Dinosaur Paleontology

There was once a stone cutter who toiled all day upon the rock hot , tired, poor, besieged by doubt, discontent, and forced to bow to his superiors dissatisfied with himself and his position in life He passed by a wealthy merchant-and saw the merchants possessions, gold, and power envious-he wished to be a merchant-and as it came to pass-much to his surprise he became the merchant envied and detested by those less wealthy then he-hated and feared by his former friends Soon, a nobleman-a politician was carried by in a golden chair-with luxury-and pomp-with followers and fame-with gold and glory-all bowed before him envious-he wished to be a nobleman-and as it came to pass-much to his surprise he became the nobleman feared and hated by everyone around him-burdened by mundane and hollow ceremony-reprehensible dutyby disconnection and disharmony. Sitting high-as everyone bowed low-the sun shone down making him sticky and uncomfortable envious-he wished to be the sun for what could be more powerful then it-standing high and godly? and as it came to pass-much to his surprise he suddenly became the sun reigning heat and drought upon the people of the earth-causing cancer-killing crops-hated, feared, and despised by all frustrated and consumed by power he shone ever brighter-ever powerful-but soon, a storm cloud floated by underneath-blocking out his power-his plague "what could be more powerful then the storm cloud?" he thought and with envy-he wished to be a storm cloud-and as it came to pass-much to his surprise he became a storm cloud-raining down upon the world, drowning crops, carrying children away-hated, feared, and despised by all-frustrated and lonely he rained ever harder with hate-but soon however, he felt himself being pushed about by the wind-unable to hold position "what could be more powerful then the wind?" he asked. and with envy-he wished to be the wind-and as it came to pass-much to his surprise he became the wind fiercely blowing tiles off roofs, uprooting trees-blowing over homes and families-hated, feared, and despised by all soon however, he realized that he could not blow over mountains or conquer stone regardless of how hard he blew. No matter how forcefully he exalted his power-"What could be more powerful than the stone?" he thought-and with envy-he wished to be the stone-and as it came to pass-much to his surprise he became the stone and as he stood there, majestic and tall, proud, and powerful, he heard the sound of a hammer and chisel he felt his shape being altered, and no matter how hard he resisted, he could not stop the pounding and the carving, and the cutting, the hollow-blindingly loud silence of his own discontentment Below him, on the ledge beneath, with a smile of contentment on his face was a stonecutter for what could be more powerful than the stonecutter?

Observation: Please note this is a major update with 11,468 entries (and corrections) from previous lists published online between July 2017 and January 2018.

This list include papers, conference papers, chapters, books, theses and dissertations - It does not include abstracts (but extended abstracts).

Please do not change the list or include any reference. Any inclusion (I'm sure there will be many) or correction, please forward me directly to the email
<[email protected]>

I also ask that, whenever you quote this list, please give the credit as follows:
De Luna P. 2018. South America Vertebrate Paleontology Reference List (1774-2018) (1774-2018) - version 20180325
DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.23993.06248
at
http://www.mediafire.com/file/1r8ki2kg0atkstx/VPSA_20180818_PDF_final.pdf

enjoy and share!

Pedro De Luna, Ph.D. (aka Peter Moon)
Post-doc fellow at the Biosciences Institute, Universidade de São Paulo São Paulo-SP Brazil

Dracorex was a dinosaur of the family Pachycephalosauridae, that lived during the Late Cretaceous of North America. The type (and only) species is Dracorex hogwartsia, meaning "dragon king of Hogwarts".
It is known from one nearly complete skull (the holotype TCMI 2004.17.1), as well as four cervical vertebrae including the atlas, third, ninth and eighth. These were discovered in the Hell Creek Formation in South Dakota by three amateur paleontologists from Sioux City, Iowa. The skull was subsequently donated to the Children's Museum of Indianapolis for study in 2004, and was formally described by Bob Bakker and Robert Sullivan in 2006.

Dracorex, a herbivore, had a skull with spiky horns, bumps, and a long muzzle. The species also sports well-developed supratemporal fenestrae and a heavily-armored flat skull – lacking the characteristic pachycephalosaurid dome. Coupled with these two features is the excessive number of osteoderms in the form of irregular osteodermal crust: a number of nodes, larger hornlets, and spikes. Disregarding this, Dracorex is physically comparable to Stygimoloch. In the Pachycephalosauridae family, the Asian taxa includes a number of (somewhat) flat-headed pachycephalosaurs (Homalocephale calat'hocercos, Goyocephale lattimorei, and Wannanosaurus yansiensis). However, prior to the discovery of Dracorex, the only semi-flat-headed pachycephalosaur from North America was Stegoceras validum (inclusive of Ornatotholus' browni). Even then, the semi-flat-headed trait was only present in juveniles of the species.

Aside from having a flat, nodal skull, the most prominent feature of Dracorex is the pair of huge and unrestricted superior temporal openings. The supratemporal fenestrae are much larger front-to-back and side-to-side than in Homalocephale, and larger than in Goyocephale. Only a fragmentary Wannanosaurus skull shows fenestrae as large as those of Dracorex. This fenestral architecture has been seen in ancient archosaurs, but not in other pachycephalosaurs.

Consequently, if unreduced superior fenestrae are morphologically primitive, then Dracorex is more primitive in the temporal region than any other known pachycephalosaur. However, Sullivan (2003, 2006) demonstrated that the oldest known pachycephalosaurs were, in fact, fully-domed, and that the flat-headed morphology appeared later in the fossil record. This suggests that doming may be primitive for pachycephalosaurs and that a reversion to the non-domed, flat-headed state is a secondary (derived) character reversion, coupled with the re-opening of the supratemporal fenestrae. Indeed, while Stegoceras has been considered to be transitional between domed and flat-headed taxa, it may indicate the beginning of a character reversion to suppression of doming and opening of the supratemporal fenestrae in some taxa.

The excavated specimen was most likely a young adult. However, based on ossification of the mid-cervical arch with the centrum, it was near maturity. The animal was approximately 10 feet (3 m) long.

However, at the 2007 annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Jack Horner of Montana State University presented evidence, from analysis of the skull of holotype specimen TCMI 2004.17.1, that Dracorex may well be a juvenile form of Pachycephalosaurus.

Classification
In the original description, Bob Bakker included Dracorex in the family Pachycephalosauridae within the subfamily Pachycephalosaurinae. In the latter in the Pachycephalosaurini tribe together with Pachycephalosaurus forming a clearing next to Stygimoloch . To carry out the analysis of the relationships between the genders, he observed the differences in cranial ornamentation.

In a comprehensive study of numerous fossils of Pachycephalosaurus published in 2009, John R. Horner and Mark B. Goodwin , a strong variation warn ontogenetic of the skull : large morphological differences between juveniles and adults. For them, the flat Dracorex skull , the nodules at the front end, the small spines at the back, and the thick but non-dome-shaped frontoparietal, indicate that the only known specimen is a juvenile Pachycephalosaurus

Alternative interpretation
Dracorex may be a closely related individual of Stygimoloch and / or Pachycephalosaurus in which the cupola and horns are not well developed either because the animal was a juvenile or a female. This consideration was supported at the 2007 annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Jack Horner from Montana State University presented evidence, from analysis of the skull of the only extant specimen of Dracorex , that this dinosaur could be a juvenile form of Stygimoloch . In addition, he presented data indicating that both Stygimoloch and Dracorex may be juvenile forms ofPachycephalosaurus . Horner and MB Goodwin published their findings in 2009, showing that the spine / nodule bones and cranial domes of all three species' exhibit extreme plasticity and that both Dracorex and Stygimoloch are known only from juvenile specimens, while Pachycephalosaurus is only known from specimens. Adults". These observations, plus the fact that all three forms lived at the same time and place, lead them to conclude that Dracorex and Stygimoloch may have simply been juvenile Pachycephalosaurs that had lost their spines and developed domes as they aged. The researchers were unable to break out Dracorex's skull to sample it,  and had to use a cast of the skull for descriptive purposes.
A 2010 study by Nick Longrich and colleagues also supported the hypothesis that all flat-headed pachycephalosaurus were juveniles, suggesting that flat-domed forms, such as Goyocephale and Homalocephale , represent the juveniles of domed adults. 
In 2016, Goodwin and Evans analyzed the youngest known ontogimorphs of Pachycephalosaurus , collected from the Hell Creek Formation. While this material would normally refer to DracorexSince it represented one or more individuals younger than the only known Dracorex individual and displayed similar characteristics, the items showed that the unique characters in Dracorex and Stygimoloch represent morphological characters consisting of a morphological continuum for Pachycephalosaurus . In other words, these younger individuals showed that Dracorex characteristics were probably transient and can be easily traced on a growth curve to Pachycephalosaurus , where Stygimoloch and Dracorex are incorporated into this genus. As such, DracorexIt is probably not a single species, but a more modern synonym for Pachycephalosaurus .
This study has not been challenging and represents the most recent analysis of this genre. In conclusion, an ontogenetic relationship is established, being infantile, juvenile and adult individuals of the same species, between Dracorex hogwartsia , Stygimoloch spinifer and Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensis , the latter being the bearer of the valid species name, as it is the first of the three to be described.

Name
The name Dracorex hogwartsia was inspired by young visitors to the Children's Museum of Indianapolis as a tribute to both dragons (Dracorex means "dragon king"), which the animal resembled, as well as the Harry Potter series of books by J.K. Rowling (hogwartsia for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the fictional school from the popular series).

References
^ Bakker, R. T., Sullivan, R. M., Porter, V., Larson, P. and Saulsbury, S.J. (2006). "Dracorex hogwartsia, n. gen., n. sp., a spiked, flat-headed pachycephalosaurid dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation of South Dakota." in Lucas, S. G. and Sullivan, R. M., eds., Late Cretaceous vertebrates from the Western Interior. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 35, pp. 331–345. [1]
^ Erik Stokstad,"SOCIETY OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY MEETING:Did Horny Young Dinosaurs Cause Illusion of Separate Species?", Science Vol. 18, 23 Nov. 2007, p. 1236; http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/318/5854/1236.

Background: The horns and frill of Triceratops and other ceratopsids (horned dinosaurs) are interpreted variously as display structures or as weapons against conspecifics and predators. Lesions (in the form of periosteal reactive bone, healing fractures, and alleged punctures) on Triceratops skulls have been used as anecdotal support of intraspecific combat similar to that in modern horned and antlered animals. If ceratopsids with different cranial morphologies used their horns in such combat, this should be reflected in the rates of lesion occurrence across the skull. Methodology/Principal Findings: We used a G-test of independence to compare incidence rates of lesions in Triceratops (which possesses two large brow horns and a smaller nasal horn) and the related ceratopsid Centrosaurus (with a large nasal horn and small brow horns), for the nasal, jugal, squamosal, and parietal bones of the skull. The two taxa differ significantly in the occurrence of lesions on the squamosal bone of the frill (P = 0.002), but not in other cranial bones (P.0.20). Conclusions/Significance: This pattern is consistent with Triceratops using its horns in combat and the frill being adapted as a protective structure for this taxon. Lower pathology rates in Centrosaurus may indicate visual rather than physical use of cranial ornamentation in this genus, or a form of combat focused on the body rather than the head.

A comprehensive review and study of the rich dinosaur track record of the Tremp Formation in the southern Pyrenees of Spain (Southwestern Europe) shows a unique succession of footprint localities prior to the end-Cretaceous mass extinction event. A description of some 30 new tracksites and data on sedimentary environments, track occurrence and preservation, ichnology and chronostratigraphy are provided. These new track localities represent various facies types within a diverse set of fluvial environments. The footprint discoveries mostly represent hadrosaurian and, less abundantly, to sauropod dinosaurs. The hadrosaur tracks are significantly smaller in size than, but morphologically similar to, those of North America and Asia and are attributable to the ichnogenus Hadrosauropodus. The track succession, with more than 40 distinct track levels, indicates that hadrosaur footprints in the Ibero-Armorican region occur predominantly in the late Maaastrichtian (at least above the early Maastrichtian-late Maastrichtian boundary). The highest abundance is found noticeably found in the late Maastrichtian, with tracks occurring in the C29r magnetochron, within about the latest 300,000 years of the Cretaceous.

Abstract Sauropod dinosaurs were the largest terrestrial
herbivores and pushed at the limits of vertebrate biomechanics
and physiology. Sauropods exhibit high craniodental
diversity in ecosystems where numerous species coexisted,
leading to the hypothesis that this biodiversity is
linked to niche subdivision driven by ecological specialisation.
Here, we quantitatively investigate feeding behaviour
hypotheses for the iconic sauropod Diplodocus. Biomechanical
modelling, using finite element analysis, was used to
examine the performance of the Diplodocus skull. Three
feeding behaviours were modelled: muscle-driven static biting,
branch stripping and bark stripping. The skull was found to be
‘over engineered’ for static biting, overall experiencing low
stress with only the dentition enduring high stress. When
branch stripping, the skull, similarly, is under low stress, with
little appreciable difference between those models. When simulated for bark stripping, the skull experiences far greater
stresses, especially in the teeth and at the jaw joint. Therefore,
we refute the bark-stripping hypothesis, while the hypotheses
of branch stripping and/or precision biting are both
consistent with our findings, showing that branch stripping
is a biomechanically plausible feeding behaviour
for diplodocids. Interestingly, in all simulations, peak
stress is observed in the premaxillary–maxillary ‘lateral
plates’, supporting the hypothesis that these structures
evolved to dissipate stress induced while feeding. These
results lead us to conclude that the aberrant craniodental
form of Diplodocus was adapted for food procurement
rather than resisting high bite forces.

Ever wanted to travel around the world? Well, the Wildlife of Gondwana exhibition certainly has! After 20 years of captivating and educating people about the many millions of years of Australia’s unique fauna and flora, this exhibition will find its final home in the Australian Age of Dinosaurs (AAOD) Museum of Natural History in Winton, Queensland.

The Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of western North America has yielded a number of specimens assigned to the ornithischian dinosaurs Stegosaurus and Camptosaurus, and many of these specimens come from channel sandstone deposits. Six new specimens are recorded mostly from channel sandstones as well. Indeed, early analyses of site occurrences (reducing the effects of large single-site samples) suggested that Stegosaurus and Camptosaurus were more often found in channel sandstone deposits than other common Morrison Formation dinosaurs such as Camarasaurus or Diplodocus. This also indicated the possibility of ecological segregation of the former two genera from other herbivorous dinosaurs of the Morrison. Revisiting this question with additional data suggests the pattern may not be as strong as it once appeared. Analysis of occurrence data indicates that Stegosaurus and Camptosaurus occur in channel sandstone deposits slightly more frequently than the two sauropods, but statistical analysis of this pattern by either localities or individuals indicates little significance to the trend. However, Camptosaurus appears more strongly associated with channel sandstone deposits relative to other dinosaurs than does Stegosaurus. These results suggest that any ecological segregation of these genera was moderate, but that, if present, the segregation was more pronounced in Camptosaurus.

Four juvenile specimens referable to Pinacosaurus grangeri (Ankylosauria: Dinosauria) are described from the Campanian (Upper Cretaceous) locality Bayan Mandahu in northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (People’s Republic of China). All the specimens preserve the skulls as well as, in some cases, mandibles, postcrania, and osteoderm. They are not taphonomically deformed by expanding matrix distortion, unlike many Gobi specimens, including the holotype of P. grangeri. Bayan Mandahu is also the type locality for Pinacosaurus mephistocephalus. The proximity in space and time of these two closely related species warrants a generic and specific revision for Pinacosaurus. The distinction of the two species is based on characters of the squamosal dermal elaborations, cranial roof posterior to the orbits, premaxillary notch, and distal margin of the ilium. Although a relatively well-represented ankylosaur taxon, the phylogenetic position of Pinacosaurus has not been unequivocally resolved. A new analysis recovers Pinacosaurus as the most basal member of the Ankylosaurinae.

Tyrannosaurs, the group of dinosaurian carnivores that includes Tyrannosaurus rex and its closest relatives, are icons of prehistory. They are also the most intensively studied extinct dinosaurs, and thanks to large sample sizes and an influx of new discoveries, have become ancient exemplar organisms used to study many themes in vertebrate paleontology. A phylogeny that includes recently described species shows that tyrannosaurs originated by the Middle Jurassic but remained mostly small and ecologically marginal until the latest Cretaceous. Anatomical, biomechanical, and histological studies of T. rex and other derived tyrannosaurs show that large tyrannosaurs could not run rapidly, were capable of crushing bite forces, had accelerated growth rates and keen senses, and underwent pronounced changes during ontogeny. The biology and evolutionary history of tyrannosaurs provide a foundation for comparison with other dinosaurs and living organisms.

Birds are the only living amniotes with coloured eggs 1–4 , which have long been considered to be an avian innovation 1,3. A recent study has demonstrated the presence of both red-brown protoporphyrin IX and blue-green biliverdin 5 —the pigments responsible for all the variation in avian egg colour—in fossilized eggshell of a nonavian dinosaur 6. This raises the fundamental question of whether modern birds inherited egg colour from their nonavian dinosaur ancestors, or whether egg colour evolved independently multiple times. Here we present a phylogenetic assessment of egg colour in nonavian dinosaurs. We applied high-resolution Raman microspectroscopy to eggshells that represent all of the major clades of dinosaurs, and found that egg colour pigments were preserved in all eumaniraptorans: egg colour had a single evolutionary origin in nonavian theropod dinosaurs. The absence of colour in ornithischian and sauropod eggs represents a true signal rather than a taphonomic artefact. Pigment surface maps revealed that nonavian eumaniraptoran eggs were spotted and speckled, and colour pattern diversity in these eggs approaches that in extant birds, which indicates that reproductive behaviours in nonavian dinosaurs were far more complex than previously known 3. Depth profiles demonstrated identical mechanisms of pigment deposition in nonavian and avian dinosaur eggs. Birds were not the first amniotes to produce coloured eggs: as with many other characteristics 7,8 this is an attribute that evolved deep within the dinosaur tree and long before the spectacular radiation of modern birds.

The Murray Quarry was operated during the 1920s and 1930s
in sediments of the Early Jurassic East Berlin Formation. I examined
149 footprints of bipedal dinosaurs on three excavated slabs
from the Murray Quarry and the in situ track bed. The three slabs
I examined are on display at Forest Park, Springfield, MA; the
Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke, MA; and Mount Holyoke College
in South Hadley, MA. The footprints belong to three ichnogenera,
Eubrontes, Anchisauripus, and Grallator; however, evidence
such as length parameters suggests that these ichnogenera might
be synonymous. Most of the footprints are referable to Eubrontes
and Anchisauripus, which are large- and medium-sized ichnotaxa,
respectively. Only two footprints are referable to Grallator, a small
ichnotaxon. These ichnotaxa are thought to have been made by
theropods, suggesting that there is a preservation bias in favor of
carnivores, or that theropods dominated the fauna. The variable
morphology of the footprints suggests that they were made over a
period of time during which the substrate desiccated. Major results
included a high percentage of trotting dinosaurs based on trackway
evidence, 43% of the total number of trackways. Additionally,
two trackways show evidence for running. There are no preferred
trackway orientations.

In 1978, James Kitching discovered two dinosaur embryos in a road-cut talus at Roodraai (Red Bend) in Golden Gate Highlands National Park, South Africa. Kitching assigned the fossilized embryos to the species of long necked herbivores Massospondylus carinatus (longer vertebra) from the Early Jurassic period, between 200 and 183 million years ago. The embryos were partially visible but surrounded by eggshell and rock, called matrix. Kitching said that the eggs were too delicate to remove from the matrix without damage. Twenty-seven years later in 2005, Diane Scott, a member of a team led by Robert Reisz from the University of Toronto in Toronto, Canada, uncovered the two almost complete, well-articulated embryos. Scientists have inferred information from the embryos about Massospondylus dinosaurs' growth, development, and behaviors including parental care, gait, and locomotion.

The materials belonging to the holotype of Rayososaurus agrioensis Bonaparte 1996 are redescribed. The great development of the acromion process, directed in a markedly posterior direction, and the ventral margin of the scapula with a strong ventrodistal expansion, interpreted as autapomorphies of the taxon, justify the validity of the species. Although the material is rather fragmentary, the racquet-shaped scapula, the distal expansion positioned at the same height as the proximal expansion, and the well-developed acromion process allow the taxon to be included within Rebbachisauridae. At the same time, the angle of less than 90º between the glenoid articulation and the scapular blade, together with the great development of the acromion process of the scapula, justify its inclusion in a clade situated as a sister group of Cathartesaura. On the basis of the stratigraphic calibration of the phylogenetic analysis, an important diversification event of the rebbachisaurids is deduced during the Hauterivian-Barremian. In this context, the presence of two monophyletic groups, one of which comprises African-European taxa and the other South American taxa, would place the definitive separation of South America and Africa within this range of ages.

We describe a giant titanosaurid sauropod dinosaur discovered in coastal deposits in the Upper Cretaceous Bahariya Formation of Egypt, a unit that has produced three
Tyrannosaurus-sized theropods and numerous other vertebrate taxa. Paralititan stromeri is the first tetrapod reported from Bahariya since 1935. Its 1.69-meter-long humerus is longer than that of any known Cretaceous sauropod. The autochthonous scavenged skeleton was preserved in mangrove deposits, raising the possibility that titanosaurids and their predators habitually entered such environments.

We present an annotated and illustrated catalogue of all original fossils, casts, and sculpted replicas of pterosaur specimens from the Upper Jurassic Solnhofen limestones of southern Germany that are housed at Carnegie Museum of Natural History (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.). The museum obtained its substantial Solnhofen pterosaur fossil collection—almost certainly the largest currently held outside of Europe—as part of its purchase of the vast private collection of the Belgian Baron Ernest de Bayet in 1903. Original fossils include six partial to nearly complete skeletons and a beautifully preserved skull of the rhamphorhynchine Rhamphorhynchus muensteri (Goldfuss, 1831), two skeletons of the ctenochasmatid pterodactyloid Aurorazhdarcho micronyx (von Meyer, 1856), and one large pterodactyloid partial appendicular skeleton of indeterminate affinity. Three of the fossils preserve significant soft tissues, and one of these is also among the very few specimens of Rhamphorhynchus von Meyer, 1847 known to include probable gut contents (in this case, fragmentary fish remains). Two other Rhamphorhynchus fossils have been prepared nearly free of sediment in three dimensions. Despite the significance of the Carnegie Museum’s Solnhofen pterosaur collection, it has, in general, been underutilized by the paleontological community. The primary purpose of this catalogue is therefore to increase awareness, and ideally study, of this scientifically and historically important collection of Late Jurassic flying reptiles.

Non-avian dinosaurs went extinct 66 million years ago, geologically coincident with the impact of a large bolide (comet or asteroid) during an interval of massive volcanic eruptions and changes in temperature and sea level. There has long been fervent debate about how these events affected dinosaurs. We review a wealth of new data accumulated over the past two decades, provide updated and novel analyses of long-term dinosaur diversity trends during the latest Cretaceous, and discuss an emerging consensus on the extinction's tempo and causes. Little support exists for a global, long-term decline across non-avian dinosaur diversity prior to their extinction at the end of the Cretaceous. However, restructuring of latest Cretaceous dinosaur faunas in North America led to reduced diversity of large-bodied herbivores, perhaps making communities more susceptible to cascading extinctions. The abruptness of the dinosaur extinction suggests a key role for the bolide impact, although the coarseness of the fossil record makes testing the effects of Deccan volcanism difficult.

Le thème des dinosaures, très attractif chez les jeunes enfants, est particulièrement intéressant à exploiter dès l'école maternelle. Ce projet interdisciplinaire, déjà expérimenté en classe de maternelle, s’appuie essentiellement sur le langage, la recherche documentaire, l’observation et la déduction.

2013.41 These maps (rectilinear projection) are from the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2013a-f).  This is a digital atlas of plate tectonic, paleogeographic, and paleoclimatic reconstructions designed for use with the GIS software, ArcMap (ESRI).  Table 1 lists the various types of maps that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The maps included in this folio are highlighted in bold text (Table 1).
The last map in each folio is a rectilinear graticule that can be overlain on the maps to provide a geographic reference frame.  A rectilinear projection was used because it can be easily georeferenced in ArcMap and transformed into a variety of other map projections.  The rectilinear, or plate caree map projection can also be directly “wrapped” onto a spherical projection, like the oneused by Google Earth. A set of Google Earth paleoglobes has made from the maps in this folio. These Google Earth paleoglobes can be downloaded at: www.globalgeology.com.

For many astronomers, the progressive development of life has been seen as a natural occurrence given proper environmental conditions on a planet: even though such beings would not be identical to humans, there would be significant parallels. A striking contrast is seen in writings of nonphysical scientists, who have held more widely differing views. But within this diversity, reasons for differences become more apparent when we see how views about extraterrestrials can be related to the differential emphasis placed on modern evolutionary theory by scientists of various disciplines. One clue to understanding the differences between the biologists, paleontologists, and anthropologists who speculated on extraterrestrials is suggested by noting who wrote on the subject. Given the relatively small number of commentators on the topic, it seems more than coincidental that four of the major contributors to the evolutionary synthesis in the 1930s and 1940s are among them. Upon closer examination it is evident that the exobiological arguments of Theodosius Dobzhansky and George Gaylord Simpson and, less directly, of H. J. Muller and Ernst Mayr are all related to their earlier work in formulating synthetic evolution. By examining the variety of views held by nonphysical scientists, we can see that there were significant disagreements between them about evolution into the 1960s. By the mid-1980s, many believed that “higher” life, particularly intelligent life, probably occurs quite infrequently in the universe; nevertheless, some held out the possibility that convergence of intelligence could occur across worlds. Regardless of the final conclusions these scientists reached about the likely prevalence of extraterrestrial intelligence, the use of evolutionary arguments to support their positions became increasingly common.

The holotype of Phuwiangosaurus sirindhornae MARTIN,  BUFFETAUT and SUTEETHORN 1994, a 10 % complete sauropod skeleton, was excavated in the early 1980s by a Thai-French
expedition. In 1993, the site was re-opened and yielded two additional vertebrae: one posterior dorsal and one proximal caudal vertebra. On the basis of the size and shape of the vertebrae and the absence of identical bones from the type locality, we conclude that these vertebrae belong to the same individual as the holotype of P. sirindhornae and consider them as topotypes. A phylogenetic analysis, which for the first time includes recently described cranial and postcranial material, indicates that Phuwiangosaurus is a basal member of Titanosauriformes.

The article presents a discussion that seeks to justify the presence of wild birds in the city of Pereira -emphatically birds of prey, migratory birds, or birds under some degree of threatseeking to broaden the discussion of results presented in the previous article “Revision to Ornithological Diversity in Pereira.” Fourteen (14) species of birds of prey (this is to say belonging to the families Cathartidae, Pandionidae, Accipitridae and Falconidae) which owe their presence to the fact that they do not depend on forests and can survive in urban areas; twentysix (26) migratory species which, except for three species
considered rare, all are common or fairly common and most
frequent in open areas; seven (7) species under some degree of
threat (threat mainly due to habitat destruction) considered as
rare and local; and four (4) endemic species of which only one is
considered rare; all others are common and within the city they
find the different types of habitat they require. It is discussed
and concluded that in general the species dealt with belong to
open areas and do not depend on forests, are tolerant to
intervened ecosystems and/or have some niche plasticity with
their habitat needs and are able to find their ecological
requirements in urban areas. Also that the habitat heterogeneity and the varied vegetation structure in urban areas contribute to
the richness of species.

The Khok Kruat Formation, which is part of the non-marine Mesozoic Khorat Group of northeastern Thailand, is referred to the Aptian on biostratigraphical evidence. It has yielded an abundant and diverse dinosaur assemblage, comprising saurischians and ornithischians. Isolated theropod teeth indicate several forms of different sizes, including a Siamosaurus-like animal. A recently discovered partial theropod skeleton clearly belongs to a spinosaurid. Sauropods are represented by a form with peg-shaped teeth reminiscent of Phuwiangosaurus; no spoon-shaped teeth have so far been found. Ceratopsians are represented by a well-defined species of Psittacosaurus, P.sattayaraki. Ornithopods are abundant, with an advanced iguanodontian reminiscent of Probactrosaurus. Theropod and ornithopod footprints have also been found. The dinosaur assemblage from the Khok Kruat Formation is clearly different from that from the slightly older Sao Khua Formation, which is dominated by sauropods and in which no ornithischians have so far been found. Comparative studies on the dinosaur assemblages from Thailand may lead to a better understanding of the palaeobiogeographical events linked with faunal change during the Early Cretaceous in South-East Asia.

Although skeletal remains of the iconic oldest known avialian Archaeopteryx have been known for almost 150 years, several aspects of the cranial anatomy of this taxon have remained enigmatic, mainly because of the strongly flattened and often fractured and incomplete nature of available skull materials. New investigation of the skulls of the recently described, excellently preserved tenth (Thermopolis) and the seventh (Munich) specimens revealed several previously unrecognized characters and helps to resolve some problematic issues. Thus, the nasal of Archaeopteryx shows a lateral notch for the lacrimal, as is found in many other saurischian dinosaurs, the maxilla clearly participates in the margin of the external nares, and there seems to be a pneumatic foramen in the lacrimal, comparable to the lacrimal fenestra found in many nonavian theropods. In the braincase, Archaeopteryx shows pneumatic features reminiscent of non-avian theropods, including a ventral basisphenoid recess and an anterior tympanic recess that is laterally incised into the basisphenoid/prootic. Most importantly, however, the postorbital process of the jugal shows a facet for the suture with the postorbital, thus resolving the question of whether Archaeopteryx had a closed postorbital bar. A new reconstruction of the skull of Archaeopteryx is presented, making the skull of this taxon even more theropod-like than previously recognized. Furthermore, the closed postorbital bar and the configuration of the bones of the skull roof cast serious doubt on claims that an avian-style cranial kinesis was present in this taxon.

Tyrannosauridae can be subdivided into two distinct subfamilies-the Albertosaurinae and the Tyrannosaurinae. Previ− ously recognized subdivisions Aublysodontinae and Shanshanosaurinae are rejected because they are based on insuffi− cient material and juvenile specimens. Our results are based upon a phylogenetic analysis using PAUP program (Swofford 1999) of 77 skull characters and seven genera (Albertosaurus, Alioramus, Daspletosaurus, Gorgosaurus, Nanotyrannus, Tarbosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus); with Allosaurus as outgroup. Of the 77 characters used, more than half were parsimony informative. A single most parsimonious tree was obtained with the Tree Length being 88. The analysis of cranial characters and comparison of postcranial features reveal that Tarbosaurus bataar is not the sister taxon of Tyrannosaurus rex (contra Holtz 2001). Their similarities are partially due to the fact that both are extremely large ani− mals. Thus, Tarbosaurus should be considered a genus distinct from Tyrannosaurus.

Desde Escitia a la Península Ibérica, de la Edad de Bronce -si no antes- a los primeros siglos de nuestra Era, diversos seres antropomorfos, humanos o mitológicos, han sido representados luchando contra el grifo -id est, la grifomaquia- a lo largo de milenios y kilómetros con distintos significados, muchos de los cuales aún suponen una incógnita para la arqueología...

At once reptilian and avian, dinosaurs enable us to imagine a world far beyond the usual boundaries of time, culture and physiology. We have envisioned them in diverse and contradictory ways, reflecting, in part, our changing conceptions of ourselves. Their discovery, around the start of the nineteenth century, was intimately tied to our awareness of geological time; their vast size and power called to mind railroads, battleships and factories, making dinosaurs, paradoxically, emblems of modernity. At the same time, their world was nature at its most pristine, and they simultaneously symbolized childhood innocence and wonder. Dinosaurs provided a sort of code that has enabled people to speak indirectly about the possibility of our own extinction. Not unlike humans today, dinosaurs seem both powerful – almost godly – and helpless in the face of cosmic forces even mightier than themselves.

Dinomania tells the story of our romance with the titanic saurians, from early stories that were inspired by their bones to the dinosaur theme parks of today. It concludes that, in our imaginations, dinosaurs are, and always have been, essentially dragons, and their contemporary representation is once again blending with the myth and legend from which it emerged at the start of the modern period.

Background
The horns and frill of Triceratops and other ceratopsids (horned dinosaurs) are interpreted variously as display structures or as weapons against conspecifics and predators. Lesions (in the form of periosteal reactive bone, healing fractures, and alleged punctures) on Triceratops skulls have been used as anecdotal support of intraspecific combat similar to that in modern horned and antlered animals. If ceratopsids with different cranial morphologies used their horns in such combat, this should be reflected in the rates of lesion occurrence across the skull.

Methodology/Principal Findings
We used a G-test of independence to compare incidence rates of lesions in Triceratops (which possesses two large brow horns and a smaller nasal horn) and the related ceratopsid Centrosaurus (with a large nasal horn and small brow horns), for the nasal, jugal, squamosal, and parietal bones of the skull. The two taxa differ significantly in the occurrence of lesions on the squamosal bone of the frill (P = 0.002), but not in other cranial bones (P>0.20).

Conclusions/Significance
This pattern is consistent with Triceratops using its horns in combat and the frill being adapted as a protective structure for this taxon. Lower pathology rates in Centrosaurus may indicate visual rather than physical use of cranial ornamentation in this genus, or a form of combat focused on the body rather than the head.

2014.11 This Atlas of Jurassic Paleogeographic Maps shows the changing paleogeography from the Hettangian (198 Ma) to the Jurassic/Cretaceoous Boundary (145.5 Ma).  The maps are from volume 3 of the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2014). Absolute age assignments are from Gradstein, Ogg & Smith (2008). 

The following maps are included in the Atlas of Jurassic Paleogeographic Maps:

Map 32  Jurassic/Cretaceous Boundary (145.5 Ma) Berriasian Supersequence Boundary
Map 33  Late Jurassic (Tithonian, 148.2 Ma) Highstand Systems Track 
Map 34  Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian, 153.2) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 35  Late Jurassic (Oxfordian, 158.4) Transgressive Systems Track
Map 36  Middle Jurassic (Callovian, 164.5 Ma) Transgressive Systems Tract
Map 37  Middle Jurassic (Bajocian & Bathonian, 169.7 Ma) Kimmeridgian-Oxfordian Supersequence Boundary & Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 38  Middle Jurassic (Aalenian, 173.2 Ma) Bathonian-Bajocian Supersequence Boundary
Map 39  Early Jurassic (Toarcian, 179.3 Ma) Toarcian Supersequence Boundary and Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 40  Early Jurassic (Pliensbachian, 186.3 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 41  Early Jurassic (Sinemurian, 193 Ma) Transgressive Systems Track
Map 42  Early Jurassic (Hettangian, 198 Ma) Pliensbachian Supersequence Boundary


This work should be cited as
Scotese,  C.R., 2014.  Atlas of Jurassic Paleogeographic Maps, PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS, volume 3, The Jurassic and Triassic, Maps 32-42, Mollweide Projection, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.

La sofisticación del consumo de productos y servicios en la globalización ha ocasionado que muchas empresas contraten a otras para que les proporcionen servicios calificados de informática, telemarketing, administración y diseño gráfico que incorporarán a su producto final; los trabajadores no son contratados directamente por la empresa beneficiada, sino por otras a quienes se le subroga un contrato mercantil. Estos trabajadores pueden ubicarse en las instalaciones de la empresa contratante, en el domicilio de la empresa contratada o en ambas. Hay servicios que al no ser el objetivo principal de la empresa contratante, se subrogan a un tercero: limpieza, jardinería, transporte y vigilancia. También hay trabajadores que no dependen laboralmente de la empresa que los emplea, aunque sea ésta quien determine sus funciones y obligaciones; al no tener relación contractual directa con este tipo de trabajadores, la empresa beneficiada no les retribuye la actividad desempeñada, lo hace la empresa que los contrató a través de honorarios, comisiones o propinas. Uno de cada cinco trabajadores ocupados en México corresponde a trabajadores subcontratados como los descritos anteriormente, que por lo general son los más desprotegidos por la legislación laboral: casi la mitad de ellos carece de seguridad social y 15 por ciento no tienen contrato laboral escrito (José de Jesús González Rodríguez. (2019). La subcontratación laboral en el marco de la nueva legislación del trabajo. www.diputados.gob.mx/cesop). En este tipo de trabajadores prevalece la inestabilidad laboral, hay ausencia de representación sindical y no se cubren las prestaciones mínimas consignadas en la ley Federal de Trabajo: jornada de 48 horas semanales, aguinaldos, vacaciones, vivienda, reparto de utilidades, antigüedad laboral y acceso al sistema de salud. La subcontratación también obedece a la reducción de costos salariales, a la evasión de cuotas patronales por concepto de seguridad social y a eludir pagos fiscales: el senador Napoleón Gómez Urrutia estima que la subcontratación laboral genera un desfalco anual al erario equivalente al 2 por ciento del Producto Interno Bruto (500 mil millones de pesos) al no cubrir los empleadores sus cuotas de seguridad social y pago de impuestos (La Jornada. 9/12/19, página 24). Uno de los trabajos subcontratados es el de vigilancia, los polis realizan jornadas de 24 horas activos por 24 de descanso (o su variante 12 por 12); cada semana laboran 84 horas y la paga es de 14 pesos por hora; no hay horas extras, vacaciones, reparto de utilidad, seguridad social, capacitación, seguro de vida, aguinaldo; frecuentemente los cambian de adscripción, son penalizados por sus ausencias y su turno se duplica si así lo desea la empresa contratada. No tienen contrato escrito ni representación gremial; la empresa para quien laboran cambia frecuentemente de razón social para eludir sus compromisos laborales y fiscales y la empresa beneficiada por ese servicio niega su solidaridad laboral. Ante estas irregularidades, el grupo parlamentario de Morena en el Senado promovió una iniciativa para tutelar los derechos laborales de los trabajadores subcontratados. La propuesta de regular el trabajo subcontratado descrita fue aprobada por unanimidad en las comisiones del Senado (Trabajo y Previsión Social y Estudios Legislativos), pero por decesión del coordinador de Morena, Ricardo Monreal, se postergó su presentación al pleno. Los puntos centrales de la dicha propuesta son: acotar la subcontratación a especializaciones ajenas o accesorias a la actividad preponderante de la empresa; garantizar los derechos laborales y de seguridad social de los trabajadores y prohibir y sancionar actos simulados. La discusión y aprobación de esas reformas son necesarias para acotar los abusos laborales y el impago de cuotas de seguridad y obligaciones fiscales. es un suplemento mensual auspiciado por La Jornada de Oriente DIRECTORA GENERAL Carmen Lira Saade DIRECTOR

Fossils of vertebrates have been found in great abundance in the continental and marine early Late Cretaceous sediments of Southeastern Morocco for more than 50 years. About 80 vertebrate taxa have so far been recorded from this region, many of which were recognised and diagnosed for the first time based on specimens recovered from these sediments. In this paper, we use published data together with new field
data to present an updated overview of Moroccan early Late Cretaceous vertebrate assemblages. The Cretaceous series we have studied encompasses three Formations, the Ifezouane and Aoufous Formations, which are continental and deltaic in origin and are often grouped under the name ‘‘Kem Kem beds”, and the Akrabou Formation which is marine in origin. New field observations allow us to place four recognised vertebrate clusters, corresponding to one compound assemblage and three assemblages, within a general temporal framework. In particular, two ammonite bioevents characterise the lower part of the Upper Cenomanian (Calycoceras guerangeri Zone) at the base of the Akrabou Formation and the upper part of the Lower Turonian (Mammites nodosoides Zone), that may extend into the Middle Turonian within the Akrabou Formation, and allow for more accurate dating of the marine sequence in the study area. We are not yet able to distinguish a specific assemblage that characterises the Ifezouane Formation when compared to the similar Aoufous Formation, and as a result we regard the oldest of the four vertebrate ‘‘assemblages” in this region to be the compound assemblage of the ‘‘Kem Kem beds”. This
well-known vertebrate assemblage comprises a mixture of terrestrial (and aerial), freshwater and brackish vertebrates. The archosaur component of this fauna appears to show an intriguingly high proportion of large-bodied carnivorous taxa, which may indicate a peculiar trophic chain, although collecting biases alter this palaeontological signal. A small and restricted assemblage, the OT1 assemblage, possibly corresponds to a specific, localised ecosystem within the Kem Kem beds compound assemblage. Microfossils and facies from the Aoufous Formation, corresponding to the top of the compound assemblage, provide evidence of extremely abiotic conditions (hypersalinity), and thus of great environmental instability. At the base of the Akrabou Formation the first ammonite bioevent, Neolobites, corresponds to the onset of
the marine transgression in the early Late Cenomanian while the Agoult assemblage (Late Cenomanian?) contains a variety of small fish species that have Central Tethyan affinities. Finally, the youngest Mammites bioevent in the late Early Turonian corresponds to a deepening of the marine environment: this sequence is isochronous with the Goulmima assemblage, a diverse collection of fish and other marine
taxa, and shows affinities with taxa from the South Atlantic, the Central Tethys and the Western Interior seaway of North America, and further highlights the biogeographical importance of these North African Late Cretaceous assemblages.