Skip to content

When you choose to publish with PLOS, your research makes an impact. Make your work accessible to all, without restrictions, and accelerate scientific discovery with options like preprints and published peer review that make your work more Open.

PLOS BLOGS The Official PLOS Blog

Fossil Friday Roundup: October 6, 2017

Featured Image: Digestive tract (in yellow) of Phosphotriton, an Eocene salamander. From Tissier et al. (2017), CC-BY)

Papers (All Open Access):

  • Insight into Central Asian flora from the Cenozoic Tianshan montane origin and radiation of Lagochilus (Lamiaceae) (PLOS ONE)
  • Tip-dated phylogeny of whirligig beetles reveals ancient lineage surviving on Madagascar (Scientific Reports)
  • Exceptional soft tissues preservation in a mummified frog-eating Eocene salamander (PeerJ)
  • The Osteology of the Giant Snake Gigantophis garstini from the Upper Eocene of North Africa and Its Bearing on the Phylogenetic Relationships and Biogeography of Madtsoiidae (JVP)
  • Isolated pliosaurid teeth from the Albian–Cenomanian (Cretaceous) of Annopol, Poland (AGP)
  • Short note on a new anurognathid pterosaur with evidence of perching behaviour from Jianchang of Liaoning Province, China (Link)
  • New whaitsioids (Therapsida: Therocephalia) from the Teekloof Formation of South Africa and therocephalian diversity during the end-Guadalupian extinction (PeerJ)
  • Dinosaur footprints from the top of Mt. Pelmo:
    new data for Early Jurassic palaeogeography of the Dolomites (NE Italy) (Link)
  • A new record of a possible ornithopod footprint
    from the Lower Cretaceous of Cabo Espichel (Sesimbra, Portugal) (Link)
  • Regulation of root patterns in mammalian teeth (Scientific Reports)
  • Mammalian distal humerus fossils from eastern Montana, USA with implications for the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction and the adaptive radiation of placentals (PalaeoE)
  • Megachiropteran bats profoundly unique from microchiropterans in climbing and walking locomotion: Evolutionary implications (PLOS ONE)
  • Network analysis of the hominin origin of Herpes Simplex virus 2 from fossil data (Virus Evolution)
  • Critical comments on the genus Propachynolophus Lemoine, 1891 (Mammalia, Perissodactyla, Equoidea) (Palaeo Vertebrata)
  • Shorelines and vertebrate fauna of Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, Utah, Idaho, and Nevada (UGA Pubs)
  • Bird-like tracks from the Imilchil Formation (Middle Jurassic, Bajocian-Bathonian) of the Central High Atlas, Morocco, in comparison with similar Mesozoic tridactylous ichnotaxa (Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana)
  • Late Triassic ecosystem variations inferred by palynological records from Hechuan, southern Sichuan Basin, China (Geol Mag)
  • The Subeng vertebrate tracks: stratigraphy, sedimentology and a digital archive of a historic Upper Triassic palaeosurface (lower Elliot Formation), Leribe, Lesotho (southern Africa) (Link)
  • Bringing ecology blogging into the scientific fold: measuring reach and impact of science community blogs (RSOS)

Community Events, Society Updates, and Resources:

  • Vote for the Top 10 Taxa of 2017, deadline November 15 (PLOS Paleo)
  • Upcoming National Fossil Day Events, Part 1 (PLOS Paleo)
  • Upcoming National Fossil Day Events, Part 2 (PLOS Paleo)
  • National Fossil Day National Event in Washington, D.C., Oct. 11 (PLOS Paleo)
  • Call for Nominations: Nat’l Academy of Sciences Elliot Medal, due Oct. 12 (Link)
  • Principles of Vertebrate Functional Morphology, October 16–20, 2017, Barcelona, Spain (Link)
  • The Fourth TetZooCon (Link)
  • A history of life on Earth: A masterclass on evolution with experts from the Natural History Museum, November 19, 2017 (Link)
  • The Science Ambassador Scholarship for female undergraduate and high school seniors, Deadline December 11, 2017 (Link)
  • Trekking Across the GOBE: From the Cambrian through the Katian, IGCP 653 Annual Meeting, June 3-7, 2018, Athens, Ohio, USA (Link)
  • North American Paleontological Convention June 23–27 2019 (Link)

News and Views:

Animals and Anatomy:

Museums, Methods, and Musings:

  • Poll: sauropod vertebra picture of the decade (SV-POW)
  • Ten years of sauropod vertebrae! (SV-POW)
  • Consciousness and paleobiological laws: E. D. Cope as philosopher (Extinct)
  • Coming to a close… (Updates from the VMNH Paleo Lab)
  • Entering the Nth Dimension of Terra-Forming, Macro-Plant Scavenging, Hive-Minded Hadrosaurs (Antediluvian Salad)
  • Engaging the Public – The Experiment of the “Valley of the Mastodons” Workshop & Exhibit (PLOS Paleo)

Featured Folks and Fieldwork:

  • Interview: Zoë Lescaze on Paleoart (Old Bones)
  • Eleanor Gardner, Avian Taphonomist and Science Outreach Specialist (Time Scavengers)
  • UO researcher honored with international paleontology award (Link)

Art, books, culture, and fun:


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.

Back to top