Preferencje help
Widoczny [Schowaj] Abstrakt
Liczba wyników

Znaleziono wyników: 3

Liczba wyników na stronie
Pierwsza strona wyników Pięć stron wyników wstecz Poprzednia strona wyników Strona / 1 Następna strona wyników Pięć stron wyników wprzód Ostatnia strona wyników

Wyniki wyszukiwania

help Sortuj według:

help Ogranicz wyniki do:
Pierwsza strona wyników Pięć stron wyników wstecz Poprzednia strona wyników Strona / 1 Następna strona wyników Pięć stron wyników wprzód Ostatnia strona wyników
1
100%
Quail-thrushes (Passeriformes: Cinclosomatidae: Cinclosoma) are ground-dwelling corvoid songbirds endemic to Austra lia and New Guinea. Until now, the only known quail-thrush fossils have been from late Quaternary cave deposits in Australia. A new species of quail-thrush, Cinclosoma elachum sp. nov., is described from the early to middle Miocene deposits in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Queensland, Australia. A second, larger quail-thrush is identified from the middle Miocene of Riversleigh. The new fossils considerably extend the geographic and temporal ranges of cinclosomatids, and indicate the presence of two species of quail-thrushes in the Miocene of northern Australia, located more than 300 km from the nearest extant member of Cinclosoma. These fossils provide a minimum age of ~18 million years for Cinclosomatidae. They cannot be confidently assigned to the crown group of the genus Cinclosoma, but can be used to calibrate the split between this genus and Ptilorrhoa in molecular dating studies of the Corvides radiation and Passeriformes overall. This material also adds to the growing diversity of songbirds identified from the pre-Pleistocene record of Australia, and reemphasises the global significance of the Riversleigh deposits in developing understanding about the early evolutionary history of passerines.
Instances of dwarfism in the fossil record are of interest to palaeontologists because they often provide insight into aspects of palaeoecology. Fossil species of Australian-Pacific mekosuchine genus Mekosuchus have been described as dwarf, primarily terrestrial crocodiles, in contrast with the nearly ubiquitous semi-aquatic habitus of extant crocodilians (Willis 1997). This hypothesis has been difficult to test because of limited knowledge of the cranial and postcranial skeleton of extinct taxa and the continuous nature of crocodilian growth. New crocodilian vertebral material from Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland, tentatively referred to Mekosuchus whitehunterensis, displays morphological maturity indicative of adult snout-vent length little over a half-meter, proportionally smaller than extant dwarf taxa. Further, this material displays morphology that indicates a relatively large epaxial neck musculature for its body-size. These attributes suggest this dwarf mekosuchine employed unusual feeding behaviours. The ability to perform normal death-roll, de-fleshing behaviours would be limited in a mekosuchine of such small size. Given the powerful neck muscles and other anatomical features, it is more likely that this mekosuchine killed and/or dismembered its prey using a relatively forceful lifting and shaking of the head.
Neohelos is a geographically and temporally widespread genus of Cenozoic diprotodontid marsupials commonly used to biocorrelate otherwise undated Australian fossil deposits. Here, we revise the genus and describe two new species from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area of northwestern Queensland. Neohelos solussp. nov. is a small, relatively abundant, plesiomorphic form, while the rarer, larger Neohelos davidridei sp. nov. is the most derived species of the genus with an upper premolar morphology that is structurally antecedant to members of the Late Miocene genus Kolopsis. Additional material of Neohelos tirarensis and Neohelos stirtoni is described. A chronological morphocline is evidenced by a gradual change in morphology accompanied by an increase in size from Ne. tirarensis through Ne. stirtoni to Ne. davidridei, and is generally consistent with the biostratigraphic distribution of Neohelos species throughout Riversleigh’s faunal zones A to D. Stage of evolution biocorrelation of Neohelos species confirms that some of Riversleigh’s Faunal Zone A deposits are Late Oligocene in age and predate the Wipajiri Formation of South Australia. Strong faunal correlations exist between Riversleigh’s topographically low to middle Faunal Zone C deposits and the Northern Territory’s Middle Miocene Bullock Creek Local Fauna. The presence of the highly derived N. davidridei in the Jaw Junction Local Fauna of Riversleigh’s Upper Faunal Zone C suggests a later Middle Miocene (post−Bullock Creek) age for this deposit.
Pierwsza strona wyników Pięć stron wyników wstecz Poprzednia strona wyników Strona / 1 Następna strona wyników Pięć stron wyników wprzód Ostatnia strona wyników
JavaScript jest wyłączony w Twojej przeglądarce internetowej. Włącz go, a następnie odśwież stronę, aby móc w pełni z niej korzystać.