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Miocene first appearances

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Dinornithiformes
Moa (order Dinornithiformes) are an extinct group of flightless birds formerly endemic to New Zealand. During the Late Pleistocene-Holocene, there were nine species, in six genera. The two largest species, Dinornis robustus and Dinornis novaezelandiae, reached about in height with neck outstretched, and weighed about ; the smallest, the bush moa (Anomalopteryx didiformis), was about the size of a turkey. Estimates of the moa population when Polynesians settled New Zealand circa 1300 C.E. range from 58,000 to 2.5 million.
megalodon
Otodus megalodon ( ; meaning "big tooth"), commonly known as megalodon, is an extinct species of giant mackerel shark that lived approximately 23 to 3.6 million years ago (Mya), from the Early Miocene to the Early Pliocene epochs. This prehistoric fish was once thought to be a member of the family Lamnidae and a close relative of the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), but has been reclassified into the extinct family Otodontidae, which diverged from the great white shark during the Early Cretaceous.
Machairodontinae
Machairodontinae (from Ancient Greek μάχαιρα (mákhaira), a type of ancient sword, and ὀδούς (odoús), meaning "tooth") is an extinct subfamily of carnivoran mammals of the cat family Felidae, representing the earliest diverging major branch of the family.
Sivatherium
Sivatherium ("Shiva's beast", from Shiva and therium, Latinized form of Ancient Greek θηρίον - thēríon) is an extinct genus of giraffid that ranged throughout Africa and Eurasia. The species Sivatherium giganteum is, by weight, one of the largest giraffids known, and also one of the largest ruminants of all time. Sivatherium originated during the Late Miocene (around 7 million years ago) in Africa and survived through to the late Early Pleistocene (Calabrian) until around 1 million years ago.
Mammutidae
Mammutidae is an extinct family of proboscideans belonging to Elephantimorpha. It is best known for the mastodons (genus Mammut) which inhabited North America from the Late Miocene (around 8 million years ago) until their extinction at the beginning of the Holocene around 11,000 years ago. The earliest fossils of the group are known from the Late Oligocene of Africa, around 24 million years ago, and fossils of the group have also been found across Eurasia. The name "mastodon" derives from Ancient Greek μαστός (mastós), meaning "nipple", and ὀδούς (odoús), meaning "tooth", referring to their ch
Mohoidae
Mohoidae, also known as the Hawaiian honeyeaters, is a family of Hawaiian species of now recently extinct, nectarivorous songbirds in the genera Moho (ōō) and Chaetoptila (kioea). These now extinct birds form their own family, representing the only complete extinction of an entire avian family in modern times, when the disputed family Turnagridae is regarded as invalid. The last surviving species in the family, the Kauaʻi ʻōʻō (Moho braccatus), became extinct after 1987.
Meiolania
Meiolania is an extinct genus of meiolaniid stem-turtle native to Australasia throughout much of the Cenozoic. Meiolania was a large turtle, with the shell alone ranging from in length. Four species are currently recognized, although the validity of two of them is disputed. Meiolania was first described as a species of lizard related to Megalania by Richard Owen towards the end of the 19th century, before the continued discovery of additional fossils solidified its placement as a kind of turtle.
Barbourofelidae
Barbourofelinae is a subfamily of carnivorans within the extinct family of feliforms known as Nimravidae. Sometimes known as false saber-toothed cats, that lived in North America, Eurasia and Africa during the Miocene epoch (22.8—7 million years ago) and existed for about . Once thought to have been an independent lineage from the nimravids and Machairodontinae, most experts over the recent years have reclassified them as nimravids.
horned gophers
Ceratogaulus is an extinct genus of rodents, a member of the extinct fossorial (burrowing) rodent family Mylagaulidae. Ceratogaulus is one of two rodent genera with horns (along with fellow mylagaulid Mylagaulus) and is the smallest known horned mammal. Ceratogaulus lived in North America from the late Miocene to the early Pliocene epochs, 16.3 to 5.3 million years ago. Ceratogaulus (and to a lesser extent Mylagaulus) have sometimes been nicknamed "horned gophers", though they are only distantly related to true gophers.
Climacoceratidae
Climacoceratidae is a family of superficially deer-like artiodactyl ungulates which lived in the Miocene epoch in Africa. They are close to the ancestry of giraffes, with some genera, such as Prolibytherium, originally classified as giraffes, but later found to have been of entirely different families.
Dryopithecini
Dryopithecini is an extinct tribe of Eurasian and African great apes that are believed to be close to the ancestry of gorillas, chimpanzees and humans. Members of this tribe are known as dryopithecines.
Stegodontidae
Stegodontidae (from the Ancient Greek στέγω (stégō), meaning "to cover", and ὀδούς (odoús), meaning "tooth", named for the distinctive ridges on the animal's molars) is an extinct family of proboscideans from Africa and Asia (with a single occurrence in Europe) from the Early Miocene (at least 17.3 million years ago) to the Late Pleistocene. It contains two genera, the earlier Stegolophodon, known from the Miocene of Asia and the later Stegodon, from the Late Miocene to Late Pleistocene of Africa and Asia (with a single occurrence in Greece) which is thought to have evolved from the former. Th
Platygonus
Platygonus ("flat head" in reference to the straight shape of the forehead) is an extinct genus of herbivorous peccaries of the family Tayassuidae, endemic to North and South America from the Miocene through Pleistocene epochs (10.3 million to 11,000 years ago), existing for about . P. compressus stood tall.
Bramatherium
Bramatherium (Brahma’s beast) is an extinct genus of giraffids that ranged from India to Turkey in Asia. It is closely related to the larger Sivatherium.
Percrocutidae
Percrocutidae is an extinct family of hyena-like feliform carnivorans endemic to Asia, Africa, and Southern Europe from the Middle Miocene through the Pliocene, existing for about .
Metailurini
Metailurini is an extinct taxonomic tribe of large saber-toothed cats that lived in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America from the Miocene to the Pleistocene.
Thylacosmilidae
Thylacosmilidae is an extinct family of metatherian predators, related to the modern marsupials, which lived in South America between the Miocene and Pliocene epochs. Like other South American mammalian predators that lived prior to the Great American Biotic Interchange, these animals belonged to the order Sparassodonta, which occupied the ecological niche of many eutherian mammals of the order Carnivora from other continents. The family's most notable feature are the elongated, laterally flattened fangs, which is a remarkable evolutionary convergence with other saber-toothed mammals like Barb
Palaeomerycidae
The Palaeomerycidae is an extinct family of Neogene ruminants belonging to the infraorder Pecora. Palaeomerycids lived in Europe and Asia exclusively during the Miocene, coevolving with cervids, bovids, moschids, and tragulids there as part of a dramatic radiation of ruminants by the early Miocene.
Choerolophodontidae
Choerolophodontidae is an extinct family of proboscideans belonging to Elephantida. Two genera are widely recognised, Afrochoerodon and Choerolophodon.
Amebelodontidae
Amebelodontidae is an extinct family of large herbivorous proboscidean mammals related to elephants. They were formerly assigned to Gomphotheriidae, but recent authors consider them a distinct family. They are distinguished from other proboscideans by having flattened lower tusks (leading to the nickname "shovel tuskers") and very elongate mandibular symphysis (the fused frontmost part of the lower jaw). The lower tusks could grow to considerable size, with those of Konobelodon reaching in length. Their molar teeth are typically trilophodont (with only Konobelodon being fully tetralophodont),
Desmatophocidae
Desmatophocidae is an extinct family of pinnipeds closely related to either the eared seals and walruses or to the earless seals. These animals were the first group of large-bodied pinnipeds to evolve, first appearing in the Early Miocene, with no direct modern descendants. Desmatophocids have only been found to live in the North Pacific, with fossils being found in Baja California, California, Oregon, Washington, and Japan.
Proconsulidae
Proconsulidae is an early family of primates that lived during the Miocene epoch in Kenya, and was restricted to Africa. Members of the family have a mixture of Old World monkey and ape characteristics, so the placement in the ape superfamily Hominoidea is tentative; some scientists place Proconsulidae outside of Hominoidea in a separate superfamily Proconsuloidea, before the split of the apes and Old World monkeys.
Hydrodamalinae
Hydrodamalinae is a recently extinct subfamily of the sirenian family Dugongidae. The Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) was hunted to extinction by 1768, while the genus Dusisiren is known from fossils dating from the middle Miocene to early Pliocene.
Chunga
genus of birds in the Seriema family (Cariamidae)
Homotherini
Homotherini (Machairodontini) is a tribe (or subtribe) of saber-toothed cats of the family Felidae (true cats). The tribe is commonly known as scimitar-toothed cats. These saber-toothed cats were endemic to North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America from the Miocene to Pleistocene living from c. 12.5 Ma until c. 12,000 years ago. The evolutionary relationship between the tribes Homotherini and Machairodontini cause paleontologists to classify Homotherini either as a subtribe of Machairodontini, or the same tribe often using either name interchangeably.
Lophocyonidae
Lophocyonidae is an extinct family of feliform carnivorans from the Miocene of Europe.
Otavipithecus
Otavipithecus namibiensis is an extinct species of ape from the Miocene of Namibia. The fossils were discovered at the Berg Aukas mines in the foothills of the Otavi mountains, hence the generic name. The species was described in 1992 by Glenn Conroy and colleagues, and was at the time the only non-hominin fossil ape known from Southern Africa. The scientists noted that the surrounding area of the discovered specimen included fauna dated at "about 13 ± 1 Myr". The fossils consist of part of the lower jawbone with molars, a partial frontal bone, a heavily damaged ulna, one vertebra and a partia
Cosmopolitodus
Cosmopolitodus is an extinct genus of mackerel shark that lived between thirty and one million years ago during the late Oligocene to the Early Pleistocene epochs. Its type species is Cosmopolitodus hastalis. In 2021, Isurus planus was reassigned to the genus, and thus became the second species C. planus. However, some researchers still consider both species of Cosmopolitodus as species of Carcharodon. A possible third species, C. xiphodon was proposed, though it is now placed as junior synonym of Carcharodon plicatilis.
Q3803933
species of fish (fossil)
Eocardia
Eocardia is an extinct genus of rodent from the Early to Middle Miocene of Argentina (Santa Cruz Formation) and Chile, South America. The long creature was related to guinea pigs and the capybara.
Chalicotheriinae
REDIRECT Chalicotheriidae Category:Pleistocene extinctions Category:Miocene first appearances
Praekogia
Praekogia is an extinct genus of cetacean in the family Kogiidae that lived during the Miocene, containing one species: P. cedrosensis. Fossils have been found in Mexico (Baja California).
Neoepiblemidae
The Neoepiblemidae are an extinct family of hystricognath rodents from South America. The genera Dabbenea and Perumys are now included in Phoberomys. The delineation between Neoepiblemidae and Dinomyidae has historically been unclear, with some genera (such as Phoberomys and Eusigmomys) having varying taxonomic placement. A 2017 study found Phoberomys to be part of the group, while Eusigmomys was found to be part of the Dinomyidae.
Pelocetidae
Pelocetidae is an extinct family of baleen whales. This family existed during the Miocene in North America, Europe, Australia and Japan.
Protanancus
Protanancus is an extinct genus of amebelodontid proboscidean native to Africa and Asia during the Miocene epoch. The generic name is derived from the unrelated Anancus, and the Greek prōtos "first".
Pliopithecoidea
Pliopithecoidea is an extinct superfamily of catarrhine primates that inhabited Asia and Europe during the Miocene. Although they were once a widespread and diverse group of primates, the pliopithecoids have no living descendants.
Diamantomyidae
Diamantomyidae is a family of extinct hystricognath rodents from Africa and Asia.
Schizotheriinae
REDIRECT Chalicotheriidae Category:Pleistocene extinctions Category:Miocene first appearances Category:Taxa named by William Jacob Holland
Blancotherium
Blancotherium (meaning "Blanco Creek beast") is an extinct genus of gomphotheriid proboscidean from Texas. Originally named Gnathabelodon "buckneri", the genus consists solely of type species B. buckneri.