In Depth Lestobradys is a genus of ground sloth that lived in South America during the Miocene. Further Reading - A new genus and species of Mylodontidae (Mammalia: Xenarthra) from the late Miocene of Southern Uruguay, with comments on the systematics of Mylodontinae. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30(3):899-910. - A. Rinderknecht, E. Bostelmann, D. … Read more
In Depth Eoazara is a genus of elasmotherine rhino that lived in North Africa during the Miocene. Further reading - A new late Miocene elasmotheriine rhinoceros from Morocco. - Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 66. - D. Geraads & S. Zouhri -2021.
In Depth Although certainly not the only North American camel known to us, Camelops seems to have been the last to go extinct. The theories as to why this happened are controversial but in the case of Camelops human hunting was certainly a contributing factor since evidence of butchery (the processing of a carcass for … Read more
In Depth Further Reading – Eremotherium laurillardi: the Panamerican late Pleistocene megatheriid sloth. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. – C. Cartelle & G. De Iuliis – 1995. – Eremotherium sefvei nov. sp. (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Megatheriidae) from the Pleistocene of Ulloma, Bolivia. – Geobios 30(3):453-461. – G. De Iuliis and P. A. Saint-Andre – 1997. – A … Read more
In Depth Further Reading – Laetoli: a Pliocene Site in Northern Tanzania. – Clarendon Press, Oxford, Great Britain – M. D. Leakey & J. M. Harris – 1987. – Basicranial anatomy of the giant viverrid from ‘E’ Quarry, Langebaanweg, South Africa. Palaeoecology and Palaeoenvironments of Late Cenozoic Mammals. – Tributes to the Career of C. … Read more
In Depth Paracimexomys is a genus of multituberculatan mammal that lived in North America during the late Cretaceous. Further Reading - A study of Mammalia and geology across the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in Garfield County, Montana. - University of California Publications in Geological Sciences 122:1-286. - J. D. Archibald - 1982. - Multituberculate mammals from near … Read more
In Depth Kapi is a genus of gibbon that lived in India during the Miocene. Further reading New Middle Miocene Ape (Primates: Hylobatidae) from Ramnagar, India fills major gaps in the hominoid fossil record. - Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 287 (1934). - Christopher C. Gilbert, Alejandra Ortiz, Kelsey D. Pugh, Christopher J. Campisano, … Read more
In Depth Kabirmys is a genus of rodent that lived in Egypt during the Eocene. Further Reading - A large-bodied anomaluroid rodent from the earliest late Eocene of Egypt: phylogenetic and biogeographic implications. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30(5):1579-1593. - H. M. Sallam, E. R. Seiffert, E. L. Simons & C. Brindley - 2010.
In Depth A relative to other gomphothere elephants like Gomphotherium and Ambelodon, Platybelodon also had a pair of forward facing tusks in the lower jaw that were shaped into a form of shovel-like structure. Like with its relatives, it is believed that Platybelodon used these tusks as feeding aids for uprooting plants and stripping bark. … Read more
In Depth Shenshou is a genus of possibly arboreal mammal that lived in China during the Jurassic. As a genus Shenshou shows a strong resemblance to modern squirrels, however it is thought that Shenshou is not a direct ancestor, but merely a case of looking similar through convergent evolution. Further Reading - Three new Jurassic … Read more