Archive for category PalArch’s Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology
Foster, J.R. 2013. Ecological Segregation of the Late Jurassic Stegosaurian and Iguanodontian Dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation in North America: Pronounced or Subtle? – PalArch’s Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology 10(3) (2013), 1-11. ISSN 1567-2158. 11 pages + 4 figures, 1 table.
Posted by Palarch Editor (IJJN) in PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology on May 22nd, 2013
The Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of western North America has yielded a number of specimens assigned to the ornithischian dinosaurs Stegosaurus and Camptosaurus, and many of these specimens come from channel sandstone deposits. Six new specimens are recorded mostly from channel sandstones as well. Indeed, early analyses of site occurrences (reducing the effects of large single-site samples) suggested that Stegosaurus and Camptosaurus were more often found in channel sandstone deposits than other common Morrison Formation dinosaurs such as Camarasaurus or Diplodocus. This also indicated the possibility of ecological segregation of the former two genera from other herbivorous dinosaurs of the Morrison. Revisiting this question with additional data suggests the pattern may not be as strong as it once appeared. Analysis of occurrence data indicates that Stegosaurus and Camptosaurus occur in channel sandstone deposits slightly more frequently than the two sauropods, but statistical analysis of this pattern by either localities or individuals indicates little significance to the trend. However, Camptosaurus appears more strongly associated with channel sandstone deposits relative to other dinosaurs than does Stegosaurus. These results suggest that any ecological segregation of these genera was moderate, but that, if present, the segregation was more pronounced in Camptosaurus.
Farke, Andrew A. & Chiara A. Wilridge. 2013. A Possible Pterosaur Wing Phalanx from the Kaiparowits Formation (Late Campanian) of Southern Utah, USA – PalArch’s Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology 10(2) (2013), 1-6. ISSN 1567-2158. 6 pages + 1 figure.
Posted by Palarch Editor (IJJN) in PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology on April 20th, 2013
Abstract An isolated bone from the late Campanian-aged Kaiparowits Formation of southern Utah is tentatively identified as the terminal wing phalanx (manual phalanx IV-4) from a pterosaur, representing the first report of this clade from the formation. The specimen is 60 mm long and hollow, with thin and delicate walls and expanded ?proximal and ?distal ends. This is consistent with anatomy reported for equivalent elements in pterodactyloid pterosaurs. Although the specimen cannot be more precisely identified, it is consistent with occurrences of pterosaurs in penecontemporaneous terrestrial depositional environments throughout western North America.
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Wedel, M.J. & M.P. Taylor. 2013. Neural Spine Bifurcation in Sauropod Dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation: Ontogenetic and Phylogenetic Implications. – PalArch’s Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology 10(1) (2013), 1-34. ISSN 1567-2158. 34 pages + 25 figures, 2 tables.
Posted by PalArch Editor (AV) in PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology on March 15th, 2013
Abstract It has recently been argued that neural spine bifurcation increases through ontogeny in several Morrison Formation sauropods, that recognition of ontogenetic transformation in this ‘key character’ will have sweeping implications for sauropod phylogeny, and that Suuwassea and Haplocanthosaurus in particular are likely to be juveniles of known diplodocids. However, we find that serial variation in sauropod vertebrae can mimic ontogenetic change and is therefore a powerful confounding factor, especially when dealing with isolated elements whose serial position cannot be determined. When serial position is taken into account, there is no evidence that neural spine bifurcation increased over ontogeny in Morrison Formation diplodocids. Through phylogenetic analysis we show that neural spine bifurcation is not a key character in sauropod phylogeny and that Suuwassea and Haplocanthosaurus are almost certainly not juveniles of known diplodocids. Skeletochronology based on the sequence of skeletal fusions during ontogeny can provide relative ontogenetic ages for some sauropods. Although such data are sparsely available to date and often inconsistent among sauropod genera they provide another line of evidence for testing hypotheses of ontogenetic synonymy. Data from skeletal fusions suggest that Suuwassea and Haplocanthosaurus are both valid taxa and that neither is an ontogenetic morph of a known diplodocid.
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TER-QUA 2011 Proceedings: Steven E. Fields, H. Gregory McDonald, James L. Knight & Albert E. Sanders. 2012. The Ground Sloths (Pilosa) of South Carolina. – PalArch’s Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology 9(3) (2012), 1-19. ISSN 1567-2158. 19 pages + 7 figures, 1 table.
Posted by PalArch Editor (AV) in PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology on April 13th, 2012
Abstract A summary of museum and literature records of ground sloths collected from South Carolina is presented. The ground sloth record in South Carolina consists of three genera, Eremotheirum with two species, Megalonyx with three species and Paramylodon with one species. Three of these species, Eremotherium eomigrans and Megalonyx leptostomus from the Blancan and Megalonyx wheatleyi from the Irvingtonian are new records for the state. An early Pliocene specimen of M. leptostomus is the earliest record of sloths from South Carolina. The fossil record of sloths in the state extends from the Pliocene (Blancan) through the Pleistocene (Late Rancholabrean) and is confined to sedimentary deposits on the Coastal Plain.
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TER-QUA 2011 Proceedings: Robert M. Chandler. 2012. A New Species of Tinamou (Aves: Tinamiformes, Tinamidae) from the Early-Middle Miocene of Argentina. – PalArch’s Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology 9(2) (2012), 1-8. ISSN 1567-2158. 8 pages + 2 figures, 1 table.
Posted by PalArch Editor (AV) in PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology on April 10th, 2012
Abstract A new species of tinamou from the early-middle Miocene (Santacrusian), Santa Cruz Formation of Argentina is named. The new species is approximately 16 million year old and has an affinity with the modern genus Crypturellus based on the unique characteristics of the humerus, hence, the designation aff. Crypturellus. Fossil species and the zooarchaeological record of modern tinamous are given.
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TER-QUA 2011 Proceedings: Jeremy B. Stout. 2012. New Material of Borealosuchus from the Bridger Formation, with Notes on the Paleoecology of Wyoming’s Eocene Crocodylians. – PalArch’s Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology 9(5) (2012), 1-7. ISSN 1567-2158. 7 pages + 3 figures, 1 table.
Posted by PalArch Editor (AV) in PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology on April 5th, 2012
Abstract The Eocene Green River and Bridger Formations of Wyoming represent lacustrine and fluvial environments noteworthy for an extremely diverse crocodylian fauna (at least eight species in seven genera). This paper discusses a fragmentary crocodylian jaw from the Bridger Formation, and also notes possible ecological partitioning among these sympatric crocodylians. The jaw fragment can be assigned confi dently to Borealosuchus based on the exclusion of the splenial from the mandibular symphysis and the presence of occlusal grooves between the alveoli, and it is referred tentatively to Borealosuchus cf. B. wilsoni. To examine the paleoecology of these crocodylians, variables based on habitat, body size, and inferred diet were formulated and species placed within respective categories. The research found that while there were more sympatric crocodylians in the early to mid Eocene of Wyoming than in any present-day biota, direct interspecifi c competition for resources is presumed to have been relatively low.
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TER-QUA 2011 Proceedings: Pennilyn Higgins. 2012. Climate Change at the Paleocene-Eocene Boundary: New Insights from Mollusks and Organic Carbon in the Hanna Basin of Wyoming. – PalArch’s Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology 9(4) (2012), 1-20. ISSN 1567-2158. 20 pages + 7 figures, 3 tables.
Posted by PalArch Editor (AV) in PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology on April 5th, 2012
Abstract Climate change at the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) is frequently regarded as among the best ancient proxies for the potential effects of modern climate change. Terrestrial sections recording this event are few, but essential in understanding the impacts of rapid global change on land-dwelling life forms such as humans. In the Hanna Formation, exposed in the Hanna Basin of south-central Wyoming, the PETM and associated climate change are recorded in lacustrine and fl uvial sediments bracketing the Paleocene-Eocene boundary. Isotopic analysis of abundant fossil mollusks and organic carbon reveal interesting trends in the warming during the PETM and the subsequent climatic recovery. Changes in sedimentary environment due to climate change or tectonic events may be distinguishable through isotopic study, helping to clarify the direct impact of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems.
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TER-QUA 2011 Proceedings: Larry D. Martin. 2012. Institute for Tertiary-Quarternary Studies (TER-QUA). – PalArch’s Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology 9(1) (2012), 1-3. ISSN 1567-2158. 3 pages.
Posted by PalArch Editor (AV) in PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology on April 5th, 2012
The start
TER-QUA (the Institute for Tertiary-Quaternary Studies) was organized in 1968 on the recommendation of the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council’s U.S. National Committee of INQUA (the International Union for Quaternary Research). At this time it was under the directorships of Prof. Samuel Treves and Prof. Charles Bertrand Schultz both of the University of Nebraska. TER-QUA was formed to bring together [...]
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Rachel Zheng, Andrew A. Farke & Gy-Su Kim. 2011. A Photographic Atlas of the Pes from a Hadrosaurine Hadrosaurid Dinosaur. – PalArch’s Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology 8(7) (2011), 1-12. ISSN 1567-2158. 12 pages + 7 fi gures, 2 tables.
Posted by Palarch Editor (IJJN) in PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology on December 1st, 2011
Abstract Hadrosaurid dinosaurs are abundantly represented in terrestrial deposits from the Late Cretaceous, as isolated elements, associated specimens, and articulated skeletons with soft tissue. However, identifi cation of isolated elements can be diffi cult in the absence of adequate reference material. Here we present a photographic atlas of the complete pes from a hadrosaurine hadrosaurid (possibly Edmontosaurus annectens) collected in the Hell Creek Formation of Montana.
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Felipe Ribeiro de Santana, David J. Cicimurri & José Antonio Barbosa. 2011. New material of Apocopodon sericeus Cope, 1886 (Myliobatiformes, Myliobatidae) from the Paraíba Basin (Northeastern Brazil) and South Carolina (USA) with a reanalysis of the species.
Posted by Palarch Editor (IJJN) in PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology on October 24th, 2011
Abstract Myliobatiformes (Elasmobranchii: Batoidei) is circumglobally distributed and consists of 26 extant genera within ten families. The oldest records of the group occur in upper Cretaceous deposits, and one extinct species, Apocopodon sericeus, is found in the Danian (lower Paleocene) Maria Farinha Formation of the Paraíba Basin, Pernambuco state, northeastern Brazil. This taxon is known from isolated teeth and several partial dentitions in various states of completeness, and herein we describe a new, incomplete (lingual portion) Brazilian dental plate. Previously considered to be endemic to the Paraíba Basin, Apocopodon was recently identifi ed from South Carolina, United States. The sample consists of a nearly complete upper(?) dentition and numerous isolated teeth, and the material is indistinguishable from A. sericeus. The precise stratigraphic position and age of the South Carolina fossils is unknown, but based on the other associated Paleocene vertebrate fossils, we believe that the fossils originated from the Danian Rhems Formation. The South Carolina occurrence of Apocopodon represents a signifi cant geographic range extension of more than 7,000 km to the north of the type area, and the occurrence of this ray in such widely separated areas demonstrates the dispersion potential of fossil elasmobranch species. Analysis of the new specimens, along with reanalysis of all previously known Apocopodon dentitions maintained in Brazilian institutions, resulted in a revision of the morphological characteristics used to identify the taxon.
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BOOK REVIEW: Palarch’s Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology 8 (5) 2011
Posted by Palarch Editor (IJJN) in Book Reviews, PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology on October 24th, 2011
Alexandra A. de Sousa about Müller, S. & F. Schrenk. 2008. The Neanderthals. – London & New York, Routledge.
We do not know whether Neanderthals would have blended in with modern humans, but we certainly do have a lot of real (and imagined) ideas about who they were. This point is well made by the book titled “The Neanderthals”, which under the writing of Müller & Schrenk fi ts well into the series “People of the Ancient World”. Although this book has “nothing revolutionary to say”,[...]
Robert W. Boessenecker. 2011. A New Marine Vertebrate Assemblage from the Late Neogene Purisima Formation in Central California, Part I: Fossil Sharks, Bony Fish, Birds, and Implications for the Age of the Purisma Formation West of the San Gregorio Fault.
Posted by Palarch Editor (IJJN) in PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology on September 17th, 2011
Abstract The Miocene to Pliocene Purisima Formation crops out in multiple transform fault bounded structural blocks in central California. As a result of poor exposure, strike slip fault offset, and uncertain intraformational correlations, some exposures of the Purisima Formation are not well dated. The San Gregorio section of the Purisima Formation occurs in the Pigeon Point Block, west of the San Gregorio Fault, along the coast of southern Halfmoon Bay. Ages based on invertebrate and diatom biostratigraphy support a Late Miocene to Early Pliocene age, while ash correlations indicate a much younger Middle to Late Pliocene (3.3-2.5 Ma) age. Abundant remains of marine vertebrates occur in the Purisima Formation. Recent fieldwork in the San Gregorio section identified a modest assemblage of 26 taxa, including sharks (Carcharodon carcharias, Carcharodon sp., Cetorhinus maximus, cf. Hexanchus, Isurus oxyrinchus, Pristiophorus sp., Squatina sp., and Sphyrna sp.), skates (Raja sp., cf. R. binoculata), bony fish (Paralichthys sp., Thunnus sp.), birds (Mancalla diegensis, Morus sp.), and 13 marine mammal taxa, including several new records for the Purisima Formation. The non-mammalian vertebrates of this assemblage are described herein. The vertebrate assemblage is utilized to evaluate previous biostratigraphic and tephrochronologic age determinations for the San Gregorio section. The stratigraphic range of Carcharodon carcharias, Raja sp., cf. R. binoculata, Mancalla diegensis, and some of the marine mammals strongly indicate a Middle to Late Pliocene age for the upper and middle parts of the section, while a Late Miocene or Early Pliocene age is probable for the base of the section.
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BOOK REVIEW: Palarch’s Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology 8 (3) 2011
Posted by Palarch Editor (IJJN) in Book Reviews, PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology on April 24th, 2011
Ilja Nieuwland about Brian Switek. 2010. Written in Stone. Evolution, The Fossil Record, and Our Place in Nature. – New York, Bellevue Literary Press.
The history of vertebrate paleontology has simultaneously been very well and very poorly served in the past. Certain periods have seen tens or hundreds of publications devoted to them, and there’s little new to be found out about London in the 1830s and 1840s, or the Bone Wars of the 1870s and 1880s. But there’s still a whole world to be discovered. One of the – many – admirable qualities of Brian Switek’s first book, Written in Stone, is that Switek generally steers clear from re-hashing the historical warhorses of vertebrate paleontology and so offers something that holds interest for both the lay reader and the paleontological veteran.
BOOK REVIEW: Palarch’s Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology 8 (2) 2011
Posted by Palarch Editor (IJJN) in Book Reviews, PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology on April 24th, 2011
B.L. Beatty about Pinhasi, R.& Mays, S. (eds.) 2008. Advances in Human Palaeopathology. – Hoboken, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Paleopathology, as a science, has a deep and rich history, and most so for that which is focused on humans. Cases of pathologies in mummies, ancient buried skeletons, and even simply historical records are abundant, and have been praised not just for helping us understand the history of disease, but also in the role they play in humanizing history and historical figures. But this focus on cases has resulted in little available literature and direction in methods that are not simply the methods used by modern pathologists. While the interpretation of paleopathologies has had some very helpful standardization (Buikstra & Ubelaker, 1994), as well as discussions on theoretical limitations and opportunities in how they should be interpreted in animals in an evolutionary context (Beatty & Heckert, 2009, Beatty & Rothschild, 2009, Beatty & Dooley, 2010, Wolff, 2008, Wolff, 2009), methodologies used with modern technologies are largely relegated to the primary literature. In Pinhasi and Mays’s recent edited volume, “Advances in Human Palaeopathology”, we get a comprehensive collection of all the most up to date reviews on modern methods used in paleopathology of ancient humans. The book is organized in two parts: Analytical Approaches in Palaeopathology (chapters 1-9) and Diagnosis and Interpretation of Disease in Human Remains (chapters 10-16). Here I will review these chapters for their content and how they may be utilized by vertebrate palaeontologists.
BOOK REVIEW: Palarch’s Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology 8 (1) 2011
Posted by Palarch Editor (IJJN) in Book Reviews, PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology on April 24th, 2011
B.L. Beatty about Sepkoski, D. & Ruse, M. (eds.) 2009. The Paleobiological Revolution. – Chicago, University of Chicago Press
The history of palaeontology tends to focus on Darwin, Cope and Marsh, or if someone is particularly scholarly, the Burgess Shale. But with the exception of studies on Darwin, few of these ever delve deeper in the broader meaning of the history of palaeontology in any Kuhnian paradigm shifting nature. That may be because palaeontology, despite all the excitement over new technologies and integrations with developmental biology, morphometrics or cladistics, is still largely dependant on classical methods – one needs to find and dig up the fossils, then identify and describe them, before much else can be done with them. Palaeontology had remained something of a “stamp-collecting” science, at least on a procedural basis as it was perceived, until the development of what most would call paleobiology. This book, edited by David Sepkoski and Michael Ruse, is a chronicle of the history of how paleobiology got “to the high table” in evolutionary biology. Perhaps most impressive, these editors managed to get these chapters together so cohesively, and by many of the original authors of seminal papers in what started in the early 1970s, including Raup, Bambach, Hallam, Sepkoski, and Valentine. It is unfortunate that Steven J. Gould and Jack Sepkoski and Tom Schopf did not live to contribute to this, but it is clear from the repeated focus on these individuals in the chapters by others that their influence is omnipresent despite their lack of authorship here.
