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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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Journal article
The first Triassic vertebrate fossils from Myanmar: Pachypleurosaurs in a marine limestone
As ecosystems recovered from the end-Permian extinction, many new animal groups proliferated in the ensuing Triassic. Among these were the sauropterygians, reptiles that evolved from terrestrial ancestors and transitioned to a marine environment. The first sauropterygians were small, marine-adapted taxa such as pachypleurosaurs, which are known from Middle–Late Triassic deposits,...San, Khaing Khaing ; Fraser, Nicholas C ; Foffa, Davide ; Rieppel, Olivier ; Brusatte, Stephen L
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2008
Journal article
New evidence for laurasian corystosperms: Umkomasia from the Upper Triassic of Northern China
Recent finds of remarkable fossil plants from the Upper Triassic Yangcaogou Formation in Liaoning Province, PR China include branched, cupule-bearing structures referable to the corystosperm ovulate organ Umkomasia. This material is described and assigned to the proposed new species Umkomasia asiatica. The collection includes numerous isolated cupules and fragments of...Shuqin, Zan ; Axsmith, Brian J ; Fraser, Nicholas C ; Fengxiang, Liu ; Dehe, Xing
Corystospermales, Umkomasia, pteridosperms, Triassic, Laurasia, and China
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2008
Journal article
The skeletal anatomy of the Triassic protorosaur Dinocephalosaurus orientalis Li, from the Middle Triassic of Guizhou Province, southern China
The first protorosaur from the Middle Triassic of China, Dinocephalosaurus orientalis Li is known from two specimens: the holotype (an isolated skull in association with the first three cervical vertebrae), and a referred specimen (an almost complete, associated and partially articulated specimen lacking the tail). This material is here described...Rieppel, Olivier ; Li, Chun ; Fraser, Nicholas C
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2013
Journal article
Evolution's missing chapter
Fraser, Nicholas C
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2012
Journal article
Leehermania prorova, the earliest staphyliniform beetle, from the late Triassic of Virginia (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae).
The Staphylinidae contain over 57,000 described species, thus comprising one of the largest families in all Insecta. Leehermania prorova Chatzimanolis, Grimaldi, and Engel, new genus and species, is described, which is the earliest staphylinid and the oldest definitive polyphagan beetle. The new species is based on a series of well-preserved...Chatzimanolis, S ; Grimaldi, D A ; Engel, M S ; Fraser, Nicholas C
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2012
Journal article
A new Neocalamites (Sphenophyta) with prickles and attached cones from the Upper Triassic of China.
Remains of the extinct sphenophyte (horsetail) Neocalamites are most widespread in the Middle–Upper Triassic and are typically represented by stem and leaf fragments. Here we report on spectacular new finds of Neocalamites from the Late Triassic Yangcaogou Formation in Liaoning Province, China that include bedding surfaces dominated by nearly complete...Zan, Shuqin ; Axsmith, Brian J ; Escapa, Ignacio ; Fraser, Nicholas C ; Fengxiang, Liu …
Sphenophyta, Horsetails, Neocalamites, Liaoning, Triassic, and China
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2011
Journal article
Arthur Cruickshank [obituary]
Fraser, Nicholas C
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2011
Journal article
New information on the protorosaurian reptile Macrocnemus fuyuanensis, Li et al., 2007, from the Middle/Upper Triassic of Yunnan, China
A new specimen of the protorosaur Macrocnemus fuyuanensis, from the Zhuganpo Member of the Falang Formation at Fuyuan (Yunnan Province, southwestern China), is described and compared with Macrocnemus bassanii. The new specimen is the first in the genus Macrocnemus that clearly shows details of the preorbital region of the skull....Jiang, Da-Yong ; Rieppel, Olivier ; Fraser, Nicholas C ; Motani, Ryosuke ; Hao, Wei-Cheng …
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2010
Journal article
Use of fine-scale stratigraphy and chemostratigraphy to evaluate conditions of deposition and preservation of a Triassic lagerstätte, south-central Virginia
The rich, fossiliferous Triassic sediments exposed in the Virginia Solite Quarry include a 34-mm-thick “insect layer” that is notable for detailed preservation of soft-bodied invertebrate and vertebrate remains. We describe this unique Konservat-Lagerstätte and use sedimentologic and geochemical analyses to interpret the environmental conditions necessary to preserve such delicate fossils....Fraser, Nicholas C ; Liutkus, C M ; Beard, J S ; Ragland, P C
North America, Lacustrine, Newark Supergroup, Danville-Dan River Basin, rift basin, and insects
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2010
Journal article
Tanystropheus cf. T. longobardicus from the Early Late Triassic of Guizhou Province, Southwestern China
The protorosaur Tanystropheus longobardicus is well known from the Middle Triassic of alpine Europe. It has been described on the basis of a number of specimens that apparently range from juvenile to adult. The largest specimens have a total body length of approximately 3 m. Here we report on the...Fraser, Nicholas C ; Rieppel, Olivier ; Jiang, Da-Yong ; Hao, Wei-Cheng ; Motani, Ryosuke …
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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
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2018
Journal article
A legacy in fossils: a tribute to Stan(ley) Wood – Preface
Stan Wood had a gift for finding exceptional Early Carboniferous fossils. Among them are 32 type specimens. His discoveries significantly changed our understanding of the history of life on Earth. Many of the fossils he collected are on display in museums across the UK and the localities he discovered continue...Fraser, Nicholas C ; Smithson, Timothy R ; Clack, Jennifer A
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2017
Journal article
Osteology of a new specimen of Macrocnemus aff. M. fuyuanensis (Archosauromorpha, Protorosauria) from the Middle Triassic of Europe: potential implications for species recognition and paleogeography of Tanystropheid Protorosaurs
Over the past two decades, a wealth of marine and terrestrial reptiles, including protorosaurian archosauromorphs, has been described from Triassic shales and limestone layers in southern China. Recovered from the eastern margin of the Tethys Ocean, these forms often show remarkable similarities to taxa that were previously known and described...Jaquier, Vivien P ; Fraser, Nicholas C ; Furrer, Heinz ; Scheyer, Torsten M
reptile, Tethys, interclavicle, Mesozoic, anatomy, Tanystropheidae, and China
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2017
Journal article
A reassessment of the postcanine dentition and systematics of the tritylodontid Stereognathus (Cynodontia, Triltylodontidae, Mammaliamorpha) from the Middle Jurassic of the United Kingdom
Tritylodontidae was a successful advanced cynodont clade with a close relationship to mammals, but falling outside the clade Mammaliaformes. Stereognathus ooliticus was the first tritylodontid to be named and described in 1854, but since then no comprehensive description for this species has been produced. A second species, S. hebridicus, was...Panciroli, Elsa ; Walsh, Stig A ; Fraser, Nicholas C ; Brusatte, Stephen L ; Corfe, Ian
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2017
Journal article
Viviparity in a Triassic marine archosauromorph reptile
Eggs or embryos have been reported in various groups of fossil reptiles, where viviparity is a common mode of reproduction in aquatic taxa such as the ichthyopterygians, some groups of sauropterygians, mosasauroids, some taxa of choristoderans and certain protorosaurs. Here, we describe a complete embryo of a marine protorosaur, based...Chun, Li ; Rieppel, Olivier ; Fraser, Nicholas C
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2017
Journal article
A new diapsid from the Middle Triassic of southern China
The Middle and early Late Triassic of southern China is well known for a remarkable diversity of marine vertebrates, particularly reptiles, including an abundance of intriguing new forms (e.g., Jiang et al., 2005; Hu et al., 2011; Li et al., 2016). Here we describe a new diapsid from Yunnan Province....Chun, Li ; Fraser, Nicholas C ; Rieppel, Olivier ; Zhao, Li-Jun
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2017
Journal article
A new species of Coahomasuchus (Archosauria, Aetosauria) from the Upper Triassic Pekin Formation, Deep River Basin, North Carolina
We describe a new species of the aetosaur Coahomasuchus, C. chathamensis, based on an incomplete, but largely articulated, anterior portion of a skeleton recovered from a quarry in the Upper Triassic Pekin Formation of Chatham County, North Carolina. This is only the second documented occurrence of Coahomasuchus, with the other...Heckert, A B ; Fraser, Nicholas C ; Schneider, V P
PHYLOGENY, TIME-SCALE, BRAINCASE, OSTEOLOGY, STAGONOLEPIDIDAE, CRANIAL ANATOMY, PSEUDOSUCHIA, TIMESCALE, TEXAS, and REPTILIA
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2016
Journal article
Palaeontology: a hook to the past
The poorly understood Triassic reptile Drepanosaurus is known for its excessively large claws. New discoveries demonstrate a remarkable modification of the bones in the wrist and forearm, a significant departure from the typical five-digit tetrapod limb.Fraser, Nicholas C
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2016
Journal article
Phylogenetic and environmental context of a Tournaisian tetrapod fauna
The end-Devonian to mid-Mississippian time interval has long been known for its depauperate palaeontological record, especially for tetrapods. This interval encapsulates the time of increasing terrestriality among tetrapods, but only two Tournaisian localities previously produced tetrapod fossils. Here we describe five new Tournaisian tetrapods (Perittodus apsconditus, Koilops herma, Ossirarus kierani, Diploradus austiumensis and Aytonerpeton microps)...Clack, Jennifer A ; Bennett, Carys E ; Carpenter, David K ; Davies, Sarah J ; Fraser, Nicholas C …
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2016
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2016
Journal article
A large aberrant stem ichthyosauriform indicating early rise and demise of ichthyosauromorphs in the wake of the end-Permian extinction
Contrary to the fast radiation of most metazoans after the end-Permian mass extinction, it is believed that early marine reptiles evolved slowly during the same time interval. However, emerging discoveries of Early Triassic marine reptiles are questioning this traditional view. Here we present an aberrant basal ichthyosauriform with a hitherto...Jiang, Da-Yong ; Motani, Ryosuke ; Huang, Jian-Dong ; Tintori, Andrea ; Hu, Yuan-Chao …
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2016
Journal article
The earliest herbivorous marine reptile and its remarkable jaw apparatus
Newly discovered fossils of the Middle Triassic reptile Atopodentatus unicus call for a radical reassessment of its feeding behavior. The skull displays a pronounced hammerhead shape that was hitherto unknown. The long, straight anterior edges of both upper and lower jaws were lined with batteries of chisel-shaped teeth, whereas the...Chun, Li ; Rieppel, Olivier ; Long, Cheng ; Fraser, Nicholas C
Middle Triassic, Atopodentatus unicus, marine reptiles, and palaeontology
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2015
Journal article
Scottish fossils attract China's attention
Fraser, Nicholas C
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2015
Journal article
The first definitive Middle Jurassic atoposaurid (Crocodylomorpha, Neosuchia), and a discussion on the genus Theriosuchus
Atoposaurids were a clade of semiaquatic crocodyliforms known from the Late Jurassic to the latest Cretaceous. Tentative remains from Europe, Morocco, and Madagascar may extend their range into the Middle Jurassic. Here we report the first unambiguous Middle Jurassic (late Bajocian–Bathonian) atoposaurid: an anterior dentary from the Isle of Skye,...Young, Mark T ; Tennant, Johnathan P ; Brusatte, Stephen L ; Challands, Thomas James ; Fraser, Nicholas C …
Scotland, Atoposauridae, Bathonian, Valtos Sandstone Formation, and Crocodyliformes
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2010
Book
Triassic life on land: the great transition
The Triassic period is generally viewed as the beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs. For paleontologists, however, it also marks the rise of the world's first modern land ecosystems. Over the past three decades, extensive, worldwide fieldwork has led to the discovery of many new species of Triassic animals and...Sues, Hans-Dieter ; Fraser, Nicholas C
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2015
Journal article
A new aetosaur (Archosauria, Suchia) from the Upper Triassic Pekin Formation, Deep River Basin, North Carolina, U.S.A., and its implications for early aetosaur evolution
Aetosaurs are an extinct clade of quadrupedal, heavily armored archosaurs that had a worldwide distribution during the Late Triassic. Aetosaur fossils from the Upper Triassic Pekin Formation in the Deep River Basin of North Carolina (U.S.A.) consist primarily of isolated osteoderms and, rarely, more associated material. Here we describe a...Heckert, A B ; Schneider, V P ; Fraser, Nicholas C ; Webb, R A
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2010
Journal article
The beginning of the 'Age of Dinosaurs': a brief overview of terrestrial biotic changes during the Triassic
The first appearance of dinosaurs during the early Late Triassic coincided with marked faunal changes in terrestrial ecosystems. Most of the major groups of extant tetrapods (or their proximate sister-taxa), including mammaliaforms, crocodyliform archosaurs, lepidosaurs and turtles, also first appeared in the fossil record during the Late Triassic. On the...Fraser, Nicholas C ; Sues, H D
plants, tetrapods, extinctions, insects, and Pangaea
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2013