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Early Eocene fish otoliths from the eastern and southern USA.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024
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Early Eocene fossils suggest that the mammalian order Perissodactyla originated in India
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Cambaytheres (Cambaytherium, Nakusia and Kalitherium) are recently discovered early Eocene placental mammals from the Indo–Pakistan region. They have been assigned to either Perissodactyla (the clade including horses, tapirs and rhinos, which is a member of the superorder Laurasiatheria) or Anthracobunidae, an obscure family that has been variously considered artiodactyls or perissodactyls, but most recently placed at the base of Proboscidea or of Tethytheria (ProboscideaþSirenia, superorder Afrotheria). Here we report new dental, cranial and postcranial fossils of Cambaytherium, from the Cambay Shale Formation, Gujarat, India (B54.5 Myr). These fossils demonstrate that cambaytheres occupy a pivotal position as the sister taxon of Perissodactyla, thereby providing insight on the phylogenetic and biogeographic origin of Perissodactyla. The presence of the sister group of perissodactyls in western India near or before the time of collision suggests that Perissodactyla may have originated on the Indian Plate during its final drift toward Asia.
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Early Eocene frogs from Vastan Lignite Mine, Gujarat, India
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The Ypresian Cambay Shale Formation of Vastan Lignite Mine in Gujarat, western India, has yielded a rich vertebrate fauna, including the earliest modern mammals of the Indian subcontinent. Here we describe its assemblage of four frogs,including two new genera and species, based on numerous, diverse and well−preserved ilia and vertebrae. An abundant frog, Eobarbourula delfinoi gen. and sp. nov., with a particular vertebral articulation similar to a zygosphene−zygantrum complex, represents the oldest record of the Bombinatoridae and might have been capable of displaying the Unken reflex. The large non−fossorial pelobatid Eopelobates, known from complete skeletons from the Eocene and Oligocene of Europe, is also identified at Vastan based on a single nearly complete ilium. An abundant “ranid” and a possible rhacophorid Indorana prasadi gen. and sp. nov. represent the earliest records of both families. The Vastan pelobatids and ranids confirm an early worldwide distribution of these families, and the bombinatorids and rhacophorids show possible origins of those clades on the Indian subcontinent.
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Early Eocene lagomorph (Mammalia) from Western India and the early diversification of lagomorpha
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Early Eocene Primates from Gujarat, India
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Early Frasnian ostracods from the Arche quarry (Dinant Synclinorium, Belgium) and the Palmatolepis punctata Isotopic Event
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Early Holocene slope erosion in the Scheldt basin (Belgium): Naturally and/or human induced?
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RBINS Staff Publications 2019
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Early Neanderthal constructions deep in Bruniquel Cave in southwestern France
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Very little is known about Neanderthal cultures, particularly early ones. Other than lithic implements and exceptional bone tools, very few artefacts have been preserved. While those that do remain include red and black pigments3 and burial sites, these indications of modernity are extremely sparse and few have been precisely dated, thus greatly limiting our knowledge of these predecessors of modern humans. Here we report the dating of annular constructions made of broken stalagmites found deep in Bruniquel Cave in southwest France. The regular geometry of the stalagmite circles, the arrangement of broken stalagmites and several traces of fire demonstrate the anthropogenic origin of these constructions. Uranium-series dating of stalagmite regrowths on the structures and on burnt bone, combined with the dating of stalagmite tips in the structures, give a reliable and replicated age of 176.5 thousand years (±2.1 thousand years), making these edifices among the oldest known well-dated constructions made by humans. Their presence at 336 metres from the entrance of the cave indicates that humans from this period had already mastered the underground environment, which can be considered a major step in human modernity.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2016
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Early Neoproterozoic carbonate correlations within 2 stratigraphic sequences from Mbuji-Mayi Supergroup (Oriental Kasai Prov., DRC) - Microfacies vs magnetic susceptibility, combined with C, O, Sr chemostratigraphy, new tools for Neoproterozoic stratigr..
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RBINS Staff Publications 2017
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Early Palaeozoic ocean anoxia and global warming driven by the evolution of shallow burrowing
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The evolution of burrowing animals forms a defining event in the history of the Earth. It has been hypothesised that the expansion of seafloor burrowing during the Palaeozoic altered the biogeochemistry of the oceans and atmosphere. However, whilst potential impacts of bioturbation on the individual phosphorus, oxygen and sulphur cycles have been considered, combined effects have not been investigated, leading to major uncertainty over the timing and magnitude of the Earth system response to the evolution of bioturbation. Here we integrate the evolution of bioturbation into the COPSE model of global biogeochemical cycling, and compare quantitative model predictions to multiple geochemical proxies. Our results suggest that the advent of shallow burrowing in the early Cambrian contributed to a global low-oxygen state, which prevailed for ~100 million years. This impact of bioturbation on global biogeochemistry likely affected animal evolution through expanded ocean anoxia, high atmospheric CO2 levels and global warming.
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