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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Exceptionally Preserved Jellyfishes From The Middle Cambrian, Paulyn Cartwright, Susan L. Halgedahl, Jonathan R. Hendricks, Richard D. Jarrard, Antonio C. Marques, Allen G. Collins, Bruce S. Lieberman Oct 2007

Exceptionally Preserved Jellyfishes From The Middle Cambrian, Paulyn Cartwright, Susan L. Halgedahl, Jonathan R. Hendricks, Richard D. Jarrard, Antonio C. Marques, Allen G. Collins, Bruce S. Lieberman

Faculty Publications

Cnidarians represent an early diverging animal group and thus insight into their origin and diversification is key to understanding metazoan evolution. Further, cnidarian jellyfish comprise an important component of modern marine planktonic ecosystems. Here we report on exceptionally preserved cnidarian jellyfish fossils from the Middle Cambrian (~505 million years old) Marjum Formation of Utah. These are the first described Cambrian jellyfish fossils to display exquisite preservation of soft part anatomy including detailed features of structures interpreted as trailing tentacles and subumbrellar and exumbrellar surfaces. If the interpretation of these preserved characters is correct, their presence is diagnostic of modern jellyfish …


Bedrock Channel Geometry Along An Orographic Rainfall Gradient In The Upper Marsyandi River Valley In Central Nepal, William Craddock, Douglas Burbank, Bodo Bookhagen, Emmanuel Gabet Jul 2007

Bedrock Channel Geometry Along An Orographic Rainfall Gradient In The Upper Marsyandi River Valley In Central Nepal, William Craddock, Douglas Burbank, Bodo Bookhagen, Emmanuel Gabet

Faculty Publications

Pronounced rainfall gradients combined with spatially uniform exhumation of rocks at Quaternary timescales and uniform rock strength make the upper Marsyandi River valley in central Nepal a useful natural laboratory in which to explore variations in bedrock channel width. We focus on small catchments (0.6–12.4 km2) along a more than tenfold gradient in monsoon rainfall. Rainfall data are gathered from a dense weather network and calibrated satellite observations, the pattern of Quaternary exhumation is inferred from apatite fission track cooling ages, and rock compressive strength is measured in the field. Bedrock channel widths, surveyed at high scour indicators, scale as …


Biogeography And The Cambrian Radiation Of Arachnomorph Arthropods, Jonathan R. Hendricks, Bruce S. Lieberman Jan 2007

Biogeography And The Cambrian Radiation Of Arachnomorph Arthropods, Jonathan R. Hendricks, Bruce S. Lieberman

Faculty Publications

Biogeographic patterns in primarily Cambrian arachnomorph taxa are investigated using a recently constructed phylogenetic hypothesis in order to explore the biogeographic context of the Cambrian radiation. A modified version of Brooks Parsimony Analysis is employed to elucidate patterns of vicariance and geodispersal in taxa from six regions (Laurentia, Baltica, Siberia, Australia, Africa and China). Well resolved vicariance and geodispersal trees are very similar and reconstruct Laurentia and China as sister areas. This close area relationship between Laurentia and China provides extensive evidence for congruent vicariance and range expansion in Cambrian arachnomorphs, while data from trilobites do not show this pattern. …