Intertwining of paleontology and medicine: implications for structure-function relationships, behavior, and habitat in paleontology

Macrovertebrate paleontology and the Pliocene habitat of Ardipithecus ramidus.

A diverse assemblage of large mammals is spatially and stratigraphically associated with Ardipithecus ramidus at Aramis. The most common species are tragelaphine antelope and colobine monkeys. Analyses of their postcranial remains situate them in a closed habitat. Assessment of dental mesowear, microwear, and stable isotopes from these and a wider range of abundant associated larger mammals ind...

Genetics, Paleontology, and Macroevolution

Avian Paleontology and Evolution

Miocoracias chenevali, nov. gen., nov. spec., a new genus and species of roller (Aves: Coraciiformes s. s.: Coraciidae) is described from the Early Miocene of Saint-Gérand-le-Puy. This family had not yet been reported from the rich fossil avifauna of this area. Although the material is fragmentary it shows morphological characteristics different from those of the extinct family Geranopteridae, ...

Ontogenetic Shape Change in the Chicken Brain: Implications for Paleontology

Paleontologists have investigated brain morphology of extinct birds with little information on post-hatching changes in avian brain morphology. Without the knowledge of ontogenesis, assessing brain morphology in fossil taxa could lead to misinterpretation of the phylogeny or neurosensory development of extinct species. Hence, it is imperative to determine how avian brain morphology changes duri...

Journal of Paleontology

ABTRACT--Available museum collections have been utilised for a functional analysis of common members of the bivalve fauna of the Cretaceous Chalk Formation of England. It is concluded that many members of the fauna were able to inhabit their unusual environment by virtue of specialised adaptations. There is an apparent paucity of infaunal bivalves in true Chalk lithology, and the fauna is domin...