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Kinyua, A. M., T. Plummer, N. Shimizu, W. Melson, and R. Potts. "Provenance of Kanjera Fossils by X-Ray Fluorescence and Ion Microprobe Analyses." Advances in X-ray Analysis 35, B (1991): 1165–73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1154/s0376030800013458.
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AbstractXRF and Ion mfcroprobe analyses of fossils of known and uncertain provenance from the Lower-Middle Pleistocene locality of Kanjera. Kenya, are reported. The goal of this study was to develop a nondestructive technique of provenancixig fossils, which could be applied to the Kanjera sample. The fossils of known provenance were collected in the excavations of the 1987 Smithsonian Expedition. Three fossils of uncertain provenance, two specimens of Theropithecus oswaldi and a hominid fossil, were analyzed as test cases.Both qualitative and quantitative XRF analyses of Kanjera fossils were carried out. In the qualitative analysis, the elemental peak areas from each fossil's XRF spectrum were calculated and normalized to the peak area of the incoherently scattered radiation. Results of the analysis showed that fossils from the Lower-Middle Pleistocene Kanjera Beds, for the most part, had higher levels of yttrium (Y) and zirconium (Zr) than those of the younger Apoko (Ap) Bed. black cotton soil (BCS) and modem bones (MD). The relative concentrations of uranium (U) v strontium (Sri and thorium (Th) were diagnostic of the Kanjera Bed of origin. These findings were confirmed by quantitative XRF and ion microprobe analyses of a subsample of Kanjera fossils. The T. oswaldi and hominid fossils had trace element concentrations suggestive of K2 and BCS provenances, respectively. These findings provide a framework for the qualitative XRF provenancing of other surface collected fossils from the locality.
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Harms, Danilo, and Jason A. Dunlop. "The fossil history of pseudoscorpions (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones)." Fossil Record 20, no. 2 (August 9, 2017): 215–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/fr-20-215-2017.
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Abstract. Pseudoscorpions, given their resemblance to scorpions, have attracted human attention since the time of Aristotle, although they are much smaller and lack the sting and elongated tail. These arachnids have a long evolutionary history but their origins and phylogenetic affinities are still being debated. Here, we summarise their fossil record based on a comprehensive review of the literature and data contained in other sources. Pseudoscorpions are one of the oldest colonisers of the land, with fossils known since the Middle Devonian (ca. 390 Ma). The only arachnid orders with an older fossil record are scorpions, harvestmen and acariform mites, plus two extinct groups. Pseudoscorpions do not fossilise easily, and records from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic consist almost exclusively of amber inclusions. Most Mesozoic fossils come from Archingeay and Burmese ambers (Late Cretaceous) and those from the Cenozoic are primarily from Eocene Baltic amber, although additional fossils from, for example, Miocene Dominican and Mexican ambers, are known. Overall, 16 of the 26 families of living pseudoscorpions have been documented from fossils and 49 currently valid species are recognised in the literature. Pseudoscorpions represent a case of morphological stasis and even the Devonian fossils look rather modern. Indeed, most amber fossils are comparable to Recent groups despite a major gap in the fossil record of almost 250 Myr. Baltic amber inclusions indicate palaeofauna inhabiting much warmer climates than today and point to climatic shifts in central Europe since the Eocene. They also indicate that some groups (e.g. Feaellidae and Pseudogarypidae) had much wider Eocene distributions. Their present-day occurrence is relictual and highlights past extinction events. Faunas from younger tropical amber deposits (e.g. Dominican and Mexican amber) are comparable to Recent ones. Generally, there is a strong bias in the amber record towards groups that live under tree bark, whereas those from litter habitats are underrepresented. We also discuss challenges in interpreting fossils: their cryptic morphology warranting novel techniques of morphological reconstruction, the massive gap in the fossil record between the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic, and problems with the classification of (historically) old amber material. Finally, we discuss aspects of the palaeoecology and biology of the fossils compared with the Recent fauna, such as phoresy.
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Heikkilä, Maria, Joël Minet, Andreas Zwick, Anna Hundsdoerfer, Rodolphe Rougerie, and Ian J. Kitching. "Critical re-examination of known purported fossil Bombycoidea (Lepidoptera)." PeerJ 11 (November 10, 2023): e16049. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.16049.
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We critically re-examine 17 records of fossils currently assigned to the lepidopteran superfamily Bombycoidea, which includes the silk moths, emperor moths and hawk moths. These records include subfossils, compression and impression fossils, permineralizations and ichnofossils. We assess whether observable morphological features warrant their confident assignment to the superfamily. None of the examined fossils displays characters that allow unequivocal identification as Sphingidae, but three fossils and a subfossil (Mioclanis shanwangiana Zhang, Sun and Zhang, 1994, two fossil larvae, and a proboscis in asphaltum) have combinations of diagnostic features that support placement in the family. The identification of a fossil pupa as Bunaeini (Saturniidae) is well supported. The other fossils that we evaluate lack definitive bombycoid and, in several cases, even lepidopteran characters. Some of these dubious fossils have been used as calibration points in earlier studies casting doubt on the resulting age estimates. All fossil specimens reliably assigned to Bombycoidea are relatively young, the earliest fossil evidence of the superfamily dating to the middle Miocene.
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Maples, Christopher G., and Ronald R. West. "Introduction to Trace Fossils and Dedication to Robert W. Frey." Short Courses in Paleontology 5 (1992): 1–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s2475263000002269.
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Over the years, we've participated in several different workshops and short courses on trace fossils. So why this one? Our intention in bringing together these papers for the Trace Fossil Short Course is to give an overview of how trace fossils can be used in paleontology. Historically, trace fossil research has centered on paleoenvironmental and depositional reconstructions—areas where trace fossils have much to tell. Indeed, the use of trace fossils by sedimentologists has flourished and is experiencing another burst of activity through the use of ichnofabrics in sequence stratigraphic studies. But trace fossils have paleontological stories to tell as well. Their use in uncovering the first occurrences of life in different parts of the stratigraphic column is well documented (e.g., the classic example of trace fossils occurring before body fossils in Precambrian/Cambrian transitional strata) as is their use in detailing different morphological details of unpreserved taxa or body parts.
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Lockley, Martin G. "Tracks and Traces: New Perspectives on Dinosaurian Behavior, Ecology, and Biogeography." Short Courses in Paleontology 2 (1989): 134–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s2475263000000921.
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Conventional paleontological wisdom holds that there are two major categories of fossil evidence: body fossils (skeletal remains), and trace fossils (including tracks and traces). Ichnology, the study of trace fossils, requires a parallel taxonomy of scientific names (parataxonomy or ichnotaxonomy), like the form taxa of fossil plant remains. This ichnotaxonomy describes a large variety of traces attributable to invertebrates (Hantzschel, 1975) and vertebrates (Haubold, 1984; Leonardi, 1984; Leonardi et al., 1986).
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Unger, Shem, and Mark Rollins. "Find a Fossil and “Choose your own Adventure”." International Journal of Educational Innovation and Research 3, no. 1 (January 5, 2024): 86–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.31949/ijeir.v3i1.7253.
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Science education university curriculum should foster transformative methods of teaching and learning for science majors, including science communication. Pedagogical methods for increasing student awareness of paleontological fossils present challenges as fossils are often presented as preserved remains with little visualizations or reconstructions of fossils. As part of increasing scientific literacy and increasing confidence in professional development skills, student presentations can provide an avenue for promoting these necessary skills for biology majors. This study reports on a short multi-week activity whereby students A) selected a fossil to investigate, B) completed a one to two slide presentation on their fossil of choice, and C) presented their fossil overview to their peers in a lecture classroom. Post-activity surveys and reflections indicate that students found this activity engaging, a fun method for learning about a large diversity of fossils important to evolution, and finally, enjoyed selecting their own fossil. Therefore, allowing students to present on fossils and the evolutionary story they each tell may have increased engagement, piqued interest, and enabled students to both learn and focus on taxa of interest to them personally. We recommend science educators incorporate short, low risk presentations as a learning tool in biology courses to “bring fossils alive” and increase engagement among biology students by promoting student science communication.
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Walker, S. E. "Criteria for recognizing marine hermit crabs in the fossil record using gastropod shells." Journal of Paleontology 66, no. 4 (July 1992): 535–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022336000024410.
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Hermit crabs have left a rich fossil legacy of epi- and endobionts that bored or encrusted hermit crab-inhabited shells in specific ways. Much of this rich taphonomic record, dating from the middle Jurassic, has been overlooked. Biological criteria to recognize hermitted shells in the fossil record fall within two major categories: 1) massive encrustations, such as encrusting bryozoans; and 2) subtle, thin encrustations, borings, or etchings that surround or penetrate the aperture of the shell. Massive encrustations are localized in occurrence, whereas subtle trace fossils and body fossils are common, cosmopolitan, and stratigraphically long-ranging. Important trace fossils and body fossils associated with hermit crabs are summarized here, with additional new fossil examples from the eastern Gulf Coast.Helicotaphrichnus, a unique hermit crab-associated trace fossil, is reported from the Eocene of Mississippi, extending its stratigraphic range from the Pleistocene of North America and the Miocene of Europe.
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Sullivan, Colleen A., and Sarah W. Keenan. "Experimental dissolution of fossil bone under variable pH conditions." PLOS ONE 17, no. 10 (October 13, 2022): e0274084. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0274084.
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Fossils exposed at the surface are an integral component of the paleontologic record and provide an archive of past life. However, it is widely known that fossils are not stable indefinitely upon exposure to surface conditions such as physical, chemical, and biological processes, and this last phase of taphonomy is poorly understood. Studies regarding the longevity of fossils subject to weathering, such as acidic precipitation, are absent in the literature. The goal of this study was to experimentally determine vertebrate fossil dissolution rates under variable pH conditions in a controlled laboratory setting. It was hypothesized that fossils would dissolve within acidic solutions and do so at an increasing rate when exposed to increasingly acidic solutions. The experiments were conducted on three fossil vertebrae in triplicate in closed reaction vessels at pH 4, 5, and 6. The fossils were completely submerged for 21 days in a tap water solution with the pH adjusted using 0.1N hydrochloric acid (HCl). Fossil dissolution was quantified by changes to: (1) fossil mass; (2) elemental chemistry of water and fossils with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS); (3) fossil mineralogy with X-ray diffraction (XRD); and (4) histologic structures with thin section analyses. All fossils exhibited mass loss, which increased with decreasing pH conditions, and was greatest under pH 4 (477 to 803 mg loss). The elemental analyses with ICP-MS indicated an increase of both calcium (maximum increase of 315 ppm) and phosphorus (increase of 18 ppm) in aqueous solutions with increasing pH and a loss of those same elements from the fossils (maximum loss of 10 ppm Ca and 6 ppm P). XRD revealed loss of gypsum in all post-dissolution samples. Taken together, the results of ICP-MS and XRD suggest dissolution of the primary mineral phases, including hydroxylapatite, and secondary phases, particularly calcite and gypsum, resulting in an estimated mass loss at pH 4 of 23 to 28 mg per day. Thin section analysis showed degradation of both cortical and trabecular bone in all post-dissolution images, demonstrating physical changes to the fossils as a result of water-rock interactions. These findings constitute the first quantitative analysis of fossil dissolution rates and provide insights into this last stage of taphonomy, addressing a largely understudied potential bias in the vertebrate fossil record.
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Winarto, Johan Budi, Wilda Aini Nurlathifah, Agustina Djafar, Andy Dharmedy Sipayung, Rahajeng Ayu Permana Sari, and Halmi Insani. "The Surficial Basin Sediment Investigation and Its Concerned Vertebrate Fossils in Sirtwo Island, Western Part of Saguling Dam, West Java, Indonesia." Indonesian Journal of Earth Sciences 2, no. 1 (June 27, 2022): 1–15. http://dx.doi.org/10.52562/injoes.v2i1.288.
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In October 2021, the depreciation of the water level of dam Saguling revealed the surficial sediment where was dam up Citarum river. Sirtwo island and surroundings are part of the body sediment were arisen which is part of the sedimentary facies in the western of Bandung Lake ancient. Several vertebrate fossils were found on Sirtwo island and Pasir Benteng island. The investigation of vertebrate fossils was carried out to understand where are deposited in Bandung lake. The geological survey lead to the recognition of types of lake deposits and was divided into 5 block observations i.e., Block A, Block B, Block C, Block D, and Block E. Geographic information system was used to determine the location points where the fossil was found and is correlated with other location. The fossils fragment is identified as vertebrate fossils i.e., Bovid sp., Rusa sp., and Elephas maximus. The detail of vertebrate fossils type and sediment petrology is under further analysis. The sedimentary facies are lake deposit and is distinguished into 3 sub-facies: 1) volcanic deposit with vertebrate fossil 2) sandstone tuff without vertebrate fossil and 3) sandstone tuff with vertebrate fossil. The age of lithology is estimated between 10.000 till >135.000 Years ago and the depositional environment is interpreted into fan lake, channel, and lake bottom. This study clearly determines lithofacies in the research area which contain vertebrate fossils.
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Puttick, Mark N. "Partially incorrect fossil data augment analyses of discrete trait evolution in living species." Biology Letters 12, no. 8 (August 2016): 20160392. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2016.0392.
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Ancestral state reconstruction of discrete character traits is often vital when attempting to understand the origins and homology of traits in living species. The addition of fossils has been shown to alter our understanding of trait evolution in extant taxa, but researchers may avoid using fossils alongside extant species if only few are known, or if the designation of the trait of interest is uncertain. Here, I investigate the impacts of fossils and incorrectly coded fossils in the ancestral state reconstruction of discrete morphological characters under a likelihood model. Under simulated phylogenies and data, likelihood-based models are generally accurate when estimating ancestral node values. Analyses with combined fossil and extant data always outperform analyses with extant species alone, even when around one quarter of the fossil information is incorrect. These results are especially pronounced when model assumptions are violated, such as when there is a trend away from the root value. Fossil data are of particular importance when attempting to estimate the root node character state. Attempts should be made to include fossils in analysis of discrete traits under likelihood, even if there is uncertainty in the fossil trait data.
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Hannibal, J. T., and S. G. Lucas. "Trace fossils in two North American museums: the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science." Geological Curator 8, no. 5 (June 2006): 261–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.55468/gc371.
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Ohio and New Mexico are rich in trace fossils (ichnofossils), and both states have longstanding traditions of ichnological research. The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, founded in 1920, has a substantial collection of ichnofossils that includes figured specimens from Ohio, West Virginia and New Jersey. Donations and intensive collecting of trace fossils followed the founding of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in 1986. This has resulted in North America's largest collection of Permian trace fossils, as well as important collections of trace fossils from several other geological systems. Trace fossils are on exhibit at both museums; both have exhibits showing a model of a large trace maker (a tetrapod in the case of the Cleveland Museum; Arthropleura in the case of the New Mexico Museum), either on or juxtaposed with a real fossil trackway. Among specimens brought to these museums for identification by members of the general public are trace fossils, although not usually identified as such, as well as concretions, which are erroneously thought to be fossil eggs. Trace fossils are also encountered and discussed during urban geological field trips in Cleveland. This article falls under our Open Access policy
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Buffetaut, Eric. "Minor Title Change: Fossils Becomes Fossil Studies." Fossil Studies 1, no. 1 (December 20, 2023): 76. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/fossils1010008.
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HEIKKILÄ, MARIA, THOMAS J. SIMONSEN, and M. ALMA SOLIS. "Reassessment of known fossil Pyraloidea (Lepidoptera) with descriptions of the oldest fossil pyraloid and a crambid larva in Baltic amber." Zootaxa 4483, no. 1 (September 20, 2018): 101. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4483.1.4.
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The identifications of known fossils currently placed in the lepidopteran superfamily Pyraloidea are critically re-examined. Of the eleven fossils examined, only three are confirmed to show morphological characters supporting placement in the superfamily. These fossils include a crambid larva in Baltic Amber, Baltianania yantarnia, Solis gen. n. et sp. n. and the oldest known fossil pyraloid, Eopyralis morsae Simonsen, gen. n. et sp. n. The third fossil, Glendotricha olgae Kusnezov, 1941, displays apomorphic characters for Pyraloidea, but is shown to be an inclusion in copal, not Baltic amber as had been reported. Seven fossil specimens lack reliable characters and cannot be assigned to Pyraloidea with certainty: Pyralites obscurus Heer, 1856; Pyralites preecei Jarzembowski, 1980; Petisca dryellina Martins-Neto, 1998; three fossil larvae tentatively identified as Pyralidae by Zeuner (1931); and Gallerites keleri Kernbach, 1967. A possible fossil pyraloid in Mizunami amber could not be located in museum collections and available literature does not provide details to assess the validity of the identification. We discuss the contribution of the reliably identified fossils towards better understanding the evolutionary history of Pyraloidea.
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Sappenfield, Aaron, Mary L. Droser, and James G. Gehling. "Problematica, trace fossils, and tubes within the Ediacara Member (South Australia): redefining the ediacaran trace fossil record one tube at a time." Journal of Paleontology 85, no. 2 (March 2011): 256–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.1666/10-068.1.
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Ediacaran trace fossils are becoming an increasingly less common component of the total Precambrian fossil record as structures previously interpreted as trace fossils are reinterpreted as body fossils by utilizing qualitative criteria. Two morphotypes, Form E and Form F of Glaessner (1969), interpreted as trace fossils from the Ediacara Member of the Rawnsley Quartzite in South Australia are shown here to be body fossils of a single, previously unidentified tubular constructional morphology formally described herein as Somatohelix sinuosus n. gen. n. sp. S. sinuosus is 2-7 mm wide and 3-14 cm long and is preserved as sinusoidal casts and molds on the base of beds. Well-preserved examples of this fossil preserve distinct body fossil traits such as folding, current alignment, and potential attachment to holdfasts. Nearly 200 specimens of this fossil have been documented from reconstructed bedding surfaces within the Ediacara Member. When viewed in isolated hand sample, many of these specimens resemble ichnofossils. However, the ability to view large quantities of reassembled and successive bedding surfaces within specific outcrops of the Ediacara Member provides a new perspective, revealing that isolated specimens of rectilinear grooves on bed bases are not trace fossils but are poorly preserved specimens of S. sinuosus. Variation in the quality and style of preservation of S. sinuosus on a single surface and the few distinct characteristics preserved within this relatively indistinct fossil also provides the necessary data required to define a taphonomic gradient for this fossil. Armed with this information, structures which have been problematic in the past can now be confidently identified as S. sinuosus based on morphological criteria. This suggests that the original organism that produced this fossil was a widespread and abundant component of the Ediacaran ecosystem.
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Rathore, Akshaya. "Digital Inventory of Fossils: Dinosaur Fossils National Park Bagh Dhar." International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology 9, no. 12 (December 31, 2021): 1311–17. http://dx.doi.org/10.22214/ijraset.2021.39528.
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Abstract: Dinosaur Fossils National Park Bagh has huge fossils reserves of late cretaceous period that includes Dinosaurs bones, whole dinosaurs’ nests, dinosaurs’ eggs, tree fossils, shark teeth, ammonites, bivalves, inoceramids, and other marine organisms. With the help of local researchers and forest staff over the period oftime we had collected fossils of many species. Firstly, we inventoried the fossils physically and documented each by maintaining Stock Registers. Digitizing the Stock Registers – to convert each register in excel file which includes all the details regarding that fossil. To make it more attractive and useful in future, we have created 3dmodels of at least one specimen of each fossils’ species. To have worldwide reach, we have created and hosted the website www.dinosaurfossilsnationalparkbagh.in . I
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Khosroshahi, Habib G., and T. J. Ponman. "Fossil Galaxy Groups; Scaling Relations, Galaxy Properties and Formation of BCGs." Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 2, S235 (August 2006): 214. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s174392130600620x.
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AbstractWe study fossil galaxy groups, their hot gas and the galaxy properties. Fossils are more X-ray luminous than non-fossil groups, however, they fall comfortably on the conventional L-T relation of galaxy groups and clusters indicating that their X-ray luminosity and temperature are both boosted, arguably, as a result of their early formation. The central dominant galaxy in fossils have optical luminosity comparable to the brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs), however, the isophotal shapes of the central galaxy in fossils are non-boxy in contrast to the isophotes of majority of the BCGs.
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Kidwell, Susan, and J. John Sepkoski. "The Nature of the Fossil Record." Paleontological Society Special Publications 9 (1999): 61–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s2475262200014015.
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The term “fossil record” is used in two ways: either the totality of fossils preserved in all rocks or the sum of human knowledge of those fossils. In either case, the term carries the connotation also of the geologic context of the fossils–their distribution in time and space and their relationship to the enclosing rock. One of the primary scientific interests in the fossil record is learning about the history of life and the processes of large-scale transformation, or evolution, in the forms, diversities, and biological interactions of life.
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Bush, Andrew M., and Gwen M. Daley. "Comparative Paleoecology of Fossils and Fossil Assemblages." Paleontological Society Papers 14 (October 2008): 289–317. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s108933260000173x.
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Generating and testing hypotheses is an integral part of any science, and some of the most stimulating paleobiological hypotheses of the past few decades relate to the ecological properties of fossils or fossil assemblages. Here, we outline recent methods for framing paleoecological questions that should facilitate the further quantitative evaluation of paleoecological hypotheses. First, we describe theoretical ecospaces, which are frameworks for classifying the ecologic properties of individuals or species based on multiple characters. We discuss the utility of theoretical ecospace in understanding evolutionary constraints and biodiversification, among other topics. Second, we discuss the reconstruction of high-resolution paleoecological gradients using ecological ordination techniques. Ordination can help uncover the paleoenvironmental factors that controlled fossil assemblage composition, track these factors through time, and evaluate the environmental and ecological context of major biotic changes. As an example, we present a new gradient analysis of the Yorktown Formation (Pliocene) of Virginia in which substrate and disturbance controlled molluscan assemblage composition. As a further example, we ordinate samples of mid-Paleozoic and late Cenozoic marine fossil assemblages based on their ecological content (as determined using a theoretical ecospace) to test whether the same environmental and ecological factors controlled the distribution of ecological lifestyles in both time intervals, despite the many differences between them. Although depth-related variation is evident in both data sets, the Cenozoic samples show stronger evidence of environmental control on ecologic content within depth zones. In contrast, Paleozoic gradients are consistent with a more random component in assemblage content. These analyses are quite preliminary, however, and should be verified with more extensive data.
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Cleal, Christopher J., and Barry A. Thomas. "Naming of parts: the use of fossil-taxa in palaeobotany." Fossil Imprint 77, no. 1 (2021): 166–86. http://dx.doi.org/10.37520/fi.2021.013.
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Fossil plants are extinct plants whose remains (referred to as plant fossils) are found preserved in sedimentary deposits. Plant fossils are classified using fossil-taxa as defined in the International Code of Nomenclature. Fossil-taxa differ conceptually from taxa of living plants in that they often do not refer to whole organisms, but to the remains of one or more parts of the parent organism, in one or more preservational states. There can be complications when two parts of a plant are shown to be connected, or when two preservational states are correlated, and to avoid disrupting the wider palaeobotanical taxonomy it is often best to keep the fossil-taxa separate. Extinct fossil plants reconstructed by piecing together the plant fossils are best not given formal Linnean taxonomic names. There can also be problems using living plant taxa for fossils, even when there is a close morphological similarity of particular plant parts. Fossil-taxa for different plant parts can reflect different taxonomic ranks of the parent plants so care must be taken when using such taxa in floristic or phylogenetic studies. Because of taphonomic factors, a number of “artificial” fossil-taxa have proved useful, despite that they do not fully reflect the systematic positions of the parent plants.
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Minicucci, Jeffrey M. "Who Was the First Person Known to Have Discovered Fossils of the Precambrian (Ediacaran) Organism Aspidella terranovica?" Geoscience Canada 44, no. 1 (April 20, 2017): 55. http://dx.doi.org/10.12789/geocanj.2017.44.115.
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This article briefly examines the possible confusion pertaining to the discoveries of Precambrian (Ediacaran) fossils made in the self-governing British colony of Newfoundland in 1868 by the amateur naturalist, the Reverend Moses Harvey, and the subsequent description and naming of the fossil organism Aspidella terranovica in 1872 by Elkanah Billings, the father of Canadian paleontology. Both events could be misinterpreted as one transaction that began with the former event and ended with the latter event. Accounts published by Alexander Murray, the director of the Geological Survey of Newfoundland at the time, arguably may have inadvertently exacerbated the possibility for confusion. The determination of who first discovered fossils of A. terranovica and whose fossil material Billings primarily relied upon when he first described and named the taxon could be placed into doubt as a consequence. Although the confusion does not affect the undisputed priority that Billings holds in having described and named A. terranovica, the opportunity to remedy the confusion serves to benefit the historical record. The incomplete or ambiguous ascertaining and documenting of contextual information whenever an historically significant fossil discovery is made arguably may precipitate subsequent misinterpretations, distortions or omissions in the resulting historical narrative as it develops and becomes entrenched or mythologized in its retelling.RÉSUMÉCet article examine brièvement la confusion possible concernant les découvertes de fossiles Précambriens (Ediacaran) fabriqués dans la colonie Britannique autonome de Terre-Neuve en 1868 par le naturaliste amateur, le Révérend Moses Harvey, et la description et l'appellation suivantes de l'organisme fossile Aspidella terranovica en 1872 par Elkanah Billings, le père de la paléontologie Canadienne. Les deux événements pourraient être mal interprétés comme une transaction qui a commencé avec l'événement précédent et s'est terminée avec le dernier événement. Les comptes publiés par Alexander Murray, le directeur de la Commission Géologique de Terre-Neuve à l'époque, ont sans doute peut-être exacerbé par mégarde la possibilité de confusion. La détermination de qui a découvert les fossiles d'abord de A. terranovica et dont Billings s'appuyait principalement sur le matériel fossile dont il a d'abord décrit et nommé le taxon pourrait être mis en doute en conséquence. Bien que la confusion ne porte pas atteinte à la priorité incontestée que Billings détient en ayant décrit et nommé A. terranovica, la possibilité de remédier à la confusion sert à bénéficier du dossier historique. La constatation et la documentation incomplètes ou ambiguës de l'information contextuelle chaque fois qu'une découverte fossilifère historiquement significative peut être faite peut précipiter des interprétations, des distorsions ou des omissions subséquentes dans le récit historique résultant au fur et à mesure qu'il se développe et devient ancré ou mythologisé dans son récit.
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BOSKOVIC, DANILO S., URIEL L. VIDAL, KEVIN E. NICK, RAUL ESPERANTE, LEONARD R. BRAND, KENNETH R. WRIGHT, LAWRENCE B. SANDBERG, and BETHANIA C. T. SIVIERO. "STRUCTURAL AND PROTEIN PRESERVATION IN FOSSIL WHALE BONES FROM THE PISCO FORMATION (MIDDLE-UPPER MIOCENE), PERU." PALAIOS 36, no. 4 (April 30, 2021): 155–64. http://dx.doi.org/10.2110/palo.2020.032.
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ABSTRACT Microstructural and biomolecular preservation is reported in fossils as old as the Triassic. Such preservation suggests unusual taphonomic conditions. We collected fragments of fossil whale bone from silty, tuffaceous, and diatomaceous rocks of the middle-upper Miocene portion of the Pisco Formation. The whale fossils within the region are generally well-preserved and mostly articulated, including some specimens with in situ baleen. Due to the depositional setting associated with the preservation of these fossils, they could be expected to be favorable candidates for the preservation of cellular microstructures and/or original biomolecules. To test this hypothesis, fossil whale bone fragments were subjected to microscopic analysis and EDTA-mediated demineralization to release extractable materials. Microscopy of partially demineralized fossil bones revealed quartz-permineralized osteocyte-like and vessel-like structures. Protein assay (micro-Bicinchoninic Acid Assay) of the supernatants obtained from demineralized fossils yielded 12 to 19.5 μg of protein per gram of bone. MALDI-TOF analysis of the extracted protein demonstrated the presence of approximately 5 kD molecules in one fossil sample, consistent with the presence of highly fragmented polypeptides. An LC-MS/MS analysis of the fragmentation pattern of the tryptic digest of extracted protein was performed. However, attempted protein identification was unsuccessful. Nevertheless, this study first documents the microstructural preservation with some silicification of the fossil whale bones of the Pisco Formation, and then quantifies extractable protein from these bones. It adds to the growing body of reports of microstructural and organic preservation in fossils.
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Near, Thomas J., and Michael J. Sanderson. "Assessing the quality of molecular divergence time estimates by fossil calibrations and fossil–based model selection." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 359, no. 1450 (October 29, 2004): 1477–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2004.1523.
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Estimates of species divergence times using DNA sequence data are playing an increasingly important role in studies of evolution, ecology and biogeography. Most work has centred on obtaining appropriate kinds of data and developing optimal estimation procedures, whereas somewhat less attention has focused on the calibration of divergences using fossils. Case studies with multiple fossil calibration points provide important opportunities to examine the divergence time estimation problem in new ways. We discuss two cross–validation procedures that address different aspects of inference in divergence time estimation. ‘Fossil cross–validation’ is a procedure used to identify the impact of different individual calibrations on overall estimation. This can identify fossils that have an exceptionally large error effect and may warrant further scrutiny. ‘Fossil–based model cross–validation’ is an entirely different procedure that uses fossils to identify the optimal model of molecular evolution in the context of rate smoothing or other inference methods. Both procedures were applied to two recent studies: an analysis of monocot angiosperms with eight fossil calibrations and an analysis of placental mammals with nine fossil calibrations. In each case, fossil calibrations could be ranked from most to least influential, and in one of the two studies, the fossils provided decisive evidence about the optimal molecular evolutionary model.
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Kidwell, Susan M., and J. John Sepkoski. "The Nature of the Fossil Record." Paleontological Society Special Publications 11 (2002): 47–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s2475262200009813.
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The term “fossil record” is used in two ways: to mean either the totality of fossils preserved in all rocks or the sum of human knowledge of those fossils. In both cases, the term carries the connotation also of the geologic context of the fossils—their distribution in time and space and their relationship to the enclosing rock. One of the primary scientific interests of the fossil record is what it can teach us about the history of life and the processes of large-scale transformation, or evolution, in the forms, diversities, and biological interactions of living things.
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Houari, Imane Chmanti. "Development of a "Fossilis" tutorial on the concepts of fossils and fossilization." New Trends and Issues Proceedings on Humanities and Social Sciences 4, no. 1 (August 26, 2017): 544–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.18844/prosoc.v4i1.2298.
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Puttick, Mark N., and Gavin H. Thomas. "Fossils and living taxa agree on patterns of body mass evolution: a case study with Afrotheria." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 282, no. 1821 (December 22, 2015): 20152023. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.2023.
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Most of life is extinct, so incorporating some fossil evidence into analyses of macroevolution is typically seen as necessary to understand the diversification of life and patterns of morphological evolution. Here we test the effects of inclusion of fossils in a study of the body size evolution of afrotherian mammals, a clade that includes the elephants, sea cows and elephant shrews. We find that the inclusion of fossil tips has little impact on analyses of body mass evolution; from a small ancestral size (approx. 100 g), there is a shift in rate and an increase in mass leading to the larger-bodied Paenungulata and Tubulidentata, regardless of whether fossils are included or excluded from analyses. For Afrotheria, the inclusion of fossils and morphological character data affect phylogenetic topology, but these differences have little impact upon patterns of body mass evolution and these body mass evolutionary patterns are consistent with the fossil record. The largest differences between our analyses result from the evolutionary model, not the addition of fossils. For some clades, extant-only analyses may be reliable to reconstruct body mass evolution, but the addition of fossils and careful model selection is likely to increase confidence and accuracy of reconstructed macroevolutionary patterns.
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SOHN, JAE-CHEON, CONRAD LABANDEIRA, DONALD DAVIS, and CHARLES MITTER. "An annotated catalog of fossil and subfossil Lepidoptera (Insecta: Holometabola) of the world." Zootaxa 3286, no. 1 (April 30, 2012): 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3286.1.1.
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In this catalog, we attempt to assemble all fossil records of Lepidoptera described formally or informally in the worldliterature. A total of 667 records dealing with at least 4,568 specimens have been compiled. They include descriptions of131 fossil genera and 229 fossil species, as well as 72 extant genera and 21 extant species to which some of these fossilssupposedly belong or show superficial similarity. Replacement names of two fossil genera are proposed to avoidhomonymy: Baltopsyche Sohn, gen. nov. for Palaeopsyche Sobczyk and Kobbert, 2009 and Netoxena Sohn, gen. nov. forXena Martins-Neto, 1999. New generic combinations are proposed for: Tortrix? destructus Cockerell, 1916, Tortrixflorissantanus Cockerell, 1907, and Tortrix sp. sensu Gravenhorst (1835), all three to Tortricites Kozlov, 1988;Pterophorus oligocenicus Bigot, Nel and Nel, 1986, to Merrifieldia Tutt, 1905; Aporia sp. sensu Branscheid (1969) toPierites Heer, 1849; Noctua spp. sensu Hope (1836) and Lomnicki (1894), both to Noctuites Heer, 1849. Eleven namesimproperly proposed for lepidopteran fossils are invalidated: Baltonides roeselliformis Skalski in Kosmowska-Ceranowicz and Popiolek, 1981; Baltodines Kupryjanowicz, 2001; Barbarothea Scudder, 1890; Lepidopterites Piton,1936; Palaeozygaena Reiss, 1936; Psamateia calipsa Martins-Neto, 2002; Saxibatinca meyi Skalski in Kristensen andSkalski, 1998; Spatalistiforma submerga Skalski, 1976; Thanatites juvenalis Scudder, 1875; Tortricibaltia diakonoffiSkalski, 1976; and Zygaenites Reiss, 1936. An unnecessary subsequent type designation for Pierites Heer, 1849, isdiscussed. A total of 129 records include lepidopteran fossils which cannot be placed in any taxonomic rank. There alsoexist at least 25 fossil records which lack any evidence of the supposed lepidopteran association. Misidentified specimens,including 18 fossil genera, 29 fossil species and 12 unnamed fossils, are excluded from Lepidoptera. All the knownlepidopteran fossils are annotated by fossil type, specimen deposition, excavation locality, association with plants when present, and geological age. A bibliographic list of lepidopteran fossils is provided.
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Cui, Tao. "Preservative Features of the Fossils in Bauxite Deposit of WZD Area, Northern Guizhou, China." Advanced Materials Research 989-994 (July 2014): 1384–87. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.989-994.1384.
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It is hardly to discovery fossil from the bauxite in Wuchuan-Zheng, an-Daozhen (WZD) area, northern Guizhou, China. But the new study suggests, containing a small amount of plant debris from massive bauxite in the lower part of the ledge. Preservative features of fossils in WZD bauxite indicates: metallogenetic materials experienced a transport process; sedimentary environment is reduced; fossils only preserved in the massive bauxite, that fossils in other types of ores were destroyed in the late oxidation modification. Metallogenic environment of bauxite has experienced two kinds of state-reduction and oxidation. The lack of animal fossils; bauxite, reveal that the metallogenic environment is acidic, resulting in animal fossils are dissolved and hard to save.
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Van der Wal, Serita, Mario Schädel, Boris Ekrt, and Joachim T. Haug. "Description and ontogeny of a 40-million-year-old parasitic isopodan crustacean: Parvucymoides dvorakorum gen. et sp. nov." PeerJ 9 (December 9, 2021): e12317. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12317.
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A collection of exceptionally well-preserved fossil specimens of crustaceans, clearly representatives of Isopoda, is presented here. Excavated from the late Eocene (approximately 40 million years ago) freshwater sediments of the Trupelník hill field site near Kučlín, Czech Republic, these specimens are preserved with many details of the appendages. The morphological characteristics of the fossils were documented using macro-photography with polarised light, as well as stereo imaging. These characteristics, especially including the trunk appendage morphology, were compared to those of related extant groups from different ontogenetic stages. All specimens are conspecific, representing a single species Parvucymoides dvorakorum gen. et sp. nov. Morphometric analysis of body shapes and sizes of the reconstructed fossils and related extant species were performed. These analyses provided insight into the ontogenetic stages of each reconstructed fossil specimen. In combination with the morphological assessment, the results indicate that the fossils represent at least two (possibly three) developmental stages, including immatures. The morphology of the appendages suggests that these fossils were parasites. The fossils are interpreted as either representatives of Cymothoidae or at least closely related to this group.
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McMahon, Sean. "Earth's earliest and deepest purported fossils may be iron-mineralized chemical gardens." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 286, no. 1916 (November 27, 2019): 20192410. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.2410.
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Recognizing fossil microorganisms is essential to the study of life's origin and evolution and to the ongoing search for life on Mars. Purported fossil microbes in ancient rocks include common assemblages of iron-mineral filaments and tubes. Recently, such assemblages have been interpreted to represent Earth's oldest body fossils, Earth's oldest fossil fungi, and Earth's best analogues for fossils that might form in the basaltic Martian subsurface. Many of these putative fossils exhibit hollow circular cross-sections, lifelike (non-crystallographic, constant-thickness, and bifurcate) branching, anastomosis, nestedness within ‘sheaths’, and other features interpreted as strong evidence for a biological origin, since no abiotic process consistent with the composition of the filaments has been shown to produce these specific lifelike features either in nature or in the laboratory. Here, I show experimentally that abiotic chemical gardening can mimic such purported fossils in both morphology and composition. In particular, chemical gardens meet morphological criteria previously proposed to establish biogenicity, while also producing the precursors to the iron minerals most commonly constitutive of filaments in the rock record. Chemical gardening is likely to occur in nature. Such microstructures should therefore not be assumed to represent fossil microbes without independent corroborating evidence.
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Moura, Geraldo Jorge Barbosa, and Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque. "The First Report on the Medicinal Use of Fossils in Latin America." Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2012 (2012): 1–5. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/691717.
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There have been very few ethnopharmacological studies performed on the traditional use of fossil species, although a few records have been conducted in Asia, Africa, and Europe. This study is the first ever to be performed on the use of Testudine (turtle) fossils for folk medicine in Latin America. An investigation was conducted in the Araripe Basin, which is one of the most important fossil-bearing reserves in the world due to the diversity, endemism, and quality of preservation of its fossils. We propose the formalization of a new discipline called ethnopaleontology, which will involve the study of the dynamic relationship between humans and fossils, from human perception to direct use.
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Martill, D. "The trade in Brazilian fossils: one palaeontologist's perspective." Geological Curator 7, no. 6 (December 2001): 211–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.55468/gc455.
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The Santana and Crato formations of the Araripe Basin are a prolific source of exceptionally well preserved mid Cretaceous fossils. Fossils are collected from the Crato Formation as a byproduct of quarrying activity, but those from the Santana Formation are mined commerically. The commerical trade in Brazilian fossils is illegal, but the trade flourishes. Despite occasional attempts to stamp out the trade, widespread corruption allows its continuity. A legitimate case can be made for the legalisation of the fossil trade that would be of benefit to the international scientific community and to the local communities where the fossils are found.
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Warner, Barry G., Helen J. Kubiw, and Paul F. Karrow. "Origin of a postglacial kettle-fill sequence near Georgetown, Ontario." Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 28, no. 12 (December 1, 1991): 1965–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e91-178.
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Stratigraphic relationships, radiocarbon dating, and pollen and plant macrofossil analyses establish the origin and developmental history of a kettle near Georgetown, Ontario. The early inorganic sediments contain redeposited fossils, particularly from local vegetation. Fossils in peat younger than 10 000 BP largely represent past wetland plant communities in the basin. Although the fossil record probably began about 1300 years after deglaciation of the site, an additional 1700 years passed before the dead ice block melted; only then did sedimentation and biological activity stabilize in the basin and produce an accurate fossil record of past vegetation. Truncated fossil records, illustrated further here by a pollen diagram from nearby Heart Lake, should be expected from kettle-hole deposits, and the radiocarbon ages and fossils from the earliest parts of such sequences should be interpreted with caution.
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BABCOCK, LOREN E. "Asymmetry in the fossil record." European Review 13, S2 (August 22, 2005): 135–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1062798705000712.
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Asymmetry is a fundamental aspect of the biology of all organisms, and has a deep evolutionary history. The fossil record contains evidence of both morphological and behavioural asymmetries. Morphological asymmetry is most commonly expressed as conspicuous, directional asymmetry (either lateral asymmetry or spiral asymmetry) in body fossils. Few examples of fluctuating asymmetry, a form of subtle asymmetry, have been documented from fossils. Body fossil evidence indicates that morphological asymmetry dates to the time of the appearance of the first life on Earth (Archaean Eon). Behavioural asymmetry can be assumed to have been concomitant with conspicuous morphological asymmetry, but more direct evidence is in the form of trace fossils. Trace fossil evidence suggests that behavioural asymmetry, including nervous system lateralization, was in existence by the beginning of the Palaeozoic Era.
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Gueriau, Pierre, Solenn Réguer, Nicolas Leclercq, Camila Cupello, Paulo M. Brito, Clément Jauvion, Séverin Morel, Sylvain Charbonnier, Dominique Thiaudière, and Cristian Mocuta. "Visualizing mineralization processes and fossil anatomy using synchronous synchrotron X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction mapping." Journal of The Royal Society Interface 17, no. 169 (August 2020): 20200216. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2020.0216.
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Fossils, including those that occasionally preserve decay-prone soft tissues, are mostly made of minerals. Accessing their chemical composition provides unique insight into their past biology and/or the mechanisms by which they preserve, leading to a series of developments in chemical and elemental imaging. However, the mineral composition of fossils, particularly where soft tissues are preserved, is often only inferred indirectly from elemental data, while X-ray diffraction that specifically provides phase identification received little attention. Here, we show the use of synchrotron radiation to generate not only X-ray fluorescence elemental maps of a fossil, but also mineralogical maps in transmission geometry using a two-dimensional area detector placed behind the fossil. This innovative approach was applied to millimetre-thick cross-sections prepared through three-dimensionally preserved fossils, as well as to compressed fossils. It identifies and maps mineral phases and their distribution at the microscale over centimetre-sized areas, benefitting from the elemental information collected synchronously, and further informs on texture (preferential orientation), crystallite size and local strain. Probing such crystallographic information is instrumental in defining mineralization sequences, reconstructing the fossilization environment and constraining preservation biases. Similarly, this approach could potentially provide new knowledge on other (bio)mineralization processes in environmental sciences. We also illustrate that mineralogical contrasts between fossil tissues and/or the encasing sedimentary matrix can be used to visualize hidden anatomies in fossils.
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King, Benedict, and Martin Rücklin. "Tip dating with fossil sites and stratigraphic sequences." PeerJ 8 (June 26, 2020): e9368. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.9368.
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Tip dating, a method of phylogenetic analysis in which fossils are included as terminals and assigned an age, is becoming increasingly widely used in evolutionary studies. Current implementations of tip dating allow fossil ages to be assigned as a point estimate, or incorporate uncertainty through the use of uniform tip age priors. However, the use of tip age priors has the unwanted effect of decoupling the ages of fossils from the same fossil site. Here we introduce a new Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) proposal, which allows fossils from the same site to have linked ages, while still incorporating uncertainty in the age of the fossil site itself. We also include an extension, allowing fossil sites to be ordered in a stratigraphic column with age bounds applied only to the top and bottom of the sequence. These MCMC proposals are implemented in a new open-source BEAST2 package, palaeo. We test these new proposals on a dataset of early vertebrate fossils, concentrating on the effects on two sites with multiple acanthodian fossil taxa but wide age uncertainty, the Man On The Hill (MOTH) site from northern Canada, and the Turin Hill site from Scotland, both of Lochkovian (Early Devonian) age. The results show an increased precision of age estimates when fossils have linked tip ages compared to when ages are unlinked, and in this example leads to support for a younger age for the MOTH site compared with the Turin Hill site. There is also a minor effect on the tree topology of acanthodians. These new MCMC proposals should be widely applicable to studies that employ tip dating, particularly when the terminals are coded as individual specimens.
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alrawi, Sufyan Shlash, and Abdulhammed A. Alhadaithy. "Sedimentology Study Of Exposed Formations In Al-Assad Valley, Al-Baghdadi Area, Western Iraq." IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1300, no. 1 (February 1, 2024): 012038. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1300/1/012038.
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Abstract The presence of the Sheikh Alas Formation, the Shurau Formation, and the Euphrates Formation in the area of the current study. The inference of the Sheikh Alas Formation was from Nummlite fossils and planktonic Foraminifera fossils. The Euphrates Formation was deposited in a shallow marine environment, the Sheikh Alas Formation was deposited in an environment in for reef, and the Shurau Formation was deposited in an environment Back reef. The environment of the Euphrates Formation is a shallow lagoon environment for the presence of milliolied fossils, which represent the Miocene age as evidenced by the presence of the Borlis melo melo fossil. As for the environment of the Sheikh Alas Formation, it was deposited in a marine environment in for reef due to the presence of Planktonic foraminifera fossils and the Nummlite fossil, which represents the Oligocene age, and the environment of the Shurau Formation In a shallow, lagoon marine environment Back reef, there are abundant milliolid fossils. The boundary between the Miocene formations and the Oligocene formations is characterized by an unconformable boundary composed of a layer of basal conglomerate with a thickness of 6.5 m, which is affiliated with the Euphrates Formation in terms of age.
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Hasiotis, S. T., and M. C. Bourke. "Continental trace fossils and museum exhibits: displaying organism behaviour frozen in time." Geological Curator 8, no. 5 (June 2006): 211–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.55468/gc366.
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This paper introduces continental trace fossils, and suggests ways in which modern and ancient traces can be used in museum exhibits. Burrows, tracks, trails, nests, borings, excrement and root patterns represent organism-substratum interactions of terrestrial and aquatic plants, invertebrates and vertebrates, and are preserved in the geologic record as continental trace fossils. Trace fossils are important because they are analogous to behaviour frozen in time and preserve information about organisms not recorded by body fossils. They can be used also as fossil evidence of organisms in the geologic record; an organism can make tens to millions of traces in a lifetime. Trace fossils represent hidden biodiversity; they preserve in situ evidence of food-web relations between fossorial, terrestrial and aquatic communities, and are useful for interpreting palaeoenvironmental, palaeohydrologic and palaeoclimatic settings. Public education on the importance of continental trace fossils to palaeontology and the study of Earth history can be accomplished with side-by-side displays of casts of modern traces and trace fossils, which represent homologs or analogues to modern behaviours. Such displays allow the public to see how scientists study and interpret the significance of trace fossils as behaviour. This kind of exhibit demonstrates also that modern organisms and their behaviours have an evolutionary history through deep geologic time as recorded by the record of body and trace fossils. Several examples of modern traces and ancient trace fossils presented here illustrate ways to produce museum exhibits to educate the public on continental trace fossils.
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Hughes, Nigel C., Frederick J. Collier, Joanne Kluessendorf, Jere H. Lipps, Wendy L. Taylor, and Russell D. White. "Fossil Invertebrate and Microfossil Collections: Kinds, Uses, Users." Paleontological Society Special Publications 10 (2000): 25–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s2475262200008935.
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INVERTEBRATE and micro-fossil collections vary in size, scope, degree of documentation, quality of curation, purpose, usage, and security. This chapter introduces the main categories of fossil collections and curatorial attention, and documents the sources and uses of invertebrate paleontological materials. The term ‘permanent collection’ is used to describe collections housed in professional collections-care institutions that provide long-term commitment to collection security and curation. Invertebrate fossils include the hardparts (spicules, shells, etc., other body fossils [e.g., impressions, casts, and molds]), tracks, trails, and burrows attributed to invertebrates, and organic molecules. Microfossils, included here for convenience only, include the same kinds of remains of prokaryotes, protists, and tiny invertebrates. This book is the product of an National Science Foundation funded workshop organized to address specific concerns about curatorial practices in invertebrate paleontology. For this reason the focus of this chapter is on invertebrate fossils. Nevertheless, the concepts and uses of collections described below apply directly to paleobotanic specimens, and to most vertebrate fossils.
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Colleary, Caitlin, Andrei Dolocan, James Gardner, Suresh Singh, Michael Wuttke, Renate Rabenstein, Jörg Habersetzer, et al. "Chemical, experimental, and morphological evidence for diagenetically altered melanin in exceptionally preserved fossils." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112, no. 41 (September 28, 2015): 12592–97. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1509831112.
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In living organisms, color patterns, behavior, and ecology are closely linked. Thus, detection of fossil pigments may permit inferences about important aspects of ancient animal ecology and evolution. Melanin-bearing melanosomes were suggested to preserve as organic residues in exceptionally preserved fossils, retaining distinct morphology that is associated with aspects of original color patterns. Nevertheless, these oblong and spherical structures have also been identified as fossilized bacteria. To date, chemical studies have not directly considered the effects of diagenesis on melanin preservation, and how this may influence its identification. Here we use time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry to identify and chemically characterize melanin in a diverse sample of previously unstudied extant and fossil taxa, including fossils with notably different diagenetic histories and geologic ages. We document signatures consistent with melanin preservation in fossils ranging from feathers, to mammals, to amphibians. Using principal component analyses, we characterize putative mixtures of eumelanin and phaeomelanin in both fossil and extant samples. Surprisingly, both extant and fossil amphibians generally exhibit melanosomes with a mixed eumelanin/phaeomelanin composition rather than pure eumelanin, as assumed previously. We argue that experimental maturation of modern melanin samples replicates diagenetic chemical alteration of melanin observed in fossils. This refutes the hypothesis that such fossil microbodies could be bacteria, and demonstrates that melanin is widely responsible for the organic soft tissue outlines in vertebrates found at exceptional fossil localities, thus allowing for the reconstruction of certain aspects of original pigment patterns.
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Rule, James Patrick, Gustavo Burin, and Travis Park. "A quantitative test of the “Ecomorphotype Hypothesis” for fossil true seals (Family Phocidae)." PeerJ 12 (June 19, 2024): e17592. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17592.
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The fossil record of true seals (Family Phocidae) is mostly made up of isolated bones, some of which are type specimens. Previous studies have sought to increase referral of non-overlapping and unrelated fossils to these taxa using the ‘Ecomorphotype Hypothesis’, which stipulates that certain differences in morphology between taxa represent adaptations to differing ecology. On this basis, bulk fossil material could be lumped to a specific ecomorphotype, and then referred to species in that ecomorphotype, even if they are different bones. This qualitative and subjective method has been used often to expand the taxonomy of fossil phocids, but has never been quantitatively tested. We test the proposed ecomorphotypes using morphometric analysis of fossil and extant northern true seal limb bones, specifically principal components analysis and discriminant function analysis. A large amount of morphological overlap between ecomorphotypes, and poor discrimination between them, suggests that the ‘Ecomorphotype Hypothesis’ is not a valid approach. Further, the analysis failed to assign fossils to ecomorphotypes designated in previous studies, with some fossils from the same taxa being designated as different ecomorphotypes. The failure of this approach suggests that all fossils referred using this method should be considered to have unknown taxonomic status. In light of this, and previous findings that phocid limb bones have limited utility as type specimens, we revise the status of named fossil phocid species. We conclude that the majority of named fossil phocid taxa should be considered nomina dubia.
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Edgecombe, Gregory D. "Arthropod Origins: Integrating Paleontological and Molecular Evidence." Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 51, no. 1 (November 2, 2020): 1–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-011720-124437.
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Phylogenomics underpins a stable and mostly well-resolved hypothesis for the interrelationships of extant arthropods. Exceptionally preserved fossils are integrated into this framework by coding their morphological characters, as exemplified by total-evidence dating approaches that treat fossils as dated tips in analyses numerically dominated by molecular data. Cambrian fossils inform on the sequence of character acquisition in the arthropod stem group and in the stems of its main extant clades. The arthropod head problem incorporates unique appendage combinations and remains of the nervous system in fossils into a scheme mostly based on neuroanatomy and Hox expression domains for extant forms. Molecular estimates of arthropod origins in the Cryogenian or Ediacaran predate a coherent picture from the arthropod fossil record, which commences as trace fossils in the earliest Cambrian. Probabilistic morphological clock analysis of trilobites, which exemplify the earliest arthropod body fossils, supports a Cambrian origin, without the need to posit an unfossilized Ediacaran history.
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Tilgner, Erich. "The fossil record of Phasmida (Insecta: Neoptera)." Insect Systematics & Evolution 31, no. 4 (2000): 473–80. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/187631200x00507.
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AbstractA review of the Phasmida fossil record is provided. No fossils of Timema Scudder are known. Euphasmida fossils include: Agathemera reclusa Scudder, Electrobaculum gracilis Sharov, Eophasma oregonense Sellick, Eophasma minor Sellick, Eophasmina manchesteri Sellick, Pseudoperla gracilipes Pictet, Pseudoperla lineata Pictet and various unclassified species from Grube Messel, Baltic amber, and Dominican Republic amber. The oldest documented Euphasmida fossils are 44-49 million years old; molecular clock dating underestimates the origin of the sister group Timema by at least 24 million years.
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Nairn, A. E. M. "Fossils." Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 57, no. 2-4 (December 1986): 343–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0031-0182(86)90025-8.
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Crimes, T. P., and M. L. Droser. "Trace Fossils and Bioturbation: The Other Fossil Record." Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 23, no. 1 (November 1992): 339–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.es.23.110192.002011.
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KEIGHLEY, DAVE G., and RON K. PICKERILL. "Fossils explained 13: Trace fossils 1." Geology Today 11, no. 3 (May 1995): 113–15. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2451.1995.tb00928.x.
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PICKERILL, RON K., and DAVE G. KEIGHLEY. "Fossils explained 14: Trace fossils 2." Geology Today 11, no. 4 (July 1995): 155–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2451.1995.tb00945.x.
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Watters, Wesley A., and John P. Grotzinger. "Digital reconstruction of calcified early metazoans, terminal Proterozoic Nama Group, Namibia." Paleobiology 27, no. 1 (2001): 159–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1666/0094-8373(2001)027<0159:drocem>2.0.co;2.
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A method is presented for the digital reconstruction of weakly calcified fossils within the Nama Group, Namibia. These recently described fossils (Grotzinger et al. 2000) are preserved as calcitic void-fill in a calcite matrix, and individual specimens cannot be freed by conventional techniques. The technique presented here has several integrated steps: (1) the analysis of cross-sections of fossil specimens, (2) the construction of a three-dimensional “tomographic” model that is assembled from the cross-sections, (3) the development of an idealized mathematical model based upon geometric parameters measured from the tomographic model, and (4) the visualization of randomly oriented cross-sections through the mathematical model, which can be compared with fossil cross-sections in outcrop.In this procedure, rocks containing the fossils are ground and digitally photographed at thickness intervals of 25 μm. A battery of image-processing techniques is used to obtain the contour outlines of the fossils in serial cross-sections. A Delaunay triangulation method is then used to reconstruct the morphology from tetrahedrons which connect the contours in adjacent layers. We found that most of the fossils represent a single morphology with some well-defined characters that vary slightly among individual specimens. This fossil morphology was described by Grotzinger et al. (2000) as Namacalathus hermanastes. A mathematical description of the morphology is used to obtain a database of randomly oriented synthetic cross-sections. This database reproduces the vast majority of cross-sections observed in outcrop.
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Brochu, Christopher A., and Colin D. Sumrall. "Phylogenetics and the Integration of Paleontology Within the Life Sciences." Paleontological Society Papers 14 (October 2008): 185–204. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1089332600001686.
Full textAbstract:
Paleontologists rely on information from modern organisms to understand fossils, but fossils can in turn be used to more completely understand the living. This is facilitated when the fossil record is understood from a phylogenetic context. Phylogenetic analyses allow the identification of robust calibration points for molecular dating analyses, and in the absence of phylogeny, “conflicts” between fossils and molecules may arise that are based not on the data, but on methodology or taxonomic philosophy. More importantly, phylogenetic analyses using fossils can overturn evolutionary scenarios based solely on living taxa, and they can direct researchers in more appropriate directions. This is necessary if paleontology is to be fully integrated with both the Earth and life sciences.
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Bhatt, Nishith Y., Paras M. Solanki, Neeru Prakash, and Neelam Das. "Depositional environment of Himmatnagar Sandstone (Lower/Middle Cretaceous): a perspective." Journal of Palaeosciences 65, no. (1-2) (December 31, 2016): 67–84. http://dx.doi.org/10.54991/jop.2016.300.
Full textAbstract:
Himmatnagar Sandstone (lower to middle Cretaceous) is exposed in between Sabarmati River in the west to Vantada in the east around Himmatnagar Town in north Gujarat, India. The sequence is divisible in two members: The lower member is 65 m thick, mostly massive, horizontally stratified to hummocky stratified with abundant plant and trace fossils in assorted shales and sandstones. The upper member is ~ 12 m thick, cross–stratified and medium to coarse grained–gritty to cobbly in nature. Six lithofacies have been identified in the sequence, viz. 1. grey wacke (GW), 2. silty–shale (SS), 3. cross–stratified sandstone (CS), 4. horizontally stratified sandstone (HSS), and 5. planar cross–stratified sandstone (PCS) in the lower member; and 6. gritty–cobbly cross–stratified sandstone (GCCS) in the upper member.
The lower member consists of plant fossils which are poor to moderately preserved and transported. The silty–shale lithofacies contains plant fossils (Pagiophyllum, Brachyphyllum, Gleichenia, Araucarites, circinate vernation of ferns, Williamsonia flower, twigs, petrified wood, conifer and its cone, etc.), body fossil (insect wing) and trace fossils (Skolithos, Monocraterion, Psilonichnus, Thalassinoides, Chondrites, Planolites, Palaeophycus, Calycraterion, Circulichnus, Ophiomorpha, Phoebichnus, etc.). In the cross–stratified sandstone lithofacies, body fossils (mainly fragmented bivalves, plant fossils (Weichselia reticulata, Matonidium indicum, Ptilophyllum, cycadean frond and fossil wood) and trace fossils (Monocraterion, Chondrites, Calycraterion, Thalassinoides, Psilonichnus and Skolithos) are recognized. On the other hand, in horizontally stratified sandstone lithofacies plant fossils (Sphenopteris, Pagiophyllum, Gleichenia, Elactocladus, Brachyphyllum, ferns, petrified wood, etc.) and trace fossils (Skolithos, Ophiomorpha, Psilonichnus, Monocraterion, Arenicolites, Diplocraterion, Thalassinoides, Teichichnus, Palaeophycus, Planolites, etc.) are present. While, large crustacean and vertebrate burrows, Skolithos, Thalassinoides, Ophiomorpha, etc are found in planar cross–stratified sandstone lithofacies. The trace fossils belong to Psilonichnus, Skolithos and Cruziana ichnofacies as per Seilacher (1967). The member also contains wedge shape geometry of beds similar to tidal partings as well as ridge and runnel structures, low–angle to hummocky cross–stratification, herringbone structure and parting lineation. Here, north to northeast palaeo–current direction is indicated by cross–stratification in the member. All these features lead to the depositional environment, which seems to be foreshore–tidal flat to middle shoreface for the lower member of the sequence.
The upper member is composed of trough cross–stratified sandstones showing prominently southwest to south palaeo–current direction with angular to sub–rounded pebbles and cobbles of underlying rocks and fossil wood with lower erosional contact and channel structures at places. Based on above characteristics, depositional environment of upper member can be interpreted from estuarine to fluvial.
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Carmichael, Stephen W. "Spider Fossils Never Looked so Good!" Microscopy Today 18, no. 1 (January 2010): 6–8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1551929510991165.
Full textAbstract:
Fossil arachnids—especially those dating from the Carboniferous period, 360–299 million years ago—are often found in mines or quarries within concretions of siderite (FeCO3). Most of the methods to study these fossils are either destructive or damaging to the specimens and are limited in their resolution, thereby limiting the information that can be derived from the fossil. In an elegant study, Russell Garwood, Jason Dunlop, and Mark Sutton have demonstrated that X-ray micro-tomography (XMT) can reveal hitherto unseen details in such fossils without damaging the specimens.