A new trematopid amphibian, Acheloma dunni, is reported based on excellently preserved cranial and postcranial elements recovered from the Lower Permian fissure fill deposits of the Dolese Brothers Co. limestone quarry near Richards Spur, Oklahoma. The new taxon is characterized by distinct lateral exposures of the palatine (l.e.p.) and ectopterygoid (l.e.e.) completely enclosed within the suborbital elements. This large, terrestrial adapted carnivore may represent the top predator of the Richards Spur assemblage. A phylogenetic analysis including 11 ingroup taxa and 54 cranial characters yielded a single most parsimonious tree, placing A. dunni within the monophyletic Trematopidae as the sister taxon to Acheloma cumminsi. Furthermore, the analysis supports including the enigmatic Ecolsonia and Actiobates within Trematopidae, forming a clade with the Upper Pennsylvanian Anconastes and the Lower Permian Tambachia. The study is the first to comprehensively analyze all valid and aberrant forms of Trematopidae within the context of broader dissorophoid phylogeny.

A new trematopid amphibian, Acheloma dunni, is reported based on excellently preserved cranial and postcranial elements recovered from the Lower Permian fissure fill deposits of the Dolese Brothers Co. limestone quarry near Richards Spur, Oklahoma. The new taxon is characterized by distinct lateral exposures of the palatine (l.e.p.) and ectopterygoid (l.e.e.) completely enclosed within the suborbital elements. This large, terrestrial adapted carnivore may represent the top predator of the Richards Spur assemblage. A phylogenetic analysis including 11 ingroup taxa and 54 cranial characters yielded a single most parsimonious tree, placing A. dunni within the monophyletic Trematopidae as the sister taxon to Acheloma cumminsi. Furthermore, the analysis supports including the enigmatic Ecolsonia and Actiobates within Trematopidae, forming a clade with the Upper Pennsylvanian Anconastes and the Lower Permian Tambachia. The study is the first to comprehensively analyze all valid and aberrant forms of Trematopidae within the context of broader dissorophoid phylogeny.

No / The excavation at Cnip, Isle of Lewis, Scotland of the largest, and only known family cemetery from the early Norse period in the Hehrides, provided a unique opportunity to use Sr isotope analysis to examine the origins of people who may have been Norwegian Vikings. Sr isotope analysis permits direct investigation of a person's place of origin rather than indirectly through acquired cultural and artefactual affiliations. Sr isotope data suggest that the Norse group at Cnip was of mixed origins. The majority were consistent with indigenous origins but two individuals, of middle-age and different sex. were immigrants. They were, however, not from Norway but were raised separately, most probably on Tertiary volcanic rocks (e.g. the Inner Hebrides or NE Ireland) or, for the female, on marine carbonate rocks.

Le sommeil constitue un comportement vital complexe, identifié chez la quasi-totalité des animaux étudiés. Sur la base d’études princeps dans les années 50 chez le chat et l’homme, le sommeil a pu être séparé clairement en deux états distincts : le sommeil lent et le sommeil paradoxal. Ces deux états ont ainsi été caractérisés sur la base de critères électroencéphalographiques, physiologiques et comportementaux. Basé sur une définition mammalienne, il a ainsi été montré que les mammifères terrestres et les oiseaux, tous deux homéothermes, possédaient ces deux états de sommeil. Cependant, l'origine évolutive de ces deux états reste inconnue et nous ne savons toujours pas s’ils ont évolué de façon indépendante ou s’ils ont été hérités d'un ancêtre commun. Les amphibiens et les reptiles, positionnés à la base des tétrapodes et des amniotes constituent par conséquent, des taxons clés dans la compréhension de l'évolution de ces deux états de sommeil. Afin de mieux comprendre la phylogénie de ces deux états, nous avons réalisé dans un premier temps une revue et méta-analyse de la littérature du sommeil chez ces espèces. Dans un second temps, et dans le but de pouvoir conduire des approches comparatives et ainsi mieux décrire la plasticité du sommeil, nous avons développé un dispositif miniature sans fil permettant d’enregistrer simultanément l’électrophysiologie, la physiologie, la température et le comportement en laboratoire et en milieu naturel. Enfin, nous avons conduit une étude électrophysiologique, physiologique, pharmacologique et comportementale chez deux espèces de squamates (Salvator merianae et Pogona vitticeps). Cette étude nous a permis de montrer que deux états électroencéphalographiques de sommeil existaient chez ces espèces. Cependant, elles ont aussi révélé des divergences phénotypiques importantes au sein même des lézards, ainsi qu’avec le sommeil des mammifères et des oiseaux, démontrant ainsi une origine commune mais complexe des deux états de sommeil / Sleep is a vital and complex behavior, identified in nearly all animals. Based on studies on cats and humans conducted in the 50’s, sleep was separated into two distinct sleep states: slow wave sleep and paradoxical sleep (or REM sleep). Those two states were identified based on electroencephalographic, physiological and behavioral parameters. Based on this mammalian definition, it has been demonstrated that those two states exist in terrestrial mammals and birds, both homeotherms. However, the evolutive origin of these sleeps states remains unknown and we do not know whether they evolved independently or if they were inherited from a common ancestor. Amphibians and reptiles are respectively positioned at the base of the tetrapod and the amniote tree. Therefore, they constitute key taxa in the understanding of the origin of these states. In order to understand the phylogeny of these states, we first performed an exhaustive review and meta-analysis of the sleep literature in these groups. Next, in order to be able to conduct comparative approaches and better understand the sleep plasticity, we developed a standalone miniature device to record electrophysiology, physiology, temperature, and behavior simultaneously and this under both lab and field conditions. Finally, we conducted an electrophysiological, physiological, pharmacological and behavioral study of two squamates species (Salvator merianae and Pogona vitticeps). This study revealed that two electro-encephalographical sleep states exist in these species. However, they also showed that the phenotype of these states diverged between the two lizards and between the lizards on the one hand and mammals and birds on the other hand. This would suggest a common, but complex, origin of these two sleep states

No / Traditional methods of dietary reconstruction do not allow the investigation of dietary variability within the lifetimes of individual hominins. However, laser ablation stable isotope analysis reveals that the ¿13C values of Paranthropus robustus individuals often changed seasonally and interannually. These data suggest that Paranthropus was not a dietary specialist and that by about 1.8 million years ago, savanna-based foods such as grasses or sedges or animals eating these foods made up an important but highly variable part of its diet.

Two taxa of amphibians, five taxa of reptiles, and eighteen taxa of mammals were collected by screen-washing sediments from the upper Bidahochi Formation at White Cone peak, northeastern Arizona. Five new species of mammals were recovered. They include Perognathoides bidahochiensis (Heteromyidae), Bensonomys yazhi (Cricetidae), Bensonomys bradyi (Cricetidae), Paronychomys alticuspis (Cricetidae), and Martes (Plionictis) repenningi (Mustelidae). Bensonomys yazhi and Bensonomys bradyi are close to the stem of Central and South Americal hesperomyine radiation. The radiation began in the southwest United States and Mexico during the Hemphillian. The middle member of the Bidahochi Formation is dated at 6.7 m. y. by a basalt from Roberts Mesa. The paleomagnetic data and the White Cone local fauna support this middle Hemphillian date.