I Can Do New Papers All By Myself

["Jerry D. Harris" <jharris@dixie.edu>]

You, H.-L., and Li, D.-Q. 2009. The first well-preserved Early Cretaceous
brachiosaurid dinosaur in Asia. Proceedings of the Royal Society B:
Biological Sciences. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2009.1278.

ABSTRACT: A new genus and species of brachiosaurid sauropods, Qiaowanlong
kangxii gen. et sp. nov., is reported, representing the first well-preserved
Early Cretaceous brachiosaurid in Asia and expanding the distribution of
brachiosaurids undoubtedly into the Asian continent. The new taxon was
recovered from the late Early Cretaceous Xinminpu Group of Yujingzi Basin in
northwestern Gansu Province, China, and is represented by a series of eight
mid-cervical vertebrae, a right pelvic girdle and some unidentified bones.
The existence of deeply excavated cervical neural spines and a rising
transition in the neural spine height among mid-cervical vertebrae clearly
show the affinity of Qiaowanlong as a member of brachiosaurids. Among
brachiosaurids, Qiaowanlong shares a derived feature with the North American
Early Cretaceous brachiosaurid Sauroposeidon: the lack of cranial
centrodiapophyseal lamina. However, Qiaowanlong is unique in possessing a
suite of features, such as a low central length/cotyle height ratio,
bifurcated cervical neural spines and a much reduced ischium. The discovery
of Qiaowanlong and other new material indicates a diverse and abundant
sauropod assemblage in China during the Early Cretaceous. 




Gao, C.-L., Wilson, G.P., Luo, Z.-X., Maga, A.M., Meng, Q., and Wang, X.
2009. A new mammal skull from the Lower Cretaceous of China with
implications for the evolution of obtuse-angled molars and ?amphilestid?
eutriconodonts. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
doi: 10.1098/rspb.2009.1014.

ABSTRACT: We report the discovery of Juchilestes liaoningensis, a new genus
and species of eutriconodont mammal from the Lujiatun Site of the Lower
Cretaceous Yixian Formation (123.2 ± 1.0 Ma; Lower Aptian). The holotype
preserves a partial skull and full dentition. Among eutriconodonts, its
lower dentition is similar to taxa formerly assigned to the paraphyletic
group of ?amphilestids?. Some have considered ?amphilestid? molars to
represent the structural intermediate between the lower molars of the
?triconodont? pattern of cusps in alignment and the fully triangulate and
more derived therian molars. However, ?amphilestid? taxa were previously
represented only by the lower dentition. Our study reveals, for the first
time, the upper dentition and skull structure of an ?amphilestid?, and shows
that at least some eutriconodonts have an obtuse-angled cusp pattern on
molars in middle positions of the long molar series. Its petrosal is similar
to those of other eutriconodonts and spalacotheroid ?symmetrodonts?. Our
phylogenetic analyses suggest that (i) Juchilestes is most closely related
to the Early Cretaceous Hakusanodon from Japan, in the same Eastern Asiatic
geographic region; (ii) ?amphilestids? are not monophyletic; and (iii)
eutriconodonts might not be a monophyletic group, although this hypothesis
must be further tested.






Bever, G.S., and Norell, M.A. 2009. The perinate skull of Byronosaurus
(Troodontidae) with observations on the cranial ontogeny of paravian
theropods. American Museum Novitates 3657:1-52. doi: 10.1206/650.1.

ABSTRACT: The skulls of two perinate paravians from Ukhaa Tolgod, Djadoktha
Formation, Mongolia, are described here. The skulls are nearly unique in
their combination of ontogenetic age and preservational quality and provide
us with the first look at the morphology of such important anatomical
regions as the rostrum, palate, and braincase at or near the onset of
postnatal development in a nonavian paravian coelurosaur. Based on a number
of derived characters, the skulls are allocated to a derived position within
Troodontidae that is outside the clade consisting of Saurornithoides
mongoliensis, Saurornithoides junior, Troodon formosus, and probably
Sinornithoides youngi. A single synapomorphy, presence of a lateral
maxillary groove, supports the Ukhaa perinates as Byronosaurus. The
comparative morphology of the Ukhaa perinates with adult troodontids
indicates a number of significant postnatal transformations (e.g.,
elongation and flattening of the rostrum, increase in the number of
maxillary and dentary teeth, restructuring of the occipital plate and
paroccipital process). These comparisons demonstrate that many characters
historically considered important for phylogenetic and taxonomic assessments
of adult maniraptorans are present at a relatively early stage of ontogeny.
Differences in the developmental timing of various cranial characters have
important implications for interpreting the fossil record as well as for
understanding the role heterochrony has played in the evolution of derived
coleurosaurs, including birds. The ontogenetic information provided by the
Ukhaa perinates also allow us to comment on the enigmatic paravian
Archaeornithoides deinosauriscus, which has been considered both the sister
taxon to Avialae and a juvenile specimen of the troodontids Saurornithoides
mongoliensis and Byronosaurus jaffei. We found no unique characters that
support a priviledged relationship of Archaeornithoides deinosauriscus with
avialans and only weak character support for this taxon as a basal
troodontid?there is no known character evidence supporting it as a juvenile
of either Saurornithoides or Byronosaurus.

?available free at http://www.bioone.org/toc/novi//3657




Gaffney, E.S., Krause, D.W., and Zalmout, I.S. 2009. Kinkonychelys, a new
side-necked turtle (Pelomedusoides: Bothremydidae) from the Late Cretaceous
of Madagascar. American Museum Novitates 3662:1-25. doi: 10.1206/672.1.

ABSTRACT: The type specimen of Kinkonychelys rogersi, n. gen. et sp., is the
first turtle skull to be described from the pre-Holocene fossil record of
Madagascar. This specimen, a nearly complete cranium, along with several
referred specimens (a series of maxillae and a partial lower jaw), was
recovered from the Maastrichtian Maevarano Formation in the Mahajanga Basin
of northwestern Madagascar. A braincase with the diagnostic characters of
Kinkonychelys, but differing in the position of the jaw articulation,
formation of the foramen nervi facialis, and a number of other characters,
was found in the same rock unit and is provisionally identified as belonging
to Kinkonychelys sp., a presumed distinct, but closely related species, too
incomplete to be diagnosed at present.
     Kinkonychelys is a bothremydid because it has the diagnostic characters
of an exoccipital-quadrate contact and a fully enclosed incisura columellae
auris (Gaffney et al., 2006). Kinkonychelys belongs to the tribe
Kurmademydini, previously known to include only Sankuchemys and Kurmademys
from the Late Cretaceous of India, because it has a deep fossa pterygoidea,
a foramen stapediotemporale facing dorsally, a jugal not retracted from the
orbit, a deep fossa precolumellaris, and a large, wide antrum postoticum.
Kinkonychelys rogersi and Kinkonychelys sp. both possess a unique form of
the overlapping fossa pterygoidea.
     A cladistic analysis of Kinkonychelys reveals that it is nested within
the tribe Kurmademydini of Gaffney et al. (2006) and is related to the other
taxa in the tribe as follows: (Sankuchemys (Kinkonychelys+Kurmademys)). The
discovery of a Malagasy bothremydid of Maastrichtian age that is nested
within the Indian members of the Kurmademydini supports the hypothesis of a
connection between Madagascar and the Indian subcontinent that persisted
into the late stages of the Late Cretaceous.


...available free at http://www.bioone.org/toc/novi//3662





Wolsan, M., and Sato, J.J. 2009. Effects of data incompleteness on the
relative performance of parsimony and Bayesian approaches in a supermatrix
phylogenetic reconstruction of Mustelidae and Procyonidae (Carnivora).
Cladistics. doi: 10.1111/j.1096-0031.2009.00281.x.

ABSTRACT: Missing data are commonly thought to impede a resolved or accurate
reconstruction of phylogenetic relationships, and probabilistic analysis
techniques are increasingly viewed as less vulnerable to the negative
effects of data incompleteness than parsimony analyses. We test both
assumptions empirically by conducting parsimony and Bayesian analyses on an
approximately 1.5 × 106-cell (27 965 characters × 52 species)
mustelid?procyonid molecular supermatrix with 62.7% missing entries.
Contrary to the first assumption, phylogenetic relationships inferred from
our analyses are fully (Bayesian) or almost fully (parsimony) resolved
topologically with mostly strong support and also largely in accord with
prior molecular estimations of mustelid and procyonid phylogeny derived with
parsimony, Bayesian, and other probabilistic analysis techniques from
smaller but complete or nearly complete data sets. Contrary to the second
assumption, we found no compelling evidence in support of a relationship
between the inferior performance of parsimony and taxon incompleteness (i.e.
the proportion of missing character data for a taxon), although we found
evidence for a connection between the inferior performance of parsimony and
character incompleteness (i.e. no overlap in character data between some
taxa). The relatively good performance of our analyses may be related to the
large number of sampled characters, so that most taxa (even highly
incomplete ones) are represented by a sufficient number of characters
allowing both approaches to resolve their relationships.





Hochuli, P.A., and Vigran, J.O. 2009. Climate variations in the Boreal
Triassic ? inferred from palynological records from the Barents Sea.
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. doi:
10.1016/j.palaeo.2009.08.013.

ABSTRACT: This paper presents palynological evidence from the late Early
Triassic (late Smithian) to the Late Triassic (Rhaetian) of the Barents Sea
area: A continuous palynological succession from an exploration well
(7228/7-1A) in the Nordkapp Basin (SW Barents Sea) and palynological data
from a series of shallow cores drilled at the Svalis Dome (Central Barents
Sea) representing selected Triassic intervals. These fully marine sediments
are independently dated by marine faunas. Both records show significant
shifts in the distribution of the main floral elements.
     Changing ratios of spore-pollen taxa, grouped as hygrophytes versus
xerophytes and spores versus pollen, reveal major changes of the floras
within the studied interval. One distinct turnover coincides with the
Smithian / Spathian boundary where lycopsid and pteridophyte spores
dominated assemblages change to pollen (pteridosperms and conifers)
dominated assemblages. Lower Middle Triassic assemblages are again dominated
by lycopsid spores while the assemblages from the upper part of the Middle
Triassic and the lower part of the Late Triassic are characterised by
dominance of coniferous pollen and show the decline of pteridosperms. In the
latest Triassic fern spores are abundant and diverse. In contrast to the
Middle Triassic the pollen assemblages are characterized by cycadophytes and
Araucariacites. These distribution patterns are interpreted to reflect
climatic changes.
      The presented results from Norwegian Boreal areas confirm the
significant differences between quantitative distribution of specific taxa
as well as diversity of major groups in plant assemblages from low and mid
latitudes. The present survey opens new perspectives for more detailed
comparisons and climatic interpretations of floras from the Triassic period,
a time during which Mesozoic vegetation established. The major changes in
the dominance of specific floral elements, especially the diversification
and spreading of the conifers, can probably be related to climatic changes.





Koshiba-Takuechi, K., Mori, A.D., Kaynak, B.L., Cebra-Thomas, J., Sukonnik,
T., Georges, R.O., Latham, S., Beck, L., Henkelman, R.M., Black, B.L.,
Olson, E.N., Wade, J., Takeuchi, J.K., Nemer, M., Gilbert, S.F., and
Bruneau, B.G. 2009. Reptilian heart development and the molecular basis of
cardia chamber evolution. Nature 461:95-98. doi: 10.1038/nature08324.

ABSTRACT: The emergence of terrestrial life witnessed the need for more
sophisticated circulatory systems. This has evolved in birds, mammals and
crocodilians into complete septation of the heart into left and right sides,
allowing separate pulmonary and systemic circulatory systems, a key
requirement for the evolution of endothermy. However, the evolution of the
amniote heart is poorly understood. Reptilian hearts have been the subject
of debate in the context of the evolution of cardiac septation: do they
possess a single ventricular chamber or two incompletely septated
ventricles? Here we examine heart development in the red-eared slider
turtle, Trachemys scripta elegans (a chelonian), and the green anole, Anolis
carolinensis (a squamate), focusing on gene expression in the developing
ventricles. Both reptiles initially form a ventricular chamber that
homogenously expresses the T-box transcription factor gene Tbx5. In
contrast, in birds and mammals, Tbx5 is restricted to left ventricle
precursors. In later stages, Tbx5 expression in the turtle (but not anole)
heart is gradually restricted to a distinct left ventricle, forming a
left?right gradient. This suggests that Tbx5 expression was refined during
evolution to pattern the ventricles. In support of this hypothesis, we show
that loss of Tbx5 in the mouse ventricle results in a single chamber lacking
distinct identity, indicating a requirement for Tbx5 in septation.
Importantly, misexpression of Tbx5 throughout the developing myocardium to
mimic the reptilian expression pattern also results in a single mispatterned
ventricular chamber lacking septation. Thus ventricular septation is
established by a steep and correctly positioned Tbx5 gradient. Our findings
provide a molecular mechanism for the evolution of the amniote ventricle,
and support the concept that altered expression of developmental regulators
is a key mechanism of vertebrate evolution.





Wolsan, M., and Sato, J.J. 2009. Effects of data incompleteness on the
relative performance of parsimony and Bayesian approaches in a supermatrix
phylogenetic reconstruction of Mustelidae and Procyonidae (Carnivora).
Cladistics. doi: 10.1111/j.1096-0031.2009.00281.x.

ABSTRACT: Missing data are commonly thought to impede a resolved or accurate
reconstruction of phylogenetic relationships, and probabilistic analysis
techniques are increasingly viewed as less vulnerable to the negative
effects of data incompleteness than parsimony analyses. We test both
assumptions empirically by conducting parsimony and Bayesian analyses on an
approximately 1.5 × 106-cell (27 965 characters × 52 species)
mustelid?procyonid molecular supermatrix with 62.7% missing entries.
Contrary to the first assumption, phylogenetic relationships inferred from
our analyses are fully (Bayesian) or almost fully (parsimony) resolved
topologically with mostly strong support and also largely in accord with
prior molecular estimations of mustelid and procyonid phylogeny derived with
parsimony, Bayesian, and other probabilistic analysis techniques from
smaller but complete or nearly complete data sets. Contrary to the second
assumption, we found no compelling evidence in support of a relationship
between the inferior performance of parsimony and taxon incompleteness (i.e.
the proportion of missing character data for a taxon), although we found
evidence for a connection between the inferior performance of parsimony and
character incompleteness (i.e. no overlap in character data between some
taxa). The relatively good performance of our analyses may be related to the
large number of sampled characters, so that most taxa (even highly
incomplete ones) are represented by a sufficient number of characters
allowing both approaches to resolve their relationships.





Bell, A., and Everhart, M.J. 2009. A new specimen of Parahesperornis (Aves:
Hesperornithiformes) from the Smoky Hill Chalk (early Campanian) of western
Kansas. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 112(1/2):7-14.

ABSTRACT: Despite the abundance of hesperornithiform fossils from the
Western Interior of North America, particularly the Niobrara Chalk of
Kansas, few specimens are known of Parahesperornis, a toothed,
foot-propelled diving bird somewhat smaller than Hesperornis. Numerous
specimens of three species of Hesperornis as well as those of Baptornis
advenus are known from the Smoky Hill Chalk of western Kansas, but only two
specimens of Parahesperornis have been collected to date. This paper
presents a new specimen of Parahesperornis and a detailed description of the
tarsometatarsus of this genus. Minor differences in morphology of the
isolated tarsometatarsus presented here prevent its inclusion in
Parahesperornis alexi, however these differences are not sufficient to
warrant the designation of a new taxon at this time.





The following is available free at
http://www.dfmf.uned.es/~fortega/uned_fo_pdf/2009_Ortega_etal_2009_Dinosport
ugal.pdf


Ortega, F., Malafaia, E., Escaso, F., Pérez García, A., and Dantas, P. 2009.
Faunas de répteis do Jurássico Superior de Portugal. Paleolusitana 1:43-56.

ABSTRACT: The first dinosaur fauna well-represented in the Iberian Peninsula
belong to Kimmeridgian-Tithonian of the Lusitanian Basin in west-central
Portugal. In these levels have been recognized more than thirty species of
tetrapods that include amphibians, early mammals, turtles, basal neodiapsids
Choristodera, lepidosauromorphs, crocodilomorphs, pterosaurs and dinosaurs.
Among them, the dinosaurs are the best known and most widely represented.
     The combination of forms closely related to synchronous faunas in the
American record, endemic ones and other shared by the European record places
the Iberian Peninsula as interesting biogeographic scenario, whose
interpretation, despite the significant increase in information that has
been occurred in recent years, is still very dependent on the interpretation
of the phylogenetic relationships of many of the taxa represented.





The following are available free at: http://voluminajurassica.org/en/current


Lucas, S.G. 2009. Global Jurassic tetrapod biochronology. Volumina Jurassica
6:99-108.

ABSTRACT: Jurassic tetrapod fossils are known from all of the continents,
and their distribution documents a critical paleobiogeographic juncture in
tetrapod evolution ? the change from cosmopolitan Pangean tetrapod faunas to
the provincialized faunas that characterize the late Mesozoic and Cenozoic.
Two global tetrapod biochronological units (faunachrons) have been named for
the Early Jurassic ? Wassonian and Dawan ? and reflect some Early Jurassic
tetrapod cosmopolitanism. However, after the Dawan, a scattered and
poorly-dated Middle Jurassic tetrapod record and a much better understood
Upper Jurassic tetrapod record indicate that significant provincialization
of the global tetrapod fauna had begun. Middle Jurassic tetrapod assemblages
include distinct local genera of sauropod  dinosaurs, which are large,
mobile terrestrial tetrapods, and this suggests marked provinciality by
Bajocian time. The obvious provincialism of well known Chinese Middle-Upper
Jurassic dinosaur faunas also documents the end of tetrapod cosmopolitanism.
The distribution of some Late Jurassic dinosaur taxa defines a province that
extended from the western USA through Europe into eastern Africa. Provincial
tetrapod biochronologies have already been proposed for this province and
for the separate eastern Asian Late Jurassic province. Tetrapod footprints
only identify two global assemblage zones, one of Early Jurassic and the
other of Middle-Late Jurassic age. The incomplete state of Jurassic tetrapod
biochronology reflects both an inadequate record with poor temporal
constraints and a relative lack of study of the biostratigraphy of Jurassic
fossil vertebrates.





Tanner, L.H., and Lucas, S.G. 2009. Tetrapod trace fossils from lowermost
Jurassic strata of the Moenave Formation, northern Arizona, USA. Volumina
Jurassica 6:133-141.

ABSTRACT: At Moenkopi Wash along the Ward Terrace escarpment of northern
Arizona strata of the upper Dinosaur Canyon Member of the Moenave Formation
contain sedimentary structures we interpret as casts of tetrapod burrows.
Sandstone casts and in situ burrows occur concentrated in two horizons that
extend several hundred meters along the Ward Terrace escarpment. The
structures, hosted in beds of eolian sandstone, form interconnecting
networks of burrows that branch at right angles. Individual burrow casts
have sub-circular cross sections and consist of nearvertical tunnels and
horizontal to low-angle galleries that connect to larger chambers. Most
burrow casts measure 5 to 15 cm in diameter, are filled by sandstone of
similar grain size as the host rock, and have walls that are unlined and
lack external ornamentation. Bedding plane exposure of the lower horizon
reveals that the density of burrows exceeds 30 vertical tunnels per square
meter. One exposure in the upper horizon reveals burrows concentrated in a
mound-like structure with 1 m of relief. Rhizoliths, distinguished from
burrows by their typical smaller diameters, calcareous infilling, and
downward branching, co-occur with these burrows in the upper horizon. The
fossil burrows in the Moenave Formation appear to have been constructed by a
fossorial tetrapod with social behavior similar to the modern Mediterranean
blind mole-rat. Although no skeletal remains are associated with the
burrows, the fossil record suggests that the most likely producers of the
Moenave burrows were tritylodontid cynodonts.





Tanner, L.H., and Lucas, S.G. 2009. The Whitmore Point Member of the Moenave
Formation: Early Jurassic dryland lakes on the Colorado Plateau,
southwestern USA. Volumina Jurassica 6:11-21.

ABSTRACT: The Lower Jurassic Whitmore Point Member of the Moenave Formation
in Arizona-Utah, USA, comprises fish- and coprolite-bearing shales,
siltstones, sandstones, and minor limestones. These facies were deposited in
ephemeral and perennial lakes subject to episodic desiccation and incursions
of coarse clastics during floods. Meromictic conditions developed during
perennial episodes, probably due to salinity stratification, which enhanced
preservation of organic matter in gray to black shales. These lakes formed
on the floodout of a north-northwest oriented (relative to modern geography)
system of mainly ephemeral streams on a broad and open floodplain. The
Whitmore Point Member both overlies and interfingers laterally with alluvial
red-bed facies of the Dinosaur Canyon Member of the Moenave Formation. The
vertical transition from alluvial to lacustrine sedimentation recorded by
the Dinosaur Canyon and Whitmore Point members of the Moenave Formation most
probably resulted from a eustatically-controlled rise in base level during
the Early Jurassic (Hettangian). The Dinosaur Canyon Member also
interfingers laterally with eolian dune deposits of the Wingate Sandstone,
which was deposited by winds that reworked coastal plain sediments to the
north of the study area. Thus, on this part of the Colorado Plateau,
fluvial, lacustrine and eolian sedimentary facies were deposited
contemporaneously in laterally adjacent paleoenvironments.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jerry D. Harris
Director of Paleontology
Dixie State College
Science Building
225 South 700 East
St. George, UT  84770   USA
Phone: (435) 652-7758
Fax: (435) 656-4022
E-mail: jharris@dixie.edu
 and     dinogami@gmail.com
http://cactus.dixie.edu/jharris/

"Education is the only thing people
shell out a lot of money for...and
then do everything possible to avoid
getting their money's worth."

                            -- unknown