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2024
Journal article
Dinocephalosaurus orientalis Li, 2003: a remarkable marine archosauromorph from the Middle Triassic of southwestern China
The non-archosauriform archosauromorph Dinocephalosaurus orientalis was first described from the Upper Member of the Guanling Formation (late Anisian, Middle Triassic) of Guizhou Province by Li in 2003 on the basis of a complete articulated skull and the first three cervical vertebrae exposed in dorsal to right lateral view. Since then,...Spiekman, Stephan N F ; Wang, Wei ; Zhao , Lijun ; Rieppel , Olivier ; Fraser, Nicholas C …
non-archosauriform , marine reptile , southern China, and late Anisian
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2023
Journal article
Hwiccewyrm trispiculum gen. et sp. nov., a new leptopleuronine procolophonid from the Late Triassic of southwest England
The fissure fill localities of southwest England and South Wales are well‐known for preserving rich assemblages of predominantly small‐bodied Late Triassic to Early Jurassic tetrapods, but many aspects of these assemblages remain contentious. The age of the Late Triassic fissures is disputed, with some lines of argument suggesting a latest...Butler, Richard J ; Meade, Luke E ; Cleary, Terri J ; McWhirter, Kai T ; Brown, Emily E …
Procolophonidae , phylogeny , Parareptilia , fissure fills , and Triassic
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2023
Lecture
Moray's Contribution to Pangaea and Triassic Park
Join Dr Nick Fraser as he explored Moray's Contribution to Pangaea and Triassic Park. The Triassic was a critical time for the evolution of life on Earth. This period witnessed the first appearance of some of the most successful animals that ever lived, including lizards, dinosaurs, turtles and crocodilians, the...Fraser, Nicholas C
fossils, Elgin reptiles, palaeontology, Triassic period, and evolution
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2023
Journal article
Emergence and ecological transition of the Mesozoic marine reptiles: Evidence from the Early Triassic Chaohu and the Middle Triassic Xingyi Faunas
Two major evolutionary events in the early history of Mesozoic marine reptiles have been recorded in the Triassic of China. The first event evidenced by the Early Triassic Chaohu Fauna was the emergence of new marine communities and their subsequent radiation in the Spathian Subage of the late Olenekian (Early...Jiang, Da-yong ; Zhou, Min ; Motani, Ryosuke ; Tintori, Andrea ; Fraser, Nicholas C …
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2023
Journal article
New postcranial remains from the Lealt Shale Formation of the Isle of Skye, Scotland, showcase hidden pterosaur diversity in the Middle Jurassic
The Early to Middle Jurassic transition was significant in pterosaur evolution, during which these volant reptiles exploded in diversity alongside dinosaurs and other animals. It has long been thought, however, that pterosaurs did not develop large wingspans until after the Jurassic, a notion challenged by the recent discovery of in...Jagielska, Natalia ; Challands, Thomas J ; O'Sullivan, Michael ; Ross, Dugald A ; Fraser, Nicholas C …
Palaeontology and Geobiology, Palaeoenvironments, and Palaeogeography
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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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2021
Journal article
A new phylogenetic hypothesis of Tanystropheidae (Diapsida, Archosauromorph) and other “prororosaurs” and its implications for the early evolution of stem archosaurs
The historical clade “Protorosauria” represents an important group of archosauromorph reptiles that had a wide geographic distribution between the Late Permian and Late Triassic. “Protorosaurs” are characterized by their long necks, which are epitomized in the genus Tanystropheus and in Dinocephalosaurus orientalis. Recent phylogenetic analyses have indicated that “Protorosauria” is a polyphyletic clade,...Spiekman, Stefan N F ; Fraser, Nicholas C ; Scheyer, Torsten M
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2021
Journal article
The age and formation mechanisms of Late Triassic fissure deposits, Gloucestershire, England: Comments on Mussini, G. et al. (2020). Anatomy of a Late Triassic Bristol fissure: Tytherington fissure 2
In the Late Triassic the landscape NE of present-day Bristol, SW England was dominated by Carboniferous Limestone ridges and cuestas that became progressively buried by continental Mercia Mudstones and finally inundated during the Rhaetian marine transgression. Mussini et al. (2020) adopt the assertions of earlier collaborators back to Whiteside and Marshall (2008) that terrestrial... -
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
Postcrania of Borealestes (Mammaliformes, Docodonta) and the emergence of ecomorphological diversity in early mammals
The Middle Jurassic witnessed the early diversification of mammal groups, including the stem-mammalian clade, Docodonta. Recent discoveries in China indicate docodontans exhibited ecomorphological diversity akin to small-bodied mammals living >100 million years later, in the Cenozoic. Our understanding of the emergence of this ecological diversity is hindered by a lack...Panciroli, Elsa ; Benson, Roger B J ; Fernandez, Vincent ; Humpage, Matthew ; Martín‐Serra, Alberto …
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2021
Journal article
Widespread azendohsaurids (Archosauromorpha, Allokotosauria) from the Late Triassic of western USA and India
Archosauromorph reptiles underwent rapid lineage diversification, increases in morphological and body size disparity, and expansion into new adaptive landscapes. Several of the primary early archosauromorph clades (e.g. rhynchosaurs) are easy to differentiate from others because of their characteristic body types, whereas the more lizard‐like and carnivorous forms with long necks...Nesbitt, Sterling J ; Stocker, Michelle R ; Ezcurra, Martín D ; Fraser, Nicholas C ; Heckert, Andrew B …
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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
Journal article
Revision of Erpetosuchus (Archosauria: Pseudosuchia) and new erpetosuchid material from the Late Triassic ‘Elgin Reptile’ fauna based on μCT scanning techniques
The Late Triassic fauna of the Lossiemouth Sandstone Formation (LSF) from the Elgin area, Scotland, has been pivotal in expanding our understanding of Triassic terrestrial tetrapods. Frustratingly, due to their odd preservation, interpretations of the Elgin Triassic specimens have relied on destructive moulding techniques, which only provide incomplete, and potentially...Foffa , Davide ; Butler, Richard J ; Nesbitt, Sterling J ; Walsh, Stig ; Barrett, Paul M …
systematics, Erpetosuchidae , Erpetosuchus granti , Leptopleuron , and anatomy
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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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