Re: New Papers of Solace

[Augusto Haro <augustoharo@gmail.com>]

Thank you very much Jerry for taking the bother of doing this.
These actualizations truly help too much (at least to me).

Augusto Haro.

2008/11/19 Jerry D. Harris <jharris@dixie.edu>:
> Not that I'm a Bond fan or anything...  Anyway, thanks to RI, JK, and SP for
> many of these, and my apologies if any are duplicates from other posts...
>
>
>
> Padian, K. 2008. The Early Jurassic pterosaur Dorygnathus banthensis
> (Theodori, 1830). Special Papers in Palaeontology 80:1-64.
>
>
> Padian, K. 2008. The Early Jurassic pterosaur Campylognathoides Strand,
> 1928. Special Papers in Palaeontology 80:65-107.
>
>
>
> Therrien, F., Zelenitsky, D.K., and Weishampel, D.B. 2008.
> Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the Late Cretaceous Sânpetru Formation
> (Haţeg Basin, Romania) using paleosols and implications for the
> "disappearance" of dinosaurs. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology,
> Palaeoecology. doi: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.10.023.
>
> ABSTRACT: Paleosols of the Late Cretaceous Sânpetru Formation (Haţeg Basin,
> Romania) are the subject of macroscopic, microscopic, and geochemical
> investigation in order to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental and
> palaeoclimatic conditions in which dinosaurs lived. Study of overbank
> deposits present in an 860-m-thick stratigraphic interval of the Sânpetru
> Formation exposed along the Sibişel Valley reveals the presence of one
> facies and five different pedotypes: 1) finely laminated gray-green
> mudstones and siltstones interpreted as pond deposits; 2) bioturbated
> graygreen mudstones lacking macroscopic pedogenic features, interpreted as
> very poorly-developed hydromorphic paleosols; 3) bioturbated gray-green
> mudstones containing carbonate concretions, interpreted as poorly-developed
> hydromorphic paleosols; 4) mottled gray-green mudstones containing carbonate
> concretions and limited illuvial clay accumulation, interpreted as
> moderately-developed paleosols characterized by a high but fluctuating
> watertable; 5) bioturbated brown-red mudstones lacking macroscopic pedogenic
> features other than the
> occasional mottles, interpreted as poorly-developed paleosols that formed on
> the higher and better-drained floodplains, and; 6) bioturbated brown-red
> mudstones containing carbonate nodules, interpreted as moderately-developed
> calcareous paleosols that formed on distal floodplain settings. Although
> limited exposure prevents the documentation of lateral relationships of
> pedotypes, the presence of paleosol profiles that display characteristics of
> two different pedotypes suggests that they represent a lateral continuum on
> the landscape related to local differences in hydrology and relief (i.e.,
> catena). The pedotype assemblage reveals that the Sânpetru landscape was a
> mosaic of wetlands, seasonal wetlands, and better-drained floodplain
> habitats, similar to the present-day Indogangetic Plains. Pedogenic features
> and  aleosol geochemistry indicate that the Maastrichtian climate of Romania
> was subhumid (< 1000 mm rain/year) and characterized by strongly seasonal
> precipitation.
>     The distribution of pedotypes through the Sânpetru Formation reveals
> small- and large-scale palaeoenvironmental changes associated with the
> shifting of a complex mosaic of wet and dry habitats in response to shifts
> in river position on the alluvial plain. However, a major
> palaeoenvironmental change occurs in the upper Sânpetru Formation, where the
> region was transformed into extensive wetlands. Such dramatic changes
> coincide with river competence increase, change in palaeocurrent directions,
> and dearth of macrovertebrate remains, which had been previously
> misinterpreted as evidence for the disappearance of dinosaurs at the
> Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. These palaeoenvironmental changes, induced by
> tectonism, are responsible for the shift from preservation of macrofossils
> concentrated by hydraulic processes into conspicuous lenticular bonebeds in
> the lower Sânpetru Formation to preservation of microfossil, and more rarely
> macrofossil, remains in hydromorphic calcareous paleosols in the upper
> Sânpetru Formation. The consequences of palaeoenvironmental changes on
> vertebrate preservation mode must be considered in the search for fossils
> and interpretation of the fossil record.
>
>
>
>
> Kjemperud, A.V., Schomacker, E.R., and Cross, T.A. 2008. Architecture and
> stratigraphy of alluvial deposits, Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic),
> Utah. AAPG Bulletin 92(8):1055-1076. doi: 10.1306/03250807115.
>
> ABSTRACT: This article presents a unique cross section of a 13.5-km
> (8.3-mi)-long by 150-m (492-ft)-thick stratigraphic interval containing
> braided stream and associated flood-plain deposits. The cross section is
> oriented approximately parallel to depositional strike. This cross section
> is a resource for geoscientists and engineers interested in the measurements
> of stratigraphic architectural elements, such as dimensions and continuity
> of facies tracts and facies associations, stratigraphic and geographic
> changes in sandstone/mudstone proportions (net to gross), and frequency and
> cause of vertical fluid communication between superposed reservoirs.
>     In addition to presenting this rich data resource, observed and
> documented stratigraphic relationships add to our conceptual understanding
> of certain attributes of the stratigraphic process-response system. For
> example, we show that, like meandering rivers, aggradational braided river
> systems also build levees and alluvial ridges, providing the supra-elevation
> above the adjacent floodplain to create extensive crevasse splay and channel
> complexes. We show that superposed channel sandstone reservoirs may be
> brought into physical contact not only by the erosion of an upper sand into
> a lower sand but also by the vertical aggradation of the lower sandstone,
> producing a pyramid on which a younger sandstone is deposited.
>     Four stratigraphic cycles of increasing and decreasing
> accommodation/sediment supply (A/S) regimes are identified. These cycles are
> recognized from systematic vertical changes in stratigraphic and
> sedimentologic attributes. At the largest scale, there is a progressive
> downhill shift in facies tracts recording a basinward stepping of the four
> stratigraphic cycles. At the intermediate scale, there is a systematic
> change in channel types, from laterally amalgamated braided channels, to
> vertically building braided channels, to steer-head distributary channels
> encased within lacustrine-dominated fines. At the smallest scale, systematic
> and repeated vertical successions of facies occur within the three types of
> channel belts. These systematic changes are related to progressive changes
> in the A/S regime that occur during superimposed stratigraphic base-level
> cycles of three different scales.
>
>
>
>
> Butler, R.J., and Barrett, P.M. 2008. Palaeoenvironmental controls on the
> distribution of Cretaceous herbivorous dinosaurs. Naturwissenschaften
> 95(11):1027-1032. doi: 10.1007/s00114-008-0417-5.
>
> ABSTRACT: Previous attempts to determine palaeoenvironmental preferences in
> dinosaurs have generally been qualitative assessments based upon data from
> restricted geographical areas. Here, we use a global database of Cretaceous
> herbivorous dinosaurs to identify significant associations between clades
> and broad palaeoenvironmental categories ('terrestrial', 'coastal',
> 'marine'). Nodosaurid ankylosaurs and hadrosaurids show significant positive
> associations with marine sediments, while marginocephalians (Ceratopsia,
> Pachycephalosauria), saurischians (herbivorous theropods, Sauropoda) and
> ankylosaurid ankylosaurs are significantly positively associated with
> terrestrial sediments. These results provide quantitative support for the
> hypothesis that some clades (Nodosauridae, Hadrosauridae) were more abundant
> in coastal and/or fluvial environments, while others (e.g. Marginocephalia,
> Ankylosauridae) preferentially inhabited more distal environments.
>
>
>
>
> Rauhut, O.W.M., and López-Arbarello, A. 2008. Considerations on the age of
> the Tiouaren Formation (Iullemmeden Basin, Niger, Africa): implications for
> Gondwanan Mesozoic terrestrial vertebrate faunas. Palaeogeography,
> Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. doi: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.10.019.
>
> ABSTRACT: Pre-Aptian mid-Mesozoic terrestrial vertebrates from the African
> continent are still very poorly known. In Niger, the Tiouaren Formation in
> the Iullemmeden Basin has yielded dinosaur and other vertebrate remains, and
> this unit has been dated as Early Cretaceous, most probably pre-Aptian, on
> the basis of its fish fauna and gelogical relations to other units in the
> basin. A review of the fish fauna and invertebrates from this formation does
> not provide any evidence for such an age, and the geological relations only
> help to constrain the upper limit for the age of the formation (Aptian). In
> contrast, the described dinosaur taxa are phylogenetically nested with late
> Middle Jurassic to Early Late Jurassic taxa from other localities, and thus
> indicate a pre-Kimmeridgian, probably late Middle Jurassic age for the
> Tiouaren Formation. Under the assumption of such an age, the dinosaur fauna
> of this formation provides new insights into dinosaur faunal provincialism
> during the latest Middle Jurassic. Northern Gondwanan faunas of that time
> seem to have been different from southern Gondwanan faunas, and show closer
> affinities to Eurasian faunas than to the latter. A possible explanation for
> this might be a climatically controlled geographic barrier due to pronounced
> arid conditions and thus desert environments in central Gondwana during this
> time.
>
>
>
>
> Dalla Vecchia, F.M. 2008. The impact of dinosaur palaeoichnology in
> palaeoenvironmental and palaeogeographic reconstructions: the case of the
> Periadriatic carbonate platforms. Oryctos 8:89-106.
>
> ABSTRACT: Knowledge of dinosaur footprints has greatly changed how
> scientists reconstruct the palaeoenvironment and palaeogeography of the
> Mesozoic carbonate platforms of the Periadriatic area (Italy, Slovenia and
> Croatia). Geologists considered those carbonate platforms as shallow marine,
> intraoceanic banks (i.e., surrounded by the Tethys Ocean) during Cretaceous
> times. The discovery in the last 20 years of dinosaur fossils, mainly
> footprints, in many places and at different stratigraphic levels has
> demonstrated that the "shallow seas" were repeatedly or continuously
> populated by large terrestrial animals. Thus, the reconstructions of those
> carbonate platforms as a sort of Mesozoic "Bahamas Banks" was incorrect. The
> new record allows also testing for congruence with palaeoenvironmental and
> palaeogeographic reconstructions. Areas where dinosaur fossils have been
> found are always considered as "shallow marine" in those reconstructions,
> very far away from continental areas during the Late Triassic and earliest
> Jurassic and surrounded by deep marine basins during Late Jurassic and
> Cretaceous times. The results of this research are a first step toward the
> understanding of those dinosaurs living "at the border", but are obviously
> preliminary and subject to confirmation or confutation with increased fossil
> sampling. The ichnological sample and the palaeogeographic reconstructions
> can also stimulate some reflections about the biology of the extinct
> dinosaurian clades and give some suggestions for the development of future
> research.
>
>
>
>
> Lopatin, A.V., and Agadjanian, A.K. 2008. A tritylodont (Tritylodontidae,
> Synapsida) from the Mesozoic of Yakutia. Doklady Biological Sciences
> 419(1):107-110. doi: 10.1134/S0012496608020117.
>
> ABSTRACT: Tritylodonts are an advanced cynodont group similar in morphology
> to early mammals, but specialized too profoundly to phytophagy to bear
> direct relation to the origin of Mammalia. The temporary evolutionary
> success of this group is supported by the fact that they were the latest
> cynodont group in the paleontological record, which survived the Jurassic
> Period. The latest genus of Tritylodontidae is Xenocretosuchus from the
> Lower Cretaceous of the Kemerovo oblast and Krasnoyarsk krai. The present
> study describes a new species of Xenocretosuchus from the Late Mesozoic
> Teete locality in the Vilyui River basin (Yakutia), one of the northernmost
> dinosaur localities of the world. The material examined is housed at the
> Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow (PIN).
> Dental remains of the type species X. sibiricus from the Shestakovo 1
> locality (Kemerovo oblast, Lower Cretaceous) are used for comparison,
> including the holotype and paratypes from the collection of the PIN and new
> undescribed material housed at the Paleontological Museum of Tomsk State
> University (PM TGU).
>
>
>
>
>
> Lopatin, A.V., and Averianov, A.O. 2007. The earliest Asiatic
> pretribosphenic mammal (Cladotheria, Amphitheriidae) from the Middle
> Jurassic of Siberia. Doklady Biological Sciences 417(1):432-434. doi:
> 10.1134/S0012496607060063.
>
> ABSTRACT: A unique recent event in paleomammalogy was the discovery in 2000
> of a Middle Jurassic mammal assemblage in the upper part of the Itat
> Formation of the Berezovsk quarry, southern Krasnoyarsk krai. This fauna
> provides an insight into an early stage of the development of the class
> Mammalia in Russia and contains at least two docodont taxa (Itatodon
> tatarinovi Lopatin et Averianov, 2005 and Docodonta indet.), the first
> Asiatic dryolestid (Dryolestoidea indet.) and several other presently
> undetermined taxa (Mammalia indet.). This study describes a new member of
> the mammal fauna from the Itat Formation that is the earliest known Asiatic
> pretribosphenic mammal and the second Jurassic mammal species from Russia.
>
>
>
> Schwarz-Wings, D., and Frey, E. 2008. Is there an option for a pneumatic
> stabilization of sauropod necks? -- An experimental and anatomical approach.
> Palaeontologia Electonica 11(3):17A 1-26.
>
> ABSTRACT: The reconstructed distribution of the major pneumatic diverticula
> systems in the sauropod neck might hint towards pneumatic stabilization or
> operation of the long neck, which was investigated considering anatomical
> and mechanical aspects of soft-tissue reconstructions in the neck of
> sauropods as well as experimental data. The mechanical role of pneumatic
> bodies in a generalized segmented beam of StyrodurT blocks, which was
> stabilized by air-filled tube-like balloons, was tested with an experiment.
> A support effect was evident already with one ventral pneumatic system.
> Adding further pneumatic systems increased the load capacity of the beam.
> Furthermore, the presence or absence of proximal intersegmental blocks,
> pressure changes within the balloons, proximal fixation of the balloons or
> their fixation at each segment respectively, and the degree of segmentation
> of the pneumatic systems changed the efficiency of support.
>     In the necks of sauropods, pneumatic support would hinge on the
> specific reconstruction of the pneumatic diverticula, sufficiently high
> pressures and a possibility for regulating pressure of the pneumatic system.
> Only if pneumatic diverticula would extend beyond their bony boundaries at
> the vertebral surface, and if one or more pressure regulating mechanisms
> were present, would a support effect be an option. Because none of these
> factors can be reliably reconstructed on an osteological basis, the
> hypothesis of pneumatic neck support in sauropods remains hypothetical.
> However, the combination of pneumatic support with other bracing mechanisms
> in the sauropod neck results in a consistent constructional morphological
> model for a pneu aided neck support in sauropods.
>
>
>
>
> Parker, W.G., and Barton, B.J. 2008. New information on the Upper Triassic
> archosauriform Vancleavea campi based on new material from the Chinle
> Formation of Arizona. Palaeontologia Electonica 11(3):14A 1-20.
>
> ABSTRACT: Two new partial skeletons from the Petrified Forest Member (Chinle
> Formation) of Petrified Forest National Park are referable to Vancleavea
> campi Long and Murry 1995. Although lacking good skull material, the new
> specimens possess postcranial elements that are either absent or poorly
> preserved in the holotype specimen. A phylogenetic analysis tentatively
> suggests that Vancleavea campi represents a basal archosauriform more
> derived than Erythrosuchus , Proterosuchus , and possibly Euparkeria.
> Comparisons with undescribed material from the Chinle Formation near St.
> Johns, Arizona, and Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, are needed to confirm this
> placement and also to determine the taxonomic validity of the genus
> Vancleavea.
>
>
>
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 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/
>
> "I have made this letter longer
> than usual because I lack the
> time to make it shorter."
>                      -- Blaise Pascal
>
>
>
>