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2023
Journal article
A new long‐necked archosauromorph from the Guanling Formation (Anisian, Middle Triassic) of southwestern China and its implications for neck evolution in tanystropheids
A long neck is an evolutionary innovation convergently appearing in multiple tetrapod lineages, including groups of plesiosaurs, non-archosauriform archosauromorphs, turtles, sauropodomorphs, birds, and mammals. Among all tetrapods both extant and extinct, two Triassic archosauromorphs, Tanystropheus and Dinocephalosaurus, have necks that are particularly elongated relative to the lengths of their trunks....Wang, Wei ; Spiekman, Stephan N F ; Zhao, Lijun ; Rieppel, Olivier ; Scheyer, Torsten M …
Triassic archosauromorphs, Dinocephalosaurus, tetrapods, evolution, and Tanystropheus
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2023
Journal article
Molecular fingerprints resolve affinities of Rhynie chert organic fossils
The affinities of extinct organisms are often difficult to resolve using morphological data alone. Chemical analysis of carbonaceous specimens can complement traditional approaches, but the search for taxon-specific signals in ancient, thermally altered organic matter is challenging and controversial, partly because suitable positive controls are lacking. Here, we show that...Loron , C C ; Rodriguez Dzul, E ; Orr, P J ; Gromov, A V ; Fraser, Nicholas C …
Eukaryote , Biogeochemistry, Palaeontology , and Prokaryote
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2022
Journal article
Scleromochlus and the early evolution of Pterosauromorpha
Pterosaurs, the first vertebrates to evolve powered flight, were key components of Mesozoic terrestrial ecosystems from their sudden appearance in the Late Triassic until their demise at the end of the Cretaceous1,2,3,4,5,6. However, the origin and early evolution of pterosaurs are poorly understood owing to a substantial stratigraphic and morphological...Foffa, Davide ; Dunne, Emma M ; Nesbitt, Sterling J ; Butler, Richard J ; Fraser, Nicholas C …
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2022
Blog post
Take to the Skye: New pterosaur discovery
A recent spectacular find on the Isle of Skye shines new light on pterosaurs of the Jurassic period. Our Keeper of Natural Sciences Nick Fraser tells us more about this discovery, Skye’s fossil riches and the people bringing them to light, both in the past and today.Fraser, Nicholas C
Fossils , Palaeontology , Skye, and Dinosaurs
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2022
Journal article
A skeleton from the Middle Jurassic of Scotland illuminates an earlier origin of large pterosaurs
Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to evolve flight1,2 and include the largest flying animals in Earth history.3,4 While some of the last-surviving species were the size of airplanes, pterosaurs were long thought to be restricted to small body sizes (wingspans ca. <1.8–1.6 m) from their Triassic origins through the Jurassic,...Jagielska, Natalia ; O’Sullivan, Michael ; Funston, Gregory F ; Butler, Ian B ; Challands, Thomas J …
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2021
Journal article
New species of mammaliaform and the cranium of Borealestes (Mammaliformes: Docodonta) from the Middle Jurassic of the British Isles
Docodonta are one of the earliest diverging groups of mammaliaforms, and their morphology provides key information on the transition between non-mammalian cynodonts and Mammalia. We describe the partial skulls of two docodontans Borealestes serendipitus and Borealestes cuillinensis sp. nov. from the Kilmaluag Formation (Middle Jurassic: Bathonian), Isle of Skye, Scotland....Panciroli, Elsa ; Benson, Roger B J ; Fernandez, Vincent ; Butler, Richard J ; Fraser, Nicholas C …
mammals, Scotland, Jurassic, Bathonian, Mesozoic, and Isle of Skye
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2020
Lecture
Chip shops and drain cleaners: the weird world of the Triassic
The Triassic is notorious for some of the strangest vertebrates ever to have lived. Fossil assemblages around the world exhibit incredibly different types of fauna both in the terrestrial and marine realms. What brought about this remarkable diversity and why is it particularly relevant to our understanding of today’s terrestrial...Fraser, Nicholas C
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2013
Journal article
Evolution's missing chapter
Fraser, Nicholas C
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2018
Journal article
A Triassic stem turtle with an edentulous beak
The early evolution of turtles continues to be a contentious issue in vertebrate palaeontology. Recent reports have suggested that they are diapsids1,2,3,4,5,6, but the position of turtles within Diapsida is controversial 7,8,9,10,11,12 and the sequence of acquisition of turtle synapomorphies remains unclear1,2,3. Here we describe a Triassic turtle from China...Li, Chun ; Fraser, Nicholas C ; Rieppel, Olivier ; Wu, Xiao-Chun