Some New (and One Old) Refs

["Jerry D. Harris" <jharris@dixie.edu>]

Hi All -

   New things down the pike:

Milàn, J., and R. G. Bromley. 2005. Dinosaur footprints from the Middle 
Jurassic Bagå Formation, Bornholm, Denmark. Bulletin of the Geological 
Society of Denmark 52(1):7-15.

ABSTRACT: Dinosaur footprints have been found preserved on sandstone blocks 
discarded from the flooded clay pit Pyritsøen, south of Hasle, Bornholm. The 
sandstone belongs to the Middle Jurassic Bagå Formation, but the exact 
horizon is not known. Palynological studies confirm that the sandstone 
blocks originate from the Bagå Formation. Two specimens were collected, one 
showing two footprints from a sauropod dinosaur having a foot length of 68 
cm, and a small pentadactyl footprint, 26 cm long, interpreted as deriving 
from an armoured dinosaur. These are the first dinosaur footprints recorded 
from Denmark.

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Leonard, L., G. J. Dyke, and M. van Tuinen. 2005. A new specimen of the 
fossil palaeognath _Lithornis_ from the Lower Eocene of Denmark. American 
Museum Novitates 3491:1-11. doi: 
10.1206/0003-0082(2005)491[0001:ANSOTF]2.0.CO;2.

ABSTRACT: Palaeognathous birds (Aves, Palaeognathae) are uncontroversially 
the most basal clade among modern birds (Neornithes), having been defined 
for more than 100 years on the basis of their palatal morphology. However, 
because many fossil specimens that have been described to date lack detailed 
skull material (especially in association with postcrania), aspects of the 
early evolutionary history of these birds remain unclear, and their 
relationships on the basis of anatomical characters are as yet unresolved. 
In this paper we present a new and exceptionally well-preserved specimen of 
the Lower Eocene fossil palaeognath _Lithornis_ that has a remarkable 
three-dimensionally preserved and complete skull. New anatomical information 
provided by this Danish fossil leads us to suggest that a number of cranial 
characters previously considered diagnostic for ratites may in fact be 
primitive among palaeognaths. The presence of members of Lithornithidae in 
the Lower Eocene (earliest Tertiary) is consistent with the hypothesis that 
basal divergences within Palaeognathae occurred at an earlier geological 
time, perhaps prior to the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary, as has been 
proposed based on evidence from much less well-preserved fossil material.

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Pol, D., and S. Apesteguía. 2005. New _Araripesuchus_ remains from the early 
Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Turonian) of Patagonia. American Museum 
Novitates 3490:1-38. doi: 10.1206/0003-0082(2005)490[0001:NARFTE]2.0.CO;2.

ABSTRACT: Two new crocodyliform specimens found in a recently discovered 
locality from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia (Argentina) are described 
herein. One of them comprises an almost complete skull found in articulation 
with the lower jaws, while the other consists of the anterior region of the 
lower jaws and fragmentary remains of the palate. These two specimens differ 
in the morphology of their lower jaws (e.g., height of mandibular symphysis, 
pattern of ornamentation on ventral surface of mandibular ramus, concavity 
of medial surface of splenials, shape of splenial-dentary suture on ventral 
surface of mandibular symphysis) and probably belong to different taxa.
   The more complete specimen is considered to be a new taxon, 
_Araripesuchus buitreraensis_, diagnosed by the combination of the following 
characters (autapomorphic characters are indicated with an asterisk): long 
and acute anterior process of frontals extending anteriorly between the 
nasals; frontals extending into supratemporal fenestra; narrow parietal 
dorsal surface between supratemporal fossa; anterior palpebral remarkably 
broad; large siphoneal foramen in otic recess; T-shaped choanal septum that 
completely divides the internal nares, having its anterior end as broad as 
the midregion of the septum*; pterygoid flanges pneumatic and poorly 
expanded at its lateral end*; transversely elongated depression on ventral 
surface of pterygoid flanges close to the posterior margin of suborbital 
fenestra*; longitudinal groove on flat lateral surface of dentaries below 
tooth row.
   The second, more fragmentary specimen might represent a different new 
taxon, although more material is needed in order to make a justified 
taxonomic decision. The phylogenetic relationships of both specimens are 
analyzed through a comprehensive cladistic analysis including 50 
crocodylomorph taxa. All the most parsimonious hypotheses depict both 
specimens as closely related to the previously known South American species 
of _Araripesuchus_ (_A. gomesii_ and _A. patagonicus_). This group is 
depicted as the most basal clade of notosuchians, the most diverse group of 
Cretaceous mesoeucrocodylians from Gondwana.

*******

Lucas, S. G., and R. M. Sullivan. 2005. Edward Drinker Cope: Pennsylvania's 
greatest naturalist. Pennsylvania Heritage 31(4):6-15.


*******

Sullivan, R. M., S. G. Lucas, and D. R. Braman. 2005. Dinosaurs, pollen, and 
the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in the San Juan Basin, New Mexico; pp. 
395-407 in B. S. Brister, P. W. Bauer, and A. S. Read (eds.), Geology of the 
Chama Basin. New Mexico Geological Society Guidebook 56. New Mexico 
Geological Society, Socorro.

Heckert, A. B., S. G. Lucas, R. M. Sullivan, A. P. Hunt, and J. A. 
Spielmann. 2005. The vertebrate fauna of the Upper Triassic (Revueltian: 
earl-mid Norian) Painted Desert Member (Petrified Forest Formation: Chinle 
Group) in the Chama Basin, northern New Mexico; pp. 302-318 in B. S. 
Brister, P. W. Bauer, and A. S. Read (eds.), Geology of the Chama Basin. New 
Mexico Geological Society Guidebook 56. New Mexico Geological Society, 
Socorro.


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And an interesting older reference I recently came across:

Xu, G.-L., Y.-S. Yang, and S.-Y. Deng. 1999. First discovery of Mesozoic 
bird fossils in Hebei Province and its significance. Regional Geology of 
China 18(4):444-448.

This one is interesting for several reasons. First, bird fossils in Hebei 
were known before this (_Jibeinia luanhera_ Hou, 1997). Second, the paper 
mentions a bird as _Hebeiornis fengningensis_ Yan, 1999, that I have never 
seen referenced anywhere else.  Given the species name, it could be 
congeneric with _Protopteryx fengningensis_, but there's no way to know that 
from the paper, which does not provide a picture of the specimen, although 
it does provide a picture of _a_ specimen captioned simply "Bird fossils in 
the bottom of the Jurassic Yixian Formation," and the specimen is _not_ the 
same as the _Jibeinia_ or _Protopteryx_ holotypes.  However, A figure with 
the paper provides a map of the Senjitu area, which is the same area that 
produced both _Jibeinia_ and _Vescornis_; _Protopteryx_ comes from the 
Sichakou quarry (I don't know how far apart these two are).  Nor does the 
paper provide a reference for "Yan, 1999." I'm working on trying to track 
down this reference, and I'll post something if I get any hits.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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/

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