GeobiosPub Date : 2024-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.005
Elena Syromyatnikova , Oleg Redkozubov
{"title":"A review of the Late Miocene herpetofauna of the Keinar locality of Moldova","authors":"Elena Syromyatnikova , Oleg Redkozubov","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Small fossil amphibians and reptiles from the Late Miocene of the Keinar locality of Moldova are reviewed for the first time. The following taxa are described: <em>Mioproteus caucasicus</em>, <em>Chelotriton</em> sp., <em>Latonia</em> sp., <em>Pelobates</em> sp., <em>Pelophylax</em> sp., “Colubrinae” indet., <em>Natrix</em> sp., two <em>Vipera</em> spp. (“<em>Vipera aspis</em> complex” and “Oriental vipers complex”), and Squamata indet. Among them, <em>Pelobates</em> sp. exhibits the characters which occur in the Early–Late Miocene (presence of both pit-and-ridge and pustular sculptures of the frontoparietal bone) and in the Pliocene (short frontoparietal–squamosal contact) members of the genus; this combination is not observed in any other <em>Pelobates</em> species. The viperid snake of the “<em>Vipera aspis</em> complex” is recorded from Moldova for the first time.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"86 ","pages":"Pages 25-33"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142578304","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GeobiosPub Date : 2024-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.006
Steven L. Wick , Thomas M. Lehman
{"title":"A rare ‘flat-headed’ pachycephalosaur (Dinosauria: Pachycephalosauridae) from West Texas, USA, with morphometric and heterochronic considerations","authors":"Steven L. Wick , Thomas M. Lehman","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A juvenile pachycephalosaur frontal from the upper Aguja Formation (Late Cretaceous: middle Campanian) of West Texas, USA is unusually thin dorsoventrally, even compared to ‘flat’ frontals of young individuals pertaining to other pachycephalosaur taxa. The specimen is most comparable morphologically and morphometrically to <em>Stegoceras validum</em>. However, it is much thinner than any ‘juvenile’ example of that species, and also differs in the elongate form and radial arrangement of the surficial tubercles, as well as occurrence of radial grooves along the lateral margins of the bone. Such differences are unlikely a reflection of intraspecific variation. Instead, the Aguja specimen likely represents a previously unknown juvenile semaphoront from the southern Western Interior, referred herein to <em>Stegoceras</em> sp. and likely extends the distribution of this widespread Campanian genus. A morphometric evaluation suggests that the holotype specimen of <em>Texacephale langstoni</em>, also from the Aguja Formation, is probably an adult semaphoront of <em>Stegoceras.</em> However, both specimens represent different ontogenetic stages with dissimilar morphologies and so their potential conspecifity remains equivocal. The new Aguja specimen described herein likely represents a ‘paedomorphic’ Campanian pachycephalosaur – one where the onset of doming is displaced until well into ontogeny – a heterochronic attribute <em>Stegoceras</em> sp. shares with <em>S. validum</em> and <em>Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensis.</em> Where an adequate ontogenetic sample is available for comparison, other pachycephalosaur taxa do not seem to exhibit a similar growth progression, and so this appears to be a significant taxonomic characteristic. That some pachycephalosaurs delayed doming of the skull roof during growth is enigmatic, but it may have been an expression of sexual dimorphism, an aid in species recognition, or a response to harsh environmental conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"86 ","pages":"Pages 89-106"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142578309","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GeobiosPub Date : 2024-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.007
Panagiotis Skandalos , Fatma Arzu Demirel , Mehmet Cihat Alçiçek , Serdar Mayda , Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende
{"title":"Early Pliocene Spalacinae from the locality of Afşar, western Turkey","authors":"Panagiotis Skandalos , Fatma Arzu Demirel , Mehmet Cihat Alçiçek , Serdar Mayda , Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Spalacinae are an unusual component of the fossil record around the world with a limited geographical distribution. The revisited section of Afşar includes one of the richest collections of Spalacinae in Turkey. From Afşar 1, near the base of the section we recovered <em>Pliospalax</em> cf. <em>macoveii</em> while in Afşar 2, at the top of the section we distinguish the species <em>P. tourkobouniensis</em>. The current research includes the first record of the last-mentioned species outside of Europe. Both spalacines indicate a dry and open space environment and, in accordance with the Arvicolinae, suggest that Afşar 1 can be attributed to MN 15 while Afşar 2 is correlated to MN 16.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"86 ","pages":"Pages 11-23"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142578303","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GeobiosPub Date : 2024-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.002
Íñigo Vitón , María José Comas-Rengifo , Luís V. Duarte , Antonio Goy
{"title":"Biochronostratigraphy and palaeobiogeography of Echioceratidae (Ammonitina) from the Raricostatum Zone (Aplanatum Subzone) in NW Iberia","authors":"Íñigo Vitón , María José Comas-Rengifo , Luís V. Duarte , Antonio Goy","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper examines the uppermost Sinemurian and lowermost Pliensbachian ammonite fauna recorded in NW Iberia with a special focus on Echioceratidae from the Aplanatum Subzone. In total, 852 specimens have been collected bed-by-bed from five reference sections from the Asturian, Basque-Cantabrian, and Lusitanian basins. Echioceratidae, namely <em>Paltechioceras</em> genus, represent 86.2% of the sample, Polymorphitidae (<em>Leptonotoceras</em> genus) the 10%, and less than 4% of the specimens are Eoderoceratidae, Phricodoceratidae, or Oxynoticeratidae. This study describes five species of <em>Paltechioceras</em>, namely <em>P. tardecrescens</em>, <em>P. oosteri</em>, <em>P. recticostatum</em>, <em>P. elicitum</em>, and <em>P. romanicum</em>. They allow a biochronostratigraphic division for the studied basins and its worldwide correlation. One of the species, <em>P. romanicum</em>, is the latest one registered in all the studied sections, occurring directly below the Sinemurian–Pliensbachian boundary. The disappearance of this widely distributed species marks the echioceratids extinction. This work reviews the global events described around the Sinemurian–Pliensbachian transition (the Sinemurian–Pliensbachian boundary event). Finally, we present a palaeobiogeographical analysis of the <em>Paltechioceras</em> species described, giving more information to discuss the opening of the Hispanic Corridor during the late Sinemurian.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"86 ","pages":"Pages 65-87"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142578308","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GeobiosPub Date : 2024-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.003
Rodrigo L. Tomassini , Claudia I. Montalvo , José I. Cuitiño , María Susana Bargo , Sergio F. Vizcaíno
{"title":"Tuff deposits as preservational context for a Miocene continental mammal assemblage from Patagonia, Argentina","authors":"Rodrigo L. Tomassini , Claudia I. Montalvo , José I. Cuitiño , María Susana Bargo , Sergio F. Vizcaíno","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The CO tuff is one of the volumetrically largest volcaniclastic events so far recorded in the Early-Middle Miocene Santa Cruz Formation (Patagonian Argentina). It represents aeolian processes, related with westerlies, that reworked and transported enormous quantities of volcanic ash from the Andes into the continental interior that accumulated in fluvial floodplain deposits. This volcanic event generated a major environmental change at ∼17 Ma (Burdigalian) and hostile living conditions for the biota of the area, at least during the time of deposition. We performed here a comprehensive study including taxonomic, sedimentological, and taphonomic aspects of the mammal assemblage recovered from this tuff deposit. The assemblage is constituted by representatives of Microbiotheria, Paucituberculata, Folivora, Cingulata, Rodentia, Notoungulata, and Litopterna, reflecting a wide mammalian diversity. The formation of the assemblage can be linked to a normal attritional model, in which the death of the individuals and subsequent deposition and burial of their remains would have occurred gradually over time, simultaneously with the accumulation of volcanic ash, at the place of death or very close to it. The time between the death and burial would have been relatively short, in accordance with the rapid and continuous influx of volcanic ash to the depositional environment. This multidisciplinary study allows us to interpret and reconstruct the possible taphonomic pathways of the mammal assemblage and to provide novel information on this particular preservation context linked to volcanically-influenced fluvial environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"86 ","pages":"Pages 35-47"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142578305","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"New Insights on the Upper Triassic Silves Group in Algarve Basin, Portugal: Palynological, paleophytogeography and paleoclimatology advances","authors":"Margarida Vilas-Boas , Zélia Pereira , Simonetta Cirilli , Paulo Fernandes","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper presents the results of palynostratigraphic studies in the Silves Group in the Algarve Basin, Portugal. From bottom to top comprises the Silves Sandstones, the Silves Marl-Carbonate Evaporitic Complex, and the Volcano-Sedimentary Series. This study aims to detail the age of the Silves Group, bracketing the Triassic-Jurassic transition, using palynology. For this purpose, 250 samples were collected from 14 main sections. Previous results from a section above the Variscan unconformity, enabled to date the base of the Silves Sandstones and the onset of the Mesozoic sedimentary cycle in the Algarve Basin to lower Carnian. In this work, the top of the Silves Sandstones, containing <em>Camerosporites secatus</em>, <em>Enzonalasporites vigens</em>, <em>Granuloperculatipollis rudis</em>, <em>Lagenella martinii</em>, <em>Patinasporites densus</em>, <em>Samaropollenites speciosus</em>, and <em>Vallasporites ignacii</em>, is dated to the upper Carnian. The base of the Silves Marl-Carbonate Evaporitic Complex, consisting of <em>Alisporites</em> sp., <em>Araucariacites australis</em>, <em>Classopollis meyerianus</em>, <em>Classopollis torosus</em>, <em>Paracirculina quadruplicis</em> and <em>Triadispora</em> sp., indicates an upper Carnian age. The presence of <em>Alisporites diaphanus</em>, <em>Araucariacites australis</em>, <em>Cerebropollenites macroverrucosus, Classopollis meyerianus</em>, <em>Classopollis torosus</em>, <em>Perinopollenites elatoides</em>, <em>Calamospora mesozoica</em>, and <em>Kraeuselisporites reissingeri</em> allows to date the top of the Silves Marl-Carbonate Evaporitic Complex as upper Rhaetian-lower Hettangian. This study allows to date the Silves Group in the Algarve Basin from the lower Carnian to lower Hettangian (Triassic-Jurassic boundary) for the first time. The Carnian microflora provides new insights of the Onslow Microflora in the Western Tethys.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"86 ","pages":"Pages 49-64"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142578307","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GeobiosPub Date : 2024-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.06.001
Sampa Kundu, Mahasin Ali Khan
{"title":"A new epifoliar melioloid fungus from the Siwalik (Miocene) of Himachal sub-Himalaya and its palaeoecological implications","authors":"Sampa Kundu, Mahasin Ali Khan","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.06.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.06.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A new fossil epifoliar ascomycete (Ascomycota), <em>Meliolinites miocenicus</em> nov. sp. (fossil Meliolaceae), occurs <em>in situ</em> on a compressed monocot leaf from middle Siwalik (Late Miocene, ca. 12–8 Ma) sediments of Himachal Pradesh, Western Himalaya. The fossil consists of a well-preserved mycelium of superficial, brown to dark brown, septate, thick-walled, branched hyphodiate hyphae; a sub-globose, dark brown putative ascoma, and an oblong to broadly cylindrical, five-celled, four-septate, mature germinating ascospore. The new fossil differs from earlier reported melioloid fossils primarily in the morphology of appressoria. <em>Meliolinites miocenicus</em> nov. sp. on its host is evidence of the existence of a biotrophic relationship at the time of deposition. Qualitative climate data using plant megafossils recovered from the same fossil locality indicate that <em>M. miocenicus</em> nov. sp. and its host thrived in a warm and humid tropical environment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"86 ","pages":"Pages 1-10"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142578302","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GeobiosPub Date : 2024-08-09DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.05.006
Marco Pavia , José Braga , Massimo Delfino , Lazarus Kgasi , Albrecht Manegold , Christine Steininger , Bernhard Zipfel , Aurore Val
{"title":"A new species of Lovebird (Aves, Psittaculidae, Agapornis) from the Plio-Pleistocene of the Cradle of Humankind (Gauteng, South Africa)","authors":"Marco Pavia , José Braga , Massimo Delfino , Lazarus Kgasi , Albrecht Manegold , Christine Steininger , Bernhard Zipfel , Aurore Val","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.05.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.05.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A new parrot species of the genus <em>Agapornis</em> (Aves, Psittaculidae), namely <em>Agapornis longipes</em> nov. sp., is described from the Plio-Pleistocene of Kromdraai, Cooper’s Cave, and Swartkrans in the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. The new species is represented by all major wing bones (humerus, ulna, and carpometacarpus) and by the tarsometatarsus, together with a fragmentary mandible and coracoid. The size of the bones indicates a small species of <em>Agapornis</em> with an elongated tarsometatarsus, proportionately the longest of all known species of <em>Agapornis</em>. This lengthening of the legs might be related to feeding adaptation of the extinct species, as the longer legs may have favored this ground feeder in the high and dense grassland characteristic of the Cradle of Humankind during the Plio-Pleistocene transition and the Early Pleistocene.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"90 ","pages":"Pages 133-142"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143928091","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GeobiosPub Date : 2024-08-06DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.05.004
Jingmai K. O’Connor , Jessie Atterholt , Alida M. Bailleul , Min Wang , Pei-Chen Kuo , Zhonghe Zhou
{"title":"Description and osteohistology of two early immature enantiornithines (Aves: Ornithothoraces) from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota","authors":"Jingmai K. O’Connor , Jessie Atterholt , Alida M. Bailleul , Min Wang , Pei-Chen Kuo , Zhonghe Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.05.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.05.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Enantiornithes is the dominant clade of Cretaceous land birds and the most diverse recognized clade of Mesozoic birds. More than half of this diversity is from the Lower Cretaceous Jehol deposits in northeastern China, and numerous late immature and mature specimens have been sectioned for histological analysis. These specimens reveal thin cortices with low amounts of vascularization and variably-present growth lines. An inner circumferential layer is typically observed, but rarely a distinct outer circumferential layer. Here we describe the morphology and histology of two early immature enantiornithines and explore ontogenetic changes in skeletal morphology and bone formation. These specimens help to fill in a crucial ontogenetic gap between the previously sectioned embryonic specimen of <em>Gobipteryx</em> and purportedly mature or near mature specimens. In support of interpretations regarding the precocial onset of flight in Enantiornithes, the proportions of the forelimb cortical thicknesses relative to the hindlimb in IVPP V15575 is very similar to mature enantiornithines. Opposite neornithines, the bone tissue of the humerus is more mature than the tibia. Precocial development of the femur is considered plesiomorphic to Aves, thus the shift towards greater maturity in the forelimb relative to the hindlimb observed in IVPP V15575 probably reflects the apomorphic evolution of super-precocial flight in enantiornithines. Osteohistological traits in IVPP V15686 and V15575 resemble those of extant chicks on the more altricial end of the developmental mode spectrum, but individuals from later growth stages. Since ossification indicates these two specimens are very immature, this highlights the unique osteohistological development of enantiornithines. Differences between these two individuals are potentially indicative of intertaxonomic variation in enantiornithine growth strategies. However, developmental plasticity in stem birds means that morphological and osteohistological maturity are decoupled and that ossification patterns can vary even within a taxon. As such, significantly more data are required to fully understand observed differences and extract patterns regarding variation in developmental strategy among enantiornithines.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"90 ","pages":"Pages 103-122"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143928089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GeobiosPub Date : 2024-08-06DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.03.003
Abi Crane , Juan Benito , Albert Chen , Grace Musser , Christopher R. Torres , Julia A. Clarke , Stephan Lautenschlager , Daniel T. Ksepka , Daniel J. Field
{"title":"Taphonomic damage obfuscates interpretation of the retroarticular region of the Asteriornis mandible","authors":"Abi Crane , Juan Benito , Albert Chen , Grace Musser , Christopher R. Torres , Julia A. Clarke , Stephan Lautenschlager , Daniel T. Ksepka , Daniel J. Field","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.03.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.03.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><em>Asteriornis maastrichtensis</em>, from the latest Cretaceous of Belgium, is among the oldest known crown bird fossils, and its three-dimensionally preserved skull provides the most substantial insights into the cranial morphology of early crown birds to date. Phylogenetic analyses recovered <em>Asteriornis</em> as a total-group member of Galloanserae, the clade uniting Galliformes and Anseriformes. One important feature supporting this placement was enlargement of the retroarticular processes, which form elongate caudal extensions of the mandible in extant Galloanserae. Here, we reinterpret the jaw of <em>Asteriornis</em> and illustrate that the caudalmost portion of the mandibles are in fact not preserved. Instead, the caudal extremities of both the left and right mandibular rami extend to the surface of the fossil block containing the holotype skull, where they have eroded away. The originally identified retroarticular process of the right mandible – which exhibits a morphology and orientation strikingly similar to the retroarticular processes of certain extant and fossil galloanserans, including the early Palaeogene total-clade anseriforms <em>Conflicto</em> and <em>Nettapterornis</em> – instead represents a twisted and caudally displaced medial process. Nonetheless, anatomical comparisons with extant taxa reveal that we cannot exclude the possibility that <em>Asteriornis</em> exhibited robust retroarticular processes comparable to those of extant Galloanserae. In light of the reinterpreted morphology of the <em>Asteriornis</em> mandible, we update the original anatomical character matrix used to investigate its phylogenetic relationships and perform revised phylogenetic analyses, which continue to support <em>Asteriornis</em> as a total-group galloanseran, as initially interpreted. We demonstrate additional morphological traits of the mandible supporting this phylogenetic position and provide new data on the nature and distribution of retroarticular processes among early crown birds.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"90 ","pages":"Pages 31-43"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143928085","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}