Search results for " Vertebrates"
showing 3 items of 13 documents
Data from: Patterns of ecological diversification in thelodonts
2018
Here we explore the spatial, temporal and phylogenetic patterns of ecological diversification for the entire clade of thelodonts, one of the earliest groups of vertebrates and longest lasting of the Palaeozoic agnathans in the fossil record. Parsimony and maximum-likelihood methods are used to reconstruct ancestral states of their geographical distributions, habitats and lifestyles. Our results support the concept that thelodonts originated during the Middle?–Late Ordovician probably in marine open waters of Laurasia, with a demersal lifestyle on hard substrates being the ancestral condition for the whole clade. Later, thelodonts underwent a complex ecological diversification and palaeobiog…
Striato-amygdaloid transition area lesions reduce the duration of tonic immobility in the lizard Podarcis hispanica.
2002
Neuroanatomical data suggest that the lizard striato-amygdaloid transition area is homologous with the mammalian central amygdala. In order to investigate possible functional similarities, tonic immobility was induced in adult lizards and its duration recorded. Each lizard was then randomly assigned to one of three treatments: (1) bilateral striato-amygdaloid transition area lesions, (2) bilateral dorsal cortex lesions or (3) untreated controls. Three days after trial 1, each lizard was subjected to a second trial and the tonic immobility duration recorded. The mean tonic immobility duration in lizards with striato-amygdaloid transition area lesions was significantly shorter (80.5%; p < 0.0…
Late Pleistocene vertebrate - bearing deposits at San Teodoro Cave (North-Eastern Sicily): Preliminary data on faunal diversification and chronology
2008
Abstract This paper deals with the chronology and the possible correlations among levels of different excavated areas in the Pleistocene vertebrate-bearing deposits at the large San Teodoro Cave (North-Eastern Sicily). Two trenches have been excavated along the eastern side of the cave, located at a distance from the entrance, respectively, of 8 m ( α trench) and 28 m ( β trench) and at different depths. Lithological features, biometrical data from small mammals and ecological data from molluscs point to similar environmental conditions for the α trench deposits and those located along the eastern wall of the cave in the eastern part of the β trench. The same evidence, and the taphonomic fe…