Messel: the Non-Dinosaurs Rear Their Heads [New Refs]

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

  Knowing that the Messel fauna represents a
non-Mesozoic, non-dinosaur [sensu stricto] subject, I
thought I'd mention this for the shear paleontological
beauty of the animals.

  The newest Nation Geographic arrived today, and
includes an article [I'll not call it a "paper,"
written by one of the editorial staff, H.J. Hoffmann]
on the Messel fauna. The paper does include some avian
fauna, including the piciform *Messelirrisor*
(big-headed bird with preserved banding on the
primaries!), but some of the more impressive fossils
are mammalian, such as the equimorph
*Propaleotherium*, the primatomorph *Europolemur*, the
rodent *Ailuravus*, the insectivore *Leptictidium*,
the salientian frog *Eopelobates*, two testudines
(*Allaeochelys*), the bowfin *Cyclurus*, the
crocodilian *Diplocynodon* [C. Brochu, is this an
alligator-form or crocodile-form?], the chiropterans
*Palaeochiropteryx* and *Hassianycteris*, multiple
plants including a tiliaceaean, an unknown flower, and
a leguminosaean, and lastly a lucanid beetle with
preserved color imprints. The citation is:

  Hoffmann, H.J. 2000. Messel: Window on an Ancient
World. _National Geographic Magazine_ 197 (2): 34-51.

  Gerhard Storch is quoted within, the noted expert on
the Messel fauna, who had his own paper (I *would*
call this a paper) in _Sci. Amer._ in '92:

  Storch, G. 1992. The Mammals of Island Europe.
_Scientific American_ Feb. 1992: 64-69.

  A lot less photos, but more text relatively, and
more background is covered than in Hoffmann's piece.
*Eurotamandua* is prominently featured, whereas it was
the chiropterans in Hoffmann's piece. Conspicuous by
their absence are most of the Messal avifauna, the
condors, eagles, hawks, caprimulgiforms, owls, etc.
that Feduccia (1996, 1999) mentions somewhat, and Mayr
(1999a,b) makes a study on.


=====
Jaime "James" A. Headden

"Come the path that leads us to our fortune."

Qilong---is temporarily out of service.
Check back soon.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger.
http://im.yahoo.com