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Stegosaurs are a small but iconic clade of ornithischian dinosaurs. They and their sister taxa, the ankylosaurs, formed the clade Eurypoda which means ‘broad-footed’. Here, we describe a stegosaur from the Upper Jurassic Qigu Formation of Xinjiang, China, based on an associated partial skeleton that includes axial, pectoral girdle, pelvic girdle, limb and armor elements. It can be diagnosed as a new taxon, Angustungui, based on numerous autapomorphies. Some morphologies of Angustungui are more similar to the taxa from Europe, Africa and North America than to those from Asia. Our phylogenetic analysis recovers it as the sister taxon of Loricatosaurus. More importantly, the narrow and claw-shaped ungual of Angustungui proves that Eurypoda, at least stegosaur, has claw-shaped unguals. Besides, we revised the character scores for Chinese stegosaurs based on observations of the specimens.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.

Allosaurus Marsh, 1877 is one of the most iconic theropods of the Late Jurassic of USA and Portugal. However,
since the first description the genus was used as taxonomical wastebasket to which several species were
described. We revisit three type specimens, Allosaurus fragilis YPM 1930, A. atrox YPM 1890 and A. ferox USNM
2315. We interpret the vertebral material of A. atrox and support it as a junior synonym of A. fragilis, and A. ferox
as Allosaurus indet. rather than A. fragilis.

Turiasauria is a clade of basal sauropod dinosaurs hitherto only known from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) to the Lower Cretaceous (Valanginian). A new find of a shed tooth crown from the Lower Jurassic (Pliensbachian), Halse Formation of Bornholm, Denmark, is spoon-like, asymmetrical, and heart-shaped, which identifies the tooth as turiasaurian, pushing the origin of the Turiasauria some 17 My back into the Lower Jurassic. This suggests a North Pangean/Laurasian origin of the turiasaurian clade, which then, during the Middle to Late Jurassic, dispersed through Europe, India, and Africa, with their latest representatives found in the Early Cretaceous of England and North America. Furthermore, this is the first record of a sauropod from the Pliensbachian in Europe.

Iguanodontia is a diverse clade of herbivorous ornithischian dinosaurs that were speciose and abundant during the Jurassic and Cretaceous. Although the monophyly of Iguanodontia is well supported, their internal relationships have sparked heated debate due to several phylogenetic paradigm shifts. Late Jurassic basally branching iguanodontians in particular are not well understood in terms of their systematic affinities and evolutionary relevance. Their fossil record in Europe is meager compared with North America, with only a few species currently recognized. Two taxa are currently known from the Upper Jurassic of England, the basally branching styracosternan Cumnoria prestwichii and the putative dryosaurid Callovosaurus leedsi. In the Upper Jurassic of Portugal, the styracosternan Draconyx loureiroi and the dryosaurid Eousdryosaurus nanohallucis are presently the only described basally branching iguanodontians. Here we report a new species of early diverging iguanodontian from the Upper Jurassic Lourinhã Formation of western-central Portugal. The new species is clearly distinguished from all other coeval taxa by an exclusive combination of characters that include a tibia with a cnemial crest that is directed craniolaterally and a fibular condyle that is angled at 90° with respect to the proximal epiphysis, a fibula with symmetrical proximal margins, and a reduced metatarsal I. The phylogenetic relationships of the Lourinhã iguanodontian were explored using maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference. The two analyses recover the Lourinhã iguanodontian as an indeterminate dryomorphan, with more precise affinities precluded due to the current available material. Body size is estimated between 3 and 4 meters for the holotype specimen, adding to the diversity of small ornithopods already recognized in the paleoichnological record of the Lourinhã Formation. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:5F4D52D0-0F0B-4809-8561-BE58C7C97D45

How snow leopard gradually adapted to the extreme environments in Tibet remains unexplored due to the scanty fossil record in Tibet. Here, we recognize five valid outside-Tibet records of the snow leopard lineage. Our results suggest that the snow leopard dispersed out of the Tibetan Plateau multiple times during the Quaternary. The osteological anatomy of the modern snow leopard shows adaptation to the steep slope and, to a lesser extent, cold/high-altitude environment. Fossils and phylogeny suggest that the snow leopard experienced a gradual strengthening of such adaptation, especially since the Middle Pleistocene ( 0.8 million years). Species distribution modeling suggests that the locations of the fossil sites are not within most suitable area, and we argue that local landscape features are more influential factors than temperature and altitude alone. Our study underscores the importance of integrating morphology, fossil records, and species distribution modeling, to comprehensively understand the evolution, ecology, and inform conservation strategies for endangered species. Integrated morphology, fossil records, and SDM reveal the evolution and adaptation in the snow leopard lineage.

ABSTRACT The first mammaliaforms emerged in the Late Triassic, but their exact origins remain unclear due to the scarcity of fossils from this period. One of the earliest diverging mammaliaform groups, the order Docodonta, became unusually ecomorphologically diverse compared with other early mammals, and this may be connected to the possession of complex molar cusp morphology. The specimen described here, found in the Rhætelv Formation of the Kap Stewart Group (Rhaetian–Sinemurian) of central East Greenland, provides novel information on docodontan origins and evolution, as well as key biogeographic insights into early mammal dispersal. Nujalikodon cassiopeiae gen. et sp. nov. is the first mammaliaform found in the Rhætelv Formation, and is likely to be Early Jurassic (Hettangian) in age. Comprising an incomplete dentary with a single preserved molar, it was visualized using micro-computed tomography; the molar bears similarities to the putative early docodontan Delsatia, and docodontan Dobunnodon. Phylogenetic analysis places Nujalikodon cassiopeiae as a basal member of Docodonta or a close sister taxon, making it one of the oldest definitive docodontans and pushing the origin of the group back to at least the Early Jurassic. It provides insights into the development of docodontan dental complexity, a key factor in their ecological diversification during the Middle to Late Jurassic. Its presence in Greenland supports the hypothesis that docodontans originated in the region now comprising Europe and Greenland before dispersing across the rest of Laurasia.

The Upper Jurassic beds of the Lusitanian Basin in central Portugal yield diverse dinosaurian fauna, dated to the Kimmeridgian–Tithonian interval. Saurischian dinosaurs are, overall, more abundant than their ornithischian counterparts, in terms of both specimens collected and species recognized. Iguanodontians are so far represented by the styracosternan Draconyx loureiroi, the dryosaurid Eousdryosaurus nanohallucis and the enigmatic dryomorphan Hesperonyx martinhotomasorum. Here we aim to highlight the diversity of this clade in the Late Jurassic of Portugal, presenting evidence for yet another species of ankylopollexian iguanodontian dinosaur, represented by the specimen SHN.JJS.015, which is housed at the Sociedade de História Natural, Torres Vedras. Detailed comparisons rule out attribution to previously known taxa, and phylogenetic analyses that include SHN.JJS.015 indicate early-diverging ankylopollexian affinities for this specimen. As there is no robust diagnosis, we do not erect a new formal species for it at this stage. Nevertheless, this specimen represents a previously unreported taxon that highlights greater diversity than previously estimated among the iguanodontians of the Late Jurassic and highlights the importance of Europe in diversification and dispersal events of this clade. A series of smaller, isolated femora from the same sub-basin as SHN.JJS.015 may represent the same taxon, presenting evidence of thriving communities of ankylopollexians during the Kimmeridgian–Tithonian interval in Portugal.

The Late Triassic deposits in the Jameson Land Basin, central East Greenland, stand as a crucial fossil area, yielding a diverse Norian vertebrate fauna. This basin, situated at a palaeolatitude of 41° N on the northern rim of Pangea and bordered in the North by the Boreal Sea, was a hub of activity during the Late Triassic. A large ephemeral to perennial lake system developed in the central and eastern parts of the basin, with rivers transporting sediment from the uplands northwest of the basin. Our research focused on the microvertebrate remains recovered from an expedition to Jameson Land in 1991 which yielded significant findings. These specimens, meticulously photographed and listed in a catalogue, comprise 950 vertebrate remains. Notably, we have identified new taxa never described from the Late Triassic sediments of Greenland, including sharks (Lissodus, Rhomphaiodon), bony fish (Gyrolepis), and reptiles (Doswelliidae and Rhynchocephalia). The revision of two sphenodontians jaw fragments as Clevosauridae, in association with Lissodus lepagei, Lissodus cf. Lissodus minimus, Rhomphaiodon sp., Saurichthys sp., and Gyrolepis sp., which are taxa that are highly documented in Europe and Asia, confirms a relationship between faunas of Greenland and Eurasia during the Late Triassic, a statement previously based on macro vertebrate studies.

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