| Liomesaspis Temporal range: late Carboniferous-Early Permian | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Fossils of Liomesaspis laevis (A,B) and Liomesaspis birtwelli (C) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Subphylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Infraorder: | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: | Liomesaspis |
Liomesaspis is an extinct genus of xiphosuran, related to the modern horseshoe crab. It lived from the late Carboniferous to the Early Permian.
 | This prehistoric arthropod-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
In cryptozoology, the Mokele-mbembe, Lingala for "one who stops the flow of rivers", is a water-dwelling entity that supposedly lives in the Congo River Basin, sometimes described as a living creature, sometimes as a spirit. Those that heard or that allegedly saw the entity describe it as a large quadrupedal herbivore with a smooth skin, a long neck and a single tooth, sometimes said to be a horn.
A transitional fossil is any fossilized remains of a life form that exhibits traits common to both an ancestral group and its derived descendant group. This is especially important where the descendant group is sharply differentiated by gross anatomy and mode of living from the ancestral group. These fossils serve as a reminder that taxonomic divisions are human constructs that have been imposed in hindsight on a continuum of variation. Because of the incompleteness of the fossil record, there is usually no way to know exactly how close a transitional fossil is to the point of divergence. Therefore, it cannot be assumed that transitional fossils are direct ancestors of more recent groups, though they are frequently used as models for such ancestors.
Teleoceras is an extinct genus of grazing rhinoceros. It lived in North America during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs during the Hemingfordian to the end of Hemphillian from around 17.5 to 4.9 million years ago. It grew up to lengths of 13 feet.
Menoceras is a genus of extinct, small rhinoceros endemic to most of southern North America and ranged as far south as Panama during the early Miocene epoch. It lived from around 30.7—19.7 Ma, existing for approximately 11 million years.
Gymnogyps is a genus of New World vultures in the family Cathartidae. There are five known species in the genus, with only one being extant, the California condor.
Sivatherium is an extinct genus of giraffids that ranged throughout Africa to the Indian subcontinent. The species Sivatherium giganteum is, by weight, one of the largest giraffid known, and also one of the largest ruminants of all time. The Afro-Asiatic species, S. maurusium, was once placed within the genus "Libytherium".
Brachydiastematherium transylvanicum is the westernmost species of brontothere, with the first fossils of it being found in Transylvania, Romania. In comparison with other brontothere fossils, it is suggested that B. transylvanicum would have had an elongated head, not unlike Dolichorhinus, and be about 2 meters at the withers.
Leptauchenia is an extinct goat-like genus of terrestrial herbivore belonging to the oreodont family Merycoidodontidae, and the type genus of the tribe Leptaucheniini. The genus was endemic to North America during the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene and lived for approximately 17.6 million years.
Leptaucheniinae was a taxon of small, goat-like oreodonts with proportionally big heads found throughout North America during the Late Oligocene. Because skeletons of Leptauchenia and Sespia have been found by the literal thousands, they are often quoted as being the most numerous fossil mammals in North America during the Late Oligocene. They had high-crowned, hypsodont teeth which were used to chew gritty vegetation.
Tapocyon is an extinct genus of Miacidae, a family of primitive carnivores. Tapocyon was first discovered in Ventura County, when part of a jaw was found in the 1930s. A representative fossil of Tapocyon robustus was found in Oceanside, California. The animal was about the size of a coyote and is believed to have been a good climber that spent a lot of time in trees.
Cormocyon is an extinct genus of borophagine canid native to North America. It lived from the Oligocene to the Early Miocene, 30.8—20.6 Mya, existing for about 10.2 million years. It is regarded as a primitive, transitional member of the Borophagini tribe.
Paliguana is an extinct genus of lizard-like lepidosauromorph reptile from the Late Permian or Early Triassic Katberg Formation in the upper Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone of South Africa.
Acherontemys is an extinct genus of turtle from Miocene of United States.
Megacamelus is an extinct genus of terrestrial herbivore in the family Camelidae, endemic to North America from the Miocene through Pliocene 10.3—4.9 mya, existing for approximately 5.4 million years.
Floridaceras is an extinct genus of Rhinocerotidae (rhinoceros) of the Miocene epoch, endemic to North America, living from around ~20.6—16.3 Ma, existing for approximately 4.3 million years.
Donald Ross Prothero is an American geologist, paleontologist, and author who specializes in mammalian paleontology and magnetostratigraphy, a technique to date rock layers of the Cenozoic era and its use to date the climate changes which occurred 30-40 million years ago. He is the author or editor of more than 30 books and over 300 scientific papers, including at least 5 geology textbooks.
Radinskya is an extinct perissodactyl-like mammal from the Paleocene of China. It is named after palaeontologist and perissodactyl expert Leonard Radinsky who died prematurely in 1985.
The Hsanda Gol Formation is a geological formation located in the Tsagan Nor Basin of central Mongolia that dates to the Rupelian age of the Oligocene epoch. It formed in continental desert-like conditions and is notable for its fossil mammals, first excavated by Roy Chapman Andrews and the American Museum of Natural History in the 1920s. Hsanda Gol is included in the Hsandagolian Asian Land Mammal Age, to which it gives its name.
The Washakie Formation is a geologic formation in northern Colorado and southern Wyoming. It preserves many mammal, bird, reptile and other fossils dating back to the Lutetian stage of the Eocene within the Paleogene period. The sediments fall in the Bridgerian and Uintan stages of the NALMA classification.
Leonard Burton Radinsky (1937–1985) was an American paleontologist and expert in fossil odd-toed ungulates and their relatives. He was professor at the University of Chicago from 1967 until his death, serving as chairman of the Department of Anatomy from 1978 to 1983. Born in Staten Island, New York, he earned a bachelor's degree from Cornell University (1958) and his master's and doctorate degrees from Yale University. His works include "Origin and early evolution of North American Tapiroidea", "The fossil record of primate brain evolution", and the textbook The Evolution of Vertebrate Design.