Last New Papers of the Year (?)

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

Hi All -

   Only a little dino stuff, but at least mostly Mesozoic!

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   First, these are now "officially" out:

Buffetaut, E., G. Dyke, V. Suteethorn, and H. Tong. 2005. First record of a 
fossil bird from the Early Cretaceous of Thailand. Comptes Rendus Palevol 
4(8):681-686. doi: 10.1016/j.crpv.2005.06.002.

ABSTRACT: We present the first known occurrence of a Mesozoic fossil bird 
from Thailand. The new specimen is the distal end of a left humerus, from 
the Early Cretaceous Sao Khua Formation in the Northeast of the country, and 
testifies to the presence of a medium-sized avian in these non-marine 
strata. This is also the first Mesozoic bird known from the whole of 
Southeast Asia.


Godefroit, P., H. Li, and C.-Y. Shang. 2005. A new primitive hadrosauroid 
dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia (P.R. China). Comptes 
Rendus Palevol 4(8):697-705. doi: 10.1016/j.crpv.2005.07.004.

ABSTRACT: The right dentary of a new hadrosauroid dinosaur, Penelopognathus 
weishampeli, has been discovered in the Bayan Gobi Formation (Albian, Lower 
Cretaceous) of Inner Mongolia (P.R. China). This new taxon is characterised 
by its elongated, straight dental ramus, whose lateral side is pierced by 
about 20 irregularly distributed foramina. Its dentary teeth appear more 
primitive than those of Probactrosaurus, but more advanced than those of 
Altirhinus, both also from the Lower Cretaceous of the Gobi area. 
Non-hadrosaurid Hadrosauroidea were already well diversified in eastern Asia 
by Early Cretaceous time, suggesting an Asian origin for the hadrosauroid 
clade.


Mahammeda, F., É. Läng, L. Mami, L. Mekahlic, M. Benhamouc, B. Bouterfac, A. 
Kacemic, S.-A. Chériefa, H. Chaouatia, and P. Taquet. 2005. The 'Giant of 
Ksour', a Middle Jurassic sauropod dinosaur from Algeria. Comptes Rendus 
Palevol 4(8):707-714. doi: 10.1016/j.crpv.2005.07.001.

ABSTRACT: Continental strata of Early and Middle Jurassic age are 
seldom-exposed, and little is known of the history of sauropod dinosaurs 
prior to the neosauropod radiation of the end of the Middle Jurassic. Here, 
we report, in the Middle Jurassic of the Occidental Saharan Atlas (Algerian 
High Atlas), the discovery of a skeleton, including cranial material, of a 
new cetiosaurid sauropod. Chebsaurus algeriensis n. g., n. sp. represents 
the most complete Algerian sauropod available to date, only few remains were 
found before.


   In the same volume is:

Apesteguía, S. 2005. A Late Campanian sphenodontid (Reptilia, Diapsida) from 
northern Patagonia. Comptes Rendus Palevol 4(8):663-669. doi: 
10.1016/j.crpv.2005.06.003.

ABSTRACT: The fossil record of sphenodontids in the Southern Hemisphere is 
much longer than in Laurasia, where they became extinct after Early 
Cretaceous times. Recent works demonstrated the persistence of at least 
eilenodontine sphenodontids until the 'mid'-Cretaceous of Patagonia. Focused 
examination of the Los Alamitos Formation collections provided remains of 
Late Campanian sphenodontids. Although the phylogenetic position of these 
remains is still uncertain, they belong to a new, unrecorded species of 
sphenodontid perhaps related to opisthodontians or primitive, toothed 
sapheosaurs.

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   Some Mesozoic mammal papers:

Archibald, J. D., and A. O. Averianov. 2005. Mammalian faunal succession in 
the Cretaceous of the Kyzylkum Desert; pp. 9-22 in P. D. Polly, M. S. 
Springer, and Z.-X. Luo (eds.), Paleomammalogy In Honor of Professor 
Emeritus William Alvin Clemens, Jr. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 12. 
Springer.

ABSTRACT: Both metatherians and eutherians are known from the Early 
Cretaceous (Barremian, 125 mya; million years ago) of China, while 
eutherian-dominated mammalian faunas appeared in Asia at least by the 
earliest Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian, 95 mya). The approximately 99-93 my 
old (Cenomanian) Sheikhdzheili l.f. from western Uzbekistan is a small 
sample of only eutherians, including three zhelestids and a possible 
zalambdalestoid. The much better-known 90 my old (Turonian) Bissekty l.f. at 
Dzharakuduk in the central Uzbekistan includes 15 named and unnamed species, 
based on ongoing analyses. Of these, 12 are eutherians represented by at 
least the three groups-asioryctitheres, zalambdalestids, and zhelestids-plus 
an eutherian of uncertain position-Paranyctoides. Zalambdalestids and 
zhelestids have been argued to be related to the origin of the placental 
gliriforms (Euarchontoglires) and ferungulates (Laurasiatheria), 
respectively. Although there are four previously recognized metatherians, we 
believe three are referable to the deltatheroid Sulestes karakshi and the 
fourth, Sailestes quadrans, may belong to Paranyctoides. There is one 
multituberculate and one symmetrodont in the Bissekty l.f. While comparably 
aged (Turonian) localities in North America have somewhat similar 
non-therians, they have more metatherians and no eutherians. The next 
younger localities (early Campanian, ~80 mya) in North America have both a 
zhelestid and Paranyctoides, suggesting dispersal of eutherians from Asia. 
At Dzharakuduk, the approximately 85 my old (late Turonian/Coniacian) Aitym 
l.f. is much less well known than the Bissekty l.f., but yields nearly 
identical taxa, with two non-therians, one metatherian, and six eutherians.


Wilson, G. P. 2005. Mammalian faunal dynamics during the last 1.8 million 
years of the Cretaceous in Garfield County, Montana; pp. 53-76 in P. D. 
Polly, M. S. Springer, and Z.-X. Luo (eds.), Paleomammalogy In Honor of 
Professor Emeritus William Alvin Clemens, Jr. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 
12. Springer.

ABSTRACT: This study provides an analysis of biotic change in successive 
mammalian communities during the last 1.8 million years of the Cretaceous 
(67.3-65.58 Ma) from the Hell Creek Formation in Garfield County, Montana. 
Results show changes in relative abundances of species, mean individual body 
size, and to some extent taxonomic composition through the Hell Creek 
Formation. These results are interpreted as "normal" mammalian responses to 
fluctuating temperatures during the latest Cretaceous. By contrast, the 
extinction of 22-27 mammalian species at or near the Cretaceous-Tertiary 
(K-T) boundary cannot be explained by the coincident cooling interval alone. 
At the scale of temporal resolution available, these fossil data are 
inconsistent with an extended gradual pattern of extinction 
(linear-response) and are most consistent with either a non-linear response 
pattern for the K-T extinction, resulting from the accumulated stress of 
multiple long- and short-term environmental perturbations (e.g., climate 
change, sea-level regression, volcanism, an extraterrestrial impact), or a 
single, short-term cause (an extraterrestrial impact).


   ...and not quite Mesozoic:

Gunnell, G. F., and N. B. Simmons. 2005. Fossil evidence and the origin of 
bats; pp. 209-246 in P. D. Polly, M. S. Springer, and Z.-X. Luo (eds.), 
Paleomammalogy In Honor of Professor Emeritus William Alvin Clemens, Jr. 
Journal of Mammalian Evolution 12. Springer.

ABSTRACT: The phylogenetic and geographic origins of bats (Chiroptera) 
remain unknown. The earliest confirmed records of bats date from the early 
Eocene (approximately 51 Ma) in North America with other early Eocene bat 
taxa also being represented from Europe, Africa, and Australia. Where known, 
skeletons of these early taxa indicate that many of the anatomical 
specializations characteristic of bats had already been achieved by the 
early Eocene, including forelimb and manus elongation in conjunction with 
structural changes in the pectoral skeleton, hind limb reorientation, and 
the presence of rudimentary echolocating abilities. By the middle Eocene, 
the diversification of bats was well underway with many modern families 
being represented among fossil forms. A new phylogenetic analysis indicates 
that several early fossil bats are consecutive sister taxa to the extant 
crown group (including megabats), and suggests a single origin for the 
order, at least by the late Paleocene. Although morphological studies have 
long placed bats in the Grandorder Archonta, (along with primates 
dermopterans, and tree shrews), recent molecular studies have refuted this 
hypothesis, instead strongly supporting placement of bats in Laurasiatheria. 
Primitively, proto-bats were likely insectivorous, under-branch hangers and 
elementary gliders that exploited terminal branch habitats. Recent work has 
indicated that a number of other mammalian groups began to exploit similar 
arboreal, terminal branch habitats in the Paleocene, including 
multituberculates, eulipotyphlans, dermopterans, and plesiadapiforms. This 
may offer an ecological explanation for morphological convergences that led 
to the erroneous inclusion of bats within Archonta: ancestral archontan 
groups as well as proto-bats apparently were exploiting similar arboreal 
habitats, which may have led to concurrent development of homoplasic 
morphological attributes.

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Schnyder, J., A. Ruffell, J.-F. Deconinck, and F. Baudin. 2006. Conjunctive 
use of spectral gamma-ray logs and clay mineralogy in defining Late 
Jurassic-Early Cretaceous palaeoclimate change (Dorset, U.K.). 
Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 229(4):303-320. doi: 
10.1016/j.palaeo.2005.06.027.

ABSTRACT: Detrital clay mineralogy is controlled by weathered source rock, 
climate, transport and deposition that in turn influence the spectral 
gamma-ray (SGR) response of resultant sediments. Whilst a palaeoclimate 
signal in clay mineralogy has been established in some ancient successions, 
the SGR response remains contentious, largely because the data sets have yet 
to be collected at the same or appropriate vertical scales to allow 
comparison. In addition, the influence of organic matter on SGR is not 
always considered. Here, we present clay mineralogical, total organic carbon 
(TOC) and SGR analyses from the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous of the 
Wessex Basin, a period of previously documented palaeoclimate change. The 
aim of this paper is to estimate the sensitivity of SGR as palaeoclimatic 
tool, SGR and clay mineral data having been collected at the same sample 
points, making this one of the most rigorous comparison of clay mineral and 
SGR to date. Overall, the correlation between high thorium/potassium or 
thorium/uranium and kaolinite associated with a well-established 
palaeoclimate change shows that elevated thorium may be used as a proxy for 
humid palaeoweathering, as suggested by few previous studies.

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Fielding, S., D. M. Martill, and D. Naish. 2005. Solnhofen-style soft-tissue 
preservation in a new species of turtle from the Crato Formation (Early 
Cretaceous, Aptian) of north-east Brazil. Palaeontology 48(6):1301-1310. 
doi: 10.1111/j.1475-4983.2005.00508.x.

ABSTRACT: The partial, articulated skeleton of a pleurodiran turtle from the 
Nova Olinda Member of the Crato Formation (Araripe Basin) of north-east 
Brazil displays an impression of the outline of the soft tissues surrounding 
the left hind limb. The external mould of the soft tissue surface preserves 
only the gross morphology of the limb although the outline of the limb is 
well defined. It appears to be an external mould of the limb's surface, 
which formed prior to the decay of the integument. The limb skeleton is 
mostly fully articulated. This style of preservation is comparable with the 
mouldic preservation found in such famous fossils as the feathered 
Archaeopteryx specimens of the Solnhofen limestone. Although soft-tissue 
preservation is occasionally encountered in the Crato Formation, this is the 
first documented occurrence of mouldic preservation of body outline reported 
for this Konservat-Lagerstätten. The new specimen is referred to the 
pelomedusoid Araripemys and represents a new species, A. arturi sp. nov., 
which is described here.

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Fang, X., Z. Zhang, X. Zhang, L. Lu, Y. Han, and P. Li. 2005. Fossil eggs 
from the Heyuan Basin, east-central Guangdong, China. Geological Bulletin of 
China 24(7):682-686.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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/
"And the role of George W. Bush will
be played by: Ralph Wiggum" -- Conan
O'Brien, during "Earth to America," in
listing the fictitious cast of an upcoming
TV movie about global warming.