New remains of Eremotherium laurillardi (Lund, 1842) (Megatheriidae, Xenarthra) from the coastal region of Ecuador

New remains of Eremotherium were recovered from the Pacific coast of Ecuador’s Manabi province. The Machalilla fossiliferous locality records the northernmost presence of Eremotherium along the Pacific coast of South America. Most of the fossil remains belong to the same individual, mainly its posterior half, but other individuals are represented. Among the better-preserved specimens are skull fragments, most of the hind limb bones and a number of trunk and caudal centra. These remains were compared with samples collected during the 20th century along the southern coastal regions of Ecuador and northern Peru. Many characters of the long bones and tarsals testify to a possibly different lineage despite the closeness of other Eremotherium populations. Some metric and morphological aspects suggest a different space-temporal southern Caribbean provenance. Other Eremotherium specimens, coming from other Ecuadorian localities, were studied and compared with classic Eremotherium samples. Interesting morpho-functional aspects are pointed out with regard to the tail and its importance in the bipedal stance.     

20世纪古生物学的重大进展及21世纪战略重点

20世纪人类积累了大量的生物学、分类学和生物地层数据，这些数据的积累使用进化论和门德尔遗传学结合起来，如遗传学和物种起源、分类学和物种起源、演化的速率和模式、分支系统学等的运用使得古生物学在研究方法上有了新的进展。并提出了21世纪古生物学的战略重点。     

Multiple paleopathologies in the dinosaur Bonitasaura salgadoi (Sauropoda: Titanosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia,Argentina

Bones in the fossil record sometimes exhibit unusual structures that can be attributed to pathologies, taphonomic alterations, or morphological variation. The goal of this work is to describe three bone abnormalities present in the type specimen of Bonitasaura salgadoi from the Cretaceous of north Patagonia, Argentina. The studied material corresponds to a left femur, a left metatarsal III, and a right prezygapophysis of a mid-caudal vertebra. Macroscopic and/or histological examinations were conducted, and a discussion concerning the origin of each abnormality is provided. The results of this study suggest that the anomalous structures are pathologies. In the femur, an osteoblastic tumor was identified by the presence of a large outgrowth of ovoid appearance with a spiculated microstructural pattern. The metatarsal III shows an enthesophyte (or bone spur) based on its location, shape and growth in parallel to the long axis of the bone element. Finally, the abnormal tissue observed in the prezygapophysis of the caudal vertebra was determined to be an infection by the presence of reactive new bone associated with a local widening of the subperiosteal margin and a sinus of drainage. This is the first report of multiple pathologies in a single specimen of a titanosaur, and it provides new insights about paleopathologies in sauropod dinosaurs.     

New insights into the nature of the Late Riphean Eosolenides

Studies of a morphologically diverse population of Eosolenides, organic-walled macrofossils from the Upper Mesoproterozoic (1015–1025 Ma) Lakhanda Group of southeastern Siberia, suggest that these elongate fossils may be remains of soft-bodied organisms having tube-grade organization. The compressed, originally cylindrical fossils, of more or less constant diameter along their length, are subdivided by transverse membranes into a regular series of distinct chamber-like segments. The lateral walls of the segmented tubes are double-layered, the outer sheath- or cuticle-like layer of which was originally flexible and commonly exhibits very fine and closely spaced transverse striations. The presence of structures inferred to be basal attachment disks suggests a benthic habit, whereas the morphological variability of the population can be interpreted as showing that their body shape changed as the organisms grew and increased markedly in length. Reproduction may have been by budding. An important peculiarity exhibited by these tubular fossils is the presence within many specimens of small spherical unicells, interpreted possibly to be algal endosymbionts. Although in some respects these fossils resemble cnidarians, the biological affinities of Eosolenides tubes remain enigmatic.     

国内外古脊椎动物数据库综述

近20万年来地球生物多样性及地球环境经历了多种多样的变化,尤其是过去11000年以来人类活动加剧了地球环境的恶化和物种的快速消亡,有部分学者提出人类正经历地质历史上的第六次生物集群灭绝事件。古今生物多样性研究的融通,将现代生物多样性问题放进地质历史的框架中分析,是认识生物和环境协同演变规律的重要途径,也是预估人类、生态系统以及地球环境未来发展的重要手段。基于此,依赖于数据积累的一门新型学科：保育古生物学正在兴起,越来越多的学者开始重视化石数据资料的积累,并建立了多种门类和不同用途的数据库,如启动于1998年的PBDB（Paleobiology Database）等。这些优秀的数据库提供了高质量的在线免费服务,并已产出不少重要成果。文章介绍了国内外古脊椎动物学领域的相关数据库及数据驱动下的重要研究实例,希望借此为深时数字地球计划（Deep-time Digital Earth）整合和共享开源的古脊椎动物大数据提供参考。