Descriptive and Comparative Osteology of the Oldest Fossil Squirrel, Protosciurus (Rodentia: Sciuridae)
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Paleoenvironment of the Late Eocene Chadronian-Age Whitehead Creek Locality (Northwestern Nebraska)
St. Cloud State University theRepository at St. Cloud State Culminating Projects in Cultural Resource Management Department of Anthropology 10-2019 Paleoenvironment of the Late Eocene Chadronian-Age Whitehead Creek Locality (Northwestern Nebraska) Samantha Mills Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/crm_etds Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Mills, Samantha, "Paleoenvironment of the Late Eocene Chadronian-Age Whitehead Creek Locality (Northwestern Nebraska)" (2019). Culminating Projects in Cultural Resource Management. 28. https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/crm_etds/28 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Anthropology at theRepository at St. Cloud State. It has been accepted for inclusion in Culminating Projects in Cultural Resource Management by an authorized administrator of theRepository at St. Cloud State. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Paleoenvironment of the Late Eocene Chadronian-Age Whitehead Creek Locality (Northwestern Nebraska) by Samantha M. Mills A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of St. Cloud State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Functional Morphology October, 2019 Thesis Committee: Matthew Tornow, Chairperson Mark Muñiz Bill Cook Tafline Arbor 2 Abstract Toward the end of the Middle Eocene (40-37mya), the environment started to decline on a global scale. It was becoming more arid, the tropical forests were disappearing from the northern latitudes, and there was an increase in seasonality. Research of the Chadronian (37- 33.7mya) in the Great Plains region of North America has documented the persistence of several mammalian taxa (e.g. primates) that are extinct in other parts of North America. -
The Impact of Locomotion on the Brain Evolution of Squirrels and Close Relatives ✉ Ornella C
ARTICLE https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-01887-8 OPEN The impact of locomotion on the brain evolution of squirrels and close relatives ✉ Ornella C. Bertrand 1 , Hans P. Püschel 1, Julia A. Schwab 1, Mary T. Silcox 2 & Stephen L. Brusatte1 How do brain size and proportions relate to ecology and evolutionary history? Here, we use virtual endocasts from 38 extinct and extant rodent species spanning 50+ million years of evolution to assess the impact of locomotion, body mass, and phylogeny on the size of the brain, olfactory bulbs, petrosal lobules, and neocortex. We find that body mass and phylogeny are highly correlated with relative brain and brain component size, and that locomotion strongly influences brain, petrosal lobule, and neocortical sizes. Notably, species living in 1234567890():,; trees have greater relative overall brain, petrosal lobule, and neocortical sizes compared to other locomotor categories, especially fossorial taxa. Across millions of years of Eocene- Recent environmental change, arboreality played a major role in the early evolution of squirrels and closely related aplodontiids, promoting the expansion of the neocortex and petrosal lobules. Fossoriality in aplodontiids had an opposing effect by reducing the need for large brains. 1 School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Grant Institute, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. 2 Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto Scarborough, ✉ Toronto, ON, Canada. email: [email protected] COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY | (2021) 4:460 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-01887-8 | www.nature.com/commsbio 1 ARTICLE COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-01887-8 hat ecological and evolutionary factors affect brain size striking differences between living sciurids and aplodontiids raise in mammals? Studies have assessed the impact of the question of how this modern rodent assemblage emerged. -
Mammals from the Earliest Uintan (Middle Eocene) Turtle Bluff Member, Bridger Formation, Southwestern Wyoming, USA, Part 1: Primates and Rodentia
Palaeontologia Electronica palaeo-electronica.org Mammals from the earliest Uintan (middle Eocene) Turtle Bluff Member, Bridger Formation, southwestern Wyoming, USA, Part 1: Primates and Rodentia Thomas S. Kelly and Paul C. Murphey ABSTRACT The Turtle Bluff Member (TBM) is the stratotype section for the earliest Uintan bio- chron, Ui1a, of the middle Eocene Uintan North American Land Mammal age. For more than a century, the TBM had yielded only a few fragmentary specimens. As the result of many years of field work, numerous mammal fossils have now been recov- ered and provide an unprecedented opportunity to better define this poorly known interval. This is the first in a series of papers that provide detailed descriptions and tax- onomic revisions of the fauna of the TBM. Here we document the occurrence of the fol- lowing taxa in the TBM: Uintasorex parvulus; Microsyops annectans; Notharctus robustior; Omomys carteri; Trogolemur myodes; Washakius insignis; Thisbemys corru- gatus; Microparamys minutus; Microparamys sp.; Sciuravus nitidus; Tillomys senex; Tillomys? parvidens; Taxymys lucaris; Pauromys sp., cf. P. perdit us ; three informal sci- uravid species (sp. A, B and C); cf. Pareumys sp.; Metanoiamys sp.; and Elymys? emryi new species. Except for the previously described Hemiacodon engardae, all of the primates from the TBM are holdover taxa from the earlier Bridgerian Land Mammal age, whereas the rodents exhibit a modest diversification during the earliest Uintan. Elymys? emryi and four additional informal rodent species (Microparamys sp., sci- uravid sp. A, cf. Pareumys sp., and Metanoiamys sp.) make their appearances in the TBM and, as such, can be added to the list of index species characterizing biochron Ui1a. -
Table of Contents
Table of Contents NAPC Organizing Committee.................................................................................................. page 2 General Information.................................................................................................................... page 3 Map................................................................................................................................................. page 4 Program Schedule........................................................................................................................ page 5-28 Special Events Calendar.................................................................................................................. page 29 Notes................................................................................................................................................. page 30-34 10th North American Paleontological Convention 1 Organizing Committee NAPC Organizing Committee NAPC Student Organizing Committee Michal Kowalewski, Chair | Florida Museum of Natural History Sarah Allen Troy Dexter, Associate Chair | Florida Museum of Natural History D.J. Douglas Barry Albright | University of Northern Florida Sahale Casebolt Richard Aronson | Florida Institute of Technology Paul Morse Jonathan Bloch | Florida Museum of Natural History Jon Bryan | Northwest Florida State College Laurel Collins | Florida International University Peter Harries | University of South Florida Austin Hendy | Florida Museum of Natural History Greg Herbert -
Messel Pit – Wikipedia Germany
03/08/2018 Messel pit - Wikipedia Coordinates: 49°55′03″N 8°45′24″E Messel pit The Messel Pit (German: Grube Messel) is a disused quarry near the Messel Pit Fossil Site village of Messel, (Landkreis Darmstadt-Dieburg, Hesse) about 35 km (22 mi) southeast of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Bituminous shale UNESCO World Heritage site was mined there. Because of its abundance of fossils, it has significant geological and scientific importance. After almost becoming a landfill, strong local resistance eventually stopped these plans and the Messel Pit was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site on 9 December 1995. Significant scientific discoveries are still being made and the site has increasingly become a tourist site as well. Contents Location Darmstadt-Dieburg, History Hesse, Germany Depositional characteristics Criteria Natural: (viii) Volcanic gas releases Reference 720bis (http://whc.unesco. Fossils org/en/list/720bis) Mammals Inscription 1995 (19th Session) Birds Reptiles Extensions 2010 Fish Area 42 ha (4,500,000 sq ft) Insects Plants Buffer zone 22.5 ha (2,420,000 sq ft) Access Coordinates 49°55′03″N 8°45′24″E See also References External links History Brown coal and later oil shale was actively mined from 1859. The pit first became known for its wealth of fossils around 1900, but serious scientific excavation only started around the 1970s, when falling oil prices made the quarry uneconomical. Commercial oil shale mining ceased in 1971 and a cement factory built in the quarry failed the following year. The land was slotted for use as a landfill, but the plans came to nought and the Hessian state bought the site in 1991 to secure scientific access. -
2014BOYDANDWELSH.Pdf
Proceedings of the 10th Conference on Fossil Resources Rapid City, SD May 2014 Dakoterra Vol. 6:124–147 ARTICLE DESCRIPTION OF AN EARLIEST ORELLAN FAUNA FROM BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK, INTERIOR, SOUTH DAKOTA AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE STRATIGRAPHIC POSITION OF THE BLOOM BASIN LIMESTONE BED CLINT A. BOYD1 AND ED WELSH2 1Department of Geology and Geologic Engineering, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, South Dakota 57701 U.S.A., [email protected]; 2Division of Resource Management, Badlands National Park, Interior, South Dakota 57750 U.S.A., [email protected] ABSTRACT—Three new vertebrate localities are reported from within the Bloom Basin of the North Unit of Badlands National Park, Interior, South Dakota. These sites were discovered during paleontological surveys and monitoring of the park’s boundary fence construction activities. This report focuses on a new fauna recovered from one of these localities (BADL-LOC-0293) that is designated the Bloom Basin local fauna. This locality is situated approximately three meters below the Bloom Basin limestone bed, a geographically restricted strati- graphic unit only present within the Bloom Basin. Previous researchers have placed the Bloom Basin limestone bed at the contact between the Chadron and Brule formations. Given the unconformity known to occur between these formations in South Dakota, the recovery of a Chadronian (Late Eocene) fauna was expected from this locality. However, detailed collection and examination of fossils from BADL-LOC-0293 reveals an abundance of specimens referable to the characteristic Orellan taxa Hypertragulus calcaratus and Leptomeryx evansi. This fauna also includes new records for the taxa Adjidaumo lophatus and Brachygaulus, a biostratigraphic verifica- tion for the biochronologically ambiguous taxon Megaleptictis, and the possible presence of new leporid and hypertragulid taxa. -
Mammalian Faunal Turnover Across the Paleocene-Eocene Boundary in NW Europe: the Roles of Displacement, Com- Munity Evolution and Environment______
of CLIMATE & BIOTA the EARLY PALEOGENE Austrian Journal of Earth Sciences Volume 105/1 Vienna 2012 Mammalian faunal turnover across the Paleocene-Eocene boundary in NW Europe: the roles of displacement, com- munity evolution and environment__________________________ Jerry J. HOOKER1)*) & Margaret E. COLLINSON2) KEYWORDS Ecological diversity 1) Department of Palaeontology, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK; plant fossils 2) Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK; understorey extinction *) Corresponding author, [email protected] predation Abstract Improved knowledge of the diversity of Late Paleocene mammal faunas of NW Europe indicates a higher level of turnover at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary than previously recognized. Possible causes of the large number of extinctions in Europe are inves- tigated through ecological diversity analysis of the mammals and the plant fossil record. Predation by incoming ground- and tree- dwelling specialized carnivores has been previously considered the main cause of the extinctions. However, the preferential extinc- tion of small terrestrial and semiterrestrial insectivore-frugivores, (mainly stem macroscelideans and multituberculates), which are inferred to have inhabited forests with dense understorey in the Paleocene, is also linked to the arrival in Europe of a new ecolo- gical type, the large terrestrial browsing herbivore, namely the pantodont Coryphodon, which would have reduced understorey by feeding and physical disturbance. It is suggested that there was a delay in community evolution in Europe, which in North America had previously produced large herbivorous and specialized carnivorous types. The cause of the delay may have been the persis- tence throughout the Paleocene in Europe of thermophilic evergreen forests despite the cooling in the middle of the epoch. -
Proceedings of the Tenth Conference on Fossil Resources May 13-15, 2014 Rapid City, South Dakota
PROCEEDINGS OF THE TENTH CONFERENCE ON FOSSIL RESOURCES May 13-15, 2014 Rapid City, South Dakota Edited by Vincent L. Santucci, Gregory A. Liggett, Barbara A. Beasley, H. Gregory McDonald and Justin Tweet Dakoterra Vol. 6 Eocene-Oligocene rocks in Badlands National Park, South Dakoata. Table of Contents Dedication ....................................................................................8 Introduction ..................................................................................9 Presentation Abstracts *Preserving THE PYGMY MAMMOTH: TWENTY YEARS OF collaboration BETWEEN CHANNEL ISLANDS National PARK AND THE MAMMOTH SITE OF HOT SPRINGS, S. D., INC. LARRY D. AGENBROAD, MONICA M. BUGBEE, DON P. MORRIS and W. JUSTIN WILKINS .......................10 PERMITS AND PALEONTOLOGY ON BLM COLORADO: RESULTS FROM 2009 TO 2013 HARLEY J. ARMSTRONG .....................................................................................................................................10 DEVIL’S COULEE DINOSAUR EGG SITE AND THE WILLOW CREEK HOODOOS: HOW SITE VARIABLES INFLUENCE DECISIONS MADE REGARDING PUBLIC ACCESS AND USE AT TWO DESIGNATED PROVINCIAL HISTORIC SITES IN ALBERTA, CANADA JENNIFER M. BANCESCU ...................................................................................................................................12 USDA FOREST SERVICE PALEONTOLOGY PASSPORT IN TIME PROGRAM: COST EFFECTIVE WAY TO GET FEDERAL PALEONTOLOGY PROJECTS COMPLETED BARBARA A. BEASLEY and SALLY SHELTON ...................................................................................................17 -
The First Eocene Rodents from the Pacific Northwest, USA
Palaeontologia Electronica palaeo-electronica.org The first Eocene rodents from the Pacific Northwest, USA Joshua X. Samuels and William W. Korth ABSTRACT The Oligocene and Miocene faunas of the John Day Basin are diverse and very well-studied, including a large number of small mammal species. Though Eocene floras from Oregon are well-known, Eocene faunas include relatively few taxa from only two described localities in the Clarno area. The first Eocene rodents from the John Day Basin also include the first ischyromyids from the Pacific Northwest. Several rodent incisors were recovered from the Hancock Mammal Quarry at Clarno, repre- senting the first rodent specimens known from the Clarno Formation. The Hancock Mammal Quarry lies between tuffs dated 42.7 and 39.22 Ma, meaning these rodents are latest Uintan or earliest Duchesnean in age. Several ischyromyids are also described from the Big Basin Member of the John Day Formation. From a Duchesnean locality between tuffs dated 39.22 and 38.4 Ma a single tooth of Pseudotomus was recovered, which is as large as any known ischyromyid. Another Big Basin Member site yielded a new genus and species of ischyromyid. That site lies above an ash dated 36.21 Ma and biostratigraphy confirms a Chadronian age. These rodents help fill important gaps in the fossil record of the John Day Basin and will facilitate comparisons with other Eocene sites in North America and Asia. Joshua X. Samuels. East Tennessee State University, Department of Geosciences and Museum of Natural History, Johnson City, Tennessee, 37614, [email protected] William W. Korth. -
Eight Little Piggies
Eight Little Piggies ELP 1. Unenchanted Evening ............................................................................................ 1 ELP 2. The Golden Rule: A Proper Scale for Our Environmental Crisis ........................... 3 ELP 3. Losing a Limpet ...................................................................................................... 5 ELP 4. Eight Little Piggies ................................................................................................ 5 ELP 5. Bent Out of Shape ................................................................................................... 7 ELP 6. An Earful of Jaw ..................................................................................................... 8 ELP 7. Full of Hot Air ...................................................................................................... 10 ELP 8: Men of the Thirty-Third Division: An Essay on Integrity .................................... 11 ELP 9. Darwin and Paley Meet the Invisible Hand .......................................................... 12 ELP 10. More Light on Leaves ......................................................................................... 14 ELP 11. On Rereading Edmund Halley ............................................................................ 15 ELP 12. Fall in the House of Ussher................................................................................. 16 ELP 13. Muller Bros. Moving & Storage ........................................................................ -
Silcoxcv Nov 2019
Date of Revision 12 November 2019 Curriculum Vitae: Mary T. Silcox A. BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION 1. PERSONAL Name: Mary T. Silcox Birth Date: December 25, 1972 Home address: 50-1850 Kingston Rd., Pickering ON L1V0A2 Home phone: 905-239-5169 University address: Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Scarborough, ON M1C1A4 Office phone: (416) 208-5132 (HL 314); (416) 208-2791 (AA 430) Office fax: (416) 287-7283 E-mail: [email protected] 2. DEGREES PhD 2001 Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Functional Anatomy and Evolution Program A Phylogenetic Analysis of Plesiadapiformes and their Relationship to Euprimates and other Archontans. (Supervisor: Dr. Kenneth D. Rose) BSc 1995 University of Toronto, Double major in Anthropology and Zoology (High distinction) 3. EMPLOYMENT University of Toronto Scarborough, Department of Anthropology (from July 1st, 2012-present) Department of Social Sciences (July 1 2010 to July 1 2012) Full Professor 2018-present Associate Professor 2013- 2018 Assistant Professor 2010-2013 Vice Dean Graduate, UTSC 2016-present University of Toronto, Department of Anthropology, Graduate faculty (from July 1, 2010) Granted tenure effective July 1, 2013; promoted to Full Professor effective July 1, 2018 University of Winnipeg, Department of Anthropology Associate Professor 2006-2010 Assistant Professor 2002-2006 Granted tenure effective July 1 2006 University of Saskatchewan, Department of Geological Sciences Stipendiary lecturer, 2009 (invited to offer a one week intensive course on Vertebrate Palaeontology for students in the Paleobiology program) Pennsylvania State University, Department of Anthropology Research assistant/Postdoctoral fellow to Dr. Alan C. Walker 2000-2002 1 4. -
DSA10 Heissig
Kurt Heissig Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, München Origin and early dispersal of the squirrels and their relatives Heissig, K., 2003 - Origin and early dispersal of the squirrels and their relatives - in: Reumer, J.W.F. & Wessels, W. (eds.) - DISTRIBUTION AND MIGRATION OF TERTIARY MAMMALS IN EURASIA. A VOLUME IN HONOUR OF HANS DE BRUIJN - DEINSEA 10: 277-286 [ISSN 0923-9308] Published 1 December 2003 The first appearances of squirrels and aplodontids in both Europe and North America point to an unknown origin in between both continents. More recent analyses of the tectonic history of the North Atlantic and Arctic ocean basins are consistent with the hypothesis, that an exchange between both sides of the Atlantic has been possible at least until the early Oligocene, the time of origin of both groups. The long lasting isolation of Northern Europe from both the southern parts of the continent and Asia gives enough room for the assumption of a separate evolutionary centre. Correspondence: Kurt Heissig, Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, D-80333 München, e-mail: [email protected] Keywords: Sciuridae, Aplodontidae, Paleobiogeography, North Atlantic, Paleogene INTRODUCTION known origin. To get an idea in which of the Squirrels (Sciuridae GRAY, 1821) are a empty spots on our paleobiogeographic map holarctic rodent group, appearing first in we should look for the origin of squirrels and Europe as immigrants of the Grande Coupure aplodontids, we have first to analyse the at the beginning of the Lower Oligocene relationships of both families to one another together with the probably related and with more or less similar isolated genera.