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Cainothere
Cainotheriidae is an extinct family of artiodactyls known from the Late Eocene to Middle Miocene of Europe. They are mostly found preserved in karstic deposits. These animals were small in size, and generally did not exceed in height at the shoulders, ranging in size from those of rabbits to tragulids. For a long time, they were considered to have a similar lifestyle to hares and rabbits. The dentition was full and highly selenodont, i.e. the premolars and molars had curved and crescent-shaped cutting edges (as in today's ruminants). The skull was small, with a short snout and orbits closed posteriorly placed at the center of the skull. A peculiar characteristic of this group were the auditory bulla, protective structures of the bones of the ear : they were very large, like those that are found today in small mammals that live in open and dry environments. This evolved cranial anatomy was in stark contrast to the rest of the skeleton, rather primitive: the cainotheriids still ... [...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] |
Karst
Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. There is some evidence that karst may occur in more weathering-resistant rocks such as quartzite given the right conditions. Subterranean drainage may limit surface water, with few to no rivers or lakes. In regions where the dissolved bedrock is covered (perhaps by debris) or confined by one or more superimposed non-soluble rock strata, distinctive karst features may occur only at subsurface levels and can be totally missing above ground. The study of ''paleokarst'' (buried karst in the stratigraphic column) is important in petroleum geology because as much as 50% of the world's Oil and gas reserves and resource quantification, hydrocarbon reserves are hosted in carbonate rock, and much of this is found in porous karst systems. Etymology ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruminantia
Ruminants are herbivorous grazing or browsing artiodactyls belonging to the suborder Ruminantia that are able to acquire nutrients from plant-based food by Enteric fermentation, fermenting it in a specialized stomach prior to digestion, principally through microbial actions. The process, which takes place in the front part of the digestive system and therefore is called foregut fermentation, typically requires the fermented ingesta (known as cud) to be regurgitated and chewed again. The process of rechewing the cud to further break down plant matter and stimulate digestion is called rumination. The word "ruminant" comes from the Latin ''ruminare'', which means "to chew over again". The roughly 200 species of ruminants include both domestic and wild species. Ruminating mammals include cattle, all domesticated and wild bovines, goats, sheep, giraffes, deer, gazelles, and antelopes.Fowler, M.E. (2010).Medicine and Surgery of Camelids, Ames, Iowa: Wiley-Blackwell. Chapter 1 General B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tylopoda
Tylopoda (meaning "calloused foot") is a suborder of terrestrial herbivorous even-toed ungulates belonging to the order Artiodactyla. They are found in the wild in their native ranges of South America and Asia, while Australian feral camels are introduced. The group has a long fossil history in North America and Eurasia. Tylopoda appeared during the Eocene around 50 million years ago. Tylopoda has only one extant family, Camelidae, which includes camels, llamas, guanacos, alpacas and vicuñas. This group was much more diverse in the past, containing a number of extinct families in addition to the ancestors of living camelids (see below). Tylopods are not ruminants. Taxonomy and systematics Tylopoda was named by Illiger (1811) and considered monophyletic by Matthew (1908). It was treated as an unranked clade by Matthew (1908) and as a suborder by Carroll (1988), Ursing et al. (2000) and Whistler and Webb (2005). It was assigned to Ruminantia by Matthew (1908); to Art ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Auditory Bulla
The tympanic part of the temporal bone is a curved plate of bone lying below the squamous part of the temporal bone, in front of the mastoid process, and surrounding the external part of the ear canal. It originates as a separate bone (tympanic bone), which in some mammals stays separate through life. Evolutionarily, a portion of it is derived from the angular bone of the reptilian lower jaw. Surfaces Its postero-superior surface is concave, and forms the anterior wall, the floor, and part of the posterior wall of the bony ear canal. Medially, it presents a narrow furrow, the ''tympanic sulcus'', for the attachment of the tympanic membrane. Its antero-inferior surface is quadrilateral and slightly concave; it constitutes the posterior boundary of the mandibular fossa, and is in contact with the retromandibular part of the parotid gland. Borders Its lateral border is free and rough, and gives attachment to the cartilaginous part of the ear canal. Internally, the tympanic pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Selenodont
Selenodont teeth are the type of molars and premolars commonly found in ruminant herbivores. They are characterized by low crowns, and crescent-shaped cusps when viewed from above (crown view). The term comes from the Ancient Greek roots (, 'moon' or 'moonlike'), and , (, 'tooth'). They differ from human molars in that the occlusal surface is not covered in enamel; rather, the layers of enamel, dentine, and cementum are all exposed, with cementum in the middle, surrounded by a layer of enamel, then a layer of dentine, all wrapped in a second outer layer of enamel. Viewed from the side, selenodont teeth form a series of triangular cusps. The combination of triangular profiles with ridges formed by the exposed layers makes the lateral chewing motion of ruminant Ruminants are herbivorous grazing or browsing artiodactyls belonging to the suborder Ruminantia that are able to acquire nutrients from plant-based food by fermenting it in a specialized stomach prior to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tragulidae
Chevrotains, or mouse-deer, are small, even-toed ungulates that make up the family Tragulidae, and are the only living members of the infraorder Tragulina. The 10 extant species are placed in three genera, but several species also are known only from fossils. The extant species are found in forests in South and Southeast Asia; a single species, the water chevrotain, is found in the rainforests of Central and West Africa. In November 2019, conservation scientists announced that they had photographed silver-backed chevrotains (''Tragulus versicolor'') in a Vietnamese forest for the first time since the last confirmed sightings in 1990. They are solitary, or live in loose groupings or pairs, and feed almost exclusively on plant material. Chevrotains are the smallest hoofed mammals in the world. The Asian species weigh between , while the African chevrotain is considerably larger, at . With an average length of and an average height of , the Java mouse-deer is the sm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rabbits
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated form of livestock, and a pet, having a widespread effect on ecologies and cultures. The most widespread rabbit genera are '' Oryctolagus'' and ''Sylvilagus''. The former, ''Oryctolagus'', includes the European rabbit, ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'', which is the ancestor of the hundreds of breeds of domestic rabbit and has been introduced on every continent except Antarctica. The latter, ''Sylvilagus'', includes over 13 wild rabbit species, among them the cottontails and tapetis. Wild rabbits not included in ''Oryctolagus'' and ''Sylvilagus'' include several species of limited distribution, including the pygmy rabbit, volcano rabbit, and Sumatran striped rabbit. Rabbits are a paraphyletic grouping, and do not constitute a clade, as hares (bel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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. Europe shares the landmass of Eurasia with Asia, and of Afro-Eurasia with both Africa and Asia. Europe is commonly considered to be Boundaries between the continents#Asia and Europe, separated from Asia by the Drainage divide, watershed of the Ural Mountains, the Ural (river), Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Greater Caucasus, the Black Sea, and the waterway of the Bosporus, Bosporus Strait. "Europe" (pp. 68–69); "Asia" (pp. 90–91): "A commonly accepted division between Asia and Europe ... is formed by the Ural Mountains, Ural River, Caspian Sea, Caucasus Mountains, and the Black Sea with its outlets, the Bosporus and Dardanelles." Europe covers approx. , or 2% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface (6.8% of Earth's land area), making it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle Miocene
The Middle Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), epoch made up of two Stage (stratigraphy), stages: the Langhian and Serravallian stages. The Middle Miocene is preceded by the Early Miocene. The sub-epoch lasted from 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago) to 11.608 ± 0.005 Ma. During this period, a sharp drop in global temperatures took place. This event is known as the Middle Miocene disruption, Middle Miocene Climatic Transition. For the purpose of establishing European land mammal ages, this sub-epoch is equivalent to the Astaracian age. References External links GeoWhen Database - Middle Miocene Miocene, .02 Miocene geochronology, 02 Langhian, * Serravallian, * {{geochronology-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Eocene
The Priabonian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS's geologic timescale, the latest age (geology), age or the upper stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Eocene epoch (geology), Epoch or series (stratigraphy), Series. It spans the time between . The Priabonian is preceded by the Bartonian and is followed by the Rupelian, the lowest stage of the Oligocene. ''Priabona florissantius, Priabona'', an extinct dipteran of Pipunculidae family, is named after Priabonian, the age of deposits from which this insect is known. History and naming The Priabonian Stage was introduced in scientific literature by Ernest Munier-Chalmas and Albert de Lapparent in 1893. The stage is named after the small hamlet of Priabona (Monte di Malo), Priabona in the community of Monte di Malo, in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Stratigraphic definition The base of the Priabonian Stage is at the first appearance datum, first appearance of calcareous nannoplankton species ''Chiasmolithus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
