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  • Journal article
    Winrow P, Sutton MD, 2014,

    Lingulate brachiopods and the Early Palaeozoic history of the Iapetus Ocean

    , Lethaia, Vol: 47, Pages: 456-468, ISSN: 1502-3931
  • Book
    Sutton M, Rahman I, Garwood R, 2014,

    Techniques for Virtual Palaeontology

    , Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, ISBN: 9781118591130

    All titles in this series are available in a variety of full-colour, searchable eBook formats.
  • Journal article
    Hiester HR, Piggott MD, Farrell PE, Allison PAet al., 2014,

    Assessment of spurious mixing in adaptive mesh simulations of the two-dimensional lock-exchange

    , Ocean Modelling, Vol: 73, Pages: 30-44, ISSN: 1463-5003
  • Journal article
    Legg DA, Sutton MD, Edgecombe GD, 2013,

    Arthropod fossil data increase congruence of morphological and molecular phylogenies

    , NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, Vol: 4, ISSN: 2041-1723
  • Journal article
    Siveter DJ, Briggs DEG, Siveter DJ, Sutton MD, Joomun SCet al., 2013,

    A Silurian myodocope with preserved soft-parts: cautioning the interpretation of the shell-based ostracod record

    , PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, Vol: 280, ISSN: 0962-8452
  • Journal article
    Hassan MHA, Johnson HD, Allison PA, Abdullah WHet al., 2013,

    Sedimentology and stratigraphic development of the upper Nyalu Formation (Early Miocence), Sarawak, Malaysia: A mixed wave and tide influenced coastal system

    , Journal of Asian Earth Sciences
  • Conference paper
    Jordan N, Allison PA, Hill JH, Sutton MDet al., 2012,

    Carbonates, ammonites and the fate of aragonite: a new perspective from the Lower Jurassic of Lyme Regis

    , British Sedimentological Research Group Annual Meeting

    The Lower Jurassic Blue Lias Formation at Lyme Regis, Dorset, preserves a diverse assemblage of invertebrate and vertebrate fossils within rhythmic packages of shales, marls and carbonates. One limestone bed in particular, Bed 29, preserves a unique pavement of very large (up to 72 cm) ammonites, initially buried in carbonate mud before diagenetic cementation. The ammonite accumulation is most likely due to sedimentological condensation but the mechanisms for preserving an aragonitic shell long enough for it to be neomorphosed to calcite on the seabed are a challenge for conventional taphonomic models. It has been suggested that early dissolution of aragonite is a major process in offshore deeper ramp settings, resulting in the removal of sediment prior to lithification. We present field-based evidence for a new model of aragonite preservation within a cyclic oxic-anoxic carbonate environment, using ammonite preservation to track the fate of aragonite in different depositional environments. The carbonate sediment provides a short-term geochemical buffer that militates against the dissolution of aragonite sediment and molluscs, allowing neomorphism to calcite under some conditions. The broader implications of this model for the preservation of molluscan shells and reduced sediment dissolution in carbonate environments under variably oxygenated conditions are evaluated.
  • Journal article
    Legg DA, Sutton MD, Edgecombe GD, Caron J-Bet al., 2012,

    Cambrian bivalved arthropod reveals origin of arthrodization

    , PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, Vol: 279, Pages: 4699-4704, ISSN: 0962-8452
  • Journal article
    Sutton MD, Briggs DEG, Siveter DJ, Siveter DJ, Sigwart JDet al., 2012,

    A Silurian armoured aplacophoran and implications for molluscan phylogeny

    , NATURE, Vol: 490, Pages: 94-97, ISSN: 0028-0836
  • Journal article
    Briggs DEG, Siveter DJ, Siveter DJ, Sutton MD, Garwood RJ, Legg Det al., 2012,

    Silurian horseshoe crab illuminates the evolution of arthropod limbs

    , PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Vol: 109, Pages: 15702-15705, ISSN: 0027-8424
  • Journal article
    Maidment SCR, Barrett PM, 2012,

    Does morphological convergence imply functional similarity? A test using the evolution of quadrupedalism in ornithischian dinosaurs.

    , Proc Biol Sci, Vol: 279, Pages: 3765-3771

    Convergent morphologies are thought to indicate functional similarity, arising because of a limited number of evolutionary or developmental pathways. Extant taxa displaying convergent morphologies are used as analogues to assess function in extinct taxa with similar characteristics. However, functional studies of extant taxa have shown that functional similarity can arise from differing morphologies, calling into question the paradigm that form and function are closely related. We test the hypothesis that convergent skeletal morphology indicates functional similarity in the fossil record using ornithischian dinosaurs. The rare transition from bipedality to quadrupedality occurred at least three times independently in this clade, resulting in a suite of convergent osteological characteristics. We use homology rather than analogy to provide an independent line of evidence about function, reconstructing soft tissues using the extant phylogenetic bracket and applying biomechanical concepts to produce qualitative assessments of muscle leverage. We also optimize character changes to investigate the sequence of character acquisition. Different lineages of quadrupedal ornithischian dinosaur stood and walked differently from each other, falsifying the hypothesis that osteological convergence indicates functional similarity. The acquisition of features correlated with quadrupedalism generally occurs in the same order in each clade, suggesting underlying developmental mechanisms that act as evolutionary constraints.
  • Journal article
    Maidment SC, Linton DH, Upchurch P, Barrett PMet al., 2012,

    Limb-bone scaling indicates diverse stance and gait in quadrupedal ornithischian dinosaurs.

    , PLOS One, Vol: 7, ISSN: 1932-6203

    BACKGROUND: The most primitive ornithischian dinosaurs were small bipeds, but quadrupedality evolved three times independently in the clade. The transition to quadrupedality from bipedal ancestors is rare in the history of terrestrial vertebrate evolution, and extant analogues do not exist. Constraints imposed on quadrupedal ornithischians by their ancestral bipedal bauplan remain unexplored, and consequently, debate continues about their stance and gait. For example, it has been proposed that some ornithischians could run, while others consider that none were cursorial. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Drawing on biomechanical concepts of limb bone scaling and locomotor theory developed for extant taxa, we use the largest dataset of ornithischian postcranial measurements so far compiled to examine stance and gait in quadrupedal ornithischians. Differences in femoral midshaft eccentricity in hadrosaurs and ceratopsids may indicate that hadrosaurs placed their feet on the midline during locomotion, while ceratopsids placed their feet more laterally, under the hips. More robust humeri in the largest ceratopsids relative to smaller taxa may be due to positive allometry in skull size with body mass in ceratopsids, while slender humeri in the largest stegosaurs may be the result of differences in dermal armor distribution within the clade. Hadrosaurs are found to display the most cursorial morphologies of the quadrupedal ornithischian cades, indicating higher locomotor performance than in ceratopsids and thyreophorans. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Limb bone scaling indicates that a previously unrealised diversity of stances and gaits were employed by quadrupedal ornithischians despite apparent convergence in limb morphology. Grouping quadrupedal ornithischians together as a single functional group hides this disparity. Differences in limb proportions and scaling are likely due to the possession of display structures such as horns, frills and dermal armor that may have affect
  • Journal article
    Sutton MD, Sigwart JD, 2012,

    A chiton without a foot

    , PALAEONTOLOGY, Vol: 55, Pages: 401-411, ISSN: 0031-0239
  • Journal article
    Bates KT, Maidment SCR, Allen V, Barrett PMet al., 2012,

    Computational modelling of locomotor muscle moment arms in the basal dinosaur Lesothosaurus diagnosticus: assessing convergence between birds and basal ornithischians.

    , J Anat, Vol: 220, Pages: 212-232

    Ornithischia (the 'bird-hipped' dinosaurs) encompasses bipedal, facultative quadrupedal and quadrupedal taxa. Primitive ornithischians were small bipeds, but large body size and obligate quadrupedality evolved independently in all major ornithischian lineages. Numerous pelvic and hind limb features distinguish ornithischians from the majority of other non-avian dinosaurs. However, some of these features, notably a retroverted pubis and elongate iliac preacetabular process, appeared convergently in maniraptoran theropods, and were inherited by their avian descendants. During maniraptoran/avian evolution these pelvic modifications led to significant changes in the functions of associated muscles, involving alterations to the moment arms and the activation patterns of pelvic musculature. However, the functions of these features in ornithischians and their influence on locomotion have not been tested and remain poorly understood. Here, we provide quantitative tests of bipedal ornithischian muscle function using computational modelling to estimate 3D hind limb moment arms for the most complete basal ornithischian, Lesothosaurus diagnosticus. This approach enables sensitivity analyses to be carried out to explore the effects of uncertainties in muscle reconstructions of extinct taxa, and allows direct comparisons to be made with similarly constructed models of other bipedal dinosaurs. This analysis supports some previously proposed qualitative inferences of muscle function in basal ornithischians. However, more importantly, this work highlights ambiguities in the roles of certain muscles, notably those inserting close to the hip joint. Comparative analysis reveals that moment arm polarities and magnitudes in Lesothosaurus, basal tetanuran theropods and the extant ostrich are generally similar. However, several key differences are identified, most significantly in comparisons between the moment arms of muscles associated with convergent osteological features in ornithischi
  • Journal article
    Winrow P, Sutton MD, 2012,

    Epithelial cell moulds in acrotretoid brachiopods

    , HISTORICAL BIOLOGY, Vol: 24, Pages: 557-565, ISSN: 0891-2963
  • Journal article
    Garwood RJ, Sutton MD, 2012,

    The enigmatic arthropod Camptophyllia

    , PALAEONTOLOGIA ELECTRONICA, Vol: 15, ISSN: 1935-3952
  • Journal article
    Sutton MD, Garwood RJ, Siveter DJ, Siveter DJet al., 2012,

    SPIERS and VAXML; A software toolkit for tomographic visualisation and a format for virtual specimen interchange

    , PALAEONTOLOGIA ELECTRONICA, Vol: 15, ISSN: 1935-3952
  • Journal article
    Legg DA, Garwood RJ, Dunlop JA, Sutton MDet al., 2012,

    A taxonomic revision of orthosternous scorpions from the English Coal Measures aided by x-ray micro-tomography (XMT)

    , PALAEONTOLOGIA ELECTRONICA, Vol: 15, ISSN: 1935-3952
  • Journal article
    Thompson RS, Parrish JC, Maidment SCR, Barrett PMet al., 2012,

    Phylogeny of the ankylosaurian dinosaurs (Ornithischia: Thyreophora)

    , Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, Vol: 10, Pages: 301-312
  • Journal article
    Spencer ART, Hilton J, Sutton MD, 2012,

    Combined methodologies for three-dimensional reconstruction of fossil plants preserved in siderite nodules: Stephanospermum braidwoodensis nov. sp. (Medullosales) from the Mazon Creek lagerstätte

    , Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology

    A new species of Medullosan ovule from the Mazon Creek Carboniferous lagerstätte is documented using a novel combination of non-invasive X-Ray Micro-Tomography (XMT) and orientated precision sectioning based on the XMT results. 3-D reconstruction of the ovule has correlated geometries of different layers with tissue characteristics gathered from wafered sections, with the methodological combination presenting a virtual reconstruction of the specimen and also enabling positioning of serial sections of the holotype in pre-determined positions. Stephanospermum braidwoodensis sp. nov. has four longitudinally orientated sarcotestal wings, two to each side of the major plane that demonstrate 180° rotational (bilateral) symmetry, while the sclerotesta has three prominent longitudinal commissural ribs and the pollen chamber has three small ribs and triangular nucellar beak, both demonstrating radial (threefold) symmetry. This demonstration of both radial and bilateral symmetries in different tissues emphasises the complexities of inferring systematic affinities of fossil seeds from symmetry alone. We consider S. braidwoodensis to be closely related to the co-occurring S. konopeonus Drinnan et al., and postulate that it was born on a fertile truss similar to that of the latter species. Finally implications of our findings for the utility of these methods in identifying additional species from the Mazon Creek biota are discussed, and the advantages and disadvantages of different methods of nodule preparation are considered. We conclude that additional species are likely to be recognised from the Mazon Creek flora by application of the same methodologies used in this investigation.

This data is extracted from the Web of Science and reproduced under a licence from Thomson Reuters. You may not copy or re-distribute this data in whole or in part without the written consent of the Science business of Thomson Reuters.

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