User:Abyssal/Portal:Neogene

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

The Neogene Portal

Introduction

Read more...

Selected article on the Neogene world and its legacies

?Oryzomys pliocaenicus is a fossil rodent from the Hemphillian (late Miocene) of Kansas, central United States. It is known from a single mandible (lower jaw) with the back part missing. All three molars are present, but very worn. Together, the molars are 3.6 mm long. The fossil was discovered in 1935 and described in 1939 as a possible species of Oryzomys (in open nomenclature). Later authors doubted this allocation and suggested that it may instead belong in Bensonomys or Jacobsomys, but the material may not allow a definite identification.(see more...)

More articles...

edit

Did you know?

... that the extinct Pliocene dolphin Australodelphis from the Vestfold Hills of Antarctica has been described as an example of convergent evolution with whales?
... that, being a descendant of Pliohippus, Astrohippus is not considered to be an ancestor to modern horses?
... that the oldest association between Trypanosoma, which causes Chagas disease, and its vector, the assassin bug Triatoma, is found in Triatoma dominicana and Trypanosoma antiquus?
... that the extinct Neocorynura electra, found in Dominican amber, is the only known species of Neocorynura "sweat bee" from the Greater Antilles?

... that the extinct Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni from the Pliocene and Pleistocene of Kenya was the largest true crocodile and may have eaten early human ancestors?

More DYKs...

Need help?

Do you have a question about Abyssal/Portal:Neogene that you can't find the answer to?

Consider asking it at the Wikipedia reference desk.

edit

Selected image

The painting Laelaps by Charles R. Knight depicts two Dryptosaurus fighting.
Photo credit: User:Durova

More pictures...

edit

Selected article on the Neogene in human science, culture and economics

Edward Drinker Cope (left) and Othniel Charles Marsh (right).

The Bone Wars is the name given to a period of intense fossil speculation and discovery during the Gilded Age of American history, marked by a heated rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh. The two paleontologists used underhanded methods to out-compete the other in the field, resorting to bribery, theft, and destruction of bones. The scientists also attacked each other in scientific publications, attempting to ruin the other's credibility and cut off his funding.

Originally colleagues who were civil to each other, Cope and Marsh became bitter enemies after several personal slights between them. Their pursuit of bones led them west to rich bone beds in Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming. From 1877 to 1892, both paleontologists used their wealth and influence to finance their own expeditions and to procure services and fossils from dinosaur hunters. By the end of the Bone Wars, both men exhausted their funds in fueling their intense rivalry.

Cope and Marsh were financially and socially ruined by their efforts to disgrace each other, but their contributions to science and the field of paleontology were massive; the scientists left behind tons of unopened boxes of fossils on their deaths. The feud between the two men led to over 142 new species of dinosaurs being discovered and described. Several historical books and fictional adaptations have also been published about this period of intense paleontological activity. (see more...)

More articles...

edit