• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home News Environment

Artist reconstructs image of wolf-sized otter which once roamed the Earth’s ancient swamps

A wolf-sized otter weighing close to eight stones once roamed the Earth’s ancient swamps, a new study revealed. The ancient species was almost as twice as large of present day otters and had features similar to an otter and a badger. It also had powerful jaws to crunch large shellfish and freshwater mollusks which would […]

Jack Peat by Jack Peat
2017-01-23 13:34
in Environment, News
Artist's reconstruction of two individuals of Siamogale melilutra sp. nov., one of them feeding on a freshwater clam. The tapir in the background is Tapirus yunnanensis. Aquatic plants include water chestnut (Typha) and fox nut (Euryale) and the low shrub in foreground is Sichuan peppercorn (Zanthoxylum). See National News story NNOTTER: A wolf-sized otter weighing close to eight stones once roamed the Earth's ancient swamps, a new study revealed. The ancient species was almost as twice as large of present day otters and had features similar to an otter and a badger. It also had powerful jaws to crunch large shellfish and freshwater mollusks which would have been their main food. The otter named Siamogale melilutra lived some six million years ago and belongs to an ancient lineage of extinct otters, which goes back at least 18 million years.

Artist's reconstruction of two individuals of Siamogale melilutra sp. nov., one of them feeding on a freshwater clam. The tapir in the background is Tapirus yunnanensis. Aquatic plants include water chestnut (Typha) and fox nut (Euryale) and the low shrub in foreground is Sichuan peppercorn (Zanthoxylum). See National News story NNOTTER: A wolf-sized otter weighing close to eight stones once roamed the Earth's ancient swamps, a new study revealed. The ancient species was almost as twice as large of present day otters and had features similar to an otter and a badger. It also had powerful jaws to crunch large shellfish and freshwater mollusks which would have been their main food. The otter named Siamogale melilutra lived some six million years ago and belongs to an ancient lineage of extinct otters, which goes back at least 18 million years.

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

A wolf-sized otter weighing close to eight stones once roamed the Earth’s ancient swamps, a new study revealed.

The ancient species was almost as twice as large of present day otters and had features similar to an otter and a badger.

It also had powerful jaws to crunch large shellfish and freshwater mollusks which would have been their main food.

The otter named Siamogale melilutra lived some six million years ago and belongs to an ancient lineage of extinct otters, which goes back at least 18 million years.

Previously the only examples were isolated teeth recovered from Thailand until paleontologist found more fossilised remains at Shuitangba in the Yunnan Province,
Southwestern China.

Scans revealed a complete cranium, mandible, dentition and various skeletal elements sheds light on the evolution of the little known fossil genus of the otter family.

Curator & Head of Paleobotany and Paleoecology Dr Denise Su at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History said: “Otters (subfamily Lutrinae) are semi-aquatic predators in the family Mustelidae.

RelatedPosts

Firefighters tackle London blaze as another week of hot weather gets underway

It won’t wash! Tory MP’s defence of Sunak funding boast falls FLAT

FOUR more regions set for hosepipe ban – will London be next?

Archie Battersbee dies in hospital, mother announces

“Modern otters have a worldwide distribution but their fossil record is poor, often consisting of fragmentary jaws and teeth.

“Multiple lineages have developed bunodont dentitions with enlargements of molars, usually for cracking molluscs or other hard foods.

“Some lineages have evolved badger-like teeth and, as a result, were often confused with melines (Old World badger clade).”

“From the vegetation and other animal groups found at Shuitangba, we know that it was a swampy, shallow lake with quite dense vegetation.

“While the cranium is incredibly complete, it was flattened during the fossilisation process.

“The bones were so delicate that we could not physically restore the cranium.

“Instead, we CT-scanned the specimen and virtually reconstructed it in a computer,”

The CT scans revealed a combination of otter-like and badger-like cranial and dental feature.

Because of this its species name was called “melilutra,” derived from meles, Latin for badger and lutra, Latin for otter.

Lead author Curator and Head of Vertebrate Palaeontolog Dr Xiaoming Wang at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County said: “Multiple otter lineages have low-crowned, bunodont teeth, leading us to ask the question if this was inherited from a common ancestor or if this was convergent evolution based on common dietary behaviours across different species

“Our phylogenetic analysis suggests that bunodont dentition independently appeared at least three times over the evolutionary history of otters.”

“The discovery of the otter helps solve some questions about otter relationships, but
has opened the door to new questions

“For instance, why was it so large, how did it crack open mollusks and shellfish for
food, and how did it move in the water and on land?”

Dr Su added: “Continued future studies by our group will address these fundamental questions and give us a more complete picture of its paleobiology.”

The study was published in the Journal of Systematic Paleontology.

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

Watch: Marr criticised for appearing to shut down Emily Thornberry as she slams Govt’s handling of energy crisis

Man jailed for ‘horrific’ road rage attack on 80-year-old

Germany brings in 10% price decrease for rail travel…while UK sees 2.7% increase

Five tips for purchasing buy-to-let property

Film Review: Red Sparrow

Here’s what Christmas items you’re not allowed to take on flights

Industry body recommends six hour working day to stave off slumps in productivity during winter

Millions of parents have never applied sun protection to their children – even in the summer months

Thousands demanding Ryanair publicly apologise & compensate elderly victim of racist tirade on its flight

2019: The year the world woke up to the climate crisis

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.