cometadata/datacite-titles-descriptions-related-identifiers huggingface dataset:
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.23660982
title: A new Mesozoic teleost of the subfamily Albulinae (Albuliformes: Albulidae) highlights the proto-Gulf of Mexico in the early diversification of extant bonefishes

description: We present a new fossil species of the order Albuliformes, †<i>Macabi tojolabalensis</i> gen. et sp. nov., from Campanian outcrops of Chiapas state, south-eastern Mexico. The number of branchiostegal rays, a fusion of the lower hypural elements in the caudal-fin skeleton, and the two types of cycloid scales over the body are features that separate this new taxon from other members of the order. Its inclusion in a phylogenetic analysis including fossil and extant species shows that †<i>Macabi tojolabalensis</i> gen. et sp. nov. is closely related to the extant <i>Albula vulpes</i>. The biogeographical analysis shows four distinct regions of bonefish diversification during the Cretaceous and identifies the proto-Gulf of Mexico as an important place to understand the early divergence of living albuliformes. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:83FA8C48-B9CF-4C6D-9943-818A28A5A113
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.23660982.v1
title: A new Mesozoic teleost of the subfamily Albulinae (Albuliformes: Albulidae) highlights the proto-Gulf of Mexico in the early diversification of extant bonefishes

description: We present a new fossil species of the order Albuliformes, †<i>Macabi tojolabalensis</i> gen. et sp. nov., from Campanian outcrops of Chiapas state, south-eastern Mexico. The number of branchiostegal rays, a fusion of the lower hypural elements in the caudal-fin skeleton, and the two types of cycloid scales over the body are features that separate this new taxon from other members of the order. Its inclusion in a phylogenetic analysis including fossil and extant species shows that †<i>Macabi tojolabalensis</i> gen. et sp. nov. is closely related to the extant <i>Albula vulpes</i>. The biogeographical analysis shows four distinct regions of bonefish diversification during the Cretaceous and identifies the proto-Gulf of Mexico as an important place to understand the early divergence of living albuliformes. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:83FA8C48-B9CF-4C6D-9943-818A28A5A113
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.22109544
title: Fossils from the Montceau-les-Mines Lagerstätte (305 Ma) shed light on the anatomy, ecology and phylogeny of Carboniferous millipedes

description: Arthropods constitute a highly diverse group of animals dominated by insects, arachnids, crustaceans and myriapods, the latter consisting of two important classes: Chilopoda and Diplopoda. Diplopods are remarkable for their diversity and disparity and have a long and rich fossil record going back to the Silurian. Here, X-ray microtomography (µCT) reveals the detailed morphology of two diplopods from the Carboniferous (Kasimovian; <i>ca</i> 305 Ma) Lagerstätte of Montceau-les-Mines, namely <i>Amynilyspes fatimae</i> (Pentazonia) and <i>Blanziulus parriati</i> (Juliformia), allowing three-dimensional reconstructions to be made. Important features of amynilyspedids, exemplified by <i>Amynilyspes</i>, are observed for the first time, such as the telopods, 21 pairs of walking legs, 13 tergites and the anal shield. Details of the ocular field, antennae and mandibles provide key information on the sense organs of these ancient myriapods as well as their capacities to process food. The presence of possible spiracles in <i>B. parriati</i> indicates a probable adaptation to living in terrestrial environments. Intraspecific differences seen in the appendages of <i>Amynilyspes fatimae</i> suggest that late Carboniferous pill millipedes had sexually dimorphic features closely similar to those of extant millipedes. <i>Amynilyspes fatimae</i> and <i>B. parriati</i> are interpreted as two detritivore millipedes living in a vegetated and humid environment (e.g. forest, swamp, litter) that are likely to have played the role of recycling plant detritus as do numerous present-day myriapods.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.23709698
title: An Eocene fossil plutoniumid centipede: a new species of <i>Theatops</i> from Baltic Amber (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha)

description: Four specimens of the same species of scolopendromorph centipede from Eocene Baltic amber provide the first fossil occurrence of the family Plutoniumidae, a clade represented by seven extant species. The fossil material, documented by light microscopy and computed microtomography, is assigned to the genus <i>Theatops</i> Newport, 1844, which currently has a disjunct distribution in temperate North America, the Mediterranean region, and central China. The Eocene species is diagnostically distinct from extant congeners and is formally described as <i>Theatops groehni</i> sp. nov. Phylogenetic analysis of combined morphological and molecular data for three loci finds <i>T. groehni</i> to be nested within crown-group Plutoniumidae. The discovery of <i>T. groehni</i> constrains the minimal divergence date for crown-group Plutoniumidae and is consistent with hypotheses regarding the extent and nature of tropical to warm temperate European forests during the Eocene. The fossil reinforces the hypothesis that the distribution of Plutoniumidae, once more geographically widespread, has been pruned by extinction. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:ECBF2C04-CA1B-4FBC-A19E-26A0094196EC
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.23709698.v1
title: An Eocene fossil plutoniumid centipede: a new species of <i>Theatops</i> from Baltic Amber (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha)

description: Four specimens of the same species of scolopendromorph centipede from Eocene Baltic amber provide the first fossil occurrence of the family Plutoniumidae, a clade represented by seven extant species. The fossil material, documented by light microscopy and computed microtomography, is assigned to the genus <i>Theatops</i> Newport, 1844, which currently has a disjunct distribution in temperate North America, the Mediterranean region, and central China. The Eocene species is diagnostically distinct from extant congeners and is formally described as <i>Theatops groehni</i> sp. nov. Phylogenetic analysis of combined morphological and molecular data for three loci finds <i>T. groehni</i> to be nested within crown-group Plutoniumidae. The discovery of <i>T. groehni</i> constrains the minimal divergence date for crown-group Plutoniumidae and is consistent with hypotheses regarding the extent and nature of tropical to warm temperate European forests during the Eocene. The fossil reinforces the hypothesis that the distribution of Plutoniumidae, once more geographically widespread, has been pruned by extinction. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:ECBF2C04-CA1B-4FBC-A19E-26A0094196EC
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.22109544.v1
title: Fossils from the Montceau-les-Mines Lagerstätte (305 Ma) shed light on the anatomy, ecology and phylogeny of Carboniferous millipedes

description: Arthropods constitute a highly diverse group of animals dominated by insects, arachnids, crustaceans and myriapods, the latter consisting of two important classes: Chilopoda and Diplopoda. Diplopods are remarkable for their diversity and disparity and have a long and rich fossil record going back to the Silurian. Here, X-ray microtomography (µCT) reveals the detailed morphology of two diplopods from the Carboniferous (Kasimovian; <i>ca</i> 305 Ma) Lagerstätte of Montceau-les-Mines, namely <i>Amynilyspes fatimae</i> (Pentazonia) and <i>Blanziulus parriati</i> (Juliformia), allowing three-dimensional reconstructions to be made. Important features of amynilyspedids, exemplified by <i>Amynilyspes</i>, are observed for the first time, such as the telopods, 21 pairs of walking legs, 13 tergites and the anal shield. Details of the ocular field, antennae and mandibles provide key information on the sense organs of these ancient myriapods as well as their capacities to process food. The presence of possible spiracles in <i>B. parriati</i> indicates a probable adaptation to living in terrestrial environments. Intraspecific differences seen in the appendages of <i>Amynilyspes fatimae</i> suggest that late Carboniferous pill millipedes had sexually dimorphic features closely similar to those of extant millipedes. <i>Amynilyspes fatimae</i> and <i>B. parriati</i> are interpreted as two detritivore millipedes living in a vegetated and humid environment (e.g. forest, swamp, litter) that are likely to have played the role of recycling plant detritus as do numerous present-day myriapods.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.24018902
title: Occurrence of <i>Styxosaurus</i> (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauria) in the Cenomanian: implications for relationships of elasmosaurids of the Western Interior Seaway

description: The systematics of the elasmosaurid plesiosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of the Western Interior Seaway have been contentious, with studies supporting an endemic Elasmosaurinae clade. In this study four elasmosaurids from the Western Interior Seaway are examined in detail, and others discussed, to clarify the validity and ingroup relationships of the clade Elasmosaurinae. Two of the taxa examined here are Campanian in age: the holotype of <i>Styxosaurus snowii</i>, and an indeterminate species of <i>Styxosaurus</i> (‘<i>Alzadasaurus pembertoni</i>’). The other two specimens are Cenomanian: the holotype of <i>Thalassomedon haningtoni</i>, and an elasmosaurid specimen from Nebraska previously referred to <i>Thalassomedon haningtoni</i>. We find that the Nebraska specimen is referable to <i>Styxosaurus</i>. We therefore refer the Nebraska material to the new species <i>Styxosaurus rezaci</i>, distinguished by an extremely large caniniform tooth in the second maxillary tooth position, circular external nares, and the frontal forming the entire posterior margin of the external naris. We examined a matrix of 134 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and 283 morphological characters with a parsimony analysis in TNT. We scored each of these elasmosaurs listed above as an individual OTU; also listed as OTUs were <i>Styxosaurus browni</i> and AMNH 1495 (Elasmosauridae indet.). We find that <i>Thalassomedon</i> and the species of <i>Styxosaurus</i> do form an endemic clade. However, the long-necked taxa <i>Terminonatator</i> and <i>Albertonectes</i> are not recovered as members of this clade, due to missing data for both taxa. We recovered <i>Styxosaurus</i> as a monophyletic clade diagnosed by features of the squamosal, the exclusion of the frontal from the orbit margin, and 60–63 cervical vertebrae. We refer the headless skeleton, AMNH 1495, to Elasmosauridae (indet.). We conclude that the genus <i>Styxosaurus</i> was a long-lived clade that inhabited the Western Interior Seaway for at least 12 million years. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:7E81A26D-9E19-42FE-9CAD-D58908EDCF7A
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.24159021.v2
title: A new species of <i>Plohophorus</i> Ameghino (Cingulata, Glyptodontidae) from the latest Pliocene–earliest Pleistocene of the Pampean Region (Argentina): the last survivor of a Neogene lineage

description: Within xenarthrans, two large groups are recognized, Pilosa (anteaters and sloths) and Cingulata (armoured xenarthrans). The latter contains Glyptodontidae, one of the most bizarre and enigmatic groups of animals that ever lived. Recent phylogenetic proposals show an early Miocene divergence into two clades, one of northern origin (Glyptodontinae) and the other with its oldest records in the early–middle Miocene of southern South America, which groups most of the recognized diversity. Although knowledge of the ‘austral clade’ has increased recently, several taxa need urgent taxonomic and phylogenetic studies to understand their evolutionary history. One case is represented by the ‘Plohophorini’, a tribe that traditionally included several genera (<i>Plohophorus</i>, <i>Pseudoplohophorus</i>, <i>Phlyctaenopyga</i>, <i>Stromaphorus</i> and <i>Stromaphoropsis</i>), from the late Miocene–Pliocene of the Pampean and North-Western regions of Argentina, and Uruguay. A new and terminal species of <i>Plohophorus</i>, <i>P. avellaneda</i> sp. nov., coming from the El Polvorín Formation (Pampean region of Argentina) is here reported and described, and represents the first case of a Neogene genus of glyptodont crossing the Plio–Pleistocene boundary (<i>c</i>. 2.53 Ma). In addition, the palaeohistological analysis on the osteoderms (the first for ‘Plohophorini’) reveals some characters not observed in other glyptodonts, highlighting its potential phylogenetic importance. The phylogenetic analysis corroborates that the well-characterized species of ‘Plohophorini’ of Uruguay and the Pampean region of Argentina (‘eastern Plohophorini’) constitute a natural group within the austral clade, since both species of <i>Plohophorus</i> (<i>P. avellaneda</i> + <i>P. figuratus</i>) cluster together, and are the sister taxa of <i>Ps. absolutus</i> + <i>Ps. benvenutti</i>. Along the evolutionary history of Plohophorini an increase in body mass is observed, reaching its maximum with <i>P. avellaneda</i> sp. nov. (<i>c</i>. 471 ka). Despite the high frequency of late Pliocene records, Plohophorini disappear completely from the fossil record during the Pleistocene, suggesting that this character was negatively selected. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:FF11606C-2F27-4309-9DFD-FA74E769E639
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.23653712
title: The early Cambrian Emu Bay Shale radiodonts revisited: morphology and systematics

description: Two species of Radiodonta (stem-group Euarthropoda) from the Emu Bay Shale (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4), Kangaroo Island, South Australia, are revised based on new field collections and insights from recent phylogenetic analyses and advances in knowledge of radiodonts globally. <i>Anomalocaris briggsi</i> Nedin, 1995, the most common Emu Bay Shale radiodont, is designated the type species of a new monotypic genus of Tamisiocarididae, <i>Echidnacaris</i> gen. nov. The less common species, previously identified as <i>Anomalocaris</i> aff. <i>canadensis</i> Whiteaves, 1892, is formally named <i>Anomalocaris daleyae</i> sp. nov. Oral cones are assigned to both <i>Echidnacaris briggsi</i> comb. nov. and <i>A. daleyae</i> based on that of the latter species being found in association with pairs of frontal appendages. The <i>Echidnacaris briggsi</i> oral cone is the best preserved for the family Tamisiocarididae; it is triradial, with three large plates and a more pervasive ornament of nodes than in any other known radiodont. Shared characters of the <i>Echidnacaris</i> and <i>Anomalocaris</i> oral cones add support for a sister group relationship between Tamisiocarididae and Anomalocarididae. Unique eye characters documented in <i>E. briggsi</i>, such as being sessile and encircled by an eye sclerite, are unknown in the other tamisiocaridids, <i>Tamisiocaris</i> and <i>Houcaris</i>, and are tentatively regarded as diagnostic for <i>Echidnacaris</i>. An ovate head element resembling that of <i>Tamisiocaris borealis</i> is assigned to <i>E. briggsi</i>, informed by the sister group relationship between these taxa. Isolated radiodont body flaps and sets of setal blades in the Emu Bay Shale cannot be confidently assigned to a species, although relative abundance suggests that many or most are likely <i>E. briggsi</i>. The inner attachment margin of the body flaps is sharply defined and may represent a suture at which flaps are shed in moulting. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:AEFDB294-AE8F-426D-9805-FC701798A986
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.23653712.v1
title: The early Cambrian Emu Bay Shale radiodonts revisited: morphology and systematics

description: Two species of Radiodonta (stem-group Euarthropoda) from the Emu Bay Shale (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4), Kangaroo Island, South Australia, are revised based on new field collections and insights from recent phylogenetic analyses and advances in knowledge of radiodonts globally. <i>Anomalocaris briggsi</i> Nedin, 1995, the most common Emu Bay Shale radiodont, is designated the type species of a new monotypic genus of Tamisiocarididae, <i>Echidnacaris</i> gen. nov. The less common species, previously identified as <i>Anomalocaris</i> aff. <i>canadensis</i> Whiteaves, 1892, is formally named <i>Anomalocaris daleyae</i> sp. nov. Oral cones are assigned to both <i>Echidnacaris briggsi</i> comb. nov. and <i>A. daleyae</i> based on that of the latter species being found in association with pairs of frontal appendages. The <i>Echidnacaris briggsi</i> oral cone is the best preserved for the family Tamisiocarididae; it is triradial, with three large plates and a more pervasive ornament of nodes than in any other known radiodont. Shared characters of the <i>Echidnacaris</i> and <i>Anomalocaris</i> oral cones add support for a sister group relationship between Tamisiocarididae and Anomalocarididae. Unique eye characters documented in <i>E. briggsi</i>, such as being sessile and encircled by an eye sclerite, are unknown in the other tamisiocaridids, <i>Tamisiocaris</i> and <i>Houcaris</i>, and are tentatively regarded as diagnostic for <i>Echidnacaris</i>. An ovate head element resembling that of <i>Tamisiocaris borealis</i> is assigned to <i>E. briggsi</i>, informed by the sister group relationship between these taxa. Isolated radiodont body flaps and sets of setal blades in the Emu Bay Shale cannot be confidently assigned to a species, although relative abundance suggests that many or most are likely <i>E. briggsi</i>. The inner attachment margin of the body flaps is sharply defined and may represent a suture at which flaps are shed in moulting. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:AEFDB294-AE8F-426D-9805-FC701798A986
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.24018902.v1
title: Occurrence of <i>Styxosaurus</i> (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauria) in the Cenomanian: implications for relationships of elasmosaurids of the Western Interior Seaway

description: The systematics of the elasmosaurid plesiosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of the Western Interior Seaway have been contentious, with studies supporting an endemic Elasmosaurinae clade. In this study four elasmosaurids from the Western Interior Seaway are examined in detail, and others discussed, to clarify the validity and ingroup relationships of the clade Elasmosaurinae. Two of the taxa examined here are Campanian in age: the holotype of <i>Styxosaurus snowii</i>, and an indeterminate species of <i>Styxosaurus</i> (‘<i>Alzadasaurus pembertoni</i>’). The other two specimens are Cenomanian: the holotype of <i>Thalassomedon haningtoni</i>, and an elasmosaurid specimen from Nebraska previously referred to <i>Thalassomedon haningtoni</i>. We find that the Nebraska specimen is referable to <i>Styxosaurus</i>. We therefore refer the Nebraska material to the new species <i>Styxosaurus rezaci</i>, distinguished by an extremely large caniniform tooth in the second maxillary tooth position, circular external nares, and the frontal forming the entire posterior margin of the external naris. We examined a matrix of 134 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and 283 morphological characters with a parsimony analysis in TNT. We scored each of these elasmosaurs listed above as an individual OTU; also listed as OTUs were <i>Styxosaurus browni</i> and AMNH 1495 (Elasmosauridae indet.). We find that <i>Thalassomedon</i> and the species of <i>Styxosaurus</i> do form an endemic clade. However, the long-necked taxa <i>Terminonatator</i> and <i>Albertonectes</i> are not recovered as members of this clade, due to missing data for both taxa. We recovered <i>Styxosaurus</i> as a monophyletic clade diagnosed by features of the squamosal, the exclusion of the frontal from the orbit margin, and 60–63 cervical vertebrae. We refer the headless skeleton, AMNH 1495, to Elasmosauridae (indet.). We conclude that the genus <i>Styxosaurus</i> was a long-lived clade that inhabited the Western Interior Seaway for at least 12 million years. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:7E81A26D-9E19-42FE-9CAD-D58908EDCF7A
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.22277149
title: Re-assessment of the Late Jurassic eusauropod <i>Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum</i> Russell and Zheng, 1993, and the evolution of exceptionally long necks in mamenchisaurids

description: The sauropod genus <i>Mamenchisaurus</i>, from the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous of East Asia, has a convoluted taxonomic history. Although included in the first cladistic analysis of sauropods, only recently has the monophyly of <i>Mamenchisaurus</i>, and the anatomical diversity of the many penecontemporaneous East Asian eusauropods, been evaluated critically. Here, we re-describe the holotype and only specimen of <i>M. sinocanadorum</i>. Although the original diagnosis is no longer adequate, we identify several autapomorphies that support the validity of this species, including an elongate external mandibular fenestra and distinctive pneumatic structures on the cervical centra. We incorporate new data into a phylogenetic character matrix that also includes <i>Bellusaurus</i> and <i>Daanosaurus</i>, both of which are known only from juvenile material and are often hypothesized to be neosauropods (or close relatives thereof). We recover all species of <i>Mamenchisaurus</i> as part of a radiation of predominantly Middle–Late Jurassic East Asian eusauropods, but the genus is non-monophyletic, underscoring the need for further systematic revision of mamenchisaurid taxonomy. Analyses that score ontogenetically variable characters ambiguously recover <i>Bellusaurus</i> and <i>Daanosaurus</i> as juvenile mamenchisaurids, a hypothesis supported by several features that are unique to mamenchisaurids or exhibit little homoplasy, including anteriorly bifurcate cervical ribs. Finally, computed-tomography reveals extensive vertebral pneumaticity in <i>M. sinocanadorum</i> that is comparable to that of the largest sauropods, and updated scaling analyses imply a neck over 14 m long, rivalling estimates for other exceptionally long-necked sauropods. Previous work has suggested that the elongated cervical ribs of particularly long-necked sauropods such as <i>M. sinocanadorum</i> stabilized the neck by limiting its mobility. Given that extent of pneumaticity responds dynamically to a bone’s habitual loading, we propose that long cervical ribs – and other structural modifications that limited flexibility – promoted the evolution of increasingly long necks by producing a more predictable biomechanical milieu amenable to increased pneumatization.