A digital reconstruction of the Triassic apex predator Saurosuchus galilei (Pseudosuchia: Loricata)

During the Triassic Period, pseudosuchian reptiles diverged and dominated the terrestrial and semi-aquatic ecosystems. A very successful paraphyletic pseudosuchian grade were a group commonly referred to as ‘rauisuchians’. Saurosuchus galilei, first described by Osvaldo Reig‭ over six decades ago, was a hypercarnivorous, quadrupedal rauisuchian that dominated the terrestrial ecosystems in the Late Triassic, about 237 - 208.5 million years ago. Here, the first digital reconstruction of a juvenile, three dimensionally, well-preserved Saurosuchus cranium (PVSJ 32), from the Ischigualasto Formation in Argentina, was carried out. Using finite element analysis (FEA), the morphological function of the Saurosuchus cranium was biomechanically explored, comparing the stress magnitudes and distributions to theropod dinosaurs, including Allosaurus fragilis, in order to assess the functional convergence between Triassic and post-Triassic carnivores. With their large size and morphological similarities to post-Triassic theropods, including dorsoventrally deep skulls and ziphodont (serrated) dentitions, Saurosuchus is suggested to have been a key apex predator and therefore would show analogous stress and bite magnitudes to similarly sized apex theropods. However, this hypothesis disregards functional behaviours that can influence more refined predatory roles. Similar stress magnitudes and distributions between Saurosuchus and Allosaurus were displayed under the same functional simulations, which indicates a somewhat strong skull and functional convergence with theropods to a certain extent. However, higher stresses and a weak bite for its size were also shown (1015–1885 N). This indicates that Saurosuchus potentially consumed softer parts of carcasses, which would mean that it was quite wasteful with its prey, differing to theropods and other pseudosuchians. This analysis increases our knowledge of the functional diversity of pseudosuchians and also highlights the key functional differences between Triassic and post-Triassic apex predators.‬

Global perspectives on observing ocean boundary current systems

© The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Todd, R. E., Chavez, F. P., Clayton, S., Cravatte, S., Goes, M., Greco, M., Ling, X., Sprintall, J., Zilberman, N., V., Archer, M., Aristegui, J., Balmaseda, M., Bane, J. M., Baringer, M. O., Barth, J. A., Beal, L. M., Brandt, P., Calil, P. H. R., Campos, E., Centurioni, L. R., Chidichimo, M. P., Cirano, M., Cronin, M. F., Curchitser, E. N., Davis, R. E., Dengler, M., deYoung, B., Dong, S., Escribano, R., Fassbender, A. J., Fawcett, S. E., Feng, M., Goni, G. J., Gray, A. R., Gutierrez, D., Hebert, D., Hummels, R., Ito, S., Krug, M., Lacan, F., Laurindo, L., Lazar, A., Lee, C. M., Lengaigne, M., Levine, N. M., Middleton, J., Montes, I., Muglia, M., Nagai, T., Palevsky, H., I., Palter, J. B., Phillips, H. E., Piola, A., Plueddemann, A. J., Qiu, B., Rodrigues, R. R., Roughan, M., Rudnick, D. L., Rykaczewski, R. R., Saraceno, M., Seim, H., Sen Gupta, A., Shannon, L., Sloyan, B. M., Sutton, A. J., Thompson, L., van der Plas, A. K., Volkov, D., Wilkin, J., Zhang, D., & Zhang, L. Global perspectives on observing ocean boundary current systems. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2010); 423, doi: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00423.Ocean boundary current systems are key components of the climate system, are home to highly productive ecosystems, and have numerous societal impacts. Establishment of a global network of boundary current observing systems is a critical part of ongoing development of the Global Ocean Observing System. The characteristics of boundary current systems are reviewed, focusing on scientific and societal motivations for sustained observing. Techniques currently used to observe boundary current systems are reviewed, followed by a census of the current state of boundary current observing systems globally. The next steps in the development of boundary current observing systems are considered, leading to several specific recommendations.RT was supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Endowed Fund for Innovative Research at WHOI. FC was supported by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. MGo was funded by NSF and NOAA/AOML. XL was funded by China’s National Key Research and Development Projects (2016YFA0601803), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41490641, 41521091, and U1606402), and the Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (2017ASKJ01). JS was supported by NOAA’s Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program (Award NA15OAR4320071). DZ was partially funded by the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean (JISAO) under NOAA Cooperative Agreement NA15OAR4320063. BS was supported by IMOS and CSIRO’s Decadal Climate Forecasting Project. We gratefully acknowledge the wide range of funding sources from many nations that have enabled the observations and analyses reviewed here

Psychosocial Factors Associated with Treatment Outcomes in Women with Obesity and Major Depressive Disorder who Received Behavioral Activation for Depression

Behavioral activation is an empirically supported treatment for depression, but much is unknown about factors associated with treatment response. The present study aimed to determine whether baseline levels and subsequent changes in psychosocial factors were associated with improvement in depression in women with comorbid obesity who received behavioral activation treatment for depression and a lifestyle intervention. Multilevel modeling was used to estimate the associations between psychosocial factors and change in depression scores during the first 10 weeks of treatment and associations between changes in psychosocial factors from baseline to 6-month follow-up and change in depression over the same time period. No baseline psychosocial factors were associated with depression improvement during treatment (p = 0.110-0.613). However, greater improvement in hedonic capacity (p = 0.001), environmental reward (p = 0.004), and social impairment (p = 0.012) were associated with greater reductions in depression over 6 months. Findings highlight the differential relationship specific psychosocial factors have with depression treatment outcomes