(Press-News.org) DEERFIELD, IL—During the Permian era, the Earth was dominated by a single supercontinent called Pangea – "All-Earth". Animal and plant life dispersed broadly across this land, as documented by identical fossil species found on multiple modern continents. But a new study published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology supports the idea that there was an isolated desert in the middle of Pangea with a fauna all its own.
Roaming this desert in what is now northern Niger was a very distinctive creature known as a pareiasaur. Pareiasaurs were large, herbivorous reptiles that were common across Pangea during the Middle and Late Permian, about 266-252 million years ago. "Imagine a cow-sized, plant-eating reptile with a knobby skull and bony armor down its back," said lead author Linda Tsuji. The newly discovered fossils belong to the aptly-named genus Bunostegos, which means "knobby [skull] roof."
Most pareiasaurs had bony knobs on their skulls, but Bunostegos sported the largest, most bulbous ones ever discovered. In life, these were probably skin-covered horns like those on the heads of modern giraffes. Although at first blush these features seem to suggest that Bunostegos was an evolutionarily advanced pareiasaur, it also had many primitive characteristics. Tsuji's analysis showed that Bunostegos was actually more closely related to older and more primitive pareiasaurs, leading to two conclusions: first, that its knobby noggin was the result of convergent evolution, and second, that its genealogical lineage had been isolated for millions of years.
So how do you isolate a population of cow-sized reptiles? Though there were no fences in the Permian, climatic conditions conspired to corral Bunostegos – along with several other reptiles, amphibians, and plants – and keep them constrained to the central area of the supercontinent. "Our work supports the theory that central Pangea was climatically isolated, allowing a unique relict fauna to persist into the Late Permian," said Christian Sidor, another author of the paper. This is surprising because areas outside this central region show fossil evidence of regular faunal interchange.
Geological data also show that central Pangea was hyperarid (extremely dry), effectively discouraging some animals from passing through, while keeping those within from venturing out. The long period of isolation under these parched conditions gave Bunostegos lineage time to evolve its unique anatomical features.
Paleontologist Gabe Bever, who was not involved with the study, said "Research in these lesser-known basins is critically important for meaningful interpretation of the Permian fossil record. Our understanding of the Permian and the mass extinction that ended it depends on discovery of more fossils like the beautifully bizarre Bunostegos."
Much of what was once central Pangea remains to be explored by paleontologists. "It is important to continue research in these under-explored areas," said Tsuji. "The study of fossils from places like northern Niger paints a more comprehensive picture of the ecosystem during the Permian era."
INFORMATION:
About the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
Founded in 1940 by thirty-four paleontologists, the Society now has more than 2,300 members representing professionals, students, artists, preparators, and others interested in VP. It is organized exclusively for educational and scientific purposes, with the object of advancing the science of vertebrate paleontology.
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
The Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology (JVP) is the leading journal of professional vertebrate paleontology and the flagship publication of the Society. It was founded in 1980 by Dr. Jiri Zidek and publishes contributions on all aspects of vertebrate paleontology.
For complimentary access to the full article, visit: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ujvp20/current
The article appears in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 33(4) published by Taylor and Francis
Citation: Linda A. Tsuji, Christian A. Sidor, Sebastien Steyer, Roger M. H. Smith, Neil J. Tabor, and Oumarou Ide. 2013. The vertebrate fauna of the Upper Permian of Niger – VII. Cranial anatomy and relationships of Bunostegos akokaensis (Pareiasauria). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 33(4). http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ujvp20/current
Society of Vertebrate Paleontology: http://www.vertpaleo.org
AUTHOR CONTACT INFORMATION
Dr. Linda A. Tsuji, Burke Museum and Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, U.S.A., (206) 802-4868 latsuji@uw.edu
Dr. Christian A. Sidor, Burke Museum and Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, U.S.A., (206) 221-3285, casidor@uw.edu
Dr. Sebastien Steyer, Bâtiment de Paléontologie, UMR 7207 CNRS, Département Histoire de la Terre, CP38, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, F-75005, Paris, France, steyer@mnhn.fr
Dr. Roger M. H. Smith, Karoo Palaeontology, Iziko South African Museum, PO Box 61, Cape Town 8000, South Africa, +27 (0)21 481 3879, rsmith@iziko.org.za
Dr. Neil J. Tabor, Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas 75275, U.S.A., 214-768-4175, ntabor@smu.edu
Dr. Oumarou Ide, Institut de Recherches en Sciences Humaines, Université de Niamey, Republique du Niger, oumarou@refer.ne
OTHER EXPERTS NOT DIRECTLY INVOLVED WITH THE STUDY
Dr. Gaberiel Bever, NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine, Old Westbury, NY, (515) 686-1249, gbever@nyit.edu
Dr. Nicholas (Nick) C. Fraser, Keeper of Natural History, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh, UK, + (0) 131 247 4007 (office); + (0) 7526315501(mobile), nick.fraser@nms.ac.uk
Bumpy beast was a desert dweller
2013-06-25
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Annals of Internal Medicine tip sheet for June 25, 2013
2013-06-25
Task Force Recommendation: Screen All Baby Boomers and High-risk Patients for Hep C
The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends screening for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in persons at high risk for infection and one-time screening for all adults born between 1945 and 1965. Up to 3.9 million people in the United States are infected with HCV, a virus that can cause inflammation, permanent liver damage, and cancer. The most significant risk factor for HCV infection is past or current injection drug use. Receiving a blood transfusion before ...
Rotation-resistant rootworms owe their success to gut microbes
2013-06-25
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers say they now know what allows some Western corn rootworms to survive crop rotation, a farming practice that once effectively managed the rootworm pests. The answer to the decades-long mystery of rotation-resistant rootworms lies – in large part – in the rootworm gut, the team reports.
The findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Differences in the relative abundance of certain bacterial species in the rootworm gut help the adult rootworm beetles feed on soybean leaves and tolerate the plant's defenses a little ...
Giving children non-verbal clues about words boosts vocabularies
2013-06-25
The clues that parents give toddlers about words can make a big difference in how deep their vocabularies are when they enter school, new research at the University of Chicago shows.
By using words to reference objects in the visual environment, parents can help young children learn new words, according to the research. It also explores the difficult-to-measure quality of non-verbal clues to word meaning during interactions between parents and children learning to speak. For example, saying, "There goes the zebra" while visiting the zoo helps a child learn the word "zebra" ...
Genes involved in birth defects may also lead to mental illness
2013-06-25
Gene mutations that cause cell signaling networks to go awry during embryonic development and lead to major birth defects may also cause subtle disruptions in the brain that contribute to psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, autism, and bipolar disorder, according to new research by UC San Francisco scientists.
Over the past several years, researchers in the laboratory of psychiatrist Benjamin Cheyette, MD, PhD, have shown that mice with mutations in a gene called Dact1 are born with a range of severe malformations, including some reminiscent of spina bifida in ...
700 women with urinary cancers missing out on prompt diagnosis every year
2013-06-25
This may be because family doctors tend to attribute women's - rather than men's - initial symptoms to harmless causes, such as bacterial infections, and some women therefore have to visit their GP several times before they get referred to a specialist, say the researchers.
Currently, survival rates for kidney and bladder cancer in England show that fewer women than men live for five years after diagnosis.
The researchers looked at the numbers of patients diagnosed with kidney and bladder cancers in England between 2009 and 2010. They used data from the National Audit ...
Breastfeeding boosts ability to climb social ladder
2013-06-25
The findings are based on changes in the social class of two groups of individuals born in 1958 (17,419 people) and in 1970 (16,771 people).
The researchers asked each of the children's mums, when their child was five or seven years old, whether they had breastfed him/her.
They then compared people's social class as children - based on the social class of their father when they were 10 or 11 - with their social class as adults, measured when they were 33 or 34.
Social class was categorised on a four-point scale ranging from unskilled/semi-skilled manual to professional/managerial. ...
Study sets guidelines for stem cell transplants in older patients with myelodysplastic syndromes
2013-06-25
BOSTON -- A new study by an international team led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists provides the first statistically-based guidelines for determining whether a stem cell transplant is appropriate for older patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) – the most common blood disorders in people over 60 years of age, and frequently a precursor for leukemia.
Using mathematical models to analyze hundreds of MDS cases from around the world, the researchers found reduced intensity transplants of donor stem cells are advisable for patients aged 60-70 who have higher-risk ...
NMR advance brings proteins into the open
2013-06-25
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] —When working a cold case, smart investigators try something new. By taking a novel approach to nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy – a blending of four techniques – scientists have been able to resolve a key interaction between two proteins that could never be observed before. They report on their findings the week of June 24, 2013 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The interaction the team became the first to describe is nearly universal across all of life. A protein machines called a chaperone takes hold ...
Stray gases found in water wells near shale gas sites
2013-06-25
DURHAM, NC -- Homeowners living within one kilometer of shale gas wells appear to be at higher risk of having their drinking water contaminated by stray gases, according to a new Duke University-led study.
Duke scientists analyzed 141 drinking water samples from private water wells across northeastern Pennsylvania's gas-rich Marcellus shale basin. Their study documented not only higher methane concentrations in drinking water within a kilometer of shale gas drilling -- which past studies have shown -- but higher ethane and propane concentrations as well.
Methane ...
Computer models shed new light on sickle cell crisis
2013-06-25
VIDEO:
Researchers from Brown University modeled the stickiness of cells associated with sickle cell anemia. The models suggest that squishy SS2 cells are more likely to get stuck to vessel walls...
Click here for more information.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Using powerful computer models, researchers from Brown University have shown for the first time how different types of red blood cells interact to cause sickle cell crisis, a dangerous blockage of blood flow in capillaries ...