A New Doglike Carnivore, Genus Cynarctus, From the Clarendonian, Pliocene, of

Eugene Raymond HallProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.8

Word count: 5.4K words
Chapters: 1

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.A New Doglike Carnivore, Genus Cynarctus, From the Clarendonian, Pliocene, ofAuthor: Hall, E. Raymond (Eugene Raymond), 1902-1986,Language: English, Class: QH: Science: Natural history, Release Date: Oct 15, 2009

Editor's review

This is a short academic paper with a popular-science aspect, written by E. Raymond Hall, discussing a new species of the doglike carnivore genus Cynarctus from Pliocene Clarendonian strata. The article follows the format of a museum or academic research report, focusing on morphological description of fossil material, taxonomic placement, and comparative discussion rather than narrative popular science for a general audience. For general readers, its value lies not in storytelling but in offering a window onto the writing conventions and terminology of mid-twentieth-century fossil mammal taxonomy; for enthusiasts of paleontology, geology, or the history of science, it shows how researchers of the time established a new species based on dental and skeletal features. The free electronic edition is suitable as supplementary professional reading or as a stylistic sample of scientific writing. Be warned that the article is dense with terminology and relies heavily on figures and literature, so readers without background knowledge may find it hard going.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students and researchers in paleontology and geology
Popular-science readers interested in carnivore evolution and taxonomy
Historians of science studying twentieth-century scientific paper conventions and terminology
Advanced learners needing practice reading English paleontology literature

Not a good fit for

General readers seeking narrative popular science or illustrated guides
Chinese readers lacking a foundation in geological periods and anatomical terminology

Reading tips

First look up the basic background of the Pliocene, the Clarendonian, and the genus Cynarctus before entering the text.
As you read, take brief notes on each morphological description to sort out the basis for identifying the new species.
Read alongside a textbook or review article on fossil mammal taxonomy to lower the terminology barrier.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this paper suitable for general popular-science readers?

Not really. The article is written in the format of an academic research report, dense with terminology and focused on morphological description and taxonomic discussion, with little background setup or narrative for a general audience. Readers without a paleontology foundation will find it a demanding read.

What background knowledge is needed before reading?

It helps to first understand the approximate chronological position of the Pliocene and the Clarendonian, the place of Cynarctus in carnivore taxonomy, and basic terminology for describing teeth and skull morphology. With that groundwork, understanding the basis for the new species will be much smoother.

What does the article mainly discuss?

The article discusses new material of the doglike carnivore genus Cynarctus found in Clarendonian strata, covering its morphological features, comparisons with related groups, and the taxonomic placement of the new species. It is a report in the nature of fossil mammal taxonomic research.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Eugene Raymond Hall Author · American · 1902–1986

E. Raymond Hall (Eugene Raymond Hall, 1902–1986) was an American mammalogist born in Iams, Kansas. He served as curator of the Museum of Mammalogy at the University of California, Berkeley, and from 1944 was chairman of the Department of Zoology and director of the Museum of Natural History at the University of Kansas. He authored Mammals of North America and published more than 340 papers. The database holds 17 of his works, mostly studies of small mammals of North America and Mexico, such as American Weasels, A Synopsis of the North American Lagomorpha, and taxonomic treatises on North American and Mexican bats and carnivores. These works are known for solid specimen records and taxonomic descriptions and remain important references in the field. Public information is limited, so further biographical details cannot be given here.