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  • 1
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    A transitional snake from the Late Cretaceous period of North America (2012)
    Nature Publishing Group (NPG)
    Details
    Publication Date: 2012-07-27
    Description: Snakes are the most diverse group of lizards, but their origins and early evolution remain poorly understood owing to a lack of transitional forms. Several major issues remain outstanding, such as whether snakes originated in a marine or terrestrial environment and how their unique feeding mechanism evolved. The Cretaceous Coniophis precedens was among the first Mesozoic snakes discovered, but until now only an isolated vertebra has been described and it has therefore been overlooked in discussions of snake evolution. Here we report on previously undescribed material from this ancient snake, including the maxilla, dentary and additional vertebrae. Coniophis is not an anilioid as previously thought a revised phylogenetic analysis of Ophidia shows that it instead represents the most primitive known snake. Accordingly, its morphology and ecology are critical to understanding snake evolution. Coniophis occurs in a continental floodplain environment, consistent with a terrestrial rather than a marine origin; furthermore, its small size and reduced neural spines indicate fossorial habits, suggesting that snakes evolved from burrowing lizards. The skull is intermediate between that of lizards and snakes. Hooked teeth and an intramandibular joint indicate that Coniophis fed on relatively large, soft-bodied prey. However, the maxilla is firmly united with the skull, indicating an akinetic rostrum. Coniophis therefore represents a transitional snake, combining a snake-like body and a lizard-like head. Subsequent to the evolution of a serpentine body and carnivory, snakes evolved a highly specialized, kinetic skull, which was followed by a major adaptive radiation in the Early Cretaceous period. This pattern suggests that the kinetic skull was a key innovation that permitted the diversification of snakes.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Longrich, Nicholas R -- Bhullar, Bhart-Anjan S -- Gauthier, Jacques A -- England -- Nature. 2012 Aug 9;488(7410):205-8. doi: 10.1038/nature11227.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8109, USA. nicholas.longrich@yale.edu〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22832579" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
    Keywords: Animals ; Dentition ; *Fossils ; History, Ancient ; Lizards/anatomy & histology/physiology ; Maxilla/anatomy & histology ; North America ; Phylogeny ; Skull/*anatomy & histology/physiology ; Snakes/*anatomy & histology/classification/*physiology ; Spine/anatomy & histology
    Print ISSN: 0028-0836
    Electronic ISSN: 1476-4687
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine , Natural Sciences in General , Physics
    Published by Nature Publishing Group (NPG)
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  • 2
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    A suspension-feeding anomalocarid from the Early Cambrian (2014)
    Nature Publishing Group (NPG)
    Details
    Publication Date: 2014-03-29
    Description: Large, actively swimming suspension feeders evolved several times in Earth's history, arising independently from groups as diverse as sharks, rays and stem teleost fishes, and in mysticete whales. However, animals occupying this niche have not been identified from the early Palaeozoic era. Anomalocarids, a group of stem arthropods that were the largest nektonic animals of the Cambrian and Ordovician periods, are generally thought to have been apex predators. Here we describe new material from Tamisiocaris borealis, an anomalocarid from the Early Cambrian (Series 2) Sirius Passet Fauna of North Greenland, and propose that its frontal appendage is specialized for suspension feeding. The appendage bears long, slender and equally spaced ventral spines furnished with dense rows of long and fine auxiliary spines. This suggests that T. borealis was a microphagous suspension feeder, using its appendages for sweep-net capture of food items down to 0.5 mm, within the size range of mesozooplankton such as copepods. Our observations demonstrate that large, nektonic suspension feeders first evolved during the Cambrian explosion, as part of an adaptive radiation of anomalocarids. The presence of nektonic suspension feeders in the Early Cambrian, together with evidence for a diverse pelagic community containing phytoplankton and mesozooplankton, indicate the existence of a complex pelagic ecosystem supported by high primary productivity and nutrient flux. Cambrian pelagic ecosystems seem to have been more modern than previously believed.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Vinther, Jakob -- Stein, Martin -- Longrich, Nicholas R -- Harper, David A T -- England -- Nature. 2014 Mar 27;507(7493):496-9. doi: 10.1038/nature13010.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Schools of Earth Sciences and Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1UG, UK. ; Natural History Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen University, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 , Denmark. ; Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK. ; Palaeoecosystems Group, Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24670770" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
    Keywords: Animals ; Arthropods/anatomy & histology/classification/*physiology ; Biological Evolution ; Ecosystem ; Extinction, Biological ; Feeding Behavior/*physiology ; *Fossils ; Greenland ; Phylogeny ; Phytoplankton ; Zooplankton
    Print ISSN: 0028-0836
    Electronic ISSN: 1476-4687
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Medicine , Natural Sciences in General , Physics
    Published by Nature Publishing Group (NPG)
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  • 3
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    EVOLUTION. A four-legged snake from the Early Cretaceous of Gondwana (2015)
    American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
    Details
    Publication Date: 2015-07-25
    Description: Snakes are a remarkably diverse and successful group today, but their evolutionary origins are obscure. The discovery of snakes with two legs has shed light on the transition from lizards to snakes, but no snake has been described with four limbs, and the ecology of early snakes is poorly known. We describe a four-limbed snake from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian) Crato Formation of Brazil. The snake has a serpentiform body plan with an elongate trunk, short tail, and large ventral scales suggesting characteristic serpentine locomotion, yet retains small prehensile limbs. Skull and body proportions as well as reduced neural spines indicate fossorial adaptation, suggesting that snakes evolved from burrowing rather than marine ancestors. Hooked teeth, an intramandibular joint, a flexible spine capable of constricting prey, and the presence of vertebrate remains in the guts indicate that this species preyed on vertebrates and that snakes made the transition to carnivory early in their history. The structure of the limbs suggests that they were adapted for grasping, either to seize prey or as claspers during mating. Together with a diverse fauna of basal snakes from the Cretaceous of South America, Africa, and India, this snake suggests that crown Serpentes originated in Gondwana.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Martill, David M -- Tischlinger, Helmut -- Longrich, Nicholas R -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2015 Jul 24;349(6246):416-9. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa9208.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 3QL, UK. ; Tannenweg 16, 85134 Stammham, Germany. ; Department of Biology and Biochemistry and Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26206932" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
    Keywords: Africa ; Animals ; *Biological Evolution ; Brazil ; Extinction, Biological ; Extremities/*anatomy & histology ; Fossils ; India ; Lizards/*anatomy & histology ; Phylogeny ; Skull/anatomy & histology ; Snakes/*anatomy & histology/*classification ; South America ; Spine/anatomy & histology ; Tooth/anatomy & histology
    Print ISSN: 0036-8075
    Electronic ISSN: 1095-9203
    Topics: Biology , Chemistry and Pharmacology , Computer Science , Medicine , Natural Sciences in General , Physics
    Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
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  • 4
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    Mass extinction of birds at the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary (2011)
    National Academy of Sciences
    Details
    Publication Date: 2011-09-13
    Print ISSN: 0027-8424
    Electronic ISSN: 1091-6490
    Topics: Biology , Medicine , Natural Sciences in General
    Published by National Academy of Sciences
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  • 5
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    A microraptorine (Dinosauria-Dromaeosauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of North America (2009)
    National Academy of Sciences
    Details
    Publication Date: 2009-03-16
    Print ISSN: 0027-8424
    Electronic ISSN: 1091-6490
    Topics: Biology , Medicine , Natural Sciences in General
    Published by National Academy of Sciences
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  • 6
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    Mass extinction of lizards and snakes at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary (2012)
    National Academy of Sciences
    Details
    Publication Date: 2012-12-10
    Print ISSN: 0027-8424
    Electronic ISSN: 1091-6490
    Topics: Biology , Medicine , Natural Sciences in General
    Published by National Academy of Sciences
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  • 7
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    Mass extinction of birds at the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary [Geology] (2011)
    National Academy of Sciences
    Details
    Publication Date: 2011-09-14
    Description: The effect of the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) (formerly Cretaceous–Tertiary, K–T) mass extinction on avian evolution is debated, primarily because of the poor fossil record of Late Cretaceous birds. In particular, it remains unclear whether archaic birds became extinct gradually over the course of the Cretaceous or whether they remained diverse up to the end of the Cretaceous and perished in the K–Pg mass extinction. Here, we describe a diverse avifauna from the latest Maastrichtian of western North America, which provides definitive evidence for the persistence of a range of archaic birds to within 300,000 y of the K–Pg boundary. A total of 17 species are identified, including 7 species of archaic bird, representing Enantiornithes, Ichthyornithes, Hesperornithes, and an Apsaravis-like bird. None of these groups are known to survive into the Paleogene, and their persistence into the latest Maastrichtian therefore provides strong evidence for a mass extinction of archaic birds coinciding with the Chicxulub asteroid impact. Most of the birds described here represent advanced ornithurines, showing that a major radiation of Ornithurae preceded the end of the Cretaceous, but none can be definitively referred to the Neornithes. This avifauna is the most diverse known from the Late Cretaceous, and although size disparity is lower than in modern birds, the assemblage includes both smaller forms and some of the largest volant birds known from the Mesozoic, emphasizing the degree to which avian diversification had proceeded by the end of the age of dinosaurs.
    Print ISSN: 0027-8424
    Electronic ISSN: 1091-6490
    Topics: Biology , Medicine , Natural Sciences in General
    Published by National Academy of Sciences
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  • 8
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    Squamate K-Pg extinction [Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences] (2012)
    National Academy of Sciences
    Details
    Publication Date: 2012-12-27
    Description: The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary is marked by a major mass extinction, yet this event is thought to have had little effect on the diversity of lizards and snakes (Squamata). A revision of fossil squamates from the Maastrichtian and Paleocene of North America shows that lizards and snakes suffered a devastating...
    Print ISSN: 0027-8424
    Electronic ISSN: 1091-6490
    Topics: Biology , Medicine , Natural Sciences in General
    Published by National Academy of Sciences
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