GEIST, N.R.; JONES, T.D.; HILLENIUS, W.J.; RUBEN, J.A.; Sonoma State Univ.; Stephen F. Austin State Univ.; College of Charleston; Oregon State Univ.: New Evidence for Diaphragm Breathing in Pterosaurs With few exceptions, amniotes ventilate their lungs by ribcage expansion. Mammals and crocodilians supplement costally powered lung ventilation with active diaphragms, and birds couple thoracic expansion […]

WITMER, L. M.*; CHATTERJEE, S.; FRANZOSA, J.; ROWE, T.; RIDGELY, R.; Ohio Univ., Athens; Texas Tech Univ., Lubbock; Univ. of Texas, Austin; Univ. of Texas, Austin; Ohio Univ., Athens: Neuroanatomy and vestibular apparatus of pterosaurs: Implications for flight, posture, and behavior Comparison of birds and pterosaurs, the two archosaurian flyers, sheds light on adaptation to […]

JONES, T. D.; RUBEN, J. A.; HAVNER, R. W.; FRIEDFELD, R. B.; GEIST, N. R.; Stephen F. Austin State University; Oregon State University; Stephen F. Austin State University; Stephen F. Austin State University; Sonoma State University: INVESTIGATION OF SUPPOSED FEATHERS OF DINOSAURS FROM CHINA Feather fossilization generally involves autolithification of bacteria associated with feather decomposition. […]

RYBCZYNSKI, Natalia; Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa: Behavioral evolution in fossil castorids (beavers) Castorids present an unusual opportunity to study behavioral evolution because their robust fossil record includes numerous behavioral artifacts. For some castorids the behavioral evidence indicates a close correspondence between behavioral and morphological specialization, but in other cases the behavioral trait appear unassociated […]

CONRAD, J.L.*; SERENO, P.C.; Univ. of Chicago; Univ. of Chicago: An Early Cretaceous lizard skull from Mongolia and the early evolution of Gekkota Fossil evidence of Gekkota, and particularly its stem taxa, remains scanty. The earliest records are nearly as derived as extant members and, consequently, phylogenetic uncertainty persists regarding the relationships of Gekkota. Suggested […]

DEMAINTENON, M.J.; MUIR, C.C.; EBLE, J.; University of Hawaii at Hilo; University of Hawaii at Hilo; University of Hawaii at Hilo: Phylogeography of the Hawaiian direct-developing marine gastropod Peristernia chlorostoma (Neogastropoda: Fasciolariidae) Marine species, regardless of their larval ecology, are often dispersed over wide distances, and are traditionally considered panmictic across large parts of their […]

MAHONEY, M .J.; Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, UC Berkeley: Phylogeny and demographic history of the Plethodon elongatus species group (Caudata: Plethodontidae) Plethodon elongatus and P. stormi are closely related salamander species with narrow distributions in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon. I used mitochondrial sequence data to examine biogeographic hypotheses concerning the divergence and regional history […]

HARPER, F.M.*; Dalhousie University: Morphological and phylogenetic analyses of Asterias forbesi and A. rubens in sympatry and allopatry. The seastars Asterias forbesi and A. rubens co-occur in a zone of secondary contact from Nova Scotia to Cape Hatteras. The initial vicariance event occurred about 3 Mya resulting in a North American and a European species. […]

ADDISON, J.A.; Dalhousie University: Circumpolar phylogeography of the green sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis). The green sea urchin Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis is a circumpolar species found subtidally at high latitudes. These urchins are thought to have colonized the north Atlantic from the north Pacific shortly after the Bering Seaway opened 3-3.5 Mya. Glaciation events during the Pleistocene […]

BERGMANN, P.J.*; RUSSELL, A.P.; University of Calgary; University of Calgary: Application of Bayesian inference in the phylogenetic analysis of multiple data sources: Intraspecific systematics of the turnip-tailed gecko. Bayesian inference is used to implement a maximum likelihood approach to analysis of morphological, morphometric, and mtDNA sequence data obtained from samples of the neotropical gecko, Thecadactylus […]