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Vastanavidae
Vastanavidae is an extinct family of birds related to parrots and Songbird, passerine birds. They are known from fossils from Eocene sites in India, Europe, and North America. The vastanavids resemble parrots and the extinct parrot relative ''Quercypsitta'' in their morphology, including the partially Dactyly#Zygodactyly, zygodactyl foot, in which two toes could face opposite the other two. Description The Vastanavidae have a distinctive, parrot-like appearance. Notable anatomic features include a coracoid with a deep pit for the ball-and-socket joint of the shoulder, comparable to that of Quercypsitta. The humerus is built in a manner resembling birds of prey like hawks and falcons. The tarsometatarsus, the leg bone immediately above the foot, is short and stocky. Vastanavids had partially zygodactyl feet, as shown by skeletal features of the tarsometatarsus. The phylogenetic affinities of vastanavids are not well known, nor their ecologies. The feet of ''Avolatavis'' and ''Eur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurofluvioviridavis
''Eurofluvioviridavis'' is a genus of extinct birds from the Middle Eocene Messel Pit, Germany. It contains a single species, ''Eurofluvioviridavis robustipes''. It is related to ''Avolatavis'' and ''Vastanavis'', other members of the family Vastanavidae. Discovery and naming The holotype of ''Eurofluvioviridavis'', SMNK.PAL.3835, was found in the lower middle Eocene Messel Pit, near Darmstadt, Germany, in the MP 11 Mammal Paleogene zone. The fossil consists of a well-preserved skeleton. An additional counter-slab of the holotype exists, but was not studied in the genus' description. ''Eurofluvioviridavis'' was scientifically described in Mayr (2005) as a bird similar to ''Fluvioviridavis'' from the Green River Formation in Wyoming. The generic name ''Eurofluvioviridavis'' refers to a similarity to the aforementioned taxon as well as the fossil's European provenance. The specific ephitet, ''robustipes'', is from Latin ''robustus'', meaning robust, and ''pes'', meaning foot, in re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avolatavis
''Avolatavis'' is an extinct genus of stem-parrot (pan-psittaciform) or a member of the stem group of Psittacopasseres (the clade including both parrots and passerines), known from the early Eocene Fossil Butte Member of the Green River Formation of Wyoming, United States, and from the London Clay of Walton-on-the-Naze (Essex, United Kingdom). It was first named by Daniel T. Ksepka and Julia A. Clarke in 2012 and the type species is ''Avolatavis tenens''. Gerald Mayr and Andrew C. Kitchener described the second species, ''A. europaeus'', in 2023. Mayr and Kitchener assigned ''Avolatavis'' to the family Vastanavidae Vastanavidae is an extinct family of birds related to parrots and Songbird, passerine birds. They are known from fossils from Eocene sites in India, Europe, and North America. The vastanavids resemble parrots and the extinct parrot relative ''Qu ..., which might be early diverging stem group presentatives of Pan-Psittaciformes or stem group representatives of Psitt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parrot
Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in tropics, tropical and subtropics, subtropical regions. The four families are the Psittaculidae (Old World parrots), Psittacidae (African and New World parrots), Cacatuidae (cockatoos), and Strigopidae (New Zealand parrots). One-third of all parrot species are threatened by extinction, with a higher aggregate extinction risk (Red List Index, IUCN Red List Index) than any other comparable bird group. Parrots have a generally pantropical distribution with several species inhabiting temperateness, temperate regions as well. The greatest biodiversity, diversity of parrots is in South America and Australasia. Parrotsalong with Corvidae, ravens, crows, jays, and magpiesare among the most #Intelligence and learning, intelligent birds, and the abil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tarsometatarsus
The tarsometatarsus is a bone that is only found in the lower leg of birds and some non-avian dinosaurs. It is formed from the fusion of several bird bones found in other types of animals, and homologous to the mammalian tarsus (ankle bones) and metatarsal bones (foot). Despite this, the tarsometatarsus of flying types is often referred to as just the shank, tarsus or metatarsus. Tarsometatarsal fusion occurred in several ways and extents throughout bird evolution. Paticularly, in Neornithes (modern birds), although the bones are joined along their entire length, the fusion is most thorough at the distal (metatarsal) end. In the Enantiornithes, a group of Mesozoic avialans, the fusion was complete at the proximal (tarsal) end, but the distal metatarsi were still partially distinct. While these fused bones are best known from birds and their relatives, avians are neither the only group nor the first to possess tarsometatarsi. In a remarkable case of parallel evolution, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prehistoric Birds Of North America
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] |
Eocene Birds
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 co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geisel Valley
The Geisel valley () is a valley in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, situated west of Merseburg, Saalekreis district. It is named after the River Geisel which rises in Mücheln and is a tributary of the Saale, just under long. Its main settlements are Braunsbedra and Mücheln, which in the future will merge into the 'collective municipality' of ''Geiseltal''. The Geisel valley was quarried for coal from 1698 until the mines were closed in 1994; The mining of brown coal is first attested for 1698 near the Zöbigker grove but is most likely to be older. Initially, only twelve smaller pits emerged at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the late 19th century, which spread to large areas; ultimately, the Braunsbedra-Geiseltal mines became one of the largest connected mining regions in Germany. Coal/Lignite mining At the beginning of the twentieth century, the region was characterized by mostly independent pits (Elisabeth 1906, Großkayna 1907, Beuna 1907, Cecilie 1907, Rheinland 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Clay
The London Clay Formation is a Sediment#Shores and shallow seas, marine formation (geology), geological formation of Ypresian (early Eocene Epoch, c. 54-50 million years ago) age which outcrop, crops out in the southeast of England. The London Clay is well known for its fossil content. The fossils from the lower Eocene rocks indicate a moderately warm climate, the tropical or subtropical flora. Though sea levels changed during the deposition of the clay, the habitat was generally a lush forest – perhaps like in Indonesia or East Africa today – bordering a warm, shallow ocean. The London Clay is a stiff bluish clay which becomes brown when weathered and oxidized. Nodular lumps of pyrite are frequently found in the clay layers. Pyrite was produced by microbial activity (sulfate reducing bacteria) during clay sedimentation. Once clay is exposed to atmospheric oxygen, framboidal pyrite with a great specific surface is rapidly oxidized. Acid mine drainage, Pyrite oxidation produce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Green River Formation
The Green River Formation is an Eocene geologic formation that records the sedimentation in a group of intermountain lakes in three basins along the present-day Green River (Colorado River), Green River in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. The sediments are deposited in very fine layers, a dark layer during the growing season and a light-hue inorganic layer in the dry season. Each pair of layers is called a varve and represents one year. The sediments of the Green River Formation present a continuous record of six million years. The mean thickness of a varve here is 0.18 mm, with a minimum thickness of 0.014 mm and maximum of 9.8 mm.Bradley, W. H. The varves and climate of the Green River epoch: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 158, pp 87–110, 1929. The sedimentary layers were formed in a large area named for the Green River, a tributary of the Colorado River. The three separate basins lie around the Uinta Mountains (north, east, and south) of northeastern Utah: * an area ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lignite
Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35% and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat content. When removed from the ground, it contains a very high amount of moisture, which partially explains its low carbon content. Lignite is mined all around the world and is used almost exclusively as a fuel for steam-electric power generation. Lignite combustion produces less heat for the amount of carbon dioxide and sulfur released than other ranks of coal. As a result, lignite is the most harmful coal to human health. Depending on the source, various toxic heavy metals, including naturally occurring radioactive materials, may be present in lignite and left over in the coal fly ash produced from its combustion, further increasing health risks. Characteristics Lignite is brownish-bl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gujarat
Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories of India by area, fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the List of states and union territories of India by population, ninth-most populous state, with a population of 60.4 million in 2011. It is bordered by Rajasthan to the northeast, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu to the south, Maharashtra to the southeast, Madhya Pradesh to the east, and the Arabian Sea and the Pakistani province of Sindh to the west. Gujarat's capital city is Gandhinagar, while its largest city is Ahmedabad. The Gujarati people, Gujaratis are indigenous to the state and their language, Gujarati language, Gujarati, is the state's official language. The state List of Indus Valley civilisation sites#List of Indus Valley sites discovered, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
