The Princess and the New Papers

["Harris, Jerald" <jharris@dixie.edu>]

Marynowski, L., and Simoneit, B.R.T. 2009. Widespread Upper Triassic to Lower 
Jurassic wildfire records from Poland: evidence from charcoal and pyrolytic 
polycyclic aromate hydrocarbons. Palaios 24(12):785-789. doi: 
10.2110/palo.2009.p09-044r.

ABSTRACT: Laboratory tests indicate that 15% O2, instead of 12%, is required 
for the propagation of a widespread forest fire, a 3% increase from what was 
previously assumed. The presence of widespread wildfire records in the Upper 
Triassic and Lower Jurassic of Central Europe suggests that the lower limit for 
O2 during this time was at least 15%. Wildfire records are based on the 
co-occurrence of charcoal fragments and elevated concentrations of pyrolytic 
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In all samples charcoal fragments are 
large to medium-sized and angular, suggesting that they were transported by 
rivers only short distances after charcoalification. Calculated combustion 
temperatures vary with stratigraphic position and average 295â377 ÂC, which is 
characteristic for ground or near-surface wildfires. The most extensive 
wildfires occurred in the earliest Jurassic and their intensities successively 
decreased with time. Average concentrations of the sum of pyrolytic PAHs for 
the lowermost Jurassic Zagaje Formation reached 1253 Âg/g total organic carbon 
(TOC), whereas for the Upper TriassicâLower Jurassic SkÅoby Formation they did 
not exceed 16 Âg/g TOC. Charcoal-bearing sequences were also characterized by 
the presence of phenyl-PAHs (Ph-PAHs) and oxygen-containing aromatic compounds. 
The dominance of the more stable Ph-PAH isomers in these immature to 
low-maturity sedimentary rocks supports their pyrolytic origin. The oxygenated 
PAHs may also be derived from combustion processes.





Jackson, F.D., Jin, X., and Schmitt, J.G. 2009. Fungi in a Lower Cretaceous 
turtle egg from China: evidence of ecological interactions. Palaios 
24(12):840-845. doi: 10.2110/palo.2009.p09-053r.

ABSTRACT: Fossil fungi and arthropod body parts are present in one of 27 
unhatched eggs in a turtle egg clutch from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) 
Liangtoutang Formation, Zhejiang Province, China. The fossil fungal structures 
include branching septate hyphae, conidiophores supporting multiple phialides, 
and chains of up to five basipetal conidia (asexual spores). The morphology of 
the fossil fungus is similar to extant taxa within the genus Penicillium (order 
Eurotiales), making it the first reported intact Early Cretaceous asexual 
ascomycete and the earliest record of a presumed intact Penicillium. 
Biomineralization, a physiologic response to calcium-rich microenvironments, 
occurs in some extant fungi and may have facilitated detailed preservation of 
the fossil specimen. This rare evidence of fungal-animal association provides 
clues to clutch-related paleoecological interactions. The fungus-bearing egg 
occurs on the clutch periphery, whereas adjacent and more distant eggs show no 
evidence of fungal invasion. We suggest that the fungi were opportunistic 
contaminants invading after the egg was compromised, and the fungus failed to 
spread to adjacent eggs prior to burial and fossilization.





Royo-Torres, R., Cobos, A., and AlcalÃ, L. 2009. Diente de un gran dinosaurio 
terÃpodo (Allosauroidea) de la FormaciÃn Villar del Arzobispo 
(TitÃnico-Berriasiense) de Riodeva (EspaÃa). Estudios GeolÃgicos 65(1):91-99.

ABSTRACT: An isolated theropod tooth from a microconglomerate of the 
Tithonian-Berriasian Villar del Arzobispo Formation at Riodeva (AragÃn, Spain) 
is described. The specimen is remarkably large (apical length: 98.3 mm). The 
morphology of the tooth is compressed labiolingually, with denticules on the 
carinae reaching the base in the carina distal but not in the mesial one. These 
features and their large size allow us to include it in the clade 
Allosauroidea. Having in mind the dental variability existing among the tooth 
of the different genera of Allosauroidea we can not assign it to any definite 
group within this clade.




Veiga de Oliveira, T., Schultz, C.L., and Soares, M.B. 2009. Partial skeleton 
of Chiniquodon (Cynodontia, Chiniquodontidae) from the Brazilian Middle 
Triassic. Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia 12(2):113-122.

ABSTRACT: In this paper, we describe new postcranial remains of Chiniquodon cf. 
C. theotonicus, a chiniquodontid cynodont from the Therapsid Cenozone, from the 
Santa Maria Formation, Middle Triassic of Southern Brazil. In the described 
specimen are preserved almost all presacral vertebrae, the sacral vertebrae, an 
incomplete pelvic girdle, the left  femur, and two metapodials. Some of these 
bones show slight differences relative to those already described for C. 
theotonicus, especially in the femur and in the pelvic girdle. Since the 
species can actually include the materials attributed to the genera 
Probelesodon (except from P. sanjuanensis) and Belesodon, however, these 
differences may represent normal ontogenetic variation in the species rather 
than being of taxonomically diagnostic value.







de Amoram Arantes, B., Soares, M.B., and Schultz, C.L. 2009. Clevosaurus 
brasiliensis(Lepdiosauria, Sphenodontia) do TriÃssico Superior do Rio Grande do 
Sul: anatomia pÃs-craniana e relaÃÃes filogenÃticas. Revista Brasileira de 
Paleontologia 12(1):43-54.

ABSTRACT: Sphenodontia is the most abundant taxon from the Caturrita Formation 
(Upper Triassic) paleofauna, which is composed predominantly by 
microvertebrates. However, only two syncrania (UFRGS-PV0613T e UFRGS-PV0748T) 
were formally described by Bonaparte & Sues in 2006 so far. Based on these 
materials, a new species Clevosaurus brasiliensis, was erected and the 
Clevosauridae family was formalized being composed by Clevosaurus, 
Brachyrhinodon and Polysphenodon. This work presents an anatomic description of 
the post-cranial skeleton of C. brasiliensis based on more than 25 specimens. 
Among the materials, dorsal, sacral and caudal vertebrae, femora, tibiae and 
fibulae were identified. Generally, the post-cranial skeleton presents the 
typical features of the sphenodontians, and the morphology of the bones is very 
similar to those of other species of Clevosaurus (e.g. C. hudsoni, C. bairdi). 
However, the adult individuals of the Brazilian species are notably smaller 
than most of the other sphenodontians. The anatomic information obtained was 
used, together with the cranial characters, in a phylogenetic analysis to 
establish the position of C. brasiliensis in the Sphenodontia clade. The data 
matrix was built with 18 taxa and 67 characters. The resulting cladogram 
confirms the close relationship between the Brazilian species with Clevosaurus 
hudsoni and attests the consistency of the Clevosauridae family.






Tanner, L.H., and Lucas, S.G. 2009. Deposition and deformation of 
fluvial-lacustrine sediments of the Upper Triassic - Lower Jurassic Whitmore 
Point Member, Moenave Formation, northern Arizona. Sedimentary Geology. doi: 
10.1016/j.sedgeo.2009.11.010.

ABSTRACT: The stratigraphic section of the Upper Triassic-Lower Jurassic 
Whitmore Point Member of the Moenave Formation at Potter Canyon, Arizona, 
comprises c. 26 m of gray to black shales and red mudstones interbedded with 
mainly sheet-like siltstones and sandstones. These strata represent deposition 
from suspension and sheetflow processes in shallow, perennial meromictic to 
ephemeral lakes, and on dry mudflats of the terminal floodout of the 
northward-flowing Moenave stream system. The lakes were small, as indicated by 
the lack of shoreline features and limited evidence for deltas. Changes in base 
level, likely forced by climate change, drove the variations between mudflat 
and perennial lacustrine conditions. Lenticular sandstones that occur across 
the outcrop face in the same stratigraphic interval in the lower part of the 
sequence represent the bedload fill of channels incised into a 
coarsening-upward lacustrine sequence following a fall in base level. These 
sandstones are distinctive for the common presence of over-steepened bedding, 
dewatering structures, and less commonly, folding. Deformation of these 
sandstones is interpreted as aseismic due to the lack of features typically 
associated with seismicity, such as fault-graded bedding, diapirs, brecciated 
fabrics and clastic dikes. Rapid deposition of the sands on a fluid-rich 
substrate produced a reverse density gradient that destabilized, and 
potentially fluidized the underlying, finer-grained sediments. This 
destabilization allowed synsedimentary subsidence of most of the channel sands, 
accompanied by longitudinal rotation and/or ductile deformation of the sand 
bodies.




Dickinson, W.R., and Gehrels, G.E. 2009. Use of U-Pb ages of detrital zircons 
to infer maximum depositional ages of strata: a test against a Colorado Plateau 
Mesozoic database. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 288(1-2):115-125. doi: 
10.1016/j.epsl.2009.09.013.

ABSTRACT: We test the research strategy of using youngest UâPb ages of detrital 
zircons to constrain the maximum depositional ages of strata containing the 
zircon grains by comparing UâPb ages of detrital zircons in 58 samples of 
Mesozoic sandstone from the Colorado Plateau and adjacent areas with 
depositional ages known independently from biostratigraphy. Our analysis 
confirms the validity of the research strategy but indicates that results vary 
somewhat depending upon how youngest grain age is specified. We use four 
alternate measures of youngest age which vary from least to most statistically 
robust as follows: (a) youngest single grain age, (b) youngest graphical age 
peak controlled by more than one grain age; (c) mean age of the youngest two or 
more grains that overlap in age at 1Ï, (d) mean age of the youngest three or 
more grains that overlap in age at 2Ï. We also calculated the âyoungest 
detrital zircon ageâ generated by Isoplot 2008 but do not recommend that model 
age as a youngest-age measure. In general, the youngest-age measures based on 
multiple grain ages are more consistently compatible with depositional ages, 
but the youngest single grain ages are compatible with depositional age for > 
90% of samples, and lie within 5 Ma of depositional age for ~60% of samples. 
Selected minor discrepancies between youngest grain age and depositional age 
may reflect stratigraphic miscorrelations rather than errors in UâPb 
geochronology.





Galton, P.M. 2009. Notes on Neocomian (Late Cretaceous) ornithopod dinosaurs 
from England - Hypsilophodon, Valdosaurus, "Camptosaurus", "Iguanodon" - and 
referred specimens from Romania and elsewhere. Revue de PalÃobiologie 
28(1):211-273.

ABSTRACT: New age related individual variation for Hypsilophodon foxii, a basal 
euornithopod with no confirmed record outside of the Isle of Wight (late 
Barremian), includes an extensor groove on the distal femur that is absent and 
then  shallow. The sequence of fusion of the neurocentral sutures follows the 
archosaurian caudal forwards pattern but fusion in the sacrum occurs in 
different sized individuals. Detailed figures are given of the form and wear 
patterns of  the teeth. The âIguanodon/Hypsilophodon/Polacanthusâ distal femur 
from Hastings (mid-Valanginian) is probably  Euornithopoda indet. Large distal 
femora from the Isle of Wight (late Barremian) and Bedfordshire (Aptian), with 
an extensor groove of medium depth, are basal Iguanodontia indet. 
âHypsilophodonâ wielandi Galton & Jensen, 1978 (Barremian, Western USA) is 
basal Euornithopoda indet, not a dryosaurid ; it is not a junior synonym of 
probable dryosaurid âCamptosaurusâ valdensis Lydekker, 1889a (late Barremian, 
Isle of Wight), and both taxa are nomina dubia. The record of the dryosaurid 
Valdosaurus, a femur of which was first described by Owen (1842) as Iguanodon, 
is restricted to England (Sussex, middle Valanginian ; Isle of Wight, late 
Barremian). Based on differences in horizon and form of the femur, 
Elrhazosaurus n. gen. is erected for the dryosaurid Valdosaurus nigeriensis 
Galton & Taquet, 1982 (Aptian, Niger). The holotype dentary of Iguanodon hoggii 
Owen, 1874 from Dorset (middle Berriasian) is made the type species of the new 
non-camptosaurid genus Owenodon ; a femur referred to âCamptosaurusâ hoggii 
from Dorset is Iguanodontoidea indet. A small dentary from the Isle of Wight 
(late Barremian) is not Valdosaurus but basal Iguanodontoidea indet. An 
incomplete hindlimb (with tibia showing a very large callus from a healed 
fracture) of âCamptosaurusâ hoggii from Yorkshire (mid-Berriasian) is very 
similar to that of âIguanodonâ hollingtoniensis Lydekker, 1889b, the femur of 
which is Camptosaurus-like except for t!
he Iguano
don-like distal end. This species represents a new genus of basal 
Iguanodontoidea, but its diagnosis must await a review of all Sussex Wadhurst 
Clay (middle Valanginian) material. Dentary teeth of Owenodon sp. occur in the 
bauxite fissure fill (Berriasian-Valanginian) of Cornet, Romania. The bones 
more derived than those of Camptosaurus but not Styracosterna or Iguanodontea 
(which is represented by metacarpal II, ungual phalanges) are tentatively 
referred to Owenodon sp. These include a maxilla and teeth, cervical vertebra 
6, fused medial carpals+metacarpal I, distal femora (and, tentatively, a 
frontal, a braincase, a dorso-sacral centrum, larger humerus). A smaller 
humerus is basal Euornithopoda indet, but most of the described bones are 
Euornithopoda indet. The possible stegosaurian pubis from the Isle of Wight 
(late Barremian) is basal Iguanodontoidea indet.






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