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Estimating the mass of an extinct organism is naturally difficult. Practicality and simplicity means that often some linear measurement is used as a proxy. In the case of non-avian dinosaurs, the total length of the animal (from the snout to the tip of the tail) is sometimes used for this purpose. However, the total length of the tail is unknown in all but very few dinosaurian taxa. Tail length data taken from specimens and the literature are shown here to have remarkable variation both between and within clades (and even within single species). Comparison with body length data shows that total length (including the tail) is therefore a less reliable measure of size than using the snout-vent length of the animal. ‘Snout-sacrum’ lengths are suggested as a more reliable alternative. Total length should not be abandoned, however, both to provide a comparison with older works and specimens lacking complete presacral axial columns, and for communication with the general public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citation for this article: Alvarado-Ortega, J., and P. M. Brito. 2016. A Jurassic pleuropholid fish (Teleostei, Pleuropholidae) in the Tethys Sea domain of North America. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2016.1201767. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:8646D8D4-0206-43D2-93A3-73FC30601464 [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We describePalaeomacrosemius thiollieri, gen. et sp. nov., a new genus of Macrosemiidae (Neopterygii: Ginglymodi), from the Upper Jurassic (late Kimmeridgian to early Tithonian) of the Solnhofen Archipelago (Germany) and Cerin (France).Palaeomacrosemius, gen. nov., is characterized primarily by the following features: presence of vertical scale rows that do not dichotomize dorsal to the lateral line (unlike members of the genusMacrosemiusAgassiz); a long dorsal fin with 32–33 dorsal fin rays; and a smaller scale-free area immediately ventrolateral to the dorsal fin compared withMacrosemius. Small, hook-like spines located on the posterolateral border of the principal dorsal fin rays may have functioned in reproductive behavior. We also review the currently known species ofMacrosemius(M.rostratusAgassiz andM.fournetiThiollière) from the Upper Jurassic plattenkalk of southern Germany and Cerin, France.Macrosemius rostratus, which we here restrict to the German plattenkalk basins of Eichstätt and Solnhofen (Tithonian above the eigeltingense horizon), is mainly characterized by the presence of 37–39 dorsal fin rays, which are very long in adult specimens.Macrosemius fournetiis mainly characterized by the presence of 34–35 dorsal fin rays, which are broader in the posterior part of the fin. AlthoughM.fournetiwas previously known only from Cerin, France, we here describe it for the first time from the older plattenkalk of Brunn (southern Germany, late Kimmeridgian). Citation for this article: Ebert, M., J. A. Lane, and M. Kölbl-Ebert. 2016.Palaeomacrosemius thiollieri, gen. et sp. nov., a new Macrosemiidae (Neopterygii) from the Upper Jurassic of the Solnhofen Archipelago (Germany) and Cerin (France), with a revision of the genusMacrosemius. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2016.1196081. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:414EFC70-C0FC-4CE7-919C-20ACB28A709D [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Our understanding of caenagnathids has benefited from recent discoveries, including nearly complete skeletons from the Hell Creek Formation of Montana. However, their phylogenetic relationships remain unclear. A new specimen from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta has implications for the phylogeny and paleobiology of these creatures. The partial skeleton is articulated and includes a mandible, a full cervical and dorsal series of vertebrae, a right pectoral girdle and arm, a sternum, gastralia, a partial ilium, and a partial hind limb. The mandible is edentulous and the articular ridge is intermediate in form betweenCaenagnathus collinsiandChirostenotes pergracilis. The neck is long and composed of at least 11 well-pneumatized cervical vertebrae with fused cervical ribs. The dorsal ribs have finger-like uncinate processes dissimilar in shape to those of other oviraptorosaurs. The pectoral girdle is large and typically maniraptoran, except that the glenoid of the scapulocoracoid faces laterally instead of posteroventrally. The arm is well muscled and can be interpreted to have been a pennibrachium, as indicated by ulnar papillae on the ulna. The manus is characterized by a short first metacarpal but an elongate phalanx I-1 and oviraptorid-like phalangeal proportions in the second digit. These and other features indicate that the specimen represents a new taxon,Apatoraptor pennatus, gen. et sp. nov. Phylogenetic analysis resolves the complicated relationships of Caenagnathidae and allows the evolution of display features to be traced throughout Oviraptorosauria. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:122957D7-F65F-4A2C-86AF-386AE8AAF2C4 SUPPLEMENTAL DATA—Supplemental materials are available for this article for free atwww.tandfonline.com/UJVP Citation for this article: Funston, G. F., and P. J. Currie. 2016. A new caenagnathid (Dinosauria: Oviraptorosauria) from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta, Canada, and a reevaluation of the relationships of Caenagnathidae. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2016.1160910. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citation for this article: Whitney, M. R., and C. A. Sidor. 2016. A new therapsid from the Permian Madumabisa Mudstone Formation (Mid-Zambezi Basin) of southern Zambia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2016.1150767. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:51F41E55-39EE-4C8E-8474-547A1DC37D2C [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe tritylodontid remains from the Lower Cretaceous Kuwajima Formation (Tetori Group) in central Japan as representing a new genus,Montirictus kuwajimaensis, gen. et sp. nov.Montirictusis a medium-sized tritylodontid genus characterized by upper cheek teeth having the cusp formula 2-2-2 with subequal cusps, buccal and lingual cusps retaining a crescentic shape with both buccal and lingual ridges anteriorly, and ‘V’-shaped buccolingual cross-sections of two anteroposterior grooves between the three cusp rows. Tentative dating of the Kuwajima Formation to the Barremian–Aptian makes it the stratigraphically youngest representative of a long-lived, globally distributed and abundant mammaliamorph lineage and extends the known geographic range of tritylodontids. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:DE3038A4-6C14-4214-9618-BF9F097A4DD4 Citation for this article: Matsuoka, H., N. Kusuhashi, and I. J. Corfe. 2016. A new Early Cretaceous tritylodontid (Synapsida, Cynodontia, Mammaliamorpha) from the Kuwajima Formation (Tetori Group) of central Japan. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2016.1112289. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of a reversed hallux (first pedal digit) in the theropod lineage is regarded as an important indicator of increasing grasping ability and possibly arboreality. However, functions of the pes with a plesiomorphic, non-reversed hallux in non-avian theropods, other than the major role in supporting and propelling the body during the stance phase, have not been fully addressed. To clarify hallucal function, 21 specimens of non-avian theropods were examined in this study. Ancestrally in Theropoda, the proximal end of the first metatarsal reached the ankle joint as in extant crocodilians. The size of the first metatarsal was then reduced, lost direct contact with the ankle joint, and shifted more plantarly in basal neotheropods. In articulated coelophysoid specimens, the proximal end of the first metatarsal attaches to the medioplantar margin of the second metatarsal, whereas the distal part of the first metatarsal and phalanges of the hallux lies on the plantar aspect of the pes. In four articulated specimens of the dromaeosauridVelociraptor, preserved positions of the first metatarsal on the second metatarsal vary from the medial to plantar aspects, and correspondingly the rotational axis of the extension/flexion movement at its distal articulation ranges from mediolateral to dorsoplantar. Similar conditions are also observed in troodontid specimens, suggesting the presence of intermetatarsal mobility between the first and second metatarsals enabled by a convex proximal articular surface of the first metatarsal in deinonychosaurians similar to the one present in extant birds. Citation for this article: Hattori, S. 2016. Evolution of the hallux in non-avian theropod dinosaurs. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2016.1116995. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]