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Ptolemaiida
Ptolemaiida is a taxon of wolf-sized Afrotheria, afrothere mammals that lived in northern and eastern Africa during the Paleogene. The oldest fossils are from the latest Eocene strata of the Jebel Qatrani Formation, near the Fayum oasis in Egypt. A tooth is known from an Oligocene-aged stratum in Angola, and Miocene specimens (of ''Kelba quadeemae, Kelba'') are known from Kenya and Uganda. The origin of the Ptolemaiida is obscure, and debated. The type species was originally thought to be a primate, but, later, when elongated skulls with long Canine tooth, canines of ''Ptolemaia'' and ''Qarunavus'' were found, they were then thought to be Hyaenodontidae, hyaenodontids, or giant, carnivorous relatives of the Pantolestidae, pantolestids ''Palaeosinopa'', and of Soricomorpha, modern shrews The family Ptolemaiidae was elevated to order level in 1995, although some experts later placed the Ptolemaiidae within the pantolestids. Recently, Ptolemaiida has been placed within Afrotheria o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afroinsectiphilia
The Afroinsectiphilia (African insectivores) is a clade that has been proposed based on the results of recent molecular phylogenetic studies. Many of the taxa within it were once regarded as part of the order Insectivora, but Insectivora is now considered to be polyphyletic and obsolete. This proposed classification is based on molecular studies only, and there is no morphological evidence for it. The golden moles, otter shrews and tenrecs are part of this clade. Some also regard the elephant shrews and aardvarks as part of it, although these two orders were traditionally seen as primitive ungulates. The sister group of the Afroinsectiphilia is the Paenungulata, which were also traditionally regarded as ungulates. If the clade of Afrotheria is genuine, then the Afroinsectiphilia are the closest relatives of the Pseudoungulata (here regarded as part of Afroinsectiphilia) and the Paenungulata. In a classification governed by morphological data, both the Pseudoungulata and Pae ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kelba (genus)
''Kelba quadeemae'' is an extinct species of ptolemaiidan mammal, the sole species of the family Kelbidae, known from the Lower Miocene of East Africa. The genus name ''Kelba'' derives from the Arabic (pronounced ''kalb'' or ''kelb'') meaning "dog", and the specific name ''quadeemae'' from the Arabic ''quadeem'', meaning "ancient". ''Kelba'' is only known from a partial skull and teeth, but estimated to have been (around 15 kg), similar in size to a coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ... but more heavily built. The teeth are rather unspecialized, suggesting a wide and varied diet, and show wear suggesting its diet included abrasive material. References Ptolemaiida Miocene mammals of Africa Fossil taxa described in 1965 {{Paleo-afrotheria-stu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aardvark
Aardvarks ( ; ''Orycteropus afer'') are medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammals native to Africa. Aardvarks are the only living species of the family Orycteropodidae and the order Tubulidentata. They have a long proboscis, similar to a pig's snout, which is used to sniff out food. They are afrotheres, a clade that also includes elephants, manatees, and hyraxes. They are found over much of the southern two-thirds of the African continent, avoiding areas that are mainly rocky. Nocturnal feeders, aardvarks subsist on ants and termites by using their sharp claws and powerful legs to dig the insects out of their hills. Aardvarks also dig to create burrows in which to live and rear their young. Name and taxonomy Name The aardvark is sometimes colloquially called the "African ant bear", "anteater" (not to be confused with the South American anteaters), or the "Cape anteater" after the Cape of Good Hope. The name "aardvark" is Afrikaans () and comes from earlier Afrikaa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kelba Quadeemae
''Kelba quadeemae'' is an extinct species of ptolemaiidan mammal, the sole species of the family Kelbidae, known from the Lower Miocene of East Africa. The genus name ''Kelba'' derives from the Arabic (pronounced ''kalb'' or ''kelb'') meaning "dog", and the specific name ''quadeemae'' from the Arabic ''quadeem'', meaning "ancient". ''Kelba'' is only known from a partial skull and teeth, but estimated to have been (around 15 kg), similar in size to a coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ... but more heavily built. The teeth are rather unspecialized, suggesting a wide and varied diet, and show wear suggesting its diet included abrasive material. References Ptolemaiida Miocene mammals of Africa Fossil taxa described in 1965 {{Paleo-afrotheria-stu ... [...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] |
Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America
''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America'' (often abbreviated ''PNAS'' or ''PNAS USA'') is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It is the official journal of the National Academy of Sciences, published since 1915, and publishes original research, scientific reviews, commentaries, and letters. According to ''Journal Citation Reports'', the journal has a 2022 impact factor of 9.4. ''PNAS'' is the second most cited scientific journal, with more than 1.9 million cumulative citations from 2008 to 2018. In the past, ''PNAS'' has been described variously as "prestigious", "sedate", "renowned" and "high impact". ''PNAS'' is a delayed open-access journal, with an embargo period of six months that can be bypassed for an author fee ( hybrid open access). Since September 2017, open access articles are published under a Creative Commons license. Since January 2019, ''PNAS'' has been online-only, although print issues are available ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prehistoric Tetrapod Orders
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] |
Paraphyletic
Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In contrast, a monophyletic grouping (a clade) includes a common ancestor and ''all'' of its descendants. The terms are commonly used in phylogenetics (a subfield of biology) and in the tree model of historical linguistics. Paraphyletic groups are identified by a combination of synapomorphies and symplesiomorphies. If many subgroups are missing from the named group, it is said to be polyparaphyletic. The term received currency during the debates of the 1960s and 1970s accompanying the rise of cladistics, having been coined by zoologist Willi Hennig to apply to well-known taxa like Reptilia (reptiles), which is paraphyletic with respect to birds. Reptilia contains the last common ancestor of reptiles and all descendants of that ancestor exc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tubulidentata
Orycteropodidae is a family of afrotherian mammals. Although there are many fossil species, the only species surviving today is the aardvark, ''Orycteropus afer''. Orycteropodidae is recognized as the only family within the order Tubulidentata, from the Latin words ''tubulis'' (tubule) and ''dentis'' (tooth), referring to the tubule-style teeth., so the two are Monotypic taxon, effectively synonyms. Evolution The first aardvark fossil discovered was originally named ''Orycteropus gaudryi'' (now ''Amphiorycteropus'') and was found in Turolian deposits on the island of Samos. Since then, representatives of the order Tubulidentata have been located from the Oligocene in what is now Europe, and it is believed that the order probably originated around 65–70 million years ago or in the Paleocene. They are thought to be closely related to the now extinct Ptolemaiida, a lineage of carnivorous afrotheres. The family arose in Africa in the Early Miocene epoch, and spread to Eurasia late ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paleobiology
Paleobiology (or palaeobiology) is an interdisciplinary field that combines the methods and findings found in both the earth sciences and the life sciences. An investigator in this field is known as a paleobiologist. Paleobiology is closely related to the field of paleontology, although the latter focuses primarily on the study and taxonomic classification of fossil records, while paleobiology incorporates a broader ecological, evolutionary and geological perspectives of the history of life on Earth. It is also not to be confused with geobiology, which focuses more on the contemporary interactions between the modern biosphere and the physical Earth. Paleobiological research uses biological field research of current biota and of fossil evidence millions of years old to draw parallel and answer questions about the molecular evolution and the evolutionary history of life. In this scientific quest, macrofossils, microfossils and trace fossils are typically analyzed. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soricomorpha
Soricomorpha (from Greek "shrew-form") is a formerly used taxon within the class of mammals. In the past it formed a significant group within the former order Insectivora. However, Insectivora was shown to be polyphyletic and various new orders were split off from it, including Afrosoricida ( tenrecs, golden moles, otter shrews), Macroscelidea (elephant shrews), and Erinaceomorpha (hedgehogs and gymnures), with the four remaining extant and recent families of Soricomorpha shown here then being treated as a separate order. Insectivora was left empty and disbanded. Subsequently, Soricomorpha itself was shown to be paraphyletic, because Soricidae shared a more recent common ancestor with Erinaceidae than with other soricomorphs. The combination of Soricomorpha and Erinaceidae, referred to as order Eulipotyphla, has been shown to be monophyletic. Living members of the group range in size from the Etruscan shrew, at about and , to the Cuban solenodon, at about and . * Soricomo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
