兽类头骨测量标准Ⅴ：食虫目、翼手目

本文为《兽类头骨测量标准》第五部分,在第一部分基本量度的基础上着重介绍了食虫目和翼手目各类群特有的量度及测量方法。     

兽类头骨测量标准Ⅳ:树鼩目、灵长目

本文为《兽类头骨测量标准》第四部分,在第一部分基本量度的基础上着重介绍了树鼩目和灵长目各类群特有的量度及测量方法.     

兽类头骨测量标准Ⅳ：树目、灵长目

本文为《兽类头骨测量标准》第四部分,在第一部分基本量度的基础上着重介绍了树目和灵长目各类群特有的量度及测量方法。     

台湾乳白蚁种群兵蚁量度特征变异及其分类学意义分析

台湾乳白蚁Coptotermes formosanus是我国南方木材及其建筑结构最主要的有害白蚁,也是世界重要的入侵性物种。台湾乳白蚁兵蚁品级的量度特征是其描述鉴定的重要依据,本文对台湾乳白蚁兵蚁主要量度特征数据进行了整合,并就台湾乳白蚁11个地理种群兵蚁品级的主要量度特征进行了比较,探讨了台湾乳白蚁相应量度特征的分类学意义。     

广义Lyapunov函数与微分系统关于两种量度的相对稳定(Ⅱ)

利用广义Lyapunov函数来研究微分系统关于两种量度的相对稳定性,讨论它们之间的关系。得出微分系统关于两种量度的相对稳定性等价于广义Lyapunov函数具有某种相应的性质。     

林麝和马麝分类的判别分析

林麝Moschus berezovskii和马麝M.sifanicus是两种经济价值很高的药用动物。目前主要根据外形及身体量度的方式进行分类。作者利用其头骨的量度进行多元统计的判别分析方法,对两种麝的分类进行了探索。     

越南三线闭壳龟、中国三线闭壳龟和金头闭壳龟的新亚种（英文）

最近,遗传学研究证明了越南三线闭壳龟Cuoro cyclornata的有效性,并表明这个种内还存在第3个尚未描述的亚种,这个亚种也能从体色和形态量度上与以前认定的2个亚种相区分。同时,也证明中国三线闭壳龟C.trifasciata有一个来自中国海南岛在遗传学上存在歧化的种群。此现象也存在于金头闭壳龟C.aurocapitata,很久以来就发现该种有一个在体色量度上明显不同的种群,并得到了微卫星标记和形态学证据的支持。以上两种方法都显示了中国三线闭壳龟、越南三线闭壳龟和尚未描述的亚种之间的区别。为此,本文将这3个种群分别描述为新亚种C.cyclornata annamitica,C.trifasciata luteocephala和C.aurocapitata dabieshani。     

增长曲线模型回归参数B的影响分析—似然距离法

本文讨论增长曲模型的回归参数Ｂ的影响分析,导出了度量影响大小的似然距离量度ＬＤ,并分析了ＬＤ与广义Ｃｏｏｋ距离的联系,最后的实例应用说明了似然距离统计量度量增长曲线模型的影响点是有效的。     

兽类头骨测量标准Ⅱ:奇蹄目、偶蹄目、食肉目

介绍了奇蹄目(Perissodactyla)、偶蹄目(Artiodactyla)和食肉目(Carnivor)各类群特有的量度及测量方法。     

腾格里蛙的原始描述

本文报道在宁夏腾格里沙漠边缘、黄河沿岸发现的新种腾格里蛙的原始描述及量度。     

L’industrie en calcaire du site Paléolithique d’Isernia la Pineta : un modèle interprétatif de stratégie comportementale

The studies and the researches carried out in the last years on the Palaeolithic site of Isernia La Pineta have brought to consider in new way the activities realized by the human group that lived the basin of Isernia during the Middle Pleistocene offering an important key of interpretation of the behavioural strategies of the prehistoric man. The analysis of the exploitation of the raw material has confirmed the presence on the site of two different lithotypes: flint and limestone; the lithological dichotomy is related to the functional dichotomy of the raw material that seems to have conditioned the activities of the human group in different areas of the site. The necessity to deepen the study on the limestone has derived from the evidence brought to light in the last excavation campaigns of a remarkable concentration of the flaked limestone pebbles and the flake scars in some areas of the explored archeosurfaces, particularly on the 3a and on the overlooking layers. The present study has the purpose to explain the characteristics of the limestone finds both in reference to the raw material and to its state of preservation both to the technotypological evidences and its spatial distribution with the purpose to better understand the modalities of the exploitation of the raw material. The information collected until today have permitted to obtain a precise knowledge of the environmental context and the territorial resources exploited by the human group showing an opportunistic capability to find the most advantageous behavioural solution for the necessities of subsistence.     

What is the epipleurite? A contribution to the subcoxal theory as applied to the insect abdomen

The epipleurites were originally described by Hopkins in 1909 on the imago and larva of a beetle. Then this term was widely used in insect morphology, mainly for larvae, to designate certain sclerites of the pleural region. They have recently been interpreted as tergopleural (i.e. pleural but not strictly appendicular) by Deuve in 2001, but a study of embryonic development by Kobayashi et al. in 2013 has shown that they are instead eupleural (i.e. appendicular) and correspond to a dorsal part of the subcoxa. Their presence in the abdominal segments of insects illustrates the fundamental importance of the subcoxa in segmental structure, with a function of anchoring and supporting the appendage when the latter is present. However, the epipleurites are normally separated and functionally dissociated from the coxosternum, which integrates the ventral component of the subcoxa. In females, the epipleurite of segment IX of the abdomen corresponds to the gonangulum, as already pointed out by Deuve in 1994 and 2001, and it is involved in gonopod articulation. At segments VIII and IX of both males and females of holometabolans, the formation process of the genital ducts leads to an internalisation of the whole subcoxosternum (i.e. the coxosternum with the exception of the coxal and telopodal territories), and it is the two flanking epipleurites that ventrally close the abdomen in relation to the rearward displacement of the gonopore. This model may be generalised, in its broad lines, to a large part of the hemimetabolans. The body plan of the insect abdomen underlines the morphological and functional importance of the subcoxa in its fundamental structure, but the study of the Hexapoda in general also indicates the presence of a more proximal segment, the precoxa, which would belong to the groundplan but is more cryptic because it is often closely associated with the subcoxa and/or the paranotal lobe. Its location, which is sometimes on the ventral flank of the paranotal lobe, is in line with the hypothesis of a dual origin of the pterygote wing.     

Cranial and appendicular ontogeny of Bactrosaurus johnsoni,a hadrosauroid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of northern China

Abstract: The juvenile anatomy of various cranial and appendicular elements of the hadrosauroid dinosaur Bactrosaurus johnsoni is described in detail. Growth changes are documented from juvenile to adult stages for each skeletal element available. In the studied skull, ontogenetic trends consist of: development of features on the ventral surface of the frontal; reduction in the slope of the posteromedial process of the premaxilla; a posterior shift of the dorsal process of the maxilla; development of concavities on the medial surface of the prefrontal; increased robustness and development of the ventral flange of the jugal; decreased curvature of the long axis of the quadrate; increased ventral deflection of the dentary; and changes in the length/width proportions and depth of the anterior surface of the predentary. In the appendicular skeleton, the majority of ontogenetic variation from juvenile to adult occurs in the limb bones, including increased robustness of the deltopectoral crest of the humerus; relative shortening of the ulna; increased development of the fourth trochanter and mediolateral widening of the distal end of the femur; increased expansion of the cnemial crest of the tibia; and the increased prominence of articular protuberances and flanges of the metatarsals. A survey of the phylogenetically informative characters present in B. johnsoni indicates that several characters concerning the frontal, maxilla, jugal, quadrate, predentary, dentary, scapula, humerus and ilium are affected by ontogeny. Nevertheless, the majority of phylogenetic characters are not ontogenetically variable, suggesting that a substantial amount of the information provided by juvenile and subadult specimens for phylogenetic inference is reliable in basal hadrosauroids.     

Early steps of the conformational change of influenza virus hemagglutinin to a fusion active state: Stability and energetics of the hemagglutinin

A conformational change of the homotrimeric glycoprotein hemagglutinin (HA) of influenza virus mediates fusion between the viral envelope and the endosome membrane. The conformational change of the HA ectodomain is triggered by the acidic pH of the endosome lumen. An essential step of the conformational change is the formation of an extended coiled-coil motif exposing the hydrophobic fusion peptide toward the target membrane. The structures of the neutral-pH, non-fusion active conformation of the HA ectodomain and of a fragment of the ectodomain containing the coiled-coil motif are known. However, it is not known by which mechanism protonation triggers the conformational change of the stable neutral-pH conformation of the ectodomain. Here, recent studies on the stability of the HA ectodomain at neutral pH, the energetics of the conformational change toward the fusion-active state and of the unfolding of the HA ectodomain are summarised. A model for the early steps of the conformational change of the HA ectodomain is presented. The model implicates that protonation leads to a partial dissociation of the distal domains of the HA monomers that is driven by electrostatic repulsion. The opening of the ectodomain enables water to enter the ectodomain. The interaction of water with respective sequences originally shielded from contact with water drives the formation of the coiled-coil structure.     

La transgression thanétienne (Paléocène supérieur) dans l’Aurès occidental (Algérie), d’après les associations de Foraminifères de la coupe d’El Kantara

In the W-Aures (Algeria), the El Kantara pass displays about 50 m of Red Marls overlying the Maastrichtian limestones with Laffitteina. The Red Marls are, in their turn, overlain by the Thanetian marly limestones of the river El Haï. The micropaleontological inventory of these Red Marls establishes the co-occurrence of subaerian (Microcodium = Paronipora), fresh-water (Charophyta) and marine microfossils (Foraminifers). The stratigraphical significance of these microfossils is discussed. The upper part of the Red Marls, yielding abundant Valvulina and scarce Glomalveolina, is of Thanetian age. The age of the lower part is less established, but the occurrence of Microcodium suggests a Thanetian age too. Located at the margin of the northern opening of the trans-Saharan epeiric sea, the El Kantara section establishes a Thanetian age for the beginning of the Paleocene transgression. Danian deposits are missing, in spite of the absence of an obvious hiatus on the field. After general emersion during the early Paleocene, the Thanetian transgression starts with the set up of lakes at the depositional area of the Red Marls. Marine influences, limited at first, become gradually prevailing, and end with the deposition of neritic marly limestones of river El Haï.     

Entre le Nord et le Sud—un site à pointes à dos de la fin de l’Allerød : Bad Breisig, district de Ahrweiler (vallée moyenne du Rhin, RFA)

Due to unparalleled conditions of preservation below volcanic ashes of the late glacial Laacher-See volcano, the Central Rhineland region, located at the geographic hinge between the North German Lowlands and the Highland zone, permits detailed insights into the environmental and vegetational history of the Allerød-Interstadial and has produced fundamental data for the reconstruction of the way of life of hunter-gatherer groups of that time. The recently investigated site of Bad Breisig, dating to the final part of the Allerød, is the first record of a Late Glacial human settlement of the Central Rhineland after the disastrous environmental destruction caused by the eruption of the Laacher-See volcano. The site is an important chronostratigraphic and typological key in the understanding of the development of the Final Palaeolithic technocomplex with backed points in Central Europe.     

The Fish–Tetrapod Transition: New Fossils and Interpretations

Our information on the transition between fish with fins and tetrapods with limbs and digits has increased manyfold in the last 15–20 years and especially in the last 5 or 10 years, with some spectacular finds of new material. Some of these include new tetrapod-like fish and very primitive tetrapods that help to resolve questions of the sequence of acquisition of tetrapod characters, the approximate timing of the events, the likely geographic location, and the circumstances under which it happened. Forelimbs and skulls became modified in advance of hind limbs, adapted for supporting the head and front of the body out of the water, probably in connection with air breathing. The likely time of origin for limbed tetrapods is between 385 and 380 million years ago, probably in the northern continent of Laurussia. The origin of limbed tetrapods did not coincide with the acquisition of full terrestriality, an outcome that probably arose in the Early Carboniferous. This later part of the story is documented by few fossils, though two in particular give key information. Studies of modern vertebrates, especially the evolutionary developmental genetics of Hox genes, are beginning to provide clues to the origin of digits.     

Origin and evolution of the parasitic cyclopoid copepods

Six of the 10 recognised families of the order Cyclopoida are parasitic, with 4 of them occurring on marine invertebrates and the remaining 2 on freshwater gastropods and fishes, respectively. A cladistic analysis of the 10 families indicates that evolution of parasitism occurred twice in the history of the cyclopoids. The first attempt was made by the marine epibenthic ancestors seeking food and shelter in sessile tunicates — the ascidians. This event led to the evolution of 2 ascidicolous families: Archinotodelphyidae and Notodelphyidae. The descendant of this lineage had also invaded the mantle cavity of marine bivalve molluscs, eventually leading to the evolution of the Mantridae. The second attempt for the parasitic mode of life was launched by the ancestor which was the sister group of the ancestral cyclopoids — the most successful family of freshwater copepods. This ancestral stock, while living in the coastal zone, split into 2 groups: one group stayed behind in the ocean and colonised again the ascidians; the other groups invaded freshwater and evolved into the fish-parasitising Lernaeidae and the gastropod-parasitising Ozmanidae.     

Flexibility along the neck of the ostrich (Struthio camelus) and consequences for the reconstruction of dinosaurs with extreme neck length

The gross morphology and the flexibility along the neck of the ostrich (Struthio camelus) were examined using fresh tissue as well as neck skeletons. The results of the morphologic studies were compared with results from observations of living ostriches. The investigation was focused on differences in the morphology and the function between different sections of the neck. Additionally, the function of major dorsal neck ligaments was examined, including measurements of force-strain-relations. Comparative studies of giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) and camels (Camelus bactrianus) were conducted to find relations between the flexibility along the neck and the general feeding strategy. The examinations revealed that the neck of the ostrich can be divided into four sections with different functions. The first is the atlas-axis-complex which is responsible for torsion. The adjacent cranial section of the neck is flexible in dorsoventral and lateral directions but this part of the neck is usually kept straight at rest and during feeding. Dorsoventral flexibility is highest in the middle section of the neck, whereas the base of the neck is primarily used for lateral excursions of the neck. For giraffes and camels, the posture and utilization of the neck are also reflected in the flexibility of the neck. For all three species, it is possible to reconstruct the pattern of flexibility of the neck by using the neck skeletons alone. Therefore, it appears reasonable to reconstruct the neck utilization and the feeding strategies of dinosaurs with long necks by deriving the flexibility of the neck from preserved vertebrae. For Diplodocus carnegii the neck posture and the feeding strategy were reconstructed. Two neck regions, one around the 9th neck vertebra and the second at the base of the neck, indicate that Diplodocus, like the ostrich, adopted different neck postures. The neck was probably kept very low during feeding. During interruptions of the feeding, e.g., in an alert, the head could have been lifted in an economic way by raising the cranial section of the neck. During standing and locomotion the head was probably located well above the shoulders.