Search results for "Fossil"
showing 10 items of 412 documents
Trace and soft body fossils from the Pedroche Formation (Ovetian, Lower Cambrian of the Sierra de Córdoba, S Spain) and their relation to the Pedroch…
2006
The low Lower Cambrian rocks from the Sierra de Cordoba contain one of the best successions in Europe, which consists of well exposed mixed facies with abundant fossil assemblages showing long stratigraphical ranges throughout the Pedroche Formation. These assemblages include diverse Ovetian archaeocyaths, trilobites, small shelly fossils, calcimicrobes, trace fossils and stromatolites. Trace fossils are still poorly known, and thus they are the main objective of this work. Ichnological data are obtained from the Arroyo de Pedroche 1, Arroyo de Pedroche 2 and Puente de Hierro sections. Trace fossils include the ichnogenera Bergaueria, aff. Bilinichnus, Cochlichnus, aff. Cosmorhaphe?, Cylind…
Palaeoenvironmental andstratigraphic aspects of animal traces and plant remains in Spanish Permian red beds (Peña Sagra, Cantabrian Mountains, Spain)
1997
Abstract Various vertebrate and invertebrate traces and plants remains have been discovered in the Permian of Pico Paraes (Cantabrian Mountains). They occur in the Sagra Formation, a 400 m thick unit consisting of a vertical alternation of channels with conglomeratic sandstones and fossiliferous red siltstones with a caliche horizon at the top. The most common trace is Hyloidichnus major which is attributed to approximately 50 cm long Captorhinomorphs. Other tracks provisionally assigned to Limnopus could also indicate the presence of Temnospondyls. The bedding planes with traces also show some tracks of Isopodichnus cf. minutus which is ascribed to small triopsid crustaceans. Like the foot…
Upper Ovetian trilobites from Spain and their implications for the palaeobiogeography and correlation of the Cambrian Stage 3 in Gondwana
2016
Abstract The upper part of the La Herreria Formation in Los Barrios de Luna (Leon Province, N Spain) has been revised from a palaeontological and biostratigraphical point of view. Two stratigraphic sections have been studied including their trilobite and ichnofossils contents. The ichnofossil assemblages have a high diversity of species characterising the Cruziana ichnofacies, suggesting a shallow sublittoral environment for the upper part of the La Herreria Formation. The trilobites species recognised are Lunagraulos antiquus , Dolerolenus formosus , Dolerolenus longioculatus , Lunolenus lunae , Metadoxides richterorum , Metadoxides armatus and Sardaspis ? sp. from the upper Ovetian (lower…
A new selenosteid placoderm from the Late Devonian of the eastern Anti-Atlas (Morocco) with preserved body outline and its ecomorphology
2022
Placoderms are an extinct group of early jawed vertebrates that play a key role in understanding the evolution of the gnathostome body plan, including the origin of novelties such as jaws, teeth, and pelvic fins. As placoderms have a poorly ossified axial skeleton, preservation of the mainly cartilaginous axial and fin elements is extremely rare, contrary to the heavily mineralized bones of the skull and thoracic armor. Therefore, the gross anatomy of the animals and body shape is only known from a few taxa, and reconstructions of the swimming function and ecology are speculative. Here, we describe articulated specimens preserving skull roofs, shoulder girdles, most fins, and body outlines …
To meat or not to meat? New perspectives on Neanderthal ecology.
2014
Neanderthals have been commonly depicted as top predators who met their nutritional needs by focusing entirely on meat. This information mostly derives from faunal assemblage analyses and stable isotope studies: methods that tend to underestimate plant consumption and overestimate the intake of animal proteins. Several studies in fact demonstrate that there is a physiological limit to the amount of animal proteins that can be consumed: exceeding these values causes protein toxicity that can be particularly dangerous to pregnant women and newborns. Consequently, to avoid food poisoning from meat-based diets, Neanderthals must have incorporated alternative food sources in their daily diets, i…
Testing a portable laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy system on geological samples.
2012
9 pages; International audience; This paper illustrates the potentialities of a home-made portable LIBS (laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy) instrument in Earth sciences, more particularly in geochemically recognizing (i) tephra layers in lacustrine sediments and (ii) fossilization processes in ammonites. Abundances for selected lines of Al, Ca, Fe, Ti, Ba and Na were determined in lacustrine chalk sediments of the Jura, where the Laacher See Tephra (LST) layer is recorded. A statistical treatment of elemental maps produced from the section of a sedimentary column containing the LST event allows instrumental conditions to be optimized. Accumulating spectra from close shot positions gives …
New tree-ring evidence for the Late Glacial period from the northern pre-Alps in eastern Switzerland
2018
Abstract The rate and magnitude of temperature variability at the transition from the Last Glacial Maximum into the early Holocene represents a natural analog to current and predicted climate change. A limited number of high-resolution proxy archives, however, challenges our understanding of environmental conditions during this period. Here, we present combined dendrochronological and radiocarbon evidence from 253 newly discovered subfossil pine stumps from Zurich, Switzerland. The individual trees reveal ages of 41–506 years and were growing between the Allerod and Preboreal (∼13′900–11′300 cal BP). Together with previously collected pines from this region, this world's best preserved Late…
Systematic Position of the Fossil Burrower Bug Eocenocydnus lisi Popov, 2019 (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Cydnidae) Revealed by a Parallel/Cross-Eyed Vie…
2022
The fossil burrower bug Eocenocydnus lisi described from the Late Eocene of the Isle of Wight, UK, is analysed using a parallel, cross-eyed viewing method. The species, tentatively placed in the subfamily Sehirinae, is redescribed and its systematic position is discussed. Newly recovered morphological characteristics allow it to be placed in the tribe Cydnini of the subfamily Cydninae.
TESTING SIMILARITY COEFFICIENTS FOR ANALYSIS OF THE FOSSIL RECORD USING CLUSTERING METHODS: THE PALAEOZOIC FLORA AS A STUDY CASE
2020
This paper reports a global methodological approach based on the similarity and clustering methods of the Palaeozoic plant fossil record using a comparative approach between two similarity measures: the Jacard and Raup-Crick Coefficients. The results show that although the Raup-Crick Coefficients clearly have the potential for providing more robust results, the consequences of the extinction processes are better reflected in the similarity analysis based on the Jaccard Coefficients. On the other hand, the cluster analysis based on UPGMA algorithm shows four robust clusters and reveals new evidence for the singularity of Mississippian flora. Finally, the results obtained reveal that similari…
Musteloidea (Carnivora, Mammalia) del Mioceno Superior de Venta del Moro (Valencia, España)
2011
The purpose of the present work is to describe the Musteloidea from the Late Miocene locality of Venta del Moro (Valencia, Spain). We have identified the following species: Martes ginsburgi nov. sp., Lutra affinis Gervais, 1859, Plesiogulo monspessulanus Viret, 1939 and Promephitis alexejewi Schlosser, 1924. Besides Plesiogulo monspessulanus which was already described in this locality and in Las Casiones (MN 13, Teruel Basin), we are approaching an unedited Musteloidea assemblage from the Miocene of the Iberian Peninsula. The m1 of Martes ginsburgi nov. sp. is similar in size and morphology to the Asian species of the genus, M. anderssoni and M. zdanskyi, but it differs in having a very wi…