Fossil Friday Roundup: Friday December 21, 2018
Featured Image: Because it’s too cool not to share again this week. Cretoxyrhina attacking Pteranodon. Image credit: Mark Witton. From Hone et al. (2018). CC-BY.
Papers (All Open Access):
- Closing the gap between palaeontological and neontological speciation and extinction rate estimates (Nature Communications)
- Anomaly Detection in Paleoclimate Records Using Permutation Entropy (Entropy)
- Closure of the Bering Strait caused Mid-Pleistocene Transition cooling (Nature Communications)
- Setting the Stage: The Late Pleistocene Colonization of North America (Quaternary)
- Oxygen, temperature and the deep-marine stenothermal cradle of Ediacaran evolution (ProcB)
- An unexpected noncarpellate epigynous flower from the Jurassic of China (eLife)
- Paleobotany: Did flowering plants exist in the Jurassic period? (eLife)
- Bajocian Lissoceratinae (Haploceratoidea, Ammonitida) from the Mediterranean-Caucasian Subrealm (RIPS)
- Influenced but not determined by historical events: genetic, demographic and morphological differentiation in Heleobia ascotanensis from the Chilean Altiplano (PeerJ)
- Checklist of the Myriapoda in Cretaceous Burmese amber and a correction of the Myriapoda identified by Zhang (2017) (Check List)
- A new species of Eumanota Edwards (Diptera, Mycetophilidae, Manotine) from Colombia : evidence for a pseudogondwanan pattern. (American Museum novitates)
- The hatching mechanism of 130‐million‐year‐old insects: an association of neonates, egg shells and egg bursters in Lebanese amber (The Depositional Record)
- Globigaetania angulata gen. et. sp. nov. from the Wordian (Middle Permian) of NW Iran (RIPS)
- Diversity partitioning in Phanerozoic benthic marine communities (PNAS)
- Vertébrés mésozoïques : poissons (Catalogues du patrimoine paléontologique jurassien)
- Fuyuanichthys wangi gen. et sp. nov. from the Middle Triassic (Ladinian) of China highlights the early diversification of ginglymodian fishes (PeerJ)
- A basal aïstopod from the earliest Pennsylvanian of Canada, and the antiquity of the first limbless tetrapod lineage (RSOS)
- Shell variability in the stem turtles Proterochersis spp. (PeerJ)
- Remains of Leatherback turtles, Dermochelys coriacea, at Mid-Late Holocene archaeological sites in coastal Oman: clues of past worlds (PeerJ)
- Vertébrés mésozoïques : tortues (Catalogues du patrimoine paléontologique jurassien)
- Direct and indirect interactions with vegetation shape crocodylian ecology at multiple scales (Freshwater Biology)
- Vertébrés mésozoïques: crocodiliens (Catalogues du patrimoine paléontologique jurassien)
- A new specimen of Prolacerta broomi from the lower Fremouw Formation (Early Triassic) of Antarctica, its biogeographical implications and a taxonomic revision (Scientific Reports)
- Niche modeling for the genus Pogona (Squamata: Agamidae) in Australia: predicting past (late Quaternary) and future (2070) areas of suitable habitat (PeerJ)
- The oldest ceratosaurian (Dinosauria: Theropoda), from the Lower Jurassic of Italy, sheds light on the evolution of the three-fingered hand of birds (PeerJ)
- Niche Partitioning in Theropod Dinosaurs: Diet and Habitat Preference in Predators from the Uppermost Cedar Mountain Formation (Utah, U.S.A.) (Scientific Reports)
- Traces de dinosaures jurassiques : Chevenez-Combe Ronde (Catalogues du patrimoine paléontologique jurassien)
- Traces de dinosaures jurassiques : Chevenez-Crat (Catalogues du patrimoine paléontologique jurassien)
- Traces de dinosaures jurassiques : Courtedoux – Sur Combe Ronde (Catalogues du patrimoine paléontologique jurassien)
- Traces de dinosaures jurassiques : contexte et méthode (Catalogues du patrimoine paléontologique jurassien)
- Traces de dinosaures jurassiques : Courtedoux-Tchâfouè (Catalogues du patrimoine paléontologique jurassien)
- Baalsaurus mansillai gen. et sp. nov. a new titanosaurian sauropod (Late Cretaceous) from Neuquén, Patagonia, Argentina (An. Acad. Bras. Ciênc.)
- Dinosaur-landscape interactions at a diverse Early Cretaceous tracksite (Lee Ness Sandstone, Ashdown Formation, southern England) (P3)
- Timed Collinear Activation of Hox Genes during Gastrulation Controls the Avian Forelimb Position (Current Biology)
- Ornamental feathers in Cretaceous Burmese amber: resolving the enigma of rachis-dominated feather structure (Journal of Palaeogeography)
- Cretaceous Hitchhikers: a Possible Phoretic Association between a Pseudoscorpion and Bird in Burmese Amber (Acta Geologica Sinica)
- Inter-stride variability triggers gait transitions in mammals and birds (ProcB)
- Challenging the European southern refugium hypothesis: Species‐specific structures versus general patterns of genetic diversity and differentiation among small mammals (Global Ecology and Biogeography)
- Pectoral girdle and forelimb musculoskeletal function in the echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus): insights into mammalian locomotor evolution (RSOS)
- Local persistence of Mann’s soft-haired mouse Abrothrix manni (Rodentia, Sigmodontinae) during Quaternary glaciations in southern Chile (PeerJ)
- The role of Pleistocene climate change in the genetic variability, distribution and demography of Proechimys cuvieri and P. guyannensis (Rodentia: Echimyidae) in northeastern Amazonia (PLOS ONE)
- Feeding habits and habitat of herbivorous mammals from the Early–Late Hemphillian (Miocene) of Costa Rica (APP)
- Biostratigraphy and diversity of Paleogene perissodactyls from the Erlian Basin of Inner Mongolia, China (American Museum Novitates)
- Investigating equid mobility in Miocene Florida, USA using strontium isotope ratios (P3)
- The first record of Nemkovella daguini (Neumann, 1958) from the middle-upper Eocene of Oman (Arabian Peninsula) and Meghalaya (Indian Subcontinent) and its significance in Tethyan correlations and paleobiogeography (RIPS)
- Magnetochronology of Late Miocene Mammal Fauna in Xining Basin, NE Tibetan Plateau, China (Acta Geologica Sinica)
- An early archaic-odobenid calcaneum from the lower Miocene Shukunohora Formation, Mizunami Group in Mizunami City, Gifu Prefecture, Japan (Bull. Natl. Mus. Nat. Sci. Ser. C)
- Obsidian consumption at Qdeir 1, a Final Pre-Pottery Neolithic site in Syria: An integrated characterisation study (Comptes Rendus Palevol)
- The endocast of StW 573 (“Little Foot”) and hominin brain evolution (Journal of Human Evolution)
- Quaternary Highlights (September–December 2018) (Quaternary)
- Rocky Start of Dinosaur National Monument (USA), The World’s First Dinosaur Geoconservation Site (Geoconservation Research)
PrePrints and PostPrints:
- The Case For and Against Double-blind Reviews (bioRXiv)
- Quantitative analysis of repaired and unrepaired damage to trilobites from the Cambrian (Stage 4 – Drumian) Iberian Chains, NE Spain (PaleorXiv)
- Hypothesis: Avian flight originated in arboreal archosaurs gliding on membranous wings (PeerJ)
- Reconstructing an unusual specimen of Haplocanthosaurus using a blend of physical and digital techniques (PeerJ)
- Elongated thoracic spines as potential predatory deterrents in olenelline trilobites from the lower Cambrian of Nevada (PaleorXiv)
- What do we mean by the directions “cranial” and “caudal” on a vertebra? (PeerJ)
- Aragonite bias is expressed spatially in the late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway, North America. (PaleorXiv)
- A juvenile cf. Edmontosaurus annectens (Ornithischia, Hadrosauridae) femur documents a poorly represented growth stage for this taxon (PaleorXiv)
Community Events, Society Updates, and Resources:
Meetings:
- Western Association of Vertebrate Paleontologists, March 15–17, 2019, University of Oregon (Link)
- 11th Conference on Fossil Resources, Casper, Wyoming, May 30-June 2, 2019 (Link)
- North American Paleontological Convention June 23–27 2019 (Link)
News and Views:
Animals and Anatomy:
- Fossil Friday – crocodile skull (Valley of the Mastodon)
- Pteranodon vs Cretoxyrhina (Archosaur Musings)
- A ‘Ginsu shark’ lost a tooth in its Cretaceous dinner (Nature)
- On Pterosaurs and Feathers (Letters from Gondwana)
- New discovery pushes origin of feathers back by 70 million years (Link)
- Armoured dinosaurs had an efficient internal cooling system (PLOS Paleo)
- The ROM’s new rock star: Meet Zuul the dinosaur, destroyer of shins (Link)
- New species of incredible ‘living tank’ dinosaur unveiled (Link)
- Your Friends The Titanosaurs, part 7: Barrosasaurus, Baurutitan, and Bonatitan (Equatorial Minnesota)
- Turkeys lie (SVPOW)
- Prehistoric Mammal Discoveries of 2018 (Synapsida)
Methods and Musings:
- Episode 50 – Australia (Common Descent)
- The Haplocanthosaurus presentation from the 1st Palaeo Virtual Congress is now a PeerJ Preprint (SVPOW)
- Writing the vertebral-orientation paper in the open (SVPOW)
- It is unethical to teach evolution without confronting racism and sexism (PLOS SciComm)
- ‘Stop Acting Like A Grad Student’: review of “The Professor Is In” (PLOS ECR)
- The vertebral orientation presentation from the 1st Palaeo Virtual Congress is now a PeerJ Preprint (SVPOW)
- How Much Did Antarctic Ice Melt 8 Million Years Ago? (Time Scavengers)
Featured Folks, Fieldwork, and Museums:
- Year in Review: 2018 Highlights (Inside the Royal Tyrrell Museum)
- 2018 GSA Photo Gallery (Paleo Society)
- Profile: Dr. Don Brinkman, Curator Emeritus (Inside the Royal Tyrrell Museum)
- How a South African shepherd found a dinosaur graveyard (Link)
- Grand Canyon Trip (Time Scavengers)
- National Fossil Day at the Florida Museum (Time Scavengers)
Arts, Books, Culture, Fun:
- Odds and Ends: Book Reviews, December 2018 (Sympan)
- Book Review — The Art of Animal Anatomy: All Life is Here, Dissected and Depicted (The Inquisitive Biologist)
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.