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| Obscure Taxa; For interesting or obscure organisms you'd like to share. | |
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| Topic Started: Dec 14 2016, 09:46 PM (48,936 Views) | |
| lamna | Jun 9 2017, 02:56 PM Post #406 |
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I don't think there is a definitive answer yet. But I'm inclined to go with hopping. It's developed in a diverse array of distantly related mammals, multituberculates, marsupials and placentals. While upright walking seems to be limited to us. |
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Living Fossils Fósseis Vibos: Reserva Natural 34 MYH, 4 tonne dinosaur. [flash=500,450] Video Magic! [/flash] | |
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| Carlos | Jun 9 2017, 03:55 PM Post #407 |
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Adveho in me Lucifero
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Yes, hopping makes more sense. |
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Lemuria: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/ Terra Alternativa: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/ My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Carliro ![]() | |
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| Carlos | Jun 9 2017, 06:56 PM Post #408 |
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Adveho in me Lucifero
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Also, footprints from a hopping Early Cretaceous mammal from South America: spoiled link
Edited by Carlos, Jun 10 2017, 07:31 AM.
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Lemuria: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/ Terra Alternativa: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/ My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Carliro ![]() | |
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| Tartarus | Jun 9 2017, 07:58 PM Post #409 |
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Prime Specimen
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Since ice crawlers were brought up, I reckon its only fair to bring up their closest living relatives- the mantophasmatids, a.k.a. gladiator bugs/African rock crawlers/heelwalkers. Ice crawlers and gladiators are both members of the order Notoptera. In contrast to the the cold dwelling ice crawlers though, the gladiators live in the hot dry environments of Tanzania in eastern Africa and the Karoo-Namib region of southern Africa. Gladiator bugs were only officially discovered very recently, in 2001, and were at first thought to be a new order, though later studies placed them together with the ice crawlers. They are wingless insects that look kinda like a cross between a preying mantis and a stick insect and are predators that hunt their prey with modified raptorial forelegs. Most, though not all, gladiator species are nocturnal. The oldest gladiator specimen was one preserved in Baltic amber that was an estimated 45 million years old (putting it in the Eocene). This shows that their geographic distribution was once far more widespread.![]() Austrophasma caldeonensis Edited by Tartarus, Jun 9 2017, 08:01 PM.
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| Beetleboy | Jun 10 2017, 02:00 AM Post #410 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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JohnFaa, can you please spoiler that link, it's stretching the page insanely wide for me. |
| ~ The Age of Forests ~ | |
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| IIGSY | Jun 12 2017, 02:28 PM Post #411 |
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A huntsman spider that wastes time on the internet because it has nothing better to do
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![]() Parasitic tardigrades are a thing. Say hello to Tetrakentron synaptae. Females are (obviously) larger than males. They are sedentary, and have dome-like bodies. It drains the fluids from the epidermal cells of the sea cucumber Leptosynapta galliennei. There is two types of males. Mobiles ones, and sedentary ones. |
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Projects Punga: A terraformed world with no vertebrates Last one crawling: The last arthropod ARTH-6810: A world without vertebrates (It's ded, but you can still read I guess) Potential ideas- Swamp world: A world covered in lakes, with the largest being caspian sized. Nematozoic: After a mass extinction of ultimate proportions, a single species of nematode is the only surviving animal. Tri-devonian: A devonian like ecosystem with holocene species on three different continents. Quotes Phylogeny of the arthropods and some related groups In honor of the greatest clade of all time More pictures Other cool things All African countries can fit into Brazil
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| lamna | Jun 13 2017, 09:47 AM Post #412 |
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Mammals come in a huge variety of forms. Many different bauplans have been tried, but four stand out as being phenomenally successful. The first, is the one you are going to be most familiar with, because you live in it. The human bodyplan of huge brain, energy efficient bipedal stance and highly dexterous hands have allowed humans to become one of the most successful mammals ever. Certainty the most successful large mammal ever, with a population of billions across the entire planet. But we're untested longterm. Perhaps we will become the first mammal to spread beyond this planet, and we will endure for millions of years. Perhaps we will wipe ourselves out in the next few decades. The second most recent of these successful bodyplans is the bat. Flight has allowed bats to spread globally, and to exploit a huge number of niches, feeding on nectar and blood, fish and fruit and countless kinds of invertebrates. Third oldest bodyplan, and most successful is the rodent. A small body and ever growing, self sharpening teeth let rodent like animals thrive. Rodents cannot travel as far as bats can, though they can still cross seas, colonising South America long before it connected to North America, Madagascar and Australia. Rodents make up 40% of all living mammals. And while the rodent is not that much recently evolved than the bat, Allotheres did much the same job from the end of the Triassic to the Miocene. But by far the oldest bauplan for mammals is the shrew. Shrew-like mammals are so ancient, they predate crown mammals themselves. This type of mammal evolved at the same time as the first dinosaurs and pterosaurs, and it's still going strong today. Lovely art of Morganucodon watsoni by Mark Witton. ![]() What makes shrew-like animals so interesting to me is that it's a bodyplan found across multiple living mammal lineages. The only small flying mammals are bats, the only small gnawing mammals alive today are rodents. Most of the great groups of living mammals, afrotheres, marsupials, laurasiatherians and euarchontoglires all have their own shrew-like animals. Only the small, specialised groups of xenarthrans and monotremes lack them. The similarities of these animals lead to many of them being grouped into the old wastebasket Insectivora. Since there are so many, today we will cover true shrews. Most numerous and diverse of these modern shrew-like animals are Eulipotyphla, which you can think of as a new, leaner version of the old Insectivora. This is a large Order of mammals that itself contains distinct lineages of shrews-like animals, as well as Moles and Hedgehogs. The largest family in Eulipotyphla is Soricidae, true shrews, the fourth largest order of mammals. They are found across Afro-Eurasia and North America. They are mostly absent from South America, some do live in the Northern Andes. Soricidae can be further divided into three groups, the white-toothed shrews, the red-toothed shrews and the African shrews. African shrews (Myosoricinae), as their name suggests are found only in sub-Saharan Africa. There are twenty species of them, and sadly there is not much information on them online. Another interesting example of African mammal diversity though, as they also share Africa with white-toothed shews and native afrothere shrew-like animals. The only one with decent photographs and more information on it beyond "it exists" is the Forest Shrew, found in Southern Africa. It's a extremely common little insectivore and forms a major party of the food change across a wide variety of habitats, from deserts to forests. ![]() The other two groups of shrews are not as neat geographically, with a great deal of overlap. My understanding is that white-toothed shews (Crocidurinae) represent a African group that has spread into Afro-Eurasia, while red-toothed shews (Soricinae) are a more Asian-American. But as I said, a huge amount of overlap. Even here in Britain with our depauperate mammal fauna we have both red-toothed and white-toothed shrews. White-toothed shrews are interesting as they actually contain both the largest shrew and the smallest shrew (and arguably the smallest mammal), within the same genus, Suncus. Largest is the Asian house shrew (Suncus murinus), which about double the size of a house mouse. Like most shews, the are vicious little bastards, but being so big they pack an extra punch. They are not only insectivorous, but will also take small vertebrate prey, hunting mice, frogs and even killing chicks. They have a musky smell to put off predators, and if that doesn't work, they can shriek to frighten them off. They are also named money shrews, because they sometimes make a noise a bit like jingling coins, and like some other white-toothed shrews, will form caravans, where babies form a line behind their mother, biting onto each others tails so their mother can lead them to new homes. ![]() ![]() The Etruscan shrew (Suncus etruscus) weighs just under 2 grams, as is pretty widespread, found in a broad band across Eurasia from Iberia to Malaysia. Minute vertebrates always amaze me. These creatures have every organ that I do, but could comfortably sit on my thumb. ![]() Red-toothed shrews, as their name suggests, have reddish-brown teeth. This is because there enamel contains iron to make their teeth more wear resistant, which is important when you need to constantly eat to survive and you're eating crunchy insects. This group contains the water-shews, shews that forage in the water for aquatic insects, fish and amphibians. Something to consider when looking at Mesozoic mammals, water shews have relatively few adaptations for aquatic life,looking at just their bones, you might not pick up on that. ![]() Next up: Moonrats and gymnures Shrew-moles Solenodons West Indies shrews Elephant shrews Tenrecs Treeshrews Opossums Dasyurids and the Monito del monte |
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Living Fossils Fósseis Vibos: Reserva Natural 34 MYH, 4 tonne dinosaur. [flash=500,450] Video Magic! [/flash] | |
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| Carlos | Jun 13 2017, 10:31 AM Post #413 |
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Adveho in me Lucifero
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It's also interesting how many groups of shrew-like mammals can co-exist. In the Jurassic-Early Cretaceous, for example, we have eutriconodonts, symmetrodonts, morganucodonts, docodonts and some early dryolestoids all within the shrew-like slot, for example, while even today shrews, shrew-opossums and small insectivorous true opossums like Monodelphis co-exist in South America. Edited by Carlos, Jun 13 2017, 10:32 AM.
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Lemuria: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/ Terra Alternativa: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/ My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Carliro ![]() | |
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| Vorsa | Jun 13 2017, 12:43 PM Post #414 |
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Mysterious tundra-dwelling humanoid
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Another interesting thing about water shrews is that they're venomous. I don't think many mammals actually produce venom (monotremes, water shrews and lorises?) so that's pretty interesting. |
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My Deviantart: http://desorages.deviantart.com/ Birbs "you are about to try that on a species that clawed its way to the top of a 4 billion year deep corpse pile of evolution. one that has committed the genocide you are contemplating several times already. they are the pinnacle of intelligence-based survival techniques and outnumber you 7 billion to 1" - humans vs machine | |
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| Carlos | Jun 13 2017, 01:42 PM Post #415 |
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Adveho in me Lucifero
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Mammals were ancestrally venomous |
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Lemuria: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/ Terra Alternativa: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/ My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Carliro ![]() | |
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| Sphenodon | Jun 13 2017, 01:50 PM Post #416 |
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Calcareous
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Combining the previous dialogue on the great diversity of rodents with the current one on shrew-like mammals, it should be noted that not one, but a multitude of rodent taxa have moved away from the rodent standard and adopted primarily or wholly carnivorous or insectivorous diets - some of these animals being remarkably similar niche-wise to soricomorphs and other "shrew-like mammals", making these, in a way, yet another type of shrew-like mammals. A vast majority of these types of rodents are native to certain islands or island groups in Southeast Asia. Most of them are members of small genera (1-3 species), and phylogeny in most of them (at least, what I could find) isn't covered beyond them being murids of some type. An exception to this are the native insectivorous rodents of the Philippines, the four genera of which have been recovered as a monophyletic radiation of Old Endemic native rodents that in the absence of competition moved to occupy shrew-like roles in the islands' ecology. One of these genera, covered rather recently in Tetrapod Zoology, are the shreats (other common names including shrew-rats and earth rats) of the genus Chrotomys. ![]() A Luzon striped rat (Chrotomys whiteheadi). Native to the Philippines (three species are found on Luzon, with one being endemic to Mount Isarog; another is found on Mindoro, and another on Sibuyan), they are semi-fossorial predators of earthworms, typically measuring between 15 and 17 centimeters in length. Most shreats are found in partially montane, forested areas with high levels of precipitation, where earthworms are abundant and easily reached. Interestingly, at least some species in the genus have benefited rather than suffered by agricultural disturbance of their environments, with soil tillage allowing for furthered access to earthworms. ![]() Holotype remains of the Sibuyan striped shrew rat (Chrotomys sibuyanensis). Note the reduced molars and overall elongated, gracile jaw structure. Another of the four genera of Philippine vermivores are the confusingly-named shrew-like rats of the genus Rhynchomys. These are significantly larger than the shrew-rats, with a head-and-body length of roughly 20 cm. and a tail length of about 12 cm. in most species. They are also significantly more specialized to a vermivorous diet than the shrew-rats, which are known to eat floral matter on some occasions; their skulls are nearly beak-like, featuring only a pair of needle-like incisors and two near-vestigal pairs of molars on each jaw. They also have further reduced eyes and shortened limbs, indicating even further specializations to fossoriality. very big image Comparative lateral view of the holotype skulls of four species of shrew-like rats. From top to bottom: Rhynchomys banahao, Rhynchomys isarogensis, Rhynchomys soricoides, and Rhynchomys tapulao.They are also significantly more restricted in their habitat, being found only on Luzon and restricted to the mossy, moist highlands of its mountains. Such habitats are usually restricted to lowland-separated "sky islands", leading to high levels of population isolation and endemism. Because of their heavy reliance on such a fragile environment, shrew-like rats are significantly more vulnerable to habitat disturbance and human activities than the shrew-rats. ![]() A Mt. Data shrew-like rat (Rhynchomys soricoides). I'll continue with this when I get to my laptop and off my phone. Coming up: the other two Philippine insectivorous murid taxa, and the other shrew-like rodents of the world! Edited by Sphenodon, Jun 13 2017, 01:59 PM.
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We have a Discord server! If you would like to join, simply message myself, Flisch, or Icthyander. Some of my ideas (nothing real yet, but soon): Refugium: A last chance for collapsing ecosystems and their inhabitants. Pansauria: A terraforming project featuring the evolution of exactly one animal - the marine iguana. Mars Renewed: An insight into the life of Mars thirty million years after its terraforming by humankind. Microcosm: An exceedingly small environment. Alcyon: A planet colonized by species remodeled into new niches by genetic engineering. Oddballs: Aberrant representatives of various biological groups compete and coexist. ..and probably some other stuff at some point (perhaps a no K-T project). Stay tuned! | |
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| trex841 | Jun 13 2017, 02:38 PM Post #417 |
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Entity
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I love what I learn in this topic. |
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F.I.N.D.R Field Incident Logs A comprehensive list of all organisms, artifacts, and alternative worlds encountered by the foundation team. At the present time, concepts within are inconsistent and ever shifting. (And this is just the spec related stuff) | |
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| Carlos | Jun 13 2017, 02:39 PM Post #418 |
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Adveho in me Lucifero
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Same for a lineage of island-dwelling multies, Kogaionidae: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kogaionidae http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0132550
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Lemuria: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/ Terra Alternativa: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/ My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Carliro ![]() | |
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| Archeoraptor | Jun 13 2017, 03:18 PM Post #419 |
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"A living paradox"
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I mean shrew-opossums are restricted to the andes and may be the same for true shrews but they sure overlap. also someone shouldspec aboutt hose shrew-rats in future evo projects since they seem to be doing well with humans |
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Astarte an alt eocene world,now on long hiatus but you never know Fanauraa; The rebirth of Aotearoa future evo set in new zealand after a mass extinction coming soon......a world that was seeded with earth´s weridest and who knows what is coming next........... " I have to know what the world will be looking throw a future beyond us I have to know what could have been if fate acted in another way I have to know what lies on the unknown universe I have to know that the laws of thee universe can be broken throw The Spec I gain strength to the inner peace the is not good of evil only nature and change,the evolution of all livings beings" " Spoiler: click to toggle | |
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| IIGSY | Jun 13 2017, 03:43 PM Post #420 |
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A huntsman spider that wastes time on the internet because it has nothing better to do
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I am adding this to my signature.Anyway, I think it's interesting that most mammals have poor color vision, with scent and hearing being more developed. Whales are titanic beasts of the sea, bats are the swift crusaders of the night sky, and horses are fast running beasts of the plains But the inner shrew still lives on inside all of us Edited by IIGSY, Jun 13 2017, 03:43 PM.
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Projects Punga: A terraformed world with no vertebrates Last one crawling: The last arthropod ARTH-6810: A world without vertebrates (It's ded, but you can still read I guess) Potential ideas- Swamp world: A world covered in lakes, with the largest being caspian sized. Nematozoic: After a mass extinction of ultimate proportions, a single species of nematode is the only surviving animal. Tri-devonian: A devonian like ecosystem with holocene species on three different continents. Quotes Phylogeny of the arthropods and some related groups In honor of the greatest clade of all time More pictures Other cool things All African countries can fit into Brazil
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