Society of Vertebrate PaleontologyISSN 0272-4634

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Volume 29, Supplement to Number 3 September 2009

69th Annual MeetingSociety of Vertebrate Paleontologyand the 57th Symposium of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Comparative Anatomy (SVPCA)

University of BristolBristol, United KingdomSeptember 23-26, 2009

Program and Abstracts

Vol. 29, Supplement to No. 3, September 2009

Vol. 29, Su

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University of Bristol

JVP 29(3) September 2009—ABSTRACTS 103A

being 5 the maximum number. Not all bones of one individual presented the same number of LAGs, none of the limb elements was consistently more reliable for ageing than the other elements, and mandibles, which are the only bones used for ageing in some previous studies, are rather unreliable because they show less LAGs than the limb bones of the same individual. We observed two different tissue patterns in the limb bone cortex, fast growing fibrolamellar and slow growing lamellar-zonal bone. This variable-rate growth is unexpected for small mammals, which are hitherto found to show exclusively lamellar-zonal bone. It likely reflects the important physiological plasticity of dormice in response to environmental fluctuations. Our results, though preliminary, suggest a strong relation between growth pattern, physiology, and ecological conditions in extant dormice. Further analyses will provide a firm basis for interpreting bone microstructure in fossil dormice and other small mammals.

Poster Session III, (Friday) NEW IGUANODONTIAN DINOSAUR REMAINS FROM THE EARLY BARREMIAN OF SPAIN (CASTELLOTE, TERUEL)GASCA, José Manuel, Grupo Aragosaurus. Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain; CANUDO, José Ignacio, Grupo Aragosaurus. Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain; MORENO-AZANZA, Miguel, Grupo Aragosaurus. Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

The Aragosaurus Group research team of the University of Zaragoza is currently carrying out a macrovertebrate excavation near the village of Ladruñán, Castellote (Maestrazgo Basin, north-eastern Spain). The dinosaur remains have been collected from dark-brown clays within the Mirambel Formation, Wealden facies, early Barremian in age. These remains are disarticulated elements, though there is no evidence of significant transport. The accumulation took place in a low-energy environment, probably a swamp with abundant organic matter. The most relevant taphonomic feature is the presence of gypsum as coatings on bone and teeth surfaces or partial bone replacement. Almost all the vertebrate fossils are ornithopod remains from at least three individuals. These include cranial material such as two right dentaries, a partial left dentary, and isolated teeth with the root preserved, and also postcranial material such as anterior and middle caudal vertebrae and a juvenile right ischium. The dental morphology is typical of Iguanodontoidea. The maxillary teeth are lozenge-shaped in labial view with a very prominent primary ridge, which is displaced distally, and several subsidiary ridges mesially. The dentary teeth are diamond-shaped in lingual view with a primary ridge distally and a secondary ridge mesially separated by a median groove. The dentary morphology reveals differences from other Lower Cretaceous European iguanodonts. The most significant character is the slightly convex ventral margin of the dentary. One of the right dentaries, 50 cm in length and 11.5 cm in depth, represents a medium- to large-sized ornithopod. It shows relatively large-sized teeth (20 tooth positions approximately), a broad Meckelian canal and the buccal shelf well-developed between the coronoid process and the tooth row. These remains may belong to an undescribed member of Iguanodontoidea. The dentary remains represent the most complete record of iguanodontian cranial material from the Barremian of the Iberian Peninsula.

Poster Session III, (Friday) THE FIRST COMPLETE DINOSAUR FROM THE LATE CRETACEOUS BOOK CLIFFS (NESLEN FM) OF EASTERN UTAH: IDENTIFICATION AND SIGNIFICANCEGATES, Terry, Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, IL, USA; SCHEETZ, Rodney, Museum of Paleontology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA; BARRICK, Reese, College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum, Price, UT, USA

The Book Cliffs of central Utah and western Colorado contain a series of Late Cretaceous sediments representing an overall regressive sequence by which the underlying fully marine Mancos Shale gives way to several fully terrestrial formations across several thousand feet of elevation. Deposition of the Neslen Fm occurred under a mixed regime of marine and terrestrial influences as evidenced by sedimentology, presence of coal seams, and preservation of the trace fossil Teredolites. Despite the extensive nature of the Cretaceous sediments, the Book Cliffs have had limited paleontological surveys and even fewer significant discoveries that could aid in the identification of its constituent fauna. One important discovery is that of a nearly-complete hadrosaur from the Neslen Fm (BYU 13258) close to the Colorado border with exceptional impressions of integument. The specimen was discovered in the early 1990’s within an estuary sandstone. Although its soft tissue anatomy was described in detail, the taxonomic affinity of the only substantial dinosaur remains from the Book Cliffs of Utah has remained unknown. Preparation of the mostly complete articulated skull is still in preliminary stages, yet several important characteristics can be observed that provide valuable clues to its identification. The broad skull roof confidently places the specimen within the hadrosaurine subclade, bearing more resemblance to Gryposaurus spp. than to Brachylophosaurus or Maiasaura. Correspondingly, the jugal is quite similar to that of Gryposaurus spp., much more so than the unique jugal of Brachylophosaurus and its relatives. Morphological comparisons of BYU 13258 are restricted here to contemporaneous taxa. The Neslen Fm, and therefore this specimen, has been correlated to the Capping Sandstone of the Wahweap Fm, the middle Two Medicine Fm, and Judith River Fm. More specific biogeographic comparisons, especially those with the Wahweap Fm a few hundred kilometers south, will begin to yield important insights into environmental preferences of various hadrosaurid species.

Molecular Tools in Paleobiology: Trees, Clocks and linking Geno- with Phenotype, Friday 10:15THE EVOLUTION OF CETACEA: RECIPROCAL INSIGHTS FROM MOLECULES AND FOSSILSGATESY, John, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA

Phylogenetic information from fossils and from the genome does not always agree when analyzed separately. Synthesis of these diverse data, however, can provide synergistic insights into evolutionary history and rapid scientific advances. Darwin speculated on the evolution of Cetacea (toothed and baleen whales) in On the Origin of Species, but evidence bearing on cetacean phylogeny was limited until recent decades, which have seen a rapid influx of information. Combination of genomic and paleontological data now permits detailed hypotheses on the origin and diversification of whales. In particular, this synthesis has generated a robust phylogenetic hypothesis for living species of Cetacea, placed critical fossil taxa relative to extant lineages, predicted the discovery of fossil cetaceans with particular combinations of character states, revealed the sequence of synapomorphies on the stem lineage to modern whales, and predicted the presence of molecular fossils (pseudogenes) in the genomes of crown cetaceans. The transition from an ancestral terrestrial ancestor to semi-aquatic forms to fully-aquatic whales required major reorganizations of anatomy and genes. A detailed reconstruction of this history cannot be achieved without integration and reconciliation of molecules and morphology in phylogenetic analysis.

New Perspectives on the Early Evolutionary History of the Synapsida, Saturday 10:45GORGONOPSIA - PHYLOGENY AND FUNCTIONAL MORPHOLOGYGEBAUER, Eva, Senckenberg Research Institute and Museum, Frankfurt, Germany

Gorgonopsia, a group of carnivorous therapsids from the Upper Permian are characterized by enormous saber-like canine teeth and an almost cat-like appearance. The group was revised by Sigogneau, who disentangled the rather confusing systematics and reduced the recognized diversity to a clearly arranged number of 22 genera. However, despite these remarkable efforts uncertainties concerning alphataxonomy still exist. On the basis of the gorgonopsian material from the Nowack-Collection in the Geologisch-Paläontologisches Institut Tübingen, a re-assessment of gorgonopsian alphataxonomy was made. One of the best-preserved specimens is the almost complete skeleton GPIT/RE/7113 from the Usili Formation, Ruhuhu Basin, Tanzania. It was initially allocated to the genus ‘Scymnognathus’ by von Huene but was later assigned to the taxon Aelurognathus? parringtoni by Sigogneau. A renewed investigation of the skull revealed that the specimen could not be allocated to any South or east African taxon, but rather to the Russian genus Sauroctonus. Thus, a true connection between the African and Russian biozones is established for the first time. The alpha-level taxonomy of the other specimens in the Nowack-Collection is resolved as a result of a re-assessment of all Gorgonopsia. A comparison of functional aspects of gorgonopsians and the saber-toothed cat Smilodon revealed that the enlarged canines imply further similarities in the skull and postcranial skeleton of both taxa, which may indicate a similar mode of taking prey.

Poster Session IV, (Saturday)DIETARY OPTIONS OF THE SAUROPODSGEE, Carole, University of Bonn, Steinmann Institute, Division of Paleontology

Plant-herbivore relationships are relatively easy to discern in living organisms, but are much harder to recognize between organisms in the fossil record, especially if one or both groups have gone extinct. In the case of herbivory in sauropod dinosaurs, the selection or preference of certain plant groups as fodder by the sauropod dinosaurs has been a puzzling and sometimes contentious issue. From a botanical perspective, it seems that the thick-cuticled conifers, toxic cycads, and low-biomass ferns would have offered little in terms of palatable, sustaining fodder to the Mesozoic sauropod dinosaurs, yet we know that giant sauropods existed and must have thrived on these plant groups. Given experimental results which compared digestibility of the nearest living relatives of these plant groups, the Mesozoic flora as potential sauropod food plants can be looked at in a new light. This talk will survey the pre-angiosperm Mesozoic flora in regard to these results, as well as to growth habit and preferred habitat of the living relatives and the accessibility of these plants to sauropods based on the fossil record. Each taxon is then comparatively evaluated as an accessible, dependable, plentiful, renewable, and nutritious food source for sauropods. Based on these criteria, the best food plants would have been horsetails, ginkgophytes, araucarias and other conifers; the worst would have been cycads and many ferns.

Technical Session XIV, Friday 2:30LINKING CHARACTER STATES: A MEANS TO ACHIEVE PROGRESSIVE MORPHOLOGICAL PHYLOGENETICSGEISLER, Jonathan, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, USA; BOLORTSETSEG, Minjin, Institute for the Study of Mongolian Dinosaurs, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Morphological phylogenetics is progressive when systematists add new characters and observations to published data. However, unlike automated sequence alignment for molecular data, published morphological data can only be combined through laborious,