First record of live birth in Cretaceous ichthyosaurs: closing an 80 million year gap

New fossils of embryonic ichthyosaurs are both the geologically youngest and the physically smallest known ichthyosaur embryos. The embryos are articulated, though only partially preserved, and are located within the body cavity of an adult, presumably the mother. The embryos and adult were found in association with several other individuals of differing size classes, all of which appear to be a new taxon of Cretaceous ichthyosaur. The material was collected from units of the Loon River Formation, Hay River, Northwest Territories, Canada. The implications of this new material to ichthyosaurian reproductive biology are discussed.     

A new small theropod dinosaur from the Judith River Formation (Campanian) of Alberta Canada.

A new small theropod dinosaur, documented by an incomplete skeleton and three frontals, is described from the Judith River Formation (Upper Cretaceous: Campanian) of south-central Alberta.
It is distinguished from both Stenonychosaurus and Dromaeosaurus by the structure of the frontal and by the marginal dentition.
It resembles Stenonychosaurus in the structure of the frontal and the Dromaeosauridae in the shape of the endocranial cavity and other skeletal features.
The material is referred to a new genus and species of the Dromaeosauridae.     

Unusual gut contents in a Cretaceous ichthyosaur

Despite ichthyosaurs being one of the most extensively studied Mesozoic marine reptile groups, there is little documented direct evidence of dietary habits in most taxa. Here, we report the discovery of hatchling-sized marine protostegid turtle remains and an enantiornithine bird (in association with actinopterygian fish and phosphatic nodules) within the body cavity of a gravid female ichthyosaur (Platypterygius longmani) from the Lower Cretaceous of Australia; this is the first evidence, to our knowledge, of feeding by ichthyosaurs upon both turtles and birds. The exceptionally preserved gut contents show little evidence of digestion, suggesting consumption shortly before the ichthyosaur's death. Poor swimming ability may have made hatchling turtles easy prey that could have been either swallowed whole or processed by shake feeding. Ingestion of bird remains probably occurred through scavenging. Opportunistic feeding on vertebrates is at odds with existing interpretations of dietary habits in Cretaceous ichthyosaurs, which favour predation primarily upon cephalopods. Such specialization is considered a contributing factor in the group's ultimate extinction. However, the evidence here that at least some forms were able to use a wide range of available food types suggests that the decline of ichthyosaurs in the mid-Cretaceous may be linked to other factors such as competition with ecologically analogous pursuit predators.     

贵州关岭晚三叠世一大型鱼龙类头骨

记述了产自贵州关岭上三叠统杯椎鱼龙属一新种——亚洲杯椎鱼龙(Cymbospondylusasiaticus sp. nov)。标本为两件几乎完整的头骨,产于法朗组瓦窑段的泥质灰岩中,这是目前已知惟一的晚三叠世(Cymbospondylus属的标本,也是该属时代最晚的一个种。亚洲杯椎鱼龙头部最明显的特征是下颌牙齿仅分布于齿骨的前半部分。此外,新种的吻部极长,超过头骨全长之半,上颌骨非常发达,并且具有已知鱼龙类中最小的眼眶。亚洲杯椎鱼龙是这一大型鱼龙类在北美和欧洲以外地区的首次记录。     

浙江江山白垩系一新的蜥脚类恐龙

记述的巨龙科Titanosauridae一新属种———礼贤江山龙 (Jiangshanosauruslixianensisgen .etsp .nov .)产自浙江江山的金华组下部 ,地质时代为早白垩世晚期的Albian期。化石保存了部分头后骨骼 ,经过与晚侏罗世至晚白垩世蜥脚类化石的对比表明 ,新属的尾椎特征与巨龙科较为相似 ,肩胛骨、乌喙骨与巨龙科中的阿拉蒙龙属 (Alamosaurus)最为接近 ,但新属的前部尾椎较大 ,前凹后突的程度较不明显。新属种保存的背椎和中部尾椎的部分特征与我国晚侏罗世马门溪龙科也很相近。新属种是在我国首次记述的巨龙科化石 ,为研究白垩纪蜥脚类恐龙在我国的演化分布提供了新的材料。     

STUDIES ON FOSSIL AZOLLA: PRIMITIVE TYPES OF MEGASPORES AND MASSULAE FROM THE CRETACEOUS

Fossil Salviniaceae are described from the Claggett Shale and Judith River Formation, late Cretaceous (Campanian stage) of Montana. A new genus, Parazolla, from the Claggett Shale, has megaspores in which the swimming apparatus is composed of a number of elongate floats attached to the megaspore body and invested by coiled hairs. The floats separate at maturity. Massulae (bearing microspores) have simple hair-like glochidia, many of which are knobbed at their tips. Glochidia tend to resemble the perisporial hairs of the megaspore body. This resemblance provides fossil evidence of the homology of these two hair-like structures among living species of Azolla. In Azolla simplex from the Judith River Formation the megaspore has a single cap-like so-called columellate float. Massulae, which have anchor-shaped glochidia, are associated with these megaspores. A. simplex is the oldest species of Azolla and Parazolla the oldest member of the Salviniaceae so far found.     

A SPALACOLESTINE SPALACOTHERIID (MAMMALIA,TRECHNOTHERIA) FROM THE EARLY CRETACEOUS (BARREMIAN) OF SOUTHERN ENGLAND AND ITS BEARING ON SPALACOTHERIID EVOLUTION

Abstract: Bulk screening of Early Cretaceous (Barremian) Wealden Group strata of the Wessex Formation exposed on the south‐west and south‐east coasts of the Isle of Wight, southern England, has resulted in the recovery of fragmentary remains pertaining to a new spalacolestine spalacotheriid mammal, Yaverlestes gassoni gen. et sp. nov. These represent the first European record of the Spalacolestinae. The remains comprise a dentulous incomplete dentary and isolated upper and lower molariforms, the former representing the most substantial mammal remains yet recovered from the Wealden Group. Hitherto, six species of spalacotheriid mammal were known from the Lower Cretaceous of Europe. All are referred to the genus Spalacotherium but in the case of taxa diagnosed on the basis of isolated lower teeth and other specimens where the post‐canine dentition is incompletely known, it is now evident that these referrals should be treated with caution. Furthermore, the new Wessex Formation spalacotheriid and recently described spalacotheriids from the ?Barremian of Japan, and the Barremian and Aptian of China exhibit combinations of characters that suggest that spalacotheriids were more diverse and that their evolution was more complex than previously recognized. The systematic position of an isolated tooth from the basal Cretaceous Lourinhã Formation of Portugal is discussed and the tooth reassigned to the Spalacotheriidae. Together with the new Wessex Formation taxon, eight species are now known from the Lower Cretaceous of Europe. The discovery of a spalacolestine in the Barremian Wessex Formation supports the concept of faunal interchange between Europe, Asia and North America during the Early Cretaceous. It also supports derivation of North American spalacotheriids from a European or Eurasian ancestor.     

A BASAL MIXOSAURID ICHTHYOSAUR FROM THE MIDDLE TRIASSIC OF CHINA

Abstract:  New specimens of a mixosaurid ichthyosaur are described from the People's Republic of China. They consist of an almost complete skull, forefin and shoulder girdle of a single individual, and a second partial skull from the Anisian Guanling Formation of Guizhou Province that belongs to the same taxon. A phylogenetic analysis shows this species to be the sister-taxon of all other mixosaurids. It is distinguished from Mixosaurus , Contecotpalatus and Phalarodon by features of its dentition and cranial morphology. There is only one maxillary tooth row. The posterior maxillary teeth are blunt and rounded, and much wider than the premaxillary teeth, but they are not strongly elongated anteroposteriorly. The teeth are subthecodontously implanted. The postorbital skull segment is long. The jugal-quadratojugal notch is deep and these two elements remain separated externally. The postorbital separates supratemporal and postfrontal. There are no postaxial ossifications of the forefin. Autapomorphies include a long ventral process of the postorbital lamina of the postorbital as well as characteristic morphologies of the coracoid and humerus. The material is therefore clearly distinguished from other known mixosaurids. It can be referred, on the basis of the features of the humerus and coracoid, to Mixosaurus maotaiensis Young, 1965. As it is generically distinct from Mixosaurus , a new generic name, Barracudasaurus gen. nov. is proposed. The phylogenetic relevance of the external separation of jugal and quadratojugal in some Triassic ichthyosaurs is discussed and it is concluded that it does not demonstrate the initial presence of a lower temporal fenestra in ichthyosaurs. The new material suggests that mixosaurids could have also originated in the Eastern rather than the Western Tethys, as previously assumed.     

Short-snouted toothless ichthyosaur from China suggests Late Triassic diversification of suction feeding ichthyosaurs

Background

Ichthyosaurs were an important group of Mesozoic marine reptiles and existed from the Early Triassic to the early Late Cretaceous. Despite a great diversity in body shapes and feeding adaptations, all share greatly enlarged eyes, an elongated rostrum with numerous conical teeth, and a streamlined body.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Based on new material from China and the restudy of Shastasaurus pacificus, we here reinterpret the classical large-bodied Late Triassic ichthyosaur genus Shastasaurus to differ greatly from the standard ichthyosaurian body plan, indicating much greater morphological diversity and range of feeding adaptations in ichthyosaurs than previously recognized. Phylogenetic analysis indicates a monophyletic clade consisting of the giant Shonisaurus sikanniensis, Guanlingsaurus liangae, and Shastasaurus pacificus to which the genus name Shastasaurus is applied. Shastasaurus liangae comb. nov. is from the Late Triassic (Carnian) Xiaowa Formation of Guizhou Province, southwestern China. The species combines a diminutive head with an entirely toothless and greatly reduced snout. The species also has by far the highest vertebral count among ichthyosaurs (86 presacral vertebrae and >110 caudal vertebrae), a count that is also very high for tetrapods in general. A reduced toothless snout and a diminutive head is also apparently present in the giant S. sikanniensis and presumably in S. pacificus.

Conclusions/Significance

In analogy to many modern odontocetes, Shastasaurus is interpreted as a specialized suction feeder on unshelled cephalopods and fish, suggesting a unique but widespread Late Triassic diversification of toothless, suction-feeding ichthyosaurs. Suction feeding has not been hypothesized for any of the other diverse marine reptiles of the Mesozoic before, but in Shastasaurus may be linked to the Late Triassic minimum in atmospheric oxygen.     

FLORA OF THE LOWER CRETACEOUS CEDAR MOUNTAIN FORMATION OF UTAH AND COLORADO. PART III: ICACINOXYLON PITTIENSE N. SP

Icacinoxylon pittiense, a new species of angiospermous wood from the Lower Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah is described and compared with similar fossil and modem woods. It is distinguished from other species of Icacinoxylon by its thick-walled fiber-tracheids with their walls making up at least 50% of the total diameter of the cells, conspicuous bordered pits with obliquely crossing extended apertures on both the tangential and radial walls of its fiber-tracheids, scalariform perforation plates with as few as four or greater than 30 bars, transitional opposite to scalariform pitting on its vessel walls, thick-walled ray cells, and distinct sheath or border cells in its rays. Icacinoxylon pittiense is the first species of this genus to be reported from Cretaceous sediments. This wood is of special interest because very few angiosperm woods have been reported from lower Cretaceous strata.     

甘肃玉门红柳峡早白垩世下沟组的介形类

本文描述了甘肃玉门红柳峡下沟组的介形类化石共5属4亚属、13种。其中1新属、6个新种、1个比较种。根据介形类特征和地理分布,推测下沟组的时代为早白垩世巴列姆期;同时结合玉门红柳峡下沟组的岩性特征,认为该组为淡水微咸水河湖相沉积。     

An early isocrinid sea lily from the middle to late Anisian boundary (Middle Triassic) of south‐west China – evidence for a far‐east Tethyan origin of the family Isocrinidae

Abstract: The isocrinid sea lily Tyrolecrinus wugangi sp. nov. from uppermost middle to lowermost upper Anisian (lower Middle Triassic) strata of Leidapo near Qingyan, Guizhou Province, south‐west China, provides new data on the early phylogeny of the order Isocrinida. The new species is the earliest unequivocal representative of the family Isocrinidae. It predates all other known species of the genus Tyrolecrinus that come from upper Ladinian to Rhaetian strata and also all other known taxa of the Isocrinidae. Nevertheless, its stem is of fully developed isocrinid type and is characteristic of the genus, with consistently synostosial, rarely cryptosymplectial, distal nodal articular facets. These findings indicate that the Isocrinidae evolved prior to the late middle Anisian in the far‐eastern part of the Palaeotethys ocean, perhaps in the region forming today’s south‐west China, and spread to various other regions later in the Middle and Late Triassic. The genus Tyrolecrinus is revised and the new genus Bakonycrinus gen. nov. is erected.     

High Diversity in Cretaceous Ichthyosaurs from Europe Prior to Their Extinction

Background

Ichthyosaurs are reptiles that inhabited the marine realm during most of the Mesozoic. Their Cretaceous representatives have traditionally been considered as the last survivors of a group declining since the Jurassic. Recently, however, an unexpected diversity has been described in Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous deposits, but is widely spread across time and space, giving small clues on the adaptive potential and ecosystem control of the last ichthyosaurs. The famous but little studied English Gault Formation and ‘greensands’ deposits (the Upper Greensand Formation and the Cambridge Greensand Member of the Lower Chalk Formation) offer an unprecedented opportunity to investigate this topic, containing thousands of ichthyosaur remains spanning the Early–Late Cretaceous boundary.

Methodology/Principal Findings

To assess the diversity of the ichthyosaur assemblage from these sedimentary bodies, we recognized morphotypes within each type of bones. We grouped these morphotypes together, when possible, by using articulated specimens from the same formations and from new localities in the Vocontian Basin (France); a revised taxonomic scheme is proposed. We recognize the following taxa in the ‘greensands’: the platypterygiines ‘Platypterygius’ sp. and Sisteronia seeleyi gen. et sp. nov., indeterminate ophthalmosaurines and the rare incertae sedis Cetarthrosaurus walkeri. The taxonomic diversity of late Albian ichthyosaurs now matches that of older, well-known intervals such as the Toarcian or the Tithonian. Contrasting tooth shapes and wear patterns suggest that these ichthyosaurs colonized three distinct feeding guilds, despite the presence of numerous plesiosaur taxa.

Conclusion/Significance

Western Europe was a diversity hot-spot for ichthyosaurs a few million years prior to their final extinction. By contrast, the low diversity in Australia and U.S.A. suggests strong geographical disparities in the diversity pattern of Albian–early Cenomanian ichthyosaurs. This provides a whole new context to investigate the extinction of these successful marine reptiles, at the end of the Cenomanian.     

中国陕西铜川中三叠世新直脉蝎蛉科一新属一新种(昆虫纲,长翅目)

记述新直脉蝎蛉科1新属1新种Neorthophlebopsis qishuiheensis gen.et sp.nov.,并以其Sc很长,Rs与M分支同一水平,Rs1 2分支在Pt之前,M与CuA汇合,臀区3支粗壮横脉,呈一字斜形排列等特征与已知属相区别.新属种系铜川昆虫组合的新成员,属陕西昆虫群.化石标本采自陕西铜川中三叠统铜川组下段上部灰绿色泥页岩.铜川组的时代相当欧洲拉丁尼期(Ladinian Stage).     

A new pachyosteomorph arthrodire (Pisces: Placodermi) from the Upper Frasnian of the Central Devonian Field,Russia

A new genus and species of pachyosteomorph arthrodire, Omalosteus krutoensis gen. et sp. nov. from shallow-water marine deposits of the Evlanovo Regional Stage (Upper Frasnian, Upper Devonian) of the Central Devonian Field is described. It is tentatively referred to the family Trematosteidae Gross, 1932, which was earlier believed to be endemic to central Europe. The new genus is characterized by a rounded, dorsoventrally compressed cross section of the pectoral region and smooth head shield and postcranial membrane bones. The centrale is elongated, forming a narrow lateral lobe. The praeorbitale, postorbitale, and centrale come in contact in the center of the orbital region. The mediodorsale is wide, its carinal process projects considerably posteriorly. The anterior margin of the anterior ventrolaterale lacks articular facets for the interlaterale.     

Late Jurassic ichthyosaurs from the Neuquén Basin,Argentina

Late Jurassic ichthyosaurs are well represented in the Tithonian of the Neuquén Basin, in northwestern Patagonia, Argentina. Most of the ichthyosaur material from the Neuquén Basin was originally identified as Ophthalmosaurus. Recently, the new ichthyosaur genus Caypullisaurus was described, based on an almost complete mature specimen from Cerro Lotena. Some material previously referred to Ophlhalmosaurus has been referred to the new genus. However, both genera are present in the Tithonian of the Neuquén Basin. The discovery of an articulated forefin in Cajón de Almanza (near Loncopue, Neuquén) confirms the presence of Ophthalmosaurus in the uppermost Tithonian of the Neuquén Basin.     

ANATOMICALLY PRESERVED SEED CONES OF THE PINACEAE FROM THE EARLY CRETACEOUS OF VIRGINIA

A collection of anatomically preserved conifer cones from the Early Cretaceous of Virginia contains two new species of the extinct pinaceous genus Pityostrobus. Superficially, the fossil cones resemble those of modern species of Picea. However, the fossils reveal such a peculiar mixture of anatomical features that they cannot be assigned to any extant genus of the Pinaceae. One of the new species, Pityostrobus hueberi, is most comparable with Pityostrobus corneti Alvin from the Early Cretaceous of Belgium. Pityostrobus virginiana, the other new species, differs from all other members of the genus in only slight—but nonetheless significant—attributes. Pityostrobus hueberi and P. virginiana are the first species of this genus to be reported from Early Cretaceous sediments of the North American Atlantic Coastal Plain. As such, they increase our knowledge of the structural variation exhibited by ancient members of the Pinaceae.     

A NEW TITANOSAUR FROM WESTERN SÃO PAULO STATE, UPPER CRETACEOUS BAURU GROUP, SOUTH-EAST BRAZIL

Abstract: Material from a new titanosaur from the Bauru Basin (Bauru Group), Brazil is described and compared with well‐known titanosaurs. Adamantisaurus mezzalirai gen. et sp. nov. is based on six articulated anterior caudal vertebrae and two haemapophyses collected from the Adamantina Formation, which is considered to be Campanian–Maastrichtian? in age. Adamantisaurus mezzalirai is characterized by the following combination of characteristics: anterior caudal vertebrae with straight or slightly backwardly‐projecting neural spines with strongly expanded distal ends, stout prespinal lamina, very wide pre‐ and postzygapophyseal articular facets, and concave postzygapophyseal articular facets on anterior caudal vertebrae. Although our cladistic analysis has produced equivocal results, Adamantisaurus mezzalirai shares with DGM ‘Series B’ (Peirópolis titanosaur) and Aeolosaurus the presence of postzygapophyses with concave articular facets, and shares with DGM ‘Series B’ the presence of laterally expanded neural spines and stout prespinal lamina. Additionally, A. mezzalirai shares with DGM ‘Series’ C (other titanosaur from Peirópolis) the presence of short neural spines.     

京西盆地早白垩世中生黏蚊一新属新种 (双翅目:中生黏蚊科)(英文)

记述了京西盆地早白垩世中生黏蚊一新属新种———京西华夏中生黏蚊Huaxiasciophilitesjingxiensisgen .etsp .nov.。新属区别于其它属的特征为 :Sc具分支 ;r m长于Rs基部之长 ;Rs明显呈波纹状 ;径室较小。化石采自卢尚坟村卢尚坟组昆虫的典型剖面 ,时代属早白垩世巴列姆期 (BarremianStage) ,归卢尚坟昆虫群。对其系统发育及在地史上的分布进行了初步探讨。模式标本保存于北京林业大学。