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Herpetotheriid
Herpetotheriidae is an extinct family of metatherians, closely related to marsupials. Species of this family are generally reconstructed as terrestrial, and are considered morphologically similar to modern opossums. They are suggested to have been insectivores. Fossils of herpetotheriids come from North America, Asia, Europe, Africa, and perhaps South America. The oldest representative is '' Maastrichtidelphys'' from the latest Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of the Netherlands and the youngest member is '' Amphiperatherium'' from the Middle Miocene of Europe. The group has been suggested to be paraphyletic, with an analysis of petrosal anatomy finding that North American '' Herpetotherium'' was more closely related to marsupials than the European ''Peratherium'' and ''Amphiperatherium.'' The family includes the following genera: *'' Amphiperatherium'' (Early Eocene to Middle Miocene, Europe; synonyms: ''Oxygomphius'', ''Microtarsioides'', ''Ceciliolemur'') *'' Asiadidelphis'' (Late E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metatheria
Metatheria is a mammalian clade that includes all mammals more closely related to marsupials than to placentals. First proposed by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1880, it is a more inclusive group than the marsupials; it contains all marsupials as well as many extinct non-marsupial relatives. It is one of two groups placed in the clade Theria alongside Eutheria, which contains the placentals. Remains of metatherians have been found on all of Earth’s continents. Description Distinctive characteristics ( synapomorphies) of Metatheria include a prehensile tail, the development of a capitular tail on the humerus, the loss of tooth replacement on the second and fifth premolars, lower canines that outwardly diverge from each other, an angular process on the dentary bone—which additionally bears a posterior shelf in its masseteric fossa in Metatheria—that is equal to or greater than the length of the ramus, and the lower fifth premolar with a "very trenchant" cristid obliqua/ecto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), 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 Ape, hominoids into Eurasia. During the late Miocene, the conn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphiperatherium
''Amphiperatherium'' is an extinct genus of metatherian mammal, closely related to marsupials. It ranged from the Early Eocene to the Middle Miocene in Europe. It is the most recent metatherian known from the continent. Description Like modern opossums, to which it was distantly related, this animal had a 15 centimeters long body and a 17 centimeters long tail. Its body size was relatively larger than some of its earlier relatives, such as ''Peradectes'', but its tail was proportionally shorter. Classification ''Amphiperatherium'' is part of an evolutionary radiation of opossum-like metatherians, known as Herpetotheriidae, typical of the Early Cenozoic of Europe, Asia and North America, currently considered either the most primitive of all marsupials, or the sister taxon of Marsupialia. ''Amphiperatherium'' was not only the more recent herpetotheriid known, but also the last marsupial known in Europe, becoming extinct during the Middle Miocene, 15 millions of years ago. Its ext ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle Eocene
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herpetotherium
''Herpetotherium'' is an extinct genus of metatherian mammal, belonging to the possibly paraphyletic family Herpetotheriidae. Native to North America from the Eocene to Early Miocene, fossils have been found in California, Oregon, Texas, Florida, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, and Saskatchewan. The oldest species, ''H. knighti'', is dated to around 50.3 mya, and the most recent, an unnamed species, may be as recent as 15.97 mya. A morphological analysis of marsupials and basal metatherians conducted in 2007 found ''Herpetotherium'' to be the sister group to extant marsupials. It is the youngest known metatherian from North America until the migration of the Virginia opossum from South America within the last 2 million years. Some authors have regarded the species assigned to ''Herpetotherium'' (for instance, ''H. comstocki'', ''H. marsupium'', and ''H. merriami'') as belonging to African and European genus '' Peratherium'' Aymard, 1850 on the basis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galatiadelphys
''Galatiadelphys'' is an extinct genus of herpetotheriid that inhabited Turkey during the Eocene epoch. It contains a single species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ..., ''G. minor''. References Fossil taxa described in 2018 Prehistoric metatherians Prehistoric mammal genera {{improve categories, date=January 2025 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Golerdelphys
''Golerdelphys'' is an extinct genus of herpetotheriid that lived during the Thanetian stage of the Palaeocene epoch. Distribution ''Golerdelphys stocki'' is known from fossils found in the Goler Formation of 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 .... References {{Taxonbar, from=Q133920213 Paleocene mammals of North America Monotypic prehistoric mammal genera Fossils of California Fossil taxa described in 2014 Prehistoric metatherians ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maastrichtidelphys
''Maastrichtidelphys'' is a Late Cretaceous genus of metatherian (marsupial lineage) mammal from the Netherlands in Europe.Martin, J.E., Case, J.A., Jagt, J.W., Schulp, A.S. and Mulder, E.W., 2005A new European marsupial indicates a Late Cretaceous high-latitude transatlantic dispersal route ''Journal of Mammalian Evolution'', 12(3-4), pp.495-511. The genus contains a single species, ''M. meurismeti''. It is known from an extremely small right upper molar, and analysis of it suggests that ''Maastrichtidelphys'' is most closely related to the North American herpetotheriid marsupial, '' Nortedelphys'', which is Lancian in age. ''Maastrichtidelphys'' belongs to a group of mammals with their origins in North America, the Herpetotheriidae Herpetotheriidae is an extinct family of metatherians, closely related to marsupials. Species of this family are generally reconstructed as terrestrial, and are considered morphologically similar to modern opossums. They are suggested to have b . ... [...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] |
Early Oligocene
The Rupelian is, in the geologic timescale, the older of two age (geology), ages or the lower of two stage (stratigraphy), stages of the Oligocene epoch (geology), Epoch/series (stratigraphy), Series. It spans the time between . It is preceded by the Priabonian Stage (part of the Eocene) and is followed by the Chattian Stage. Name The stage is named after the small river Rupel in Belgium, a tributary to the Scheldt. The Belgian Rupel Group derives its name from the same source. The name Rupelian was introduced in scientific literature by Belgian geologist André Hubert Dumont in 1850. The separation between the group (stratigraphy), group and the stage was made in the second half of the 20th century, when stratigraphers saw the need to distinguish between lithostratigraphy, lithostratigraphic and chronostratigraphy, chronostratigraphic names. Stratigraphic definition The base of the Rupelian Stage (which is also the base of the Oligocene Series) is at the extinction of the foram ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the Latin word for the white limestone known as chalk. The chalk of northern France and the white cliffs of south-eastern England date from the Cretaceous Period. Climate During the Late Cretaceous, the climate was warmer than present, although throughout the period a cooling trend is evident. The tropics became restricted to equatorial regions and northern latitudes experienced markedly more seasonal climatic conditions. Geography Due to plate tectonics, the Americas were gradually moving westward, causing the Atlantic Ocean to expand. The Western Interior Seaway divided North America into eastern and western halves; Appalachia and Laramidia. India maintained a northward course towards Asia. In the Southern Hemisphere, Aus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
