Diverse New Microvertebrate Assemblage from the Upper Triassic Cumnock Formation, Sanford Subbasin, North Carolina, USA

The Moncure microvertebrate locality in the Cumnock Formation, Sanford sub-basin, North Carolina, dramatically increases the known Late Triassic age vertebrate assemblage from the Deep River Basin. The 50,000 recovered microvertebrate fossils include osteichthyans, amphibians, and numerous lepidosauromorph, archosauriform, and synapsid amniotes. Actinopterygian fossils consist of thousands of scales, teeth, skull, and lower jaw fragments, principally of redfieldiids and semionotids. Non-tetrapod sarcopterygians include the dipnoan Arganodus sp., the first record of lungfish in the Newark Supergroup. Temnospondyls are comparatively rare but the preserved centra, teeth, and skull fragments probably represent small (juvenile) metoposaurids. Two fragmentary teeth are assigned to the unusual reptile Colognathus obscurus (Case). Poorly preserved but intriguing records include acrodont and pleurodont jaw fragments tentatively assigned to lepidosaurs. Among the archosauriform teeth is a taxon distinct from R. callenderi that we assign to Revueltosaurus olseni new combination, a morphotype best assigned to cf. Galtonia, the first Newark Supergroup record of Crosbysaurus sp., and several other archosauriform tooth morphotypes, as well as grooved teeth assigned to the recently named species Uatchitodon schneideri. Synapsids represented by molariform teeth include both "traversodontids" assigned to aff. Boreogomphodon and the "dromatheriid" Microconodon. These records are biogeographically important, with many new records for the Cumnock Formation and/or the Newark Supergroup. In particular, Colognathus, Crosbysaurus, and Uatchitodon are known from basins of Adamanian age in the southwestern U.S.A. These new records include microvertebrate taxa more typical of non-Newark basins (abundant archosauriforms, temnospondyls, lungfish) as well as more typical Newark osteichthyans and synapsid-rich faunal elements

Small Theropod Teeth from the Late Cretaceous of the San Juan Basin, Northwestern New Mexico and Their Implications for Understanding Latest Cretaceous Dinosaur Evolution

Studying the evolution and biogeographic distribution of dinosaurs during the latest Cretaceous is critical for better understanding the end-Cretaceous extinction event that killed off all non-avian dinosaurs. Western North America contains among the best records of Late Cretaceous terrestrial vertebrates in the world, but is biased against small-bodied dinosaurs. Isolated teeth are the primary evidence for understanding the diversity and evolution of small-bodied theropod dinosaurs during the Late Cretaceous, but few such specimens have been well documented from outside of the northern Rockies, making it difficult to assess Late Cretaceous dinosaur diversity and biogeographic patterns. We describe small theropod teeth from the San Juan Basin of northwestern New Mexico. These specimens were collected from strata spanning Santonian - Maastrichtian. We grouped isolated theropod teeth into several morphotypes, which we assigned to higher-level theropod clades based on possession of phylogenetic synapomorphies. We then used principal components analysis and discriminant function analyses to gauge whether the San Juan Basin teeth overlap with, or are quantitatively distinct from, similar tooth morphotypes from other geographic areas. The San Juan Basin contains a diverse record of small theropods. Late Campanian assemblages differ from approximately coeval assemblages of the northern Rockies in being less diverse with only rare representatives of troodontids and a Dromaeosaurus-like taxon. We also provide evidence that erect and recurved morphs of a Richardoestesia-like taxon represent a single heterodont species. A late Maastrichtian assemblage is dominated by a distinct troodontid. The differences between northern and southern faunas based on isolated theropod teeth provide evidence for provinciality in the late Campanian and the late Maastrichtian of North America. However, there is no indication that major components of small-bodied theropod diversity were lost during the Maastrichtian in New Mexico. The same pattern seen in northern faunas, which may provide evidence for an abrupt dinosaur extinction

Aufbau von regionalen Schülerforschungszentren: Berichte und Praxisempfehlungen

Angesichts des sich verschärfenden Fachkräftemangels ist es wichtig, die vorhandenen Begabungspotenziale noch wirkungsvoller zu identifizieren und auszuschöpfen. Vor allem im Bereich von Mathematik, Informatik, Naturwissenschaft und Technik (MINT) erweist es sich als zielführend, künftig stärker auf forschendes Lernen zu setzen. Dieser pädagogische Ansatz wird auf vorbildliche Weise an Schülerforschungszentren verwirklicht. Aufgrund der Chancen für die Nachwuchsförderung, die mit diesen außerschulischen MINT-Bildungszentren verbunden sind, haben der Deutsche Industrie- und Handelskammertag (DIHK), die IHK Darmstadt, LernortLabor - Bundesverband der Schülerlabore e. V. und die Stiftung Jugend forscht e. V. gemeinsam einen Leitfaden für den „Aufbau regionaler Schülerforschungszentren“ erarbeitet. Die neue Publikation ist als Best Practice-Handreichung konzipiert und soll vor allem regionale Entscheidungsträger in die Lage versetzen, auf diesem Feld selbst aktiv zu werden und den begonnenen Prozess der Gründung von Schülerforschungszentren weiter voranzutreiben. Vom Konzept, über Aufbau und Finanzierung bis hin zur Didaktik – Bildungsexperten und die „Macher“ bereits bestehender Schülerforschungszentren berichten in dem Leitfaden über ihre Erfahrungen bei der Gründung dieser Freizeitlernorte. Die Publikation, die aus einer gemeinsamen Fachtagung unter Führung des DIHK hervorgegangen ist, umfasst auch eine umfangreiche Dokumentation einschließlich eines Pools von Kontaktadressen für weiterführende Informationen

Investigations on canadian dinosaurs

The present study detects changes in dinosaur assemblages from the Upper Creataceous of South Alberta, Canada, by analyzing isolated dinosaur teeth from vertebrate microfossil sites. The studied formations, namely the coastal Milk River, Oldman, Dinosaur Park, Horseshoe Canyon and the inland Scollard Formations represent a time span of approximately twenty million years. In the Latest Maastrichtian, the inland Scollard Formation and the coastal Lance and Frenchman Formations are examined in order to obtain a certain geographical range and a comparison of inland versus coastal environments. Two distinct assemblages, which differ in the relative abundance of taxa, are present during the time span of this study: assemblage A is present in the Early Campanian Milk River Formation, assemblage B takes over in the Campanian Oldman, Dinosaur Park and Horseshoe Canyon Formations and is replaced by assemblage A again in the Latest Maastrichtian Scollard, Lance and Frenchman Formations. Thus, assemblage A might have migrated to areas with more appropriate ecological conditions during the Campanian. The time for which assemblage A persisted is therefore estimated to about twenty (or more) million years. The relative dating of biostratigraphic zones is put into question by these results, since palaeo-assemblages persist for very long time spans and rather hint to environmental controls than to the time in which they lived. The diversity of dinosaur taxa does not decline in the stratigraphically uppermost locality which is situated 13 m below the K/T-boundary. This hints towards stability of the ecosystem up to this time. By putting together taxa to ecological guilds, it is attempted to identify ecological controls that are responsible for the observed change of assemblages. As a result, neither 'proximity to coast' nor 'humidity' are primary factors for this change. Although more studies of this kind would be necessary on larger geographical and stratigraphical ranges, data of this study hint to the following vegetational structure of the palaeo-environment: the Milk River Formation was covered with dense vegetation and the Oldman Formation was relatively open in vegetational structure and these conditions persisted during the following Dinosaur Park Group. The Horseshoe Canyon Formation seems to be covered with dense vegetation again and the environment opens in the inland Scollard Formation. A rough investigation of the carnivore/herbivore ratio within the Dinosauria shows that the predators from the Latest Maastrichtian fed on relatively more non-dinosaurs than in earlier times. Finally, the use of neo-ecological concepts in palaeo-ecology is discussed. (orig.)Available from TIB Hannover: RN 5205(196) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

The first neoceratopsian dinosaur remains from Europe

Shallow marine, nearshore strata of earliest Campanian (Gonioteuthis granulataquadrata belemnite Zone) and latest Early Campanian (informal Belemnellocamax mammillatus belemnite zone) age in the Kristianstad Basin, southern Sweden, have yielded isolated leptoceratopsid teeth and vertebrae, representing the first record of horned dinosaurs from Europe. The new leptoceratopsid occurrence may support a European dispersal route for the Leptoceratopsidae, or may represent an entirely endemic population. The presence of leptoceratopsid teeth in shallow marine deposits contradicts previous hypotheses suggesting that basal neoceratopsians mainly preferred and and/or semi-arid habitats far from coastal areas