Featured Image: Egg Holotype of Suchoolithus portucalensis, oogen. and oosp. nov. Specimen FCT-UNL706 from Cambelas, Assenta Member, Lourinhã Formation, Upper Jurassic. The shape and preservation of the specimen suggests an unhatched clutch. From Russo et al. (2017) first paper listed below.
Papers (All Open Access):
- Two new ootaxa from the late Jurassic: The oldest record of crocodylomorph eggs, from the Lourinhã Formation, Portugal (PLOS ONE)
- Micropaleontology of the lower Mesoproterozoic Roper Group, Australia, and implications for early eukaryotic evolution (Journal of Paleontology)
- Draconisella mortoni sp. nov., a Mizzia-like Dasycladalean alga from the Lower Cretaceous of Oman (PalaeoE)
- Halkieriid-like animals in the Late Ordovician? (PeerJ Preprints)
- A remarkably well-preserved terrestrial isopod (Peracarida: Isopoda: Armadillidiidae) from the upper Oligocene of Hungary, with remarks on the oniscidean taphonomy (PalaeoE)
- A new osteichthyan from the late Silurian of Yunnan, China (PLOS ONE)
- A taxonomic reassessment of Ichthyosaurus communis and I. intermedius and a revised diagnosis for the genus (Journal of Systematic Palaeontology)
- Osteology and relationships of Colymbosaurus Seeley, 1874, based on new material of C. svalbardensis from the Slottsmøya Member, Agardhfjellet Formation of central Spitsbergen (JVP)
- A new Mourasuchus (Alligatoroidea, Caimaninae) from the late Miocene of Venezuela, the phylogeny of Caimaninae and considerations on the feeding habits of Mourasuchus (PeerJ)
- Description of Arundel Clay ornithomimosaur material and a reinterpretation of Nedcolbertia justinhofmanni as an “Ostrich Dinosaur”: biogeographic implications (PeerJ)
- A Digital Endocranial Cast of the Early Paleocene (Puercan) ‘Archaic’ Mammal Onychodectes tisonensis (Eutheria: Taeniodonta) (Journal of Mammalian Evolution)
- Meckel’s cartilage breakdown offers clues to mammalian middle ear evolution (Nature Ecology & Evolution)
- Timing of global regression and microbial bloom linked with the Permian-Triassic boundary mass extinction: implications for driving mechanisms (Scientific Reports)
Community Events and Society Updates:
- Learning About the Hobbits of Flores – an online course (Link)
- Seeking Nominations: The Raymond M. Alf Award for Excellence in Paleontological Research and Education (Link)
- TetZooCon 2017 (Link)
New and Views:
Animals and Anatomy:
- The (Now Older) Age of Fishes: New bony fish from the Silurian of China (PLOS Paleo)
- Vision, not limbs, led fish onto land 385 million years ago (Link)
- Congratulations! Your Platychelys learned the move ‘Neck retraction’ (PLOS Paleo)
- A 180 million year old dinosaur dinner (PLOS Paleo)
- Buried Treasure – Jordan Mallon (Dave Hone’s Archosaur Musings)
- Paleo Profile: New Zealand’s Giant Dawn Penguin (Laelaps)
- Haast’s Eagle (Harpagornis moorei) (Life in the Cenozoic Era)
- Did This Protomammal Have a Venomous Bite? (Laelaps)
- A Spiky Mammal from the Heyday of the Dinosaurs (Laelaps)
- The Sigmodontines (Tetrapod Zoology)
- By the Light of the Silvery Moon (Synapsida)
- Fossil Friday – worn mastodon tooth (Valley of the Mastodon)
- Specimen of the Week 281: The Ancient Whale Skull (UCL Blogs)
- Great Claw (The Rafting Monkey)
- 150 things about Canadian palaeo – part 4, Canadian fossil names #FossilFriday (Musings of a Clumsy Paleontologist)
- Neanderthal tooth plaque hints at meals — and kisses (Nature News)
- South Island Giant Moa (Dinornis robustus) (Life in the Cenozoic Era)
- Throwback Thursday: Mounting Brachyceratops (SVP Blog)
Featured Folks and Fieldwork:
- On Friendships & Missing Links: Bringing Characters to Life (Paige Fossil History)
- Joseph Nicollet (Equatorial Minnesota)
- NextGen Paleontologist: Egypt’s Catfish Hunter Sanaa El-Sayed (Discover)
- Sketching science: Meet the fossil artist who reconstructs ‘lost worlds’ (Link)
Museums, Methods, and Musings:
- 4 Stories (Dr. Neurosaurus)
- The Wilderness Before Time (Extinct)
- The Taphonomy of Tar Seeps (Taphovenatrix)
- Science journalism can be evidence-based, compelling — and wrong (Nature News)
- ‘Rock star’ Archaeopteryx fossil heads for Japan (Link)
- Fundraising for Tendaguru (Popularizing Palaeontology)
Arts, Culture, and Fun:
- Jurassic Museum (Extinct Monsters)
- The Utahraptor Project competition (Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs)
- Sue The T-Rex Is Running A D&D Game On Twitter & It Is Freaking Amazing (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.
Sarah Z. Gibson 