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New References
Some of these have been mentioned previously, but are repeated here for the
sake of completeness:
---------------------
Heckert, A. B., S. G. Lucas, and A. P. Hunt. 2005. Triassic vertebrate
fossils in Arizona; pp. 16-44 in A. B. Heckert and S. G. Lucas (eds.),
Vertebrate Paleontology in Arizona. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and
Science Bulletin 29. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science,
Albuquerque.
Parker, W. G., and R. B. Irmis. 2005. Advances in Late Triassic vertebrate
paleontology based on new material from Petrified Forest National Park,
Arizona; pp. 45-58 in A. B. Heckert and S. G. Lucas (eds.), Vertebrate
Paleontology in Arizona. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
Bulletin 29. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Albuquerque.
Hunt, A. P., S. G. Lucas, and J. A. Spielmann. 2005. The holotype specimen
of _Vancleavea campi_ from Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, with
notes on the taxonomy and distribution of the taxon; pp. 59-66 in A. B.
Heckert and S. G. Lucas (eds.), Vertebrate Paleontology in Arizona. New
Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 29. New Mexico Museum
of Natural History and Science, Albuquerque.
Hunt, A. P., S. G. Lucas, and J. A. Spielmann. 2005. The postcranial
skeleton of _Revueltosaurus callenderi_ (Archosauria: Crurotarsi) from the
Upper Triassic of Arizona and New Mexico, USA; pp. 67-76 in A. B. Heckert
and S. G. Lucas (eds.), Vertebrate Paleontology in Arizona. New Mexico
Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 29. New Mexico Museum of
Natural History and Science, Albuquerque.
Heckert, A. B. 2005. _Krzyzanowskisaurus_, a new name for a probable
ornithischian dinosaur from the Upper Triassic Chinle Group, Arizona and New
Mexico, USA; pp. 77-83 in A. B. Heckert and S. G. Lucas (eds.), Vertebrate
Paleontology in Arizona. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
Bulletin 29. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Albuquerque.
Lucas, S. G., L. H. Tanner, and A. B. Heckert. 2005. Tetrapod
biostratigraphy and biochronology across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary in
northeastern Arizona; pp. 84-94 in A. B. Heckert and S. G. Lucas (eds.),
Vertebrate Paleontology in Arizona. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and
Science Bulletin 29. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science,
Albuquerque.
Lucas, S. G., A. B. Heckert, and L. H. Tanner. 2005. Arizona's Jurassic
fossil vertebrates and the age of the Glen Canyon Group; pp. 95-104 in A. B.
Heckert and S. G. Lucas (eds.), Vertebrate Paleontology in Arizona. New
Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 29. New Mexico Museum
of Natural History and Science, Albuquerque.
Lucas, S. G., and A. B. Heckert. 2005. Distribution, age and correlation of
Cretaceous fossil vertebrates from Arizona; pp. 105-110 in A. B. Heckert and
S. G. Lucas (eds.), Vertebrate Paleontology in Arizona. New Mexico Museum of
Natural History and Science Bulletin 29. New Mexico Museum of Natural
History and Science, Albuquerque.
Lucas, S. G., C. Lewis, W. R. Dickinson, and A. B. Heckert. 2005. The Late
Cretaceous Tuscon Mountains dinosaur; pp. 111-113 in A. B. Heckert and S. G.
Lucas (eds.), Vertebrate Paleontology in Arizona. New Mexico Museum of
Natural History and Science Bulletin 29. New Mexico Museum of Natural
History and Science, Albuquerque.
----------------------
Getty, P. R. 2005. Excavated and in situ dinosaur footprints from the Murray
Quarry (Early Jurassic East Berlin Formation), Holyoke, Massachusetts, USA.
Ichnos 12(3):163-178. doi: 10.1080/10420940591008999.
ABSTRACT: The Murray Quarry was operated during the 1920s and 1930s in
sediments of the Early Jurassic East Berlin Formation. I examined 149
footprints of bipedal dinosaurs on three excavated slabs from the Murray
Quarry and the in situ track bed. The three slabs I examined are on display
at Forest Park, Springfield, MA; the Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke, MA;
and Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA. The footprints belong to
three ichnogenera, _Eubrontes_, _Anchisauripus_, and _Grallator_; however,
evidence such as length parameters suggests that these ichnogenera might be
synonymous. Most of the footprints are referable to _Eubrontes_ and
_Anchisauripus_, which are large- and medium-sized ichnotaxa, respectively.
Only two footprints are referable to _Grallator_, a small ichnotaxon. These
ichnotaxa are thought to have been made by theropods, suggesting that there
is a preservation bias in favor of carnivores, or that theropods dominated
the fauna. The variable morphology of the footprints suggests that they were
made over a period of time during which the substrate desiccated. Major
results included a high percentage of trotting dinosaurs based on trackway
evidence, 43% of the total number of trackways. Additionally, two trackways
show evidence for running. There are no preferred trackway orientations.
------------------------
Erickson, G. M. 2005. Assessing dinosaur growth patterns: a microscopic
revolution. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 20(12):677-684. doi:
10.1016/j.tree.2005.08.012.
ABSTRACT: Some of the longest standing questions in dinosaur paleontology
pertain to their development. Did dinosaurs grow at slow rates similar to
extant reptiles or rapidly similar to living birds and mammals? How did some
forms attain gigantic proportions? Conversely, how did birds (avian
dinosaurs) become miniaturized? New data on dinosaur longevity garnered from
bone microstructure (i.e. osteohistology) are making it possible to assess
basic life-history parameters of the dinosaurs such as growth rates and
timing of developmental events. Analyses of these data in an evolutionary
context are enabling the identification of developmental patterns that lead
to size changes within the Dinosauria. Furthermore, this rich new database
is providing inroads for studying individual and population biology. All in
all, paleohistological research is proving to be the most promising avenue
towards gaining a comprehensive understanding of dinosaur biology.
--------------------------
Cubo, J., F. Ponton, M. Laurin, E. de Margerie, and J. Castanet. 2005.
Phylogenetic signal in bone microstructure of Sauropsida. Systematic Biology
54(4):562-574. doi: 10.1080/10635150591003461.
ABSTRACT: In spite of the fact that the potential usefulness of bone
histology in systematics has been discussed for over one and a half
centuries, the presence of a phylogenetic signal in the variation of
histological characters has rarely been assessed. A quantitative assessment
of phylogenetic signal in bone histological characters could provide a
justification for performing optimizations of these traits onto
independently generated phylogenetic trees (as has been done in recent
years). Here we present an investigation on the quantification of the
phylogenetic signal in the following bone histological, microanatomical, and
morphological traits in a sample of femora of 35 species of sauropsids:
vascular density, vascular orientation, index of Haversian remodeling,
cortical thickness, and cross-sectional area (bone size). For this purpose,
we use two methods, regressions on distance matrices tested for significance
using permutations (a Mantel test) and random tree length distribution.
Within sauropsids, these bone microstructural traits have an optimal
systematic value in archosaurs. In this taxon, a Mantel test shows that the
phylogeny explains 81.8% of the variation of bone size and 86.2% of the
variation of cortical thickness. In contrast, a Mantel test suggests that
the phylogenetic signal in histological traits is weak: although the
phylogeny explains 18.7% of the variation of vascular density in archosaurs,
the phylogenetic signal is not significant either for vascular orientation
or for the index of Haversian remodeling. However, Mantel tests seem to
underestimate the proportion of variance of the dependent character
explained by the phylogeny, as suggested by a PVR (phylogenetic eigenvector)
analysis. We also deal with some complementary questions. First, we evaluate
the functional dependence of bone vascular density on bone size by using
phylogenetically independent contrasts. Second, we perform a variation
partitioning analysis and show that the phylogenetic signal in bone vascular
density is not a by-product of phylogentic signal in bone size. Finally, we
analyze the evolution of cortical thickness in diapsids by using an
optimization by squared change parsimony and discuss the functional
significance of this character in terms of decreased buoyancy in crocodiles
and mass saving in birds. These results are placed in the framework of the
constructional morphology model, according to which the variation of a
character in a clade has a historical (phylogenetic) component, a functional
(adaptive) component, and a structural (architectural) component.
-----------------------
Gao, K.-Q., and R. C. Fox. 2005. A new choristodere (Reptilia: Diapsida)
from the Lower Cretaceous of western Liaoning Province, China, and
phylogenetic relationships of Monjurosuchidae. Zoological Journal of the
Linnean Society 145(3):427-444. doi: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2005.00191.x.
ABSTRACT: The publication of the scientific name _Monjurosuchus splendens_
in 1940 documented the first tetrapod fossil of the later world-renowned
Jehol Biota. For more than half a century since this discovery, however,
_Monjurosuchu_s has remained as a monotypic genus of the family
Monjurosuchidae, and the relationships of the family with choristoderes have
not been correctly recognized until quite recently. In this paper, a new
monjurosuchid is named and described based on a nearly complete skull and
postcranial skeleton from the Early Cretaceous Chiufotang Formation exposed
near Chaoyang, western Liaoning Province, China. This new material documents
the first occurrence of monjurosuchid choristoderes outside the type
Lingyuan area, and extends the geological range of the family from the
Yixian Formation to the younger Chiufotang Formation. Cladistic analyses
were conducted with inclusion of monjurosuchids, and the results support the
placement of the family Monjurosuchidae as a primitive clade outside the
Neochoristodera. A new classification scheme is proposed for choristoderes
on the basis of the recovered phylogenetic framework of the group.
--- describes the new choristodere _Philydrosaurus proseilus_.
------------------------
Garcia, A. J. V., A. A. S. da Rosa, and K. Goldberg. 2005.
Paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic control on early diagenetic processes
and fossil record in Cretaceous continental sandstones of Brazil. Journal of
South American Earth Sciences 19(3):243-258. doi:
10.1016/j.jsames.2005.01.008.
ABSTRACT: The Early Cretaceous, pre-rift continental rock sequences of
northeastern Brazil (Rio do Peixe, Araripe, Recôncavo-Tucano, and
Sergipe-Alagoas basins), deposited in a wide intracontinental basin
(Afro-Brazilian Depression), and the Late Cretaceous, post-rift continental
deposits of the Paraná Basin (Bauru Group, Minas Gerais) reflect the
controlling processes related to the Brazilian record of nonmarine fossil
vertebrates. These sequences were deposited in braided fluvial, eolian, and
lacustrine environments in a semi-arid to arid climate. Sedimentary and
diagenetic processes ascribed to paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental
conditions are among the major factors that control fossil preservation in
fluvial deposits. The pre-rift successions contain a rare record of a
dinosaur fauna that lived near more humid highlands in the northern portion
of the Afro-Brazilian Depression, relative to its southern counterpart,
where hardly any fossil remains would have been preserved in the adverse
climatic conditions. The Afro-Brazilian Depression is interpreted as a large
pathway for dinosaurs before the breakup of Gondwana. Conversely, abundant
dinosaur remains (bones, eggs, and teeth) and other vertebrates (turtles,
crocodiles, frogs, and fish) are found in the Bauru Group in the Paraná
Basin. In this unit, the seasonal paleoclimate provided sufficient
conditions for the maintenance of bodies of water that served as nesting and
living sites for various vertebrate forms. Paleoclimatic conditions are
assumed to account for the different preservation of bones in the Paraná
Basin relative to the Afro-Brazilian Depression, because the latter was
subject to more arid conditions, and the humid environment was restricted to
the northern margin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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/
"And the role of George W. Bush will
be played by: Ralph Wiggum" -- Conan
O'Brien, during "Earth to America," in
listing the fictitious cast of an upcoming
TV movie about global warming.