The axial skeleton of Tiktaalik roseae.

The axial columns of the earliest limbed vertebrates show distinct patterns of regionalization as compared to early tetrapodomorphs. Included among their novel features are sacral ribs, which provide linkage between the vertebral column and pelvis, contributing to body support and propulsion by the hindlimb. Data on the axial skeletons of the closest relatives of limbed vertebrates are sparce, with key features of specimens potentially covered by matrix. Therefore, it is unclear in what sequence and under what functional context specializations in the axial skeletons of tetrapods arose. Here, we describe the axial skeleton of the elpistostegalian Tiktaalik roseae and show that transformations to the axial column for head mobility, body support, and pelvic fin buttressing evolved in finned vertebrates prior to the origin of limbs. No atlas-axis complex is observed; however, an independent basioccipital-exoccipital complex suggests increased mobility at the occipital vertebral junction. While the construction of vertebrae in Tiktaalik is similar to early tetrapodomorphs, its ribs possess a specialized sacral domain. Sacral ribs are expanded and ventrally curved, indicating likely attachment to the expanded iliac blade of the pelvis by ligamentous connection. Thus, the origin of novel rib types preceded major alterations to trunk vertebrae, and linkage between pelvic fins and axial column preceded the origin of limbs. These data reveal an unexpected combination of post-cranial skeletal characters, informing hypotheses of body posture and movement in the closest relatives of limbed vertebrates.

Plastid phylogenomics and fossil evidence provide new insights into the evolutionary complexity of the 'woody clade' in Saxifragales.

BACKGROUND: The "woody clade" in Saxifragales (WCS), encompassing four woody families (Altingiaceae, Cercidiphyllaceae, Daphniphyllaceae, and Hamamelidaceae), is a phylogenetically recalcitrant node in the angiosperm tree of life, as the interfamilial relationships of the WCS remain contentious. Based on a comprehensive sampling of WCS genera, this study aims to recover a robust maternal backbone phylogeny of the WCS by analyzing plastid genome (plastome) sequence data using Bayesian inference (BI), maximum likelihood (ML), and maximum parsimony (MP) methods, and to explore the possible causes of the phylogenetic recalcitrance with respect to deep relationships within the WCS, in combination with molecular and fossil evidence. RESULTS: Although the four WCS families were identically resolved as monophyletic, the MP analysis recovered different tree topologies for the relationships among Altingiaceae, Cercidiphyllaceae, and Daphniphyllaceae from the ML and BI phylogenies. The fossil-calibrated plastome phylogeny showed that the WCS underwent a rapid divergence of crown groups in the early Cretaceous (between 104.79 and 100.23 Ma), leading to the origin of the stem lineage ancestors of Altingiaceae, Cercidiphyllaceae, Daphniphyllaceae, and Hamamelidaceae within a very short time span (∼4.56 Ma). Compared with the tree topology recovered in a previous study based on nuclear genome data, cytonuclear discordance regarding the interfamilial relationships of the WCS was detected. CONCLUSIONS: Molecular and fossil evidence imply that the early divergence of the WCS might have experienced radiative diversification of crown groups, extensive extinctions at the genus and species levels around the Cretaceous/Paleocene boundary, and ancient hybridization. Such evolutionarily complex events may introduce biases in topological estimations within the WCS due to incomplete lineage sorting, cytonuclear discordance, and long-branch attraction, potentially impacting the accurate reconstruction of deep relationships.

The Neanderthal niche space of Western Eurasia 145 ka to 30 ka ago.

Neanderthals occupied Western Eurasia between 350 ka and 40 ka ago, during the climatically volatile Pleistocene. A key issue is to what extent Neanderthal populations expanded into areas of Western Eurasia and what conditions facilitated such range expansions. The range extent of Neanderthals is generally based on the distribution of Neanderthal material, but the land-altering nature of glacial periods has erased much of the already sparse material evidence of Neanderthals, particularly in the northern latitudes. To overcome this obstacle species distribution models can estimate past distributions of Neanderthals, however, most implementations are generally constrained spatially and temporally and may be artificially truncating the Neanderthal niche space. Using dated contexts from Neanderthal sites from across Western Eurasia, millennial-scale paleoclimate reconstructions, and a spatiotemporal species distribution model, we infer the fundamental climatic niche space of Neanderthals and estimate the extent of Neanderthal occupation. We find that (a.) despite the long timeframe, Neanderthals occupy a relatively narrow fundamental climatic niche space, (b.) the estimated projected potential Neanderthal niche space suggests a larger geographic range than the material record suggests, and (c.) that there was a general decline in the size of the projected potential Neanderthal niche from 145 ka ago onward, possibly contributing to their extinction.

Osteohistological insight into the growth dynamics of early dinosaurs and their contemporaries.

Dinosauria debuted on Earth's stage in the aftermath of the Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction Event, and survived two other Triassic extinction intervals to eventually dominate terrestrial ecosystems. More than 231 million years ago, in the Upper Triassic Ischigualasto Formation of west-central Argentina, dinosaurs were just getting warmed up. At this time, dinosaurs represented a minor fraction of ecosystem diversity. Members of other tetrapod clades, including synapsids and pseudosuchians, shared convergently evolved features related to locomotion, feeding, respiration, and metabolism and could have risen to later dominance. However, it was Dinosauria that radiated in the later Mesozoic most significantly in terms of body size, diversity, and global distribution. Elevated growth rates are one of the adaptations that set later Mesozoic dinosaurs apart, particularly from their contemporary crocodilian and mammalian compatriots. When did the elevated growth rates of dinosaurs first evolve? How did the growth strategies of the earliest known dinosaurs compare with those of other tetrapods in their ecosystems? We studied femoral bone histology of an array of early dinosaurs alongside that of non-dinosaurian contemporaries from the Ischigualasto Formation in order to test whether the oldest known dinosaurs exhibited novel growth strategies. Our results indicate that the Ischigualasto vertebrate fauna collectively exhibits relatively high growth rates. Dinosaurs are among the fastest growing taxa in the sample, but they occupied this niche alongside crocodylomorphs, archosauriformes, and large-bodied pseudosuchians. Interestingly, these dinosaurs grew at least as quickly, but more continuously than sauropodomorph and theropod dinosaurs of the later Mesozoic. These data suggest that, while elevated growth rates were ancestral for Dinosauria and likely played a significant role in dinosaurs' ascent within Mesozoic ecosystems, they did not set them apart from their contemporaries.

The first occurrence of machimosaurid crocodylomorphs from the Oxfordian of south-central Poland provides new insights into the distribution of macrophagous teleosauroids.

Teleosauroid thalattosuchians were a clade of semi-aquatic crocodylomorphs that achieved a broad geographic distribution during the Mesozoic. While their fossils are well documented in Western European strata, our understanding of teleosauroids (and thalattosuchians in general) is notably poorer in Central-Eastern Europe, and from Poland in particular. Herein, we redescribe a teleosauroid rostrum (MZ VIII Vr-72) from middle Oxfordian strata of Zalecze Wielkie, in south-central Poland. Until now, the specimen has been largely encased in a block of limestone. After preparation, its rostral and dental morphology could be evaluated, showing the specimen to be a non-machimosaurin machimosaurid, similar in morphology to taxa Neosteneosaurus edwardsi and Proexochokefalos heberti. The well-preserved teeth enable us to study the specimen feeding ecology through the means of comparing its teeth to other teleosauroids through PCoA analysis. Comparisons with inferred closely related taxa suggest that the referred specimen was a macrophagous generalist. Notably, MZ VIII Vr-72 displays a prominent pathological distortion of the anterior rostrum, in the form of lateral bending. The pathology affects the nasal passage and tooth size and position, and is fully healed, indicating that, despite its macrophagous diet, it did not prevent the individual from food acquisition.

The Miocene primate Pliobates is a pliopithecoid.

The systematic status of the small-bodied catarrhine primate Pliobates cataloniae, from the Miocene (11.6 Ma) of Spain, is controversial because it displays a mosaic of primitive and derived features compared with extant hominoids (apes and humans). Cladistic analyses have recovered Pliobates as either a stem hominoid or as a pliopithecoid stem catarrhine (i.e., preceding the cercopithecoid-hominoid divergence). Here, we describe additional dental remains of P. cataloniae from another locality that display unambiguous synapomorphies of crouzeliid pliopithecoids. Our cladistic analyses support a close phylogenetic link with poorly-known small crouzeliids from Europe based on (cranio)dental characters but recover pliopithecoids as stem hominoids when postcranial characters are included. We conclude that Pliobates is a derived stem catarrhine that shows postcranial convergences with modern apes in the elbow and wrist joints-thus clarifying pliopithecoid evolution and illustrating the plausibility of independent acquisition of postcranial similarities between hylobatids and hominids.

A proxy for brain-to-endocranial cavity index in non-neornithean dinosaurs and other extinct archosaurs.

Although the brain fills nearly the entire cranial cavity in birds, it can occupy a small portion of it in crocodilians. The lack of data regarding the volumetric correspondence between the brain and the cranial cavity hampers thorough assessments of the degree of encephalization in non-neornithean dinosaurs and other extinct archosaurs and, consequently, informed inferences regarding their cognitive capacities. Existing data suggest that, across extant archosaurs, the degree of endocranial doming and the volume of intracranial nonneural components are inversely related. We build upon this information to develop an equation relating these two anatomical features in non-neornithean dinosaurs and other extinct archosaurs. We rely on measurements of the endocast doming and brain-to-endocranial cavity (BEC) index in extant relatives of non-neornithean dinosaurs, namely, the crurotarsans Caiman crocodilus, Crocodylus niloticus, and Crocodylus porosus; the paleognaths Struthio camelus and Apteryx mantelli; and the fowl Macrocephalon maleo, Gallus gallus, Meleagris gallopavo, Phasianus colchicus, and Anas platyrhynchos. Applying the equation to representative endocasts from major clades of dinosaurs, we found that BEC varies from about 0.6 in ceratopsians and thyreophorans to around 0.7 in ornithopods, pachycephalosaurians, sauropods, and theropods. We, therefore, warn against the use of a catch-all value, like 0.5, and instead encourage refinement in the adoption of BEC across archosaurs.

Group mating in Cretaceous water striders.

Fossilized mating insects are irreplaceable material for comprehending the evolution of the mating behaviours and life-history traits in the deep-time record of insects as well as the potential sexual conflict. However, cases of mating pairs are particularly rare in fossil insects, especially aquatic or semi-aquatic species. Here, we report the first fossil record of a group of water striders in copulation (including three pairs and a single adult male) based on fossils from the mid-Cretaceous of northern Myanmar. The new taxon, Burmogerris gen. nov., likely represents one of the oldest cases of insects related to the marine environment, such as billabongs formed by the tides. It exhibits conspicuous dimorphism associated with sexual conflict: the male is equipped with a specialized protibial comb as a grasping apparatus, likely representing an adaptation to overcome female resistance during struggles. The paired Burmogerris show smaller males riding on the backs of the females, seemingly recording a scene of copulatory struggles between the sexes. Our discovery reveals a mating system dominated by males and sheds light on the potential sexual conflicts of Burmogerris in the Cretaceous. It indicates the mating behaviour remained stable over long-term geological time in these water-walking insects.

Can bioplastics always offer a truly sustainable alternative to fossil-based plastics?

Bioplastics, comprised of bio-based and/or biodegradable polymers, have the potential to play a crucial role in the transition towards a sustainable circular economy. The use of biodegradable polymers not only leads to reduced greenhouse gas emissions but also might address the problem of plastic waste persisting in the environment, especially when removal is challenging. Nevertheless, biodegradable plastics should not be considered as substitutes for proper waste management practices, given that their biodegradability strongly depends on environmental conditions. Among the challenges hindering the sustainable implementation of bioplastics in the market, the development of effective downstream recycling routes is imperative, given the increasing production volumes of these materials. Here, we discuss about the most advisable end-of-life scenarios for bioplastics. Various recycling strategies, including mechanical, chemical or biological (both enzymatic and microbial) approaches, should be considered. Employing enzymes as biocatalysts emerges as a more selective and environmentally friendly alternative to chemical recycling, allowing the production of new bioplastics and added value and high-quality products. Other pending concerns for industrial implementation of bioplastics include misinformation among end users, the lack of a standardised bioplastic labelling, unclear life cycle assessment guidelines and the need for higher financial investments. Although further research and development efforts are essential to foster the sustainable and widespread application of bioplastics, significant strides have already been made in this direction.

New occurrences of the bone-eating worm Osedax from Late Cretaceous marine reptiles and implications for its biogeography and diversification.

The bone-eating worm Osedax is a speciose and globally distributed clade, primarily found on whale carcasses in marine environments. The earliest fossil evidence for Osedax borings was previously described in plesiosaur and sea turtle bones from the mid-Cretaceous of the United Kingdom, representing the only unequivocal pre-Oligocene occurrences. Confirming through CT scanning, we present new evidence of Osedax borings in three plesiosaur specimens and, for the first time, identify borings in two mosasaur specimens. All specimens are from the Late Cretaceous: one from the Cenomanian of the United Kingdom, two from the Campanian of the southeastern United States, and two from the Maastrichtian of Belgium. This extends the geographic range of Osedax in the Cretaceous to both sides of the northern Atlantic Ocean. The bones contain five borehole morphotypes, potentially created by different species of Osedax, with the Cenomanian specimen containing three morphotypes within a single tooth. This combined evidence of heightened species diversity by the Cenomanian and broad geographic range by the Campanian potentially indicates an earlier origin and diversification for this clade than previously hypothesized. Preservational biases indicate that Osedax was probably even more widely distributed and speciose in the Cretaceous than apparent in the fossil record.

Virtual reconstruction of the Canis arnensis type (Canidae, Mammalia) from the Upper Valdarno Basin (Italy, Early Pleistocene).

Taphonomic deformation, whether it be brittle or plastic, is possibly the most influential process hindering the correct understanding of fossil species morphology. This is especially true if the deformation affects type specimens or applies to or obscures taxonomically diagnostic or functionally significant traits. Target Deformation, a recently developed virtual manipulation protocol, was implemented to address this issue by applying landmark-guided restoration of the original, deformed fossils, using undeformed specimens (or parts thereof) of the same species as a reference. The enigmatic Early Pleistocene canid Canis arnensis provides a typical example of a fossil species in dire need of virtual restoration. Its lectotype specimen is heavily deformed and none of the few known skulls are well preserved, obscuring the recognition of its systematic and phylogenetic position. Our results indicate that the algorithm effectively countered the lectotype skull's laterolateral compression and its concomitant rostrocaudal elongation. Morphometrically, comparison of the retrodeformed cranium (IGF 867_W) with other specimens of the same species, and to other fossil and extant canid material, confirms IGF 867_W consistently clusters within C. arnensis variability. Overall, the evidence presented here confirms that Target Deformation provides a powerful tool to better characterize complex taxa like C. arnensis, whose knowledge is severely affected by the state of preservation of its fossil material.

Enzymatic phosphatization of fish scales-a pathway for fish fossilization.

Phosphatized fish fossils occur in various locations worldwide. Although these fossils have been intensively studied over the past decades they remain a matter of ongoing research. The mechanism of the permineralization reaction itself remains still debated in the community. The mineralization in apatite of a whole fish requires a substantial amount of phosphate which is scarce in seawater, so the origin of the excess is unknown. Previous research has shown that alkaline phosphatase, a ubiquitous enzyme, can increase the phosphate content in vitro in a medium to the degree of saturation concerning apatite. We applied this principle to an experimental setup where fish scales were exposed to commercial bovine alkaline phosphatase. We analyzed the samples with SEM and TEM and found that apatite crystals had formed on the remaining soft tissue. A comparison of these newly formed apatite crystals with fish fossils from the Solnhofen and Santana fossil deposits showed striking similarities. Both are made up of almost identically sized and shaped nano-apatites. This suggests a common formation process: the spontaneous precipitation from an oversaturated solution. The excess activity of alkaline phosphatase could explain that effect. Therefore, our findings could provide insight into the formation of well-preserved fossils.

Cretaceous chloranthoids: early prominence, extinct diversity and missing links.

BACKGROUND: The Chloranthaceae comprise four extant genera (Hedyosmum, Ascarina, Chloranthus and Sarcandra), all with simple flowers. Molecular phylogenetics indicates that the Chloranthaceae diverged very early in angiosperm evolution, although how they are related to eudicots, magnoliids, monocots and Ceratophyllum is uncertain. Fossil pollen similar to that of Ascarina and Hedyosmum has long been recognized in the Early Cretaceous, but over the last four decades evidence of extinct Chloranthaceae based on other types of fossils has expanded dramatically and contributes significantly to understanding the evolution of the family. SCOPE: Studies of fossils from the Cretaceous, especially mesofossils of Early Cretaceous age from Portugal and eastern North America, recognized diverse flowers, fruits, seeds, staminate inflorescences and stamens of extinct chloranthoids. These early chloranthoids include forms related to extant Hedyosmum and also to the Ascarina, Chloranthus and Sarcandra clade. In the Late Cretaceous there are several occurrences of distinctive fossil androecia related to extant Chloranthus. The rich and still expanding Cretaceous record of Chloranthaceae contrasts with a very sparse Cenozoic record, emphasizing that the four extant genera are likely to be relictual, although speciation within the genera might have occurred in relatively recent times. In this study, we describe three new genera of Early Cretaceous chloranthoids and summarize current knowledge on the extinct diversity of the group. CONCLUSIONS: The evolutionary lineage that includes extant Chloranthaceae is diverse and abundantly represented in Early Cretaceous mesofossil floras that provide some of the earliest evidence of angiosperm reproductive structures. Extinct chloranthoids, some of which are clearly in the Chloranthaceae crown group, fill some of the morphological gaps that currently separate the extant genera, help to illuminate how some of the unusual features of extant Chloranthaceae evolved and suggest that Chloranthaceae are of disproportionate importance for a more refined understanding of ecology and phylogeny of early angiosperm diversification.

A new chitinozoan assemblage from the Middle Devonian Los Monos Formation (sub-Andean basin, southern Bolivia) and its biozonal implications for Western Gondwana.

Chitinozoans recovered from one section of the Middle Devonian Los Monos Formation in the TCB X-1001-Tacobo borehole, sub-Andean basin of Bolivia, have been analysed. Eleven from the eighteen processed cutting samples yielded specimens that allowed taxonomic study. Eleven genera and thirty-five chitinozoan species were identified from the Los Monos Formation with four of them recorded for the first time in Western Gondwana. Ancyrochitina biconstricta, Ancyrochitina parisi, Angochitina galarzae and Ramochitina boliviensis are among the most relevant taxa restricted to Western Gondwana that support the affinity with this paleocontinent. One new species, Lagenochitina tacobensis sp. nov. is described, and Ramochitina candelariaensis sp. nov. (n. n.) is formally erected. The chitinozoan assemblage reinforces the late Eifelian-middle Givetian age previously proposed by organic-walled phytoplankton and miospores for this section of the TCB X-1001-Tacobo borehole. A new local chitinozoan biozonation based on the chitinozoan assemblages is proposed and a revision of the current chitinozoan biozonation for Western Gondwana and Bolivia is recommended.

ForCenS-LGM: a dataset of planktonic foraminifera species assemblage composition for the Last Glacial Maximum.

Species assemblage composition of marine microfossils offers the possibility to investigate ecological and climatological change on time scales inaccessible using conventional observations. Planktonic foraminifera - calcareous zooplankton - have an excellent fossil record and are used extensively in palaeoecology and palaeoceanography. During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; 19,000 - 23,000 years ago), the climate was in a radically different state. This period is therefore a key target to investigate climate and biodiversity under different conditions than today. Studying LGM climate and ecosystems indeed has a long history, yet the most recent global synthesis of planktonic foraminifera assemblage composition is now nearly two decades old. Here we present the ForCenS-LGM dataset with 2,365 species assemblage samples collected using standardised methods and with harmonised taxonomy. The data originate from marine sediments from 664 sites and present a more than 50% increase in coverage compared to previous work. The taxonomy is compatible with the most recent global core top dataset, enabling direct investigation of temporal changes in foraminifera biogeography and facilitating seawater temperature reconstructions.

Behavioral and phylogenetic correlates of limb length proportions in extant apes and monkeys: Implications for interpreting hominin fossils.

The body proportions of extant animals help inform inferences about the behaviors of their extinct relatives, but relationships between body proportions, behavior, and phylogeny in extant primates remain unclear. Advances in behavioral data, molecular phylogenies, and multivariate analytical tools make it an opportune time to perform comprehensive comparative analyses of primate traditional limb length proportions (e.g., intermembral, humerofemoral, brachial, and crural indices), body size-adjusted long bone proportions, and principal components. In this study we used a mix of newly-collected and published data to investigate whether and how the limb length proportions of a diverse sample of primates, including monkeys, apes, and modern humans, are influenced by behavior and phylogeny. We reconfirm that the intermembral index, followed by the first principal component of traditional limb length proportions, is the single most effective variable distinguishing hominoids and other anthropoids. Combined limb length proportions and positional behaviors are strongly correlated in extant anthropoid groups, but phylogeny is a better predictor of limb length proportion variation than of behavior. We confirm convergences between members of the Atelidae and extant apes (especially Pan), members of the Hylobatidae and Pongo, and a potential divergence of Presbytis limb proportions from some other cercopithecoids, which correlate with adaptations for forelimb-dominated behaviors in some colobines. Collectively, these results substantiate hypotheses indicating that extinct hominins and other hominoid taxa can be distinguished by analyzing combinations of their limb length proportions at different taxonomic levels. From these results, we hypothesize that fossil skeletons characterized by notably disparate limb length proportions are unlikely to have exhibited similar behavioral patterns.

New Oldowan locality Sare-Abururu (ca. 1.7 Ma) provides evidence of diverse hominin behaviors on the Homa Peninsula, Kenya.

The Homa Peninsula, in southwestern Kenya, continues to yield insights into Oldowan hominin landscape behaviors. The Late Pliocene locality of Nyayanga (∼3-2.6 Ma) preserves some of the oldest Oldowan tools. At the Early Pleistocene locality of Kanjera South (∼2 Ma) toolmakers procured a diversity of raw materials from over 10 km away and strategically reduced them in a grassland-dominated ecosystem. Here, we report findings from Sare-Abururu, a younger (∼1.7 Ma) Oldowan locality approximately 12 km southeast of Kanjera South and 18 km east of Nyayanga. Sare-Abururu has yielded 1754 artifacts in relatively undisturbed low-energy silts and sands. Stable isotopic analysis of pedogenic carbonates suggests that hominin activities were carried out in a grassland-dominated setting with similar vegetation structure as documented at Kanjera South. The composition of a nearby paleo-conglomerate indicates that high-quality stone raw materials were locally abundant. Toolmakers at Sare-Abururu produced angular fragments from quartz pebbles, representing a considerable contrast to the strategies used to reduce high quality raw materials at Kanjera South. Although lithic reduction at Sare-Abururu was technologically simple, toolmakers proficiently produced cutting edges, made few mistakes and exhibited a mastery of platform management, demonstrating that expedient technical strategies do not necessarily indicate a lack of skill or suitable raw materials. Lithic procurement and reduction patterns on the Homa Peninsula appear to reflect variation in local resource contexts rather than large-scale evolutionary changes in mobility, energy budget, or toolmaker cognition.

Description and taxonomic assessment of fossil Cercopithecidae from the Pliocene Galili Formation (Ethiopia).

The Mount Galili Formation in the Afar region, Ethiopia, samples a critical time in hominin evolution, 4.4 to 3.8 Ma, documenting the last appearance of Ardipithecus and the origin of Australopithecus. This period is also important in the evolution of cercopithecids, especially the origin of Theropithecus in general and Theropithecus oswaldi lineage in particular. Galili has provided a total of 655 cercopithecid specimens that include crania, mandibles, isolated teeth and postcrania. All the fossils were recovered from the Lasdanan (5.3-4.43 Ma), Dhidinley (4.43-3.9 Ma) and Shabeley Laag (∼3.92-3.8 Ma) Members. Here, we described and analyzed 362 fossils employing both qualitative and quantitative methods. Descriptions of the material were supplemented with dental metrics and cranial shape analysis using three-dimensional geometric morphometrics. Results indicate the presence of at least six cercopithecid taxa: Theropithecus oswaldi serengetensis (n = 28), Theropithecus sp. (n = 2), three non-Theropithecus papionin groups (n = 134) and one colobine-size group (n = 58). The T. o. serengetensis represents the earliest form of the lineage, documented from ∼3.9 Ma Galili sediments. The three Galili papionins include a smaller taxon, a medium-sized taxon comparable to Pliopapio alemui and a large papionin overlapping in size with Soromandrillus, Gorgopithecus and Dinopithecus. The majority of Galili colobines have closest affinities to Kuseracolobus aramisi and some overlap with other taxa. Papionins dominate the Galili cercopithecid collection, although colobines are still fairly common (approximately 25% of the sample). Thus, Galili sample is like Kanapoi (4.2-4.1 Ma) and Gona (5.2-3.9 Ma) localities but distinct from Aramis, suggesting paleoecological similarity to the former sites. On the other hand, Theropithecus is less abundant at Galili than geologically younger Hadar (3.4-3.2 Ma) and Woranso-Mille (3.8-3.6 Ma) sites. Whether this difference is due to sampling, time or landscape variation requires further investigation.

Largest known madtsoiid snake from warm Eocene period of India suggests intercontinental Gondwana dispersal.

Here we report the discovery of fossils representing partial vertebral column of a giant madtsoiid snake from an early Middle Eocene (Lutetian, ~ 47 Ma) lignite-bearing succession in Kutch, western India. The estimated body length of ~ 11-15 m makes this new taxon (Vasuki indicus gen et sp. nov.) the largest known madtsoiid snake, which thrived during a warm geological interval with average temperatures estimated at ~ 28 °C. Phylogenetically, Vasuki forms a distinct clade with the Indian Late Cretaceous taxon Madtsoia pisdurensis and the North African Late Eocene Gigantophis garstini. Biogeographic considerations, seen in conjunction with its inter-relationship with other Indian and North African madtsoiids, suggest that Vasuki represents a relic lineage that originated in India. Subsequent India-Asia collision at ~ 50 Ma led to intercontinental dispersal of this lineage from the subcontinent into North Africa through southern Eurasia.

Discovery of diverse Pectocaris species at the Cambrian series 2 Hongjingshao formation Xiazhuang section (Kunming, SW China) and its ecological, taphonomic, and biostratigraphic implications.

Pectocaris species are intermediate- to large-sized Cambrian bivalved arthropods. Previous studies have documented Pectocaris exclusively from the Cambrian Series 2 Stage 3 Chengjiang biota in Yu'anshan Formation, Chiungchussu Stage in SW China. In this study, we report Pectocaris paraspatiosa sp. nov., and three other previously known Pectocaris from the Xiazhuang section in Kunming, which belongs to the Hongjingshao Formation and is a later phase within Cambrian Stage 3 than the Yu'anshan Formation. The new species can be distinguished from its congeners by the sparsely arranged endopodal endites and the morphologies of the abdomen, telson, and telson processes. We interpret P. paraspatiosa sp. nov. as a filter-feeder and a powerful swimmer adapted to shallow, agitated environments. Comparison among the Pectocaris species reinforces previous views that niche differentiation had been established among the congeneric species based on morphological differentiation. Our study shows the comprehensive occurrences of Pectocaris species outside the Chengjiang biota for the first time. With a review of the shared fossil taxa of Chengjiang and Xiaoshiba biotas, we identify a strong biological connection between the Yu'anshan and Hongjingshao Formations.