Browsing by Author "Wroe, S"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Abdominal contents reveal Cretaceous crocodyliforms ate dinosaurs
    (Elsevier, 2022-06) White, MA; Bell, PR; Campione, NE; Sansalone, G; Brougham, T; Bevitt, JJ; Molnar, RE; Cook, AG; Wroe, S; Elliott, DA
    Crocodylians are among Earth's most successful hyper-carnivores, with their crocodyliform ancestors persisting since the Triassic. The diets of extinct crocodyliforms are typically inferred from distinctive bite-marks on fossil bone, which indicate that some species fed on contemporaneous dinosaurs. Nevertheless, the most direct dietary evidence (i.e. preserved gut contents) of these interactions in fossil crocodyliforms has been elusive. Here we report on a new crocodyliform, Confractosuchus sauroktonos gen. et sp. nov., from the Cenomanian (92.5–104 Ma) of Australia, with exceptionally preserved abdominal contents comprising parts of a juvenile ornithopod dinosaur. A phylogenetic analysis recovered Confractosuchus as the sister taxon to a clade comprising susisuchids and hylaeochampsids. The ornithopod remains displayed clear evidence of oral processing, carcass reduction (dismemberment) and bone fragmentation, which are diagnostic hallmarks of some modern crocodylian feeding behaviour. Nevertheless, a macro-generalist feeding strategy for Confractosuchus similar to extant crocodylians is supported by a morphometric analysis of the skull and reveals that dietary versatility accompanied the modular assembly of the modern crocodylian bauplan. Of further interest, these ornithopod bones represent the first skeletal remains of the group from the Winton Formation, previously only known from shed teeth and tracks, and may represent a novel taxon. 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of International Association for Gondwana Research. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Enigmatic human remains from the Pleistocene-Holocene transition of southwest China and the complex evolutionary history of east Asians
    (Australian Geosciences Council, 2012-08-05) Curnoe, D; Ji, X; Herries, AIR; Bai, K; Taçon, PSC; Bao, Z; Fink, D; Zhu, Y; Hellstrom, JC; Luo, Y; Cassis, G; Su, B; Wroe, S; Hong, S; Parr, WCH; Huang, S; Rogers, N
    The Upper Pleistocene hominin fossil record of East Asia is poorly known due to a scarcity of well-described, reliably classified and accurately dated fossils. In 2008, we started a joint project involving six Chinese and five Australian institutions to examine the later Pleistocene human record from southwest China. The region has been identified from genetic research as a hotspot of human diversity, and has yielded a number of human remains thought to derive from Pleistocene deposits. We prepared, reconstructed, described and dated a new partial skeleton from a consolidated sediment block collected in 1979 from the site of Longlin Cave (Guangxi Province). We also undertook new excavations at Maludong (Yunnan Province) to clarify the stratigraphy and dating of a large sample of mostly undescribed human remains from the site. Both samples probably derive from the same population, exhibiting an unusual mixture of modern human traits, characters probably plesiomorphic for later Homo, and some unusual features. We dated charcoal with AMS radiocarbon dating and speleothem with the Uranium-series technique and the results show both samples to be from the Pleistocene-Holocene transition: ∼14.3–11.5 ka. At nearby sites, some modern humans had already begun the economic transition to agriculture by this time. We suggest the Longlin-Maludong humans represent either a late-surviving archaic population or a previously unknown modern human group who colonised East Asia probably without leaving descendants. The archaeological record of Maludong indicates these humans were engaging in complex behaviours, including ochring bones and shells and manufacturing containers from human skulls.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Human remains from the Pleistocene-Holocene transition of Southwest China suggest a complex evolutionary history for East Asians
    (PLOS, 2012-03-14) Curnoe, D; Ji, X; Herries, AIR; Kanning, B; Taçon, PSC; Zhende, B; Fink, D; Yunsheng, Z; Hellstrom, JC; Yun, L; Cassis, G; Bing, S; Wroe, S; Shi, H; Parr, WCH; Shengmin, H; Rogers, N
    Background Later Pleistocene human evolution in East Asia remains poorly understood owing to a scarcity of well described, reliably classified and accurately dated fossils. Southwest China has been identified from genetic research as a hotspot of human diversity, containing ancient mtDNA and Y-DNA lineages, and has yielded a number of human remains thought to derive from Pleistocene deposits. We have prepared, reconstructed, described and dated a new partial skull from a consolidated sediment block collected in 1979 from the site of Longlin Cave (Guangxi Province). We also undertook new excavations at Maludong (Yunnan Province) to clarify the stratigraphy and dating of a large sample of mostly undescribed human remains from the site. Methodology/Principal Findings We undertook a detailed comparison of cranial, including a virtual endocast for the Maludong calotte, mandibular and dental remains from these two localities. Both samples probably derive from the same population, exhibiting an unusual mixture of modern human traits, characters probably plesiomorphic for later Homo, and some unusual features. We dated charcoal with AMS radiocarbon dating and speleothem with the Uranium-series technique and the results show both samples to be from the Pleistocene-Holocene transition: ∼14.3-11.5 ka. Conclusions/Significance Our analysis suggests two plausible explanations for the morphology sampled at Longlin Cave and Maludong. First, it may represent a late-surviving archaic population, perhaps paralleling the situation seen in North Africa as indicated by remains from Dar-es-Soltane and Temara, and maybe also in southern China at Zhirendong. Alternatively, East Asia may have been colonised during multiple waves during the Pleistocene, with the Longlin-Maludong morphology possibly reflecting deep population substructure in Africa prior to modern humans dispersing into Eurasia. © 2012 Curnoe et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    New ankylosaurian cranial remains from the lower cretaceous (upper albian) toolebuc formation of Queensland, Australia
    (Frontiers, 2022-03-28) Frauenfelder, TG; Bell, PR; Brougham, T; Bevitt, JJ; Bicknell, RDC; Kear, BP; Wroe, S; Campione, NE
    Australian dinosaur research has undergone a renaissance in the last 10 years, with growing knowledge of mid-Cretaceous assemblages revealing an endemic high-paleolatitude Gondwanan fauna. One of its most conspicuous members is ankylosaurs, which are rare but nonetheless occur in most Australian dinosaur-bearing formations spanning the uppermost Barremian to lower Cenomanian. Here we describe a partial ankylosaur skull from the marine Toolebuc Formation exposed near Boulia in western Queensland, Australia. This skull represents the oldest ankylosaurian material from Queensland, predating the holotype of Kunbarrasaurus ieversi, which was found in the overlying Allaru Mudstone. The ankylosaur skull is encased in a limestone concretion with the maxillary tooth rows preserved only as impressions. Synchrotron radiation X-ray tomography was used to non-destructively image and reconstruct the specimen in 3D and facilitate virtual preparation of the separate cranial bones. The reconstruction of the skull revealed the vomer, palatines, sections of the ectopterygoids and maxillae, and multiple teeth. The palate has posteriorly positioned choanae that differs from the more anterior placement seen in most other ankylosaurians, but which is shared with K. ieversi, Akainacephalus johnsoni, Cedarpelta bilbeyhallorum, Gobisaurus domoculus, and Panoplosaurus mirus. Phylogenetic analyses place the new cranial material within the recently named basal ankylosaurian clade Parankylosauria together with K. ieversi. This result, together with the anatomical similarities to the holotype of K. ieversi, permits its referral to cf. Kunbarrasaurus sp. This specimen elucidates the palatal anatomy of Australian ankylosaurs and highlights one of the most ubiquitous components of Australian mid-Cretaceous dinosaur faunas. © 2022 Frauenfelder, Bell, Brougham, Bevitt, Bicknell, Kear, Wroe and Campione. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).