In: Nature, 2020, vol. 588, no. 2020-7838, p. 445–449
Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to evolve powered flight1 and comprised one of the main evolutionary radiations in terrestrial ecosystems of the Mesozoic era (approximately 252–66 million years ago), but their origin has remained an unresolved enigma in palaeontology since the nineteenth century2,3,4. These flying reptiles have been hypothesized to be the close relatives of a wide...
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In: Archaeometry, 2020, p. arcm.12638
The ceramic colours of eight late medieval to early Renaissance stove tiles were studied by scanning electron microscopy‐backscattered electron (SEM‐BSE) images and SEM with energy‐dispersive spectroscopy (SEM‐EDS). Microstructural observations and chemical compositions of these colours give some insight into the colouring agents and techniques used by the potters. All decorations...
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In: Fossil Imprint, 2020, vol. 76, no. 1, p. 174-180
The maxillary presented in this work has been excavated in the middle Miocene karst filling Petersbuch 136 (Germany, Bavaria) and shows the oldest evidence of dental anomaly in a sciurid. The aberrant morphology, probably hyperdontia or no replacement of roots of deciduous teeth, affects the area of the P3, a tooth that is generally not well documented in the Spermophilinus record.
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In: Scientific Reports, 2020, vol. 10, no. 1, p. 9259
Spinosauridae, a theropod group characterized by elongated snouts, conical teeth, enlarged forelimbs, and often elongated neural spines, show evidence for semiaquatic adaptations and piscivory. It is currently debated if these animals represent terrestrial carnivores with adaptations for a piscivorous diet, or if they largely lived and foraged in aquatic habitats. The holotype of Irritator...
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In: Communications Biology, 2020, vol. 3, no. 1, p. 195
In contrast to the vast majority of reptiles, the skulls of adult crown birds are characterized by a high degree of integration due to bone fusion, e.g., an ontogenetic event generating a net reduction in the number of bones. To understand this process in an evolutionary context, we investigate postnatal ontogenetic changes in the skulls of crown bird and non-avian theropods using anatomical...
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In: PeerJ, 2020, vol. 8, p. e8493
Allosaurus, from the Late Jurassic of North America and Europe, is a model taxon for Jurassic basal tetanuran theropod dinosaurs. It has achieved an almost iconic status due to its early discovery in the late, 19th century, and due to the abundance of material from the Morrison Formation of the western U.S.A., making Allosaurus one of the best-known theropod taxa. Despite this, various...
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In: PeerJ, 2020, vol. 8, p. e8437
Marine limestones and marls in the Langenberg Quarry provide unique insights into a Late Jurassic island ecosystem in central Europe. The beds yield a varied assemblage of terrestrial vertebrates including extremely rare bones of theropod from theropod dinosaurs, which we describe here for the first time. All of the theropod bones belong to relatively small individuals but represent a wide...
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In: eLife, 2019, vol. 8, p. e43789
The Late Jurassic ‘Solnhofen Limestones’ are famous for their exceptionally preserved fossils, including the urvogel Archaeopteryx, which has played a pivotal role in the discussion of bird origins. Here we describe a new, non-archaeopterygid avialan from the Lower Tithonian Mörnsheim Formation of the Solnhofen Archipelago, Alcmonavis poeschli gen. et sp. nov. Represented by a right...
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In: Geobios, 2016, vol. 49, no. 6, p. 433–444
Fossil amphibians and reptiles from the earliest late Miocene (early Tortonian, MN 9) of Plakias (Crete, Greece) are described in this paper. Most of the material is fragmentary, precluding precise taxonomic assignment. Nevertheless, the herpetofauna of Plakias is here shown to be diverse, comprising at least six different taxa: an alytid anuran, a crocodilian, two turtles (a pan-trionychid...
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In: PeerJ, 2018, vol. 6, p. e5511
Background Amphibians, due to their ecophysiological peculiarities, have a physiology dependent on environmental conditions and sensitively respond to their changes. Here, the oldest record of the genus Thaumastosaurus is described, whose fossil record known exclusively from Western Europe is discussed in the scope of the climatic changes of 33.5–40.5 Ma. Results In the present paper, the...
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