| Dremotherium Temporal range: Oligocene-Miocene | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Suborder: | Ruminantia |
| Genus: | † Dremotherium Geoffroy, 1833 |
Dremotherium is an extinct genus of ruminant that inhabited Eurasia during the Palaeogene and Neogene periods.
Evidence from analysis of dental microwear of D. guthi and D. quercyi at the Late Oligocene site of La Milloque in France suggests that the former was a grazer, whereas the latter was primarily a leaf browser. [1]
Australopithecus (, OS-trə-lə-PITH-i-kəs, -loh-; or is a genus of early hominins that existed in Africa during the Pliocene and Early Pleistocene. The genera Homo, Paranthropus, and Kenyanthropus evolved from some Australopithecus species. Australopithecus is a member of the subtribe Australopithecina, which sometimes also includes Ardipithecus, though the term "australopithecine" is sometimes used to refer only to members of Australopithecus. Species include A. garhi, A. africanus, A. sediba, A. afarensis, A. anamensis, A. bahrelghazali and A. deyiremeda. Debate exists as to whether some Australopithecus species should be reclassified into new genera, or if Paranthropus and Kenyanthropus are synonymous with Australopithecus, in part because of the taxonomic inconsistency.
Aegyptopithecus is an early fossil catarrhine that predates the divergence between hominoids (apes) and cercopithecids. It is known from a single species, Aegyptopithecus zeuxis, which lived around 38-29.5 million years ago in the early part of the Oligocene epoch. It likely resembled modern-day New World monkeys, and was about the same size as a modern howler monkey, which is about 56 to 92 cm long. Aegyptopithecus fossils have been found in the Jebel Qatrani Formation of modern-day Egypt. Aegyptopithecus is believed to be a stem-catarrhine, a crucial link between Eocene and Miocene fossils.
Hyaenodon ("hyena-tooth") is an extinct genus of carnivorous placental mammals from extinct tribe Hyaenodontini within extinct subfamily Hyaenodontinae, that lived in Eurasia and North America from the middle Eocene, throughout the Oligocene, to the early Miocene.
Necrolemur is a small bodied omomyid with body mass estimations ranging from 114–346 g (4.0–12.2 oz). Necrolemur’s teeth feature broad basins and blunt cusps, suggesting their diet consisted of mostly soft fruit, though examination of microwear patterns suggests that populations from lower latitudes also consumed insects and gums.
Mesopithecus is an extinct genus of Old World monkey belonging to the subfamily Colobinae that lived in Europe and Asia during the Late Miocene and Pliocene epochs, around 8.2-2.6 million years ago. Fossils span from Great Britain and the Iberian Peninsula in the west, eastwards to the Indian Subcontinent and China. Species of Mesopithecus had a body length of about 40 centimetres (16 in), possessing a slender body with long, muscular limbs and flexible fingers. Analysis of its anatomy suggests that members of the genus were semiterrestrial, spending a considerable amount of the time on the ground, though some authors have argued that some species were likely arboreal. Species of Mesopithecus were likely capable climbers and probably occasionally engaged in leaping. Dental microwear analysis suggests that it fed on hard seeds as well as probably leaves. The relationship of Mesopithecus to living members of Colobinae is uncertain, some have interpreted it as an early offshoot outside the split between Asian and African colobines, while others have interpreted it as a close relative of the Asian doucs (Pygathrix).
Phosphatherium escuillei is a basal proboscidean that lived from the Late Paleocene to the early stages of the Ypresian age. Research has suggested that Phosphatherium existed during the Eocene period.
Mark Andrew Purnell is a British palaeontologist, Professor of Palaeobiology at the University of Leicester.
The monkey lemurs or baboon lemurs (Archaeolemuridae) are a recently extinct family of lemurs known from skeletal remains from sites on Madagascar dated to 1000 to 3000 years ago.
Archaeolemur is an extinct genus of subfossil lemurs known from the Quaternary of Madagascar. Archaeolemur is one of the most common and well-known of the extinct giant lemurs as hundreds of its bones have been discovered in fossil deposits across the island. It was larger than any extant lemur, with a body mass of approximately 18.2–26.5 kg (40–58 lb), and is commonly reconstructed as the most frugivorous and terrestrial of the fossil Malagasy primates. Colloquially known as a "monkey lemur," Archaeolemur has often been compared with anthropoids, specifically the cercopithecines, due to various morphological convergences. In fact, it was even misidentified as a monkey when remains were first discovered. Following human arrival to Madagascar just over 2000 years ago, many of the island’s megafauna went extinct, including the giant lemurs. Radiocarbon dating indicates that Archaeolemur survived on Madagascar until at least 1040-1290 AD, outliving most other subfossil lemurs.
Octodontotherium is an extinct genus of ground sloth of the family Mylodontidae, endemic to South America during the Late Oligocene (Deseadan). It lived from 29 to 23 Mya, existing for approximately 6 million years.
Peter S. Ungar is an American paleoanthropologist and evolutionary biologist.
Ouranopithecus macedoniensis is a prehistoric species of Ouranopithecus from the Late Miocene of Greece. See more detail at Ouranopithecus.
The grit, not grass hypothesis is an evolutionary hypothesis that explains the evolution of high-crowned teeth, particularly in New World mammals. The hypothesis is that the ingestion of gritty soil is the primary driver of hypsodont tooth development, not the silica-rich composition of grass, as was previously thought.
Hyaenodonta is an extinct order of hypercarnivorous placental mammals of clade Pan-Carnivora from mirorder Ferae. Hyaenodonts were important mammalian predators that arose during the early Paleocene in Europe and persisted well into the late Miocene.
Amebelodontidae is an extinct family of large herbivorous proboscidean mammals related to elephants. They were formerly assigned to Gomphotheriidae, but recent authors consider them a distinct family. They are distinguished from other proboscideans by having flattened lower tusks and very elongate mandibular symphysis. The lower tusks could grow to considerable size, with those of Konobelodon reaching 1.61 metres (5.3 ft) in length. Their molar teeth are typically trilophodont, and possessed posttrite conules. In the past, amebelodonts' shovel-like mandibular tusks led to them being portrayed scooping up water plants, however, dental microwear suggests that they were browsers and mixed feeders. The lower tusks have been proposed to have had a variety of functions depending on the species, including stripping bark, cutting through vegetation, as well as possibly digging. They first appeared in Africa during the Early Miocene, and subsequently dispersed into Eurasia and then North America. They became extinct by the beginning of the Pliocene. While some phylogenetic studies have recovered Amebelodontidae as a monophyletic group that forms the sister group to Gomphotheriidae proper, some authors have argued that Amebelodontidae may be polyphyletic, with it being suggested that the shovel-tusked condition arose several times independently within Gomphotheriidae, thus rendering the family invalid.
Cercopithecoides is an extinct genus of colobine monkey from Africa which lived during the latest Miocene to the Pleistocene period. There are several recognized species, with the smallest close in size to some of the larger extant colobines, and males of the largest species weighed over 50 kilograms (110 lb).
Parapithecoidea is an extinct superfamily of primates which lived in the Eocene and Oligocene periods in Egypt. In some classifications all Parapithecoidea are placed within the family Parapithecidae. Seiffert et al. (2010) propose that Parapithecoidea arose during the Bartonian, with a split between Biretia and the Parapithecidae occurring early in the Priabonian.
Canaanimico is an extinct genus of medium-sized New World monkeys from the Late Oligocene fossiliferous fluvio-lacustrine Chambira Formation of the Ucayali Basin in Amazonian Peru. The genus was described by Marivaux et al. in 2016 and the type species is C. amazonensis.
Pliopapio is an extinct genus of Old World monkey known from the latest part of the Miocene to the early Pliocene Epochs from the Afar Region of Ethiopia. It was first described based on a very large series of fossils from the site of Aramis in the Middle Awash, which has been dated by 40Ar/39Ar to 4.4 million years old. It has since been found from similarly aged sediments at Gona, approximately 75 km to the North. Additional fossils from the Middle Awash extend its known time range back to at least 5.3 million years ago. There is only one known species, Pliopapio alemui.
Dental microwear analysis is a method to infer diet and behavior in extinct animals, especially in fossil specimens. Typically, the patterns of pits and scratches on the occlusal or buccal surface of the enamel are compared with patterns observed in extant species to infer ecological information. Hard foods in particular can lead to distinctive patterns. Microwear can also be used for inferring behavior, especially those related to the non-masticatory use of teeth as 'tools'. Other uses include investigating weaning in past populations. Methods used to collect data initially involved a microscope and manually collecting information on individual microwear features, but software to automatically collect data have improved markedly in recent years.
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