Journal articles: 'Reptiles, Fossil'

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Tay, Michael A. "Problems in the Curation of Fossil Marine Reptiles." Geological Curator 4, no. 2 (April 1985): 65–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.55468/gc737.

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The majority of the large fossil marine reptiles stored in British museums are ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and crocodiles collected from the Liassic beds of England. Many of these specimens were recovered during the nineteenth century from manually operated quarries, especially those at Street in Somerset and at Barrow-on-Soar in Leicestershire. Others came from coastal exposures at Lyme Regis, or at Whitby where there were also large alum shale quarries (Howe e^ �l. 1981; Benton and Taylor 1984). Many of the more complete skeletons are now in the major collections held by the British Museum (Natural History), Oxford University Museum, and the Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge. The remainder, however, are scattered throughout the provincial museums of Britain and Ireland and often form the bulk of their fossil reptile collections. Virtually every specimen suffers from one of the three most prevalent problems affecting such fossils: poor data, poor standards of preparation and poor display techniques. In discussing these problems, those aspects peculiar to marine reptiles will be examined.

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Dalton, Rex. "Fossil reptiles mired in controversy." Nature 451, no. 7178 (January 2008): 510. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/451510a.

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Benton, Michael J. "Fossil reptiles from ancient caves." Nature 337, no. 6205 (January 1989): 309–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/337309b0.

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Bocherens, Herve, Donald B. Brinkman, Yannicke Dauphin, and André Mariotti. "Microstructural and geochemical investigations on Late Cretaceous archosaur teeth from Alberta, Canada." Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 31, no. 5 (May 1, 1994): 783–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e94-071.

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Microstructural and chemical composition studies on fossil reptile teeth from Upper Cretaceous localities of Alberta, Canada, show that the quality of preservation exhibits great variability within a formation, as well as within a locality or even a single tooth. The chemical composition of fossil enamel is close to that of modern enamel, whereas the chemical compositions of fossil and modern dentine are very different. It seems that fossil enamel may have retained some paleodietary information in its chemical composition, whereas dentine, as well as bone, likely did not. Paleodietary interpretations may thus be drawn from the chemical composition of some elements in tooth enamel, such as strontium, but more studies on recent reptiles are urged for comparison.

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Buffetaut, Eric, Jianjun Li, Haiyan Tong, and He Zhang. "A two-headed reptile from the Cretaceous of China." Biology Letters 3, no. 1 (December 19, 2006): 81–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2006.0580.

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A malformed embryonic or neonate choristoderan reptile from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of northeastern China is described. The tiny skeleton exhibits two heads and two necks, with bifurcation at the level of the pectoral girdle. In a fossil, this is the first occurrence of the malformation known as axial bifurcation, which is well known in living reptiles.

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Modesto, Sean P., Diane M. Scott, and Robert R. Reisz. "Arthropod remains in the oral cavities of fossil reptiles support inference of early insectivory." Biology Letters 5, no. 6 (July 2009): 838–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2009.0326.

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Inference of feeding preferences in fossil terrestrial vertebrates (tetrapods) has been drawn predominantly from craniodental morphology, and less so from fossil specimens preserving conclusive evidence of diet in the form of oral and/or gut contents. Recently, the pivotal role of insectivory in tetrapod evolution was emphasized by the identification of putative insectivores as the closest relatives of the oldest known herbivorous amniotes. We provide the first compelling evidence for insectivory among early tetrapods on the basis of two 280-million-year-old (late Palaeozoic) fossil specimens of a new species of acleistorhinid parareptile with preserved arthropod cuticle on their toothed palates. Their dental morphology, consisting of homodont marginal dentition with cutting edges and slightly recurved tips, is consistent with an insectivorous diet. The intimate association of arthropod cuticle with the oral region of two small reptiles, from a rich fossil locality that has otherwise not produced invertebrate remains, strongly supports the inference of insectivory in the reptiles. These fossils lend additional support to the hypothesis that the origins and earliest stages of higher vertebrate evolution are associated with relatively small terrestrial insectivores.

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PAXTON, C. G. M., and D. NAISH. "DID NINETEENTH CENTURY MARINE VERTEBRATE FOSSIL DISCOVERIES INFLUENCE SEA SERPENT REPORTS?" Earth Sciences History 38, no. 1 (April 1, 2019): 16–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.17704/1944-6178-38.1.16.

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ABSTRACT Here we test the hypothesis, first suggested by L. Sprague De Camp in 1968, that “After Mesozoic reptiles became well-known, reports of sea serpents, which until then had tended towards the serpentine, began to describe the monster as more and more resembling a Mesozoic marine reptile like a plesiosaur or a mosasaur.” This statement generates a number of testable specific hypotheses, namely: 1) there was a decline in reports where the body was described as serpent or eel-like; 2) there was an increase in reports with necks (a feature of plesiosaurs) or reports that mentioned plesiosaurs; and 3) there was an increase in mosasaur-like reports. Over the last 200 years, there is indeed evidence of a decline in serpentiform sea serpent reports and an increase in the proportion of reports with necks but there is no evidence for an increase in the proportion of mosasaur-like reports. However, witnesses only began to unequivocally compare sea serpents to prehistoric reptiles in the late nineteenth century, some fifty years after the suggestion was first made by naturalists.

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Nicholls, Elizabeth L., and Dirk Meckert. "Marine reptiles from the Nanaimo Group (Upper Cretaceous) of Vancouver Island." Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 39, no. 11 (November 1, 2002): 1591–603. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e02-075.

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A new fauna of fossil marine reptiles is described from the Late Cretaceous Nanaimo Group of Vancouver Island. The fossils are from the Haslam and Pender formations (upper Santonian) near Courtenay, British Columbia, and include elasmosaurid plesiosaurs, turtles, and mosasaurs. This is only the second fauna of Late Cretaceous marine reptiles known from the Pacific Coast, the other being from the Moreno Formation of California (Maastrichtian). The new Nanaimo Group fossils are some 15 million years older than those from the Moreno Formation. However, like the California fauna, there are no polycotylid plesiosaurs, and one of the mosasaurs is a new genus. This reinforces the provinciality of the Pacific faunas and their isolation from contemporaneous faunas in the Western Interior Seaway.

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9

Giffin, Emily B. "Gross spinal anatomy and limb use in living and fossil reptiles." Paleobiology 16, no. 4 (1990): 448–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0094837300010186.

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The spinal quotient (S.Q.) is an osteologically defined estimate of the enlargement of the spinal cord at limb levels over that at interlimb levels. It is an efficient predictor of limb use in living reptiles and birds and may be used to predict limb function in fossil vertebrates. Among living reptiles, this ratio of limb to interlimb innervation is greatest in arboreal genera, followed by terrestrial sprawlers, aquatic forms, and undulatory forms. Birds show a wide range of brachial S.Q. values that are roughly commensurate with flight ability. S.Q. values for the manipulative forelimbs of some dinosaurs fall well above those of locomotory limbs. Dinosaur hind-limb values are either well within ranges predicted by living reptiles and birds (most taxa), or highly inflated (stegosaurs, sauropods). This inflation may be the result of presence of a glycogen body similar to that of birds. In no case does the lumbosacral S.Q. support the presence of a “sacral brain.”

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Farlow, James O., and Thomas R. Holtz. "The Fossil Record of Predation in Dinosaurs." Paleontological Society Papers 8 (October 2002): 251–66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s108933260000111x.

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Predatory theropod dinosaurs can usually be identified as such by features of their jaws, teeth, and postcrania, but different clades of these reptiles differed in their adaptations for prey handling. Inferences about theropod diets and hunting behavior based on functional morphology are sometimes supported by evidence from taphonomic associations with likely prey species, bite marks, gut contents, coprolites, and trackways. Very large theropods like Tyrannosaurus are unlikely to have been pure hunters or scavengers, and probably ate whatever meat they could easily obtain, dead or alive. Theropods were not the only dinosaur hunters, though; other kinds of large reptiles undoubtedly fed on dinosaurs as well The taxonomic composition of dinosaurian predator-prey complexes varies as a function of time and geography, but an ecologically remarkable feature of dinosaurian faunas, as compared with terrestrial mammalian faunas, is the very large size commonly attained by both herbivorous and carnivorous dinosaurs. The K/T extinction event(s) did not end dinosaurian predation, because carnivorous birds remained prominent predators throughout the Cenozoic Era.

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Monge-Nájera, Julián. "Evaluation of the hypothesis of the Monster of Troy vase as the earliest artistic record of a vertebrate fossil." Uniciencia 34, no. 1 (January 31, 2020): 147–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.15359/ru.34-1.9.

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The Monster of Troy, depicted in a 6th Century BC Corinthian vase, has been proposed to be the earliest artistic record of a vertebrate fossil, possibly a Miocene giraffe (Samotherium sp.). The purpose of the paper was to analyze the giraffe hypothesis using four approaches: a double-blind random design in which 78 biologists compared the vase skull with Samotherium and several reptiles; an informed survey of 30 art and science students who critically assessed the hypothesis based on images of candidate species; an objective computerized mathematical comparison of the images; and a detailed morphological comparison of the skulls. All of the participants rejected the giraffe hypothesis. The types of eyes and teeth unambiguously discard a mammal, whether fossil or living, as the model. The model was most likely an extant carnivorous reptile of the Varanidae family.

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Kellner, Alexander W. A., and Bryn J. Mader. "Archosaur teeth from the Cretaceous of Morocco." Journal of Paleontology 71, no. 3 (May 1997): 525–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022336000039548.

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The newly organized Long Island Natural History Museum (LINHM) has assembled a small collection of fossil vertebrates from the Cretaceous of Morocco. Among the remains in this collection are two spinosaurid (Theropoda) teeth and one sauropod tooth that we refer to either the Diplodocidae or Titanosauridae. Because of the scarcity of spinosaurid and Cretaceous sauropod teeth, a short description of the material is presented here. In addition to the dinosaurian remains, the collection includes an unidentified crocodilian tooth and a tooth identified tentatively as that of a pterosaur, which we also describe briefly. Furthermore, there are other fossil reptile teeth from the Ksar es Souk Province in the collections of the LINHM. Some of these may represent groups of reptiles other than those discussed here, but the taxonomic identity of these teeth is still being determined.

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Skawiński, Tomasz, and Mateusz Tałanda. "Integrating developmental biology and the fossil record of reptiles." International Journal of Developmental Biology 58, no. 10-11-12 (2014): 949–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1387/ijdb.140322mt.

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14

Petrochenkov, D. A. "Mineral composition and gemological characteristics of the fossil marine reptiles of the Ulyanovsk region." Proceedings of higher educational establishments. Geology and Exploration, no. 5 (November 2, 2018): 12–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.32454/0016-7762-2018-5-12-16.

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Fossils of marine reptiles are a new jewelry and ornamental material and collected in the Ulyanovsk region from the Upper Jurassic deposits. They consist of (wt. %): calcite — 52, apatite — 24 and pyrite — 23, and also gypsum presents. The contents of radioactive and carcinogenic elements are close to background. The original bone structure of reptiles is preserved. Apatite replaces the bone tissue of marine reptiles, forming a cellular framework. According to the chemical composition, apatite refers to fluorohydroxyapatite with an increased Sr content. The size of the crystals is finely-dispersed. Calcite and pyrite fill the central parts of the cells. Calcite crystals of isometric and elongated shape, 0,01—0,05 mm in size, form blocks up to 0,3 mm during intergrowth. Calcite fills thin, discontinuous veins along the contour of cells with a width of up to 0,03 mm. In calcite, among the impurity elements, there are (wt. %, on the average): Mg — 0,30, Mn — 0,39 and Fe — 0,96. Pyrite forms a dispersed impregnation in calcite and apatite, content of impurities is, wt. %: Ni — up to 0,96 and Cu — up to 0,24. On technological and decorative characteristics of fossils of sea reptiles of Ulyanovsk region are qualitative jewelry and ornamental materials of biomineral group, allowing to make a wide assortment of jewelry and souvenir products.

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15

Cohen, Alan. "Mr. Bain And Dr. Atherstone: South Africa's Pioneer Fossil Hunters." Earth Sciences History 19, no. 2 (January 1, 2000): 175–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.17704/eshi.19.2.hm71m0h265363j36.

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Although a few explorers had reported the finding of fossils in South Africa during the eighteenth century, interested amateurs made the first important collections of fossils during the 1830s. Many new species were discovered and sent back to London, for further study by the newly emerging class there of professional palaeontologists such as Richard Owen (1804-1892) of the British Museum's Natural History Department. As a result of a few pioneers like Andrew Geddes Bain (1797-1864) and William Guybon Atherstone (1814-1898), the study of South African geology and palaeontology was placed on a firm footing by the 1860s. Owen publicly acknowledged their contributions to these new sciences in 1876 in his monumental study of the fossil reptiles of South Africa.1

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Müller, Johannes, Constanze Bickelmann, and Gabriela Sobral. "The Evolution and Fossil History of Sensory Perception in Amniote Vertebrates." Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 46, no. 1 (May 30, 2018): 495–519. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-082517-010120.

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Sensory perception is of crucial importance for animals to interact with their biotic and abiotic environment. In amniotes, the clade including modern mammals (Synapsida), modern reptiles (Reptilia), and their fossil relatives, the evolution of sensory perception took place in a stepwise manner after amniotes appeared in the Carboniferous. Fossil evidence suggests that Paleozoic taxa had only a limited amount of sensory capacities relative to later forms, with the majority of more sophisticated types of sensing evolving during the Triassic and Jurassic. Alongside the evolution of improved sensory capacities, various types of social communication evolved across different groups. At present there is no definitive evidence for a relationship between sensory evolution and species diversification. It cannot be excluded, however, that selection for improved sensing was partially triggered by biotic interactions, e.g., in the context of niche competition, whereas ecospace expansion, especially during the Mesozoic, might also have played an important role.

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Motani, Ryosuke, Da-yong Jiang, Olivier Rieppel, Yi-fan Xue, and Andrea Tintori. "Adult sex ratio, sexual dimorphism and sexual selection in a Mesozoic reptile." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 282, no. 1815 (September 22, 2015): 20151658. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.1658.

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The evolutionary history of sexual selection in the geologic past is poorly documented based on quantification, largely because of difficulty in sexing fossil specimens. Even such essential ecological parameters as adult sex ratio (ASR) and sexual size dimorphism (SSD) are rarely quantified, despite their implications for sexual selection. To enable their estimation, we propose a method for unbiased sex identification based on sexual shape dimorphism, using size-independent principal components of phenotypic data. We applied the method to test sexual selection in Keichousaurus hui , a Middle Triassic (about 237 Ma) sauropterygian with an unusually large sample size for a fossil reptile. Keichousaurus hui exhibited SSD biased towards males, as in the majority of extant reptiles, to a minor degree (sexual dimorphism index −0.087). The ASR is about 60% females, suggesting higher mortality of males over females. Both values support sexual selection of males in this species. The method may be applied to other fossil species. We also used the Gompertz allometric equation to study the sexual shape dimorphism of K . hui and found that two sexes had largely homogeneous phenotypes at birth except in the humeral width, contrary to previous suggestions derived from the standard allometric equation.

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Reisz, Robert R. "Fossil Reptiles of Great Britain.M. J. Benton , P. S. Spencer." Quarterly Review of Biology 72, no. 2 (June 1997): 191–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/419771.

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KEMP, T. S. "Fossil Synapsids: The Ecology and Biology of Mammal-like Reptiles." Science 236, no. 4803 (May 15, 1987): 862–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.236.4803.862.

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20

Candeiro, Carlos Roberto dos Anjos, Cláudia Valéria de Lima, Fernanda Maciel Canile, Stephen Louis Brusatte, Tamires do Carmo Dias, Bruno Martins Ferreira, Raylon da Frota Lopes, and João Eduardo Campelo Rodrigues. "Late Paleozoic, Late Cretaceous and Pleistocene-Holocene reptiles and mammals fauna: a review from Goiás State, Brazil." BOLETÍN GEOLÓGICO Y MINERO 133, no. 4 (December 2022): 37–53. http://dx.doi.org/10.21701/bolgeomin/133.4/002.

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The territory of Goiás State in Central Brazil has yielded reptile fossils from the Permian, Cretaceous and fossil mammals from the Pleistocene-Holocene. Many new fossils have been found during the last years, allowing a better understanding of community structure and faunal evolution during these time intervals. In this study we present an updated synthesis of the reptilian and mammal faunas of Goiás. Tetrapod fossils have been found in the Paraná Basin rocks (Permian Passa Dois and Upper Cretaceous Bauru groups) in the Southern Goiás State since 1935. Goiás state fossils have been recorded in eight municipalities, and include mollusks, turtles, mesosaurids, crocodiliforms, dinosaurs, and mammals. This paleofauna is exclusively comprised of classic South American taxa that are also found in other former parts of Gondwana.

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Moyer, Alison E., Wenxia Zheng, and Mary H. Schweitzer. "Microscopic and immunohistochemical analyses of the claw of the nesting dinosaur, Citipati osmolskae." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 283, no. 1842 (November 16, 2016): 20161997. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.1997.

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One of the most well-recognized Cretaceous fossils is Citipati osmolskae (MPC-D 100/979), an oviraptorid dinosaur discovered in brooding position on a nest of unhatched eggs. The original description refers to a thin lens of white material extending from a manus ungual, which was proposed to represent original keratinous claw sheath that, in life, would have covered it. Here, we test the hypothesis that this exceptional morphological preservation extends to the molecular level. The fossil sheath was compared with that of extant birds, revealing similar morphology and microstructural organization. In living birds, the claw sheath consists primarily of two structural proteins; alpha-keratin, expressed in all vertebrates, and beta-keratin, found only in reptiles and birds (sauropsids). We employed antibodies raised against avian feathers, which comprise almost entirely of beta-keratin, to demonstrate that fossil tissues respond with the same specificity, though less intensity, as those from living birds. Furthermore, we show that calcium chelation greatly increased antibody reactivity, suggesting a role for calcium in the preservation of this fossil material.

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Rogov, M. A., N. G. Zverkov, V. A. Zakharov, and M. S. Arkhangelsky. "Marine reptiles and climates of the Jurassic and Cretaceous of Siberia." Стратиграфия 27, no. 4 (June 16, 2019): 13–39. http://dx.doi.org/10.31857/s0869-592x27413-39.

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All available data on the Jurassic and Cretaceous climates of Siberia, based on isotope, palaeontological and lithological markers are summarized. Late Pliensbachian cooling, early Toarcian warming, followed by late Toarcian to Middle Jurassic cooling and long-term Late Jurassic warming are well-recognized. Gradual cooling started since the late Ryazanian and continued during the whole Early Cretaceous except the short early Aptian warming event. At the beginning of the Late Cretaceous climate became warmer with warming peak at the Cenomanian–Turonian transition. During the middle and late Turonian climate became colder. During the Coniacian–Campanian time interval climate became warmer, but at the end of the Campanian new cooling event occurred. New records of marine reptiles from the Toarcian, Kimmeridgian, Volgian and Santonian–Campanian of the north of Eastern Siberia are described. All data concerning marine reptile occurrences in the Jurassic and Cretaceous of Siberia are reviewed; these records (from 51 localities) are mostly located at high palaeolatitudes. The analysis has revealed that most of the localities containing fossil reptile remains were llocated in the Transpolar palaeolatitudes (70°–87°). There are no direct relationship between climate oscillations and distribution of these animals. Taking into account recent data arguing that nearly all groups of the Jurassic and Cretaceous big marine reptiles were able to maintain constant body temperature and also were capable make long-range seasonal migrations, any conclusions concerning usage of these animals as markers of warm climate should be treated with a caution.

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Padilla, C. B., M. E. Páramo, L. F. Noè, M. Gómez Pérez, and M. Luz Parra. "Acid Preparation of Large Vertebrate Specimens." Geological Curator 9, no. 3 (September 2010): 213–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.55468/gc231.

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Acid preparation of large vertebrate fossils poses special problems for the preparator. The Fundaci�n Colombiana de Geobiolog�a has prepared a number of large vertebrates (marine reptiles from the Cretaceous of Colombia, South America) using acid to remove calcareous matrix. A combination of factors, including: specimen size: choice of acid; number and length of acid baths; ventilation needs; area of matrix and fossil exposed; matrix homogeneity; number of acid resistant protective coats applied; management of voids; and acid consumption are shown to be important. By varying these parameters, exceptional preparation of specimens ready for detailed research and study can result.

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Jacobs, Louis, Michael Polcyn, Octávio Mateus, and Anne Schulp. "Deep Time Conservation Paleobiology of the Atlantic Jigsaw Puzzle and the Future of the Southwestern Angolan Coast." Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History 60, no. 2 (February 16, 2023): 90. http://dx.doi.org/10.58782/flmnh.fior9961.

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The puzzle-like fit of Africa and South America reflects the tectonically driven opening of the South Atlantic Ocean beginning over 130 mya. By 90 Ma, the North and South Atlantics were conjoined. The introduction of Cretaceous marine reptiles into the central South Atlantic from the north coincides with through-flow in the Equatorial Atlantic Gateway and with increased productivity and upwelling of the Benguela Current. The K-Pg extinction saw the demise of most marine reptiles, but upwelling apparently persisted, evidenced by a growing Cenozoic fossil record of sea turtles and marine mammals from the Angolan coast. Convergent similarities between the Cretaceous marine reptile vertebrate community and the modern vertebrate community of the Benguela Large Marine Ecosystem suggest essentially continuous productivity related to upwelling along the southwest African coast since Cretaceous time. Paleolatitude reconstructions show that predicted positions of coastal upwelling of the Benguela Current have moved south along the coast as Africa drifted northward through the descending limb of the southern Hadley Cell. The Cretaceous and modern faunas were both adapted to a productive upwelling zone. The Cretaceous relict Welwitschia mirabilis is consistent with coastal aridity alongside upwelling. Thus, the sediments of coastal Angola and the fossils they entomb are relevant to conservation paleobiology because they provide a baseline through deep time. Comparisons underscore the resilience of the Benguela Current on the one hand and emphasize human-driven threats to the Benguela Large Marine Ecosystem on the other. Solutions are being sought; for instance, through the evaluation of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSA) in the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem. In Angola, the geologic record of the opening of the South Atlantic, the fossils, public interest, and the value for sustainable development are positive indications for the future.

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Čerňanský, Andrej. "The first potential fossil record of a dibamid reptile (Squamata: Dibamidae): a new taxon from the early Oligocene of Central Mongolia." Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 187, no. 3 (August 13, 2019): 782–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz047.

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Abstract Dibamid reptiles have a known current distribution on two continents (Asia and North America). Although this clade represents an early-diverging group in the Squamata and thus should have a long evolutionary history, no fossil record of these peculiar burrowing squamate reptiles has been documented so far. The fossil material described here comes from the early Oligocene of the Valley of Lakes in Central Mongolia. This material consists of jaws and is placed in the clade Dibamidae on the basis of its morphology, which is further confirmed by phylogenetic analyses. In spite of the fragmentary nature of this material, it thus forms the first, but putative, fossil evidence of this clade. If correctly interpreted, this material demonstrates the occurrence of Dibamidae in East Asia in the Palaeogene, indicating its distribution in higher latitudes than today. The preserved elements possess a unique combination of character states, and a new taxon name is therefore erected: Hoeckosaurus mongoliensis sp. nov. The dentary of Hoeckosaurus exhibits some characters of the two extant dibamid taxa. However, the open Meckel’s groove, together with other characters, show that this group was morphologically much more diverse in the past.

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Noè, L. F., M. Gómez-Pérez, and S. Padilla-Bernal. "Comparing sulphamic acid to acetic and formic acids for the preparation of large mesozoic marine reptile fossils, and a method for monitoring residual acid and salt removal following acid preparation." Geological Curator 11, no. 1 (June 2019): 81–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.55468/gc411.

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Chemical preparation is an important technique in palaeontology that uses a dilute aqueous acid solution to remove calcareous matrix from fossils, but which leads to the evolution of salts as a by-product. Acid preparation is usually undertaken using formic and acetic acids, whereas sulphamic acid has only rarely been considered. Sulphamic acid is a strong acid, with many industrial uses, but which has fewer health and safety concerns, and produces fewer irritant fumes, than formic or acetic acids. Three comparative procedures were undertaken to understand the action of sulphamic acid in relation to formic and acetic acids, using calcareous matrix from Colombian (South American) large Mesozoic marine reptiles. The results of these procedures indicate sulphamic acid acts in a comparable manner to formic acid, and more rapidly than acetic acid, in terms of rate of matrix removal. Afourth procedure investigated the removal of acid and salt residues following sulphamic acid preparation of a Colombian large Mesozoic marine reptile fossil, a process essential for the long-term survival of any acid prepared specimen. The fossil was immersed in type 1 deionized water, and increasing electrical conductivity was used as a proxy for ionic leaching. The results imply the preparators 'rule of thumb' of soaking a specimen in water for three times the length of time spent in the acid solution, is inadequate to ensure satisfactory removal of acid and salt residues. Although tested on a specimen prepared using sulphamic acid, the technique for post-preparation ion removal is equally be applicable to all fossils prepared using sulphamic, formic or acetic acids in aqueous solution.

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Flannery Sutherland, Joseph T., Benjamin C. Moon, Thomas L. Stubbs, and Michael J. Benton. "Does exceptional preservation distort our view of disparity in the fossil record?" Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 286, no. 1897 (February 27, 2019): 20190091. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.0091.

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How much of evolutionary history is lost because of the unevenness of the fossil record? Lagerstätten, sites which have historically yielded exceptionally preserved fossils, provide remarkable, yet distorting insights into past life. When examining macroevolutionary trends in the fossil record, they can generate an uneven sampling signal for taxonomic diversity; by comparison, their effect on morphological variety (disparity) is poorly understood. We show here that lagerstätten impact the disparity of ichthyosaurs, Mesozoic marine reptiles, by preserving higher diversity and more complete specimens. Elsewhere in the fossil record, undersampled diversity and more fragmentary specimens produce spurious results. We identify a novel effect, that a taxon moves towards the centroid of a Generalized Euclidean dataset as its proportion of missing data increases. We term this effect ‘centroid slippage’, as a disparity-based analogue of phylogenetic stemward slippage. Our results suggest that uneven sampling presents issues for our view of disparity in the fossil record, but that this is also dependent on the methodology used, especially true with widely used Generalized Euclidean distances. Mitigation of missing cladistic data is possible by phylogenetic gap filling, and heterogeneous effects of lagerstätten on disparity may be accounted for by understanding the factors affecting their spatio-temporal distribution.

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SCHERER, CAROLINA SALDANHA, and ÁTILA AUGUSTO STOCK DA ROSA. "Um Eqüídeo Fóssil do Pleistoceno de Alegrete, RS, Brasil." Pesquisas em Geociências 30, no. 2 (December 31, 2003): 33. http://dx.doi.org/10.22456/1807-9806.19589.

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Fossil mammals and reptiles were found at the basal conglomeratic level from the Salatiel II outcrop, Sanga da Cruz, Alegrete, Rio Grande do Sul, which gave an approximate thermoluminescence age of 14.000 years BP (before present). The fossil herein studied consists of a left dentary fragment of a horse, identified from the occlusal teeth surface as Hippidion cf. Hippidion principale. A preliminary analysis of the associated fauna permits to achieve some paleoclimate inferences for the region, presumably colder than the present.

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Hinz, Juliane K., Andreas T. Matzke, Felix J. Augustin, and Hans-Ulrich Pfretzschner. "A Nothosaurus (Sauropterygia) skull from Kupferzell (Triassic, late Ladinian; SW Germany)." Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen 297, no. 1 (July 1, 2020): 101–11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1127/njgpa/2020/0915.

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Although the Triassic fossil Lagerstaette Kupferzell (Lettenkeuper, Erfurt Formation) is well known for the abundance of well- preserved vertebrate fossils, sauropterygian remains are still unpublished. Here, we describe an only partially preserved Nothosaurus skull from Kupferzell and refer it to Nothosaurus giganteus. The skull described herein is the second occurrence of N. giganteus from the Lower Keuper of the Germanic Basin and the first skull aside from the material from the Hoheneck Kalk which was originally referred to N. chelydrops and is now treated as a junior synonym of N. giganteus. The presence of such large predatory marine reptiles indicates a stronger marine influence in the Lettenkeuper than currently thought.

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Weryński, Łukasz, and Błazej Błażejowski. "Late Jurassic teeth of plesiosauroid origin from the Owadów-Brzezinki Lägerstatte, Central Poland." PeerJ 11 (July 14, 2023): e15628. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.15628.

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Owadów-Brzezinki is currently one of the most promising Upper Jurassic sites in Central Poland, with a wide array of both vertebrate and invertebrate fossil fauna present. The discoveries of large-bodied marine reptiles fossils such as ichthyosaurs, turtles, and marine crocodylomorphs attracted attention to the location. A particular Mesozoic marine group, plesiosaurs, remained to be found, and in this report, we note four isolated teeth with distinguishing apicobasal ridging pattern and elongated, conical shape characteristic for plesiosaurians. The outcomes of the Principal Coordinates Analysis (PCoA) of the largest and most complete tooth specimen ZPAL R.11/OB/T4 enabled us to confirm its classification as Plesiosauroidea. This discovery affirms the importance of the site as the area of mixing between Boreal and Tethyan faunas, expanding the broad spectrum of fossil taxa found in this location. Together with previous findings of plesiosaur material in a nearby region, it provides the evidence for the presence of Plesiosauroidea in Owadów-Brzezinki Lägerstatte.

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Walsh, Stig A., Paul M. Barrett, Angela C. Milner, Geoffrey Manley, and Lawrence M. Witmer. "Inner ear anatomy is a proxy for deducing auditory capability and behaviour in reptiles and birds." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 276, no. 1660 (January 13, 2009): 1355–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2008.1390.

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Inferences of hearing capabilities and audition-related behaviours in extinct reptiles and birds have previously been based on comparing cochlear duct dimensions with those of living species. However, the relationship between inner-ear bony anatomy and hearing ability or vocalization has never been tested rigorously in extant or fossil taxa. Here, micro-computed tomographic analysis is used to investigate whether simple endosseous cochlear duct (ECD) measurements can be fitted to models of hearing sensitivity, vocalization, sociality and environmental preference in 59 extant reptile and bird species, selected based on their vocalization ability. Length, rostrocaudal/mediolateral width and volume measurements were taken from ECD virtual endocasts and scaled to basicranial length. Multiple regression of these data with measures of hearing sensitivity, vocal complexity, sociality and environmental preference recovered positive correlations between ECD length and hearing range/mean frequency, vocal complexity, the behavioural traits of pair bonding and living in large aggregations, and a negative correlation between ECD length/rostrocaudal width and aquatic environments. No other dimensions correlated with these variables. Our results suggest that ECD length can be used to predict mean hearing frequency and range in fossil taxa, and that this measure may also predict vocal complexity and large group sociality given comprehensive datasets.

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Gans, Carl. "The functional basis of the retroarticular process in some fossil reptiles." Journal of Zoology 150, no. 2 (August 20, 2009): 273–77. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1966.tb03008.x.

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Broom, R., and J. T. Robinson. "Some Now Fossil Reptiles from the Karoo Beds of South Africa." Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 118, no. 2 (August 21, 2009): 392–407. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1948.tb00384.x.

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ALBINO, ADRIANA M. "Evolution of Squamata Reptiles in Patagonia based on the fossil record." Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 103, no. 2 (May 31, 2011): 441–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2011.01691.x.

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Di-Poï, Nicolas, and Michel C. Milinkovitch. "The anatomical placode in reptile scale morphogenesis indicates shared ancestry among skin appendages in amniotes." Science Advances 2, no. 6 (June 2016): e1600708. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1600708.

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Most mammals, birds, and reptiles are readily recognized by their hairs, feathers, and scales, respectively. However, the lack of fossil intermediate forms between scales and hairs and substantial differences in their morphogenesis and protein composition have fueled the controversy pertaining to their potential common ancestry for decades. Central to this debate is the apparent lack of an “anatomical placode” (that is, a local epidermal thickening characteristic of feathers’ and hairs’ early morphogenesis) in reptile scale development. Hence, scenarios have been proposed for the independent development of the anatomical placode in birds and mammals and parallel co-option of similar signaling pathways for their morphogenesis. Using histological and molecular techniques on developmental series of crocodiles and snakes, as well as of unique wild-type and EDA (ectodysplasin A)–deficient scaleless mutant lizards, we show for the first time that reptiles, including crocodiles and squamates, develop all the characteristics of an anatomical placode: columnar cells with reduced proliferation rate, as well as canonical spatial expression of placode and underlying dermal molecular markers. These results reveal a new evolutionary scenario where hairs, feathers, and scales of extant species are homologous structures inherited, with modification, from their shared reptilian ancestor’s skin appendages already characterized by an anatomical placode and associated signaling molecules.

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Wroe, S. "A review of terrestrial mammalian and reptilian carnivore ecology in Australian fossil faunas, and factors influencing their diversity: the myth of reptilian domination and its broader ramifications." Australian Journal of Zoology 50, no. 1 (2002): 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/zo01053.

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The notion that Australia’s large, terrestrial carnivore faunas of the middle Tertiary to Pleistocene were dominated by reptiles has gained wide acceptance in recent decades. Simple but sweeping hypotheses have been developed seeking to explain this perceived ecological phenomenon. However, a review of the literature does not support these interpretations, which are based on largely speculative and, in many cases, clearly erroneous assumptions. Few size estimates of fossil reptilian taxa are based on quantitative methodology and, regardless of method, most are restricted to maximum dimensions. For species of indeterminate growth, this practice generates misleading perceptions of biological significance. In addition to misconceptions with respect to size, much speculation concerning the lifestyles of large extinct reptiles has been represented as fact. In reality, it has yet to be demonstrated that the majority of fossil reptiles underpinning the story of reptilian domination were actually terrestrial. No postcranial evidence suggests that any Australian mekosuchine crocodylian was less aquatic than extant species, while a semi-aquatic habitus has been posited for madtsoiid snakes and even the giant varanid, Megalania. Taphonomic data equivocally supports the hypothesis that some Australian mekosuchines were better adapted to life on land than are most extant crocodylians, but still semi-aquatic and restricted to the near vicinity of major watercourses. On the other hand, the accelerating pace of discovery of new large mammalian carnivore species has undermined any prima facie case for reptilian supremacy regarding pre-Pleistocene Australia (that is, if species richness is to be used as a gauge of overall impact). However, species abundance and consumption, not richness, are the real measures. On this basis, even in Pleistocene Australia, where species richness of large mammalian carnivores was relatively low, available data expose the uncommon and geographically restricted large contemporaneous reptiles as bit players. In short, the parable of a continent subject to a Mesozoic rerun, wherein diminutive mammals trembled under the footfalls of a menagerie of gigantic ectotherms, appears to be a castle in the air. However, there may be substance to some assertions. Traditionally, erratic climate and soil-nutrient deficiency have been invoked to explain the perception of low numbers or relatively small sizes of fossil mammalian carnivore taxa in Australia. But these arguments assume a simple and positive relationship between productivity, species richness and maximum body mass and either fail to recognise, or inappropriately exclude, other factors. Productivity has undoubtedly played a role, but mono-factorial paradigms cannot account for varying species richness and body mass among Australia’s fossil faunas. Nor can they explain differences between Australian fossil faunas and those of other landmasses. Other factors that have contributed include sampling bias, a lack of internal geographic barriers, competition with large terrestrial birds and aspects of island biogeography unique to Australia, such as landmass area and isolation, both temporal and geographic.

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Karl, Hans-Volker, Gottfried Tichy, and Amtyaz Safi. "A reassessment of the geochemical, phylogeny, morphology, and taxonomy of two crocodilian jaw remains of Paleogene from central Europe (Germany and Austria)." International Journal of Biological Research 10, no. 1 (November 30, 2023): 1–7. http://dx.doi.org/10.14419/akh5bz36.

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Crocodiles are a conservative group of reptiles regarding their morphology and behaviour. Available Fossils are hence important to be studied for phylogeny, taxonomy and morphology. A fossil fragmentary crocodilian skull was found in lignite clay in the Paleogene sedimentary area from the Middle Oligocene Epoch of Sieglitz near Camburg at Saale river in Central Germany. This 20th century discovery documents a new species of Diplocynodon (Diplocynodon Haeckeli, described by Seidlitz in 1917). Another crocodile fossil was unearthed in 1878 from the Eocene Epoch, of Haunsberg near Sankt Pankraz in the province of Salzburg in Austria, which had been missing since 1970 and was recently rediscovered and identified. This rediscovered specimen, representing a crocodile mandible and an isolated tooth, which could belong to Asiatosuchus and not Diplocynodon. However, the morphology of isolated tooth is not a reliable source to identify it up to the generic level, so open taxonomy is used here for identification, it may be associated to the same or a new species. The new discoveries of fossils provide new characters enhancing our knowledge on a particular taxon and on the whole group.

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MULDER, E. W. A., and B. THEUNISSEN. "Hermann Schlegel's investigation of the Maastricht mosasaurs." Archives of Natural History 13, no. 1 (February 1986): 1–6. http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/anh.1986.13.1.1.

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SUMMARY In 1852, Hermann Schlegel (1804–1884), as a correspondent of the ’Committee for the Geological Map and Description of the Netherlands’, was charged with the description of the fossil reptiles Mosasaurus and Allopleuron (Testudinata). However, as a consequence of the premature dissolution of the Geological Committee in 1855, Schlegel never completed his task. He only published a preliminary note on his investigations, which is extensively discussed in this paper. Schlegel turns out to have been the first to prove, by means of anatomical arguments, that Mosasaurus had flipper–like limbs. Furthermore, several recently discovered drawings shed new light on Schlegel's claim that some of the fossils of Mosasaurus in the famous Camper collection had been falsified.

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Dilkes, David W. "The early Triassic rhynchosaur Mesosuchus browni and the interrelationships of basal archosauromorph reptiles." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 353, no. 1368 (April 29, 1998): 501–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.1998.0225.

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Restudy of the unique diapsid reptile Mesosuchus browni Watson, from the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone (late Early Triassic to early Middle Triassic) of the Burgersdorp Formation (Tarkastad Subgroup; Beaufort Group) of South Africa, confirms that it is the most plesiomorphic known member of the Rhynchosauria. A new phylogenetic analysis of basal taxa of Archosauromorpha indicates that Choristodera falls outside of the Sauria, Prolacertiformes is a paraphyletic taxon with Prolacerta sharing a more recent common ancestor with Archosauriformes than with any other clade, Megalancosaurus and Drepanosaurus are sister taxa in the clade Drepanosauridae within Archosauromorpha, and are the sister group to the clade Tanystropheidae composed of Tanystropheus , Macrocnemus , and Langobardisaurus . Combination of the phylogenetic relationships of basal archosauromorphs and their known stratigraphic ranges reveals significant gaps in the fossil records of Late Permian and Triassic diapsids. Extensions of the temporal ranges of several lineages of diapsids into the Late Permian suggests that more groups of terrestrial reptiles survived the end-Permian mass extinction than thought previously.

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Hunter, John P. "Evolution at All Scales in the Vertebrate Fossil Record." Paleontological Society Special Publications 11 (2002): 165–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s2475262200009898.

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The fossil record of vertebrates provides abundant evidence for both the fact and the theory of evolution (Carroll, 1997; Prothero and Schoch, 1994). In support of the fact that evolution has indeed occurred, the vertebrate fossil record clearly documents evolutionary change along lineages, that is, along direct lines of ancestors and descendents. The fossil record also shows step-wise evolutionary changes resulting in the emergence of new kinds of vertebrates from pre-existing kinds—for example, the origin of mammals from the “mammal-like” reptiles. In support of the theory that natural selection, in particular, has been largely responsible for evolutionary change, the fossil record shows that the numerous “transitional” forms that lived in the past—far from being nonviable “monsters”—were functionally integrated organisms that were well adapted to their ecological roles. Finally, the vertebrate fossil record preserves certain large-scale phenomena, such as radiations and trends, which show that evolutionary forces can act over very large time scales.

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Hunter, John P. "Evolution at all Scales in the Vertebrate Fossil Record." Paleontological Society Special Publications 9 (1999): 203–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s247526220001409x.

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The fossil record of vertebrates provides abundant evidence for both the fact and the theory of evolution (Carroll, 1997; Prothero and Schoch, 1994). In support of the fact that evolution has indeed occurred, the vertebrate fossil record clearly documents evolutionary change along lineages, that is, along direct lines of ancestors and descendents. The fossil record also shows step-wise evolutionary changes resulting in the emergence of new kinds of vertebrates from pre-existing kinds, for example, the origin of mammals from the “mammal-like” reptiles. In support of the theory that natural selection, in particular, has been largely responsible for evolutionary change, the fossil record shows that the numerous “transitional” forms that lived in the past — far from being nonviable “monsters” — were functionally integrated organisms that were well adapted to their ecological roles. Finally, the vertebrate fossil record preserves certain large-scale phenomena, such as radiations and trends, which show that evolutionary forces can act over very large time scales.

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42

Duffin, C. "Charles Moore and Late Triassic vertebrates: history and reassessment." Geological Curator 11, no. 2 (December 2019): 143–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.55468/gc1479.

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Ilminster-born Charles Moore (1815-1881) was an indefatigable West Country geologist who made significant and wide-ranging contributions to the science, both in terms of the material he collected and his publications. Following his permanent move to Bath in 1853, Moore collected extensively in Late Triassic rocks, amassing a rich haul of fossil vertebrate specimens. A pioneer of bulk sampling, his fossil vertebrate collection from the Rhaetian fissure infills at Holwell, Somerset has provided much research material for subsequent study; Holwell is now the type locality for several Late Triassic mammaliaforms, reptiles (lepidosaurs) and chondrichthyans. His collection of vertebrate remains from the Arden Sandstone Formation (Carnian Age) at Ruishton has never been fully described, but contains some significant material including isolated xenacanth and hybodont shark's teeth, dorsal fin spines and cephalic spines. The objective of this present paper is to raise the profile of Moore's work on late Triassic vertebrate fossils, to highlight his innovative approach to bulk collecting, and to assess the scientific importance of his collections in both historical and modern contexts.

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Young, Mark T., Nikolay G. Zverkov, Maxim S. Arkhangelsky, Alexey P. Ippolitov, Igor A. Meleshin, Georgy V. Mirantsev, Alexey S. Shmakov, and Ilya M. Stenshin. "Thalattosuchian crocodylomorphs from European Russia, and new insights into metriorhynchid tooth serration evolution and their palaeolatitudinal distribution." PeerJ 11 (August 11, 2023): e15781. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.15781.

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From the Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous, metriorhynchid crocodylomorphs inhabited marine ecosystems across the European archipelago. Unfortunately, European metriorhynchids are only well known from Germany, France, and the UK, with the Eastern European fossil record being especially poor. This hinders our understanding of metriorhynchid biodiversity across these continuous seaways, and our ability to investigate provincialism. Here we describe eleven isolated tooth crowns and six vertebrae referable to Metriorhynchidae from the Callovian, Oxfordian, Volgian (Tithonian), and Ryazanian (Berriasian) or Valanginian of European Russia. We also describe an indeterminate thalattosuchian tooth from the lower Bajocian of the Volgograd Oblast, the first discovery of a marine reptile from the Bajocian strata of European Russia. These rare fossils, along with previous reports of Russian thalattosuchians, indicate that thalattosuchians have been common in the Middle Russian Sea since it was formed. Palaeolatitude calculations for worldwide metriorhynchid-bearing localities demonstrate that the occurrences in European Russia are the most northern, located mainly between 44–50 degrees north. However, metriorhynchids appear to be rare at these palaeolatitudes, and are absent from palaeolatitudes higher than 50°. These observations support the hypothesis that metriorhynchids evolved an elevated metabolism but were not endo-homeothermic, especially as endo-homeothermic marine reptiles (ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs) remained abundant at much higher palaeolatitudes.

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Rieppel, Olivier, and Hans Hagdorn. "Fossil reptiles from the Spanish Muschelkalk (mont‐ral and alcover, province Tarragona)." Historical Biology 13, no. 1 (January 1998): 77–97. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08912969809386575.

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Cornish, Lorraine, Adrian M. Doyle, and Joanna Swannell. "The gallery 30 project: Conservation of a collection of fossil marine reptiles." Conservator 19, no. 1 (September 1995): 20–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01410096.1995.9995090.

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Caldwell, Michael W. "From fins to limbs to fins: Limb evolution in fossil marine reptiles." American Journal of Medical Genetics 112, no. 3 (September 30, 2002): 236–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajmg.10773.

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Syromyatnikova, Elena, Alexey Tesakov, Serdar Mayda, Tanju Kaya, and Gerçek Saraç. "Plio-Pleistocene Amphibians and Reptiles from Central Turkey: New Faunas and Faunal Records with Comments on their Biochronological Position Based on Small Mammals." Fossil Imprint 75, no. 3-4 (December 1, 2019): 343–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/if-2019-0022.

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Abstract Small fossil vertebrates from several Pliocene and Pleistocene localities in Central Anatolia (Turkey) are reviewed. Data on small mammals represent assemblages from the early Pliocene (MN 14: Nasrettinhoca 1, 2 and Hamamkarahisar A, B), and late Pliocene (MN 16: Hoyhoytepe 1, 2, 3 and Mercan 1); Early Pleistocene (MN 17: Mercan 2), and Middle Pleistocene (MQ 1/MQ 2: Yenişarbademli). The biochronology related characters of arvicolines Promimomys, Mimomys, Microtus, Lagurus and Clethrionomys are briefly discussed. Data on the systematics of fossil amphibians and reptiles is also described from these localities. The early Pliocene (MN 14) assemblages significantly add to knowledge on the herpetofaunal composition of this stratigraphic level, which until now was poorly characterized in Turkey. Remains of Pelobatidae, Bufonidae, Ranidae, Amphisbaenia and Natricinae are reported for the first time from the MN 14 biozone of Turkey. Palaeobatrachus from Mercan 1 extends the temporal range of this group in the Eastern Mediterranean into the late Pliocene. The described remains of amphibians and reptiles from Turkey span a considerable stratigraphic range from the early Pliocene to the Middle Pleistocene (time interval of about 5 Ma) and partly fill a gap in the palaeoherpetofaunal record of the Eastern Mediterranean.

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Miller, Wade, and Dee Hall. "Earliest History of Vertebrate Paleontology in Utah: Last Half of the 19th Century." Earth Sciences History 9, no. 1 (January 1, 1990): 28–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.17704/eshi.9.1.72266661544wp27v.

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Aside from the recorded travels of Juan de Rivera in 1765 and the Dominguez-Escalante party in 1776, the earliest reports involving explorations into Utah were mostly those for proposed railroad lines and trade routes, or for general knowledge of the poorly known Western Territories (1840s to 1870s). These explorations were usually conducted under the auspices of the United States Army. Scientists, including geologists/paleontologists, commonly accompanied the survey parties. The first surveys whose prime objectives were to study geology and topography were commissioned by Congress in 1867. The earliest discovery of a vertebrate fossil in Utah apparently took place on the J. N. Macomb expedition of 1859 (which generally followed the Old Spanish Trail), when J. S. Newberry collected dinosaur bones in the southeastern part of the state. F. V. Hayden's 1870 survey may have extended into northernmost Utah. It is possible that a few of the Eocene age fossils which were reported by him from southernmost Wyoming, came from here. Fossils collected during the Hayden survey prompted a vertebrate fossil collecting trip headed by J. Leidy into the same area two years later. Also in 1870, O. C. Marsh discovered and named the Uinta Basin, making a significant fossil vertebrate collection there. Numerous Eocene mammals as well as reptiles and fish were collected in the Basin proper, while a turtle shell and dinosaur teeth were recovered from the upturned Mesozoic beds on the eastern rim of the Uinta Basin. A Jurassic crocodile humerus was found by Marsh along the eastern flank of the Uinta Mountains. In subsequent years before the turn of the century several institutions sent paleontological parties into this area. E. D. Cope in 1880 identified fossil fish and a crocodile from Eocene deposits of central Utah. Pleistocene mammals were first reported by P. A. Chadbourne (1871) and C. King (1878) from Salt Lake and Utah valleys. While early expeditions for vertebrate fossils concentrated largely on adjacent states, many of America's prominent 19th Century vertebrate paleontologists collected fossils in Utah. Their work pioneered the way for present-day paleontologists.

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Kabat, Alan R. "Richard Frederick Deckert (1878–1971), Florida naturalist and natural history artist." Archives of Natural History 39, no. 2 (October 2012): 321–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/anh.2012.0098.

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Richard Deckert (born in Germany in 1878, immigrated to New York in 1887, died in Florida in 1971) was a polymath with great enthusiasm and wide ranging interests in natural history. His collections and publications did much to document the reptiles, amphibians, and land snails of Florida. His contributions to natural history illustration were equally important, as his carefully detailed line drawings and water colour paintings delineated the intricate details of snails, fishes, amphibians, and reptiles (particularly snakes and turtles), as well as fossil vertebrates, and were used in a wide range of systematic publications. Deckert also contributed to the modernization of fish taxidermy, leading to the current methods for creating lifelike fish mounts. This paper documents his scientific and artistic work.

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Keeble, Emily, and Michael J. Benton. "Three-dimensional tomographic study of dermal armour from the tail of the Triassic aetosaur Stagonolepis robertsoni." Scottish Journal of Geology 56, no. 1 (January 28, 2020): 55–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1144/sjg2019-026.

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The aetosaur Stagonolepis robertsoni was the first reptile to be named from the Late Triassic Lossiemouth Sandstone Formation of Morayshire. Its characteristic rectangular armour plates have been reported in isolation and in association with skeletal remains. Here we present for the first time a three-dimensional reconstruction of the armour plates around the tail in association with caudal vertebrae and a chevron, to give direct evidence of the body outline. The caudal vertebral column was surrounded by eight bony osteoderms, paired paramedian dorsal and ventral plates, and a pair of lateral osteoderms on right and left. The tail shape was subcircular, broader than high. The osteoderms overlap like roofing tiles, the posterior margin of each overlapping the osteoderm following behind. The success of these scans suggests that computed tomography scanning could reveal excellent detail of all the Elgin reptiles in the future.Supplementary material: Three-dimensional models of the two fossil specimens are available at: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4824183

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Journal articles on the topic 'Reptiles, Fossil'

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