Autor: O'Connor, P.M. - Prolib Integro

Skocz do pozycji: 1.

Tytuł:: Ontogenetic changes in the craniomandibular skeleton of the abelisaurid dinosaur Majungasaurus crenatissimus from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar
Autorzy:: Ratsimbaholison, N.O.
Felice, R.N.
O’Connor, P.M.
Tematy:: ontogenetic change
craniomandibular skeleton
abelisaurid dinosaur
Majungasaurus crenatissimus
Dinosauria
Abelisauridae
geometric morphometrics
ontogenesis
skull
Cretaceous
Gondwana
Late Cretaceous
Madagascar; Pokaż więcej
Wydawca:: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Paleobiologii PAN
Powiązania:: https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/21868.pdf Link otwiera się w nowym oknie
Opis:: Abelisaurid theropods were one of the most diverse groups of predatory dinosaurs in Gondwana during the Cretaceous. The group is characterized by a tall, wide skull and robust cervical region. This morphology is thought to have facilitated specialized feeding behaviors such as prolonged contact with prey. The Late Cretaceous abelisaurid Majungasaurus crenatissimus typifies this abelisaurid cranial morphotype. Recent fossil discoveries of this species include a partial growth series that allows for the first time an investigation of ontogenetic variation in cranial morphology in a representative abelisaurid. Herein we examine growth trajectories in the shape of individual cranial bones and articulated skulls of Majungasaurus using geometric morphometrics. Several major changes in skull shape were observed through ontogeny, including an increase in the height of the jugal, postorbital, and quadratojugal, an increase in the extent of the contacts between bones, and a decrease in the circumference of the orbit. The skull transitions from relatively short in the smallest individual to tall and robust in large adults, as is seen in other theropods. Such morphological change during ontogeny would likely have resulted in different biomechanical properties and feeding behaviors between small and large individuals. These findings provide a post-hatching developmental framework for understanding the evolution of the distinctive tall skull morphology seen in abelisaurids and other large-sized theropod dinosaurs.
Dostawca treści:: Biblioteka Nauki

Artykuł

na półce

Skocz do pozycji: 2.

Tytuł:: A Cretaceous mammal from Tanzania
Autorzy:: Krause, D W
Gottfried, M.D.
O'Connor, P.M.
Roberts, E.M.
Tematy:: mammal
Gondwana
Cretaceous
Mammalia
Africa
Tanzania
Gondwanatheria
paleontology; Pokaż więcej
Wydawca:: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Paleobiologii PAN
Powiązania:: https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/23042.pdf Link otwiera się w nowym oknie
Opis:: We report here the discovery of a Cretaceous mammal from the “Red Sandstone Group” of southwestern Tanzania. This specimen is one of only a very few Cretaceous mammals known from Gondwana in general and Africa in particular. The specimen consists of a short, deep left dentary that bore a large, procumbent central incisor, and five single−rooted, hypsodont cheek−teeth. The specimen is very tentatively identified as a sudamericid, and thus may represent the first African record of an enigmatic clade of mammals, the Gondwanatheria, which is otherwise known from the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene of several other Gondwanan landmasses. Unfortunately, the precise age of the specimen could not be determined. If it is pre−Campanian and if its identity as a sudamercid is corroborated through subsequent discoveries, it represents the earliest known gondwanatherian. If the specimen is from the Campanian or Maastrichtian, and again assuming its identification is correct, it has the potential to refute a recently formulated biogeographic hypothesis predicting the absence of certain terrestrial and freshwater vertebrate taxa, including gondwanatherians, in Africa (i.e., those that evolved elsewhere on Gondwana after Africa became an isolated landmass).
Dostawca treści:: Biblioteka Nauki

Artykuł

na półce

Skocz do pozycji: 3.

Tytuł:: A new mammal from the Turonian–Campanian (Upper Cretaceous) Galula Formation, southwestern Tanzania
Autorzy:: O’Connor, P.M.
Krause, D.W.
Stevens, N.J.
Groenke, J.R.
MacPhee, R.D.E.
Kalthoff, D.C.
Roberts, E.M.
Wydawca:: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Paleobiologii PAN
Powiązania:: https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/20223.pdf Link otwiera się w nowym oknie
Opis:: We here establish a new mammaliaform genus and species, Galulatherium jenkinsi (Mammalia), from the Upper Cretaceous Galula Formation in the Rukwa Rift Basin of southwestern Tanzania. This represents the first named taxon of a mammaliaform from the entire Late Cretaceous of continental Afro-Arabia, an interval of 34 million years. Preliminary study of the holotypic and only known specimen (a partial dentary) resulted in tentative assignation to the Gondwanatheria, a poorly known, enigmatic clade of Late Cretaceous–Paleogene Gondwanan mammals (Krause et al. 2003). The application of advanced imaging (μCT) and visualization techniques permits a more detailed understanding of key anatomical features of the new taxon. It reveals that the lower dentition consisted of a large, procumbent lower incisor and four cheek teeth, all of which were evergrowing (hypselodont). Importantly, all of the teeth appear devoid of enamel. Comparisons conducted with a range of Mesozoic and selected Cenozoic mammaliaform groups document a number of features (e.g., columnar, enamel-less and evergrowing teeth, with relatively simple occlusal morphology) expressed in Galulatherium that are reminiscent of several distantly related groups, making taxonomic assignment difficult at this time. Herein we retain the provisional referral of Galulatherium (RRBP 02067) to Gondwanatheria; it is most similar to sudamericids such as Lavanify and Bharratherium from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar and India, respectively, in exhibiting relatively simple, high-crowned, columnar cheek teeth. Other features (e.g., enamel-less dentition) are shared with disparate forms such as the Late Jurassic Fruitafossor and toothed xenarthrans (e.g., sloths), here attributed to convergence. Revised analyses of the depositional context for the holotype place it as having lived sometime between the late Turonian and latest Campanian (roughly 91–72 million years ago). This enhanced geochronological context helps to refine the palaeobiogeographical significance of Galulatherium among Cretaceous mammals in general and those from Gondwanan landmasses specifically.
Dostawca treści:: Biblioteka Nauki