New Oviraptorid paper: Big Momma!

["Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <th81@umail.umd.edu>]

Morning, everyone.

Just in (well, okay, came in last week...):

Clark, J. M., M. A. Norell, and L. M. Chiappe.  1999.  An oviraptorid
skeleton from the Late Cretaceous of Ukhaa Tolgod, Mongolia, preserved in an
avianlike brooding position over an oviraptorid nest.  American Museum
Novitates 3265: 1-36.

This is the paper on Big Momma, the nesting oviraptorid.  The highlights:
No skull means no specific identification, but it clearly isn't _Ingenia_,
and is much larger than _Conchoraptor_, and other features are more similar
to _Oviraptor_ than to the other oviraptorids.

New feature supporting an oviraptorid-dromaeosaurid-bird clade to the
exclusion of other theropods for which the strenum is known: articulation of
the first three thoracic ribs with the costal margin of the sternum.

Discussion of uncinate processes and their spotty distribution in the fossil
record.

Lots of other good stuff.

In other news, the forthcoming 1999 issue of Annual Review of Earth and
Planetary Sciences has a couple of papers of interest to dinosaur
paleontology fans:

Van Valkenburgh, B.  Major events in the history of carnivorous mammals.
(Yes, they aren't dinosaurs, but carnivorous mammals are also inherently
cool...  Also, they form an interesting comparison with theropods).

Smit, J.  The global stratigraphy of the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary impact
ejecta.

Other things in there might be of interest to some folks on the list, but
are not directly germane to dinosaurs (western U.S. extension, stromatolites
in the Precambrian, impact crater collapse, etc.).

Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
Vertebrate Paleontologist     Webpage: http://www.geol.umd.edu
Dept. of Geology              Email:tholtz@geol.umd.edu
University of Maryland        Phone:301-405-4084
College Park, MD  20742       Fax:  301-314-9661