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Wilmington, North Carolina once had a thriving Black middle class and an elected interracial government. In 1898 white supremacists used violence to overthrow that government, kill Black residents and drive many others from the city.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
| Achillesaurus Temporal range: Santonian
~ | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Genus: | †Achillesaurus |
| Species: | †A. manazzonei
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Achillesaurus manazzonei Martinelli & Vera 2007
| |
Achillesaurus is a genus of alvarezsaurid theropod dinosaur from the Santonian-aged (Late Cretaceous) Bajo de la Carpa Formation of Rio Negro, Argentina. It contains one species, Achillesaurus manazzonei.
The holotype specimen of Achillesaurus, MACN-PV-RN 1116, was discovered in 1995 by a team of the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia” led by Dr. José F. Bonaparte. It was found in the Paso Córdova Locality, Río Negro Province, northern Patagonia, where the Santonian-aged Bajo de la Carpa Formation outcrops.[1]
Its genus name was chosen in reference to Achilles' heel, because diagnostic features are found there for these animals, while the species name honors Professor Rafael Manazzone, an amateur paleontologist whose knowledge of Patagonian fossils and localities assisted the researchers on their field trips.[1]
The genus was a relatively large, basal alvarezsaurid, and a contemporary of Alvarezsaurus. It is only known from MACN-PV-RN 1116, a partial skeleton including a sacral vertebra, four tail vertebrae, part of the left thighbone, shin and foot, and the left ilium. Agustín Martinelli and Ezequiel Vera, who described the specimen, performed a phylogenetic analysis and found their new genus to be an alvarezsaurid with an unresolved relationship to Alvarezsaurus and more derived alvarezsaurids.[1]
However, Makovicky, Apesteguía & Gianechini (2012) argued that Achillesaurus might actually be a junior synonym of Alvarezsaurus, which, according to the authors, "is known from the same formation and from which it [i.e. Achillesaurus] differs trivially."[2]
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
Achillesaurus is a genus of alvarezsaurid theropod dinosaur from the Santonian-aged (Late Cretaceous) Bajo de la Carpa Formation of Rio Negro, Argentina. It contains one species, Achillesaurus manazzonei.
Therizinosaurus ( ; meaning 'scythe lizard') is a genus of very large therizinosaurid dinosaurs that lived in the Maastrichtian age during the Late Cretaceous period in what is now Asia roughly 69-66 million years ago. It contains a single species, Therizinosaurus cheloniformis, known from the fossiliferous Nemegt Formation. The first remains of Therizinosaurus were found in 1948 by a Mongolian field expedition in the Gobi Desert and later described by Evgeny Maleev in 1954. The genus is only known from a few bones, including gigantic manual unguals (claw bones), from which it gets its name, and additional findings comprising fore and hindlimb elements that were discovered from the 1960s through the 1980s. Therizinosaurus was a colossal therizinosaurid that could grow up to 9–10 m (30–33 ft) long and 4–5 m (13–16 ft) tall, and weigh possibly over 5 t (5.5 short tons). Like other therizinosaurids, it would have been a slow-moving, long-necked, high browser equipped with a rhamphotheca (beak) and a wide torso for food processing. Its forelimbs were particularly robust and had three fingers that bore unguals which, unlike other relatives, were very stiffened, elongated, and only had significant curvatures at the tips. Therizinosaurus had the longest known manual unguals of any land animal, reaching above 50 cm (20 in) in length. Its hindlimbs ended in four functionally weight-bearing toes differing from other theropod groups in which the first toe was reduced to a dewclaw and also resembling the very distantly related sauropodomorphs. It was one of the last and the largest representative of its unique group, the Therizinosauria (formerly known as Segnosauria; the segnosaurs). During and after its original description in 1954, Therizinosaurus had rather complex relationships due to the lack of complete specimens and relatives at the time. Maleev thought the remains of Therizinosaurus to belong to a large turtle-like reptile, and also named a separate family for the genus: Therizinosauridae. Later on, with the discovery of more complete relatives, Therizinosaurus and kin were thought to represent some kind of Late Cretaceous sauropodomorphs or transitional ornithischians, even though at some point it was suggested that it may have been a theropod. After years of taxonomic debate, nevertheless, they are now placed in one of the major dinosaur clades, Theropoda, specifically as maniraptorans. Therizinosaurus is widely recovered within Therizinosauridae by most analyses. The unusual arms and body anatomy (extrapolated after relatives) of Therizinosaurus have been cited as an example of convergent evolution with chalicotheriines and other primarily herbivorous mammals like ground sloths, suggesting similar feeding habits. The elongated hand claws of Therizinosaurus were possibly more efficient at pulling vegetation within reach than being used for active attack or defense because it has been believed they would have been relatively fragile. However, Its arms were found to have been particularly resistant to stress, which suggests a robust and versatile use of these limbs ranging from both foraging and self defense. Therizinosaurus was a very tall animal, likely having a reduced competition over the foliage in its habitat and rivalling predators like the tyrannosaurid Tarbosaurus in size.
Gastornis is an extinct genus of large, flightless birds that lived from the middle Paleocene to the middle Eocene epochs of the Paleogene. Most known fossils have been recovered from Europe, although species historically assigned to the genus have also been reported from North America and Asia. Several genera, including the well-studied Diatryma, have traditionally been regarded as junior synonyms of Gastornis. This classification has been challenged by more recent studies, however, and some researchers regard Diatryma as a distinct and valid genus. Gastornis species were very large birds historically considered to be predators of small mammals, including early, diminutive equids. This interpretation has since been questioned by several lines of evidence. The absence of hooked claws in known Gastornis footprints, together with analyses of its beak morphology and the isotopic signatures of its bones, suggests that it was more likely herbivorous, feeding primarily on tough plant material and seeds. Gastornis is generally considered to be related to the Galloanserae, the clade comprising modern waterfowl and gamebirds.
Alvarezsauridae is a family of small, long-legged dinosaurs. Although originally thought to represent the earliest known flightless birds, they are now thought to be an early diverging branch of maniraptoran theropods. Alvarezsaurids were highly specialized, with tiny, stout forelimbs ending in compact, bird-like hands. Their skeletons suggest that they had massive breast and arm muscles, possibly adapted for digging or tearing. They had long, tube-shaped snouts filled with tiny teeth. They have generally been interpreted as myrmecophagous, adapted to prey on colonial insects such as termites, with the short arms acting as effective digging instruments to break into nests. Alternative hypotheses of ovivory interpret the manus as specialized shell-cracking apparatuses, using the large claws and robust forelimbs to puncture eggs. Alvarezsaurus, the type genus of the family, was named after the historian and physician Gregorio Álvarez. Fossils attributed to alvarezsaurids have been found in North America, South America, and Asia, and range in age from about 86 to 66 million years ago.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Mae Jemison, aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992.
