Lower Jurassic Arthropod Resting Trace from the Hartford Basin of Massachusetts,USA

Cheliceratichnus lockleyi ichnogen. nov. et ichnosp. nov. is a new ichnotaxon of arthropod resting trace (cubichnium) from the Lower Jurassic (Hettangian) East Berlin Formation in Holyoke, Massachusetts, USA. The trace fossil is preserved as showing many of the external anatomical features of the exoskeleton, which resemble those of some chelicerates, notably sun spiders (Solifugae). The resting trace is directly associated with a trackway of the ichnospecies Acanthichnus cursorius Hitchcock. This is the first described fossil resting trace of a solifugan-like arthropod, and the first direct evidence of a trackmaker of A. cursorius.     

Strengths abd weaknesses of the reef guild concepts and quantitative data: Application to the upper Capitan-massive community (Permian), Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico-Texas

Summary Analyses of large acatate sheet tracings, close-up photos and 105 sub-horizontal quadrat surfaces at four localities near the base of the Guadalupe Mountains Escarpment indicate that the biotic framework of the upper Capitan reef was built by about 35 species: one codiacean (Eugonophyllum sp.), 17 calcisponges, 9 bryozoans, one richthofenid brachipod, some crinoid (known only from columns), 4 Problematica and microbes. This widespread fossil community included members of the Constructor, Baffler and Binder Guilds. A re-evaluation of the Guild Concept (Fagerstrom, 1987, 1991) highlights the validity of the functional roles of the Constructor and Binder Guilds for reef construction. Members of the Baffler Guild, however, need to be revised and an interpretation of microbial micrite and cryptic biota remains controversial. Open surface phylloid algal and cryptic sponge-bryozoan dominated sub-communities were of only local importance. The upper Capitanmassive differs from its Permian conterparts in the low diversity and areal cover of the frame-building biota, low micrite content and abundant micro-frameworks, i.e, intergrown small sponges, Problematica and syndepositional cements (botryoidal and isopachous, fibrous calcite). Quantitative areal cover data were assessed at various scales. Large acetate sheets generally have low coverage of macro-biota (5.4%). By contrast, analysis of small areas of local high areal cover (selected acetate sheet quadrats, subvertical photographs, and quadrat samples: 15–21%) provide detailed insights into clustered patches forming the inital reef framework. Both data sets provide useful clues for an integrated approach to framework assessment. Mean acetate sheet data are limited by their somewhat generalized pattern, while small investigation areas may overemphasize local variation. Erect and pendant sponges with solitary, sub-cylindrical and multi-branche/clonal forms, were the predominant initial frame-builders in both open surface and cryptic habitats. Selective larval recruitment of erects sponges to firm substrates produced continous upward accretion of the initial framework. On open surfaces and in pores formed by tabular sponges and fenestrate bryozoans, erect and pendant sponges were supported in their hydrodynamically unstable growth position by encrusters, chieflyArchaeolithoporelle hidensis, Shamovella obscura, an unnamed tubular organism, and microbes. Subsequent growth ofArchaeolithoporella hidensis, microbial crusts and syndepositional cements on the outer walls of live sponges would have impeded ambient water circulation and may have led to ‘creeping sponge death by suffocation’ or complete encrustation after death. Filling of pores in the initial and encrusted reef framework by internal sediment (packstone-grainstone; derived from the framework and the back-reef shelf/platform) and voluminous syndepositional marine-phreatic cements completed the framebuilding process.     

A new species of Discinites (Noeggerathiales) from the Upper Permian of Weibei Coalfield, North China

A new species of Discinites is described from the Late Permian Upper Shihhotse Formation of the Weibei Coalfield, Shaanxi Province, China. D. hanchengensis sp. nov. has decurrent and disk-like sporophylls with deep-toothed apices, elliptical sporangia and rectangular epidermal cells. The spores are generally of the Calamospora type. The megaspores and microspores are 300–380 and 45–90 μm in diameter, respectively. The microspores are similar in size to those of all other species of Discinites that contain Calamospora, but the megaspores are remarkably smaller. The new species represents the first record of Discinites with Calamospora from China and from the Cathaysian flora. Finally, we summarize the associated foliages of Discinites in the Cathaysian flora and find that they are all markedly different from those found in the Euramerican flora.     

The Trace Fossil Polykampton cabellae isp. nov. from the Pagliaro Formation (Paleocene), Northern Apennines,Italy: A Record of Nutritional Sediment Sequestration by a Deep Sea Invertebrate

Polykampton cabellae isp. nov., a new ichnospecies of Polykampton Ooster, 1869, occurs in two localities of the Pagliaro Formation (Paleocene) in Liguria, Italy, 1.5–3.5 cm below the top of light grey or rose, thick-bedded turbiditic marlstones, which are capped by a thin layer of dark grey, non-calcareous mudstones being the background sediments. This is a ribbon-like, winding, rarely branched trace fossil that consists of 1) a passively-filled axial tunnel and 2) complex, partly imbricated, side lobes, which are composed mostly of dark grey mudstones, the same as in the background sediments. The lobes are produced by multiple probing. The producer, supposedly a polychaete, collected organic-rich, nutritional mud from the sea-floor surface, packed it in a deeper layer in the organic-poor marl, and reworked for feeding. This enabled a stable feeding during longer times of fluctuating supply of organic matter to the sea floor.     

Diabetes, the ice free corridor, and the Paleoindian settlement of North America

Since the 1940s, many Amerindian populations, including some with mixed Amerindian ancestry, have experienced an epidemic of obesity and adult-onset diabetes (NIDDM). Obesity and NIDDM were apparently rare among Amerindian populations prior to that time. Though the evidence is equivocal, obesity and NIDDM seem to be rare today among Athapaskan Amerindians of the North American Arctic, sub-Arctic, and Southwest. It is hypothesized that the Amerindian genotype(s) susceptible to obesity and NIDDM arose from selection favoring thrifty genes during the peopling of North America south of the continental glaciers. Thrifty genes (Neel: Am. J. Hum. Genet. 14:353-362, 1962) allowed a more efficient food metabolism as hunter-gatherers from an unusually harsh mid-latitude tundra environment (the ice free corridor) adapted to more typical mid-latitude environments to the south. The early Paleoindian settlement pattern from Wyoming to Arizona and Texas indicates a relatively brief period of reliance on unpredictable big game resources in lower elevations and smaller game and gathered resources in higher elevations. This unusual specialist settlement pattern may have resulted from the early Paleoindian's unfamiliarity with gathered foods and small game in lower elevations. Athapaskan populations evidently moved south from Beringia sometime after the Paleoindian migration when the ice free corridor had widened and contained environments and resources more typical of subarctic latitudes. Thus, Athapaskan hunter-gatherers could gradually adapt to the resources of lower latitudes such that thrifty genes would not have been as advantageous. The interaction of recently introduced western diets and thrifty genes have evidently led to today's epidemic of obesity and NIDDM among Amerindians of Paleoindian ancestry.     

A new fertile Neocalamites from the Upper Permian of Russia and equisetophyte evolution

This paper deals with Neocalamites tubulatus nov. sp., an equisetophyte belonging to the Equisetaceae family. The material studied originates from the Upper Permian deposits of the northern part of European Russia. N. tubulatus nov. sp. is characterized by both sterile and fertile organs belonging to the same parent plant. It has long, flexible stems, rarely branched, with alternating nodes and prolonged ribs on the stem surface corresponding to vascular strands of the stem, and compact lateral strobili, in general aspect similar to the strobili of extant species of Equisetum. N. tubulatus nov. sp. is one of the most ancient representatives of the Equisetaceae family, which shows a distinct morphological pattern of features, among which the lateral position of strobili, characteristic of primitive equisetophytes, is most prominent in this phase of their evolution.     

New species and records of Charisius Champion from Mexico and Central America (Coleoptera,Tenebrionidae, Alleculinae)

The species of the genus Charisius Champion, from Mexico and Central America are reviewed. The flightless genus Narses Champion, with one included species, N. subalatus Champion, is placed in synonymy with the genus Charisius. Four new species are described and illustrated, C. granulatus and C. punctatus (from Guatemala) and C. apterus and C. howdenorum (from Mexico). Charisius subalatus (Champion) is redescribed and illustrated. The species C. interstitialis Champion is placed in synonymy with C. zunilensis Champion. The genus is redescribed to include the four new species and N. subalatus. New distributional records are presented for all other species of the genus and a revised key is presented for identification of all the species of the genus.     

First report of Apatosaurus (Diplodocidae: Apatosaurinae) from the Cleveland-Lloyd Quarry in the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Utah: Abundance,distribution, paleoecology,and taphonomy of an endemic North American sauropod clade

A cervical vertebra preserved at the famous and productive Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry in the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Utah is that of an Apatosaurus, a sauropod dinosaur genus not previously recognized at the site and the first new dinosaur taxon identified at the site in years. The presence of Apatosaurus at a mudstone site dominated by other taxa, both theropod and sauropod, suggests a pattern of preservation within the Morrison Formation in which sites in fine-grained sediments yield dramatically uneven relative abundances of dinosaurs, with variable dominant taxa by site, compared with more time-averaged and attritional coarse-grained channel sandstone deposits. In addition, the continued demonstration of the wide-spread occurrence and abundance of Apatosaurus within the Morrison Formation, and the absence of its clade among diplodocid faunas on other continents, suggest that this group may have been endemic to North America during the Late Jurassic and that it may have originated there, though this is far from clear.     

A new, enigmatic family for new genus and species of Polyneoptera from the Upper Permian of Russia

Alexarasniidaefam. n. and Alexarasnia rossicagen. et sp. n. are described from the Upper Permian of European Russia. Systematic position of this enigmatic family within the infraclass Polyneoptera is unclear.     

Two new species of Palaeoarthroteles Kovalev and Mostovski (Diptera, Rhagionidae) from the Callovian-Oxfordian (Jurassic) Daohugou biota of China

Two new species of fossil snipe flies (Rhagionidae) from the Daohugou Formation of Chifeng City in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (northeastern China) are described as Palaeoarthroteles jurassicus nov. sp. and P. pallidius nov. sp. They are the first record of the genus Palaeoarthroteles Kovalev and Mostovski beyond Siberia, which have implications for stratigraphic correlation of the formations in which they are found.     

First occurrence of the Ichnogenus Selenichnites from the Middle Jurassic Strata of the Skoura Syncline (Middle Atlas,Morocco); Palaeoecological and palaeoenvironmental context

Mesozoic strata of North Africa yield the first occurrence of the ichnogenus Selenichnites. The trace fossils occur on the top surface of a sandy carbonate deposit in the axis of a Middle Atlas syncline (Skoura Syncline, NE Morocco). The ichnofossil-bearing horizon belongs to the Late Bajocian–Early Bathonian Ich Timellaline/Bou Akrabene Formation. The trace fossils are crescent-shaped and the best preserved exhibits a posterior central axial impression (possible telson tail impression). They are interpreted as feeding burrows (fodinichnia) or hiding depressions of Xiphosurids or Limulids (horseshoe crabs) on a sandy carbonate substrate beneath a veneer of muddy deposits. The sedimentological character suggests a relatively protected shallow water subtidal palaeoenvironment preceding the Bathonian regression of the Atlas domain. This discovery provides the first evidence of xiphosurans or xiphosuran-like organisms inhabiting the southern shores of the Tethys in the Middle Jurassic.     

A new species of Dyoros (Brachiopoda; Chonetoidea) from Nevada (United States) and stratigraphic implications for the Pennsylvanian and Permian Antler Overlap assemblage

Newly discovered fossil localities in coarse-grained deposits of the Pennsylvanian and Permian Antler overlap assemblage in the southern Shoshone Range, north-central Nevada have yielded a low-diversity assemblage consisting chiefly of a new species of chonetoidean brachiopod: Dyoros (Lissosia) nevadaensis nov. sp. The subgenus Dyoros (Lissosia), is known from Leonardian and lower Guadalupian strata in North America, mainly in Texas.The coarse-grained lithology of the host strata, their unconformable relation on deformed lower Paleozoic rocks, and the Leonardian and(or) lower Guadalupian age indicated by Dyoros (Lissosia) provide evidence that host strata are younger than strata of the Antler overlap assemblage in nearby areas of the southern Shoshone Range and suggest that an unconformity of local extent may be present within the overlap assemblage. The fossil age ranges and lithologic data suggest that the host strata may be correlative with the Guadalupian Edna Mountain Formation, an unconformity-bounded unit that forms the upper part of the Antler sequence in the Battle Mountain area to the north. This correlation suggests that the unconformity beneath these strata may have regional extent in north-central Nevada. The origin of the inferred regional unconformity is unknown and may have resulted from relative changes of sea level or regional extensional or contractional tectonism in the area of the former Antler highlands, which forms the substrate for the Antler overlap assemblage.     

A revision of the genus Antepione Packard with description of the new genus Pionenta Ferris (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Ennominae)

Based on genitalic studies, the new genus Pionenta is established for two taxa formerly placed under Antepione. The taxa hewesata and ochreata (and previously associated synonyms) are now synonomized as Pionenta ochreata. Three species of Antepione are now recognized: Antepione thisoaria, Antepione imitata, Antepione tiselaaria with the taxa comstocki, constans, and indiscretata synonomized under Antepione imitata. No new species are described. Adults and genitalia are illustrated, including type specimens.     

Potential Non-target Effects of a Biological Control Agent, Prickly Pear Moth, Cactoblastis cactorum (Berg) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), in North America, and Possible Management Actions

Cactoblastis cactorum (Berg) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), the poster child of biological control, has recently invaded the United States. The first US record was at Big Pine Key, Florida, in 1989. Since then it has moved rapidly northward into South Carolina. Fears are high that it will disperse, either on its own, or with human help, into the US desert southwest and Mexico. There are at least 31 species of prickly pear in the US that are likely to be attacked by Cactoblastis and 56 species in Mexico. As well as the threat to wild cacti, there are over 250,000 ha of Opuntia plantations in Mexico that support a thriving agricultural industry, most of which is centered on harvesting fruits or pads. Possible control measures include classical biological control using parasitoids or pathogens from South America, chemical control or F₁ sterility, as has been used successfully for the codling moth. However, most of these options appear to have insurmountable difficulties. Classical biological control raises the fear of further non-target effects of natural enemies on native cactus herbivores. Chemical control has potential non-target effects on other (rare) insects and is expensive. F₁ sterility is also expensive and is not self-sustaining, requiring considerable and continual human input. Nevertheless, research on control options is vital as is further work on the rate of spread and impact of Cactoblastis in the United States Southeast, so that we can be as well prepared as possible to deal with this threat when it arrives in Arizona, California, and Mexico.     

Telling Apart Ornithopod and Theropod Trackways: A Closer Look at a Large,Late Jurassic Tridactyl Dinosaur Trackway at Serwah,Republic of Yemen

A large bipedal tridactyl dinosaur trackway from the Late Jurassic of Serwah, near Madar, Arhab district, Republic of Yemen, has been attributed to an ornithopod trackmaker. As the distinction between theropod and ornithopod dinosaurs can pose a challenge, we present additional data to support and reconfirm the previous attribution.     

Reproductive compatibility and mitochondrial DNA restriction site analysis of New World screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax, from North Africa and Central America

The reproductive compatibility of New World screwworms, Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel), from North Africa and a strain being mass produced for the Mexican eradication programme was examined to assess the feasibility of using flies from the Mexican screwworm mass production facility for a sterile insect technique eradication programme in North Africa. Males from the production strain mated randomly with females from North Africa and from the production strain when both were present. Neither strain of males discriminated between cuticular extracts of North African and production strain females containing a contact sex pheromone. Interstrain crosses between North African flies and production flies were fertile and produced fertile progeny. Chromosome morphology did not differ significantly between the two strains and homologue pairing was normal in hybrid meiotic and polytene nuclei. Mitochondrial DNA restriction site analyses indicated that the genetic divergence of the North African strain from Mexican and Central American strains was within the range of the diversity observed in Central American, Mexican and Caribbean populations. Test results indicate that New World screwworms from North Africa are reproductively compatible with the strain currently being mass produced in Mexico. Mating barriers should not impede the progress of an eradication programme using the sterile insect technique in North Africa with sterile screwworms from the Mexican mass production facility.     

A revision of the spider genus Selenops Latreille, 1819 (Arachnida, Araneae, Selenopidae) in North America, Central America and the Caribbean

The spider genus Selenops Latreille, 1819 occurs in both the Old World and New World tropics and subtropics and contains nearly half of the species in the family Selenopidae Simon, 1897. In this paper the members of the genus Selenops found in North America, Central America, and on islands of the Caribbean are revised, excluding Cuban endemics. No taxonomic changes are currently made to the species from the southwestern United States. In total, 21 new species are described, including Selenops arikoksp. n., Selenops chamelasp. n., Selenops amonasp. n., Selenops bawekasp. n., Selenops bocacanadensissp. n., Selenops enriquillosp. n, Selenops ixchelsp. n., Selenops huetocatlsp. n., Selenops kalinagosp. n., Selenops oviedosp. n., Selenops morrosp. n., Selenops deniasp. n., Selenops duansp. n., Selenops malinalxochitlsp. n., Selenops oricuajosp. n., Selenops petenajtoysp. n., Selenops guerrerosp. n., Selenops makimakisp. n., Selenops souligasp. n., Selenops wilmotorumsp. n., and Selenops wilsonisp. n. Six species names were synonymized: Selenops lunatus Muma, 1953 syn. n. =Selenops candidus Muma, 1953; Selenops tehuacanus Muma 1953 syn. n., Selenops galapagoensis Banks, 1902 syn. n. and Selenops vagabundus Kraus, 1955 syn. n. = Selenops mexicanus Keyserling, 1880; Selenops santibanezi Valdez-Mondragón, 2010 syn. n. = Selenops nigromaculatus Keyserling, 1880; and Selenops salvadoranus Chamberlin, 1925 syn. n. = Selenops bifurcatus Banks, 1909. Lectotypes are designated for the following three species: Selenops marginalis F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1900 (♂), Selenops morosus Banks, 1898 (♂), and Selenops mexicanus Keyserling, 1880 (♀). The female neotype is designated for Selenops aissus Walckenaer, 1837. The males of Selenops bani Alayón-García, 1992 and Selenops marcanoi Alayón-García, 1992 are described for the first time, and the females of Selenops phaselus Muma, 1953 and Selenops geraldinae Corronca, 1996 are described for the first time. Almost all species are redescribed, barring Cuban endemics and a few species recently described. New illustrations are provided, including those of the internal female copulatory organs, many of which are illustrated for the first time. A key to species is also provided as are new distributional records.     

A revision of the Jurassic Stonefly Genera <Emphasis Type="Italic">Dobbertiniopteryx</Emphasis> Ansorge and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Karanemoura</Emphasis> Sinitshenkova (Insecta: Plecoptera), with the description of new species from the Daohugou locality,China

The stonefly genera Dobbertiniopteryx Ansorge and Karanemoura Sinitshenkova are revised. Based on new material from the Middle Jurassic of Daohugou, China, two new species, D. juracapnia sp. nov. and K. manca sp. nov., are described and Karanemoura abrupta Sinitshenkova, 1987 is redescribed. K. desiliens Sinitshenkova, 1987 is excluded from Karanemoura; its position within the family Perlariopseidae remains uncertain. The placement of Dobbertiniopteryx in the modern family Capniidae is confirmed. The perfect state of preservation of the nearly complete adult stonefly remains from China made it possible to improve and extend the diagnoses of the Perlariopseidae and Dobbertiniopteryx. The geological background of the Daohugou deposits is briefly discussed.     

A new Zanclognatha from eastern North America and a preliminary key to the larvae of the genus (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Herminiinae)

The adult of a widespread but previously undescribed species of Zanclognatha Lederer is described from eastern North America. Images of the mature larva and life history datafor Zanclognathadentatasp. n. are included, along with a preliminary key to the larvae of ten eastern North American Zanclognatha species.