Featured Image: Changchunsaurus parvus, from Chen et al. (2018), CC-BY.
Papers (All Open Access):
- First U-Pb zircon ages for late Miocene Ashfall Konservat-Lagerstätte and Grove Lake ashes from eastern Great Plains, USA (PLOS ONE)
- The Howiesons Poort lithic sequence of Klipdrift Shelter, southern Cape, South Africa (PLOS ONE)
- Stability trophic cascades in food chains (RSOS)
- Phylogeny, biogeography and taxonomic re-assessment of Multifurca (Russulaceae, Russulales) using three-locus data (PLOS ONE)
- Sympatric and allopatric niche shift of endemic Gypsophila (Caryophyllaceae) taxa in the Iberian Peninsula (PLOS ONE)
- Inner Workings: Hunting for microbial life throughout the solar system (PNAS)
- Geophysical upheavals and evolutionary diversification of plant species in the Himalaya (PeerJ)
- A well-preserved respiratory system in a Silurian ostracod (RSOS)
- Evolution of Eye Reduction and Loss in Trilobites and Some Related Fossil Arthropods (Emerging Science Journal)
- Sexual dimorphism in the Arachnid orders (PeerJ)
- New records of brachiopods and crinoids from the Silurian (Wenlock) of the southern Urals, Russia (GFF)
- Fossilization transforms vertebrate hard tissue proteins into N-heterocyclic polymers (Nature Communications)
- Time wears on: Assessing how bone wears using 3D surface texture analysis (PLOS ONE)
- Ophidiiform fishes from the Oligocene-early Miocene of Moravia, Czech Republic (Bulletin of Geoscience)
- First record of a coelacanth fish from the Middle Triassic Meride Limestone of Monte San Giorgio (Canton Ticino, Switzerland) (RIPS)
- Unique pelvic fin in a tetrapod-like fossil fish, and the evolution of limb patterning (PNAS)
- Past vicariance promoting deep genetic divergence in an endemic frog species of the Espinhaço Range in Brazil: The historical biogeography of Bokermannohyla saxicola (Hylidae) (PLOS ONE)
- The putative lissamphibian stem-group: phylogeny and evolution of the dissorophoid temnospondyls (Journal of Paleontology)
- Amphibian life history in a temperate environment of the Mexican Plateau: dimorphism, phenology and trophic ecology of a hylid frog, Hyla eximia (=Dryophytes eximius) (PeerJ)
- Histological analysis of post-eruption tooth wear adaptations, and ontogenetic changes in tooth implantation in the acrodontan squamate Pogona vitticeps (PeerJ)
- X-ray computed microtomography of Megachirella wachtleri (Scientific Data)
- Carbon and oxygen isotopic studies of the horizon of Kueichousaurus Fauna (Geology in China)
- Goldfuß was right: Soft part preservation in the Late Jurassic pterosaur Scaphognathus crassirostris revealed by reflectance transformation imaging (RTI) and UV light and the auspicious beginnings of paleo-art (PalaeoE)
- Pterosauria of the Great Oolite Group (Bathonian, Middle Jurassic) of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire, England (APP)
- Tooth development, histology, and enamel microstructure in Changchunsaurus parvus: Implications for dental evolution in ornithopod dinosaurs (PLOS ONE)
- Geological records of fossils layer and death process and taphonomy of dinosaurs in Cretaceous in Tianyuan, Zhuzhou (Geology in China)
- Multifaceted disparity approach reveals dinosaur herbivory flourished before the end-Cretaceous mass extinction (Paleobiology)
- An record of the early Priotanancus and Stephanocemas from the North of the Junggar Basin, and its implication for the Chinese Shanwangian (Vertebrata PalAsiatica)
- Contrasting evolutionary history, anthropogenic declines and genetic contact in the northern and southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) (ProcB)
- Hominoid intraspecific cranial variation mirrors neutral genetic diversity (PNAS)
- Niche adaptation and viral transmission of human papillomaviruses from archaic hominins to modern humans (PLOS ONE)
PrePrints and PostPrints:
- Body-shape diversity in Triassic–Early Cretaceous neopterygian fishes: sustained holostean disparity and predominantly gradual increases in teleost phenotypic variety (PaleorXiv)
- Enigmatic encrusting fossils from the Upper Devonian of Russia: probable Rothpletzella microproblematica preserved in three dimensions (PaleorXiv)
Community Events, Society Updates, and Resources:
Meetings:
- 1st Palaeontological Virtual Congress, December 1–15, 2018 (Link)
- The 1st Palaeontological Virtual Congress: new abstract deadline, and registration payment methods (SVPOW)
- North American Paleontological Convention June 23–27 2019 (Link)
Society News:
- Help rebuilding the paleontology collections of Brazil’s National Museum (SVP)
Resources:
- Paleo Society Elements of Paleontology Series: Strategies to teach Paleontology in the classroom (Link)
News and Views:
Animals and Anatomy:
- Tiny Footprints, Big Discovery: Reptile Tracks Oldest Ever Found in Grand Canyon (Link)
- Harpymimus: Beast of the Week (PBW)
- We may never know how flexible sauropod necks were (SVPOW)
- T. Rex Turned Like a Ballerina from a Slow-Motion Nightmare (LiveScience)
- Diverticulum, diverticula (SVPOW)
- Bitten Bone a Sign of a Cretaceous Snack (Laelaps)
- Delicate Fossil Bird Reveals Prehistoric Plumage Patterns (Laelaps)
- Episode 47 – Early Synapsids (“Proto-Mammals”) (Common Descent)
- Saber-toothed cats with oral injuries ate softer foods than their uninjured counterparts, who may have provided injured cats with soft scraps (GSA)
- The Pig Family: Fossil Pigs (Synapsida)
- On Horses, In Solidarity (Extinct)
Methods and Musings:
- SVPCA 2018 (Palaeocast)
Featured Folks, Fieldwork, and Museums:
- Cumberland Bone Cave (Equatorial Minnesota)
- T. rex mount at New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science (SVPOW)
Arts, Books, Culture, Fun:
- Vintage Dinosaur Art: The Starfish Book of Dinosaurs and Early Animals (LITC)
- FINALLY finding Louisville’s 1964 New York World’s Fair Triceratops! (Dave’s Dinosaurs)
- Book review – Smilodon: The Iconic Sabertooth (The Inquisitive Biologist)
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 