Portal:Quaternary prehistory

Topics Culture Geography Health History Mathematics Nature People Philosophy Religion Society Technology The Quaternary prehistory Portal Mounted skeletons at the AMNH. The Quaternary Period (/kwəˈtɜːrnəri/) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.588 ± 0.005 million years ago to the present. The Quaternary Period is divided into two epochs: the Pleistocene (2.588 million years ago to 11.7 thousand years ago) and the Holocene (11.7 thousand years ago to today). The Quaternary period is typically defined by the cyclic growth and decay of continental ice sheets driven by Milankovitch cycles and the associated climate and environmental changes that occurred. (see more...) Template:/box-footer Passer predomesticus is a fossil passerine bird in the sparrow family Passeridae. First described in 1962, it is known from two premaxillary (upper jaw) bones found in a Middle Pleistocene layer of the Oumm-Qatafa cave in Palestine. The premaxillaries resemble those of the house and Spanish sparrows, but differ in having a deep groove instead of a crest on the lower side. Israeli palaeontologist Eitan Tchernov, who described the species, and others have considered it to be close to the ancestor of the house and Spanish sparrows, but molecular data point to an earlier origin of modern sparrow species. Occurring in a climate Tchernov described as similar to but rainier than that in Palestine today, it was considered by Tchernov as a "wild" ancestor of the modern sparrows which have a commensal association with humans, although its presence in Oumm-Qatafa cave may indicate that it was associated with humans. (see more...) Charles Darwin (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist and geologist, best known for his contributions to evolutionary theory. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors, and in a joint publication with Alfred Russel Wallace introduced his scientific theorythat this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding. His five-year voyage onHMS Beagle established him as an eminent geologist whose observations and theories supported Charles Lyell'suniformitarian ideas. Darwin later published his theory of evolution with compelling evidence in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species, overcoming scientific rejection of earlier concepts of transmutation of species. By the 1870s the scientific community and much of the general public had accepted evolution as a fact. However, many favoured competing explanations and it was not until the emergence of the modern evolutionary synthesis from the 1930s to the 1950s that a broad consensus developed in which natural selection was the basic mechanism of evolution. In modified form, Darwin's scientific discovery is the unifying theory of the life sciences, explaining the diversity of life. In recognition of Darwin's pre-eminence as a scientist, he was honoured with a major ceremonial funeral and buried in Westminster Abbey, close to John Herschel and Isaac Newton. Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history. (see more...) A neanderthal skeletal mount at the American Museum of Natural History. Photo credit: Claire Houck File:Clubbed-wing-drawing.svg ... that the extinct Jamaican Flightless Ibis developed unique club-like wings that could be used as a flail? ... that the extinct crocodile Rimasuchus often preyed on large mammals, including early humans? ... that the Ph.D dissertation of taphonomist Kay Behrensmeyer suggested that sauropods were terrestrial? ... that the extinct New Zealand Musk Duck was becoming more sedentary than its closest relative, the Australian Musk Duck? ... that fossils of 23 mammal species including mammoth, dire wolf, giant ground sloth, pre-historic bison, camel, and horse have been found at Fossil Lake in south central Oregon? Template:/box-header Geochronology - Cambrian (Early - Middle - Late) - Ordovician (Early - Middle - Late) - Silurian (Early - Wenlock - Ludlow - Late) - Devonian (Early - Middle - Late) - Carboniferous (Mississippian - Pennsylvanian)- Permian (Early - Middle - Late) Paleozoic landmasses - Pannotia - Baltica - Laurentia - Siberia - Avalonia -Gondwanaland - Laurentia - Euramerica - Gondwana - South China- Pangaea Major Paleozoic events - Cambrian Explosion - Cambrian substrate revolution - End-Botomian mass extinction - Cambrian–Ordovician extinction event Cambrian appearances - Brachiopods - Burgess shale fauna - Cephalopods - Chitons - Crustaceans - Echinoderms - Foraminiferans - Graptolites - Radiolarians -Trilobites - Vertebrates Ordovician appearances - Conodonts - Echinoids Silurian appearances - Fungi - Galeaspids - Heterostracans - Land plants - Pituriaspids -Ray-finned fishes - Scorpions - Trigonotarbids Devonian appearances - Crabs - Ferns - Harvestmen - Lichens - Lycophytes - Mites -Springtails - Stoneworts - Trimerophytes Carboniferous appearances - Amphibians - Hagfishes - Insects - Ratfishes - Reptiles -Synapsids Permian appearances - Beetles - Pelycosaurs - Temnospondyls - Therapsids Fossil sites - Bear Gulch Limestone - Beecher's Trilobite Bed - Gilboa Forest - Grenfell fossil site - Hamilton Quarry - Mazon Creek fossil beds - Mississippi Petrified Forest - Paleorrota - Walcott Quarry - Walcott–Rust quarry - Yea Flora Fossil Site Stratigraphic units - Burgess Shale - Chazy Formation - Columbus Limestone - Fezouata formation - Francis Creek Shale - Gogo Formation - Holston Formation - Hunsrück Slate - Jeffersonville Limestone - Karoo Supergroup - Keyser Formation - Kope Formation - Llewellyn Formation - Mahantango Formation - Maotianshan Shales - Marcellus Formation - Millstone Grit - New Albany Shale - Old Port Formation - Old Red Sandstone - Potsdam Sandstone - Red Beds of Texas and Oklahoma - Rhynie chert - Shawangunk Formation - St. Peter Sandstone - Tuscarora Formation History - History of paleontology - Timeline of paleontology - The Great Devonian Controversy Researchers - Charles Emerson Beecher - Ermine Cowles Case - Edward Drinker Cope - Henry De la Beche - Stephen Jay Gould - Increase A. Lapham - Charles Lapworth - Simon Conway Morris - Roderick Murchison - Alfred Sherwood Romer - Neil Shubin - Charles Doolittle Walcott Culture - Animal Armageddon - The Day The Earth Nearly Died - List of creatures in the Walking with... series - Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives - Miracle Planet - Prehistoric Park - Sea Monsters - Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology - Vertebrate Paleontology - Walking with Monsters - Wonderful Life Template:/box-footer Template:/box-header Featured Quaternary prehistory articles - Good Quaternary prehistory articles - Template:/box-footer ► Quaternary no subcategories Here are some tasks awaiting attention: Stubs : Quaternary stubs Current Quaternary prehistory FACs - none currently Template:/box-footer Time Earth sciences Paleontology Extinct and Endangered Species Paleozoic Mesozoic Cenozoic Paleogene Neogene What are portals? List of portals Featured portals