User:Valich

Hi! I am Don Valich. My research interests are vertebrate paleontology, paleogeology, paleoecology, phylogenetics, and "origin of life" topics. Within the field of paleontology my primary focus is on the evolution of terrestrial mammals, with particular interest in the evolutionary lineages of the Cynodonts, Miacoidea, Creodonts, and all early Carnivora. I welcome any interests in these fields, especially Canidae (dog evolution), and any challenging questions or research assignments. I also have interests in researching the evolution of continental crusts and early land masses, and the accretion events that formed early supercontinents, such as the Wyoming Craton and the North American continent.

If I make a mistake on any article, please correct it. I would really appreciate it. All constructive comments, questions and insightful posts are very welcome.

The theory of evolution is the central unifying paradigm of all biology - Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.

Member of WikiProject Paleontology

Member of WikiProject Geology

Member of WikiProject Tree of Life

Member of WikiProject Evolutionary biology

Member of WikiProject Mammals

Member of WikiProject Tree of Life/Articles without images/Mammals

Member of WikiProject Dogs

To do list

 * Oodectes
 * Cynodonts
 * Hyainailouros sulzeri
 * Cimolesta
 * Hyaenodontidae
 * Oxyaenidae
 * Laurasiatheria
 * Miacoidea:
 * Miacidae: Chailicyon, Eostictis, Ictognathus, Miocyon, Oodectes, Palaearctonyx, Paramiacis, Prodaphaenus, Tapocyon, Uintacyon, Vassacyon, Vulpavus, Xinyuictis, Ziphacodon
 * Viverravidae: Bryanictis, Didymictis, Ictidopappus, Intyrictis, Pristinictis, Protictis, Raphictis, Simpsonictis, Viverravus, Quercygale
 * Musteloidea
 * Mesonychia - expand physical characteristics to differentiate Order Mesonyx
 * Nimravidae
 * Amphicyonidae
 * Dinocyon
 * Cephalogale
 * Agriotherium
 * Phoberocyon
 * Plithocyon
 * Amphicticeps
 * Amphicynodon
 * Pachycynodon
 * Kolponomos
 * Amphicyon
 * Borophaginae
 * Tomarctus
 * Sirenia (evolution)
 * Pikaia
 * Therapsids
 * Mojave accretion
 * Yavapai Orogeny
 * Mazatzal Orogeny
 * Laramide Orogeny)
 * Geology of the Grand Canyon area (cutting of the Colorado River - 3 major theories)
 * North China craton
 * Trans-North China Orogeny
 * Qilianshan Orogeny
 * Central Asian Orogeny
 * Geology of China
 * Geology of Taiwan
 * Yangtze craton
 * Sichuan Basin
 * Huangshan Orogeny
 * Tangula Mountains
 * Anyemaqen Mountain (6,282 m; 20,610 ft), Qinghai, source area Yangtze River

Contributions

 * All craton articles
 * Vaalbara: the Earth's first supercontinent (possibly 3.6 Ga/3.3 to 2.8 Ga)
 * Kenorland: the Earth's second supercontinent (~2.7 Ga)
 * Trans-Hudson orogeny
 * Wyoming craton
 * Colorado orogeny
 * Cheyenne belt
 * Baltic/Fennoscandian Shield
 * Limpopo Belt
 * Monzogranite and other mineral articles
 * Carnivoramorpha
 * Carnivora (evolution and phylogenetics}
 * Carnivore
 * hypercarnivore
 * Creodonta
 * Cimolesta
 * Miacoidea
 * Miacidae (phylogenetics)
 * Paroodectes
 * Red Panda
 * Hesperocyoninae
 * Temnocyoninae
 * Hemicyonidae
 * Sinonyx
 * Black Norwegian Elkhound
 * Cat Gap
 * Universal Genetic Code

Significant improvements on

 * All early Supercontinents
 * Structural geology articles
 * Mineral articles
 * Geology of the Grand Canyon area (Vishnu Group: Inner Gorge)
 * Evolution
 * Carnivores
 * Carnivora
 * Canidae
 * Ursidae-Brown Bear (evolution and phylogenetics)
 * Norwegian Elkhound
 * Andrewsarchus
 * Amphicyonidae (Bear-dogs)
 * Amphicyon
 * Daphoenus
 * Hemicyon
 * Megistotherium
 * Mesonychidae
 * Mesonyx
 * Last Universal Ancestor

Wikipedia-related
My favorite animal is the Norwegian Elkhound !

Meet "Kodi" - the friendliest, gentle, a bit shy, but most loveable Elkhound that ever existed! Super with children and always ready to give kisses! Her motto: "I love the attention, I love little children, and I live to be petted by everyone." THE WORLD:
 * Sphere: Our Universe
 * Realm: Life on Earth
 * Superdomain: Biota (Eubacteria, Archaea, Eukaryota)
 * Domain: Eukaryota (eukaryotes) - protists, fungi, plants, animals (membrane-bound nucleus, most multicellular)
 * Kingdom: Animalia-Metazoa (animals) - multicellular, locomotion, responsive to environment, fixed body plan
 * Subkingdom: Eumetazoa - all animal groups except sponges
 * Subregum: Bilateria (bilaterians) - having bilateral symmetry; metazoan triploblastic animals
 * Branch: Deuterostomia (deuterostomes) - in embryonic development first opening (blastopore) becomes anus, in Protostomia blastopore becomes mouth
 * Infrakingdom: Chordinia
 * Phylum: Chordata (chordates) - notochord, hollow dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, endostyle, tail
 * Clade: Craniata (craniates) - all animals having a skull
 * Subphylum: Vertebrata (vertebrates) - with backbones or spinal column
 * Infraphylum: Gnathostomata - jawed vertebrates
 * Class Sarcopterygii? - lobe-finned bony fishes with paired rounded fins; include lungfish and coelacanths
 * Terrestrial Vertebrates
 * Superclass: Tetrapoda (tetrapods) - having four limbs or four leg-like appendages
 * Series: Amniota - Synapsida (mammals, mammal-like reptiles), Sauropsida (reptiles, dinosaurs, Aves-birds)
 * Taxon: Therapsida
 * Clade: Mammaliaformes - mammals and extinct relatives: Allotheria, Docodonta (Morganucodonta), Symmetrodonta
 * Class: Mammalia (mammals) - vertebrates; milk production in females; hair/fur; specialized teeth; 3 specialized ear bones; neocortex region in brain; endothermic (warm-blooded)
 * Subclass: Theria/Theriiformes
 * Infraclass: Holotheria - live-bearing mammals and prehistoric relatives Symmetrodonta (basal Mesozoic mammals)
 * Superlegion: Trechnotheria - Cladotheria (Theria, Dryolestidae, Amphitherium, Prototribosphenida), Spalacotheriids (Akidolestes, Zhangheotherium, Maotherium), and their relatives; characterized by features of the scapula, tibia, humerus
 * Legion: Cladotheria - Theria, Dryolestidae (drylostids), Zatheria, and their relatives; characterized by features of the tribosphenic molar and angular process of dentary
 * Sublegion: Zatheria - Theria & fossil relatives (Peramuridae, Deltatheridium); distinctly zatherian molars
 * Infralegion: Tribosphenida
 * Supercohort: Theria (therians) - mammal subclass that give birth to live young without shelled egg (placentals, marsupials)
 * Cohort: Placentalia-Eutheria (placentals) - placental mammals
 * Magnorder: Epitheria (epitheres)
 * Superorder: Preptotheria-Laurasiatheria - carnivores, whales, bats, horses, Manidae (pangolins-scaly anteaters), etc
 * Grandorder: Ferae - Carnivomorpha, Creodonta, Oxyaenidae, Hyaenodontidae
 * Crown Order: Carnivoramorpha - Miacoidea, Carnivora
 * Order: Carnivora (carnivores), Miacidae (ancestral carnivore), Viverravidae, Nimravidae, Amphicyonidae (Bear-dogs), Viverridae (civets, genets, mongooses), Ursidae (bears), Felidae (cats), Canidae, Procyonidae (raccoons), Otariidae (sea lions), Phocidae (seals), Odobenidae (walruses), Mustelidae (weasels), Herpestidae (mongooses), Hyaenidae (hyenas)
 * Infraorder Miacoidea/Miacoid Group †(45-65 Ma)
 * Suborder: Caniformia (Canidae, Arctoidae, †Amphicyonidae, Ursidae, Ailuridae, Mephitidae, Mustelidae, Procyonidae, Pinnipedia)
 * Superfamily: Canoidea (dog-like carnivores)
 * Family: Canidae (Canids -from the German: Caniden-Canidenformen) - (†Hesperocyoninae, †Borophaginae (Tomarctus), Caninae)
 * Subfamily: Caninae - †Eucyon (8 Ma ), wolves, Vulpes (foxes), jackals, coyotes, dingos, dogs
 * Tribe Canini (True Dogs)
 * Genus: Canis - wolves, coyotes, foxes, jackals Canis davisi
 * Species: Canis lupus - gray wolf
 * Subspecies: Canis lupus familiaris - domestic dogs
 * Breed: Norwegian Elkhound
 * Given Name: Kodiak Bear



Userboxes/My Profile
Wiki tool links see: [] [] [] [] <!--