Paleontology

Evidence for deliberate burial of the dead by Homo naledi

1. Lee R Berger
2. Tebogo Makhubela
3. Keneiloe Molopyane
4. Ashley Krüger
5. Patrick Randolph-Quinney
6. Marina Elliott
7. Becca Peixotto
8. Agustín Fuentes
9. Paul Tafforeau
10. Vincent Beyrand
11. Kathleen Dollman
12. Zubair Jinnah
13. Angharad Brewer Gillham
14. Kenneth Broad
15. Juliet Brophy
16. Gideon Chinamatira
17. Paul HM Dirks
18. Elen Feuerriegel
19. Alia Gurtov
20. Nompumelelo Hlophe
21. Lindsay Hunter
22. Rick Hunter
23. Kudakwashe Jakata
24. Corey Jaskolski
25. Hannah Morris
26. Ellie Pryor
27. Maropeng Mpete
28. Eric Roberts
29. Jacqueline S Smilg
30. Mathabela Tsikoane
31. Steven Tucker
32. Dirk van Rooyen
33. Kerryn Warren
34. Colin D Wren
35. Marc Kissel
36. Penny Spikins
37. John Hawks

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The authors study the context of the skeletal remains of three individuals and associated sediment samples to conclude that the hominin species Homo naledi intentionally buried their dead. Demonstration of the earliest known instance of intentional funerary practice - with a relatively small-brained hominin engaging in a highly complex behavior that has otherwise been observed from Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis - would represent a landmark finding. The authors have revised their manuscript extensively in light of the reviews of their initial submission, with improved illustration, context, discussion, and theoretical frameworks, leading to an improved case supporting their conclusion that Homo naledi intentionally buried their dead. One of the reviewers concludes that the findings convincingly demonstrate intentional burial practices, while another considers evidence for such an unambiguous conclusion to be incomplete given a lack of definitive knowledge around how the hominins got into the chamber. We look forward to seeing the continued development and assessment of this hypothesis. It is worth noting that the detailed reviews (both rounds) and comprehensive author response are commendable and consequential parts of the scientific record of this study. The editors note that the authors' response repeatedly invokes precedent from previous publications to help justify the conclusions in this paper. While doing so is helpful, the editors also note that scientific norms and knowledge are constantly evolving, and that any study has to rest on its own scientific merit.

Reviewed by eLife

Evolution of hind limb morphology of Titanosauriformes (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) analyzed via 3D Geometric Morphometrics reveals wide-gauge posture as an exaptation for gigantism

1. Adrian Paramo Blazquez
2. Pedro Mocho
3. Fernando Escaso
4. Francisco Ortega

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The authors present convincing findings on trends in hind limb morphology through the evolution of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaurs, the land animals that reached the most remarkable gigantic sizes. The important results include the use of 3D geometric morphometrics to examine the femur, tibia, and fibula to provide new information on the evolution of this clade and on evolutionary trends between morphology and allometry.

Reviewed by eLife

Rapid riparian ecosystem recovery in low-latitudinal North China following the end-Permian mass extinction

1. Wenwei Guo
2. Li Tian
3. Daoliang Chu
4. Wenchao Shu
5. Michael Benton
6. Jun Liu
7. Jinnan Tong

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This is a well-written important paper on the recovery of fauna and flora following the end-Permian extinction event in several continental sites in northern China. The convincing conclusion, a rapid recovery in tropical riparian ecosystems following a short phase of hostile environments and depauperate biota, is supported by an impressive amount of data from sedimentology, body fossils of animals and plants, and especially trace fossils.

Reviewed by eLife

A new tuna specimen (Genus Auxis ) from the Duho Formation (Miocene) of South Korea

1. Dayun Suh
2. Su-Hwan Kim
3. Gi-Soo Nam

Reviewed by Peer Community in Paleontology

Simple shell measurements do not consistently predict habitat in turtles: a reply to Lichtig and Lucas (2017)

1. Serjoscha W. Evers
2. Christian Foth
3. Walter G. Joyce
4. Guilherme Hermanson

Reviewed by Peer Community in Paleontology

New soft tissue data of pterosaur tail vane reveals sophisticated, dynamic tensioning usage and expands its evolutionary origins

1. Natalia Jagielska
2. Thomas G Kaye
3. Michael B Habib
4. Tatsuya Hirasawa
5. Michael Pittman

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The presented soft tissue data of pterosaur tail vanes represent a valuable contribution to ongoing research efforts to decipher the flight abilities of pterosaurs in the fields of paleontology, comparative biomechanics, and bioinspired design. The new methods are compelling and give new detail on tail morphology, with a potential to resolve how pterosaurs were able to control and maintain tail stiffness to furnish flight control.

Reviewed by eLife

Classification of dinosaur footprints using machine learning

1. Michael Jones
2. Jens N. Lallensack
3. Ian Jarman
4. Peter Falkingham
5. Ivo Siekmann

Reviewed by preLights

Basal Cambrian soft-bodied segmented bilaterians preserved as microbial pseudomorphs

1. Xiaoguang Yang
2. Deng Wang
3. Zhiliang Zhang
4. Xing Wang
5. Jie Sun
6. Wenjing Hao
7. Yiqun Liu
8. Kentaro Uesugi
9. Tsuyoshi Komiya
10. Jian Han

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This manuscript describes valuable new material of small, unusually preserved fossils from deep in the Cambrian of China and argues they represent very early bilaterian animals such as annelids or panarthropods. The authors present convincing evidence of the fossilisation of specimens as microbial pseudomorphs, however, the fossils show few details and it is difficult to assess their affinity. The broader claims made about the timing and nature of the Cambrian explosion are inadequately supported by the material, given that bilaterians were already known to exist during that period.

Reviewed by eLife

Multiple origins of dorsal ecdysial sutures in trilobites and their relatives

1. Kun-sheng Du
2. Jin Guo
3. Sarah R Losso
4. Stephen Pates
5. Ming Li
6. Ai-lin Chen

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The authors present 16 new well-preserved specimens from the early Cambrian Chengjiang biota. These specimens potentially represent a new taxon which could be useful in sorting out the problematic topology of artiopodan arthropods - a topic of interest to specialists in Cambrian arthropods. The authors provide solid anatomical and phylogenetic evidence in support of a new interpretation of the homology of dorsal sutures in trilobites and their relatives.

Reviewed by eLife

Alasemenia, the earliest ovule with three wings and without cupule

1. Deming Wang
2. Jiangnan Yang
3. Le Liu
4. Yi Zhou
5. Peng Xu
6. Min Qin
7. Pu Huang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This useful study describes the second earliest known winged ovule without a capule in the Famennian of Late Devonian. Using solid mathematical analysis, the authors demonstrate that three-winged seeds are more adapted to wind dispersal than one-, two- and four-winged seeds. The manuscript will help the scientific community to understand the origin and early evolutionary history of wind dispersal strategy of early land plants.

Reviewed by eLife