Protowenella Temporal range: | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | † Helcionelloida |
Order: | † Helcionelliformes |
Superfamily: | † Helcionelloidea |
Genus: | † Protowenella |
Protowenella is a genus of helcionellid from the Middle Cambrian of Australia. It has a strongly spiralled, smooth shell with concentric ridges that have low relief. Other than its tighter coiling, it is very similar to Tichkaella . [1]
A chordate is a deuterostomal bilaterian animal belonging to the phylum Chordata. All chordates possess, at some point during their larval or adult stages, five distinctive physical characteristics (synapomorphies) that distinguish them from other taxa. These five synapomorphies are a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve cord, an endostyle or thyroid, pharyngeal slits, and a post-anal tail.
Human evolution is the evolutionary process within the history of primates that led to the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct species of the hominid family that includes all the great apes. This process involved the gradual development of traits such as human bipedalism, dexterity, and complex language, as well as interbreeding with other hominins, indicating that human evolution was not linear but weblike. The study of the origins of humans involves several scientific disciplines, including physical and evolutionary anthropology, paleontology, and genetics; the field is also known by the terms anthropogeny, anthropogenesis, and anthropogony.
Felidae is the family of mammals in the order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats. A member of this family is also called a felid.
Homo habilis is an extinct species of archaic human from the Early Pleistocene of East and South Africa about 2.4 million years ago to 1.4 million years ago (mya). Upon species description in 1964, H. habilis was highly contested, with many researchers recommending it be synonymised with Australopithecus africanus, the only other early hominin known at the time, but H. habilis received more recognition as time went on and more relevant discoveries were made. By the 1980s, H. habilis was proposed to have been a human ancestor, directly evolving into Homo erectus, which directly led to modern humans. This viewpoint is now debated. Several specimens with insecure species identification were assigned to H. habilis, leading to arguments for splitting, namely into "H. rudolfensis" and "H. gautengensis" of which only the former has received wide support.
Amniotes are tetrapod vertebrate animals belonging to the clade Amniota, a large group that comprises the vast majority of living terrestrial and semiaquatic vertebrates. Amniotes evolved from amphibious stem tetrapod ancestors during the Carboniferous period. Those of Amniota are defined as the smallest crown clade containing humans, the Greek tortoise, and the Nile crocodile.
Eucynodontia is a clade of cynodont therapsids including mammals and most non-mammalian cynodonts. The oldest eucynodonts are known from the Early Triassic and possibly Late Permian. Eucynodontia includes two major subgroups, Cynognathia and Probainognathia.
Sauropsida is a clade of amniotes, broadly equivalent to the class Reptilia, though typically used in a broader sense to also include extinct stem-group relatives of modern reptiles and birds. The most popular definition states that Sauropsida is the sibling taxon to Synapsida, the other clade of amniotes which includes mammals as its only modern representatives. Although early synapsids have historically been referred to as "mammal-like reptiles", all synapsids are more closely related to mammals than to any modern reptile. Sauropsids, on the other hand, include all amniotes more closely related to modern reptiles than to mammals. This includes Aves (birds), which are recognized as a subgroup of archosaurian reptiles despite originally being named as a separate class in Linnaean taxonomy.
Euarchontoglires, synonymous with Supraprimates, is a clade and a superorder of placental mammals, the living members of which belong to one of the five following groups: rodents, lagomorphs, treeshrews, primates, and colugos.
Eureptilia is one of the two major subgroups of the clade Sauropsida, the other one being Parareptilia. Eureptilia includes Diapsida, as well as a number of primitive Permo-Carboniferous forms previously classified under Anapsida, in the old order "Cotylosauria".
The Pantherinae is a subfamily of the Felidae; it was named and first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1917 as only including the Panthera species, but later also came to include the clouded leopards. The Pantherinae genetically diverged from a common ancestor between 9.32 to 4.47 million years ago and 10.67 to 3.76 million years ago.
Eryopidae were a group of medium to large amphibious temnospondyls, known from North America and Europe. They are defined as all eryopoids with interpterygoid vacuities that are rounded at the front; and large external nares. Not all of the genera previously included in the Eryopidae are retained under the cladistic revisions.
Homo erectus is an extinct species of archaic human from the Pleistocene, spanning nearly 2 million years. It is the first human species to evolve a humanlike body plan and gait, to leave Africa and colonize Asia and Europe, and to wield fire. H. erectus is the ancestor of later Homo species, including H. heidelbergensis, the last common ancestor of modern humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans. As such a widely distributed species both geographically and temporally, H. erectus anatomy varies considerably. Subspecies are sometimes recognized: H. e. erectus, H. e. pekinensis, H. e. soloensis, H. e. ergaster, H. e. georgicus, and H. e. tautavelensis.
Cladotheria is a clade of mammals. It contains modern therian mammals and several extinct groups, such as the "dryolestoids", amphitheriids and peramurids. The clade was named in 1975 by Malcolm McKenna. In 2002, it was defined as a node-based taxon containing "the common ancestor of dryolestids and living therians, plus all its descendants". A different, stem-based definition was given in 2013, in which Cladotheria contains all taxa that are closer to Mus musculus than to the "symmetrodont" Spalacotherium tricuspidens.
Howesia is an extinct genus of basal rhynchosaur from early Middle Triassic deposits of Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is known from the holotype SAM 5884, a partial skeleton with palate and partial lower jaws and from two paratypes, SAM 5885 and SAM 5886. It was found in the Burgersdorp Formation of the middle deposits of the Beaufort Group and referred to Subzone B of the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone. It was first named by Robert Broom in 1905 and the type species is Howesia browni, named after Alfred Brown.
Eufalconimorphae is a proposed clade of birds, consisting of passerines, parrots, falcons, caracaras, and forest falcons. It has whole-genome DNA support. This clade was defined in the PhyloCode by George Sangster and colleagues in 2022 as "the least inclusive crown clade containing Falco subbuteo and Passer domesticus". Eufalconimorphae birds are characterized by their strong and hooked beaks, sharp talons, and powerful wings. They have excellent eyesight, which allows them to spot their prey from great distances. The Eufalconimorphae is noted to produce aerodynamic force during the upstroke of flight to help create a vertical flight pattern.
Australaves is a clade of birds, defined in 2012, consisting of the Eufalconimorphae as well as the Cariamiformes. They appear to be the sister group of Afroaves. This clade was defined in the PhyloCode by George Sangster and colleagues in 2022 as "the least inclusive crown clade containing Cariama cristata and Passer domesticus".
Telluraves is a recently defined clade of birds defined by their arboreality. Based on most recent genetic studies, the clade unites a variety of bird groups, including the australavians as well as the afroavians. This grouping was defined in the PhyloCode by George Sangster and colleagues in 2022 as "the least inclusive crown clade containing Accipiter nisus and Passer domesticus". They appear to be the sister group of the Phaethoquornithes.
Passerea is a clade of neoavian birds that was proposed by Jarvis et al. (2014). Their genomic analysis recovered two major clades within Neoaves, Passerea and Columbea, and concluded that both clades appear to have many ecologically driven convergent traits.
Gruimorphae is a clade of birds that contains the orders Charadriiformes and Gruiformes identified by molecular analysis. This grouping has had historical support, as various charadriiform families such as the families Pedionomidae and Turnicidae were classified as gruiforms. It may also have support from the fossil record since the discovery of Nahmavis from the Early Eocene of North America.
Archelosauria is a clade grouping turtles and archosaurs and their fossil relatives, to the exclusion of lepidosaurs. The majority of phylogenetic analyses based on molecular data have supported a sister-group relationship between turtles and archosaurs. On the other hand, Archelosauria had not been historically supported by most morphological analyses, which have instead found turtles to either be descendants of parareptiles, early-diverging diapsids outside of Sauria, or close relatives of lepidosaurs within the clade Ankylopoda. Some recent morphological analyses have also found support for Archelosauria.