Fossil Friday Roundup: December 14, 2018

Featured Image: Complete articulated skeleton and carapace of the Miocene armadillo Prozaedyus proximus (MPM-PV 3506). From Vizcaíno et al. (2018). CC-BY.

Papers (All Open Access):

• Mapping the past: GIS and intrasite spatial analyses of fossil deposits in paleontological sites and their applications in taxonomy, taphonomy and paleoecology (PalaeoE)
• Considering planetary environments in origin of life studies (Nature Communications)
• Searching for lost nucleotides of the pre-RNA World with a self-refining model of early Earth (Nature Communications)
• Experimentally investigating the origin of DNA/RNA on early Earth (Nature Communications)
• Bacterial origin of the red pigmentation of Phanerozoic carbonate rocks: an integrated study of geology-biology-chemistry (Ernest Van den Broeck medallist lecture 2017) (Geologica Belgica)
• An evolutionary and cultural biography of ginkgo (PPP)
• Phylogenetic relationships and time-calibration of the South American fossil and extant species of southern beeches (Nothofagus) (APP)
• Fast adaptation of tropical diatoms to increased warming with trade-offs (Scientific Reports)
• Colony growth strategies, dormancy and repair in some Late Cretaceous encrusting bryozoans: insights into the ecology of the Chalk seabed (Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments)
• New records of brachiopods and crinoids from the Silurian (Wenlock) of the southern Urals, Russia (DiVA)
• Trait‐based ecology of terrestrial arthropods (Biological Reviews)
• A phylogenomic resolution of the sea urchin tree of life (BMC Evolutionary Biology)
• A middle Eocene seep deposit with silicified fauna from the Humptulips Formation in western Washington State, USA (APP)
• Post-Cretaceous bursts of evolution along the benthic-pelagic axis in marine fishes (ProcB)
• Metabolic physiology explains macroevolutionary trends in the melanic colour system across amniotes (ProcB)
• The skull of the carettochelyid turtle Anosteira pulchra from the Eocene (Uintan) of Wyoming and the carotid canal system of carettochelyid turtles (Fossil Record)
• A new phylogenetic analysis of Phytosauria (Archosauria: Pseudosuchia) with the application of continuous and geometric morphometric character coding (PeerJ)
• Winged forelimbs of the small theropod dinosaur Caudipteryx could have generated small aerodynamic forces during rapid terrestrial locomotion (Scientific Reports)
• Evidence for the Cretaceous shark Cretoxyrhina mantelli feeding on the pterosaur Pteranodon from the Niobrara Formation (PeerJ)
• Flightless birds are not neuroanatomical analogs of non-avian dinosaurs (BMC Evolutionary Biology)
• Expansion in geographical and morphological space drives continued lineage diversification in a global passerine radiation (ProcB)
• New skeletal material sheds light on the palaeobiology of the Pleistocene marsupial carnivore, Thylacoleo carnifex (PLOS ONE)
• Recent Progress and Future Prospects in Fossil Xenarthran Studies, with Emphasis on Current Methodology in Sloth Taxonomy (Journal of Mammalian Evolution)
• The Postcranial Musculoskeletal System of Xenarthrans: Insights from over Two Centuries of Research and Future Directions (Journal of Mammalian Evolution)
• An Overview of the Presence of Osteoderms in Sloths: Implications for Osteoderms as a Plesiomorphic Character of the Xenarthra (Journal of Mammalian Evolution)
• Advantages and Limitations in the Use of Extant Xenarthrans (Mammalia) as Morphological Models for Paleobiological Reconstruction (Journal of Mammalian Evolution)
• An Overview of Xenarthran Developmental Studies with a Focus on the Development of the Xenarthrous Vertebrae (Journal of Mammalian Evolution)
• The Concept of a Pedolateral Pes Revisited: The Giant Sloths Megatherium and Eremotherium (Xenarthra, Folivora, Megatheriinae) as a Case Study (Journal of Mammalian Evolution)
• Potential Distribution of Fossil Xenarthrans in South America during the Late Pleistocene: co-Occurrence and Provincialism (Journal of Mammalian Evolution)
• Feeding Ecology in Oligocene Mylodontoid Sloths (Mammalia, Xenarthra) as Revealed by Orthodentine Microwear Analysis (Journal of Mammalian Evolution)
• Epaxial Musculature in Armadillos, Sloths, and Opossums: Functional Significance and Implications for the Evolution of Back Muscles in the Xenarthra (Journal of Mammalian Evolution)
• Architectural Properties of Sloth Forelimb Muscles (Pilosa: Bradypodidae) (Journal of Mammalian Evolution)
• Problems of the taxon Archidiskodon meridionalis gromovi Garutt et Alexejeva, 1964 validity: diagnosis, stratigraphic spreading and paleoecology (Proceedings of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences)
• The Carnivora (Mammalia) from the middle Miocene locality of Gračanica (Bugojno Basin, Gornji Vakuf, Bosnia and Herzegovina) (Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments)
• Dietary versatility of Early Pleistocene hominins (PNAS)
• Neandertal Introgression Sheds Light on Modern Human Endocranial Globularity (Current Biology)
• Improvements in the fossil record may largely resolve current conflicts between morphological and molecular estimates of mammal phylogeny (ProcB)

PrePrints and PostPrints:

• Petrosal morphology and cochlear function in Mesozoic stem therians (bioRXiv)
• Comparative Cranial Morphology of the Late Cretaceous Protostegid Sea Turtle Desmatochelys lowii (PaleorXiv)

Community Events, Society Updates, and Resources:

 Meetings:

• Western Association of Vertebrate Paleontologists, March 15–17, 2019, University of Oregon (Link)
• 11th Conference on Fossil Resources, Casper, Wyoming, May 30-June 2, 2019 (Link)
• North American Paleontological Convention June 23–27 2019 (Link)

News and Views:

Animals and Anatomy:

• Fossil Friday – community on a half-shell (Valley of the Mastodon)
• When Sharks Swam the Great Plains (PBS Eons)
• Soft-tissue evidence in a Jurassic ichthyosaur (Letters from Gondwana)
• Triceratops skull delivers a Wow! of a Christmas gift (Canadian Museum of Nature)
• Miocene (Pt 11): Horses on the Grasslands (Synapsida)
• The Bite of the Sabertooth (Laelaps)
• When Apes Conquered Europe (PBS Eons)
• Top 6 Human Evolution Discoveries of 2018 (PLOS SciComm)

Methods and Musings:

• Ordovician updates (Equatorial Minnesota)
• New Triassic Vertebrate Papers and the Cold Case of the Phytosaurs (Chinleana)
• Humans may be reversing the climate clock, by 50 million years (Link)
• Illustrating Casual Sexism in Science (Eos)
• Further Investigating the Biogeographic Origins of Dinosauria (Chinleana)
• To name, or not to name, that is the question (The Rafting Monkey)
• Up All Night (PLOS Ecology Community)

Featured Folks, Fieldwork, and Museums:

• Museum of Osteology, June 2018 visit (SVPOW)
• The Mass Extinction Detectives (Science Friday Methods)

Arts, Books, Culture, Fun:

• Book review – King of the Dinosaur Hunters: The Life of John Bell Hatcher and the Discoveries that Shaped Paleontology (The Inquisitive Biologist)
• What $16,500,000 Buys You (LITC)
• Aquilops skull, take 3 (SVPOW)
• Book review – Across the Bridge: Understanding the Origin of the Vertebrates (The Inquisitive Biologist)
• Vintage Dinosaur Art: Great Dinosaurs (LITC)
• The Ascent of Birds (Raptormaniacs)

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