Search

ABSTRACT Natural river diversion, or avulsion, controls the distribution of channels on a floodplain and channel sandstone bodies within fluvial stratigraphic architecture. Avulsions establish new flow paths and create channels through several recognized processes, or styles. These include reoccupying existing channels, or annexation, downcutting into the floodplain, or incision, and constructing new channels from crevasse‐splay distributary networks, or progradation. Recent remote sensing observations show that avulsion style changes systematically moving downstream along modern fluvial fans but, to date, no studies have assessed the significance of these trends on fluvial fan stratigraphy. Here, spatiotemporal changes in avulsion stratigraphy are investigated within the Salt Wash Member of the Morrison Formation, deposited in the Cordilleran foreland basin during the Late Jurassic epoch. Measured sections and photographic panels were analysed from 23 locations across the Salt Wash extent. Avulsion style was identified in the stratigraphic record by the basal contact of a channel storey with underlying strata: channel–channel contacts indicate annexation, channel–floodplain contacts indicate incision and channel–heterolithic contacts indicate progradation. Contact types change downstream, such that channel–channel and channel–floodplain contacts dominate proximal locations, while channel–heterolithic contacts become increasingly prevalent downstream. Outcrop results were compared to a numerical model of fluvial fan formation and remote‐sensing analysis of avulsions on modern fans. In both additional datasets, channels in proximal fan positions tend to avulse via annexation, reoccupying abandoned channels, while channels in more distal positions tend to avulse via increasingly significant progradation. These findings suggest a relationship between newly recognized downstream changes in avulsion style and well‐established downstream changes in fluvial fan architecture. Furthermore, this suggests that fan architecture can inform interpretations of ancient fluvial dynamics, including avulsion behaviour, and that avulsions can cause stratigraphically significant and measurable changes to fan architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation sauropods Diplodocus (formerly “Seismosaurus”) hallorum and Supersaurus vivianae are quantifiably the largest dinosaurian taxa from the formation, as well as being among the largest dinosaurs in the world. Their extreme body size (in particular body length, c. 50+ m) has fascinated the paleontological community since their discoveries and has sparked an ongoing discussion on the trends and limits of Morrison Formation sauropod body size. Although not an undeviating proxy, often the largest and skeletally most mature specimens are among the rarest (as exemplified in Triceratops). While their body size has no phylogenetic bearing, the extreme size and potential eco and biological significance of these two sauropod taxa are frequently discussed. Whether these rare and titanically proportioned sauropod specimens are large‐bodied, senescent or both is an often‐repeating rhetoric. To definitively make maturational inferences about these taxa, we osteohistologically sampled the holotype of D. hallorum (NMMNH P‐25079) and the second known specimen of S. vivianae (WDC DMJ‐021). Our age‐determinant and maturational assessments indicate that both specimens were skeletally mature at their respective age of death. Retrocalculation methods for D. hallorum NMMNH P‐25079 produce a maximum age‐at‐death estimation of 60 years, whereas S. vivianae WDC DMJ‐021 lived well past skeletal maturity—so much so that reliable retrocalculated ages cannot be accurately determined at this time. Additionally, the rarity of such large sauropods within the Morrison Formation might be more parsimoniously explained as relating to their maturity as opposed to representing aberrant taxa on the Morrison landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reconstruct a fossil forest in three dimensions, an accurate estimation of tree height is crucial. However, modelling the height-diameter relationship of ancient trees is difficult, because the trunks of fossil trees are usually fragmentary, making direct height measurements impossible. One practical approach for reconstructing ancient tree height is to use growth models based on the height-diameter relationships of the nearest living relatives of fossil taxa. Here we apply 19 models to describe height-diameter relationships of living Araucaria trees for establishing appropriate models for ancient Araucariaceae trees. Data come from four living populations of Araucaria: A. bidwillii and A. cunninghamii in Queensland, Australia, and A. cunninghamii and A. hunsteinii in New Guinea. According to an AIC-based model selection, a power function with an exponent of 0.67 (termed here the modified Mosbrugger model) is found to be the most appropriate for each population and for the entire dataset (157 trees), but normalization constants differ across populations. To find the most appropriate models for the genus Araucaria, 100 random samples (each population generating 25 random samples) from the entire dataset are used. Based on 100 curve fitting results on each model and multiple performance criteria, three median models are generated from the medians of their parameter estimates. Of these, the median 2pPower model works best for Araucaria, but the modified Mosbrugger and Curtis models perform nearly as well. In a case study, we revise tree heights of Upper Jurassic araucariaceous logs in Utah, USA, by applying these three models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Wanakah Formation and Tidwell Member of the Morrison Formation record intervals of paedogenesis in the Paradox Basin and Central Colorado trough, western Colorado during the Middle-Late Jurassic. Detailed field description of paleosols and paedogenic carbonates at different stratigraphic horizons from three localities document four main pedotypes: vertisols, gleysols, oxisols, and protosols. Generally, gleysols reflect reducing conditions, protosols and oxisols reflect oxidizing conditions, and vertisols reflect fluctuations in oxidizing/reducing conditions (seasonality). Major elemental geochemical ratios in samples from these paleosols suggest variable redox conditions and a sub-humid to humid paleoclimate with seasonal precipitations during paleosol development. Estimated mean annual temperature based on elemental analyses of paleosol B in paleosols from Ribbon Trail and Escalante Canyon in western Colorado suggest mesic – thermic paleoclimate. Mean annual precipitation indicates sub-humid to humid regional palaeoclimatic conditions marked by seasonal precipitation. Clay mineralogy of these paleosols, determined by X-ray diffraction, shows the abundance of illite most likely formed from smectite alteration due to episodic wetting and drying. δ13C and δ18O isotope analyses of carbonate veins in these paleosols suggest that they formed recently from meteoric water and therefore are not considered for palaeoclimatic reconstructions. Mean annual temperature and mean annual precipitation estimates in the Wanakah Formation and Tidwell Member of the Morrison Formation provide new information on the local and regional palaeoclimatic and paleoenvironmental conditions during the Middle Jurassic in western Colorado as well as data for comparison with the Upper Morrison paleoclimate from northern and southern localities in the western United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, we describe a pathological sub-adult theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation in Dana Quarry, Wyoming, U.S.A. It exhibits multiple pathologies, involving three dorsal vertebrae, the right scapula and coracoid, and apparent pathology of the left scapula. The fourth dorsal vertebra has four irregularly shaped growths on the vertebral arch. The eighth and ninth vertebrae are fused. The scapulocoracoid joint has an obvious deformity. The distal part of the right scapula is more rounded than normal. The left scapula has a depression on the lateral blade. These pathologies can be identified as follows: the fourth dorsal vertebra is possibly neoplastic or exhibiting compensatory hyperplasia; the eighth and ninth vertebral and the right scapular pathology are consistent with spondyloarthropathy. Diagnoses considered for the left scapula pathology are infections, trauma or unknown. The animal survived the pathologies, which are unlikely the cause of its death. This specimen represents the first known occurrence of spondyloarthropathy in a theropod. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We reexamine and redescribe the type specimens and other associated material of the Late Jurassic rhynchocephalian Opisthias rarus, from Quarry 9 of the Morrison Formation. We rediscover and describe a fragment of rock matrix belonging to the holotype that is presented for the first time, and we also comment on undescribed material from Quarry 9 that possibly belongs to an unnamed species of Opisthias. In addition, we describe a new specimen of Theretairus antiquus that helps to reject its proposed status as a junior synonym of O. rarus, and contributes to increase the knowledge of the microvertebrate fauna of the Late Jurassic of North America.

We describe a new, small-bodied rhynchocephalian reptile, Opisthiamimus gregori gen. et sp. nov., from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Wyoming, USA. Whereas many fossil rhynchocephalians are based on isolated incomplete jaws, the holotype of O. gregori includes most of the skull and postcranium and therefore represents one of the most complete specimens of Rhynchocephalia known from North America. We used micro-computed tomography to examine its skeletal anatomy in detail and to develop a three-dimensional reconstruction of the skull. The skull of O. gregori is similar to that of several non-neosphenodontian rhynchocephalians such as Planocephalosaurus (e.g. large orbits) and Clevosaurus (e.g. parietal parasagittal crests) yet exhibits a suite of other features related to the proal shearing mechanism that becomes increasingly elaborated among more phylogenetically nested taxa such as Sphenodon (e.g. lateral palatine tooth row parallels maxillary tooth row along its entire length, pyramidal dentary teeth with mesial shearing crests). The postcranial skeleton of O. gregori exhibits characteristics typical of a terrestrial rhynchocephalian. Our phylogenetic analyses use a substantially updated data set of 118 characters and 46 taxa, and both maximum parsimony and Bayesian frameworks. Results place O. gregori inside Eusphenodontia but outside Neosphenodontia, and therefore in a key position for contributing to character polarity for more deeply nested clades such as Clevosauridae, Sphenodontidae and Pleurosauridae. We also erect Leptorhynchia taxon nov., composed primarily of aquatically adapted taxa (e.g. Pleurosaurus, Sapheosaurus), which is supported by both cranial and postcranial characters. Because O. gregori is not particularly closely related to the other named Morrison rhynchocephalians (e.g. Opisthias rarus), it increases both the alpha and beta taxonomic diversities within the formation. Similarly, major differences in body size and inferred diet of the Morrison taxa imply considerable concomitant palaeoecological diversity just prior to a major global decline in rhynchocephalian diversity around the close of the Jurassic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe two skull fragments of a new morganucodontan from the Cisco Mammal Quarry (Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation), preserving portions of the palate and snout in excellent 3D detail as well as the complete upper postcanine dentition. Morganucodontans are best known by isolated elements and relatively complete skulls of several species of Morganucodon from the Lower Jurassic of Wales and China; this group is fundamental to our understanding of the early evolution of mammals. Cifellilestes ciscoensis gen. et sp. nov. possesses derived features of the snout paired with plesiomorphic construction of the molars; the distal premolars are complex and there is an unusually low count (two) of strongly imbricated molars. This character combination expands craniodental variation for the group. We sampled mudstone from the Cisco Mammal Quarry for ash-fall zircon analysis and obtained a date of 151.50 ± 0.28 Ma. This dates the locality to the earliest Tithonian and slightly younger than other major dated mammal-bearing localities in the Morrison Formation. Cifellilestes represents one of the youngest members of this group and extends the record of morganucodontans in North America by more than 30 Ma. Morganucodontans are a rare component of Late Jurassic faunas but display surprising dental diversity through variations in a tooth count and cusp morphology of a deeply conserved, generalized mammalian tooth pattern, which was fully established in brasilodontid (non-mammalian) ancestors at least 80 my prior.

We reexamine and redescribe the type specimens and other associated material of the Late Jurassic rhynchocephalian Opisthias rarus, from Quarry 9 of the Morrison Formation. We rediscover and describe a fragment of rock matrix belonging to the holotype that is presented for the first time, and we also comment on undescribed material from Quarry 9 that possibly belongs to an unnamed species of Opisthias. In addition, we describe a new specimen of Theretairus antiquus that helps to reject its proposed status as a junior synonym of O. rarus, and contributes to increase the knowledge of the microvertebrate fauna of the Late Jurassic of North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe two skull fragments of a new morganucodontan from the Cisco Mammal Quarry (Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation), preserving portions of the palate and snout in excellent 3D detail as well as the complete upper postcanine dentition. Morganucodontans are best known by isolated elements and relatively complete skulls of several species of Morganucodon from the Lower Jurassic of Wales and China; this group is fundamental to our understanding of the early evolution of mammals. Cifellilestes ciscoensis gen. et sp. nov. possesses derived features of the snout paired with plesiomorphic construction of the molars; the distal premolars are complex and there is an unusually low count (two) of strongly imbricated molars. This character combination expands craniodental variation for the group. We sampled mudstone from the Cisco Mammal Quarry for ash-fall zircon analysis and obtained a date of 151.50 ± 0.28 Ma. This dates the locality to the earliest Tithonian and slightly younger than other major dated mammal-bearing localities in the Morrison Formation. Cifellilestes represents one of the youngest members of this group and extends the record of morganucodontans in North America by more than 30 Ma. Morganucodontans are a rare component of Late Jurassic faunas but display surprising dental diversity through variations in a tooth count and cusp morphology of a deeply conserved, generalized mammalian tooth pattern, which was fully established in brasilodontid (non-mammalian) ancestors at least 80 my prior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]