And Still More...

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

At the risk of making Jaime drool his way into dehydration, here's a couple 
more new papers:

Milàn, J., Christiansen, P., and Mateus, O. 2005. A three-dimensionally 
preserved sauropod manus impression from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal: 
Implications for sauropod manus shape and locomotor mechanics. Kaupia 
14:47-52.

   ABSTRACT: Sauropods were the largest animals ever to walk the earth, and 
evolved several specializations in their limbs in order to support their 
body mass. Their legs became columnar and their manual digits became reduced 
and encapsulated in tissue to form a single weight-bearing unit in the 
derived sauropods. A new three-dimensionally preserved cast of a sauropod 
manus, found in the Upper Jurassic Lourinhã Formation, Portugal, 
demonstrates not only the shape, but also the actual movements of the 
sauropod manus during the stride. The manus cast is 32 cm deep, and show the 
manus to be hoof-shaped and lacking any impressions of individual digits, 
except for digit I, the pollex.Well preserved striations from skin on the 
sides of the cast show that the manus was covered in rough, tubercular skin. 
The width of the manus cast is consistent from top to bottom, demonstrating 
that the manus was brought down and lifted vertically before any 
parasaggital movement of the upper limb took place.


Liu, Y., and Liu, Y. 2005. Comment on '40Ar/39Ar dating of ignimbrite from 
Inner Mongolia, northeastern China, indicates a post-Middle Jurassic age for 
the overlying Daohugou Bed' by H.Y. He et al. Geophysical Research Letters 
32:L12314.

       Contests (and very well, I might add) the report of a few months ago 
that the Daohugou is post-Middle Jurassic.  I stand corrected on that one!

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

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