[Entomology • 2019] Rhamphomyia Meigen (Diptera: Empididae) of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Greenland and Iceland

Rhamphomyia (Pararhamphomyia) septentrionalis 

Sinclair, Vajda, Saigusa, Shamshev & Wheeler, 2019

 DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4670.1.1

Abstract

Rhamphomyia of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Greenland and Iceland, comprising 23 species, including five new species, are revised: R. (Ctenempis) albopilosa Coquillett, R. (Dasyrhamphomyia) erinacioides Malloch, R. (Dasyrhamphomyia) hovgaardii Holmgren, R. (Dasyrhamphomyia) leptidiformis Frey, R. (Dasyrhamphomyia) nigrita Zetterstedt, R. (Eorhamphomyia) shewelli Sinclair, Vajda, Saigusa & Shamshev sp. nov., R. (Pararhamphomyia) diversipennis Becker, R. (Pararhamphomyia) filicauda Henriksen & Lundbeck, R. (Pararhamphomyia) frigida Sinclair, Vajda, Saigusa & Shamshev sp. nov., R. (Pararhamphomyia) helleni Frey, R. (Pararhamphomyia) hilariformis Frey, R. (Pararhamphomyia) hoeli Frey, R. (Pararhamphomyia) kjellmanii Holmgren, R. (Pararhamphomyia) lymaniana Sinclair, Vajda, Saigusa & Shamshev sp. nov., R. (Pararhamphomyia) omissinervis Becker, R. (Pararhamphomyia) petervajdai Sinclair, Vajda, Saigusa & Shamshev sp. nov., R. (Pararhamphomyia) septentrionalis Sinclair, Vajda, Saigusa & Shamshev sp. nov., R. (Pararhamphomyia) simplex Zetterstedt, R. (Pararhamphomyia) ursinella Melander, R. herschelli Malloch, R. hirtula Zetterstedt, R. laevigata Loew, R. setosa Coquillett. The following six new synonyms are proposed: R. calvimontis Cockerell, 1916 and R. wuorentausi Frey, 1922 = R. albopilosa Coquillett, 1900; R. fridolini Frey, 1950 = R. laevigata Loew, 1861; R. hirticula Collin, 1937 = R. setosa Coquillett, 1895; R. uralensis Becker, 1915 = R. kjellmanii Holmgren, 1880; R. zaitzevi Becker, 1915 = R. hovgaardii Holmgren, 1880. Lectotypes are designated for the following species: R. diversipennis Becker, R. filicauda Henriksen & Lundbeck, R. helleni Frey, R. herschelli Malloch, R. hirticula Collin, R. hoeli Frey, R. leptidiformis Frey, R. omissinervis Becker, R. setosa Coquillett, R. uralensis Becker, R. wuorentausi Frey, R. zaitzevi Becker. A neotype is designated for R. laevigata Loew. Keys to male and female species of Rhamphomyia and distribution maps of this region are provided. DNA barcode data are presented for 16 species of arctic Rhamphomyia.

Keywords: Diptera, Empididae, Rhamphomyia, new species, arctic, Nearctic

Rhamphomyia (Pararhamphomyia) septentrionalis 

Bradley J. Sinclair, Élodie A. Vajda, Toyohei Saigusa,  Igor V. Shamshev and Terry A. Wheeler. 2019. Rhamphomyia Meigen of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Greenland and Iceland (Diptera: Empididae). Zootaxa. 4670(1); 1-94. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4670.1.1

[PaleoMammalogy • 2019] First Fossils of Hyenas (Chasmaporthetes, Hyaenidae, Carnivora) from North of the Arctic Circle

 cf. Chasmaporthetes ossifragus Hay, 1921

in Tseng, Zazula & Werdelin, 2019.

DOI: 10.5334/oq.64

illustation: Julius T. Csotonyi 

Abstract

The northern region of Beringia is ecologically and biogeographically significant as a corridor for biotic dispersals between the Old and New Worlds. Large mammalian predators from Beringia are exceedingly rare in the fossil record, even though carnivore diversity in the past was much higher than it is in this region at present. Here we report the first fossils of cursorial hyenas, Chasmaporthetes, in Beringia and north of the Arctic Circle. Two isolated teeth recovered in the Old Crow Basin, Yukon Territory, Canada, were identified amongst over 50,000 known fossil mammal specimens recovered from over a century of collecting in the Old Crow Basin. These rare records fill an important intermediary locale in the more than 10,000 km geographic distance between previously known New and Old World records of this lineage. The Pleistocene age of these fossils, together with its Arctic Circle occurrence, necessitate a rethinking of the role of large-bodied hunter-scavengers in Ice Age megafaunas in North America, and the implications of lacking an important energy flow modifier in present day North American food webs.

Keywords: Yukon, Pleistocene, Beringia, Carnivore, Predator

Systematic Palaeontology

Order CARNIVORA Bowdich, 1821

Family HYAENIDAE Gray, 1869

CHASMAPORTHETES Hay, 1921

CHASMAPORTHETES cf. C. OSSIFRAGUS Hay, 1921

Adcrocuta sp. Harington, 1989

“Hyaena”, Hyaenidae Harington, 2011

 ...

  Z. Jack Tseng, Grant Zazula and Lars Werdelin. 2019. First Fossils of Hyenas (Chasmaporthetes, Hyaenidae, Carnivora) from North of the Arctic Circle. Open Quaternary. 5(1) DOI: 10.5334/oq.64

Fossil teeth reveal ancient hyenas in the Arctic phys.org/news/2019-06-fossil-teeth-reveal-ancient-hyenas.html via @physorg_com

[Bryophyta • 2018] Sphagnum incundum • A New Species in Sphagnum subg. Acutifolia (Sphagnaceae) from Boreal and Arctic Regions of North America

Sphagnum incundum  Flatberg & Hassel

in Kyrkjeeide, Hassel, Shaw, Shaw, Temsch & Flatberg, 2018.

 DOI:  10.11646/phytotaxa.333.1.1 

Abstract
We describe Sphagnum incundum in Sphagnum subgenus Acutifolia (Sphagnaceae, Bryophyta). We used both molecular and morphological methods to describe the new species. Molecular relationships with closely related species were explored based on microsatellites and nuclear and plastid DNA sequences. The morphological description is based on qualitative examination of morphological characters and measurements of leaves and hyalocysts. Morphological characters are compared between closely related species. The results from Feulgen densitometry and microsatellite analysis show that S. incundum is gametophytically haploid. Molecular analyses show that it is a close relative to S. flavicomans, S. subfulvum and S. subnitens, but differs both genetically and in morphological key characters, justifying the description of Sphagnum incundum as a new species. The new peatmoss is found in North America along the western coast of Greenland, in Canada from Quebec and Northwest Territories, and Alaska (United States). The new species has a boreal to arctic distribution.

Keywords: Bryophytes, Sphagnaceae

FIGURE 8. Sphagnum incundum in field surface view.
A: The type collection including selected holotype and isotypes. Collected in Ivujivik, Quebec, Canada, in intermediate, slightly sloping arctic fen.

Photo by K. I. Flatberg, 4 July 2007. Flatberg 314-07 (TRH B-9718). 

B: Together with S. squarrosum, both with young sporophytes. From Inukjuak, Quebec, Canada, in topogenous, rich fen lawn in arctic mire.

Photo by K. I. Flatberg, 14 August 2007. Flatberg 451-07 (TRH B-9999). 

Sphagnum incundum Flatberg & Hassel sp. nov. 

 Diagnosis:— Sphagnum incundum is in macro-morphology recognized by slender shoots with predominantly brownorange to purple-red capitula and straight and non-recurved leaves on innermost capitulum branches on dry plants. In micro-morphology, it is foremost recognized by narrowly lingulate stem leaves with acute to acute-obtuse apices, strongly S-shaped stem leaf hyalocysts with common occurrence of faint fibrils in distal leaf-parts, and divergent branch leaf hyalocysts on distal end convex surfaces with pores usually occupying between 1/3 and 1/2 of cell width. The new species is gametophytic haploid and closely allied morphologically to S. flavicomans, S. subfulvum, and S. subnitens.

Etymology:— The specific epithet is derived from the Latin adjective incundus = pleasant, agreeable, delightful.

 Distribution:— West Greenland, Canada in Quebec, Nunavut and North West territories, and U.S.A in Alaska. Currently known from the northern boreal to middle arctic vegetation zone. 

Ecology:— Sphagnum incundum in arctic localities in West Greenland, and Nunavik, Quebec, occurs in arctic mires on shallow peat in intermediate and rich fens, partly forming small mats and low cushions on gently sloping, soligenous mire, partly growing in small patches on lawn and carpet mire. The most commonly associated sphagna in both regions were S. concinnum (Berggr.) Flatberg (2007: 88), S. squarrosum, S. teres and S. warnstorfii Russow (1886: 315). In the boreal Anchorage area, Alaska, it was found growing in a large fen mire on high lawn patches in topogenous, varyingly intermediate to rich fen vegetation, associated with S. papillosum Lind. (1872: 280), S. subfulvum and S. miyabeanum Warnstorf (1911: 321). In Bethel area, Alaska, it occurred scattered on intermediate fen lawns in tundra mire.

 Magni Olsen Kyrkjeeide, Kristian Hassel, Blanca Shaw, A. Jonathan Shaw, Eva M. Temsch and Kjell Ivar Flatberg. 2018. Sphagnum incundum A New Species in Sphagnum subg. Acutifolia (Sphagnaceae) from Boreal and Arctic Regions of North America. Phytotaxa. 333(1); 1–21. DOI:  10.11646/phytotaxa.333.1.1

[PaleoMammalogy • 2017] A Basal Ursine Bear (Protarctos abstrusus) from the Pliocene High Arctic reveals Eurasian Affinities and A Diet Rich in Fermentable Sugars

Reconstruction of the mid-Pliocene Protarctos abstrusus in the Beaver Pond site area during the late summer. An extinct beaver, Dipoides, is shown carrying a tree branch in water. Plants include blackcrowberry (Empetrum nigrum) with ripened berries along the path of the bear, dwarf birch (Betula nana) in foreground; sweet gale (Myrica gale) carried by the beaver, sedges in water margins, flowering buckbeans along the mounds behind the beaver, and larch trees in distant background.

 Art by Mauricio Antón based on research of this paper

 and with input on plant community from Alice Telka. 

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-17657-8

Abstract

The skeletal remains of a small bear (Protarctos abstrusus) were collected at the Beaver Pond fossil site in the High Arctic (Ellesmere I., Nunavut). This mid-Pliocene deposit has also yielded 12 other mammals and the remains of a boreal-forest community. Phylogenetic analysis reveals this bear to be basal to modern bears. It appears to represent an immigration event from Asia, leaving no living North American descendants. The dentition shows only modest specialization for herbivory, consistent with its basal position within Ursinae. However, the appearance of dental caries suggest a diet high in fermentable-carbohydrates. Fossil plants remains, including diverse berries, suggests that, like modern northern black bears, P. abstrusus may have exploited a high-sugar diet in the fall to promote fat accumulation and facilitate hibernation. A tendency toward a sugar-rich diet appears to have arisen early in Ursinae, and may have played a role in allowing ursine lineages to occupy cold habitats.

Figure 2: Right (A) and left (B) lateral views of the skull of Protarctos abstrusus (CMN 54380), composite laser scans of five individual cranial fragments.

Reconstruction of the mid-Pliocene Protarctos abstrusus in the Beaver Pond site area during the late summer. An extinct beaver, Dipoides, is shown carrying a tree branch in water. Plants include blackcrowberry (Empetrum nigrum) with ripened berries along the path of the bear, dwarf birch (Betula nana) in foreground; sweet gale (Myrica gale) carried by the beaver, sedges in water margins, flowering buckbeans along the mounds behind the beaver, and larch trees in distant background.

 Art by Mauricio Antón based on research of this paper
and with input on plant community from Alice Telka.

Xiaoming Wang, Natalia Rybczynski, C. Richard Harington, Stuart C. White and Richard H. Tedford. 2017. A Basal Ursine Bear (Protarctos abstrusus) from the Pliocene High Arctic reveals Eurasian Affinities and A Diet Rich in Fermentable Sugars. Scientific Reports. 7, Article number: 17722. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-17657-8

Primitive fossil bear with a sweet tooth identified from Canada's High Arctic
 phy.so/432795810 via @physorg_com

Bears have had a sweet tooth for millions of years  cbc.ca/1.4451466

[Paleontology • 2016] Tingmiatornis arctica • A Large Ornithurine Bird from the Turonian High Arctic: Climatic and Evolutionary Implications

Tingmiatornis arctica 

 Bono, Clarke, Tarduno & Brinkman, 2016 

Illustration: M. Osadciw  DOI:  10.1038/srep38876 

Abstract

Bird fossils from Turonian (ca. 90 Ma) sediments of Axel Heiberg Island (High Canadian Arctic) are among the earliest North American records. The morphology of a large well-preserved humerus supports identification of a new volant, possibly diving, ornithurine species (Tingmiatornis arctica). The new bird fossils are part of a freshwater vertebrate fossil assemblage that documents a period of extreme climatic warmth without seasonal ice, with minimum mean annual temperatures of 14 °C. The extreme warmth allowed species expansion and establishment of an ecosystem more easily able to support large birds, especially in fresh water bodies such as those present in the Turonian High Arctic. Review of the high latitude distribution of Northern Hemisphere Mesozoic birds shows only ornithurine birds are known to have occupied these regions. We propose physiological differences in ornithurines such as growth rate may explain their latitudinal distribution especially as temperatures decline later in the Cretaceous. Distribution and physiology merit consideration as factors in their preferential survival of parts of one ornithurine lineage, Aves, through the K/Pg boundary.

Systematic Paleontology

Avialae Gauthier 198635

Ornithurae Haeckel 186636

Tingmiatornis arctica gen. et. sp. nov.

Etymology: The genus name is from “Tingmiat”, which in Inuktitut references “those that fly”. The species name makes reference to the high Arctic provenance of the holotype and referred material.

Figure 3: The holotype specimen of Tingmiatornis arctica, NUFV 1960, a complete left humerus.
 Photograph (left) and x-ray computed tomography images (right) of the element in caudal, proximal, cranial, and ventral views. 

Locality and horizon: Units exposed at the fossil locality, located on Expedition Fiord (79° 23.5′N, 92° 10.9′W), Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut, Canada (Fig. 1), vary in lithology from siltstone at the top of the section to shale near the base. These units, containing the new avialan remains as part of a rich fossil vertebrate assemblage, occur in a thinly deposited (~3 m) layer directly underlying Kanguk shale and overlying the subaerially-erupted Strand Fiord Formation flood basalts. The fossil beds are exposed on opposing sides of a river-cut and extend for approximately 50 m. Radiometric data and stratigraphic constraints suggest an age of ~92 Ma (Turonian) for the fossil assemblage, which includes champsosaurs, freshwater fish, turtles, and elasmosaurs. Depositional characteristics suggest a large bay, whereas the presence of freshwater fish, turtles, and champsosaurs indicates a freshwater to brackish environment4. The paleolatitude for the locality during deposition of the fossil-bearing strata, based on paleomagnetic analyses of the Strand Fiord basalts, is ~71° N37.

Diagnosis: The new taxon is differentiated from Ichthyornis by numerous features including the more globose humeral head with significant caudal extent, a narrow deltopectoral crest and more strongly developed secondary pneumotricipital fossa. The bicipital crest in the new taxon is also more elongate, convex distally, and transitions smoothly into the humeral shaft distally, rather than at an angle approaching 90 degrees. The new taxon possesses a narrower, slightly cranially deflected deltopectoral crest that is significantly less than shaft diameter in dorsal extent. It is differentiated from the proposed hesperornithiform Pasquiaornis tankei [RSM (Royal Saskatchewan Museum, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada) P2487.4] in its larger size as well as proportions of the humerus (Supplementary Table S2, measurements from ref. 27). The new taxon is also differentiated from Pasquiaornis in the relatively more globose dorsal condyle, the weakly-projected olecranon process and smaller bicipital tubercle on the ulna. It should be noted that all elements from Pasquiaornis tankei and Pasquiaornis hardiei are isolated and that forelimb elements did not comprise holotype material in either species27. However, they are similar to the new taxon in the narrow, elongate and slightly cranially-deflected deltopectoral crest.

.......

An artist’s conception of the bird’s possible environment 90 million years ago, characterized by volcanic activity, a freshwater bay, turtles, fish, and champsosaurs.

Illustration: Michael Osadciw

Richard K. Bono, Julia Clarke, John A. Tarduno and Donald Brinkman. 2016. A Large Ornithurine Bird (Tingmiatornis arctica) from the Turonian High Arctic: Climatic and Evolutionary Implications.   Scientific Reports. 6, Article number: 38876. DOI:  10.1038/srep38876

New prehistoric bird species discovered

http://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/new-bird-species-discovered-205692/

UR team discovers prehistoric species of bird 

 http://www.rbj.net/article.asp?aID=238289 

[Ichthyology • 2016] Eye Lens Radiocarbon reveals Centuries of Longevity in the Greenland Shark Somniosus microcephalus

Greenland Shark Somniosus microcephalus 

photo: Nick Caloyianis DOI:  10.1126/science.aaf1703

Deep living for centuries

We tend to think of vertebrates as living about as long as we do, give or take 50 to 100 years. Marine species are likely to be very long-lived, but determining their age is particularly difficult. Nielsen et al. used the pulse of carbon-14 produced by nuclear tests in the 1950s—specifically, its incorporation into the eye during development—to determine the age of Greenland sharks. This species is large yet slow-growing. The oldest of the animals that they sampled had lived for nearly 400 years, and they conclude that the species reaches maturity at about 150 years of age.

A Greenland Shark Somniosus microcephalus off Baffin Island, Canada. 

photo: Nick Caloyianis 

 Abstract

The Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus), an iconic species of the Arctic Seas, grows slowly and reaches >500 centimeters (cm) in total length, suggesting a life span well beyond those of other vertebrates. Radiocarbon dating of eye lens nuclei from 28 female Greenland sharks (81 to 502 cm in total length) revealed a life span of at least 272 years. Only the smallest sharks (220 cm or less) showed signs of the radiocarbon bomb pulse, a time marker of the early 1960s. The age ranges of prebomb sharks (reported as midpoint and extent of the 95.4% probability range) revealed the age at sexual maturity to be at least 156 ± 22 years, and the largest animal (502 cm) to be 392 ± 120 years old. Our results show that the Greenland shark is the longest-lived vertebrate known, and they raise concerns about species conservation.

Julius Nielsen, Rasmus B. Hedeholm, Jan Heinemeier, Peter G. Bushnell, Jørgen S. Christiansen, Jesper Olsen, Christopher Bronk Ramsey, Richard W. Brill, Malene Simon, Kirstine F. Steffensen and John F. Steffensen. 2016. Eye Lens Radiocarbon reveals Centuries of Longevity in the Greenland Shark (Somniosus microcephalus). Science. 353(6300); 702-704. DOI:  10.1126/science.aaf1703

http://worldisvulnerable.com/longest-lived-vertebrates-are-greenland-sharks-and-they-can-live-up-to-500-years/

Slow Sharks Sneak Up on Sleeping Seals (and Eat Them)? http://on.natgeo.com/LOdEP3 via @NatGeo

[Paleontology • 2015] Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis • A New Arctic Hadrosaurid from the Prince Creek Formation (lower Maastrichtian) of northern Alaska

Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis

Mori, Druckenmiller & Erickson, 2015

doi: 10.4202/app.00152.2015

The Liscomb bonebed in the Price Creek Formation of northern Alaska has produced thousands of individual bones of a saurolophine hadrosaurid similar to Edmontosaurus; however, the specific identity of this taxon has been unclear, in part because the vast majority of the remains represent immature individuals. In this study, we address the taxonomic status of the Alaskan material through a comparative and quantitative morphological analysis of juvenile as well several near adult-sized specimens with particular reference to the two known species of Edmontosaurus, as well as a cladistic analysis using two different matrices for Hadrosauroidea. In the comparative morphological analysis, we introduce a quantitative method using bivariate plots to address ontogenetic variation. Our comparative anatomical analysis reveals that the Alaskan saurolophine possesses a unique suite of characters that distinguishes it from Edmontosaurus, including a premaxillary circumnarial ridge that projects posterolaterally without a premaxillary vestibular promontory, a shallow groove lateral to the posterodorsal premaxillary foramen, a relatively narrow jugal process of the postorbital lacking a postorbital pocket, a relatively tall maxilla, a relatively gracile jugal, a more strongly angled posterior margin of the anterior process of the jugal, wide lateral exposure of the quadratojugal, and a short symphyseal process of the dentary. The cladistic analyses consistently recover the Alaskan saurolophine as the sister taxon to Edmontosaurus annectens + Edmontosaurus regalis. This phylogenetic assessment is robust even when accounting for ontogenetically variable characters. Based on these results, we erect a new taxon, Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis gen. et sp. nov. that contributes to growing evidence for a distinct, early Maastrichtian Arctic dinosaur community that existed at the northernmost extent of Laramidia during the Late Cretaceous.

Key words: Dinosauria, Hadrosauridae, Saurolophinae, Edmontosaurini, Ugrunaaluk, Edmontosaurus, ontogeny, Cretaceous, Prince Creek Formation, Arctic.

skull of juvinile Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis 

 skull reconstruction: Micheal Holland 

by Havens Studio Gallery: facebook.com/529388067127145/photos/855247407874541

 Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis illustrates a scene from ancient Alaska during the Cretaceous Period.

illustration: James Havens

Fig. 4. Cranial reconstruction of Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis gen. et sp. nov. from the early Maastrichtian Prince Creek Formation in left lateral view.

doi: 10.4202/app.00152.2015

Systematic Paleontology

Ornithischia Seeley, 1887

Ornithopoda Marsh, 1881

Hadrosauridae Cope, 1869

Saurolophinae Brown, 1914 sensu Prieto-Márquez, 2010a

Edmontosaurini Brett-Surman, 1989

Genus Ugrunaaluk nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:8B8256BA-F280-4460-B0F0-31762267586E

Etymology: Transliterated from the Alaskan Iñupiaq noun ugruŋnaq, referring to a grazing animal with a long set of grinding teeth, and the adjective -aluk, old. Literally, “ancient grazer”. Intended pronunciation: “oo-GREW-nah-luk”. The name honors the Alaskan Native Iñupiaq culture from the area where the type material was discovered.

Type species: Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis sp. nov., monotypic

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:1CAF186F-11A2-4A9E-A8F9-C3789B97459F 

Figs. 4–10. 

Etymology: The specific name is derived from the Iñupiaq word kuukpik, which refers to the Colville River, Alaska, USA along which the type material was found.

Type locality: Liscomb bonebed, along the Colville River, northern Alaska, USA. The exact location is on file with the Bureau of Land Management Arctic Field Office.

Type horizon: Upper portion of the Prince Creek Formation, lower Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous).

Fig. 2. Temporal distribution of Edmontosaurus species and the Prince Creek Formation taxon in the Late Cretaceous.

doi: 10.4202/app.00152.2015

Conclusions

In this study, we; (i) identify and name a new taxon of saurolophine hadrosaurid, Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis gen. et sp. nov. from the Prince Creek Formation of Alaska; (ii) demonstrate that skeletally immature specimens can be reliably used in addressing taxonomic problems within

Hadrosauridae based on a detailed understanding of the growth patterns of closely related taxa; and (iii) show that Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis gen. et sp. nov. does not represent a juvenile form of either recognized species of Edmontosaurus. Further morphological description of the new Alaskan taxon and greater clarification of its differences from Edmontosaurus will require discovery of adult material from the Prince Creek Formation and/or description of other juvenile specimens from E. regalis and E. annectens.

The establishment of a new species of hadrosaurid, Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis gen. et sp. nov. further clarifies the faunal composition of the Prince Creek Formation and contributes to a growing body of evidence that the paleo-Arctic hosted a distinct and endemic polar, early Maastrichtian dinosaurian fauna. Ongoing field work in the formation and taxonomic clarifications of existing material will help to further establish the faunal composition of the unit and add critical new data to test hypotheses of dinosaur provinciality in Laramidia during the latest Cretaceous.

  

Hirotsugu Mori, Patrick S. Druckenmiller, and Gregory M. Erickson. 2015. A New Arctic Hadrosaurid from the Prince Creek Formation (lower Maastrichtian) of northern Alaska. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. in press.  doi: 10.4202/app.00152.2015

  

Alaskan duck-billed dinosaur find spurs physiological mystery http://www.slashgear.com/alaskan-duck-billed-dinosaur-find-spurs-physiological-mystery-22405828/ via @slashgear

Newly discovered hadrosaur dino was one serious, cold-winter survivor

http://www.cnet.com/news/new-hadrosaur-may-have-lived-in-cold-darkness/

[Mammalogy • 2015] White-beaked Dolphins Lagenorhynchus albirostris trapped in the Ice and eaten by Polar Bears Ursus maritimus

A polar bear Ursus maritimus eats a white-beaked dolphin Lagenorhynchus albirostris in the Raudfjorden fjord, on the northwestern coast of the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, Norway. Melting sea ice has led to more species venturing further north, they are the new preys for polar bears.

Photograph: Samuel Blanc || DOI: 10.3402/polar.v34.26612

Fig. 1 A male polar bear Ursus maritimus on the carcass of a white-beaked dolphin Lagenorhynchus albirostris, 23 April 2014. The bear has started to cover the remains with snow. Just to the left of the dolphin is a hole in the ice, assumed to be a breathing hole that dolphins trapped in the ice have kept open.

DOI: 10.3402/polar.v34.26612

ABSTRACT

Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) depend on sea ice, where they hunt ice-associated seals. However, they are opportunistic predators and scavengers with a long list of known prey species. Here we report from a small fjord in Svalbard, Norwegian High Arctic, a sighting of an adult male polar bear preying on two white-beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) on 23 April 2014. This is the first record of this species as polar bear prey. White-beaked dolphins are frequent visitors to Svalbard waters in summer, but have not previously been reported this far north in early spring. We suggest they were trapped in the ice after strong northerly winds the days before, and possibly killed when forced to surface for air at a small opening in the ice. The bear had consumed most parts of one dolphin. When observed he was in the process of covering the mostly intact second dolphin with snow. Such caching behaviour is generally considered untypical of polar bears. During the following ice-free summer and autumn, at least seven different white-beaked dolphin carcasses were observed in or near the same area. We suggest, based on the area and the degree to which these dolphins had decayed, that they were likely from the same pod and also suffered death due to entrapment in the ice in April. At least six different polar bears were seen scavenging on the carcasses.

Keywords: White-beaked dolphin; polar bear; caching; Arctic; Svalbard.

Fig. 3 An adult polar bear Ursus maritimus feeding on the remains of a white-beaked dolphin Lagenorhynchus albirostris in Raudfjorden on 2 July 2014. The dolphin is presumed to be a member of the same pod as the dolphins eaten by a bear in April.

DOI: 10.3402/polar.v34.26612

Jon Aars, Magnus Andersen, Agnès Brenière and Samuel Blanc. 2015. White-beaked Dolphins trapped in the Ice and eaten by Polar Bears. Polar Research 2015, 34, 26612. DOI: 10.3402/polar.v34.26612

[PaleoMammalogy • 2014] Vulpes qiuzhudingi • From ‘Third Pole’ to North Pole: a Himalayan Origin for the Arctic Fox

 the Zanda fauna from the Pliocene about 5-2.5 million years ago, with Vulpes quizhudingi (foreground)

reconstruction: Artist Julie Selan; Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County 

Abstract

The ‘third pole’ of the world is a fitting metaphor for the Himalayan–Tibetan Plateau, in allusion to its vast frozen terrain, rivalling the Arctic and Antarctic, at high altitude but low latitude. Living Tibetan and arctic mammals share adaptations to freezing temperatures such as long and thick winter fur in arctic muskox and Tibetan yak, and for carnivorans, a more predatory niche. Here, we report, to our knowledge, the first evolutionary link between an Early Pliocene (3.60–5.08 Myr ago) fox, Vulpes qiuzhudingi new species, from the Himalaya (Zanda Basin) and Kunlun Mountain (Kunlun Pass Basin) and the modern arctic fox Vulpes lagopus in the polar region. A highly hypercarnivorous dentition of the new fox bears a striking resemblance to that of V. lagopus and substantially predates the previous oldest records of the arctic fox by 3–4 Myr. The low latitude, high-altitude Tibetan Plateau is separated from the nearest modern arctic fox geographical range by at least 2000 km. The apparent connection between an ancestral high-elevation species and its modern polar descendant is consistent with our ‘Out-of-Tibet’ hypothesis postulating that high-altitude Tibet was a training ground for cold-environment adaptations well before the start of the Ice Age.

Keywords: Himalaya, Tibet, Arctic Fox, Canidae, Pliocene, zoogeography

Map of Pliocene Tibetan fox Vulpes qiuzhudingi localities (red stars), Ice Age arctic fox localities (yellow circles), and extant arctic fox Vulpes lagopus distribution.

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Xiaoming Wang, Zhijie Jack Tseng, Qiang Li, Gary T. Takeuchi and Guangpu Xie. 2014. From ‘Third Pole’ to North Pole: a Himalayan Origin for the Arctic Fox. Proc. R. Soc. B. 281(1787). doi: dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.0893

Ferocious foxes prowled the Himalayas five million years ago

: Fossils suggest Tibet was a 'training ground' for Ice Age adaptations http://dailym.ai/1piHq4L via @MailOnline

- Vulpes quizhudingi was a hunter living in the Himalayas and Tibet

- The ancient fox lived between 3.6 million and five million years ago

- Experts think the creature was around the same size as a large modern fox

- They claim Tibet was a training ground for cold environment adaptations well before the start of the Ice Age