User:Abyssal/Portal:Neogene

The Neogene Portal Introduction Selected article on the Neogene world and its legacies Artist's reconstruction of Waptia fieldensis. The evolutionary history of life on Earth traces the processes by which living and fossil organisms have evolved since life on the planet first originated until the present day. Earth formed about 4.5 Ga (billion years ago) and life appeared on its surface within one billion years. Microbial mats of coexisting bacteria and archaea were the dominant form of life in the early Archean. The evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis, around 3.5 Ga, eventually led to the oxygenation of the atmosphere, beginning around 2.4 Ga. The earliest evidence of eukaryotes (complex cells with organelles), dates from 1.85 Ga, and while they may have been present earlier, their diversification accelerated when they started using oxygen in their metabolism. Later, around 1.7 Ga, multicellular organisms began to appear, with differentiated cells performing specialised functions. The earliest land plants date back to around 450 Ma (million years ago), although evidence suggests that algal scum formed on the land as early as 1.2 Ga. Land plants were so successful that they are thought to have contributed to the late Devonian extinction event. Invertebrate animals appear during the Vendian period, while vertebrates originated about525 Ma during the Cambrian explosion. During the Permian period, synapsids, including the ancestors of mammals, dominated the land, but the Permian–Triassic extinction event251 Ma came close to wiping out all complex life. (see more...) Did you know? Holotype specimen of Oligochlora semirugosa preserved in amber. ... that the extinct sweat bee genus Oligochlora contains six species all known from the Dominican amber deposits on Hispaniola? ... that the fossil horse Scaphohippus became extinct when tectonic barriers between the Great Plains and Great Basin of North America disappeared about 13 million years ago? ... that the only male "sweat bee" to have been documented from Dominican amber is the type specimen for the extinct Eickwortapis? ... that unlike living rorqual whales, the late Miocene genus Plesiobalaenoptera was probably not capable of ram feeding? ... that a fossil flower of the extinct palm Roystonea palaea shows damage possibly made by a bat or bird? Need help? Do you have a question about Abyssal/Portal:Neogene that you can't find the answer to? Consider asking it at the Wikipedia reference desk. Selected image The painting Laelaps by Charles R. Knight depicts two Dryptosaurus fighting. Photo credit: User:Sergiodlarosa Selected article on the Neogene in human science, culture and economics Photograph of Edward Drinker Cope Edward Drinker Cope (July 28, 1840 – April 12, 1897) was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy, publishing his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen. Cope later married and moved from Philadelphia to Haddonfield, New Jersey, although Cope would maintain a residence and museum in Philadelphia in his later years. Cope had little formal scientific training, and he eschewed a teaching position for field work. He made regular trips to the American West prospecting in the 1870s and 1880s, often as a member of United States Geological Survey teams. A personal feud between Cope and paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh led to a period of intense fossil-finding competition now known as the Bone Wars. Cope's financial fortunes soured after failed mining ventures in the 1880s. He experienced a resurgence in his career toward the end of his life before dying in 1897. Cope's scientific pursuits nearly bankrupted him, but his contributions helped to define the field of American paleontology. He was a prodigious writer, with 1,400 papers published over his lifetime, although his rivals would debate the accuracy of his rapidly published works. He discovered, described, and named more than 1,000 vertebrate species including hundreds of fishes and dozens of dinosaurs. His proposals on the origin of mammalian molars and for the gradual enlargement of mammalian species over geologic time ("Cope's Law") are notable among his theoretical contributions. (see more...) Topics Geochronology - Neogene (Miocene - Pliocene) Neogene landmasses - Major Neogene events - Neogene biota appearances - Fossil sites - Stratigraphic units - History - History of paleontology - Timeline of paleontology Researchers - Culture - Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology - Vertebrate Paleontology Subcategories Neogene Neogene by continent Neogene geochronology Neogene events Neogene geology Neogene life Neogene paleogeography Neogene stubs Quality Content Featured Neogene articles - None yet Good Neogene articles - Nonet yet Things you can do Here are some tasks awaiting attention: Stubs : Neogene stubs WikiProjects Earth science Geology Paleontology Related content Time Earth sciences Paleontology Extinct and Endangered Species Paleozoic Mesozoic Cenozoic Paleogene Quaternary Associated Wikimedia The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject: Commons Free media repository Wikibooks Free textbooks and manuals Wikidata Free knowledge base Wikinews Free-content news Wikiquote Collection of quotations Wikisource Free-content library Wikiversity Free learning tools Wiktionary Dictionary and thesaurus ¤ Category:Cenozoic portals Category:Geologic time portals