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Inproceedings Reference Insights into Holocene relative sea-level changes in the southern North Sea using SLIPs and an improved microfauna-based transfer function.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Inproceedings Reference Storegga and beyond – North Sea tsunami deposits offshore Shetland Islands.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Inproceedings Reference Storegga and beyond – North Sea tsunami deposits offshore Shetland Islands.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Inproceedings Reference Reconstructing Holocene relative sea-level changes and extreme events in the Shetland Islands (United Kingdom).
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024
Inproceedings Reference Luminescence dating of offshore tsunami deposits from the Shetland Islands (UK).
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024
Inproceedings Reference Reconstructing Holocene relative sea-level changes and extreme events in the Shetland Islands (United Kingdom).
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024
Inproceedings Reference Insights into Holocene relative sea-level changes in the southern North Sea using SLIPs and an improved microfauna-based transfer function.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Inproceedings Reference Cranial morphology of Khirtharia inflata (Raoellidae, Artiodactyla)
Raoellidae are extinct small-sized semiaquatic artiodactyls that are the closest relatives to crown clade Cetacea. They display morphological features showing the transition between terrestrial and aquatic lifestyles and therefore bring crucial information to understand the earliest steps of cetacean evolution. Raoellid cranial morphology, including the ear region and endocranial morphology, has been documented using cranial remains referred to Indohyus indirae from the Kalakot area, Jammu and Kashmir in India. The study of these specimens highlighted that several cetacean features are already present in raoellids. The previously available Indohyus material was very deformed, preventing access to quantitative data and leading to potential misinterpretations. We describe new undeformed cranial material from the Kalakot area, documenting another raoellid species, Khirtharia inflata. The new observations allow us to complete our knowledge of raoellid cranial morphology, including the original shape of the cranium and brain endocast and to confirm the specificities of raoellid morphology within Artiodactyla. We further provide the first quantitative data for the different brain components and show that Raoellidae had low encephalization and neocorticalization values, much lower than cetaceans and close to early diverging, primitive, dichobunoid artiodactyls. Reconstruction of the blood sinuses above the cerebellum supports the previous “intraosseous” hypothesis about the initial steps of the development of the caudal venous rete mirabile in cetaceans. The presence of several cetacean cranial features in Raoellidae, such as the peculiar shape of the frontal, the strong postorbital constriction, the periotic involucrum, or the elongation of the olfactory bulbs, questions the definition of the Cetacea clade.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023 OA
Inproceedings Reference New specimens and CT data of the longirostrine crocodylian Thoracosaurus isorhynchus from the Maastrichtian of Mont-Aimé (Paris Basin, France)
Thoracosaurs are a polyphyletic group of Cretaceous–Paleogene longisrostrine crocodylians from Europe and North America. Traditionally perceived as gavialoids, phylogenetically closer to Gavialinae than to Tomistominae, they play a key role in the gharial problem: their old age and seemingly close relationship to Gavialinae is inconsistent with molecular clock estimates indicating a far younger origin of Gavialoidea. Moreover, the phylogenetic position of thoracosaurs is debated, as recent studies suggested thoracosaurs are non-crocodylian eusuchians instead. Here we describe thoracosaur material from Mont-Aimé, France, rediscovered in the collections of the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle de Lille. The Mont-Aimé is famous for its richness in fossil vertebrates, among which the longirostrine species Thoracosaurus isorhynchus (formerly T. macrorhynchus). Confusion about the age of the vertebrate layers has recently been solved, indicating that they are Maastrichtian in age instead of Danian. The new material most likely belongs to T. isorhynchus based on a flexure in the ectopterygoid–pterygoid suture, a distinctive character found in adults of this taxon. Our study reveals new characters not visible on previously known material. An example is the short posterior non-dentigerous process of the maxilla, a character shared with early Paleogene longirostrines and tomistomines but not with gavialines. Furthermore, microCT data of the skull reveal for the first time endocranial characters of this taxon, such as the presence of an internal recess in the parietal. Together with redescribed T. isorhynchus material from the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, this leads to an updated phylogenetic position of this taxon.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Inproceedings Reference Locomotor behavior of Paleocene mammals: Insights from the semicircular canals of the inner ear
The end-Cretaceous mass extinction triggered the collapse of ecosystems and a drastic turnover in mammalian communities leading to the demise of many ecologically specialized species. While Mesozoic mammals were ecomorphologically diverse, recognizable ecological richness was only truly established in the Eocene. Questions remain about the ecology of the first wave of mammals radiating after the extinction. Here, we use the semicircular canals of the inner ear as a proxy for locomotor behavior. Thirty new inner ear virtual endocasts were generated using high-resolution computed tomography scanning. This sample was supplemented by data from the literature to construct a dataset of 79 fossils spanning the Jurassic to the Eocene alongside 262 extant mammals. Vestibular sensitivity was measured using the radius of curvature against body mass and the residuals of this relationship were analyzed. The petrosal lobule size relative to body mass were compared with the inner ear data as they have a role in maintaining gaze stabilization during motion. Paleocene mammals exhibited smaller canal radius of curvature, compared to Mesozoic, Eocene, and extant taxa. In the early Paleocene, canal radius and associated petrosal lobules were relatively smaller on average compared to other temporal groups, suggesting less ability for fast movements. Our results support previous work on tarsal morphology and locomotor behavioral ancestral state reconstructions suggesting that ground dwelling mammalian species were more common than arboreal taxa during the Paleocene. Ultimately, this may indicate that the collapse of forested environments immediately after extinction led to the preferential survivorship of more terrestrially adapted mammals.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023