Lacustrine sediments of the Lower Cretaceous (lower Aptian) Xiagou Formation exposed near the village of Changma in the Changma Basin of northwestern Gansu Province, China have yielded more than 100 avian partial skeletons, many of which also preserve remnants of soft tissues such as feathers and skin. Collectively, these fossils characterize a rich avifauna dominated by the crownward ornithuromorph Gansus yumenensis Hou and Liu, 1984. Despite this wealth of Early Cretaceous bird material, no skeletal remains of other dinosaurs have been described from Changma to date. Here we report the first non-avian dinosaur body fossil from the Xiagou Formation of the Changma Basin. Consisting of an articulated left pectoral girdle and forelimb lacking the carpus and manus, the specimen pertains to a new dromaeosaurid theropod taxon, Jian changmaensis, gen. et sp. nov. Phylogenetic analysis recovers Jian within Microraptorinae, expanding the definitive fossil record of this clade to include northwestern China. The new Changma microraptorine constitutes an additional similarity between the theropod faunas of the Xiagou Formation of the Changma Basin and penecontemporaneous strata of the Jehol Group of northeastern China. In particular, the Changma theropod assemblage closely resembles that of the Sihedang locality of the Jehol Group in that both include representatives of Microraptorinae and are overwhelmingly dominated by single ornithuromorph taxa that phylogenetic analyses have repeatedly resolved as close relatives. This raises the possibility that the two sites were deposited under comparable paleoenvironmental settings that are otherwise poorly represented at known Jehol localities.
Since the Brussels World Fair in 1897, the fossil specimens collected by the Belgian Baron Ernest de Bayet have amazed the world with their depth and breadth of quality and diversity. Paleozoic and Mesozoic exhibitions at Carnegie Museum of Natural History have depended on the Bayet fossil collection to demonstrate the enormous diversity of extinct life from these time periods. Ernest de Bayet assembled his collection at a time when museums in Europe and North America were growing or being established. Considered one of the world's greatest private fossil collections when it arrived in Pittsburgh in 1903, its history of exhibition has remained largely undocumented to date. The first Carnegie Museum exhibitions to showcase Paleozoic and Mesozoic specimens from the Bayet Collection were Vertebrate Paleontology Hall and Invertebrate Paleontology Hall, both of which opened in 1907. The second exhibition to include Bayet Collection specimens was Paleozoic Hall, which opened in 1965. In 1967, Vertebrate Paleontology Hall was renamed Dinosaur Hall. A restructuring in 2007 known as Dinosaurs in Their Time, saw a new effort to exhibit a greater selection of Mesozoic Era Bayet Collection invertebrates. In contrast, Cenozoic-aged Bayet invertebrates, vertebrates, and plants were not exhibited at Carnegie Museum of Natural History until the opening of the temporary exhibition The Stories We Keep: Bringing the World to Pittsburgh in November 2025. Bayet fossils have long complemented the museum's famed dinosaurs, the latter including the holotypes of Diplodocus carnegii, Apatosaurus louisae, and Tyrannosaurus rex. Today, more than 80 Bayet fossils are on display in the Kamin Hall of Dinosaurs (formally, the Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin Hall of Dinosaurs). The scientific value and beauty of these fossils is illustrated and supplemented herein with photos, geologic, and paleoenvironmental contexts, and an account of their exhibition history. Furthermore, new details about the Bayet Collection have been revealed due to an intensive effort to reevaluate the collection initiated by the Invertebrate Paleontology staff within the museum's Section of Paleobiology
The Tinhosa Grande Islet, located southwest of Príncipe Island (São Tomé and Príncipe, Gulf of Guinea), is a globally important seabird breeding site and hosts a simple terrestrial community dominated by two species of reptiles – the Adamastor skink, Trachylepis adamastor Ceríaco, 2015, and the Príncipe giant gecko, Hemidactylus principensis Miller Sellas and Drewes, 2012, as well as a still poorly characterized arthropod fauna. The Adamastor skink is known to be a generalist feeder, yet the taxonomic identity of several prey items is still not well known. Dermapteran remains recovered from the stomach contents of a T. adamastor specimen collected in 1970 were morphologically examined, including male genitalia. The specimens were identified as Labidura confusa Capra, 1929, representing the first record of this species for Tinhosa Grande Islet and for São Tomé and Príncipe. This finding extends the known distribution of L. confusa and highlights the importance of genital morphology for species delimitation within the Labidura riparia complex. It also underscores major knowledge gaps in the dermapteran fauna of the Gulf of Guinea islands and the need for targeted taxonomic surveys.
The composition of the sidewall of the braincase differs in extant adult mammals. Monotremes have a large exposure of the petrosal bone; in contrast, therians (marsupials and placentals) have no petrosal exposure and their sidewall is completed by large contributions from the alisphenoid, squamosal, and parietal. The monotreme pattern also occurs in many Mesozoic groups including stem therians and stem mammals. The lamina obturans is an embryological structure forming in the sidewall that has become the centerpiece of different hypotheses concerning the evolution of the braincase in mammals. The term was originally coined for intramembranous bone forming rostral to the otic capsule in monotremes that secondarily fuses to the petrosal to form its contribution to the adult sidewall, the anterior lamina. Three different views have been proposed regarding the homologies of the lamina obturans. Some authors view the lamina obturans as a monotreme autapomorphy. Others view intramembranous bone contributing to the large alisphenoid in therians as a lamina obturans and homologous with the monotreme structure. A third school suggests that fossils with a large petrosal contribution to the sidewall also had a lamina obturans during their development that eventually fused to the petrosal. These three views result in different and incompatible usages of the term lamina obturans. After reviewing the current paleontological and ontogenetic evidence, we support the lamina obturans as a primitive feature retained solely in monotremes among extant mammals and as likely present during the development of those fossils with an anterior lamina continuous with the petrosal proper. An overlooked issue is that the therian alisphenoid does not always include a separate intramembranous component but forms from ectochondral bone as does the alisphenoid in monotremes, a condition likely inherited from non-mammalian cynodonts.
An undescribed species of flea was noted in a previously published paper; however, the alleged new taxon has never been described. A large series of these noted specimens collected from Bagmati and Gandaki provinces, Nepal was located in the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL and two specimens from the same series were found in the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, PA. These specimens were previously labeled as "Ctenophyllus (Geusibia) n. sp.," which represented a new species of the genus Geusibia Jordan, 1932. This new species, Geusibia pletcheri, is described herein. Pikas (Ochotona) are the primary hosts of Geusibia spp. A total of 156 specimens (38 male, 118?) of the new species were examined from five host species: (Ochotona roylii Ogilby, 1839 (n=57 hosts) (35 male, 99? fleas), Mustela sp. (n=2) (2 male, 16?), Mus sp. (n=2) (1 male, 1?), Rattus pyctoris (Hodgson, 1845) (n=1) (1?), and "Microtus (Neodon)" sp. (n=1) (1?). Elevations were provided for only ten collection sites that ranged from 3430-4573 m. This new species brings the total number of valid species (including subspecies) of Geusibia to 18.
Shrews and moles have a unique arrangement of the bones forming the sidewall of the braincase resulting from the anterior and dorsal shift of their jaw joint. Most eutherians, including hedgehogs and solenodons, have a broad squamosal that completely covers the petrosal and contributes to the nuchal crest. In contrast, in shrews and moles, the squamosal is shifted anteriorly away from the nuchal crest and its posterior border abuts and does not overlap the petrosal; the petrosal develops a neomorphic structure, the anterior flange, that helps close the braincase wall between the squamosal, parietal, and occiput. The anterior flange has a cartilaginous precursor in the chondrocranium, the processus opercularis of the pars canalicularis of the auditory capsule. If shrews and moles are sister taxa as in phylogenetic analyses including DNA, morphology, and temporal data, then the anterior flange represents a synapomorphy. However, shrews are more closely related to hedgehogs in DNA only analyses, in which the anterior flange is convergently acquired in shrews and moles or is lost in solenodons and hedgehogs. The only other extant mammals with a large exposure of petrosal in the braincase sidewall are monotremes. This structure, the anterior lamina of the petrosal, forms from an independent intramembranous ossification, the lamina obturans, that fuses secondarily to the petrosal. An anterior lamina of the petrosal is widely present in extinct non-therian mammaliaforms and is thought to form in a similar fashion to the monotreme element. The change from a braincase sidewall with a broad petrosal exposure to one with the squamosal fully covering the petrosal was well established in eutherians by the Late Cretaceous and is the prevalent pattern in placentals. Although the anterior flange of the petrosal of shrews and moles bears superficial resemblance to the anterior lamina of the petrosal of monotremes, these are not homologs but the result of different evolutionary trajectories.
Serpentine girdled lizards of the genus Chamaesaura Schneider, 1801 (Squamata: Cordylidae) consist of six currently recognized taxa: five species, one with two subspecies. Within the genus, species are diagnosed by the presence or absence of forelimbs, number of digits, and scutellation. Populations occurring in the Central Plateau of Angola have long been considered Chamaesaura miopropus (Boulenger, 1895). Through the revision of historical material from the collections of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the American Museum of Natural History, we found that the Angolan population differs from C. miopropus in limb and cranial morphology. Considering these morphological differences, geographic isolation, and high rates of local endemism in the Angola plateau, we herein describe a new species from Angola, Chamaesaura nombo.
Namibe Province in southwestern Angola is a recognized hotspot of reptile diversity and endemism associated with the Namib Desert and Angolan Escarpment. In recent years, extensive surveys have greatly improved our knowledge of the region's herpetofauna, leading to new species descriptions and distribution records. Here we provide an updated checklist and atlas of reptiles from Namibe Province, integrating data from recent surveys with a comprehensive literature review. We document 141 reptile taxa from 55 genera and 23 families, including 18 species endemic to Namibe Province. Taxonomic accounts are provided for all recorded species, including distribution maps and revised chresonomies. Recent advances in herpetological research are discussed, as well as biogeographic patterns and emerging conservation concerns.
The diet, gonadal cycles, and clutch characteristics of an Allegheny population of the red-spotted newt, Notophthalmus viridescens viridescens (Rafinesque, 1820), were studied from a wetland matrix in southwestern Pennsylvania. Mean adult body size was similar between males and females, and collectively, adults ate 14 categories of prey with Daphnia, mosquito larvae, and amphibian eggs figuring most prominently. Dietary overlap was high between the sexes with respect to frequency of prey in the diet (r = 0.91, P < 0.000) and frequency of stomachs common to prey types (r = 0.87, P < 0.000). Only variance differed in prey size (F = 2.3881, P = 0.003) and number (F = 0.1189, P < 0.000) between the sexes, and no significant relationships existed between these variables and body size of either sex. Monthly incidence of testis size and presence of secondary sexual characteristics indicated that males were in breeding condition throughout much of the year. Oviposition was inferred to have taken place from at least March through June from condition of the ovaries and oviducts. Clutch sizes ranged 126-186 eggs (mean = 151.3 eggs) and mean ovum diameter was 1.44 mm. No significant relationships were evident among female body size, clutch size, and egg size. Our results show a strong overlap in diet between the sexes. Importance of amphibian eggs, a protein-rich resource, was greater in the diet of females, the inclusion of which coincided primarily with much of their egg-laying season. Our study revealed meaningful differences in seasonal variation and in the overlapping diet between the sexes, and a reproductive phenology and clutch characteristics, little studied in Pennsylvania, that typified those of this species found elsewhere in the mid-Atlantic and northeast.
The Titanoides locality in the Bison Basin, Fremont County, south-central Wyoming is an understudied site of late Paleocene age, corresponding to the Tiffanian North American Land Mammal 'age' (NALMA). Since its discovery, a moderately diverse mammalian fauna has been reported from the Titanoides locality, which is the type locality for the erinaceid Litocherus lacunatus (Gazin, 1956) and the apheliscid Utemylus serior (Gazin, 1956). Plesiadapids have traditionally played an important role in biostratigraphic correlation of terrestrial Paleocene strata in western North America and western Europe, and the presence of Plesiadapis fodinatus Jepsen, 1930, at the Titanoides locality has been cited as evidence for its late Tiffanian (Ti-5) age. However, index taxa for Ti-5, including the allochthonous mammalian clades Dinocerata ( (Probathyopsis Simpson, 1929) and Arctostylopidae ( (Arctostylops Matthew, 1915), have never been reported from the Titanoides locality. Iterative fieldwork over the past two decades has significantly expanded our knowledge of the mammalian fauna from the Titanoides locality, resulting in a revised faunal list that now includes 18 taxa, ten of which were previously unknown from the site. Based on a much larger sample than was previously available, the plesiadapid occurring at the Titanoides locality is reidentified as Plesiadapis churchilli Gingerich, 1975, rather than P. fodinatus, supporting correlation with Ti-4 rather than Ti-5. Additional taxa characteristic of Ti-4, including the arctocyonid Aphanocyon Secord, 2008, and the paromomyid Ignacius frugivorus Matthew and Granger, 1921, are also documented at the locality. The presence of Ignacius frugivorus and the absence of ofPhenacolemur archus Secord, 2008, suggest that the Titanoides locality correlates with the Ti-4a biozone in the Bighorn Basin. These results highlight the utility of relying on the first appearances of allochthonous clades as opposed to members of endemic lineages in biostratigraphic correlation. The Titanoides locality documents biostratigraphic and potential temporal range extensions for forMimotricentes fremontensis (Gazin, 1956) and Acmeodon Matthew and Granger, 1921, the last appearances of which were previously thought to occur during Ti-3. Faunal comparisons suggest that the Titanoides locality bears a close resemblance to the Ti-3 Cedar Point Quarry from the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, Ti-3 through Ti-4 assemblages from southwestern Wyoming, and the similarly aged assemblage from the Goler Formation, California. The revised biostratigraphic age of the Titanoides locality will inform future studies of Paleocene faunal turnover and paleobiogeography, particularly regarding the possible role of paleodrainages in constraining the geographic ranges of Paleocene mammals.
Cameroon is among the richest herpetological countries in Africa owing to its diversity of habitats. The catalogue of chelonians, crocodylians, and non-snake squamates from Cameroon at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History's Amphibians and Reptiles collection includes 34 species (three chelonians, three crocodylians, 28 lacertilians), belonging to nine families and 21 genera. Specimens were collected between 1914 and 1992 by several collectors. The majority of these specimens have never been published, and multiple nomina have changed since their collection. This review increases the verifiable records and aids in the identification of several newly described and recently elevated species.
Body size is a basic mammalian characteristic that has implications for numerous aspects of a species' physiology and ecology. The most commonly used measure of body size is mass, although other morphological traits are often employed as proxies. I examined four measures of body size (mass, head-and-body length [HB], condylobasal length [CBL], and PC1 scores from a PCA of skull variables [PC1]) from a sample of the Florida least shrew, Cryptotis floridanus (Merriam, 1895) (Mammalia: Eulipotyphla: Soricidae) and eastern and western samples of the North American least shrew, C. parvus (Say, 1823), to determine whether these body size measures were correlated within each sample and how each measure varied with sex and with relative age as estimated by 12 progressive stages of tooth wear. None of the size variables indicated sexual dimorphism in size. In each sample, mass was significantly, but weakly, correlated with HB, and CBL was significantly, but weakly, correlated with PC1 scores. Mass and HB also were correlated with toothwear stage in C. floridanus and the eastern sample of C. parvus, but not in western C. parvus. Growth curves calculated from birth for eastern C. parvus exhibited steep increases of approximately 1438% in mean mass, 289% in mean HB, and 204% in mean CBL between parturition and toothwear stage 1. Growth curves and data partitioned by toothwear stage for only free-ranging individuals (i.e., subadults and adults) exhibited modest continued increases in both mean mass (35-56%) and mean HB (12-29%) through toothwear stage 9 and possibly later in each of the three samples. Mean CBL and mean PC1 increased slightly (3%) through toothwear stage 5 in C. floridanus, after which growth ceased. In contrast, increases in these two measures ceased by toothwear stage 1 in both samples of C. parvus. All three samples were biased toward younger individuals, with toothwear stages 1-5 accounting for 62-81% of the samples. A noticeable decrease in individuals between stages 5 and 6 suggested an increase in mortality at that time. Mean body condition, a measure of relative health, was constant among toothwear stages. It appears from these data that fewer than half of a given age cohort of least shrews survived beyond toothwear stage 5, but those that reached later toothwear stages were generally as healthy as those in earlier stages.
The trilobite family Phillipsiidae is a poorly constrained, morphologically indistinct collective of Late Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian genera. This morphologically diverse family is constituted of more than 140 genera and subgenera that are currently assigned to seventeen subfamilies. Most existing subfamilies are based on gross morphology and coincident stratigraphic ranges and not rigid phylogenetic hypotheses with putative ancestral relationships. In some cases, the taxonomy is based on expedience, which has created numerous paraphyletic and polyphyletic lineages that defy phylogenetic analysis and obscures authentication of its evolutionary affiliations. In some taxonomic associations, the complete absence of potential ancestors precludes the group's inclusion in the family. The basal stem lineage of the Phillipsiidae has historically been considered the Archegoninae, a group derived during the Late Devonian from either the Cyrtosymbolinae and Cornuproetinae, and whose ancestry is complicated by a large number of symplesiomorphic characters. Loose application of taxonomic rules within this group has led to the creation of a plethora of gradational entities displaying numerous unresolved polytomies. Because of this poorly constrained taxonomy, phylogenetic reconstructions of this subfamily must currently be relegated to stratophenetic inferences. The subfamily Cystispininae is a heterogeneous morphological group that, under its current taxonomic state, is polyphyletic. The nominal genus is herein maintained within the Archegoninae. The primitive phillipsid subfamily Phillipsiinae represents a monophyletic group that is restricted to the latest Devonian and early Mississippian, and likely produced no daughter lineages. Late Devonian descent from an ancestral Archegoninae genus like Waribole Richter and Richter, 1926, led to derivation of several coexisting primitive lineages (Weaniinae and Linguaphillipsiinae) rooted in close lineage ancestry with Pseudowaribole Hahn and Hahn, 1967. The development of parallel-sided to forwardly expanding glabella shapes, in genera such as Liobolina Richter and Richter, 1951, suggests a common ancestry between the Weaniinae and the Cummingellinae. This more derived group of genera diversified in the early Carboniferous and range through to the Late Permian. Another derived genus with presumed shared common ancestry to Pseudowaribole, Griffithidella Hessler, 1965, is hypothesized to have provided common ancestry with the Griffithidinae, Ditomopyginae, and Bollandiinae. These derived groups of phillipsids exhibit a distinctly, and sometimes increasingly, forwardly expanded glabella, and are the dominant groups from the late Mississippian through the Permian.
The petrosal and inner ear are described for the thylacine, Thylacinus cynocephalus (Harris, 1808), based on mu CT datasets. Comparisons are made with a sample of six extant marsupials, also from mu CT datasets: the didelphid Monodelphis sp. (short-tailed opossum), the notoryctid Notoryctes caurinus Thomas, 1920 (northern marsupial mole or kakarratul), the peramelid Isoodon macrourus (Gould, 1842) (northern brown bandicoot), the myrmecobiid Myrmecobius fasciatus Waterhouse, 1836 (numbat), and the dasyurids Dasyurus hallucatus Gould, 1842 (northern quoll) and Sminthopsis macroura Gould, 1842 (stripe-faced dunnart). Dural sinuses and veins are reconstructed based on sulci, canals, and foramina as well as the few studies in the literature on cranial veins in marsupials. The most striking observations with the thylacine concern the pattern of venous drainage. Nearly all of its dural sinuses in the middle and caudal cranial fossae are enclosed in canals, whereas in the remaining taxa most of the sinuses run in open sulci. The thylacine has a novel canal through the substance of the pars canalicularis of the petrosal for the sigmoid sinus. It also has a novel canal that runs successively through the substance of the parietal, interparietal, and supraoccipital and then between the petrosal and exoccipital to join the sigmoid sinus that is called here the parieto-occipital diploic vein. In the two thylacines studied, this venous channel is paired in one but is only on the right side in the other. The exoccipital has an unusual canal that runs from the jugular foramen to the condyloid canal and connects the sigmoid sinus and inferior petrosal sinus; this arrangement is also present in Notoryctes caurinus. Another striking feature concerns the area of petrosal occupied by the inner ear, which appears to differ with body size: in the smaller taxa (Monodelphis sp. and Sminthopsis macroura), the inner ear occupies much of the petrosal volume; in the medium-sized taxa (Isoodon macrourus, Myrmecobius fasciatus, and Dasyurus hallucatus), there is considerably more petrosal than the area occupied by the inner ear; and lastly, in the largest (Thylacinus cynocephalus), the petrosal is roughly twice the area of the inner ear. Much of the "extra" petrosal in the thylacine is in the robust paroccipital process and in the endocranial floor of the impression of the cerebellar hemisphere. The inner ear of T. cynocephalus has an overall similar morphology to other marsupials. One notable difference is the lack of a secondary common crus in T. cynocephalus, as in its close relatives My. fasciatus and S. macroura, while it is present in D. hallucatus and other published dasyuromorphians. As previously reported, this feature appears to be relatively variable among marsupials.
A small, elongate actinopterygian, Apholidotus ossuous, new genus and species, is described from the marine Bear Gulch Member of the Heath Formation, Serpukhovian of Fergus County, Montana, USA. Apholidotus ossuous is found ubiquitously across the bay. The dermatocranium is reduced and cranial lateral line canals are independent of dermatocranial bones. The palate is braced against the parasphenoid and is only slightly attached to the hyoid arch. The neurocranium is postorbitally ossified as separate bones. The opercular cover consists only of branchiostegal rays. The pectoral girdle is slim and not anchored to the skull; the posteriorly extended scapula and coracoid articulate with five vertically oriented radials, which in turn support five vertical lepidotrichial fin rays. The body is scaleless and devoid of any traces of lateral line canals. The long, low dorsal fin and the caudal fin are supported by actinotrichia. There is a small, externally rounded but internally hemiheterocercal caudal. Discrete pelvic or anal fins are absent. Vertebrae are complex and regionalized; median dorsal and ventral apophyses stiffen the axis from the posterior abdomen to the caudal vertebrae. There are distinct dorsoventral bends between the head and the first two vertebral elements, and in the mid-abdominal region. Cranial structural and functional considerations, and comparisons with Recent fish, suggest that A. ossuous was primarily a suction feeder. Postcranial anatomy suggests that life posture in the water may have been vertical rather than horizontal. There are strong convergences between A. ossuous and modern heterocongrid eels as well as members of the modern teleostean Syngnathiformes. The osteology and its functional implications indicate that it is a derived actinopterygian in comparison to other basal or Paleozoic Osteichthyes, Sarcopterygii or Actinopterygii in many skeletal characters and that profound developmental deviations have occurred from fundamental osteichthyan patterns. These in turn render any tighter assignment of this new order's phylogenetic affinities impossible at this time.
Herbarium specimen use has increased and diversified in recent decades, yet plant collection methods have remained largely unchanged. Here, we describe a new approach for collecting and curating herbarium specimens to more comprehensively document seasonal and population-level variation across phenological, morphological, and life history characteristics of a species. This new specimen model, which we call "integrated vouchers," combines multiple collection methods, archiving variation across seasons ("phenophase vouchers"), within populations ("mass collections"), and across ontogenetic stages ("life history vouchers"). The method also connects an array of field images and metadata to specimen records through the community science platform iNaturalist. Integrated vouchering requires collecting multiple specimens within the same year and location that are then digitally linked and physically stored together as a unit in a single herbarium folder. We use the Reynoutria Houtt. (Polygonaceae) hybrid species complex as a test case to exemplify the method and describe a new set of integrated vouchers made in southwestern Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Considering herbarium space constraints, time required, and other considerations, integrated vouchers should be viewed as complementing, not replacing, traditional herbarium specimens. This approach provides a standardized framework to document site-specific intraspecific variation and connect other ancillary information rarely found in existing collections. Integrated vouchers implement the emerging "extended specimen" concept in new collections.
The Eastern African populations of the Trachylepis maculilabris species complex, long recognized as a molecularly distinct but taxonomically unresolved lineage, are formally described as a new species, Trachylepis farooqii. A total of 386 specimens of the T. maculilabris complex from across its known range were morphologically examined, and 214 Trachylepis specimens were included in the molecular phylogeny. Phylogenetic analysis using mitochondrial (16S and ND2) and nuclear (RAG1) genes recovered the East African populations as a separate lineage. The East African populations also showed a high degree of genetic distance for the 16S, ND2, and RAG1 genes when compared to the most genetically similar species. Haplotype network analysis revealed a clear geographic structuring of haplotypes across regions, with the new species described here restricted to Eastern Africa. Trachylepis farooqii, sp. nov., can be distinguished phenotypically from Trachylepis maculilabris (Gray, 1845) by usually having orange dorsolateral bands. The morphological assessments align with the molecular phylogeny and provide robust evidence for the designation of those Eastern African populations as a new species, increasing the number of Trachylepis species in Mozambique to 15.
A fossil flea in Dominican amber, Pulicophoenix succinus, new genus, new species (Siphonaptera: Rhopalopsyllidae, Rhopalopsyllinae) is described and figured. The fossil is 25-40 million years in age, with a putative date of lower Oligocene-upper Eocene, and exhibits some of the characteristic features seen in 24 genera or subgenera of bird fleas in five families. These diagnostic traits are discussed and illustrated for various examples of avian fleas, and it is concluded that Pulicophoenix was undoubtedly a bird flea and probably was a 'perambulatory' type that must actively seek out a host. Comparisons with mammalian-infesting fleas suggest that these specialized characters of bird fleas are somehow adaptive in nature and reflect the physiognomy and habits of the host. The family and subfamily levels in Siphonaptera evolved during the Cretaceous in some instances to the Miocene for others. Evolution has also proceeded slowly at the generic level for many fleas, over a period of millions of years. In the Mesozoic Era, Africa and South America did not share a siphonapteran fauna of pulicid or any other extant group of fleas. The modern African faunae of mammals and fleas have Eurasian roots, even though some of their components originated in Africa. The forebears of the pulicid and ctenophthalmine fleas of South America, and those of their rodent hosts, originated in Africa and are thought to have rafted to South America in the Eocene. The only other true fossil fleas that have been named and described are four species of Paleopsylla Wagner, 1903 (an extant genus) in Baltic amber, and three pulicids in Dominican amber. It is possible that Pulicophoenix is still alive today, since very little is known about bird fleas of South America and the Greater Antilles, and since many other insect fossils in Dominican amber represent extant genera.
Diplodocus is a sauropod dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of North America. It is known around the world primarily because of a single skeleton, that of the Carnegie Diplodocus, because the millionaire industrialist Andrew Carnegie had casts of this specimen mounted in nine prominent cities around the world between 1905 and 1930. As well as these iconic casts, the original fossil material was mounted at the Carnegie Museum (now Carnegie Museum of Natural History) in 1907, and underwent a series of minor changes through the years before a major remount as part of the Carnegie's Dinosaur Hall renovation in 2005-2007. The composition of the original mount was never fully described, and the changes made since the initial mount have not been extensively documented. The bulk of the skeleton consists of bones from the Diplodocus carnegii holotype CM 84. The paratype CM 94, a referred specimen CM 33985, and a specimen of a related species CM 307 all provide additional fossil material. However, significant parts of this mount are casts or sculptures, including the skull, atlas, numerous caudal vertebrae, forelimbs (including forefeet), and most of the left hind limb. The left forelimb and both forefeet used in the original mount were cast from a camarasaurid, and the right forelimb from that of the diplodocine Galeamopus (= "Diplodocus") hayi. The humeri, radii, and ulnae were replaced in the 2007 remount by scaled-up sculptures based on probable diplodocid elements; and the forefeet by scaled-up sculptures of another diplodocine specimen. Numerous divergent length measurements exist for this specimen, but the current mount is about 26.1 m long based on and LIDAR models.
Megaraptorans are medium- to large-bodied tetanuran theropod dinosaurs known from Cretaceous deposits in Asia, Australia, and especially South America. The megaraptoran skeleton is far from well known, and the humerus is one of the least-frequently preserved elements. Here we describe the first-documented adult humerus of a South American megaraptoran, recovered from the Upper Cretaceous (Turonian-Coniacian) Portezuelo Formation of the Neuqu & eacute;n Basin on the southeast coast of Lago Barreales in Neuqu & eacute;n Province, northern Patagonia, Argentina. The humerus is referred to the namesake megaraptoranMegaraptor namunhuaiquii Novas, 1998, based on its geographic and stratigraphic provenance as well as its morphological similarity to the corresponding element of a juvenile skeleton of the same taxon. Nevertheless, the new adult humerus exhibits osteological distinctions from that of the juvenile that we interpret as reflective of their differing ontogenetic stages. We also highlight anatomical differences between the humerus of M . namunhuaiquii and that of the enigmatic Patagonian theropod Gualicho shinyae Apesteguia et al., 2016, that show that these taxa are not closely related.
