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Entelodonts
Entelodontidae is an extinct family of pig-like artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates) which inhabited the Northern Hemisphere (Asia, Europe, and North America) from the late Eocene to the early Miocene epochs, about 38-19 million years ago. Their large heads, low snouts, narrow gait, and proposed omnivorous diet inspires comparisons to suids (true pigs) and tayassuids (peccaries), and historically they have been considered closely related to these families purely on a morphological basis. However, studies which combine morphological and molecular (genetic) data on artiodactyls instead suggest that entelodonts are cetancodontamorphs, more closely related to hippos and cetaceans through their resemblance to ''Pakicetus'', than to basal pigs like ''Kubanochoerus'' and other ungulates. Description Entelodonts could get quite large, and in many cases are the largest mammals in their respective ecosystems. The largest entelodont known from a complete skeleton was ''Daeodon'', a North ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archaeotherium Mortoni 01
''Archaeotherium'' (, meaning "ancient beast") is an extinct genus of entelodont Even-toed ungulate, artiodactyl endemic to North America during the Eocene and Oligocene epochs (35–28 Year, mya). ''Archaeotherium'' fossils are most common in the White River Formation of the Great Plains, but they have also been found in the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, John Day Basin of Oregon and the Trans-Pecos area of Texas. ''Archaeotherium'''s fossils come from North America, between the Priabonian and Rupelian stages of the Eocene and Oligocene (35–28 million years ago). Up to fifteen species of ''Archaeotherium'' have been identified, which are divided into three Subgenus, subgenera. One contains the type species, ''A. mortoni'', among others; another contains very large taxa formerly named ''Megachoerus'' and ''Pelonax''; and the last contains ''A. calkinsi''. ''Archaeotherium'' was distinguished from most entelodonts by having an unusually long snout and large Jugal bone, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daeodon
''Daeodon'' is an extinct genus of entelodont even-toed ungulates that inhabited North America about 29 to 15.97 million years ago from the early Oligocene to late early Miocene. The type species is ''Daeodon shoshonensis'', described from a very fragmentary holotype by Cope. Some authors synonymize it with ''Dinohyus hollandi'' and several other species (see below), but due to the lack of diagnostic material, this may be questionable. Another large member of this family, possibly larger than ''Daeodon'', is the Asian ''Paraentelodon,'' but it is known by very incomplete material. Taxonomy The genus ''Daeodon'' was erected by the American anatomist and paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope in 1878. He classified it as a perissodactyl and thought that it was closely related to ''Menodus''. This classification persisted until the description of ''"Entelodon, Elotherium" calkinsi'' in 1905, a very similar and much more complete animal from the same rocks, which was promptly assign ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Entelodon
''Entelodon'' (meaning 'complete teeth', from Ancient Greek ''entelēs'' 'complete' and ''odōn'' 'tooth', referring to its "complete" eutherian dentition), formerly called ''Elotherium'', is an extinct genus of entelodont artiodactyl endemic to Eurasia. Fossils of species are found in Paleogene strata ranging in age from the Houldjinian (37.2–33.9 mya) until the Rupelian epoch of the early Oligocene (33.9–28.4 mya). Taxonomy It is one of four entelodont genera native to Eurasia, the other three being the primitive '' Eoentelodon'' of late Eocene China, '' Proentelodon'' of middle Eocene Mongolia and the gigantic ''Paraentelodon'' of mid-to-late Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ... Central Asia. Description ''Entelodon'' was a fairly typical ent ... [...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] |
Paraentelodon
''Paraentelodon'' is an extinct entelodont from the Late Oligocene of Asia. The fossils of the type species ''P. intermedium'' were found in Georgia, Kazakhstan and China. An indeterminate species represents in Bugti Hills which is the late Oligocene of Pakistan.G. Métais, P.-O. Antoine, L. Marivaux, J.-L. Welcomme, and S. Ducrocq. 2003New artiodactyl ruminant mammal from the late Oligocene of Pakistan Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 48(3):375-382 Discovery and naming ''Paraentelodon'' was named by L. K. Gabunia in 1964 basing on molars and canine teeth that were found in Oligocene sites of Benara, Georgia (Georgian SSR at the time of discovery). It was assigned to Entelodontidae by Carroll (1988). In 1996 Lucas and Emry found ''Neoentelodon'' to be synonymous with ''Paraentelodon''. Although Gabunia did not explain the etymology, the name ''Paraentelodon'' is derived from the Greek ''para''/παρα "beside" or "near", ἐντελής entelēs "complete" or "perfect" and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Artiodactyls
Artiodactyls are placental mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla ( , ). Typically, they are ungulates which bear weight equally on two (an even number) of their five toes (the third and fourth, often in the form of a hoof). The other three toes are either present, absent, vestigial, or pointing posteriorly. By contrast, most perissodactyls bear weight on an odd number of the five toes. Another difference between the two orders is that many artiodactyls (except for Suina) digest plant cellulose in one or more stomach chambers rather than in their intestine (as perissodactyls do). Molecular biology, along with new fossil discoveries, has found that cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) fall within this taxonomic branch, being most closely related to hippopotamuses. Some modern taxonomists thus apply the name Cetartiodactyla () to this group, while others opt to include cetaceans within the existing name of Artiodactyla. Some researchers use "even-toed ungulates" to excl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zygomatic Arch
In anatomy, the zygomatic arch (colloquially known as the cheek bone), is a part of the skull formed by the zygomatic process of temporal bone, zygomatic process of the temporal bone (a bone extending forward from the side of the skull, over the opening of the ear) and the temporal Process (anatomy), process of the zygomatic bone (the side of the cheekbone), the two being united by an oblique Suture (anatomy), suture (the zygomaticotemporal suture); the tendon of the temporal muscle passes medial to (i.e. through the middle of) the arch, to gain insertion into the coronoid process of the mandible (jawbone). The jugal point is the point at the anterior (towards face) end of the upper border of the zygomatic arch where the Masseter muscle, masseteric and Maxilla, maxillary edges meet at an angle, and where it meets the process of the zygomatic bone. The arch is typical of ''Synapsida'' ("fused arch"), a clade of amniotes that includes mammals and their extinct relatives, such as ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jugal Bone
The jugal is a skull bone found in most reptiles, amphibians and birds. In mammals, the jugal is often called the malar or zygomatic bone, zygomatic. It is connected to the quadratojugal and maxilla, as well as other bones, which may vary by species. Anatomy The jugal bone is located on either side of the skull in the Ocular scales, circumorbital region. It is the origin of several masticatory muscles in the skull. The jugal and Lacrimal bone, lacrimal bones are the only two remaining from the ancestral circumorbital series: the prefrontal, postfrontal, postorbital, jugal, and lacrimal bones. During development, the jugal bone originates from dermal bone. In dinosaurs This bone is considered key in the determination of general traits in cases in which the entire skull has not been found intact (for instance, as with dinosaurs in paleontology). In some dinosaur genera the jugal also forms part of the lower margin of either the antorbital fenestra or the infratemporal fenestr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tayassuid
Peccaries (also javelinas or skunk pigs) are pig-like ungulates of the family Tayassuidae (New World pigs). They are found throughout Central and South America, Trinidad in the Caribbean, and in the southwestern area of North America. Peccaries usually measure between in length, and a full-grown adult usually weighs about . They represent the closest relatives of the family Suidae, which contains pigs and relatives. Together Tayassuidae and Suidae are grouped in the suborder Suina within the order Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates). Peccaries are social creatures that live in herds. They are omnivores and eat roots, grubs, and a variety of other foods. They can identify each other by their strong odors. A group of peccaries that travel and live together is called a squadron. A squadron of peccaries averages between six and nine members. Peccaries first appeared in North America during the Miocene and migrated into South America during the Pliocene–Pleistocene as part of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kubanochoerus
''Kubanochoerus'' is an extinct genus of large, long-legged suidae, suid artiodactyl mammal from the Miocene of Eurasia and Africa. Taxonomy The genera ''Libycochoerus'' and ''Megalochoerus'' were once assigned to ''Kubanochoerus'' but are now considered distinct based on dental and minor cranial details. The putative paraceratheriid genus ''Caucasotherium'', described from the Caucasus on the basis of a bone fragment with four incisors, is actually a synonym of the Middle Miocene ''Kubanochoerus gigas''. Description The largest species, the aptly named ''K. gigas'', grew to be around at the shoulder, and probably weighed up to in life. tesorosnaturales.es The heads of these pigs were unmistakable, with small eyebro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyotheriinae
Hyotheriinae was a subfamily of even-toed ungulates that existed during the Miocene and Pliocene in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Genera *†'' Aureliachoerus'' Ginsburg, 1974 - Miocene, Europe *†'' Chicochoerus'' Orliac et al., 2006 - Miocene, Europe *†'' Chleuastochoerus'' Pearson, 1928 - Miocene and Pliocene, Asia *†'' Hyotherium'' von Meyer, 1834 - Miocene, Europe and Asia *†'' Nguruwe'' Pickford, 1986 - (previously located in the subfamily of Kubanochoerinae) Miocene, Africa *†'' Xenohyus'' Ginsburg, 1980 - Miocene, Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ... References Prehistoric Suidae Mammal subfamilies {{paleo-eventoedungulate-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pakicetus
''Pakicetus'' (meaning 'whale from Pakistan') is an extinct genus of amphibious cetacean of the family Pakicetidae, which was endemic to the Indian Subcontinent during the Ypresian (early Eocene) period, about 50 million years ago. It was a wolf-like mammal, about long, and lived in and around water where it ate fish and other animals. The name Pakicetus comes from the fact that the first fossils of this extinct amphibious whale were discovered in Pakistan. The vast majority of paleontologists regard it as the most basal whale, representing a transitional stage between land mammals and whales. It belongs to the even-toed ungulates with the closest living non-cetacean relative being the hippopotamus. Description Based on the sizes of specimens, and to a lesser extent on composite skeletons, species of ''Pakicetus'' are thought to have been to in length. ''Pakicetus'' looked very different from modern cetaceans, and its body shape more resembled those of land-dwelling h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
