Middle Eocene Vertebrate Fauna from the Aridal Formation, Sabkha of Gueran, Southwestern Morocco
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Life History of the Critically Endangered Largetooth Sawfish: a Compilation of Data for Population Assessment and Demographic Modelling
Vol. 44: 79–88, 2021 ENDANGERED SPECIES RESEARCH Published January 28 https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01090 Endang Species Res OPEN ACCESS Life history of the Critically Endangered largetooth sawfish: a compilation of data for population assessment and demographic modelling P. M. Kyne1,*, M. Oetinger2, M. I. Grant3, P. Feutry4 1Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory 0909, Australia 2Argus-Mariner Consulting Scientists, Owensboro, Kentucky 42301, USA 3Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture and College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia 4CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Hobart, Tasmania 7000, Australia ABSTRACT: The largetooth sawfish Pristis pristis is a Critically Endangered, once widespread shark-like ray. The species is now extinct or severely depleted in many former parts of its range and is protected in some other range states where populations persist. The likelihood of collecting substantial new biological information is now low. Here, we review all available life history infor- mation on size, age and growth, reproductive biology, and demography as a resource for popula- tion assessment and demographic modelling. We also revisit a subset of historical data from the 1970s to examine the maternal size−litter size relationship. All available information on life history is derived from the Indo-West Pacific (i.e. northern Australia) and the Western Atlantic (i.e. Lake Nicaragua-Río San Juan system in Central America) subpopulations. P. pristis reaches a maxi- mum size of at least 705 cm total length (TL), size-at-birth is 72−90 cm TL, female size-at-maturity is reached by 300 cm TL, male size-at-maturity is 280−300 cm TL, age-at-maturity is 8−10 yr, longevity is 30−36 yr, litter size range is 1−20 (mean of 7.3 in Lake Nicaragua), and reproductive periodicity is suspected to be biennial in Lake Nicaragua (Western Atlantic) but annual in Aus- tralia (Indo-West Pacific). -
A Fish Fauna from the Lowermost Bartonian of the Transylvanian Basin, Romania
Palaeontologia Electronica palaeo-electronica.org A fish fauna from the lowermost Bartonian of the Transylvanian Basin, Romania Nicolae Trif, Vlad Codrea, and Viorel Arghiuș ABSTRACT A fish fauna newly discovered in the middle Eocene marine sediments cropping out near the village of Luna de Sus, Romania, completes the fossil record of the East- ern European region. Teeth belonging to 15 species of Chondrichthyes and two spe- cies of Actinopterygii are herein recorded from the lowermost Bartonian deposits. These Paleogene fish document a marine tropical environment of medium deep waters in the northwestern area of the Transylvanian Basin. The vertical distributions of extant equivalent taxa allow a sea depth estimation of 100 to 200 m. The warm climate is doc- umented by both the present faunal assemblage and previous palynological studies. It is important to note the presence of the scarcely known and poorly understood pycno- dont species Phacodus punctatus and of the oldest representative of Labridae from this Carpathian area. The diversity of the fauna was found to be average compared to some areas from Western Europe or North Africa, but it falls within the regional diver- sity range of the Eastern European localities. Nicolae Trif. Department of Geology, Faculty of Biology-Geology, Babeş-Bolyai University, 1 Kogălniceanu St., 400084, Cluj-Napoca, Romania and Brukenthal National Museum, Natural History Museum, Sibiu, Romania, 1 Cetății St., Sibiu, 550160, Romania. [email protected] Vlad Codrea. Department of Geology, Faculty of Biology-Geology, Babeş-Bolyai University, 1 Kogălniceanu St., 400084, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. [email protected] Viorel Arghiuș. Environmental Sciences Department, Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Babeş-Bolyai University, 30 Fântânele St., 400294, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. -
Reassessment of Historical Sections from the Paleogene Marine Margin of the Congo Basin Reveals an Almost Complete Absence of Danian Deposits
Geoscience Frontiers 10 (2019) 1039e1063 HOSTED BY Contents lists available at ScienceDirect China University of Geosciences (Beijing) Geoscience Frontiers journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/gsf Research Paper Reassessment of historical sections from the Paleogene marine margin of the Congo Basin reveals an almost complete absence of Danian deposits Floréal Solé a,*, Corentin Noiret b, Delphine Desmares c, Sylvain Adnet d, Louis Taverne a, Thierry De Putter e, Florias Mees e, Johan Yans b, Thomas Steeman f, Stephen Louwye f, Annelise Folie g, Nancy J. Stevens h, Gregg F. Gunnell i,1, Daniel Baudet e, Nicole Kitambala Yaya j, Thierry Smith a a Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), Operational Directorate Earth and History of Life, Rue Vautier 29, 1000, Brussels, Belgium b University of Namur (UNamur), Department of Geology, Rue de Bruxelles 61, 5000, Namur, Belgium c Sorbonne Université, UPMC Paris 06, UMR 7207 (CR2P), MNHN-UPMC e CNRS, 75005, Paris, France d UMR 5554 e Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution, Université Montpellier, Place E. Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier Cedex 5, France e Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA), Geodynamics and Mineral Resources, Leuvensesteenweg 13, 3080, Tervuren, Belgium f Ghent University (UGent), Department of Geology, Krijgslaan 281/S8, 9000, Ghent, Belgium g Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), Heritage Scientific Survey, Rue Vautier 29, 1000, Brussels, Belgium h Ohio University, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Irvine Hall 228, Athens, OH, USA i Duke University Lemur Center, Division of Fossil Primates (DFP), 1013 Broad Street, Durham, NC 27705, USA j Centre de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (CRGM), 44, av. -
Snakes of the Siwalik Group (Miocene of Pakistan): Systematics and Relationship to Environmental Change
Palaeontologia Electronica http://palaeo-electronica.org SNAKES OF THE SIWALIK GROUP (MIOCENE OF PAKISTAN): SYSTEMATICS AND RELATIONSHIP TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE Jason J. Head ABSTRACT The lower and middle Siwalik Group of the Potwar Plateau, Pakistan (Miocene, approximately 18 to 3.5 Ma) is a continuous fluvial sequence that preserves a dense fossil record of snakes. The record consists of approximately 1,500 vertebrae derived from surface-collection and screen-washing of bulk matrix. This record represents 12 identifiable taxa and morphotypes, including Python sp., Acrochordus dehmi, Ganso- phis potwarensis gen. et sp. nov., Bungarus sp., Chotaophis padhriensis, gen. et sp. nov., and Sivaophis downsi gen. et sp. nov. The record is dominated by Acrochordus dehmi, a fully-aquatic taxon, but diversity increases among terrestrial and semi-aquatic taxa beginning at approximately 10 Ma, roughly coeval with proxy data indicating the inception of the Asian monsoons and increasing seasonality on the Potwar Plateau. Taxonomic differences between the Siwalik Group and coeval European faunas indi- cate that South Asia was a distinct biogeographic theater from Europe by the middle Miocene. Differences between the Siwalik Group and extant snake faunas indicate sig- nificant environmental changes on the Plateau after the last fossil snake occurrences in the Siwalik section. Jason J. Head. Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA. [email protected] School of Biological Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London, London, E1 4NS, United Kingdom. KEY WORDS: Snakes, faunal change, Siwalik Group, Miocene, Acrochordus. PE Article Number: 8.1.18A Copyright: Society of Vertebrate Paleontology May 2005 Submission: 3 August 2004. -
From the Middle Eocene of Belgium
[Palaeontology, Vol. 53, Part 2, 2010, pp. 365–376] BONY-TOOTHED BIRDS (AVES: PELAGORNITHIDAE) FROM THE MIDDLE EOCENE OF BELGIUM by GERALD MAYR* and THIERRY SMITH *Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Sektion Ornithologie, Senckenberganlage 25, D-60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany; e-mail [email protected] Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Department of Paleontology, Rue Vautier 29, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium; e-mail [email protected] Typescript received 7 April 2009; accepted in revised form 19 July 2009 Abstract: We describe well-preserved remains of the Pelag- deidae (albatrosses) in overall morphology, but because ornithidae (bony-toothed birds) from the middle Eocene of bony-toothed birds lack apomorphies of the Procellariifor- Belgium, including a sternum, pectoral girdle bones and mes, the similarities are almost certainly owing to conver- humeri of a single individual. The specimens are tentatively gence. Bony-toothed birds were often compared with the assigned to Macrodontopteryx oweni Harrison and Walker, ‘Pelecaniformes’ by previous authors, who especially made 1976, which has so far only been known from the holotype comparisons with the Sulidae (gannets and boobies). How- skull and a referred proximal ulna. Another species, about ever, the coracoid distinctly differs from that of extant ‘pelec- two times larger, is represented by an incomplete humerus aniform’ birds, and the plesiomorphic presence of a foramen and tentatively identified as Dasornis emuinus (Bowerbank, nervi supracoracoidei as well as the absence of a well- 1854). The fossils provide critical new data on the osteology delimited articulation facet for the furcula supports a of the pectoral girdle of bony-toothed birds. For the first position outside the Suloidea, the clade to which the Sulidae time, the sternum of one of the smaller species is preserved, belong. -
Palaeogene Marine Stratigraphy in China
LETHAIA REVIEW Palaeogene marine stratigraphy in China XIAOQIAO WAN, TIAN JIANG, YIYI ZHANG, DANGPENG XI AND GUOBIAO LI Wan, X., Jiang, T., Zhang, Y., Xi, D. & Li G. 2014: Palaeogene marine stratigraphy in China. Lethaia, Vol. 47, pp. 297–308. Palaeogene deposits are widespread in China and are potential sequences for locating stage boundaries. Most strata are non-marine origin, but marine sediments are well exposed in Tibet, the Tarim Basin of Xinjiang, and the continental margin of East China Sea. Among them, the Tibetan Tethys can be recognized as a dominant marine area, including the Indian-margin strata of the northern Tethys Himalaya and Asian- margin strata of the Gangdese forearc basin. Continuous sequences are preserved in the Gamba–Tingri Basin of the north margin of the Indian Plate, where the Palaeogene sequence is divided into the Jidula, Zongpu, Zhepure and Zongpubei formations. Here, the marine sequence ranges from Danian to middle Priabonian (66–35 ma), and the stage boundaries are identified mostly by larger foraminiferal assemblages. The Paleocene/Eocene boundary is found between the Zongpu and Zhepure forma- tions. The uppermost marine beds are from the top of the Zongpubei Formation (~35 ma), marking the end of Indian and Asian collision. In addition, the marine beds crop out along both sides of the Yarlong Zangbo Suture, where they show a deeper marine facies, yielding rich radiolarian fossils of Paleocene and Eocene. The Tarim Basin of Xinjiang is another important area of marine deposition. Here, marine Palae- ogene strata are well exposed in the Southwest Tarim Depression and Kuqa Depres- sion. -
Changing Paleo-Environments of the Lutetian to Priabonian Beds of Adelholzen (Helvetic Unit, Bavaria, Germany) 80 ©Geol
ZOBODAT - www.zobodat.at Zoologisch-Botanische Datenbank/Zoological-Botanical Database Digitale Literatur/Digital Literature Zeitschrift/Journal: Berichte der Geologischen Bundesanstalt Jahr/Year: 2011 Band/Volume: 85 Autor(en)/Author(s): Gebhardt Holger, Darga Robert, Coric Stjepan, diverse Artikel/Article: Changing paleo-environments of the Lutetian to Priabonian beds of Adelholzen (Helvetic Unit, Bavaria, Germany) 80 ©Geol. Bundesanstalt, Wien; download unter www.geologie.ac.at Berichte Geol. B.-A., 85 (ISSN 1017-8880) – CBEP 2011, Salzburg, June 5th – 8th Changing paleo-environments of the Lutetian to Priabonian beds of Adelholzen (Helvetic Unit, Bavaria, Germany) Holger Gebhardt1, Robert Darga2, Stjepan Ćorić1, Antonino Briguglio3, Elza Yordanova1, Bettina Schenk3, Erik Wolfgring3, Nils Andersen4, Winfried Werner5 1 Geologische Bundesanstalt, Neulinggasse 38, A-1030 Wien, Austria 2 Naturkundemuseum Siegsdorf, Auenstr. 2, D-83313 Siegsdorf, Germany 3 Universität Wien, Erdwiss. Zentrum, Althanstraße 14, A-1090 Wien, Austria 4 Leibniz Laboratory, Universität Kiel, Max-Eyth-Str. 11, D-24118 Kiel, Germany 5 Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, D-80333 München, Germany The Adelholzen Section is located southwest of Siegsdorf in southern Bavaria, Germany. The section covers almost the entire Lutetian and ranges into the Priabonian. It is part of the Helvetic (tectonic) Unit and represents the sedimentary processes that took place on the southern shelf to upper bathyal of the European platform at that time. Six lithologic units occur in the Adelholzen-Section: 1) marly, glauconitic sands with predominantly Assilina, 2) marly bioclastic sands with predominantly Nummulites, 3) glauconitic sands, 4) marls with Discocyclina, 5) marly brown sand. These units were combined as “Adelholzener Schichten” and can be allocated to the Kressenberg Formation. -
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A new marine vertebrate assemblage from the Late Neogene Purisima Formation in Central California, part II: Pinnipeds and Cetaceans Robert W. BOESSENECKER Department of Geology, University of Otago, 360 Leith Walk, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, 9054 (New Zealand) and Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University 200 Traphagen Hall, Bozeman, MT, 59715 (USA) and University of California Museum of Paleontology 1101 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, CA, 94720 (USA) [email protected] Boessenecker R. W. 2013. — A new marine vertebrate assemblage from the Late Neogene Purisima Formation in Central California, part II: Pinnipeds and Cetaceans. Geodiversitas 35 (4): 815-940. http://dx.doi.org/g2013n4a5 ABSTRACT e newly discovered Upper Miocene to Upper Pliocene San Gregorio assem- blage of the Purisima Formation in Central California has yielded a diverse collection of 34 marine vertebrate taxa, including eight sharks, two bony fish, three marine birds (described in a previous study), and 21 marine mammals. Pinnipeds include the walrus Dusignathus sp., cf. D. seftoni, the fur seal Cal- lorhinus sp., cf. C. gilmorei, and indeterminate otariid bones. Baleen whales include dwarf mysticetes (Herpetocetus bramblei Whitmore & Barnes, 2008, Herpetocetus sp.), two right whales (cf. Eubalaena sp. 1, cf. Eubalaena sp. 2), at least three balaenopterids (“Balaenoptera” cortesi “var.” portisi Sacco, 1890, cf. Balaenoptera, Balaenopteridae gen. et sp. indet.) and a new species of rorqual (Balaenoptera bertae n. sp.) that exhibits a number of derived features that place it within the genus Balaenoptera. is new species of Balaenoptera is relatively small (estimated 61 cm bizygomatic width) and exhibits a comparatively nar- row vertex, an obliquely (but precipitously) sloping frontal adjacent to vertex, anteriorly directed and short zygomatic processes, and squamosal creases. -
A Life History Overview of the Largetooth Sawfish Pristis Pristis
LIFE HISTORY OVERVIEW No. 1 A Life History Overview of the Largetooth Sawfish Pristis pristis 2013 Prepared by Peter M. Kyne & Pierre Feutry NERP Marine Biodiversity Hub Project 2.4 (Supporting Management of Listed and Rare Species) Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods Charles Darwin University Darwin NT 0909, Australia Email: [email protected] Introduction The Largetooth Sawfish Pristis pristis is wide-ranging in tropical waters with distinct geographically-separated populations in the Western Atlantic, Eastern Atlantic, Eastern Pacific and Indo-West Pacific. It was until recently referred to as P. microdon (Freshwater Sawfish) in the Indo-West Pacific and P. perotteti in the Atlantic before research showed these to be synonymous with P. pristis (Faria et al. 2013). Northern Australia represents one of the last strongholds of a species not only once widespread in the Indo-West Pacific, but widespread in many tropical waters. Here, the available life history information on the Largetooth Sawfish is compiled and summarised. Much of this was published under the previous names P. microdon and P. perotteti. The species’ life history is characterised by parameters such as late age at maturity, long lifespan and low fecundity, which results in a low intrinsic rate of population increase (Simpfendorfer 2000; Moreno Iturria 2012). This life history is generally consistent with that of many large elasmobranchs (sharks and rays). For such a wide-ranging and conspicuous species, life history is poorly understood and available information is patchy. For example, the only dedicated reproductive studies were undertaken in the Lake Nicaragua-Río San Juan system in Central America (hereafter referred to as ‘Lake Nicaragua’) (Thorson 1976, 1982), and the vast majority of life history information originates from either Lake Nicaragua or northern Australia (northwest Western Australia and the Queensland Gulf of Carpentaria) (e.g. -
The Sclerotic Ring: Evolutionary Trends in Squamates
The sclerotic ring: Evolutionary trends in squamates by Jade Atkins A Thesis Submitted to Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Applied Science July, 2014, Halifax Nova Scotia © Jade Atkins, 2014 Approved: Dr. Tamara Franz-Odendaal Supervisor Approved: Dr. Matthew Vickaryous External Examiner Approved: Dr. Tim Fedak Supervisory Committee Member Approved: Dr. Ron Russell Supervisory Committee Member Submitted: July 30, 2014 Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my family, friends, and mentors who helped me get to where I am today. Thank you. ! ii Table of Contents Title page ........................................................................................................................ i Dedication ...................................................................................................................... ii List of figures ................................................................................................................. v List of tables ................................................................................................................ vii Abstract .......................................................................................................................... x List of abbreviations and definitions ............................................................................ xi Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... -
Set in Stone the NHM Palaeontology Dept
Autumn 2006. Vol. 4, No. 3 Set in Stone The NHM Palaeontology Dept. Newsletter Rocks and Rioja Angela Milner visits Baryonyx in Spain Also in this issue Lorna Steel brings the Dodo back to life Norm MacLeod on science and religion Jon Todd on fieldwork in East Africa Keeper Country Contents Science and Religion: What Scientists Believe Keeper Country: Science and Religion: What Scientists Believe...........................................2 Relations between science and religion are much in that hypothesis; contra ‘common’ sense. The point the news these days. As any such discussion usu- is no matter how many ravens you observe, you Research Roundup........................................4 ally touches on the subject of fossils, that puts won’t be sure ravens are black until and unless you palaeontologists directly in the firing line. At the observe all things, which is impossible. In order to Collections News ..........................................5 recent International Foraminiferan Congress accept the hypothesis ‘all ravens are black’ some- (FORAMS 2006) I found myself having lunch with thing beyond simple deduction is needed, which Bringing the Dodo back to Life.......................5 Jere Lipps, Steve Culver, and Mark Lekkie when brings us back to the issue of belief. Is belief—in the conversation turned from political politics (e.g., black ravens, evolution, or anything else—possible Rocks and Rioja.............................................6 what an embarrassment the current Bush adminis- for those who subscribe to a scientific view of the tration has proven to be) to cultural politics in the world? Lake Rukwa: Palaeontological Fieldwork in form of the science-religion dichotomy. My three US the Basin of a ‘Forgotten’ East African Field colleagues all agreed they were having to be much Naturally, different people answer this question in Lake...............................................................7 more careful in their comments during lectures and different ways. -
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/ Chapter 2 THE FOSSIL RECORD OF BIRDS Storrs L. Olson Department of Vertebrate Zoology National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution Washington, DC. I. Introduction 80 II. Archaeopteryx 85 III. Early Cretaceous Birds 87 IV. Hesperornithiformes 89 V. Ichthyornithiformes 91 VI. Other Mesozojc Birds 92 VII. Paleognathous Birds 96 A. The Problem of the Origins of Paleognathous Birds 96 B. The Fossil Record of Paleognathous Birds 104 VIII. The "Basal" Land Bird Assemblage 107 A. Opisthocomidae 109 B. Musophagidae 109 C. Cuculidae HO D. Falconidae HI E. Sagittariidae 112 F. Accipitridae 112 G. Pandionidae 114 H. Galliformes 114 1. Family Incertae Sedis Turnicidae 119 J. Columbiformes 119 K. Psittaciforines 120 L. Family Incertae Sedis Zygodactylidae 121 IX. The "Higher" Land Bird Assemblage 122 A. Coliiformes 124 B. Coraciiformes (Including Trogonidae and Galbulae) 124 C. Strigiformes 129 D. Caprimulgiformes 132 E. Apodiformes 134 F. Family Incertae Sedis Trochilidae 135 G. Order Incertae Sedis Bucerotiformes (Including Upupae) 136 H. Piciformes 138 I. Passeriformes 139 X. The Water Bird Assemblage 141 A. Gruiformes 142 B. Family Incertae Sedis Ardeidae 165 79 Avian Biology, Vol. Vlll ISBN 0-12-249408-3 80 STORES L. OLSON C. Family Incertae Sedis Podicipedidae 168 D. Charadriiformes 169 E. Anseriformes 186 F. Ciconiiformes 188 G. Pelecaniformes 192 H. Procellariiformes 208 I. Gaviiformes 212 J. Sphenisciformes 217 XI. Conclusion 217 References 218 I. Introduction Avian paleontology has long been a poor stepsister to its mammalian counterpart, a fact that may be attributed in some measure to an insufRcien- cy of qualified workers and to the absence in birds of heterodont teeth, on which the greater proportion of the fossil record of mammals is founded.