Cover
The cover image is based on the Research Article Distinctive microfossil supports early Paleoproterozoic rise in complex cellular organization by Erica V. Barlow et al., ...https://doi.org/10.1111/gbi.12576
The systematic position of Noeggerathiales was long uncertain until the whole plant species Paratingia wuhaia was restored and proved to belong to progymnosperms due to its spore-producing fertile ...organ and secondary wood producing a large stem. However, whether Tingia Halle as the most diversified genus in Noeggerathiales belongs to progymnosperms has yet remained uncertain as the anatomy of the main stem of this plant is unknown, that is, whether the anatomy of the main stem with the anatomical characteristics of gymnosperms woods remains uncertain. Here, the stem anatomy of Tingia unita is presented based on fossil materials from the early Permian Wuda Tuff Flora in Wuda Coalfield, Wuhai City, Inner Mongolia, China. The well-developed secondary wood, plus previously accumulated evidence of the spore-bearing nature of this plant, confirms that this genus belongs to progymnosperms. As such, the genera Tingia and Paratingia are all certainly progymnosperms in affinity. Tingia Halle, a representative genus of the Cathaysia Flora, has been studied for nearly 100 years, being a small heterosporous tree based on the gross morphology of Tingia unita. However, the systematic affinity of Tingia is uncertain. Now, a number of well-preserved fossils of T. unita from the Taiyuan Formation of Lower Permian in Wuda Coalfield, Wuhai City, Inner Mongolia facilitates an examination of wood anatomy. The stem anatomy of T. unita shows parenchymatous pith, endarch primary xylem, pycnoxylic secondary xylem, and cortex, typically a type of gymnosperm wood, which taken together with pteridophytic reproduction, certainly evidences that Tingia Halle is a progymnosperm. In addition, Tingia together with Paratingia provide strong evidence to link the Noeggerathiales with progymnosperms.
Retro review: The Earliest Englishman Donovan, S. Kenneth
Geology today,
May/June 2023, 2023-05-00, 20230501, Letnik:
39, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
One of the most notable events in the history of palaeoanthropology was the description of ‘Piltdown Man’, a hoax that took 40 years to uncover. At the centre of this episode was Sir Arthur Smith ...Woodward, who was duped by the ‘discoverer’ and fossil forger, Charles Dawson. Smith Woodward never doubted the authenticity of this find and died before the dénouement of the Piltdown episode. His last major work was a summary of Piltdown Man and its associated ‘science’. The Earliest Englishman is well‐written and crafted, and still is worthy of being read at the present day, 70 years since the forgery was exposed.
We describe lark (Alaudidae) fossils from the upper Pliocene of the Beregovaya (southern Transbaikalia) and Shaamar (northern Mongolia) localities. The presence of 4 extinct forms in these localities ...is established, including the new fossil horned lark Eremophila orkhonensis (Zelenkov et Kurochkin, 2012), comb. nov. This is the oldest member of Eremophila in the fossil record, indicating a possible Central Asian origin of the genus. Two other larks Alaudala aff. A. rufescens and Calandrella aff. C. brachydactyla also probably represent extinct forms. The paper describes in detail the osteology of larks and compares it with other passerines in its size class. The evolutionary history of Eremophila is discussed, and the environmental preferences of larks and their relationship to the late Pliocene landscapes of Central Asia are considered.
Early Pleistocene Spiral-Horned Antelopes Vislobokova, I. A; Titov, V. V; Lavrov, A. V ...
Paleontological journal,
01/2020, Letnik:
54, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The article describes fossil remains of two spiral-horned antelope species Gazellospira torticornis (Aymard, 1854) and Pontoceros ambiguus Vereschagin, Alexejeva, David et Baigusheva, 1971 which were ...found in 2018 in the Lower Pleistocene sediments of the Taurida Cave in Central Crimea. These finds are the first evidence of the occurrence of these taxa on the Crimean Peninsula. This association is correlated with the Late Villafranchian faunas of Europe and the mammal zone MNQ18 (within the time interval 1.8-1.5 Ma). Fossils of G. torticornis from the Taurida Cave confirm the tendency towards a reduction in size among the late representatives of this antelope species. P. ambiguus from the Taurida Cave is one of the earliest representatives of the species in the south of Europe. Finds of spiral-horned antelopes in the Taurida Cave help elucidate the details of their morphological evolution, refine their geographic and stratigraphic range.
The 'Rauisuchia' are a group of Triassic pseudosuchian archosaurs that displayed a near worldwide distribution. In Brazil, their fossils are found only in the Santa Maria Formation (Paraná Basin) of ...the Rio Grande do Sul State, specifically in the Middle Triassic Dinodontosaurus assemblage zone (AZ) and the Late Triassic Hyperodapedon AZ (Rauisuchus tiradentes). Between these two cenozones is the Santacruzodon AZ (Middle Triassic), whose record was, until now, restricted to non-mammalian cynodonts and the proterochampsian Chanaresuchus bonapartei. Here we present the first occurrence of a rauisuchian archosaur for this cenozone, from the Schoenstatt outcrop, located near the city of Santa Cruz do Sul and propose a new species, based on biostratigraphical evidence and a comparative osteological analysis.
The degree of leaf dissection and the presence of leaf teeth, along with tooth size and abundance, inversely correlate with mean annual temperature (MAT) across many plant communities. These ...relationships form the core of several methods for reconstructing MAT from fossils, yet the direct selection of temperature on tooth morphology has not been demonstrated experimentally. It is also not known if atmospheric CO.sub.2 concentration affects leaf shape, limiting confidence in ancient climate reconstructions because CO.sub.2 has varied widely on geologic timescales. Here I report the results of growing Acer rubrum (red maple) in growth cabinets at contrasting temperature and CO.sub.2 conditions. The CO.sub.2 treatment imparted no significant differences in leaf size and shape, while plants grown at cooler temperatures tended to have more teeth and more highly dissected leaves. These results provide direct evidence for the selection of temperature on leaf shape in one species, and support a key link in many leaf-climate methods. More broadly, these results increase confidence for using leaf shape in fossils to reconstruct paleoclimate.
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