This research investigated the home range and habitat selection of three eastern gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) in 2010 and two in 2011 (one a recapture from 2010) in a mixed hardwood forest adjacent to Park University, Parkville, Missouri. We tracked squirrels on foot, using hand held receivers and antennas, acquiring an average of 41 diurnal locations and 5 nighttime nest site locations for each individual. Kernel home range contours were created using the software program Home Ranger. Home range areas of males (x = 3.41 ha) were larger than female ranges (x = 2.39 ha). Home ranges and locations were displayed in Google Earth imagery where habitat selection analyses were performed. Individuals showed significant selection for habitat types within their ranges, some preferring upland hardwood forest and others riparian forest. Open grassy or developed areas were consistently avoided by all squirrels. Squirrels nested in a variety of trees and snags, the nesting habitat reflecting forest types used during daily activity periods. Both riparian and upland forest habitats appeared to provide needed resources and differences in individual habitat selection may have been influenced by social interactions or other factors. Google Earth Pro proved to be a useful background for displaying animal location and range data as well as a tool for performing habitat selection analyses.

Fossil Crow shark teeth, extinct genus Squalicorax, are widespread and are reported from the Late Cretaceous of Europe, northern Africa and North America. In the spring of 2011 a fossil tooth of Squalicorax kaupi was discovered in glacial debris of north-central Missouri. The tooth is fairly worn. It is about 1.5 cm tall and 1.6 cm at its widest point. Both cutting edges show evidence of heavy serrations though they are preserved well only at the distal notch. Portions of the enamel are missing and the broken edges are worn smooth. There are two likely sources for the fossil shark tooth of this study. It could have arrived in Missouri by fluvial and glacial movements from formations of the Western Interior Seaway of Kansas, Nebraska or Iowa or from the north northwest by glacial movements from the Hudson Seaway. There are no marine deposits of the Late Cretaceous in this part of Missouri, but Late Cretaceous marine formations and fossils are abundant from Kansas and Nebraska and lesser so from Iowa.

The Lincoln Limestone Member of the Greenhorn Limestone is a mid-Cenomanian (94.7–95 Ma) deposit of the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway in North America. Fossiliferous rock samples from the Lincoln Limestone were collected at a new locality (‘Table Mesa locality’) in southeastern Colorado. Acid treatment of the rock samples yielded at least 29 vertebrate taxa, including 13 chondiichthyan and 14 osteichthyan fishes as well as two reptilian (squamate) taxa. The taxonomic composition of the fauna broadly resembles previously described mid-Cenomanian localities in North America that further demonstrates the high taxonomic homogeneity of vertebrates in the Western Interior Seaway. Although the occurence of a terrestrial lizaid is noteworthy, proportions of common taxa at the Table Mesa locality are particularity similar to another Lincoln Limestone locality situated about 100 km to the west where remains of bony fishes also dominate.

A colonial monospecific cluster of rudist bivalves from the lowermost Bridge Creek Limestone Member, Greenhorn Limestone (Upper Cenomanian) are attributable to Durania cf. D. cornupastoris. This discovery marks only the eighth recorded pre-Coniacian occurrence of rudist bivalves in the Cretaceous Western Interior and the only Cenomanian record of rudist Durania in North America. Discovered in 2011, the specimen was unearthed by aerial bombing at a training facility utilized during World War II. The appearance of rudist bivalves at mid-latitudes coincident with marked change in marine sediments likely represents the onset of mid-Cretaceous global warming.

We describe a specimen of an Upper Cretaceous shark, Cardabiodon sp. (Lamniformes: Cardabiodontidae), from Kansas. This specimen, that consists of a set of teeth, pieces of calcified cartilage, and placoid scales, represents the first associated cardabiodontid material from North America. The combination of direct observation and radiographic examination reveals that the specimen contains at least 78 teeth, including presumed functional and replacement teeth. The teeth vary in size and morphology, suggesting that the dentition of the shark showed heterodonty. The tooth set includes teeth referable to ‘upper intermediate teeth’ in which their presence is characteristic of the order Lamniformes. This shark individual is estimated to have measured at least 2.5 m and as much as 3.8 m in total length. The morphology of placoid scales indicates that Cardabiodon was capable of fast swimming and was likely able to actively pursue lively prey.

This is the first and only positive indication to date of the presence of the coelacanth, Spermatodus pustulosus, and the hybodont shark, Polyacrodus zideki, from the Wellington Formation of Oklahoma. This record documents the occurrence of both the coelacanth and hybodont in the Wellington Formation of North-central Oklahoma and it increases the stratigraphic distribution of both. The specimens were collected from a channel-fill conglomerate exposed in a south facing road cut. The site SNOMNH (Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History) vertebrate site V 1627 is located in southern Noble County, north-central Oklahoma. The site has yielded numerous three-dimensional remains of fish, amphibians, and reptiles.

Borane was generated in situ using lithium borohydride and methyl iodide in a nonpolar, non-coordinating solvent toluene, which gave marginal conversion of the nitrile to a primary amine. In order to retain generated borane in the reaction mixture through adduct formation and to minimize formation of diborane, various Lewis bases were added, including 1,4-dioxane, 1,2-dimethoxyethane, diethyl ether, triphenylphosphine, pyridine, dimethyl sulfide, tetrahy drothiophene, silica gel, alumina, 2-imidazolidone and tetrahydrofuran (THF). Less than a stoichiometric equivalent, 0.75 equivalents, of THF have been shown to be the best suited to hold borane in solution and therefore facilitate conversions of nitriles to primary amines based on yield and purity.

The Graneros Shale was deposited in the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway of North America during the mid-Cenomanian (ca. 95 Ma). Vertebrate fossils are known to occur in the rock formation, but there is no detailed report collectively documenting the composition of the vertebrate fauna. In this study, we collected many remains of fossil fishes from the uppermost portion of the Graneros Shale in southeastern Nebraska. The fish fauna consists of at least 14 chondrichthyan and 10 osteichthyan taxa. The locality is characterized by the abundance of benthic taxa, indicative of a well-oxygenated, shallow marine environment. This paleoenvironmental inference based on fossil fish evidence is consistent with that made previously for the Graneros Shale based on lithological and invertebrate evidence.

(Sven) Birger Sandzén (1871–1954) came to Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas in 1894 from Sweden. He developed a unique style of painting that put him in class by himself. He appreciated the great outdoors and the color and light in Kansas and took advantage of these conditions in his art work. As a friend and colleague of geologist Fritiof Fryxell, Sandzén had ample time to learn some ‘formal’ geology. He had an appreciation for rocks from childhood and his unique painting style has a special three-dimensional aspect that reflect his interest in and his understanding of geology. He ranks as one of the première artists of Kansas and is recognized as one of the outstanding American artists of the 20th Century.

Measurements of stomatal conductance and transpiration can provide information on plant carbon gain and water loss, which can easily be used to estimate a plant's ability to tolerate flooding. In this study, flooding-sensitive Sorghum halepense and flooding-tolerant Phragmites australis were flooded to 8 cm depth or kept dry for 7 days. Transpiration, stomatal conductance, boundary layer conductance, and vapor conductance were measured for each. In S. halepense, transpiration was significantly higher in dry treatments compared to flooded treatments. However, in P. australis transpiration was significantly higher in flooded treatments compared to dry treatments. Boundary layer conductances were not different between species or treatments. Phragmites australis had increased stomatal conductance when flooded, which indicates a high physiological tolerance to waterlogged soils. By contrast, stomatal conductance in S. halepense was decreased under flooding, indicating a greater sensitivity to flooding. Based on these differences between P. australis and S. halepense, leaf-level stomatal conductance appears to serve as a quick indication of flooding tolerance in plants.

Near-surface soil temperatures are important because they have implications for climate change and agricultural productivity worldwide. Nonetheless, historic records of soil temperature are much less common than records of air temperature or precipitation. Those that exist do not indicate a predominant global trend in soil temperature over the last century, but suggest regional and seasonal differences that include both cooling and warming. In this paper, we compared the annual date at which near-surface soil temperatures in Kansas reached each of seven thresholds (five degree increments between 40 and 70° F) for each of two decades (the 1990s and 2000s) in order to see if soil temperatures warmed earlier in the year in one decade than in the other. Of the 13 stations tested, only Colby warmed more quickly in the 2000s than in the 1990s for all seven thresholds, and no station warmed more quickly in the 1990s across all thresholds. Typically lower thresholds that occur in the winter were reached earlier in the 1990s than in the 2000s, while higher temperature thresholds that occur in the spring were reached earlier in the 2000s than in the 1990s. These results generally reflect changes in temperature and precipitation during these two decades. Despite the relatively short duration of the data, these findings for Kansas show some similarities to those from studies in other parts of North America and the world. Most notably, areas with warming soil temperatures are often in areas with cooler climates.