Conserving and restoring the Caicos pine forests: The first decade

The severe and rapid attack on the Caicos pine Pinus caribaea var. bahamensis(Pinaceae) by the nonnative invasive pine tortoise scale, Toumeyella parvicornis, has resulted in the death of most of the trees in the Turks and Caicos Islands(TCI) in just over a decade. Local and international conservation efforts have enabled the necessary multi-disciplinary research, data gathering, and monitoring to develop and implement a restoration strategy for this endemic tree from the Bahaman archipelago. The native plant nursery established on North Caicos and horticultural expertise acquired throughout the years were crucial to the successful rescue of Caicos pine saplings from the wild populations and cultivation of new saplings grown from locally sourced seeds. These saplings have been used to establish six Restoration Trial Plots on Pine Cay and a seed orchard on North Caicos in TCI. Core Conservation Areas(CCAs) for the Caicos pine forests have been identified and mapped. To date, forest within the Pine Cay CCA has been supplemented by planting more than 450 pine trees, which have survived at a high(>80%)rate.     

Now is the time to test early urinary biomarkers in large-scale human samples

<正>Although blood is the most common source for biomarkers,urine has not been completely ignored. There have been some urinary biomarker studies with clinical samples.However, most—if not all—biomarker researchers lack confidence in urine as a good biomarker source. Many researchers think that good results from urine are a statistical accident. To demonstrate the validity of urinary biomarkers,large-scale studies are needed. Until such convincing evidence exists, what funding agent could support research in this field?     

ON SOME NEW TETRACORALS FROM THE CARBONIFEROUS OF CHINA

Although Lower Carboniferous tetracorals of China have long been extensively described, thoseof younger Carboniferous have not received the due attention that they seem to deserve. Thepresent paper intends to deal with some scattered collections from the Carboniferous of Northand South China, which have been put at the author's disposal in the course of many a year.     

FUSULINIDS FROM THE TYPE-LOCALITY OF THE CHANGHSING LIMESTONE

The present brief communication is published in order to demonstrate a small fusulinid faunafound from the Changhsing limestone at the type-locality in the Changhsing coal fields, some 25km northwest of the Changhsing city, northeastern Chekiang Province by W. S. Wu, H. L. Liang,L. H. Lu and the writers in a field trip to Changhsing in the spring of 1956. Although thelimestone and its fauna of this region have been the subject of some studies, the fusulinids have notyet been described.     

The Value and Significance of Metagenomics of Marine Environments

<正>Microbes have played a fundamental role in the natural history of our planet,and have done so for billions of years.They have adapted to Earth’s many environments from the mild to the very extreme.Studying their diversity and their way of life is critical for understanding their full impact on the global ecology.Although the field of metagenomics is still young,it has unravelled a wider microbial diversity that had otherwise been completely overlooked by the traditional methods of     

Cell therapy for macular degeneration—first phase Ⅰ/Ⅱ pluripotent stem cell-based clinical trial shows promise

<正>Embryonic stem(ES)cells,a type of pluripotent stem cells(PSCs)that are derived from the inner cell mass of blastocysts,have been discovered for more than three decades[1].Given the almost infinite self-renewal capacity and the potential to differentiate into any specific cell type in an individual,ES cells and PSCs have brought hope for the treatment of many unmet diseases.However,the advantages of PSCs—the highly proliferative and plastic capacities,also give rise to concerns regarding the development of tumors     

Virus genomes and virus-host interactions in aquaculture animals

Over the last 30 years,aquaculture has become the fastest growing form of agriculture production in the world,but its development has been hampered by a diverse range of pathogenic viruses.During the last decade,a large number of viruses from aquatic animals have been identified,and more than 100 viral genomes have been sequenced and genetically characterized.These advances are leading to better understanding about antiviral mechanisms and the types of interaction occurring between aquatic viruses and their hosts.Here,based on our research experience of more than 20 years,we review the wealth of genetic and genomic information from studies on a diverse range of aquatic viruses,including iridoviruses,herpesviruses,reoviruses,and rhabdoviruses,and outline some major advances in our understanding of virus–host interactions in animals used in aquaculture.     

Ubiquitination-mediated protein degradation and modification： an emerging theme in plant-microbe interactions

Post-translational modification is central to protein stability and to the naodulation of protein activity.Various types ofprotein modification,such as phosphorylation,methylation,acetylation,myristoylation,glycosylation,and ubiquitina-tion,have been reported.Among them,ubiquitination distinguishes itself from others in that most of the ubiquitinatedproteins are targeted to the 26S proteasome for degradation.The ubiquitin/26S proteasome system constitutes the majorprotein degradation pathway in the cell.In recent years,the importance of the ubiquitination machinery in the controlof numerous eukaryotic cellular functions has been increasingly appreciated.Increasing number of E3 ubiquitin ligasesand their substrates,including a variety of essential cellular regulators have been identified.Studies in the past severalyears have revealed that the ubiquitination system is important for a broad range of plant developmental processes andresponses to abiotic and biotic stresses.This review discusses recent advances in the functional analysis of ubiquitina-tion-associated proteins from plants and pathogens that play important roles in plant-microbe interactions.     

DISCOVERY OF CRICETIDS (RODENTIA, MAMMALIA) FROM MIDDLE OLIGOCENE OF NEI MONGOL, CHINA

<正> The Cricetidae, a group of small rodents presently extremely flourishing all over the world, were already widely distributed in Holarctic in Oligocene. Although abundant Oligocene cricetids have been found in North America and Europe, their occurrence in Asia has been restricted so far mainly to the Hsanda Gol Formation. In China no middle Oligocene cricetids had been encountered until 1977 and 1978, when the author succeeded in finding some cricetids from Saint Jacques, Nei Mongol, China. Those cricetid are described in this paper.     

山西垣曲河堤组寨里段的低等四足类动物群

本文记述了我国晚始新世的一低等四足类动物群,包括三种蜥蜴和两种鳄类.其中的宽额半鳄蜥(Hemishinisaurus latifrons gen. et sp. nov.)是我国首次发现的异蜥科化石;垣曲响蜥(Tinosaurus yuanquensis sp. nov.)是响蜥属在我国的最晚代表.     

广西石炭兽科新材料

本文记述了产自广西南宁盆地中部长岭坡(村)竹排冲岸边的石炭兽一新种:长岭石炭兽(Anthracotherium changlingensis sp. nov.)这是我国目前发现的体型最大的石炭兽。通过对化石的记述和对比,证明我国有Anthracotherium这一属的存在,并确定了南宁盆地邕宁组上段(即上含煤段)的地质时代为晚渐新世。文中还记述了百色盆地发现的两件石炭兽牙齿化石。     

New remains of Egatochoerus jaegeri (Mammalia,Suoidea) from the late Eocene of Peninsular Thailand

Abstract: We report here additional remains referred to Egatochoerus jaegeri from the late Eocene locality of Ban Mark in the Krabi basin, Thailand. The new material described, comprising upper and lower cheek teeth, deciduous premolars and partial cranial remains, makes E. jaegeri the best‐documented Eocene representative of Old World Suoidea at present. Detailed study and comparison of their cheek teeth structure reveal a homogeneity of the molar crest and groove patterns of Old World and New World Palaeogene suoids.     

DISCOVERY OF THE UPPER CHEEK TEETH OF GOBIOLAGUS TOLMACHOVI (LAGOMORPHA, MAMMALIA)

<正> The upper cheek teeth of a Late Eocene laporid, Gobiolagus tolmachovi, are described here for the first time.Of 9 genera of Palaeolaginae of Leporidae, it is only the genus Gobiolagus, whose upper cheek teeth have never been reported before.The specimen was collected by the Sino-Soviet Palaeontological Expedition team in Shara Murun area, Nei Mongol in 1960. Its geological age is considered to be of Late oEcene (Shara Murun Formation).     

A new sawshark,Pristiophorus laevis,from the Eocene of Antarctica with comments on Pristiophorus lanceolatus

The highly fossiliferous Eocene deposits of the Antarctic Peninsula are among the most productive sites for fossil remains in the Southern Hemisphere and offer rare insights into high-latitude faunas during the Palaeogene. Chondrichthyans, which are represented by abundant isolated remains, seemingly dominate the marine assemblages. Eocene Antarctic sawsharks have only been known from few isolated rostral spines up to now, that were assigned to Pristiophorus lanceolatus. Here, we present the first oral teeth of a sawshark from the Eocene of Seymour Island and a re-evaluation of previously described Pristiophorus remains from Gondwana consisting exclusively of rostral spines. The holotype of Pristiophorus lanceolatus represents a single, abraded and insufficiently illustrated spine from the Oligocene of New Zealand. All other Cenozoic rostral spines assigned to this species are morphologically very indistinct and closely resemble those of living taxa. Consequently, we regard this species as dubious and introduce a new species, Pristiophorus laevis, based on oral teeth. The combination of dental characteristics of the new species makes it unique compared to all other described species based on oral teeth. Rostral spines from the Eocene of Seymour Island are assigned to this new species whereas those from other Cenozoic Gondwana localities remain ambiguous.

LSID urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:7177A373-527B-4315-85F6-25180DB5E087     

Occlusal and morphogenetic field evolution in the dentition of European Nyctitheriidae (Euarchonta,Mammalia)

Abstract

The nyctithere genera Saturninia, Cryptotopos and members of the subfamily Amphidozotheriinae are well-represented by dental remains in the European later Eocene. Their molar occlusal relations are described in detail, demonstrating a diversity of adaptations to insectivory, including dilambdodonty, minor trends in zalambdodonty, development of a large talon shelf in upper first and second molars and a step in the trigon-trigonid shearing surface that provides an extra facet in buccal phase. Minor lingual phase wear is recognized for the first time in the family, but only in relatively worn teeth. Nyctithere molars differ from those of most insectivorous mammals today in having well-developed paraconules and metaconules on upper molars, which in most cases lack a marked bucco-lingual tilt, associated with a more transverse jaw action. Amphidozotherium, however, shows tilting and a basally shifted M¹ hypocone associated with M₁ talonid exodaenodonty and a minor trend in zalambdodonty. Nyctitheres primitively have three deeply notched lobate lower incisors and a large but procumbent premolariform lower canine. Amphidozotheriines have modified their I₃ into a premolariform tooth, by shifting the premolarization field mesially. Amphidozotherium has also shifted this field distally, reducing P_2–3 in size and their roots from two to one.     

中国中部中晚始新世仓鼠类一新属——祖仓鼠(Pappocricetodon)

本文记述了两种中、晚始新世仓鼠类:任村祖仓鼠(Pappocricetodon tencunensis gen. et sp. nov.)和绍氏祖仓鼠(P. schaubi (Zdansky, 1930)).化石分别采自我国中部垣曲盆地河堤组任村段和寨里段.文中探讨了早期仓鼠类的一些进化趋势.通过对比,认为源于亚洲的仓鼠类至少有两次向北美扩散,一次在中始新世,一次在始薪世末;大概在"大间隔"前后移往欧洲.     

Italian Cenozoic crocodilians: taxa, timing and palaeobiogeographic implications

Crocodylian remains are collected in 39 fossil-bearing localities but only in seven localities specimens with reliable taxonomic attributions, at least to genus level have been collected. Three species have been reported from the early Lutetian Purga di Bolca site: Pristichampsus cf. Pristichampsus rollinati, Asiatosuchus sp., Hassiacosuchus sp. (=Allognathosuchus sp.). The three crocodilians discovered at Purga di Bolca have been reported also from Geiseltal and Messel (Middle Eocene, Germany). Bolca at that time was part of a Tethysian archipelago and no mammals have been found there till now. Crocodilians and turtles clearly arrived from the European mainland across a marine water barrier. Among the other fossiliferous localities of Veneto, very interesting is the Monte Zuello site, of late Middle Eocene age, yielding a longirostrine crocodilian, Megadontosuchus arduini, a tomistomine species. Tomistomines are known in contemporaneous sediments of both Europe and Africa, but the European forms Dollosuchus and Kentisuchus seem the closest taxa. Remains of Oligocene age have been collected in Veneto and Liguria, but the fossils discovered in the second region are teeth or fragmented bones. The fossil crocodilians of Monteviale (Veneto), of Early Oligocene age, have been assigned to two species but they have been recently all identified as Diplocynodon ratelii, known from several European sites of Late Eocene, Oligocene and Miocene age. This species arrived in the Monteviale area from the European mainland across a narrow sea. Several crocodilian fossils of Miocene age are very fragmentary or represented by isolated teeth. In the Middle and Late Miocene of Sardinia, a well-established species, Tomistoma calaritanum is present. Remains of Tomistoma of the same age have been reported in some localities in Tuscany, Apulia, Sicily and Malta. In the Mediterranean area, the genus is known from European and African sites (of older age). The colonisation of Europe by this genus is the result of a dispersion from Africa (or less probably from Asia). During Late Miocene Sardinia and Tuscany belong to the same palaeobioprovince characterized by the Oreopithecus-Maremmia fauna. In Tuscany, a crocodilian identified as Crocodylus bambolii is present in the late Miocene site of Monte Bamboli. If the generic attribution of this form is correct, its ancestors must have arrived from Africa. Another fossil assemblage of Late Miocene age characterizes the Apulia-Abruzzi palaeobioprovince (Hoplitomeryx-Microtia fauna) and testifies complete isolation between the two palaeobioprovinces. In this last area, remains of Crocodylus sp. have been collected in coastal sandstones at Scontrone (Abruzzi) and in several fissure fillings of Gargano of slightly younger age. The ancestors of this species arrived from Africa while no African elements are present among the mammalian fauna. The dispersion of the genus Crocodylus in the Italian palaeoislands may have taken place once, with allopatric differentiation of the two populations (Tuscany-Sardinia and Apulia-Abruzzi) or twice with independent colonisation of each area.     

Données nouvelles sur les mammifères et les nummulites de l'éocène supérieur subalpin (synclinaux du Charbon et d'entrevernes,Bauges, Savoie et Haute-Savoie)

Vertebrate remains and nummulites have been investigated from the Late Eocene—Early Oligocene transgressive sequence of the «Chaînes subalpines south of the lake Annecy. The sedimentary environments range from fluvio-lacustrine shales and conglomerates at the base to hemipelagic Globigerina shales at the top. The fluvio-lacustrine white marls contain mammals of the upper, probably terminal Ludian, with affinities to the assemblage of Saint-Capraise. The brackish Cerithium beds have furnished charophytes of the Bembridge zone. The nummulite limestones are not dated precisely, but isolated, probably redeposited nummulites from the base of the Globigerina shales are of terminal Eocene or basal Oligocene age. The Globigerina shales themselves belong to the Oligocene.