Cannabis for Healing in a Native Community Clinic: Development and Results from an Informatics Research Tool.

This paper describes how the Puyallup Tribe created a clinic specializing in cannabis-based treatments and partnered with a university research team to assess the impacts of cannabis on patient outcomes. Clinic leaders and research team co-developed an informatics research tool that included survey questions about patient demographics, cannabis use, and measures of pain, depression, anxiety, other substance use, and trauma. Over the first 2.5 years of operations, 69 patients completed a survey. Participants were an average age of 50 years old (SD = 16.7), female (77.6%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (61.5%) with more than 12 years of education (66.7%). Over 77% of the participants used either cannabidiol-dominant (CBD) alone or both CBD and Tetrahydrocannabinol-dominant (THC) products, nearly 23% used neither CBD nor THC products. Most came to the clinic for a pain relief appointment (70.3%). Compared to the general population, participants experienced more pain-related comorbidities, such as anxiety, fatigue, sleep, and pain, and fewer physical functioning capabilities. Over half reported symptoms consistent with depressive or post-traumatic stress disorder. The informatics research tool was successfully integrated into a unique Tribally owned medical clinic.

Noasaurids are a component of the Australian 'mid'-Cretaceous theropod fauna.

The diversity of Australia's theropod fauna from the 'mid'-Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) is distinctly biased towards the medium-sized megaraptorids, despite the preponderance of abelisauroids in the younger but latitudinally equivalent Patagonian theropod fauna. Here, we present new evidence for the presence of ceratosaurian, and specifically abelisauroid, theropods from the Cenomanian Griman Creek Formation of Lightning Ridge, New South Wales. A partial cervical vertebra is described that bears a mediolaterally concave ventral surface of the centrum delimited by sharp ventrolateral ridges that contact the parapophyses. Among theropods, this feature has been reported only in a cervical vertebra attributed to the noasaurid Noasaurus. We also reappraise evidence recently cited against the ceratosaurian interpretation of a recently described astragalocalcaneum from the upper Barremian-lower Aptian San Remo Member of the upper Strzelecki Group in Victoria. Inclusion of the Lightning Ridge cervical vertebra and Victorian astragalocalcaneum into a revised phylogenetic analysis focused on elucidating ceratosaurian affinities reveals support for placement of both specimens within Noasauridae, which among other characters is diagnosed by the presence of a medial eminence on the ascending process of the astragalus. The Lightning Ridge and Victorian specimens simultaneously represent the first noasaurids reported from Australia and the astragalocalcaneum is considered the earliest known example of a noasaurid in the world to date. The recognition of Australian noasaurids further indicates a more widespread Gondwanan distribution of the clade outside of South America, Madagascar and India consistent with the timing of the fragmentation of the supercontinent.

High-latitude neonate and perinate ornithopods from the mid-Cretaceous of southeastern Australia.

Dinosaurs were remarkably climate-tolerant, thriving from equatorial to polar latitudes. High-paleolatitude eggshells and hatchling material from the Northern Hemisphere confirms that hadrosaurid ornithopods reproduced in polar regions. Similar examples are lacking from Gondwanan landmasses. Here we describe two non-iguanodontian ornithopod femora from the Griman Creek Formation (Cenomanian) in New South Wales, Australia. These incomplete proximal femora represent the first perinatal ornithopods described from Australia, supplementing neonatal and slightly older 'yearling' specimens from the Aptian-Albian Eumeralla and Wonthaggi formations in Victoria. While pseudomorphic preservation obviates histological examination, anatomical and size comparisons with Victorian specimens, which underwent previous histological work, support perinatal interpretations for the Griman Creek Formation femora. Estimated femoral lengths (37 mm and 45 mm) and body masses (113-191 g and 140-236 g), together with the limited development of features in the smallest femur, suggest a possible embryonic state. Low body masses (<1 kg for 'yearlings' and ~20 kg at maturity) would have precluded small ornithopods from long-distance migration, even as adults, in the Griman Creek, Eumeralla, and Wonthaggi formations. Consequently, these specimens support high-latitudinal breeding in a non-iguanodontian ornithopod in eastern Gondwana during the early Late Cretaceous.

Isisfordia molnari sp. nov., a new basal eusuchian from the mid-Cretaceous of Lightning Ridge, Australia.

The Australian Mesozoic crocodyliform record is sparse in comparison to other Gondwanan localities. A single formally-named taxon is known from this interval; Isisfordia duncani (Winton Formation, Albian-Turonian, Queensland). We present a previously undescribed crocodyliform braincase from the Griman Creek Formation (Cenomanian), New South Wales, which we assign to Isisfordia molnari sp. nov. Assignment to the genus is based on the possession of a newly-defined autapomorphy of Isisfordia: a broadly exposed prootic within the supratemporal foramen. A second autapomorphy of I. duncani (maximum diameter of the caudal aperture of the cranioquadrate siphonium approximately one-third the mediolateral width of the foramen magnum, with the lateral wall of the caudal aperture formed exclusively by the quadrate) may also be present in I. molnari; however, definitive recognition of this feature is marred by incomplete preservation. The new taxon is differentiated from I. duncani based on the absence of a median ridge on the parietal, and the lack of characteristic ridges on the parietal that form the medial margin of the supratemporal foramina. Reanalysis of a second specimen (the former holotype of the nomen dubium,'Crocodylus (Bottosaurus) selaslophensis') allows for its referral to the genus Isisfordia. Crucial to this reappraisal is the reinterpretation of the specimen as a partial maxilla, not the dentary as previously thought. This maxillary fragment possesses specific characteristics shared only with I. duncani; namely an alveolar groove. However, several key features differentiate the maxillary fragment from I. duncani, specifically the presence of continuous alveolar septa, the thickening of the medial alveolar rim, and the alveolar and crown base morphology. These findings constitute the first evidence of Isisfordia outside of the type locality and indicate its widespread occurrence on the freshwater floodplains along the eastern margin of the epeiric Eromanga Sea during the Albian-Cenomanian.

Correction to: 'New theropod (Tetanurae: Avetheropoda) material from the 'mid'-Cretaceous Griman Greek Formation at Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia'.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1098/rsos.180826.].

New theropod (Tetanurae: Avetheropoda) material from the 'mid'-Cretaceous Griman Creek Formation at Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia [corrected].

The limited fossil record of Australian Cretaceous theropods is dominated by megaraptorids, reported from associated and isolated material from the Early Cretaceous of Victoria and the 'Mid'-Cretaceous of central-north New South Wales and central Queensland. Here, we report on new postcranial theropod material from the early Late Cretaceous Griman Creek Formation at Lightning Ridge. Among this new material is an associated set consisting of two anterior caudal vertebrae and a pubic peduncle of the ilium, to which a morphologically similar partial vertebral centra from a separate locality is tentatively referred. These elements display a combination of characteristics that are present in megaraptorid and carcharodontosaurid theropods, including camellate internal organization of the vertebral centra, ventrally keeled anterior caudal centra and a pubic peduncle of the ilium with a ventral surface approximately twice as long anteroposteriorly as mediolaterally wide. Unfortunately, a lack of unambiguous synapomorphies precludes accurate taxonomic placement; however, avetheropodan affinities are inferred. This new material represents the second instance of a medium-sized theropod from this interval, and only the third known example of associated preservation in an Australian theropod. Additional isolated theropod material is also described, including an avetheropodan femoral head that shows similarities to Allosaurus and Australovenator, and a mid-caudal vertebral centrum bearing pneumatic foraminae and extensive camellae that is referrable to Megaraptora and represents the first axial skeletal element of a megaraptorid described from Lightning Ridge.

Ornithopod diversity in the Griman Creek Formation (Cenomanian), New South Wales, Australia.

During the Early Cretaceous, dinosaur communities of the Australian-Antarctic rift system (Eumeralla and Wonthaggi formations) cropping out in Victoria were apparently dominated by a diverse small-bodied 'basal ornithopod' fauna. Further north, in Queensland (Winton and Mackunda formations), poorly-represented small-bodied ornithopods coexisted with large-bodied iguanodontians. Our understanding of the ornithopod diversity from the region between the Australian-Antarctic rift and Queensland, represented by Lightning Ridge in central-northern New South Wales (Griman Creek Formation), has been superficial. Here, we re-investigate the ornithopod diversity at Lightning Ridge based on new craniodental remains. Our findings indicate a diverse ornithopod fauna consisting of two-to-three small-bodied non-iguanodontian ornithopods (including Weewarrasaurus pobeni gen. et sp. nov.), at least one indeterminate iguanodontian, and a possible ankylopollexian. These results support those of previous studies that favour a general abundance of small-bodied basal ornithopods in Early to mid-Cretaceous high-latitude localities of southeastern Australia. Although these localities are not necessarily time-equivalent, increasing evidence indicates that Lightning Ridge formed a 'meeting point' between the basal ornithopod-dominated localities in Victoria and the sauropod-iguanodontian faunas in Queensland to the north.

Isolated teeth of Anhangueria (Pterosauria: Pterodactyloidea) from the Lower Cretaceous of Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia.

The fossil record of Australian pterosaurs is sparse, consisting of only a small number of isolated and fragmentary remains from the Cretaceous of Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria. Here, we describe two isolated pterosaur teeth from the Lower Cretaceous (middle Albian) Griman Creek Formation at Lightning Ridge (New South Wales) and identify them as indeterminate members of the pterodactyloid clade Anhangueria. This represents the first formal description of pterosaur material from New South Wales. The presence of one or more anhanguerian pterosaurs at Lightning Ridge correlates with the presence of 'ornithocheirid' and Anhanguera-like pterosaurs from the contemporaneous Toolebuc Formation of central Queensland and the global distribution attained by ornithocheiroids during the Early Cretaceous. The morphology of the teeth and their presence in the estuarine- and lacustrine-influenced Griman Creek Formation is likely indicative of similar life habits of the tooth bearer to other members of Anhangueria.

Unusual gut contents in a Cretaceous ichthyosaur.

Despite ichthyosaurs being one of the most extensively studied Mesozoic marine reptile groups, there is little documented direct evidence of dietary habits in most taxa. Here, we report the discovery of hatchling-sized marine protostegid turtle remains and an enantiornithine bird (in association with actinopterygian fish and phosphatic nodules) within the body cavity of a gravid female ichthyosaur (Platypterygius longmani) from the Lower Cretaceous of Australia; this is the first evidence, to our knowledge, of feeding by ichthyosaurs upon both turtles and birds. The exceptionally preserved gut contents show little evidence of digestion, suggesting consumption shortly before the ichthyosaur's death. Poor swimming ability may have made hatchling turtles easy prey that could have been either swallowed whole or processed by shake feeding. Ingestion of bird remains probably occurred through scavenging. Opportunistic feeding on vertebrates is at odds with existing interpretations of dietary habits in Cretaceous ichthyosaurs, which favour predation primarily upon cephalopods. Such specialization is considered a contributing factor in the group's ultimate extinction. However, the evidence here that at least some forms were able to use a wide range of available food types suggests that the decline of ichthyosaurs in the mid-Cretaceous may be linked to other factors such as competition with ecologically analogous pursuit predators.