Université de Fribourg

Assessing the impact of diagenesis on foraminiferal geochemistry from a low latitude, shallow-water drift deposit

Stainbank, Stephanie ; Spezzaferri, Silvia ; Boever, Eva De ; Bouvier, Anne-Sophie ; Chilcott, Colin ; Leau, Erica S.de ; Foubert, Anneleen ; Kunkelova, Tereza ; Pichevin, Laetitia ; Raddatz, Jacek ; Rüggeberg, Andres ; D.Wright, James ; M.Yu, Siyao ; Zhang, Manlin ; Kroon, Dick

In: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2020, vol. 545, p. 116390

Due to their large heat and moisture storage capabilities, the tropics are fundamental in modulating both regional and global climate. Furthermore, their thermal response during past extreme warming periods, such as super interglacials, is not fully resolved. In this regard, we present high-resolution (analytical) foraminiferal geochemical (δ18O and Mg/Ca) records for the last 1800 kyr from...

Université de Fribourg

Fossil amphibians and reptiles from the Neogene locality of Maramena (Greece), the most diverse European herpetofauna at the Miocene/Pliocene transition boundary

Georgalis, Georgios L. ; Villa, Andrea ; Ivanov, Martin ; Vasilyan, Davit ; Delfino, Massimo

In: Palaeontologia Electronica, 2019, p. -

We herein describe the fossil amphibians and reptiles from the Neogene (latest Miocene or earliest Pliocene; MN 13/14) locality of Maramena, in northern Greece. The herpetofauna is shown to be extremely diverse, comprising at least 30 different taxa. Amphibians include at least six urodelan (Cryptobranchidae indet., Salamandrina sp., Lissotriton sp. [Lissotriton vulgaris group], Lissotriton sp.,...

Université de Fribourg

Possible species-flock scenario for the evolution of the cyprinid genus Capoeta (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) within late Neogene lake systems of the Armenian Highland

Ayvazyan, Anna ; Vasilyan, Davit ; Böhme, Madelaine

In: PLOS ONE, 2019, vol. 14, no. 5, p. e0215543

We studied 4 Ma old isolated pharyngeal teeth from lake sediments of Çevirme (Tekman Palaeolake, Erzurum Province). Based on shape characters defined for 3D models of modern species, we found that the Pliocene lake constitutes sympatric occurrence of four Capoeta species (C. cf. umbla, C. cf. baliki, C. cf. sieboldi and C. sp. sevangi/capoeta), whose modern relatives belong to a monophyletic...

Université de Fribourg

The last amphisbaenian (Squamata) from continental Eastern Europe

Georgalis, Georgios L. ; Villa, Andrea ; Delfino, Massimo

In: Annales de Paléontologie, 2018, vol. 104, no. 2, p. 155–159

The fossil record of amphisbaenians in Europe has recently been augmented through the description of new finds across the continent. It has been suggested that the post- Miocene range of amphisbaenians followed a progressive southward constriction that ultimately lead to their extant disjunct distribution. We herein describe amphisbaenian vertebral material from the Pliocene of northern...

Université de Fribourg

The comparative osteology of Plesiochelys bigleri n. sp., a new coastal marine turtle from the Late Jurassic of Porrentruy (Switzerland)

Püntener​, Christian ; Anquetin, Jérémy ; Billon-Bruyat, Jean-Paul

In: PeerJ, 2017, vol. 5, p. e3482

During the Late Jurassic, several groups of eucryptodiran turtles inhabited the shallow epicontinental seas of Western Europe. Plesiochelyidae are an important part of this first radiation of crown-group turtles into coastal marine ecosystems. Fossils of Plesiochelyidae occur in many European localities, and are especially abundant in the Kimmeridgian layers of the Swiss Jura Mountains (Solothurn...

Université de Fribourg

Neogene amphibians and reptiles (Caudata, Anura, Gekkota, Lacertilia, and Testudines) from the south of Western Siberia, Russia, and Northeastern Kazakhstan

Vasilyan​, Davit ; Zazhigin, Vladimir S. ; Böhme, Madelaine

In: PeerJ, 2017, vol. 5, p. e3025

The present-day amphibian and reptile fauna of Western Siberia are the least diverse of the Palaearctic Realm, as a consequence of the unfavourable climatic conditions that predominate in this region. The origin and emergence of these herpetofaunal groups are poorly understood. Aside from the better-explored European Neogene localities yielding amphibian and reptile fossil remains, the...

Université de Fribourg

A review of the fossil record of old world turtles of the clade pan-trionychidae

Georgalis, Georgios L. ; Joyce, Walter G.

In: Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, 2017, vol. 58, no. 1, p. 115–208

Turtles of the clade Pan-Trionychidae have a rich fossil record in the Old World, ranging from the Early Cretaceous (Hauterivian) to the Holocene. The clade most probably originated in Asia during the Early Cretaceous but spread from there to the Americas and Europe by the Late Cretaceous, to India and Australia by the Eocene, and to Afro-Arabia by the Neogene. The presence of a single...

Université de Fribourg

A review of the fossil record of turtles of the clade Pan-Chelydridae

Joyce, Walter G.

In: Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, 2016, vol. 57, no. 1, p. 21–56

Turtles of the total clade Pan-Chelydridae have a relatively sparse fossil record that reaches back to the Late Cretaceous (Santonian). The clade was only present in North America during the Cretaceous but spread along unclear routes to Asia and Europe during the Paleocene, only to go extinct on those continents by the end of the Pliocene. Final dispersal to South America took place at some time...

Université de Fribourg

The Fossil Calibration Database, A New Resource for Divergence Dating

Ksepka, Daniel T. ; Parham, James F. ; Allman, James F. ; Benton, Michael J. ; Carrano, Matthew T. ; Cranston, Karen A. ; Donoghue, Philip C. J. ; Head, Jason J. ; Hermsen, Elizabeth J. ; Irmis, Randall B. ; Joyce, Walter G. ; Kohli, Manpreet ; Lamm, Kristin D. ; Leehr, Dan ; Patané, Josés L. ; Polly, P. David ; Phillips, Matthew J. ; Smith, N. Adam ; Smith, Nathan D. ; Tuinen, Marcel van ; Ware, Jessica L. ; Warnock, Rachel C. M.

In: Systematic Biology, 2015, vol. 64, no. 5, p. 853-859

Fossils provide the principal basis for temporal calibrations, which are critical to the accuracy of divergence dating analyses. Translating fossil data into minimum and maximum bounds for calibrations is the most important, and often least appreciated, step of divergence dating. Properly justified calibrations require the synthesis of phylogenetic, paleontological, and geological evidence...