Fossil Friday Roundup: November 16, 2018

Featured Image: Piramys auffenbergi, holotype skull, GSI 18133. From Ferriera et al. (2018), CC-BY.

Papers (All Open Access):

• The Unfinished Synthesis?: Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology in the 20th Century (Journal of the History of Biology)
• A general pattern of the species abundance distribution (PeerJ)
• Negative biotic interactions drive predictions of distributions for species from a grassland community (Biology Letters)
• Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities (CETAF) best practices in electronic publishing in taxonomy (European Journal of Taxonomy)
• Jurassic integrative stratigraphy and timescale of China (Science China Earth Sciences)
• Cretaceous integrative stratigraphy and timescale of China (Science China Earth Sciences)
• Dynamic Greenland ice sheet driven by pCO2 variations across the Pliocene Pleistocene transition (Nature Communications)
• Chironomid-inferred Holocene temperature reconstruction in Basa de la Mora Lake (Central Pyrenees) (The Holocene)
• Further contributions to the early Miocene forest vegetation of the Galatian Volcanic Province, Turkey (PalaeoE)
• The two phases of the Cambrian Explosion (Scientific Reports)
• Microbial-tubeworm associations in a 440 million year old hydrothermal vent community (ProcB)
• Adult Antarctic krill proves resilient in a simulated high CO2 ocean (Communications Biology)
• Berriasian planktonic foraminifera and calcareous nannofossils from Crimea Mountains, with reference to microfossil evolution (Swiss Journal of Paleontology)
• A soil-carrying lacewing larva in Early Cretaceous Lebanese amber (Scientific Reports)
• Pollinivory and the diversification dynamics of bees (Biology Letters)
• Messor barbarus ants as soil bioturbators: Implications for granulometry, mineralogical composition and fossil remains extraction in Somosaguas site (Madrid basin, Spain) (CATENA)
•  Two new Paleozoic Asteroidea (Echinodermata) and their taxonomic and evolutionary significance (Journal of Paleontology)
• Cretaceous Roveacrinids from Mexico revisited: Overcoming the taxonomic misidentifications and subsequent biostratigraphic abuse (Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana)
• An ancient Turing-like patterning mechanism regulates skin denticle development in sharks (Science Advances)
• The Definition of Bioregions in Palaeontological Studies of Diversity and Biogeography Affects Interpretations: Palaeozoic Tetrapods as a Case Study (Frontiers in Earth Science)
• Response From the Authors: A Reassessment of the Taxonomic Position of Mesosaurs, and a Surprising Phylogeny of Early Amniotes (Frontiers in Earth Science)
• Genetic evidence supports a distinct lineage of American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) in the Greater Antilles (PLOS ONE)
• The oldest specialized tetrapod herbivore: A new eupelycosaur from the Permian of New Mexico, USA (PalaeoE)
• A taxonomic reassessment of Piramys auffenbergi, a neglected turtle from the late Miocene of Piram Island, Gujarat, India (PeerJ)
• A new microvertebrate assemblage from the Mussentuchit Member, Cedar Mountain Formation: insights into the paleobiodiversity and paleobiogeography of early Late Cretaceous ecosystems in western North America (PeerJ)
• Comprehensive molecular and cellular studies suggest avian scutate scales are secondarily derived from feathers, and more distant from reptilian scales (Scientific Reports)
• Smallest known raptor tracks suggest microraptorine activity in lakeshore setting (Scientific Reports)
• Late Cretaceous sauropod tooth morphotypes may provide supporting evidence for faunal connections between North Africa and Southern Europe (PeerJ)
• The most complete enantiornithine from North America and a phylogenetic analysis of the Avisauridae (PeerJ)
• Adaptation and constraint in the evolution of the mammalian backbone (BMC Evolutionary Biology)
• Pectoral girdle and forelimb musculoskeletal function in the echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus): insights into mammalian locomotor evolution (RSOS)
• New data on the earliest European ruminant (Mammalia, Artiodactyla): A revision of the fossil mandible from Rusce in the Pčinja basin (late Eocene, Southeastern Serbia) (PalaeoE)
• Eocene metatherians from Anatolia illuminate the assembly of an island fauna during Deep Time (PLOS ONE)
• Intraspecific variation in semicircular canal morphology—A missing element in adaptive scenarios?(American Journal of Physical Anthropology)
• First record of the Miocene hominoid Sivapithecus from Kutch, Gujarat state, western India (PLOS ONE)

PrePrints and PostPrints:

•  Surface sediment samples from early age of seafloor exploration can provide a late 19th century baseline of the marine environment (BioRXiv)
• Discussion Paper: Help! I’m an author – get me out of here (Link)
• Fossils reveal long-term continuous and parallel innovation in the sacro-caudo-pelvic complex of the highly aquatic pipid frogs (PaleorXiv)

Community Events, Society Updates, and Resources:

 Meetings:

• 1st Palaeontological Virtual Congress, December 1–15, 2018 (Link)
• North American Paleontological Convention June 23–27 2019 (Link)

Society News:

• Help rebuilding the paleontology collections of Brazil’s National Museum (SVP)

News and Views:

Animals and Anatomy:

• Nature’s Collectors (More than a Dodo)
• The Rioarribasaurus Controversy; or, How We Almost Lost Coelophysis (Winding Road to Paleontology)
• Rebbachisauridae (Equatorial Minnesota)
•  Parkosaurus fossils found in Coahuila are the first ever seen in Mexico (Link)
• Please welcome Mirarce eatoni (SVPOW)
• Introducing Mirarce eatoni, the wonderful winged messenger (Letters from Gondwana)
• Microraptor: Beast of the Week (PBW)
• Fancy pigeons and Unnatural Selection (LITC)
• Fossil Friday – ground sloths & therizinosaurs (Valley of the Mastodon)
• Fossil Friday – creodont skull (Valley of the Mastodon)
• Busy Bodies (What’s in John’s Freezer?)

Methods and Musings:

• Cooking with Foraminifera Part I (Time Scavengers)
• The Value of Optional Field Trips (Time Scavengers)
• Understanding the Fossil Record Bias, Part I: Fossilization’s Influencing Factors (Rex Machina)

Featured Folks, Fieldwork, and Museums:

• Geoconclave (Time Scavengers)
• Dr. Page Quinton, Paleoclimatologist (Time Scavengers)
• Urban Fossil Hunting (Time Scavengers)
• The Real Life ‘Indiana Jones’ Was Just as Cool as You Think (Messy Nessy Chic)

Arts, Books, Culture, Fun:

• Book review – The Book of Humans: The Story of How We Became Us (The Inquisitive Biologist)
• Book review— Eyes to See: The Astonishing Variety of Vision in Nature (The Inquisitive Biologist)
• My new dinosaur book for kids is out (SVPOW)

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