Bones of recent mammals in the Amboseli Basin, southern Kenya, exhibit distinctive weathering characteristics that can be related to the time since death and to the local conditions of temperature, humidity and soil chemistry. A categorization of weathering characteristics into six stages, recognizable on descriptive criteria, provides a basis for investigation of weathering rates and processes. The time necessary to achieve each successive weathering stage has been calibrated using known-age carcasses. Most bones decompose beyond recognition in 10 to 15 yr. Bones of animals under 100 kg and juveniles appear to weather more rapidly than bones of large animals or adults. Small-scale rather than widespread environmental factors seem to have greatest influence on weathering characteristics and rates. Bone weathering is potentially valuable as evidence for the period of time represented in recent or fossil bone assemblages, in- cluding those on archeological sites, and may also be an important tool in censusing populations of animals in modern ecosystems.

Taphonomic and Ecologic Information Form Bone Weathering

IN no domain of zoological science have the con tributions of American naturalists been more splendid than in that of vertebrate palaeontology, and in the list of pioneer workers in this domain an honoured place will always be accorded to Samuel Wendell Williston, who, born and nurtured in obscurity, had by the time of his death in 1918 won his way to recogni tion as the chief authority upon the extinct amphibians and reptiles. Apart from his specialist papers upon fossil vertebrates and upon modern dipterous flies, Williston was well known to the general zoologist for his excellent book on “Water Reptiles of the Past and Present,” published in 1914, and during the last year of his life he was busily engaged in the preparation of a second work of a general character on “The Reptiles of the World, Recent and Fossil.” The volume now under review comprises the main part of this general work, so far as it had been completed at the time of the author's death, put into shape and edited at the competent hands of Prof. W. K. Gregory. The Osteology of the Reptiles. By Prof. Samuel Wendell Williston. Arranged and edited by Prof. William King Gregory. Pp. xiii + 300. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: Oxford University Press, 1925.) 18s. 6d. net.

The Osteology of the Reptiles

Handbook of Avian Anatomy: Nomina Anatomica Avium

Endothermy has evolved at least twice, in the precursors to modern mammals and birds. The most widely accepted explanation for the evolution of endothermy has been selection for enhanced aerobic capacity. We review this hypothesis in the light of advances in our understanding of ATP generation by mitochondria and muscle performance. Together with the development of isotope-based techniques for the measurement of metabolic rate in free-ranging vertebrates these have confirmed the importance of aerobic scope in the evolution of endothermy: absolute aerobic scope, ATP generation by mitochondria and muscle power output are all strongly temperature-dependent, indicating that there would have been significant improvement in whole-organism locomotor ability with a warmer body. New data on mitochondrial ATP generation and proton leak suggest that the thermal physiology of mitochondria may differ between organisms of contrasting ecology and thermal flexibility. Together with recent biophysical modelling, this strengthens the long-held view that endothermy originated in smaller, active eurythermal ectotherms living in a cool but variable thermal environment. We propose that rather than being a secondary consequence of the evolution of an enhanced aerobic scope, a warmer body was the means by which that enhanced aerobic scope was achieved. This modified hypothesis requires that the rise in metabolic rate and the insulation necessary to retain metabolic heat arose early in the lineages leading to birds and mammals. Large dinosaurs were warm, but were not endotherms, and the metabolic status of pterosaurs remains unresolved.

Temperature, metabolic power and the evolution of endothermy.

A Field Guide to the Reptiles of East Africa

A Mummified Duck-Billed Dinosaur with a Soft-Tissue Cock’s Comb

The nasal region plays a key role in sensory, thermal, and respiratory physiology, but exploring its evolution is hampered by a lack of preservation of soft-tissue structures in extinct vertebrates As a test case, we investigated members of the "bony-headed" ornithischian dinosaur clade Pachycephalosauridae (particularly Stegoceras validum) because of their small body size (which mitigated allometric concerns) and their tendency to preserve nasal soft tissues within their hypermineralized skulls Hypermineralization directly preserved portions of the olfactory turbinates along with an internal nasal ridge that we regard as potentially an osteological correlate for respiratory conchae Fossil specimens were CT-scanned, and nasal cavities were segmented and restored Soft-tissue reconstruction of the nasal capsule was functionally tested in a virtual environment using computational fluid dynamics by running air through multiple models differing in nasal soft-tissue conformation: a bony-bounded model (ie, skull without soft tissue) and then models with soft tissues added, such as a paranasal septum, a scrolled concha, a branched concha, and a model combining the paranasal septum with a concha Deviations in fluid flow in comparison to a phylogenetically constrained sample of extant diapsids were used as indicators of missing soft tissue Models that restored aspects of airflow found in extant diapsids, such as appreciable airflow in the olfactory chamber, were judged as more likely The model with a branched concha produced airflow patterns closest to those of extant diapsids These results from both paleontological observation and airflow modeling indicate that S validum and other pachycephalosaurids could have had both olfactory and respiratory conchae Although respiratory conchae have been linked to endothermy, such conclusions require caution in that our re-evaluation of the reptilian nasal apparatus indicates that respiratory conchae may be more widespread than originally thought, and other functions, such as selective brain temperature regulation, could be important

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ar.23046

Breathing Life Into Dinosaurs: Tackling Challenges of Soft‐Tissue Restoration and Nasal Airflow in Extinct Species

Cretaceous polar dinosaur faunas were taxonomically diverse, which suggests varied strategies for coping with the climatic stress of high latitudes. Some polar dinosaurs, particularly larger taxa such as the duckbill Edmontosaurus Lambe, 1917, were biomechanically and energetically capable of migrating over long distances, up to 2600 km. However, current evidence strongly suggests many polar dinosaurs (including sauropods, large and small theropods, and ankylosaurs of New Zealand) overwintered in preference to migration. Certain groups also appear more predisposed to overwintering based on their physical inability (related to biomechanics, natural history, or absolute size) to migrate, such as ankylosaurs and many small taxa, including hypsilophodontids and troodontids. Low-nutrient subsistence is found to be the best overwintering method overall, although the likelihood that other taxa employed alternative means remains plausible. Despite wide distribution of some genera, species-level identification is ...

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03115510802096101

Polar dinosaurs on parade: a review of dinosaur migration

Hadrosaurid and ceratopsid dentaries display traits that suggest divergent functions toward broadly similar diets of fibrous plants. Computed tomographic scans of dentaries of a lambeosaurine and a centrosaurine (Centrosaurus aptertus) were used to compare feeding function of these animals using finite element analysis (FEA). In the hadrosaur, mediolateral expansion of the dentary and elongation of the coronoid process of the surangular were optimally developed to withstand torsion associated with transverse-isognathous jaw occlusion. FEA results strongly suggest longitudinal rotation of the hadrosaurid mandible. Mediolaterally compressed mandibles and FEA stress for the ceratopsid are in compliance with purely isognathous jaw adduction, although palinal retraction during the powerstroke cannot be ruled out. The ceratopsid dentary is further reinforced by a longitudinal ridge on the lateral surface of that element. Surface texture indicating Sharpey's fibers within the ceratopsid coronoid process suggests greater bite force than in lambeosaurines. These findings corroborate previous interpretations and suggest complementary or alternative kinematics to maxillary pleurokinesis in hadrosaurs.

A comparison of the jaw mechanics in hadrosaurid and ceratopsid dinosaurs using finite element analysis.

The characterization of palaeospecies typically relies on hard-tissue anatomy, such as bones or teeth that is more readily fossilized than soft parts. Among dinosaurs, skin impressions are commonly associated with partial and complete hadrosaurid skeletons, and consist of non-imbricating tubercles or scales. Skin impressions from various parts of the body of two species of the hadrosaurine Saurolophus (S. angustirostris from Mongolia and S. osborni from Canada) are described from multiple specimens. These species, recently validated on osteological grounds, can be differentiated based solely on soft-tissue anatomy, namely scale shape and pattern. This study demonstrates for the first time the applicability of soft-tissue (i.e., scale impressions) as a means to differentiate species within the Dinosauria. Differences are most spectacular in the tail, where S. angustirostris is differentiated by the presence of vertical bands of morphologically distinct scales, a grid-like arrangement of circular feature-scales, and tabular scales along the dorsal midline. Preliminary results indicate scale architecture remained consistent throughout ontogeny in S. angustirostris. These results support previous assertions that hadrosaurid scale architecture has a positive phylogenetic signal. As such, future taxonomic descriptions should include, where possible, the standardized description of skin impressions including the position and orientation of these impressions on the body.

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0031295&type=printable

Phil R. Bell

Papers

A Mummified Duck-Billed Dinosaur with a Soft-Tissue Cock’s Comb

Breathing Life Into Dinosaurs: Tackling Challenges of Soft‐Tissue Restoration and Nasal Airflow in Extinct Species

Polar dinosaurs on parade: a review of dinosaur migration

A comparison of the jaw mechanics in hadrosaurid and ceratopsid dinosaurs using finite element analysis.

Standardized Terminology and Potential Taxonomic Utility for Hadrosaurid Skin Impressions: A Case Study for Saurolophus from Canada and Mongolia