Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among other animals.
A pika is a small, mountain-dwelling mammal native to Asia and North America. With short limbs, a very round body, an even coat of fur, and no external tail, they resemble their close relative, the rabbit, but with short, rounded ears. The large-eared pika of the Himalayas and nearby mountains lives at elevations of more than 6,000 m (20,000 ft).
Dinofelis is an extinct genus of machairodontine, usually classified in the tribe Metailurini. It was widespread in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America from 5 million to about 1.2 million years ago. Fossils very similar to Dinofelis from Lothagam range back to around 8 million years ago, in the Late Miocene.
Homotherium is an extinct genus of machairodontine scimitar-toothed cat that inhabited North America, South America, Eurasia, and Africa during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs from around 4 million to 12,000 years ago. In comparison to Smilodon, the canines of Homotherium were shorter, and it was probably adapted to running down rather than ambushing prey.
Struthionidae is a family of flightless birds, containing the extant ostriches and their extinct relatives. The two extant species of ostrich are the common ostrich and Somali ostrich, both in the genus Struthio, which also contains several species known from Holocene fossils such as the Asian ostrich. The common ostrich is the more widespread of the two living species, and is the largest living bird species. The extinct genus Pachystruthio from the Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene of Eurasia is one of the largest birds ever.
Ostriches are large flightless birds. They are the heaviest and largest living birds, with adult common ostriches weighing anywhere between 63.5 and 145 kilograms and laying the largest eggs of any living land animal. With the ability to run at 70 km/h (43.5 mph), they are the fastest birds on land. They are farmed worldwide, with significant industries in the Philippines and in Namibia. Ostrich leather is a lucrative commodity, and the large feathers are used as plumes for the decoration of ceremonial headgear. Ostrich eggs have been used by humans for millennia.
Rhinoceros is a genus comprising one-horned rhinoceroses. This scientific name was proposed by Swedish taxonomist Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The genus contains two species, the Indian rhinoceros and the Javan rhinoceros. Although both members are threatened, the Javan rhinoceros is one of the most endangered large mammals in the world with only 60 individuals surviving in Java (Indonesia). The word 'rhinoceros' is of Greek origin meaning "nose-horn".
Stegodon is an extinct genus of proboscidean, related to elephants. It was originally assigned to the family Elephantidae along with modern elephants but is now placed in the extinct family Stegodontidae. Like elephants, Stegodon had teeth with plate-like lophs that are different from those of more primitive proboscideans like gomphotheres and mammutids. The oldest fossils of the genus are found in Late Miocene strata in Asia, likely originating from the more archaic Stegolophodon, subsequently migrating into Africa. While the genus became extinct in Africa during the Pliocene, Stegodon remained widespread in South, Southeast and East Asia until the end of the Pleistocene.
Metailurus is a genus of saber-toothed cat in the family Felidae, and belonging to the tribe Metailurini, which occurred in North America, Eurasia and Africa from the Miocene to the Middle Pleistocene.
Shansisuchus is an extinct genus of archosauriform reptile belonging to the family Erythrosuchidae that lived during the Middle Triassic in what is now China. The first fossils of Shansisuchus were discovered from the Ermaying Formation of Shanxi (Shansi) province in 1964 by Chinese paleontologist Yang Zhongjian. Like other erythrosuchids, Shansisuchus was a large-bodied carnivore with a large, deep skull. Shansisuchus is unique among early archosauriforms in having a hole in its skull called a subnarial fenestra.
Eucladoceros is an extinct genus of large deer whose fossils have been discovered across Eurasia, from Europe to China, spanning from the Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene. It is noted for its unusual comb-like or branching antlers.
Xenocyon is an extinct group of canids, either considered a distinct genus or a subgenus of Canis. The group includes Canis (Xenocyon) africanus, Canis (Xenocyon) antonii and Canis (Xenocyon) falconeri that gave rise to Canis (Xenocyon) lycanoides. The hypercarnivorous Xenocyon is thought to be closely related and possibly ancestral to modern dhole and the African wild dog, as well as the insular Sardinian dhole.
Pachystruthio is a genus of extinct bird which lived in Eurasia from the Late Pliocene to the Middle Pleistocene. Its fossils have been found in Hungary, Greece Crimea, Georgia, and China. The genus contains three species: P. pannonicus, P. dmanisensis, and P. transcaucasicus, which were all formerly placed with the ostrich genus, Struthio. An incomplete femur from the Nihewan Formation (China) has been assigned to Pachystruthio indet. P. dmanisensis has been estimated standing 3.5 meters tall and weighing up to 450 kg (990 lb), making it much larger than the modern ostrich and one of the largest known birds.
Hypolagus is an extinct genus of lagomorph, first recorded in the Hemingfordian of North America. It entered Asia during the early Turolian and spread to Europe not much later, where it survived until the Middle Pleistocene. Though unknown in the Iberian Peninsula, fossils of this genus have been found in the Balearic Islands, suggesting an eastern migration during the dry period in the Mediterranean region known as the Messinian Salinity Crisis.
Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis, also known as Merck's rhinoceros or the forest rhinoceros, is an extinct species of rhinoceros belonging to the genus Stephanorhinus from the Middle to Late Pleistocene of Eurasia. Its range spanned from western Europe to eastern Asia. Among the last members of the genus, it co-existed alongside Stephanorhinus hemitoechus in the western part of its range.
Yunganglong is an extinct genus of basal hadrosauroid dinosaur known from the early Late Cretaceous lower Zhumapu Formation of Zuoyun County, Shanxi Province of northeastern China. It contains a single species, Yunganglong datongensis.
Sivapanthera is a prehistoric genus of felid described by Kretzoi in 1929. Species of Sivapanthera are closely related to the modern cheetah but differ from modern cheetahs by having relatively longer brain cases, flatter foreheads, narrower nostrils and larger teeth. In many ways, skulls of Sivapanthera show similarity to that of the puma, or even those of Panthera. Scholars differ on the validity of this genus, while some think that it should be treated as a distinct genus, others think that its members should be treated as members of the Acinonyx genus, or even as subspecies of Acinonyx pardinensis.
Sinomegaceros is an extinct genus of deer known from the Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene of Central and East Asia. It is considered to be part of the group of "giant deer", with a close relationship to Megaloceros. Many members of the genus are noted for their distinctive palmate antler brow tines.
Parelasmotherium is an extinct genus of rhinocerotids that lived in Northern China about 11.1 million years ago in the Late Miocene. With its large body and its hypsodont grazing teeth, it belonged to the subfamily Elasmotheriinae and was a relative of the later Elasmotherium, which was widespread over large parts of northern Asia in the Pleistocene.
Taowu is an extinct genus of machairodonts, a type of saber-toothed cat. It lived during the Early Pleistocene about 2.5 million years ago in East Asia. So far, only one skull is known, found in northern China. Based on this, a relatively small representative of the saber-toothed cats can be reconstructed, which only reached the size of a present-day leopard. In its dentition characteristics, it mediates between phylogenetic older forms such as Amphimachairodus and younger members such as Homotherium. The genus was scientifically described in 2022, but the find material was recovered as early as the 1930s.
