Eight clusters of small spherical and subspherical objects, some isolated and some associated with shells of perisphinctid ammonites, have been recovered from the Lower and Upper Kimmeridge Clay (Upper Jurassic) of the Dorset coast, England. They have been interpreted as ammonite egg sacs and represent the freshest and best‐preserved examples known so far. Their structures and the ecological framework in which they occur are discussed. The parents are thought to be members of the two eudemic genera Aulacostephanus and Pectinatites that dominate the biostratigraphy of the ammonites in the range of the Kimmeridge Clay in which they occur. Isolated nuclei of ammonitellae have also been recovered.
The nature of the pteroid, a rod-like bone projecting from the carpus in pterosaurs, has long been disputed. Three lines of evidence, morphological, developmental and histological, indicate that the pteroid is a true bone, rather than ossified cartilage. The origin of the pteroid is unclear: it may be a modified carpal, the first metacarpal, or a neomorph.
Clarke, J.B. 2004 09 15: A mineralogical method to determine cyclicity in the taphonomic and diagenetic history of fossilized bones. Lethaia, Vol. 37, pp. 281±284. Oslo. ISSN 0024-1164.The study of authigenic minerals within the voids of a fossilized bone can reveal its diagenetic history. When the order of precipitation of minerals is plotted on an Eh/pH diagram any cyclicity in the diagenetic history is revealed. If one cycle is displayed then it can be assumed that the bone has been found in its original bed of deposition; if two cycles or more are revealed then reworking or environmental change may have taken place. This is demonstrated in a case study of two bones from the Wealden Group (Lower Cretaceous) from the Isle of Wight, UK. & Diagenesis, sedimentology, taphonomy, vertebrate palaeontology.
Translocation is a common tool for managing nuisance Canada geese (Branta canadensis) in urban areas across North America. However, no previous research has assessed how translocation affects survival and philopatry at donor and release sites. Such information is required for managers to decide if translocation is a suitable intervention to reach their management objectives. We used a joint multistate-dead recovery markrecapture analysis to retrospectively measure the effects of translocation on survival and fidelity of immature and adult Canada geese (n ¼ 2,946 marked individuals). Between 2009 and 2013, geese from Wascana Centre, an urban park in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, were subject to translocation to Cumberland Lake, a remote lake more than 400 km away. Survival varied between immature (mean annual survival ¼ 0.31, 95% CI ¼ 0.24-0.40) and adult (mean annual survival ¼ 0.72, 95% CI ¼ 0.69-0.75) geese, but translocation had no effect on survival probability. However, translocated immature geese had a lower mean probability of returning to Wascana (0.11, 95% CI ¼ 0.07-0.18) compared to adult geese (0.83, 95% CI ¼ 0.77-0.88). Translocation is unlikely to lead to a reduction in population density in our system given that translocation does not influence survival and adults return at high rates after being moved. If translocation is the only management option available, then the focus should be on immature geese. If translocation is used as a management option to minimize the number of geese that would need to be lethally removed, then managers should translocate immature geese and cull adult geese to reach management objectives. Ó 2017 The Wildlife Society.
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