A New Saurolophine Dinosaur from the Latest Cretaceous of Far Eastern Russia

Background: Four main dinosaur sites have been investigated in latest Cretaceous deposits from the Amur/Heilongjiang Region: Jiayin and Wulaga in China (Yuliangze Formation), Blagoveschensk and Kundur in Russia (Udurchukan Formation). More than 90% of the bones discovered in these localities belong to hollow-crested lambeosaurine saurolophids, but flat-headed saurolophines are also represented: Kerberosaurus manakini at Blagoveschensk and Wulagasaurus dongi at Wulaga. Methodology/Principal Findings: Herein we describe a new saurolophine dinosaur, Kundurosaurus nagornyi gen. et sp. nov. from the Udurchukan Formation (Maastrichtian) of Kundur, represented by disarticulated cranial and postcranial material. This new taxon is diagnosed by four autapomorphies. Conclusions/Significance: A phylogenetic analysis of saurolophines indicates that Kundurosaurus nagornyi is nested within a rather robust clade including Edmontosaurus spp. Saurolophus spp. and Prosaurolophus maximus, possibly as a sister-taxon for Kerberosaurus manakini also from the Udurchukan Formation of Far Eastern Russia. The high diversity and mosaic distribution of Maastrichtian hadrosaurid faunas in the Amur-Heilongjiang region are the result of a complex palaeogeographical history and imply that many independent hadrosaurid lineages dispersed without any problem between western America and eastern Asia at the end of the Cretaceous. © 2012 Godefroit et al.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

From fossils to mind

Fossil endocasts record features of brains from the past: size, shape, vasculature, and gyrification. These data, alongside experimental and comparative evidence, are needed to resolve questions about brain energetics, cognitive specializations, and developmental plasticity. Through the application of interdisciplinary techniques to the fossil record, paleoneurology has been leading major innovations. Neuroimaging is shedding light on fossil brain organization and behaviors. Inferences about the development and physiology of the brains of extinct species can be experimentally investigated through brain organoids and transgenic models based on ancient DNA. Phylogenetic comparative methods integrate data across species and associate genotypes to phenotypes, and brains to behaviors. Meanwhile, fossil and archeological discoveries continuously contribute new knowledge. Through cooperation, the scientific community can accelerate knowledge acquisition. Sharing digitized museum collections improves the availability of rare fossils and artifacts. Comparative neuroanatomical data are available through online databases, along with tools for their measurement and analysis. In the context of these advances, the paleoneurological record provides ample opportunity for future research. Biomedical and ecological sciences can benefit from paleoneurology's approach to understanding the mind as well as its novel research pipelines that establish connections between neuroanatomy, genes and behavior

From fossils to mind

Fossil endocasts record features of brains from the past: size, shape, vasculature, and gyrification. These data, alongside experimental and comparative evidence, are needed to resolve questions about brain energetics, cognitive specializations, and developmental plasticity. Through the application of interdisciplinary techniques to the fossil record, paleoneurology has been leading major innovations. Neuroimaging is shedding light on fossil brain organization and behaviors. Inferences about the development and physiology of the brains of extinct species can be experimentally investigated through brain organoids and transgenic models based on ancient DNA. Phylogenetic comparative methods integrate data across species and associate genotypes to phenotypes, and brains to behaviors. Meanwhile, fossil and archeological discoveries continuously contribute new knowledge. Through cooperation, the scientific community can accelerate knowledge acquisition. Sharing digitized museum collections improves the availability of rare fossils and artifacts. Comparative neuroanatomical data are available through online databases, along with tools for their measurement and analysis. In the context of these advances, the paleoneurological record provides ample opportunity for future research. The biomedical and ecological sciences can benefit from paleoneurology's profound approach to understanding the mind as well as its novel research pipelines that correlate neuroanatomy to genes and behavior

Vue de l'entrée du parc par la Place royale : [estampe]

Référence bibliographique : De Vinck, 11753Appartient à l’ensemble documentaire : Est19Vinc

Jeudi 23 Sep.bre 1830 : [estampe]

Référence bibliographique : De Vinck, 11742Appartient à l’ensemble documentaire : Est19Vinc

New hadrosaurid dinosaurs from the uppermost Cretaceous of northeastern China

Several hundred disarticulated dinosaur bones have been recovered from a large quarry at Wulaga (Heilongjiang Province, China), in the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Yuliangze Formation. The Wulaga quarry can be regarded as a monodominant bonebed: more than 80% of the bones belong to a new lambeosaurine hadrosaurid, Sahaliyania elunchunorum gen. et sp. nov. This taxon is characterised by long and slender paroccipital processes, a prominent lateral depression on the dorsal surface of the frontal, a quadratojugal notch that is displaced ventrally on the quadrate, and a prepubic blade that is asymmetrically expanded, with an important emphasis to the dorsal side. Phylogenetic analysis shows that Sahaliyania is a derived lambeosaurine that forms a monophyletic group with the corythosaur and parasauroloph clades. Nevertheless, the exact position of Sahaliyania within this clade cannot be resolved on the basis of the available material. Besides Sahaliyania, other isolated bones display a typical hadrosaurine morphology and are referred to Wulagasaurus dongi gen. et sp. nov., a new taxon characterised by the maxilla pierced by a single foramen below the jugal process, a very slender dentary not pierced by foramina, and by the deltopectoral crest (on the humerus) oriented cranially. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that Wulagasaurus is the most basal hadrosaurine known to date. Phylogeographic data suggests that the hadrosaurines, and thus all hadrosaurids, are of Asian origin, which implies a relatively long ghost lineage of approximately 13 million years for basal hadrosaurines in Asia

The braincase and the endocranial space of the Iguanodontian Lurdusaurus arenatus

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

The “Guaranteed Flow Working Group”: A French evaluation of microhabitat component of IFIM based on habitat and brown trout population monitoring

In the middle of the 1980s, the relicensing of numerous hydropower-plants led to widespread studies of the influence of discharge on trout populations. In particular, specific efforts were made to adapt and validate the PHABSIM microhabitat component of the Instream Flow Incremental Methodology (IFIM) to French rivers. IFIM is now widely used in France in impact studies for hydropower installations, to determine the instream flow to be recommended for the bypassed sections to meet the requirements of water resource legislation for salmonids. This paper presents the studies presently under way to validate this approach in biological terms. Initial feedback showed that the change from the original discharge in the bypassed section to the recommended value often allowed for a significant improvement in habitat. However, the population response in terms of change in biomass or population structure is not easy to identify. The problem is to determine the ultimate impact on a fish population due to an increase in the potential habitat. Our 4-year study of fish population dynamics on three different streams allows a better understanding of changes in populations. The results have illustrated the role of several factors which actually control the population density