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Deinothere
Deinotheriidae ("terrible beasts") is a family of prehistoric elephant-like proboscideans that lived during the Cenozoic era, first appearing in Africa during the Oligocene then spreading across Europe and the lower latitudes of Asia during the Miocene epoch. Their most distinctive features were their lack of upper tusks and downward-curving tusks on the lower jaw. Deinotheres were not very diverse; the only three known genera are '' Chilgatherium'', ''Prodeinotherium'', and ''Deinotherium''. These form an evolutionary succession, with each new genus replacing the preceding one. Deinotheres were relatively conservative and showed little morphological change over their evolution, aside from a progressive increase in body size. Some species of ''Deinotherium'' are among the largest known land mammals ever, considerably exceeding modern elephants in size. The last members of ''Deinotherium'' persisted until the end of the Early Pleistocene in Africa, around 1 million years ago. Des ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prodeinotherium
''Prodeinotherium'' is an extinct representative of the family Deinotheriidae that lived in Africa, Europe, and Asia in the early and middle Miocene. ''Prodeinotherium'', meaning "before terrible beast", was first named in 1930, but soon after, the only species in it, ''P. hungaricum'', was reassigned to ''Deinotherium''. During the 1970s, however, the two genera were once again separated, with ''Prodeinotherium'' diagnosed to include ''Deinotherium bavaricum'' (=''P. hungaricum''), ''Deinotherium hobleyi'', and ''Deinotherium pentapotamiae'', which were separated based on geographic location. The three species are from Europe, Africa, and Asia, respectively. However, because of usage of few characters to separate them, only one species, ''P. bavaricum'', or many more species, including ''P. cuvieri'', ''P. orlovii'', and ''P. sinense'' may be possible. ''Prodeinotherium'' is one of three genera of the Deinotheriidae, the others being ''Chilgatherium'' from Africa, and ''Deinother ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deinotherium Skeletals Alternate
''Deinotherium'' (from Ancient Greek , ''()'', meaning "terrible", and ''()'', meaning "beast"), is an extinct genus of large, elephant-like proboscideans that lived from the middle-Miocene until the end of the Early Pleistocene. Although its appearance is reminiscent of modern elephants, ''Deinotherium'' possessed a notably more flexible neck, and proportionally more slender limbs, as well as tusks which grew down and curved back from the lower jaw (mandible), and lacked tusks growing from the upper jaw. Several species of ''Deinotherium'' grew larger than modern elephants, not uncommonly reaching shoulder heights of and body masses of over , making them among the largest land mammals ever. ''Deinotherium'' was a widespread genus, during the Miocene they ranged across East Africa, and Eurasia from Western Europe to the Indian subcontinent. They were browsing animals, with a diet largely consisting of leaves. The genus most likely went extinct due to environmental changes, such ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proboscidea
Proboscidea (; , ) is a taxonomic order of afrotherian mammals containing one living family (Elephantidae) and several extinct families. First described by J. Illiger in 1811, it encompasses the elephants and their close relatives. Three living species of elephant are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. Extinct members of Proboscidea include the deinotheres, mastodons, gomphotheres and stegodonts. The family Elephantidae also contains several extinct groups, including mammoths and '' Palaeoloxodon''. Proboscideans include some of the largest known land mammals, with the elephant '' Palaeoloxodon namadicus'' and mastodon ''"Mammut" borsoni'' suggested to have body masses surpassing , rivalling or exceeding paraceratheres (the otherwise largest known land mammals) in size. The largest extant proboscidean is the African bush elephant, with a world record of size of at the shoulder and . In addition to thei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chilgatherium
''Chilgatherium'' ('Chilga beast' after the locality in which it was found) is the earliest and most primitive representative of the family Deinotheriidae. It is known from late Oligocene (27- to 28-million-year-old) fossil teeth found in the Ethiopian district of Chilga. So far, only a few molar teeth have been found, but these are distinct enough that this animal can be identified with confidence. The teeth differ from those of ''Prodeinotherium'', ''Deinotherium'', and the various barytheres in various details, enough to show that this is a distinct type of animal, and has been placed in its own subfamily. Compared to later deinotheres, ''Chilgatherium'' was quite small, about tall at the shoulder and weighed about . It is not known if it shared the distinctive downward-curving tusks on the lower jaw that the later deinotheres had. ''Chilgatherium'' disappeared prior to the Early Miocene, when it was replaced by ''Prodeinotherium''. References Further reading * Gug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elephant
Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus''). They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea; extinct relatives include mammoths and mastodons. Distinctive features of elephants include a long proboscis called a trunk, tusks, large ear flaps, pillar-like legs, and tough but sensitive grey skin. The trunk is prehensile, bringing food and water to the mouth and grasping objects. Tusks, which are derived from the incisor teeth, serve both as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging. The large ear flaps assist in maintaining a constant body temperature as well as in communication. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs, whereas Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs. Elephants are scatter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Oligocene
The Chattian is, in the geologic timescale The geologic time scale or geological time scale (GTS) is a representation of time based on the rock record of Earth. It is a system of chronological dating that uses chronostratigraphy (the process of relating strata to time) and geochron ..., the younger of two age (geology), ages or upper of two stage (stratigraphy), stages of the Oligocene epoch (geology), Epoch/Series (stratigraphy), Series. It spans the time between . The Chattian is preceded by the Rupelian and is followed by the Aquitanian (stage), Aquitanian (the lowest stage of the Miocene). Stratigraphic definition The Chattian was introduced by Austrian palaeontologist Theodor Fuchs in 1894. Fuchs named the stage after the Chatti, a Germanic peoples, Germanic tribe.Berry, Edward W"The Mayence Basin, a Chapter of Geologic History" ''The Scientific Monthly'', Vol. 16, No. 2, February 1923. pp. 114. Retrieved March 18, 2020. The original type locality (geology), type l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bark (botany)
Bark is the outermost layer of Plant stem, stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines, and shrubs. Bark refers to all the Tissue (biology), tissues outside the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. The inner bark, which in older Plant stem, stems is living tissue, includes the innermost layer of the periderm. The outer bark on older stems includes the dead tissue on the surface of the stems, along with parts of the outermost periderm and all the tissues on the outer side of the periderm. The outer bark on trees which lies external to the living periderm is also called the Glossary of botanical terms#rhytidome, rhytidome. Products derived from bark include bark shingle siding and wall coverings, spices, and other flavorings, tanbark for tannin, resin, latex, medicines, poisons, various hallucinogenic chemicals, and Cork (material), cork. Bark has been used to make clot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of grasses. Four savanna forms exist; ''savanna woodland'' where trees and shrubs form a light canopy, ''tree savanna'' with scattered trees and shrubs, ''shrub savanna'' with distributed shrubs, and ''grass savanna'' where trees and shrubs are mostly nonexistent.Smith, Jeremy M.B.. "savanna". Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Sep. 2016, https://www.britannica.com/science/savanna/Environment. Accessed 17 September 2022. Savannas maintain an open canopy despite a high tree density. It is often believed that savannas feature widely spaced, scattered trees. However, in many savannas, tree densities are higher and trees are more regularly spaced than in forests.Manoel Cláudio da ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elephantiformes
Elephantiformes is a suborder within the order Proboscidea. Members of this group are primitively characterised by the possession of upper tusks, an elongated mandibular symphysis (the frontmost part of the lower jaw) and lower tusks, and the retraction of the facial region of the skull indicative of the development of a trunk. The earliest known member of the group, '' Dagbatitherium'' is known from the Eocene (Lutetian) of Togo, which is only known from isolated teeth, while other primitive elephantiforms like '' Phiomia'' and '' Palaeomastodon'' are known from the Early Oligocene onwards. ''Phiomia'' and ''Palaeomastodon'' are often collectively referred to as "palaeomastodonts" and assigned to the family Palaeomastodontidae. Most diversity of the group is placed in the subclade Elephantimorpha, which includes mastodons (family Mammutidae), as well as modern elephants and gomphotheres (Elephantida), which are distinguished from more primitive elephantiforms by the development ... [...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] |
Phosphatherium
''Phosphatherium escuilliei'', named by Gheerbrant, Sudre and Cappetta in 1996, is a basal proboscidean that lived in Africa during the early Eocene, about 56-55 Ma. It is one of the earliest known proboscideans, together with ''Eritherium azzouzorum'' from the Selandian (about 60 Ma). It was found in phosphorites beds from the base of the Ypresian stage of the Ouled Abdoun Basin, which is best known for its exceptionally rich marine vertebrate fauna. Description The species ''P. escuilliei'' is known from relatively well-preserved fossils, including several sub-complete skulls that have enabled the reconstruction of the animal's head. The skull of ''Phosphatherium'' is very primitive compared to advanced proboscideans (Elephantiformes), for example the nasal openings are anterior, indicating that it lacked a trunk. Other plesiomorphic traits are the elongated face, the narrow rostrum, the strong sagittal and nuchal crests, the presence of an alisphenoid canal, the auditory ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
