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  • ~190 Mya Sphenodontian discovered in a drawer.

    From erik simpson@21:1/5 to All on Tue Mar 8 10:04:06 2022
    A remarkably complete fossil unearthed in 1982 has been recently rediscovered in a drawer in Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology. From the Kayenta formation (early Jurassic) it is an example of a basal Rhynchocephalian very similar in many
    ways to the one remaining member of its clade, Tautara. It qualifies as a "living fossil" (very conservative morphlogy).

    Abstract:

    "Sphenodontian reptiles are an extremely old evolutionary lineage forming the closest relatives to squamates (lizards and snakes) and were globally distributed and more diverse than squamates during the first half of their evolutionary history. However,
    the majority of their fossils are highly fragmentary, especially within sphenodontines—the group including its single surviving species, Sphenodon punctatus (the tuatara of New Zealand)—thus severely hampering our understanding on the origins of the
    tuatara. Here, we present a new sphenodontian species from the Early Jurassic of North America (Arizona, USA) represented by a nearly complete articulated skeleton and dozens of upper and lower jaws forming the most complete ontogenetic series in the
    sphenodontian fossil record. CT-scanning provides plentitude of data that unambiguously place this new taxon as one of the earliest evolving and oldest known sphenodontines. Comparisons with Sphenodon reveal that fundamental patterns of mandibular
    ontogeny and skeletal architecture in Sphenodon may have originated at least ~190Mya. In combination with recent findings, our results suggest strong morphological stability and an ancient origin of the modern tuatara morphotype."

    https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-022-03144-y

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Daud Deden@21:1/5 to erik simpson on Wed Mar 9 04:04:23 2022
    On Tuesday, March 8, 2022 at 1:04:08 PM UTC-5, erik simpson wrote:
    A remarkably complete fossil unearthed in 1982 has been recently rediscovered in a drawer in Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology. From the Kayenta formation (early Jurassic) it is an example of a basal Rhynchocephalian very similar in many
    ways to the one remaining member of its clade, Tautara. It qualifies as a "living fossil" (very conservative morphlogy).

    Abstract:

    "Sphenodontian reptiles are an extremely old evolutionary lineage forming the closest relatives to squamates (lizards and snakes) and were globally distributed and more diverse than squamates during the first half of their evolutionary history. However,
    the majority of their fossils are highly fragmentary, especially within sphenodontines—the group including its single surviving species, Sphenodon punctatus (the tuatara of New Zealand)—thus severely hampering our understanding on the origins of the
    tuatara. Here, we present a new sphenodontian species from the Early Jurassic of North America (Arizona, USA) represented by a nearly complete articulated skeleton and dozens of upper and lower jaws forming the most complete ontogenetic series in the
    sphenodontian fossil record. CT-scanning provides plentitude of data that unambiguously place this new taxon as one of the earliest evolving and oldest known sphenodontines. Comparisons with Sphenodon reveal that fundamental patterns of mandibular
    ontogeny and skeletal architecture in Sphenodon may have originated at least ~190Mya. In combination with recent findings, our results suggest strong morphological stability and an ancient origin of the modern tuatara morphotype."

    https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-022-03144-y

    A drawer is a good habitat for cockroaches but not for sphenodontians, I guess.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From erik simpson@21:1/5 to daud....@gmail.com on Wed Mar 9 08:55:50 2022
    On Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at 4:04:25 AM UTC-8, daud....@gmail.com wrote:
    On Tuesday, March 8, 2022 at 1:04:08 PM UTC-5, erik simpson wrote:
    A remarkably complete fossil unearthed in 1982 has been recently rediscovered in a drawer in Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology. From the Kayenta formation (early Jurassic) it is an example of a basal Rhynchocephalian very similar in
    many ways to the one remaining member of its clade, Tautara. It qualifies as a "living fossil" (very conservative morphlogy).

    Abstract:

    "Sphenodontian reptiles are an extremely old evolutionary lineage forming the closest relatives to squamates (lizards and snakes) and were globally distributed and more diverse than squamates during the first half of their evolutionary history.
    However, the majority of their fossils are highly fragmentary, especially within sphenodontines—the group including its single surviving species, Sphenodon punctatus (the tuatara of New Zealand)—thus severely hampering our understanding on the
    origins of the tuatara. Here, we present a new sphenodontian species from the Early Jurassic of North America (Arizona, USA) represented by a nearly complete articulated skeleton and dozens of upper and lower jaws forming the most complete ontogenetic
    series in the sphenodontian fossil record. CT-scanning provides plentitude of data that unambiguously place this new taxon as one of the earliest evolving and oldest known sphenodontines. Comparisons with Sphenodon reveal that fundamental patterns of
    mandibular ontogeny and skeletal architecture in Sphenodon may have originated at least ~190Mya. In combination with recent findings, our results suggest strong morphological stability and an ancient origin of the modern tuatara morphotype."

    https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-022-03144-y
    A drawer is a good habitat for cockroaches but not for sphenodontians, I guess.

    Not for a live one. I suspect there are a lot of interesting fossils in drawers that have never
    been thoroughly examined.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Daud Deden@21:1/5 to erik simpson on Wed Mar 9 16:37:09 2022
    On Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at 11:55:51 AM UTC-5, erik simpson wrote:
    On Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at 4:04:25 AM UTC-8, daud....@gmail.com wrote:
    On Tuesday, March 8, 2022 at 1:04:08 PM UTC-5, erik simpson wrote:
    A remarkably complete fossil unearthed in 1982 has been recently rediscovered in a drawer in Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology. From the Kayenta formation (early Jurassic) it is an example of a basal Rhynchocephalian very similar in
    many ways to the one remaining member of its clade, Tautara. It qualifies as a "living fossil" (very conservative morphlogy).

    Abstract:

    "Sphenodontian reptiles are an extremely old evolutionary lineage forming the closest relatives to squamates (lizards and snakes) and were globally distributed and more diverse than squamates during the first half of their evolutionary history.
    However, the majority of their fossils are highly fragmentary, especially within sphenodontines—the group including its single surviving species, Sphenodon punctatus (the tuatara of New Zealand)—thus severely hampering our understanding on the
    origins of the tuatara. Here, we present a new sphenodontian species from the Early Jurassic of North America (Arizona, USA) represented by a nearly complete articulated skeleton and dozens of upper and lower jaws forming the most complete ontogenetic
    series in the sphenodontian fossil record. CT-scanning provides plentitude of data that unambiguously place this new taxon as one of the earliest evolving and oldest known sphenodontines. Comparisons with Sphenodon reveal that fundamental patterns of
    mandibular ontogeny and skeletal architecture in Sphenodon may have originated at least ~190Mya. In combination with recent findings, our results suggest strong morphological stability and an ancient origin of the modern tuatara morphotype."

    https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-022-03144-y
    A drawer is a good habitat for cockroaches but not for sphenodontians, I guess.
    Not for a live one. I suspect there are a lot of interesting fossils in drawers that have never
    been thoroughly examined.
    I checked mine, no tuataras, but I did find a gecko in a pocket of my gym shorts once, and this morning I tripped over a huge bloated bullfrog that was so still it looked fossilized.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)