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Fossil Friday Roundup: May 24, 2019

Featured Image: Isometric 3D models of Nautilus pompilius and Nautilus pompilius. From Petermann et al. (2019).

Papers (All Open Access):

  • Regional correlation of the Sonsela Member (Upper Triassic Chinle Formation) and detrital U-Pb zircon data from the Sonsela Sandstone bed near the Sonsela Buttes, northeastern Arizona, USA, support the presence of a distributive fluvial system (Geosphere)
  • Early-Middle Pleistocene environmental and biotic transition in NW Armenia, southern Caucasus (PalaeoE)
  • Sea Surface Temperatures and Paleoenvironmental Variability in the Central Mediterranean During Historical Times Reconstructed Using Planktonic Foraminifera (Link)
  • Anatomical and ontogenetic reassessment of the Ediacaran frond Arborea arborea and its placement within total group Eumetazoa (Paleontology)
  • Lingulate brachiopods across the Kačák Event
    and Eifelian–Givetian boundary in the Barrandian area, Czech Republic (Link)
  • Phylogeographic and evolutionary history analyses of the warty crab Eriphia verrucosa (Decapoda, Brachyura, Eriphiidae) unveil genetic imprints of a late Pleistocene vicariant event across the Gibraltar Strait, erased by postglacial expansion and admixture among refugial lineages (BMV Evo Bio)
  • Increasing species sampling in chelicerate genomic-scale datasets provides support for monophyly of Acari and Arachnida (Nature Communications)
  • Notes on rhopalosomatid wasps of Dominican and Mexican amber (Hymenoptera: Rhopalosomatidae) with a description of the first fossil species of Rhopalosoma Cresson, 1865 (Fossil Record)
  • The hydrostatics of Paleozoic ectocochleate cephalopods (Nautiloidea and Endoceratoidea) with implications for modes of life and early colonization of the pelagic zone (PalaeoE)
  • Using GIS to examine biogeographic and macroevolutionary patterns in some late Paleozoic cephalopods from the North American Midcontinent Sea (PeerJ)
  • An ammonite trapped in Burmese amber (PNAS)
  • A new Pliensbachian elasmobranch (Vertebrata, Chondrichthyes) assemblage from Europe, and its contribution to the understanding of late Early Jurassic elasmobranch diversity and distributional patterns (PalZ)
  • A new genus of ptyctodont (Placodermi) from the Late Devonian of Baltic area (PalaeoE)
  • Late Pennsylvanian fish assemblage from the Robledo Mountains and new records of Paleozoic chondrichthyans in New Mexico, USA (Bull. Geosciences)
  • Osteology and phylogenetic relationships of Majokia brasseuri (Teleostei, Majokiiformes nov. ord.) from the continental Middle Jurassic (Stanleyville Formation) of Kisangani (Democratic Republic of Congo) (Geo-Eco-Trop)
  • The pycnodont fishes from the Lower Cretaceous of the Capo d’Orlando, near Castellammare di Stabia (Naples, Campania, southern Italy), with the description of the new genus Costapycnodus (Geo-Eco-Trop)
  • New data on Pleuropholis decastroi (Teleostei, Pleuropholidae), a “pholidophoriform” fish from the Lower Cretaceous of the Eurafrican Mesogea (Geo-Eco-Trop)
  • A horny pycnodont fish (Pycnodontiformes) in the continental Middle Jurassic (Stanleyville Formation) of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Geo-Eco-Trop)
  • Inter-amphibian predation in the Early Cretaceous of China (SciRep)
  • Novel insights into the morphology of Plesiochelys bigleri from the early Kimmeridgian of Northwestern Switzerland (PLOS ONE)
  • A New Captorhinid From the Permian Cave System Near Richards Spur, Oklahoma, and the Taxic Diversity of Captorhinus at This Locality (Frontiers in Earth Science)
  • The tetrapod fauna of the upper Permian Naobaogou Formation of China— 4. the diversity of dicynodonts (Link)
  • The braincase of Mesosuchus browni (Reptilia, Archosauromorpha) with information on the inner ear and description of a pneumatic sinus (PeerJ)
  • Dental microwear texture reflects dietary tendencies in extant Lepidosauria despite their limited use of oral food processing (ProcB)
  • Taxonomy and conservation of grassland earless dragons: new species and an assessment of the first possible extinction of a reptile on mainland Australia (RSOS)
  • The postcranial skeleton of Bagaceratops (Ornithischia: Neoceratopsia) from the Baruungoyot Formation (Upper Cretaceous) in Hermiin Tsav of southwestern Gobi, Mongolia (J Geo Society Korea)
  • Ontogenetic changes in the body plan of the sauropodomorph dinosaur Mussaurus patagonicus reveal shifts of locomotor stance during growth (SciRep)
  • A new macronarian sauropod from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal (JVP)
  • Characterization of bone surface modifications on an Early to Middle Pleistocene bird assemblage from Mata Menge (Flores, Indonesia) using multifocus and confocal microscopy (P3)
  • A non-archaeopterygid avialan theropod from the Late Jurassic of southern Germany (eLife)
  • Are Cursorial Birds Good Kinematic Models of Non-Avian Theropods? (International Journal of Morphology)
  • Pheomelanin pigment remnants mapped in fossils of an extinct mammal (Nature Communications)
  • A new balaenopterid whale from the late Miocene of the Southern North Sea Basin and the evolution of balaenopterid diversity (Cetacea, Mysticeti) (PeerJ)
  •  Evidence for convergent evolution of ultrasonic hearing in toothed whales (Cetacea: Odontoceti)(Biology Letters)
  • Oldest record of monk seals from the North Pacific and biogeographic implications (Biology Letters)
  • Foot pressure distribution in White Rhinoceroses (Ceratotherium simum) during walking (PeerJ)
  • The Equidae from Cooper’s D, an early Pleistocene fossil locality in Gauteng, South Africa (PeerJ)
  • Molecular identification of late and terminal Pleistocene Equus ovodovi from northeastern China (PLOS ONE)
  • Dietary Adaptations of Early and Middle Pleistocene Equids From the Anagni Basin (Frosinone, Central Italy) (Frontiers is Ecology and Evolution)
  • Dental evolutionary rates and its implications for the Neanderthal–modern human divergence (Science Advances)
  • A multidisciplinary approach to a unique Palaeolithic human ichnological record from Italy (Bàsura Cave) (eLife)
  • Chimpanzee extractive foraging with excavating tools: Experimental modeling of the origins of human technology (PLOS ONE)
  • A discourse with deep time: the extinct animals of Crystal Palace Park as heritage artefacts (SMGJ)

Preprints/PostPrints:

  • The Biogeography of Coelurosaurian Theropods and its Impact on their Evolutionary History (bioRXiv)
  • Constructing a Timescale of Biotic Recovery across the Cretaceous–Paleogene Boundary, Corral Bluffs, Denver Basin, Colorado (bioRXiv)
  • Early Agenian rhinocerotids from Wischberg (Canton Bern, Switzerland) and clarification of the systematics of the genus Diaceratherium (PeerJ)

Community Events, Society Updates, and Resources: 

 Meetings:

  • 11th Conference on Fossil Resources, Casper, Wyoming, May 30–June 2, 2019 (Link)
  • North American Paleontological Convention June 23–27 2019 (Link)
  • Judith River Symposium (Great Plains Dinosaur Museum), Malta, Montana, June 28–30 (Link)
  • Cretaceous & Beyond: Paleo of Western Interior (Dickinson Museum), Dickinson, North Dakota, September 14–17 (Link)

News and Views:

Animals and Anatomy:

Featured Folks, Fieldwork, and Museums:

  • Amherst Elementary Science Night! (Time Scavengers)
  • Paleo-Interview with Gabriel (Gabe) Santos (Paleo Society)
  • PeerJ Award winner Delphine Angst from French Paleontological Association meeting shares about fossils and giant extinct birds (PeerJ)

Methods and Musings:

  • Episode 61 – Behavior in the Fossil Record (Common Descent)
  • How do you become a paleontologist? (Time Scavengers)
  • Towering models, engaging interactives, and virtual reality bring the Tyrannosaurus rex to life (Science)
  • Fossils in Burmese amber offer an exquisite view of dinosaur times—and an ethical minefield (Link)

Arts, Books, Culture, Fun:

  • Vintage Dinosaur Art: Dinosaurs (St Michael) – Part 1 (LITC)
  • The science of the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, part 2: Teleosaurus, pterosaurs and Mosasaurus (Mark Witton)
  • New Prothero: Twenty Five Dino Discoveries (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.

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