The First Find of an Ungual Phalanx of a Dromaeosaurid Dinosaur (Dinosauria: Dromaeosauridae) from the Blagoveshchensk Area of Late Cretaceous Dinosaurs (Amur Region,Russia)

Doklady Earth Sciences - An ungual phalanx of a dromaeosaurid dinosaur from near Blagoveshchensk was studied for the first time. The occurrence of dromaeosaurids apart from other taxa of dinosaurs...     

长羽毛恐龙及翼龙研究新发现

在江西赣州地区晚白垩世地层中发现的窃蛋龙类化石——赣州华南龙,属于进步窃蛋龙类,其独特的头部特征为研究窃蛋龙类恐龙的颅面演化、古地理分布及古生态环境提供重要信息;在辽西早白垩世义县组地层中发现的大型、前肢短的驰龙类恐龙——孙氏振元龙,为大型、短前肢类型的驰龙类提供羽毛形态学方面的重要信息,为研究驰龙类的多样性、鸟类羽毛以及飞行起源提供了重要依据;在辽西发现的喙嘴龙类翼龙——朝阳东方颌翼龙,是该地区晚侏罗世地层中发现的第一件翼龙标本,不仅填补了时代上的空白,同时对于印证晚侏罗世喙嘴龙类的辐射演化具有重要作用。这些重要发现对于研究窃蛋龙类的演化、驰龙类羽毛演化及鸟类羽毛起源等热点与难点问题提供了重要的参考依据,尤其在发现华南龙的基础上,命名了赣州恐龙动物群。     

豫西栾川地区晚白垩世秋扒组——新的驰龙类化石(英文)

根据以下特征,建立驰龙类恐龙一新属新种——河南栾川盗龙(Luanchuanraptor henanensisgen.etsp.nov):牙齿后缘每5mm有24个小锯齿;前部背椎椎体具有小的椎体侧孔;后部脉弧的前后突短且为三分支;最后部的尾椎体的椎体前突拉长且包裹与其相邻的前部椎体,两椎体前突之间夹有低的刀片状的神经棘;乌喙骨的内面强烈凹陷;肱骨骨干直,肱骨三角脊几乎占肱骨长度的前部一半。河南栾川盗龙代表除在亚洲戈壁地区及中国东北地区之外发现的第一件驰龙类化石标本。     

豫西栾川地区晚白垩世秋扒组一新的驰龙类化石

根据以下特征，建立驰龙类恐龙一新属新种——河南栾川盗龙（Luanchuanraptor henartens／sgen．et sp．nov）：牙齿后缘每5mm有24个小锯齿；前部背椎椎体具有小的椎体侧孔；后部脉弧的前后突短且为三分支；最后部的尾椎体的椎体前突拉长且包裹与其相邻的前部椎体，两椎体前突之间夹有低的刀片状的神经棘；乌喙骨的内面强烈凹陷；肱骨骨干直，肱骨三角脊几乎占肱骨长度的前部一半。河南栾川盗龙代表除在亚洲戈壁地区及中国东北地区之外发现的第一件驰龙类化石标本。     

A theropod track assemblage including large deinonychosaur tracks from the Lower Cretaceous of Asia

A total of more than 40 tridactyl and didactyl tracks were preserved as natural casts on four fallen blocks of sandstone representing the Lower Cretaceous Jiaguan Formation of Gulin County in southeastern Sichuan Province, China. While several trackways can be distinctly followed, others are isolated imprints only. All have been flattened by overburden pressures. Tridactyl tracks are present with three size-classes being <10 cm, 10–20 cm and >20 cm in length. Morphologically they are similar to the ichnogenus Eubrontes, considering the relatively weak mesaxony. Eight of the tracks on one of the blocks are clearly didactyl and are here interpreted as representing large and medium sized dromaeosaurids. The largest track is about ∼30 cm long and comparable in size to the type of Dromaeopodus (∼28 cm), from the Lower Cretaceous of Shandong Province, which was the largest dromaeosaurid track previously reported. This report adds new data to the growing number of dromaeosaurid tracksites reports from China, and from the Jiaguan Formation, suggesting that this theropod group had a preference for fluvial paleoenvironments.     

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.     

辽西凌源全身长有羽毛奔龙化石的再研究

对辽西凌源发现的全身长有羽毛的奔龙化石 (NGMC91) (Ji等 ,2 0 0 1)进行了再研究。根据头颅和头后骨骼的特征 ,其应归于中国鸟龙属 (SinornithosaurusXuetal.,1999)。由于研究的材料是一块处于非成年期的标本 ,虽然其有些特征明显与千禧中国鸟龙有别 ,但仍难以确定这些差异是否受个体发育的影响。因此 ,文中仍将其作为未定种 ,置于中国鸟龙属中。此外 ,文章还简要讨论了羽毛的发生和早期演化 ,认为羽毛出现的初始功能就是为了保持体温 ,与后期的飞行功能无关     

The First Mesozoic Heterodactyl Bird from China

1 Introduction Enantiornithines were the dominant birds nearly worldwide throughout the entire span of the Cretaceous (Chiappe, 1995; Feduccia, 1996). The adaptive radiation of opposite birds is little known besides the disparity of rostral morphology in Boluochia (Zhou, 1995), Longipteryx (Zhang et al., 2001), Longirostravis ( Hou et al., 2004), and the presence of stomach contents that reflect a diversity of diets. Like the structure of rostrum, differentiation of the locomotor apparatu…     

黑龙江嘉荫地区晚白垩世兽脚类恐龙牙齿的发现及其意义

黑龙江嘉荫地区是中国最早发现恐龙化石的产地,在我国晚白垩世恐龙的研究史上具有极其重要的意义。该地区曾发掘出土大量鸭嘴龙类化石,是研究大型鸟脚类恐龙尤其是鸭嘴龙类系统分类和演化的理想地区。但相对应于鸭嘴龙类化石来说,兽脚类恐龙化石在该地区的发现却较为鲜见,主要以牙齿的形式出现。本文主要对最近在该地发现的一批兽脚类恐龙的牙齿化石进行详细描述对比,初步研究显示含有霸王龙类、驰龙类、白鲨齿龙、福井盗龙以及可能为新的兽脚类恐龙的牙齿。     

A New Troodontid Dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning Province, China

A new troodontid dinosaur,Daliansaurus liaoningensis gen.et sp.nov.,is erected based on a nearly complete specimen from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Beipiao City,Liaoning Province,China.This well preserved skeleton provides important new details of the anatomy for Liaoning troodontids,and gives new insight into their phylogenetic relationships and evolution.Daliansaurus is distinguished from other troodontids by an enlarged ungual on pedal digit IV,which is approximately the same size as the sickle-shaped second ungual,and is differentiated from other Liaoning troodontids by a number of characters of the skull,manus,pelvis,and hindlimb.A phylogenetic analysis recovers Daliansaurus within a subclade of Liaoning troodontids that also includes Sinovenator,Sinusonasus,and Mei.We erect a name for this group—Sinovenatorinae—and argue that it reflects a localized radiation of small-bodied troodontids in the Early Cretaceous of eastern Asia,similar to previously recognized radiations of Liaoning dromaeosaurids and avialans.As more Liaoning theropods are discovered,it is becoming apparent that small,feathered paravians were particularly diverse during the Early Cretaceous,and future work is needed to clarify how this diversity arose,which species coexisted,and how these numerous species partitioned niches.     

水泥胶结颗粒的微观力学模型试验

土体粒间胶结是建立天然结构性土本构模型的决定性因素之一,将胶结颗粒理想化为两铝棒,在指定位置处形成胶结。采用水泥作为胶结材料,对胶结颗粒进行了一系列简单加载试验（包括拉伸、压缩、压剪、压扭）和复杂应力路径试验,并与蒋明镜等所做的环氧树脂胶结试验进行对比。结果表明：胶结材料对胶结颗粒的力学性能存在一定影响,但基本规律符合蒋明镜等所提出的理想颗粒间胶结模型。水泥胶结抗拉强度低于环氧树脂胶结抗拉强度,但延性相对较好,抗压特性均呈塑性软化现象;二者的抗剪强度初始均随法向压力的增加而增大,当法向压力超过一定值时,又随法向压力的增加而减小（该压力称为界限法向压力）,但水泥胶结的界限法向压力明显高于环氧树脂胶结,扭转试验规律与剪切试验规律类似。在三维应力空间中（法向压力-扭矩-剪力）水泥胶结的强度包线呈橄榄球状,环氧树脂胶结强度包线呈水滴状。     

Permian glaciated bedrock surfaces and associated sediments on Kangaroo Island,South Australia: Implications for local Gondwanan ice‐mass dynamics

Late Palaeozoic glaciated rock surfaces and associated sediments occur along the northeastern coast of Kangaroo Island. The erosional forms include glacially polished rock surfaces, striae, grooves, chatter marks, friction cracks, crescentic gouges, p‐forms, sichelwannen, miniature rock crag‐and‐tails and roches moutonnées. The distribution and orientation of these along with till fabrics indicate a general northwesterly ice flow in this part of the Troubridge Basin. The glacial erosional forms and the presence of thick lodgement till imply that the local basal ice was at pressure‐melting point during their formation. Temperate to subpolar glacial ice conditions, similar to those currently prevailing in glaciers in Spitsbergen, are inferred.     

辽西义县组奔龙类化石一新种

在辽宁西部义县头台的义县组中新发现的1件奔龙类化石标本，显示出许多中国鸟龙属(Sinornithosaurus)所具有的特征，如上颌骨眶前窝侧面具有装饰性凹坑、前颌骨齿无边缘小锯齿、齿骨后缘二分叉、指节Ⅲ-1略长于指节Ⅲ-2的2倍、踱骨Ⅲ部分窄踱型形态等。但其头骨的部分骨骼与千禧中国鸟龙(S．millenii)有明显的区别：前颌骨主体部分相对较高，其长仅稍大于其高，前颌骨角大，前颌骨上颌突与鼻突均很长，上颌骨不参与外鼻孔的构成，上颌骨窗相对较小且为圆形，方颧骨上升突明显长于颧骨突，齿骨长高之比小等。此外，新标本肠骨的耻骨柄前后方向的宽度小于髋臼宽度。这些不同之处表明，义县头台的标本应为中国鸟龙属另一新种，将其命名为郝氏中国鸟龙(新种)(S．haoiana sp．nov.)。     

Mid-Cretaceous dinosaur track assemblage from the Tongfosi Formation of China: Comparison with the track assemblage of South Korea

A Yanji Basin tracksite in the Cretaceous Tongfosi Formation in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, Jilin Province was reinvestigated twenty years after the original study.The re-examination confirms the presence of tracks tentatively referred to ornithopods and theropod tracks including several not previously reported. In addition to the main track-bearing level, a second footprint horizon was identified from which a probable ornithopod track was collected. Some of the formerly identified tracks were documented using photogrammetry, whereas others that had been collected, eroded, buried or obscured by dense vegetation. The age of the track-bearing beds is inferred to be late Albian to early Cenomanian. Comparison with track-bearing units of the same age in Shandong, China, and Korea indicated quite different compositions of track assemblages. In the case of the Korean sites the differences may be facies related. While the Korean ichnofauna is characterized by the co-occurrence of ornithopod, sauropod and tridactyl theropod tracks with didactyl dromaeosaurid, Minisauripus (small theropod), pterosaur and avian tracks, the latter four are absent in the Tongfosi assemblage. This could reflect a restricted environment being not favourable for activities of these trackmakers or simply a preservational bias.     

胶结颗粒接触力学特性测试装置研制

为验证天然结构性砂土离散元模拟中接触模型及其参数的合理性,设计了一套用于理想胶结颗粒成型及实现不同加载条件下接触力学特性测试装置。通过胶结颗粒成型装置在两大小相同的铝棒间形成具有特定几何尺寸的胶结物,随后,采用一系列辅助加载装置实现简单及复杂加载条件下胶结颗粒接触力学特性的测试。试验结果表明：该装置可用于胶结颗粒在不同加载条件下接触力学特性的测试,实测胶结颗粒接触力学响应与天然砂土离散元中接触模型基本相符,且其抗剪和抗扭强度均随着法向压力的增大而增大,在三维应力空间中胶结颗粒强度包线呈椭圆抛物面状。     

Were last glacial climate events simultaneous between Greenland and France? A quantitative comparison using non‐tuned chronologies

Several large abrupt climate fluctuations during the last glacial have been recorded in Greenland ice cores and archives from other regions. Often these Dansgaard–Oeschger events are assumed to have been synchronous over wide areas, and then used as tie‐points to link chronologies between the proxy archives. However, it has not yet been tested independently whether or not these events were indeed synchronous over large areas. Here, we compare Dansgaard–Oeschger‐type events in a well‐dated record from southeastern France with those in Greenland ice cores. Instead of assuming simultaneous climate events between both archives, we keep their age models independent. Even these well‐dated archives possess large chronological uncertainties that prevent us from inferring synchronous climate events at decadal to multi‐centennial time scales. If possible, comparisons between proxy archives should be based on independent, non‐tuned time‐scales. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Geoarchaeology at Gilman Falls: An Archaic quarry and manufacturing site in central Maine,U.S.A.

Interdisciplinary investigations at the Milford Reservoir, central Maine, resulted in excavation and analysis of a Middle Archaic quarry and manufacturing site at Gilman Falls, dated to between 7300 and 6300 yr B.P. Lithological analysis indicates that the majority of the artifacts came from very local outcrops, providing low‐grade metamorphic rocks. Native Americans used a specialized technique to reduce the granofels and other rocks to long rods, artifacts commonly placed in local cemeteries. The Gilman Falls site was largely abandoned once these artifacts were no longer in vogue. Therefore, access to particular bedrock outcrops seems to have played an important role in site selection. Gilman Falls and other early to middle Holocene sites are preserved where bedrock sill dams ponded water that deposited fine sand. Early site sedimentation history is paralleled by a drainage change in the headwaters of the Penobscot River. Evidence for lower mid‐Holocene lake levels and a period of higher temperatures and lower precipitation may correlate with the sedimentation history. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Post‐Palaeozoic uplift history of southeastern Australia revisited: Results from a process‐based model of landscape evolution

Digital elevation models (DEMs) are widely relied upon as representations of the Earth's topographic morphology. The most widely used global DEMs available are ETOPO5, TerrainBase and JGP95E at a 5‐arc‐minute spatial resolution, and the GTOPO30 and GLOBE (version 1) global DEMs at a 30‐arc‐second spatial resolution. This paper presents the results of intercomparisons of these global DEMs over Australia, and with the GEODATA 9‐arc‐second DEM (version 1) of Australia. These DEMs were also compared to an independently produced, altimeter‐derived orthometric height database. This allows not only a totally independent assessment of the quality of these different DEMs over Australia, but also an insight into the ERS‐1 radar altimeter's ability to measure orthometric heights on land. The results of all these comparisons reveal large differences among the DEMs, with the greatest difference between JGP95E and ETOPO5 (mean 49 m, standard deviation ±274 m). The comparison with the altimeter‐derived database shows good agreement with the version 1 GEODATA DEM (mean 2 m, standard deviation ±27 m), thus demonstrating that the altimeter is a viable method for quality assessment of DEMs in lowland regions. A further conclusion is that the representation of the Australian land surface in both the JGP95E and TerrainBase global DEMs is more accurate than the higher resolution GLOBE (version 1) global DEM, even though JGP95E displays a disparity along the 140°E meridian because of the different data sources used in its construction.     

A Possible Long-tailed Bird with a Pygostyle from the Late Mesozoic Yixian Formation, Western Liaoning, China

AbstractAn incomplete caudal vertebral series (IVPP Vl1309) from the Yixian Formation of late MesozoicJianshangou area of Beipiao, western Liaoning Province, may represent a new bird. The tail is composed of at least 12 free caudal vertebrae and the most distal 5 caudal vertebrae co-ossified into a pygostyle. The pygostyle is plate-like and slightly curved dorsally. The anterior free caudals are amphiplatyan. The anterior caudal surfaces of the last three free caudals are concave, but their posterior articular surfaces are convex. The pygostyle is regarded as the first appeared flight apparatus during the evolutionary process from Archaeopteryx to neornithes. The pygostyle appeared in most early fossil birds and almost all the modem birds. Although their morphologies are different, they are basically formed by at least four last caudal vertebrae. The specimen V11309 is regarded as a bird rather than a non-avian theropod dinosaur based on the following characters: short caudal vertebrae, numerous pits present on the surfaces of the centra and, a foramen present between the basal part of the fused neural spines, which is similar to that of Struthio camelus. The discoveries of pygostyles from the therizinosauroids and oviraptorosaurs may provide strong evidence for supporting the origin of birds from small theropod dinosaurs. The structure of the pygostyle in specimen Vl1309 is different from those of Beipiaosaurus (Therizinosauroid) and Nomingia (oviraptorosaur). The most parsimonious interpretation is that these pygostyle-like structures are independently acquired by Beipiaosaurus and Nomingia during their evolutionary process.