Cyclododecane and fossil vertebrates: some applications for matrix removal, moulding and shipping

This paper is published in the book ‘Subliming Surfaces: Volatile Binding Media in Heritage Conservation’, ed. Christina Rozeik (University of Cambridge Museums, 2018), pp. 109-121.Over the past decade, cyclododecane (CDD) has been increasingly adopted by vertebrate fossil preparators as a more effective and advantageous material for several standard treatments and for new applications borrowed from art and artefact conservation. Many techniques in palaeontology utilise CDD's special properties, including its use as a temporary embedding and support material to protect fragile specimens during removal of rock matrix; as a barrier layer during consolidation; as a temporary consolidant; as a temporary filler during airscribe preparation; as acid-resistant protection for fossil bone during dissolution of the limestone matrix; as a gap-filler, sealant and separator during silicone rubber moulding; and as a protective coating for specimens that are otherwise too delicate to ship. In several of these techniques, CDD replaces materials traditionally used in preparation - such as polyethylene glycol (PEG), microcrystalline wax or oil-based clay - that must subsequently be laboriously melted, dissolved or mechanically removed. CDD is not used in some fossil preparation laboratories due to health and safety concerns. It is hoped that continued exchange of information with art and artefact conservators will promote safe handling practices, encourage experimentation and spark new ideas

A new mammal from the Turonian–Campanian (Upper Cretaceous) Galula Formation, southwestern Tanzania

We here establish a new mammaliaform genus and species, Galulatherium jenkinsi (Mammalia), from the Upper Cretaceous Galula Formation in the Rukwa Rift Basin of southwestern Tanzania. This represents the first named taxon of a mammaliaform from the entire Late Cretaceous of continental Afro-Arabia, an interval of 34 million years. Preliminary study of the holotypic and only known specimen (a partial dentary) resulted in tentative assignation to the Gondwanatheria, a poorly known, enigmatic clade of Late Cretaceous–Paleogene Gondwanan mammals (Krause et al. 2003). The application of advanced imaging (μCT) and visualization techniques permits a more detailed understanding of key anatomical features of the new taxon. It reveals that the lower dentition consisted of a large, procumbent lower incisor and four cheek teeth, all of which were evergrowing (hypselodont). Importantly, all of the teeth appear devoid of enamel. Comparisons conducted with a range of Mesozoic and selected Cenozoic mammaliaform groups document a number of features (e.g., columnar, enamel-less and evergrowing teeth, with relatively simple occlusal morphology) expressed in Galulatherium that are reminiscent of several distantly related groups, making taxonomic assignment difficult at this time. Herein we retain the provisional referral of Galulatherium (RRBP 02067) to Gondwanatheria; it is most similar to sudamericids such as Lavanify and Bharratherium from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar and India, respectively, in exhibiting relatively simple, high-crowned, columnar cheek teeth. Other features (e.g., enamel-less dentition) are shared with disparate forms such as the Late Jurassic Fruitafossor and toothed xenarthrans (e.g., sloths), here attributed to convergence. Revised analyses of the depositional context for the holotype place it as having lived sometime between the late Turonian and latest Campanian (roughly 91–72 million years ago). This enhanced geochronological context helps to refine the palaeobiogeographical significance of Galulatherium among Cretaceous mammals in general and those from Gondwanan landmasses specifically

Evidence for a Grooming Claw in a North American Adapiform Primate: Implications for Anthropoid Origins

Among fossil primates, the Eocene adapiforms have been suggested as the closest relatives of living anthropoids (monkeys, apes, and humans). Central to this argument is the form of the second pedal digit. Extant strepsirrhines and tarsiers possess a grooming claw on this digit, while most anthropoids have a nail. While controversial, the possible presence of a nail in certain European adapiforms has been considered evidence for anthropoid affinities. Skeletons preserved well enough to test this idea have been lacking for North American adapiforms. Here, we document and quantitatively analyze, for the first time, a dentally associated skeleton of Notharctus tenebrosus from the early Eocene of Wyoming that preserves the complete bones of digit II in semi-articulation. Utilizing twelve shape variables, we compare the distal phalanges of Notharctus tenebrosus to those of extant primates that bear nails (n = 21), tegulae (n = 4), and grooming claws (n = 10), and those of non-primates that bear claws (n = 7). Quantitative analyses demonstrate that Notharctus tenebrosus possessed a grooming claw with a surprisingly well-developed apical tuft on its second pedal digit. The presence of a wide apical tuft on the pedal digit II of Notharctus tenebrosus may reflect intermediate morphology between a typical grooming claw and a nail, which is consistent with the recent hypothesis that loss of a grooming claw occurred in a clade containing adapiforms (e.g. Darwinius masillae) and anthropoids. However, a cladistic analysis including newly documented morphologies and thorough representation of characters acknowledged to have states constituting strepsirrhine, haplorhine, and anthropoid synapomorphies groups Notharctus tenebrosus and Darwinius masillae with extant strepsirrhines rather than haplorhines suggesting that the form of pedal digit II reflects substantial homoplasy during the course of early primate evolution