Search results for "Fossils"
showing 10 items of 159 documents
Guodunites, a low-palaeolatitude and trans-panthalassic Smithian (Early Triassic) ammonoid genus
2009
11 pages; International audience; Based on new, bed-rock controlled material from Oman and Utah, USA, the Early Triassic genus Guodunites, which was recently erected on the basis of scarce specimens from northwestern Guangxi, South China, is now shown to be a representative of Proptychitidae. This solves the question of the previously unknown phylogenetic affinity of this genus. The genus is restricted to the late middle Smithian, and to date, its biogeographical distribution comprises Oman, South China and Utah, thus indicating an essentially low palaeolatitudinal distribution during the Early Triassic. Its palaeobiogeographical distribution further strengthens the existence of significant…
Integrated bio- and carbon-isotope stratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous Gurpi Formation (Iran): A new reference for the eastern Tethys and its implic…
2018
29 pages; International audience; A high-resolution stratigraphic analysis of the Upper Cretaceous Gurpi Formation has been undertaken in the Shahneshin section (Zagros Basin, Iran). New results on calcareous nannofossils, planktic foraminifers, dinoflagellate cysts and high-resolution carbon and oxygen stable isotopes form the basis of a reference section for the eastern Tethys that spans the upper Coniacian to the late Danian. Carbon-isotope correlation to Gubbio, Italy and the NW German chalk allows for the identification of many isotopic events as well as for the definition of new events in the Campanian and Maastrichtian. Our results allow for a review of the accurate position of the C…
Jaws and teeth of the earliest bony fishes
2007
Extant jawed vertebrates, or gnathostomes, fall into two major monophyletic groups, namely chondrichthyans (cartilaginous fishes) and osteichthyans (bony fishes and tetrapods). Fossil representatives of the osteichthyan crown group are known from the latest Silurian period, 418 million years (Myr) ago, to the present. By contrast, stem chondrichthyans and stem osteichthyans are still largely unknown. Two extinct Palaeozoic groups, the acanthodians and placoderms, may fall into these stem groups or the common stem group of gnathostomes, but their relationships and monophyletic status are both debated. Here we report unambiguous evidence for osteichthyan characters in jaw bones referred to th…
The Mid-Cenomanian Event in southeastern France: evidence from palaeontological and clay mineralogical data.
2013
16 pages; International audience; Reconstruction of main palaeoenvironmental conditions across the Mid-Cenomanian Event (MCE I) in the hemipelagic Tethyan section of Blieux (Southeast France, Vocontian Basin) is proposed. Quantitative analyses of calcareous nannofossil, ammonoid and clay mineral assemblages have been made and compared with respect to sea level changes and the carbon cycle perturbations. The nannofossil primary productivity, as recorded by nannofossil fluxes and relative abundances of meso-eutrophic taxa, is low just below and during the MCE Ia, then slightly increases in the interval including the MCE Ib. The clay assemblages mainly consist of illite/smectite mixed-layers w…
A Serravallian (Middle Miocene) shark fauna from Southeastern Spain and its palaeoenvironment significance
2017
The study of a new Serravallian (Middle Miocene) locality from the Southeastern Spain has yielded a shark assemblage characterized by microremains of at least seven taxa (Deania calcea, ¿Isistius triangulus, ¿Squaliolus cf. S. schaubi, ¿Paraetmopterus sp., Pristiophorus sp., Scyliorhinus sp. and a cf. Squaliformes indet) of three different orders (Squaliformes, Pristiophoriformes and Carcharhiniformes). In addition, associated macroremains have also been found, including teeth of ¿Cosmopolitodus hastalis, Isurus sp., Hemipristis serra, Odontaspis sp., Carcharhinus spp. and ¿Otodus (Megaselachus) megalodon. The assemblage contains taxa with disparate environmental preferences including not o…
Biostratigraphy, Chronostratigraphy and Paleonvironmental Reconstruction of the Palermo Historical Centre Quaternary succession
2016
Marine deposits from the Palermo Plain were historically relevant for the Quaternary Period definition. Here we show lithostratigraphic, biostratigraphic and chronostratigraphic data collected on three boreholes in the Palermo historical centre that recovered 36.8, 42.0 and 52.0 metres of sediments overlaying the Numidian Flysch. Marine sedimentary sequences span from the Calabrian Stage (calcareous nannofossil Zone MNN 19d) to the Middle Pleistocene (dominance of medium-sized gephyrocapsids within the MNN 19f Zone) and also include a short Holocene depositional event. Calcareous nannofossil, benthic and planktonic foraminifera assemblages point to a shallow coastal environment, possibly < …
Growth patterns and life-history strategies in Placodontia (Diapsida: Sauropterygia)
2015
Placodontia is a clade of durophagous, near shore marine reptiles from Triassic sediments of modern-day Europe, Middle East and China. Although much is known about their primary anatomy and palaeoecology, relatively little has been published regarding their life history, i.e. ageing, maturation and growth. Here, growth records derived from long bone histological data of placodont individuals are described and modelled to assess placodont growth and life-history strategies. Growth modelling methods are used to confirm traits documented in the growth record (age at onset of sexual maturity, age when asymptotic length was achieved, age at death, maximum longevity) and also to estimate undocum…
Biodiversity is not (and never has been) a bed of roses!
2011
9 pages; International audience; Over the last decades, the critical study of fossil diversity has led to significant advances in the knowledge of global macroevolutionary patterns of biodiversity. The deep-time history of life on Earth results from background originations and extinctions defining a steady-state, nonstationary equilibrium occasionally perturbed by biotic crises and "explosive" diversifications. More recently, a macroecological approach to the large-scale distribution of extant biodiversity offered new, stimulating perspectives on old theoretical questions and current practical problems in conservation biology. However, time and space are practically distinct, but functional…
Allometric space and allometric disparity: a developmental perspective in the macroevolutionary analysis of morphological disparity.
2008
8 pages; International audience; Here, we advance novel uses of allometric spaces--multidimensional spaces specifically defined by allometric coefficients--with the goal of investigating the focal role of development in shaping the evolution of morphological disparity. From their examination, operational measures of allometric disparity can be derived, complementing standard signals of morphological disparity through an intuitive and process-oriented refinement of established analytical protocols used in disparity studies. Allometric spaces thereby become a promising context to reveal different patterns of evolutionary developmental changes and to assess their relative prevalence and import…
Paleohistology of the Cretaceous resin‐producing conifer Geinitzia reichenbachii using X‐ray synchrotron microtomography
2021
International audience; PremiseThe conifer Geinitzia reichenbachii was a common member of the Cretaceous Laurasian floras. However, the histology of G. reichenbachii leafy axes was never described in detail, and our knowledge of its paleoecology remains very limited. Using new and exquisitely preserved silicified material from the Upper Cretaceous of western France, we describe G. reichenbachii from the gross morphology to the cellular scale, then discuss paleoecological and taphonomical implications.MethodsWe examined specimens from two localities in western France (Claix and Moragne) using propagation phase-contrast X-ray synchrotron microtomography.ResultsThe cuticle and the inner tissue…