3:10 to New Papers

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

A current title!  (Thanks, Angela!)  And two lists in one day!



Lee, Y.-N. 2007. New theropod teeth from the Juji Island (Hasandong 
Formation), Daedo-ri, Hadon County, south Gyeongsang Province. Journal of 
the Geological Society of Korea 43(2):151-166.

ABSTRACT: Three new theropod teeth were discovered in the Juji Island 
(Hasandong Formation), Daedo-ri, Hadong County, South Gyeongsang Province in 
2002. Although they are isolated teeth, I assume that they are belonging to 
the same kind of animal because they were found close each other on the same 
horizon, showing the same dental features. Especially, the crown height of 
one tooth is 81 mm which is the largest theropod tooth ever found in Korea. 
They are most similar to Acrocanthosaurus when plotting on "theropod 
standard data set". These teeth represent a new theropod dinosaur in Korea 
because they have different morphology from teeth known before. Comparisons 
to Early Cretaceous theropods in East Asia, they are similar to Prodeinodon 
(nomen dubium) from China and Mongolia. They also indicate that there were a 
variety of theropod dinosaurs lived in Korean peninsula including the large 
"carnosaurid" more than 10 m in length.



Moore, J.R., Norman, D.B., and Upchurch, P. 2007. Assessing relative 
abundances in fossil assemblages. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, 
Palaeoecology 253(3-4):317-322. doi: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.06.004.

ABSTRACT: The relative abundances of taxa or skeletal elements in a fossil 
assemblage can provide important information concerning the palaeoecology 
and taphonomy of the assemblage. However, these relative abundances must be 
estimated from samples of the assemblage, rather than measured directly. The 
sampling error this produces decreases the accuracy with which relative 
abundances can be estimated from the fossil record. Using the multinomial 
distribution it is possible to place constraints on the accuracy of 
estimation of relative abundance, provided that two out of three key 
parameters (sample size, required degree of similarity and confidence level) 
are known. Applying this methodology to the fossil record it can be shown 
that in order to be 95% confident the taxon relative abundances of a fossil 
assemblage lie within 5% of those found in a sample, 534 individuals must be 
collected. This methodology enables the assessment of published relative 
abundance estimates and the development of sampling protocols for future 
studies.



Fürsich, F.T., Sha, J., Jiang, B., and Pan, Y. 2007. High resolution 
palaeoecological and taphonomic analysis of Early Cretaceous lake biota, 
western Liaoning (NE-China). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, 
Palaeoecology 253(3-4):434-457. doi: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.06.012.

ABSTRACT: The faunal content of eighteen bedding planes within the 
Jianshangou Unit of the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of western 
Liaoning has been analysed in detail in order to understand the 
environmental and taphonomic framework of this famous lacustrine 
fossillagerstätte. The bedding planes were excavated within a 3 m thick 
section, which is composed of laminated mudstones, graded sandstones and 
mudstones, and horizontally stratified structureless sandstones and tuffs. 
All investigated bedding planes occur within the laminated mudstone facies 
and contain elements of the so-called Jehol Biota, in particular the 
conchostracan Eosestheria ovata, the ephemerid nymph Hexagenites trisetalis 
and the crustacean Liaoningogriphus quadripartitus. These three faunal 
elements occur in high abundance, originally possessed chitinous skeletons 
and are preserved as compressed, faintly mineralized coats or, in the case 
of Eosestheria, still possess organic material. The specimens do no 
represent exuviae, but body fossils. The fossils can be grouped into three 
low diversity associations, each characterized by one of the three taxa. The 
plan-view orientation of the taxa is invariably random and size frequency 
histograms are bimodal or polymodal. This indicates that the fauna is 
autochthonous and that the histograms reflect several recruitment phases. 
Apparently, the faunal elements suffered seasonal mass mortality caused by 
anoxic conditions, which became established in the lake during the summer 
months. Increased humidity during the winter led to mixing of the lake 
waters, re-establishment of oxic conditions and to deposition of a thin film 
of sediment. Such environmental conditions were episodically interrupted by 
flash floods and volcanic ash falls, which may have been responsible for the 
preservation of the more spectacular elements of the Jehol biota such as 
birds and feathered dinosaurs.



Brewer, M.L., and Hertel, F. 2007. Wing morphology and flight behavior of 
pelecaniform seabirds. Journal of Morphology 268(10):866-877. doi: 
10.1002/jmor.10555.

ABSTRACT: The selective pressures associated with flight are significant 
factors in shaping the morphology of volant forms. Tropical seabirds are of 
particular interest because of their long foraging bouts, which can last 
hundreds of kilometers in search of unpredictable (spatially and temporally) 
resources. Here, we contrast wing loading (WL), aspect ratio (AR), and 
planform shape among five pelecaniform seabirds and correlate morphological 
diversity with known differences in flight strategies. Overall, WL and AR 
scaled with body mass. The Great Frigratebird had lower WL than that 
predicted, whereas the Red-tailed Tropicbird had higher WL than that 
predicted. The tropicbird also exhibited a lower AR than that predicted. 
Visualization of planform shape was accomplished by using Thin-plate spline 
relative warp analysis (TPS/RWA), and three major regions of variations were 
discovered: wing base, mid-wing, and distal wing/wing tip. As expected, the 
three boobies were more similar than either the tropicbird or the 
frigatebird. The tropicbird had a broader distal wing and more rounded wing 
tip, associated with its greater use of flapping flight. The frigatebird 
showed the greatest deviation in the distal wing and wing tip associated 
with the high maneuverability required for aerial pursuit and 
kleptoparasitism. By using TPS/RWA, important differences were detected in 
planform shape that would have otherwise gone unnoticed when using only WL 
and AR. These differences correlated strongly with parameters such as 
maneuverability, flapping, and soaring flight.



Therrien, F., Eberth, D.A., Braman, D.R., and Zelenitsky, D.K. 2007. 
High-resolution organic carbon isotope record across the Cretaceous-Tertiary 
boundary in south-central Alberta: implications for the post-impact recovery 
rate of terrestrial ecosystems and use of delta13C as a boundary marker. 
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 44(4): 529-542.

ABSTRACT: A high-resolution study identified a delta13C excursion of -1.8? 
to -2.3? in terrestrial organic matter across the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) 
boundary at two localities in the Scollard Formation of south-central 
Alberta, one of the northernmost occurrences of the K-T boundary in 
terrestrial settings. delta13C values are at their lowest within 6 cm above 
the K-T boundary claystone and return to pre-boundary levels within 10 cm 
above the boundary claystone. Statistical analyses reveal that the K-T 
isotopic shift in Alberta is related to the nature of floral changes that 
occurred across the K-T boundary. A radiometrically dated bentonite resting 
on the boundary-hosting Nevis coal at one of the localities permits us to 
estimate that the terrestrial carbon cycle recovered ~100 000 years after 
the K-T boundary event, a value that supports an existing hypothesis that 
terrestrial ecosystems recovered more rapidly than marine ecosystems. The 
organic carbon isotope record of the entire Scollard Formation demonstrates 
that the delta13C excursion across the K-T boundary did not reach 
anomalously low values by late Maastrichtian standards in Alberta. 
Furthermore, the occurrence of the K-T carbon isotope shift within a 
restricted stratigraphic interval (<10 cm) greatly limits the probability of 
its preservation in the context of terrestrial sedimentary environments. 
These observations suggest that, on their own, delta13C profiles may be 
unreliable for locating the K-T boundary (and possibly other geologically 
instantaneous events) and that they should be used in combination with other 
approaches (e.g., palynology) to identify the K-T boundary in sections 
lacking the boundary claystone and iridium anomaly.


(uh, I replaced all the actual lowercase deltas in that abstract with the 
word "delta" -- I wasn't certain how it might come through otherwise... 
That aside:  K-Pg! K-Pg! K-Pg!!!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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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