Jurassic

Abstract Sauropod dinosaurs were the largest terrestrial
herbivores and pushed at the limits of vertebrate biomechanics
and physiology. Sauropods exhibit high craniodental
diversity in ecosystems where numerous species coexisted,
leading to the hypothesis that this biodiversity is
linked to niche subdivision driven by ecological specialisation.
Here, we quantitatively investigate feeding behaviour
hypotheses for the iconic sauropod Diplodocus. Biomechanical
modelling, using finite element analysis, was used to
examine the performance of the Diplodocus skull. Three
feeding behaviours were modelled: muscle-driven static biting,
branch stripping and bark stripping. The skull was found to be
‘over engineered’ for static biting, overall experiencing low
stress with only the dentition enduring high stress. When
branch stripping, the skull, similarly, is under low stress, with
little appreciable difference between those models. When simulated for bark stripping, the skull experiences far greater
stresses, especially in the teeth and at the jaw joint. Therefore,
we refute the bark-stripping hypothesis, while the hypotheses
of branch stripping and/or precision biting are both
consistent with our findings, showing that branch stripping
is a biomechanically plausible feeding behaviour
for diplodocids. Interestingly, in all simulations, peak
stress is observed in the premaxillary–maxillary ‘lateral
plates’, supporting the hypothesis that these structures
evolved to dissipate stress induced while feeding. These
results lead us to conclude that the aberrant craniodental
form of Diplodocus was adapted for food procurement
rather than resisting high bite forces.

The abaxial leaf surfaces of Anomozamites villosus sp. nov., a new species of bennettitalean foliage from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou beds of Inner Mongolia, China, are covered with soft, shaggy hairs that are loosely, but regularly distributed across the lamina. Selectively arranged, long, stiff or acerate hairs directed or bent towards the leaf apex, project on the abaxial side of the leaf from the rachis margins. Both types of hairs are interpreted predominantly as adaptations for passive defence against damage by arthropods (sap-sucking, leaf-chewing or oviposition) rather than being morphological responses to physical environmental parameters, e.g. xeromorphic features. As several of the leaves show evidence for high levels of leaf-margin feeding by phytophagous arthropods, these mechanisms have not been entirely effective and may have evolved to defend against only selected arthropods or behavioural strategies. These findings contribute to the reconstruction of ecological interactions in the exceptionally preserved Jurassic Daohugou biota of northern China, and provide a rare insight into the plant–arthropod co-evolutionary ‘arms race’.

Western Australia has one of the most diverse floras in the world. From the giant Karri and Tingle forests in the south, to the scattered tropical rainforests in the north; from the incredibly species-rich sand heath flora in the south-west, to the desert floras of the inland parts of the State, more than 12,000 species of vascular plants are estimated to exist. The changing pattern of the fossil floras in Western Australia is a legacy of both their evolutionary history and of the changing environments in which they grew. In this booklet we provide an illustrated overview of Western Australia’s fossil plant record, based on fossil collections of the Western Australian Museum, the Department of Geology and Geophysics in the University of Western Australia, and the Geological Survey of Western Australia. Although many fossil plants that have been collected over the last 30 years still remain to be described, sufficient is known to provide a broad overview of the ancestors of the state’s highly diverse modern flora.

The Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of western North America has yielded a number of specimens assigned to the ornithischian dinosaurs Stegosaurus and Camptosaurus, and many of these specimens come from channel sandstone deposits. Six new specimens are recorded mostly from channel sandstones as well. Indeed, early analyses of site occurrences (reducing the effects of large single-site samples) suggested that Stegosaurus and Camptosaurus were more often found in channel sandstone deposits than other common Morrison Formation dinosaurs such as Camarasaurus or Diplodocus. This also indicated the possibility of ecological segregation of the former two genera from other herbivorous dinosaurs of the Morrison. Revisiting this question with additional data suggests the pattern may not be as strong as it once appeared. Analysis of occurrence data indicates that Stegosaurus and Camptosaurus occur in channel sandstone deposits slightly more frequently than the two sauropods, but statistical analysis of this pattern by either localities or individuals indicates little significance to the trend. However, Camptosaurus appears more strongly associated with channel sandstone deposits relative to other dinosaurs than does Stegosaurus. These results suggest that any ecological segregation of these genera was moderate, but that, if present, the segregation was more pronounced in Camptosaurus.

The northern Perth Basin lies between about 27 and 31 30'S adjacent to the Yilgarn Craton on the western margin of Western Australia. The basin contains up to 12 km of Ordovician and mid-Carboniferous to Cretaceous, primarily nonmarine to shallow-marine strata below extensive thin, mostly non-marine, Cenozoic cover. This guide describes 37 localities in the basin, from Kalbarri to Gingin, including access and land tenure, and emphasizes stratigraphy, sedimentology, and palaeontology. These localities constitute ...

2013.47 These maps (rectilinear projection) are from the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2013a-f).  This is a digital atlas of plate tectonic, paleogeographic, and paleoclimatic reconstructions designed for use with the GIS software, ArcMap (ESRI).  Table 1 lists the various types of maps that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The maps included in this folio are highlighted in bold text (Table 1).
The last map in each folio is a rectilinear graticule that can be overlain on the maps to provide a geographic reference frame.  A rectilinear projection was used because it can be easily georeferenced in ArcMap and transformed into a variety of other map projections.  The rectilinear, or plate caree map projection can also be directly “wrapped” onto a spherical projection, like the oneused by Google Earth. A set of Google Earth paleoglobes has made from the maps in this folio. These Google Earth paleoglobes can be downloaded at: www.globalgeology.com. 
If the map you need is missing, or if there doesn’t seem to be a map folio for the exact time interval of interest, please contact me (cscotese@gmail.com). Table 2 lists all the time intervals that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS. The PaleoAtlas contains one map for every stage in the Phanerozoic, as well as 6 maps for the late Precambrian.  Eventually, Map Folios, like this one, will be published for every time interval in the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The following section is a brief description of the maps that makeup the Map Folio.

2013.41 These maps (rectilinear projection) are from the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2013a-f).  This is a digital atlas of plate tectonic, paleogeographic, and paleoclimatic reconstructions designed for use with the GIS software, ArcMap (ESRI).  Table 1 lists the various types of maps that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The maps included in this folio are highlighted in bold text (Table 1).
The last map in each folio is a rectilinear graticule that can be overlain on the maps to provide a geographic reference frame.  A rectilinear projection was used because it can be easily georeferenced in ArcMap and transformed into a variety of other map projections.  The rectilinear, or plate caree map projection can also be directly “wrapped” onto a spherical projection, like the oneused by Google Earth. A set of Google Earth paleoglobes has made from the maps in this folio. These Google Earth paleoglobes can be downloaded at: www.globalgeology.com.

2014.11 This Atlas of Jurassic Paleogeographic Maps shows the changing paleogeography from the Hettangian (198 Ma) to the Jurassic/Cretaceoous Boundary (145.5 Ma).  The maps are from volume 3 of the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2014). Absolute age assignments are from Gradstein, Ogg & Smith (2008). 

The following maps are included in the Atlas of Jurassic Paleogeographic Maps:

Map 32  Jurassic/Cretaceous Boundary (145.5 Ma) Berriasian Supersequence Boundary
Map 33  Late Jurassic (Tithonian, 148.2 Ma) Highstand Systems Track 
Map 34  Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian, 153.2) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 35  Late Jurassic (Oxfordian, 158.4) Transgressive Systems Track
Map 36  Middle Jurassic (Callovian, 164.5 Ma) Transgressive Systems Tract
Map 37  Middle Jurassic (Bajocian & Bathonian, 169.7 Ma) Kimmeridgian-Oxfordian Supersequence Boundary & Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 38  Middle Jurassic (Aalenian, 173.2 Ma) Bathonian-Bajocian Supersequence Boundary
Map 39  Early Jurassic (Toarcian, 179.3 Ma) Toarcian Supersequence Boundary and Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 40  Early Jurassic (Pliensbachian, 186.3 Ma) Maximum Flooding Surface
Map 41  Early Jurassic (Sinemurian, 193 Ma) Transgressive Systems Track
Map 42  Early Jurassic (Hettangian, 198 Ma) Pliensbachian Supersequence Boundary


This work should be cited as
Scotese,  C.R., 2014.  Atlas of Jurassic Paleogeographic Maps, PALEOMAP Atlas for ArcGIS, volume 3, The Jurassic and Triassic, Maps 32-42, Mollweide Projection, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.

The Mediterranean area is the locus of a variety of deep-sea chemosynthetic environments that have been exploited by bivalves of the family Solemyidae during Cenozoic to present time. Large solemyids represented by the Solemya doderleini group were widely distributed in Neogene deep-sea reducing habitats, including cold vent hydrocarbon sites. Based upon the diagnostic structure of the ligament, Solemya doderleini (Mayer), 1861 and S.
subquadrata (Foresti), 1879 are moved to the genus Acharax Dall, 1908. After the Messinian Salinity Crisis Acharax doderleini re-colonized deep-sea sulphide environments up to the Pliocene at least. At present, Acharax occurs in similar settings in the adjacent eastern Atlantic Ocean. Thus far, large solemyids are not documented from the present deep Mediterranean Sea in spite of a vast number of seep and reducing habitats with chemosynthetic biota, especially concentrated in its Eastern basin. Promisingly, however, a single live juvenile specimen of Solemyidae has
been recently found at bathyal depth associated with a pockmark in the Nile Deep Sea Fan.

Jurassic reef patterns reflect the fulminant global and regional changes initiated by the breakup of northern Pangea. The pattern of reef distribution across the Jurassic reflects a complex mix of (1) different and changing tectonic styles along the continental margins and adjacent shelf seas; (2) sea-level rise and its modulating influence on extrinsic sedimentation; (3) oceanographic and climatic reorganizations related to general sea-level rise and the new plate-tectonic configurations; and (4) evolutionary changes in the ecological demands and abilities of reef biota, which, in part, appear to have been triggered by the extrinsic changes during the breakup of northern Pangea. Rifting and onset of drift in the central Atlantic as well as in the western Tethys resulted in a distinct sea-level rise, which transformed Jurassic shelf seas along the northern Tethys margin from dominantly siliciclastic to dominantly carbonate settings. The opening of the ocean passageway from the Tethys to the Caribbean and Pacific completely reorganized global oceanic circulation patterns. During the Late Jurassic, shelf seas were considerably deep, increasing the areas of settings suitable for development of siliceous sponge mounds on the northern Tethys margin. In contrast, many parts of the southern Tethys margin underwent strong morphological changes due to rift tectonics within the Triassic carbonate platforms, which resulted in a completely different pattern in Jurassic reef distribution relative to the northern Tethys. After the end-Triassic extinction event, Jurassic reefs recuperated gradually during the Early Jurassic, with a first major reef domain developing in Morocco. Their temporal distribution through the Middle Jurassic was more balanced, but reefs occurred in scattered domains often distant from each other (e.g., Portugal, France, Madagascar, Iran). Late Jurassic reefs expanded rapidly in the course of the ongoing sea-level rise and the oceanographic reorganization, resulting in mostly interconnected domains. A pattern of waxing and waning of reef abundance and spatial reef distribution through time is superimposed on this trend. It is again, at least to a large extent, correlatable with sea-level fluctuations of greater magnitude. Jurassic reef growth had peaks during the transgressive episodes of the Sinemurian– Pliensbachian, Bajocian–Bathonian, and Oxfordian–Kimmeridgian, with superimposed higher-frequency peaks. The Jurassic represents the peak not only of development of Mesozoic coral reefs but equally of development of sponge mounds. Sponge mounds represent siliceous sponge–microbolite mud mounds, which expanded enormously during the Oxfordian along the European part of the northern Tethys. A peculiar type of bivalve reefs, the Lithiothis reefs, were widespread particularly during the Sinemurian and Pliensbachian, and they might have partially filled a potential reef-growth habitat not occupied by corals, owing to the reduced availability of coral taxa at that time. Bivalve reefs, in particular oyster reefs, also occurred scattered in Middle and Late Jurassic times, mostly representing marginal marine environments. Sea-level rise and tectonic opening of new seaways had a pronounced influence on climate and marine circulation patterns, which were the principal factors in Jurassic reef development. Particularly in the Late Jurassic, coral and stromatoporoid reefs occurred in high paleolatitudinal settings (e.g., Argentina, Patagonia, Japan) evidencing strong climatic equilibration of marine and coastal areas, despite the fact that strong seasonal contrasts should have prevailed in the Gondwana interiors. There are only a few records of low-latitude reef sites, despite the availability of carbonate platforms, which might reflect overheated waters in this area. Humidity was probably higher than previously thought. Siliciclastic influx was partially high during the Kimmeridgian, owing to fluvial runoff and renewed tectonic activity, and reduced the number of reef sites and domains considerably, despite ongoing global sea-level rise. Jurassic, chiefly Upper Jurassic, reefs not only grew within the expanding carbonate settings but also thrived in terrigeneously influenced environments. This is particularly obvious in the North Atlantic rift basins, such as the Lusitanian Basin of west-central Portugal, but it is also discernible in many other Jurassic reef domains. Occurrence of coral associations in fine siliciclastics, ratios of skeletal low-density vs. high-density banding, morphological adaptations towards sedimentation, high proportions of bioerosion, and overlap of many coral domains with proposed upwelling areas suggests that there was a considerable stock of Jurassic zooxanthellate corals with a distinct heterotrophic proportion of feeding, thus living in mesotrophic settings. In contrast, reefs on the isolated, oceanic shallow-water Apulia–Adria platforms differ considerably, being dominated by stromatoporoids, chaetetids, and corals. We propose the theory that these oceanic faunas might have already had a more advanced photosymbiotic relationship than the other forms and thus could thrive in presumably strongly oligotrophic settings. Such associations, which might have occurred similarly on oceanic platforms in the Pacific, are thought to have been the stock for Cenozoic development of coral reefs into superoligotrophic settings, whereas the more nutrient-tolerant reefs along the continental margins vanished in the course of latest Jurassic and Berriasian sea-level drop. Sediment-stressed, nutrient-rich shallow-water settings might then have been reconquered by rudist bivalves in the course of the Cretaceous. Jurassic reefs not only constitute widespread and important hydrocarbon reservoir rocks; their manifold characteristics and related dependence on basin tectonics, sea-level change, and ecological parameters makes them valuable basin-analysis tools for potential hydrocarbon plays. This preprint is identical with the final version of the paper, except for some minor layout details. Please note that only Figs. 2-4 are colored in the published version.

Ichnofacies of Gateway, Colorado discovered and interpreted by: Stacy Bjerk
Located northeast of Gateway, Colorado, lays a large sandstone boulder containing upwards of 63 theropod dinosaur prints.  These are similar to prints found in northern Virginia, and represent the ichnotaxa Grallator and Anchisauripus.  This suggests that the trackway is late Triassic to early Jurassic in age.  Given this approximate age and uniform sandstone texture of the boulder, it is likely that the trackway is part of the Jurassic Wingate Formation.  The Gateway trackway displays several different sized tracks which suggest multiple track makers.  The prints are 17.5 cm, 16 cm, 15 cm, 13.5 cm, and 9 cm in length.  Based on estimates of the animal’s stride, the dinosaurs responsible for the tracks had hip heights which ranged from .36m to .7m.  Measurements also indicate that the stride velocities ranged from 6.64 mph to 10.11 mph.  Parallel tracks and crosscutting tracks may represent predation, sexual dimorphism, or gregarious behavior within the species.  The tracks are throughout two separate substrates.  The oldest substrate displays low sinuosity asymmetrical ripple marks, which are hydrologic in origin.  The origin of these ripples was determined by using the ripple index from Tanner, 1967.  The second (younger) substrate is relatively featureless, but contains a number of prints concentrated near one another.  Given the random placement of the tracks along the boulder facies in combination with hydrologic ripples may suggest a frequented watering hole within the harsh conditions of the late Triassic/early Jurassic erg.

Belemnites (order Belemnitida), a very successful group of
Mesozoic cephalopods, provide an important clue for understanding Mesozoic marine ecosystems and the origin of modern cephalopods. Following current hypotheses, belemnites originated in the earliest Jurassic (Hettangian, 201.6–197 Ma) with very small forms. Accord- ing to this view their paleobiogeographic distribution was restricted to northern Europe until the Pliensbachian (190–183 Ma). The fossil record is, however, biased by the fact that all the previous studies on belemnites focused on Europe. Here we report two belemnite taxa from the Hettangian of Japan: a new species of the Sinobelemnitidae and a large taxon of the suborder Belemnitina. The Sinobelemnitidae, which may be included in the future in a new suborder, have also been recorded from the Triassic of China, specimens so far poorly under- stood. The presence of a very large rostrum attributed to the Belemni- tina suggests in addition that a diverse belemnite fauna evolved earlier than previously thought. Our new findings therefore (1) extend the origin of the belemnites back by ~33 m.y. into the Triassic, (2) suggest that this group did not necessarily originate in northern Europe, and (3) imply that belemnites survived the Triassic–Jurassic extinction, one of the five big mass extinctions in the Phanerozoic. Since belem- nites provided a considerable amount of food as prey, the origination of belemnites is probably an important event also for the evolution of their predators, such as marine reptiles and sharks.

While demonstrating ocean acidification in the modern is relatively straightforward (measure increase in
atmospheric CO2 and corresponding ocean chemistry change), identifying palaeo-ocean acidification is
problematic. The crux of this problem is that the rock record is a constructive archive while ocean
acidification is essentially a destructive (and/or inhibitory) phenomenon. This is exacerbated in deep time
without the benefit of a deep ocean record. Here, we discuss the feasibility of, and potential criteria for,
identifying an acidification event in deep time. Furthermore, we investigate the evidence for ocean
acidification during the Triassic-Jurassic (T-J) boundary interval, an excellent test case because 1) it occurs in
deep time, beyond the reach of deep sea drilling coverage; 2) a potential trigger for acidification is known;
and 3) it is associated with one of the ‘Big Five’ mass extinctions which disproportionately affected modernstyle
invertebrates.
Three main criteria suggest that acidification may have occurred across the T-J transition. 1) The eruption of
the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) and the associated massive and rapid release of CO2
coincident with the end-Triassic mass extinction provide a suitable trigger for an acidification event (full
carbonate undersaturation in the surface ocean is possible but improbable). 2) Tentative evidence for a global
paucity of carbonate across the end-Triassic mass extinction versus the adjacent stratigraphy is consistent
with a predicted sedimentary response to acidification. 3) The end-Triassic mass extinction was particularly
selective against acid-sensitive organisms (more so than perhaps any other extinction event) and
temporarily eliminated coral reefs. Therefore multiple lines of evidence are consistent with a T-J ocean
acidification event within our current resolution to recognise such events in deep time. The conclusion that
the end-Triassic extinction was influenced by acidification implies that short-term acidification perturbations
may have long-term effects on ecosystems, a repercussion that has previously not been established.
Although anthropogenic emissions are more rapid than any event in the geologic record, events such as the
T-J can serve as partial analogues for the present anthropogenic carbon release. Since the T-J was such a
pronounced crisis for both modern-style marine invertebrates and scleractinian reefs, it is of particular
interest in terms of informing projections about the effects of modern ocean acidification.

Southern and eastern parts of the central English county of Warwickshire are underlain by a poorly exposed but well-preserved and richly fossiliferous succession of Lower and Middle Jurassic strata. This article outlines the nature of the Jurassic sediments and their palaeoenvironments, and highlights some of the more important sites and discoveries.

ABSTRACT--Charting the broad patterns of vascular plant evolution for Gondwana against the major global environmental shifts and events is attempted here for the first time. This is based on the analysis of the major vascular plant-bearing formations of the southern continents (plus India) correlated against the standard geological time-scale. Australia, followed closely by South America, are shown to yield by far the most complete sequences of productive strata. Ten seminal turnover pulses in the unfolding evolutionary picture are identified and seen to be linked to continental drift, climate change and mass global extinctions. The rise of vascular plants along the tropical belt, for instance, followed closely after the end-Ordovician warming and extinction. Equally remarkable is that the Late Devonian extinction may have caused both the terrestrialisation of the vertebrates and the origin of the true gymnosperms. The end-Permian extinction, closure of lapetus, together with warming, appears to have set in motion an unparalleled, explosive, gymnosperm radiation; whilst the Late Triassic extinction dramatically curtailed it. It is suggested that the latitudinal diversity gradient clearly recognised today, where species richness increases towards the tropics, may have been partly reversed during phases of Hot House climate. Evidence hints at this being particularly so at the heyday of the gymnosperms in the Late Triassic super-Hot House world. As for the origin of terrestrial, vascular, plant life, the angiosperms seem closely linked to a phase of marked shift from Ice House to Hot House.
Insect and tetrapod evolutionary patterns are discussed in the context of the plants providing the base of the ever-changing ecosystems. Intimate co-evolution is often evident. This isn't always the case, for example the non-linkage between the dominant, giant, long-necked, herbivorous sauropod dinosaurs and the dramatic radiation of the flowering plants in the Mid-Cretaceous.

RÉSUMÉ--Pour la première fois, une tentative de reconnaissance des modes principaux de l'evolution de la plante vasculaire du Gondwana en fonction des variations d'environnements et des événements globaux majeurs est présentée ici. Elle se fonde sur l'analyse des grandes formations à plantes vasculaires des continentaux méridionaux (plus l'Inde) corrélées avec les niveaux d'étage en fonction de l'échelle standard des temps géologiques. L'Australie, suivie de près par l'Amérique du Sud, montre les séquences de strates productives de loin les plus complètes. Dix épisodes de bouleversement sont identifiés dans l'établissement du tableau de l'évolution et sont liés de façons variées à la dérive des continents, aux changements climatiques et aux extinctions globales en masse. Par exemple, la progression des plantes vasculaires dans la zone tropicale a suivi de près le réchauffement et l'extinction de la fin de l'Ordovicien. Il est également remarquable que l'extinction du Dévonien tardif a pu déclencher à la fois la sortie des eaux des Vertébrés et l'origine des vrais Gymnospermes. L'extinction de la fin du Permien, et la fermeture de l'Ocean Iapetus, avec le réchauffement, semble avoir mis en mouvement une expansion explosive, sans parallèle, des Gymnospermes que l'extinction du Trias tardif a stoppée de façon brutale. Il est suggéré que le gradient de diversité en fonction de la latitude, clairement reconnu aujourd'hui, la richesse en nombre d'espèces augmentant vers les tropiques, a pu s'inverser en partie lors des phases de climat à effet de serre. L'apogée des Gymnospermes au Trias tardif sous un climat de super-effet de serre constitue un argument. Comme dans le cas de l'origine des plantes vasculaires terrestres, l'origine des Angiospermes semble étroitement liée à une phase de transition marquée d'un climat glaciaire à un climat chaud.
Les modes d'évolution des Insectes et des Tétrapodes, quoique non reportés, sont discutés dans le contexte des végétaux constituant la base des écosystèmes toujours en réorganisation. Des évolutions intimement mêlées sont souvent évidentes. Ce n'est pas toujours le cas, par exemple l'absence de lien entre les Dinosaures Sauropodes herbivores à long cou dominants et l'expansion extraordinaire des plantes à fleurs au cours du Crétacé moyen.

Iron ore deposits of Franche-Comté (France)
"Iron ores are so common in the province, we can consider its territory as entirely ferruginous. It would be easier to count the places where there is no iron ore than those where we find it ." This observation extracted from 'A look at the province of Franche-Comté presented to Mr. de La Chaise by "his humble servant, Father TIBURCE ", written in 1775, reflects substantially the reality that results of research done in the field or in the bibliography regarding iron ores. Such is the geographical distribution of iron deposits that at every point of the province, ironmasters disposed of ore resources close to  their blast furnace.
Except a few veins and stockworks associated with paleozoic basement of the southern Vosges, most of Franche-Comté iron ores are either marine jurassic and cretaceous deposits (domerian, toarcian, aalenian, callovian, oxfordian and valanginian oolitic iron deposits) or deposits formed by weathering, intact or reworked, (eocene and plio-pleistocene pisolitic iron deposits and ferricrusts).

For 130 years dinosaurs have been divided into two distinct clades – Ornithischia and Saurischia.

This dissertation looks at the earliest evolution of the clade Dinosauria by focusing upon the interrelationships of the major subsidiary clades within it. It does this following examination, comparison and description of early dinosaur material, and by utilising modern phylogenetic analysis techniques, to rigorously and objectively test the fundamental groupings within the clade Dinosauria using a newly compiled dataset of early dinosaurs and other dinosauromorphs (= close dinosaur relatives). The current consensus on how the principal clades within Dinosauria (Theropoda, Sauropodomorpha and Ornithischia) are related to one another is challenged by the results of these analyses. This study finds, for the first time, a sister-group relationship between Ornithischia and Theropoda, here termed Ornithoscelida. Consequently, a new definition for Dinosauria is presented, as the historic definition would exclude all members of Sauropodomorpha from the clade. As well as this, I propose revisions to the definitions of each of the principal dinosaurian sub-divisions and propose a new timeframe and geographic setting for the origin of Dinosauria. These new hypotheses force re-evaluations of early dinosaur cladogenesis and character evolution, suggest the independent acquisition of hypercarnivory in multiple dinosaur groups and offers an explanation for many of the anatomical features previously regarded as striking convergences between theropods and early ornithischians.

As well as presenting new anatomical data on many early dinosaurs and dinosauromorphs, including a comprehensive re-description of the postcranial anatomy of Lesothosaurus diagnosticus (Chapter 2), and a new anatomical dataset of early dinosaurs (the largest ever compiled), this thesis goes on to implement the new dataset to investigate a number of important outstanding questions about early dinosaur evolution and provides new lines of enquiry for future workers to pursue. The results of this thesis reveal the oldest known members of the dinosaurian clades Theropoda and Sauropodomorpha (Chapter 6), as well as a new clade within Ornithischia; a taxon previously thought to represent a derived theropod has been recovered as a potential ‘missing link’ between theropods and ornithischians using the new dataset.
This work now provides a unique tool for the assessment of the phylogenetic affinities of early dinosaurs and dinosauromorphs and, once published, will hopefully become the benchmark dataset for palaeontologists working in this area.

Pliosaurier gehören zu den größten Meeresreptilien, die je gelebt haben. Vom Mittleren Jura bis in die obere Unterkreide erreichten einige Gattungen gigantische Ausmaße und standen meist an der Spitze der Nahrungskette. In den letzten Jahren haben besonders zwei Pliosaurier-Funde das Interesse der Öffentlichkeit erregt. Einer davon ist als „Monster von Aramberri“ bekannt geworden. Es handelt sich dabei um ein unvollständiges Skelett aus dem Kimmeridgium von Mexiko, dessen fossile Überreste von Buchy et al. (2003) als nicht näher bestimmbarer Pliosauride beschrieben wurden. Das Tier erreichte vermutlich eine Gesamtlänge von 15 m. Der zweite populär gewordene Fund, gleichfalls ein unvollständiges Skelett, stammt aus dem Tithonium von Svalbard (Spitzbergen) und erhielt den Spitznamen „Predator X“. Das Exemplar wurde von Knutsen et al. (2012) als neue Art der Gattung Pliosaurus, Pliosaurus funkei beschrieben und erreichte vermutlich eine Länge von zwischen 10 und 13 m. Keiner der uns bekannten Funde von Pliosauriern mit Längen von mehr als 10 m ist vollständig. Meist werden lediglich fragmentarische Reste von Skeletten entdeckt, die oft auch eher schlecht erhalten sind.
Keywords: Pliosauridae, Liopleurodon, Pliosaurus giganteus, Thaumatosaurus, Jurassic, Germany

This diagram show the rise and fall of global temperatures during the last 540 million years.  Scotese (2016) describes how this curve was made.  It replaces the curve published in Scotese et al., (1999).

PETM= Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (55.8 Ma), EEOC = Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (54 Ma – 46 Ma), MECO = Mid-Eocene Climatic Optimum(42 Ma), EOT = Eocene-Oligocene Transition (40 Ma – 33 Ma), MMCO=Mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum (15Ma – 13Ma), LGM = Last Glacial Maximum (21,000 years ago), 2016 = Modern MAT, PAW = Post-Anthropogenic Warming .  White stars indicate rapid cooling episodes (Stoll-Schrag Events26) at 160Ma, 127Ma, 97Ma, 91Ma, 71Ma, and 65 Ma).  Black stars represent rapid warming episodes (Kidder-Worsley Events16) at (Present-day, 15Ma, 43Ma, 56Ma, 65Ma, 93Ma, 120Ma, 183Ma, 200Ma, 251Ma, 300Ma, 359Ma, 374Ma, 444Ma, 499Ma, 520Ma, and 542 Ma).

Please cite as:  Scotese, C.R., 2015.  Phanerozoic Temperature Curve, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL.

To learn more about how this curve was produced see:
Scotese, C.R., 2016.  Some thoughts Global Climate Change: The Transition from Icehouse to Hothouse, in Scotese, C.R., Earth History: The Evolution of the Earth System as Revealed through Plate Tectonics, Paleogeography, Paleoclimate, and the Evolution of Life, PALEOMAP Project, (in preparation), Evanston, IL.

The Mygatt-Moore Quarry is a deposit of several thousand dinosaur bones in the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation in western Colorado. The site has been worked for more than 30 years and nearly 2400 mapped specimens have been collected. This study gathered data about the quarry from many sources to investigate the origin of the deposit. The Mygatt-Moore Quarry appears to be an attritional deposit of a relatively restricted diversity of dinosaurs, with few other non-dinosaurian taxa, that accumulated in a vernal pool deposit in an overbank setting. Bone modification was mostly by corrosion and breakage by trampling; scavenging was abundant. The paleofauna is dominated by Allosaurus and Apatosaurus (MNI and NIS), with the polacanthid ankylosaur Mymoorapelta less common. The matrix of the main quarry layer includes abundant carbonized fragments of plant material, and the mud during the time of deposition may have been often at least damp and occasionally acidic and dysoxic. The Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry is a close correlate of the Mygatt-Moore Quarry in terms of lithology and taphonomy, but demonstrates significant differences upon close inspection of matrix details and bone modification. Large quarries of fine-grained facies in the Morrison Formation possess a very different preservation mode as well as different taxon and relative abundance profiles from those in coarser sediments, which suggests that more may be learned in the future from taphofacies study of large quarries in mudstone beds.

The fossil record of archosaurs - crocodylomorphs, pterosaurs and dinosaurs - from the Jurassic of the Southern Hemisphere
is critically reviewed, and its evolutionary implications are evaluated. Although several important faunas and also isolated finds are known from Gondwana, the record in total is still very patchy, and any evolutionary scenario based on this record should be seen as tentative. Compared to the Northern Hemisphere, southern archosaurs are much more poorly known, which is especially true for terrestrial crocodiles and pterosaurs. Marine crocodiles are rather well represented in south-western South America, whereas the report of terrestrial archosaurs is currently best for Africa. However, in South America, important and especially promising archosaur faunas are known from the Callovian Cañadón Asfalto and the (?)Tithonian Cañadón Calcáreo formations of Chubut province, Argentina. Early and Middle Jurassic Gondwanan archosaurs demonstrate that the faunas of that period still had a generally Pangean distribution, whereas first indications of differential archosaur evolution in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres are evident in Late Jurassic Gondwanan faunas.

The sedimentary successions exposed in northeast Calabria document the Jurassic–Early Cretaceous tectonic– sedimentary evolution of a former segment of the European–Iberian continental margin. They are juxtaposed today to units representing the deformation of the African and Adriatic plates margins as a product of Apenninic crustal shortening. A complex pattern of unconformities reveals a multi-stage tectonic evolution during the Early Jurassic, which affected the facies and geometries of siliciclastic and carbonate successions deposited in syn-and post-rift environments ranging from fluvial to deep marine. Late Sinemurian/Early Pliensbachian normal faulting resulted in exposure of the Hercynian basement at the sea-floor, which was onlapped by marine basin-fill units. Shallow-water carbonate aprons and reefs developed in response to the production of new accommodation space, fringing the newborn islands which represent structural highs made of Paleozoic crystalline and metamor-phic rock. Their drowning and fragmentation in the Toarcian led to the development of thin caps of Rosso Ammonitico facies. Coeval to these deposits, a thick (N 1 km) hemipelagic/siliciclastic succession was sedimented in neighboring hanging wall basins, which would ultimately merge with the structural high successions. Footwall blocks of the Early Jurassic rift, made of Paleozoic basement and basin-margin border faults with their onlapping basin-fill formations, are found today at the hanging wall of Miocene thrusts, overlying younger (Middle/Late Jurassic to Late Paleogene) folded basinal sediments. This paper makes use of selected case examples to describe the richly diverse set of features, ranging from paleontology to sedimentology, to structural geology, which are associated with the field identification of basin-margin unconformities. Our data provide key constraints for restoring the pre-orogenic architecture of a continental margin facing a branch of the Liguria–Piedmont ocean in the Western Tethys, and for estimating displacements and slip rates along synsedimentary faults.

Abstract :
The marbels of the Department of
Jura are mainly mesozoics limestones
(Jurassic and Cretaceous) resulting
from marine sedimentation corresponding
to a carbonated epeiric platform.
Various sedimentary environments
and the tertiary tectonic stress leading
to the structuration of the jurassian
range made a lot of carbonated
lithofacies well to be polished. Triassic
and purbeckian gypsum and anhydrit
have been also quarried for alabaster.
The geological structure set the
geographical distribution of deposits.
Jurassic marbles of the faulted area of
Dole are bordered to the SE by the
Bresse rift, filled with clays, sands and
gravels, then without marbles.
Eastward, on a cross section of the
range from the Vignoble (external
Jura) to the Haut-Jura (internal Jura),
between Trias and Cretaceous, the age
of alabasters and marbles decreases
from NW to SE.
Résumé :
Les marbres du département du Jura
sont principalement des calcaires
secondaires (Jurassique et Crétacé)
résultant d’une sédimentation marine
de type plate-forme carbonatée. Des
milieux de sédimentation contrastés et
des contraintes tectoniques tertiaires
aboutissant à la structuration de la
chaîne jurassienne ont produit une
grande variété de faciès carbonatés
susceptibles de recevoir le poli. Les
gypses et anhydrites du Trias et du
Purbeckien ont également été exploités
pour l’albâtre. La structure
géologique guide la distribution géographique
des gîtes : les gîtes
jurassiques des compartiments faillés
de la région doloise sont limités au
sud-est par le fossé bressan, rempli de
sédiments meubles et, donc, sans
marbre. Plus à l'est, en traversant la
chaîne du Vignoble au Haut-Jura, du
Trias au Crétacé, l’âge des gîtes d’albâtres
et de marbres est sensiblement
de plus en plus jeune, du nord-ouest
au sud-est.

2013.39 These maps (rectilinear projection) are from the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2013a-f).  This is a digital atlas of plate tectonic, paleogeographic, and paleoclimatic reconstructions designed for use with the GIS software, ArcMap (ESRI).  Table 1 lists the various types of maps that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The maps included in this folio are highlighted in bold text (Table 1).
The last map in each folio is a rectilinear graticule that can be overlain on the maps to provide a geographic reference frame.  A rectilinear projection was used because it can be easily georeferenced in ArcMap and transformed into a variety of other map projections.  The rectilinear, or plate caree map projection can also be directly “wrapped” onto a spherical projection, like the oneused by Google Earth. A set of Google Earth paleoglobes has made from the maps in this folio. These Google Earth paleoglobes can be downloaded at: www.globalgeology.com.

2013.45 These maps (rectilinear projection) are from the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS (Scotese, 2013a-f).  This is a digital atlas of plate tectonic, paleogeographic, and paleoclimatic reconstructions designed for use with the GIS software, ArcMap (ESRI).  Table 1 lists the various types of maps that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The maps included in this folio are highlighted in bold text (Table 1).
The last map in each folio is a rectilinear graticule that can be overlain on the maps to provide a geographic reference frame.  A rectilinear projection was used because it can be easily georeferenced in ArcMap and transformed into a variety of other map projections.  The rectilinear, or plate caree map projection can also be directly “wrapped” onto a spherical projection, like the oneused by Google Earth. A set of Google Earth paleoglobes has made from the maps in this folio. These Google Earth paleoglobes can be downloaded at: www.globalgeology.com. 
If the map you need is missing, or if there doesn’t seem to be a map folio for the exact time interval of interest, please contact me (cscotese@gmail.com). Table 2 lists all the time intervals that comprise the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas for ArcGIS. The PaleoAtlas contains one map for every stage in the Phanerozoic, as well as 6 maps for the late Precambrian.  Eventually, Map Folios, like this one, will be published for every time interval in the PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas.  The following section is a brief description of the maps that makeup the Map Folio.

The Middle Jurassic flora of Sardinia has been studied, and 24 taxa (19 genera) belonging to horsetails, ferns (Phlebopteris, Hausmannia, Coniopteris, Todites, Cladophlebis), seed ferns (Sagenopteris, Ptilozamites), cycadophytes (Nilssonia, Pterophyllum, Cycadeospermum, Ptilophyllum, Williamsonia, Weltrichia, Taeniopteris), ginkgophytes (Czekanowskia), conifers (Geinitzia, Brachyphyllum, Elatocladus) and seeds (Carpolithes), have been identified.  The flora of Sardinia is the southernmost of all Middle Jurassic European floras.  The coeval European and North African floral assemblages (112 genera) are present in a wide variety of environments and different palaeogeographic positions, which is reflected in a wide variety of taxa. A comparison between the coeval floras of Middle Jurassic age reveals a higher degree of dissimilarity than similarity between the various assemblages, which is in disagreement with the general picture of the homogeneity in the Jurassic floras given by previous authors.

Calcareous Nannoplankton had a high diversification interval during the
Jurassic/Cretaceous boundary. We studied the Nannoplankton assemblage found in a land section near a platform zone at the southeastern portion of the Tethys, located today at Northern Puebla, México. The age of the samples spans from Upper Callovian to Upper Berriasian (161 to 132 Ma). 12 species of Calcareous Nannofossils where recorded. We found 4 index species valuable for biostratigraphy correlation. The dominant taxon was Cyclagelosphaera margerelii Noël, 1965. Four bioevents, one biozone and two subzones defined in previous studies, where recognized. The distribution, significance and paleoenvironmental implications of the recovered nannofossils where discussed and comparisons were made with other Tethyan Realm studies from a Placolith/Nannolith relation perspective. The abundance and diversity of nannoflora was poor in the Callovian to Oxfordian stages, becoming moderate in the Kimmeridgian and higher for
the Tithonian to Berriasian stages. In the Upper Tithonian the Nannofossil appears accordingly to black shale sediments. A restricted to neritic paleoenvironment was interpreted in the Callovian to Oxfordian, neritic to basin during Kimmeridgian and from basin to abyssal for the Tithonian to Berriasian stages. The correlation and paleoenvironmental reconstruction potential of the Tampico Misantla Basin Calcareous
Nannofossil in the Tethyan Realm was recognized.

The osteology of the ichthyodectiform Eubiodectes libanicus (Pictet & Humbert, 1866) from the Cenomanian of Lebanon
is described on the basis of acid-prepared specimens. For comparative purposes, the osteology of other putative ichthyodectiforms is described or discussed. We focus on the description of hitherto poorly described species such as Chiromystus mawsoni Cope, 1885, Ghrisichthys bardacki (Cavin, 1997a), ‘Saurodon’ intermedius (Newton, 1878) and Thrissops sp.
from Kimmeridge, England. Sixty-nine morphological characters are defined and analysed to infer the phylogenetic relationships
within ichthyodectiforms. The main results are: (1) exclusion of Ascalabothrissops and Pachythrissops from the ichthyodectiforms; (2) redesignation of ‘Ichthyodectes’ bardacki, from the Turonian of Morocco, to Ghrisichthys gen. nov.; (3) resolution of a monophyletic family Cladocyclidae grouping mid-Cretaceous ichthyodectiforms that lived mainly along
the southern margin of Tethys (Chirocentrites, Cladocyclus, Eubiodectes, Chiromystus); (4) resolution of a Late Cretaceous
family Ichthyodectidae containing Ichthyodectes, Ghrisichthys and Xiphactinus from mid-northern latitude seas; and (5) a
better resolved Late Cretaceous family Saurodontidae in the northern hemisphere, that includes the genus Gillicus.