- Neoceti Symposium, Saturday 8:45
- acid-prepared osteolepiforms Medoevia and Gogonasus has offered strong support for
Jarvik’s interpretation, but Eusthenopteron itself has not been reexamined in detail. Uncertainty has persisted about the relationship between the large endoskeletal “fenestra endochoanalis” and the apparently much smaller choana, and about the occlusion of upper and lower jaw fangs relative to the choana.
A CT scan investigation of a large skull of Eusthenopteron, carried out in collaboration with University of Texas and Parc de Miguasha, offers an opportunity to image and digitally “dissect” a complete three-dimensional snout region. We find that a choana is indeed present, somewhat narrower but otherwise similar to that described by Jarvik. It does not receive the anterior coronoid fang, which bites mesial to the edge of the dermopalatine and is received by a pit in that bone. The fenestra endochoanalis is partly floored by the vomer and the dermopalatine, restricting the choana to the lateral part of the fenestra. The nasal cavity is proportionately much shorter than in Jarvik’s reconstruction, possibly because the latter was based on two specimens that were incorrectly aligned.
BODY SIZE AND CRYPTIC TROPHIC SEPARATION OF GENERALIZED PIERCE-FEEDING CETACEANS: THE ROLE OF FEEDING DIVERSITY DUR- ING THE RISE OF THE NEOCETI
ADAM, Peter, Univ. of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA; JETT, Kristin, Univ. of California, Davis, Davis, CA; OLSON, Joshua, Univ. of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA Marine mammals with homodont dentition and relatively little specialization of the feeding apparatus are often categorized as generalist eaters of squid and fish. However, analyses of many modern ecosystems reveal the importance of body size in determining trophic partitioning and diversity among predators. We established relationships between body sizes of extant cetaceans and their prey in order to infer prey size and potential trophic separation of generalized fossil cetaceans. Methods for predicting body size of fossil taxa from three occipital measures (bicondylar breadth; foramen magnum and occipital condyle areas) were also developed using allometric models determined from measurements made on >2500 skulls representing all extant species. Models for body size prediction were confirmed for numerous fossil taxa with well-preserved axial postcrania. Enhanced by inclusion of additional parameters describing the feeding apparatus (tooth density; tooth row length and position; rostrum length/breadth; tooth cross-sectional area and eccentricity as measured at the enamel-dentine juncture), body size was found to be a useful predictor of prey size in generalized cetaceans. We used body size and these other parameters to infer trophic roles for a large number of Oligocene and Miocene cetaceans with unspecialized feeding anatomy. Overall, trophic diversity of generalized cetaceans was low in the Oligocene, but increased dramatically in the Middle-Late Miocene and later. This transition marks the extinction of squalodontids and other pre-neocete lineages and rise and diversification of the Neoceti, and superficially suggests that the Neoceti competitively displaced its ancestors. However, major changes in oceanographic conditions (including latitudinal stratification of oceans and increased coastal upwelling) and changes in the prey base utilized by cetaceans were also occurring during this time, rendering simple competitive scenarios for this transition untenable. We suggest that numerous factors played a role in the rise and diversification of the Neoceti, but their adaptability to changing environmental conditions was a major factor accounting for their success.
Poster Session III
THE DICROSTONYX PARADOX, NEW EVIDENCE FROM A 40,000 YBP MICRO- FAUNA, JAGUAR CAVE EASTERN IDAHO
AKERSTEN, William, Idaho State Univ., Pocatello, ID All modern Dicrostonyx are well adapted to arctic tundra conditions; consequently, Pleistocene occurrences have been viewed as definitive evidence of past tundra conditions and disharmonious associations. A few have suggested that the evidence is more compatible with a change in the ecological requirements of Dicrostonyx. A very fossiliferous 160 cm section recently excavated in 20 cm increments from Jaguar Cave at the base of the Beaverhead Mountains dates from 39,120 BP to >48,400 BP. The matrix is comprised of small, interlocking siliceous limestone fragments weakly cemented by loess, very difficult to excavate, which would have all but eliminated mixing of levels. Small numbers of Dicrostonyx groenlandicus occur through most or all of the section (not all levels have yet been completely processed and studied) in disharmonious association with Lemmiscus, other small mammals, and as yet unidentified snakes and lizards. While the mammal association can readily be explained an example of a disharmonious association, the association of snakes and lizards with a supposed tundra form is extremely difficult to explain. The key taxon appears to be Dicrostonyx; its adaptations may be more related to deep snow, not necessarily to tundra conditions. I suggest that its present distribution, allopatric (except for a modest overlap) with the widespread and very adaptable Microtus pennsylvanicus, has resulted from its having been gradually outcompeted by the latter over much of its original range, remaining only in its present tundra refugia. One explanation for the co-occurrence of Dicrostonyx and small reptiles at Jaguar Cave 40,000 years ago is that the winters had fairly deep snows which favored the adaptations of Dicrostonyx, but the summers were relatively warm and long enough for small reptiles to reproduce and obtain adequate food for winter hibernation. My interpretation is that North American Dicrostonyx is an indicator of substantial snow depth but may or may not be an indicator for tundra conditions.
Poster Session III
DYNAMICS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES DURING THE LATE PLEIS- TOCENE IN THE ALTAI MOUNTAINS (RUSSIA, WESTERN SIBERIA) BASED ON MAMMAL AND MOLLUSK DATA FROM PALEOLITHIC ARCHEOLOGI- CAL SITES
AGADJANIAN, Alexandre, Paleontological Institute RAS, Moscow, Russia; KON- DRASHOV, Peter, Northwest Missouri State Univ., Maryville, MO Faunal studies aimed for the reconstruction of the paleoenviroment of the late Pleistocene and its dynamics during the time of prehistoric man were conducted through the analysis of extant biota and through the study of the fossil biota including mollusks, birds, and mammals from the deposits of the Paleolithic archeological sites. Nine major extant plant associations, each with its specific mammal and mollusk fauna, were identified. The most typical existing association in the northwestern Altai Mountains is the taiga with scattered alpine and steppe elements. Extinct communities of mammals, birds and mollusks in the Altai Mountains went through significant faunal changes during the late PleistoceneHolocene. Most of the biotic changes were caused by climate, but some could have resulted from the influence of prehistoric man. Climatic changes caused abrupt decrease of the nival and steppe elements in the biota and increase in the number of taiga species. Despite these changes many species survived the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. Presence of Siberian species in both extinct and extant Altai faunas indicates that changes in the ecological composition of the paleocommunities occurred in otherwise zoogeographically stable environment. Changes in the composition of the biota of the studied region occurred through the “recruitment” of taxa from other regions of Altai Mountains and adjacent territories. Using a combined approach and including such groups as mollusks in the analysis allowed us to confirm and more precisely describe the dynamics of the paleoenvironmental changes in the late Pleistocene and Holocene. Number of bones of small and large mammals as well as the number of Paleolithic artifacts showed that prehistoric man had an important influence on the paleoenviroment of the ecosystems of the Altai Mountains. Previously conducted studies show that prehistoric man occupied the niche of a “large carnivore”. It was documented that prehistoric man were eliminating part of the ungulate population and were competing with such carnivores as the cave bear and cave hyena.
Marine Reptiles Symposium, Wednesday 2:00
AN UPDATE ON NEW MARINE REPTILES FROM THE TROPIC SHALE OF SOUTHERN UTAH
ALBRIGHT, L., Univ. of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL; GILLETTE, David, Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, AZ; TITUS, Alan, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Kanab, UT Fieldwork conducted in the Tropic Shale of southern Utah, ongoing since 2000, has resulted in the recovery of several specimens of short-necked plesiosaurs representing both the Polycotylidae and the Pliosauridae. Although these specimens have been reported in previous abstracts, completion of our studies has resulted in revised conclusions. Of three different polycotylids recovered, it has been determined that two represent new taxa. In addition to the known Trinacromerum bentonianum, one of the new taxa appears to share a sister taxon relationship with the late Santonian/early Campanian Polycotylus latipinnus. The second new taxon, together with new unnamed taxa from the late Cenomanian of South Dakota and Japan, represents a new clade of polycotylids based primarily on the distinctive morphology of certain paddle elements. Representing the Pliosauridae are two new specimens of Brachauchenius lucasi, both of which include skull material and one of which includes pectoral and pelvic elements previously unknown for this taxon. Although the Late Cretaceous Cenomanian/Turonian Stage boundary falls within the lower part of this unit, all but one of the specimens was found in lower Turonian strata based on molluscan assemblages found in direct association with the skeletal material. The Turonian plesiosaur fauna of the Tropic Shale, and consequently the large vertebrate fauna of the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway, is considerably more diverse than previously realized. There is no indication that this fauna suffered any negative consequences as a result of global scale oceanographic events, including marine extinctions, that transpired during late Cenomanian-early Turonian time.
Saturday 9:15
CT SCANNING THE NOSE OF EUSTHENOPTERON
AHLBERG, Per, Uppsala Univ., Uppsala, Sweden Historically, the debate about the origin of the tetrapod choana has focused substantially on a single taxon, the osteolepiform lobe-finned fish Eusthenopteron foordi from the Late Devonian of Miguasha, Quebec. A three-dimensional skull of this fish was described exhaustively by Jarvik from a grinding series, arguably making it the best understood of all Devonian vertebrates. Nevertheless, Jarvik’s description of a tetrapod-like choana in Eusthenopteron was challenged head-on in 1981 by Rosen et al., who claimed that Jarvik had exaggerated the size of the supposed internal nostril, and that this opening was really a fang pit receiving the tip of the anterior coronoid fang. More recently, evidence from the
Romer Prize Session, Thursday 8:00
A NOVEL APPROACH TO RESOLVE BASAL CROCODYLOMORPH SYSTEM- ATICS
ALLEN, David, DeKalb, IL Modern crocodilians are crurotarsan archosaurs called crocodylomorphs. The basal-most genera belonged to subgroups Sphenosuchia and Protosuchia. In contrast to extant semi-
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JVP 26(3) September 2006—ABSTRACTS
aquatic sprawling crocodilians, sphenosuchians and protosuchians lived mainly in terrestrial settings and had more erect limbs. Over the past twenty years researchers have attempted to resolve phylogenetic relationships within and between these groups. Many analyses suffered from poor preservation of specimens and a bias towards the study of cranial compared to postcranial features. The monophyly of Sphenosuchia and Protosuchia is questioned because of weak support. New character-taxon matrices are often produced by adding a small number of novel characters to portions of pre-existing datasets, giving new and larger matrices. This study investigates the systematic relationships between Sphenosuchia and Protosuchia and within each of these groups. To achieve this goal, a supermatrix has been compiled containing sphenosuchian and protosuchian genera with both novel and published characters. One of the limitations of a supermatrix approach is the great quantity of missing data encountered as a result of inapplicable characters and incomplete specimens. To avoid this, a novel analytical method named the supermatrix-supertree method, is introduced. In this approach a supermatrix is subdivided into a series of submatrices based on which body region each character applies to. Genera only represented by skulls can still be included without requiring lots of missing data. Each submatrix is treated as a separate analysis and resultant most parsimonious trees form the basis of a supertree analysis to combine the partially overlapping trees into a single phylogeny. This novel approach emphasizes the positive aspects of fossil specimens by focusing on preserved bones, thereby reducing the negative effects of missing data and avoiding the exclusion of poorly represented genera. My analyses show that suites of regional cranial and postcranial characters are not bound to agree regarding the monophyly of these groups. However, any conflicting phylogenetic signals are reconciled by the supertree building process.
Poster Session II
NEWLY DISCOVERED PARTIAL CRANIUM OF ACRITOPARAMYS FRANCESCI (RODENTIA: ISCHYROMYIDAE) FROM THE BIGHORN BASIN, WYOMING SUPPORTS A CHANGE IN CLASSIFICATION TO THE SUBFAMILY PARAMYI- NAE
ANDERSON, Deborah, St. Norbert College, De Pere, WI Acritoparamys francesci is one of the earliest known members of the family Ischyromyidae, its fossil record beginning in the Early Eocene (55.5 MA). Originally classified in the subfamily Paramyinae, the genus was moved to the Reithroparamyinae based primarily on characteristics of the molar crown pattern and anterior position (level with middle of P4) of the posterior aspect of the anterior root of the zygoma. Recent discovery of a partial cranium of Acritoparamys francesci from the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming is the basis for a more complete analysis of the evolutionary relationships and taxonomic status of the genus. The specimen includes a complete set of left molars (dP3-M3) associated with the partial cranium, and the right P4 and M1 on a maxillary fragment, as well as two nearly complete mandibles with all molars in situ. This is the first reported M3 known for the species. Qualitative features of the cranium were compared to other skulls known for the subfamily Reithroparamyinae and Paramyinae. The M3 was described in detail; other molars were similar to those found in previously described specimens. Cranial features found to be distinct from other members of the subfamily Reithroparamyinae include the curved maxillapremaxilla, large angle of the anterior face of the zygoma, a rounded piece of maxilla separating premaxilla from the orbit, posterior aspect of orbit broad and rounded instead of angular, relatively large infraorbital foramen, and posterior margin of anterior part of the zygomatic arch in line with anteroloph of M1. In each case, the skull more closely resembles those known for the Subfamily Paramyinae, supporting reclassification to this taxon.
Saturday 2:00
A REVISED QUANTITATIVE TIME SCALE FOR NORTH AMERICAN CRETA- CEOUS AND CENOZOIC VERTEBRATES
Saturday 11:30
ALROY, John, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA
ON THE SKULL OF CACOPS ASPIDEPHORUS WILLISTON (TETRAPODA; TEMNOSPONDYLI; DISSOROPHIDAE) FROM THE LOWER PERMIAN OF TEXAS
Many European mammal workers have adopted quantitative biochronological methods like appearance event ordination (AEO), which also have been widely used by invertebrate paleontologists and micropaleontologists for more than 40 years. Most North American mammal workers still use a time scale whose definitions, boundary ages, and faunal correlations are set by committee. A 2004 book on North American mammals with 34 authors devotes 20 pages to semantics and two sentences to a dismissal of quantitative methods. It prefers to equate age and subage boundaries with first appearances of immigrant genera (IFADs), even though generic appearances are unstable and diachronous, as shown in 1998. An event sequence generated by AEO using the latest species-level Cretaceous and Cenozoic North American Paleobiology Database data is highly accurate: the rank-order correlation (ρ) between concurrent range zones (CRZs) of collections and 73 Ar-Ar dates tied to them is 0.993. Taxonomy doesn’t matter. Accuracy is just as high if an event sequence is computed using the original published identifications and ignoring reidentifications and synonymies (ρ = 0.995). Nearly half of collections don’t include any immigrant genera, so in principle they can’t be correlated using IFADs. Subages can be estimated for the others using the IFAD of the last-appearing genus each includes. After numbering the subages in order, these assignments have unacceptable correlations with the dates (n = 47, ρ = 0.960; ρ = 0.988 for CRZs compared with these dates only). Thus, the committees seem to have used diverse criteria instead of the IFAD definitions. Simply matching their age assignments with the dates yields a correlation similar to that seen for the AEO estimates (ρ = 0.994), despite the fact that the dates themselves were used to determine the assignments. So, assignments for all other collections can only be more discordant. Thus, the mammal age system is highly inaccurate if its definitions are taken seriously, and still inaccurate if they are ignored. Current numerical age estimates based on quantitative biochronology are available on the Paleobiology Database web site.
ANDERSON, Jason, Univ. of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada One of the most frequently depicted amphibians from the Early Permian, the armored temnospondyl Cacops aspidephorus, is also among the most poorly known dissorophids in terms of cranial anatomy. Because the matrix tightly encrusts the bone, it is difficult to determine where matrix ends and bone begins. The type series was prepared in such a manner as to obliterate the external surface of the bone so that, although complete skulls of Cacops are known, no sutures have been described.
A partially prepared specimen on display at the University of Michigan Exhibits
Museum was investigated as a part of my revision of dissorophoid temnospondyls. After cleaning it was discovered to have a full compliment of sutures on the lower jaw, which prompted my present exploration of all unprepared cranial material from the Cacops Bone Bed held at the Field Museum of Natural History. This new material was supplemented by reexamination of the type series.
Sutures demarking all ossifications of the lower jaw save the articular can be made out with varying degrees of clarity. Sutures on the lateral skull, skull roof, and palate are also distinguishable. Most important features to note in the skull proper include the presence of alary processes on the premaxilla, a very thin maxilla, and an LEP that might have been prevented from participating in the ventral orbital margin. Rostrally the lower jaw of Cacops is very narrow and only the dentary can be seen except for a small exposure of the presplenial. The presplenial comes to a point at the symphysis but does not seem to contribute to it. An adsymphysial ossification, the first described from a dissorophoid, bearing a fang and replacement pit pair forms the lingual half of the symphysis in a pattern similar to that in the colosteid Greererpeton burkemorani. These features allow Cacops to be coded in a matrix of lower tetrapod jaw characters, which will be explored in detail. With the recent description of an adsymphyseal in an amphibamid temnospondyl, it raises the possibility that the adsymphyseal of lower tetrapods may be homologous to the mentomeckelian ossification in modern amphibians. This character will be discussed at length.
Poster Session III
ON THE OCURRENCE OF NOTELOPS IN TLAYÚA QUARRY, TEPEXI DE RODRÍGUEZ, PUEBLA, MÉXICO
ALVARADO-ORTEGA, Jesús; MAYRINCK, Diogo de; BRITO, Paulo, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Poster Session I
LOCOMOTOR STRATEGY AND MASS PREDICTION FOR THE NOTOUNGU- LATE PROTYPOTHERIUM (EARLY MIOCENE, SANTA CRUZ, ARGENTINA)
ANDERSON, Leah, CROFT, Darin, Case Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland, OH
Mammal fossils are abundant, diverse, and well preserved in the early Miocene Santa
Cruz Fauna of southern Argentina. Some of the most common remains are of notoungulates, the most speciose group of endemic South American ungulates. Despite the availability of excellent specimens, few studies have investigated notoungulate paleobiology. This partly stems from the lack of living descendents which presents challenges for reconstructing attributes such as body mass and locomotor strategy. We here present results of a study that uses a variety of extant mammals to infer these attributes for one Santa Cruz notoungulate, Protypotherium (Interatheriidae: Interatheriinae).
Postcranial measurements were taken from 45 species of modern rodents, lagomorphs, and ungulates of known body mass (< 10 kg) and locomotor habit (fossorial, occasionally fossorial, generalized, saltatory, cursorial, or arboreal). Some measurements were expressed as ratios to form ten indices related to limb function (e.g. humerus robustness index). Body mass of Protypotherium was inferred using 14 postcranial regression equa-
Tlayúa Quarry is the most important fossil fish locality in México. A rich and diverse fish assemblage has been recovered from its limestone strata deposited under marine and freshwater influences. The occurrence of Notelops in this Early Cretaceous Mexican locality has been only vaguely reported. A review of some of these specimens confirms the original generic assignation and reveals that they represent a new species of Notelops, which until now has been formally recognized as a monotypic genus. The presence of a suite of characters such as two rows of teeth in the lower and upper jaws, dorsal fin located slightly behind the middle body, first uroneural reaching the second preural centrum, and the presence of about 50 to 55 preural centra supports this preliminary proposal. The occurrence of this new species increases the geographical range of Notelops from the Albian deposits of Santana Formation, Northeastern Brazil, to the Albian deposits of Tlayúa Quarry, Puebla, Central Mexico. A morphological review of Notelops is undertaken to attribute its phylogenetic position with respect to all known Pachyrhizodontoidei.