Featured image: Paleontologists prepare to remove a Tyrannosaurus rex skull from a fossil dig site in northern Montana and transport it to the Burke Museum at the University of Washington. Credit: Dave DeMar/Burke Museum/University of Washington Papers (all Open Access): Progress to extinction: increased specialisation causes the demise of animal clades (Scientific Reports) Formation of the Isthmus ofContinue reading "Fossil Friday Roundup: August 19th, 2016"
Fossil Friday Roundup: August 12, 2016
Featured image: The Piltdown Man is back in the headlines this week! Above: Group portrait of the Piltdown skull being examined. Back row (from left): F. O. Barlow, G. Elliot Smith, Charles Dawson, Arthur Smith Woodward. Front row: A S Underwood, Arthur Keith, W. P. Pycraft, and Ray Lankester. Painting by John Cooke, 1915. Public Domain. Papers (all Open Access): Molecular phylogenetic analysisContinue reading "Fossil Friday Roundup: August 12, 2016"
Fossil Friday Roundup: August 5, 2016
Featured image: Australovenator attacking a Muttaburrasaurus. Artwork by Travis R. Tischler. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.2312/fig-1 Papers (all Open Access): An examination of feeding ecology in Pleistocene proboscideans from southern China (Sinomastodon, Stegodon, Elephas), by means of dental microwear texture analysis (Quaternary International) Barcoding the largest animals on Earth: ongoing challenges and molecular solutions in the taxonomic identification of ancient cetaceans (PTRSB) PalZ isContinue reading "Fossil Friday Roundup: August 5, 2016"
From the Community: From Bonebeds to Paleoecology
Editor Note: Hi guys, Sarah here! I read this post over at the Extinct Blog about a month ago, and found it a great informative read by guest blogger Don Brinkman from the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta. I wanted to bring it to the attention of the PLOS Paleo Community, so with the permission of the folksContinue reading "From the Community: From Bonebeds to Paleoecology"
Fossil Friday Roundup: July 29, 2016
Featured image: Statues of Iguanodon and Megalosaurus on display at the Natural History Museum in London. Photo by Sarah Gibson. Papers (all Open Access): Special volume dedicated to Tom Rich (Link) Osteogenic tumour in Australopithecus sediba: Earliest hominin evidence for neoplastic disease (South African Journal of Science) Earliest hominin cancer: 1.7-million-year-old osteosarcoma from Swartkrans Cave, SouthContinue reading "Fossil Friday Roundup: July 29, 2016"
Fossil Friday Roundup: July 22, 2016
Featured image: Murusraptor barrosaensis, which lived about 80 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period. (Courtesy: Jan Sovak) Papers (all Open Access): New holostean fishes (Actinopterygii: Neopterygii) from the Middle Triassic of the Monte San Giorgio (Canton Ticino, Switzerland) (PeerJ) A new method for reconstructing brain morphology: applying the brain-neurocranial spatial relationship in an extantContinue reading "Fossil Friday Roundup: July 22, 2016"
Size Does Matter: Using the size of fossil marine mammals to estimate primary productivity in ancient oceans
As if we need another reason to justify paleontology as an important field of science, here’s a good one: information regarding the history of this planet and its ecosystems is crucial in order to understand the health of our planet today, particularly with regard to sensitive but important topics like climate change. Oceans play a large roleContinue reading "Size Does Matter: Using the size of fossil marine mammals to estimate primary productivity in ancient oceans"
Fossil Friday Roundup: July 15th, 2016
Featured Image: A pair of Gualicho dinosaurs pursuing prey. Image courtesy Jorge Gonzalez and Pablo Lara/PA Happy Fossil Friday! One quick announcement, the PLOS Paleontology Community has a new Facebook page (to replace our former Facebook Group) Click here to like us on Facebook! Papers (all Open Access): A tiny new marsupial lion (Marsupialia, Thylacoleonidae) from theContinue reading "Fossil Friday Roundup: July 15th, 2016"
Fossil Friday Roundup: July 8, 2016
Featured Image: U.S. Forest Service paleontologist Bruce Schumacher jacketing a mammoth tibia discovered in July 2015 in San Isabel National Forest. Image courtesy U.S. Forest Service. Papers (all Open Access): Ataxioceras (Ataxioceras) lopeztichae Cantú-Chapa, 1991: Updating the systematic and palaeobiogeographic interpretation (Palaeontologia Electronica) Unveiling trampling history through trackway interferences and track preservational features: a case study fromContinue reading "Fossil Friday Roundup: July 8, 2016"
Fossil Friday Roundup: July 1, 2016
Featured Image: Leonardo the hadrosaur. Image courtesy Red Rocket Photography/The Children's Museum of Indianapolis/Wikimedia Common (CC BY-SA 3.0) Papers (all Open Access): Eutherians experienced elevated evolutionary rates in the immediate aftermath of the Cretaceous–Palaeogene mass extinction (Link) Mummified precocial bird wings in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber (Link) A fossil Diploglossus (Squamata, Anguidae) lizard from Basse-Terre and Grande-Terre Islands (Guadeloupe,Continue reading "Fossil Friday Roundup: July 1, 2016"
Sarah Z. Gibson 