New in JVP

["Jaime A. Headden" <qilongia@yahoo.com>]

I don't have access to BioOne yet, I don't have the print article, and these
papers are not currently up on Vertpaleo.org yet, so I can't supply anyone with
papers. Sorry.

http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-toc&issn=0272-4634&volume=26&issue=1

  Andres, B. & Ji Q. 2006. A new species of *Istiodactylus* (Pterosauria,
   Pterodactyloidea) from the Lower Cretaceous of Liaoning, China. _Journal of
   Vertebrate Paleontology_ 26(1):70-78.

Abstract:
 "*Istiodactylus sinensis*, sp. nov., from the Jiufotang Formation of Liaoning,
  People's Republic of China, is described on the basis of a single nearly
  complete and nearly osteologically adult specimen. This is the tenth
pterosaur
  described from this formation and the eighteenth pterosaur species described
  from northeastern China in almost half as many years. The species is placed
in
  the Istiodactylidae, which was previously a monospecific family of
  pterodactyloid pterosaurs known only from the Isle of Wight, England. The new
  form is distinct from the two other istiodactylid species. It is smaller,
more
  plesiomorphic, and younger than *Istiodactylus latidens*, but larger and more
  derived than the contemporaneous *Nurhachius ignaciobritoi*. *Istiodactylus
  sinensis* is very similar to *I. latidens*, so that almost all of the
previous
  autapomorphies of *I. latidens* are now synapomorphies of *Istiodactylus*.
  They differ most in that *I. sinensis* is much smaller than *I. latidens*.
The
  length of the wingspan, skull, and most of the preserved limb elements of *I.
  sinensis* are about 63 percent of the wingspan and elements of *I. latidens*.
  This new specimen demonstrates that *Istiodactylus* is diagnosed by, among
  other characters, a dorsoventrally depressed but not laterally expanded
  rostrum, and the presence of a suborbital vacuity. A dorsal deflection of the
  alveolar margins of the jaws and a humerus between 55 percent and one and a
  half times the length of metacarpal IV are synapomorphies uniting the
  Istiodactylidae and the Anhangueridae."

--

  Gower, D. J. & S. J. Nesbitt. 2006. The braincase of *Arizonasaurus babbitti*
   -- Further evidence for the non-monophyly of 'rauisuchian' archosaurs.
   _Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology_ 26(1):79-87.

Abstract:
 "The braincase of the rauisuchian pseudosuchian archosaur *Arizonasaurus
  babbitti*, from the Middle Triassic of the western United States, is
described
  from two specimens. There are no obvious braincase autapomorphies and most of
  the other braincase features of *A. babbitti* are plesiomorphic for
  pseudosuchians/crurotarsans. The results of phylogenetic analyses of
  archosaurian braincase characters indicate that *A. babbitti* is not
  especially closely related to other rauisuchians for which braincase anatomy
  is known (*Batrachotomus kupferzellensis*, *Saurosuchus galilei*,
*Postosuchus
  kirkpatricki*, *Tikisuchus romeri*). Given that *A. babbitti* is a member of
a
  clade that includes *Poposaurus* and chatterjeeids to the exclusion of most
  other rauisuchians, braincase data suggest that Rauisuchia are not
  monophyletic. This is in accordance with a recent appraisal of non-braincase
  data but, in contrast, our analyses suggest that *Poposaurus* and its closest
  allies are more distantly related to Crocodylomorpha than are other
  rauisuchians."

--

  Harris, J. D. 2006. Cranial osteology of *Suuwassea emilieae* (Sauropoda:
   Diplodocoidea: Flagellicaudata) from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation
of
   Montana, USA. _Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology_ 26(1):88-102.

Abstract:
 "Cranial elements of *Suuwassea emilieae* (Sauropoda: Diplodocoidea) from the
  Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Montana, U.S.A., represent one of only a
  few flagellicaudatan skulls known. Preserved elements include a left
  premaxilla, a fragment of right maxilla, a right squamosal, a right quadrate,
  a basicranium and skull roof lacking only the rostral end of the frontals,
  basipterygoid processes, and parasphenoid rostrum. Autapomorphic features of
  the skull include: premaxillary teeth projecting parallel to long axis of
  premaxilla; single optic nerve foramen; postparietal foramen present and
  larger than parietal foramen; supraoccipital with elongate ventral process
  contributing little to dorsal margin of foramen magnum; basioccipital not
  contributing to floor of median condylar incisure; and antotic processes with
  no dorsal contact with frontals. The basicranium more closely resembles that
  of *Apatosaurus* rather than *Diplodocus* and is also unlike the skull of
  *Dicraeosaurus*, despite its possession of a similar postparietal foramen, a
  feature unique among Morrison Formation sauropods. Pending reanalysis of
  *Tornieria africana*, which also possesses it, the postparietal foramen must
  be viewed as a symplesiomorphic retention in the Dicraeosauridae, with its 
  loss a synapomorphy of the Diplodocidae, or at least of the North American
  members of the latter clade."

--

  Goodwin, M. B., W. A. Clemens, J. R. Horner, & K. Padian. 2006. _Journal of
   Vertebrate Paleontology_ 26(1):109-112. The smallest known *Triceratops*
   skull: New observations on ceratopsid cranial anatomy and ontogeny. _Journal
   of Vertebrate Paleontology_ 26(1):103-112.

Abstract:
 "The discovery of the smallest *Triceratops* skull (UCMP 154452) provides a
new
  ontogenetic end member for the earliest stage of ceratopsid (Centrosaurinae
  plus Chasmosaurinae) cranial development. The lack of co-ossification among
  the parietal, squamosals, postorbitals, quadratojugal arch, and the braincase
  preserves sutural contacts and bone surfaces that later become obscured in
  adults. The ability to document the early development and morphology of the
  horns and frill in Triceratops allows a reevaluation of their functional
  roles. UCMP 154452 shows that the cranial ornamentation of the frill and the
  postorbital horns were not restricted to adults, but began at an early age in
  this species. This evidence supports the hypothesis that the function of
  ceratopsid horns and frills was potentially important for visual
communication
  and species recognition because in this young form it could not have
  functioned in sexual display. Although some features of UCMP 154452
anticipate
  or mimic the adult character states, some braincase characters recapitulate
  the juvenile and adult stages of more basal neoceratopsians."

--

Also, notes (super short papers without abstracts) include:

  Henderson, M. D. & J. E. Peterson. 2006. An azhdarchid pterosaur cervical
   vertebra from the Hell Creek Formation (Maastrichtian) of southeastern
   Montana. _Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology_ 26(1):192-195.

--

  Another Eocene "pangolin" is also described in the issue (*Cryptomanis*), and
attributed to the Patriomanidae which, I might be wrong, has been questioned as
regards to its relationship with manoid pangolins, but may instead be more of a
palaeanodontan. I am curious if the paper includes a reference to
fereungulates, which pangolins were allied with in some molecular studies, and
which does have morphological support (e.g., incl. fissured unguals).

  Cheers,

Jaime A. Headden
http://bitestuff.blogspot.com/

"Innocent, unbiased observation is a myth." --- P.B. Medawar (1969)

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