history. However, a detailed examination of evolutionary model-support using a .... from the upper Two Medicine Formation (TMF) of Montana are longstanding.
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November 5 – 8, 2014 • Estrel Berlin • Berlin, Germany
primitively small-bodied. Patterns within rhabdodontids are equivocal, and contingent on phylogenetic resolution of putative rhabdodontid Muttaburrasaurus. Overall patterns support a tendency for ornithopods to increase in size throughout their evolutionary history. However, a detailed examination of evolutionary model-support using a novel iterative approach ascending the main stem of the tree indicates that characterizing body size evolution as a simple single trend is a considerable oversimplification. Our analyses recovered two incidences of rapid bursts of body size evolution in ornithopods. The first, and strongest, burst occurs in the early stages of ornithopod evolution, near the origin of Iguanodontia. It correlates with a rapid increase in upper body-size limits in this clade, and may be due to ecological release associated with sauropod extinctions in Laurasia at the end of the Jurassic. The second rapid burst is near the origin of Hadrosauridae and, although a more detailed investigation is required, may support a key innovation in the emergence of an efficient oral processing mechanism. On a broader scale, support for early-burst models of evolution in ornithopods contradicts recent studies on extant taxa proposing that such patterns of evolution are rare in the history of life. As a result, our study adds to the mounting evidence that understanding tempo and mode of evolution requires the deep time perspective offered by the fossil record. Poster Session II (Thursday, November 6, 2014, 4:15 - 6:15 PM) INSIGHTS INTO THE PALAEOBIOLOGY OF MIDDLE PERMIAN PAREIASAURS FROM STABLE LIGHT ISOTOPE ANALYSIS AND BONE MICROSTRUCTURE CANOVILLE, Aurore, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; THOMAS, Daniel B., National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC , DC, United States of America; CHINSAMY-TURAN, Anusuya, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa Pareiasaurs were abundant in Permian terrestrial ecosystems, yet many aspects of their biology remain debated. Earlier studies based on anatomical and taphonomical work suggested that these parareptiles had a short juvenile period. Ecological hypotheses have included aquatic to fully terrestrial lifestyles. Long bone microstructure and stable light isotopes are tools used to assess aspects of tetrapod palaeobiology. Although bone histology has been extensively applied to the nonmammalian therapsids from the vertebrate fossil-bearing sequence of the Karoo Basin, South Africa, very few studies have been conducted on parareptiles. A few stable isotope studies have been reported for middle and late Permian dicynodonts, but our study represents the first for middle Permian parareptiles and coeval dinocephalians and therocephalians. Through complementary analyses of pareiasaurian long bone microstructure and stable isotopes we assessed previous interpretations pertaining to their palaeobiology. In order to document growth patterns, lifestyle adaptations and bone histovariability of these animals, our study material encompasses a diversity of South African pareiasaurs. The isotopic data was obtained from the enamel, dentine, and bone of pareiasaurs and contemporaneous therapsids (dinocephalians and therocephalians) recovered from middle Permian deposits of South Africa. The bone histology studies suggest that the diversity of middle Permian pareiasaurs may have been underestimated, and that they experienced a rapid growth early in ontogeny, which later slowed down and became periodically punctuated. The bone microanatomy assessments along with oxygen stable isotope analyses reveal that middle Permian pareiasaurs were terrestrial. Poster Session I (Wednesday, November 5, 2014, 4:15 - 6:15 PM) A PALEOBIOGEOGRAPHIC APPROACH TO THE VALLESIAN MAMMAL TURNOVER AT A CONTINENTAL SCALE CANTALAPIEDRA, Juan L., Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naurales, Madrid, Spain; MADERN, Anneke, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, Netherlands; CASANOVAS VILAR, Isaac, Institut Català de Paleontologia, Barcelona, Spain; ERONEN, Jussi, Senckenberg Research Institute und Natural History Museum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; FORTELIUS, Mikael, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland The late Miocene brought about the aridification of most of the Mediterranean environments. Nevertheless, the Vallès-Penedès basin (Catalonia, Spain), escaped this harshening and held humid and forest-adapted faunas until around 9.6 Ma. By combining large datasets of macro- (817 localities and 99 genera) and micromammals (456 localities and 107 genera), we elucidate the broader context of this biogeographic and ecological uniqueness. To visualize the Vallesian turnover through time, we mapped Raup-Crick similarity indices of all the localities to Can Llobateres 1, which is the reference locality of the MN9 and represents the apex of the Vallesian faunas. Our results suggest that the waxing of the Vallesian faunas is slightly decoupled in macro- and micromammals. For the micromammals, the first Vallesian elements are observed in Central Europe during MN5. The first Vallesian-related macrofauna appeared in Central Europe in the MN6, although patterns are less clear than for the micro. During the MN7–8, the pattern became sharper for both groups, with a clear Eastern Mediterranean province and a Central European one, which in turn includes the Vallès-Penedès. Many Vallesian relicts were inherited from the Aragonian, rendering a high resemblance between the MN7–8 faunas and the Vallesian. At this time, the Vallesian-related macrofauna had completely spread across the Iberian Peninsula, while the entrance of the Vallesian microfauna into Iberia is restricted to the Vallès-Penedès basin, differentiating an inner Iberian province. Whereas the Vallesian faunas became widespread in Western Europe in the MN9 and MN10, their geographic range began to shrink from the east, as the more arid-adapted Pikermian faunas spread. The disappearance of the Vallesian microfauna had already culminated by the MN11, with some scarce relicts in Central Europe. However, a significant part of the Vallesian macrofauna persisted in Iberia and Central Europe in the MN11, its presence being sporadic during the MN12 and MN13.
November 2014—PROGRAM AND ABSTRACTS
Preparators' Symposium (Saturday, November 8, 2014, 2:30 PM) IMPROVING EFFICIENCY AND OUTPUT OF INDOOR SCREEN WASHING FACILITIES CAPOBIANCO, Christopher, Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Drumheller, AB, Canada, T0J 0Y3; REDMAN, Cory, Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Drumheller, AB, Canada Microvertebrate fossil localities, or microsites, have always been an integral part of the research program at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology (RTMP). The museum’s screen washing facility has gone through many alterations since the RTMP was founded in 1985. In the 1980’s and 1990’s, the majority of the museum’s screen washing was done in the field, utilizing water sources near the microsites or using plastic bins onsite. In 2005, all of the RTMP’s screen washing was moved indoors due to the restrictive field season in Alberta. An indoor setting is ideal for screen washing because it can be conducted year-round in a controlled environment. However, space, water supply, and the frequency and ease in which sediment that has already passed through the screens can be removed are all factors that have to be considered when an institution is setting up an indoor screen washing facility. The RTMP has addressed some of these issues by using plastic recycling bins with wheels and livestock watering troughs on elevated wooden platforms with heavy-duty castors to hold the water for screen washing and allow for easy transportation of screened sediment outside for dumping. Since 2012, all screen washing boxes have been built using plastic siding and stainless steel components as a long term replacement for the aging wooden screen washing boxes. Increasing the number of usable boxes is critical for increasing efficiency since indoor labs do not have access to the sun and wind to accelerate the drying of microvertebrate matrix. Extra boxes allow screens to be changed out while previously washed matrix finishes drying. The RTMP has experimented with several different techniques to try and increase the efficiency of their indoor screen washing facility, including using bubblers, shaker screens, and garden sprinklers. While many institutions have had great success with each of these methods, the RTMP has cast off each of these approaches, largely due to the difficulty of long-term maintenance. Since 2013, the RTMP has been washing all microvertebrate concentrate in three percent hydrogen peroxide to further reduce the microvertebrate matrix concentrate that needs picking. The RTMP currently has 61 screens, with 12 troughs, in two rooms, allowing the museum to process over 12 metric tons of material in the last two years. Although this represents a large-scale, indoor screen washing facility, any institution can reap the benefit from indoor screen washing by optimizing their set-up in any space that is available. Symposium 1 (Wednesday, November 5, 2014, 10:15 AM) ARCHAEOPTERYX IN 4D CARNEY, Ryan, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States of America, 02906; MOLNAR, Julia, Royal Veterinary College, London, United Kingdom; UPDIKE, Earl, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, United States of America; BROWN, William, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, United States of America; JACKSON, Jessie, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, United States of America; SHAWKEY, Matthew, University of Akron, Akron, OH, United States of America; LINDGREN, Johan, Lund University, Lund, Sweden; SJÖVALL, Peter, SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, Borås, Sweden; FALKINGHAM, Peter, Royal Veterinary College, London, United Kingdom; GAUTHIER, Jacques, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States of America From x-ray scanning to scanning electron microscopy (SEM), technological advances have greatly expanded the scope and scale of imaging fossil material, providing for reconstructions of digital 3D anatomy and even original coloration. Here we report on both such spatial and spectral reconstructions of Archaeopteryx. First, we revisit the available evidence involving the original color of the isolated feather (MB.Av.100), particularly with respect to two recent alternative interpretations: namely, that the feather was both black and white, and that the fossilized microbodies therein represent microbes instead of melanosomes. Based on new molecular evidence for the preservation of melanosomes in fossil integument using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry, as well as SEM results on the location of eumelanosomes in the feather, we reaffirm our original conclusion that the Archaeopteryx feather was black with a greater degree of melanization at the distal tip. Additionally, this black color was likely matte and not iridescent, based on the lower mean aspect ratio of the melanosomes (3.9 ± 0.1 SE; n = 108). Preliminary results will also be shared from the 3D Archaeopteryx Project, which involved multiplanar x-ray microtomosynthesis of the Thermopolis specimen (WDCCSG-100) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. This scanning procedure yielded high-resolution digital datasets comprising the entire skeleton, which were subsequently segmented using Avizo Fire software (FEI). Complementary surface data was also acquired using photogrammetry of the London specimen (NHMUK PV OR 37001). Results provide new insights into the pneumatization of Archaeopteryx as well as characters of biomechanical importance, such as a previously undescribed bifurcation of the scapular acromion process that buttressed the robust furcula and stabilized the pectoral girdle. The 3D Archaeopteryx Project was funded by grants from the National Science Foundation (EAR-0917538 to RMC and JAG; GRFP to RMC), Sigma Xi (GIAR to RMC), and the Society for Experimental Biology (COB to RMC), and supported by a software donation from FEI. Poster Session IV (Saturday, November 8, 2014, 4:15 - 6:15 PM) A NEW SPECIES OF DASPLETOSAURUS FROM THE UPPER TWO MEDICINE FORMATION (LATE CAMPANIAN, CRETACEOUS) OF MONTANA AND EVIDENCE FOR ANAGENESIS IN TYRANNOSAURINE EVOLUTION CARR, Thomas, Carthage College, Kenosha, WI, United States of America, 53140-1994; VARRICCHIO, David, Montana State Univ, Bozeman, MT, United States of America The taxonomic identity and phylogenetic position of an undescribed tyrannosaurine from the upper Two Medicine Formation (TMF) of Montana are longstanding paleobiological questions. This taxon is important given its pivotal geological position, which is intermediate in age between units that have well-sampled and well known
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