| Deinogalerix Fossil range: Late Miocene |
||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Deinogalerix koenigswaldi
|
||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
| Species | ||||||||||||||
|
Deinogalerix (from Ancient Greek, "terrible/terror" + "shrew"), was a genus of the order Erinaceomorpha, which lived in Italy in the Late Miocene. The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c A genus (plural genera from Γένος Latin genus "descent family type gender" is a low-level Taxonomic Erinaceidae is the only living family in the order of the Erinaceomorpha. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene period and extends from about 23 The genus was apparently endemic to what was then Gargano Island, today's Gargano peninsula. Endemism is the Ecological state of being unique to a place Endemic species are not naturally found elsewhere Monte Gargano is a mountain in Apulia, Italy forming the backbone of the peninsula Promontorio del Gargano on the Adriatic Sea. The Deinogalerix remains were first described in 1972. [1]
The genus belonged to the family of gymnures or moon-rats, which are not rats at all, but rather hairy, superficially rat-like relatives of the hedgehog lacking quills. In Biological classification, family ( Latin Gymnures, also called Hairy Hedgehogs or Moon Rats, are Mammals belonging to the subfamily Galericinae, in the family Erinaceidae A hedgehog is any of the small spiny Mammals of the Subfamily Erinaceinae and the order Erinaceomorpha. Deinogalerix had a long, thin, conical face, small pointed ears, a lengthy, tapering tail and long hairs. [2]
Deinogalerix koenigswaldi grew to an astounding size. Its skull was 20 cm long, and the entire body measured 60 cm. It occupied the same ecological niche as dogs and cats today, except that it had more predators itself - such as the enormous barn owl Tyto gigantea. In Ecology, a niche (pronounced nich nēsh or nish A shorthand definition of niche is how an organism makes a living The dog ( Canis lupus familiaris) is a domesticated Subspecies of the gray wolf, a Mammal of the Canidae family of the order WikipediaManual of Style (spelling, articles should conform to one overall spelling style of English typically the one most linked to the article topic (if it is geographic The city in Russia is spelled Barnaul. The Barn Owl ( Tyto alba) is the most widely distributed species of Tyto gigantea is an extinct Barn owl from what is now Gargano, Italy dating back to the late Miocene. [3]
It is believed that the species of Deinogalerix were insectivores, mostly feeding off invertebrates like beetles, dragonflies and crickets, and possibly even snails. An insectivore is a type of carnivore with a diet that consists chiefly of Insects and similar small creatures An invertebrate is an Animal lacking a Vertebral column. The group includes 98% of all animal Species — all animals except those in the Chordate But the larger species may also have hunted small mammals, reptiles and birds
In the Late Miocene subepoch, what is at present Italy was mainly a group of small islands and only at a later date did majority of these join with the mainland. It is known that animals on these islands sometimes evolved quite differently than they would elsewhere. eVolution is the third Album by eLDee, it was due to be released in 2008 So it is possible that Deinogalerix may have lived exclusively in the Gargano. But we can not be sure until more research has been done.
References
- ^ Dr Michael J Benton (2005). Vertebrate Palaeontology. Blackwell Publishing, 335. ISBN 0632056371.
- ^ Kenneth David Rose (2005). The Rise of Placental Mammals. JHU Press, 144. ISBN 0801884721.
- ^ Freudenthal, M. (1972). "Deinogalerix koenigswaldi nov. gen. , nov. spec. , a giant insectivore from the Neogene of Italy". Scripta Geologica 14: 1–19.
External links
- The deinogalerix and other prehistoric creatures.
- Image of the deinogalerix.
- Mikko's Phylogeny Archive
 This prehistoric mammal-related article is a stub. Prehistoric mammals are groups of Mammals that lived before humans developed Writing. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic