Ontogenetic Tooth Reduction in Stenopterygius Quadriscissus (Reptilia: Ichthyosauria): Negative Allometry, Changes in Growth Rate, and Early Senescence of the Dental Lamina [PDF]
PLoS ONE, 2015 We explore the functional, developmental, and evolutionary processes which are argued to produce tooth reduction in the extinct marine reptile Stenopterygius quadriscissus (Reptilia: Ichthyosauria). We analyze the relationship between mandible growth and
Erin E. Maxwell
exaly +3 more sources
Refining the marine reptile turnover at the Early–Middle Jurassic transition [PDF]
PeerJ, 2021 Even though a handful of long-lived reptilian clades dominated Mesozoic marine ecosystems, several biotic turnovers drastically changed the taxonomic composition of these communities.
Valentin Fischer, Robert Weis, Ben Thuy
doaj +3 more sources
Whole-body endothermy: ancient, homologous and widespread among the ancestors of mammals, birds and crocodylians. [PDF]
Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc, 2022 ABSTRACT The whole‐body (tachymetabolic) endothermy seen in modern birds and mammals is long held to have evolved independently in each group, a reasonable assumption when it was believed that its earliest appearances in birds and mammals arose many millions of years apart.
Grigg G +5 more
europepmc +2 more sources
Vertebral microstructure marks the emergence of pelagic ichthyosaurs soon after the End Permian Mass Extinction [PDF]
Scientific ReportsIchthyosaurs were the first fully marine tetrapods, and evolved a streamlined body, flippers, live birth, and endothermy-like physiology. However, the transition to these adaptations and how it relates to divergence into ocean environments is ambiguous ...
Lene Liebe Delsett +6 more
doaj +2 more sources
Cranial anatomy of Besanosaurus leptorhynchus Dal Sasso & Pinna, 1996 (Reptilia: Ichthyosauria) from the Middle Triassic Besano Formation of Monte San Giorgio, Italy/Switzerland: taxonomic and palaeobiological implications [PDF]
PeerJ, 2021 Besanosaurus leptorhynchus Dal Sasso & Pinna, 1996 was described on the basis of a single fossil excavated near Besano (Italy) nearly three decades ago. Here, we re-examine its cranial osteology and assign five additional specimens to B.
Gabriele Bindellini +4 more
doaj +3 more sources
Descriptive anatomy of the largest known specimen of Protoichthyosaurus prostaxalis (Reptilia: Ichthyosauria) including computed tomography and digital reconstruction of a three-dimensional skull [PDF]
PeerJ, 2019 Ichthyosaur fossils are abundant in Lower Jurassic sediments with nine genera found in the UK. In this paper, we describe the partial skeleton of a large ichthyosaur from the Lower Jurassic (lower Sinemurian) of Warwickshire, England, which was conserved
Dean R. Lomax +2 more
doaj +3 more sources
Oldest record of Machimosaurini (Thalattosuchia, Teleosauroidea): teeth and scavenging traces from the Middle Jurassic (Bajocian) of Switzerland [PDF]
Royal Society Open ScienceThe Jurassic period was a time of major diversification for Mesozoic marine reptiles, including Ichthyosauria, Plesiosauria and thalattosuchian Crocodylomorpha.
Torsten M. Scheyer +5 more
doaj +2 more sources
Ontogenetic variation in the cranium of Mixosaurus cornalianus, with implications for the evolution of ichthyosaurian cranial development [PDF]
Swiss Journal of Palaeontology, 2023 Relatively complete ontogenetic series are comparatively rare in the vertebrate fossil record. This can create biases in our understanding of morphology and evolution, since immaturity can represent a source of unrecognized intraspecific variation in ...
Feiko Miedema +4 more
doaj +2 more sources
Palaeoepidemiology in extinct vertebrate populations: factors influencing skeletal health in Jurassic marine reptiles [PDF]
Royal Society Open Science, 2019 Palaeoepidemiological studies related to palaeoecology are rare, but have the potential to provide information regarding ecosystem-level characteristics by measuring individual health.
Judith M. Pardo-Pérez +2 more
doaj +2 more sources
Taxonomy of Platypterygius campylodon and the diversity of the last ichthyosaurs [PDF]
PeerJ, 2016 A complex and confusing taxonomy has concealed the diversity dynamics of Cretaceous ichthyosaurs (Reptilia) for decades. The near totality of Albian-Cenomanian remains from Eurasia has been assigned, by default, to the loosely defined entity ...
Valentin Fischer
doaj +3 more sources