A fact from Paleontology in Montana appeared on Wikipedia's
Main Page in the Did you know column on 7 February 2013 (
check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Palaeontology, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of
palaeontology-related topics and create a standardized, informative, comprehensive and easy-to-use resource on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
the discussion and see a list of open tasks.PalaeontologyWikipedia:WikiProject PalaeontologyTemplate:WikiProject PalaeontologyPalaeontology articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Montana, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the
U.S. state of Montana on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
the discussion and see a list of open tasks.MontanaWikipedia:WikiProject MontanaTemplate:WikiProject MontanaMontana articles
During the early
Cenozoic the sea began to withdraw from the state. Plants,
insects,
dogs, and
titanotheres are preserved from this time.
During the early
Cenozoic era ... Montana was home to creatures like dogs and titanotheres.
The Cenozoic covers the period from 66 million years ago to the present. The dog evolved from a wolf starting about 15,000 years ago, long after the "early" Cenozoic.
Gray wolf says, "C. lupus' most recent probable ancestor is Canis lepophagus, a small, narrow skulled North American canid of the
Miocene era...." Canis lepophagus says "Canis lepophagus, the hare-eating wolf or Johnston's coyote is an extinct
species of
canid which was endemic to much of
North America and lived from the
Miocene epoch through
Early Pleistocene, 10.3—1.8
Mya." So even the ancestor to the gray wolf appears only within the last 10.3 million years, long after the "early" Cenozoic. If the second usage is intended to convey that Montana was home to dog-like creatures and titanotheres, it should say exactly that: "Montana was home to dog-like creatures and titanotheres." But "creatures like dogs" will imply to some readers "creatures including dogs", which is wrong. —
Anomalocaris (
talk)
17:15, 22 January 2015 (UTC)reply