Since the 19th century the remains of Quaternary mammals were an important source of data for reconstructing past environmental conditions. I tested two basic assumptions that underlie Quaternary vertebrate paleoecology. The first assumption is that fossils mammals can be identified reliably to species. The second assumption is that correlations established between extant mammals and environmental parameters can be used to interpret reliably the paleoenvironment from the latest Pleistocene. Incorrect specimen identifications could lead to errors in paleoecologic interpretations. I explicitly tested an alternative to the traditional approach to identification by identifying fossil shrews based on apomorphies. My results indicated that some traditional characters are useful for identification, but only complete specimens with a combination of characters can be identified to species. This indicates that previous authors who identified shrews to species did not compare them to the full diversity of species. I tested the reliability of cenograms and species-richness models as approaches for the reconstruction of environmental conditions in the past. I used faunal data from Hall’s Cave, Kerr County, Texas to construct cenograms and species-richness models and compared the results to independent paleoclimate proxies. Neither species-richness models nor cenograms agree with paleoenvironmental reconstructions based on proxy data from the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. Cenograms and species-richness models are unreliable and fraught with problems, and both approaches should be abandoned as tools for paleoecological reconstruction. To test for potential geographic bias in the identification of Quaternary fossils I developed a GIS (geographic information systems) database of Quaternary paleontological sites within Texas. I was able to show that the identification of species of fossil soricids, heteromyids, Odocoileus, and Spilogale was influenced by geography. Those fossils should be treated as generic identifications until they are re-evaluated against the full diversity of species. Utilizing GIS I also developed a method of paleoecological analysis. My analysis showed that the environmental conditions found today in Texas might not be limiting the current range of shrews. Based on the known geographic range of shrew fossils, other ecological factors besides environmental conditions are shaping the current distribution of shrews. / text

Conceptualizations of actual biological patterns as preserved in the fossil record must accommodate the results of biotic and abiotic drivers of faunal dynamics. However, those conceptualizations also may reflect cognitive biases resulting from foundational philosophical stances. Whether fossils are conceptualized as the remains of biological entities or as geological objects will affect both taxonomic identifications and secondary inferences derived from those identifications. In addition, operational research bias centered on relativistic views of ‘importance’ of particular components (i.e., taxonomic or skeletal region) of the assemblage results in preferential documentation of some taxa and marginalization of others. I explored the consequences of those specific cognitive and operational biases through examination of Triassic and Eocene faunal assemblages in western North America. For the Triassic I focused on taxonomic and systematic treatments of Paleorhinus, a group of phytosaurs important for the establishment of biochronologic correlations. Specimen-level reexamination of Paleorhinus supported a restricted usage of Paleorhinus as a clade, dissolved a biochronologic connection between terrestrial and marine deposits, and indicated a prior compression of the early part of the Late Triassic as a result of previous conceptualizations of species. I reexamined the Otis Chalk tetrapod assemblage in light of new specimens and modern phylogenetic frameworks. My examination supported a restricted usage of the Otischalkian for biochronologic correlation of the Late Triassic, and emphasized the importance of apomorphic character-based specimen examinations in conjunction with detailed lithostratigraphy prior to the development of biochronologic schema. For the Eocene I focused on undocumented terrestrial reptiles from the late Uintan fauna of West Texas. Specifically I discovered new taxa and new geographic occurrences of amphisbaenians and caimanine crocodylians. The amphisbaenians represent the southernmost record of the clade in the North American Paleogene, and, when combined with other amphisbaenian records, document that the clade responded to late Paleogene climatic changes in ways different from the inferred mammalian response. The new taxon of caimanine crocodylian represents a new geographic and temporal record of that clade. That new record indicates that the biogeographic range of extant caimans represents a climate-driven restriction from a formerly more expansive range, and suggests that the previous geographic and temporal gap in paleodistribution data is related to sampling biases and is not a solely a biological phenomenon. These data indicate that reliable characterization of vertebrate faunal dynamics requires open acknowledgment and appropriate documentation of cognitive and operational biases that affect interpretations of paleontological data. / text

The name Metatheria refers to the clade that contains the extant marsupials and also all extinct mammals that are more closely related to extant marsupials than to the placental mammals. Metatherians first appear in the fossil record of Asia during the Early Cretaceous, with younger records in North America (Late Cretaceous), South America (the latest Cretaceous or earliest Paleocene), and finally Australia via Antarctica (by the Eocene). The Cenozoic fossil record of metatherians in the Old World is rather poor. Except for Europe, there are only a handful of metatherian taxa known from Afro-Arabia and Asia, almost all of which are documented only by isolated teeth or partial jaws. Fieldwork at Uzunçarşı, a fossil site in central Turkey, yielded at least three different metatherian taxa, one of which (Anatoliadelphys) is exceptionally preserved and nearly complete. In this study I demonstrate that Anatoliadelphys occupies a more derived position on the metatherian tree than the well-known South American metatherians such as Pucadelphys. My functional morphological investigations indicate that Anatoliadelphys and the South American taxa Pucadelphys and Mayulestes are different from the extant didelphid marsupials of South America in their skeletal adaptations for locomotion. Anatoliadelphys was most likely terrestrial. / text

The origin of many lophotrochozoan groups can be traced to “small shelly fossil” (SSF) faunas of the Early Cambrian. Antarctica is a key region of study, due to the continent’s known close geographical proximity to well-studied Australian and Indian basins in in the Cambrian. Few studies have focused on this region however, due to a paucity of data. Re-examination of camenellan sclerites from the Early Cambrian Shackleton Limestone of the Churchill Mountains of Antarctica has revealed a previously unidentified species of Dailyatia in the formation, co-occurring alongside previously described Dailyatia odyssei Evans and Rowell, 1990, as in the Arrowie Basin of Australia. Re-examination of material previously described as Kennardia sp. A and Kennardia sp. B has indicated that these taxa can likely be synonymized as a second species of Dailyatia. Dailyatia sclerites were also found in the temporally equivalent “Schneider Hills Limestone” formation, which cropsout in the Argentina Range of Antarctica. These specimens appear to belongto a third species of Dailyatia, suggesting that the spatial distribution of tommotiids in the Early Cambrian was more complex than previously recognized, and that the group may be useful in future biostratigraphic studies. A study ofthe Middle Cambrian (Drumian Stage) Nelson Limestone Formation of the Neptune Range, Antarctica has revealed a moderately diverse brachiopod and trilobite fauna. The brachiopods have strong faunal links to taxa from South Australia and India, as well as other parts of the Antarctic province, fitting independent strong evidence for a united East Gondwanan region in the Middle Cambrian. An unidentified camenellan tommotiid sclerite is also described from the Nelson Limestone. This extends the worldwide temporal range of the tommotiid clade into the Drumian Stage, and suggests that more basal members of the brachiopod stem-group survived to form part of a more diverse Middle Cambrian fauna.

This project aims to study fossil amphibian and reptile (herpetofaunal) remains from Quaternary sites in the British Isles. This neglected group of vertebrates hold great potential for Quaternary Science. Collectively, they cover a wide range of ecological tolerances, although individual species often have very specific tolerances. The biology and ecology of individual species are discussed (Chapter 2) to facilitate their use in Quaternary palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, and an account of previous work on fossil herpetofaunas is given (Chapter 3). Very little work on fossil herpetofaunas has been carried out in the British Isles, mainly due to a lack of the required osteological expertise. The preparation and study of a modern osteological collection (Chapter 4), for comparative purposes, has therefore constituted a large and essential part of the project. The resulting manual for the identification of fossil herpetofaunal remains, appropriately illustrated with SEMs and hand-drawn figures, is presented (Chapter 5). The difficulties encountered in identifying some taxa are discussed in detail, and points of caution are stressed where necessary.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rice University, 1974. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-125).

Submitted by Izabel Franco (izabel-franco@ufscar.br) on 2016-10-04T19:08:31Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DissRMAS.pdf: 2567370 bytes, checksum: 878fab5581b7d1cab72a62b808602d5a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marina Freitas (marinapf@ufscar.br) on 2016-10-20T18:17:46Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissRMAS.pdf: 2567370 bytes, checksum: 878fab5581b7d1cab72a62b808602d5a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marina Freitas (marinapf@ufscar.br) on 2016-10-20T18:17:53Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissRMAS.pdf: 2567370 bytes, checksum: 878fab5581b7d1cab72a62b808602d5a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-10-20T18:18:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DissRMAS.pdf: 2567370 bytes, checksum: 878fab5581b7d1cab72a62b808602d5a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-05-12 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Ichnofossils are abundant in the sandstones of the Botucatu Formation, Paraná Basin, of Neocomian age. This formation covers much of the Midwest, Southeast and South of Brazil, and other countries in South America. Several sandstone samples containing trace fossils were collected and deposited in the paleontological collection of the Departmento de Ecologia e Biologia Evolutiva (DEBE) of the Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar). In this work, trace fossils attributed to arachnids, i.e. ichnogenera Paleohelcura Gilmore, 1926 and Octopodichnus Gilmore, 1927, were studied and their presence is recorded for the first time in Brazil. The aim of this study was to infer how different environmental conditions such as moisture, texture, substrate inclination and even behavioral aspects of the organisms can affect the structure of the traces left by different arthropods. To do this, several neoichnological experiments were made, with six arachnids (two Tityus serrulatus, one Lycosa sp., one Loxosceles sp., and two individuals of the family Gonyleptidae) and five individuals of other invertebrate classes (three insects, one isopod and one diplopod). The experiments consisted on making the animals walk on a tray with sand of different grain sizes, different inclinations and different moisture levels. The results of these experiments, which showed different trace morphologies, according to each imposed condition, proved the influence of these conditions on the morphology of the footprints and on the behavior of the studied animals. In addition, these results showed how, in some situations, for example, in an uphill movement in a slope of 30° of inclination, it’s possible that animals with highly different track’s shapes leave very similar tracks, thus making much more difficult the identification of the track’s producer animal through the analysis of the ichnofossils. It was also possible to prove how the moisture level and the substrate inclination are important for the tracks’ preservation. / Icnofósseis são abundantes nos arenitos da Formação Botucatu, Bacia do Paraná, de idade Neocomiana. Esta formação abrange grande parte do Centro-oeste, Sudeste e Sul do Brasil, além de outros países da América do Sul. Várias amostras de arenito contendo icnofósseis foram coletadas e depositadas na coleção paleontológica do Departamento de Ecologia e Biologia Evolutiva (DEBE) da UFSCar. Neste trabalho foram estudados os icnofósseis atribuídos a aracnídeos, ou seja, os icnogêneros Paleohelcura Gilmore, 1926 e Octopodichnus Gilmore, 1927, registrados pela primeira vez no Brasil. O principal objetivo deste estudo foi identificar como diferentes condições do ambiente, como umidade, textura, inclinação do substrato e até mesmo aspectos comportamentais podem afetar a estrutura dos rastros deixados por diferentes artrópodes. Para isso foram realizados diversos experimentos neoicnológicos com seis aracnídeos (dois Tityus serrulatus, uma Lycosa sp., uma Loxosceles sp., e dois indivíduos da família Gonyleptidae) e cinco indivíduos de outras classes de invertebrados (três insetos, um isópode e um diplópode). Os experimentos consistiram em fazer os animais caminharem sobre uma bandeja com diferentes granulometrias de areia em diferentes inclinações e com diferentes níveis de umidade. Os resultados desses experimentos, que mostraram diferentes formatos dos rastros de acordo com cada condição imposta, comprovaram a influência dessas condições na morfologia das pegadas e no comportamento dos animais estudados. Além disso, esses resultados mostraram como em algumas situações, por exemplo, em um movimento de subida em relevos de 30° de inclinação, é possível que animais com morfologias acentuadamente diferentes deixem rastros muito semelhantes, o que dificulta a identificação do animal produtor por meio da análise de icnofósseis. Também foi possível comprovar como a umidade e a inclinação do substrato são importantes na conservação dos rastros.

O presente trabalho visa analisar, a partir da perspectiva do uso final de energia, os resultados do indicador de eficiência criado para averiguar o desempenho de equipamentos usados em obras de construção civil de grande porte. Dentro do setor apreciado, optou-se por analisar energeticamente apenas a fase de construção per si em razão desta etapa ser uma fase de intenso consumo energético. O presente trabalho contou com uma compilação de dados baseados no consumo de 26.121 equipamentos em operação, em 84 obras de construção de grande porte. A partir do banco de dados inicial realizou-se a análise dos dados dos equipamentos monitorados via satélite e com informações de eficiência. Por fim, estimou-se, especificamente, a variação da eficiência nos equipamentos em questão. Na busca de resultados, foi possível constatar uma predominância no consumo de óleo diesel quando comparado a outros insumos energéticos. Geradores, guindastes, compressores e caminhões foram os itens que apresentaram maiores índices de eficiência, com 99,0%, 93,5%, 93,2% e 92,3%, respectivamente. Esses resultados mostram que a maior parte destes equipamentos operam próximo ao ótimo do consumo por hora registrado no projeto. / The present work aims to analyze, from the perspective of the end use of energy, the results of the efficiency indicator created in order to investigate the performance of a group of equipment widely used in large construction projects in Brazil. The analyze comprehends only construction period itself due this step is to consider a phase of intense energy consumption. This work included a database related to the fuel consumption of 26,121 equipment during their operation, at 84 work sites in the large construction projects. From the database described, we performed data analysis of satellite equipment monitored and with efficiency information. Finally, it was estimated the variation of efficiency of the equipment in question. The results show a predominance of diesel consumption when compared to other fuels inputs. Considering our methodology, generators, cranes, compressors and trucks were the items that had higher levels of efficiency, with 99.0%, 93.5%, 93.2% and 92.3%, respectively. These results show that most of these devices operate close to the optimal consumption per hour recorded in the project.

The osteology of the Upper Triassic podokesaurid Syntarsus rhodesiensis is described, based on a series of 30+ individuals representing all skeletal elements, recovered since the description of the holotype (Raath, 1969). A brief account of the geology of the finds is given, with an attempt at a reconstruction of the palaaoenvironment. The excellence of preservation of the bones has permitted an attempt at the restoration of soft tissues including the brain, cranial nerves, main cranial blood vessels and the musculature of the jaws, neck and limbs. Histological sections of limb bones have shown that the compact bone was highly vascular, and this, together with the structure of the brain, palaeoenvironmental considerations, social behaviour and group structure, leads to the conclusion that Syntarsus was an endothermic homeotherm inhabiting a hot arid region at the end of the Triassic, with a social organisation into "flocks" in which females predominated numerically. Clear evidence of sexual dimorphism is presented. Syntarsus is reconstructed as a bipedal, saltatorial predator which differs in subtle, but probably generically significant, characteristics from the closely related North American genus, Coelophysis. Its anatomy characterises it as a medium-sized agile animal with a highly kinetic skull; incipiently opposable pollex in the raptorial manus; highly cursorial hindlimb; and with features in the dentition and hallux which suggest a grooming function. It is concluded that the Triassic coelurosaurian stock provided an advanced and well adapted base from which the successful coelurosaur radiation into the later Mesozoic sprang, and that this stock was physiologically pre-adapted for the emergence of the avian (and possibly the pterosaur) lineages in the Jurassic

The palaeoenvironment from which early tetrapods emerged is crucial to comprehend in order to understand the mechanisms that drove and allowed the terrestrialization of vertebrates; one of the most important evolutionary ‘events’ in the history of animals. Nevertheless, much of the terrestrialization is shrouded in obscurity, inter alia, due to scarcity of early tetrapods in the fossil record. Each new discovery of anything linked to vertebrate terrestrialization is therefore of great importance. Here, I present new detailed analyses of the palaeoenvironmental conditions at the time of formation of the earliest (early Middle Devonian) tetrapod trackways found in the Zachełmie Quarry in the Holy Cross Mountains of southern Poland. The trackways are found in three horizons in a clay-rich dolomitic succession represented by the Lower Complex of the Wojciechowice Formation. This Lower Complex is composed of short shallowing upward sequences that often terminate with desiccation cracks and/or paleosols. Vertically fluctuating δ18O values in the complex suggest multiple episodes of closed hydrological systems. A model of ephemeral to perennial lakes in a terrestrial setting is therefore proposed. Such environment is in concordance with evidence of scarce bioturbation and a flourish of microbial communities that, in contrast to a normal marine setting, most likely represent an ecologically stressed ecosystem. Furthermore: non-marine rare earth element (REE) signals, desiccation events, fossils of green algae (charophytes), paleosol development, low energy cyclic deposits and general lack of marine taxa in the body and trace fossil records in this complex firmly establishes the interpretation of palustrine carbonates formed in a lacustrine-like setting. However, in the lower part of the complex, some highly fractioned marine fossils occur. These are suggested to have been transported during wash-up events which temporally places the setting in marine proximity. Seasons of monsoonal rainfall resulted in erosion and influx of detrital grains which is evidenced by fine planar lamination (of seasonal cyclicity) in most of the sediments and occasional occurrence of blackened clasts (and rain-drop imprints). Thus, none of the pre-existing palaeoenvironmental hypotheses of tetrapod emergence are in full concordance with the data from the Zachełmie Quarry. Instead, a new palaeoenvironment is proposed for the earliest tetrapods: schizohaline ephermal to perennial lakes with periodic desiccation. This infers that already in the early Middle Devonian, tetrapods had conquered the terrestrial realm and were perhaps already capable of terrestrial locomotion over quite substantial distances. / Däggdjur, reptiler, fåglar och amfibier utgör tillsammans en besläktad djurgrupp som kallas för tetrapoder (fyrfotingar). Deras gemensamma förfader härstammade från de lobfenade fiskarna men skiljde sig från dem genom att inneha utvecklade ben med tår istället för de ”köttiga” fenor som de lobfeniga fiskarna karaktäriseras av. Denna evolutionära nyhet tillät, tillsammans med en rad andra egenskaper (lungor, skydd för uttorkning av dermis etc.), att vertebrater helt och hållet kunde koloni-sera land. I och med att vår egen existens är en direkt följd av denna evolutionära händelse är detta ett hett forskningsämne inom evolutionsbiologin. Ändå är mycket fortfarande höljt i dunkel beträffande hur koloniseringen av land gick till och vad det var som drev denna utveckling eftersom övergången skedde under en, i geologisk mått, snabb tidsrymd. Dock har de sista årtiondena resulterat i flertalet nya fossilfynd av primitiva tetrapoder. Ett fynd som är speciellt spektakulärt eftersom det är den hittills äldsta efterlämningen av tetrapoder, är fotspår som uppenbart är gjorda av ett djur som hade ben och tår istället för fenor. Detta förvånade hela det vetenskapliga samfundet eftersom det innebar att vi (tetrapoderna) utvecklades tidigare än vad som var dittills trott och att vertebrat-koloniseringen av land förmodligen skedde flertalet miljoner år tidigare. Vad som också skiljer ett spårfossil från andra fossil är att de är spår av djuren från när och där de levde till skillnad från bara deras skelettdelar som oftast transporterats från där de dog och bara preserveras i speciella miljöer. Detta har jag utnyttjat i detta arbete för att försöka avgöra i vilken miljö de är avsatta i. Jag har analyserat de sedimentära bergarterna i stenbrottet i södra Polen med skärningen som innehåller de lagren i vilka fotspåren finns. Analyser av sällsynta jordartsmetaller från de tre lager där fotspår är tydliga, antyder en speciell avsättningsmiljö som inte liknar en typisk havsmiljö. I den undre delen av lagerföljden där de spårbärande lagren påträffats finns återkristalliserade saltkristaller, torkningssprickor och fossila jordar som indikerar korta respektive långvariga perioder av uttorkning. Andra fossil som i en normal marin miljö borde bevaras i en dolomitisk kalksten lyser med sin frånvaro och istället påfinns massiv koloni-sering av cyanobakterier. Detta brukar ske i speciella miljöer som avviker från vanlig marin komposi-tion, så som äldre sötvattensmiljöer eller laguner med hög salthalt, som därmed är ”svårbebodd” för djur som annars livnär sig på de fotosyntiserande bakterierna. Implikationen av mitt arbete är att tetrapoderna redan i tidig mellan Devon (ca 390 miljoner år sedan) inte bara hade utvecklat ben utan också att de kunde använda dem över landsträckor för att ta sig till, och mellan, kontinentala vatten. Detta är ännu en viktig pusselbit i pusslet som ämnar rekonstruera tetrapodernas (och vår egen) uppkomst.