Everett Han
Mr. Mathieu
Period 2
Michael Angelo Francisco
January 15, 2014
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/343965/scitech/science/cats-and-dogs-had-a-common-ancestor-and-here-it-is
Summary:
Recently, a fossil was found that is thought to be the ancestor of both dogs and cats. This name of this animal is "Dormaalocyon". This animal was estimated to be about a foot in length and about a kilogram in weight and preys on smaller animals and insects. Scientists found that 280 of the nearly 14,000 teeth specimens that they found in Dormaal’s soil belonged to the ancient tree mammal. Based of of these findings, the primitive teeth and the age of them place it very close to the carnivoraforms’ evolutionary roots. Anklebones that were found pointed out that the creature spent most of its time scurrying from tree to tree in the warm, humid woodlands of its time. It has been confirmed to be one of the earliest carnivores. This animal helped scientists figure out that there may have been an even earlier group than the carnivoraforms from whom they descended from. The Dormaalocyon provides information concerning the evolution of placental mammals after the disappearance of the largest dinosaurs. Their study showed that carnivoraforms were very diversified at the earliest Eocene, which allows hypothesizing that they were probably already diversified during the latest Paleocene.
Connection:
This relates to what we are discussing in class because it says that both dogs and cats evolved from the same ancestor. It is important to know that this article informs people that many animals, including stereotypical enemies such as cats and dogs can be descendants of the same ancestor. This also relates to how we have talked about different time periods because it was mentioned in the article that the Dormaalocyon appeared after the era known as Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum.
Showing posts with label carnivoraformes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label carnivoraformes. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
New Fossils Shed Light On the Origins of Lions, Tigers, and Bears
Jessica Lim
Mr. Mathieu
Period 2
January 14, 2014
No Author given
Published: January 6, 2014
Article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140106160029.htm
Summary:
At the Belgian locality of Dormaal, new fossils of the species Dormaalocyon was discovered and it is said to be very close to the common ancestor of carnivoraformes; modern mammals. Scientists were able to infer that since it had ankle bones it moved around on trees and lived in them. This species was known to have over 250 teeth. Scientists were able to infer that it was "close to the origin of carnivoraforms" because when they inspected the baby teeth of the species, they were able to tell the scientists that it was from a very early time period.
When they recreated the environment 55 million years ago, the environment turned out to be really warm and humid because it was after the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, and the evolution of the carnivoraformes and many other species were affected by this. This fossil also shows that there are even more primary species that once lived in an earlier time period.
Connection:
This connects to our unit on evolution. We learned about how when there is a change in the environment, through natural selection, those that inherited the most suitable characteristics to survive and reproduce, evolved and adapted to the new environment. We also learned that through either reproductive isolation or geographical isolation, speciation occurs and therefore one species can diverge into multiple species. Connecting to the article, the common ancestor of carnivoraformes eventually diverged into multiple species that we see today, for example cats, dogs, bears, and seals.
Mr. Mathieu
Period 2
January 14, 2014
No Author given
Published: January 6, 2014
Article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140106160029.htm
Summary:
At the Belgian locality of Dormaal, new fossils of the species Dormaalocyon was discovered and it is said to be very close to the common ancestor of carnivoraformes; modern mammals. Scientists were able to infer that since it had ankle bones it moved around on trees and lived in them. This species was known to have over 250 teeth. Scientists were able to infer that it was "close to the origin of carnivoraforms" because when they inspected the baby teeth of the species, they were able to tell the scientists that it was from a very early time period.
When they recreated the environment 55 million years ago, the environment turned out to be really warm and humid because it was after the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, and the evolution of the carnivoraformes and many other species were affected by this. This fossil also shows that there are even more primary species that once lived in an earlier time period.
Connection:
This connects to our unit on evolution. We learned about how when there is a change in the environment, through natural selection, those that inherited the most suitable characteristics to survive and reproduce, evolved and adapted to the new environment. We also learned that through either reproductive isolation or geographical isolation, speciation occurs and therefore one species can diverge into multiple species. Connecting to the article, the common ancestor of carnivoraformes eventually diverged into multiple species that we see today, for example cats, dogs, bears, and seals.
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