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Parapontoporia
''Parapontoporia'' is an extinct genus of dolphin that lived off the Pacific coast of North America from the Late Miocene until the genus' extinction during the Pliocene. It is related to the baiji. Fossils have been found in California ( Tulare Formation) and Mexico ( Almejas Formation). The Tulare Formation is predominately freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ..., which suggests ''Parapontoporia'' may have been tolerant of both salt and fresh water. References SDNHM Fossil Mysteries Field Guide: Long-snouted Dolphin Prehistoric toothed whales Miocene cetaceans Pliocene cetaceans Pliocene extinctions Lipotidae Prehistoric cetacean genera Fossil taxa described in 1984 {{paleo-whale-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lipotidae
Lipotidae is a family of river dolphins containing the possibly extinct baiji of China and the fossil genus '' Parapontoporia'' from the Late Miocene and Pliocene of the Pacific coast of North America. The genus '' Prolipotes'', which is based on a mandible fragment from Neogene coastal deposits in Guangxi, China, has been classified as an extinct relative of the baiji, but is dubious. The oldest known member of the family is '' Eolipotes'' from the Late Miocene of Japan. The only species of the Lipotidae family that has flourished until recent times is the baiji (''Lipotes vexillifer''), which lives in the Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ... system, but its population has declined drastically since the second half of the 20th century due to the severe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Almejas Formation
The Almejas Formation is a geologic formation in Mexico. It preserves fossils dating back to the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene of the Neogene period. Fossil content Various fossils have been found in the formation:Arroyo Delphin at .org Mammals * '' Aivukus cedrosensis'' * '' Albireo whistleri'' * '' Balaenoptera sp.'' * ''[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baiji
The baiji (''Lipotes vexillifer'') is a probably extinct species of freshwater dolphin native to the Yangtze river system in China. It is thought to be the first dolphin species driven to extinction due to the impact of humans. This dolphin is listed as "critically endangered: possibly extinct" by the IUCN, has not been seen in 20 years, and several surveys of the Yangtze have failed to find it. The species is also called the Chinese river dolphin, Yangtze river dolphin, Yangtze dolphin, and whitefin dolphin. The genus name ''Lipotes'' means "left behind" and the species epithet ''vexillifer'' means "flag bearer". It is nicknamed the "Goddess of the Yangtze" and was regarded as the goddess of protection by local fishermen and boatmen. It is not to be confused with the Chinese white dolphin (''Sousa chinensis'') or the finless porpoise (''Neophocaena phocaenoides''). This is the only species in the genus ''Lipotes''. The baiji population declined drastically in decades as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tulare Formation
The Tulare Formation () is a Pliocene to Holocene epoch geologic formation in the central and southern San Joaquin Valley of central California. USGS.gov: "Geology of the Tulare Formation and other continental deposits, Kettleman City area, San Joaquin Valley, California, with a section on ground-water management considerations and use of texture maps" Water-Resources Investigations Report 83-4000; by R.W. Page; 1983. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pliocene Extinctions
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58See the 2014 version of the ICS geologic time scale million years ago (Ma). It is the second and most recent epoch of the Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Epoch and is followed by the Epoch. Prior to the 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miocene Cetaceans
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern marine invertebrates than the Pliocene has. The Miocene followed the Oligocene and preceded the Pliocene. As Earth went from the Oligocene through the Miocene and into the Pliocene, the climate slowly cooled towards a series of ice ages. The Miocene boundaries are not marked by distinct global events but by regionally defined transitions from the warmer Oligocene to the cooler Pliocene Epoch. During the Early Miocene, Afro-Arabia collided with Eurasia, severing the connection between the Mediterranean and Indian Oceans, and allowing the interchange of fauna between Eurasia and Africa, including the dispersal of proboscideans and hominoids into Eurasia. During the late Miocene, the connections between the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prehistoric Toothed Whales
Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of symbols, marks, and images appears very early among humans, but the earliest known writing systems appeared years ago. It took thousands of years for writing systems to be widely adopted, with writing having spread to almost all cultures by the 19th century. The end of prehistory therefore came at different times in different places, and the term is less often used in discussing societies where prehistory ended relatively recently. It is based on an old conception of history that without written records there could be no history. The most common conception today is that history is based on evidence, however the concept of prehistory hasn't been completely discarded. In the early Bronze Age, Sumer in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley Civilis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fresh Water
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salt (chemistry), salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mineral water, mineral-rich waters, such as chalybeate springs. Fresh water may encompass frozen water, frozen and meltwater in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, snowfields and icebergs, natural precipitations such as rainfall, snowfall, hail/ice pellets, sleet and graupel, and surface runoffs that form inland bodies of water such as wetlands, ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, as well as groundwater contained in aquifers, subterranea (geography), subterranean subterranean river, rivers and underground lake, lakes. Water is critical to the survival of all living organisms. Many organisms can thrive on salt water, but the great majority of vascular plants and most insects, amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds need fresh water to sur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundary, maritime boundaries with the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Caribbean Sea to the southeast, and the Gulf of Mexico to the east. Mexico covers 1,972,550 km2 (761,610 sq mi), and is the List of countries by area, thirteenth-largest country in the world by land area. With a population exceeding 130 million, Mexico is the List of countries by population, tenth-most populous country in the world and is home to the Hispanophone#Countries, largest number of native Spanish speakers. Mexico City is the capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city, which ranks among the List of cities by population, most populous metropolitan areas in the world. Human presence in Mexico dates back to at least 8,000 BC. Mesoamerica, considered a cradle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an international border with the Mexico, Mexican state of Baja California to the south. With almost 40million residents across an area of , it is the List of states and territories of the United States by population, largest state by population and List of U.S. states and territories by area, third-largest by area. Prior to European colonization of the Americas, European colonization, California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in pre-Columbian North America. European exploration in the 16th and 17th centuries led to the colonization by the Spanish Empire. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821, following Mexican War of Independence, its successful war for independence, but Mexican Cession, was ceded to the U ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
