Archaeoindris fontoynontii is a gorilla-sized extinct giant lemur, the largest primate known from Madagascar. This sloth lemur was related to the extinct Palaeopropithecus and became extinct around 350 BCE. It was first described by Herbert F. Standing in 1909 based on subfossil jaw fragments, although a complete skull was later found. Only six bones from the lower skeleton have been located. The skeleton was massive and the arms were longer than the legs, but no hand or foot bones are known. Size estimates range as high as 244.1 kilograms (538.1 pounds), but regression analyses predict a mass of 160 kg (350 lb). Misattributions and limited remains have resulted in differing opinions about how this lemur moved. Its skeleton suggests it was a climber that also travelled on the ground. Its diet was mostly leaves, and its former habitat, a mix of woodlands and savanna, is now mainly grassland. When humans arrived on Madagascar, it was still extant but vulnerable to hunting and habitat loss.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeoindris

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1849:

Elizabeth Blackwell graduated from Geneva Medical College in New York, making her the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Blackwell

1909:

Two men committed an armed robbery in Tottenham, London, and led police on a two-hour chase, partially by tram, that ended in the perpetrators' suicides. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tottenham_Outrage

1942:

World War II: Japan began an invasion of the island of New Britain in the Australian Territory of New Guinea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rabaul_%281942%29

2002:

American journalist Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and later murdered by al-Qaeda agents in Karachi, Pakistan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Pearl

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

gigot: 1. A leg of lamb or mutton. 2. (fashion) Short for gigot sleeve (“a type of sleeve shaped like a leg of mutton”). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gigot

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Beauty is nothing other than the promise of happiness.   --Stendhal https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stendhal