Fossil Friday Roundup: April 12, 2019

Featured Image: MGGC 7456, Tethytrygon muricatus, stingray. From Fanti et al (2019).

Papers (All Open Access):

• An endemic microphytoplankton assemblage from Middle Devonian Iberia and its paleogeographical significance (Review of Paleobotany and Palynology)
• Leaf anatomy and ultrastructure in senescing ancient tree, Platycladus orientalis L. (Cupressaceae) (PeerJ)
• Ecdysis in a stem-group euarthropod from the early Cambrian of China (SciRep)
• Cascading trend of Early Paleozoic marine radiations paused by Late Ordovician extinctions (PNAS)
• A new ophiocistioid with soft-tissue preservation from the Silurian Herefordshire Lagerstätte, and the evolution of the holothurian body plan (ProcB)
• Evidence for a prolonged Permian–Triassic extinction interval from global marine mercury records (SciRep)
• Oligocene pagurized gastropods from the River Bend Formation, North Carolina, USA (Bulletin of the Mizunami Fossil Museum)
• Special issue: Cephalopods through time (Swiss J of Paleontology)
• Palaeozoic palaeodictyopteran insect nymphs with prominent ovipositors from a new locality (Bulletin of Geosciences)
• Thermodynamic constraints and the evolution of parental provisioning in vertebrates (Behavioral Ecology)
• Egg preservation in an Eocene stingray (Myliobatiformes, Dasyatidae) from Italy (JVP)
• Comparative study on pattern recognition receptors in non-teleost ray-finned fishes and their evolutionary significance in primitive vertebrates (SCLS)
• Phylogenetic relationships of Cypriniformes and plasticity of pharyngeal teeth in the adaptive radiation of cyprinids (SCLS)
• High-density three-dimensional morphometric analyses support conserved static (intraspecific) modularity in caecilian (Amphibia: Gymnophiona) crania (BJLS)
• New perspectives on the origins of the unique vocal tract of birds (PLOS Biology)
• A new genus and species of heron (Aves: Ardeidae) from the late Miocene of Florida (BFMNH)
• A small caseid synapsid, Arisierpeton simplex gen. et sp. nov., from the early Permian of Oklahoma, with a discussion of synapsid diversity at the classic Richards Spur locality (PeerJ)
• A new dicynodont (Anomodontia: Emydopoidea) from the terminal Permian of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (Paleontologia africana)
• The Lapara Creek Fauna: Early Clarendonian of south Texas, USA (PalaeoE)
• Recurrent evolution of extreme longevity in bats (Biology Letters)
• Microwear and isotopic analyses on cave bear remains from Toll Cave reveal both short-term and long-term dietary habits (SciRep)
• Morphological evolution in therocephalians breaks the hypercarnivore ratchet (ProcB)
• Reconstruction of the genus Isanacetus (Mysticete) from the Miocene, and its application for exhibition in Mizunami Fossil Museum (Bulletin of the Mizunami Fossil Museum)
• Comments on Percrocuta carnifex (Carnivora, Percrocutidae) based on new fossil material from the Nagri Formation (Middle Siwaliks) of Hasnot, Pakistan (Geologica Acta)
• Improved measures for evolutionary conservation that exploit taxonomy distances (SciRep)
• An R package and online resource for macroevolutionary studies using the ray‐finned fish tree of life (BES)

Preprints/PostPrints:

Community Events, Society Updates, and Resources:

 Meetings:

• 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 – abelone (Valley of the Mastodon)
• What’s the Biggest Dinosaur (Blogosaur)
• Tiny Footprints May Have Been Made by World’s Smallest Nonavian Dinosaur (Link)
• Dinosaur skin impression goes on show at Tring museum (Link)
• Titanosaur osteoderms: characteristics (Equatorial Minnesota)
• Introducing Kaijutitan, the strange beast (Letters From Gondwana)
• Busted Mastodon Is Ice Age Roadkill (Laelaps)
• Sleep Behaviour and Sleep Postures in Non-Human Animals (TetZoo)
• Discovering the Pacific mastodon: the importance of challenging assumptions of well understood taxa (PeerJ)

Featured Folks, Fieldwork, and Museums:

• Report urges massive digitization of museum collections (Link)
• Episode 58 – The Bone Wars (Common Descent)

Methods and Musings:

• Geoethics in the Field: Leading by Example (Earth Magazine)

Arts, Books, Culture, Fun:

• Book review – Carboniferous Giants and Mass Extinction: The Late Paleozoic Ice Age World (The Inquisitive Biologist)

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