Recommended literature

[creature386]

A new pretty large vertebrate from the Silurian (this pretty much destroys the picture of all vertebrates in the Silurian being small):
www.nature.com/srep/2014/140612/srep05242/full/srep05242.html

It was called Megamastax amblyodus, lived in the Silurian of China, got roughly a meter long and you see it preying on Dunyu longiforus on the picture.

[creature386]

And here is Qiyia jurassica, a 2 cm long parasite from the Jurassic of China:

elifesciences.org/content/3/e02844.abstract

[Derdadort]

New insights in the evolution of Triceraotps: www.montana.edu/news/12706/msu-team-announces-new-insights-about-evolving-triceratops-in-montana-s-hell-creek-formation

Feeding habits of pliosaurs: phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2014/06/30/the-dining-habits-of-a-jurassic-sea-dragon/#.U7NEuXVMUFk.twitter
(for link to the original paper just scroll down)

[creature386]

Pterosaurs were really f*cking pneumatic, even more so than birds!
www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0097159

P.S. Looks like I am more using this as some kind of news thread.

[creature386]

Regarding pterosaurs, we have this:
www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0100005
Tapejarid called Caiuajara dobruskii.

To show that I do not only have prehistory news, here is stuff about extant animals:
www.sciencemag.org/content/345/6198/771
A recent article about parenting behavior in mammals and that the principle is identical from rodent to primate (including humans).

And finally, how adaptations to extreme temperatures can even influence the set of chromosomes, as demonstrated by the insect Belgica antarctica:
www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140812/ncomms5611/full/ncomms5611.html

[blaze]

hehe "rodent to primate" is actually poor choice of words when the intent is to show how widespread it is given how both primates and rodents belong together in the clade Euarchontoglires (also known as supraprimates).

[creature386]

I was actually perfectly aware of this (I once explored the phylogenetic relationship of humans a bit on Wikipedia). I just took what the article said.

[blaze]

Then I suppose it wasn't in their minds our relationship to rodents haha.

[creature386]

I am not sure if they even wanted to say that it is widespread. Maybe primates and rodents were both studied and these were simply their results.

[blaze]

I didn't read the link, I thought they investigated more mammals but the abstract doesn't make it clear.

[creature386]

No problem, at least we kept the forum activity decent (I believe that was the only discussion that happened yesterday).

[blaze]

Indeed haha.

[Deleted]

A new sauropodomorph named Dreadnoughtus schrani, and yes, it's really named that.

gsa.confex.com/gsa/2014AM/finalprogram/abstract_247946.htm

gsa.confex.com/gsa/2014AM/finalprogram/abstract_250424.htm

[creature386]

60 t for a 26 m sauropod appear pretty heavy. Scale that to 35 m…
Maybe again a particularly thick femur for its size.

[spinodontosaurus]

I can't tell from the abstract alone but... is this the "biggest ever sauropod" that was reported from Patagonia a few months ago?