Fossil Friday Roundup: March 24, 2017

Featured Image: Jaw of Argyromys cicigei, from López-Guerrero et al. 2017, PLOS ONE.

Papers (All Open Access):

• Late Messinian mollusks and vertebrates from Moncucco Torinese, north-western Italy. Paleoecological and paleoclimatological implications (PalaeoE)
• A multidisciplinary approach to digital mapping of dinosaurian tracksites in the Lower Cretaceous (Valanginian–Barremian) Broome Sandstone of the Dampier Peninsula, Western Australia (PeerJ)
• Accuracy and reliability of cetacean cranial measurements using computed tomography three dimensional volume rendered images (PLOS ONE)
• A new species of Argyromys (Rodentia, Mammalia) from the Oligocene of the Valley of Lakes (Mongolia): Its importance for palaeobiogeographical homogeneity across Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan (PLOS ONE)
• Evolution of the patellar sesamoid bone in mammals (PeerJ)
• Neogene amphibians and reptiles (Caudata, Anura, Gekkota, Lacertilia, and Testudines) from the south of Western Siberia, Russia, and Northeastern Kazakhstan (PeerJ)
• Scaling and functional morphology in strigiform hind limbs (Scientific Reports)
• Cellular preservation of musculoskeletal specializations in the Cretaceous bird Confuciusornis (Nature Communications)
• A new crustacean from the Herefordshire (Silurian) Lagerstätte, UK, and its significance in malacostracan evolution (Proceedings B)
• Functional morphology of tegmina-based stridulation in the relict species Cyphoderris monstrosa (Orthoptera: Ensifera: Prophalangopsidae) (JEB)
• Paleozoic echinoderm hangovers: Waking up in the Triassic (Geology)
• Extreme adaptations for probable visual courtship behaviour in a Cretaceous dancing damselfly (Scientific Reports)
• Repetitive mammalian dwarfing during ancient greenhouse warming events (Science Advances)
• Cranial arterial patterns of the alpaca (Camelidae: Vicugna pacos) (RSOS)
• Are floating algal mats a refuge from hypoxia for estuarine invertebrates? (PeerJ)
• Walking and talking the tree of life: Why and how to teach about biodiversity (PLOS ONE)

Community Events and Society Updates:

• Seeking Nominations (March 31 deadline): The Raymond M. Alf Award for Excellence in Paleontological Research and Education (Link)

New and Views:

Animals and Anatomy:

• Heavy-footed Moa (Pachyornis elephantopus) (Life in the Cenozoic Era)
• Shaking the Tree (New Views on Old Bones)
• Yet More Wonderful Fossilized Soft Tissue (What’s in John’s Freezer?)
• “Everything” You Didn’t Know You Wanted to Know About Mammalian Kneecaps (What’s in John’s Freezer?)
• My Little Pony (Dr. Neurosaurus)
• Buried Treasure – Andy Farke (Dave Hone’s Archosaur Musings)
• Paleo Profile: Mongolia’s Ginkgo Cousin (Laelaps)
• Tully Monster Still a Mystery (Laelaps)
• Fossil Friday – tree frog humerus (Valley of the Mastodon)
• Montana lizard skeletons are among oldest, most complete iguanian fossils ever discovered (Link)
• Why Crocodiles Look Like Whales (Laelaps)
• How Therizinosaurs Nibbled and Munched (Raptormaniacs)
• A Spiky Mammal from the Heyday of the Dinosaurs (Laelaps)
• Mammalian Dwarfing during Ancient Greenhouse Warming Events (Letters from Gondwana)
• Leopards Might Have Walked Alongside Neanderthals (Link)
• Paleo Profile: The Orange Sea Lion (Laelaps)
• DNA hints at earlier human exodus from Africa (Link)
• Human Skull Evolved Along with Two-Legged Walking, Study Confirms (Link)
• 150 things about Canadian palaeo, part 6 – marine fossils #FossilFriday (Musings of a Clumsy Paleontologist)
• The plot to kill Homo habilis (Medium)
• Ornithoscelida Rises: A New Family Tree for Dinosaurs (Tetrapod Zoology)
• The Skeleton Revealed: Vertebrates As You’ve Never Seen Them Before (Cool Green Science)
• Livyatan: Beast of the Week (PBW)

Featured Folks and Fieldwork:

• Lake Kariba dinosaur expedition: Part 3, finale (New Views on Old Bones)
• Vegas Stripped: A ‘dino nerd’ in the desert (Link)
• Women in Science: Akiko Shinya, Fossil Preparator (Link)
• Waking up in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolian Dinosaurs)

Museums, Methods, and Musings:

• A Point With Multiple Dimensions (Fossils & Other Living Things)
• A Successful Short Course (UCMP Blog)
• Every attempt to manage academia makes it worse (SV-POW)
• Chironomid vs pollen: Holocene climate change in southern Europe (Musings on Quantitative Paleoecology)
• Why do we manage academia so badly? (SV-POW)

Arts, Culture, and Fun:

• Anomalies Like Anomalocaris (Extinct)
• Merriamoceros coronatus (Spinops)
• The Soay Island Sea Monster of 1959 (Tetrapod Zoology)
• From “T. Rex” to “Pantydraco”: How Dinosaurs Get Their Names (Smithsonian Mag)

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