Some recent non-dino papers:
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Marcos V. Dumont Jr, ÂRodrigo M. Santucci, ÂMarco Brandalise de Andrade & Carlos Eduardo Maia de Oliveira (2020)
Paleoneurology of Baurusuchus (Crocodyliformes: Baurusuchidae), ontogenetic variation, brain size, and sensorial implications.
The Anatomical Record (advance online publication)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.24567
https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar.24567
Knowledge on crocodyliform paleoneurology has significantly improved with development of computed tomography. However, studies so far have been able to reconstruct brain endocasts based only on single specimens for each taxon. Here for the first time, we reconstructed brain endocasts for multiple fossil specimens of the same crocodyliform taxon (Baurusuchus), consisting of complete skulls of two medium sized specimens, one large adult, and a late juvenile. In addition, we were able to reconstruct the inner ear anatomy of a fragmentary skull using microtomography. We present estimates of brain size using simple models, based on modern Crocodylia, able to adapt brain to endocranial cavity ratios to expected ontogenetic variation instead of using fixed ratios. We also analyzed relative brain sizes, olfactory ratios, facial sensation, alert head posture, best hearing frequencies, and hearing range. The calculated endocranial volumes showed that they can be greatly altered by taphonomic processes, altering both total and partial endocranial volumes. Reconstructed endocasts are compatible with different degrees of occupation along the endocranial cavity and some of their characteristics might be useful as phylogenetic characters. The relative brain size of Baurusuchus seems to be small in comparison to modern crocodilians. Sensorial abilities were somewhat similar to modern crocodilians and hearing ranges and best mean frequencies remarkably similar to modern taxa, whereas olfactory ratio values are a little higher. Differing from its modern relatives, Baurusuchus hypothesized alert head posture is compatible with a terrestrial habit.
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Gastornis laurenti sp. nov.Â
CÃcile Mourer-Chauvirà & Estelle Bourdon (2020)
Description of a new species of Gastornis (Aves, Gastornithiformes) from the early Eocene of La Borie, southwestern France.
Geobios (advance online publication)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geobios.2020.10.002
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0016699520300863
The Early Eocene locality of La Borie is located near the village of Saint-Papoul, in southwestern France. It consists of clay deposits that have yielded numerous vertebrate fossils, including remains of the giant flightless bird Gastornis. These remains were initially attributed to the species G. parisiensis, which is otherwise recorded from the late Paleocene and earliest Eocene of the North Sea Basin. New fossil birds collected in the La Borie clay pit in 2018 include an almost complete mandible of Gastornis. We describe a new species of Gastornis based on this mandible and we show that the previously described remains from La Borie must be assigned to this new species. The new species differs from other species of Gastornis in the morphology of the mandible, maxilla and quadrate. The morphological diversity of the genus Gastornis, which existed in Europe for at least 17 million years, is emphasized.Â
LSID of publication: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:10E7938B-C972-4127-94DC-169D35977B11
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Anthony P. Russell & Aaron M. Bauer (2020)
Vocalization by extant nonavian reptiles: A synthetic overview of phonation and the vocal apparatus.
The Anatomical Record (advance online publication)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.24553
https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar.24553
Among amniote vertebrates, nonavian reptiles (chelonians, crocodilians, and lepidosaurs) are regarded as using vocal signals rarely (compared to birds and mammals). In all three reptilian clades, however, certain taxa emit distress calls and advertisement calls using modifications of regions of the upper respiratory tract. There is no central tendency in either acoustic mechanisms or the structure of the vocal apparatus, and many taxa that vocalize emit only relatively simple sounds. Available evidence indicates multiple origins of true vocal abilities within these lineages. Reptiles thus provide opportunities for studying the early evolutionary stages of vocalization. The early literature on the diversity of form of the laryngotracheal apparatus of reptiles boded well for the study of formâfunction relationships, but this potential was not extensively explored. Emphasis shifted away from anatomy, however, and centered instead on acoustic analysis of the sounds that are produced. New investigative techniques have provided novel ways of studying the formâfunction aspects of the structures involved in phonation and have brought anatomical investigation to the forefront again. In this review we summarize what is known about hearing in reptiles in order to contextualize the vocal signals they generate and the soundâproducing mechanisms responsible for them. The diversity of form of the sound producing apparatus and the increasing evidence that reptiles are more dependent upon vocalization as a communication medium than previously thought indicates that they have a significant role to play in the understanding of the evolution of vocalization in amniotes.