[1] Existing paleogeographic reconstructions indicate that the northern Antarctic Peninsula was central to several Mesozoic and Cenozoic tectonic events that have implications for ocean circulation and continental margin evolution. To evaluate the exhumational record of these processes, we collected new samples and measured fission track and (U‐Th)/He cooling ages of apatite and zircon from 13 ...

this paper presents evidence on mesozoic inversion of basin bounding faults within the taleqan-gajereh-lar paleograben (tglp) in central alborz range. for this purpose, well documented stratigraphy data across the tglp together with the new acquired structural data on the geometry and kinematics of the paleograben basin bounding faults are utilized. the tglp has evolved through the early and mi...

The extinction of non-avian dinosaurs 65 million years ago is a perpetual topic of fascination, and lasting debate has focused on whether dinosaur biodiversity was in decline before end-Cretaceous volcanism and bolide impact. Here we calculate the morphological disparity (anatomical variability) exhibited by seven major dinosaur subgroups during the latest Cretaceous, at both global and regiona...

An inferred burial and exhumation history of Pennsylvanian strata in the central Appalachian foreland basin is constrained by integrating palaeothermometers, geochronometers and estimated palaeogeothermal gradients.Vitrinite re£ectance data and £uid inclusion homogenization temperatures indicate that burial ofLower andUpperPennsylvanian strata of theAppalachianPlateau inWest Virginia exceeded 4...

SYNOPSIS Recent discoveries and analyses have drawn increased attention to Ceratosauria, a taxonomically and morphologically diverse group of basal theropods. By the time of its first appearance in the Late Jurassic, the group was probably globally distributed. This pattern eventually gave way to a primarily Gondwanan distribution by the Late Cretaceous. Ceratosaurs are one of several focal gro...

In a perspectives article, Bromham et al.1 raise some important concerns about the use of both molecular and paleontological data in assessing the timing of diversification of extant mammalian orders. In Box 1, they describe well the need to differentiate crown (or more generally, nodebased) taxa from stem-based taxa. Unfortunately, their Fig. 2 is not clearly explained and thus confuses these ...

S. ANANTHARAMAN, G. P. WILSON, D. C. DAS SARMA, W. A. CLEMENS, Palaeontology Division, Geological Survey of India, Hyderabad, 500-068 India, [email protected]; Corresponding author, Department of Earth Sciences, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard., Denver, Colorado 80205-5798 U.S.A., [email protected]; Museum of Paleontology and Department of Integrative Biology, ...

A worker ant preserved with microscopic detail has been discovered in Turonian-aged New Jersey amber [ca. 92 mega-annum (Ma)]. The apex of the gaster has an acidopore and, thus, allows definitive assignment of the fossil to the large extant subfamily Formicinae, members of which use a defensive spray of formic acid. This specimen is the only Cretaceous record of the subfamily, and only two othe...

Australian dinosaurs have played a rare but controversial role in the debate surrounding the effect of Gondwanan break-up on Cretaceous dinosaur distribution. Major spatiotemporal gaps in the Gondwanan Cretaceous fossil record, coupled with taxon incompleteness, have hindered research on this effect, especially in Australia. Here we report on two new sauropod specimens from the early Late Creta...

During the Middle and Late Jurassic, pliosaurid plesiosaurs evolved gigantic body size and a series of craniodental adaptations that have been linked to the occupation of an apex predator niche. Cretaceous pliosaurids (i.e. Brachaucheninae) depart from this morphology, being slightly smaller and lacking the macrophagous adaptations seen in earlier forms. However, the fossil record of Early Cret...