Identification Of Fossils Research Articles

Three-dimensional reconstruction of Late Miocene Trapa from eastern Zhejiang Province, China: Insights into its phytogeography and evolution

Abundant plant fossils were found in the Upper Miocene Shengxian Formation, eastern Zhejiang Province, China, among which Trapa belongs to a dominant population. The fossil fruits of Trapa were well preserved with abundant details. However, due to compaction during fossilization, Trapa fruits were often flattened, leading to the loss of some characteristic features. Thereby, a bias in taxonomic and phylogenetic studies would occur when such studies were based on these fruit fossils. In this study, we present the first quantitative three-dimensional reconstruction of compressed Trapa fruit fossils to restore their original morphology prior to burial. This approach provides a novel perspective for the identification and classification of compressed fruit fossils. The three-dimensional reconstruction of Trapa fruit fossils enabled accurate comparisons with extant species. We subsequently identified it as a new species, named Traparadiatiformis L. Xiao sp. nov., revealing differences from previously known taxa of Trapa. Importantly, our comparison suggests that the long lower horns and residual stalk may represent inherent characteristics of early Trapa fruits. However, these traits gradually degenerated during fruit evolution, resulting in morphological simplification during geological time. T. radiatiformis with primitive features exhibits good resemblance to Trapanatans fruit characteristics, which means it may be an ancestor of T. natans. We summarize the palaeogeographic distribution of fossil Trapa using previously published literature and demonstrate that the genus was most prosperous in the Miocene and exhibited the same distribution as that at present. Additionally, through detailed morphological comparisons between Trapa and Hemitrapa fruits, along with phylogenetic analysis within the Primotrapa genus itself, we propose a homology between Trapa and Hemitrapa, suggesting that they could have a common ancestor.

Enhanced taxonomic identification of fusulinid fossils through image–text integration using transformer

The accurate taxonomic identification of fusulinid fossils holds significant scientific value in palaeontology, paleoecology, and palaeogeography. However, imbalanced image samples lead to the model preferring to learn features from categories with many samples while ignoring fewer sample categories, greatly reducing the prediction accuracy of fusulinid fossil identification. Moreover, the textual description of fusulinid fossils contains rich feature information. We collected and created an order fusulinid multimodal (OFM) dataset for research. We proposed a transformer-based multimodal integration framework (TMIF) using deep learning for fusulinid fossil identification. Compared to traditional neural networks, the transformer can create global dependencies between features at different locations. TMIF incorporates image and text branches dedicated to extracting features for both modalities, and a pivotal cross-modal integration module that allows visual features to learn textual semantic features sufficiently to obtain a more comprehensive feature representation. Experimental evaluation using the OFM dataset shows that TMIF achieves a prediction accuracy of 81.7%, which is a 2.8% improvement over the only image-based method. Further comparative analyses across multiple networks affirm that the TMIF performs optimally in addressing the taxonomic identification of fusulinid fossils with imbalanced samples.

Geology of the Kebasen Paleovolcano in Banyumas Regency, Central Java Province, Indonesia

Abstract The new interpretation on geology of Kebasen district in Central Java, Indonesia which is located in the middle parts of Sunda Arc indicates the existence of a paleovolcano. This conclusion is achieved through 1:25,000 geological mapping with a focus on volcanic facies, characterization of lithology types, mineralogy, and fossil analysis, to clarify its volcanic history and paleo-environment. Laboratory analysis works on representative rock samples are done using petrography and fossil identification on calcareous sedimentary members. Our research results conclude that Kebasen paleovolcano was a composite volcano with a diameter of about 8 km, elongated in NW-SE orientation, with Kebasen city located at the SW rim of the old volcanic edifice. The volcanic history and resulting volcanic rocks consisted of two contrasting volcanic stages. The first one was explosive caldera-forming eruptions that produced thick and partly welded pyroclastic rocks, dominated by pyroclastic breccia at the lower parts and finer tuff members at the upper parts. After caldera-forming eruptions, volcanic activity was followed by effusive eruptions of basaltic to andesitic lavas that covered the caldera floor. The lavas have abundant pillow structures indicating a submarine environment, intermediate to basaltic composition, and porphyritic texture, with plagioclase and pyroxene as the most abundant phenocryst minerals. Available rock geochemistry data demonstrate that lavas have mafic to intermediate compositions, with magma affinity at the transition of calc-alkaline to tholeiitic series. Results of geomorphological and lithology association analysis conclude that the research area was part of the central to distal facies of a paleovolcano complex, with the paleo depositional environment in the open marine environment. The results of fossil analysis on calcareous sedimentary rocks between volcanic layers indicate that the age of volcanism was Early Pliocene (N18) with the paleobathymetry transitioning from upper-middle bathyal to outer–middle neritic, which were parts of the continental margin. It is concluded that Kebasen paleovolcano is a newly identified submarine caldera-type Pliocene volcano within the middle parts of the Sunda Arc in Central Java, Indonesia.

Facies of Quaternary Sediments In Bunga Village, North Luwuk District, Banggai Regency, Central Sulawesi

Abstract The distribution of Quaternary sedimentary rock deposits in Indonesia is quite extensive, and one of them is in the Quaternary coral reef units, which are evenly distributed along the eastern arm of Sulawesi. The research was conducted in Bunga Village, North Luwuk District, Banggai Regency, Central Sulawesi Province. This research was motivated by the lack of geological data, so the topic of developed facies became an interesting topic to be researched. Data was collected from a cliff at the coordinates 0053′57,57.1″N-122054′43′6″E. Stratigraphic measurements aim to determine the facies, depositional environment, and sedimentation mechanisms developed in the study area. The research was conducted using the method of field data collection and laboratory analysis. Collecting field data was carried out with measured stratigraphic with a 1:100 scale and taking several rock samples. Laboratory analysis was carried out in paleontological and petrographic analysis, which was carried out to determine the composition of the constituent rock and fossil identification, especially foraminifera in thin sections of rock that were selected. Based on the study’s results, the total rock layers measured in the study area were 15 m. Facies found in the stratigraphic path of the study area are floatstone facies, rudstone facies, allochemic sandstone facies, polymict conglomerate facies. The type of deposition environment of limestone and allochemic sandstone in the study area is on the foreslope, while the conglomerate facies is included in the fan delta deposition environment. Overall, the sedimentation dynamics in this area are in a high energy environment, indicating that the facies that developed were deposited with a sediment gravity flow mechanism.The results of the analysis of fossils found Cyclammina cancellata sp., Orbulina universa sp., Globigerina bulloides sp., and Trilobatus immaturus sp., which indicates the limestone in the study area was deposited in the Late Pleistocene to early Holocene.

Advancing the automated foraminifera fossil identification through scanning electron microscopy image classification: A convolutional neural network approach

Abstract Handling more than thousand fossil foraminifera data is very challenging, especially for old-way identification. Determining morpho-taxonomy by conventional microscopic observation is very time-consuming and can lead to innacuracy identification. We are certain that the process could be advanced through big data analysis using a machine learning approach. Foraminifera fossils have already become a common standard for biostratigraphic proxies and paleoenvironmental interpretation. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop an automated identification method using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN). We used standardized Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images of foraminifera acquired from various open-source databases for image classification. The analysis was conducted using Python programming language in Google Colaboratory. The image dataset is categorized based on its genus (n: 138) and divided into training and test/validation data for accuracy simulation (total image: 1833; data training: 1387; test/validation: 237/237). The best-fit accuracy values of the training-data and testing-data were between 97-86%:73-77%, with parameters including epoch number ranging up to 40, learning rates of 0.05, and a batch size of 64. These values indicate good prospects for foraminifera SEM Image taxonomic classification, demonstrating a noteworthy level of identification accuracy (63%). The outcomes of this study offer a new method for further effective automated morpho-taxonomic identification of foraminifera fossils using other conventional optic microscopy.

A late-Ediacaran crown-group sponge animal.

Sponges are the most basal metazoan phylum1 and may have played important roles in modulating the redox architecture of Neoproterozoic oceans2. Although molecular clocks predict that sponges diverged in the Neoproterozoic era3,4, their fossils have not been unequivocally demonstrated before the Cambrian period5-8, possibly because Precambrian sponges were aspiculate and non-biomineralized9. Here we describe a late-Ediacaran fossil, Helicolocellus cantori gen. et sp. nov., from the Dengying Formation (around 551-539 million years ago) of South China. This fossil is reconstructed as a large, stemmed benthic organism with a goblet-shaped body more than 0.4 m in height, with a body wall consisting of at least three orders of nested grids defined by quadrate fields, resembling a Cantor dust fractal pattern. The resulting lattice is interpreted as an organic skeleton comprising orthogonally arranged cruciform elements, architecturally similar to some hexactinellid sponges, although the latter are built with biomineralized spicules. A Bayesian phylogenetic analysis resolves H. cantori as a crown-group sponge related to the Hexactinellida. H. cantori confirms that sponges diverged and existed in the Precambrian as non-biomineralizing animals with an organic skeleton. Considering that siliceous biomineralization may have evolved independently among sponge classes10-13, we question the validity of biomineralized spicules as a necessary criterion for the identification of Precambrian sponge fossils.

Identification of Late Pleistocene and Holocene fossil lizards from Hall's Cave (Kerr County, Texas) and a primer on morphological variation in North American lizard skulls.

Fossil identification practices have a profound effect on our interpretation of the past because these identifications form the basis for downstream analyses. Therefore, well-supported fossil identifications are necessary for examining the impact of past environmental changes on populations and communities. Here we apply an apomorphic identification framework in a case study identifying fossil lizard remains from Hall's Cave, a late Quaternary fossil site located in Central Texas, USA. We present images and descriptions of a broad comparative sample of North American lizard cranial elements and compile new and previously reported apomorphic characters for identifying fossil lizards. Our fossil identifications from Hall's Cave resulted in a minimum of 11 lizard taxa, including five lizard taxa previously unknown from the site. Most of the identified fossil lizard taxa inhabit the area around Hall's Cave today, but we reinforce the presence of an extirpated species complex of horned lizard. A main goal of this work is to establish a procedure for making well-supported fossil lizard identifications across North America. The data from this study will assist researchers endeavoring to identify fossil lizards, increasing the potential for novel discoveries related to North American lizards and facilitating more holistic views of ancient faunal assemblages.

The critical role of accurate fossil identification: the case of the ostracods of the Codó Formation, NE Brazil

The Class Ostracoda comprises bivalve microcrustaceans with great diversity and abundance in the Lower Cretaceous paleolakes of Brazil and the world. With species generally well-preserved and of relatively short biochrons, it has provided high-resolution biostratigraphic frameworks that permit long-distance correlations. In this context, the Lower Cretaceous biozones of the NE Brazilian basins have allowed the establishment of correlations between coeval geological sections not only in this region but also with those of the Brazilian marginal basins, including the rocks of the pre-salt deposits, as well as with West African basins. In addition to biostratigraphy, these microfossils have proved indispensable in paleoenvironmental and paleogeographical analyses, including studies on the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean. However, some publications have emerged that, regrettably, exhibit errors in species identification and/or the accurate interpretation of biostratigraphic works. These mistakes have led to proposed modifications in both the biochron and geographic distribution of index taxa and taxonomic synonymizations that are incongruent with the current state of knowledge of the species. Consequently, these inaccuracies have given rise to erroneous biochronostratigraphic correlations and paleoenvironmental inferences. In this context, we meticulously examine the current understanding of the taxonomy of ostracods from the Codó Formation (NE Brazil), which is essential for the debate on the use of Lower Cretaceous ostracods in stratigraphy. Keywords: biostratigraphy, paleoecology, microfossils, Lower Cretaceous, Brazil.

Aspidella and water escape structures from the ca 850 Ma (Tonian) Heavitree Formation, Amadeus Basin, Central Australia

The mid-Tonian-aged Heavitree Formation, the basal unit of the Amadeus Basin succession, has long been believed to be devoid of metazoan fossils. Since a recent review of isolated occurrences of purported metazoan traces and remains within the formation’s upper unit, however, that conclusion has been questioned and led to the identification of new fossil remains, including imprints of Aspidella reported herein. Previously, organic-looking structures encountered in rocks older than mid-Ediacaran (ca 580 Ma) were commonly interpreted as originating inorganically, primarily through water escape, but a recently examined outcrop of the upper unit of the Heavitree Formation revealed a variety of water escape structures in association with, but structurally distinct from, a suite of organic impressions.

New Record for Scolopia Sp. Nov. (Salicaceaesensulato) from the Early Miocene of Ethiopia: Identification and Classification of Fossil Leaves into their Living Relatives

New Record for Scolopia Sp. Nov. (Salicaceaesensulato) from the Early Miocene of Ethiopia: Identification and Classification of Fossil Leaves into their Living Relatives

Fossil image identification using deep learning ensembles of data augmented multiviews

Abstract Identification of fossil species is crucial to evolutionary studies. Recent advances from deep learning have shown promising prospects in fossil image identification. However, the quantity and quality of labelled fossil images are often limited due to fossil preservation, conditioned sampling and expensive and inconsistent label annotation by domain experts, which pose great challenges to training deep learning‐based image classification models. To address these challenges, we follow the idea of the wisdom of crowds and propose a multiview ensemble framework, which collects Original (O), Grey (G) and Skeleton (S) views of each fossil image reflecting its different characteristics to train multiple base models, and then makes the final decision via soft voting. Experiments on the largest fusulinid dataset with 2400 images show that the proposed OGS consistently outperforms baselines (using a single model for each view), and obtains superior or comparable performance compared to OOO (using three base models for three the same Original views). Besides, as the training data decreases, the proposed framework achieves more gains. While considering the identification consistency estimation with respect to human experts, OGS receives the highest agreement with the original labels of dataset and with the re‐identifications of two human experts. The validation performance provides a quantitative estimation of consistency across different experts and genera. We conclude that the proposed framework can present state‐of‐the‐art performance in the fusulinid fossil identification case study. This framework is designed for general fossil identification and it is expected to see applications to other fossil datasets in future work. Notably, the result, which shows more performance gains as train set size decreases or over a smaller imbalance fossil dataset, suggests the potential application to identify rare fossil images. The proposed framework also demonstrates its potential for assessing and resolving inconsistencies in fossil identification.

Automatic identification and morphological comparison of bivalve and brachiopod fossils based on deep learning.

Fossil identification is an essential and fundamental task for conducting palaeontological research. Because the manual identification of fossils requires extensive experience and is time-consuming, automatic identification methods are proposed. However, these studies are limited to a few or dozens of species, which is hardly adequate for the needs of research. This study enabled the automatic identification of hundreds of species based on a newly established fossil dataset. An available "bivalve and brachiopod fossil image dataset" (BBFID, containing >16,000 "image-label" data pairs, taxonomic determination completed) was created. The bivalves and brachiopods contained in BBFID are closely related in morphology, ecology and evolution that have long attracted the interest of researchers. We achieved >80% identification accuracy at 22 genera and ∼64% accuracy at 343 species using EfficientNetV2s architecture. The intermediate output of the model was extracted and downscaled to obtain the morphological feature space of fossils using t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE). We found a distinctive boundary between the morphological feature points of bivalves and brachiopods in fossil morphological feature distribution maps. This study provides a possible method for studying the morphological evolution of fossil clades using computer vision in the future.

Research Progress of Human Origins

The birth of human is a miracle in earth history, and the earliest human could be traced back to Sahelanthropus tchadensis, who had existed for at least about seven million years. In cultural anthropology, human is defined as a creature capable of using language, having a complex social organization, and science and technology. The origin of human has always been the focus of the field of paleoanthropology, including creationism, theory of evolution, panspermia, and aquatic ape hypothesis. Although there is some evidence to support each hypothesis, conclusive evidence is still lacking. China has a favorable geographical location and a good foundation in the field of paleoanthropology and related disciplines. The scientists from China successively discovered the fossils of Homo erectus, Heidelberg man, Homo sapiens and Danisova man, and made an important breakthrough in the “from fish to man” research. However, the exploration of the origin of human beings in China is facing challenges such as extensive research fields, lack of high-level scientific research bases and insufficient fossil discovery and identification. It is suggested that the research on the origin of human beings in China should focus on the three fields of land, ocean, and space, find more fossils and evidence, strengthen the identification and research of fossils, and cultivate more talents with international perspectives through the construction of high-level research bases and cross collaboration.

Identification of ancient Cladocera-like fossils requires homologies: The Jurassic Kuqaia is not a Waterflea.

Identification of ancient Cladocera-like fossils requires homologies: The Jurassic Kuqaia is not a Waterflea.

A dataset of fine-grained fossils of the conodont genus Hindeodus for classification using convolutional neural networks

With the rise of artificial intelligence, the booming application of convolutional neural networks to the classification and identification of fossils has attracted more and more attention. According to our survey, it is found that the species classified by previous authors basically belong to different genera, families or higher biological taxonomic units. However, in fact, the identification of fossils between species within a genus is often the focus and challenge for the identification task, which means that the previously trained classifiers may not be suitable for actual fossil identification. On this basis, in this paper, we built a dataset covering 12 species of the conodont genus Hindeodus by means of literature collection, while providing an augmented dataset of the original data. Since the dataset is fine-grained, users can train it by using convolutional neural network combined with fine-grained image feature extraction technology. In view of the deficiencies of the dataset such as small amount of data and unbalanced classes, it is suggested that users use stratified K-fold cross-validation, transfer learning and weighted loss function in the training task to solve the above problems. The dataset is aimed to add a fine-grained fossil dataset to the field of intelligent identification of biological fossils, which can be used as an experimental dataset for intelligent identification of fine-grained (species-level) fossils by convolutional neural networks. The fine-grained primitive followed by this dataset can also be used as a reference for the establishment of other fossil datasets.

Effects of X-ray computed tomography (CT) on the ichnologic interpretation of the Mira River estuary sediment core, SW Portugal

Computed tomography (CT) is a relatively new technique in ichnofossil analysis, which permits superior identification of individual trace fossils, their morphology, infill, tiering relationships, and preservation potential, thus providing better environmental interpretations. It also allows non-professional ichnologists to interpret trace fossils in 3D slices with ease, especially in relatively homogeneous and mud-rich sediments. Herein, CT imagery results have been compared with conventional core logging results based on two push core samples from a muddy tidal flat of the Mira River estuary, Portugal. CT images provide a significantly more accurate description of cores and their environmental interpretation due to enhanced visibility of physical and biogenic sedimentary structures. They also reveal complex tiering relationships between burrows with preferential preservation of deeper tiers. The appearance of stacked Scalichnus-like and other siphonichnidal burrows made by infaunal bivalves indicates discontinuous deposition on a tidal flat likely caused by seasonally related fluctuations in an estuarine environment.

Trace Fossils and Sedimentary Depositional Environment: A Case Study from Early Permian Barakar Formation, Raniganj Basin, India

Behavioral responses of organisms with respect to changing environment have a wide area of research possibility. For a palaeontologist it is a challenge to interpret the organism-sediment interaction from the study of the trace fossils preserved in the ancient rock record. The ethological significance which is derived out of different intentional or accidental activities of the organisms may be preserved within the rock and is largely controlled by the substrate stability, grain size of the sediments, energy and rate of sedimentation of the driving process, types of nutrients and its supply, salinity, temperature and oxic/sub-oxic/an-oxic conditions etc. So, the viability of this study in sensu stricto depends on the preservation potential of the organism as a whole or in parts or its activities (indirect evidences) on or within the substrate upon which they have survived thousands and millions of years ago. The indirect evidences of the organism’s activities may be its locomotory/respiration/feeding/resting/dwelling/predating traces etc. which have different nomenclature based on their morphological classification. The study area encompassing the major river section of the Barakar, Khudia, Ajoy holds partly enriched and partly impoverished trace fossils within the sedimentary rocks hosting huge reserves of coal. There are several concepts regarding the depositional setting of the studied basin like formerly interpreted fluvio-lacustrine depositional model to recently reinterpreted fluvio-tide-wave dominated depositional model. Several invertebrate traces have been recorded from the study area namely Planolites, Thalassinoides, Ophiomorpha, Palaeophycus, Cylindrichnus, Diplocraterion which indicates diverse environmental settings ranging from supratidal/intertidal/subtidal to continental shelves whereas other solo/uniform traces observed like Chondrites, Skolithos, Rhizocorallium etc. are indicator of shallow subtidal to marine quite water setting. Here the additional challenges include the lack of ample exposures, weathered exposed rock sections, inaccessible mine cut sections, absence of body fossils and controversial identification of trace fossils in differential erosive surfaces. This chapter in short has tried to mitigate these problems by the integrated sedimentary and ichnological facies association studies in delineating the depositional environment of the studied basin.

Past climates and plant migration – the significance of the fossil record

This article is a Commentary on Denk et al. (2023), 238: 2668–2684.

Exceptionally well‐preserved seed cones of a new fossil species of hemlock, Tsuga weichangensis sp. nov. (Pinaceae), from the Lower Miocene of Hebei Province, North China

AbstractTsuga (hemlock) is a small genus of 10 extant species in the Pinaceae, with a disjunct distribution in East Asia and eastern and western North America. Reliable species‐level identification of Tsuga fossils depends on the discovery of seed cones with intact bracts, but such cones are rare in the fossil record. Here we describe a new fossil species of hemlock as T. weichangensis sp. nov. based on exquisitely preserved seed cones with nearly complete bracts from the Lower Miocene of Weichang, Hebei Province, North China. This fossil species displays a mosaic of characters between Tsuga and Nothotsuga. The well‐developed and slightly exserted bract scales of T. weichangensis are reminiscent of Nothotsuga, but other characters, such as nonleaved peduncles and tongue‐shaped bract scales, in addition to monosaccate pollen found at the same fossil locality, suggest an affinity closer to Tsuga. Cladistic analysis based on 15 morphological characters and a molecular backbone constraint supports the assignment of these fossil cones to Tsuga rather than Nothotsuga, and places the fossil species of T. weichangensis in an unresolved polytomy within the genus Tsuga. The occurrence of Tsuga seed cone fossils indicate the paleoclimate in the Miocene of Weichang was warmer and more humid than today's climate, which is consistent with the paleoclimate reconstructed by paleopalynology.

A giant raptor (Aves: Accipitridae) from the Pleistocene of southern Australia

The giant accipitrid Dynatoaetus gaffae gen. et sp. nov. is described from existing and newly collected material. Initial fossil remains were collected from Mairs Cave (Flinders Ranges, South Australia) in 1956 and 1969, and comprised a sternum, distal humerus and two ungual phalanges. A further 28 bones from this individual—including the neurocranium, vertebrae, furculum, and additional wing and leg bones, most of which were incomplete—were discovered at the site in 2021. This allowed identification of additional fossils from the same species in collections from Cooper Creek (Lake Eyre Basin, SA), Victoria Fossil Cave (Naracoorte, SA) and Wellington Caves (Wellington, NSW). Dynatoaetus has variable similarity across elements to those of living species in the Perninae, Gypaetinae, Circaetinae and Aegypiinae. Parsimony and Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of combined morphological and DNA data resolved it as the immediate sister-group to the Aegypiinae within the Circaetinae + Aegypiinae clade. The robust and eagle-like morphology of the lower hindlimbs suggest that the species was a predator, rather than a scavenger, and thus functionally similar to large circaetines such as the Philippine Eagle Pithecophaga jefferyi. Furthermore, this new species is the largest known bird of prey from Australia, much larger than the modern Wedge-Tailed Eagle Aquila audax. It is outsized in Australasia only by female Hieraaetus moorei (the extinct Haast’s Eagle from New Zealand). It is inferred to have been Australia’s top terrestrial avian predator during the Pleistocene, ranging from arid inland Australia to the more temperate coast, and likely became extinct around the time of the megafaunal mass extinction which peaked around 50 Ka. Its extinction in the late Pleistocene, along with the recently described scavenging vulture Cryptogyps lacertosus, marked a distinct decline in the diversity and function of Australia’s raptor guild.