An improved description of Strombidium sulcatum Claparède & Lachmann, 1859 (Ciliophora) from slides of Fauré-Fremiet, and a designation of type material

Strombidium sulcatum, the type species of the genus, is examined using silver-stained material made by Fauré-Fremiet in the 1950s and 1960s. We found that the stained specimens possessed a prominent protuberance, as previously described; the number of anterior polykinetids (APk) differed between the accounts (15 this study, 12 previous reports); although previously illustrated, no contractile vacuole was observed; and the macronuclear shape, position, and size differed from those previously reported. Our work provides the first detailed re-analysis of the silver-stained material of S. sulcatum. We use data on S. sulcatum to distinguish it from a morphologically similar species, Strombidium inclinatum. Type material for S. sulcatum has been deposited in the Natural History Museum, London.     

Agolohymena aspidocauda nov. gen., nov. spec., a histophagous freshwater tetrahymenid ciliate in the family Deltopylidae (Ciliophora,Hymenostomatia), from Idaho (northwest U.S.A.): Morphology,ontogenesis and molecular phylogeny

Morphology, ontogeny and the molecular phylogeny of Agolohymena aspidocauda nov. gen., nov. spec., a new freshwater tetrahymenid ciliate from Idaho, U.S.A, are described. The ontogeny and histophagous mode of nutrition are similar to those of Deltopylum rhabdoides Fauré-Fremiet and Mugard, 1946. The new genus is placed with Deltopylum in the resurrected family Deltopylidae Song and Wilbert, 1989. We emend the diagnostic features of the family to include division by polytomy, right and left somatic kineties extending into the preoral suture, crook-shaped or sigmoid adoral membranelles 1 and 2, markedly reduced adoral membranelle 3 and a tetrahymenid silverline pattern. The main diagnostic features of the new genus are a disc-shaped caudal ciliary array and formation of two types of resting cysts, one smooth and the other bearing tangled tubular or cylindrical lepidosomes. Nuclear small subunit ribosomal RNA gene and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 gene sequences place the new genus basal within the order Tetrahymenida, well separated from members of the family Tetrahymenidae (Lambornella and Tetrahymena) and also from other tetrahymenids (Colpidium, Dexiostoma, Glaucoma). The genetic divergences between this species and other genera in Tetrahymenida are large enough to suggest placement of the new genus in a separate family. This corroborates the morphological data, since the elaborate caudal ciliary array and the lepidosome-covered resting cyst of this species are not found in other Tetrahymenidae.     

Lévy-Bruhl and Modes of Thought: A Re-Appraisal

In this paper I examine the relevance of Lévy Bruhl's work for contemporary anthropological theory. Starting with a brief summary of his writings, I go on to explore his concept of primitive thought, showing how his ideas were influenced by Durkheim and depended mainly on the notion of collective representations. However, Lévy-Bruhl's use of this concept, while Durkheimian in its sources, differed from Durkheim's original usage. It is this difference which I explore following suggestions by Waismann and other logicians interested in non-standard logics. I assess the response to Lévy-Bruhl's ideas both by his contemporaries and by more recent anthropologists, pointing out that much of their criticism is based on a misunderstanding of his position, combined with a lack of awareness on the part of most anthropologists of non-standard, alternative logics. Finally I argue the importance of Lévy-Bruhl's questions (but not his answers) for anthropologists interested in exploring modes of thought found in social structures which legitimate marked ambiguities in discourse and practice, and whose formal logical models do not conform to the aristotelian naradigm.     

Marcellin Boule et les types du Prodrome d'Alcide d'Orbigny

During its thirty first years, from 1906 to 1937, the Annales de Paléontologie included, at the instigation of Marcellin Boule, many articles apparently anonymous, devolved to the d'Orbigny's types of the Prodrome. In these articles, not easy to cite because the most part not signed and for some even not titled, are rediscribed and illustrated the species established by d'Orbigny in 1850 and 1852 in his Prodrome de Paléontologie stratigraphique universelle, but then briefly characterized and not figured. It is in fact a collective work, widely remained unfinished but which however totalizes 510 text pages and 139 photographic plates, in the course of which the authors, Armand Thévenin, Ferdinand Canu and Jean Cottreau, redefined more than one thousand species (molluscs, brachiopods, echinoderms, bryozoans, madreporaria and porifers) disposed from the Lower Silurian to the Neocomian, according to the stratigraphic levels then established by d'Orbigny. This redefinition of the d'Orbigny's types of the Prodrome makes up a comprehensive work, the interest of which being possibly evaluated by the numerous quotations referring to it in the former and also recent publications on invertebrate paleontology, this in spite of the questionable choice of some of the type specimens then proposed.     

Revision of Strombidium paracalkinsi (Ciliophora: Oligotrichea: Oligotrichia), with Comparison of Strombidiids Bearing Thigmotactic Membranelles

This study analyses the morphological characters of Strombidium paracalkinsi, a species bearing thigmotactic membranelles, collected from Jangmok Bay at the southern coast of Korea. The small subunit ribosomal RNA gene of S. paracalkinsi was sequenced for the first time. By a combination of characters, the thigmotactic membranelles of S. paracalkinsi differ from the thigmotactic membranelles of other strombidiids. They are (1) positioned on dorsal side, (2) contiguous with three membranelles of the adoral zone, but separated by nonciliated portions of the polykinetids, and (3) composed of two rows of kinetids. Except for the thigmotactic membranelles, the morphology of S. paracalkinsi conforms to the diagnosis of the genus Strombidium. Our phylogenetic tree confirms the nonmonophyly of the genus Strombidium. The thigmotactic membranelles are a promising feature for a future split of the genus Strombidium, but require further studies, especially on Strombidium calkinsi Fauré‐Fremiet 1932.     

Ami Boué (1794–1881), géoscientifique du XIXe siècle

Born on 16 March 1794 in Hamburg as a son of a Huguenot family whose members made big fortune as ship-owners, Ami Boué took his doctor’s degree in medicine in 1817 at the University of Edinburgh. During the following years, he completed his knowledge in the field of natural sciences, especially in Geoscience. In 1830, after having founded, with other scientists, among whom Constant Prévost and Gérard-Paul Deshayes, the Geological Society of France, in which Boué became the first president, he left Paris in 1835 and settled in Vienna. In 1836, 1837 and 1838 he crossed the Balkans. In his masterpiece La Turquie d’Europe (Paris, 1840, four volumes), he published the results of this research. In his study, Ami Boué intended to join the Austrian empire with Turkey by railways. Anyway, Boué’s works concerning the Balkans were fundamental for the future generations of Austrian geoscientists.     

Hommage à rené delépine à l'occasion de son départ à la retraite

A tribute to René Delépine on the occasion of his retirement. The career of René Delépine is reviewed on the occasion of his retirement. When he was a student, a meeting with Jean Feldmann led to a lifelong inclination towards phycology. Eventually appointed to the position of assistant professor at the University of Paris-VI (University Pierre-et-Marie-Curie), René Delépine worked and published primarily on the taxonomy of antarctic and subantarctic marine algae but he was also interested in seaweed aquaculture and utilizations. After organizing the national colloque ValVA (Valorisation des végétaux aquatiques), he became increasingly involved in the commercial application of seaweeds. His main activity, however, remained university teaching for which he was always enthusiastic, especially for teaching in the field and on the subject of the utilizations of algae. A list of his publications is given at the end of this article.     

Précisions Temporelles sur les Processus de la Stomatogenèse de Tetrahymena paravorax analysés en Microscopie Photonique

Resume. Une analyse des séquences morphogénétiques du CiliéTetrahymena paravorax montre que: (A) La durée de la stomatogenèse de bipartition des formes microstomes en croissance exponentielle représente 45% du temps de génération (stade 1—20%; stade 2—3%; stade 3—3%; stade 4—5%; stade 5—5%; stade 6—9%). (B) La division cytoplasmique est inégale (les proters sont plus petits que les opisthes); la différence de taille initiale entre les 2 produits de fission est probablement compensée par une prolongation de la période de croissance chez le proter. (C) Le pourcentage maximum de réorganisation buccale microstome → macrostome pour les populations asynchrones atteint –? 70% au bout de 210 mn d'incubation dans la stomatine. (D) L'initiation de la stomatogenèse de remplacement oral est connectée avec la fin d'une période dont la durée minimale est approximativement celle du stade 0 du cycle normal d'interdivision des microstomes; cette initiation est retardée chez les microstomes exposés à la stomatine dès le début du cycle cellulaire. (E) Le primordium buccal de division peut se résorber en présence de stomatine et la stomatogenèse antérieure peut commencer avant que ne soit terminée cette résorption; la résorption n'est plus induite au-delà d'un point du stade 5 qui précède le début de la constriction du corps cellulaire. SYNOPSIS. An analysis of the morphogenetic sequences in the ciliate Tetrahymena paravorax has shown that: (A) The duration of predivision stomatogenesis in exponentially growing microstomes occupies 45% of the generation time (stage 1—20%; stage 2—3%; stage 3—3%; stage 4—5%; stage 5—5%; stage 6—9%). (B) Cytoplasmic division is unequal (the proters are smaller than opisthes); the initial size difference between the 2 fission products is presumably compensated by an increased growth period in the proter. (C) The maximum percentage of microstome-to-macrostome oral reorganization is –? 70% in asynchronous populations, 210 min after suspension in stomatin. (D) Initiation of oral replacement stomatogenesis is associated with the end of a period which has a minimum duration nearly equal to that of stage 0 characteristic of the normal inter-division cycle of the microstomes; this initiation is delayed if exposure of microstomes to stomatin is begun at the onset of the cell cycle. (E) The buccal primordium formed in division can be resorbed in presence of stomatin and anterior stomatogenesis can start before the resorption is completed: this resorption is not induced if the cells have progressed beyond a point which precedes the beginning of the cell furrowing (stage 5).     

Postimpoundment Changes in Water Quality and Fish Stocks in Two Large West African Reservoirs (Manantali and Sélingué, Mali)

The recently established large reservoirs Manantali on the river Bafing, tributary to the Senegal River and Sélingué, located on the river Sankarani, tributary to the Niger River, have followed similar changes in limnology and fish populations as those established in West Africa 20 to 30 years ago. Basic water parameters, such as oxygen content, pH, electrical conductivity and temperature show seasonal variations largely determined by the changes in wet and dry seasons. Both waterbodies are monomictic, with water mixing taking place in January, the coldest period of the year. Pre-impoundment forest clearence of the future reservoir bottom in the shallow Sélingué reservoir was carried out only in the proximity of the dam site. In the deeper reservoir Manantali the savanna forest was cleared from an area of about 25 percent, and the tree gallery was cleared along the river. The initial filling of Manantali reservoir was followed by a nearly complete drainage of the reservoir. After refilling some months later, the dissolved oxygen content stayed reasonably high and therefore there was no fish mortality. Also no hydrogen sulphide or a large-scale spread of noxious aquatic plants developed. At present the fish fauna is dominated by cichlids and pelagic species, i.e. at Sélingué by clupeids. and at Manantali by cyprinids (Leptocypris niloticus). In both reservoirs was the genus Citharinus considerably reduced. At Sélingué reservoir disappeared Protopterus annectens. The fish yield estimate is 27 kg/ha/year for Manantali, and 40 kg/ha/year for Sélingué. Both rerservoirs have recorded a slight increase in electrical conductivity. They both serve as a valuable water resource and fish supply for the Sahel region.     

From “Periodical Observations” to “Anthochronology” and “Phenology” – the scientific debate between Adolphe Quetelet and Charles Morren on the origin of the word “Phenology”

Mankind has observed and documented life cycle stages of plants and animals for a long time. However, it was comparatively recently that the newly emerging science was given its name. The name of Charles Morren and the year 1853 are being cited, although not frequently. Exact information is hardly known among present-day phenologists, yet new evidence shows that the term “phenology” was already in use in 1849. In the early 1840s, physicist and astronomer Adolphe Quetelet set up an observational network named "Observations of periodical Phenomena of the Animal and Vegetable Kingdom” and issued instructions for it. Even though biologist Charles Morren welcomed Quetelet's initiative, differences between Morren and Quentlet regarding the instructions for the observations and the potential results soon arose and a debate started, which lasted for nearly 10 years. In the wake of these disagreements, Morren was compelled to create a new term to denote his ideas on “periodical phenomena”. At first, he temporally used the word anthochronology, but in the end he coined the word phenology. The term was first used in a public lecture at the Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique’ in Brussels on 16 December 1849, and simultaneously in the December 1849 issue of volume V of the Annales de la Société royale d’Agriculture et de Botanique de Gand. One had to wait until 1853 before the new name appeared in the title of one of Morren’s publications. Based on evidence from archives and original publications, we trace the 10-year-long scientific debate between Morren and Quetelet. Morren states his biologist’s view on the subject and extends the more climate-related definition of Quetelet of “periodical phenomena”.     

Some Observations on the Morphology and Division of Balantidium coli and Balantidium caviae (?)

SYNOPSIS. Studies of the body ciliature of Balantidium coli and B. caviae (?) after Breslau's opal-blue and Klein's silver nitrate techniques revealed a preoral-dorsal suture area where some of the ciliary rows fail to reach the peristomial margin. The incomplete kineties ranged up to a dozen in number and were variable in arrangement. In a count of 100 specimens of B. caviae (?) the incomplete kineties were at the right of the suture in 39, at the left in 24 and on both sides of the suture line in 37. At the posterior end not many kineties reach the pole but no sutural pattern was seen in that region. Scattered irregularities in the ciliary rows were sometimes seen.
Studies of the oral region tend to confirm the view of Fauré-Fremiet that the peristomial ciliature consists of short rows of cilia which are continuations of the anterior body kineties. Membranelles were not found. Thus, some species of Balantidium , at least, show affinities with the Holotricha in agreement with Nie and Fauré-Fremiet.
Fission commonly produces two equal-sized daughters but many cases of unequal division were observed. In both these species conjugants are much smaller than vegetative animals and two preconjugant divisions are indicated, the first of which may be unequal.
During the early stages of fission, the anterior ends of the kineties of the posterior daughter change direction, becoming oblique in the fission zone. In this region the kinetosomes multiply; possibly some of the kineties also divide but evidence for this is incomplete. No evidence of reorganization at the anterior end of the anterior daughter was seen.
Attempts to infect hamsters with B. coli and B. caviae (?) failed. No parasites were found in two collared peccaries repeatedly examined.     

Haplotype diversity of the nematode Pristionchus pacificus on Réunion in the Indian Ocean suggests multiple independent invasions

Pristionchus pacificus has been established as a nematode model system in evolutionary developmental biology and evolutionary ecology. Field studies in North and South America, Asia, Africa and Europe indicated that nematodes of the genus Pristionchus live in association with scarab beetles. Here, we describe the first account of soil‐ and beetle‐associated nematodes on an island setting by investigating the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. Réunion has high numbers of endemic insects and is one among several attractive islands for biodiversity studies. Being of volcanic origin, Réunion is 2–3 million years old, making it the youngest of the Mascareigne islands. We show that beetle‐ and soil‐derived nematodes on Réunion are nearly exclusively hermaphroditic, suggesting that selfing is favoured over gonochorism (outcrossing) during island colonization. Among members of four nematode genera observed on Réunion, Pristionchus pacificus was the most prevalent species. A total of 76 isolates, in association with five different scarab beetles, has been obtained for this cosmopolitan nematode. A detailed mitochondrial haplotype analysis indicates that the Réunion isolates of P. pacificus cover all four worldwide clades of the species. This extraordinary haplotype diversity suggests multiple independent invasions, most likely in association with different scarab beetles. Together, we establish Réunion as a case study for nematode island biogeography, in which the analysis of nematode population genetics and population dynamics can provide insight into evolutionary and ecological processes. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 100 , 170–179.     

Conception et suites de la Paléontologie française d’Alcide d’Orbigny

The whole formed by his Paléontologie française, his Prodrome, and his Cours élémentaire, which are closely linked, constitutes one of the major parts of Alcide d’Orbigny’s scientific production, in which he exposed his concept of Palaeontology as a science closely related with Zoology and as an indispensable tool for Stratigraphy. The result was a remarkable impulsion for palaeontological and stratigraphical research, which from that time developed on new scientific foundations. Two annexes complete this communication, the first concerning the ‘Comité de la Paléontologie française’ (1860–1893), the second specifying the publication dates of four volumes of the Paléontologie française.     

Albert Gaudry et l'émergence de la paléontologie darwinienne au xixe siècle

In this paper, paleontologists who, after the publication of “On the Origin of Species”, applied Darwin's research program on genealogy, are labeled Darwinians, not only evolutionists. A special attention is given to two paleontologists, Albert Gaudry and Gaston de Saporta. New data included in this article are Gaudry's notes written on his copy of “De l'origine des espèces” published in French in 1862. If one tries to grasp the impact of Darwin's work in the XIXth century, contrary to the common attitude, the defense of natural selection as the driven concept of evolution is not considered to be crucial. Later, Charles Depéret synthesized the growing knowledge of the second part of the XIX^th century but did not appear to be more Darwinian than his forerunners. From Darwin's writings it is concluded that the reference to biological progress inherent to Gaudry's and Saporta's works does not radically exclude these authors from the Darwinian realm.     

Study of seasonal and daily variations in airborneOlea europaea L. pollen in Jaén (Spain), 1993–1995

A study is made of the seasonal and daily variations in the concentrations of pollen ofOlea europaea L. over three consecutive years (1993–1995) in the atmosphere of Jaén (southern Spain). A Burkard volumetric spore trap was used for sampling. The results show that the highest concentrations of airborne olive pollen occur during May and the first 2 weeks of June, when levels often exceed 500 grains/m³ and occasionally reach nearly 5000 grains/m³ (the levels of allergenic pollen in the atmosphere of Jaén are among the highest in Europe). Over the 3-year study period a significant seasonal variation was detected, not only in the development of the principal pollination period, but also in the value of the maximum pollen concentrations recorded.     

Morphology,Morphogenesis and Molecular Phylogeny of a New Obligate Halophile Ciliate,Schmidtiella ultrahalophila gen. nov., spec. nov. (Ciliophora,Hypotrichia) Isolated from a Volcanic Crater on Sal (Cape Verde Islands)

A new hypotrichous ciliate, Schmidtiella ultrahalophila gen. nov., spec. nov., was isolated from a solar saltern on the island of Sal, Cape Verde. The possession of only one short dorsal kinety clearly distinguishes S. ultrahalophila from other known hypotrichous genera and species. Further diagnostic characters include: a flexible and slender body, an average size of 85 × 15 μm in vivo; a bipartite adoral zone with two hypertrophied frontal adoral membranelles and nine to twelve ventral adoral membranelles; three frontal, one parabuccal, two frontoventral, two or three postoral ventral, and two or three frontoterminal cirri; and marginal cirral rows variable in number, usually one on each side. Ontogenetic data indicate the following: the frontal‐ventral cirri originate from six or five anlagen; the proter inherits the parental adoral zone; the frontal and ventral cirri originate from five or six anlagen; and the marginal cirral rows and the dorsal kinety tend to originate intrakinetally. Additional marginal rows are rarely derived from de novo anlagen. Based on its morphology, morphogenesis and its SSU rRNA phylogenetic placement, the new species should be assigned to the order Sporadotrichida Fauré‐Fremiet, 1961. Due to low taxon sampling, however, its exact position in this order remains enigmatic.