16 papers
This paper defends its findings of a modest K/Pg diversity decline in neoselachians against Guinot et al.'s criticisms by demonstrating that the original conclusions remain robust even when applying the critics' data treatments and sensitivity tests.
This study utilizes 3D digitization and AI-driven simulations of bite marks on a ~1.2 Ma hippopotamus femur from Fuente Nueva 3 to characterize the distinctively large, deep, and circular tooth pits produced by the extinct giant hyena *Pachycrocuta brevirostris*, thereby establishing a diagnostic reference for identifying its activity in the fossil record.
By analyzing eukaryote clade dynamics through a birth-death model, this study refutes the late origin hypothesis and demonstrates that the last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA) must have originated early in the Mesoproterozoic (approximately 1696 Ma) to reconcile the fossil record, living diversity, and molecular clock estimates.
This study reveals that Paleocene placental mammals in China exhibited an early "brawn before bite" recovery pattern characterized by high tooth size disparity followed by environmental tracking of dental shape and performance integration, suggesting that modern mammalian orders emerged from phenotypically and functionally plastic ancestral assemblages in tropical Asia.
The authors developed protSexInferer, an automated, open-source bioinformatic pipeline that improves the accuracy and standardization of sex determination in ancient remains by utilizing a ratio-based approach (RAMELY) to analyze amelogenin peptides, thereby overcoming the limitations of manual verification and false-positive signals in degraded paleo-proteomic samples.
By re-examining exceptionally preserved 407-million-year-old Rhynie chert fossils, this study reveals that early vascular plants possessed large, primitive food-conducting cells rather than true phloem, suggesting that phloem features evolved gradually and asynchronously to the earlier emergence of xylem.
Using micro-computed tomography across a broad taxonomic sample, this study clarifies that post-hatching pterygoid segmentation is restricted to Neoaves and proposes that the hemipterygoid process in other bird groups is a homologous but non-segmenting structure, thereby refining our understanding of avian bony palate evolution.
This study reports the isolation of biologically active, RNA-dominant cell-like entities from mammalian tissues that exhibit striking morphological and biochemical similarities to Precambrian microfossils, suggesting that organisms resembling early life forms may still exist in contemporary biological contexts.
This study utilizes high-resolution microCT scanning to redescribe the neotype of *Lithornis vulturinus* and characterize a new, larger specimen from the Eocene London Clay, providing detailed postcranial insights that refine the species' diagnosis, reveal potential sexual dimorphism, and contribute to understanding early palaeognath evolution and the origins of flightlessness.
This study challenges the long-held belief that the extinct mammal *Uintatherium anceps* exhibited strong sexual dimorphism by demonstrating that linear morphometric analyses of its skulls reveal no significant size or feature differences between sexes, unlike the clear dimorphism found in the modern bison control group.
This study challenges the deterministic view of herbivore evolution by demonstrating that Australia's isolated kangaroo radiation evolved thickened enamel rather than high-crowned teeth to adapt to grazing, a unique trajectory driven by the pre-grassland extinction of competing marsupials and subsequent innovation.
This study demonstrates that the current fossil record, as represented by the NOW database, suffers from significant temporal and spatial sampling biases driven by anthropocentric data collection practices that prioritize periods and locations associated with hominin evolution, thereby highlighting the urgent need to decouple paleoscience narratives from human-centric perspectives to improve data accuracy.
This study provides the first statistically supported evidence that Cambrian luolishaniid lobopodians were suspension feeders by demonstrating a positive correlation between their body length and anterior appendage mesh spacing, a scaling pattern consistent with modern predator-prey relationships in aquatic filter-feeders.
This paper argues that the conflicting findings of Gardiner et al. regarding neoselachian diversification patterns, particularly concerning the K/Pg extinction and recent diversity decline, stem from a combination of incomplete and erroneous fossil data coupled with inappropriate analytical methodologies, thereby underscoring the critical need for taxonomic expertise and robust methods in fossil-based macroevolutionary studies.
This paper rejects the hypothesis that diverse late Maastrichtian tyrannosaurids from the Hell Creek Formation are merely juvenile *Tyrannosaurus rex* undergoing radical metamorphosis, instead arguing they represent a distinct assemblage of basal eutyrannosaur genera—including two newly named species, *Gilmorelarsontyrannus lethaeus* and *Elegansvenator zannoae*—that migrated from Appalachia to Laramidia, bringing the total known diversity of the region to seven species across five genera.
This study establishes a benchmark taphonomic framework for underwater caves by demonstrating that submerged vertebrate remains generally exhibit superior preservation compared to dry cave deposits, yet display distinct biological modifications like cyanobacterial tunnelling and surface corrosion driven by light availability and associated microbial activity.