First rib fracture: Still a marker of trauma severity?

Objective: First rib fractures (FRFs) have historically been a marker for severe trauma and poor outcomes. The aim of the present study was to assess whether an association still exists between a fractured first rib and global trauma scores suffered by the patient, examine mortality rates and identify other commonly associated injuries.

Methods: This retrospective study examined records collected from patients from the Rockhampton Hospital with a traumatic FRF from July 2015 to June 2020.

Spectroscopy on the wing: Investigating possible differences in protein secondary structures in feather shafts of birds using Raman spectroscopy.

The central shaft of a bird's flight feather bears most of the aerodynamic load during flight and exhibits some remarkable mechanical properties. The shaft comprises two parts, the calamus and the rachis. The calamus is at the base of the shaft, while the rachis is the longer upper part which supports the vanes.

Imaging techniques for observing laminar geometry in the feather shaft cortex.

Bird feather shafts are light, stiff and strong, but the fine details of how their structure, mechanics and function relate to one another remains poorly understood. The missing piece in our understanding may be the various fibrous layers that make up the shaft's cortex. Detailed imaging techniques are needed to enable us to capture, analyse and quantify these layers before we can begin to unravel the relationship between their structure, mechanics and function.

Ultraviolet light illuminates the avian nature of the Berlin Archaeopteryx skeleton.

The question of whether the iconic avialan Archaeopteryx was capable of active flapping flight or only passive gliding is still unresolved. This study contributes to this debate by reporting on two key aspects of this fossil that are visible under ultraviolet (UV) light. In contrast to previous studies, we show that most of the vertebral column of the Berlin Archaeopteryx possesses intraosseous pneumaticity, and that pneumatic structures also extend beyond the anterior thoracic vertebrae in other specimens of Archaeopteryx.

An abelisaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) ilium from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of the Kem Kem beds, Morocco.

Abelisaurid theropods first appear in the fossil record in the early Jurassic and survived at least until the end of the Mesozoic. They were known to have dominated South America, India and Madagascar but were not so abundant in North America or Asia. Much less is known about their presence in Africa, although there has been several recent discoveries of abelisaurid material in Morocco.

A mixed vertebrate eggshell assemblage from the Transylvanian Late Cretaceous.

A Late Cretaceous-aged multi-taxon nesting site from Romania preserved in three dimensions reveals the earliest example of nest site sharing yet known from the vertebrate fossil record. Eggshell and osteological evidence combined in this single accumulation demonstrate that at least four vertebrate taxa including enantiornithine birds and another avian of indeterminate affinities as well as crocodylomorphs and gekkotan squamates nested together in the same place. Colonial nesting in enantiornithines was previously described from this site; here, we present the first fossil evidence that other vertebrates also nested in the same place, perhaps exploiting the presence of the large bird colony.

Older birds have better feathers: A longitudinal study on the long-distance migratory Sand Martin, Riparia riparia.

Feather quality is of critical importance to long-distance migratory birds. Here, we report a series of analyses of a unique data set encompassing known-age individuals of the long-distance migratory Sand Martin (Riparia riparia). Sampling over 17 years along the Tisza River, eastern Hungary, has resulted in the recapture of numerous individuals enabling longitudinal and cross-sectional investigation of the role of adaptation to variable environmental conditions on feather morphology.

Nitrification and total nitrogen removal in a super-oxygenated wetland.

A novel surface flow wetland demonstrates high-rate nitrification by recirculating water supersaturated with oxygen. Design of the wetland was based on two hypotheses: (1) Oxygen supersaturation of a recirculating sidestream would support nitrification in a surface flow wetland at rates comparable to aerated subsurface flow wetlands, and; (2) Nitrification would be maintained in cold water conditions (0.5-5.

The four-flipper swimming method of plesiosaurs enabled efficient and effective locomotion.

The extinct ocean-going plesiosaurs were unique within vertebrates because they used two flipper pairs identical in morphology for propulsion. Although fossils of these Mesozoic marine reptiles have been known for more than two centuries, the function and dynamics of their tandem-flipper propulsion system has always been unclear and controversial. We address this question quantitatively for the first time in this study, reporting a series of precisely controlled water tank experiments that use reconstructed plesiosaur flippers scaled from well-preserved fossils.

Oxidative coupling of Michael acceptors with aryl nucleophiles produced through rhodium-catalyzed C-C bond activation.

Utilizing rhodium catalysis, aryl nucleophiles generated via carbon-carbon single bond activation successfully undergo oxidative coupling with Michael acceptors. The reaction scope encompasses a broad range of nucleophiles generated from quinolinyl ketones as well as a series of electron deficient terminal alkenes, illustrating the broad potential of intersecting carbon-carbon bond activation with synthetically useful coupling methodologies. The demonstrated oxidative coupling produces a range of cinnamyl derivatives, several of which are challenging to prepare via conventional routes.

Complex neuroanatomy in the rostrum of the Isle of Wight theropod Neovenator salerii.

The discovery of large, complex, internal canals within the rostra of fossil reptiles has been linked with an enhanced tactile function utilised in an aquatic context, so far in pliosaurids, the Cretaceous theropod Spinosaurus, and the related spinosaurid Baryonyx. Here, we report the presence of a complex network of large, laterally situated, anastomosing channels, discovered via micro-focus computed tomography (μCT), in the premaxilla and maxilla of Neovenator, a mid-sized allosauroid theropod from the Early Cretaceous of the UK. We identify these channels as neurovascular canals, that include parts of the trigeminal nerve; many branches of this complex terminate on the external surfaces of the premaxilla and maxilla where they are associated with foramina.

Exploring the Relationship between Skeletal Mass and Total Body Mass in Birds.

Total body mass (TBM) is known to be related to a number of different osteological features in vertebrates, including limb element measurements and total skeletal mass. The relationship between skeletal mass and TBM in birds has been suggested as a way of estimating the latter in cases where only the skeleton is known (e.g.

The paleoenvironments of azhdarchid pterosaurs localities in the Late Cretaceous of Kazakhstan.

Five pterosaur localities are currently known from the Late Cretaceous in the northeastern Aral Sea region of Kazakhstan. Of these, one is Turonian-Coniacian in age, the Zhirkindek Formation (Tyulkili), and four are Santonian in age, all from the early Campanian Bostobe Formation (Baibishe, Akkurgan, Buroinak, and Shakh Shakh). All so far collected and identifiable Late Cretaceous pterosaur bones from Kazakhstan likely belong to Azhdarchidae: Azhdarcho sp.

Nanomechanical properties of bird feather rachises: exploring naturally occurring fibre reinforced laminar composites.

Flight feathers have evolved under selective pressures to be sufficiently light and strong enough to cope with the stresses of flight. The feather shaft (rachis) must resist these stresses and is fundamental to this mode of locomotion. Relatively little work has been done on rachis morphology, especially from a mechanical perspective and never at the nanoscale.

Dinosaur evolution. Sustained miniaturization and anatomical innovation in the dinosaurian ancestors of birds.

Recent discoveries have highlighted the dramatic evolutionary transformation of massive, ground-dwelling theropod dinosaurs into light, volant birds. Here, we apply Bayesian approaches (originally developed for inferring geographic spread and rates of molecular evolution in viruses) in a different context: to infer size changes and rates of anatomical innovation (across up to 1549 skeletal characters) in fossils. These approaches identify two drivers underlying the dinosaur-bird transition.

A reversal of fortunes: climate change 'winners' and 'losers' in Antarctic Peninsula penguins.

Climate change is a major threat to global biodiversity. Antarctic ecosystems are no exception. Investigating past species responses to climatic events can distinguish natural from anthropogenic impacts.

Pectoral fin morphology of batoid fishes (Chondrichthyes: Batoidea): explaining phylogenetic variation with geometric morphometrics.

The diverse cartilaginous fish lineage, Batoidea (rays, skates, and allies), sister taxon to sharks, comprises a huge range of morphological diversity which to date remains unquantified and unexplained in terms of evolution or locomotor style. A recent molecular phylogeny has enabled us to confidently assess broadscale aspects of morphology across Batoidea. Geometric morphometrics quantifies the major aspects of shape variation, focusing on the enlarged pectoral fins which characterize batoids, to explore relationships between ancestry, locomotion and habitat.

Aerodynamic performance of the feathered dinosaur Microraptor and the evolution of feathered flight.

Understanding the aerodynamic performance of feathered, non-avialan dinosaurs is critical to reconstructing the evolution of bird flight. Here we show that the Early Cretaceous five-winged paravian Microraptor is most stable when gliding at high-lift coefficients (low lift/drag ratios). Wind tunnel experiments and flight simulations show that sustaining a high-lift coefficient at the expense of high drag would have been the most efficient strategy for Microraptor when gliding from, and between, low elevations.