Rayford was born on February 3, 1953, in St. Louis, Missouri. As a single parent, his mother Constance had to rais ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skull
The skull, or cranium, is typically a bony enclosure around the brain of a vertebrate. In some fish, and amphibians, the skull is of cartilage. The skull is at the head end of the vertebrate. In the human, the skull comprises two prominent parts: the neurocranium and the facial skeleton, which evolved from the first pharyngeal arch. The skull forms the frontmost portion of the axial skeleton and is a product of cephalization and vesicular enlargement of the brain, with several special senses structures such as the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and, in fish, specialized tactile organs such as barbels near the mouth. The skull is composed of three types of bone: cranial bones, facial bones and ossicles, which is made up of a number of fused flat and irregular bones. The cranial bones are joined at firm fibrous junctions called sutures and contains many foramina, fossae, processes, and sinuses. In zoology, the openings in the skull are called fenestrae, the most ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
