Publications by authors named "Eduardo Ascarrunz"
The geoemydid turtles of the Eocoene Messel Pit Quarry of Hesse, Germany, are part of a rich Western European fossil record of testudinoids. Originally referred to as " and ", their systematic relationships remain unclear. A previous study proposed that a majority of the Western European geoemydids, including the Messel geoemydids, are closely related to the Recent European representatives of the clade .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In the last 20 years, a general picture of the evolutionary relationships between geoemydid turtles (ca. 70 species distributed over the Northern hemisphere) has emerged from the analysis of molecular data. However, there is a paucity of good traditional morphological characters that correlate with the phylogeny, which are essential for the robust integration of fossil and molecular data.
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- The branchiostegal series refers to bony elements in the skull of osteichthyan vertebrates, and the study explores their evolution across 440 living and 66 extinct species to see if they follow 'Williston's law', which suggests a decrease in these elements over time.
- The research found no significant macroevolutionary trend supporting 'Williston's law', meaning branchiostegal numbers did not consistently decrease over time, and this result held even when analyzing different subsets of fossil data.
- Instead, the study suggests an 'early burst' phenomenon in trait evolution, emphasizing the complexity of understanding macroevolutionary dynamics, even when working with extensive data from various species.*
Article Synopsis
- The study re-evaluated turtle cranial disparity over time using enhanced geometric morphometric data to address gaps in the fossil record.
- A significant finding was that the decrease in cranial disparity during the Miocene was likely due to inadequate fossil sampling rather than environmental changes or extinction events.
- The updated analysis supported previous findings related to biogeographic changes and showed some correlation between cranial disparity and global temperature, while also affirming turtle resilience during the K/T extinction event.