“It wouldn’t survive in the modern world, but it didn’t have any rivals at the time,” Motani said. The researchers said that the fossil shows how quickly evolution was taking place after the mass extinction during the early Triassic – which challenges the idea that marine reptile diversification was delayed after the event. The fossil is from the lower Triassic period and is related to the ichthyosaurs, which were dolphin-like. This was the most severe extinction event to happen on Earth. The Skull of the Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) Ornithorhynchidae. ![]() This is one of the features that the earliest mammals inherited from the reptilian ancestors they evolved from, and something that has never changed in the evolution of the platypus. Not only was this reptile strange, but it lived during an interesting time, after the mass extinction that occurred at the end of the Permian era 252 million years ago. One of the very many ways that platypus (and echidna) skeletons differ from every other living mammal is that they have bent elbows and knees, with their legs held out sideways from their bodies much like a lizard. And although no fossils of its prey have been found, it most likely ate shrimp. That would have given the reptile a benefit, considering that other predators living in the same shallow sea most likely hunted during the day. This would allow Eretmorhipis to hunt in low-light situations, even though it wasn’t considered to be nocturnal. After dissecting platypus hearts and reviewing the relevant literature, Lankester (1882, p. Obdurodon probably fed on insect larvae, yabbies and other crustaceans, and perhaps small vertebrate animals such as frogs and fish. Its skull is one of the most perfect fossils known from Riversleigh. ![]() (2006, p.34 ) concur, saying that on the beak of an echidna 'The outer layer of the skin is heavily keratinised.'. Riversleigh Platypus, Obdurodon dicksoni was a large, spoon-billed platypus from the Riversleigh area of northern Australia. John Maisano for the University of Texas at Austin Jackson School of GeosciencesĮlephant birds were blind, nocturnal and taller than Big Bird 261) say the skin of the beak has an outer, heavily cornified layer. Giant nocturnal elephant birds are shown foraging in the ancient forests of Madagascar at night.
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