Biogeographical network analysis of Cretaceous Australian dinosaurs

The biogeography of Cretaceous Australian dinosaur fauna has been characterized variously as endemic, cosmopolitan or closely related to other Gondwanan faunas. Over the past decade, a large number of new Australian dinosaur taxa have been described and included in phylogenetic analyses, allowing for new insights into their biogeographical affinities to be obtained. Here, I combine the latest phylogenies of Australian dinosaurs into a supertree that includes as many Australian taxa as possible and apply it to the construction of biogeographical networks of Cretaceous dinosaurs. The results show that the Cretaceous dinosaurs of Australia have a strong connection with South American dinosaurs and to those of other Gondwanan continents via South America. Community detection algorithms indicate that the Gondwanan continents form a community within Cretaceous dinosaur biogeographical networks. The biogeographical affinities between Australia and Laurasia detected in previous studies were largely due to the scarce dinosaur fossil record of Gondwana at that time and to the unstable phylogenetic position of Australian dinosaurs because of the fragmentary nature of their fossils. Continuing discoveries of new Australian taxa and refinement of resulting phylogenetic analyses can further deepen our understanding of the biogeographical history of Australia.     

First occurrence of a tyrannosaurid dinosaur from the Mesaverde Group (Neslen Formation) of Utah: Implications for upper Campanian Laramidian biogeography

Although upper Campanian dinosaur assemblages are well-known from Alberta, Montana, southern Utah, and New Mexico, specimens from Wyoming and central and eastern Utah are very rare. This area constitutes a biogeographic break between northern and southern biogeographic provinces, so any specimens from this region are critical to understanding the origin, evolution, and limits of upper Campanian biogeographic zones on the west margin of the Western Interior Seaway. We report the discovery of a theropod dinosaur partial hindlimb from the Book Cliffs area northeast of Green River, Utah. The specimen was recovered from the Palisade coal zone in the Neslen Formation (Mesaverde Group), which is dated to the mid-Campanian based on ammonite biostratigraphy and radioisotopic age constraints. The specimen, comprising a partial fibula, the distal half of metatarsal II, a complete metatarsal IV, and a partial metatarsal V, can be assigned to Tyrannosauridae based on a number of synapomorphies, including a bipartite iliofibularis tubercle on the fibula and a teardrop shaped articular surface for metatarsal III on the medial surface of the distal portion of metatarsal IV. This is the first unambiguous tyrannosaurid dinosaur reported from the Mesaverde Group and represents an important biogeographic record situated between northern and southern upper Campanian vertebrate assemblages. Specifically, we identify morphological evidence on the pes that separates northern (Montana and Alberta) and southern (southern Utah and New Mexico) tyrannosaurid dinosaurs, and suggests that the Book Cliffs specimen belongs to the northern group. This implies that either the biogeographic boundary between the northern and southern Campanian assemblages lies somewhere between central and southern Utah or that the Book Cliffs taxon represents a northern emigrant in the southern assemblage.     

A large-clawed theropod (Dinosauria: Tetanurae) from the Lower Cretaceous of Australia and the Gondwanan origin of megaraptorid theropods

Megaraptoridae comprises a clade of enigmatic Gondwanan theropods with characteristic hypertrophied claws on the first and second manual digits. The majority of megaraptorids are known from South America, although a single genus (Australovenator) plus additional indeterminate material is also known from Australia. This clade has a controversial placement among theropods, and recently has been interpreted alternatively as a carcharodontosaurian or a tyrannosauroid lineage. We describe new fragmentary but associated postcranial remains from the opal fields of Lightning Ridge (middle-Albian, Griman Creek Formation) in north-central New South Wales. The new unnamed taxon exhibits a number of unusual features that suggest the presence of a hitherto unrecognised Australian megaraptorid. From an Australian perspective, the Lightning Ridge taxon predates Australovenator by ca. 10 Ma and is minimally coeval with megaraptoran material reported from the Eumeralla Formation of Victoria (but potentially 6.1–9.5 Ma younger). It is also notable as the largest predatory dinosaur yet identified from Australia and is only the second theropod known from more than a single element. A Bayesian phylogenetic approach integrating morphological, stratigraphic and palaeogeographic information tested both the carcharodontosaurian and tyrannosauroid placements for Megaraptora. Regardless of the preferred placement among Tetanurae, rigorous palaeobiogeographic analyses support an Asian origin of Megaraptora in the latest Jurassic (about 150–135 Ma), an Early Cretaceous (about 130–121 Ma) divergence of the Gondwanan lineage leading to Megaraptoridae, and an Australian root for megaraptorid radiation. These results indicate that Australia's Cretaceous dinosaur fauna did not comprise simply of immigrant taxa but was a source for complex two-way interchange between Australia–Antarctica–South America leading to the evolution of at least one group of apex predatory dinosaurs in Gondwana.     

An abelisaurid from the latest Cretaceous (late Maastrichtian) of Morocco,North Africa

During the latest Cretaceous, distinct dinosaur faunas were found in Laurasia and Gondwana. Tyrannosaurids, hadrosaurids, and ceratopsians dominated in North America and Asia, while abelisaurids and titanosaurians dominated in South America, India, and Madagascar. Little is known about dinosaur faunas from the latest Cretaceous of Africa, however. Here, a new abelisaurid theropod, Chenanisaurus barbaricus, is described from the upper Maastrichtian phosphates of the Ouled Abdoun Basin in Morocco, North Africa on the basis of a partial dentary and isolated teeth. Chenanisaurus is both one of the largest abelisaurids, and one of the youngest known African dinosaurs. Along with previously reported titanosaurian remains, Chenanisaurus documents the persistence of a classic Gondwanan abelisaurid-titanosaurian fauna in mainland Africa until just prior to the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. The animal is unusual both in terms of its large size and the unusually short and robust jaw. Although it resembles South American carnotaurines in having a deep, bowed mandible, phylogenetic analysis suggests that Chenanisaurus may represent a lineage of abelisaurids that is distinct from those previously described from the latest Cretaceous of South America, Indo-Madagascar, and Europe, consistent with the hypothesis that the fragmentation of Gondwana led to the evolution of endemic dinosaur faunas during the Late Cretaceous.     

中国奥陶纪三叶虫生物地理

三叶虫证据表明,除北疆区的阿尔泰地体和兴安区的额尔古纳-兴安地体与西伯利亚和劳伦陆块在动物群方面紧密关联外,中国奥陶纪的所有板块和大部分地体均系当时东泛冈瓦纳的重要组成部分,在生物地理上彼此密切相关。对这些属于东泛冈瓦纳的中国区块的台地或内陆棚三叶虫动物群的综合分析研究证明,它们在特马豆克期（Tremadocian）以及凯迪晚期-赫南特期（late Katian-Hirnantian）或阿石极期（Ashgill）应归属同一生物地理区,而在弗洛期-凯迪早期（Floian-early Katian）或阿仑尼克期-卡拉多克期（Arenig-Caradoc）则可划分为两个生物地理亚区：一个由华南、塔里木板块和安南或印支地体组成,另一个包括华北板块以及滇缅马、藏南、中天山-北山地体（可能还有海南地体）。饶有趣味的是在凯迪晚期或阿石极期开始发生的生物地理亚区解体之前,有关陆块的深水相三叶虫动物群已经历了从达瑞威尔中期（mid Darriwilian）至凯迪早期的长期频繁交流以及组成逐渐趋于齐一的过程。因此深水动物群之间的属种交流和一体化进程的发生、发展和完成显然均先于浅水一侧的三叶虫。     

The diversification of eastern South American open vegetation biomes: Historical biogeography and perspectives

The eastern-central South American open vegetation biomes occur across an extensive range of environmental conditions and are organized diagonally including three complexly interacting tropical/sub-tropical biomes. Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests (SDTFs), Cerrado, and Chaco biomes are seasonally stressed by drought, characterized by significant plant and animal endemism, high levels of diversity, and highly endangered. However, these open biomes have been overlooked in biogeographic studies and conservation projects in South America, especially regarding fauna studies. Here I compile and evaluate the biogeographic hypotheses previously proposed for the diversification of these three major open biomes, specifically their distributions located eastern and southern of Andes. My goal is to generate predictions and provide a background for testable hypotheses. I begin by investigating both continental (inter-biome) and regional (within-biome) levels, and I then provide a biogeographical summary for these regions. I also suggest how novel molecular-based historical biogeographic/phylogeographic approaches could contribute to the resolution of long-standing questions, identify potential target fauna groups for development of these lines of study, and describe fertile future research agendas.     

Theropod remains from the uppermost Cretaceous of Colombia and their implications for the palaeozoogeography of western Gondwana

Dinosaur remains from Upper Cretaceous outcrops of northern Gondwana are extremely rare, in contrast with the much richer sample of coeval beds from southern Gondwana. Dinosaur remains from the uppermost Cretaceous Ortega locality of the Upper Magdalena Basin (Maastrichtian) of the Department of Tolima, Colombia, provides new information on northern Gondwanan faunas of this time. A revision of dinosaur material from this outcrop, consisting of three theropod shed teeth, reveals the presence of two morphotypes. One of them is referred to Abelisauridae based on the presence of crowns with mesial margin with a strong curvature beginning at about the second-third of the crown height and straight to slightly concave distal margin. The second morphotype exhibits un-serrated mesial and distal margins without carinae and no constriction at the base of the crown, a combination of features only observed in unenlagiine dromaeosaurids within Theropoda. Members of these clades are also present in coeval beds of southern and central South America, Madagascar, northern Africa, and India, indicating a cosmopolitan distribution in western and central Gondwana during the Late Cretaceous. Regarding South America, abelisaurid and probably dromaeosaurid theropods are recorded across a large latitudinal area, from the Palaeo-Equator to considerably high palaeo-latitudes in Patagonia, and probably spanning quite different environmental conditions.     

恐龙相关数据库的发展现状与数据驱动下的研究实例剖析

恐龙是知名度最高的古生物类群之一,在中生代处于陆地优势生态位,这对研究地球生命演化具有重要意义。近年来,随着恐龙学数据的激增以及统计分析手段的进步,全球涌现出多种类型的恐龙相关数据库。文章对这些数据库进行了调研和分析,并将其分成纯科普型、特定目标型和全面型三种类型。但严格来说,它们都不是真正意义上的系统、全面的恐龙学数据库,分别存在着数据涵盖不全、结构体系不合理、缺乏长期可持续性等缺点。因此,在深时数字地球(Deeptime Digital Earth,简称DDE)大科学计划的助力下,搭建起兼具科学性与科普性的恐龙学数据库,不仅能够促进深时地球生命演化的研究,还能提升大众对DDE的了解。     

Comparative phylogeography of African rain forest trees: A review of genetic signatures of vegetation history in the Guineo-Congolian region

The biogeographic history of the African rain forests has been contentious. Phylogeography, the study of the geographic distribution of genetic lineages within species, can highlight the signatures of historical events affecting the demography and distribution of species (i.e. population fragmentation or size changes, range expansion/contraction) and, thereby, the ecosystems they belong to. The accumulation of recent data for African rain forests now enables a first biogeographic synthesis for the region. In this review, we explain which phylogeographic patterns are expected under different scenarios of past demographic change, and we give an overview of the patterns detected in African rain forest trees to discuss whether they support alternative hypotheses regarding the history of the African rain forest cover. The major genetic discontinuities in the region support the role of refugia during climatic oscillations, though not necessarily following the classically proposed scenarios. We identify in particular a genetic split between the North and the South of the Lower Guinean region. Finally we provide some perspectives for future study.     

Petreşti-Arini – An important but ephemeral Upper Cretaceous continental vertebrate site in the southwestern Transylvanian Basin,Romania

The Transylvanian region of Romania preserves some of the most unusual and iconic dinosaurs in the global fossil record, including dwarfed herbivores and aberrant carnivores that lived during the very latest Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) in an ancient island ecosystem (the Haţeg Island). A series of artificial outcrops recently exposed during a hydroelectric project, the Petreşti-Arini section near Sebeş in the Transylvanian Basin, records a 400+ meter sequence documenting the transition from fully marine to terrestrial environments during the Campanian–Maastrichtian. Calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy indicates that the lower marine beds in this section, part of the uppermost Bozeş Formation, can be assigned to the CC22 biozone, corresponding to the lower–mid upper Campanian. These beds smoothly transition, via a brackish-water unit, into the fully continental Maastrichtian Sebeş Formation. Dinosaur and pterosaur fossils from the uppermost Bozeş Formation can be assigned a late Campanian age making them the oldest well-dated terrestrial fossils from the Haţeg Island, and indicating that the classic Haţeg dinosaur fauna was becoming established by this time, coincident with the first emergence of widespread land areas. Vertebrate fossils occur throughout the overlying Sebeş Formation at the site and are dominated by the small-bodied herbivorous dinosaur Zalmoxes. The dominance of Zalmoxes, and the absence of many taxa commonly seen elsewhere in Maastrichtian sites in Romania, suggests the possibility that either the Petreşti-Arini section preserves a somewhat unusual near-shore environment, or the earliest Haţeg Island dinosaur communities were structured differently from the more diverse communities later in the Maastrichtian. Alternatively, due to the limited sample size available from the studied succession, it is also conceivable that sampling biases give an incomplete portrayal of the Petreşti-Arini local fauna. Support for any one of these alternative hypotheses requires further data from Petreşti-Arini as well as from the larger Transylvania area.     

四川美姑发现侏罗纪恐龙足迹化石

2016年8月,在位于西昌盆地边缘的四川美姑县中侏罗统沙溪庙组底部薄层粉砂岩之上,发现有恐龙足迹化石。恐龙足迹共3个,均与跷脚龙足迹相似。该发现对于古气候、古地理和地层对比都具有重要的意义,足迹详细分类有待进一步研究。     

山东诸城晚白垩世恐龙动物群研究进展

自从20世纪60年代初在山东诸城发现第一具恐龙骨架“巨型山东龙”以来,一系列具有代表性的恐龙骨骼化石在诸城白垩纪地层中被发现,特别是埋藏于诸城晚白垩世地层中恐龙骨骼化石群,最为引人注目。目前研究发现了包括鸭嘴龙类、角龙类、暴龙类等在内的多种恐龙类型,为丰富我国东部白垩纪恐龙动物群的研究提供了新的宝贵材料。该文系统总结和归纳了近些年来在诸城晚白垩世地层中发现的恐龙骨骼化石及其所代表的恐龙动物群类型的研究成果,同时又提出了目前依然存在的一些亟待解决的关键问题和研究意义,有助于下一步更好的深入研究诸城晚白垩世恐龙动物群。     

Refined age and geological context of two of Australia’s most important Jurassic vertebrate taxa (Rhoetosaurus brownei and Siderops kehli), Queensland

Australia’s Jurassic vertebrate fossil record remains extremely sparse with only two dinosaur taxa and two temnospondyl amphibians identified to date. Of these, the spectacular and extremely well-preserved giant amphibian, Siderops kehli, and the only known pre-Cretaceous sauropod in Australia, Rhoetosaurus brownei, are perhaps the most important. The age of both specimens, and the stratigraphic context of Rhoetosaurus brownei, are weakly constrained and imprecisely defined, limiting our understanding of their evolutionary relationships within a broader Gondwanan context. To clarify and contextualise the evolutionary relationships and ages of these two iconic Jurassic taxa, we used UPb detrital zircon geochronology to date the sandstone matrix from around the bones of the historic museum specimens. The robust maximum depositional age for Siderops was calculated at 176.6 Ma ± 2 Ma, indicating that it is no older than late Toarcian, which refines existing biostratigraphic estimates. The Rhoetosaurus maximum depositional age was determined to be 162.6 ± 1.1 Ma, no older than early Oxfordian, demonstrating that the fossils are younger than expected, and definitely recovered from the Walloon Coal Measures.     

First boganiine beetle in mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar (Coleoptera: Boganiidae)

Cretoboganium gei gen. et sp. nov., a new amber inclusion of the cucujoid family Boganiidae is described and figured based on a well-preserved adult from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber (Hukawng Valley, northern Myanmar), some 99 million years ago. Based on the presence of a pair of pronotal callosities, Cretoboganium can be firmly placed in the extant subfamily Boganiinae, a small group currently comprising two small austral genera. Our discovery represents the first fossil record for Boganiinae. It also demonstrates another example that an apparently austral group may have its sister group occurred in today’s northern hemisphere. Together with the other fossil boganiid known from the Middle Jurassic of China, the finding suggests that Boganiidae is an ancient and relict group. Moreover, the present biogeographic distribution of Boganiinae is indicative of an earlier origin of this subfamily, which likely originated before the breakup of the Gondwanan supercontinent.     

重庆綦江地质公园地质遗迹特征及其地质意义

綦江地质公园发育木化石、恐龙足迹、恐龙骨骼化石、鱼化石、沉积构造、丹霞地貌等地质遗迹景观,木化石和恐龙足迹为园区的导向型景观。木化石分布在侏罗系中统沙溪庙组(J2s)上部砂岩层中,砂岩层含钙质结核,在约300×200m2的砂岩层内共埋藏有60多根木化石,其中一半木化石为钙化作用形成。恐龙足迹集中分布在白垩系上统夹关组(K2j)砂泥岩层中,岩层发育交错层理、波痕和泥裂。在夹关组的3个层位中共发现329个恐龙足迹,其分别属于甲龙类、鸟脚类和兽脚类。园区地质遗迹分布在一套河湖相沉积层中,其形成于内陆河湖网形成之时(如木化石),并随着四川盆地周围的湖泊系统解体而发展(如恐龙足迹),最终随着河流由堆积作用为主的阶段转变为以侵蚀作用为主的阶段而减弱(如丹霞地貌)。白垩纪上统夹关组的恐龙足迹群形成于干热的环境,多类型的恐龙足迹集中分布反映了白垩纪晚期(夹关期)恐龙种群的丰富,恐龙足迹的发现为区域内寻找白垩系地层的恐龙骨骼化石提供了依据。     

山东诸城盆地下白垩统莱阳群的非鸟恐龙与鸟足迹化石组合

中国山东省诸城盆地张祝河湾村下白垩统杨家庄组发现了非鸟恐龙(蜥脚类和鸟脚类)与古鸟类足迹。该足迹点的非鸟恐龙足迹深受水浸沉积物的影响,发生了强烈变形。蜥脚类足迹的前后足迹面积相近,造迹者行进缓慢。鸟脚类足迹属于禽龙-鸭嘴龙类型的足迹。古鸟类足迹并不类似于中国以往发现的中生代鸟类足迹,而类似于韩国滨水鸟类足迹的金东鸟足迹(Jindongornipes)。讨论了莱阳足迹(Laiyangpus)和拟跷脚龙足迹(Paragrallator,亦译为拟似鹬龙足迹),前者因模式标本遗失而不明确,后者可归入安琪龙足迹未定种(Anchisauripus isp)。这批足迹的发现大大增加了山东省东部恐龙的多样性。     

山东诸城盆地下白垩统莱阳群的非鸟恐龙与鸟足迹化石组合（英文）

中国山东省诸城盆地张祝河湾村下白垩统杨家庄组发现了非鸟恐龙（蜥脚类和鸟脚类）与古鸟类足迹。该足迹点的非鸟恐龙足迹深受水浸沉积物的影响,发生了强烈变形。蜥脚类足迹的前后足迹面积相近,造迹者行进缓慢。鸟脚类足迹属于禽龙-鸭嘴龙类型的足迹。古鸟类足迹并不类似于中国以往发现的中生代鸟类足迹,而类似于韩国滨水鸟类足迹的金东鸟足迹（Jin-dongornipes）。讨论了莱阳足迹（Laiyangpus）和拟跷脚龙足迹（Paragrallator,亦译为拟似鹬龙足迹）,前者因模式标本遗失而不明确,后者可归入安琪龙足迹未定种（Anchisauripus isp）。这批足迹的发现大大增加了山东省东部恐龙的多样性。     

What is underneath the juvenile Ordovician Macquarie Arc (eastern Australia)? A question resolved using Silurian intrusions to sample the lower crust

The Ordovician intra-oceanic Macquarie Arc of eastern Australia collided with the eastern Gondwanan margin at ~440 Ma. However, the deep crustal architecture resulting from this assembly is poorly known. This is addressed here by a zircon U-Pb-Hf study of the post-assembly Silurian Browns Creek Intrusive Complex and Davies Creek Granite dykes that intrude into the arc, and not adjacent Gondwanan sedimentary sequences. Zircon UPb dating integrated with CL imagery indicate two igneous phases at 430–437 Ma and 420–426 Ma and a zircon recrystallisation phase at 395–396 Ma attributed to a late thermal event. The magmatic zircon initial ɛHf values vary from −5.1 to +4.7. This signature indicates the source of these granitic rocks is strongly influenced by typical pre-Silurian Gondwanan material. Granitic rock and zircon compositions demonstrate that at the likely temperature of the Silurian granitic magma, especially the Davies Creek Granite dykes, inherited source zircons were mostly dissolved, explaining the absence of pre-Ordovician xenocrysts within the zircon population. The unradiogenic Hf isotopic signatures preserved in the Silurian magmatic zircons demonstrate the contribution of Gondwanan crustal material to the magma source region. These results support the interpretation of the Macquarie Arc as an intra-Panthalassa ocean allochthon, emplaced and resting over the edge of Gondwanan crystalline basement, possibly including the continent-derived sedimentary rocks of the Adaminaby Group.     

河南西峡晚白垩世恐龙蛋化石壳超高异常Sr的发现及其意义

利用电感耦合等离子体发射光谱仪(ICP-AES),对采自河南西峡晚白垩世的十三枚恐龙蛋化石壳及蛋内充填物和部分围岩进行了测试。发现Sr元素具有明显的超高异常。恐龙蛋化石壳中的Sr的含量分布在1962×10-6～11010×10-6之间,平均5532×10-6,比古代和现代富Sr的腕足类外壳高一到数倍,比地壳丰度值高一个数量级还多。这种超高异常可能与恐龙蛋壳中含有一定数量的文石有关。而由于文石稳定性较差,在石化过程中会逐渐向低镁方解石转化,所以现在已无法再见到蛋壳中的文石,但Sr却保留了下来。反映了中生代时陆生爬行动物的蛋壳与海相生物硬壳一样具有文石和方解石共存的局面。     

应用医疗CT扫描法观察恐龙蛋化石初报

应用医疗ＣＴ扫描法观察恐龙蛋化石，可清晰地分辨出卵形，卵壳，卵蛋白，卵黄及充填的矿物等结构，并可测出各部具体数据，为恐龙蛋化石的研究开辟了一个新的途径。