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PLoS ONE: The Paleontology Collection

This collection represents those articles published in PLoS ONE on the general topic of paleontology (the study of fossils and of life forms that existed in past geological periods). The discipline is very broad, overlapping with both biology and geology, and the findings reported in these articles span several geological eras and further our understanding of organisms from multiple phyla. Articles are presented in order of publication date and new articles will be added to the Paleontology Collection as they are published. We welcome submissions in this field.

Image Credit: Mark P. Witton (see Witton and Naish, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002271)

 
 

Research Articles Top

Mechanical Analysis of Feeding Behavior in the Extinct “Terror Bird” Andalgalornis steulleti (Gruiformes: Phorusrhacidae)

Federico J. Degrange, Claudia P. Tambussi, Karen Moreno, Lawrence M. Witmer, Stephen Wroe

PLoS ONE: published 18 Aug 2010 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0011856

Convergent Evolution in Aquatic Tetrapods: Insights from an Exceptional Fossil Mosasaur

Johan Lindgren, Michael W. Caldwell, Takuya Konishi, Luis M. Chiappe

PLoS ONE:
Published 09 Aug 2010 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0011998

Early Origin for Human-Like Precision Grasping: A Comparative Study of Pollical Distal Phalanges in Fossil Hominins

Sergio Almécija, Salvador Moyà-Solà, David M. Alba

PLoS ONE:
Published 22 Jul 2010 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0011727

Long Bone Histology of Sauropterygia from the Lower Muschelkalk of the Germanic Basin Provides Unexpected Implications for Phylogeny

Nicole Klein

PLoS ONE:
Published 21 Jul 2010 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0011613

Radiographs Reveal Exceptional Forelimb Strength in the Sabertooth Cat, Smilodon fatalis

Julie A. Meachen-Samuels, Blaire Van Valkenburgh

PLoS ONE:
Published 02 Jul 2010 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0011412

Evolutionary Trends of the Pharyngeal Dentition in Cypriniformes (Actinopterygii: Ostariophysi)

Emmanuel Pasco-Viel, Cyril Charles, Pascale Chevret, Marie Semon, Paul Tafforeau, Laurent Viriot, Vincent Laudet

PLoS ONE:
Published 24 Jun 2010 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0011293

A New Pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Morocco

Nizar Ibrahim, David M. Unwin, David M. Martill, Lahssen Baidder, Samir Zouhri

PLoS ONE:
Published 26 May 2010 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0010875

Ancient Nursery Area for the Extinct Giant Shark Megalodon from the Miocene of Panama

Catalina Pimiento, Dana J. Ehret, Bruce J. MacFadden, Gordon Hubbell

PLoS ONE:
Published 10 May 2010 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0010552

3-D Modelling of Megaloolithid Clutches: Insights about Nest Construction and Dinosaur Behaviour

Bernat Vila, Frankie D. Jackson, Josep Fortuny, Albert G. Sellés, Àngel Galobart

PLoS ONE:
Published 05 May 2010 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0010362

First Known Feeding Trace of the Eocene Bottom-Dwelling Fish Notogoneus osculus and Its Paleontological Significance

Anthony J. Martin, Gonzalo M. Vazquez-Prokopec, Michael Page

PLoS ONE:
Published 05 May 2010 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0010420

A New Basal Sauropodomorph Dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic Navajo Sandstone of Southern Utah

Joseph J. W. Sertich, Mark A. Loewen

PLoS ONE:
Published 24 Mar 2010 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0009789

Laetoli Footprints Preserve Earliest Direct Evidence of Human-Like Bipedal Biomechanics

David A. Raichlen, Adam D. Gordon, William E. H. Harcourt-Smith, Adam D. Foster, Wm. Randall Haas Jr

PLoS ONE:
Published 22 Mar 2010 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0009769

Tentaculate Fossils from the Cambrian of Canada (British Columbia) and China (Yunnan) Interpreted as Primitive Deuterostomes

Jean-Bernard Caron, Simon Conway Morris, Degan Shu

PLoS ONE:
Published 08 Mar 2010 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0009586

A New Horned Crocodile from the Plio-Pleistocene Hominid Sites at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

Christopher A. Brochu, Jackson Njau, Robert J. Blumenschine, Llewellyn D. Densmore

PLoS ONE:
Published 24 Feb 2010 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0009333

Revised Lithostratigraphy of the Sonsela Member (Chinle Formation, Upper Triassic) in the Southern Part of Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

Jeffrey W. Martz, William G. Parker

PLoS ONE:
Published 19 Feb 2010 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0009329

The Extent of the Preserved Feathers on the Four-Winged Dinosaur Microraptor gui under Ultraviolet Light

David W. E. Hone, Helmut Tischlinger, Xing Xu, Fucheng Zhang

PLoS ONE:
Published 15 Feb 2010 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0009223

Cranial Anatomy of the Earliest Marsupials and the Origin of Opossums

Inés Horovitz, Thomas Martin, Jonathan Bloch, Sandrine Ladevèze, Cornelia Kurz, Marcelo R. Sánchez-Villagra

PLoS ONE:
Published 16 Dec 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0008278

Quantifying the Extent of North American Mammal Extinction Relative to the Pre-Anthropogenic Baseline

Marc A. Carrasco, Anthony D. Barnosky, Russell W. Graham

PLoS ONE:
Published 16 Dec 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0008331

Extreme Cranial Ontogeny in the Upper Cretaceous Dinosaur Pachycephalosaurus

John R. Horner, Mark B. Goodwin

PLoS ONE:
Published 27 Oct 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0007626

Was Dinosaurian Physiology Inherited by Birds? Reconciling Slow Growth in Archaeopteryx

Gregory M. Erickson, Oliver W. M. Rauhut, Zhonghe Zhou, Alan H. Turner, Brian D. Inouye, Dongyu Hu, Mark A. Norell

PLoS ONE:
Published 09 Oct 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0007390

Dynamic Locomotor Capabilities Revealed by Early Dinosaur Trackmakers from Southern Africa

Jeffrey A. Wilson, Claudia A. Marsicano, Roger M. H. Smith

PLoS ONE:
Published 06 Oct 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0007331

Dragon's Paradise Lost: Palaeobiogeography, Evolution and Extinction of the Largest-Ever Terrestrial Lizards (Varanidae)

Scott A. Hocknull, Philip J. Piper, Gert D. van den Bergh, Rokus Awe Due, Michael J. Morwood, Iwan Kurniawan

PLoS ONE:
Published 30 Sep 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0007241

The Origin and Initial Rise of Pelagic Cephalopods in the Ordovician

Björn Kröger, Thomas Servais, Yunbai Zhang

PLoS ONE:
Published 30 Sep 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0007262

Common Avian Infection Plagued the Tyrant Dinosaurs

Ewan D. S. Wolff, Steven W. Salisbury, John R. Horner, David J. Varricchio

PLoS ONE:
Published 30 Sep 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0007288

A Mammalian Lost World in Southwest Europe during the Late Pliocene

Alfonso Arribas, Guiomar Garrido, César Viseras, Jesús M. Soria, Sila Pla, José G. Solano, Miguel Garcés, Elisabet Beamud, José S. Carrión

PLoS ONE:
Published 23 Sep 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0007127

A New Basal Sauropod Dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Niger and the Early Evolution of Sauropoda

Kristian Remes, Francisco Ortega, Ignacio Fierro, Ulrich Joger, Ralf Kosma, José Manuel Marín Ferrer, Oumarou Amadou Ide, Abdoulaye Maga

PLoS ONE:
Published 16 Sep 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0006924

Estimating Impact Forces of Tail Club Strikes by Ankylosaurid Dinosaurs

Victoria Megan Arbour

PLoS ONE:
Published 25 Aug 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0006738

Possible Brucellosis in an Early Hominin Skeleton from Sterkfontein, South Africa

Ruggero D'Anastasio, Bernhard Zipfel, Jacopo Moggi-Cecchi, Roscoe Stanyon, Luigi Capasso

PLoS ONE:
Published 30 Jul 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0006439

New Mid-Cretaceous (Latest Albian) Dinosaurs from Winton, Queensland, Australia

Scott A. Hocknull, Matt A. White, Travis R. Tischler, Alex G. Cook, Naomi D. Calleja, Trish Sloan, David A. Elliott

PLoS ONE:
Published 03 Jul 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0006190

The Emergence of Predators in Early Life: There was No Garden of Eden

Silvester de Nooijer, Barbara R. Holland, David Penny

PLoS ONE:
Published 03 Jun 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0005507

Effects of Global Warming on Ancient Mammalian Communities and Their Environments

Larisa R. G. DeSantis, Robert S. Feranec, Bruce J. MacFadden

PLoS ONE:
Published 03 Jun 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0005750

Paleogenomics in a Temperate Environment: Shotgun Sequencing from an Extinct Mediterranean Caprine

Oscar Ramírez, Elena Gigli, Pere Bover, Josep Antoni Alcover, Jaume Bertranpetit, Jose Castresana, Carles Lalueza-Fox

PLoS ONE:
Published 22 May 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0005670

Complete Primate Skeleton from the Middle Eocene of Messel in Germany: Morphology and Paleobiology

Jens L. Franzen, Philip D. Gingerich, Jörg Habersetzer, Jørn H. Hurum, Wighart von Koenigswald, B. Holly Smith

PLoS ONE:
Published 19 May 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0005723

Scaling of Soaring Seabirds and Implications for Flight Abilities of Giant Pterosaurs

Katsufumi Sato, Kentaro Q. Sakamoto, Yutaka Watanuki, Akinori Takahashi, Nobuhiro Katsumata, Charles-André Bost, Henri Weimerskirch

PLoS ONE:
Published 29 Apr 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0005400

Bird-Like Anatomy, Posture, and Behavior Revealed by an Early Jurassic Theropod Dinosaur Resting Trace

Andrew R. C. Milner, Jerald D. Harris, Martin G. Lockley, James I. Kirkland, Neffra A. Matthews

PLoS ONE:
Published 04 Mar 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0004591

Estimating Mass Properties of Dinosaurs Using Laser Imaging and 3D Computer Modelling

Karl T. Bates, Phillip L. Manning, David Hodgetts, William I. Sellers

PLoS ONE:
Published 19 Feb 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0004532

Respiratory Evolution Facilitated the Origin of Pterosaur Flight and Aerial Gigantism

Leon P. A. M. Claessens, Patrick M. O'Connor, David M. Unwin

PLoS ONE:
Published 18 Feb 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0004497

A Basal Sauropodomorph (Dinosauria: Saurischia) from the Ischigualasto Formation (Triassic, Carnian) and the Early Evolution of Sauropodomorpha

Ricardo N. Martinez, Oscar A. Alcober

PLoS ONE:
Published 16 Feb 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0004397

Climate Change and Trophic Response of the Antarctic Bottom Fauna

Richard B. Aronson, Ryan M. Moody, Linda C. Ivany, Daniel B. Blake, John E. Werner, Alexander Glass

PLoS ONE:
Published 05 Feb 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0004385

New Protocetid Whale from the Middle Eocene of Pakistan: Birth on Land, Precocial Development, and Sexual Dimorphism

Philip D. Gingerich, Munir ul-Haq, Wighart von Koenigswald, William J. Sanders, B. Holly Smith, Iyad S. Zalmout

PLoS ONE:
Published 04 Feb 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0004366

Evidence of Combat in Triceratops

Andrew A. Farke, Ewan D. S. Wolff, Darren H. Tanke

PLoS ONE:
Published 28 Jan 2009 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0004252

Long-Term Cycles in the History of Life: Periodic Biodiversity in the Paleobiology Database

Adrian L. Melott

PLoS ONE:
Published 24 Dec 2008 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0004044

Global Taxonomic Diversity of Anomodonts (Tetrapoda, Therapsida) and the Terrestrial Rock Record Across the Permian-Triassic Boundary

Jörg Fröbisch

PLoS ONE:
Published 17 Nov 2008 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0003733

Mosaic Convergence of Rodent Dentitions

Vincent Lazzari, Cyril Charles, Paul Tafforeau, Monique Vianey-Liaud, Jean-Pierre Aguilar, Jean-Jacques Jaeger, Jacques Michaux, Laurent Viriot

PLoS ONE:
Published 31 Oct 2008 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0003607

New Insight into the Colonization Processes of Common Voles: Inferences from Molecular and Fossil Evidence

Christelle Tougard, Elodie Renvoisé, Amélie Petitjean, Jean-Pierre Quéré

PLoS ONE:
Published 29 Oct 2008 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0003532

The Evolution of HoxD-11 Expression in the Bird Wing: Insights from Alligator mississippiensis

Alexander O. Vargas, Tiana Kohlsdorf, John F. Fallon, John VandenBrooks, Günter P. Wagner

PLoS ONE:
Published 03 Oct 2008 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0003325

Evidence for Avian Intrathoracic Air Sacs in a New Predatory Dinosaur from Argentina

Paul C. Sereno, Ricardo N. Martinez, Jeffrey A. Wilson, David J. Varricchio, Oscar A. Alcober, Hans C. E. Larsson

PLoS ONE:
Published 30 Sep 2008 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0003303

Light-Dependant Biostabilisation of Sediments by Stromatolite Assemblages

David M. Paterson, Rebecca J. Aspden, Pieter T. Visscher, Mireille Consalvey, Miriam S. Andres, Alan W. Decho, John Stolz, R. Pamela Reid

PLoS ONE:
Published 10 Sep 2008 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0003176

Lower Miocene Stratigraphy along the Panama Canal and Its Bearing on the Central American Peninsula

Michael Xavier Kirby, Douglas S. Jones, Bruce J. MacFadden

PLoS ONE:
Published 30 Jul 2008 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0002791

Evolution of Skull and Mandible Shape in Cats (Carnivora: Felidae)

Per Christiansen

PLoS ONE:
Published 30 Jul 2008 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0002807

Dinosaurian Soft Tissues Interpreted as Bacterial Biofilms

Thomas G. Kaye, Gary Gaugler, Zbigniew Sawlowicz

PLoS ONE:
Published 30 Jul 2008 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0002808

A Reappraisal of Azhdarchid Pterosaur Functional Morphology and Paleoecology

Mark P. Witton, Darren Naish

PLoS ONE:
Published 28 May 2008 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0002271

First Dinosaur Tracks from the Arabian Peninsula

Anne S. Schulp, Mohammed Al-Wosabi, Nancy J. Stevens

PLoS ONE:
Published 21 May 2008 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0002243

Timing and Tempo of Early and Successive Adaptive Radiations in Macaronesia

Seung-Chul Kim, Michael R. McGowen, Pesach Lubinsky, Janet C. Barber, Mark E. Mort, Arnoldo Santos-Guerra

PLoS ONE:
Published 14 May 2008 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0002139

Australia's Oldest Marsupial Fossils and their Biogeographical Implications

Robin M. D. Beck, Henk Godthelp, Vera Weisbecker, Michael Archer, Suzanne J. Hand

PLoS ONE:
Published 26 Mar 2008 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0001858

Seed Dispersal Anachronisms: Rethinking the Fruits Extinct Megafauna Ate

Paulo R. Guimarães Jr., Mauro Galetti, Pedro Jordano

PLoS ONE:
Published 05 Mar 2008 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0001745

The Effect of Inappropriate Calibration: Three Case Studies in Molecular Ecology

Simon Y. W. Ho, Urmas Saarma, Ross Barnett, James Haile, Beth Shapiro

PLoS ONE:
Published 20 Feb 2008 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0001615

Structural Extremes in a Cretaceous Dinosaur

Paul C. Sereno, Jeffrey A. Wilson, Lawrence M. Witmer, John A. Whitlock, Abdoulaye Maga, Oumarou Ide, Timothy A. Rowe

PLoS ONE:
Published 21 Nov 2007 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0001230

Exceptionally Preserved Jellyfishes from the Middle Cambrian

Paulyn Cartwright, Susan L. Halgedahl, Jonathan R. Hendricks, Richard D. Jarrard, Antonio C. Marques, Allen G. Collins, Bruce S. Lieberman

PLoS ONE:
Published 31 Oct 2007 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0001121

Impedance-Matching Hearing in Paleozoic Reptiles: Evidence of Advanced Sensory Perception at an Early Stage of Amniote Evolution

Johannes Müller, Linda A. Tsuji

PLoS ONE:
Published 12 Sep 2007 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0000889

Insights from Amphioxus into the Evolution of Vertebrate Cartilage

Daniel Meulemans, Marianne Bronner-Fraser

PLoS ONE:
Published 29 Aug 2007 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0000787

Considering the Case for Biodiversity Cycles: Re-Examining the Evidence for Periodicity in the Fossil Record

Bruce S. Lieberman, Adrian L. Melott

PLoS ONE:
Published 22 Aug 2007 | info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0000759

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