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Fossil Friday Roundup: March 31, 2017

Featured Image: Reconstruction of Crocuta spelaea in the vicinity of Los Aprendices Cave, feeding on the carcass of a specimen of Capra pyrenaica (illustration by Gianfranco Mensi). From Sauqué et al (2017)

Papers (All Open Access):

  • The blueprint of the Amphiesmenoptera – Tarachoptera, a new order of insects from Burmese amber (Insecta, Amphiesmenoptera) (Fossil Record)
  • Ecology, biofacies, biogeography and systematics of micromorphic lingulate brachiopods from the Ordovician (Darriwilian–Sandbian) of south-central China (Papers in Paleontology)
  • A new tyrannosaur with evidence for anagenesis and crocodile-like facial sensory system (Scientific Reports)
  • Recognizing sexual dimorphism in the fossil record: lessons from nonavian dinosaurs (Paleobiology)
  • The Dinosaurian Ichnofauna of the Lower Cretaceous (Valanginian–Barremian) Broome Sandstone of the Walmadany Area (James Price Point), Dampier Peninsula, Western Australia (JVP)
  • Exceptional preservation of soft tissue in a new specimen of Eoconfuciusornis and its biological implications (National Science Review Corrected Proof)
  • A new species of Eutatus Gervais (Xenarthra, Dasypodidae) from the Late Pleistocene of the Northern Pampean Region, Argentina (PalaeoE)
  • A new genus and species of Muridae (Rodentia) from the Quaternary deposits of the Denizli Basin, South-western Turkey (PalaeoE)
  • Pleistocene cave hyenas in the Iberian Peninsula: New insights from Los Aprendices cave (Moncayo, Zaragoza) (PalaeoE)

Community Events and Society Updates:

  • Seeking Nominations (March 31 deadline): The Raymond M. Alf Award for Excellence in Paleontological Research and Education (Link)
  • Extinct Monsters: The Hybrid Identities of Fossil Mounts, Talk by Ben Miller at the Paleontological Society of Washington, April 19 (Link)

New and Views:

Animals and Anatomy:

  • A New Dinosaur Family Tree (Dr. Neurosaurus)
  • New Research Disproves Common Assumption on Cranial Joints of Alligators, Birds, Dinosaurs (Link)
  • Speaker Series 2017: Sharing Under the Cretaceous Sea: Global Distribution Achieved by Halisaurine Mosasaurs Explained by a New Discovery from Japan (Inside the Royal Tyrrell Museum)
  • Five minutes with Ornithoscelida (Equatorial Minnesota)
  • Pinnipeds: Grey and Harp Seals (Synapsida)
  • March of the Moa Part 2: Anatomy and Action (Life in the Cenozoic)
  • How giant marine reptiles terrorized the ancient seas (Nature News)
  • Walking in the footsteps of giants and gerbils: what fossil prints can tell us (Link)
  • ‘Australia’s Jurassic Park’ the world’s most diverse (Link)
  • Deinotheres for lunch? A sabertooth’s tough-skinned diet (Chasing Sabretooths)
  • Ice Age Megafauna Were Ecosystem Engineers (Laelaps)
  • Re-examining the dinosaur evolutionary tree (Letters from Gondwana)
  • Introducing Daspletosaurus horneri (Letters from Gondwana)
  • The Bite of the Bear Dog (Laelaps)

Specific Specimens:

Featured Folks and Fieldwork:

Museums, Methods, and Musings:

Arts, Culture, and Fun:


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