The big moment is finally here! With 669 votes cast from around the world, we have our Top 10 Open Access Fossil Taxa of 2017. Our honorees were chosen from a field of 45 discoveries announced between December 1, 2016, and September 30, 2017, including everything from extinct mushrooms to ferocious dinosaurs. We were thrilled to see our TopContinueContinue reading “Top 10 Open Access Fossil Taxa of 2017”
Category Archives: top 10
PLOS Paleo Top 10 OA Fossil Vertebrates #1: Gualicho shinyae
We’ve made it! Coming in at #1 is an absolutely amazing dinosaur published this summer in PLOS ONE. Congratulations to Gualicho shinyae, the didactyl theropod from Argentina, and named in honor of Akiko Shinya, fossil preparator at The Field Museum. The study, led by authors Sebastián Apesteguía (Universidad Maimónides in Argentina), Nathan D. Smith (the Dinosaur Institute at theContinueContinue reading “PLOS Paleo Top 10 OA Fossil Vertebrates #1: Gualicho shinyae”
PLOS Paleo Top 10 OA Fossil Vertebrates #3: Lunaophis aquaticus
We’ve made it to the top 3 winners of the PLOS Paleo Top 10 Open Access Fossil Vertebrates of the year. And I am very pleased that one of the top 3 is not a dinosaur, but a snake! And an aquatic snake to boot. Lunaophis aquaticus, from the Cretaceous La Luna Formation of Venezuela, was recentlyContinueContinue reading “PLOS Paleo Top 10 OA Fossil Vertebrates #3: Lunaophis aquaticus”
PLOS Paleo Top 10 OA Fossil Vertebrates #5: Atopodentatus unicus
As we continue in our countdown of the winners of the Top 10 Open Access Fossil Vertebrates of the past year, we get to probably the most unusual of the group. Coming in at #5 is the herbivorous marine reptile Atopodentatus unicus, from the Middle Triassic of China. Atopodentatus was redescribed this year and published open access inContinueContinue reading “PLOS Paleo Top 10 OA Fossil Vertebrates #5: Atopodentatus unicus”
PLOS Paleo Top 10 OA Fossil Vertebrates #8: Sarmientosaurus musacchioi
The next winner, coming in at #8, in our PLOS Paleontology Top 10 Open Access Fossil Vertebrates contest, is Sarmientosaurus musacchioi, which was published in April of this year in PLOS ONE. Sarmientosaurus is no humble creature; rather it belongs to one of the most massive groups of organisms to ever inhabit this planet: the titanosaurs. But beyond its grandeurContinueContinue reading “PLOS Paleo Top 10 OA Fossil Vertebrates #8: Sarmientosaurus musacchioi”
PLOS Paleo Top 10 OA Fossil Vertebrates #9: Spiclypeus shipporum
Next up on the list of Top 10 Open Access Fossil Vertebrates, as voted by the paleontology community, is Spiclypeus shipporum, a new chasmosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur that was described earlier this year and published in PLOS ONE. The holotype specimen, nicknamed “Judith” after the Judith River Formation from which it was discovered, is about 76 million years old. ItContinueContinue reading “PLOS Paleo Top 10 OA Fossil Vertebrates #9: Spiclypeus shipporum”
PLOS Paleo Top 10 OA Fossil Vertebrates #10: Microleo attenboroughi
As we approach the end of 2016, PLOS Paleo wants to recognize the winners of our recent Top 10 Open Access Fossil Vertebrates contest that were announced at the recent Society of Vertebrate Paleontology meeting in Salt Lake City. So for the next month, we will highlight the winners from #10 to #1. In some cases, if we haveContinueContinue reading “PLOS Paleo Top 10 OA Fossil Vertebrates #10: Microleo attenboroughi”
Sarah Z. Gibson 