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| A selection of species described in 2013 |
Here is my pick for the top paleontology stories
of year 2013 (not in particular order):
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| Archicebus achilles |
1) The discovery in the Hubei province of China
of the oldest haplorhine primate skeleton, Archicebus achilles., dating
from the Eocene.
Reference: Ni, X.; Gebo, D. L.; Dagosto, M.;
Meng, J.; Tafforeau, P.; Flynn, J. J.; Beard, K. C. 2013. The oldest known
primate skeleton and early haplorhine evolution. Nature 498 (7452): 60–64.
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| Entelognathus primordialis |
2)Entelognathus primordialis, a Placoderm fish with a modern type jaw that rewrites the history of jaw evolution in vertebrates.
Reference: Zhu, Min; Xiaobo Yu, Per Erik
Ahlberg, Brian Choo, Jing Lu, Tuo Qiao, Qingming Qu, Wenjin Zhao, Liantao Jia,
Henning Blom & You'an Zhu 2013. A Silurian placoderm with osteichthyan-like
marginal jaw bones. Nature (502): 188–193.
3) A new study using computer mechanical
simulation coupled with high resolution CT scans has indicated that theropod
dinosaur beaks evolved to stabilize the skull during biting and feeding rather
than as a lightweight replacement for teeth as previously assumed.
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| Microraptor gui |
Reference: Lautenschlager, Stephan et al. 2013.
Edentulism, beaks, and biomechanical innovations in the evolution of theropod
dinosaurs. PNAS. in press.
4) Microraptor gets a highlight again
with the description of a specimen with fish scales in its abdominal cavity
proving that it was an opportunistic feeder that also was also piscivorous.
Reference: Lida Xing et al. 2013. Piscivory in
the feathered dinosaur Microraptor. Evolution. 67(8): 2441–2445.
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| Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus |
5) Two familiar duck-billed dinosaurs got
facelifts with the redescription of the crest of Tsintaosaurus and the finding
of a soft tissue wattle on the head of one well preserved specimen of
Edmontosaurus.
Reference: Prieto-Márquez, A.; Wagner J.R. 2013.
The ‘Unicorn’ Dinosaur That Wasn’t: A New Reconstruction of the Crest of
Tsintaosaurus and the Early Evolution of the Lambeosaurine Crest and Rostrum..
PLoS ONE 8 (11): e82268.
Bell, P. R.; Fanti, F.; Currie, P. J.; Arbour,
V. M. 2013. A Mummified Duck-Billed Dinosaur with a Soft-Tissue Cock's Comb.
Current Biology. in press.
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| Edmontosaurus regalis |
6) A new methodology has clocked the rate of
evolution of arthropods and it was found to be four to five times faster during
the so-called "Cambrian explosion" than after it.
Reference: Michael S.Y. Lee, Julien Soubrier,
Gregory D. Edgecombe, Rates of Phenotypic and Genomic Evolution during the
Cambrian Explosion, Current Biology, Volume 23, Issue 19, 7 October 2013, Pages
1889-1895.
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| Lythronax argestes |
7) At 8 meters in length, the tyrannosaurid Lythronax
argestes from the Cretaceous of Utah emerges as the new rising star among
the dinosaur enthusiasts and t-rex lovers.
Reference: Loewen, M. A.; Irmis, R. B.; Sertich,
J. J. W.; Currie, P. J.; Sampson, S. D. 2013. Tyrant Dinosaur Evolution Tracks
the Rise and Fall of Late Cretaceous Oceans. In Evans, David C. PLoS ONE 8
(11): e79420.
8) Three new ceratopsians from North America
have been described: Bravoceratops from Texas, Nasutoceratops from Utah and
Judiceratops from Montana.
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| Judiceratops tigris |
Reference: Longrich, N. R. 2013. Judiceratops
tigris, a New Horned Dinosaur from the Middle Campanian Judith River Formation
of Montana. Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 54: 51–65.
Sampson, S. D.; Lund, E. K.; Loewen, M. A.;
Farke, A. A.; Clayton, K. E. 2013. A remarkable short-snouted horned dinosaur
from the Late Cretaceous (late Campanian) of southern Laramidia. Proceedings of
the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 280 (1766): 2013118.
Wick,
S. L.; Lehman, T. M. 2013. A new ceratopsian dinosaur from the Javelina
Formation (Maastrichtian) of West Texas and implications for chasmosaurine
phylogeny". Naturwissenschaften. in press (7): 667.
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| Panthera blytheae |
9) Panthera blytheae from the Late Miocene of
Tibet is the oldest known big cat (genus Panthera) that includes lions, tigers,
panthers, leopards and jaguars, and points to an asian origin for them.
Reference: Tseng, Jack; Wang, Xiaoming; Slater,
Graham J. ; Takeuchi, Gary T. ; Li, Qiang; Liu, Juan; and Xie, Guangpu. 2014. Himalayan fossils of the
oldest known pantherine establish ancient origin of big cats. Proceedings of
the Royal Society B 281 (1774): 20132686.
10) Rock legend Jim Morrison has now a
prehistoric animal named after him, the 2 meter long iguana relative,
Barbaturex morrisoni.
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| Barbaturex morrisoni |
Reference: Head, J. J.; Gunnell, G. F.; Holroyd,
P. A.; Hutchison, J. H.; Ciochon, R. L. 2013. Giant lizards occupied
herbivorous mammalian ecospace during the Paleogene greenhouse in Southeast
Asia. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 280 (1763):
20130665.
