Publications in the Year: 2016

Journal Article

Leal, AA, Dion{\'ısio A, Braga MAS, Mateus O.  2016.  The long term preservation of Late Jurassic sandstone dinosaur footprints in a museum environment. International Journal of Conservation Science. 7:627-646. AbstractWebsite

This study focuses on the assessment of the degradation processes occurring in three sandstone infills of fossilized Late Jurassic ornithopod tridactyl footprints, found in 2001 in a coastline cliff in Porto das Barcas (Lourinhã, Portugal) and exhibited in a museum display since 2004. These dinosaur footprints present nowadays severe decay phenomena compromising their physical integrity and are leading gradually to their loss of value. The deterioration patterns were recorded, a map of their distribution was prepared and several samples were collected both in the dinosaur footprints and in the coastline cliff. Different analytical procedures were applied such as XRD, FTIR, FESEM and Ion Chromatography. A microclimatic survey was also performed and air temperature and relative humidity was measured during eight months both indoor and also outdoor. The decay patterns observed are a combination intrinsic and extrinsic factors the stone material, namely swelling of clay minerals in the rock matrix (smectite and chlorite-smectite mixed-layer), presence of salts (mainly chlorides), application of past conservation treatments (poly(vinyl) acetate and epoxy resins) and with the museum’s indoor thermohygrometric conditions (mainly non-stable hygrometric conditions). This scientific knowledge is therefore essential to the sustainable preservation of this paleontological heritage.

Jacobs, LL, Polcyn MJ, Mateus O\á\}vio, Schulp AS, Gon\{\c c\}alves A\ó\}nio O, Morais ML.  2016.  Post-Gondwana Africa and the vertebrate history of the Angolan Atlantic Coast. Memoirs of Museum Victoria. 74:343\–\}362. Abstract
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Ceríaco, LMP, Gutiérrez EE, Dubois A, Abdala CS, Alqarni AS, Adler K, Adriano EA, Aescht E, Agarwal I, Agatha S et al..  2016.  Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences, 2016. Zootaxa. 4196(3):435-445. AbstractWebsite
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Hansen, BB, Milàn J, Clemmensen LB, Adolfssen JS, Estrup EJ, Klein N, Mateus O, Wings O.  2016.  Coprolites from the Late Triassic Kap Stewart Formation, Jameson Land, East Greenland: morphology, classification and prey inclusions. Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 434(1):49-69. Abstracthansen_et_al_2015_coprolites_from_the_late_triassic_kap_stewart_formation_jameson_land_east_greenland.pdfWebsite

A large collection of vertebrate coprolites from black lacustrine shales in the Late Triassic (Rhaetian–Sinemurian) Kap Stewart Formation, East Greenland is examined with regard to internal and external morphology, prey inclusions, and possible relationships to the contemporary vertebrate fauna. A number of the coprolites were mineralogically examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), showing the primary mineral composition to be apatite, clay minerals, carbonates and, occasionally, quartz in the form of secondary mineral grains. The coprolite assemblage shows multiple sizes and morphotypes of coprolites, and different types of prey inclusions, demonstrating that the coprolite assemblage originates from a variety of different producers.Supplementary material: A description of the size, shape, structure, texture, contents and preservation of the 328 specimens is available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.2134335

Hendrickx, C, Mateus O, Buffetaut E.  2016.  Morphofunctional Analysis of the Quadrate of Spinosauridae (Dinosauria: Theropoda) and the Presence of Spinosaurus and a Second Spinosaurine Taxon in the Cenomanian of North Africa., 01. PLoS ONE. 11:e0144695., Number 1: Public Library of Science Abstracthendrickx_et_al_2016_morphofunctional_analysis_of_the_quadrate_of_spinosauridae_dinosauria.pdfWebsite

Six quadrate bones, of which two almost certainly come from the Kem Kem beds (Cenomanian, Upper Cretaceous) of south-eastern Morocco, are determined to be from juvenile and adult individuals of Spinosaurinae based on phylogenetic, geometric morphometric, and phylogenetic morphometric analyses. Their morphology indicates two morphotypes evidencing the presence of two spinosaurine taxa ascribed to Spinosaurus aegyptiacus and? Sigilmassasaurus brevicollis in the Cenomanian of North Africa, casting doubt on the accuracy of some recent skeletal reconstructions which may be based on elements from several distinct species. Morphofunctional analysis of the mandibular articulation of the quadrate has shown that the jaw mechanics was peculiar in Spinosauridae. In mature spinosaurids, the posterior parts of the two mandibular rami displaced laterally when the jaw was depressed due to a lateromedially oriented intercondylar sulcus of the quadrate. Such lateral movement of the mandibular ramus was possible due to a movable mandibular symphysis in spinosaurids, allowing the pharynx to be widened. Similar jaw mechanics also occur in some pterosaurs and living pelecanids which are both adapted to capture and swallow large prey items. Spinosauridae, which were engaged, at least partially, in a piscivorous lifestyle, were able to consume large fish and may have occasionally fed on other prey such as pterosaurs and juvenile dinosaurs.

Thesis