Fossil Friday Roundup: June 21, 2019

Featured Image: Isisfordia molnari sp. nov., a new basal eusuchian from the mid-Cretaceous of Lightning Ridge, Australia From Hart et al. 2019.

Papers (All Open Access):

  • Microbially induced potassium enrichment in Paleoproterozoic shales and implications for reverse weathering on early Earth (Nature Communications)
  • A tectonically driven Ediacaran oxygenation event (Nature Communications)
  • A Continuous Palynological Record of Forest Clearing at Rano Kao (Easter Island, SE Pacific) During the Last Millennium: Preliminary Report (Quaternary)
  • Late Pleistocene speciation of three closely related tree peonies endemic to the Qinling–Daba Mountains, a major glacial refugium in Central China (Ecology and Evolution)
  • Experimental evidence for species-dependent responses in leaf shape to temperature: Implications for paleoclimate inference (PLOS ONE)
  • Quantifying intra- and interspecific variability in trilobite moulting behaviour across the Palaeozoic (PalaeoE)
  • First report of paired ventral endites in a hurdiid radiodont (Zoological Letters)
  • The Phylogeny and Evolutionary History of Arthropods (Current Biology)
  • Evolution of limb development in cephalopod mollusks (eLife)
  • Description and classification of bivalve mollusks hemocytes: a computational approach (PeerJ)
  • Nature and timing of biotic recovery in Antarctic benthic marine ecosystems following the Cretaceous–Palaeogene mass extinction (Palaeontology)
  • Pleistocene epilithic foraminifera from the Arctic Ocean (PeerJ)
  • New material of thelodonts from Lochkovian (Lower Devonian) of Qujing, Yunnan, China (Vertebrata PalAsiatica)
  • A new genus and species of pycnodontid fish Flagellipinna rhomboides, gen. et sp. nov. (Neopterygii, Pycnodontiformes), from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of Lebanon, with notes on juvenile form and ecology (JVP)
  • Reconstructing reef fish communities using fish otoliths in coral reef sediments (PLOS ONE)
  • The African Aptian Francemys gadoufaouaensis gen. et sp. nov.: new data on the early diversification of Pelomedusoides (Testudines, Pleurodira) in northern Gondwana (Cretaceous Research)
  • Isisfordia molnari sp. nov., a new basal eusuchian from the mid-Cretaceous of Lightning Ridge, Australia (PeerJ)
  • Vertebrate Microremains from the Pragian, Emsian and Eifelian of the Prague Basin (Czech Republic) (Link)
  • First Documented Pathologies in Tenontosaurus tilletti with Comments on Infection in Non-Avian Dinosaurs (SciRep)
  • Cretaceous dinosaur bone contains recent organic material and provides an environment conducive to microbial communities (eLife)
  • Digital dissection of the head of the rock dove (Columba livia) using contrast-enhanced computed tomography (Zoological Letters)
  • Untangling the Multiple Ecological Radiations of Early Mammals (TREE)
  • Caudal cranium of Thylacosmilus atrox (Mammalia, Metatheria, Sparassodonta), a South American predaceous sabertooth. (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History)
  • First Fossils of Hyenas (Chasmaporthetes, Hyaenidae, Carnivora) from North of the Arctic Circle (Open Quaternary)
  • First mesonychid from the Clarno Formation (Eocene) of Oregon, USA (PalaeoE)
  • Evolution of facial muscle anatomy in dogs (PNAS)

Preprints and Postprints:

  • Late Cretaceous dinosaur remains and other tetrapod fauna from the vicinity of Tran town (Western Srednogorie) (PaleorXiv)
  • Evolutionary time explains the global distribution of freshwater fish diversity (bioRXiv)

Community Events, Society Updates, and Resources: 

 Meetings:

  • North American Paleontological Convention June 23–27 2019 (Link)
  • Judith River Symposium (Great Plains Dinosaur Museum), Malta, Montana, June 28–30 (Link)
  • Dino Fest at the Science Museum of Minnesota, July 13, 10 am–4 pm (Link)
  • Cretaceous & Beyond: Paleo of Western Interior (Dickinson Museum), Dickinson, North Dakota, September 14–17 (Link)
  • Annual Meeting of the Paleontological Society (Paläontologische Gesellschaft), September 15–18, 2019, Munich (Link)

News and Views:

Animals and Anatomy, Fossils and Fossilization:

  • Episode 63 – Sexual Selection (Common Descent)
  • Baby Pterosaurs Could Fly. So, Did They Need Their Parents? (Live Science)
  • Huge ‘Mukawa’ dino found in Hokkaido in ’03 is a new species (Link)
  • Supersaurus, Ultrasaurus and Dystylosaurus in 2019, part 2: what we found in Utah (SVPOW)
  • Supersaurus, Ultrasaurus and Dystylosaurus in 2019, part 2b: the size of the BYU 9024 animal (SVPOW)
  • Supersaurus, Ultrasaurus and Dystylosaurus in 2019, part 3: the material of Supersaurus (SVPOW)
  • Diplodocus skull and first three cervicals in 3D (SVPOW)
  • Titanosaur osteoderms: functions and conclusions (Equatorial Minnesota)
  • THE CALLS OF THE PAST: HOW DINOSAURS MIGHT HAVE COMMUNICATED (Blogosaur)
  • Iconic Fossil Feather Probably Didn’t Belong to Archaeopteryx (Laelaps)
  • Ghostly Traces of Ancient Behemoths (Mostly Mammoths)

Featured Folks, Fieldwork, and Museums:

  • California Academy of Sciences appoints Dr. Scott Sampson as new executive director (Link)
  • Meet Jingmai O’Connor, the Punk Rock Paleontologist (Rewire)
  • A Young Paleontologist Goes Viral (Dr. Neurosaurus)
  • Meet the Natural History Museum’s dinosaur hunters (NHM)
  • Deep Time is a masterpiece (Extinct Monsters)
  • Fossil Friday – Back from Field Work (Valley of the Mastodon)
  • Meet the Museum: McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture (Time Scavengers)
  • Paleontology and civic pride: Philip Currie inducted into Edmonton Hall of Fame (Link)

Methods and Musings:

Arts, Books, Culture, Fun:

  • Episode 8. The Doctor Is In, A #DeepTime Series (Smithsonian NMNH)
  • Завораживающие фото Кристиана Фойгта (Alioramus altai)
  • Eyewitness Guides: Dinosaur – 30 years on (part 1) (LITC)
  • James Herrmann’s Aquilops bust (SVPOW)

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.

Published by Sarah Z. Gibson

Dr. Sarah Z. Gibson is a paleontologist and science communicator based in Minnesota. Her research focuses on the evolutionary history of ray-finned fishes from the Early Mesozoic. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6784-3980

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