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New basal Avialae from the Jurassic of China
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New bats (Chiroptera) from the Earliest Oligocene Boutersem-TGV locality in Belgium document the earliest occurence of Myotis
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Early Oligocene mammals from Europe are not well known. In Belgium this interval (reference level MP 21) is represented by four coeval localities, Boutersem, Boutersem-TGV, Hoogbutsel and Hoeleden. Included in a vertebrate assemblage of 20+ mammalian genera, one bat, Quinetia misonnei, has been previously described from Hoogbutsel, based on four lower dentitions. Twenty new specimens of Quinetia were recently recovered from Boutersem-TGV including six upper molars, a humerus, and thirteen lower dentitions. These new specimens confirm that Quinetia is a plecotine vespertilionid and consequently represents the earliest known occurrence of this tribe. Additionally, twenty five other dental specimens document the presence of a larger vespertilionid from Boutersem-TGV. These specimens are assigned to Myotis based on the primitive 3.1.3.3 dental formula, the presence of a single-rooted p3, myotodont lower molars, a relatively high crowned lower canine with well-developed mesial and distolingual shelves, M1 and M2 lacking both paraconules and metalophs, protofossa of M1 and M2 open posteriorly, and M3 being relatively short. The Boutersem-TGV Myotis specimens represent the earliest known record of this extant genus. Only some isolated potential myotine teeth from Le Batut (MP 19) in France are older but these teeth differ from Myotis in having upper molars with a paraloph and a protofossa closed posteriorly, both features more typical of the enigmatic “Leuconoe”. Myotodont species, such as “L”. salodorensis from Oensingen (MP 25) in Switzerland and “L”. lavocati from Le Garouillas (MP 25-28) in France, both share features of upper teeth that distinguish them from Myotis. Younger still are three Myotis species from Herrlingen 8-9 (MP 29) in Germany. Compared to the Boutersem-TGV Myotis, M. minor is much smaller with a relatively smaller, shorter and more delicate p4, M. intermedius is somewhat smaller in molar dimensions but with a substantially smaller and shorter p4, while M. major has larger m1-2, similar sized m3, smaller p4, more robust M1 and a more constricted P4 lingual shelf. The origin of Myotis appears to be at least as old as the earliest Oligocene.
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NEW DATA AND A REVIEW OF THE HYAENODONTANS FROM THE PALEOGENE OF AFRICA
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Hyaenodontida is a group of carnivorously adapted mammals, which was successful in the Paleogene of Africa. Contrary to Laurasian representatives, African hyaenodontidans had no ecological competitors until the late Oligocene. On one hand, the late Eocene and early Oligocene hyaenodontidans have been known since the beginning of 20th century thanks to the discovery of fossils from the Fayum area (Egypt). On the other hand, the Paleocene-Middle Eocene history of these predators was clarified only recently thanks to fieldwork in Northern Africa (Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia). The recent discovery of the koholiine, Lahimia, in the Paleocene of Ouled Abdoun Basin (Morocco) allows the origin of the African hyaenodontidans to be traced as far back as the Selandian. A second Paleocene taxon is recorded in the Ouarzazate Basin (Morocco): Tinerhodon from the Thanetian. Lahimia and Tinerhodon interestingly display two distinct dental morphologies: Tinerhodon has very primitive dental features, while Lahimia is derived in the secant morphology of its molars and loss of P1. These differences can be explained by a presently unknown Paleocene radiation. The recent discoveries of hyaenodontidans in the late early or early middle Eocene of Gour Lazib area (Algeria) and middle Eocene-early Oligocene of Dur At-Talah (Libya) show that three new families appeared in Africa, at least during the middle Eocene: Apterodontinae, Hyainailourinae, and Teratodontinae. The postcranial material of Apterodon shows that hyaenodontidans even occupied a semi-aquatic niche in Africa. New fossils from Chambi, in Tunisia, show a common carnivorous fauna with the sites from Gour Lazib area. Interestingly, hyainailourines and teratodontines were also present in southern Africa (Sperrgebiet, Namibia; Lutetian); this is evidence that hyaenodontidans had a wide African distribution. Hyaenodontidans show a global trend of body size increase during the Paleogene. However, the recent discovery of the small hyaenodontidan Furodon in the Gour Lazib area and Chambi shows that small hyaenodontidans co-existed with large ones. Several hypotheses on hyaenodontidan origins in Africa were proposed. Some assume an endemic African origin, while others suppose several trans-Tethyan dispersals from Laurasia to Arabo-Africa. The best evidence is for the dispersal of endemic African hyainailourines and apterodontines in Europe around the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, participating in the renewal of the European carnivorous fauna at the ‘Grande Coupure’.
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New data from and old site : Neandertals at Goyet (Belgium) and their mortuary behavior
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New data on latest Cretaceous hadrosaurids from Russia and north-eastern China
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New data on the Early Eocene Mammals and other vertebrates from the Cambay Shale Formation exposed in Lignite Mines of Gujarat, Western India
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Excavations since 2004 in the early Eocene Cambay Shale Formation at Vastan, Mangrol, and Tadkeshwar open-cast lignite mines in Gujarat, western India, have yielded thousands of vertebrate specimens of terrestrial mammals, lizards, snakes, frogs, and birds as well as elasmobranch and teleost fishes. Here we report new fossils from the currently active Tadkeshwar mine discovered from several layers intercalated at different heights between the two major lignite seams. Most of them belong to taxa already described from the nearby Vastan and Mangrol mines, such as the adapoid primate Marcgodinotius indicus, the hyaenodontan Indohyaenodon raoi, the tillodont Anthraconyx hypsomylus, the perissodactyl-like mammal Cambaytherium thewissi, the agamid lizard Tinosaurus indicus, the palaeophiid snake Palaeophis vastaniensis, the caenophidian snakes Procerophis and Thaumastophis, and the bird Vastanavis. The presence of these taxa in the three mines and at different levels suggests that the deposits between the two major lignite seams represent a relatively short time span and a single mammal age. Among the new specimens from Tadkeshwar are well-preserved jaws of a new condylarth-like mammal, a new adapoid primate, and a small tapiroid perissodactyl. Most vertebrate taxa of the Cambay Shale Formation are of west European affinities; some of them seem to be endemic to India, and a few are of Gondwanan affinities, such as mesoeucrocodylians and the giant madtsoiid snake Platyspondylophis, attesting that the early Eocene was an important period in India during which Laurasian taxa coexisted with relict taxa from Gondwana before the India-Asia collision. Grant Information: Funded by Leakey Foundation, National Geographic Society, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, and Belgian Science Policy Office (project BR/121/A3/PalEurAfrica)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2018
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New data on the palaeobiogeography of Toarcian (Lower Jurassic) ichthyosaurs
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New discoveries and reappraisal of rhinocerotids from the Middle Miocene (MN5) of the Sables de l'Orléanais (Beaugency-Tavers-Le Bardon) and Contres, France
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024
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New discoveries of Early Cretaceous Enantiornithes from the Jehol Biota, China.
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New diverse Early Eocene snake assemblage from Tadkeschwar Lignite Mine, Western India
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A diverse snake fauna has been described from the early Eocene Cambay Formation of the Vastan lignite mine, Gujarat, western India, among which early colubroid caenophidians were the most remarkable. Here we describe a new snake assemblage from the approximately contemporary nearby Tadkeshwar mine situated about 10 km southwest of Vastan. As at Vastan, the material from Tadkeshwar is represented only by vertebrae. There are several species in common with Vastan, such as the small madtsoiid gen. et sp. indet. that possesses a haemal keel, the co-occurring palaeophiids Palaeophis sp. and Pterosphenus sp., the same indeterminate boid, and Thaumastophis missiaeni (Caenophidia incertae sedis). However, the most abundant snakes in Tadkeshwar are the madtsoiids. Among them is a new giant madtsoiid that exhibits morphology broadly similar to Gigantophis and Madtsoia. However, it differs in having dorso-ventrally compressed vertebrae with oval cotyles and condyles and a strong notch on the posterior part of the neural arch. The major axis of the prezygapophysis is transverse in dorsal aspect and the parapophysis is very developed and extends beyond the lateral extremity of the prezygapophysis. The haemal keel is absent. While the composition of the Tadkeshwar fauna, like that from Vastan, is reminiscent of the early Eocene of Europe, the large madtsoiid suggests a Gondwanan paleogeographic origin. Indeed, such large madtsoiids are known only from the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene of South America, Africa and the Indian subcontinent, and the late Paleogene and Neogene of Australia. More importantly, the snake assemblage from Tadkeshwar indicates that Laurasian taxa of European affinities were still mixed with relict taxa from Gondwana during the early Eocene before or near the India-Asia collision. Grant Information National Geographic Society, Leakey Foundation, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Belgian Science Policy Office
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