Pes shape variation in an ornithopod dinosaur trackway (Lower Cretaceous,NW Spain): New evidence of an antalgic gait in the fossil track record

Trackways can provide unique insight to animals locomotion through quantitative analysis of variation in track morphology. Long trackways additionally permit the study of trackmaker foot anatomy, providing more insight on limb kinematics. In this paper we have restudied the extensive tracksite at Barranco de La Canal-1 (Lower Cretaceous, La Rioja, NW Spain) focussing on a 25-m-long dinosaur (ornithopod) trackway that was noted by an earlier study (Casanovas et al., 1995; Pérez-Lorente, 2003) to display an irregular pace pattern. This asymmetric gait has been quantified and photogrammetric models undertaken for each track, thus revealing distinct differences between the right and the left tracks, particularly in the relative position of the lateral digits II–IV with respect to the central digit III. Given that the substrate at this site is homogenous, the consistent repetition of the collected morphological data suggests that differences recorded between the right and the left tracks can be linked to the foot anatomy, but more interestingly, to an injury or pathology on left digit II. We suggest that the abnormal condition registered in digit II impression of the left pes can be linked to the statistically significant limping behaviour of the trackmaker. Furthermore, the abnormal condition registered did not affect the dinosaur's speed.     

The first dinosaur tracksite from Abruzzi (Monte Cagno,Central Apennines,Italy)

A new Lower Cretaceous (lower Aptian) dinosaur tracksite, from the eastern side of Monte Cagno (Abruzzi, Italy), is described. Different styles of track formation are represented on the site surface. Most of the footprints are preserved as deep tracks, produced by trackmakers sinking into soft mud. Some tracks, better preserved than the others, are characterized by metatarsal impressions and were interpreted as the resting traces of a crouching theropod (based on their orientation and three-dimensional morphology). The 135 cm length of the track with metatarsal impressions indicates huge pedal proportions and represents the largest theropod trackmaker ever documented from the Mesozoic peri-Adriatic platforms of Italy.     

西北太平洋热带气旋在ENSO发展和衰减年的路径变化

本文运用有限混合模型算法对1979~2015年夏、秋季（6~11月）中国气象局（CMA）上海台风研究所（STI）的最佳路径数据集热带气旋（TC）路径进行聚类,将其路径分为七类,分别为第一类（西太西移型）、第二类（南海西移型）、第三类（沿海转折型）、第四类（低纬转折型）、第五类（洋面转折型）、第六类（近海转折型）、第七类（日本海转折型）;并利用S-EOF（季节EOF,Seasonal Empirical Orthogonal Function）方法确定ENSO四个位相（El Ni?o发展年、El Ni?o衰减年、La Ni?a发展年、La Ni?a衰减年）,分析在不同ENSO位相下TC路径的年际变化以及相应的流场,得到一些有意义的结论:El Ni?o发展年,TC在西北太平洋东南海域活动频繁,以第六类（近海转折型）路径为主;El Ni?o衰减年以第二类（南海西移型）路径居多,第七类（日本海转折型）路径也较为活跃;La Ni?a发展年,TC集中在西北象限海域,以第七类（日本海转折型）路径为主;La Ni?a衰减年,TC源地多位于我国沿海地区与台湾岛附近洋面上,以第三类（沿海转折型）路径为主。