Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the New Papers

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

Nod to Sarah Spears for this title, and to SP & RT for some of the notices! 
Too bad there's no mention of Strangelove oceans in any of these...



Tsuihiji, T., and Makovicky, P. 2007. Homology of the neoceratopsian 
cervical bar elements. Journal of Paleontology 81(5):1132-1138. doi: 
10.1666/pleo05-164.1.



Martinelli, A.G. and Vera, E.I. 2007. Achillesaurus manazzonei, a new 
alvarezsaurid theropod (Dinosauria) from the Late Cretaceous Bajo de la
Carpa Formation, Rio Negro Province, Argentina. Zootaxa 1582: 1-17.

ABSTRACT: A new genus and species, Achillesaurus manazzonei gen. et sp. 
nov., of the enigmatic clade Alvarezsauridae (Theropoda, Coelurosauria), 
recovered from the Santonian Bajo de la Carpa Formation (Río Negro Province, 
Argentina), is here described. A. manazzonei is a relatively large 
alvarezsaurid different from Alvarezsaurus calvoi (from the same Age and 
Formation) in having a lateral fossa in the proximal caudal centra, a less 
developed supraacetabular crest, the brevis shelf not reaching the base of 
the ischial pedicel, and the lateral malleolus of the tibia at the same 
level of the medial one. Achillesaurus differs from Patagonykus puertai, 
from the Portezuelo Formation (Neuquén Province, Argentina), by the presence 
of an almost undeveloped supracetabular crest of the ilium and the unfused 
condition of the astragalus and the calcaneum. The new species is excluded 
from the Asian Mononykinae due to the unreduced fibula distally and a 
non-arctometatarsalian pes. The autapomorphies of Achillesaurus are the 
presence of a biconcave caudal vertebra (possibly the fourth) with the 
cranial surface 30% larger in diameter than the caudal one. The inclusion of 
Achillesaurus in a phylogenetic framework resulted in an unresolved polytomy 
among the new taxon, Alvarezsaurus, and Patagonykus plus Mononykinae, the 
latter clade being weakly supported. The result here presented shows a basal 
stem radiation of South American alvarezsaurids. New material of the 
Patagonian alvarezsaurids is necessary to evaluate relevant traits to test 
further the phylogenetic relationships of the basal alvarezsaurids.



Gillman, M.P. 2007. Evolutionary dynamics of vertebrate body mass range. 
Evolution 61(3):685-693. doi: 10.1111/0014-3820.2007.00060.x.

ABSTRACT: Change in body mass with time has been considered for many clades, 
often with reference to Cope's rule, which predicts a tendency to increase 
in body size. A more general rule, namely increase in the range of body mass 
with time, is analyzed here for vertebrates. The log range of log vertebrate 
body mass is shown to increase linearly and highly significantly with the 
log of duration of clade existence. The resulting regression equations are 
used to predict the origin age, initial body mass, and subsequent dynamics 
of body mass range for primate clades such as the New World monkeys 
(Platyrrhini, 32 million years ago, initial mass of 1.7 kg) and the 
Anthropoidea (57 million years ago, initial mass of 0.12 kg), tested against 
the primate fossil record. Using these methods, other major primate clades 
such as Lemuriformes and Adapoidea are also estimated to have originated in 
the Tertiary (63 and 64 million years ago, respectively), with only the 
Plesiadapiformes originating in the Cretaceous (83 million years ago). 
Similarities of body mass range between primate and other vertebrate sister 
groups are discussed. Linear relationships of log range and log duration are 
considered with respect to Brownian processes, with the expected regression 
coefficients from the latter explored through simulations. The observed data 
produce regression coefficients that overlap with or are higher than those 
under Brownian processes. Overall, the analyses suggest the dynamics of 
vertebrate body mass range in morphologically disparate clades are highly 
predictable over many tens of million years and that the dynamics of 
phenotypic characteristics can assist molecular clock and fossil models in 
dating evolutionary events.



Smith, N.C., Payne, R.C., Jespers, K.J., and Wilson, A.M. 2007. Muscle 
moment arms of pelvic limb muscles of the ostrich (Struthio camelus). 
Journal of Anatomy 211(3):313-324. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7580.2007.00762.x.

ABSTRACT: Muscle moment arms were measured for major muscles of the pelvic 
limb of the ostrich (Struthio camelus) in order to assess specific 
functional behaviour and to apply this to locomotor performance. Pelvic 
limbs of six juvenile ostriches were used for this study. The tendon travel 
technique was used to measure moment arms of 21 muscles at the hip, knee, 
ankle and metatarsophalangeal joints throughout the ranges of motion 
observed during level running. Six of the 21 muscles measured were found to 
have moment arms that did not change with joint angle, whilst the remainder 
all demonstrated angle-dependent changes for at least one of the joints 
crossed. Moment arm lengths tended to be longest for the large proximal 
muscles, whilst the largest relative changes were found for the moment arms 
of the distal muscles. For muscles where moment arm varied with joint angle: 
all hip muscles were found to have increasing moment arms with extension of 
the joint, knee flexors were found to have moment arms that increased with 
extension, knee extensor moment arms were found to increase with flexion and 
ankle extensor moment arms increased with extension. The greatest relative 
changes were observed in the flexors of the metatarsophalangeal joint, for 
which a three-fold increase in moment arm was observed from flexion to full 
extension. Changes in muscle moment arm through the range of motion studied 
appear to optimize muscle function during stance phase, increasing the 
effective mechanical advantage of these muscles



Tobalske, B.W. 2007. Biomechanics of bird flight. Journal of Experimental 
Biology 210(18):3135-3146. doi: 10.1242/jeb.000273.

ABSTRACT: Power output is a unifying theme for bird flight and considerable 
progress has been accomplished recently in measuring muscular, metabolic and 
aerodynamic power in birds. The primary flight muscles of birds, the 
pectoralis and supracoracoideus, are designed for work and power output, 
with large stress (force per unit cross-sectional area) and strain (relative 
length change) per contraction. U-shaped curves describe how mechanical 
power output varies with flight speed, but the specific shapes and 
characteristic speeds of these curves differ according to morphology and 
flight style. New measures of induced, profile and parasite power should 
help to update existing mathematical models of flight. In turn, these 
improved models may serve to test behavioral and ecological processes. 
Unlike terrestrial locomotion that is generally characterized by discrete 
gaits, changes in wing kinematics and aerodynamics across flight speeds are 
gradual. Take-off flight performance scales with body size, but fully 
revealing the mechanisms responsible for this pattern awaits new study. 
Intermittent flight appears to reduce the power cost for flight, as some 
species flap-glide at slow speeds and flap-bound at fast speeds. It is vital 
to test the metabolic costs of intermittent flight to understand why some 
birds use intermittent bounds during slow flight. Maneuvering and stability 
are critical for flying birds, and design for maneuvering may impinge upon 
other aspects of flight performance. The tail contributes to lift and drag; 
it is also integral to maneuvering and stability. Recent studies have 
revealed that maneuvers are typically initiated during downstroke and 
involve bilateral asymmetry of force production in the pectoralis. Future 
study of maneuvering and stability should measure inertial and aerodynamic 
forces. It is critical for continued progress into the biomechanics of bird 
flight that experimental designs are developed in an ecological and 
evolutionary context.

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

STORIES IN SIX WORDS OR LESS:

"Machine. Unexpectedly, I'd invented
a time"
              -- Alan Moore

"Easy. Just touch the match to"
              -- Ursula K. Le Guin

"Batman Sues Batsignal: Demands
Trademark Royalties."
              -- Cory Doctorow