Carlos Martínez-Pérez

Bio: Carlos Martínez-Pérez is an academic researcher from University of Valencia. The author has contributed to research in topics: Conodont & Devonian. The author has an hindex of 14, co-authored 61 publications receiving 596 citations. Previous affiliations of Carlos Martínez-Pérez include University of Bristol.

Open data and digital morphology

Abstract: Over the past two decades, the development of methods for visualizing and analysing specimens digitally, in three and even four dimensions, has transformed the study of living and fossil organisms. However, the initial promise that the widespread application of such methods would facilitate access to the underlying digital data has not been fully achieved. The underlying datasets for many published studies are not readily or freely available, introducing a barrier to verification and reproducibility, and the reuse of data. There is no current agreement or policy on the amount and type of data that should be made available alongside studies that use, and in some cases are wholly reliant on, digital morphology. Here, we propose a set of recommendations for minimum standards and additional best practice for three-dimensional digital data publication, and review the issues around data storage, management and accessibility.

New Lower Devonian Polygnathids (Conodonta) from the Spanish Central Pyrenees, with comments on the early radiation of the group

Abstract: The comprehensive study of six Pragian-lower Emsian (Lower Devonian) sections from the Spanish Central Pyrenees has yielded a rich assemblage of conodont faunas, highlighting an important succession of Polygnathus species. Among them, the presence of the biostrati­graphical markers P. pireneae , P. kitabicus, P. excavatus excavatus and P. exc. 114 stands out. This conodont succession allows the identification of the Pragian/Emsian boundary and the early Emsian zones and subzones: the kitabicus Zone and the Lower and Middle excavatus subzones. It is also remarkable the presence of three new polygnathid species: P. aragonensis n. sp., P. carlsi n. sp. and P. ramoni n. sp. Additionally, P. pannonicus and P. sokolovi are also reported for first time in the Iberian Peninsula. According to all these records, the abundance and diversity of these species suggest that during this time interval an evolutionary radiation of the group took place, identifying two pulses during the early radiation of the group. The first one during the pireneae-kitabicus Zone, and a second one during the Lower excavatus Zone. The new data presented herein increase considerably the known paleobiodiversity of the genus dur­ing the Pragian-early Emsian interval in the Spanish Central Pyrenees and corroborates the presences of the most important early Emsian conodont markers used in other regions such us Europe, North Africa, Central Asia, Australia, and North America. ozonas Dc, E y F asociados al evento de enfriamiento global del Mioceno medio.

Tooth replacement rates in early chondrichthyans: a qualitative approach

Abstract: The continuous replacement of teeth throughout their lifetime is a common characteristic of most chondrichthyans. This process was already present in the earliest representatives of the group. It has been well established that different species of extant sharks show rapid tooth replacement rates; however, some authors have suggested that in early chondrichthyans this rate might have been much slower. Here we present a qualitative approach to analyse tooth replacement rates in the Early Devonian shark Leonodus carlsi, the earliest tooth-bearing shark known to date. For this, we have examined 1,103 isolated teeth from Celtiberia, Spain. Our study provides strong evidences of an extremely slow dental replacement in this primitive chondrichthyan based on three independents analyses: (1) statistical analysis of the wear degree, demonstrating that teeth remain functional for a long period of time; (2) analysis of both the histological and the morphological features of the teeth cusps suggests that this chondrichthyan used a maturation process that optimizes its function, thus worn teeth show an efficient working shape that implies their teeth remained functional for a long time after being modelled by use; and (3) estimations of size increments between teeth (Δs) of the same dental family for some recent sharks whose rates of replacement were known prove that Δs is inversely proportional to the rate of replacement (R2 = 0.8327). The estimated values of tooth replacement rates obtained from Δs for L. carlsi and for some Late Devonian cladoselachian sharks are significatively slower than those observed in current sharks.

Enameloid microstructure in the oldest known chondrichthyan teeth

Abstract: Botella, H., Donoghue, P.C.J and Martinez-Perez, C. 2009. The enameloid microstructure of the oldest known chondrichthyan teeth. — Acta Zoologica (Stockholm) 90 (Suppl. 1): 103‐108 Previous studies on tooth enameloid microstructure in several chondrichthyan taxa spanning the phylogeny of the group provided support for the homology of chondrichthyan tooth enameloid. This hypothesis requires that a single crystallite enameloid (SCE) monolayer must be present in the teeth of the most primitive chondrichthyan. However, the dental microstructure of the earliest sharks has yet to be investigated. We have studied the tooth enameloid microstructure of the two oldest tooth-bearing shark species currently known, Leonodus carlsi Mader (1986) and Celtiberina maderi Wang (1993), from the lowermost Lochkovian (Lower Devonian) of Spain. Our study demonstrates the presence of a SCE monolayer in the teeth of both species. These results show that a superficial cap of SCE is present in the oldest shark teeth known, which suggest its presence in the most basal chondrichthyans.

Finite element, occlusal, microwear and microstructural analyses indicate that conodont microstructure is adapted to dental function

Abstract: Conodonts constitute the earliest evidence of skeletal biomineralization in the vertebrate evolutionary line- age, manifest as a feeding apparatus of tooth-like elements comprised of enamel- and dentine-like tissues that evolved in parallel with these canonical tissues in other total-group gnathostomes. As such, this remarkable example of evolu- tionary parallelism affords a natural experiment in which to explore the constraints on vertebrate skeletal evolution. Using finite element analysis, informed by occlusal and microwear analyses, we tested the hypothesis that coincidence of complex dental function and microstructural differentia- tion in the enamel-like tissues of conodonts and other verte- brates is a consequence of functional adaptation. Our results show topological co-variation in the patterns of stress distri- bution and crystallite orientation. In regions of high stress, such as the apex of the basal cavity and inner parts of the platform, the crown tissue comprises interwoven prisms, dis- continuities between which would have acted to decussate cracks, preventing propagation. These results inform a gen- eral occlusal model for platform conodont elements and demonstrate that the complex microstructure of conodont crown tissue is an adaptation to the dental functions that the elements performed.

Le Règne animal distribué d'après son organisation, pour servir de base à l'histoire naturelle des animaux et d'introduction à l'anatomie comparée. Les arachnides. Atlas

Abstract: Edition accompagnee de planches gravees, representant les types de tous les genres, les caracteres distinctifs des divers groupes et les modifications de structure sur lesquelles repose cette classification

Cambrian Small Bilaterian Fossils from 40 to 55 Million Years Before the Cambrian

Abstract: Ten phosphatized specimens of a small (<180 micrometers) animal displaying clear bilaterian features have been recovered from the Doushantuo Formation, China, dating from 40 to 55 million years before the Cambrian. Seen in sections, this animal (Vernanimalcula guizhouena gen. et sp. nov.) had paired coeloms extending the length of the gut; paired external pits that could be sense organs; bilateral, anterior-posterior organization; a ventrally directed anterior mouth with thick walled pharynx; and a triploblastic structure. The structural complexity is that of an adult rather than a larval form. These fossils provide the first evidence confirming the phylogenetic inference that Bilateria arose well before the Cambrian.