31 October 2018

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

"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."

Mathew Wedel, Handling Editor

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

"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.)"

Mathew Wedel, Handling Editor

28 September 2018

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

"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."

J.g.m. Thewissen, Handling Editor

1 June 2018

Cranial anatomy of Bellusaurus sui (Dinosauria: Eusauropoda) from the Middle-Late Jurassic Shishugou Formation of northwest China and a review of sauropod cranial ontogeny

"Detailed description of an important taxon for sauropod workers."

Andrew Farke, Handling Editor

31 May 2018

Assessing canalisation of intraspecific variation on a macroevolutionary scale: the case of crinoid arms through the Phanerozoic

"This is a thorough study on an extensive dataset that will provide a model for other such macroevolutionary investigations."

Philip Cox, Handling Editor

25 May 2018

Fingerprinting snakes: paleontological and paleoecological implications of zygantral growth rings in Serpentes

"This study presents data applicable for many paleontologists in trying to establish life history information for snakes extant and extinct."

Andrew Farke, Handling Editor

6 April 2018

Reinvestigating an enigmatic Late Cretaceous monocot: morphology, taxonomy, and biogeography of Viracarpon

"Excellent imagery and descriptions of an important taxon."

Andrew Farke, Handling Editor

10 September 2015

Anatomy, feeding ecology, and ontogeny of a transitional baleen whale: a new genus and species of Eomysticetidae (Mammalia: Cetacea) from the Oligocene of New Zealand

"The new taxon described is potentially the first known mysticete cetacean that has both baleen and functional alveoli. The ecomorphological shift from raptorial-feeding to bulk-feeding in this clade is dramatic, and none not fully understood. This paper helps to fill in the gaps of this evolutionary trajectory."

Mark Young, Handling Editor