Review
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Jun Liu, Fernando Abdala, Kenneth D. Angielczyk, Christian A. Sidor
Summary: Global temperature changes during the late Permian and Early Triassic had significant impacts on tetrapod physiology and distribution. Different latitudes experienced different effects due to cooling and warming.
EARTH-SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Matthew P. Heinicke, Stuart V. Nielsen, Aaron M. Bauer, Ryan Kelly, Anthony J. Geneva, Juan D. Daza, Shannon E. Keating, Tony Gamble
Summary: Hoplodactylus delcourti is a presumably extinct species of gecko, known only from a single specimen. It is the largest known gekkotan, and based on external features, it was thought to belong to the New Zealand genus Hoplodactylus. However, DNA analysis revealed that it is actually related to a clade of geckos endemic to New Caledonia. The convergence in form between H. delcourti and New Zealand Hoplodactylus can be partially explained by repeated changes in toe pad structure.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Rikki Gumbs, Claudia L. Gray, Michael Hoffmann, Rafael Molina-Venegas, Nisha R. Owen, Laura J. Pollock
Summary: This study used global phylogenetic and utilization data for birds to examine the link between phylogenetic diversity (PD) and future benefits. The results showed that prioritizing threatened species based on their PD can effectively capture a diverse range of utilized bird species, with the performance linked to the prevalence and dispersion of each utilization category. Furthermore, selecting species based on PD was found to be comparable to prioritizing based on functional distinctiveness.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Corentin Jouault, Andre Nel, Vincent Perrichot, Frederic Legendre, Fabien L. Condamine
Summary: This study evaluates the extinction of insects in the Early Triassic and identifies three extinction events. The research suggests that changes in floral assemblages are likely the main driving factor for insect population changes during the Early Triassic.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Guillermo Navalon, Alexander Bjarnason, Elizabeth Griffiths, Roger B. J. Benson
Summary: This study examines the morphological diversification in living birds and finds substantial variation in evolutionary modes among different avian subgroups and skeletal parts. It suggests that waterbirds have explored a large portion of their morphospace, emphasizing body proportions and bone shape related to locomotion, while landbirds have distinct body forms and emphasize local shape variation in the head and distal limb bones.
Article
Biology
Andrzej S. Wolniewicz, Yuefeng Shen, Qiang Li, Yuanyuan Sun, Yu Qiao, Yajie Chen, Yi-Wei Hu, Jun Liu
Summary: This study reports a new species - Prosaurosphargis yingzishanensis gen. et sp. nov. - from the Early Triassic of South China, representing the earliest known occurrence of the Sauropterygia clade. A phylogenetic analysis confirms saurosphargids as a part of sauropterygians, forming a clade with eosauropterygians and excluding placodonts. The classification of several Sauropterygia species from the Early and Middle Triassic, such as Atopodentatus, Hanosaurus, Majiashanosaurus, and Corosaurus, is also clarified.
Article
Geography, Physical
Jun Liu, Kenneth D. Angielczyk, Fernando Abdala
Summary: The narrow active temperature ranges of ectothermic tetrapods can be used to reconstruct paleoclimates. By studying the known geographic distributions, critical thermal limits, and other paleoclimate information, we can deduce the climatic preferences of different tetrapod groups. In the Triassic period, major archosauromorphs preferred higher temperatures, while Lystrosaurus preferred lower temperatures.
GLOBAL AND PLANETARY CHANGE
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Mario Bronzati, Roger B. J. Benson, Serjoscha W. Evers, Martin D. Ezcurra, Sergio F. Cabreira, Jonah Choiniere, Kathleen N. Dollman, Ariana Paulina-Carabajal, Viktor J. Radermacher, Lucio Roberto-da-Silva, Gabriela Sobral, Michelle R. Stocker, Lawrence M. Witmer, Max C. Langer, Sterling J. Nesbitt
Summary: Living archosaurs have evolved disparate locomotor strategies since their divergence 250 million years ago, with little known about the early evolution of sensory structures associated with these changes. By analyzing semicircular canal shapes and sizes in living and extinct archosaurs, researchers found that SCC shape is statistically associated with both flight and bipedalism, but may be more influenced by changes in braincase geometry than locomotor changes. The high disparity of both shape and size among stem-archosaurs indicate a deep divergence of SCC morphologies at the bird-crocodylian split, suggesting living archosaurs evolved from an early radiation with high sensory diversity.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Austin H. Patton, Luke J. Harmon, Maria del Rosario Castaneda, Hannah K. Frank, Colin M. Donihue, Anthony Herrel, Jonathan B. Losos
Summary: Research shows that neotropical Anolis lizards, originating in South America, colonized and radiated on Caribbean islands before returning to the mainland for further diversification. When mainland and island evolutionary radiations collide, extensive continental radiations can result from island ancestors, with incumbent and invading mainland clades achieving ecological and morphological disparity in different ways. In interactions between mainland radiation derived from island ancestors and incumbent mainland radiation, the island-derived clade tends to have an advantage.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Cindy V. Looy, Johanna H. A. van Konijnenburg-van Cittert, Ivo A. P. Duijnstee
Summary: Throughout their 420-million-year history, Lycopodiopsida have mainly played a subordinate role in the landscape, with exceptions such as the dominance of arborescent Lepidodendrales in peat swamps during the Pennsylvanian period. The widespread proliferation of sub-arborescent Isoetales during and after the Permo-Triassic terrestrial biosphere crisis indicates their unique physiological and life-history traits enabling them to thrive during environmental crises, but also highlighting their low productivity and diversity compared to the communities they replaced.
FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Mingshuai Zhu, John Wakabayashi, Daniel Pastor-Galan, Fuqin Zhang, Ariuntsetseg Ganbat, Laicheng Miao, Shunhu Yang, Zeli Wang
Summary: The Late Paleozoic-Mesozoic Mongol-Okhotsk orogenic belt, which marks the final aggregation of East Asia, remains poorly understood. In this study, an ophiolite was discovered within the southern paleo-active margin of the Mongol-Okhotsk orogenic belt. The discovery suggests the existence of a back-arc setting and a >5000-km-long back-arc extension belt in this region.
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA BULLETIN
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
J. E. T. Channell, G. Muttoni, D. V. Kent
Summary: The study examines the relationship between the continental margins surrounding the Adriatic Sea and Africa, as well as the arguments surrounding the Mediterranean Mesozoic paleogeography. The authors propose a new model that suggests a sinistral strike-slip fault system existed between Adria and Africa during the Middle Jurassic, contradicting the existence of the Mesogea ocean. The consistency of paleomagnetic data supports the existence of Pangea B in the Early Permian, transforming into Pangea A by the Late Permian.
EARTH-SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Jianghai Yang, Peter A. Cawood, Dan J. Condon, Jianzhong Liu, Xusheng Deng, Jingfu Wang, Yuansheng Du, Dongxun Yuan
Summary: Weathering of basalt in tropical environments is sensitive to climate change, as indicated by a significant decrease in weathering intensity during the Permo-Triassic transition despite climate warming trends. The massive erosion in the Early Triassic is likely linked to amplified extreme precipitation associated with intensification of the hydrological cycle in the Early Triassic hothouse climate. This study highlights the weathering responses of tropical landscapes to rapid climate warming.
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Fabien Lafuma, Ian J. Corfe, Julien Clavel, Nicolas Di-Poi
Summary: Teeth play a crucial role in vertebrate evolution, with complex teeth evolving multiple times in both mammals and squamates, correlating with changes in diet and leading to increased speciation rates. Squamates exhibit a more flexible system of dental-dietary evolution compared to mammals.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Geology
S. E. Grasby, D. P. G. Bond, P. B. Wignall, R. Yin, L. J. Strachan, S. Takahashi
Summary: During the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, the deep-water euxinic conditions in the southern Panthalassa Ocean coincided with enhanced volcanic activity. While the global ocean experienced extreme stress on marine life, the recovery of radiolarian populations in the southern surface waters was quicker than in the northern Panthalassa by several million years.
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Christopher T. Griffin, Sterling J. Nesbitt
ANATOMICAL RECORD-ADVANCES IN INTEGRATIVE ANATOMY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Martin D. Ezcurra, Sterling J. Nesbitt, Lucas E. Fiorelli, Julia B. Desojo
ANATOMICAL RECORD-ADVANCES IN INTEGRATIVE ANATOMY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Sterling J. Nesbitt, Max C. Langer, Martin D. Ezcurra
ANATOMICAL RECORD-ADVANCES IN INTEGRATIVE ANATOMY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Emma R. Schachner, Randall B. Irmis, Adam K. Huttenlocker, Kent Sanders, Robert L. Cieri, Sterling J. Nesbitt
ANATOMICAL RECORD-ADVANCES IN INTEGRATIVE ANATOMY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Paleontology
Alexander Beyl, Sterling Nesbitt, Michelle R. Stocker
JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Christian F. Kammerer, Sterling J. Nesbitt, John J. Flynn, Lovasoa Ranivoharimanana, Andre R. Wyss
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2020)
Article
Biology
Christopher T. Griffin, Michelle R. Stocker, Caitlin Colleary, Candice M. Stefanic, Emily J. Lessner, Mitchell Riegler, Kiersten Formoso, Krista Koeller, Sterling J. Nesbitt
Summary: Morphology plays a crucial role in vertebrate paleontology, providing the basis for taxonomic identification and evolutionary hypotheses. Assessing maturity is essential for studying ontogenetic changes, population structure, and paleoecology in saurian reptiles, but the methodological challenges and terminological ambiguity need to be addressed. Integrating data from extant and extinct taxa, as well as using multiple lines of evidence, is crucial for improving clarity and coherence in maturity assessment among saurian reptiles.
BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Martin D. Ezcurra, Sterling J. Nesbitt, Mario Bronzati, Fabio Marco Dalla Vecchia, Federico L. Agnolin, Roger B. J. Benson, Federico Brisson Egli, Sergio F. Cabreira, Serjoscha W. Evers, Adriel R. Gentil, Randall B. Irmis, Agustin G. Martinelli, Fernando E. Novas, Lucio Roberto da Silva, Nathan D. Smith, Michelle R. Stocker, Alan H. Turner, Max C. Langer
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Sterling J. Nesbitt, Michelle R. Stocker, Sankar Chatterjee, John R. Horner, Mark B. Goodwin
Summary: The radiation of archosauromorph reptiles in the Triassic Period resulted in a collection of diverse forms with varied ecologies and body sizes. The study describes the cranial anatomy of Triopticus primus and identifies a second dome-headed form, Kranosaura kuttyi, likely the sister taxon of Triopticus primus. The presence of 'dome-headed' archosauromorphs at two localities suggests their widespread distribution and potential involvement in more assemblages than currently recognized.
JOURNAL OF ANATOMY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Caitlin Colleary, Hector M. Lamadrid, Shane S. O'Reilly, Andrei Dolocan, Sterling J. Nesbitt
Summary: Biomolecules preserved in fossils are expanding our understanding of ancient animal biology and evolution. Using mass spectrometry and analytical techniques, researchers have found that endogenous amino acids, amides, and lipids can be well preserved in fossil bones, with dense cortical bone providing better preservation of biomolecules.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Gabriel Mestriner, Aaron LeBlanc, Sterling J. Nesbitt, Julio C. A. Marsola, Randall B. Irmis, Atila Augusto Stock Da-Rosa, Ana Maria Ribeiro, Jorge Ferigolo, Max Langer
Summary: Histological data show that silesaurids do not have the permanent gomphosis seen in crocodylians and dinosaurs, but instead exhibit delayed ankylosis, with teeth being suspended in sockets by a periodontal ligament before eventually mineralizing and fusing to the jaws. This suggests a paedomorphic trend in tooth attachment evolution, with possible convergence in the dinosaur and crocodylian gomphosis. The relative duration of different phases of dental ontogeny needs to be carefully considered when analyzing dental characters in early archosaur phylogenies.
ANATOMICAL RECORD-ADVANCES IN INTEGRATIVE ANATOMY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Paleontology
Jean-Sebastien Steyer, Brandon R. Peecook, Thomas Arbez, Sterling J. Nesbitt, Steve Tolan, Michelle R. Stocker, Roger M. H. Smith, Kenneth D. Angielczyk, Christian A. Sidor
Summary: Recent findings of Temnospondyl specimens from the Triassic of Tanzania and Zambia provide insights into the taxonomic and ecological diversity during that period, as well as the rapid recovery of these animal groups after the Permian-Triassic mass extinction. These discoveries contribute to a better understanding of the impact of this extinction event on the tetrapod faunas of southern Pangea.
Article
Biology
B. M. Wynd, J. C. Uyeda, S. J. Nesbitt
Summary: Allometry patterns are crucial for studying evolutionary constraints and ontogenetic growth in species. Fossil specimens may be distorted, affecting the accuracy of analyses. This study found that a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) is more effective than traditional methods in reconstructing allometry with distorted specimens.
INTEGRATIVE ORGANISMAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Davide Foffa, Richard J. Butler, Sterling J. Nesbitt, Stig Walsh, Paul M. Barrett, Stephen L. Brusatte, Nicholas C. Fraser
EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH
(2020)
Article
Paleontology
Rodrigo T. Muller, M. Belen von Baczko, Julia B. Desojo, Sterling J. Nesbitt
ACTA PALAEONTOLOGICA POLONICA
(2020)