GeobiosPub Date : 2024-04-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2023.06.003
Gerald Mayr , Andrew C. Kitchener
{"title":"The Halcyornithidae from the early Eocene London Clay of Walton-on-the-Naze (Essex, UK): A species complex of Paleogene arboreal birds","authors":"Gerald Mayr , Andrew C. Kitchener","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2023.06.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2023.06.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span><span>We report fossils<span> of the Halcyornithidae from the early Eocene </span></span>London Clay<span> of Walton-on-the-Naze (Essex, UK). The material includes remains of nine individuals of these small zygodactyl birds, which belong to at least seven different species, two of which are newly described. This documents a high species richness of halcyornithids in the London Clay, and these birds apparently underwent a significant radiation in the early Paleogene. One of the specimens includes a skull with a proportionally much smaller neurocranium than in </span></span><em>Pseudasturides macrocephalus</em> from Messel, suggesting an increased encephalization of halcyornithids towards the middle Eocene. A previously undescribed variation in sternum morphology of halcyornithids distinguishes the fossils we assign to the taxa <em>Pulchrapollia</em> and <em>Cyrilavis</em><span> and indicates that halcyornithids occupied disparate ecological niches. Furthermore, sternum morphology supports a sister group relationship between the halcyornithid taxa </span><em>Pulchrapollia</em> and <em>Pseudasturides</em>. The closest extant relatives of the Halcyornithidae remain elusive, but our new osteological data substantiate the hypothesis of a sister group relationship to the Messelasturidae, another group of Eocene birds with zygodactyl feet.</p><p>[<span>http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:DDC1768F-1389-4F36-92F6-46DA318A0C19</span><svg><path></path></svg>].</p></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"83 ","pages":"Pages 45-60"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48063301","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 : 2024-04-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2023.03.005
Gloria Ramello , Massimo Delfino , Emiliano Mori , Andrea Viviano , Giulio Pavia , Giorgio Carnevale , Marco Pavia
{"title":"Holocene vertebrate assemblages provide the first evidence for the presence of the barn owl (Tytonidae, Tyto alba) on Socotra Island (Yemen)","authors":"Gloria Ramello , Massimo Delfino , Emiliano Mori , Andrea Viviano , Giulio Pavia , Giorgio Carnevale , Marco Pavia","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2023.03.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2023.03.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>We describe the vertebrate remains found in a Holocene deposit inside the Taiti Cave, Socotra Island (Yemen). The fossils were found in a sand dune occupying almost entirely the main cavity of the Cave, with some bones collected on the surface and the majority of them found under its surface, in particular below a tiny level of hardened sand, the latter probably related to a guano deposit. They were mostly isolated bones, but under the guano layer, some of them were aggregated and recognizable as belonging to owl pellets. The analysis of the vertebrate remains reveals a great prey diversity and, together with the location of the pellet accumulation and the almost perfect preservation of the remains, indicates that the deposit derived from a pellet accumulation made by <em>Tyto alba</em>. This hypothesis is corroborated by a <em>Tyto alba</em> beak fragment found in the Hoq cave, in a deposit of uncertain stratigraphic context. The data presented herein represent the first documented evidence of the presence of <em>Tyto alba</em> on Socotra Island and indicate the probable existence of a now extinct population of <em>Tyto alba</em> on the island during the Holocene, already extinct at the time of the first ornithological surveys during the XIX Century.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"83 ","pages":"Pages 85-98"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016699523000621/pdfft?md5=6367b6d8846566996869672fb3da573c&pid=1-s2.0-S0016699523000621-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46154462","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 : 2024-04-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2023.01.009
Julian P. Hume
{"title":"Osteological and historical data on extinct island night herons (Aves: Ardeidae), with special reference to Ascension Island, the Mascarenes and Bonin Islands","authors":"Julian P. Hume","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2023.01.009","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2023.01.009","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Night herons of the genus <em>Nycticorax</em> and <em>Nyctanassa</em> are adept island colonisers, occurring on a number of oceanic islands and island archipelagos. Continental species and those inhabiting large islands are generally not considered threatened, whereas night herons restricted to small, oceanic islands are particularly vulnerable to human interference. As a result, six out of nine described species and one subspecies, all derived from <em>Nycticorax nycticorax</em>, <em>Nycticorax caledonicus</em> or <em>Nyctanassa violacea</em>, are now extinct whereas a further three extinct species await description. The extinct island endemics generally exhibit morphological adaptations to an insular environment and diet, such as an increase or decrease in size, robust jaws and legs, and smaller wings with associated reduced flying ability than founding stock. Here I present an osteological comparison along with historical descriptions of the extinct, oceanic island night herons, with special reference to the Mascarene and Ascension fossil species, and Bonin Island subspecies, and show the degree of morphological changes between the founding and island taxa. I further discuss the reasons why they became extinct.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"83 ","pages":"Pages 21-38"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016699523000591/pdfft?md5=7f61c0717ebfc4b21be013d0e616e135&pid=1-s2.0-S0016699523000591-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45635016","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 : 2023-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2023.04.002
Yves Candela , Bernard Mottequin
{"title":"Middle and Upper Ordovician linguliformean and craniiformean brachiopods from the Brabant Massif, Belgium: Infaunal giants, encrusting forms and durophagy","authors":"Yves Candela , Bernard Mottequin","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2023.04.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2023.04.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span><span>Linguliformean and craniiformean brachiopods from the Middle and Upper Ordovician of the Brabant Massif (Belgium) are described for the first time and their palaeoecological and palaeobiogeographical implications are discussed. The restricted and generally poorly preserved material was collected from the Abbaye de Villers (Dapingian–Darriwilian) Formation and from the Katian Huet and Fauquez formations. The dark graptolitic </span>mudstones of the latter unit yielded the most diverse assemblage including seven pseudolingulid, obolid, discinid, and craniopsid species while the Abbaye de Villers and Huet formations only yielded one species each. Due to the scarcity of internal morphological details available, comparison of the pseudolingulid and obolid specimens under investigation here was undertaken by running a Principal Component Analysis using a Log-Shape Ratio transformation of linear measurements. The study of valve shape changes at various growth stages helped identify these Belgian specimens at the family and generic levels. Finally, two unusually long (up to 20 mm) shell repair scars are documented in </span><em>Pseudolingula</em> and reflect predatory attacks at the anterior margin during early growth stages.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"81 ","pages":"Pages 101-119"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42488186","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 : 2023-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2022.11.001
Gian Luigi Pillola , Muriel Vidal
{"title":"Lower Ordovician Trilobites from SE Sardinia (Italy): A new record of the “Taihungshania bioprovince”","authors":"Gian Luigi Pillola , Muriel Vidal","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2022.11.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2022.11.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>A systematic description of the so far unique trilobite fauna and the associated biota from the Arenarie di San Vito Formation, in the outcrops close to the abandoned Tacconis mine (allochthonous nappe zone, Sarrabus, SE Sardinia, Italy), proves the occurrence of <em>Taihungshania shui landayranensis</em>, <em>Ampyx priscus</em>, <em>Asaphellus</em> sp., <em>Merlinia</em> sp., <em>Niobe fourneti?</em>, <em>Geragnostus</em> sp. and <em>Symphysurus</em> sp., accompanied by several taxa of graptolites, ichnofossils and less common bivalves, gastropods, cephalopods and hyolithids. The taphonomical signature, sedimentary structures and “Raphiophorid biofacies” clearly argue for an early Floian age and a median platform (i.e., offshore to shoreface) depositional environment. The occurrence of <em>T. shui landayranensis</em> in Sardinia allows us to determine the age of the Arenarie di San Vito Formation (just below the Sarrabese unconformity) and to discuss the palaeobiogeographical affinities highlighting the value of the “<em>Taihungshania</em> bioprovince”. The Tacconis trilobite fauna displays close affinities with Montagne Noire in France, Taurides in Turkey, Alborz in Iran, and south China, placing the SE Sardinia allochthonous area in a global Ordovician palaeogeographic sketch. A brief discussion on relationships and palaeobiogeographical affinities between the Sardinian nappe zone and the autochthonous “foreland” Sulcis-Iglesiente, which are adjacent today, strongly suggests a separation during the Ordovician, although both areas pertain to the Gondwana margin.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"81 ","pages":"Pages 67-84"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44016872","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 : 2023-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2023.08.001
Farid Saleh , Bertrand Lefebvre , Christophe Dupichaud , Emmanuel L.O. Martin , Martina Nohejlová , Léa Spaccesi
{"title":"Skeletal elements controlled soft-tissue preservation in echinoderms from the Early Ordovician Fezouata Biota","authors":"Farid Saleh , Bertrand Lefebvre , Christophe Dupichaud , Emmanuel L.O. Martin , Martina Nohejlová , Léa Spaccesi","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2023.08.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2023.08.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Exceptional fossils preserve non-biomineralized tissues in the geological record and provide crucial information on the evolution of life on Earth. Exceptionally preserved fossils are rarely discovered complete, challenging their morphological description and their palaeontological interpretation. Although decay experiments reconstructing degradation sequences in modern animals are necessary to better understand taphonomic processes involved in exceptional preservation, their applicability to some enigmatic and/or extinct fossil taxa remains limited. Here, based on a representative sample of 423 specimens collected from a single stratigraphic level from the Early Ordovician Fezouata Biota, we reconstruct the degradation sequence of both skeletal remains and soft tissues of stylophorans, an extinct clade of echinoderms. The rare preservation of the water vascular system can be explained by the rapid post-mortem opening of the cover plates resulting from the fast decay of associated muscles and the action of ligaments. In contrast, the proximal aulacophore and associated stylocone formed a particularly decay-resistant closed module, thus favouring the preferential preservation of included soft parts (fore-gut). The non-random location and frequency of pyritised intra-skeletal structures strongly suggest that skeletal elements dictated the preservation of underlying soft parts. As such, taphonomic investigations should not only focus on the environment surrounding a decaying animal, but also on the different environments created within a particular carcass.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"81 ","pages":"Pages 51-66"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016699523001006/pdfft?md5=9f4ca9ae77a9348d9380a463ee641a98&pid=1-s2.0-S0016699523001006-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136117671","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 : 2023-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2022.10.005
Diego F. Muñoz , Arnaud Bignon , Juan Luis Benedetto
{"title":"Population dynamics of shoreface to upper offshore occupation of the lower Ordovician brachiopod Tarfaya purmamarcaensis (Benedetto)","authors":"Diego F. Muñoz , Arnaud Bignon , Juan Luis Benedetto","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2022.10.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2022.10.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span>Occupation of shallow environments by rhynchonelliform brachiopods is rare during the early late Tremadocian (Tr2). However, in the NW Argentina basin the plectorthoidean </span><em>Tarfaya purmamarcaensis</em> occupied high-energy environments during this time interval. This species forms up to 15 cm thick monospecific concentrations in shoreface and offshore transition settings, and polytypic pavements in relatively deeper water offshore environments. Generation of such concentrations could be linked to the population dynamics of <em>T. purmamarcaensis</em><span>. A geometric morphometrics analysis allowed us to recognize four growth stages in the ontogeny of the species. The juvenile phases are absent in high-energy proximal environments and are scarce in the shoreface; in contrast, no representatives of the fourth phase (hypermature adults) have been found in the open platform deposits, and adults are almost absent. Although shell concentrations are usually linked to physical processes (i.e., storm events), the low taphonomic alteration of the shells suggests that transport was not a highly influential factor. Morphological differences (i.e., development of cardinal canals, ribs incurved posterolaterally) in specimens from different environments suggest that the population dynamics could have been the main cause in generating different concentrations. According to the source-sink model, high productivity of brachiopods in the shoreface environment and a passive transport of larvae to the offshore might explain not only the thicker shallow-water concentrations but also the differences in shell growth of populations inhabiting these environments.</span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"81 ","pages":"Pages 17-29"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47593128","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 : 2023-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2023.01.006
Niu Zhi-jun , Zhang Ren-jie , Paul A. Johnston , Li Chu-an , Wang Zhi-hong , Hu Kun , Song Fang , He Yao-yan , He Jin-lan , Lin Xiao-ming , Yang Wen-qiang
{"title":"Yuexiconcha nov. gen. – A resilifer-bearing palaeotaxodont (Bivalvia, Protobranchia) from the Ordovician of Guangdong, South China","authors":"Niu Zhi-jun , Zhang Ren-jie , Paul A. Johnston , Li Chu-an , Wang Zhi-hong , Hu Kun , Song Fang , He Yao-yan , He Jin-lan , Lin Xiao-ming , Yang Wen-qiang","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2023.01.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2023.01.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>A unique, new palaeotaxodont (Protobranchia) genus and species, <em>Yuexiconcha duplicata</em><span> Zhang, Niu and Johnston, is proposed and described. It is characterized by: a medium-sized, transversely elongated, sub-elliptical shell; heterotaxodont dentition; and posterior tooth row consisting of crowded gradidentate dentition, partially and dorsally overlapped by an additional tooth row that emanates from the beak to form a bitaxodont dentition (new term). Most significantly, a prominent resilifer separates the anterior and posterior tooth rows and shows slight to moderate excavation into the hinge-plate. While a resilifer indicates phylogenetic proximity with </span><em>Nuculoidea</em>, <em>Yuexiconcha</em> nov. gen. is readily distinguished by its bitaxodont posterior dentition and a more elongate posterior shell lobe and so is provisionally placed in the Family Nuculidae, Order Nuculida. The hinge of <em>Yuexiconcha</em><span><span> nov. gen. indicates that a resilifer in palaeotaxodonts first developed in the Ordovician<span>, rather than in the Silurian (Wenlock) as thought previously. Specimens described herein were collected from a fine-grained siliciclastic rock unit in the upper part of the Dongchong Formation in western Guangdong, South China. Other components of the biota occurring with the bivalves are uncommon and include trilobites and brachiopods that indicate a late Middle–early </span></span>Late Ordovician (late Darriwilian–early Sandbian) age.</span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"81 ","pages":"Pages 121-134"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48351961","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}