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Recent Submissions

  • Reconstructing the feeding ecology of Cambrian sponge reefs: the case for active suspension feeding in Archaeocyatha

    Gibson, Brandt M; Chipman, Max; Attanasio, Paolo; Qureshi, Zaid; Darroch, Simon AF; Rahman, Imran A; Laflamme, Marc (The Royal Society, 2023-11-22)
    Sponge-grade Archaeocyatha were early Cambrian biomineralizing metazoans that constructed reefs globally. Despite decades of research, many facets of archaeocyath palaeobiology remain unclear, making it difficult to reconstruct the palaeoecology of Cambrian reef ecosystems. Of specific interest is how these organisms fed; previous experimental studies have suggested that archaeocyaths functioned as passive suspension feeders relying on ambient currents to transport nutrient-rich water into their central cavities. Here, we test this hypothesis using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of digital models of select archaeocyath species. Our results demonstrate that, given a range of plausible current velocities, there was very little fluid circulation through the skeleton, suggesting obligate passive suspension feeding was unlikely. Comparing our simulation data with exhalent velocities collected from extant sponges, we infer an active suspension feeding lifestyle for archaeocyaths. The combination of active suspension feeding and biomineralization in Archaeocyatha may have facilitated the creation of modern metazoan reef ecosystems. The attached file is the published version of the article.
  • Origin and Early Evolution of Echinoderms

    Rahman, Imran; Zamora, Samuel (Annual Reviews, 2024-05-30)
    Echinoderms are a major group (phylum) of invertebrate animals with a rich fossil record stretching back to the Cambrian period, approximately 518 million years ago. While all modern species are characterized by pentaradial (i.e., fivefold) symmetry, Cambrian echinoderms also include taxa with different types of symmetry (e.g., bilateral symmetry). These distinct forms were present from very early in the phylum's history, demonstrating that the initial diversification of echinoderm body plans was extremely rapid. The phylogenetic relationships of Cambrian echinoderms have long been debated, hindering efforts to reconstruct the evolution of the phylum, but recent analyses have consistently recovered bilaterally symmetrical forms as the earliest-diverging echinoderms. This reveals the sequence of character acquisition in echinoderm evolution, indicating that radial symmetry is a derived character of the group, which evolved after the acquisition of a mineralized skeleton. Cambrian echinoderms were adapted to diverse modes of life, with ecology an important factor shaping their early evolution. However, the reasons why echinoderms evolved their unique pentaradial body plan remain unclear. ▪ The Cambrian fossil record provides valuable insights into the origin and early evolution of echinoderms over half a billion years ago. ▪ Cambrian echinoderms were morphologically diverse, with several extinct groups exhibiting character combinations that distinguish them from living species. ▪ Phylogenetic analyses of bilateral, asymmetrical, triradial, and pentaradial fossils have allowed us to decipher the assembly of the modern echinoderm body plan. ▪ Echinoderms became ecologically diverse early in their history, with varied modes of feeding, locomotion, and attachment. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Volume 52 is May 2024. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
  • Cambrian stem-group ambulacrarians and the nature of the ancestral deuterostome

    Li, Yujing; Dunn, Frances S; Murdock, Duncan JE; Guo, Jin; Rahman, Imran; Cong, Peiyun (Elsevier BV, 10/05/2023)
    Deuterostomes are characterized by some of the most widely divergent body plans in the animal kingdom. These striking morphological differences have hindered efforts to predict ancestral characters, with the origin and earliest evolution of the group remaining ambiguous. Several iconic Cambrian fossils have been suggested to be early deuterostomes and hence could help elucidate ancestral character states. However, their phylogenetic relationships are controversial. Here, we describe new, exceptionally preserved specimens of the discoidal metazoan Rotadiscus grandis from the early Cambrian Chengjiang biota of China. These reveal a previously unknown double spiral structure, which we interpret as a chordate-like covering to a coelomopore, located adjacent to a horseshoe-shaped tentacle complex. The tentacles differ in key aspects from those seen in lophophorates and are instead more similar to the tentacular systems of extant pterobranchs and echinoderms. Thus, Rotadiscus exhibits a chimeric combination of ambulacrarian and chordate characters. Phylogenetic analyses recover Rotadiscus and closely related fossil taxa as stem ambulacrarians, filling a significant morphological gap in the deuterostome tree of life. These results allow us to reconstruct the ancestral body plans of major clades of deuterostomes, revealing that key traits of extant forms, such as a post-analregion, gillbars, and a U-shaped gut, evolved through convergence.
  • Current Methods, Common Practices, and Perspectives in Tracking and Monitoring Bioinoculants in Soil

    Manfredini, Andrea; Malusà, Eligio; Costa, Corrado; Pallottino, Federico; Mocali, Stefano; Pinzari, Flavia; Canfora, Loredana (Frontiers Media SA, 31/08/2021)
    <jats:p>Microorganisms promised to lead the bio-based revolution for a more sustainable agriculture. Beneficial microorganisms could be a valid alternative to the use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides. However, the increasing use of microbial inoculants is also raising several questions about their efficacy and their effects on the autochthonous soil microorganisms. There are two major issues on the application of bioinoculants to soil: (i) their detection in soil, and the analysis of their persistence and fate; (ii) the monitoring of the impact of the introduced bioinoculant on native soil microbial communities. This review explores the strategies and methods that can be applied to the detection of microbial inoculants and to soil monitoring. The discussion includes a comprehensive critical assessment of the available tools, based on morpho-phenological, molecular, and microscopic analyses. The prospects for future development of protocols for regulatory or commercial purposes are also discussed, underlining the need for a multi-method (polyphasic) approach to ensure the necessary level of discrimination required to track and monitor bioinoculants in soil.</jats:p>
  • Microbial-Based Products to Control Soil-Borne Pathogens: Methods to Improve Efficacy and to Assess Impacts on Microbiome

    Ptaszek, Magdalena; Canfora, Loredana; Pugliese, Massimo; Pinzari, Flavia; Gilardi, Giovanna; Trzciński, Paweł; Malusà, Eligio (MDPI AG, 2023-01)
    Microbial-based products (either as biopesticide or biofertilizers) have a long history of application, though their use is still limited, mainly due to a perceived low and inconsistent efficacy under field conditions. However, their efficacy has always been compared to chemical products, which have a completely different mechanism of action and production process, following the chemical paradigm of agricultural production. This paradigm has also been applied to regulatory processes, particularly for biopesticides, making the marketing of microbial-based formulations difficult. Increased knowledge about bioinocula behavior after application to the soil and their impact on soil microbiome should foster better exploitation of microbial-based products in a complex environment such as the soil. Moreover, the multifunctional capacity of microbial strains with regard to plant growth promotion and protection should also be considered in this respect. Therefore, the methods utilized for these studies are key to improving the knowledge and understanding of microbial-based product activity and improving their efficacy, which, from farmers’ point of view, is the parameter to assess the usefulness of a treatment. In this review, we are thus addressing aspects related to the production and formulation process, highlighting the methods that can be used to evaluate the functioning and impact of microbial-based products on soil microbiome, as tools supporting their use and marketing.
  • The rangeomorph Pectinifrons abyssalis: Hydrodynamic function at the dawn of animal life

    Darroch, Simon AF; Gutarra Diaz, Susana V.; Masaki, Hale; Olaru, Andrei; Gibson, Brandt M; Dunn, Frances S; Mitchell, Emily G; Racicot, Rachel A; Burzynski, Gregory; Rahman, Imran (Elsevier BV, 17/02/2023)
    Rangeomorphs are among the oldest putative eumetazoans known from the fossil record. Establishing how they fed is thus key to understanding the structure and function of the earliest animal ecosystems. Here, we use computational fluid dynamicstotesthypothesizedfeedingmodesforthefence-likerangeomorphPectinifrons abyssalis, comparing this to the morphologically similar extant carnivorous sponge Chondrocladia lyra. Our results reveal complex patterns of flow around P. abyssalis unlike those previously reconstructed for any other Ediacaran taxon. Comparisons with C. lyra reveal substantial differences between the two organisms, suggesting they converged on a similar fence-like morphology for different functions. We argue that the flow patterns recovered for P. abyssalis do not support either a suspension feeding or osmotrophic feeding habit. Instead, our results indicate that rangeomorph fronds may represent organs adapted for gas exchange. If correct, this interpretation could require a dramatic reinterpretation of the oldest macroscopic animals.
  • Sulfur-enhanced reductive bioprocessing of cobalt-bearing materials for base metals recovery

    Santos, Ana Laura; Dybowska, Agnieszka; Schofield, Paul; Herrington, Richard J; Johnson, D Barrie (Elsevier BV, 16/06/2020)
    The abundance of limonitic laterite ores in tropical and sub-tropical areas represents a large, and mostly unexploited, cobalt resource. Bioprocessing oxidised ores, and also waste materials such as tailings and processing residues, using acidophilic microorganisms to catalyse the reductive dissolution of iron and manganese minerals, is an environmentally benign alternative approach of extracting valuable base metals associated with these deposits. This work describes results from laboratory-scale experiments in which five cobalt-bearing materials, three primary limonitic laterite ores and two processing residues (filter dust and slag), all sourced from mines and a processing plant in Greece, were bioleached under reducing conditions by a consortium of acidophilic bacteria (using elemental sulfur as electron donor) in stirred tank bioreactors at pH 1.5 and 35 °C. Whilst the target metal, cobalt, was successfully bioleached from all five materials (40–50% within 30 days) the extraction of some other metals was more variable (e.g. between 2 and 48% of iron). Concentrations of soluble cobalt were highly correlated, in most cases, with those of manganese, in agreement with the finding that cobalt was primarily deported in manganese (IV) minerals. Acid consumption also differed greatly between mineral samples, ranging between 3 and 67 moles H2SO4 g−1 cobalt extracted. Comprehensive mineralogical analysis of the three limonitic samples before and after bioprocessing revealed significant variations between the ores, and demonstrated that elemental and mineralogical variabilities can greatly impact their amenability for reductive bioleaching.
  • The first edrioasteroid echinoderm from the lower Cambrian Chengjiang biota of Yunnan Province, China

    Zhao, Jun; Rahman, Imran; Zamora, Samuel; Chen, Ailin; Cong, Peiyun (Wiley, 07/07/2022)
    Until now, the earliest fossil echinoderms have been predominantly known from the early Cambrian of Laurentia and West Gondwana. Here, we describe Sprinkleoglobus extenuatusgen. et sp. nov. from the Chengjiang biota (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 3) of Yunnan Province, China. The over-all profile of the theca and the morphology of the ambulacra clearly establish it as an edrioasteroid echinoderm. This represents the first discovery of an unequivocal echinoderm from the early part of the Cambrian of South China and is among the oldest records of echinoderms globally. Our material shows that edrioasteroids were diverse and widely distributed from their first occurrence in the fossil record, suggesting an earlier origin for the group. We infer that Sprinkleoglobus and other early echinoderms were adapted for attaching to hard substrates, implying that the so-called Cambrian substrate revolution was not a strong control on the early evolution of attachment in echinoderms.
  • Bioleaching of arsenic-rich cobalt mineral resources, and evidence for concurrent biomineralisation of scorodite during oxidative bio-processing of skutterudite

    Johnson, D Barrie; Dybowska, Agnieszka; Schofield, Paul; Herrington, Richard J; Smith, Sarah L; Santos, Ana Laura (Elsevier BV, 19/06/2020)
    Experiments were carried out to test the amenabilities of mineral deposits that contained cobalt deported in arseno-sulfide (cobaltite) and arsenide (skutterudite) minerals, to oxidative bioleaching at mesophilic temperatures and low pH. An ore sample from the Iron Mask deposit (Canada) and a mineral concentrate from a working mine (Bou Azzer, Morocco) were thoroughly characterised, both prior to and following bio-processing. A “top down” approach, using microbial consortia including (initially) 13 species of mineral-degrading acidophiles was used to bioleach the ore and concentrate in shake flasks and bioreactors. Cobalt was successfully liberated from both materials tested (up to 93% from the ore, and 49% from the concentrate), though the chemistries of the leach liquors were very different, with redox potentials being >200 mV lower, and concentrations of soluble arsenic about 7-fold greater, with the concentrate. Addition of pyrite to the arsenide concentrate was found to promote the biomineralisation of scorodite (ferric arsenate), which was detected by both XRD and SEM-EDX, but was not found in bioleached residues of the arseno-sulfide ore. A model was proposed wherein pyrite had three critical roles in facilitating the genesis of scorodite: (i) providing the catalytic surface to promote the oxidation of As (III) to As (V); (ii) acting as a putative “seed” for scorodite crystallisation; (iii) being a secondary source of iron, since the molar ratios of iron:arsenic in the concentrate itself (0.19:1) was well below that required for effective removal of soluble arsenic as scorodite (1:1). This work provided proof of concept that cobalt arseno-sulfide and arsenide ores and concentrates are amenable to bio-processing, and also that it is possible to induce concurrent solubilisation of arsenic from primary minerals and immobilisation in a secondary mineral, scorodite.
  • Heterochrony and parallel evolution of echinoderm, hemichordate and cephalochordate internal bars

    Álvarez-Armada, Nidia; Cameron, Christopher B; Bauer, Jennifer E; Rahman, Imran (The Royal Society, 11/05/2022)
    Deuterostomes comprise three phyla with radically different body plans. Phylogenetic bracketing of the living deuterostome clades suggests the latest common ancestor of echinoderms, hemichordates and chordates was a bilaterally symmetrical worm with pharyngeal openings, with these characters lost in echinoderms. Early fossil echinoderms with pharyngeal openings have been described, but their interpretation is highly controversial. Here, we critically evaluate the evidence for pharyngeal structures (gill bars) in the extinct stylophoran echinoderms Lagynocystis pyramidalis and Jaekelocarpus oklahomensis using virtual models based on high-resolution X-ray tomography scans of three-dimensionally preserved fossil specimens. Multivariate analyses of the size, spacing and arrangement of the internal bars in these fossils indicate they are substantially more similar to gill bars in modern enteropneust hemichordates and cephalochordates than to other internal bar-like structures in fossil blastozoan echinoderms. The close similarity between the internal bars of the stylophorans L. pyramidalis and J. oklahomensis and the gill bars of extant chordates and hemichordates is strong evidence for their homology. Differences between these internal bars and bar-like elements of the respiratory systems in blastozoans suggest these structures might have arisen through parallel evolution across deuterostomes, perhaps underpinned by a common developmental genetic mechanism.
  • The life and times of Pteridinium simplex

    Darroch, Simon AF; Gibson, Brandt M; Syversen, Maggie; Rahman, Imran; Racicot, Rachel A; Dunn, Frances S; Gutarra Diaz, Susana V.; Schindler, Eberhard; Wehrmann, Achim; Laflamme, Marc (Cambridge University Press (CUP), 17/05/2022)
    Pteridinium simplex is an iconic erniettomorph taxon best known from late Ediacaran successions in South Australia, Russia, and Namibia. Despite nearly 100 years of study, there remain fundamental questions surrounding the paleobiology and paleoecology of this organism, including its life position relative to the sediment–water interface, and how it fed and functioned within benthic communities. Here, we combine a redescription of specimens housed at the Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum Frankfurt with field observations of fossiliferous surfaces, to constrain the life habit of Pteridinium and gain insights into the character of benthic ecosystems shortly before the beginning of the Cambrian. We present paleontological and sedimentological evidence suggesting that Pteridinium was semi-infaunal and lived gregariously in aggregated communities, preferentially adopting an orientation with the long axis perpendicular to the prevailing current direction. Using computational fluid dynamics simulations, we demonstrate that this life habit could plausibly have led to suspended food particles settling within the organism's central cavity. This supports interpretation of Pteridinium as a macroscopic suspension feeder that functioned similarly to the coeval erniettomorph Ernietta, emblematic of a broader paleoecological shift toward benthic suspension-feeding strategies over the course of the latest Ediacaran. Finally, we discuss how this new reconstruction of Pteridinium provides information concerning its potential relationships with extant animal groups and state a case for reconstructing Pteridinium as a colonial metazoan.
  • Cambrian edrioasteroid reveals new mechanism for secondary reduction of the skeleton in echinoderms

    Zamora, Samuel; Rahman, Imran; Sumrall, Colin D; Gibson, Adam P; Thompson, Jeffrey R (The Royal Society, 09/03/2022)
    Echinoderms are characterized by a distinctive high-magnesium calcite endoskeleton as adults, but elements of this have been drastically reduced in some groups. Herein, we describe a new pentaradial echinoderm, Yorkicystis haefneri n. gen. n. sp., which provides, to our knowledge, the oldest evidence of secondary non-mineralization of the echinoderm skeleton. This material was collected from the Cambrian Kinzers Formation in York (Pennsylvania, USA) and is dated as ca 510 Ma. Detailed morphological observations demonstrate that the ambulacra (i.e. axial region) are composed of flooring and cover plates, but the rest of the body (i.e. extraxial region) is preserved as a dark film and lacks any evidence of skeletal plating. Moreover, X-ray fluorescence analysis reveals that the axial region is elevated in iron. Based on our morphological and chemical data and on taphonomic comparisons with other fossils from the Kinzers Formation, we infer that the axial region was originally calcified, while the extraxial region was non-mineralized. Phylogenetic analyses recover Yorkicystis as an edrioasteroid, indicating that this partial absence of skeleton resulted from a secondary reduction. We hypothesize that skeletal reduction resulted from lack of expression of the skeletogenic gene regulatory network in the extraxial body wall during development. Secondary reduction of the skeleton in Yorkicystis might have allowed for greater flexibility of the body wall.
  • Correlative tomography of an exceptionally preserved Jurassic ammonite implies hyponome-propelled swimming

    Cherns, Lesley; Spencer, Alan RT; Rahman, Imran; Garwood, Russell J; Reedman, Christopher; Burca, Genoveva; Turner, Martin J; Hollingworth, Neville TJ; Hilton, Jason (Geological Society of America, 07/12/2021)
    The extreme rarity of soft-tissue preservation in ammonoids has meant there are open questions regarding fundamental aspects of their biology. We report an exceptionally preserved Middle Jurassic ammonite with unrivaled information on soft-body organization interpreted through correlative neutron and X-ray tomography. Three-dimensional imaging of muscles and organs of the body mass for the first time in this iconic fossil group provides key insights into functional morphology. We show that paired dorsal muscles withdrew the body into the shell, rather than acting with the funnel controlling propulsion as in Nautilus. This suggests a mobile, retractable body as a defense strategy and necessitates a distinct swimming mechanism of hyponome propulsion, a trait that we infer evolved early in the ammonoid-coleoid lineage.
  • Deep-time biodiversity patterns and the dinosaurian fossil record of the Late Cretaceous Western Interior, North America

    Maidment, Susannah; Dean, Christopher; Mansergh, Robert I; Butler, Richard J (The Royal Society, 30/06/2021)
    In order for palaeontological data to be informative to ecologists seeking to understand the causes of today's diversity patterns, palaeontologists must demonstrate that actual biodiversity patterns are preserved in our reconstructions of past ecosystems. During the Late Cretaceous, North America was divided into two landmasses, Laramidia and Appalachia. Previous work has suggested strong faunal provinciality on Laramidia at this time, but these arguments are almost entirely qualitative. We quantitatively investigated faunal provinciality in ceratopsid and hadrosaurid dinosaurs using a biogeographic network approach and investigated sampling biases by examining correlations between dinosaur occurrences and collections. We carried out a model-fitting approach using generalized least-squares regression to investigate the sources of sampling bias we identified. We find that while the raw data strongly support faunal provinciality, this result is driven by sampling bias. The data quality of ceratopsids and hadrosaurids is currently too poor to enable fair tests of provincialism, even in this intensively sampled region, which probably represents the best-known Late Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystem on Earth. To accurately reconstruct biodiversity patterns in deep time, future work should focus on smaller scale, higher resolution case studies in which the effects of sampling bias can be better controlled.
  • Prediction of shoreline–shelf depositional process regime guided by palaeotidal modelling

    Collins, Daniel S; Avdis, Alexandros; Wells, Martin R; Dean, Christopher; Mitchell, Andrew J; Allison, Peter A; Johnson, Howard D; Hampson, Gary J; Hill, Jon; Piggott, Matthew D (Elsevier BV, 29/10/2021)
    Ancient shoreline–shelf depositional systems are influenced by an unusually wide array of geological, biological and hydrodynamic processes, with sediment transport and deposition primarily determined by the interaction of river, wave (including storm) and tidal processes, and changes in relative sea level. Understanding the impact of these processes on shoreline–shelf morphodynamics and stratigraphic preservation remains challenging. Numerical modelling integrated with traditional facies analysis provides an increasingly viable approach, with the potential to quantify, and thereby improve understanding of, the impact of these complex coastal sedimentary processes. An integrated approach is presented here that focuses on palaeotidal modelling to investigate the controls on ancient tides and their influence on sedimentary deposition and preservation – one of the three cornerstones of the ternary process classification scheme of shoreline-shelf systems. Numerical tidal modelling methodology is reviewed and illustrated in three palaeotidal model case studies of different scales and focus. The results are synthesised in the context of shoreline–shelf processes, including a critique and modification of the process-based classification scheme. The emphasis on tidal processes reflects their global importance throughout Earth’s history. Ancient palaeotidal models are able to highlight and quantify the following four controls on tidal processes: (1) the physiography (shape and depth) of oceans (1000s km scale) determines the degree of tidal resonance; (2) the physiography of ocean connections to partly enclosed water bodies (100–1000s km scale) determines the regional-scale flux of tidal energy (inflow versus outflow); (3) the physiography of continental shelves influences shelf tidal resonance potential; and (4) tides in relatively local-scale embayments (typically 1–10s km scale) are influenced by the balance of tidal amplification due to funnelling, shoaling and resonance effects versus frictional damping. In deep time, palaeogeographic and palaeobathymetric uncertainty can be accounted for in palaeotidal models by performing sensitivity analyses to different scenarios, across this range of spatial scales. These tidal process controls are incorporated into an updated predictive decision tree for determining shoreline–shelf process regime in terms of the relative interaction of wave, fluvial and tidal processes. The predictive decision tree considers the effects of basin physiography, shelf width and shoreline morphology on wave, fluvial and tidal processes separately. Uncertainty and ambiguity in applying the widely used three-tier process classification scheme are reduced by using the decision tree in conjunction with a proposed two-tier classification of process regime that is limited to primary and secondary processes. This two-tier classification scheme is illustrated in the three case studies, showing how integration of numerical modelling with facies analysis of the preserved stratigraphic record improves confidence in prediction of tide-influenced shoreline-shelf process regimes. Wider application of this approach will further improve process-based classifications and predictions of modern and ancient shoreline–shelf systems.
  • Formation binning: a new method for increased temporal resolution in regional studies, applied to the Late Cretaceous dinosaur fossil record of North America

    Dean, Christopher D; Chiarenza, A Alessandro; Maidment, Susannah (Wiley, 11/06/2020)
    The advent of palaeontological occurrence databases has allowed for detailed reconstruction and analyses of species richness through deep time. While a substantial literature has evolved ensuring that taxa are fairly counted within and between different time periods, how time itself is divided has received less attention. Stage-level or equal-interval age bins have frequently been used for regional and global studies in vertebrate palaeontology. However, when assessing diversity at a regional scale, these resolutions can prove inappropriate with the available data. Herein, we propose a new method of binning geological time for regional studies that intrinsically incorporates the chronostratigraphic heterogeneity of different rock formations to generate unique stratigraphic bins. We use this method to investigate the diversity dynamics of dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of the Western Interior of North America prior to the Cretaceous–Palaeogene mass extinction. Increased resolution through formation binning pinpoints the Maastrichtian diversity decline to between 68 and 66 Ma, coinciding with the retreat of the Western Interior Seaway. Diversity curves are shown to exhibit volatile patterns using different binning methods, supporting claims that heterogeneous biases in this time-frame affect the pre-extinction palaeobiological record. We also show that the apparent high endemicity of dinosaurs in the Campanian is a result of non-contemporaneous geological units within large time bins. This study helps to illustrate the utility of high-resolution, regional studies to supplement our understanding of factors governing global diversity in deep time and ultimately how geology is inherently tied to our understanding of past changes in species richness.
  • Re-evaluating the phylogenetic position of the enigmatic early Cambrian deuterostome Yanjiahella

    Zamora, Samuel; Wright, David F; Mooi, Rich; Lefebvre, Bertrand; Guensburg, Thomas E; Gorzelak, Przemysław; David, Bruno; Sumrall, Colin D; Cole, Selina R; Hunter, Aaron W; et al. (Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 09/03/2020)
  • The locomotion of extinct secondarily aquatic tetrapods

    Gutarra, Susana; Rahman, Imran (Wiley, 06/09/2021)
    The colonisation of freshwater and marine ecosystems by land vertebrates has repeatedly occurred in amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals over the course of 300 million years. Functional interpretations of the fossil record are crucial to understanding the forces shaping these evolutionary transitions. Secondarily aquatic tetrapods have acquired a suite of anatomical, physiological and behavioural adaptations to locomotion in water. However, much of this information is lost for extinct clades, with fossil evidence often restricted to osteological data and a few extraordinary specimens with soft tissue preservation. Traditionally, functional morphology in fossil secondarily aquatic tetrapods was investigated through comparative anatomy and correlation with living functional analogues. However, in the last two decades, biomechanics in palaeobiology has experienced a remarkable methodological shift. Anatomy-based approaches are increasingly rigorous, informed by quantitative techniques for analysing shape. Moreover, the incorporation of physics-based methods has enabled objective tests of functional hypotheses, revealing the importance of hydrodynamic forces as drivers of evolutionary innovation and adaptation. Here, we present an overview of the latest research on the locomotion of extinct secondarily aquatic tetrapods, with a focus on amniotes, highlighting the state-of-the-art experimental approaches used in this field. We discuss the suitability of these techniques for exploring different aspects of locomotory adaptation, analysing their advantages and limitations and laying out recommendations for their application, with the aim to inform future experimental strategies. Furthermore, we outline some unexplored research avenues that have been successfully deployed in other areas of palaeobiomechanical research, such as the use of dynamic models in feeding mechanics and terrestrial locomotion, thus providing a new methodological synthesis for the field of locomotory biomechanics in extinct secondarily aquatic vertebrates. Advances in imaging technology and three-dimensional modelling software, new developments in robotics, and increased availability and awareness of numerical methods like computational fluid dynamics make this an exciting time for analysing form and function in ancient vertebrates.
  • Exites in Cambrian arthropods and homology of arthropod limb branches

    Liu, Yu; Edgecombe, GD; Schmidt, Michel; Bond, Andrew D; Melzer, Roland R; Zhai, Dayou; Mai, Huijuan; Zhang, Maoyin; Hou, Xianguang (Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 01/04/2021)
    Abstract: The last common ancestor of all living arthropods had biramous postantennal appendages, with an endopodite and exopodite branching off the limb base. Morphological evidence for homology of these rami between crustaceans and chelicerates has, however, been challenged by data from clonal composition and from knockout of leg patterning genes. Cambrian arthropod fossils have been cited as providing support for competing hypotheses about biramy but have shed little light on additional lateral outgrowths, known as exites. Here we draw on microtomographic imaging of the Cambrian great-appendage arthropod Leanchoilia to reveal a previously undetected exite at the base of most appendages, composed of overlapping lamellae. A morphologically similar, and we infer homologous, exite is documented in the same position in members of the trilobite-allied Artiopoda. This early Cambrian exite morphology supplements an emerging picture from gene expression that exites may have a deeper origin in arthropod phylogeny than has been appreciated.
  • The alteration history of the CY chondrites, investigated through analysis of a new member: Dhofar 1988

    Suttle, Martin; Greshake, A; King, A; Schofield, PF; Tomkins, A; Russell, Sara (Elsevier BV, 2021-02)
    We provide the first detailed analysis of the carbonaceous chondrite Dhofar (Dho) 1988. This meteorite find was recovered in 2011 from the Zufar desert region of Oman and initially classified as a C2 ungrouped chondrite. Dho 1988 is a monomict breccia composed of millimetre-sized clasts, between which large (~50-250µm) intermixed sulphide-Ca-carbonate veins formed. It has high sulphide abundances (~14 vol%), medium-sized chondrules (avg. 530µm, N=33), relatively low chondrule/CAI abundances (<20 area%), a heavy bulk O-isotope composition (δ17O=9.12‰, δ18O=19.46‰) and an aqueously altered and then dehydrated alteration history. These characteristics are consistent with the newly defined Yamato-type (CY) carbonaceous chondrite group, suggesting this meteorite should be reclassified as a CY chondrite. Dho 1988 experienced advanced aqueous alteration (petrologic subtype 1.3 in the scheme of Howard et al., [2015]). Alteration style and extent are similar to the CM chondrite group, with the matrix having been replaced by tochilinite-cronstedtite intergrowths and chondrules progressively pseudomorphed by phyllosilicates, sulphides and in one instance Ca-carbonates. However, departures from CM-like alteration include the replacement of chondrule cores with Al-rich, Na-saponite and upon which Cr-spinel and Mg-ilmenite grains precipitated. These late-stage aqueous alteration features are common among the CY chondrites. Fractures in Dho 1988 that are infilled by phyllosilicates, sulphides and carbonates attest to post-brecciation aqueous alteration. However, whether aqueous alteration was also active prior to brecciation remains unclear. Veins are polymineralic with a layered structure, allowing their relative chronology to be reconstructed: intermixed phyllosilicate-sulphide growth transitioned to sulphide-carbonate deposition. We estimate temperatures during aqueous alteration to have been between 110ºC<T<160ºC, based on the co-formation of Na-saponite and tochilinite. Dho 1988 was later overprinted by thermal metamorphism. Peak temperatures are estimated between 700ºC and 770ºC, based on the thermal decomposition of phyllosilicates (both serpentine and saponite) combined with the survival of calcite. As temperatures rose during metamorphism the thermal decomposition of pyrrhotite produced troilite. Sulphur gas was liberated in this reaction and flowed through the chondrite reacting with magnetite (previously formed during aqueous alteration) to form a second generation of troilite grains. The presence of both troilite and Ni-rich metal in Dho 1988 (and other CY chondrites) demonstrate that conditions were constrained at the iron-troilite buffer.

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