| 1. |
- Borinder, Niclas H., et al.
(författare)
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Postcranial osteology of the basally branching hadrosauroid dinosaur Tanius sinensis from the Upper Cretaceous Wangshi Group of Shandong, China
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. - : Taylor & Francis. - 0272-4634 .- 1937-2809. ; 41:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tanius sinensis was one of the first dinosaur species to be named from China. It was established on a partial skeleton recovered by a joint Sino-Swedish expedition in 1923. The fossils were excavated from Upper Cretaceous strata of the Jiangjunding Formation (Wangshi Group) in Shandong Province, and although their discovery dates back almost 100 years, they have not been reassessed in detail since their initial description in 1929. This omission is critical because T. sinensis is now recognized as one of the stratigraphically youngest non-hadrosaurid hadrosauroid taxa. Here, we re-evaluate the postcranial osteology of T. sinensis as a prelude to an anatomical and phylogenetic revision of the species. We examined the holotype and all currently referred specimens of T. sinensis first-hand, and identified a unique postcranial character state combination incorporating tall dorsal neural spines, a reduced postacetabular ridge on the ilium, a fully enclosed flexor tunnel formed by the distal condyles of the femur, and a lunate proximal end on metatarsal III. Comparisons with other species of Tanius confirm that: (1) T. chingkankouensis is a nomen dubium erected on non-diagnostic composite material; (2) T. laiyangensis was established on indeterminate hadrosaurid remains that are not attributable to Tanius; and (3) the anecdotal assignments of Bactrosaurus prynadai and Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus to Tanius cannot be substantiated. Close inspection of the holotype caudal vertebra further reveals a possible healed bite trace consistent with a prey-predator interaction. Lastly, our calculated average body mass estimate for T. sinensis of between 2091-3533 kg suggests that it was one of the largest non-hadrosaurid hadrosauroids.
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| 2. |
- Borinder, Niclas H., et al.
(författare)
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Reassessment of the earliest documented stegosaurian fossils from Asia
- 2016
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Ingår i: Cretaceous research (Print). - : Elsevier BV. - 0195-6671 .- 1095-998X. ; 68, s. 61-69
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In 1929, the famous Swedish palaeontologist Carl Wiman documented the first unequivocal stegosaurian dinosaur fossils from Asia. His material comprised an isolated dermal spine, together with a dorsal vertebra that was briefly described but never figured. Since then these remains have languished in obscurity, being noted in some stegosaur review articles but often ignored altogether. However, recent auditing of the Museum of Evolution palaeontological collection at Uppsala University in Sweden has led to the rediscovery of Wiman's original specimens, as well as two additional previously unrecognised stegosaurian dorsal vertebrae. All of these bones derive from the Lower Cretaceous (Berriasian-Valanginian) Mengyin Formation of Shandong Province in eastern China, and are morphologically compatible with the stratigraphically proximal stegosaurian taxon Wuerhosaurus from the Valanginian-Albian Tugulu Group in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of Western China. Wirnan's seminal stegosaurian fossils thus expand current palaeobiogeographical distributions, and contribute to the otherwise enigmatic record of Early Cretaceous stegosaurian occurrences.
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| 3. |
- Kear, Benjamin P., et al.
(författare)
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Late Triassic capitosaurian remains from Svalbard and the palaeobiogeographical context of Scandinavian Arctic temnospondyls
- 2016
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Ingår i: Mesozoic Biotas Of Scandinavia And Its Arctic Territories. - : Geological Society of London. - 9781862397484 ; , s. 113-126
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Norwegian Arctic Svalbard archipelago is famous for its prolific record of Early-Middle Triassic vertebrate fossils. These represent mainly marine amniotes, together with sharks, bony fishes and temnospondyl amphibians, the latter providing an important faunal correlate with coeval assemblages from the Danish autonomous region of Greenland. However, substantial biostratigraphical gaps exist in the Upper Triassic strata of Svalbard, which are marked by pronounced facies shifts from marine to deltaic systems and intermittent depositional hiatuses. These are accompanied by a dearth of documented vertebrate remains, a notable exception being the partial skull of the capitosaurian Capitosaurus polaris and a few isolated stereospondylian intercentra probably from the middle-late Carnian De Geerdalen Formation of Spitsbergen. Reassessment of this material, which incorporates the only undisputed capitosaurian fossil from Svalbard, indicates affinity with Cyclotosaurus, known elsewhere from the late Norian-early Rhaetian Fleming Fjord Formation of Greenland. The Scandinavian Arctic temnospondyls constituted components of sympatric assemblages that inhabited the Boreal margin of Pangaea throughout the Triassic.
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| 4. |
- Paulina-Carabajal, Ariana, et al.
(författare)
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Comparative neuroanatomy of extinct horned turtles (Meiolaniidae) and extant terrestrial turtles (Testudinidae), with comments on the palaeobiological implications of selected endocranial features
- 2017
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Ingår i: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. - : OXFORD UNIV PRESS. - 0024-4082 .- 1096-3642. ; 180:4, s. 930-950
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Turtles are one of the least explored clades of reptiles with respect to palaeoneuroanatomy. Few detailed descriptions of endocranial features such as the brain morphology or inner ear exist for extant and extinct forms. In this contribution, we present the first CT-based reconstructions of endocranial morphology (brain and inner ear) and the nasal cavities in the terrestrial horned meiolaniid (Meiolaniidae) turtles Niolamia argentina and Gaffneylania auricularis from the Eocene of Patagonia, as well as Meiolania platyceps from the Pleistocene of Lord Howe Island, Australia. In addition, these exclusively Gondwanan Cenozoic taxa are contrasted with cranial endocasts of multiple extant testudinoids, thereby providing the largest sample of digital comparative endocranial data assembled for extinct and living turtles to date. Our study thus adds much needed anatomical information on turtle palaeoneurology. Aspects of meiolaniid palaeobiology are discussed; in particular, the hypertrophied nasal cavity might not to be related to olfactory acuity, but rather perhaps adaptation to arid climatic conditions, and/or intraspecific behaviours.
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| 5. |
- Poropat, Stephen F., et al.
(författare)
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An annotated checklist of Australian Mesozoic tetrapods
- 2023
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Ingår i: Alcheringa. - : Taylor & Francis. - 0311-5518 .- 1752-0754. ; 47:2, s. 129-205
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In 2020, the Australasian palaeontological association Australasian Palaeontologists (AAP) joined the Australian government-supported Australian National Species List (auNSL) initiative to compile the first Australian Fossil National Species List (auFNSL) for the region. The goal is to assemble comprehensive systematic data on all vertebrate, invertebrate and plant fossil taxa described to date, and to present the information both within a continuously updated open-access online framework, and as a series of primary reference articles in AAP's flagship journal Alcheringa. This paper spearheads these auFNSL Alcheringa publications with an annotated checklist of Australian Mesozoic tetrapods. Complete synonymy, type material, source locality, geological age and bibliographical information are provided for 111 species formally named as of 2022. In addition, chronostratigraphically arranged inventories of all documented Australian Mesozoic tetrapod fossil occurrences are presented with illustrations of significant, exceptionally preserved and/or diagnostic specimens. The most diverse order-level clades include temnospondyl amphibians (34 species), saurischian (13 species) and ornithischian (12 species) dinosaurs (excluding ichnotaxa), and plesiosaurian marine reptiles (11 species). However, numerous other groups collectively span the earliest Triassic (earliest Induan) to Late Cretaceous (late Maastrichtian) and incorporate antecedents of modern Australian lineages, such as chelonioid and chelid turtles and monotreme mammals. Although scarce in comparison to records from other continents, Australia's Mesozoic tetrapod assemblages are globally important because they constitute higher-palaeolatitude faunas that evince terrestrial and marine ecosystem evolution near the ancient South Pole. The pace of research on these assemblages has also accelerated substantially over the last 20 years, and serves to promote fossil geoheritage as an asset for scientific, cultural and economic development. The auFNSL augments the accessibility and utility of these palaeontological resources and provides a foundation for ongoing exploration into Australia's unique natural history.
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| 6. |
- Poropat, Stephen F.
(författare)
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Carl Wiman's sauropods : The Uppsala Museum of Evolution's collection
- 2013
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Ingår i: GFF. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1103-5897 .- 2000-0863. ; 135:1, s. 104-119
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Museum of Evolution in Uppsala acquired a number of sauropod specimens under the tenure of Professor Carl Wiman. The most intensely studied of these are two partial skeletons, PMU 24705 (formerly PMU R 233) and PMU 24706 (formerly PMU R 234), excavated in Shandong (Shantung) Province, China, by Otto Zdansky, which form the basis for the species Euhelopus zdanskyi. These specimens were acquired by the Museum of Evolution in the 1920s and remain the subject of much interest among sauropod workers. The cranial anatomy, classification and the age of Euhelopus have been the subject of some debate. Other Chinese sauropod material in the Museum of Evolution collection includes three vertebrae (one cervical, one dorsal and one caudal) and an incomplete femur. The caudal vertebra has been recently referred to Diplodocoidea by some researchers and to Titanosauriformes by others. Incomplete sauropod remains, which may represent the topotype material of Alamosaurus sanjuanensis (the only named post-Cenomanian North American sauropod to date) in the Museum of Evolution collection from New Mexico, coupled with specimens from North American museums, may help resolve the validity of A. sanjuanensis as a taxon and the sauropod hiatus as either a real phenomenon or an artefact of the fossil record. The palaeontological significance of the Museum of Evolution's sauropod collection cannot be overstated. These important specimens continue to be a crucial resource for studies concerning sauropod taxonomy, phylogenetic systematics, evolution and functional morphology.
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| 7. |
- Poropat, Stephen F., 1984-, et al.
(författare)
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Early Cretaceous ostracod biostratigraphy of eastern Brazil and western Africa : an overview
- 2012
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Ingår i: Gondwana Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 1342-937X .- 1878-0571. ; 22:3-4, s. 772-798
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Petroleum exploration in the offshore basins of eastern Brazil and western Africa has been aided for the last fifty years by an understanding of the Early Cretaceous ostracod biostratigraphy of the proto-South Atlantic. This review charts the development of the presently accepted zonation from its early development in the Recôncavo–Tucano Basin and recognition as palaeontological evidence for continental drift in the 1960s, to its application over the following five decades in the Brazilian Sergipe–Alagoas, Araripe and Campos basins and the western African Congo, Gabon and Kwanza basins. The distribution of ostracod species in the lakes which formed during the early stages of the opening of the Atlantic during the Early Cretaceous was often extensive, and this has resulted in effectively South Atlantic-wide application for many species, and certainly for the zonation as a whole. Indeed, petroleum companies continue to exploit the predictability of the ostracods in South Atlantic operations due to the fact that they are often able to provide accurate constraints on stratigraphic position for a relatively low cost. However, the ostracod biozonations of the pre-Salt section for several eastern Brazilian basins, such as the Recôncavo–Tucano, Sergipe–Alagoas and Campos, have not been thoroughly revised since the 1980s, and the taxonomy of these remains somewhat outdated. Furthermore, ostracod biozonations for many basins on both coasts (e.g. the Brazilian Espírito Santo and the western African Namibe basins) have never been published. An updated and revised taxonomy of the ostracods of the basins of eastern Brazil and western Africa is presented (Appendix I), as well as a revision of the biozonation on both sides of the modern day Atlantic Ocean. It is hoped that this paper will act as a catalyst for further work in the basins surrounding the modern day South Atlantic, which hold much interest for petroleum companies and micropalaeontologists alike.
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| 8. |
- Poropat, Stephen F., et al.
(författare)
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Early Cretaceous polar biotas of Victoria, southeastern Australia : an overview of research to date
- 2018
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Ingår i: Alcheringa. - : TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD. - 0311-5518 .- 1752-0754. ; 42:2, s. 157-229
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although Cretaceous fossils (coal excluded) from Victoria, Australia, were first reported in the 1850s, it was not until the 1950s that detailed studies of these fossils were undertaken. Numerous fossil localities have been identified in Victoria since the 1960s, including the Koonwarra Fossil Bed (Strzelecki Group) near Leongatha, the Dinosaur Cove and Eric the Red West sites (Otway Group) at Cape Otway, and the Flat Rocks site (Strzelecki Group) near Cape Paterson. Systematic exploration over the past five decades has resulted in the collection of thousands of fossils representing various plants, invertebrates and vertebrates. Some of the best-preserved and most diverse Hauterivian-Barremian floral assemblages in Australia derive from outcrops of the lower Strzelecki Group in the Gippsland Basin. The slightly younger Koonwarra Fossil Bed (Aptian) is a Konservat-Lagerstatte that also preserves abundant plants, including one of the oldest known flowers. In addition, insects, crustaceans (including the only syncaridans known from Australia between the Triassic and the present), arachnids (including Australia's only known opilione), the stratigraphically youngest xiphosurans from Australia, bryozoans, unionoid molluscs and a rich assemblage of actinopterygian fish are known from the Koonwarra Fossil Bed. The oldest knownand only Mesozoicfossil feathers from the Australian continent constitute the only evidence for tetrapods at Koonwarra. By contrast, the Barremian-Aptian-aged deposits at the Flat Rocks site, and the Aptian-Albian-aged strata at the Dinosaur Cove and Eric the Red West sites, are all dominated by tetrapod fossils, with actinopterygians and dipnoans relatively rare. Small ornithopod (=basal neornithischian) dinosaurs are numerically common, known from four partial skeletons and a multitude of isolated bones. Aquatic meiolaniform turtles constitute another prominent faunal element, represented by numerous isolated bones and articulated carapaces and plastrons. More than 50 specimensmostly lower jawsevince a high diversity of mammals, including monotremes, a multituberculate and several enigmatic ausktribosphenids. Relatively minor components of these fossil assemblages are diverse theropods (including birds), rare ankylosaurs and ceratopsians, pterosaurs, non-marine plesiosaurs and a lepidosaur. In the older strata of the upper Strzelecki Group, temnospondyl amphibiansthe youngest known worldwideare a conspicuous component of the fauna, whereas crocodylomorphs appear to be present only in up-sequence deposits of the Otway Group. Invertebrates are uncommon, although decapod crustaceans and unionoid bivalves have been described. Collectively, the Early Cretaceous biota of Victoria provides insights into a unique Mesozoic high-latitude palaeoenvironment and elucidates both palaeoclimatic and palaeobiogeographic changes throughout more than 25 million years of geological time.
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| 9. |
- Poropat, Stephen F., et al.
(författare)
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Late Cretaceous dinosaurian remains from the Kristianstad Basin of southern Sweden
- 2016
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Ingår i: Geological Society Special Publication. - : Geological Society. - 0305-8719. ; 434, s. 231-239, s. 231-239
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mesozoic dinosaur fossils are exceptionally rare in Scandinavia. The Swedish record is typically depauperate, with the Kristianstad Basin of SkÅne (Scania) yielding all of the known fossils from Swedish Cretaceous strata. Although highly fragmentary, these body remnants are important because they provide evidence of a relatively diverse fauna, including previously recognized hesperornithiform birds and leptoceratopsid ceratopsians, as well as indeterminate ornithopods that are confirmed here for the first time. In this paper, we describe three phalanges (from Åsen) and an incomplete right tibia (from Ugnsmunnarna) from the Kristianstad Basin. One of the phalanges appears to pertain to a leptoceratopsid ceratopsian, providing further evidence of these small ornithischians in the Cretaceous sediments of Sweden. The other two phalanges are interpreted as deriving from small ornithopods similar to Thescelosaurus and Parksosaurus. The tibia appears to represent the first evidence of a non-avian theropod dinosaur in the Cretaceous of Sweden, with a previous report of theropod remains based on fish teeth having been corrected by other authors. The remains described herein provide important additions to the enigmatic dinosaurian fauna that inhabited the Fennoscandian archipelago during the latest Cretaceous.
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| 10. |
- Poropat, Stephen F., et al.
(författare)
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New Australian sauropods shed light on Cretaceous dinosaur palaeobiogeography
- 2016
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Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Australian dinosaurs have played a rare but controversial role in the debate surrounding the effect of Gondwanan break-up on Cretaceous dinosaur distribution. Major spatiotemporal gaps in the Gondwanan Cretaceous fossil record, coupled with taxon incompleteness, have hindered research on this effect, especially in Australia. Here we report on two new sauropod specimens from the early Late Cretaceous of Queensland, Australia, that have important implications for Cretaceous dinosaur palaeobiogeography. Savannasaurus elliottorum gen. et sp. nov. comprises one of the most complete Cretaceous sauropod skeletons ever found in Australia, whereas a new specimen of Diamantinasaurus matildae includes the first ever cranial remains of an Australian sauropod. The results of a new phylogenetic analysis, in which both Savannasaurus and Diamantinasaurus are recovered within Titanosauria, were used as the basis for a quantitative palaeobiogeographical analysis of macronarian sauropods. Titanosaurs achieved a worldwide distribution by at least 125 million years ago, suggesting that mid-Cretaceous Australian sauropods represent remnants of clades which were widespread during the Early Cretaceous. These lineages would have entered Australasia via dispersal from South America, presumably across Antarctica. High latitude sauropod dispersal might have been facilitated by Albian-Turonian warming that lifted a palaeoclimatic dispersal barrier between Antarctica and South America.
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