User:Abyssal/Prehistory of North America

{ {{Portal maintenance status|date

The Prehistory of North America Portal Introduction Selected article on prehistoric North America Artist's reconstruction of Waptia fieldensis. The small shelly fauna or small shelly fossils, abbreviated to SSF, are mineralized fossils, many only a few millimetres long, with a nearly continuous record from the latest stages of the Ediacaran to the end of the Early Cambrian period. They are very diverse, and there is no formal definition of "small shelly fauna" or "small shelly fossils". Almost all are from earlier rocks than more familiar fossils such as trilobites. Since most SSFs were preserved by being covered quickly with phosphate and this method of preservation is mainly limited to the Late Ediacaran and Early Cambrian periods, the animals that made them may actually have arisen earlier and persisted after this time span. The bulk of the fossils are fragments or disarticulated remains of larger organisms, including sponges, molluscs, slug-like halkieriids, brachiopods, echinoderms, and onychophoran-like organisms that may have been close to the ancestors of arthropods. Although the small size and often fragmentary nature of SSFs makes it difficult to identify and classify them, they provide very important evidence for how the main groups of marine invertebrates evolved, and particularly for the pace and pattern of evolution in the Cambrian explosion. Besides including the earliest known representatives of some modern phyla, they have the great advantage of presenting a nearly continuous record of Early Cambrian organisms whose bodies include hard parts. (see more...) Need help? Do you have a question about Abyssal/Prehistory of North America that you can't find the answer to? Consider asking it at the Wikipedia reference desk. Selected article on the prehistory of North America in 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...) Did you know? ... that highlights from the history of hadrosaur research include the first dinosaur fossils to be mounted in a museum, the colossal Shantungosaurus, and Maiasaura nesting grounds in Montana? ... that the Michigan Geological Survey severed its university affiliations in the 1890s due to perceived disadvantages of those relationships, but became part of Western Michigan University in 2011? ... that Temple III at the Maya city of Tikal in Guatemala was the last pyramid ever built there? ... that lice from mummified guinea pigs and mites preserved in amber while feeding on spiders have provided evidence for researchers in the field of paleoparasitology? ... that Alexander Wetmore assessed the extinct Eonessa anaticula as being an ancient type of duck, possibly due to its fossil's resemblance to the modern Oxyura jamaicensis? ...that the fossil of Ichthyornis (pictured) discovered by Benjamin Franklin Mudge was the first bird recognized to possess teeth? ... that judging from sculptures discovered in the ancient Maya city of Río Azul, it is believed that the local elite was sacrificed after a takeover by Tikal? ... that highlights from the history of troodontid research include the discovery that troodontids (example pictured) were among the brainiest dinosaurs? ... that the extinct pine Pinus driftwoodensis was first described from a permineralized conifer cone in chert? ... that the extinct ant species Apterostigma electropilosum was described from a solitary fossil in amber? Selected image Various views of a Pliocene shell of the lightning whelk Busycon contrarium from La Belle, Florida, USA. The specimen is 24 cm long. Photo credit: H. Zell Quality Content Featured prehistory of North America articles - Acrocanthosaurus - Albertosaurus - Allosaurus - Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards - Bone Wars -Chicxulub crater - Columbian mammoth - Edward Drinker Cope - Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event - Daspletosaurus - Deinonychus - Deinosuchus - Dinosaur - Diplodocus - Ediacara biota - Edmontosaurus - Gorgosaurus - Lambeosaurus - Parasaurolophus - Petrified Forest National Park - Stegosaurus - Styracosaurus - Thescelosaurus - Triceratops - Tyrannosaurus - Woolly mammoth Good prehistory of North America articles - ?Oryzomys pliocaenicus - Aetosaur - Archaeomarasmius - Chitinozoan - Cloudinid - Coal ball - Dimetrodon - Stephen Jay Gould - History of paleontology - Kirtlandian - Macabeemyrma - Megalodon - Ornatifilum - Othnielosaurus - Protomycena - Pteranodon - Pterosaur - Saint Croix macaw - Small shelly fauna - Smilodon - Temnospondyli - Tiktaalik - Waptia Subcategories Category Prehistory of North America not found Things you can do Desired articles, sorted by how frequently linked to: Claiborne Group Long Harbour Group Burin Group David Freidel John Bierhorst American Society for Ethnohistory Central Plains Tradition Black Mesa Basin Pediomys Bothremys Uinta Uplift Brachychirotherium Glossograptus Plateau sedimentary province Neurankylus Mesograptus Chionopsis Sulcoretepora Psammacoma Proheteromys Spechty Kopf Formation Sweetgrass Arch Plastomenus Baie d'Espoir Group Pithiculites Prionocycloceras Gladys Lake West Tuya lava field Bactrospira Lirophora White River Group Bayland Phase Anoplotheca Dicellograptus Mytiloides Glyptograptus Wakulla culture Ancient Mesoamerica (journal) Lindapecten Frenelopsis Late Archaic Wasp Lake Phase Lasiograptus Politoleda Micromactra Anomocaroidea Elin C. Danien Meganteris Rhynchosauroides Oramel Lucas Charadreon Orthograptus Harrymys Cryptograptus Otozamites Panchione Classopollis Hexacorbula Palynephyllum Hermosa Group Parahoplites Herman F. Becker Caryocorbula William Lee Stokes Phacoides Neonematherium David Drew (archaeologist) Nazcha Creek Delocrinus missouriensis Sandlingites Pedrolypeutes Related content Prehistory of Africa Prehistory of South America Prehistory of Antarctica Prehistory of Asia Prehistory of Europe Prehistory of Oceania North America Archaeology Earth sciences Paleontology Extinct and Endangered Species Paleozoic Mesozoic Cenozoic Dinosaurs 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