scholarly journals Pelvic and femoral anatomy of the Allodaposuchidae (Crocodyliformes, Eusuchia) from the Late Cretaceous of Lo Hueco (Cuenca, Spain)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ane de Celis ◽  
Iván Narváez ◽  
Francisco Ortega
Keyword(s):  
Iberian Peninsula ◽  
New Taxa ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Principal Components ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Morphological Similarity ◽  
Morphological Criteria ◽  
Postcranial Remains ◽  
Morphological Differences

The fossil record of postcranial remains assigned to Allodaposuchidae is currently sparse. However, the Late Cretaceous paleontological site of Lo Hueco (Cuenca, Spain), from where two new taxa of allodaposuchid have been described, has yielded numerous postcranial remains assignable to this clade. Among them, the large amount of pelvic and femoral material is notable, providing the opportunity to study these allodaposuchid elements and assess their morphological similarity with other eusuchian remains. The comparison with extant crocodylians was accomplished using traditional morphometric techniques, whereas the comparison with other fossils and establishment of morphotypes was done using morphological criteria. The results of the cluster and principal components analyses show morphological differences between extant crocodylians and allodaposuchids from Lo Hueco, allowing the segregation of these lineages. The similarities found between the pelvic and femoral remains from Lo Hueco, and those referred to Allodaposuchus precedens and other putative allodaposuchids from the Iberian Peninsula, allows referral of these remains to allodaposuchids. The differences found among the femoral and pelvic remains of Lo Hueco enables us to recognize two morphotypes per each element. This study allows a better understanding of allodaposuchid postcranial elements that were previously poorly known. The ilia, ischia and femora from Lo Hueco allodaposuchids are distinct from those of other crocodylian lineages. Finally, the fact that there are two morphotypes per each element at Lo Hueco is congruent with the presence of two different allodaposuchids at the site.

Taxonomic Re-Examination of the Late Cretaceous Planktonic Foraminiferal Species Archaeoglobigerina Cretacea (d'Orbigny, 1840) and Constraints on Its Morphologic Variability and Stratigraphic Distribution in One of The Type Localities (Kent, SE England)

2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-63
Author(s):  
Francesca Falzoni ◽  
Annachiara Bartolini
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Species Concept ◽  
Morphological Features ◽  
Single Individual ◽  
Type Specimens ◽  
Foraminiferal Species ◽  
Morphological Differences ◽  
Lower Campanian ◽  
Original Drawings

ABSTRACT Distinctive and taxonomically relevant morphological differences exist between the original drawings of Archaeoglobigerina cretacea illustrated by d'Orbigny (1840) and the lectotype designated by Banner & Blow (1960), particularly regarding the equatorial periphery, which is rounded in the former and double-keeled in the latter specimen. Such differences would suggest that they are not conspecific, but this hypothesis cannot be easily tested because d'Orbigny's drawings likely represent a synthesis of observations on several specimens rather than a single individual and the slide intended to contain the lectotype is empty. In this study, we have re-examined the A. cretacea type specimens deposited in the d'Orbigny collection at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris and samples from one of the type localities (Kent, SE England) with the aim to reconstruct d'Orbigny's species concept, clarify its morphological features, and better constrain its stratigraphic distribution. Our study suggests that d'Orbigny's concept for A. cretacea was broad and included unkeeled as well as double-keeled morphotypes. However, assemblages from Kent yield common and large-sized specimens conspecific with the lectotype in the middle Santonian-lower Campanian, while morphotypes resembling the drawings of d'Orbigny are absent. Accordingly, five topotype specimens from the lower Campanian of Kent are herein illustrated in order to stabilize the species concept adopted over the last 60 years on the basis of the lectotype drawing and description. All topotypes possess a wide imperforate peripheral band and a moderately to weakly developed double-keeled periphery. Finally, the description of A. cretacea is emended to exclude specimens that do not possess an imperforate peripheral band and to include those that show curved and weakly beaded spiral sutures.

Maastrichtian representatives of the dragonfly family Aeschnidiidae question the entomofaunal turnover of the early Late Cretaceous

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDRÉ NEL
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Aquatic Insects ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Alternative Scenario ◽  
Family Level ◽  
Early Late ◽  
Freshwater Environments

Gaps in the fossil record are the major challenge for estimations of impacts of crises of biodiversity of the various clades. They can lead to important misinterpretations in the effects of the different events on the fauna and flora. It is especially the case for the end-Cretaceous, which is ‘near the midpoint of a 16-million-year gap in the insect fossil record’ (Schachat & Labandeira, 2021: 111). All the important Cretaceous insect Konzentrat Lagerstätten are before the Turonian. The analysis of Schachat et al. (2019) has reconstructed a massive loss of family-level diversity for the insects at the boundary Cretaceous-Cenozoic, a possible artefact due to this gap. An alternative scenario was that a turnover in the entomofauna occurred during the early Late Cretaceous in relation to the floristic changes of the Albian–Cenomanian (Nel et al., 2018). This turnover would have also affected the aquatic insects through important changes in the freshwater environments (Sinitshenkova & Zherikhin, 1996; Ivanov & Sukatsheva, 2002). The current knowledge on the odonatan fossil record suggests a pronounced turnover with the last records of several major clades during the Cenomanian-Turonian and first records of several modern ones during the same period (Nel et al., 2015). The widespread and very diverse Jurassic-Cretaceous family Aeschnidiidae is among the best examples of such extinctions supposed to have occurred after the Cenomanian, because of the absence of any fossil in younger strata.

Gyrodiform gastropods from the Pacific Coast Cretaceous and Paleocene

1987 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. P. Popenoe ◽  
L. R. Saul ◽  
Takeo Susuki
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
New Taxa ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Northern California ◽  
Color Patterns ◽  
New Subgenus ◽  
The Pacific

Seven previously described and seven new taxa of gyrodiform naticoids from West Coast Late Cretaceous–Paleocene age strata are discussed. Gyrodes (Gyrodes) dowelli White of Turonian age is a typical Gyrodes; G. robustus Waring from the Paleocene has the shape of Gyrodes s.s. but lacks the crenulations. G. greeni Murphy and Rodda, G. yolensis n. sp., G. quercus n. sp., G. banites n. sp., G. canadensis Whiteaves, G. pacificus n. sp., and G. expansus Gabb comprise the new subgenus Sohlella, which thus ranges from Cenomanian through Maastrichtian. Gyrodes robsauli n. sp. resembles “Polinices” (Hypterita) helicoides (Gray), and Hypterita is reassigned to the Gyrodinae as a subgenus of Gyrodes. Gyrodes onensis n. sp. of Albian age is similar to the G. americanus group of Sohl (1960). Three texa—Natica allisoni (Murphy and Rodda) of Cenomanian age and N. conradiana Gabb and N. conradiana vacculae n. subsp. of Turonian age—which have all been previously considered to be Gyrodes are placed in Natica. Well marked relict color patterns on N. conradiana and N. conradiana vacculae suggest that these naticids from northern California and southern British Columbia were tropical forms.Diversity of taxa and size of specimens are reduced at the end of the Turonian, suggesting a change in West Coast marine conditions at that time.

First study of the bat fossil record of the mid-Atlantic volcanic islands

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Javier GONZÁLEZ-DIONIS ◽  
Carolina CASTILLO RUIZ ◽  
Penélope CRUZADO-CABALLERO ◽  
Elena CADAVID-MELERO ◽  
Vicente D. CRESPO
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Iberian Peninsula ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Canary Islands ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Dental Morphology ◽  
Lava Tubes ◽  
El Hierro ◽  
Volcanic Islands ◽  
Fossil Data

ABSTRACT Bats are one of the most abundant and important mammals in ecosystems. However, their fossil record is scarce and fragile, making them difficult to find. Accordingly, there is no record of this group in the volcanic islands of the mid-Atlantic Ocean apart from the Canary Islands. This paper studies the first bat fossil record of the Canary Islands (Spain). The material studied is found within two Quaternary lava tubes, Cueva de los Verdes on Lanzarote and Cueva Roja on the island of El Hierro. The dental and humeral morphology and biometry are analysed and compared with current specimens. Among our results we highlight the first fossil data of two species endemic to the islands of the mid-Atlantic Ocean, Plecotus teneriffae and Pipistrellus maderensis, the former from the Canary Islands and the latter from the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands. We also confirm the presence of Pipistrellus kuhlii in the fossil record of the island of Lanzarote. No differences are observed between the dental morphology of the current and the fossil populations of P. maderensis and Pl. teneriffae. In the case of P. kuhlii, the populations of the Canary Islands and the Iberian Peninsula show differences in the paraconule with respect to the populations from central Europe. Palaeoecological studies of these taxa suggest that these islands presented a similar habitat when the sites were formed to the present-day habitat.

scholarly journals Hatching Asynchrony in Oviraptorid Dinosaurs Sheds Light on Their Unique Nesting Biology

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
T -R Yang ◽  
T Engler ◽  
J N Lallensack ◽  
A Samathi ◽  
M Makowska ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Biology ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Research Topic ◽  
Hatching Asynchrony ◽  
Jiangxi Province ◽  
Nesting Biology ◽  
Tomographic Images ◽  
Communal Nesting ◽  
Nesting Behaviors

Synopsis Dinosaur nesting biology has been an intriguing research topic, though dinosaur behaviors were relatively less illuminated because of the constraints of the fossil record. For instance, hatching asynchrony, where eggs in a single clutch hatch at different times, is unique to modern neoavian birds but was also suggested to be present in oviraptorid dinosaurs based on a possible partial clutch of four embryo-containing eggs from Mongolia. Unfortunately, unequivocal evidence for the origination of these eggs from a single clutch is lacking. Here we report a new, better preserved partial oviraptorid clutch with three embryo-containing eggs—a single egg (Egg I) and a pair (Egg II/III)—from the Late Cretaceous Nanxiong Group of Jiangxi Province, China. Geopetal features indicate that the pair of eggs was laid prior to the single egg. Neutron tomographic images in combination with osteological features indicate that the embryo of the single egg is less developed than those of the paired eggs. Eggshell histology suggests that the embryo-induced erosion in the paired eggs is markedly more pronounced than in the single egg, providing a new line of evidence for hatching asynchrony. The inferred hatching asynchrony in combination with previously surmised thermoregulatory incubation and communal nesting behaviors very likely suggests that oviraptorid dinosaurs presented a unique reproductive biology lacking modern analogs, which is contrary to the predominant view that their reproductive biology was intermediate between that of modern crocodiles and birds.

An ornithurine bird coracoid from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Sydney R. Mohr ◽  
John H. Acorn ◽  
Gregory F. Funston ◽  
Philip J. Currie
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Ct Scans ◽  
Micro Ct ◽  
Internal Structures ◽  
Postcranial Remains ◽  
Dinosaur Park Formation ◽  
Upper Campanian

The Cretaceous birds of Alberta are poorly known, as skeletal elements are rare and typically consist of fragmentary postcranial remains. A partial avian coracoid from the upper Campanian Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta, Canada, can be referred to the Ornithurae, and is referred to here as Ornithurine G (cf. Cimolopteryx). Its structure is similar to previously described ornithurine coracoids from Alberta and other localities in North America, particularly those belonging to the genus Cimolopteryx. A comparison of these elements indicates that the new coracoid is distinct; however, its preservation prevents complete diagnosis. As other Cimolopteryx are Maastrichtian in age, Ornithurine G (cf. Cimolopteryx) also represents the earliest occurrence of a Cimolopteryx-like anatomy. A pneumatized coracoid is a diagnostic trait of Neornithes, identified by the presence of a pneumatic foramen. Ornithurine G (cf. Cimolopteryx) does not preserve this feature. CT and micro-CT scans of both pneumatic and apneumatic coracoids of modern birds show similar internal structures to Ornithurine G (cf. Cimolopteryx), indicating that pneumaticity of the coracoid cannot be determined in the absence of an external pneumatic foramen. A comparison between members of Cimolopterygidae, including Cimolopteryx and Lamarqueavis, raises questions about the assignment of Lamarqueavis to the Cimolopterygidae, and the validity of this family as a whole.

Description of the female of Chelis ferghana Dubatolov, 1988, an endemic moth species of the Tien Shan Range in Central Asia (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4790 (1) ◽  
pp. 198-200
Author(s):  
VITALY M. SPITSYN ◽  
GRIGORY S. POTAPOV
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Ocean ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Iberian Peninsula ◽  
Apical Part ◽  
Tien Shan ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Pacific Ocean ◽  
Moth Species ◽  
Morphological Differences

Seven Arctiine genera have recently been synonymized with the genus Chelis Rambur, 1866 using a comprehensive multi-locus phylogeny (Rönkä et al. 2016). The genus Chelis s. str. contains nine species, the ranges of which cover temperate and subtropical areas of Eurasia from the Iberian Peninsula to the Pacific Ocean coast (Dubatolov & de Vos 2010, Ortiz et al. 2016). Two species, i.e. Chelis ferghana Dubatolov, 1988 and C. strigulosa (Böttcher, 1905), are endemic to the Tien Shan Mountain Range. These taxa can be distinguished by morphological differences in the apical part of the valva. 

Implications for the study of fossil Asteroidea (Echinodermata) of new genera and species from the Eocene of Florida

2009 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 562-574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel B. Blake ◽  
Roger W. Portell
Keyword(s):  
Family History ◽  
New Taxa ◽  
Middle Jurassic ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
New Genera ◽  
Crown Group ◽  
Marine Communities ◽  
The Family ◽  
Ocala Limestone

Oyenaster oblidus, Ocalaster timucum, and Ocalaster seloyi are new genera and species of the family Goniasteridae (Asteroidea) described from the Eocene Ocala Limestone of Florida. Although the fossil record of asteroids is sketchy, goniasterids appear to have been important contributors to marine communities since at least the Middle Jurassic. Similarities between living goniasterids and their fossil precursors indicate that plesiomorphy and convergence have been important in family history, and as a result, taxonomic interpretation is challenging. Even partial fossil goniasterids are rare, forcing systematists to rely heavily on isolated marginal ossicles, although some authors have expressed the need for caution. Building around three new taxa, we suggest that broader approaches can aid systematic interpretation of all crown-group asteroids. We also suggest that the inevitably idiosyncratic interpretations of marginal-based systematics can be partially tested using blind evaluations.

CIRCULAR OR SPHERICAL VESSELS IN THE FOSSIL RECORD

IAWA Journal ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieter Baas ◽  
Rashmi Srivastava ◽  
Steven R. Manchester ◽  
Elisabeth A. Wheeler
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Central India ◽  
Type Specimen ◽  
Axillary Buds ◽  
Before Present ◽  
Early Paleocene

Strangely configured vessels composed of few elements interconnected in a sphere- or ring-like structure are reported from the type specimen of Amooroxylon deccanensis Bande & Prakash, a large fossil trunk from the Deccan Intertrappean Beds of central India (late Cretaceous-early Paleocene, about 66 MY before present). In the recent flora, circular vessels have been found mainly in association with branching nodes, axillary buds, wound callus, and pathogens, and they have been artificially induced by auxin. The presence of circular vessels in this fossil trunk showing no signs of branching or trauma makes this record highly unusual.

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