scholarly journals The most complete enantiornithine from North America and a phylogenetic analysis of the Avisauridae

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5910 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessie Atterholt ◽  
J. Howard Hutchison ◽  
Jingmai K. O’Connor
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
New Genus ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Cladistic Analysis ◽  
South American ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
Large Body Size ◽  
First Time ◽  
North And South

The most complete known North American enantiornithine was collected in 1992 but never formally described. The so-called “Kaiparowits avisaurid” remains one of the most exceptional Late Cretaceous enantiornithine fossils. We recognize this specimen as a new taxon, Mirarce eatoni (gen. et sp. nov.), and provide a complete anatomical description. We maintain that the specimen is referable to the Avisauridae, a clade previously only known in North America from isolated tarsometatarsi. Information from this specimen helps to clarify evolutionary trends within the Enantiornithes. Its large body size supports previously observed trends toward larger body mass in the Late Cretaceous. However, trends toward increased fusion of compound elements across the clade as a whole are weak compared to the Ornithuromorpha. The new specimen reveals for the first time the presence of remige papillae in the enantiornithines, indicating this feature was evolved in parallel to dromaeosaurids and derived ornithuromorphs. Although morphology of the pygostyle and (to a lesser degree) the coracoid and manus appear to remain fairly static during the 65 million years plus of enantiornithine evolution, by the end of the Mesozoic at least some enantiornithine birds had evolved several features convergent with the Neornithes including a deeply keeled sternum, a narrow furcula with a short hypocleidium, and ulnar quill knobs—all features that indicate refinement of the flight apparatus and increased aerial abilities. We conduct the first cladistic analysis to include all purported avisuarid enantiornithines, recovering an Avisauridae consisting of a dichotomy between North and South American taxa. Based on morphological observations and supported by cladistic analysis, we demonstrate Avisaurus to be paraphyletic and erect a new genus for “A. gloriae,” Gettyia gen. nov.

scholarly journals A new Late Cretaceous iguanomorph from North America and the origin of New World Pleurodonta (Squamata, Iguania)

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1847) ◽  
pp. 20161902 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. DeMar ◽  
Jack L. Conrad ◽  
Jason J. Head ◽  
David J. Varricchio ◽  
Gregory P. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
New World ◽  
Cladistic Analysis ◽  
Arid Environment ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
Low Latitude ◽  
Anatomical Features ◽  
Parietal Foramen

Iguanomorpha (stem + crown Iguania) is a diverse squamate clade with members that predominate many modern American lizard ecosystems. However, the temporal and palaeobiogeographic origins of its constituent crown clades (e.g. Pleurodonta (basilisks, iguanas, and their relatives)) are poorly constrained, mainly due to a meagre Mesozoic-age fossil record. Here, we report on two nearly complete skeletons from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of North America that represent a new and relatively large-bodied and possibly herbivorous iguanomorph that inhabited a semi-arid environment. The new taxon exhibits a mosaic of anatomical features traditionally used in diagnosing Iguania and non-iguanian squamates (i.e. Scleroglossa; e.g. parietal foramen at the frontoparietal suture, astragalocalcaneal notch in the tibia, respectively). Our cladistic analysis of Squamata revealed a phylogenetic link between Campanian-age North American and East Asian stem iguanomorphs (i.e. the new taxon + Temujiniidae). These results and our evaluation of the squamate fossil record suggest that crown pleurodontans were restricted to the low-latitude Neotropics prior to their early Palaeogene first appearances in the mid-latitudes of North America.

An Early Condor-Like Vulture from North America

The Auk ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 105 (3) ◽  
pp. 529-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven D. Emslie
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
North America ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
New World ◽  
Middle Miocene ◽  
New Genus ◽  
Large Body ◽  
New Genus And Species ◽  
Large Body Size ◽  
Near Extinction

Abstract A new genus and species of condor-like vulture (Ciconiiformes: Vulturidae) is described from the middle Miocene (Barstovian) of North America and is the earliest condor now known in the New World. The fossil record at present indicates that the Vulturidae originated in the Old World, but diversified in the New World. Large body size in vultures developed in North America at least 4 million years (Ma) earlier than thought previously, and the condors probably evolved in North America. Condors were most diverse in the late Pleistocene but are now near extinction.

scholarly journals A gigantic bird from the Upper Cretaceous of Central Asia

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darren Naish ◽  
Gareth Dyke ◽  
Andrea Cau ◽  
François Escuillié ◽  
Pascal Godefroit
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analysis ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Large Body ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
Ecological Diversity ◽  
Large Body Size ◽  
Fossil Bird

We describe an enormous Late Cretaceous fossil bird from Kazakhstan, known from a pair of edentulous mandibular rami (greater than 275 mm long), which adds significantly to our knowledge of Mesozoic avian morphological and ecological diversity. A suite of autapomorphies lead us to recognize the specimen as a new taxon. Phylogenetic analysis resolves this giant bird deep within Aves as a basal member of Ornithuromorpha. This Kazakh fossil demonstrates that large body size evolved at least once outside modern birds (Neornithes) and reveals hitherto unexpected trophic diversity within Cretaceous Aves.

Achillesaurus manazzonei, a new alvarezsaurid theropod (Dinosauria) from the Late Cretaceous Bajo de la Carpa Formation, Río Negro Province, Argentina

Zootaxa ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 1582 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
AGUSTÍN G. MARTINELLI ◽  
EZEQUIEL I. VERA
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
New Genus ◽  
South American ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
Caudal Vertebra ◽  
New Genus And Species ◽  
Rio Negro ◽  
New Material ◽  
Phylogenetic Framework

A new genus and species, Achillesaurus manazzonei gen. et sp. nov., of the enigmatic clade Alvarezsauridae (Theropoda, Coelurosauria), recovered from the Santonian Bajo de la Carpa Formation (Río Negro Province, Argentina), is here described. A. manazzonei is a relatively large alvarezsaurid different from Alvarezsaurus calvoi (from the same Age and Formation) in having a lateral fossa in the proximal caudal centra, a less developed supraacetabular crest, the brevis shelf not reaching the base of the ischial pedicel, and the lateral malleolus of the tibia at the same level of the medial one. Achillesaurus differs from Patagonykus puertai, from the Portezuelo Formation (Neuquén Province, Argentina), by the presence of an almost undeveloped supracetabular crest of the ilium and the unfused condition of the astragalus and the calcaneum. The new species is excluded from the Asian Mononykinae due to the unreduced fibula distally and a non-arctometatarsalian pes. The autapomorphies of Achillesaurus are the presence of a biconcave caudal vertebra (possibly the fourth) with the cranial surface 30% larger in diameter than the caudal one. The inclusion of Achillesaurus in a phylogenetic framework resulted in an unresolved polytomy among the new taxon, Alvarezsaurus, and Patagonykus plus Mononykinae, the latter clade being weakly supported. The result here presented shows a basal stem radiation of South American alvarezsaurids. New material of the Patagonian alvarezsaurids is necessary to evaluate relevant traits to test further the phylogenetic relationships of the basal alvarezsaurids.

A new species of the subgenus Scheloribates (Topobates) (Acari: Oribatida: Scheloribatidae) from Panama

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 278-283
Author(s):  
S.G. Ermilov
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Leaf Litter ◽  
Related Species ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Oribatid Mite ◽  
Neotropical Region ◽  
Large Body Size ◽  
First Time ◽  
A New Species

The oribatid mite subgenus Scheloribates (Topobates) Grandjean, 1958, is recorded from the Neotropical region for the first time. A new species of this subgenus is described from the leaf litter collected in Cayo Agua Island, Panama. Scheloribates (Topobates) panamaensis sp. nov. differs from its related species by the very large body size and presence of a strong ventrodistal process on the leg femora II–IV.

Rediscovery of Choroterpes atramentum in Costa Rica, type species of Tikuna new genus (Ephemeroptera: Leptophlebiidae: Atalophlebiinae), and its role in the "Great American Inter-change"

Zootaxa ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 932 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
HARRY M. SAVAGE ◽  
R. WILLS FLOWERS ◽  
WENDY PORRAS V.
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Central America ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Type Species ◽  
New Genus ◽  
South American ◽  
Early Tertiary ◽  
Geological Formation

A new genus, Tikuna, is described based on recent collections of adults and nymphs of Choroterpes atramentum Traver from western Costa Rica. All recent collections are from streams on or near the Nicoya Complex, the oldest geological formation in Lower Central America. Tikuna belongs to a lineage of South American Atalophlebiinae (Leptophlebiidae: Ephemeroptera) whose origin is hypothesized to have been in the late Cretaceous–early Tertiary. Some implications of the distribution of Tikuna for theories on the origin of Costa Rica’s biota are discussed.

A new genus and species of groundwater isopod of the family Protojaniridae (Isopoda: Asellota: Gnathostenetroidoidea) from southern Chile

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4966 (5) ◽  
pp. 550-562
Author(s):  
JORGE PÉREZ-SCHULTHEISS ◽  
GEORGE D. F. WILSON
Keyword(s):  
New Genus ◽  
South American ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
Southern Chile ◽  
New Genus And Species ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Family ◽  
Apical Lobe ◽  
Antennal Scale ◽  
Freshwater Springs

A new asellotan isopod of the family Protojaniridae Fresi, Idato & Scipione, 1980 is described from freshwater springs in the Osorno province, Los Lagos region, southern Chile. Wiyufiloides osornoensis gen. & sp. n. is the third South American protojanirid species and the first known groundwater isopod in Chile. The new genus and species is principally characterized by the presence of a vestigial antennal scale, a strongly subchelate pereiopod I and the absence of an apical lobe on the protopod of pleopod II. The new taxon is described in detail and figures are given. 

scholarly journals An early bothremydid (Testudines, Pleurodira) from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of Utah, North America

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2502 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter G. Joyce ◽  
Tyler R. Lyson ◽  
James I. Kirkland
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analysis ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Depositional Settings ◽  
Near Shore ◽  
Phylogenetic Hypotheses ◽  
North And South America ◽  
North And South ◽  
Early Late

BackgroundBothremydidae is a clade of extinct pleurodiran turtles known from the Cretaceous to Paleogene of Africa, Europe, India, Madagascar, and North and South America. The group is most diverse during the Late Cretaceous to Paleogene of Africa. Little is known, however, about the early evolution of the group.MethodsWe here figure and describe a fossil turtle from early Late Cretaceous deposits exposed at MacFarlane Mine in Cedar Canyon, southwestern Utah, USA. The sediments associated with the new turtle are utilized to infer its stratigraphic provenience and the depositional settings in which it was deposited. The fossil is compared to previously described fossil pleurodires, integrated into a modified phylogenetic analysis of pelomedusoid turtles, and the biogeography of bothremydid turtles is reassessed. In light of the novel phylogenetic hypotheses, six previously established taxon names are converted to phylogenetically defined clade names to aid communication.ResultsThe new fossil turtle can be inferred with confidence to have originated from a brackish water facies within the late Cenomanian Culver Coal Zone of the Naturita Formation. The fossil can be distinguished from all other previously described pleurodires and is therefore designated as a new taxon,Paiutemys tibertgen. et. sp. nov. Phylogenetic analysis places the new taxon as sister to the EuropeanPolysternon provinciale,Foxemys trabantiandFoxemys mechinorumat the base of Bothremydinae. Biogeographic analysis suggests that bothremydids originated as continental turtles in Gondwana, but that bothremydines adapted to near-shore marine conditions and therefore should be seen as having a circum-Atlantic distribution.

scholarly journals The Dakoticancridae (Decapoda, Brachyura) from the Late Cretaceous of North America and Mexico

1998 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 237-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.A. Bishop ◽  
R.M. Feldmann ◽  
F. Vega
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Functional Morphology ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Cladistic Analysis ◽  
Low Level ◽  
The Family

The podotrematous crab family Dakoticancridae includes four genera: Dakoticancer Rathbun, Tetracarcinus Weller, Avitelmessus Rathbun, and Seorsus Bishop, all known solely from the Late Cretaceous of North America. Lathelicocarcinus Bishop, originally referred to the family, must be reassigned. Fine details of anatomy, preserved on specimens of D. overanus Rathbun and A. grapsoideus Rathbun, permit description of genital openings and interpretation of functional morphology of appendages. Although one species, D. australis Rathbun, has been found associated with burrow structures, all were probably vagrant epifaunal animals on fine- to medium-grained siliciclastic substrata. Food was probably obtained by generalized low-level predation and scavenging. Results of a cladistic analysis are consistent with the stratigraphic data suggesting that T. subquadrata Weller is nearest the rootstock of the family and that other taxa within the family are derived from it.

scholarly journals Zoropelecinus zigrasi, a pelecinid wasp in mid-Cretaceous amber from Myanmar (Hymenoptera: Pelecinidae)

2013 ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Michael S. Engel ◽  
David A. Grimaldi ◽  
Jaime Ortega-Blanco
Keyword(s):  
New Jersey ◽  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
New Genus ◽  
New Genus And Species ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
New Synonymy ◽  
First Time

The proctotrupoid wasp family Pelecinidae (Proctotrupomorpha: Proctotrupoidea) is recorded in Early Cretaceous amber for the first time, previous amber inclusions being from the Late Cretaceous or Tertiary. Zoropelecinus zigrasi Engel & Grimaldi, new genus and species, is described and figured from an exquisitely preserved female in Albian-Cenomanian amber from Myanmar. The genus is similar to other fossil pelecinids of the genera Pelecinopteron Brues (Paleogene ambers of the Baltic and Siberia) and Henopelecinus Engel & Grimaldi (Turonian amber, New Jersey). Although two subfamilies have at times been recognized (or even as two families) the Iscopininae are clearly paraphyletic with respect to Pelecininae and therefore of no classificatory value and accordingly synonymized herein (new synonymy).

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