Pub Date : 2024-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.015
Alberto Cabezuelo-Hernández, Carlos de Miguel Chaves, Adán Pérez-García
Simosauridae is a Triassic eosauropterygian clade restricted to the western Paleotethys. It is known by relatively abundant cranial and postcranial elements coming mostly from European localities, where the type species, Simosaurus gaillardoti, from the Ladinian (Middle Triassic) of France and Germany, and the recently defined Paludidraco multidentatus, from the Carnian (Late Triassic) of Spain are known, in addition to several simosaurids of undetermined generic and specific attribution. By contrast, it is poorly represented in the Middle East, being known from both Israel and Saudi Arabia by scarce remains of uncertain systematic attribution. The Middle Triassic deposits of Araif El-Naqa, in Egypt, have yielded several sauropterygian remains, so far attributable to the placodont taxa Psephosauriscus sinaiticus and Psephosauriscus rhombifer, as well as to indeterminate nothosaurs. Here, we describe several unpublished vertebral sauropterygian remains from Araif El-Naqa, identifying the presence of the clade Simosauridae for the first time in Egypt and the first simosaurid vertebral remains from the Eastern Mediterranean.
{"title":"Sauropterygian remains from the Middle Triassic of Araif El-Naqa as the first identification of Simosauridae (Eosauropterygia) in Egypt","authors":"Alberto Cabezuelo-Hernández, Carlos de Miguel Chaves, Adán Pérez-García","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.015","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.015","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Simosauridae is a Triassic eosauropterygian clade restricted to the western Paleotethys. It is known by relatively abundant cranial and postcranial elements coming mostly from European localities, where the type species, <em>Simosaurus gaillardoti</em>, from the Ladinian (Middle Triassic) of France and Germany, and the recently defined <em>Paludidraco multidentatus</em>, from the Carnian (Late Triassic) of Spain are known, in addition to several simosaurids of undetermined generic and specific attribution. By contrast, it is poorly represented in the Middle East, being known from both Israel and Saudi Arabia by scarce remains of uncertain systematic attribution. The Middle Triassic deposits of Araif El-Naqa, in Egypt, have yielded several sauropterygian remains, so far attributable to the placodont taxa <em>Psephosauriscus sinaiticus</em> and <em>Psephosauriscus rhombifer</em>, as well as to indeterminate nothosaurs. Here, we describe several unpublished vertebral sauropterygian remains from Araif El-Naqa, identifying the presence of the clade Simosauridae for the first time in Egypt and the first simosaurid vertebral remains from the Eastern Mediterranean.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"87 ","pages":"Pages 1-7"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143175754","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.017
Romain Weppe , Mohd Waqas , Rajendra S. Rana , Thierry Smith
New material of the small raoellid artiodactyl Metkatius kashmiriensis is reported from the middle Eocene of the Upper Subathu Formation in the Kalakot area, Jammu and Kashmir, northwest Himalaya, India. The fossil material consists of numerous mandibular and maxillary fragments and isolated teeth, mainly belonging to juvenile specimens. It documents the poorly known dental morphology of M. kashmiriensis and provides an overview of its intraspecific variation, allowing to redefine its diagnosis. M. kashmiriensis is characterized by a particularly small size compared with other raoellid species, and by bunodont molars with moderately marked transverse lophs. The M/1–2 are much longer than wide and display characters similar to those of Rajouria gunnelli, such as the presence of a small paraconid and a mesial mesiostylid. The P/4 bears distally a small hypoconid, which appears to be unique in Raoellidae. The description of the new material also allows to document the poorly known morphology of the deciduous teeth of raoellids. The DP2/ is reported for the first time, and the DP/4 of M. kashmiriensis shows a morphology different from that of Indohyus, with the absence of mesial basin anterior to the paraconid and the primoconid. Contrary to what has recently been proposed, these results confirm that M. kashmiriensis is a valid species and not a synonym of Indohyus indirae, and highlight the great morphological diversity present within the Raoellidae during the middle Eocene in the Indian subcontinent.
{"title":"New material of the small raoellid artiodactyl Metkatius kashmiriensis Kumar and Sahni, 1985 (Mammalia) from the middle Eocene of the Kalakot area, Rajouri District, Jammu and Kashmir, India","authors":"Romain Weppe , Mohd Waqas , Rajendra S. Rana , Thierry Smith","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.017","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.017","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>New material of the small raoellid artiodactyl <em>Metkatius kashmiriensis</em> is reported from the middle Eocene of the Upper Subathu Formation in the Kalakot area, Jammu and Kashmir, northwest Himalaya, India. The fossil material consists of numerous mandibular and maxillary fragments and isolated teeth, mainly belonging to juvenile specimens. It documents the poorly known dental morphology of <em>M</em>. <em>kashmiriensis</em> and provides an overview of its intraspecific variation, allowing to redefine its diagnosis. <em>M. kashmiriensis</em> is characterized by a particularly small size compared with other raoellid species, and by bunodont molars with moderately marked transverse lophs. The M/1–2 are much longer than wide and display characters similar to those of <em>Rajouria gunnelli</em>, such as the presence of a small paraconid and a mesial mesiostylid. The P/4 bears distally a small hypoconid, which appears to be unique in Raoellidae. The description of the new material also allows to document the poorly known morphology of the deciduous teeth of raoellids. The DP2/ is reported for the first time, and the DP/4 of <em>M</em>. <em>kashmiriensis</em> shows a morphology different from that of <em>Indohyus</em>, with the absence of mesial basin anterior to the paraconid and the primoconid. Contrary to what has recently been proposed, these results confirm that <em>M</em>. <em>kashmiriensis</em> is a valid species and not a synonym of <em>Indohyus indirae</em>, and highlight the great morphological diversity present within the Raoellidae during the middle Eocene in the Indian subcontinent.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"87 ","pages":"Pages 81-90"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143175247","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.09.002
Isabel Rodríguez-Castro , Herbert Kabon , Sergio Rodríguez
The Carboniferous of Nötsch (South Austria) is composed of three formations: the Erlachgraben Formation, the Badstub Breccia, and the Nötsch Formation, that yielded abundant corals, several of them being new for that region. The assemblage is composed of 11 rugose coral species (Siphonophyllia sp., Pseudozaphrentoides juddi, Lublinophyllum? sp., Dibunophyllum bipartitum, Arachnolasma cylindrica, Palaeosmilia murchisoni, Aulokoninckophyllum carinatum, Siphonodendron martini, Diphyphyllum furcatum, Solenodendron furcatum, and Solenodendron horsfieldi), two tabulate species (Multithecopora sp. and Palaeacis sp.) and one heterocoral species (Hexaphyllia mirabilis). In addition, five rugosans that are not in our collection have been identified by previous authors (Clisiophyllum sp., Pseudozaphrentoides sp., Caninia sp., “Palaeosmilia isae”, and Lophophyllidium sp.). The rugose and tabulate species are described and figured. A palaeobiogeographic analysis comparing the Mississippian assemblages from Nötsch and other Austrian outcrops with other domains in Central Europe has been performed using hierarchical clustering with Simpson and Dice similarity indices. The statistical comparison of the rugose coral assemblages at the genus level allows a better perception of the distribution of the shallow water carbonate platforms in that part of the Western Palaeotethys during the Visean and Serpukhovian. The results are incorporated in a schematic palaeogeographical map of the studied area for the late Visean.
{"title":"The palaeobiogeographic significance of the Nötsch area (Austria) during the Middle and Late Mississippian based on rugose corals","authors":"Isabel Rodríguez-Castro , Herbert Kabon , Sergio Rodríguez","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.09.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.09.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Carboniferous of Nötsch (South Austria) is composed of three formations: the Erlachgraben Formation, the Badstub Breccia, and the Nötsch Formation, that yielded abundant corals, several of them being new for that region. The assemblage is composed of 11 rugose coral species (<em>Siphonophyllia</em> sp., <em>Pseudozaphrentoides juddi</em>, <em>Lublinophyllum</em>? sp., <em>Dibunophyllum bipartitum</em>, <em>Arachnolasma cylindrica</em>, <em>Palaeosmilia murchisoni</em>, <em>Aulokoninckophyllum carinatum</em>, <em>Siphonodendron martini</em>, <em>Diphyphyllum furcatum</em>, <em>Solenodendron furcatum</em>, and <em>Solenodendron horsfieldi</em>), two tabulate species (<em>Multithecopora</em> sp. and <em>Palaeacis</em> sp.) and one heterocoral species (<em>Hexaphyllia mirabilis</em>). In addition, five rugosans that are not in our collection have been identified by previous authors (<em>Clisiophyllum</em> sp., <em>Pseudozaphrentoides</em> sp., <em>Caninia</em> sp., “<em>Palaeosmilia isae</em>”, and <em>Lophophyllidium</em> sp.). The rugose and tabulate species are described and figured. A palaeobiogeographic analysis comparing the Mississippian assemblages from Nötsch and other Austrian outcrops with other domains in Central Europe has been performed using hierarchical clustering with Simpson and Dice similarity indices. The statistical comparison of the rugose coral assemblages at the genus level allows a better perception of the distribution of the shallow water carbonate platforms in that part of the Western Palaeotethys during the Visean and Serpukhovian. The results are incorporated in a schematic palaeogeographical map of the studied area for the late Visean.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"87 ","pages":"Pages 57-70"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143175246","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.09.001
Jörg Maletz , Juan Carlos Gutiérrez-Marco
The recent record of extremely rare rhabdopleurid graptolites with a supposed epibiontic life style in the Fezouata biota has to be rejected, as the specimens indicate an epibenthic growth on a shell fragment lying on the sea bottom. In absence of morphological data that support a truly colonial development on these encrusters, it cannot be ruled out that the specimens may alternatively represent the pseudo-colonial tubaria of cephalodiscid-like pterobranchs. The interpretation of the presence of benthic graptolites (class Pterobranchia; subclass Graptolithina) from the Fezouata Shale biota of Morocco provides us with some serious problems. Their life style as benthic or epibenthic organisms living on firm substrates and hardgrounds makes it difficult for them to be preserved in these highly fossiliferous, originally ‘soupy’ soft sediments of the Fezouata Shale, unless they are transported and covered by sediment subsequently. The graptolite record of the Fezouata biota appears to be restricted to planktic forms of Graptoloidea: the review of the few benthic dendroids so far cited for the Lagerstätte resulted in the identification of the rare planktic dendroid genus Calyxdendrum. The problematic species Webbyites felix may represent a hydrozoan (Cnidaria) rather than a benthic graptolite.
{"title":"The purported record of an epibiontic rhabdopleurid in the early Ordovician Fezouata biota of Morocco, with a discussion about benthic pterobranchs (Hemichordata) in the Lagerstätte","authors":"Jörg Maletz , Juan Carlos Gutiérrez-Marco","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.09.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.09.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The recent record of extremely rare rhabdopleurid graptolites with a supposed epibiontic life style in the Fezouata biota has to be rejected, as the specimens indicate an epibenthic growth on a shell fragment lying on the sea bottom. In absence of morphological data that support a truly colonial development on these encrusters, it cannot be ruled out that the specimens may alternatively represent the pseudo-colonial tubaria of cephalodiscid-like pterobranchs. The interpretation of the presence of benthic graptolites (class Pterobranchia; subclass Graptolithina) from the Fezouata Shale biota of Morocco provides us with some serious problems. Their life style as benthic or epibenthic organisms living on firm substrates and hardgrounds makes it difficult for them to be preserved in these highly fossiliferous, originally ‘soupy’ soft sediments of the Fezouata Shale, unless they are transported and covered by sediment subsequently. The graptolite record of the Fezouata biota appears to be restricted to planktic forms of Graptoloidea: the review of the few benthic dendroids so far cited for the Lagerstätte resulted in the identification of the rare planktic dendroid genus <em>Calyxdendrum</em>. The problematic species <em>Webbyites felix</em> may represent a hydrozoan (Cnidaria) rather than a benthic graptolite.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"87 ","pages":"Pages 25-35"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143174155","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.016
Mohammad J. Razmjooei , Matt O’Regan
Calcareous nannofossils provide biostratigraphic age-markers for Pleistocene Arctic Ocean sediments. However, Pleistocene Arctic sediments are dominated by fine-grained terrigenous material, and commonly contain rare and poorly preserved coccolith specimens that can be difficult to identify under the light microscope (LM). Using paired observations of the same specimens under LM and a scanning electron microscope (SEM), we recently discovered that poorly preserved Noelaerhabdaceae specimens that cannot be identified at the species level were previously classified as Gephyrocapsa huxleyi using LM observations alone. Moreover, the visual resemblance under LM between G. huxleyi and another Quaternary marker species, Pseudoemiliania lacunosa, also led to occasional misdiagnosis. Given the importance of G. huxleyi and P. lacunosa for stratigraphic age control, this has potentially profound implications for our understanding of the paleoceanographic history of the Arctic, and also other ocean basins. This study focuses on challenges met in improving and applying the paired LM-SEM technique for observation of the same nannofossil specimens, and on its subsequent adjustments in the case of Quaternary Arctic sediments, which often contain low abundances of calcareous micro- and nannofossils. Moreover, we review morphological aspects and discuss potential difficulties in unambiguously identifying G. huxleyi, P. lacunosa and Gephyrocapsa under LM and illustrate the need of integrating SEM images – which can be difficult to obtain in low-diversity assemblage sediments dominated by silt and clay.
钙质纳米化石为更新世北冰洋沉积物提供了生物地层年龄标志。然而，更新世北极沉积物以细粒陆源物质为主，通常含有罕见且保存较差的球粒岩标本，在光学显微镜下难以识别。通过对同一标本在LM和扫描电镜（SEM）下的成对观察，我们最近发现，在物种水平上无法识别的保存较差的Noelaerhabdaceae标本，以前仅通过LM观察就被归类为Gephyrocapsa huxleyi。此外，赫胥黎与另一个第四纪标志种lacunosa Pseudoemiliania在LM下的视觉相似性也导致了偶尔的误诊。考虑到G. huxleyi和P. lacunosa对地层年龄控制的重要性，这对我们理解北极和其他海洋盆地的古海洋学历史具有潜在的深远意义。本研究的重点是改进和应用配对LM-SEM技术来观察相同的纳米化石标本所遇到的挑战，以及在第四纪北极沉积物中后续的调整，这些沉积物通常含有低丰度的钙质微化石和纳米化石。此外，我们回顾了形态学方面，并讨论了在LM下明确识别G. huxleyi， P. lacunosa和Gephyrocapsa的潜在困难，并说明了在淤泥和粘土主导的低多样性组合沉积物中难以获得的整合SEM图像的必要性。
{"title":"Improved paired light and scanning electron microscope imaging technique for identifying nannofossils in Arctic sediments","authors":"Mohammad J. Razmjooei , Matt O’Regan","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.016","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.016","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Calcareous nannofossils provide biostratigraphic age-markers for Pleistocene Arctic Ocean sediments. However, Pleistocene Arctic sediments are dominated by fine-grained terrigenous material, and commonly contain rare and poorly preserved coccolith specimens that can be difficult to identify under the light microscope (LM). Using paired observations of the same specimens under LM and a scanning electron microscope (SEM), we recently discovered that poorly preserved Noelaerhabdaceae specimens that cannot be identified at the species level were previously classified as <em>Gephyrocapsa huxleyi</em> using LM observations alone. Moreover, the visual resemblance under LM between <em>G. huxleyi</em> and another Quaternary marker species, <em>Pseudoemiliania lacunosa</em>, also led to occasional misdiagnosis. Given the importance of <em>G. huxleyi</em> and <em>P. lacunosa</em> for stratigraphic age control, this has potentially profound implications for our understanding of the paleoceanographic history of the Arctic, and also other ocean basins. This study focuses on challenges met in improving and applying the paired LM-SEM technique for observation of the same nannofossil specimens, and on its subsequent adjustments in the case of Quaternary Arctic sediments, which often contain low abundances of calcareous micro- and nannofossils. Moreover, we review morphological aspects and discuss potential difficulties in unambiguously identifying <em>G. huxleyi</em>, <em>P. lacunosa</em> and <em>Gephyrocapsa</em> under LM and illustrate the need of integrating SEM images – which can be difficult to obtain in low-diversity assemblage sediments dominated by silt and clay.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"87 ","pages":"Pages 45-56"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143175244","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.09.003
Chia-Hsin Hsu , Jih-Pai Lin , Chien-Hsiang Lin
Heart urchins (Echinoidea: Spatangoida) collectively represent a highly diverse group of echinoids with abundant global fossil and extant records. Despite their wide distribution, the preservation challenges associated with their delicate and thin tests have led to limited comprehensive studies of this fossil group in Taiwan. Here, we report a new spatangoid echinoid assemblage from the Early Pleistocene part of the Gutingkeng Formation. Despite the inherent fragility and pronounced deformations in the studied specimens, the preserved key diagnostic characteristics (pore pairs in ambulacrum III and oral plating) indicate most of the fossil echinoids belong to genera Schizaster and Brissopsis. Moreover, based on detailed taphonomic and functional morphological examination, the paleoenvironment of the assemblage is interpreted as a low-energy, fine-grained soft substrate in a deeper shallow-water setting. Furthermore, this assemblage shares a high similarity with Assemblage 3 at the S’Archittu-Cajaragas section in the Miocene of Sardinia, supporting the notion that echinoids are excellent paleoenvironmental indicators, as similar echinoid faunas can be found across continents when environmental conditions are similar. On the other hand, the temporal and geographical distribution of Schizaster-rich echinoid assemblages in Taiwan may be correlated with the Cenozoic orogeny history of Taiwan.
{"title":"A spatangoid echinoid assemblage from the Gutingkeng Formation (Early Pleistocene) of Taiwan and its paleoenvironmental and geological implications","authors":"Chia-Hsin Hsu , Jih-Pai Lin , Chien-Hsiang Lin","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.09.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.09.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Heart urchins (Echinoidea: Spatangoida) collectively represent a highly diverse group of echinoids with abundant global fossil and extant records. Despite their wide distribution, the preservation challenges associated with their delicate and thin tests have led to limited comprehensive studies of this fossil group in Taiwan. Here, we report a new spatangoid echinoid assemblage from the Early Pleistocene part of the Gutingkeng Formation. Despite the inherent fragility and pronounced deformations in the studied specimens, the preserved key diagnostic characteristics (pore pairs in ambulacrum III and oral plating) indicate most of the fossil echinoids belong to genera <em>Schizaster</em> and <em>Brissopsis</em>. Moreover, based on detailed taphonomic and functional morphological examination, the paleoenvironment of the assemblage is interpreted as a low-energy, fine-grained soft substrate in a deeper shallow-water setting. Furthermore, this assemblage shares a high similarity with Assemblage 3 at the S’Archittu-Cajaragas section in the Miocene of Sardinia, supporting the notion that echinoids are excellent paleoenvironmental indicators, as similar echinoid faunas can be found across continents when environmental conditions are similar. On the other hand, the temporal and geographical distribution of <em>Schizaster</em>-rich echinoid assemblages in Taiwan may be correlated with the Cenozoic orogeny history of Taiwan.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"87 ","pages":"Pages 9-23"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143175753","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.004
Hao-Ran Zong , Jin-Jin Hu , Nian Wang , Yong-Jiang Huang
Tsuga (Endl.) Carrière (Pinaceae) has a rich fossil record represented by pollen, leaves, wood and seed cones. Although fossil leaves of the genus have been widely documented, most of them have not been examined microscopically, which may limit their taxonomic resolution. In this study, three-dimensionally preserved leaves and leaf fragments of Tsuga from the Neogene (latest Miocene to Pliocene) Baoshan Basin in western Yunnan, southwest China, were examined both morphologically and micromorphologically. The fossil leaves are characterized by flattened and bifacial shape, round to obtuse apex and petiolate base, adaxially sunken and abaxially elevated midvein, adaxial surface without stomata and with elongated, smooth-margined epidermal cells, and abaxial surface with two stomatal bands along the midvein, each stomatal band consisting of 6–8 longitudinal stomatal lines. Based on comparisons with extant species of the genus, we found that the fossil leaves show the closest affinity to Tsuga dumosa (D. Don) Eichler, an extant species growing in the modern western Yunnan. As modern species of Tsuga prefer humid conditions, our fossil find suggests a humid climate in the Baoshan Basin at the time of fossil deposition, probably due to the influence of the Indian summer monsoon from the southwest. This is consistent with previous results of quantitative palaeoclimate reconstructions using spore/pollen fossil assemblages. Our study provides new fossil evidence for the origin of modern conifer diversity in southwest China. It highlights the importance of microscopic studies in the taxonomic resolution of fossil leaves of Pinaceae.
{"title":"Tsuga leaves from the Neogene Baoshan Basin in southwest China and their palaeoecological implications","authors":"Hao-Ran Zong , Jin-Jin Hu , Nian Wang , Yong-Jiang Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><em>Tsuga</em> (Endl.) Carrière (Pinaceae) has a rich fossil record represented by pollen, leaves, wood and seed cones. Although fossil leaves of the genus have been widely documented, most of them have not been examined microscopically, which may limit their taxonomic resolution. In this study, three-dimensionally preserved leaves and leaf fragments of <em>Tsuga</em> from the Neogene (latest Miocene to Pliocene) Baoshan Basin in western Yunnan, southwest China, were examined both morphologically and micromorphologically. The fossil leaves are characterized by flattened and bifacial shape, round to obtuse apex and petiolate base, adaxially sunken and abaxially elevated midvein, adaxial surface without stomata and with elongated, smooth-margined epidermal cells, and abaxial surface with two stomatal bands along the midvein, each stomatal band consisting of 6–8 longitudinal stomatal lines. Based on comparisons with extant species of the genus, we found that the fossil leaves show the closest affinity to <em>Tsuga dumosa</em> (D. Don) Eichler, an extant species growing in the modern western Yunnan. As modern species of <em>Tsuga</em> prefer humid conditions, our fossil find suggests a humid climate in the Baoshan Basin at the time of fossil deposition, probably due to the influence of the Indian summer monsoon from the southwest. This is consistent with previous results of quantitative palaeoclimate reconstructions using spore/pollen fossil assemblages. Our study provides new fossil evidence for the origin of modern conifer diversity in southwest China. It highlights the importance of microscopic studies in the taxonomic resolution of fossil leaves of Pinaceae.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"86 ","pages":"Pages 107-117"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142578306","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.005
Elena Syromyatnikova , Oleg Redkozubov
Small fossil amphibians and reptiles from the Late Miocene of the Keinar locality of Moldova are reviewed for the first time. The following taxa are described: Mioproteus caucasicus, Chelotriton sp., Latonia sp., Pelobates sp., Pelophylax sp., “Colubrinae” indet., Natrix sp., two Vipera spp. (“Vipera aspis complex” and “Oriental vipers complex”), and Squamata indet. Among them, Pelobates sp. exhibits the characters which occur in the Early–Late Miocene (presence of both pit-and-ridge and pustular sculptures of the frontoparietal bone) and in the Pliocene (short frontoparietal–squamosal contact) members of the genus; this combination is not observed in any other Pelobates species. The viperid snake of the “Vipera aspis complex” is recorded from Moldova for the first time.
{"title":"A review of the Late Miocene herpetofauna of the Keinar locality of Moldova","authors":"Elena Syromyatnikova , Oleg Redkozubov","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Small fossil amphibians and reptiles from the Late Miocene of the Keinar locality of Moldova are reviewed for the first time. The following taxa are described: <em>Mioproteus caucasicus</em>, <em>Chelotriton</em> sp., <em>Latonia</em> sp., <em>Pelobates</em> sp., <em>Pelophylax</em> sp., “Colubrinae” indet., <em>Natrix</em> sp., two <em>Vipera</em> spp. (“<em>Vipera aspis</em> complex” and “Oriental vipers complex”), and Squamata indet. Among them, <em>Pelobates</em> sp. exhibits the characters which occur in the Early–Late Miocene (presence of both pit-and-ridge and pustular sculptures of the frontoparietal bone) and in the Pliocene (short frontoparietal–squamosal contact) members of the genus; this combination is not observed in any other <em>Pelobates</em> species. The viperid snake of the “<em>Vipera aspis</em> complex” is recorded from Moldova for the first time.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"86 ","pages":"Pages 25-33"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142578304","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.006
Steven L. Wick , Thomas M. Lehman
A juvenile pachycephalosaur frontal from the upper Aguja Formation (Late Cretaceous: middle Campanian) of West Texas, USA is unusually thin dorsoventrally, even compared to ‘flat’ frontals of young individuals pertaining to other pachycephalosaur taxa. The specimen is most comparable morphologically and morphometrically to Stegoceras validum. However, it is much thinner than any ‘juvenile’ example of that species, and also differs in the elongate form and radial arrangement of the surficial tubercles, as well as occurrence of radial grooves along the lateral margins of the bone. Such differences are unlikely a reflection of intraspecific variation. Instead, the Aguja specimen likely represents a previously unknown juvenile semaphoront from the southern Western Interior, referred herein to Stegoceras sp. and likely extends the distribution of this widespread Campanian genus. A morphometric evaluation suggests that the holotype specimen of Texacephale langstoni, also from the Aguja Formation, is probably an adult semaphoront of Stegoceras. However, both specimens represent different ontogenetic stages with dissimilar morphologies and so their potential conspecifity remains equivocal. The new Aguja specimen described herein likely represents a ‘paedomorphic’ Campanian pachycephalosaur – one where the onset of doming is displaced until well into ontogeny – a heterochronic attribute Stegoceras sp. shares with S. validum and Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensis. Where an adequate ontogenetic sample is available for comparison, other pachycephalosaur taxa do not seem to exhibit a similar growth progression, and so this appears to be a significant taxonomic characteristic. That some pachycephalosaurs delayed doming of the skull roof during growth is enigmatic, but it may have been an expression of sexual dimorphism, an aid in species recognition, or a response to harsh environmental conditions.
{"title":"A rare ‘flat-headed’ pachycephalosaur (Dinosauria: Pachycephalosauridae) from West Texas, USA, with morphometric and heterochronic considerations","authors":"Steven L. Wick , Thomas M. Lehman","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A juvenile pachycephalosaur frontal from the upper Aguja Formation (Late Cretaceous: middle Campanian) of West Texas, USA is unusually thin dorsoventrally, even compared to ‘flat’ frontals of young individuals pertaining to other pachycephalosaur taxa. The specimen is most comparable morphologically and morphometrically to <em>Stegoceras validum</em>. However, it is much thinner than any ‘juvenile’ example of that species, and also differs in the elongate form and radial arrangement of the surficial tubercles, as well as occurrence of radial grooves along the lateral margins of the bone. Such differences are unlikely a reflection of intraspecific variation. Instead, the Aguja specimen likely represents a previously unknown juvenile semaphoront from the southern Western Interior, referred herein to <em>Stegoceras</em> sp. and likely extends the distribution of this widespread Campanian genus. A morphometric evaluation suggests that the holotype specimen of <em>Texacephale langstoni</em>, also from the Aguja Formation, is probably an adult semaphoront of <em>Stegoceras.</em> However, both specimens represent different ontogenetic stages with dissimilar morphologies and so their potential conspecifity remains equivocal. The new Aguja specimen described herein likely represents a ‘paedomorphic’ Campanian pachycephalosaur – one where the onset of doming is displaced until well into ontogeny – a heterochronic attribute <em>Stegoceras</em> sp. shares with <em>S. validum</em> and <em>Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensis.</em> Where an adequate ontogenetic sample is available for comparison, other pachycephalosaur taxa do not seem to exhibit a similar growth progression, and so this appears to be a significant taxonomic characteristic. That some pachycephalosaurs delayed doming of the skull roof during growth is enigmatic, but it may have been an expression of sexual dimorphism, an aid in species recognition, or a response to harsh environmental conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"86 ","pages":"Pages 89-106"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142578309","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.007
Panagiotis Skandalos , Fatma Arzu Demirel , Mehmet Cihat Alçiçek , Serdar Mayda , Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende
Spalacinae are an unusual component of the fossil record around the world with a limited geographical distribution. The revisited section of Afşar includes one of the richest collections of Spalacinae in Turkey. From Afşar 1, near the base of the section we recovered Pliospalax cf. macoveii while in Afşar 2, at the top of the section we distinguish the species P. tourkobouniensis. The current research includes the first record of the last-mentioned species outside of Europe. Both spalacines indicate a dry and open space environment and, in accordance with the Arvicolinae, suggest that Afşar 1 can be attributed to MN 15 while Afşar 2 is correlated to MN 16.
{"title":"Early Pliocene Spalacinae from the locality of Afşar, western Turkey","authors":"Panagiotis Skandalos , Fatma Arzu Demirel , Mehmet Cihat Alçiçek , Serdar Mayda , Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Spalacinae are an unusual component of the fossil record around the world with a limited geographical distribution. The revisited section of Afşar includes one of the richest collections of Spalacinae in Turkey. From Afşar 1, near the base of the section we recovered <em>Pliospalax</em> cf. <em>macoveii</em> while in Afşar 2, at the top of the section we distinguish the species <em>P. tourkobouniensis</em>. The current research includes the first record of the last-mentioned species outside of Europe. Both spalacines indicate a dry and open space environment and, in accordance with the Arvicolinae, suggest that Afşar 1 can be attributed to MN 15 while Afşar 2 is correlated to MN 16.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"86 ","pages":"Pages 11-23"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142578303","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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