Oardasaurus

Oardasaurus (meaning "Oarda de Jos lizard") is an extinct genus of lizard from the latest Cretaceous of Romania. It is a member of the Barbatteiidae, a group of lizards closely related to the Teiidae. At in length, it was much smaller than the only other named member of the Barbatteiidae, "Barbatteius", which lived slightly later. Like "Barbatteius", "Oardasaurus" can be identified by the presence of a crust of bone deposits, or osteoderms, on the roof of its skull; it differs from "Barbatteius" in the pattern of the sculpturing on this crust. Both "Oardasaurus" and "Barbatteius" lived in the isolated island ecosystem of Hațeg Island, having rapidly diversified into various generalist predators of small prey after their arrival on the island during the Early Cretaceous. They went extinct in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.
Description.
"Oardasaurus" is a small lizard, measuring roughly long. It is smaller than its close relative "Barbatteius", which measures up to long. Like the teiioids "Meyasaurus" and "Pedrerasaurus", the teeth of "Oardasaurus" are heterodont (i.e. having several types) but are consistently bicuspid (i.e. bearing two cusps), with the rear cusp being larger. The teeth probably underwent replacement. Unlike modern Teiidae, there are no crushing teeth in the back of the jaw. Among lizards, "Oardasaurus" and "Barbatteius"are is unique in that their temporal muscles originate from attachments on the upper portions of their parietal bones; and in that their upper temporal fenestrae are not obscured by either the postorbital bones or the postfrontal bones.
A characteristic of the family Barbatteiidae, which "Oardasaurus" and "Barbatteius" belong to, is the presence of an extensive crust of osteoderms, separated by deep grooves, on the bones of the skull roof (including the parietals, postorbitals, and frontals, with the latter having a slightly different arrangement). These osteoderms preserve the imprints (collectively known as the "pileus") of the scales that laid over them. In modern Teiidae, the arrangement of the pileus (which is present directly on the skull roof due to an absent or limited osteoderm crust) varies between species, while it is fairly constant in modern Lacertidae. In "Oardasaurus", the occipital (rear) scale of the pileus is subdivided into three smaller osteoderms in "Oardasaurus", unlike "Barbatteius", "Meyasaurus", and the lacertid "Plesiolacerta" where there is no such division. The variable division in Barbetteiidae may be transitional between teiids and lacertids.
In "Oardasaurus", the frontal bones are completely fused, and the suture between the frontal and parietal is straight but has a jagged margin. They are also fused in "Barbatteius" and adult "Meyasaurus", but they remain unfused in "Pedrerasaurus" and young "Meyasaurus". Additionally, the margin where each frontal borders the eye socket is markedly concave in "Oardasaurus". On the bottom part of the rear of each frontal, there is a small triangular depression, located just behind the crest known as "crista cranii frontalis". These depressions are probably where "lappets" from the parietals inserted, much like "Barabetteius" and "Meyasaurus".
Discovery and naming.
Fossil remains of "Oardasaurus" were found in the site of Oarda de Jos A (ODA), which is located near the village of Oarda de Jos in southern Transylvania, Romania, south of Alba Iulia on the eastern shore of the Sebeș River. The site consists of Cretaceous continental deposits, belonging to the early Maastrichtian Șard Formation, exposed as a slope long and high. Grey-black silt clays form much of the deposits. From 2008 to 2015, about of sediment were screen-washed at the site; the remains of "Oardasaurus" were among the specimens found.
The type specimen of "Oardasaurus", an incomplete parietal bone, is stored at the Palaeontological Laboratory of the Palaeontology-Stratigraphy Museum of Babeş-Bolyai University (PSMUBB) in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, under the specimen number PSMUBB.ODAN-A-12. Additional specimens, all stored at the PSMUBB, include PSMUBB.ODAN-A-13, a fragment from a parietal bone; PSMUBB.ODAN-A-18, a mostly complete but flattened postorbital bone; PSMUBB.ODAN-A-15 (also known as ODAN-Lizard 4), -16, -17, and -23, all fused frontal bones; PSMUBB.ODAN-A-19 (or ODAN-Amf-8), -20, and -21, all incomplete maxillae. The frontal bones belong to three different size classes, with -15 being largest, -16 and -17 being intermediate, and -23 being smallest.
In 2017, "Oardasaurus" was named as a new genus by Vlad Codrea, Márton Venczel, and Alexandru Solomon in a research paper. They named the genus after the village of Oarda de Jos, combined with the suffix "-saurus", which means "lizard". One species was assigned to this genus by Codrea and colleagues, "O. glyphis". "Glyphis" is derived from the Greek "glyphe", meaning "carving". For their research paper, Codrea and colleagues used a scanning electron microscope at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels, Belgium to photograph the parietal, frontal, and maxilla.
Classification.
Despite the differing arrangements of their pileus impressions as well as the large gap in body size that separates them, the skull roofs of "Oardasaurus" and "Barbatteius" are still united by the presence of an osteoderm encrusting with pileus impressions, with a differentiated pattern on the frontals; the origin of the temporal muscles being located on the upper portion of the parietals (similar to other teiioids but unlike lacertoids); and the unobscured upper temporal fenestrae. "Meyasaurus" also shares the former two traits.
Codrea and colleagues thus assigned "Oardasaurus" and "Barbatteius" to the new family Barbatteiidae. They also referred some indeterminate remains of the lower jaw - the prearticular and articular bones PSMUBB.ODAN-A-22, as well as the dentary PSMUBB.ODAN-A-24 - to this family. The family is diagnosed by the above traits as well as the presence of lappets of the parietals (shared by teiioids and lacertids), the constriction of the frontals to between the eye sockets, the widening of the squamosal bones at the rear; and the absence of a prearticular crest as well as the presence of a pterygoideus process on the prearticular bone of the lower jaw. It is unclear how closely related barbatteiids are to "Meyasaurus", due to a lack of comparable bones beyond the skull.
A phylogenetic analysis previously conducted by Venczel and Codrea to accompany the description of "Barbatteius" demonstrated that "Barbatteius", and by extension other barbatteiids, are members of the Teiioidea. This inclusion is based on the fusion of the frontals as well as the inclusion of the prootic bone in the "recessus scalae tympani", a structure of the inner ear. They also found that a number of characteristics were shared by Barbatteiidae and Teiidae, including the overlap of the squamosal by the postorbital; the origin of the temporal muscles on the upper portion of the parietals, which is overlapped by the contact between the parietals and the ectopterygoid bones; and the weakly-developed shelf on the inside of the tooth row. The phylogenetic tree is reproduced below.
Although superficially similar to barbatteiids and other teiioids, the Polyglyphanodontia (which also lived on the Transylvanian landmass) likely bore no close relation, instead representing an independent evolutionary radiation of more specialized Toxicofera close to iguanians.
Paleobiology.
The absence of enlarged, specialized crushing teeth in the jaws of "Oardasaurus" and other barbateiids suggests that they were feeding on a varied diet of arthropods (such as insects, millipedes, and spiders), small vertebrates (fish, amphibians, turtle hatchlings, smaller lizards, and perhaps multituberculate mammals), and plants. A dentary referred to "Barbatteius" bears a furrow, probably produced by plant roots.
Paleoecology.
Although barbatteiids are restricted temporally and geographically to the Maastrichtian of Transylvania, they likely originated earlier, based on the presence of "Meyasaurus" in the Early Cretaceous of Spain. It is probable that they originated from ancestral teiioids in Gondwana, which reached the Transylvanian region - then part of an isolated landmass measuring about in area and separated from other land by of ocean in all directions - through venturing across the Mediterranean Sea from either Africa or "mainland" Europe in the Early Cretaceous. Once they reached the isolated ecosystem of this landmass, known as Hațeg Island, they underwent an adaptive radiation. No records of barbatteiid-like lizards are known in the deposits of Paleogene Europe, indicating that they likely died in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.
The Hațeg Island ecosystem was located farther south than its present latitude of 45°N in the Late Cretaceous, being located at 27°N. Hațeg Island's climate was likely subtropical but dry, with an annual precipitation of less than ; it was also probably seasonal, with distinct wet and dry seasons. The average temperature was about . "Oardasaurus" lived around a system of braided rivers containing localized ponds, surrounded by woodlands that contained angiosperms such as "Mastixia" (known from fruit) as well as conifers like "Telephragmoxylon" (known from tree trunks).
At Oarda de Jos A, crocodilian remains belonging to "Allodaposuchus" are very numerous; the area was probably "full of" them. Other crocodilians, such as "Doratodon" and "Acynodon", were present in smaller numbers. Many bones found in the area exhibit bite marks, which they probably produced. Dinosaurs have also been found, including the ornithopods "Telmatosaurus" and "Zalmoxes"; titanosaurian sauropods; indeterminate dromaeosaurid theropods; and enantiornithine birds (including eggs), interpreted as representing a breeding colony. Rare remains of pterosaurs probably do not represent native fauna.
Turtles at Oarda de Jos A are represented by "Kallokibotion" as well as a possible indeterminate member of the Dortokidae; the latter would have preferred to live in pond-like environments. Indeterminate frogs and members of the Albanerpetontidae have also been found. The kogaionid multituberculate mammal "Barbatodon" is known from Oarda de Jos A. Fish remains are abundant but not very diverse, appearing to belong only to gars and characids. Finally, invertebrates are also known, including gastropod and claws from crabs. It is not clear if the crabs are native freshwater crabs, or were transported from marine environments.


Delocare

Delocare is a trilobite in the order Phacopida, that existed during the lower Devonian in what is now Germany. It was described by Struve in 1958, and the type species is "Delocare boopis", which was originally described under the genus "Cryphaeys" by Richter in 1909. The type locality was in the Eifel mountain range.


Anqasi (Caylloma)

Anqasi (Quechua for cobalt salt used for dyeing, hispanicized spelling "Anccase") is a mountain in the Andes of Peru, about high. It is located in the Arequipa Region, Caylloma Province, Chuca District. It lies northwest of Sullk'a Chuqa at a little lake named Anqasiqucha ("cobalt salt lake", hispanicized "Ancasecocha").


Paso de Jama

The Paso de Jama is a mountain pass through the Andes between Chile and Argentina, at an elevation of at the border. It is the northernmost road border crossing between the two countries. The pass is reached via Chile Route 27 and via National Route 52 (Argentina). The Chile Route 27 reaches an altitude according to OpenStreetMap of at in a roaddistance of west of the border, making it one of the highest highways in South America.
The pass links the city of Jujuy in Argentina with San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. The road was opened on 6 December 1991, and has been paved throughout 2005. It is open throughout the year, although occasionally closed by snow. It is used by truck traffic between northern Argentina and Paraguay and the ports of northern Chile.
The Argentine border station is five kilometers east of the border in the small settlement of Jama at , As of at least 2016 this site offers joint entry/exit processing by Chilean and Argentine authorities for customs, immigration, and other checks.
There is an additional Chilean border station at San Pedro de Atacama, 160 km from the pass.


Gatineau Hills

The Gatineau Hills () are a geological formation in Canada that makes up part of the southern tip of the Canadian Shield, and acts as the northern shoulder of the Ottawa Valley. They are also the foothills of the Laurentian Mountains which stretch east through Quebec, beginning north of Montreal and joining up with others into Vermont and New Hampshire.
Geology.
The geology of Gatineau Park, which encompasses these foothills, is related to the Eardley Escarpment, which is a fault line that lies along the southern edge of the hills. This escarpment makes the park an attractive location for rock climbers and hikers, offering a beautiful view of the relatively flat fields below, which extend to the Ottawa River. The Eardley Escarpment is part of the northern side of the Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben, which is an ancient rift valley.
History.
The Algonquin people settled in the Ottawa valley more than 4000 years ago. French explorers arrived in the early seventeenth century. The Gatineau Hills' pine forests were logged extensively in the early 1800s, with many roads built for mining and farming. The deforestation raised increasing concern from the public. Historical records show interest for the creation of a wilderness park in the Gatineau Hills in 1903; many reports, plans and actions were made over the years to protect the area until it became as it looks today.
Tourism.
The Gatineau Hills are also a popular skiing destination, serving the neighbouring communities of Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec. Gatineau Park contains over 190 km of cross-country trails, and plays host to the annual "Gatineau Loppet" competition. Downhill skiing is available at locations including Camp Fortune, Mont Cascades, Mont Ste. Marie, Edelweiss, and Vorlage. The hills are small compared to the ski areas in the northeast, such as Mont Tremblant and Mont-Sainte-Anne, or in Vermont, New Hampshire and New York.
The location of the hills are also useful for communications, and Ryan Tower, a prominent communications tower at Camp Fortune, provides a large portion of the area's broadcast television and radio signals.
The area is a prime tourist attraction, particularly during the month of October when the foliage is turning colour. Photographs and paintings of the area are a popular tourist item.
The Gatineau Hills are located in the city of Gatineau, and in Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais Regional County Municipality, Quebec.


Dukecynus

Dukecynus is an extinct genus of meat-eating metatherian belonging to the order Sparassodonta, which lived in South America during the Middle Miocene (Laventan), between about 13.8 and 11.8 million years ago. The name of the genus meaning "Duke dog", for Duke University and the Greek word "cynos", dog, for the pretended similarity of this animal with dogs. A single species known so far, "Dukecynus magnus". The species name "magnus" derives from Latin for big, to reflect their great size.
Description.
"Dukecynus" is only known from its holotype, IGM 251149, a heavily damaged partial skull preserving parts of the lower and upper jaw as well as associated fragments of the skeleton. This specimen was discovered at the Konzentrat-Lagerstätte La Venta in the Honda Group, Huila and Tolima in Colombia. A second fragmentary specimen from La Venta, cataloged as UCMP 39250, consisting of a fragmentary skull and parts of the humerus and femur from a juvenile individual, referred to "cf. Arctodictis" by Marshall (1978) could also belong to "Dukecynus" or a similar species. Although the affinities of this species have never been formally analysed, "Dukecynus" is generally considered to be a basal borhyaenoid, a paraphyletic group of sparassodonts that includes genera like "Lycopsis" and "Prothylacynus" that cannot be assigned to one of the major borhyaenoid families like Borhyaenidae or Thylacosmilidae. Compared to other basal borhyaenoids, "Dukecynus" had a long, narrow snout and was relatively large, with some estimates suggesting this animal weighed up to 68 kilograms (150 lbs). "Dukecynus" was probably the largest mammalian predator as well as the largest sparassodont at La Venta.


Phosphorosaurus

Phosphorosaurus ("Phosphate Lizard") is an extinct genus of marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family. "Phosphorosaurus" is classified within the Halisaurinae subfamily alongside the genera "Pluridens", "Eonatator" and "Halisaurus".
Stratigraphically, "Phosphorosaurus" only occurs in the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous. Although treated as synonymous with "Halisaurus" in the past, recent studies recognize it as valid. Two species are known, Phosphorosaurus ortliebi from the Craie de Ciply Formation in Belgium, and P. ponpetelegans from the Hakobuchi Formation of Hokkaido in Japan. "P. ponpetelegans" is only known from the very earliest Maastrichtian, whilst "P. ortliebi" occurs throughout the Maastrichtian.
Description.
With a length of around 3 m (10 ft), "Phosphorosaurus" was small compared to most other mosasaurs, but rather standard in size for a halisaurine. Analysis of "Phosphorosaurus" biology suggests that this mosasaur was a deep-water or nocturnal hunter, potentially preying on animals such as squid and bioluminescent fish similar to the modern lanternfish present in the same areas. The large eyes of "Phosphorosaurus" had overlapping fields of vision, giving it depth perception, which would have given it an advantage when chasing such animals in poorly-lit conditions. Studies also indicate that the animal was likely an ambush predator that would lie in wait for prey, as it was not as efficient a swimmer as larger mosasaurs, much like other halisaurines.
Konishi et al. 2015 listed the following unambiguous character states for the genus: "Dorsal exposure of prefrontal confined to preorbital segment of frontal; preorbital segment of frontal narrow, sloping anteroventrally; frontal preorbital borders subparallel with each other; interorbital emargination present; frontal lateral border forming a step-like junction between preorbital and interorbital segments; apex of posterodorsal triangular plateau on frontal reaching level of interorbital constriction; frontal articulation facet for postorbitofrontal squareshaped in outline; parietal postorbital process dorsally not separated by ridge from parietal table; and stapedial meatus parallel-sided".
Classification.
Belgian palaeontologist Louis Dollo defined the genus in 1889, with the description of "Phosphorosaurus ortliebi" from the upper Maastrichtian ‘‘Craie phosphateé’’ of Ciply in Belgium. The holotype is a fragmented and incomplete skull that is estimated to have been around 42 cm long. It was reclassified as "Halisaurus ortliebi" in 1996, but this was not taken up by later authorities due to differences in the cranium.
Below is a cladogram following an analysis by Takuya Konishi and colleagues (2015) done during the description of "P. ponpetelegans", which showcases the internal relationships within the Halisaurinae. The analysis excluded the dubious "Halisaurus onchognathus" and the genus "Pluridens".
Species.
Two species are known, "P. ortliebi" and "P. ponpetelegans", the latter from the oldest Maastrichtian beds located in Hokkaido, Japan. The skull of the latter species is thought to be around 50 cm long. The etymology of "P. ponpetelegans" derives from the words "ponpet", which means "creek" in Ainu (language of the indigenous peoples of Hokkaido), and "elegans", Latin for "elegant", referencing the exceptional preservation of the holotype specimen of the species and the clean Pankerusano-sawa Creek where the fossil was discovered.
"P. ortliebi" and "P. ponpetelgans" can be distinguished from each other by several fossil characters. For instance, the prefrontal postnarial medial lamina are smaller in "P. ponpetelgans" than in "P. ortliebi" and the development of prefrontal supraorbital tuberosity is minimal compared to "P. ortliebi". In "P. ponpetelgans" the median dorsal ridge of the frontal becomes weak posterior to the orbits, which does not occur in "P. ortliebi".


Hualca Hualca

Hualca Hualca (possibly from Aymara and Quechua "wallqa" collar) is an extinct volcano in Arequipa Region in the Andes of Peru. It has a height of 6,025 metres.
Hualca Hualca is part of the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes, a volcanic belt which occurs where the Nazca Plate subducts beneath the South America Plate. Volcanoes in Peru that are part of the Central Volcanic Zone include Ampato, Casiri, Chachani, Coropuna, El Misti, Huaynaputina, Pichu Pichu, Sabancaya, Sara Sara, Solimana, Ticsani, Tutupaca, Ubinas and Yucamane.
Hualca Hualca forms a volcanic complex with the two southerly volcanoes Sabancaya and Ampato. It is older (Pliocene-Pleistocene) and more heavily eroded than these two volcanoes; they are all constructed on Neogene ignimbrites, one of which was dated to 2.2 ± 1.5 million years ago. The volcano has erupted andesitic lava flows; one series of such flows exceeds a thickness of . Volcanic rocks of Hualca Hualca contain phenocrysts of biotite, clinopyroxene, hornblende, orthopyroxene, plagioclase and sphene. The magma probably originated through mixing processes, similar to Sabancaya.
The northern flank of Hualca Hualca underwent a large sector collapse between 1.36 and 0.61 million years ago, opening up a collapse amphitheatre and forming a lake in the Colca valley which later catastrophically failed. This lake has left lacustrine deposits in the Colca Valley. Eruptions within the collapse amphitheatre generated lava flows which then formed volcanic dams in the Colca Valley. Lava domes and pyroclastic flows also originated within the collapse scar. Earthquakes and hydrothermal alteration probably caused the onset of the collapse event.
The volcano was glaciated during the last ice age, between 18,000 and 11,500 years ago. This glaciation has left moraines, rock glaciers and roches moutonees. The glaciers on Hualca Hualca have retreated since then, one was reported to have disappeared by 2000. Snowmelt and runoff from Hualca Hualca are sources of water for the Colca Canyon, supporting irrigated agriculture there; the mountain is worshipped by local inhabitants, who according to reports in 1586 believed that their ancestors come from it.
Hualca Hualca is considered to be an extinct volcano; however at least seven vents on its southwestern flank show evidence of Holocene activity. Satellite images in the early 21st century found that Hualca Hualca is inflating from a depth of at a rate of . This deformation may be associated with the neighbouring volcano Sabancaya which is active; magma chambers of volcanoes are sometimes distant from the actual volcano as was the case with Katmai. The inflation ceased after 1997. At Pinchollo in the collapse scar three geysers were active in the past; one is still active and is named Infiernillo. The activity of the hydrothermal system at Hualca Hualca increased beginning in 2016, an increase linked to eruptions of Sabancaya and earthquakes.
Climbing.
Hualca Hualca can be climbed in a few days from the village of Pinchollo by the north side.


Pterodactylus

Pterodactylus (from Greek () meaning 'winged finger') is an extinct genus of pterosaurs, whose members are commonly known as pterodactyls (). It is thought to contain only a single species, Pterodactylus antiquus, which was the first pterosaur to be named and identified as a flying reptile.
Fossil remains of "Pterodactylus" have primarily been found in the Solnhofen limestone of Bavaria, Germany, which dates back to the Late Jurassic period (early Tithonian stage), about 150.8 to 148.5 million years ago. More fragmentary remains of "Pterodactylus" have tentatively been identified from elsewhere in Europe, as well as in Africa.
"Pterodactylus" was a generalist carnivore that probably fed on a variety of invertebrates and vertebrates. Like all pterosaurs, "Pterodactylus" had wings formed by a skin and muscle membrane stretching from its elongated fourth finger to its hind limbs. It was supported internally by collagen fibres and externally by keratinous ridges. "Pterodactylus" was a small pterosaur compared to other famous genera such as "Pteranodon" and "Quetzalcoatlus", and it also lived earlier, during the Late Jurassic period, while both "Pteranodon" and "Quetzalcoatlus" lived during the Late Cretaceous. "Pterodactylus" lived alongside other small pterosaurs such as the well-known "Rhamphorhynchus", as well as other genera such as "Scaphognathus", "Anurognathus" and "Ctenochasma". "Pterodactylus" is classified as an early-branching member of the ctenochasmatid lineage, within the pterosaur clade Pterodactyloidea.
Discovery and history.
The type specimen of the animal now known as "Pterodactylus antiquus" was the first pterosaur fossil ever to be identified. The first "Pterodactylus" specimen was described by the Italian scientist in 1784, based on a fossil skeleton that had been unearthed from the Solnhofen limestone of Bavaria. Collini was the curator of the , or nature cabinet of curiosities (a precursor to the modern concept of the natural history museum), in the palace of Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria at Mannheim. The specimen had been given to the collection by Count around 1780, having been recovered from a lithographic limestone quarry in . The actual date of the specimen's discovery and entry into the collection is unknown however, and it was not mentioned in a catalogue of the collection taken in 1767, so it must have been acquired at some point between that date and its 1784 description by Collini. This makes it potentially the earliest documented pterosaur find; the "Pester Exemplar" of the species "Pterodactylus micronyx" was described in 1779 and possibly discovered earlier than the Mannheim specimen, but it was at first considered to be a fossilized crustacean, and it was not until 1856 that this species was properly described as a pterosaur by German paleontologist .
In his first description of the Mannheim specimen, Collini did not conclude that it was a flying animal. In fact, Collini could not fathom what kind of animal it might have been, rejecting affinities with the birds or the bats. He speculated that it may have been a sea creature, not for any anatomical reason, but because he thought the ocean depths were more likely to have housed unknown types of animals. The idea that pterosaurs were aquatic animals persisted among a minority of scientists as late as 1830, when the German zoologist Johann Georg Wagler published a text on "amphibians" which included an illustration of "Pterodactylus" using its wings as flippers. Wagler went so far as to classify "Pterodactylus", along with other aquatic vertebrates (namely plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, and monotremes), in the class Gryphi, between birds and mammals.
The German/French scientist Johann Hermann was the one who first stated that "Pterodactylus" used its long fourth finger to support a wing membrane. Back in March 1800, Hermann alerted the prominent French scientist Georges Cuvier to the existence of Collini's fossil, believing that it had been captured by the occupying armies of Napoleon and sent to the French collections in Paris (and perhaps to Cuvier himself) as war booty; at the time special French political commissars systematically seized art treasures and objects of scientific interest. Hermann sent Cuvier a letter containing his own interpretation of the specimen (though he had not examined it personally), which he believed to be a mammal, including the first known life restoration of a pterosaur. Hermann restored the animal with wing membranes extending from the long fourth finger to the ankle and a covering of fur (neither wing membranes nor fur had been preserved in the specimen). Hermann also added a membrane between the neck and wrist, as is the condition in bats. Cuvier agreed with this interpretation, and at Hermann's suggestion, Cuvier became the first to publish these ideas in December 1800 in a very short description. However, contrary to Hermann, Cuvier was convinced the animal was a reptile. The specimen had not in fact been seized by the French. Rather, in 1802, following the death of Charles Theodore, it was brought to Munich, where Baron Johann Paul Carl von Moll had obtained a general exemption of confiscation for the Bavarian collections. Cuvier asked von Moll to study the fossil but was informed it could not be found. In 1809 Cuvier published a somewhat longer description, in which he named the animal "Petro-Dactyle", this was a typographical error however, and was later corrected by him to "Ptéro-Dactyle". He also refuted a hypothesis by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach that it would have been a shore bird. Cuvier remarked: "It is not possible to doubt that the long finger served to support a membrane that, by lengthening the anterior extremity of this animal, formed a good wing."
Contrary to von Moll's report, the fossil was not missing; it was being studied by Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring, who gave a public lecture about it on December 27, 1810. In January 1811, von Sömmerring wrote a letter to Cuvier deploring the fact that he had only recently been informed of Cuvier's request for information. His lecture was published in 1812, and in it von Sömmerring named the species Ornithocephalus antiquus. The animal was described as being both a bat, and a form in between mammals and birds, i.e. not intermediate in descent but in "affinity" or archetype. Cuvier disagreed, and the same year in his "Ossemens fossiles" provided a lengthy description in which he restated that the animal was a reptile. It was not until 1817 that a second specimen of "Pterodactylus" came to light, again from Solnhofen. This tiny specimen was that year described by von Sömmerring as "Ornithocephalus brevirostris", named for its short snout, now understood to be a juvenile character (this specimen is now thought to represent a juvenile specimen of a different genus, probably "Ctenochasma"). He provided a restoration of the skeleton, the first one published for any pterosaur. This restoration was very inaccurate, von Sömmerring mistaking the long metacarpals for the bones of the lower arm, the lower arm for the humerus, this upper arm for the breast bone and this sternum again for the shoulder blades. Sömmerring did not change his opinion that these forms were bats and this "bat model" for interpreting pterosaurs would remain influential long after a consensus had been reached around 1860 that they were reptiles. The standard assumptions were that pterosaurs were quadrupedal, clumsy on the ground, furred, warmblooded and had a wing membrane reaching the ankle. Some of these elements have been confirmed, some refuted by modern research, while others remain disputed.
In 1815, the generic name "Ptéro-Dactyle" was latinized to "Pterodactylus" by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque. Unaware of Rafinesque's publication however, Cuvier himself in 1819 latinized the name "Ptéro-Dactyle" again to "Pterodactylus", but the specific name he then gave, "longirostris", has to give precedence to von Sömmerring's "antiquus". In 1888, English naturalist Richard Lydekker designated "Pterodactylus antiquus" as the type species of "Pterodactylus", and considered "Ornithocephalus antiquus" a synonym. He also designated specimen BSP AS.I.739 as the holotype of the genus.
Description.
"Pterodactylus" is known from over 30 fossil specimens, and though most belong to juveniles, many preserve complete skeletons. "Pterodactylus antiquus" was a relatively small pterosaur, with an estimated adult wingspan of about , based on the only known adult specimen, which is represented by an isolated skull. Other "species" were once thought to have been smaller. However, these smaller specimens have been shown to represent juveniles of "Pterodactylus", as well as its contemporary relatives including "Ctenochasma", "Germanodactylus", "Aurorazhdarcho", "Gnathosaurus", and hypothetically "Aerodactylus" if this genus is truly valid.
The skulls of adult "Pterodactylus" were long and thin, with about 90 narrow and conical teeth. The teeth extended back from the tips of both jaws, and became smaller farther away from the jaw tips, this was unlike the ones seen in most relatives, where teeth were absent in the upper jaw tip, and were relatively uniform in size. The teeth of "Pterodactylus" also extended farther back into the jaw compared to close relatives, and some were present below the front of the "nasoantorbital fenestra", which is the largest opening in the skull. Another autapomorphy that "Pterodactylus" has is that the skull and jaws were straight, which are unlike the upwardly curved jaws seen in the related ctenochasmatids.
"Pterodactylus", like related pterosaurs, had a crest on its skull composed mainly of soft tissues. In adult "Pterodactylus", this crest extended between the back edge of the antorbital fenestra and the back of the skull. In at least one specimen, the crest had a short bony base, also seen in related pterosaurs like "Germanodactylus". Solid crests have only been found on large, fully adult specimens of "Pterodactylus", indicating that this was a display structure that became larger and more well developed as individuals reached maturity. In 2013, pterosaur researcher S. Christopher Bennett noted that other authors claimed that the soft tissue crest of "Pterodactylus" extended backward behind the skull; Bennett himself, however, didn't find any evidence for the crest extending past the back of the skull. Two specimens of "P. antiquus" (the holotype specimen BSP AS I 739 and the incomplete skull BMMS 7, the largest known skull of "P. antiquus") have a low bony crest on their skulls; in BMMS 7 it is 47.5 mm long (1.87 inches, more or less 24% of the estimated total length of its skull) and has a maximum height of 0.9 mm (0.035 inches) above the orbit. Several specimens previously referred to "P. antiquus" preserved evidence of the soft tissue extensions of these crests, including an "occipital lappet", a flexible, tab-like structure extending from the back of the skull. Most of these specimens have been reclassified in the related species "Aerodactylus scolopaciceps", which may however be nothing more than a junior synonym. Even if "Aerodactylus" were valid, at least one specimen with these features is still considered to belong to "Pterodactylus", BSP 1929 I 18, which has an occipital lappet similar to the proposed "Aerodactylus" definition, and also possesses a small triangular soft tissue crest with the peak of the crest positioned above the eyes.
Paleobiology.
Life history.
Like other pterosaurs (most notably "Rhamphorhynchus"), "Pterodactylus" specimens can vary considerably based on age or level of maturity. Both the proportions of the limb bones, size and shape of the skull, and size and number of teeth changed as the animals grew. Historically, this has led to various growth stages (including growth stages of related pterosaurs) being mistaken for new species of "Pterodactylus". Several detailed studies using various methods to measure growth curves among known specimens have suggested that there is actually only one valid species of "Pterodactylus", "P. antiquus".
The youngest immature specimens of "Pterodactylus antiquus" (alternately interpreted as young specimens of the distinct species "P. kochi") have a small number of teeth, as few as 15 in some, and the teeth have a relatively broad base. The teeth of other "P. antiquus" specimens are both narrower and more numerous (up to 90 teeth are present in several specimens).
"Pterodactylus" specimens can be divided into two distinct year classes. In the first year class, the skulls are only in length. The second year class is characterized by skulls of around long, but are still immature however. These first two size groups were once classified as juveniles and adults of the species "P. kochi", until further study showed that even the supposed "adults" were immature, and possibly belong to a distinct genus. A third year class is represented by specimens of the "traditional" "P. antiquus", as well as a few isolated, large specimens once assigned to "P. kochi" that overlap "P. antiquus" in size. However, all specimens in this third year class also show sign of immaturity. Fully mature "Pterodactylus" specimens remain unknown, or may have been mistakenly classified as a different genus.
Growth and breeding seasons.
The distinct year classes of "Pterodactylus antiquus" specimens show that this species, like the contemporary "Rhamphorhynchus muensteri", likely bred seasonally and grew consistently during its lifetime. A new generation of 1st year class "P. antiquus" would have been produced seasonally, and reached 2nd-year size by the time the next generation hatched, creating distinct 'clumps' of similarly-sized and aged individuals in the fossil record. The smallest size class probably consisted of individuals that had just begun to fly and were less than one year old. The second year class represents individuals one to two years old, and the rare third year class is composed of specimens over two years old. This growth pattern is similar to modern crocodilians, rather than the rapid growth of modern birds.
Daily activity patterns.
Comparisons between the scleral rings of "Pterodactylus antiquus" and modern birds and reptiles suggest that it may have been diurnal. This may also indicate niche partitioning with contemporary pterosaurs inferred to be nocturnal, such as "Ctenochasma" and "Rhamphorhynchus".
Diet.
Based on the shape, size, and arrangement of its teeth, "Pterodactylus" has long been recognized as a carnivore specializing in small animals. A 2020 study of pterosaur tooth wear supported the hypothesis that "Pterodactylus" preyed mainly on invertebrates and had a generalist feeding strategy, indicated by a relatively high bite force.
Paleoecology.
Specimens of "Pterodactylus" have been found mainly in the Solnhofen limestone (geologically known as the Altmühltal Formation) of Bavaria, Germany. The main composition of this formation is fine-grained limestone that originated mainly from the nearby towns Solnhofen and Eichstätt, which is formed by mud silt deposits. The Solnhofen Limestone is a diverse Lagerstätte that contains a wide range of different creatures, including highly detailed fossilized imprints of soft bodied organisms such as jellyfishes. Abundant specimens of pterosaurs similar to "Pterodactylus" were also found within the formation, these include the rhamphorhynchids "Rhamphorhynchus" and "Scaphognathus", several gallodactylids such as "Aerodactylus", "Ardeadactylus", "Aurorazhdarcho" and "Cycnorhamphus", the ctenochasmatids "Ctenochasma" and "Gnathosaurus", the anurognathid "Anurognathus", the germanodactylid "Germanodactylus", as well as the basal euctenochasmatian "Diopecephalus". Fossil remains of the dinosaurs "Archaeopteryx" and "Compsognathus" were also found within the limestone, these specimens were related to early evolution of feathers, since they were some of the only ones that had them during the Jurassic period. Various lizard remains were also found alongside those of "Pterodactylus", with several specimens assigned to "Ardeosaurus", "Bavarisaurus" and "Eichstaettisaurus". Crocodylomorph specimens were widely distributed within the fossil site, most were assigned to the metriorhynchid genera "Cricosaurus", "Dakosaurus", "Geosaurus" and "Rhacheosaurus". These genera are colloquially called as marine or sea crocodiles due to their similar built. The turtle genera "Eurysternum" and "Paleomedusa" were also found within the formation. Fossils of the ichthyosaur "Aegirosaurus" also appeared to be present in the site, as well as fish remains, with many specimens assigned to ray-finned fishes such as the halecomorphs "Lepidotes", "Propterus", "Gyrodus", "Mesturus", "Proscinetes", "Caturus", "Ophiopsis" and "Ophiopsiella", the pachycormids "Asthenocormus", "Hypsocormus" and "Orthocormus", as well as the aspidorhynchid "Aspidorhynchus", and the ichthyodectid "Thrissops".
Classification.
Initial classifications for "Pterodactylus" started when paleontologist Hermann von Meyer used the name Pterodactyli to contain "Pterodactylus" and other pterosaurs known at the time. This was emended to the family Pterodactylidae by Prince Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1838. However, this group has more recently been given several competing definitions.
Beginning in 2014, researchers Steven Vidovic and David Martill constructed an analysis in which several pterosaurs traditionally thought of as archaeopterodactyloids closely related to the ctenochasmatoids may have been more closely related to the more advanced dsungaripteroids, or in some cases, fall outside both groups. Their conclusion was published in 2017, in which they placed "Pterodactylus" as a basal member of the suborder Pterodactyloidea.
As illustrated below, the results of a different topology are based on a phylogenetic analysis made by Longrich, Martill, and Andres in 2018. Unlike the previous results above, they placed "Pterodactylus" within the clade Euctenochasmatia, resulting in a more derived position.
Formerly assigned species.
Numerous species have been assigned to "Pterodactylus" in the years since its discovery. In the first half of the 19th century any new pterosaur species would be named "Pterodactylus", which thus became a "wastebasket taxon". Even after clearly different forms had later been given their own generic name, new species would be created from the very productive sites, throughout Europe and North America, often based on only slightly different material.
The earliest reassignments of pterosaur species to "Pterodactylus" started in 1825, with the description of "Rhamphorhynchus"; fossil collector Georg Graf zu Münster alerted the German paleontologist Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring about several distinct fossil specimens, Sömmerring thought that they belonged to an ancient bird. Further fossil preparations had uncovered teeth, to which Graf zu Münster created a skull cast. He later sent the cast to Professor Georg August Goldfuss, who recognized it as a pterosaur, specifically a species of "Pterodactylus". At the time however, most paleontologists incorrectly consider the genus "Ornithocephalus" () to be the valid name for "Pterodactylus", and therefore the specimen found was named as "Ornithocephalus Münsteri", which was first mentioned by Graf zu Münster himself. Another specimen was found and described by Graf zu Münster in 1839, he assigned this specimen to a new separate species called "Ornithocephalus longicaudus"; the specific name means 'long tail', in reference to the animal's tail size. German paleontologist Hermann von Meyer in 1845 officially emended that the genus "Pterodactylus" had priority over "Ornithocephalus", so he reassigned the species "O. münsteri" and "O. longicaudus" into "Pterodactylus münsteri" and "Pterodactylus longicaudus". In 1846, von Meyer created the new species "Pterodactylus gemmingi" based on long-tailed remains; the specific name honors the fossil collector Carl Eming von Gemming. Later, in 1847, von Meyer finally erected the generic name "Rhamphorhynchus" () due to the distinctively long tails seen in the specimens found, which are much longer than those seen in "Pterodactylus". He assigned the species "P. longicaudus" as the type species of "Rhamphorhynchus", which resulted in a new combination called "Rhamphorhynchus longicaudus". The species "R. münsteri" was later changed to "R. muensteri" by Lydekker in 1888, due to the ICZN rule that prohibits non-standard Latin characters, such as "ü", in scientific names.
Beginning in 1846, many pterosaur specimens were found near the village of Burham in Kent, England by British paleontologists James Scott Bowerbank and Sir Richard Owen. Bowerbank had assigned fossil remains to two new species; the first was named in 1846 as "Pterodactylus giganteus"; the specific name means 'the gigantic one' in Latin, in reference to the large size of the remains, and the second species was named in 1851 as "Pterodactylus cuvieri", in honor of the French scientist Georges Cuvier. Later in 1851, Owen named and described new pterosaur specimens that have been found yet again in England. He assigned these specimens to a new species called "Pterodactylus compressirostris". In 1914 however, paleontologist Reginald Hooley redescribed "P. compressirostris", to which he erected the genus "Lonchodectes" (), and therefore made "P. compressirostris" the type species, and created the new combination "L. compressirostris". In a 2013 review, "P. giganteus" and "P. cuvieri" were reassigned to new genera; "P. giganteus" was reassigned to a genus called "Lonchodraco" ('lance dragon'), which resulted in a new combination called "L. giganteus", and "P. cuvieri" was reassigned to the new genus "Cimoliopterus" ('chalk wing'), creating "C. cuvieri". Back in 1859, Owen had found remains the front part of a snout in the Cambridge Greensand, and assigned it into the species "Pterodactylus segwickii"; in honor of Adam Sedgwick, a British geologist. This species however, was reassigned to the genus "Camposipterus" in 2013, therefore creating the new combination "Camposipterus segwickii". Later, in 1861, Owen had uncovered multiple distinctively looking fossil remains yet again in the Cambridge Greensand, these were assigned to a new species named "Pterodactylus simus", though the British paleontologist Harry Govier Seeley had created a separate generic name called "Ornithocheirus", and reassigned "P. simus" as the type species, which created the combination "Ornithocheirus simus". Between the years 1869 and 1870, Seeley had reassigned many pterosaur species into "Ornithocheirus", while also creating several new species. Many if these species however, are now reclassified to other genera, or considered . In 1874, further specimens were found in England, again by Owen, these ones were assigned to a new species called "Pterodactylus sagittirostris", this species however, was reassigned to the genus "Lonchodectes" in 1914 by Hooley, which resulted in an "L. sagittirostris". This conclusion was revised by Rigal "et al." in 2017, who disagreed with Hooley's reassignment, and therefore created the genus "Serradraco", which afterwards resulted in a new combination called "S. sagittirostris".
Assigning new pterosaur species to "Pterodactylus" was not only common in Europe, but also in North America; paleontologists such as Othniel Charles Marsh in 1871 for example, described several toothless pterosaur specimens, which were accompanied by teeth that belonged to the fish "Xiphactinus", which Marsh assumed that these teeth belonged to the pterosaur specimens he found, since all pterosaurs discovered at the time had teeth. He then assigned these specimens to a new species called "Pterodactylus oweni", but this was changed to "Pterodactylus occidentalis" because "P. oweni" was found to have been preoccupied by a pterosaur species described with the same name back in 1864 by Seeley. In 1872, American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope also found various pterosaur specimens in North America, he assigned these to two new species known as "Ornithochirus umbrosus" and "Ornithochirus harpyia", Cope attempted to assign the specimens he found to the genus "Ornithocheirus", but misspelled forgetting the 'e'. In 1875 however, Cope reassigned the species "O. umbrosus" and "O. harpyia" into "Pterodactylus umbrosus" and "Pterodactylus harpyia", though these species had been considered ever since. Paleontologist Samuel Wendell Williston unearthed the first skull of the pterosaur, and found that the animal was toothless, this made Marsh create the genus "Pteranodon" (lit. 'toothless wing'), and therefore reassigned all the American pterosaur species, including the ones that he named, from "Pterodactylus" to "Pteranodon".
Later, in the 1980s, subsequent revisions by Peter Wellnhofer had reduced the number of recognized species to about half a dozen. Many species assigned to "Pterodactylus" had been based on juvenile specimens, and subsequently been recognized as immature individuals of other species or genera. By the 1990s it was understood that this was even true for part of the remaining species. "P. elegans", for example, was found by numerous studies to be an immature "Ctenochasma". Another species of "Pterodactylus" originally based on small, immature specimens was "P. micronyx". However, it has been difficult to determine exactly of what genus and species "P. micronyx" might be the juvenile form. Stéphane Jouve, Christopher Bennett and others had once suggested that it probably belonged either to "Gnathosaurus subulatus" or one of the species belonging to "Ctenochasma", though after additional research Bennett assigned it to the genus "Aurorazhdarcho". Another species with a complex history is "P. longicollum", named by von Meyer in 1854, based on a large specimen with a long neck and fewer teeth. Many researchers, including David Unwin, have found "P. longicollum" to be distinct from "P. kochi" and "P. antiquus". Unwin found "P. longicollum" to be closer to "Germanodactylus" and therefore requiring a new genus name. It has sometimes been placed in the genus "Diopecephalus" because Harry Govier Seeley based this genus partly on the "P. longicollum" material. However, it was shown by Bennett that the type specimen later designated for "Diopecephalus" was a fossil belonging to "P. kochi", and no longer thought to be separate from "Pterodactylus". "Diopecephalus" is therefore a synonym of "Pterodactylus", and as such is unavailable for use as a new genus for ""P." longicollum". ""P." longicollum" was eventually made the type species of a separate genus "Ardeadactylus".
Controversial species.
The only well-known and well-supported species left by the first decades of the 21st century were "P. antiquus" and "P. kochi". However, most studies between 1995 and 2010 found little reason to separate even these two species, and treated them as synonymous. More recent studies of pterosaur relationships have found anurognathids and pterodactyloids to be sister groups, which would limit the more inclusive group Caelidracones to just two clades. In 1996, Bennett suggested that the differences between specimens of "P. kochi" and "P. antiquus" could be explained by differences in age, with "P. kochi" (including specimens alternately classified in the species "P. scolopaciceps") representing an immature growth stage of "P. antiquus". In a 2004 paper, Jouve used a different method of analysis and recovered the same result, showing that the "distinctive" features of "P. kochi" were age-related, and using mathematical comparison to show that the two forms are different growth stages of the same species. An additional review of the specimens published in 2013 demonstrated that some of the supposed differences between "P. kochi" and "P. antiquus" were due to measurement errors, further supporting their synonymy.
By the 2010s, a large body of research had been developed based on the idea that "P. kochi" and "P. scolopaciceps" were early growth stages of "P. antiquus". However, in 2014, two scientists began publishing research that challenged this paradigm. Steven Vidovic and David Martill concluded that differences between specimens of "P. kochi", "P. scolopaciceps", and "P. antiquus", such as different lengths of neck vertebrae, thinner or thicker teeth, more rounded skulls, and how far the teeth extended back in the jaws, were significant enough to separate them into three distinct species. Vidovic and Martill also performed a phylogenetic analysis which treated all relevant specimens as distinct units, and found that the "P. kochi" type specimen did not form a natural group with that of "P. antiquus". They concluded that the genus "Diopecephalus" could be returned to use to distinguish ""P". kochi" from "P. antiquus". They named the new genus "Aerodactylus" for "P. scolopaciceps" as well. So, what Bennett considered early growth stages of one species, Vidovic and Martill considered representatives of new species.
In 2017, Bennett challenged this hypothesis, he claimed that while Vidovic and Martill had identified real differences between these three groups of specimens, they had not provided any rationale that the differences were enough to distinguish them as species, rather than just individual variation, growth changes, or simply due to crushing and distortion during the fossilization process. Bennett pointed in particular to the data used to distinguish "Aerodactylus", which was so different from the data for related species, it might be due to an unnatural assemblage of specimens. As a result, Bennett continued to consider "Diopecephalus" and "Aerodactylus" simply as year-classes of immature "Pterodactylus antiquus".
List of species.
During its over-200-year history, the various species of "Pterodactylus" have gone through a number of changes in classification and thus have acquired a large number of synonyms. Additionally, a number of species assigned to "Pterodactylus" are based on poor remains that have proven difficult to assign to one species or another and are therefore considered (). The following list includes names that were used to identify new pterosaur species that now have been reclassified, or until recently thought to be pertaining to "Pterodactylus" proper, and names based on other material that has as yet not been assigned to other genera. This list also includes species that are ('naked names'), which are species that were not published formally. Species that are ('forgotten names') are the ones that have been disused, and species that are ('rejected names') are the ones that have been rejected because a more preferable name had been accepted instead.
Cultural significance.
"Pterodactylus" is regarded as one of the most iconic prehistoric creatures, with multiple appearances in books, movies, as well as television series and several videogames. The informal name "pterodactyl" is sometimes used to refer to any kind of animal belonging to the order Pterosauria, though most of the times to "Pterodactylus", as it's the most well-known member of the group. The popular aspect of "Pterodactylus" consists of an elongated head crest, and potentially large wings. Studies of "Pterodactylus" however, conclude that it may even lack a bony cranial crest, though several analysis have proven that "Pterodactylus" may in fact have a crest made up of soft tissue instead of bone.
"Pterodactylus" is the star character of the 2005 horror film "Pterodactyl", where it is identified with the informal name "pterodactyl", hence the name of the film. In the film, the "pterodactyls" resemble the aspect of the distantly related genus "Pteranodon" due to the elongated bony cranial crest, and their enormous size. One peculiar feature that "Pterodactylus" had in the film is the possession of teeth, while this is generally accurate for "Pterodactylus", the overall appearance of the creatures in the film is similar to that of "Pteranodon", as well as the large size, this makes them resemble some kind of pterosaur identical to "Pteranodon", but with the possession of teeth.
Another appearance of "Pterodactylus"-like creatures is in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. In this novel, the Nazgûl, introduced as the Black Riders, are nine characters who rode flying monsters that looked similarly built to "Pterodactylus". Christopher Tolkien, the son of the author, described the flying monsters as "Nazgûl-birds"; his father described the appearance of the steeds as somewhat "pterodactylic", and acknowledged that these were obviously "new mythology".


Gnathosaurus

Gnathosaurus (meaning "jawed lizard") is a genus of ctenochasmatid pterosaur containing two species: G. subulatus, named in 1833 from the Solnhofen Limestone of Germany, and G. macrurus, known from the Purbeck Limestone of the UK. Its fossil remains dated back to the Late Jurassic period.
History of discovery.
Fragments of "Gnathosaurus" jaws were first discovered in 1832 in the Solnhofen limestones of southern Germany but were mistaken for a piece of teleosaurid crocodile jaw by Georg zu Münster, who first named the species "Crocodilus multidens" in that year. Soon afterwards, Hermann von Meyer classified the same specimen as the new genus and species "Gnathosaurus subulatus", a name which came to be universally used shortly thereafter. In the 1860s, scientists such as Albert Oppel compared the "G. subulatus" jaw fragment to contemporary pterosaurs such as "Pterodactylus" and "Ctenochasma", and concluded that it was also probably a "flying reptile" rather than a crocodilian. A more complete skull of an adult pterosaur was found in 1951 and classified as "Gnathosaurus subulatus". This slender, long skull had up to 130 needle-like teeth arranged around the side of a spoon-shaped tip. The specimen had an estimated wingspan of about . It probably lead a lifestyle akin to that of modern spoonbills, wading with its jaws open and closing them upon touching small prey.
Possible juvenile specimens of "G. subulatus" may be known from several complete skeletons that had previously been classified as the separate species "Pterodactylus micronyx". These specimens have also been referred to the genus "Aurorazhdarcho", which may itself be a synonym of "Gnathosaurus". However, because "Gnathosaurus subulatus" is currently known only from skulls and jaws, and adult "Aurorazhdarcho micronyx" known only from a skeleton lacking a skull, the two cannot be confidently referred to the same species. Furthermore, in the only cladistic analysis to date that tests the relationships of both taxa they are found distinct.
An additional large specimen, originally named "Pterodactylus macrurus", is known from the Purbeck Limestone formation of England. Represented only by a partial lower jaw and neck vertebrae, it has since been considered closer to "Gnathosaurus", and its binomial changed to "G. macrurus".
Classification.
Below is cladogram following a topology by Andres, Clark and Xu (2014). In the analysis, they recovered both species of "Gnathosaurus" ("G. subulatus" and "G. macrurus") within the family Ctenochasmatidae, more precisely within the subfamily Gnathosaurinae, as sister taxa.


Archia (Cos)

Archia () was an ancient "deme" on the island of Cos. Its capital was Antimachia.


Gornogomphodon

Gornogomphodon is an extinct genus of cynodonts from the Gorno Formation of Bergamo, Italy. It existed during the Middle Carnian age of the Late Triassic (around 216.5 to 228.0 million years ago). It contains only one species: Gornogomphodon caffi.
Description.
"Gornogomphodon" is known only from a fossil jaw fragment with three transversely elongate teeth preserved. The scant fossil material and the locality they were collected from (the Gorno Formation were once shallow lagoons) lead to initial uncertainty over the nature of the fossil. It was proposed to be the remains of a pycnodont fish but further studies eventually made this hypothesis unlikely. The overall morphology of the teeth suggests they are the upper postcanines of the right maxilla of a gomphodont (herbivorous cynodonts), but they also possess unique characteristics that make their taxonomic assignment difficult.
Etymology.
"Gornogomphodon" was named after the Gorno Formation (literally 'Gorno gomphodont'). The specific name for its only species "Gornogomphodon caffi" was named in honor of Enrico Caffi, the first director of the Museo di Scienze Naturali Enrico Caffi.


Arintica

Arintica is a stratovolcano located in Arica y Parinacota Region of Chile, near the border with Bolivia. It lies north of the Salar de Surire. The volcano has a main summit in the north, a slightly shorter southern summit and a subsidiary peak in the west. A glacier valley lies between the summits. The height of the snowline is . Stage II moraines found on Arintica have altitudes ranging from on the southern flank to on the eastern flank. On the western flank they reach altitudes of . In total, five glaciers surrounded Arintica and drained into the Salar de Surire. Presently, rock glaciers are active on the mountain.
The volcano was constructed in two phases and postglacial lava flows have been found by Landsat imagery, but they are unsampled. A previously identified southeastern lava flow has been later identified as a debris avalanche. A dacitic lava dome is found southwest of the volcano and is named Calajata. In a 2011 hazard map Arintica was considered a potentially dangerous volcano of Chile. Whether the volcano was active in the Holocene is contentious. A belt of "Polylepis" woods surrounds the volcano.


List of glaciers of Chile

The glaciers of Chile cover 2.7% (20,188 km2) of the land area of the country, excluding Antártica Chilena, and have a considerable impact on its landscape and water supply. By surface 80% of South America's glaciers lie in Chile. Glaciers develop in the Andes of Chile from 27˚S southwards and in a very few places north of 18°30'S in the extreme north of the country: in between they are absent because of extreme aridity, though rock glaciers formed from permafrost are common. The largest glaciers of Chile are the Northern and Southern Patagonian Ice Fields. From a latitude of 47° S and south some glaciers reach sea level.
Apart from height and latitude, the settings of Chilean glaciers depend on precipitation patterns; in this sense two different regions exist: the Dry Andes and the Wet Andes.
List of ice fields.
This is a list of the ice fields of Chile.
!valign="bottom" align="left"|Name
!valign="bottom" align="right"|Area<br>(km²)
!valign="bottom" align="left"|Regions of Chile
!valign="bottom" align="left"|Coordinates


Sparnodus

Sparnodus is an extinct genus of prehistoric perciform fish in the family Sparidae. Species of this genus were nektonic carnivore. These fishes lived in the Cenozoic Era, in Oligocene and Paleocene (55.8 to 23.03 Ma).
Description.
These medium-sized fishes usually could reach a length of . They had a laterally compressed body, quite gibbous in the forepart, with a single dorsal fin, well developed and supported by strong spines. The anal fin was about half the length of the caudal one and was also equipped with spiny rays. Also the pectoral fins were long and well developed. The body was covered with large finely wrinkled scales. The mouth was small and had strong conical teeth. They had no palatal teeth nor protracted jaws.


Geothermal power in Ukraine

Ukraine has considerable geothermal resources that can be used mainly for heat supply. There are also prospects for binary geothermal power plant initiatives based on existing wells at abandoned oil and gas fields.
Ukraine has a good potential for the development of geothermal energy. This is due to thermogeological features of the relief and features of the geothermal resources of the country. However, at present, scientific, geological, exploratory and practical work in Ukraine is concentrated only on the geothermal resources that are represented by thermal waters. According to various estimates, the economically expedient energy resource of thermal waters of Ukraine is up to 8.4 million tons of oil equivalent per year.
Practical development of thermal waters in Ukraine was carried out in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, where 11 geothermal circulating systems were constructed, using modern technologies for the extraction of geothermal heat from the earth. All geothermal installations worked at the research and industrial stage.
Large reserves of thermal waters were also found on the territory of Chernihiv, Poltava, Kharkiv, Lugansk and Sumy regions. Hundreds of wells that have discovered thermal water and are in conservation can be restored for their further exploitation as a system for extracting geothermal heat.
In calculating the amount of possible consumption of low-temperature geothermal resources in the geoclimatic conditions of different regions of Ukraine, it should be taken into account that their intense exploitation can lead to a decrease in the temperature of the soil massif and its rapid depletion. It is necessary to support such a level of use of geothermal energy, which would allow exploiting the source of energy resources without harming the environment. For each region of Ukraine there is a certain maximum intensity of extraction of geothermal energy, which can be sustained over a long time.
According to the November 2011 National Renewable Energy Action Plans, the amount of energy produced by geothermal plants should increase significantly by 2020, with an expected volume of heat production of 2 630.7 thousand tp, with an intermediate target in 1 348,1 thousand t.p. by 2015. To achieve the goals, significant investments in production and heating networks would be required. Thus, the question of the policy of stimulation to give clear advantages to geothermal heat over heat from fossil fuels is actual, that is, the policy should work ahead.


List of islands of Mexico

This is an incomplete list of islands of Mexico.


Venada Formation

The Venada Formation is a geologic formation in Mexico. It preserves fossils dating back to the Carboniferous period.


Arvidsjaur porphyry

Arvidsjaur porphyry () is a group of igneous rocks of intermediate to felsic composition found near Arvidsjaur in northern Sweden. The Arvidsjaur Porphyry formed 1,870 to 1,880 million years ago during the Paleoproterozoic Era.
Most of the porphyry have well-preserved primary structures and textures which have allowed to interpret much of Arvidsjaur porphyry to be ignimbrites. While much of the porphyryry have rhyolite compositions some parts that are interpreted as lava flows are made up of andesite with plagioclase phenocrysts.


Bolboparia

Bolboparia is an extinct genus of eodiscinid agnostid trilobites. It lived during the late Lower Cambrian in what today Canada and the United States.
Taxonomy.
"Bolboparia" is most closely related to "Acidiscus" and slightly more distantly to "Stigmadiscus".
Description.
Like all Agnostida, "Bolboparia" is diminutive and the headshield (or cephalon) and tailshield (or pygidium) are of approximately the same size (or isopygous) and outline. Like all Weymouthiidae, "Bolboparia" lacks eyes and rupture lines (or sutures). The short, downsloping glabella and the bulging cheeks give it a very peculiar aspect.


Caipora bambuiorum


Prothylacinus

Prothylacinus is an extinct genus of South American metatherian, that lived during the Early Miocene.
Distribution.
Fossils of "Prothylacinus" have been found in the Friasian Río Frias Formation of Chile and the Santacrucian Santa Cruz Formation of Argentina.


Microberotha

Microberotha is an extinct monotypic genus of "beaded lacewing" in the family Berothidae known from a fossil found in North America. When described the genus contained a single Ypresian-age species Microberotha macculloughi.
History and classification.
The genus is known from a single male specimen, the holotype, currently deposited in the collections of the Kelowna Centennial Museum in Kelowna, British Columbia, as number "NH.998.015.002". The type specimen is well preserved in early Early Eocene Hat Creek amber from deposits between Cache Creek and Lillooet, British Columbia, that are part of the greater Okanagan Highlands paleoenvironment. The fossil was first studied by Bruce Archibald of Simon Fraser University and Vladimir Makarkin of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Archibald and Makarkin published their type description in the journal "The Canadian Entomologist" volume 136 published in 2004. The genus name is a combination of the Greek "mikros" meaning "small" and "Berotha", a genus in the family Berothidae. The species name is in honor of Terry McCullough, a supporter of paleontological research at the type locality. "Mac" is used in the species epithet to conform to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature recommendations regarding names from personal names.
Description.
"Microberotha" can be distinguished from other berothids by the combination of an unbranched "Rs" vein and lack of an outer gradate series of crossveins in the forewings. With a forewing length of only , "M. macculloughi" is one of the smallest known members of Berothidae to have been described. The smallest living species, "Manselliberotha neuropterologorum", has a minimum forewing length of , while some species from the New Jersey ambers are smaller at a minimum of . The terminal segments of the abdomen on the holotype, necessary in determining subfamily placement, are not visible given the angles of view available through the amber. This difficulty prevents the genus from being placed at the subfamily level, thus is "incertae sedis" in the family. The holotype is preserved in a specimen of amber which shows distinct flow patterning indicating it started as a "stalactite" or similar formation on the tree. The positioning of the insect relative to the flow pattern indicates it was most likely trapped with its back stuck to the inner flow with its left side facing down. A later, thicker flow covered the insect, twisting the left hindwing and disarticulating both the hindlegs.


Nevado Juncal

Location.
Nevado Juncal is a mountain at the border of Argentina and Chile, at the head of Aconcagua Val. It has a height of . It's located at La Yesera, Los Andes Department, Valparaíso Region, at the Central Andes. The mountain hosts several glaciers including Juncal Norte and Juncal Sur Glacier.
Elevation.
It has an official height of 5965 meters Based on the elevation provided by the available Digital elevation models, SRTM2 (5940m), ASTER (5918m), TanDEM-X(5905m with voids), Juncal is about 5953 meters above sea level.
The height of the nearest key col is 5120 meters, so its prominence is 833 meters. Juncal is listed as subgroup or massif, based on the Dominance system and its dominance is 13.99%. Its parent peak is Nevado del Plomo and the Topographic isolation is 6.6 kilometers. This information was obtained during a research by Suzanne Imber in 2014.


Lake Minnewanka

Lake Minnewanka () ("Water of the Spirits" in Nakoda) is a glacial lake located in the eastern area of Banff National Park in Canada, about northeast of the Banff townsite. The lake is long and deep, making it the 2nd longest lake in the mountain parks of the Canadian Rockies (the result of a power dam at the west end).
The lake is fed by the Cascade River, flowing east of Cascade Mountain, and runs south through Stewart Canyon as it empties into the western end of the lake. Numerous streams flowing down from Mount Inglismaldie, Mount Girouard and Mount Peechee on the south side of the lake also feed the lake.
Aboriginal people long inhabited areas around Lake Minnewanka, as early as 10,000 years ago, according to stone tools and a Clovis point spearhead discovered by archaeologists. The area is rich in animal life (e.g. elk, mule deer, mountain sheep, bears) and the easy availability of rock in the mountainous terrain was key to fashioning weapons for hunting.
The western end of the lake can be reached by following Lake Minnewanka road from the Trans-Canada Highway. Boat tours are available near the parking lot. A hiking and mountain biking trail runs along the northern shore of the lake, passing Stewart Canyon and six backcountry campsites. Mount Aylmer which at is the highest mountain in this area of the park, is located a few kilometres north of the lake.
Dams were built in 1912 and 1941 to supply the town with hydro-electric power. The most recent dam (1941) raised the lake and submerged the resort village of Minnewanka Landing that had been present there since 1888. Because of the presence of the submerged village, submerged bridge pilings, and submerged dam (the one from 1912) the lake is popular among recreational scuba divers.
The construction of the dam resulted in involuntary resettlement of inhabitants from the reservoir area.


Creston Formation

The Creston Formation is a formation cropping out in Newfoundland.


Okoro Oilfield

Okoro Oilfield is an oilfield located offshore Nigeria in an average water depth of in the eastern Niger Delta. The field is located in OML 112 block (formerly OPL 469). The Okoro Oilfield is operated Amni who owns 100%.
History.
Okoro was discovered in 1973 by Japan Petroleum with the drilling of Okoro-1 well. The well penetrated the two oil bearing sands between 4,900 and in the Agbada Formation and was logged and tested. One of oil zone flowed and 1,000 BW and well was deemed commercial discovery. Okoro-2 follow up appraisal well was drilled in Nov 1974 by Japan Petroleum at the eastern extension of the field but it was water wet. Okoro-2 appraisal well confirmed the presence of both reservoir sands. The field is covered by good quality 3D seismic data which was acquired by Mobil Corporation.
Amni International Petroleum Development Company Limited (AMNI) was originally granted oil prospecting licence (OPL) 469 on a sole risk basis on 24 August 1993 for a term of 5 years by Nigeria's Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources as part of the Nigerian Government indigenous licensing programme. As a result of the successful implementation of its work programme, OPL 469 was converted to Oil Mining Lease (OML) 112 for a term of 25 years in 1998. OML 112 covers approximately an area of .
Amni entered into Agreements with Total S.A. through its subsidiary TOTAL E&P Nigeria Limited (formerly Elf Petroleum Nigeria Limited) in 2005, under which Total acquired a 40% interest in OML 112. TOTAL relinquished both its right to participate in and any future right of re-entry into the development of Okoro/ Setu Fields (Setu and Ima are other fields located in OML 112), allowing Amni, in March 2006, to enter into agreements with Afren Energy Resources, a wholly owned subsidiary of Afren Plc, for the Okoro/Setu (exclusive area) fields development.
Appraisal.
An appraisal well Okoro -3 was spudded on 14 October 2006 by the Seadrill 7 jack-up rig on the Okoro Field. The well was drilled east of the Okoro-1 discovery well. Okoro-3 was the first well to be drilled by Afren/Amni on OML 112. The well was drilled as a vertical well and reached total depth of in the Miocene Agbada Formation. The well confirmed the eastern extension of the field and also the hydrocarbon contacts seen in both sand formations in the initial discovery. A full suite of modern log and pressure data was acquired and the well was successfully tested.
Following completion of testing operations, a second appraisal well Okoro 3 ST was drilled in December 2006. The well was drilled as a deviated sidetrack from the Okoro-3 wellbore and was designed to further evaluate both reservoirs and provide greater control for planning future horizontal production wells. The Okoro-3 side track was drilled at a maximum inclination of 55 degrees to the west of Okoro-3 and reached a total depth of . A full suite of pressure and log data was acquired and, as planned, the well was not tested. A total of (True Vertical Depth) of net oil pay was encountered, which was greater than expected at this location.
This additional penetration of the Okoro field assisted in planning the horizontal wells required to develop the field. As a result of the two well appraisal drilling programme, Afren enhanced the proved and probable reserves cases on the Okoro-Setu development. NSAI reserves was upgraded to (gross 2P as at 31 December 2009) from (as at 30 June 2009) for Okoro field and for combined Okoro and Setu fields. Reservoir modelling suggests a recovery factor >30% is achievable from 5 wells.
Development.
In June 2006, Afren signed a Financing and Production Sharing and Technical Services Agreement with Amni for participation in the development of Okoro and Setu. Under the terms of the agreement, Afren will finance the development and appraisal programme. Afren will recover these costs with an uplift on its capital, from over 90 per cent of the barrels produced, net of operating costs and royalties. Following cost recovery, Afren and Amni will share the production equally .
A Field Development Plan for the Okoro and Setu Field development was submitted to the Government of Nigeria in January 2007. In April 2007, the Field Development Plan (FDP) was approved by the Department of Petroleum Resources in Nigeria and the partners secured a Floating Production Storage and Offtake Vessel (FPSO). On 21 March 2007, Afren plc announced the signing of a fully underwritten US$200 million debt facility to finance the development of the Okoro – Setu project.
In January 2008, development drilling commenced from a subsea template using Transocean's Adriatic-6 jack-up rig. The 10-point fixed mooring system for the FPSO vessel was installed in January and the Armada Perkasa arrived in March 2008 and was hooked up to the anchor system. In May 2008, the wellhead platform was installed and flowline connections made.
Production.
First Oil was achieved during June 2008 when production from the first two production wells drilled commenced at a rate in excess of of oil of 27° API oil from each well. A further five wells were subsequently drilled, completed and brought onstream. The wells drilled were a mixture of horizontal and highly deviated penetrations of the reservoir intervals. Reservoir quality was typically at the higher end of expectations.
Production in 2009 averaged , ahead of pre development expectations for that period. This is as a result of better reservoir quality than incorporated into the original field simulation model, good aquifer support and water breakthrough from the existing production wells occurring much later than predicted. At least two infill targets have also been identified and will be drilled in 2010, adding reserves and incremental production volumes. By the end of 2009, the Okoro field had produced of oil.


Sombrerella

Sombrerella is an extinct genus from a well-known class of fossil marine arthropods, the trilobites. It lived during the Botomian stage, which lasted from approximately 524 to 518.5 million years ago. This faunal stage was part of the Cambrian Period.


Vogelsberg

The is a large volcanic mountain range in the German Central Uplands in the state of Hesse, separated from the Rhön Mountains by the Fulda river valley.
Emerging approximately 19 million years ago, the Vogelsberg is Central Europe's largest basalt formation, consisting of a multitude of layers that descend from their peak in ring-shaped terraces to the base.
The main peaks of the Vogelsberg are the Taufstein, , and Hoherodskopf, , both now within the High Vogelsberg Nature Park.
Location.
The Vogelsberg lies in the county of Vogelsbergkreis, around 60 kilometres northeast of Frankfurt between the towns of Alsfeld, Fulda, Büdingen and Nidda. To the northeast is the Knüll, to the east the Rhön, to the southeast the Spessart and to the southwest the low-lying Wetterau, which transitions to the South Hessian lowlands of the Rhine-Main region. In the opposite direction, to the northwest, the Vogelsberg transitions into parts of the West Hesse Highlands, whilst retaining the name, Vogelsberg, and the basalt rocks that bear its name continue well beyond the actual Vogelsberg.
Geology.
The Vogelsberg is the largest contiguous volcanic region in Central Europe with an area of 2,500 square kilometres. It is not a former shield volcano, but comprises many individual volcanoes, which are superimposed. Thus it consists of a multitude of overlapping basalt terraces, which descend from the Oberwald, the high central plateau, 600 to 773 metres high, in series of stepped rings to the edges of the mountain region. Its present appearance, which is reminiscent of a large flat, shield-shaped volcano with a central dome, is the result of an interplay of uplift processes and ablation acting on all sides.
The volcanic activity in the Vogelsberg, as well as that of the North Hessian Volcanic Region to the north which extends as far as Adelebsen in Lower Saxony, is connected with fault block activity that, during the Tertiary, led to the formation of the Lower Hessian Basin. It began in North Hesse about 20 million years ago during the lower Miocene, reached a peak about 13-12 million years ago and came to an end about 7 million years ago, during the upper Miocene. The volcanism of the Vogelsberg was mainly active during the Middle Miocene, according to potassium-argon dating 18.5-10 million years ago, reaching its peak 17-15 million years ago.
As a result of volcanic activity, mainly basaltic lava and pyroclastic deposits were formed. During the course of this volcanicity, trachyte and phonolite were produced in the early stages, then alkali-olivine basalts were deposited, which alternated with tholeiites. These volcanic products overlaid a basement of bunter sandstone and tertiary sands, in small areas in the east also rocks of the muschelkalk and keuper.
Erosion following the Miocene wore away the contiguous basalt nappes, which originally reached as far as the area of the Lower Main, back to isolated deposits in the central complex. Under tropical to subtropical conditions, the volcanic rocks were turned into red clays by lateritic weathering. In many places, red clays collected and bauxite was formed; moreover, the iron contained in basalt was concentrated to form iron ore. These deposits were mined over a long period of time in order to produce raw materials for industry, and the basalt was and still is a highly popular raw material for gravel and natural stone production.
Natural region divisions.
The division of the Vogelsberg into individual natural regions is based, on the one hand, on the relief of the mountain range from its highest point towards the outside and, on the other hand, on its river catchments which radiate outwards: the catchments of the Eder (Schwalm), Lower Fulda (Schlitz and Lüder), Main (Kinzig and Nidda) and Lahn (Ohm).
The following natural regions form the Vogelsberg:
Soils and rocks are, in all parts of the Vogelsberg – with the exception of the Giesel Forest – similar, but average annual temperatures drop noticeably towards the centre of the range (varying by up to 5 K) and the annual precipitation rises towards the Oberwald to an average of 1,200 mm.
The basalt areas of the Vogelsberg continue towards the east and north into its neighbouring natural regions, whilst the Giesel Forest in the east is already on bunter sandstone, like the rest of the natural regions towards the east.
The Vogelsberg massif has stone runs of basalt and tuff, raised bogs and areas of ancient woodland. Numerous hiking trails cross, not only the Oberwald, but also the rest of the area.
Oberwald.
The "Oberwald" (351.2) is the heart of the Vogelsberg and is entirely wooded; its outer boundary roughly follows the 600 metre contour line. In outer areas of the Vogelsberg, by contrast, there is a tapestry of green pasture, arable fields and woodlands.
Large parts of the Oberwald are protected. For example, the beech wood in the Taufstein Nature Reserve has been left to manage itself since 1906.
On the northern slopes of the Taufstein are large stone runs of basalt.
Outer High Vogelsberg.
The valleys of the Western (351.0) and Eastern (351.1) High Vogelsberg generally lie at heights of over 500 m in the north. In the west, some descend to under 400 m. In the main, the boundaries follow the watersheds of the source region of the most important rivers and especially that of the Rhine-Weser watershed, which runs from southeast to northwest, and the Lahn-Main watershed which heads east.
Because large areas of the original forest were cleared and the precipitation exceeds 1,000 mm per year, snow melt starts early. This and the less porous basalt loam soil frequently leads to flooding.
In this part of the Vogelsberg, the scenery changes in loose succession from woodlands, rich in springs, wetlands, poor grassland and stream valleys; besides there are also an raised bog and, in the southeast a number of waterbodies, the Vogelsberg Lakes ("Vogelsberger Seen").
Lower Vogelsberg (excluding the Giesel Forest).
The basaltic parts of the Lower Vogelsberg (350.1-350.5) range in height between 300 and 500 m, except on the western to southwestern fringes by the Wetterau where they descend below 200 m in places.
Its boundary with the Büdingen Forest to the south, with the Landrücken to the southeast and with the Giesel Forest (see below) to the east is less of a relief feature than the geological transition from basalt to bunter sandstone.
There is also this geological divide with the Fulda-Haune Tableland, which lies in front of the Knüll to the northeast. Between them is the "Großenlüder-Lauterbacher Graben". By contrast, in the north, the vulcanite does not end until it reaches the adjacent North Vogelsberg Foreland, i.e. outside the actual Vogelsberg. Even the Anterior Vogelsberg which lies outside the latter region still has large areas of basaltic rock. To the west the basalt zone reaches far into the gently rolling lowlands of the Wetterau, this depression lies alongside the middle and lower reaches of the Horloff river.
From a natural landscape perspective, the region is an island of forest comprising melic grasses and beech.
Giesel Forest.
In the Giesel Forest (350.6), which covers an area of 130 km2, the Vogelsberg pushes eastwards at heights of up to over 500 m to the edge of the
Fulda Basin. From a natural region perspective, the only bunter sandstone part of the Vogelsberg is clearly separated from the basaltic areas of the Lower Vogelsberg.
In addition to the woods that cover almost the entire natural region (including pine forests) there are extensive vegetation-free areas by the huge spoil tips of the potassium salt mine near Neuhof.
Table of natural regions (with high points).
The following table lists the natural regions from the centre outwards and then in clockwise order.
Drainage and water supply.
Not only does a section of the Rhine-Weser watershed run over the Vogelsberg, but also (within the Weser and Fulda systems) the watersheds between the Eder and Schwalm and Lower Fulda as well as (within the Rhine basin) that between the Main and the Lahn.
Groundwater and spring water from the Vogelsberg, along with water from the dem Spessart hills and Hessian Ried provides drinking water for the Rhine-Main region. As early as 1876 were springs in the eastern Vogelsberg enclosed for that purpose and the construction of water pipes from the Spessart and the Vogelsberg to the city of Frankfurt. A lack of understanding of the particular hydrogeological and ecological situation in the Vogelsberg and excessive withdrawal resulted in springs drying up, cracks appearing in buildings and subsidence of the ground. The Upper Hessian Water Companies ("Oberhessischen Versorgungsbetriebe AG", OVAG) are the largest water suppliers in the Vogelsberg: they pump out around 30 million cubic metres of ground water annually from their wells; about 2/3 goes to the city of Frankfurt in the Rhine-Main region.
Rivers and streams.
Numerous rivers and streams rise in the Vogelsberg, and flow radially from its highest point in all directions of the compass. In clockwise order, the rivers of the main catchments are the Schwalm, Lower Fulda, Kinzig, Nidda and Ohm. Often a well known river is fed by several almost equal tributaries.
The most important rivers systematically.
The main rivers of the Vogelsberg, in clockwise order starting in the north, are:
In the Vogelsberg the following lengths are misleading, however:
Waterbodies.
Among the waterbodies of the Vogelsbergs are the following lakes and reservoirs (sorted alphabetically):
Wildlife.
In recent years the Eurasian lynx has returned. There are rumors about wolves being sighted in the region. Sightings have been confirmed in an area north of the Vogelsberg. Wildcats are also said to exist in the region, although they, like lynxes, are notoriously hard to spot. As in most of Hesse, wild boar are present in large numbers.
Tourism.
The Vogelsberg is known for its winter sports areas on the Herchenhainer Höhe and Hoherodskopf (Alpine skiing and 55 km of "loipes").
In summer, apart from hiking, cycling is well catered for on the numerous long-distance cycling routes such as the Volcano Cycleway ("Vulkanradweg", Vogelsberg Southern Railway Cycleway ("Vogelsberger Südbahnradweg" ...). Moreover, there are regular RMV buses, the so-called Vulkan Express running from Büdingen, Stockheim, Nidda, Hungen, Mücke and Schlitz via Lauterbach at weekends to the heights of the Vogelsberg. These buses are equipped with bicycle trailers. The majority of bus routes run to the Hoherodskopf and so may be used in combination.
The Volcano and Southern Railway Cycleways are tarmacked and may also be used by inline skaters. There is a large network of signposted cycleways in and around the Vogelsberg Nature Fitness Park around the highest summits and also 70 km of signed mountain bike routes.
The Hoherodskopf is the touristic centre of the region. Here you will find the Nature Conservation Information Centre for the High Vogelsberg Nature Park and a tourist information centre for the town of Schotten, which are open daily all year-round. From this point, three nature trails have been set up, covering in the fields of geology, nature and sensory perception. There is a summer toboggan run, a tree ropes course, numerous hiking trails and several restaurants.


Black Crow Limestone

The Black Crow Limestone is an Early Eocene (Late Ypresian to Early Lutetian) geologic formation in the Sperrgebiet, ǁKaras Region of southwestern Namibia. The limestones of the approximately thin formation were deposited in a lacustrine to paludal environment. The formation provides many fossil mammals and amphibians, reptiles, fresh water snails and fish.
Description.
The type locality of Black Crow lies a few km north-east of Bogenfels Ghost Town, in the central part of the Tsau//Khaeb National Park (old name – Sperrgebiet) in Namibia. The Black Crow Limestone with a total thickness of about , is an Early Eocene stratigraphic unit of the Sperrgebiet that was formed in a small basin cutting into the dolomites of the Proterozoic Gariep Group. The top of the formation is formed by an erosional unconformity at the base of the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene Blaubok Conglomerate. The fauna from the Black Crow Limestone, especially the arsinoithere "Namatherium blackcrowense" and the reithroparamyid rodent "Namaparamys inexpectatus" indicate a Late Ypresian or Early Lutetian age for the deposits. The limestones are likely to be older than 42.5 Ma on the basis of radio-isotopic dates obtained from phonolite cobbles reworked from lavas considered to have erupted later than the limestone deposition. The carbonates could be as old as 47 ± 1 Ma, i.e. Late Ypresian to Early Lutetian.
Abundant pedotubules in the formation suggest accumulation in a swampy setting. There is a thick bed of carbonatite breccia intercalated in the fossiliferous limestone which indicates that carbonate deposition occurred contemporaneously with volcanic activity at the Ystervark Carbonatite Centre to the east of Black Crow, and other volcanoes in the region, which periodically injected vast quantities of carbonate into the sub-aerial terrestrial ecosystem.
Fossil content.
Various fossils have been recovered from the formation. The fossil land snails from the Black Crow Limestone, even though they are not very diverse, show biogeographic affinities with present-day southwestern Africa (Western Cape in South Africa and Western Namibia) and they suggest that at the time of deposition, the region lay within a zone of summer rainfall rather than winter rainfall. The paleoclimate has been interpreted as hot and humid, contrasting with the arid desert of today.
The following fossils are reported from the formation:


Canchacanchajasa

Canchacanchajasa (possibly from Quechua "kancha" enclosure, enclosed place, yard, a frame, or wall that encloses, "q'asa" mountain pass, the reduplication indicates that there is a group or a complex of something, "Cancha Cancha mountain pass") is a mountain in the Urubamba mountain range in the Andes of Peru. It is located in the Cusco Region, Calca Province, Calca District, north of the Urubamba River. Canchacanchajasa is situated southeast of Sirihuani, north of Cóndorhuachana and Huamanchoque and southwest of Sahuasiray. It lies in the upper part of the Cancha Cancha valley "(kancha kancha)" at the Lares trek.


Kapp Starostin Formation

The Kapp Starostin Formation is a geologic formation in Norway. The layers span around 27 million years of the Permian period; and it preserves fossils dating back to the Carboniferous period.


Nochaco

Nochaco is a hill in Los Ríos Region, southern Chile. The hill lies in the commune of Los Lagos just north of San Pedro River. Across the river in the south lies the mountain Llecué. The southern slopes are part of an epigenetic valley.


Waylla (Bolivia-Chile)

Waylla (Aymara "Stipa obtusa", a kind of feather grass, hispanicized spelling "Guailla, Huailla") is a mountain in the Andes located on the border of Bolivia and Chile in the Cordillera Occidental.
It consists of two peaks, Waylla East "(Guailla Oriente, Huaila Oriental, Huailla Oriental)" and Waylla West "(Guailla Occidente, Huailla Occidente)". The distance between the peaks is about 3 km. Waylla East is about 4,923 metres (16,152 ft) high, Waylla West, south west of it, about 4,870 metres (15,978 ft) high.
The next mountain, Wila Qullu, lies north east of Waylla and it is also situated on the border of Bolivia and Chile.
Waylla lies between the Salar de Huasco in the Tarapacá Region of Chile and the Uyuni salt pan in Bolivia. On the Bolivian side it is situated in the Potosí Department, Daniel Campos Province, Llica Municipality, Canquella Canton, north west of the village Pampa Anta.


2005 Northern Peru earthquake

The 2005 northern Peru earthquake occurred on September 25 at 20:56 local time (01:56 UTC) with a magnitude of 7.5. It resulted in the deaths of at least five people.
The epicenter was located about northeast of the jungle city of Moyobamba in the San Martín Region of Peru, and the earthquake struck an area about north of Lima. With its hypocenter located roughly below the surface, the quake extended itself below the Andes and was felt in a large area, including the Peruvian coastal regions and as far away as Bogotá, Colombia, as well as most of Ecuador and western Brazil.
Four people had initially been reported dead by the Peruvian media, but the mayor of Lamas (near Tarapoto) confirmed that only one had died and eleven more were injured. The media has reports of another fatal victim. Buildings damaged in Tarapoto, Moyobamba, Chachapoyas, Yurimaguas, Iquitos, Juanjuí, Bagua, Cajamarca, Tingo María and other cities.
Power outages were reported in Bagua, Jaén, Tambogrande and Talara.


Chirocentrites

Chirocentrites is an extinct genus of Ichthyodectidae.


Medusa (mountain)

Medusa is a mountain at the border of Argentina and Chile. It has a height of . It's located at Catamarca Province, Tinogasta Department, at the Puna de Atacama.
First Ascent.
Medusa was first climbed by Claudio Bravo (Argentina) on 22/01/1986.
Elevation.
Based on the elevation provided by the available Digital elevation models, SRTM (6119m), ASTER (6101m), SRTM filled with ASTER (6119m), ALOS (6101m), TanDEM-X(6163m), Medusa is about 6130 meters above sea level.
The height of the nearest key col is , so its prominence is . Medusa is listed as mountain, based on the Dominance system, and its dominance is 8.56%. Its parent peak is Ojos del Salado and the Topographic isolation is . This information was obtained during a research by Suzanne Imber in 2014.


Upper Carniola Basin

The Upper Carniola Basin () is a structural basin in Slovenia that lies north of Ljubljana.
The basin is bounded by the Sava Fault in the north and the Žužemberk Fault in the south. The basin is filled by Quaternary alluvial sediments.


Kogaionon (mammal)

Kogaionon is a mammal genus from the Upper Cretaceous of Romania. It lived in Transylvania the same time as some of the last non-avian dinosaurs and was a member of the extinct order of Multituberculata. It was named after Kogaionon, the holy mountain of the ancient Dacians. It lies within the suborder Cimolodonta and the family Kogaionidae. The genus "Kogaionon" was named by Rădulescu R. and Samson P. in 1996.
This genus is known from one species, Kogaionon ungureanui, the fossil remains of which have been found in the Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) Sinpetru Beds of the Hateg Formation in Romania. It is a micro-mammal, based on a well-preserved and near complete skull. The species name is in appreciation of the geologist Costin Ungureanu, who found the fossil.


Griesbachites

Griesbachites is a genus of Late Triassic ceratitids included in the Haloritidae, with widespread distribution from the Alps through the Himalaya and Timur to British Columbia.
The shell of "Griesbachites" is involute, subglobose to subdiscoidal, ribbed; with sloping sides converging on an arched venter. Like "Juvavites" except has nodes or clavi on the ventrolateral area of the phragmocone. Suture ammonitic.


Tufs et calcaires de Rosan

The Tufs et calcaires de Rosan is a geologic formation in France. It preserves fossils dating back to the Katian to Hirnantian (Kralodvorian to Kosovian in the regional stratigraphy) stages of the Late Ordovician period.
Fossil content.
The formation has provided fossils of:


Zeilberg

The Zeilberg is a hill, , in the Haßberge Nature Park and county of Haßberge in eastern Lower Franconia, about east of Maroldsweisach. It is one of the few still recognisable volcanoes of the Heldburger Gangschar and gives its name to the "Zeilberge", which are the highest part of the Itz-Baunach Hills that are geologically part of the actual Haßberge to the west, but are separated from them by the Baunach valley.
The extinct volcano is 16 million years old and is formed of nephelinite. It has been reduced in height due to extraction from a basalt quarry.
Tourism.
An adventure trail runs around the basalt quarry. The "Haus am Zeilberg" is also a popular venue for events.