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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Using Geographical Information Systems To Investigate Spatial Patterns In Fossils Of Tapirus Polkenis From The Gray Fossil Site, Washington County, Tennessee, Winn Addison Ketchum Dec 2011

Using Geographical Information Systems To Investigate Spatial Patterns In Fossils Of Tapirus Polkenis From The Gray Fossil Site, Washington County, Tennessee, Winn Addison Ketchum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Discovered in 2000, the Gray Fossil Site provides a snapshot of the flora and fauna that lived during late Miocene to early Pliocene time in eastern Tennessee. These fossils occur in sediments consisting of fine-grained clays and sands of lacustrine origin, which were deposited after multiple sinkholes formed in the underlying Knox Group basement carbonates. Three-dimensional nearest neighbor analysis has been applied to fossils of Tapirus polkensis, characterizing the spatial patterns exhibited. These analyses determined the importance of taphonomic and depositional processes that occurred during the sites formation. Six characteristics were analyzed, four at the bone level including carnivore …


Variation In The Modified First Metatarsal Of A Large Sample Of Tapirus Polkensis And The Functional Implications For Ceratomorphs., Patrick Lawrence Hawkins May 2011

Variation In The Modified First Metatarsal Of A Large Sample Of Tapirus Polkensis And The Functional Implications For Ceratomorphs., Patrick Lawrence Hawkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Mio-Pliocene age Gray Fossil Site of northeastern Tennessee has the largest collection of tapir postcranial skeletons in the world. Though representing a single species, a few localized structures show high variability. This paper deals with variation of the first metatarsal, which in tapirs was reduced as an early adaptation for running and then retrofitted to serve as a special origin for flexors and adductors of the proximal phalanges. The first metatarsal connects the medial ankle with a posterior process of the third metatarsal in tapiroids. In Tapirus indicus, T. webbi, and 6 out of 31 T. polkensis …


The Occurrence Of An Abdominal Fauna In An Articulated Tapir (Tapirus Polkensis) Recovered From The Miocene Gray Fossil Site Northeast Tennessee., Shannon M. Mcconnell May 2011

The Occurrence Of An Abdominal Fauna In An Articulated Tapir (Tapirus Polkensis) Recovered From The Miocene Gray Fossil Site Northeast Tennessee., Shannon M. Mcconnell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The analysis of samples recovered from the abdominal area of an articulated tapir from the Late Miocene (4.5-7 million bp) Gray Fossil Site, revealed a rich palyno-fauna comprised of about 94% egg/oocyst-like structures and 6% pollen and other palynomorphs. In addition, a tight grouping of six hickory nuts (Carya) was recovered from the same area suggesting that the samples represent the abdominal contents. The analysis of a sample from immediately outside the tapir produced a sample with 98% pollen and less than 0.5% egg-like structures. The size, shape, and general morphology of egg-like structures were analyzed with light …


Applied Palynology: Multidisciplinary Case Studies From Egypt, Gulf Of Mexico And Usa, Mohamed K. Zobaa Jan 2011

Applied Palynology: Multidisciplinary Case Studies From Egypt, Gulf Of Mexico And Usa, Mohamed K. Zobaa

Doctoral Dissertations

"Various applications of palynology have been used to study case studies from four different parts of the world, namely northern Egypt, offshore Gulf of Mexico, eastern Tennessee (USA), and New Orleans, Louisiana (USA). In these case studies, palynomorphs (spores, pollen, dinoflagellate cysts, and algae) have been utilized to define zones of hydrocarbon potential, reconstruct paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic conditions, constrain the ages of the studied rock sequences, and express its potential as a replacement proxy for some expensive organic geochemical analyses. The ability to detect past hurricane activities and their associated damage to the geologic record is here presented as a …