Megamouth Shark Morphometrics
Krak and Shimada use geometric morphometrics to reconstruct extinct megamouth shark tooth rows
Allonia from the middle Cambrian Wheeler Formation of Utah
Foster, Howells and Sroka report new details of early sponge-like animals from a spectacularly-preserved specimen from the Cambrian of western Utah.
Death Valley Devonian Acanthodians
A new stem chondrichthyan fauna from the Lost Burro Formation of California by Carole J. Burrow and David K. Elliot.
Toxochelys latiremis Cope, 1873
First report of this turtle from the Cretaceous of Alabama, USA by Andrew Gentry and Jun Ebersole.
Calliovarica oregonensis Hickman
A new species of chilodontid gastropod from the Eocene of Oregon, USA by Carole S. Hickman.
An EPICC contribution!
Annotated list of the Cenozoic marine formations of the Pacific Northwest by Liz Nesbitt.
Use of machine learning to classify extant apes!
Monson et al. apply machine learning using dental morphology to classify extant apes and shed light on the chimpanzee-human last common ancestor.
New subadult skull specimen of Euclastes wielandi Hay, 1908 from the Cretaceous of New Jersey, USA!
New study of a subadult skull by P. Ullmann, Z. Boles and M. Knell provides insights into the cranial morphology and intraspecific variation in the Cretaceous pan-cheloniid turtle Euclastes wielandi.
Cimolestids (Mammalia) from the Paleocene of Montana!
New report on Puercolestes and Betonnia, two cimolestids from the early Paleocene (Puercan) of northeastern Montana, U.S.A. by William A. Clemens.
Eocene cassid gastropods from North America!
A reassessment by Richard Squires of Eocene warm-water cassid gastropods (Family Cassidae) from North America and implications for their paleogeographic distribution and faunal turnover following the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum.
Late Eocene elasmobranchs from Aiken County, South Carolina, USA!
Cicimurri and Knight describe new material of sharks and rays (elasmobrachs) from the Dry Branch Formation of Aiken County, South Carolina USA.
Nestling-sized hadrosaurine crania from the Late Cretaceous of Montana!
Wosik et al. describe new cranial remains of hadrosaurine nestlings from the Late Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation, Montana, USA, with analysis of cranial ontogeny in Edmontosaurus annectens.
Miocene macropaleontology of the Caldecott Tunnel fourth bore excavation, Berkeley Hills, CA, USA!
Powell et al. describe Miocene marine macrofossils recovered from the fourth bore excavation of the Caldecott Tunnel in the Berkeley Hills, Oakland, CA, USA.
New protocol for differentiating leporids from the late Quaternary of southern California, USA!
Fox et al. propose new protocol using dental morphology for identifying late Quaternary leporids from southern California with remarks on lagomorphs from Rancho La Brea's Project 23!
A new drepanosauromorph from the Chinle Formation of Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, USA!
Gonçalves and Sidor describe the new Triassicdrepanosauromorph genus and species,Ancistronychus paradoxus, from the Chinle Formation of the Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, USA!
Epiplastral shape and geographic variation of Echmatemys from the Eocene of Utah!
Heather F. Smith et al. analyze epiplastral shape and geographic variation in thegeoemydid turtle, Echmatemys,from the Eocene Uinta Basin , Utah, USA.
The new species Lyropecten terrysmithae from the Miocene of central California!
Powell et al. describe and name a new pectinid, Lyropecten terrysmithae , from the Miocene of California in honor of Dr. Judy Terry Smith for her work on California and Mexican invertebrate paleontology.
Faunal change in Cretaceous endemic bivalves of the northeast Pacific!
Richard Squires reports on the faunal change in Cretaceous shallow-marine endemic bivalve genera/subgenera of the northeast Pacific region.
New report of the fossil otolith species, Equetulus silveraldensis n. comb., from the Oligocene of the Gulf Coastal Plain, USA!
Stringer et al. describe the first record of the teleostean fish otolith, Equetulus silveraldensis n. comb., from the Oligocene of Alabama, USA, and its enigmatic geographic distribution.
New dinosauromorph body fossils from the Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, USA!
Adam Marsh and William Parker describe new dinosauromorph specimens from the Chinle Formation Petrified Forest National Park and provide a global biostratigraphic review of Triassic dinosauromorphs.
Checklist of Paleogene-Neogene marine Mollusca from California!
Groves and Squires present an annotated catalog of Paleogene-Neogene Mollusca from California since Keen and Bentson's 1944 checklist.
New mid-Miocene equids from the Cajon Valley Formation, CA!
Stoneburg et al. describe new fossil horse remains from the mid-Miocene of San Bernardino County, CA.
New fossil fishes from South Carolina, USA!
Cicimurri et al. report on a diverse fauna of Oligocene fishes from the Ashley Formation of South Carolina, with description of a new catshark species, Scyliorhinus weemsi.
Changes in southern California oyster paleocommunity structure over the last 3.6 million years!
Bonuso et al. use digitized data from the EPICC TCN and other sources to reconstruct Late Cenozoic oyster communities in southern California, USA.
The earliest Ancistrolepis, from the early Eocene of Simi Valley, California, USA
Squires updates our knowledge of the oldest species of this extant buccinid gastropod genus
The first Cretaceous fish otolith assemblage from the Arkadelphia Formation of Arkansas, USA!
Stringer and Sloan describe the first otolith assemblage from the Late Cretaceous of Arkansas and its implications for our understanding of the Western Interior Seaway.
Pteriomorph bivalves from the Eocene-Oligocene Keasey Formation in Oregon, USA!
Hickman describes the pteriomorph bivalves from the Eocene-early Oligocene Keasey Formation in Oregon, recognizing a new peri-seep biotope association.
Volume 37, 2020
Articles
Epiplastral and geographic variation in Echmatemys, a geoemydid turtle from the Eocene of North America: A multi-tiered analysis of epiplastral shape complexity
Numerous geoemydid turtle fossils from the extinct genus Echmatemys have been recovered from the middle Eocene Uinta Formation, Uinta Basin, Utah over the past several decades. Here, we tested whether co-occurring Uintan species Echmatemys callopyge and E. uintensis can be reliably differentiated based on epiplastral morphology, and whether their geospatial distributions overlapped significantly. The geographic spatial and stratigraphic distributions of Uinta Basin E. callopyge and E. uintensis specimens were compared using ArcGIS and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The analysis revealed overlapping geographic distributions of these two species, and no significant differences in stratigraphic dispersal. This finding of extensive geospatial overlap between the two Uintan Echmatemys species highlights the need for accurate taxonomic identification, such as the gular scale morphology validated here. In addition, we sought to address a methodological question regarding the relative efficacy of data complexity in this context. Using epiplastra from three additional Eocene species of Echmatemys, we employed hierarchical analyses of increasing data complexity, from standard linear dimensions to 2D geometric morphometrics to 3D laser scans, to determine the degree to which data complexity contributes to taxonomic assessments within this genus. Uintan species E. callopyge and E. uintensis were found to differ significantly in epiplastral shape as captured by all three categories of data. These findings verify that these two co-occurring species can be differentiated consistently using the shape of the gular scale, and that the use of geometric morphometrics can improve identification of fragmentary specimens. Among the non-Uintan species, dorsal and ventral 2D landmark data reliably differentiated among species, but the linear dimensions were less useful.
- 2 supplemental files
A new Lyropecten (Pectinidae, Bivalvia, Mollusca) from the central California Miocene, USA
A new pectinid, Lyropecten terrysmithae n. sp., has been recognized in middle to late Miocene rock units referred to as the Monterey Formation and Santa Margarita Sandstone in the southern Salinas Valley, central California. Previously, L. terrysmithae had been identified as a flat form belonging to either L. estrellanus or L. catalinae, then more recently to Argopecten sp. The earlier assignments were based on its moderate size and a radial rib count nearly identical to these taxa. However, its hinge, flat unledged valves, looped lamellar growth lines, and hinge crura set L. terrysmithae apart from Argopecten and all species of Lyropecten. Localities where it occurs in the Salinas Valley that can be accurately dated are from the late middle to middle late Miocene “Margaritan” California provincial molluscan stage. While L. terrysmithae has been collected at other sites, those localities lack diagnostic age-specific species necessary to determine an accurate geological age and maybe older.
Faunal change in Cretaceous endemic shallow-marine bivalve genera/subgenera of the northeast Pacific
Endemic shallow-marine Cretaceous bivalves in the northeast Pacific region (NEP), extending from southwestern Alaska to the northern part of Baja California Sur, Mexico, are tabulated and discussed in detail for the first time. Twenty-three genera/subgenera are recognized. Their first appearance was in the Valanginian, and their biodiversity continued to be very low during the rest of the Early Cretaceous. The bivalves of the middle Albian Alisitos Formation in northern Baja California are excluded because they did not live in the NEP. The highest number (13) of NEP endemic bivalve genera/subgenera occurred during the Turonian, which was the warmest time of the Cretaceous. At the Turonian/Coniacian boundary, when cooler waters migrated southward, there was a moderate dropoff in endemics that persisted until an origination event near the beginning of the early Maastrichtian, when 11 were present. Five of the 11 were present also during the Turonian, but the others were newcomers. Only three survived the turnover associated with the “Middle Maastrichtian Event” (MME), and none survived the K/Pg boundary mass-extinction event.
First description of the fossil otolith-based sciaenid, Equetulus silverdalensis n. comb., in the Gulf Coastal Plain, USA, with comments on the enigmatic distribution of the species
The fossil otolith-based sciaenid genus Equetulus is known almost exclusively from South America, the Caribbean, and Central America, with the various species ranging in age from the late Oligocene to late Miocene. The only exception to this geographical distribution is the isolated occurrence of Equetulus silverdalensis n. comb. in the Belgrade Formation (latest Oligocene–early Miocene) in the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the USA (North Carolina) and a mention of its occurrence in the Chickasawhay Limestone (late Oligocene) in the Gulf Coastal Plain of the USA (Mississippi). However, sampling of the Paynes Hammock Sand (late Oligocene, Chattian) near Millry, Alabama, USA, resulted in the discovery of an otolith representing the first occurrence of E. silverdalensis in Alabama and the first systematic description of the species from the Gulf Coastal Plain of the USA. These occurrences suggest a potential distribution of this fossil species from Atlantic Coastal Plain of North Carolina to the central Gulf Coastal Plain of Alabama and possibly Mississippi.
New dinosauromorph specimens from Petrified Forest National Park and a global biostratigraphic review of Triassic dinosauromorph body fossils
Dinosauromorph specimens from Petrified Forest National Park have been recovered from four major collecting efforts since 1982, including the most recent paleontological inventory of new park lands acquired in 2011. Additionally, an emphasis on understanding the stepwise acquisition of character traits along the dinosaurian lineage has helped identify previously collected specimens in museum collections. Here we briefly describe and use apomorphies to identify 32 additional dinosauromorph specimens found at Petrified Forest National Park, bringing the total number of dinosauromorph specimens presently known from the park to 50, a 600% increase since the year 2000. These specimens are all Norian in age and come from the Blue Mesa Member, Sonsela Member, and Petrified Forest Member of the Chinle Formation. These include the proximal end of a tibia that represents the oldest unambiguous dinosaur specimen from the Chinle Formation. We then contextualize these specimens with the dinosauromorph assemblages from the Norian of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, as well as the Carnian and Norian dinosauromorph assemblages from South America, Africa, and Europe. Despite increased sampling we still find no evidence for sauropodomorph and ornithischian dinosaurs in Western North America. An increase in sampling, combined with the use of apomorphies to identify collected specimens, will continue to improve the global dinosauromorph fossil record that can be used to answer questions on biochronology and the evolutionary history of the avian lineage.
- 1 supplemental file