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.

Journals
More Content
PLOS BLOGS The Official PLOS Blog
Browse all PLOS Blogs
Browse all PLOS Blogs

Fossil Friday Roundup: February 22, 2019

Ian Hamilton Fossil Friday Roundup

Featured Image: Axial body models (constructed in FreeCAD) of (A) Yangchuanosaurus shangyouensis (CV 00215), (B) Sinraptor hepingensis (ZDM 0024), and (C) Tarbosaurus bataar (ZPAL MgD-I/4).

Papers (All Open Access):

  • From data compilation to model validation: a comprehensive analysis of a full deep-sea ecosystem model of the Chatham Rise (PeerJ)
  • Exceptionally well-preserved Orsten-type phosphatocopid crustaceans from the Cambrian of Poland (APP)
  • Stable isotopic characterization of a coastal floodplain forest community: a case study for isotopic reconstruction of Mesozoic vertebrate assemblages (RSOS)
  • Lower Triassic (Induan to Olenekian) conodonts, foraminifera, and bivalves from the Al Mamalih area, Dead Sea, Jordan: Constraints on the P–T boundary (RIPS)
  • Unexpected diversity of median caudal cartilages in teleosts (Zoological J of the Linnean Society)
  • Otoliths in situ in the stem teleost Cavenderichthys talbragarensis (Woodward, 1895), otoliths in coprolites, and isolated otoliths from the Upper Jurassic of Talbragar, New South Wales, Australia (JVP)
  • Bilateral Jaw Elements in Amiskwia sagittiformis Bridge the Morphological Gap between Gnathiferans and Chaetognaths (Current Biology)
  • The tetrapod fauna of the upper Permian Naobaogou Formation of China: 3. Jiufengia jiai gen. et sp. nov., a large akidnognathid therocephalian (PeerJ)
  • A juvenile specimen of the trematopid Acheloma from Richards Spur, Oklahoma and challenges of trematopid ontogeny (Frontiers in Earth Science)
  • A new testudinoid turtle from the middle to late Eocene of Vietnam (PeerJ)
  • Tracking down the lizards from Gravenhorst’s collection at the University of Wrocław: type specimens of Callopistes maculatus Gravenhorst, 1838 and three Liolaemus species rediscovered (PeerJ)
  • The anatomy and phylogenetic position of the erythrosuchid archosauriform Guchengosuchus shiguaiensis from the earliest Middle Triassic of China (PeerJ)
  • Heterochronic shifts and conserved embryonic shape underlie crocodylian craniofacial disparity and convergence (RSOS)
  • Diversity in rhynchocephalian Clevosaurus skulls based on CT reconstruction of two Late Triassic species from Great Britain (APP)
  • Anatomy of the dinosaur Pampadromaeus barberenai (Saurischia—Sauropodomorpha) from the Late Triassic Santa Maria Formation of southern Brazil (PLOS ONE)
  • Diminutive fleet-footed tyrannosauroid narrows the 70-million-year gap in the North American fossil record (Communications Biology)
  • Lower rotational inertia and larger leg muscles indicate more rapid turns in tyrannosaurids than in other large theropods (PeerJ)
  • Correction to: ‘New theropod (Tetanurae: Avetheropoda) material from the ‘mid’-Cretaceous Griman Greek Formation at Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia’ (RSOS)
  • Mitochondrial Genomes from New Zealand’s Extinct Adzebills (Aves: Aptornithidae: Aptornis) Support a Sister-Taxon Relationship with the Afro-Madagascan Sarothruridae (Diversity)
  • Phylogeny, migration and life history: filling the gaps in the origin and biogeography of the Turdus thrushes (Journal of Ornithology)
  • Dietary niche and the evolution of cranial morphology in birds (ProcB)
  • Primer estudio experimental sobre los efectos de la digestión en restos esqueléticos de murciélagos (Mammalia: Chiroptera) (Spanish J or Paleontology)
  • The Australian dingo: untamed or feral? (Frontiers in Zoology)
  • A new suoid with tubulidentate, hypselorhizic cheek teeth from the early Miocene of Córcoles, Spain (Spanish J of Paleontology)
  • Unexpected evolutionary patterns of dental ontogenetic traits in cetartiodactyl mammals (ProcB)
  • Biomechanical simulations of Leptarctus primus (Leptarctinae, Carnivora), and new evidence for a badger-like feeding capability (JVP)
  • The Still Bay and pre-Still Bay Fauna from Sibudu Cave: Taphonomic and Taxonomic Analysis of the Macromammal Remains from the Wadley Excavations (Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology)
  • Exceptionally high δ15N values in collagen single amino acids confirm Neandertals as high-trophic level carnivores (PNAS)
  • Revisiting the Foraging Ecology and Extinction History of Two Endemic Vertebrates from Tenerife, Canary Islands (Quaternary)
  • The ecomorphology of southern African rodent incisors: Potential applications to the hominin fossil record (PLOS ONE)
  • Specialized rainforest hunting by Homo sapiens ~45,000 years ago (Nature Communications)
  • The use of new web technologies for the analysis, preservation, and outreach of paleontological information and its application to La Rioja (Spain) paleontological heritage (PalaeoE)
  • Identifying and improving AGU collaborations using network analysis and scientometrics (Geoscience Comm)

Preprints/PostPrints:

  • A high-resolution, chromosome-assigned Komodo dragon genome reveals adaptations in the cardiovascular, muscular, and chemosensory systems of monitor lizards (bioRXiv)
  • The locomotor and predatory habits of unenlagiines (Theropoda, Paraves): inferences based on morphometric studies and comparisons with Laurasian dromaeosaurids (bioRXiv)
  • A late Permian ichthyofauna from the Zechstein Basin, Lithuania-Latvia Region (bioRXiv)

Community Events, Society Updates, and Resources:

 Meetings:

  • PaleoFest, March 2–3, 2019, Burpee Museum of Natural History, Rockford, Illinois (Link)
  • 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:

  • Speaker Series 2019: Fossil Fish from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta (Royal Tyrrell)
  • Speaker Series 2019: The Great Plains Short-horned Lizard in Canada (Royal Tyrrell)
  • Your Friends The Titanosaurs, part 9: “Campylodon”, Clasmodosaurus, Choconsaurus, and Daxiatitan (Equatorial Minnesota)
  • Fossil Friday – ceratopsian vertebra (Valley of the Mastodon)
  • Fossil Bones Reveal New Baby Dinosaur (Laelaps)
  • A Multi-Species Nesting Assemblage in the Late Cretaceous of Europe (TetZoo)
  • Speaker Series 2019: The Origins and Evolution of Madagascar’s Modern Vertebrates (Royal Tyrrell Museum)
  • Miocene (Pt 12): American Rhinos and Horse-Headed Lopers (Synapsida)
  • Land animal diversity was stable for millions of years, before humans came along – new study (Link)

Methods and Musings:

  • Beginning at the beginning: Leibniz and the texts of deep history (Extinct)
  • I’m just bad at science (Time Scavengers)
  • How to spot palaeontological crankery (Mark Witton)

Featured Folks, Fieldwork, and Museums:

  • ‘Quick for a palaeontologist is painfully slow on human time scales!’ (Link)

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