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Fossil Friday Roundup: July 7, 2017

Featured Image: New methods for scanning large fossils was published this week in PLOS ONE. From Das et al. (2017).

Papers (All Open Access):

  • Environmentally driven extinction and opportunistic origination explain fern diversification patterns (Scientific Reports)
  • New records of the Bryozoan Metrarabdotos from the Pirabas Formation (Lower Miocene), Pará State, Brazil (PalaeoE)
  • A U-Pb zircon age constraint on the oldest-recorded air-breathing land animal (PLOS ONE)
  • Body length of bony fishes was not a selective factor during the biggest mass extinction of all time (Palaeontology)
  • Phylogenetic classification of bony fishes (BMC Evolutionary Biology)
  • An unusual small-bodied crocodyliform from the Middle Jurassic of Scotland, UK, and potential evidence for an early diversification of advanced neosuchians (Earth and Environmental Transactions of RS Edinburgh)
  • Razanandrongobe sakalavae, a gigantic mesoeucrocodylian from the Middle Jurassic of Madagascar, is the oldest known notosuchian (PeerJ)
  • A new, exceptionally preserved juvenile specimen of Eusaurosphargis dalsassoi (Diapsida) and implications for Mesozoic marine diapsid phylogeny (Scientific Reports)
  • Discovery of dinosaur footprints in the Stanley Pool Formation of Gabon (Geodiversitas)
  • A study of the progression of damage in an axially loaded Branta leucopsis femur using X-ray computed tomography and digital image correlation (PeerJ)
  • The Origin of Filter Feeding in Whales (Current Biology)
  • The identification of Oligo-Miocene mammalian palaeocommunities from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Australia and an appraisal of palaeoecological techniques (PeerJ)
  • Arthritic lesions and congenital fusion in foot bones of Panochthus sp. (Xenarthra, Cingulata) (AABC)
  • The Early Pliocene Plesiohipparion and Proboscidipparion (Equidae, Hipparionini) from Çalta, Turkey (Ruscinian Age, c. 4.0 Ma) (Geodiversitas)
  • Felidae from Cooper’s Cave, South Africa (Mammalia: Carnivora) (Geodiversitas)
  • Mountaintops phylogeography: A case study using small mammals from the Andes and the coast of central Chile (PLOS ONE)
  • Le site paléontologique du Grand Morier (Pont-Boutard, Indre-et-Loire, France) : contexte géologique et détail biostratigraphique des formations cénozoïques à partir des assemblages de vertébrés fossiles (Geodiversitas)
  • A method for rapid 3D scanning and replication of large paleontological specimens (PLOS ONE)

Community Events, Society Updates, and Resources:

  • Diversity in Paleontology Workshop GoFundMe (Link)
  • SVP 2017, August 23–26,  Calgary, Alberta (Link)
  • SVPCA 2017, September 12–15, Birmingham, England (Link)
  • Principles of Vertebrate Functional Morphology, October 16–20, 2017, Barcelona, Spain (Link)
  • The Paleontological Society Student Ambassador Program (PS‐SAP), Deadline Sept. 1 (Link)
  • 2017 Election Ballot is Open until August 15 (Paleo Society)
  • Utah State University Eastern Prehistoric Museum presents Clubs, Horns and Shields: Armored Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals July 1–Oct 28 (Link)

New and Views:

Animals and Anatomy:

Museums, Methods, and Musings:

Featured Folks and Fieldwork:

  • Christa Sadler: The fossils from Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument have made Utah world-renowned (Link)
  • Shead Geologic Map (Paleo Porch)
  • R.B. Shead: Pre-Museum Years (Paleo Porch)
  • Episode 78: Japanese Palaeontology (Palaeocast)
  • Darwin’s Worst Nightmare Part III: Conclusion of a Colossal Coincidence (Paige Fossil History)
  • Updated: Drilling of dinosaur-killing impact crater explains buried circular hills (Science Mag)
  • Packrat Paleo in Bears Ears National Monument (SVP Blog)
  • Digging a tyrannobut (RMDRC Paleo Lab)

Arts, Books, Culture, and Fun:

  • The primates and the eagles of doom (Chasing Sabretooths)
  • Vintage Dinosaur Art: The Crocodiles Still Wait (LITC)
  • Meet Henry Sharpe – Paleoartist, Future Paleontologist (Mostly Mammoths)
  • Fall in Love With the World’s First Animated Dinosaur (Atlas Obscura)
  • Tutorial 33: Checklist for a book signing (SV-POW)

Do you have some news, a blog, or something just plain cool you want to share with the PLOS Paleo Community? Email it to us at paleocommunity@plos.org, tweet it to us at @PLOSPaleo, or message us on Facebook.

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