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Greererpeton Burkemorani
''Greererpeton burkemorani'' ("crawler from Greer, West Virginia") is an extinct genus of colosteid stem-tetrapods from the Early Carboniferous period (late Viséan) of North America. ''Greererpeton'' was first described by famed vertebrate paleontologist Alfred S. Romer in 1969. The skull was redescribed by Timothy R. Smithson in 1982, while postcranial remains were redescribed by Stephen J. Godfrey in 1989. ''Greererpeton'' were probably aquatic, with an elongated body adapted for swimming. Adults have overall length of or , similar in size to modern Asian giant salamanders (''Andrias''). The body was elongated, with about 40 vertebrae, while the flattened skull reached about long in adult specimens. The most complete adult specimen only preserved 12 tail vertebrae, only about a third the length of the body as in ''Andrias''. However, smaller specimens have been found preserving over 30 vertebrae, so it is not inconceivable that a complete tail was approximately as long as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greer, West Virginia
Greer is an unincorporated community in Mason County, West Virginia, United States. The community derives its name from the local Greer Limestone Company. The Mississippian tetrapod ''Greererpeton burkemorani'' was named after this community by Alfred Romer Alfred Sherwood Romer (December 28, 1894 – November 5, 1973) was an American paleontologist and biologist and a specialist in vertebrate evolution. Biography Alfred Romer was born in White Plains, New York, the son of Harry Houston Romer an ... in 1969. References Unincorporated communities in West Virginia Unincorporated communities in Mason County, West Virginia {{MasonCountyWV-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vertebra
The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates, Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristic irregular bone whose complex structure is composed primarily of bone, and secondarily of hyaline cartilage. They show variation in the proportion contributed by these two tissue types; such variations correlate on one hand with the cerebral/caudal rank (i.e., location within the backbone), and on the other with phylogenetic differences among the vertebrate taxa. The basic configuration of a vertebra varies, but the bone is its ''body'', with the central part of the body constituting the ''centrum''. The upper (closer to) and lower (further from), respectively, the cranium and its central nervous system surfaces of the vertebra body support attachment to the intervertebral discs. The posterior part of a vertebra forms a vertebral ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ichthyostegalia
Ichthyostegalia is an order of extinct amphibians, representing the earliest landliving vertebrates. The group is thus an evolutionary grade rather than a clade. While the group are recognized as having feet rather than fins, most, if not all, had internal gills in adulthood and lived primarily as shallow water fish and spent minimal time on land. The group evolved from elpistostegalian fish in the late Devonian, or possibly in the middle Devonian. They continued to thrive as denizens of swampland and tidal channels throughout the period. They gave rise to the Temnospondyli and then disappeared during the transition to the Carboniferous. Classification *Ichthyostegalia **Acanthostegidae ***'' Acanthostega'' **Crassigyrinidae ***''Crassigyrinus'' ** Densignathidae ***'' Densignathus'' ** Elginerpetontidae ***'' Elginerpeton'' ***'' Obruchevichthys'' ** Ichthyostegidae ***'' Hynerpeton'' ***''Ichthyostega'' ** Jakubsonidae ***'' Jakubsonia'' ** Metaxygnathidae ***'' Metaxygna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carboniferous Tetrapods Of North America
The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carboniferous'' means "coal-bearing", from the Latin '' carbō'' ("coal") and '' ferō'' ("bear, carry"), and refers to the many coal beds formed globally during that time. The first of the modern 'system' names, it was coined by geologists William Conybeare and William Phillips in 1822, based on a study of the British rock succession. The Carboniferous is often treated in North America as two geological periods, the earlier Mississippian and the later Pennsylvanian. Terrestrial animal life was well established by the Carboniferous Period. Tetrapods (four limbed vertebrates), which had originated from lobe-finned fish during the preceding Devonian, became pentadactylous in and diversified during the Carboniferous, including early amphibian lineag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrias
''Andrias'' is a genus of giant salamanders. It includes the largest salamanders in the world, with ''A. japonicus'' reaching a length of , and ''A. sligoi'' reaching . While extant species are only known from East Asia, several extinct species in the genus are known from late Oligocene and Neogene aged fossils collected in Europe and North America, indicating that the genus formerly had a much wider range. Taxonomy The generic name derives from Ancient Greek ἀνδριάς, "statue". The former name was ''Megalobatrachus'', from Ancient Greek meaning "giant frog". Species Extant Based on genetic evidence, there may be more extant species in the genus. A study in 2018 found that ''A. davidianus'' ''sensu lato'' was a species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with eac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stapes
The ''stapes'' or stirrup is a bone in the middle ear of humans and other animals which is involved in the conduction of sound vibrations to the inner ear. This bone is connected to the oval window by its annular ligament, which allows the footplate to transmit sound energy through the oval window into the inner ear. The ''stapes'' is the smallest and lightest bone in the human body, and is so-called because of its resemblance to a stirrup ( la, Stapes). Structure The ''stapes'' is the third bone of the three ossicles in the middle ear and the smallest in the human body. It measures roughly , greater along the head-base span. It rests on the oval window, to which it is connected by an annular ligament and articulates with the '' incus'', or anvil through the incudostapedial joint. They are connected by anterior and posterior limbs ( la, crura). Development The ''stapes'' develops from the second pharyngeal arch during the sixth to eighth week of embryological life. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lateral Line
The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelial cells, known as hair cells, which respond to displacement caused by motion and transduce these signals into electrical impulses via excitatory synapses. Lateral lines serve an important role in schooling behavior, predation, and orientation. Fish can use their lateral line system to follow the vortices produced by fleeing prey. Lateral lines are usually visible as faint lines of pores running lengthwise down each side, from the vicinity of the gill covers to the base of the tail. In some species, the receptive organs of the lateral line have been modified to function as electroreceptors, which are organs used to detect electrical impulses, and as such, these systems remain closely linked. Most amphibian larvae and some fully aquati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palaeos
Palaeos.com is a web site on biology, paleontology, phylogeny and geology and which covers the history of Earth. The site is well respected and has been used as a reference by professional paleontologists such as Michael J. Benton, the professor of vertebrate palaeontology in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol.Benton, ''Vertebrate Paleontology''Third Edition. Blackwell Publishing. It is frequently cited in ''Science'' Online. Palaeos.com was started by Toby White and Alan Kazlev;Mitch Leslie (ed.) (2006): Recalled to Life, ''Science Magazine'', vol.31PDFp.2 (also iFossil Footnotes) the pair were later joined by Chris Taylor, Mikko Haaramo of the Department of Geology at the University of Helsinki, and Chris Clowes. It features professional-level, yet readable articles about: * Palaeontology, evolution and systematics * Geochronology, earth systems and time scale * Diversity of life and ecology The site's developers have started a wiki''Palaeos.org'' whic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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, these two parts are the neurocranium and the viscerocranium ( facial skeleton) that includes the mandible as its largest bone. The skull forms the anterior-most portion of the skeleton and is a product of cephalisation—housing the brain, and several sensory structures such as the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. In humans these sensory structures are part of the facial skeleton. Functions of the skull include protection of the brain, fixing the distance between the eyes to allow stereoscopic vision, and fixing the position of the ears to enable sound localisation of the direction and distance of sounds. In some animals, such as horned ungulates (mammals with hooves), the skull also has a defensive function by providing the mount (on the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greererpeton DB2
''Greererpeton burkemorani'' ("crawler from Greer, West Virginia") is an extinct genus of colosteid stem-tetrapods from the Early Carboniferous period (late Viséan) of North America. ''Greererpeton'' was first described by famed vertebrate paleontologist Alfred S. Romer in 1969. The skull was redescribed by Timothy R. Smithson in 1982, while postcranial remains were redescribed by Stephen J. Godfrey in 1989. ''Greererpeton'' were probably aquatic, with an elongated body adapted for swimming. Adults have overall length of or , similar in size to modern Asian giant salamanders (''Andrias''). The body was elongated, with about 40 vertebrae, while the flattened skull reached about long in adult specimens. The most complete adult specimen only preserved 12 tail vertebrae, only about a third the length of the body as in ''Andrias''. However, smaller specimens have been found preserving over 30 vertebrae, so it is not inconceivable that a complete tail was approximately as long as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus. :E.g. '' Panthera leo'' (lion) and '' Panthera onca'' (jaguar) are two species within the genus ''Panthera''. ''Panthera'' is a genus within the family Felidae. The composition of a genus is determined by taxonomists. The standards for genus classification are not strictly codified, so different authorities often produce different classifications for genera. There are some general practices used, however, including the idea that a newly defined genus should fulfill these three criteria to be descriptively useful: # monophyly – all descendants of an ancestral taxon are grouped together (i.e. phylogenetic analysis should c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen J
Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is widely regarded as the first martyr (or " protomartyr") of the Christian Church. In English, Stephen is most commonly pronounced as ' (). The name, in both the forms Stephen and Steven, is often shortened to Steve or Stevie. The spelling as Stephen can also be pronounced which is from the Greek original version, Stephanos. In English, the female version of the name is Stephanie. Many surnames are derived from the first name, including Stephens, Stevens, Stephenson, and Stevenson, all of which mean "Stephen's (son)". In modern times the name has sometimes been given with intentionally non-standard spelling, such as Stevan or Stevon. A common variant of the name used in English is Stephan ; related names that have found so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
