Category Archives: #365papers

Waves of Extinction Add Up – #365papers – 2018 – 47

Wang and Zhong, 2018, Estimating the number of pulses in a mass extinction: Paleobiology, 1-20

What’s it about?

The problem with the rock record is that it is incomplete. This means that what was really a gradual extinction could look abrupt, or that a large-scale mass extinction can look like it was spread out. The authors of this paper present a method by which it is possible to determine how many pulses or waves of extinction added up to what we consider a mass extinction.Continue reading “Waves of Extinction Add Up – #365papers – 2018 – 47”

Footprints Tell a Tale of Everyday Life – #365papers – 2018 – 46

Altamura, Bennett, D’Aout, Gaudzinski-Windheuser, Melis, RAynolds, and Mussi, 2018, Archaeology and ichnology at Gombore II-2, Melka Kunture, Ethiopia: everyday life of a mixed-age hominin group 700,000 years ago: Scientific Reports, v. 8, 2815

What’s it about?

At a 700,000 year old archaeological site, mixed in with the footprints of hippos, birds, and various hoofed mammals are the footprints of people, ranging from adult to toddler. The presence of different ages of humans with evidence of animals and many archaeological specimens tells us that this reflects what everyday life may have looked like for people 700,000 years ago.Continue reading “Footprints Tell a Tale of Everyday Life – #365papers – 2018 – 46”

Sensing Electric Fields: It’s a Vertebrate Thing! – #365papers – 2018 – 45

King, Hu, and Long, 2018, Electroreception in early vertebrates: survey, evidence and new information: Palaeontology, 1-34.

What’s it about?

Electroreception, the ability to detect electric fields such as those generated by other fish swimming nearby, is a common vertebrate ability. It has been argued that bone initially evolved to act as an insulator for electroreceptors to improve their effectiveness. This paper is a review of what the bone evidence for electroreception is, and shows that it appears unlikely that bone evolved first as an insulator in vertebrates.Continue reading “Sensing Electric Fields: It’s a Vertebrate Thing! – #365papers – 2018 – 45”

Migrating Marsupials of the Pleistocene – #365papers – 2018 – 44

Price, Ferguson, Webb, Feng, Higgins, Nguyen, Zhao, Joannes-Boyau, and Louys, 2017, Seasonal migration of marsupial megafauna in Pleistocene Sahul (Australia-New Guinea): Proceedings of the Royal Society B, v. 284: 20170785

What’s it about?

Seasonal migrations are seen in many large mammals. In modern animals, however, such migrations are not observed in marsupials. The authors put together geochemical data from rocks and fossil to show that the massive wombat-like extinct marsupial Diprotodon migrated seasonally as far as 100 km each way.Continue reading “Migrating Marsupials of the Pleistocene – #365papers – 2018 – 44”

Did the Chixulub Impact Make the Oceans Erupt More? – #365papers – 2018 – 43

Byrnes and Karlstrom, 2018, Anomalous K-Pg-aged seafloor attributed to impact-induced mid-ocean ridge magmatism: Science Advances, v. 4: eaao2994

What’s it about?

The Chixulub Impact is the event linked to the extinction of the dinosaurs. The authors here show that at the same time as the impact, ocean floor spreading increased for just a little while. They hypothesize that the seismic waves caused by the impact resulted in the mobilization of molten rock, leading to this increase in volcanic activity.Continue reading “Did the Chixulub Impact Make the Oceans Erupt More? – #365papers – 2018 – 43”

Sampling Bias Changes Everything – #365papers – 2018 – 42

Dunne, Close, Button, Brocklehurst, Cashmore, Lloyd, and Butler, 2018, Diversity change during the rise of tetrapods and the impact of the ‘Carboniferous rainforest collapse’: Proceedings of the Royal Society B, v 285, 20172730

What’s it about?

The Carboniferous Period was a time of great forests which aided the diversification of early four-legged land vertebrates (tetrapods). At the end of the Carboniferous, the forested habitat was fragmented during an event called the ‘Carboniferous rainforest collapse’ (CRC). This fragmentation had strong effects on the continued diversification of tetrapods, however interpretations of this diversification may be in error due to sampling bias.

The authors here carefully assess tetrapod diversity, taking into account spatial and temporal biases in the fossil record, showing that there was a reduction of diversity during the CRC, but that diversity and connectedness between forest fragments increased after the CRC.Continue reading “Sampling Bias Changes Everything – #365papers – 2018 – 42”

Anaspids, Jawless Fish Whose Armor Tell Us Where They Belong – #UREES270 – 2018

Keating and Donoghue, 2016, Histology and affinity of anaspids, and the early evolution of the vertebrate dermal skeleton: Proceedings of the Royal Society B, v. 283: 20152917

What’s it about?

The anaspids were a group of early, jawless fishes with bony armor covering their bodies. The authors discuss the structure of the bony armor and complete analyses to determine where anaspids actually fit into the evolutionary history of vertebrates.Continue reading “Anaspids, Jawless Fish Whose Armor Tell Us Where They Belong – #UREES270 – 2018”

Making Sense of Species Concepts – #365papers – 2018 – 41

Aldhebiani, 2017, Species concept and speciation: Sauti Journal of Biological Sciences, DOI: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2017.04.013

What’s it about?

The author here discusses several of the various concepts for defining species and the reasons why scientists would use one over another.Continue reading “Making Sense of Species Concepts – #365papers – 2018 – 41”

Defining and Distinguishing Species of Organisms – #365papers – 2018 – 40

de Queiroz, 2007, Species concepts and species delimitations: Systematic Biology, v. 56, 879-886.

What’s it about?

Species is a difficult concept in biology, even if it seems straightforward. The author of this paper shows that it really is as simple as it seems, but the means of distinguishing one species from another. The problem isn’t in the definition of species but in the distinction among species.Continue reading “Defining and Distinguishing Species of Organisms – #365papers – 2018 – 40”

Putting Together the Tetrapod Vertebra – #365papers – 2018 – 39

Pierce, Ahlberg, Hutchinson, Molnar, Sanchez, Tafforeau, and Clack, 2013, Vertebral architecture in the earliest stem tetrapods: Nature, v. 494, doi: 10:1038/nature11825

What’s it about?

In mammals, each vertebra is a single bone. However, these apparently singular bones are actually composed of several bones that are sutured together. This paper explores the individual bones that get fused together, and their origins in the transitional forms between fish and terrestrial tetrapods (four legged animals, e.g. amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals).Continue reading “Putting Together the Tetrapod Vertebra – #365papers – 2018 – 39”