Fossil Friday Roundup: February 22, 2019

Featured Image: Axial body models (constructed in FreeCAD) of (A) Yangchuanosaurus shangyouensis (CV 00215), (B) Sinraptor hepingensis (ZDM 0024), and (C) Tarbosaurus bataar (ZPAL MgD-I/4).

Papers (All Open Access):

• From data compilation to model validation: a comprehensive analysis of a full deep-sea ecosystem model of the Chatham Rise (PeerJ)
• Exceptionally well-preserved Orsten-type phosphatocopid crustaceans from the Cambrian of Poland (APP)
• Stable isotopic characterization of a coastal floodplain forest community: a case study for isotopic reconstruction of Mesozoic vertebrate assemblages (RSOS)
• Lower Triassic (Induan to Olenekian) conodonts, foraminifera, and bivalves from the Al Mamalih area, Dead Sea, Jordan: Constraints on the P–T boundary (RIPS)
• Unexpected diversity of median caudal cartilages in teleosts (Zoological J of the Linnean Society)
• Otoliths in situ in the stem teleost Cavenderichthys talbragarensis (Woodward, 1895), otoliths in coprolites, and isolated otoliths from the Upper Jurassic of Talbragar, New South Wales, Australia (JVP)
• Bilateral Jaw Elements in Amiskwia sagittiformis Bridge the Morphological Gap between Gnathiferans and Chaetognaths (Current Biology)
• The tetrapod fauna of the upper Permian Naobaogou Formation of China: 3. Jiufengia jiai gen. et sp. nov., a large akidnognathid therocephalian (PeerJ)
• A juvenile specimen of the trematopid Acheloma from Richards Spur, Oklahoma and challenges of trematopid ontogeny (Frontiers in Earth Science)
• A new testudinoid turtle from the middle to late Eocene of Vietnam (PeerJ)
• Tracking down the lizards from Gravenhorst’s collection at the University of Wrocław: type specimens of Callopistes maculatus Gravenhorst, 1838 and three Liolaemus species rediscovered (PeerJ)
• The anatomy and phylogenetic position of the erythrosuchid archosauriform Guchengosuchus shiguaiensis from the earliest Middle Triassic of China (PeerJ)
• Heterochronic shifts and conserved embryonic shape underlie crocodylian craniofacial disparity and convergence (RSOS)
• Diversity in rhynchocephalian Clevosaurus skulls based on CT reconstruction of two Late Triassic species from Great Britain (APP)
• Anatomy of the dinosaur Pampadromaeus barberenai (Saurischia—Sauropodomorpha) from the Late Triassic Santa Maria Formation of southern Brazil (PLOS ONE)
• Diminutive fleet-footed tyrannosauroid narrows the 70-million-year gap in the North American fossil record (Communications Biology)
• Lower rotational inertia and larger leg muscles indicate more rapid turns in tyrannosaurids than in other large theropods (PeerJ)
• Correction to: ‘New theropod (Tetanurae: Avetheropoda) material from the ‘mid’-Cretaceous Griman Greek Formation at Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia’ (RSOS)
• Mitochondrial Genomes from New Zealand’s Extinct Adzebills (Aves: Aptornithidae: Aptornis) Support a Sister-Taxon Relationship with the Afro-Madagascan Sarothruridae (Diversity)
• Phylogeny, migration and life history: filling the gaps in the origin and biogeography of the Turdus thrushes (Journal of Ornithology)
• Dietary niche and the evolution of cranial morphology in birds (ProcB)
• Primer estudio experimental sobre los efectos de la digestión en restos esqueléticos de murciélagos (Mammalia: Chiroptera) (Spanish J or Paleontology)
• The Australian dingo: untamed or feral? (Frontiers in Zoology)
• A new suoid with tubulidentate, hypselorhizic cheek teeth from the early Miocene of Córcoles, Spain (Spanish J of Paleontology)
• Unexpected evolutionary patterns of dental ontogenetic traits in cetartiodactyl mammals (ProcB)
• Biomechanical simulations of Leptarctus primus (Leptarctinae, Carnivora), and new evidence for a badger-like feeding capability (JVP)
• The Still Bay and pre-Still Bay Fauna from Sibudu Cave: Taphonomic and Taxonomic Analysis of the Macromammal Remains from the Wadley Excavations (Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology)
• Exceptionally high δ15N values in collagen single amino acids confirm Neandertals as high-trophic level carnivores (PNAS)
• Revisiting the Foraging Ecology and Extinction History of Two Endemic Vertebrates from Tenerife, Canary Islands (Quaternary)
• The ecomorphology of southern African rodent incisors: Potential applications to the hominin fossil record (PLOS ONE)
• Specialized rainforest hunting by Homo sapiens ~45,000 years ago (Nature Communications)
• The use of new web technologies for the analysis, preservation, and outreach of paleontological information and its application to La Rioja (Spain) paleontological heritage (PalaeoE)
• Identifying and improving AGU collaborations using network analysis and scientometrics (Geoscience Comm)

Preprints/PostPrints:

• A high-resolution, chromosome-assigned Komodo dragon genome reveals adaptations in the cardiovascular, muscular, and chemosensory systems of monitor lizards (bioRXiv)
• The locomotor and predatory habits of unenlagiines (Theropoda, Paraves): inferences based on morphometric studies and comparisons with Laurasian dromaeosaurids (bioRXiv)
• A late Permian ichthyofauna from the Zechstein Basin, Lithuania-Latvia Region (bioRXiv)

Community Events, Society Updates, and Resources:

 Meetings:

• PaleoFest, March 2–3, 2019, Burpee Museum of Natural History, Rockford, Illinois (Link)
• 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:

• Speaker Series 2019: Fossil Fish from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta (Royal Tyrrell)
• Speaker Series 2019: The Great Plains Short-horned Lizard in Canada (Royal Tyrrell)
• Your Friends The Titanosaurs, part 9: “Campylodon”, Clasmodosaurus, Choconsaurus, and Daxiatitan (Equatorial Minnesota)
• Fossil Friday – ceratopsian vertebra (Valley of the Mastodon)
• Fossil Bones Reveal New Baby Dinosaur (Laelaps)
• A Multi-Species Nesting Assemblage in the Late Cretaceous of Europe (TetZoo)
• Speaker Series 2019: The Origins and Evolution of Madagascar’s Modern Vertebrates (Royal Tyrrell Museum)
• Miocene (Pt 12): American Rhinos and Horse-Headed Lopers (Synapsida)
• Land animal diversity was stable for millions of years, before humans came along – new study (Link)

Methods and Musings:

• Beginning at the beginning: Leibniz and the texts of deep history (Extinct)
• I’m just bad at science (Time Scavengers)
• How to spot palaeontological crankery (Mark Witton)

Featured Folks, Fieldwork, and Museums:

• ‘Quick for a palaeontologist is painfully slow on human time scales!’ (Link)

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