Article
Zoology
Valentin Fischer, Roger B. J. Benson, Nikolay G. Zverkov, Maxim S. Arkhangelsky, Ilya M. Stenshin, Gleb N. Uspensky, Natalya E. Prilepskaya
Summary: Pliosaurid plesiosaurians, iconic marine reptiles, regulated marine trophic chains during the Middle Jurassic to early Late Cretaceous. The evolution of these reptiles during the Cretaceous is poorly documented. Recent findings from the Hauterivian-Aptian interval suggest a wide variety of forms in brachaucheniine pliosaurids, including the unusual Luskhan itilensis from Russia. This study describes the osteology of Luskhan itilensis and investigates its behavior by comparing it with other marine amniotes.
ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Dylan Bastiaans, Daniel Madzia, Jorge D. Carrillo-Briceno, Sven Sachs
Summary: Pliosaurids were the dominant macropredators in aquatic environments from at least the Middle Jurassic to the early Late Cretaceous, with recent improvements in understanding their Cretaceous record. The discovery of pliosaurid material from Venezuela extends the known record by over 10 million years and likely represents the southernmost occurrence of Pliosauridae in the Late Cretaceous worldwide.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sven Sachs, Daniel Madzia, Ben Thuy, Benjamin P. Kear
Summary: The emergence of gigantic pliosaurid plesiosaurs in the early-Middle Jurassic reshaped the trophic structure of marine ecosystems and led to the decline of coeval large-bodied rhomaleosaurid plesiosaurs. The appearance of these macropredatory pliosaurids may have been influenced by regional faunal turnover and was accompanied by the global extinction of other higher trophic-level marine reptiles.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Geology
Sven Sachs, Johan Lindgren, Daniel Madzia, Benjamin P. Kear
Summary: Thalassomedon haningtoni is one of the most completely preserved elasmosaurid plesiosaurians known, with distinct cranial traits indicating conspecificity and consistent phylogenetic relationships with other North American elasmosaurid taxa. The species may demonstrate successive lineage divergences within the Western Interior Seaway during the middle to latest Cretaceous.
CRETACEOUS RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Biology
Qingyu Ma, Ning Li, Yu Lin, Can Xiong, Xuefang Wei
Summary: This study reports the discovery of isolated plesiosaurian teeth from the Xintiangou Formation in Yunyang County, China. The teeth specimens are classified into two types, one with a conical shape typical of Middle Jurassic plesiosauroids, and the other with closer-spaced ridges possibly representing a transitional taxon. The fragmented nature of the specimens prevents determining whether they belong to known taxa or represent a new species. These findings suggest a diverse plesiosaurian assemblage in Yunyang County and the common occurrence of freshwater plesiosaurians in the Jurassic deposits of the Sichuan Basin.
HISTORICAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Geology
Christopher S. Swezey, Bradley A. Fitzwater, G. Richard Whittecar
Summary: The Upper Cretaceous Middendorf Formation is a fluvial sandstone unit that forms a large aquifer in the U.S. Atlantic Coastal Plain. It consists of five facies assemblages, including fluvial bar and channel deposits, floodplain deposits, swamp deposits, traction-dominated current deposits, and iron-cemented deposits. The formation is marked by a pervasive presence of kaolinite, attributed to prolonged weathering and flushing by meteoric water under warm and humid paleoclimate conditions.
JOURNAL OF SEDIMENTARY RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Geology
Yi Wang, Stephane Bodin, Jerzy S. Blusztajn, Clemens Ullmann, Sune G. Nielsen
Summary: The ongoing oceanic oxygen loss will have a profound impact on the distribution and density of life on Earth. However, drivers of the initiation and termination of global oceanic deoxygenation are poorly understood. New research reveals that in the mid-Cretaceous, there were three rapid global deoxygenation events that occurred after massive volcanism and were influenced by increased continental weathering under a warmer climate. The interactions of long-term climate change and short-term orbital modulation played a role in the termination of each deoxygenation interval.
Article
Geology
Liping Dong, Yuan Wang, Susan E. Evans
Summary: A new genus and species of fossil lizard, Moqisaurus pulchrum gen. et sp. nov., has been reported from the Early Cretaceous Moqi Fauna of eastern Inner Mongolia, China. This new lizard differs from other Jurassic and Cretaceous taxa in several morphological characteristics and shows a possible relationship with Liushusaurus from the Jehol Biota. The discovery of a well-preserved pectoral girdle in the new lizard provides the earliest fossil record of a mesosternal fontanelle and suggests early fusion of the paired mesosternal rods in squamate evolution.
CRETACEOUS RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Geology
Brent Adrian, Heather F. Smith, Kara Kelley, Douglas G. Wolfe
Summary: This article describes a new Turonian baenid turtle, Edowa zuniensis gen. et sp. nov., from the Moreno Hill Formation in New Mexico. It is morphologically similar to the well-known basal baenid Plesiobaena antiqua and is speculated to be its sister taxon. The discovery suggests a southern Laramidian origin for Baenodda and provides insights into the transitional fauna between Early and Late Cretaceous.
CRETACEOUS RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Dora Marin, Solveig Helleren, Alejandro Escalona, Snorre Olaussen, Andres Cedeno, Henrik Nohr-Hansen, Sverre Ohm
Summary: This study explores the interplay between organic-rich successions and potential reservoir rocks in the SW Barents Sea area, revealing the significant impact of fault activity and sediment sources on the distribution of organic matter and sandstones.
Article
Geology
Peter J. Sugarman, Kenneth G. Miller, James Browning, Peter P. McLaughlin, Denise K. Kulhanek
Summary: This study utilizes sequence stratigraphy and biostratigraphy to analyze geological samples from New Jersey, identifying and mapping major sequence boundaries of the late Cretaceous period and demonstrating the impact of sea-level lowering. The research reveals that the Magothy Formation is influenced by multiple small to moderate river sources, thickening towards the northeast along Long Island. Overall, the deltaic depositional system remained relatively stable despite low-amplitude sea-level variations.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Vera M. Podobina
Summary: Turonian Foraminifera in West Siberian province have been divided into two assemblages: Gaudryinopsis angustus (lower) and Pseudoclavulina hastata (upper). These assemblages have been found in two distinct zones. The Pseudoclavulina hastata zone marks the boundary between the Turonian and Coniacian stages. The foraminifera in the Turonian consist of agglutinated quartz-siliceous shells.
GEOSFERNYE ISSLEDOVANIYA-GEOSPHERE RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Alexander J. Dickson, Hugh C. Jenkyns, Erdem Idiz, Tim C. Sweere, Melissa J. Murphy, Sander H. J. M. van den Boorn, Micha Ruhl, James S. Eldrett, Donald Porcelli
Summary: The study analyzed the molybdenum isotope record in sediments deposited in the southern Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway during OAE 2, finding that there were only minor changes in oceanic deoxygenation during one of the most extreme intervals of global deoxygenation in the Late Phanerozoic.
GEOCHEMISTRY GEOPHYSICS GEOSYSTEMS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Nelson Sanchez, Tatiana Milena Juliao, Mario Guzman, Olga Lucia Quintero, Felipe de la Parra, Juan Jose Gomez, Angelica Maria Carreno
Summary: The study of the Coniacian-Campanian stratigraphic section in the South of the Middle Magdalena Valley basin identified the potential for unconventional shale reservoirs, with siltstone and silty mudstone facies showing promising conditions. Rock-Eval results indicated optimal kerogen type and maturity levels for liquid hydrocarbon generation, with compositional differences between the upper and middle sections enhancing mechanical properties for hydraulic fracturing. Petrophysical analysis revealed favorable intergranular porosity values for hydrocarbon storage, with data integration pointing to at least two intervals with high shale oil potential in the studied sequence.
JOURNAL OF SOUTH AMERICAN EARTH SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Paleontology
Jonathan G. Allen, Kenshu Shimada
Summary: The study of a fossiliferous bonebed in the Smoky Hill Chalk Member of the Niobrara Formation in Kansas revealed over 40,450 taxonomically identifiable specimens, including various chondrichthyans, actinopterygians, and tetrapods, suggesting a complex ecosystem when the bonebed formed. A total of 117 vertebrate taxa have been identified in the Smoky Hill Chalk, with a bias towards reptilian remains compared to fish fossils in the Niobrara Formation based on museum collections.
JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Paleontology
Kenneth Carpenter, Matthew C. Lamanna
ANNALS OF CARNEGIE MUSEUM
(2015)
Article
Paleontology
Peter M. Galton, Kenneth Carpenter, Sebastian G. Dalman
NEUES JAHRBUCH FUR GEOLOGIE UND PALAONTOLOGIE-ABHANDLUNGEN
(2015)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lucy G. Leahey, Ralph E. Molnar, Kenneth Carpenter, Lawrence M. Witmer, Steven W. Salisbury
Article
Geology
Kenneth Carpenter, Richard L. Cifelli
CRETACEOUS RESEARCH
(2016)
Article
Paleontology
Peter M. Galton, Kenneth Carpenter
NEUES JAHRBUCH FUR GEOLOGIE UND PALAONTOLOGIE-ABHANDLUNGEN
(2016)
Article
Paleontology
Billy Kinneer, Kenneth Carpenter, Allen Shaw
NEUES JAHRBUCH FUR GEOLOGIE UND PALAONTOLOGIE-ABHANDLUNGEN
(2016)
Article
Paleontology
Angela E. Matthias, Lorrie A. McWhinney, Kenneth Carpenter
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PALEOPATHOLOGY
(2016)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hanyong Pu, Darla K. Zelenitsky, Junchang Lu, Philip J. Currie, Kenneth Carpenter, Li Xu, Eva B. Koppelhus, Songhai Jia, Le Xiao, Huali Chuang, Tianran Li, Martin Kundrat, Caizhi Shen
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2017)
Article
Paleontology
Thomas H. Rich, Benjamin P. Kear, Robert Sinclair, Brenda Chinnery, Kenneth Carpenter, Mary L. McHugh, Patricia Vickers-Rich
Article
Paleontology
Kenneth Carpenter
ANNALS OF CARNEGIE MUSEUM
(2013)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Guillermo W. Rougier, Amir S. Sheth, Kenneth Carpenter, Lucas Appella-Guiscafre, Brian M. Davis
JOURNAL OF MAMMALIAN EVOLUTION
(2015)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Kenneth Carpenter, Tony DiCroce, Billy Kinneer, Robert Simon
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Kenneth Carpenter
Article
Geography
Daniel A. Grenard, Kenneth Carpenter, Andrew Smith, Melissa Smeins
GEOCONSERVATION RESEARCH
(2019)
Article
Geography
Kenneth Carpenter
GEOCONSERVATION RESEARCH
(2018)