PeerJ – Paleontology and Evolutionary Science section

21 December 2018

Shell variability in the stem turtles Proterochersis spp.

Tomasz Szczygielski, Justyna Słowiak, Dawid Dróżdż

Editor rating: 7 / 10

Jérémy Anquetin –– Detailed description of morphological variability in early turtles

4 December 2018

Ornithopod diversity in the Griman Creek Formation (Cenomanian), New South Wales, Australia

Editor rating: 7 / 10

Hans-Dieter Sues –– Important records of Cretaceous ornithopod dinosaurs from Australia.

27 November 2018

Postmortem transport in fossil and modern shelled cephalopods

Editor rating: 9 / 10

Kenneth De Baets –– The manuscript introduces a new metric for drift potential of cephalopod shells relevant for paleontologist and biologists. When applying it on fossil ammonoids and modern nautilids, the author demonstrates that long post-mortem drift is more than sometimes claimed and that their geographic ranges are reasonable proxies for geographic range during life making it also of great interest to biogeographers and ecologists. The results also suggest the presence modern or recently extirpated populations of Nautilus in the Indian ocean, which is of relevance for conservation efforts.

22 November 2018

A needle in a haystack: Mesozoic origin of parasitism in Strepsiptera revealed by first definite Cretaceous primary larva (Insecta)

Editor rating: 7 / 10

Kenneth De Baets –– This article allow back to track the origin of strepsipteran parasitic lifestyle back ca. 100 million years indicating an exceptional case of evolutionary stasis.

1 November 2018

Prionochelys matutina Zangerl, 1953 (Testudines: Pan-Cheloniidae) from the Late Cretaceous of the United States and the evolution of epithecal ossifications in marine turtles

Editor rating: 7 / 10

Mark Young –– This contribution is important as it is one of a growing number of papers that is elucidating the evolution of marine turtles. Compared to other Mesozoic marine reptiles, the evolution, taxonomy and comparative anatomy of marine turtles is still poorly understood.

31 October 2018

Cancellous bone and theropod dinosaur locomotion. Part I—an examination of cancellous bone architecture in the hindlimb bones of theropods

Editor rating: 8 / 10

Mathew Wedel –– This work is legitimately groundbreaking in its scope and in its potential to move the field forward. The papers in this series seem destined to become citation classics.

31 October 2018

Cancellous bone and theropod dinosaur locomotion. Part III—Inferring posture and locomotor biomechanics in extinct theropods, and its evolution on the line to birds

Editor rating: 8 / 10

Mathew Wedel –– This work is legitimately groundbreaking in its scope and in its potential to move the field forward. The papers in this series seem destined to become citation classics. (Applies to all three papers in this series.)

28 September 2018

New records of the archaic dolphin Agorophius (Mammalia: Cetacea) from the upper Oligocene Chandler Bridge Formation of South Carolina, USA

Editor rating: 8 / 10

J. Thewissen –– Modern toothed whales (odontocetes) are interesting because they are able to shed the design constraints that most mammals, including Eocene whales, have (for instance, in the number of teeth and the number of phalanges). Early odontocetes, such as the one described here, are on that path: they are exploring the limits of the mammalian bauplan. We don't know much about the morphology of these groups, so every fossil described helps us understand that evolutionary exploration better.

7 August 2018

Triassic pentadactyl tracks from the Los Menucos Group (Río Negro province, Patagonia Argentina): possible constraints on the autopodial posture of Gondwanan trackmakers

Editor rating: 7 / 10

Kenneth De Baets –– The authors describe new finds of a widespread trace fossil and manage to use it to constrain the anatomy of its producer. It will therefore be relevant for ichnologist, (paleo)biologists and (paleo)ecologists.

6 July 2018

Fossil eggshell cuticle elucidates dinosaur nesting ecology

Editor rating: 7 / 10

Graciela Piñeiro –– This is an important contribution to the dinosaur reproductive behavior, and offers a pormenorized study of the evidence to suggest the presence of a cuticle-like layer in oviraptorid and alvarezsaurid dinosaur eggs.

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Paleontology and Evolutionary Science