4 results
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2. The first Miocene fossils of Lacerta cf. trilineata (Squamata, Lacertidae) with a comparative study of the main cranial osteological differences in green lizards and their relatives.
- Author
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Čerňanský, Andrej and Syromyatnikova, Elena V.
- Subjects
LACERTIDAE ,VIVIPAROUS lizard ,LIZARDS ,SQUAMATA ,COMPARATIVE anatomy ,PERCH ,FOSSIL hominids ,FOSSIL collection - Abstract
We here describe the first fossil remains of a green lizard of the Lacerta group from the late Miocene (MN 13) of the Solnechnodolsk locality in southern European Russia. This region of Europe is crucial for our understanding of the paleobiogeography and evolution of these middle-sized lizards. Although this clade has a broad geographical distribution across the continent today, its presence in the fossil record has only rarely been reported. In contrast to that, the material described here is abundant, consists of a premaxilla, maxillae, frontals, parietals, jugals, quadrate, pterygoids, dentaries and vertebrae. The comparison of these elements to all extant green lizard species shows that these fossils are indistinguishable from Lacerta trilineata. Thus, they form the first potential evidence of the occurrence of this species in the Miocene. This may be also used as a potential calibration point for further studies. Together with other lizard fossils, Solnechnodolsk shows an interesting combination of survivors and the dawn of modern species. This locality provides important evidence for the transition of an archaic Miocene world to the modern diversity of lizards in Europe. In addition, this article represents a contribution to the knowledge of the comparative osteological anatomy of the selected cranial elements in lacertids. This study gives special emphasis to the green lizards, but new data are also presented for related taxa, e.g., Timon lepidus, Podarcis muralis or Zootoca vivipara. Although the green lizards include several cryptic species for which determination based on isolated osteological material would be expected to be difficult, our comparisons show several important morphological differences, although a high degree of variability is present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
3. Radiocarbon dating and isotope analysis on the purported Aurignacian skeletal remains from Fontana Nuova (Ragusa, Italy).
- Author
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Di Maida, Gianpiero, Mannino, Marcello A., Krause-Kyora, Ben, Jensen, Theis Zetner Trolle, and Talamo, Sahra
- Subjects
STABLE isotope analysis ,RADIOCARBON dating ,ANTHROPOMETRY ,RED deer ,FOSSIL DNA ,RYANODINE receptors - Abstract
Proving voyaging at sea by Palaeolithic humans is a difficult archaeological task, even for short distances. In the Mediterranean, a commonly accepted sea crossing is that from the Italian Peninsula to Sicily by anatomically modern humans, purportedly of the Aurignacian culture. This claim, however, was only supported by the typological attribution to the Aurignacian of the lithic industries from the insular site of Fontana Nuova. AMS radiocarbon dating undertaken as part of our research shows that the faunal remains, previously considered Aurignacian, actually date to the Holocene. Absolute dating on dentinal collagen also attributes the human teeth from the site to the early Holocene, although we were unable to obtain ancient DNA to evaluate their ancestry. Ten radiocarbon dates on human and other taxa are comprised between 9910–9700 cal. BP and 8600–8480 cal. BP, indicating that Fontana Nuova was occupied by Mesolithic and not Aurignacian hunter-gatherers. Only a new study of the lithic assemblage could establish if the material from Fontana Nuova is a mixed collection that includes both late Upper Palaeolithic (Epigravettian) and Mesolithic artefacts, as can be suggested by taking into account both the results of our study and of the most recent reinterpretation of the lithics. Nevertheless, this research suggests that the notion that Aurignacian groups were present in Sicily should now be revised. Another outcome of our study is that we found that three specimens, attributed on grounds both of morphological and ZooMS identifications to Cervus elaphus, had δ
13 C values significantly higher than any available for such species in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
4. “Terror Birds” (Phorusrhacidae) from the Eocene of Europe Imply Trans-Tethys Dispersal.
- Author
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Angst, Delphine, Buffetaut, Eric, Lécuyer, Christophe, and Amiot, Romain
- Subjects
PHORUSRHACIDAE ,BIRDS ,CARNIVOROUS animals ,CENOZOIC Era ,PLEISTOCENE Epoch ,BIRD classification ,GASTORNITHIDAE - Abstract
Background: Phorusrhacidae was a clade including middle-sized to giant terrestrial carnivorous birds, known mainly from the Cenozoic of South America, but also occurring in the Plio-Pleistocene of North America and the Eocene of Africa. Previous reports of small phorusrhacids in the Paleogene of Europe have been dismissed as based on non-phorusrhacid material. Methodology: we have re-examined specimens of large terrestrial birds from the Eocene (late Lutetian) of France and Switzerland previously referred to gastornithids and ratites and have identified them as belonging to a phorusrhacid for which the name Eleutherornis cotei should be used. Conclusions/Significance: The occurrence of a phorusrhacid in the late Lutetian of Europe indicates that these flightless birds had a wider geographical distribution than previously recognized. The likeliest interpretation is that they dispersed from Africa, where the group is known in the Eocene, which implies crossing the Tethys Sea. The Early Tertiary distribution of phorusrhacids can be best explained by transoceanic dispersal, across both the South Atlantic and the Tethys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2013
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
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