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Fossil Friday Roundup: December 1, 2017

Featured Image: The perinatal hadrosaurid right dentary (UALVP 54419), occlusal transverse histological thin section. From Bramble et al. (2017).

Papers (All Open Access):

  • Trophic and tectonic limits to the global increase of marine invertebrate diversity (Scientific Reports)
  • Testing the applicability of a benthic foraminiferal-based transfer function for the reconstruction of paleowater depth changes in Rhodes (Greece) during the early Pleistocene (PLOS ONE)
  • New reticulosan sponges from the middle Cambrian of Sonora, Mexico (APP)
  • Thyasirid bivalves from Cretaceous and Paleogene cold seeps (APP)
  • The West African enigma: Systematics, evolution, and palaeobiogeography of cardiid bivalve Procardium (APP)
  • The first fossil insect from the deep-water marine Early Miocene of Zillerleite, Germany (Diptera: Bibionidae) (PalaeoE)
  • A new burmagomphid dragonfly from the Eocene of Patagonia, Argentina (APP)
  • A new soldier beetle from Eocene Baltic amber (APP)
  • Phylogeography of the termite Macrotermes gilvus and insight into ancient dispersal corridors in Pleistocene Southeast Asia (PLOS ONE)
  • Geological duration of ammonoids controlled their geographical range of fossil distribution (PeerJ)
  • Principal component and discriminant analyses as powerful tools to support taxonomic identification and their use for functional and phylogenetic signal detection of isolated fossil shark teeth (PLOS ONE)
  • The evolutionary origin of digit patterning (EvoDevo)
  • Phylogeographic and population insights of the Asian common toad (Bufo gargarizans) in Korea and China: population isolation and expansions as response to the ice ages (PeerJ)
  • Still slow, but even steadier: an update on the evolution of turtle cranial disparity interpolating shapes along branches (RSOS)
  • A signature of dynamic biogeography: enclaves indicate past species replacement (ProcB)
  • On a cranial bony nodular protuberance on Mourasuchus pattersoni Cidade et al. 2017 (Crocodylia, Alligatoroidea) from the late Miocene of Venezuela (Historical Biology)
  • The osteoderm microstructure in doswelliids and proterochampsids and its implications for palaeobiology of stem archosaurs (APP)
  • Osteology of a New Specimen of Macrocnemus aff. M. fuyuanensis (Archosauromorpha, Protorosauria) from the Middle Triassic of Europe: Potential Implications for Species Recognition and Paleogeography of Tanystropheid Protorosaurs (Frontiers in Earth Science)
  • Lopingian tetrapod footprints from the Venetian Prealps, Italy: New discoveries in a largely incomplete panorama (APP)
  • A tyrannosauroid metatarsus from the Merchantville formation of Delaware increases the diversity of non-tyrannosaurid tyrannosauroids on Appalachia (PeerJ)
  • An exceptionally preserved armored dinosaur reveals the morphology and allometry of osteoderms and their horny epidermal coverings (PeerJ)
  • Histological evidence for a dynamic dental battery in hadrosaurid dinosaurs (Scientific Reports)
  • A large and distinct skin impression on the cast of a sauropod dinosaur footprint from Early Cretaceous floodplain deposits, Korea (Scientific Reports)
  • Late Triassic sauropodomorph and Middle Jurassic theropod tracks from the Xichang Basin, Sichuan Province, southwestern China: First report of the ichnogenus Carmelopodus (Journal of Palaeogeography)
  • Masticatory jaw movement of Exaeretodon argentinus (Therapsida: Cynodontia) inferred from its dental microwear (PLOS ONE)
  • Insectivores and marsupials from the upper Oligocene of Banovići (Bosnia and Herzegovina) (JVP)
  • The Interatheriinae notoungulates from the middle Miocene Collón Curá Formation in Argentina (APP)
  • On a new diatomyid (Rodentia, Mammalia) from the Paleogene of south-east Serbia, the first record of the family in Europe (Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments)
  • Rodent faunas from the Paleogene of south-east Serbia (Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments)
  • Evolutionary history of enigmatic bears in the Tibetan Plateau–Himalaya region and the identity of the yeti (ProcB)
  • A new genus of horse from Pleistocene North America (eLife)
  • Long-term archives reveal shifting extinction selectivity in China’s postglacial mammal fauna (ProcB)
  • Neanderthal hunting strategies inferred from mortality profiles within the Abric Romaní sequence (PLOS ONE)

Community Events, Society Updates, and Resources:

  • The Science Ambassador Scholarship for female undergraduate and high school seniors, Deadline December 11, 2017 (Link)
  • Apply Now For The 2018 Emerging Public Policy Leadership Award, Deadline Jan. 18, 2018 (Paleontological Society)
  • Western Association of Vertebrate Paleontologists Annual Meeting, St. George, Utah, Feb. 16–18, 2018, Abstract Deadline January 12, 2018 (Link)
  • 2018 AIBS Congressional Visits Day In Washington, DC, April 17-18, 2018 (Paleontological Society)
  • Trekking Across the GOBE: From the Cambrian through the Katian, IGCP 653 Annual Meeting, June 3-7, 2018, Athens, Ohio, USA (Link)
  • North American Paleontological Convention June 23–27 2019 (Link)

News and Views:

Animals and Anatomy:

Museums, Methods, and Musings:

Featured Folks and Fieldwork:

  • Paleoart Addendum: An Interview with Mark Witton (Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs)
  • Armored dinosaur specimen is one of the best-preserved dinosaurs ever found: Author interview with Caleb Brown (PeerJ Blog)
  • Klondike placer miner honoured for paleontological finds (link)

Art, books, culture, and fun:


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