The Frontiers of Vertebrate Zoology

The following is an abstract of a peer-reviewed article which goes to press today:

Newly Described Unique Secondarily Aquatic Synapsid From The Anthropocene Of Rhode Island And Providence Plantations (USA): Homage To Heuvelmans

C. A. McCormick, E. Derby Upton, Nathanial D. Pickman, W. C. Webb & Juan Romero

The rate of discovery for large vertebrates, especially marine ones, has not ceased in the 21st century. The hypothesis of surviving marine synapsids from anecdotal reports was confirmed by a skeletal find in R.I. The skull showed mosaic traits of both advanced and primitive synapsids, along with numerous apomorphic traits. This, coupled with a unique thoracic structure (SJSV) indicate the species has an incredibly broad diet. There are numerous vertebral apomorphies, indicating different "modes" of swimming, possibly including slow cruising, fast thunniform swimming, and overland locomotion. The caudal region also shows hitherto unknown structures and muscle groups. Anecdotal reports suggest a huge range of behaviors and habitat and indicate this is a species fully capable of dealing with human planetary change. Phylogenetic analyses proves inconclusive, and future papers will shed light on that and other anomalies found in this remarkable species.



Unfortunately, legal issues do not permit a more extensive "media release" at this current time. The full article is available upon request and may also be found here:

Article Found Here


Enlargement of Fig. 5


April is the cruelest month, as far as blog output is concerned, but I have a few things in the pipeline.