Tuesday, February 22, 2005

204-226: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 24(3)

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 24/3:

New fossil osteoglossomorph from Ningxia, China. Zhang Jiang-Yong, pages 515–524.

Evolution of fossil fish.

A new pycnodont fish genus (Neopterygii: Pycnodontiformes) from the Cenomanian (Upper Cretaceous) of Mount Lebanon. Jürgen Kriwet, pages 525–532.

Evolutionary relationships of fossil fish.

Cranial anatomy and relationships of Microposaurus casei, a temnospondyl from the Middle Triassic of South Africa. Ross Damiani, pages 533–541.

Re-examining a fossil reveals new data about the evolution of this dinosaur.

Description of the skull of a ctenochasma (Pterosauria) from the latest Jurassic of eastern France, with a taxonomic revision of European Tithonian Pterodactyloidea. Stephane Jouve, pages 542–554.

Evolution and ontogeny of pterodactyls.

Growth in small dinosaurs and pterosaurs: The evolution of archosaurian growth strategies. Kevin Padian, John R. Horner, and Armand de Ricqlès, pages 555–571.

Testing an evolutionary hypothesis about the evolution of large size in dinosaurs, birds and mammals.

Description of Prenoceratops pieganensis gen. et sp. nov. (Dinosauria: Neoceratopsia) from the Two Medicine formation of Montana. Brenda Chinnery, pages 572–590.

Evolution of the early horned dinosaurs.

Morphometric analysis of evolutionary trends in the ceratopsian postcranial skeleton. Brenda Chinnery, pages 591–609.

Agreement between phylogeny of horned dinosaurs based on skull and skeleton morphology.

A new Late Cretaceous gavialoid crocodylian from eastern North America and the phylogenetic relationships of thoracosaurs. Christopher A. Brochu, pages 610–633.

A new species and genus of crocodylians, and its evolutionary relationships.

Bone histology and growth patterns of some nonmammalian therapsids. Sanghamitra Ray, Jennifer Botha, and Anusuya Chinsamy, pages 634–648.

Understanding the biology of the reptiles ancestral to mammals.

A new tritylodontid from the Upper Jurassic Shishugou formation of the Junggar Basin (Xinjiang, NW China). Michael W. Maisch, Andreas T. Matzke, and Ge Sun, pages 649–656.

One of the last non-mammalian therapsid fossils. We're talking transitional fossils.

Quantitative analyses of biogeography and faunal evolution of Middle to Late Eocene mammals in East Asia. Takehisa Tsubamoto, Masanaru Takai, and Naoko Egi, pages 657–667.

Macroevolutionary patterns and the impact of the environment on diversity (speciation and extinction).

A new species of nambaroo (Marsupialia: Macropodoidea) from the Miocene Camfield beds of northern Australia with observation on the phylogeny of the Balbarinae. Leah R. S. Schwartz and Dirk Megirian, pages 668–675.

The evolution of kangaroos.

A new large ctenodactylid species from the lower Miocene of Turkey. Raquel López-Antoñanzas, Sevket Sen and Gerçek Saraç, pages 676–688.

The evolution of gundis based on fossil and modern species.

Functional-adaptive analysis of the postcranial skeleton of a Laventan borhyaenoid, Lycopsis longirostris (Marsupialia, Mammalia). Christine Argot, pages 689–708.

By comparing fossil carnivorous marsupials to modern marsupials, the hunting strategies of the fossil species can be inferred. Why? Common descent and parallel evolution.

Bassariscus and Probassariscus (Mammalia, Carnivora, Procyonidae) from the early Barstovian (Middle Miocene). Jon A. Baskin, pages 709–720.
Fossils from the family including coatis and raccoons reveals that one fossil genus is the most similar to the earliest procyonids, while another is more closely related to raccoons.

Late Miocene Promephitis (Carnivora, Mephitidae) from China. Xiaoming Wang and Zhanxiang Qiu, pages 721–731.

The evolution of skunks.

A new giant porcupine (Rodentia, Erethizontidae) from the Late Miocene of Argentina. Adriana Magdalena Candela, pages 732–741.

Fossil porcupine in its evolutionary context.

Further consideration of the earliest known lamprey, Hardistiella montanensis Janvier and Lund 1983, from the Carboniferous of Bear Gulch, Montana, U.S.A. Philippe Janvier, Richard Lund, and Eileen D. Grogan, pages 742–743.

New fossil lampreys show that the sucker existed early in their evolution, and clarifies their early life histories and size.

New material of the mosasaur Carinodens belgicus from the Upper Cretaceous of the Netherlands. Anne S. Schulp, John W. M. Jagt, and Frans Fonken, pages 744–747.

A new fossil reveals the diet of extinct swimming reptiles, and clarifies their evolution.

A new symmetrodont from the Early Cretaceous of England. Pamela Gill, pages 748–752.

A new fossil clarifies the evolution of novel teeth shapes in early mammals.

An oligocene sciurid from the Hsanda Gol formation, Mongolia. Bolortsetseg Minjin, pages 753–756.

A new squirrel fossil is the oldest in Asia, which gives new data on the evolution and spread of squirrels.

A new species of Petromus (Rodentia, Hystricognatha, Petromuridae) from the early Pliocene of South Africa and its paleoenvironmental implications. Frank Sénégas, pages 757–763.

A fossil helps clarify the evolutionary relationships among modern rodents.

From dinosaurs to Dyrosaurids (Crocodyliformes): Removal of the post-Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous) record of Ornithischia from Africa. Matthew C. Lamanna, Joshua B. Smith, Yousry S. Attia, and Peter Dodson, pages 764–768.

New research clarifies evolutionary relationships of a specimen, which has broader implications for biogeography and evolution.