On the Size and Flight Diversity of Giant Pterosaurs, the Use of Birds As Pterosaur Analogues and Comments on Pterosaur Flightlessness
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Curriculum Vitae
MAIRIN FRANCESCA ARAGONES BALISI La Brea Tar Pits and Museum, 5801 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036 [email protected] | mairinbalisi.com EDUCATION 2018 Ph.D., Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of California, Los Angeles Dissertation: “Carnivory in the Oligo-Miocene: Resource specialization, competition, and coexistence among North American fossil canids” Advisor: Blaire Van Valkenburgh 2011 M.S., Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Thesis: “Dietary behavior and resource partitioning among the carnivorans of Late Pleistocene Rancho La Brea” 2008 B.A., Integrative Biology and Comparative Literature University of California, Berkeley PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS 2019–present Research Affiliate University of Southern California / Natural History Museum of LA County 2018–present National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Biology La Brea Tar Pits and Museum; University of California, Merced 2014–2018 Graduate Student in Residence, Vertebrate Paleontology Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County PUBLICATIONS ^equal contribution *undergraduate co-author 2020 Balisi MA and B Van Valkenburgh. Iterative evolution of large-bodied hypercarnivory in canids benefits species but not clades. Communications Biology 3:461. (doi:10.1038/s42003-020-01193-9) 2020 Tong, HW, X Chen, B Zhang, B Rothschild, SC White, MA Balisi, and X Wang. Hypercarnivorous teeth and healed injuries in Canis chihliensis from the early Pleistocene Nihewan beds, China, support social hunting for ancestral wolves. PeerJ 8:e9858. (doi:10.7717/peerj.9858) 2020 Dávalos, LM^, RM Austin^, MA Balisi^, RL Begay^, CA Hofman^, ME Kemp^, JR Lund^, C Monroe^, AM Mychajliw^, EA Nelson^, MA Nieves- Colón^, SA Redondo^, S Sabin^, KS Tsosie^, and JM Yracheta^. -
Copulation and Mate Guarding in the Northern Fulmar
COPULATION AND MATE GUARDING IN THE NORTHERN FULMAR SCOTT A. HATCH Museumof VertebrateZoology, University of California,Berkeley, California 94720 USA and AlaskaFish and WildlifeResearch Center, U.S. Fish and WildlifeService, 1011 East Tudor Road, Anchorage,Alaska 99503 USA• ABSTRACT.--Istudied the timing and frequency of copulation in mated pairs and the occurrenceof extra-paircopulation (EPC) among Northern Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) for 2 yr. Copulationpeaked 24 days before laying, a few daysbefore females departed on a prelaying exodus of about 3 weeks. I estimated that females were inseminated at least 34 times each season.A total of 44 EPC attemptswas seen,9 (20%)of which apparentlyresulted in insem- ination.Five successful EPCs were solicitated by femalesvisiting neighboring males. Multiple copulationsduring a singlemounting were rare within pairsbut occurredin nearly half of the successfulEPCs. Both sexesvisited neighborsduring the prelayingperiod, and males employed a specialbehavioral display to gain acceptanceby unattended females.Males investedtime in nest-siteattendance during the prelaying period to guard their matesand pursueEPC. However, the occurrenceof EPC in fulmars waslargely a matter of female choice. Received29 September1986, accepted 16 February1987. THEoccurrence and significanceof extra-pair Bjorkland and Westman 1983; Buitron 1983; copulation (EPC) in monogamousbirds has Birkhead et al. 1985). generated much interest and discussion(Glad- I attemptedto documentthe occurrenceand stone 1979; Oring 1982; Ford 1983; McKinney behavioral contextof extra-pair copulationand et al. 1983, 1984). Becausethe males of monog- mate guarding in a colonial seabird,the North- amous species typically make a large invest- ern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis). Fulmars are ment in the careof eggsand young, the costof among the longest-lived birds known, and fi- being cuckolded is high, as are the benefits to delity to the same mate and nest site between the successfulcuckolder. -
The Taxonomy of the Procellariiformes Has Been Proposed from Various Approaches
山 階 鳥 研 報(J. Yamashina Inst. Ornithol.),22:114-23,1990 Genetic Divergence and Relationships in Fifteen Species of Procellariiformes Nagahisa Kuroda*, Ryozo Kakizawa* and Masayoshi Watada** Abstract The genetic analysis of 23 protein loci in 15 species of Procellariiformes was made The genetic distancesbetween the specieswas calculatedand a dendrogram was formulated of the group. The separation of Hydrobatidae from all other taxa including Diomedeidae agrees with other precedent works. The resultsof the present study support the basic Procellariidclassification system. However, two points stillneed further study. The firstpoint is that Fulmarus diverged earlier from the Procellariidsthan did the Diomedeidae. The second point is the position of Puffinuspacificus which appears more closely related to the Pterodroma petrels than to other Puffinus species. These points are discussed. Introduction The taxonomy of the Procellariiformes has been proposed from various approaches. The earliest study by Forbes (1882) was made by appendicular myology. Godman (1906) and Loomis (1918) studied this group from a morphological point of view. The taxonomy of the Procellariiformes by functional osteology and appendicular myology was studied by Kuroda (1954, 1983) and Klemm (1969), The results of the various studies agreed in proposing four families of Procellariiformes: Diomedeidae, Procellariidae, Hydrobatidae, and Pelecanoididae. They also pointed out that the Procellariidae was a heterogenous group among them. Timmermann (1958) found the parallel evolution of mallophaga and their hosts in Procellariiformes. Recently, electrophoretical studies have been made on the Procellariiformes. Harper (1978) found different patterns of the electromorph among the families. Bar- rowclough et al. (1981) studied genetic differentiation among 12 species of Procellari- iformes at 16 loci, and discussed the genetic distances among the taxa but with no consideration of their phylogenetic relationships. -
Pterosaurs Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs Now Open 2 News at the Museum 3
Member Magazine Spring 2014 Vol. 39 No. 2 Pterosaurs Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs now open 2 News at the Museum 3 From the After an unseasonably cold, snowy winter, will work to identify items from your collection, More than 540,000 Marine Fossils the Museum is pleased to offer a number of while also displaying intriguing specimens from President springtime opportunities to awaken the inner the Museum’s own world-renowned collections. Added to Paleontology Collection naturalist in us all. This is the time of year when Of course, fieldwork and collecting have Ellen V. Futter Museum scientists prepare for the summer been hallmarks of the Museum’s work since Collections at a Glance field season as they continue to pursue new the institution’s founding. What has changed, discoveries in their fields. It’s also when Museum however, is technology. With a nod to the many Over nearly 150 years of acquisitions and Members and visitors can learn about their ways that technology is amplifying how scientific fieldwork, the Museum has amassed preeminent own discoveries during the annual Identification investigations are done, this year, ID Day visitors collections that form an irreplaceable record Day in Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall. can learn how scientists use digital fabrication of life on Earth. Today, 21st-century tools— Held this year on May 10, Identification Day to aid their research and have a chance to sophisticated imaging techniques, genomic invites visitors to bring their own backyard finds have their own objects scanned and printed on analyses, programs to analyze ever-growing and curios for identification by Museum scientists. -
Bugoni 2008 Phd Thesis
ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION OF ALBATROSSES AND PETRELS AT SEA OFF BRAZIL Leandro Bugoni Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, at the Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow. July 2008 DECLARATION I declare that the work described in this thesis has been conducted independently by myself under he supervision of Professor Robert W. Furness, except where specifically acknowledged, and has not been submitted for any other degree. This study was carried out according to permits No. 0128931BR, No. 203/2006, No. 02001.005981/2005, No. 023/2006, No. 040/2006 and No. 1282/1, all granted by the Brazilian Environmental Agency (IBAMA), and International Animal Health Certificate No. 0975-06, issued by the Brazilian Government. The Scottish Executive - Rural Affairs Directorate provided the permit POAO 2007/91 to import samples into Scotland. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I was very lucky in having Prof. Bob Furness as my supervisor. He has been very supportive since before I had arrived in Glasgow, greatly encouraged me in new initiatives I constantly brought him (and still bring), gave me the freedom I needed and reviewed chapters astonishingly fast. It was a very productive professional relationship for which I express my gratitude. Thanks are also due to Rona McGill who did a great job in analyzing stable isotopes and teaching me about mass spectrometry and isotopes. Kate Griffiths was superb in sexing birds and explaining molecular methods again and again. Many people contributed to the original project with comments, suggestions for the chapters, providing samples or unpublished information, identifyiyng fish and squids, reviewing parts of the thesis or helping in analysing samples or data. -
Analyzing Pterosaur Ontogeny and Sexual Dimorphism with Multivariate Allometry Erick Charles Anderson [email protected]
Marshall University Marshall Digital Scholar Theses, Dissertations and Capstones 2016 Analyzing Pterosaur Ontogeny and Sexual Dimorphism with Multivariate Allometry Erick Charles Anderson [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://mds.marshall.edu/etd Part of the Animal Sciences Commons, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons, and the Paleontology Commons Recommended Citation Anderson, Erick Charles, "Analyzing Pterosaur Ontogeny and Sexual Dimorphism with Multivariate Allometry" (2016). Theses, Dissertations and Capstones. 1031. http://mds.marshall.edu/etd/1031 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Marshall Digital Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses, Dissertations and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Marshall Digital Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. ANALYZING PTEROSAUR ONTOGENY AND SEXUAL DIMORPHISM WITH MULTIVARIATE ALLOMETRY A thesis submitted to the Graduate College of Marshall University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Biological Sciences by Erick Charles Anderson Approved by Dr. Frank R. O’Keefe, Committee Chairperson Dr. Suzanne Strait Dr. Andy Grass Marshall University May 2016 i ii ii Erick Charles Anderson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED iii Acknowledgments I would like to thank Dr. F. Robin O’Keefe for his guidance and advice during my three years at Marshall University. His past research and experience with reptile evolution made this research possible. I would also like to thank Dr. Andy Grass for his advice during the course of the research. I would like to thank my fellow graduate students Donald Morgan and Tiffany Aeling for their support, encouragement, and advice in the lab and bar during our two years working together. -
Southern Fulmar
SOUTHERN FULMAR Fulmarus glacialoides Document made by the French Southern and Antarctic Lands © TAAF Lands © Southern and Antarctic the French made by Document l l assessm iona asse a g ss b e e m lo n r • Size : 45-50 cm t F G e A n t A SOUTHERN FULMAR T • Wingspan : 114-120 cm Fulmarus glacialoides • Weight : 0.7-1kg Order : Procellariiformes — Family : Procellariidae as the ... It is also known GEOGRAPHIC RANGE : The species can be seen in the Southern Ocean but breeds on the coasts of Antarctica and outlying glaciated islands. HABITAT : Southern Fulmars nest on steep rocky slopes and cliff sides, mainly on the coast and on the Antarctic continent. They are highly nomadic outside the breeding season, generally moving north to open waters south of 30°S. © S. BLANC DIET : They eat krill, fish and squid depending on available prey. They also consume carrion and discards from Fulmar Antarctic fishing vessels. BEHAVIOR : REPRODUCTION : Most food is taken by surface-seizing whilst in The breeding season begins in November and egg- flocks. They also skim the surface in low flight laying takes place during the first two weeks of with their beak open. They also sometimes dive December. They breed in colonies on steep rocky at shallow depths to catch their prey. They are slopes and precipitous cliffs on sheltered ledges rather solitary birds that can form small groups or in hollows, sometimes with other species of outside the breeding season. Paired birds tend to petrels. Nests are a gravel-lined scrape in which © S. -
Brazil Clamps Down on Illegal Fossil Trade
NEWS IN FOCUS of fossil sales and loss of cultural heritage, says Alexander Kellner, a palaeontologist at the National Museum of Brazil, part of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Authorities, for example, were quick to act last month when the online auction site eBay listed a Brazilian BRAZIL FEDERAL POLICE pterosaur for sale at US$262,000. The auction, by French company Geofossiles, closed without sale, and Brazilian and international police are reportedly investigating the case. Brazil could ask France to repatriate the fossil if authorities can prove that it was found in the country. Researchers say that the loss of fossils has seriously harmed Brazilian science. For instance, in findings presented at the 7th Bra- zilian Symposium of Vertebrate Palaeontology in 2010, Marcos Sales, a palaeontologist at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre, found that 14 of the 24 reference specimens, or holotypes, of pterosaur fossils collected in the Araripe Basin were housed by foreign institutions. Rare fossils, such as this pterosaur from Brazil’s Araripe Basin, are regularly seized by authorities. The issue is not unique to Brazil. Other countries that list fossils as national prop- PALAEONTOLOGY erty and prohibit their export, such as China, Mongolia and Morocco, are increasingly enforcing their own laws. In 2012, for example, Mongolia successfully fought for the return of Brazil clamps down a 7.3-metre-long tarbosaur fossil, which had been illegally exported to the United States and sold there for more than $1 million. on illegal fossil trade But critics such as Martill argue that crimi- nalizing the fossil trade merely sends it under- ground. -
Is Our Understanding of Santana Group Pterosaur Diversity Biased by Poor Biological and Stratigraphic Control?
Anhanguera taxonomy revisited: is our understanding of Santana Group pterosaur diversity biased by poor biological and stratigraphic control? Felipe L. Pinheiro1 and Taissa Rodrigues2 1 Laboratório de Paleobiologia, Universidade Federal do Pampa, São Gabriel, RS, Brazil 2 Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Vitória, ES, Brazil ABSTRACT Background. Anhanguerids comprise an important clade of pterosaurs, mostly known from dozens of three-dimensionally preserved specimens recovered from the Lower Cretaceous Romualdo Formation (northeastern Brazil). They are remarkably diverse in this sedimentary unit, with eight named species, six of them belonging to the genus Anhanguera. However, such diversity is likely overestimated, as these species have been historically diagnosed based on subtle differences, mainly based on the shape and position of the cranial crest. In spite of that, recently discovered pterosaur taxa represented by large numbers of individuals, including juveniles and adults, as well as presumed males and females, have crests of sizes and shapes that are either ontogenetically variable or sexually dimorphic. Methods. We describe in detail the skull of one of the most complete specimens referred to Anhanguera, AMNH 22555, and use it as a case study to review the diversity of anhanguerids from the Romualdo Formation. In order to accomplish that, a geometric morphometric analysis was performed to assess size-dependent characters with respect to the premaxillary crest in the 12 most complete skulls bearing crests that are referred in, or related to, this clade, almost all of them analyzed first hand. Results. Geometric morphometric regression of shape on centroid size was highly Submitted 4 January 2017 statistically significant (p D 0:0091) and showed that allometry accounts for 25.7% Accepted 8 April 2017 Published 4 May 2017 of total shape variation between skulls of different centroid sizes. -
Appendix A. Supplementary Material
Appendix A. Supplementary material Comprehensive taxon sampling and vetted fossils help clarify the time tree of shorebirds (Aves, Charadriiformes) David Cernˇ y´ 1,* & Rossy Natale2 1Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago 60637, USA 2Department of Organismal Biology & Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago 60637, USA *Corresponding Author. Email: [email protected] Contents 1 Fossil Calibrations 2 1.1 Calibrations used . .2 1.2 Rejected calibrations . 22 2 Outgroup sequences 30 2.1 Neornithine outgroups . 33 2.2 Non-neornithine outgroups . 39 3 Supplementary Methods 72 4 Supplementary Figures and Tables 74 5 Image Credits 91 References 99 1 1 Fossil Calibrations 1.1 Calibrations used Calibration 1 Node calibrated. MRCA of Uria aalge and Uria lomvia. Fossil taxon. Uria lomvia (Linnaeus, 1758). Specimen. CASG 71892 (referred specimen; Olson, 2013), California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, USA. Lower bound. 2.58 Ma. Phylogenetic justification. As in Smith (2015). Age justification. The status of CASG 71892 as the oldest known record of either of the two spp. of Uria was recently confirmed by the review of Watanabe et al. (2016). The younger of the two marine transgressions at the Tolstoi Point corresponds to the Bigbendian transgression (Olson, 2013), which contains the Gauss-Matuyama magnetostratigraphic boundary (Kaufman and Brigham-Grette, 1993). Attempts to date this reversal have been recently reviewed by Ohno et al. (2012); Singer (2014), and Head (2019). In particular, Deino et al. (2006) were able to tightly bracket the age of the reversal using high-precision 40Ar/39Ar dating of two tuffs in normally and reversely magnetized lacustrine sediments from Kenya, obtaining a value of 2.589 ± 0.003 Ma. -
Comparative Analysis of the Vertebral Pneumatization in Pterosaurs (Reptilia: Pterosauria) and Extant Birds (Avialae: Neornithes)
RESEARCH ARTICLE Comparative analysis of the vertebral pneumatization in pterosaurs (Reptilia: Pterosauria) and extant birds (Avialae: Neornithes) 1,2,3 2,3 1 Richard BuchmannID *, Leonardo dos Santos Avilla , Taissa Rodrigues 1 LaboratoÂrio de Paleontologia, Departamento de Ciências BioloÂgicas, Centro de Ciências Humanas e a1111111111 Naturais, Universidade Federal do EspõÂrito Santo, VitoÂria, ES, Brazil, 2 LaboratoÂrio de Mastozoologia, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, a1111111111 3 Programa de PoÂs-graduacËão em Ciências BioloÂgicas (Biodiversidade Neotropical), Universidade Federal a1111111111 do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil a1111111111 a1111111111 * [email protected] Abstract OPEN ACCESS Birds and pterosaurs have pneumatic bones, a feature likely related to their flight capabilities Citation: Buchmann R, Avilla LdS, Rodrigues T but whose evolution and origin is still poorly understood. Pneumatic foramina are present on (2019) Comparative analysis of the vertebral the external surface of the bone and are reliable indicators of post-cranial skeletal pneumati- pneumatization in pterosaurs (Reptilia: Pterosauria) zation present in Pterosauria, Eusauropoda, and Neotheropoda. Here, we carried out a and extant birds (Avialae: Neornithes). PLoS ONE 14(10): e0224165. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. qualitative analysis of the position, size and number of pneumatic foramina of the cervical pone.0224165 and thoracic/dorsal vertebrae of pterosaurs and birds, as they have the potential to chal- Editor: Ulrich Joger, State Museum of Natural lenge hypotheses about the emergence and evolution of the respiratory trait in these History, GERMANY groups. We also discussed differences between pneumatic and vascular foramina for identi- Received: April 8, 2019 fication purposes. -
New Information on the Tapejaridae (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea) and Discussion of the Relationships of This Clade
AMEGHINIANA (Rev. Asoc. Paleontol. Argent.) - 41 (4): 521-534. Buenos Aires, 30-12-2004 ISSN 0002-7014 New information on the Tapejaridae (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea) and discussion of the relationships of this clade Alexander Wilhelm Armin KELLNER1 Abstract. A phylogenetic analysis indicates that the Tapejaridae is a monophyletic group of pterodactyloid pterosaurs, diagnosed by the following synapomorphies: premaxillary sagittal crest that starts at the anterior tip of the premaxilla and extends posteriorly after the occipital region, large nasoantorbital fenestra that reaches over 45% of the length between premaxilla and squamosal, lacrimal process of the jugal thin, distinct small pear- shaped orbit with lower portion narrow, and broad tubercle at the ventroposterior margin of the coracoid. Several cranial and postcranial characters indicate that the Tapejaridae are well nested within the Tapejaroidea, in sister group relationship with the Azhdarchidae. A preliminary study of the ingroup relationships within the Tapejaridae shows that Tupuxuara is more closely related to Thalassodromeus relative to Tapejara. At present tape- jarid remains have been found in the following deposits: Crato and Romualdo members of the Santana Formation (Aptian-Albian), Araripe Basin, Brazil; Jiufotang Formation (Aptian), Jehol Group of western Liaoning, China; and in the redbeds (Cenomanian) of the Kem Kem region, Morocco. An incomplete skull found in the Javelina Formation (Maastrichtian), Texas also shows several tapejarid features and might be a member of this clade. Although information is still limited, the present distribution of the Tapejaridae indicates that this clade of pterosaurs was not exclusive of Gondwana, and was more widespread than previously known. Resumen. NUEVA INFORMACIÓN SOBRE LOS TAPEJARIDAE (PTEROSAURIA, PTERODACTYLOIDEA) Y DISCUSIÓN SOBRE LAS RELACIONES DE ESTE CLADO.