![]() Python-setuptools python-matplotlib # pip (recommended for automatic installs via setuptools) For Debian/Ubuntu, it will be something like: # Basic packages ![]() Use your package manager to download and install the required Python packages. In order to run properly, gFlex requires the following Python dependencies:įor users who are new to Python, follow these directions to install the Python interpreters onto your computer. GFlex has been tested on Python 2.7, and should work (with a few possible changes) on future versions of Python 2.X. (2016), Open-source modular solutions for flexural isostasy: gFlex v1.0, Geosci. Please leave a message if you have trouble working with gFlex your comments could assist both you and the more general improvement of this documentation. The Python scripting part towards the end should be pretty straightforward as well, insofar as information is provided on how to get and set the chosen values inside gFlex. These instructions are meant to take an user familiar with computers but new to (or a beginner with) Python through the basics of how to get gFlex to work. Giant ground sloths have to be among the strangest mammals that ever walked on Earth.Multiple methods to solve elastic plate flexure, designed for applications to Earth's lithosphere. Their living relatives include the tree sloths, and more distantly the anteaters, and armadillos. Unlike living tree sloths, the extinct sloths were large, ponderous animals that presumably spent all their time on the ground. ![]() Three different genera of ground sloths lived in southern California until around 13,000 years ago- Nothrotheriops, Megalonyx and Paramylodon . Nothrotheriops was the smallest of the three, reaching upto 9 feet long (2.76 meters), with a weight up to 550 pounds (250 kg), about the size of a black bear. Shasta ground sloths lacked front teeth and the other teeth in their tubular snout were small and blunt. Huge claws on their feet were a striking feature.ĭue to a special modification of the foot, the weight of the animal was actually borne by the heel bone and the outside edge of the foot. Giant ground sloths evolved in South America around 35 million years ago, and migrated into North America, starting around 8 million years ago, with the last species arriving here during the Pleistocene.īecause of this, scientists believe that ground sloths must have walked with a waddling motion. The three genera that lived in our region may have specialized in different food sources, thus eliminating one possible source of competition. These animals were especially adapted to life in arid regions.įossilized dung shows that Nothrotheriops shastensis fed on many species of plants such as yuccas, agaves, Joshua trees, globe mallows, mesquite and cacti. Megalonyx jeffersonii , on the other hand, may have specialized in eating leaves and twigs from trees such as willow and other trees of moist habitats. Megalonyx weighed nearly a ton, about the size of a bison. Ground sloths were able to stand up on their hind legs, in order to reach the leaves and twigs they wanted to eat. They also could have squatted on their haunches to pull down higher branches off trees if needed. Teeth of the third species, Paramylodon harlani , suggest it grazed on grasses in open habitats. Slightly larger than Megalonyx, Paramylodon is the most common ground sloth from Rancho La Brea.Ī strange anatomical feature of some ground sloths was the presence of dermal ossicles, or small nodules of bone, which formed in the skin, under the fur. Found frequently in reptiles, these ossicles are extremely rare in mammals. In modern mammals, similar structures are only seen in the armadillos. Pieces of dried skin with ossicles intact were found in Anza-Borrego Desert from the Harlan's Ground Sloth, Paramylodon harlani . These ossicles across the shoulders, neck and back must have functioned like a coat of armor, adding an extra layer of protection to the thick skin and coarse hair covering the sloth's body. ![]() Remains of ground sloths are often found in caves or sinkholes. ![]() Conditions in caves are such that many tissues that would not normally be preserved, such as skin, nails, and other dried soft tissues, are naturally mummified and preserved. Within caves, complete sloth skeletons with hair, skin and tendons still attached to the bones have been found. ![]()
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