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“Excellent . . . Those who are interested in vertebrate paleontology or in the scientific history of the American midwest should really get a copy.” —PalArch’s Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Revised, updated, and expanded with the latest interpretations and fossil discoveries, the second edition of Oceans of Kansas adds new twists to the fascinating story of the vast inland sea that engulfed central North America during the Age of Dinosaurs. Giant sharks, marine reptiles called mosasaurs, pteranodons, and birds with teeth all flourished in and around these shallow waters. Their abundant and well-preserved remains were sources of great excitement in the scientific community when first discovered in the 1860s and continue to yield exciting discoveries 150 years later. Michael J. Everhart vividly captures the history of these startling finds over the decades and re-creates in unforgettable detail these animals from our distant past and the world in which they lived—above, within, and on the shores of America’s ancient inland sea. “Oceans of Kansas remains the best and only book of its type currently available. Everhart’s treatment of extinct marine reptiles synthesizes source materials far more readably than any other recent, nontechnical book-length study of the subject.” —Copeia “[The book] will be most useful to fossil collectors working in the local region and to historians of vertebrate paleontology . . . Recommended.” —Choice
The fossil assemblage at the Savoy Pit (Fannin County, Texas) was collected in 1940 by participants in the Works Progress Administration working alongside personnel from the Bureau of Economic Geology at The University of Texas at Austin. The locality is contained within the Ector Chalk (lower Coniacian), an argillaceous limestone, of the Austin Group. Previously published taxa from the site include the bird Ichthyornis and fish such as Belonostomus and Laminospondylus transversus; several types of shark teeth and invertebrates (e.g., crustaceans, asteroids, and bivalves) also have been found. Several mosasaur specimens are present at the site and include isolated elements and associated skeletons that have yet to be described. My collaborator Joshua Lively and I scored the material from the Savoy Pit using published and novel morphological characters and compared our results to about 250 mosasaur specimens from North America and Sweden. We then ran a phylogenetic analysis using maximum parsimony to hypothesize the taxonomic composition of the mosasaur assemblage. At least three taxa are identified: a russellosaurine represented by a frontal resembling Russellosaurus coheni, an undetermined basal mosasaurine represented by a partial skull and vertebrae, and Tylosaurus nepaeolicus based on a premaxilla and quadrate. The mosasaurine possesses a unique combination of characters including synapomorphies of both Mosasaurinae (e.g., striated quadrate tympanic rim, dorsally constricted suprastapedial process) and Russellosaurina (e.g., short premaxilla-maxilla suture, low surangular coronoid buttress). In our phylogenetic analysis, we recovered this specimen as a basal mosasaurine that does not align with any published genus, and we recognize it as a new taxon. The russellosaurine synapomorphies possessed by the new taxon may represent the plesiomorphic state of Mosasaurinae; some of those characters are shared with Kourisodon puntledgensis. The presence of a russellosaurine resembling Russellosaurus coheni may extend the range of this species into the Coniacian. The new taxon helps to fill a stratigraphic gap of approximately six million years between the earliest known mosasaurine, Dallasaurus turneri, and ‘Clidastes liodontus.’ Identification of Tylosaurus nepaeolicus at the Savoy Pit extends the lineage into the Early Coniacian and represents one of the earliest occurrences of that genus.
In the days when dinosaurs dominated the earth, their marine counterparts - every bit as big and ferocious - reigned supreme in prehistoric seas. In this book, Richard Ellis takes us back to the Mesozoic era to resurrect the fascinating lives of these giant seagoing reptiles. fierce predators, speculates on their habits, and tells how they eventually became extinct - or did they? He traces the 200-million-year history of the great ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and mosasaurs who swam the ancient oceans - and who may, according to some, still frequent the likes of Loch Ness. animal that looked like a crocodile crossed with a shark the size of a small yacht. With its impossibly long neck, Plesiosaurus conybeari has been compared to a giant snake threaded through the body of a turtle. At a length of nearly 60 feet, Mosasaurus hoffmanni boasted powerful jaws that could crunch up even the hardest-shelled giant sea turtle. And Kronosaurus queenslandicus, perhaps the most formidable of the lot, had a skull nine feet long - more than twice that of Tyrannosaurus rex - with teeth to match. reconstruct their lives and habitats. Their fossils have been found all over the world - in Europe, Australia, Japan and even Kansas - in lands that once lay on the floors of Jurassic and Triassic seas. Along the way, the book also provides intriguing insights into and entertaining tales about the work, discoveries and competing theories that compose the world of vertebrate paleontology. The text is also accompanied by Ellis' own illustrations of how these creatures probably appeared and, through these likenesses, we are invited to speculate on their locomotion, their predatory habits and their lifestyles.
Vertebrate evolution has led to the convergent appearance of many groups of originally terrestrial animals that now live in the sea. Among these groups are familiar mammals like whales, dolphins, and seals. There are also reptilian lineages (like plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, mosasaurs, thalattosaurs, and others) that have become sea creatures. Most of these marine reptiles, often wrongly called "dinosaurs", are extinct. This edited book is devoted to these extinct groups of marine reptiles. These reptilian analogs represent useful models of the myriad adaptations that permit tetrapods to live in the ocean. First book in more than 80 years devoted exclusively to fossil marine reptiles Documents the most current research on extinct marine reptiles Prepared by the world's most prominent experts in the field Well illustrated
This book presents a comprehensive overview of the science of the history of life. Paleobiologists bring many analytical tools to bear in interpreting the fossil record and the book introduces the latest techniques, from multivariate investigations of biogeography and biostratigraphy to engineering analysis of dinosaur skulls, and from homeobox genes to cladistics. All the well-known fossil groups are included, including microfossils and invertebrates, but an important feature is the thorough coverage of plants, vertebrates and trace fossils together with discussion of the origins of both life and the metazoans. All key related subjects are introduced, such as systematics, ecology, evolution and development, stratigraphy and their roles in understanding where life came from and how it evolved and diversified. Unique features of the book are the numerous case studies from current research that lead students to the primary literature, analytical and mathematical explanations and tools, together with associated problem sets and practical schedules for instructors and students. “..any serious student of geology who does not pick this book off the shelf will be putting themselves at a huge disadvantage. The material may be complex, but the text is extremely accessible and well organized, and the book ought to be essential reading for palaeontologists at undergraduate, postgraduate and more advanced levels—both in Britain as well as in North America.” Falcon-Lang, H., Proc. Geol. Assoc. 2010 “...this is an excellent introduction to palaeontology in general. It is well structured, accessibly written and pleasantly informative .....I would recommend this as a standard reference text to all my students without hesitation.” David Norman Geol Mag 2010 Companion website This book includes a companion website at: www.blackwellpublishing.com/paleobiology The website includes: · An ongoing database of additional Practical’s prepared by the authors · Figures from the text for downloading · Useful links for each chapter · Updates from the authors
Pterosaurs or flying reptiles were the first vertebrates to evolve flight. These distant relatives of modern reptiles and dinosaurs lived from the Late Triassic (over 200 million years ago) to the end of the Cretaceous (about 65 million years ago) a span of some 135 million years. When they became extinct, no relatives survived them and as a result these prehistoric animals cannot readily be compared with our modern-day fauna. So what do we know of these highly succsessful animals? The present summary answers this and many more questions based on the most recent results of modern scientific research. After a short introduction to palaeontology as a science and its history related to pterosaurs, it explains what pterosaurs were, when and where they lived, and what they looked like. Topics such as disease, injury and reproduction are also discussed. Separated from this text are 'Mark explains' boxes. Each of these explanations puts one specific species in the spotlight and focuses on its lifestyle. They show how diverse pterosaurs were, from small insectivorous animals with a wingspan of nearly 40 centimetres to the biggest flying animals ever to take to the air, with wingspans of over 10 metres and with a way of life comparable to modern-day storks. The text is illustrated with many full colour photographs and beautiful palaeo-art prepared by experts in the field.