95 m core from Moormerland, Leer District (Lower Saxony / Germany), was investigated by pollen
analysis. The pollen record is focused on organic layers at 90–88 m, around 70 m, and 57–45 m. The pollen
assemblage is a mixture of Pliocene and Pleistocene pollen types, with Pinus dominating, but Taxodium -type,
Nyssa , Liquidambar , Eucommia , Carya , Sciadopitys , Tsuga and others also participating as Pliocene elements,
as well as Quercus , Ulmus , Taxus , and others as Pleistocene elements. Wetlands and swamp forests under
a warm climate are represented.
Jingtao Yang, Corentin Jouault, Longfeng Li
et al.
A new praeaulacid genus and species, <i>Azygdellitha nova</i> gen. et sp. nov., is described and illustrated based on a male specimen from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber from Hukawng Valley, Myanmar. This newly discovered taxon increased the diversity of praeaulacid wasps during the Cretaceous period. While this new taxon shares similarities of wing venation with most species of the subfamily Praeaulacinae, it strongly differs from that of three genera previously described from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber: <i>Mesevania</i>, <i>Paleosyncrasis</i>, and <i>Praegastrinus</i>. We explore the possibility that these genera constitute a distinct tribe within the Praeaulacinae, distinguished by their wing venation. We provide illustrations and emphasize the potentially diagnostic traits supporting this classification.
Sadaf Yaghoubi, Ali Reza Ashouri, Majid Mirzaie Ataabadi
et al.
Abstract A mammutid is described here for the first time from the Late Miocene (MN12 equivalent) deposits of Abkhareh village, Varzeghan region, in the North-Western part of Iran. It is identified as “Mammut” cf. obliquelophus and is represented by an isolated and moderately worn upper third molar with a zygodont crown pattern typical of mammutids. In addition, two upper incisors found associated with the molar and probably belonging to the same individual are assigned as Mammut. The studied material expands the geographic distribution of “Mammut” obliquelophus into Western Asia.
Niklas Hohmann, Joël R. Koelewijn, Peter Burgess
et al.
Abstract Background The fossil record provides the unique opportunity to observe evolution over millions of years, but is known to be incomplete. While incompleteness varies spatially and is hard to estimate for empirical sections, computer simulations of geological processes can be used to examine the effects of the incompleteness in silico. We combine simulations of different modes of evolution (stasis, (un)biased random walks) with deposition of carbonate platforms strata to examine how well the mode of evolution can be recovered from fossil time series, and how test results vary between different positions in the carbonate platform and multiple stratigraphic architectures generated by different sea level curves. Results Stratigraphic architecture and position along an onshore-offshore gradient has only a small influence on the mode of evolution recovered by statistical tests. For simulations of random walks, support for the correct mode decreases with time series length. Visual examination of trait evolution in lineages shows that rather than stratigraphic incompleteness, maximum hiatus duration determines how much fossil time series differ from the original evolutionary process. Gradual directional evolution is more susceptible to stratigraphic effects, turning it into punctuated evolution. In contrast, stasis remains unaffected. Conclusions • Fossil time series favor the recognition of both stasis and complex, punctuated modes of evolution. • Not stratigraphic incompleteness, but the presence of rare, prolonged gaps has the largest effect on trait evolution. This suggests that incomplete sections with regular hiatus frequency and durations can potentially preserve evolutionary history without major biases. Understanding external controls on stratigraphic architectures such as sea level fluctuations is crucial for distinguishing between stratigraphic effects and genuine evolutionary process.
Abstract Modern baleen whales are unique as large-sized filter feeders, but their roles were replicated much earlier by diverse marine reptiles of the Mesozoic. Here, we investigate convergence in skull morphology between modern baleen whales and one of the earliest marine reptiles, the basal ichthyosauromorph Hupehsuchus nanchangensis, from the Early Triassic, a time of rapid recovery of life following profound mass extinction. Two new specimens reveal the skull morphology especially in dorsal view. The snout of Hupehsuchus is highly convergent with modern baleen whales, as shown in a morphometric analysis including 130 modern aquatic amniotes. Convergences in the snout include the unfused upper jaw, specialized intermediate space in the divided premaxilla and grooves around the labial margin. Hupehsuchus had enlarged its buccal cavity to enable efficient filter feeding and probably used soft tissues like baleen to expel the water from the oral cavity. Coordinated with the rigid trunk and pachyostotic ribs suggests low speeds of aquatic locomotion, Hupehsuchus probably employed continuous ram filter feeding as in extant bowhead and right whales. The Early Triassic palaeoenvironment of a restrictive lagoon with low productivity drove Hupehsuchus to feed on zooplankton, which facilitated ecosystem recovery in the Nanzhang-Yuan’an Fauna at the beginning of the Mesozoic.
Gabriel Teofilo-Guedes, Márcio Luiz da Silva, Fernanda Aparecida Leonardi
et al.
Paleontology is an attractive science field, whose study object, the fossils, possesses a high potential to get the public attention. Fossils curation, on its turn, requires a detailed technical process, since its collection at the field. Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of South of Minas Gerais – IFSULDEMINAS, Campus Inconfidentes participated in an educational field trip in november 2016, for collecting fossils, developed by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, receiving the donation of around 60 specimens. Then, considering the urgency of a curatorial procedure for the safeguard of such material, we carried out this study aiming to create the fossils exposition of the IFSULDEMINAS Natural History Museum, Inconfidentes municipality, SE Minas Gerais state, Brazil. For that purpose, we have been preparing the fossils, from 2018 july to now, with adapted tools such as those used by dentists, removing the overarching rock matrix from the specimens with adapted tools, attributed them tomb numbers and exposed them in the Natural History Museum, with informative textual and graphic material. Over 40 specimens were prepared, cataloged and exposed so far, and the exposition is already receiving visitors. In future actions, we intend to implement technologies which will improve both the teaching-learning process and specimens safeguard.
Neopterygii is the largest clade of ray-finned fishes, including Teleostei, Holostei, and their closely related fossil taxa. This clade was first documented in the Early Carboniferous and underwent rapid evolutionary radiation during the Early to Middle Triassic. This article describes a new perleidid neopterygian species, Teffichthys elegans sp. nov., based on 13 well-preserved specimens from the lower Daye Formation (Dienerian, Induan) in Guizhou, China. The new species documents one of the oldest perleidids, providing insights into the early diversification of this family. The results of a phylogenetic analysis recover Teffichthys elegans sp. nov. as the sister taxon to Teffichthys madagascariensis within the Perleididae. T. elegans sp. nov. shares three derived features of Perleididae: the length of the anteroventral margin of the dermohyal nearly half the length of the anterodorsal margin of the preopercle; the anteroventral margin of the preopercle nearly equal to the anterior margin of the subopercle in length; and the anteroventral margin of the preopercle one to two times as long as the anterodorsal margin of the preopercle. It possesses diagnostic features of Teffichthys but differs from T. madagascariensis by the following features: presence of three supraorbitals; six pairs of branchiostegal rays; relatively deep anterodorsal process of subopercle; absence of spine on the posterior margin of the jugal; and pterygial formula of D26/P14, A22, C36/T39-41. The Perleidiformes are restricted to include only the Perleididae, and other previously alleged ‘perleidiform’ families (e.g., Hydropessidae and Gabanellidae) are excluded to maintain the monophyly of the order. Similar to many other perleidids, T. elegans sp. nov. was likely a durophagous predator with dentition combining grasping and crushing morphologies. The new finding also may indicate a relatively complex trophic structure of the Early Triassic marine ecosystem in South China.
Ultra-low permeable reservoirs are considered unconventional reservoirs with a permeability of less than two mD. Thereby, oil production by conventional techniques has some problems and challenges rather than other types of reservoirs. This paper aimed to experimentally investigate different injectivity scenarios such as water alternating gas injection, surfactant flooding (anionic and cationic surfactants), and carbon dioxide injection both as continuous and cyclic, and carbonated water injection. To do this, surfactant and carbon dioxide concentration should be optimized first to provide efficient results. According to the results of this study, LABSA (linear alkylbenzene sulfonic acid) and CTAB (cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide) have their optimum concentration at 300 and 350 ppm, which is indicated that after this concentration, there is no significant alteration in IFT (Interfacial tension) The maximum oil recovery factor for LASBA and CTAB is 46 and 42%, respectively. 750 mg/L of CO2 has provided the highest oil recovery (54.5%), and by the increase of CO2 concentration, there is no significant change in oil production. The maximum oil recovery increase by a surfactant (LABSA), continuous CO2 injection, cyclic CO2 injection, water alternating gas injection, and carbonated water (CW) injection is about 15%, 24.5%, 30%, 27%, and 34%, respectively. The highest oil recovery factor for secondary CW injection and CW after brine injection is about 68% and 63%, which indicated the proper efficiency of secondary CW injection in ultra-low permeable reservoirs.
La conservación preventiva de los bienes patrimoniales estuvo inicialmente asociada a las variables ambientales de los museos que los custodiaban. Las colecciones paleontológicas, si bien menos susceptibles que otras colecciones biológicas, no son ajenas a esta problemática; sin embargo, la comunidad científica ha sido muchas veces reticente a esta realidad. A partir de la década de 1970, diversas instituciones del Reino Unido, Estados Unidos de América, Canadá y algunos países europeos dieron impulso a esta temática; publicaron numerosas contribuciones que trataron en detalle las causas y las formas de mitigación de los daños potenciales a los ejemplares fósiles y, en años recientes, incluyeron técnicas espectroscópicas (no invasivas) a casos de estudio. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo sintetizar el conocimiento de los factores ambientales que representan un riesgo para las colecciones paleontológicas, una temática cuyo abordaje, como parte de la conservación preventiva, es incipiente en nuestro país.
Jin-Young Park, Yuong-Nam Lee, Philip J. Currie
et al.
Abstract A new articulated postcranial specimen of an indeterminate ankylosaurid dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous (middle-upper Campanian) Baruungoyot Formation from Hermiin Tsav, southern Gobi Desert, Mongolia includes twelve dorsal vertebrae, ribs, pectoral girdles, forelimbs, pelvic girdles, hind limbs, and free osteoderms. The new specimen shows that Asian ankylosaurids evolved rigid bodies with a decreased number of pedal phalanges. It also implies that there were at least two forms of flank armor within Ankylosauridae, one with spine-like osteoderms and the other with keeled rhomboidal osteoderms. Unique anatomical features related to digging are present in Ankylosauridae, such as dorsoventrally flattened and fusiform body shapes, extensively fused series of vertebrae, anteroposteriorly broadened dorsal ribs, a robust humerus with a well-developed deltopectoral crest, a short robust ulna with a well-developed olecranon process, a trowel-like manus, and decreased numbers of pedal phalanges. Although not fossorial, ankylosaurids were likely able to dig the substrate, taking advantage of it for self-defence and survival.
Jennifer Reinecke, Kseniia Ashastina, Frank Kienast
et al.
Abstract The Siberian mammoth steppe ecosystem changed dramatically with the disappearance of large grazers in the Holocene. The concept of Pleistocene rewilding is based on the idea that large herbivore grazing significantly alters plant communities and can be employed to recreate lost ecosystems. On the other hand, modern rangeland ecology emphasizes the often overriding importance of harsh climates. We visited two rewilding projects and three rangeland regions, sampling a total of 210 vegetation relevés in steppe and surrounding vegetation (grasslands, shrublands and forests) along an extensive climatic gradient across Yakutia, Russia. We analyzed species composition, plant traits, diversity indices and vegetation productivity, using partial canonical correspondence and redundancy analysis. Macroclimate was most important for vegetation composition, and microclimate for the occurrence of extrazonal steppes. Macroclimate and soil conditions mainly determined productivity of vegetation. Bison grazing was responsible for small-scale changes in vegetation through trampling, wallowing and debarking, thus creating more open and disturbed plant communities, soil compaction and xerophytization. However, the magnitude of effects depended on density and type of grazers as well as on interactions with climate and site conditions. Effects of bison grazing were strongest in the continental climate of Central Yakutia, and steppes were generally less affected than meadows. We conclude that contemporary grazing overall has rather limited effects on vegetation in northeastern Siberia. Current rewilding practices are still far from recreating a mammoth steppe, although large herbivores like bison can create more open and drier vegetation and increase nutrient availability in particular in the more continental Central Yakutian Plain.
Citation for this article: Villa, A., R. Kosma, A. Čerňanský, and M. Delfino. 2018. Taxonomic assessment of ‘Bavaricordylus’ Kosma, 2004 (Reptilia, Squamata). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2018.1487844.
The paper features the materials of a simultaneouse complex unique for Azak dated the 1st half of the 15th century. Its dating is thoroughly substantiated. The ceramics from the site in question is mainly represented by the 1st group of products crafted by local potters, imported Trebizond amphoras and East Crimean glazed ceramics. The authors make suggestions concerning the method of analysis of statistical data on mass ceramic material. This work is the first step in the study of the period of Azaq’s existence after 1395, known from written and numismatic sources, but previously absent in archaeological materials.
Two recent sea-going expeditions showed that mud diapirism is a common feature in the accretionary wedge of the Mediterranean Ridge, but unlike in other prisms, it is well expressed exclusively in the most elevated areas of the Ridge. Three diapiric fields were discovered on the Mediterranean Ridge and informally called, from west to east, Pan di Zucchero, Prometheus 2 and Olimpi. They are located on the crestal part of the Mediterranean Ridge between Creta and the Cirenaic Promontory. Sedimentological, micropaleontological, and mineralogic investigations were performed on the mud breccia recovered in 15 cores raised during cruises BAN88 and BAN89. The sedimentological analyses allowed to recognize several sedimentary facies which are suggestive of different emplacement processes: 1) three massive facies are indicative of intrusion; 2) three organized facies are indicative of submarine extrusion and probably reworking. The micropaleontological study based on planktonic foraminifera and calcareous nannofossils provided an Oligocene age for the source sediments and/or for the sediments possibly involved in the diapiric processes of the Pan di Zucchero, and an Early Miocene age for the Olimpi and Prometheus 2 fields. No evidence was found of the typical Messinian lithologies, such as dolomite and gypsum, and microfossils ("lago-mare" biofacies). X-ray diffraction analyses allow to identify the major mineralogic component of the mud breccia and a westward decrease in the smectite content. Our investigations reveal that major differences occur between the Pan di Zuccchero and Olimpi areas, whereas minor differences are recorded between the Olimpi and Prometheus 2. Moreover, the Napoli Dome, located in the Olimpi area, differs from the other diapirs in several sedimentological, micropaleontological and mineralogic characters, and is interpreted as a mud volcano.
The Castelgomberto Limestone is a 2OO m thick unit of Early Oligocene age (Rupelian) outcropping in the Eastern Lessini Mountains (Southern Alps of Northern ltaly). The internal cyclic organization of this Oligocene unit is described and analyzed on the basis of four selected sections; about thirteen well-bedded grainstone units alternate with marly horizons rich in corals. This peculiar cyclicity is here interpreted as a response to variations in platform hydrodynamics, i. e. to smaller eustatic fluctuations affecting the Lessini Shelf reef-lagoonal complex. During highstand periods, the shelf was open and relatively deep (20-50 m), and tidal currents and periodic storms were able to distribute bioclastic sands (bars, sand waves and spillovers). During lowstands the shelf was more protected by the occurrence of marginal reefs and was colonized by patches of poritid corals, mainly branching. Moreover, the largely exposed northern areas supplied fine detritus to the shelf itself.
THOMAS DENK, TUNCAY H. GÜNER, ZLATKO KVAČEK
et al.
The early Burdigalian (MN3) plant assemblage of the Güvem area (northwestern Central Anatolia)
is preserved in lacustrine sediments of the Dereköy pyroclastics. Its age is well constrained by radiometric dates
of basaltic rocks bracketing the pyroclastics, making the Güvem flora one of the extremely few precisely dated
early Miocene floras in the Mediterranean region. The rich assemblage of impression fossils comprises ferns and
fern allies (2 species), gymnosperms (12 spp.) and angiosperms (129 spp.). Ilex miodipyrena sp. nov. is described
as a new fossil-species. The most diverse families in the assemblage are the Fagaceae with 12 taxa and the
Fabaceae with 12 leaf morphotypes and one fruit taxon. Aquatic plants are represented by seven taxa, riparian
(including palms) and swamp forest elements by >35 taxa, and lianas by three taxa (Smilax spp., Chaneya).
The relatively large number of aquatic and riparian/swamp elements is congruent with the rich fish, amphibian
and reptile record of the Güvem area. Another characteristic feature of the plant assemblage is the presence of
various lobed leaves which show similarities with modern species of different families (e.g. Alangium, various
Malvales). Trees and shrubs growing on well-drained soils and forming closed-canopy and open-canopy forests
are the most diversified group (>70 taxa). In terms of number of specimens in the collection and based on field
observations, by far the most abundant leaf fossils belong to evergreen oaks of Quercus drymeja and Q. mediterranea
and to various types of foliage that cannot be assigned to a particular extant or extinct genus of Fagaceae.
These sclerophyllous trees must have covered vast areas surrounding the wetlands that developed during the
early Miocene in the Güvem Basin. Based on a recent reassessment of the ecology and taxonomic affinity of these
trees, they are considered to reflect humid temperate climatic conditions but with a brief drier season during the
winter months. These forests are more similar to the laurel forests of the southeastern United States and those
stretching in a narrow belt south of the Himalayas to eastern central China. The large number of Fabaceae may
indicate the presence of warm subtropical environments but this is difficult to assess, as they are known for
having wide ecological ranges today and in the past. All in all, a larger part of the plant taxa point to forested
vegetation. This is in agreement with previous palynological studies which detected only small amounts of herbaceous
and grass pollen. Open patches of vegetation may have been restricted to river banks and to rocky areas
in a volcanic landscape. The biogeographic patterns detected for the early Miocene of the Güvem assemblage are
manifold; most taxa are widespread Northern Hemispheric elements. A substantial part of the species migrated
from Asia into Europe during the (late) Paleogene and reached Anatolia during the early Miocene (Fagus, Paliurus,
Chaneya, Ailanthus, Quercus kubinyii, Davallia haidingeri, Acer angustilobum, A. palaeosaccharinum).
Fewer taxa may have been in Anatolia before they migrated to Europe (e.g. Nerium, Smilax miohavanensis,
Quercus sosnowskyi). Finally, very few taxa are Anatolian endemics (e.g. Ilex miodipyrena).