[dinosaur] Sinoergilornis, new eogruid from Miocene of China + Mourasuchus + vertebrate fossil record

Ben Creisler
[email protected]

Some new non-dino papers:


Sinoergilornis guangheensis gen. et sp. nov.

Grace Musser, Zhiheng Li &  Julia A Clarke (2019)
A new species of Eogruidae (Aves: Gruiformes) from the Miocene of the
Linxia Basin, Gansu, China: Evolutionary and climatic implications.
The Auk: ukz067 (advance online publication)
doi: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.1093_auk_ukz067&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=-PCBXriVMPcDSvYmOcC1jmI9giZ4VbwTtRFNGBCf3l0&s=5f2wpTZVLi2-e6-0t6Edp_dKEf_7dXriXAtVVOGFmUQ&e= 
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__academic.oup.com_auk_advance-2Darticle-2Dabstract_doi_10.1093_auk_ukz067_5645102&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=-PCBXriVMPcDSvYmOcC1jmI9giZ4VbwTtRFNGBCf3l0&s=KqnyqzJKCNkqDnCLYbA6Tb72nNnOxHm-sYki66y76nM&e= 

Despite having one of the most robust fossil records within core-gruiform
birds (rails, cranes, and allies), the biogeographic history of Gruidae
(cranes) and key drivers of diversification within this group remain
largely unknown. The Eogruidae of Eurasia represent some of the earliest
known crane-like fossils. Here, we present description of a new species
represented by a well-preserved specimen of a foot from the late Miocene
(7–6.5 mya) Liushu Formation of Linxia Basin, Gansu, China. It is the only
eogruid fossil that has been found in this formation and is the first
eogruid known from northwest China. Linxia Basin is located along the
margin of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, which allows for new insight
into Miocene dispersal of the Eogruidae and potential climatological and
geological connections. It is also the first specimen with an associated
tarsometatarsus and nearly complete phalanges, including a claw, which
provides further morphological information on this taxon. Referral of the
new specimen to Eogruidae is based on extreme reduction of the trochlea of
metatarsal II, which is most similar to the condition present in the
eogruid subclade traditionally termed Ergilornithidae.

=========


Free pdf:

Giovanne M. Cidade, Douglas Riff & Annie Schmaltz Hsiou (2019)
The feeding habits of the strange crocodylian Mourasuchus (Alligatoroidea,
Caimaninae): a review, new hypotheses and perspectives.
Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia 22(2):106–119
doi:10.4072/rbp.2019.2.03
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.sbpbrasil.org_assets_uploads_files_rbp2019203.pdf&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=-PCBXriVMPcDSvYmOcC1jmI9giZ4VbwTtRFNGBCf3l0&s=IeSfXHOcTDKNmGxvbuNAkHv3QaokkeaVHa8JI1_NDrE&e= 

The caimanine crocodylian Mourasuchus from the Miocene of South America is
one of the most peculiar crocodylomorphs of all time. It exhibits an
unusual long, wide and dorsoventrally flattened rostrum, long, slender
mandibles, and relatively short cervical vertebrae. These features have led
previous authors to propose that the feeding habits of Mourasuchus were
very different from those of most crocodylomorphs. In order to
significantly improve the knowledge on the feeding habits of Mourasuchus,
we performed a comprehensive review on this issue in order to offer the
most complete assessment on the question to date, and to propose new
hypotheses coherent with our current knowledge on Mourasuchus and on the
feeding habits of crocodylomorphs. As a result, this study proposes that
Mourasuchus was likely incapable of capturing and consuming large preys and
specialized in eating small ones, such as mollusks, crustaceans and small
fishes. The rostrum of Mourasuchus possibly evolved to cover the largest
possible area, in order to be more efficient in the capture of large
amounts of small preys. Whether Mourasuchus was capable to “select” the
food from other material ingested with it is not yet known. In consequence,
we suggest "gulp-feeding" to describe the proposed feeding habits of these
animals. Mourasuchus was probably an inhabitant of quiet, shallow water
bodies, where there were a broad range of habitats in which the preferred
preys of this taxon dwelled. It is also proposed that the habit of
Mourasuchus evolved from the durophagous habit proposed for many fossil
caimanines. This hypothesis, however, has to be addressed by future studies.

===
Free pdf:

Fiona M. Walker,  Alexander M. Dunhill  & Michael J. Benton (2019)
Variable preservation potential and richness in the fossil record of
vertebrates.
Palaeontology (advance online publication)
doi:  https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.1111_pala.12458&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=-PCBXriVMPcDSvYmOcC1jmI9giZ4VbwTtRFNGBCf3l0&s=lXMbzyyoy0vQ2CTXVvYU0vQc5Ltlc8kxu5nOwcu6Bdk&e= 
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__onlinelibrary.wiley.com_doi_full_10.1111_pala.12458&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=-PCBXriVMPcDSvYmOcC1jmI9giZ4VbwTtRFNGBCf3l0&s=7SmsXnm4f0gV9MP1VIDlcV_3KACJQ1wpbgavHnVHkaI&e= 

Free pdf:
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__onlinelibrary.wiley.com_doi_pdf_10.1111_pala.12458&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=-PCBXriVMPcDSvYmOcC1jmI9giZ4VbwTtRFNGBCf3l0&s=jvfwbYmZDZLH5V6K_H4F8QSjCaH6SSwY4wx-kr4I2FI&e= 

Data archiving statement:
Data for this study are available in the Dryad Digital Repository:
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.5061_dryad.f4114kq&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=-PCBXriVMPcDSvYmOcC1jmI9giZ4VbwTtRFNGBCf3l0&s=42fujejEy5mBC07RU48Il4fxKgeeGFr6n2yAfC_Kdgc&e= 


Variation in preservation and sampling probability clouds our estimates of
past biodiversity. The most extreme examples are Lagerstätten faunas and
floras. Although such deposits provide a wealth of information and
represent true richness better than other deposits, they can create
misleading diversity peaks because of their species richness. Here, we
investigate how Lagerstätten formations add to time series of vertebrate
richness in the UK, Germany and China. The first two nations are associated
with well‐studied fossil records and the last is a country where
palaeontology has a much shorter history; all three nations include noted
Lagerstätten in their fossil records. Lagerstätten provide a larger
proportion of China's sampled richness than in Germany or the UK, despite
comprising a smaller proportion of its fossiliferous deposits. The
proportions of taxa that are unique to Lagerstätten vary through time and
between countries. Further, in all regions, we find little overlap between
the taxa occurring in Lagerstätten and in ‘ordinary’ formations within the
same time bin, indicating that Lagerstätten preserve unusual faunas. As
expected, fragile taxa make up a greater proportion of richness in
Lagerstätten than the remainder of the fossil record. Surprisingly, we find
that Lagerstätten account for a minority of peaks in the palaeodiversity
curves of all vertebrates (18% in the UK; 36% in Germany and China), and
Lagerstätten count is generally not a good overall predictor of the
palaeodiversity signal. Vastly different sampling probabilities through
taxa, locations and time require serious consideration when analysing
palaeodiversity curves.