Indricoterium fauna , or Turgay fauna, is a faunistic complex of extinct mammals and other animals that inhabited the temperate zone of Eurasia (from the Balkan Peninsula to China ) in the Middle Oligocene .
Content
- 1 Discovery History
- 2 Composition of the Turgay fauna
- 3 Indricoterium fauna in the cinema
- 4 See also
- 5 Literature
Discovery History
It was discovered in 1915 in Western Kazakhstan by paleontologist Aleksei Alekseevich Borisyak . He found in the Turgai hollow (hence the second name - the Turgay fauna ) the fossilized bones of a giant representative of the rhino-like indricoterium typical of the indricoterium fauna and a number of thermophilic mammals - inhabitants of forests , forest-steppes and swamps .
Composition of the Turgay fauna
Horned hoofed animals were one of the main representatives of this fauna: indrikoterii , running ( hyracodonts such as eggisodon of Turgai ) and marsh ( aminodonts ) rhinoceroses, as well as tapiroids and halikoterii . In addition, the indricoterium fauna included: from insectivores - primitive hedgehogs and shrews , from predators - creodonts and others, ancient hare-like , from rodents - protein-like , hamsters , beavers of the genus Palaeocastor and others, from artiodactyls - non-ruminant ( anthracothera, and ent also primitive ruminants - short-legged ( Lophiomeryx ) and long-legged ( Prodremotherium ) deer . In addition to mammals, the Turgai fauna included birds , turtles , fish , insects and mollusks . In the vast space inhabited by this fauna, its composition was heterogeneous.
Indricoterium Fauna in Cinema
In the 3rd series of the popular science series BBC " Walking with the Beasts " tells about the life of indrikoterii and other representatives of the Turgay fauna of Mongolia .
See also
- Hipparionic fauna
- Mammoth fauna
Literature
- Biological Encyclopedic Dictionary / Ch. ed. M.S. Gilyarov ; Editorial: A.A. Baev , G.G. Vinberg, G.A. Zavarzin et al. - M .: Sov. Encyclopedia , 1986. - S. 229-230. - 831 s. - 100,000 copies.