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Opalios
''Opalios'' (meaning "opal") is an extinct genus of monotreme mammal from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Griman Creek Formation of Australia. The genus contains a single species, ''O. splendens'', known from a fragmentary left dentary. Discovery and naming The ''Opalios'' holotype specimen, AM F132596–AM F132599, was discovered in 2001 in sediments of the Griman Creek Formation (Wallangulla Sandstone Member) near Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia. The specimen consists of four broken pieces of the left dentary. In 2024, Flannery et al. described ''Opalios splendens'' as a new genus and species of early monotreme based on these fossil remains. They erected the new monotypic family Opalionidae within the Ornithorhynchoidea—the superfamily also containing modern echidnas and platypus—to house ''Opalios'' due to its similarity to both of these extant lineages. The generic name, ''Opalios'', is a Greek word meaning "opal", referencing the holotype's opalize ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monotreme
Monotremes () are mammals of the order Monotremata. They are the only group of living mammals that lay eggs, rather than bearing live young. The extant monotreme species are the platypus and the four species of echidnas. Monotremes are typified by structural differences in their brains, jaws, digestive tract, reproductive tract, and other body parts, compared to the more common mammalian types. Although they are different from other living mammals in that they lay eggs, female monotremes are like other mammals in that they nurse their young with milk. Monotremes have been considered by some authors to be members of Australosphenida, a clade that contains extinct mammals from the Jurassic and Cretaceous of Madagascar, South America, and Australia, but this categorization is disputed and their taxonomy is under debate. All extant species of monotremes are indigenous to Australia and New Guinea, although they were also present during the Late Cretaceous and Paleocene epochs in s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dharragarra
''Dharragarra'' (meaning "platypus" in the Gamilaraay language) is an extinct genus of monotreme mammal from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Griman Creek Formation of Australia. The genus contains a single species, ''D. aurora'', known from a partial left mandibular ramus. ''Dharragarra'' was likely more closely related to the living platypus than many other monotremes of the Cretaceous. Discovery and naming The ''Dharragarra'' holotype specimen, AM F97262, was discovered in 2002 in sediments of the Griman Creek Formation (Wallangulla Sandstone Member) near Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia. The specimen consists of a partial left horizontal mandibular ramus. This bone was first mentioned by Anne Musser in part of a 2013 publication, where it was identified as a steropodontid. In a 2022 monotreme evolution review, Flannery et al. alluded to it as an unnamed new genus of stem-ornithorhynchid. In 2024, Flannery et al. described ''Dharragarra aurora'' as a new ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ornithorhynchoidea
Ornithorhynchoidea is a superfamily of egg-laying mammals containing the only living monotremes, the platypus and the echidnas, as well as their closest fossil relatives, to the exclusion of more primitive fossil monotremes of uncertain affinity. The clade was defined in 2024 following the discovery of some fossil monotremes from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian)-aged Griman Creek Formation of Lightning Ridge Australia, which appeared to be more closely related to extant monotremes than to co-occurring early monotremes such as '' Steropodon'' and '' Kollikodon''. Taxonomy '' Opalios'', the only described member of the extinct family Opalionidae, is considered the most basal ornithorhynchoid due to its unique combination of ancestral and derived traits. The presence of the probable stem- ornithorhynchids '' Dharragarra'' and '' Patagorhynchus'' in the Late Cretaceous implies that the divergence between the platypus and echidnas may have occurred during this time. However, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parvopalus
''Parvopalus'' (meaning "small opal") is an extinct genus of monotreme mammal from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Griman Creek Formation of Australia. The genus contains a single species, ''P. clytiei'', known from a partial left dentary. Discovery and naming The ''Parvopalus'' holotype specimen, AM F161198, was discovered in 1999 in sediments of the Griman Creek Formation (Wallangulla Sandstone Member) near Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia. The specimen consists of part of the left dentary. In 2024, Flannery et al. described ''Parvopalus clytiei'' as a new genus and species of early monotreme based on these fossil remains. The generic name, ''Parvopalus'', combines the Latin words "parvus", meaning "small", and "opalus", meaning "opal", referencing the opalized preservation style of the holotype. The specific name, ''clytiei'', honours Clytie Smith who has found several opal fossils near the type locality. Several other monotremes are known from the Grima ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2024 In Paleomammalogy
This article records new taxa of fossil mammals of every kind that are scheduled to be binomial nomenclature, described during the year 2024, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to paleontology of mammals that occurred in 2024. Afrotherians Proboscideans Proboscidean research * Hauffe, Cantalapiedra & Silvestro (2024) present a Bayesian model that can be used to determine diversification dynamics from fossil occurrence data, apply it to the fossil record of proboscideans, and interpret their findings as indicating that the diversification of proboscideans was influenced by dietary flexibility and biogeography (particularly the association with islands), while the emergence of humans was the primary driver of proboscidean extinctions. * Review of the evolution of the proboscidean head, focusing on the evolution of the anatomy and use of tusks and proboscis, is published by Nabavizadeh (2024). * A study on the evolution of limb bones of extant and extinct pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Griman Creek Formation
The Griman Creek Formation is a geological formation in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland, Australia whose strata date back to the Albian-Cenomanian stages of the mid-Cretaceous. It is most notable being a major source of opal, found near the town of Lightning Ridge, New South Wales. Alongside the opal opalised fossils are also found, including those of dinosaurs and primitive monotremes. Description As a whole, the formation primarily consists of thinly bedded medium to fine sandstone, siltstone and mudstone, with sporadic coal seams. In the vicinity of Lightning Ridge, it is divided up into two informal members the underlying Wallangulla Sandstone Member which primarily consists of red fine grained sandstone, light siltstone and grey claystone and is up to thick while the overlying Coocoran Claystone consists of about 10 metres of claystone. The contact between the two units is sudden and unconformable. Discontinuous clay lens beds within the Wallangulla Sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opal
Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silicon dioxide, silica (SiO2·''n''H2O); its water content may range from 3% to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6% and 10%. Due to the amorphous (chemical) physical structure, it is classified as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline forms of silica, which are considered minerals. It is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock (geology), rock, being most commonly found with limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, marl, and basalt. The name ''opal'' is believed to be derived from the Sanskrit word (), which means 'jewel', and later the Greek derivative (). There are two broad classes of opal: precious and common. Precious opal displays play-of-color (iridescence); common opal does not. Play-of-color is defined as "a pseudo chromatic optical effect resulting in flashes of colored light from certain minerals, as they are turned in white light." The internal structure of precious opal cause ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ornithorhynchidae
The Ornithorhynchidae are one of the two extant families in the order Monotremata, and contain the platypus and its extinct relatives. The other family is the Tachyglossidae, or echidnas. Within the Ornithorhynchidae are the main Cenozoic genera '' Ornithorhynchus'' and '' Obdurodon'', and several potential stem-genera dating back to the Late Cretaceous, of which the oldest is possibly '' Dharragarra''. Although fossil evidence suggests the presence of ornithorhynchids in the Cretaceous, phylogenetic evidence has largely found that they and the Tachyglossidae only diverged during the Cenozoic, although this varies based on the specific constraints used. Taxonomy The following species are known: *Family Ornithorhynchidae **Genus '' Ornithorhynchus'' (Pliocene to present) ***'' Ornithorhynchus anatinus'' (the modern platypus) **Genus †'' Obdurodon'' (Oligocene to Miocene) ***†'' Obdurodon dicksoni'' ***†'' Obdurodon insignis'' ***†'' Obdurodon tharalkooschild'' **Genu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. 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 taxonomy (biology), 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. Phylogeneti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greek Language
Greek (, ; , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic languages, Hellenic branch within the Indo-European language family. It is native to Greece, Cyprus, Italy (in Calabria and Salento), southern Albania, and other regions of the Balkans, Caucasus, the Black Sea coast, Asia Minor, and the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the list of languages by first written accounts, longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning at least 3,400 years of written records. Its writing system is the Greek alphabet, which has been used for approximately 2,800 years; previously, Greek was recorded in writing systems such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary. The Greek language holds a very important place in the history of the Western world. Beginning with the epics of Homer, ancient Greek literature includes many works of lasting importance in the European canon. Greek is also the language in which many of the foundational texts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blend Word
In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.Garner's Modern American Usage p. 644. English examples include '' smog'', coined by blending ''smoke'' and ''fog'', and '''', from ''motor'' ('' motorist'') and ''hotel''. A blend is similar to a [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Specific Name (zoology)
In zoological nomenclature, the specific name (also specific epithet, species epithet, or epitheton) is the second part (the second name) within the scientific name of a species (a binomen). The first part of the name of a species is the name of the genus or the generic name. The rules and regulations governing the giving of a new species name are explained in the article species description. For example, the scientific name for humans is ''Homo sapiens'', which is the species name, consisting of two names: ''Homo'' is the " generic name" (the name of the genus) and ''sapiens'' is the "specific name". Etymology Historically, ''specific name'' referred to the combination of what are now called the generic and specific names. Carl Linnaeus, who formalized binomial nomenclature, made explicit distinctions between specific, generic, and trivial names. The generic name was that of the genus, the first in the binomial, the trivial name was the second name in the binomial, and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
