Ben Creisler
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Some recent free pdfs on different topics that may be of interest:
Sven Sachs, Johan Lindgren & Benjamin P. Kear (2019) [2018]
A global perspective on Mesozoic marine amniotes.
Alcheringa 42(4): 457-460 (2018)
Free pdf:
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OctÃvio Mateus, Pedro M. Callapez, Michael J. Polcyn, Anne S. Schulp, AntÃnio OlÃmpio GonÃalves & Louis L. Jacobs (2019)
The Fossil Record of Biodiversity in Angola Through Time: A Paleontological Perspective
Biodiversity of Angola: 53-76 .
Free pdf:
This chapter provides an overview of the alpha paleobiodiversity of Angola based on the available fossil record that is limited to the sedimentary rocks, ranging in age from Precambrian to the present. The geological period with the highest paleobiodiversity in the Angolan fossil record is the Cretaceous, with more than 80% of the total known fossil taxa, especially marine molluscs, including ammonites as a majority among them. The vertebrates represent about 15% of the known fauna and about one tenth of them are species firstly described based on specimens from Angola.
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Eosemionotus diskosomus n. sp.
Eosemionotus sceltrichensis n. sp.
Eosemionotus minutus n. sp.
Adriana LÃpez-Arbarello, Toni BÃrgin, Heinz Furrer, and Rudolf Stockar (2019)
Taxonomy and phylogeny of Eosemionotus Stolley, 1920 (Neopterygii: Ginglymodi) from the Middle Triassic of Europe.
Palaeontologia Electronica 22.1.10A 1-64.
Free pdf:
Over 80 years the actinopterygian genus Eosemionotus was known from a single species, E. vogeli, from the German Muschelkalk (Anisian). A second species was published in 2004, E. ceresiensis, from the upper Besano Formation (lowermost Ladinian) of Monte San Giorgio, Switzerland. New excellently preserved specimens recovered from the Cassina and Sceltrich beds (Meride Limestone; Ladinian) in this latter area, triggered a new study. Consequently, three new species are established: E. diskosomus, E. sceltrichensis, and E. minutus, including differential diagnoses for the five species, which differ in body proportions, relative position of the fins, the morphology of several skull bones, squamation pattern, and some meristic characters (e.g., number of premaxillary teeth, and branchiostegal rays). The cladistic analysis retrieved Eosemionotus as the oldest Macrosemiidae within the order Semionotiformes (Ginglymodi). The monophyly of the genus and its sister-group relationships with the other macrosemiids are among the best supported nodes with high Bremer, jackknife and bootstrap values, and numerous synapomorphies. The pattern of phylogenetic relationships between the five species of Eosemionotus indicates that the Muschelkalk species E. vogeli originated through dispersal from the Tethys into the Germanic Basin, most probably across the Silesian-Moravian or the East Carpathian gates before the late Anisian. This very speciose genus, so far almost restricted to the Middle Triassic, has also been reported from localities in Eastern Switzerland, the Netherlands, Spain, Slovenia, and China. Pending the taxonomic and phylogenetic study of these other material of Eosemionotus, the origin of the genus in the Western or Eastern Tethys remains enigmatic.
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M. KÃlbl-Ebert and B. J. Cooper (2019)
Solnhofener Plattenkalk: a heritage stone of international significance from Germany.
in HANNIBAL, J.T., KRAMAR, S. & COOPER, B.J. (eds) Global Heritage Stone: Worldwide Examples of Heritage Stones. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 486,
Free pdf:
In Bavaria (Germany), between Solnhofen and Kelheim, numerous quarries allow utilization of a thinly plated Upper Jurassic limestone known in German as the Solnhofener Plattenkalk and in English as Solnhofen Limestone. Here limestone slabs have been quarried for centuries and it is not necessary to cut the limestone with a saw as it can be split conveniently into thin and even slabs or sheets which are used for floor tiles and wall cladding. Thick slabs of especially fine quality have been used for lithography. This later utilization began in the late eighteenth century with lithographic Solnhofen Limestone soon being marketed worldwide. The industry continues on a smaller scale today. Slabs are quarried by hand so as not to break them, accounting for their high price. Because of this 'gentle' quarrying method, fossils have also been found. Although rare, over time many Solnhofen fossil specimens have found their way into natural history museums throughout the world. Most noteworthy is the early bird Archaeopteryx. Given its utilitarian usage worldwide as a lithographic stone, and its sale for centuries as floor tiles, coupled with its being a source of unique fossils, Solnhofener Plattenkalk is recommended here as a Global Heritage Stone Resource.
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OK, not about vertebrates, but a strange feature of the early Jurassic seas--megarafts of filter-feeding crinoids attached to floating logs that lasted for years. (illustrated with an ichthyosaur)
Aaron W. Hunter, Emily G. Mitchell, David Casenove & Celia Mayers (2019)
Reconstructing the ecology of a Jurassic pseudoplanktonic megaraft colony.
BioRxivÂ
Pseudoplanktonic crinoid megaraft colonies are an enigma of the Jurassic. They are among the largest in-situ invertebrate accumulations ever to exist in the Phanerozoic fossil record. These megaraft colonies and are thought to have developed as floating filter-feeding communities due to an exceptionally rich relatively predator free oceanic niche, high in the water column enabling them to reach high densities on these log rafts. However, this pseudoplanktonic hypothesis has never actually been quantitatively tested and some researchers have cast doubt that this mode of life was even possible. The ecological structure of the crinoid colony is resolved using spatial point process techniques and its longevity using moisture diffusion models. Using spatial analysis we found that the crinoids would have trailed preferentially positioned at the back of migrating structures in the regions of least resistance, consistent with a floating, not benthic ecology. Additionally, we found using a series of moisture diffusion models at different log densities and sizes that ecosystem collapse did not take place solely due to colonies becoming overladen as previously assumed. We have found that these crinoid colonies studied could have existed for greater than 10 years, even up to 20 years exceeding the life expectancy of modern documented megaraft systems with implications for the role of modern raft communities in the biotic colonisation of oceanic islands and intercontinental dispersal of marine and terrestrial species.
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Some recent papers with free pdfs. Note that these articles were posted earlier on the DML in preprint, MS, or advance form behind a paywall with an abstract.Â
Elize Butler, Fernando Abdala & Jennifer BothaâBrink (2019)
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Yonghua Wu and Haifeng Wang (2019)
Convergent evolution of bird-mammal shared characteristics for adapting to nocturnality.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 286 (1897): 20182185
doi:Âhttps://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.2185
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2018.2185
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2018.2185
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Pilmatueia faundezi gen. et sp. nov.
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Rodolfo A.Coria, Guillermo J.Windholz, Francisco Ortega & Philip J.Currie (2019)
A new dicraeosaurid sauropod from the Lower Cretaceous (Mulichinco Formation, Valanginian, NeuquÃn Basin) of Argentina.
Cretaceous Research 93: 33-48
doi:Âhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2018.08.019
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667118300405
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Bernardo J. GonzÃlez Riga & MarÃa BelÃn Tomaselli (2019)
Different trackway patterns in titanosaur sauropods: Analysis of new Titanopodus tracks from the Upper Cretaceous of Mendoza, NeuquÃn Basin, Argentina.
Cretaceous Research 93: 49-59
doi:Âhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2018.08.021
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667118301137
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Adele H. Pentland & Stephen F. Poropat (2019)
Reappraisal of Mythunga camara Molnar & Thulborn, 2007 (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea, Anhangueria) from the upper Albian Toolebuc Formation of Queensland, Australia.
Cretaceous Research 93: 151-169
doi:Âhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2018.09.011
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667118302775
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Alejandro Serrano-MartÃnez, Fabien Knoll, IvÃn NarvÃez, Stephan Lautenschlager & Francisco Ortega (2019)
Inner skull cavities of the basal eusuchian Lohuecosuchus megadontos (Upper Cretaceous, Spain) and neurosensorial implications.
Cretaceous Research 93: 66-77
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2018.08.016
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019566711830123X
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Luca Natali, Alessandro Blasetti & Giuseppe Crocetti (2019)
Detection of Lower Cretaceous fossil impressions of a marine tetrapod on Monte Conero (Central Italy).
Cretaceous Research 93: 143-150
doi:Âhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2018.09.014
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667118302015
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AdÃn PÃrez-GarcÃa (2019)
Identification of the Lower Cretaceous pleurodiran turtle Taquetochelys decorata as the only African araripemydid species.
Comptes Rendus Palevol 18(1):Â 24-32
doi:Âhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.crpv.2018.04.004
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S163106831830068X
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Mauremys aristotelica sp. nov.
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Evangelos Vlachos, Juliana Sterli, Katerina Vasileiadou & George Syrides (2019)
A new species of Mauremys (Testudines, Geoemydidae) from the late Miocene--Pliocene of Central Macedonia (northern Greece) with exceptionally wide vertebral scutes.
Papers in Palaeontology 5(1):Â 177-195
doi:ÂÂhttps://doi.org/10.1002/spp2.1235
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/spp2.1235
Free pdf:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/spp2.1235
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Marta Zaher, Robert A. Coram & Michael J. Benton (2019)
The Middle Triassic procolophonid Kapes bentoni: computed tomography of the skull and skeleton.
Papers in Palaeontology 5(1): 111-138
doi:Âhttps://doi.org/10.1002/spp2.1232
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/spp2.1232
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Free pdf:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/spp2.1232
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