Macroborings in Otodus megalodon and Otodus chubutensis shark teeth from the submerged shelf of Onslow Bay,North Carolina,USA: implications for processes of lag deposit formation

Abstract

The shallow continental shelf in the Cape Fear Region of southwestern Onslow Bay, North Carolina, contains lag deposits with an abundance of megatoothed shark teeth belonging to Otodus megalodon (Agassiz 1835) and Otodus chubutensis (Ameghino 1906) that derive from the Pliocene Yorktown and Miocene Pungo River formations, respectively. These teeth exhibit different frequencies and orientations of macroborings identified as Gastrochaenolites torpedo Kelly and Bromley (1984 Kelly, S., and R. Bromley. 1984. “Ichnological Nomenclature of Clavate Borings.” Palaeontology 27: 793–807.[Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), Gastrochaenolites lapidicus Kelly and Bromley (1984 Kelly, S., and R. Bromley. 1984. “Ichnological Nomenclature of Clavate Borings.” Palaeontology 27: 793–807.[Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), Maeandropolydora sulcans Voigt (1965 Voigt, E. 1965. “Über parasitische Polychaeten in Kreide-Austern sowie einige andere in Muschelschalen bohrende Würmer.” Paläontologische Zeitschrift 39 (3–4): 193–211.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) and ?Entobia isp. attributed to endolithic bivalves, serpulid worms and clionaid sponges. Different frequencies and orientations of macroborings seen in lag deposits containing O. megalodon and O. chubutensis teeth are the result of repeated exhumation and reworking in response to bathymetrically controlled wave-based erosion during storm events and glacioeustatically driven sea-level cyclicity across Onslow Bay. Chronological ranges of O. megalodon and O. chubutensis teeth that contain macroborings indicate that these lag deposits may have been forming since the late early Miocene.     

Sciences of learning and development: Some thoughts from the learning sciences

ABSTRACT

This commentary extends and amplifies aspects of the Cantor, Osher, Berg, Steyer and Rose (2018 Cantor, P., Osher, D., Berg, J., Steyer, L., & Rose, T. (2018). Maleability, plasticity, and individuality: How children learn and develop in context. Applied Developmental Science. doi:10.1080/10888691.2017.1398649[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) discussion about what we know about the nature of learning and its implications for how we educate students across the span from early childhood through advanced levels of formal education. The paper’s overall goal is to offer some guidance and clarification about how aspects of the Cantor et al. (2018 Cantor, P., Osher, D., Berg, J., Steyer, L., & Rose, T. (2018). Maleability, plasticity, and individuality: How children learn and develop in context. Applied Developmental Science. doi:10.1080/10888691.2017.1398649[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) powerful vision of optimal and equitable development might be attained based on a view of what we mean by learning, the types of learning that matter, and ways to design environments for learning and development that allow all children to realize their potential. Three major topics are covered. The first concerns evolution of theories of learning as they relate to theories of development and the connection between the two. Emphasis is given to the power that comes from adopting a sociocultural perspective on the nature of learning and development. The second topic is a consideration of current targets of learning and development, including so-called 21^st century competencies and deep disciplinary learning. Emphasis is given to the cognitive, intrapersonal and interpersonal competency domains that integrate cognitive, affective, social and emotional processes. The third topic focuses on a set of research-based principles that can be used to design and implement powerful and equitable learning environments that align with sociocultural theories and learning and development while integrating the three major domains of competency.     

Insect trace fossils in glyptodonts from Uruguay

Abstract

The association of vertebrate remains and invertebrate traces, although less studied than other bioerosion traces, provides important paleoecological information. This report describes Cubiculum ornatum Roberts, Rogers, and Foreman 2007 Roberts, E., R. Rogers, and B. Foreman. 2007. Continental insect borings in dinosaur bone: examples from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar and Utah. Journal of Paleontology 81(1):201–208.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], Osteocallis Roberts, Rogers, and Foreman 2007 Roberts, E., R. Rogers, and B. Foreman. 2007. Continental insect borings in dinosaur bone: examples from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar and Utah. Journal of Paleontology 81(1):201–208.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] and other unidentified insect traces from the dermal skeletal remains of glyptodonts found in Uruguay. They come from the Fray Bentos Formation (Late Oligocene), the Camacho Formation (Late Miocene) and the Dolores Formation (Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene). The reported traces were likely made by sarcosaprophagous beetles, which indicate depositional conditions with dry episodes in a warm climate for the referred stratigraphical units.     

Conformational transitions of the quercetin molecule via the rotations of its rings: a comprehensive theoretical study

Abstract

Quercetin is an important flavonoid compound, usually extracted from plants, vegetables and fruits such as blueberries, apples, green tea, wine, onions and possessing broad range of pharmacological properties, in particular, powerful antioxidant, antitoxic, antiinflammation and antimicrobial effects due to its various reactive sites. The structure of this phenolic compound consists of three (A?+?C) and B rings, bearing five hydroxyl groups. Primarily, the chemical structure of quercetin determines its physico-chemical properties. Earlier, it was established that isolated quercetin molecule can acquire 48 stable conformations (24 planar and 24 non-planar) due to the mobility of its hydroxyl groups and (A?+?C) and B rings with relative Gibbs free energies in the range of 0.0–25.3?kcal·mol^?1 under normal conditions (Brovarets’ et al., 2019c Brovarets’, O. O., & Hovorun, D. M. (2019c). Conformational diversity of the quercetin molecule: A quantum-chemical view. Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics. doi: 10.1080/07391102.2019.1645734[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). In this work by quantum-mechanical calculations at the MP2/6-311++G(2df,pd)//B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory and Bader’s ‘Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules’, we have theoretically modeled the interconversions in the 24 pairs of the conformers of the quercetin molecule, occuring via the rotation of its non-deformable (A+С) and B rings around the С2-С1' bond through the quasi-orthogonal transition state with low values of the imaginary frequencies (28–33/29–36?cm^?1) and Gibbs free energies of activation in the range of 2.17–5.68/1.86–4.90?kcal·mol^?1 in the continuum with dielectric permittivity ε?=?1/ε?=?4 under normal conditions. Also, we studied the changes of the number of physico-chemical characteristics of all intramolecular-specific contacts – hydrogen bonds and attractive van der Waals contacts during these conformational rearrangements.

Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma     

The crustaceans burrow Sinusichnus sinuosus from the Oligocene-Miocene carbonate deposits of eastern Amazonia

Abstract

Sinusichnus Gibert 1996 Gibert, J. M. d. 1996. “A New Decapod Burrow System from the NW Mediterranean Pliocene.” Revista Española de Paleontología 11: 251–254. [Google Scholar] is recorded for the first time in the Oligocene-Miocene Pirabas Formation of Northern Brazil. In these Oligocene-Miocene carbonate deposits, Sinusichnus sinuosus is characterized by horizontal, highly regular sinusoidal burrow systems with T- and H-shaped branching points. The main difference between the S. sinuosus described herein and other occurrences worldwide is the anomalous diameter of the burrows (4 to 10?cm). These trace fossils occur in organic matter-rich, wackestone/packstone and laminated mudstones interbedded with boundstones deposited in an inner carbonate platform paleoenvironment. The exceptional size of the studied S. sinuosus could have been associated to the producer’s size, which may be attributed to construction by large crustaceans, similar to fossils found within the Pirabas Formation. Also, the sinusoidal morphology and retrusive spreiten could be a result of the fodinichnial/domichnial behavior.     

On several conjectures from evolution of dispersal

We address several conjectures raised in Cantrell et al. [Evolution of dispersal and ideal free distribution, Math. Biosci. Eng. 7 (2010), pp. 17–36 [9 Cantrell, R. S., Cosner, C. and Lou, Y. 2010. Evolution of dispersal and ideal free distribution. Math. Biosci. Eng., 7: 17–36. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]]] concerning the dynamics of a diffusion–advection–competition model for two competing species. A conditional dispersal strategy, which results in the ideal free distribution of a single population at equilibrium, was found in Cantrell et al. [9 Cantrell, R. S., Cosner, C. and Lou, Y. 2010. Evolution of dispersal and ideal free distribution. Math. Biosci. Eng., 7: 17–36. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]]. It was shown in [9 Cantrell, R. S., Cosner, C. and Lou, Y. 2010. Evolution of dispersal and ideal free distribution. Math. Biosci. Eng., 7: 17–36. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]] that this special dispersal strategy is a local evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) when the random diffusion rates of the two species are equal, and here we show that it is a global ESS for arbitrary random diffusion rates. The conditions in [9 Cantrell, R. S., Cosner, C. and Lou, Y. 2010. Evolution of dispersal and ideal free distribution. Math. Biosci. Eng., 7: 17–36. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]] for the coexistence of two species are substantially improved. Finally, we show that this special dispersal strategy is not globally convergent stable for certain resource functions, in contrast with the result from [9 Cantrell, R. S., Cosner, C. and Lou, Y. 2010. Evolution of dispersal and ideal free distribution. Math. Biosci. Eng., 7: 17–36. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]], which roughly says that this dispersal strategy is globally convergent stable for any monotone resource function.     

Redefinition of the hypotrichous ciliate Uncinata,with descriptions of the morphology and phylogeny of three urostylids (Protista,Ciliophora)

We investigated the morphology, morphogenesis and small subunit rRNA gene-based phylogeny of three marine urostylids, Uncinata gigantea Bullington, 1940 Bullington, W. E. (1940). Some ciliates from Tortugas. Papers from the Tortugas Laboratory, 32, 179–221. [Google Scholar], Holosticha heterofoissneri Hu & Song, 2001 Hu, X., & Song, W. (2001). Morphology and morphogenesis of Holosticha heterofoissneri n. sp. from the Yellow Sea, China (Ciliophora, Hypotrichida). Hydrobiologia, 448, 171–179. doi:10.1023/A:1017553406031.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], and Holosticha cf. heterofoissneri. The dorsal morphogenesis of Uncinata gigantea shows de novo formation of two groups of anlagen near the marginal rows. Holosticha cf. heterofoissneri demonstrates fragmentation of the first dorsal kinety anlage as in Holosticha heterofoissneri. Our population of H. heterofoissneri corresponds well with previously described populations in terms of its general morphology and ciliary pattern. Uncinata gigantea can be recognized by its large and highly contractile body, yellowish to brownish cell colour, two types of cortical granules, and 20–30 transversely oriented and densely arranged cirri in the left marginal row, which often overlie the buccal vertex. Based on the new data, especially infraciliature, the genus Uncinata is here redefined. Both the morphology and phylogenetic analyses suggest that the genus Uncinata should be classified within the family Urostylidae. In addition, both morphological and morphogenetic data suggest that Holosticha bradburyae Gong et al., 2001 Gong, J., Song, W., Hu, X., Ma, H., & Zhu, M. (2001). Morphology and infraciliature of Holosticha bradburyae n. sp. (Ciliophora, Hypotrichida) from the Yellow Sea, China. Hydrobiologia, 464, 63–69. doi:10.1023/A:1013901621439.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] should be transferred to Uncinata as U. bradburyae (Gong et al., 2001 Gong, J., Song, W., Hu, X., Ma, H., & Zhu, M. (2001). Morphology and infraciliature of Holosticha bradburyae n. sp. (Ciliophora, Hypotrichida) from the Yellow Sea, China. Hydrobiologia, 464, 63–69. doi:10.1023/A:1013901621439.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) comb. nov., due to its possession of a characteristically prominent beak-like, leftwards curved projection and the developmental mode of the dorsal kineties. This assignment is supported by the phylogenetic analyses, which placed Uncinata gigantea in a clade with U. bradburyae (Gong et al., 2001 Gong, J., Song, W., Hu, X., Ma, H., & Zhu, M. (2001). Morphology and infraciliature of Holosticha bradburyae n. sp. (Ciliophora, Hypotrichida) from the Yellow Sea, China. Hydrobiologia, 464, 63–69. doi:10.1023/A:1013901621439.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) comb. nov., and revealed only 1.13% (19 bp) difference in their SSU-rDNA gene sequence.     

Capillary Effects on Natural Remobilization of Pools of Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid Mixtures in Porous Media

The natural remobilization of an initially static mixed dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) pool due to dissolution was demonstrated by (Roy et al. 2002 Roy, J. W., Smith, J. E. and Gillham, R. W. 2002. Natural remobilization of multicomponent DNAPL pools due to dissolution. J. Contam. Hydrol., 59: 163–186. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar], 2004 Roy, J. W., Smith, J. E. and Gillham, R. W. 2004. Laboratory evidence of natural remobilization of multicomponent DNAPL pools due to dissolution. J. Contam. Hydrol., 74: 145–161. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar]) using a compositional mathematical model and laboratory experiments with open pools over a porous medium. The purposes of this study were to: a) demonstrate natural remobilization for a pool within porous media (as opposed to an open pool); and b) analyze the capillary effects associated with residual formation, a changing saturation profile, hysteresis, and aging, as these processes may reduce the potential for natural remobilization of pools in porous media. DNAPL pools comprised of tetrachloroethene and benzene were created within a zone of larger glass beads overlying smaller glass beads, in a water-saturated 2-D flow cell. In one case, remobilization occurred in the form of a DNAPL finger, after 56 days of flushing. In another case, no remobilization had occurred after 64 days of flushing, though the density increased by 430 kg m ^?3 and remobilization was predicted by the compositional model. Comparison of observations with model predictions suggest that contact angle hysteresis, related to an observed change in wettability, was the most significant contributing factor causing overprediction of the potential for natural remobilization.     

Spirodesmos milanai n. isp.: A Shallow-Water Spiral Trace Fossil from the Cambrian of the Eastern Cordillera,Northwest Argentina

Abstract

A new ichnofossiliferous locality in Salta Province (northwest Argentina) contains an association with numerous irregular spiral traces assigned to Spirodesmos milanai n. isp., in mature sandstones and quartzites with rippled bedding surfaces, rare wavy lamination and cross-bedded stratification. This record of early spiral behavior is interpreted as a primitive grazing method formed on muddy laminae above sand layers, and is related to a feeding strategy of an annelid-type of organism. Associated traces are Cruziana cf. semiplicata, Diplocraterion isp., Monocraterion isp., Rusophycus isp., Skolithos linearis Haldeman and Skolithos magnus Howell. The ichnoassemblage is similar to a shallow-water ichnoassociation from the Permian Ecca Group of South Africa (Mason et al., 1983 Mason, T. R., Stanistreet, I. G. and Tavener-Smith, R. 1983. Spiral trace fossils from the Permian Ecca Group of Zululand. Lethaia, 16: 241–247. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]).     

Animal-Facilitated Therapy Revisited

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An Efficient Alternative Route To 3,6-Disubstituted-Furo[2,3-d]Pyrimidin-2-One Analogues

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EFFICIENT SYNTHESIS OF FUSED ISOTHIAZOLO C-NUCLEOSIDES. III. SYNTHESIS OF 7-SUBSTITUTED ISOTHIAZOLO[4,5-d]PYRIMIDINE C-NUCLEOSIDES*

The Divakar-Reese procedure has been successfully applied for transforming 7-oxo-isothiazolo[4,5-d]pyrimidine C-nucleosides (4a,b, 5a,b, 6a) via 1,2,4-triazol-1-yl intermediates (7a,b, 8a,b) into various 7-substituted C-nucle- osides 15a,b, 16a,b, 17a, 18a, 19a,b, 20a,b; their subsequent deprotection provides novel types of unusual C-glycosides 22b, 23a, 24a,b, 25b, 26b.

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Thermodynamics of Agricultural Sustainability: The Case of US Maize Agriculture

This paper considers the local, field-scale sustainability of a productive industrial maize agrosystem that has replaced a fertile grassland ecosystem.

Using the revised thermodynamic approach of Svirezhev (1998 Svirezhev, Y. M. 1998. “Thermodynamic orientors: How to use Thermodynamic concepts in ecology”. In Eco Targets, Goal Functions, and Orientors, 102–122. Berlin: Springer Verlag. [Crossref] [Google Scholar], 2000 Svirezhev, Y. M. 2000. Thermodynamics and ecology. Ecological Modelling, 132: 11–22. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar]) and Steinborn and Svirezhev (2000) Steinborn, W. and Svirezhev, Y. M. 2000. Entropy as an indicator of sustainability in agro-ecosystems: North Germany case study. Ecol. Mode., 133: 247–257. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar], it is shown that currently this agrosystem is unsustainable in the U.S., with or without tilling the soil. The calculated average erosion rates of soil necessary to dissipate the entropy produced by U.S. maize agriculture, 23–45 t ha^?1 yr^?1, are bounded from above by an experimental estimate of mean soil erosion by conventional agriculture worldwide, 47 t ha^?1 yr^?1, (Montgomery, 2007 Montgomery, D. R. 2007. Soil erosion and agricultural sustainability. PNAS, 104(33): 13268–13272. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar]). Between 1982 and 1997, US agriculture caused an estimated 7–23 t ha^?1 yr^?1 of average erosion with the mean of 15 t ha^?1 yr^?1 (USDA-NRCS Database). The lower mean erosion rate of no till agriculture, 1.5 t ha^?1 yr^?1 (Montgomery, 2007 Montgomery, D. R. 2007. Soil erosion and agricultural sustainability. PNAS, 104(33): 13268–13272. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar]), necessitates the elimination of weeds and pests with field chemicals—with the ensuing chemical and biological soil degradation, and chemical runoff—to dissipate the produced entropy. The increased use of field chemicals that replace tillers is equivalent to the killing or injuring of up to 300 kg ha^?1 yr^?1 of soil flora and fauna. Additional soil degradation, not calculated here, occurs by acidification, buildup of insoluble metal compounds, and buildup of toxic residues from field chemicals. The degree of unsustainability of an average U.S. maize field is high, requiring 6–13 times more energy to reverse soil erosion and degradation, etc., than the direct energy inputs to maize agriculture. This additional energy, if spent, would not increase maize yields. The calculated “critical yield” of “organic” maize agriculture that does not use field chemicals and fossil fuels is only 30 percent lower than the average maize yield of 8.7 tons per hectare (～140 bu/acre) assumed here. This critical yield would not likely be achieved and sustained by large monocultures, but might be achieved by more balanced organic polycultures (Baum et al., 2008 Baum, A. W., Patzek, T. W., Bender, M., Renich, S. and Jackson, W. 2008. The Visible, Sustainable Farm: A Comprehensive Energy Analysis of a Midwestern Farm 1–34. Posted at petroleum.berkeley.edu/papers/Biofuels/SSF?Report3-051408.pdf [Google Scholar]).     

Synthesis and Biological Evaluations of Click-Generated Nitrogen Mustards

This paper describes the synthesis of new click-generated nitrogen mustards and their biological evaluation. By using the copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) reaction, we managed to synthesize eight new nitrogen mustards. This strategy paves the way for the synthesis of a new family of nitrogen mustard, with an important structural variability. Furthermore, we studied the biological activity of synthesized compounds by testing their cytotoxicity on four representative cancer cell lines A431, JURKAT, K562, and U266. One structure, 1-benzyl-4-(N,N-di-2-chloroethylaminomethyl)-1H-[1 Noll, D.M.; McG.Mason, T.; Miller, P.S. Formation and repair of interstrand cross-links in DNA. Chem. Rev. 2006, 106, 277–301.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar],2 Rink, S.M.; Hopkins, P.B. Direct evidence for DNA intrastrand cross-linking by the nitrogen mustard mechlorethamine in synthetic oligonucleotides. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 1995, 5(23), 2845–2850.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar],3 Chabner, B.A.; Collins, J.M. Cancer Chemotherapy: Principles and Practices, PA, J.B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, 1990, pp. 276–313. [Google Scholar]]triazole, showed an interesting cytotoxic effect.     

New software for finding transition states by probing accessible,or ergodic,regions

An automated, iterative approach to finding the lowest energy, ionic diffusion paths through a periodic structure has been developed within our new code (written in FORTRAN 77 and named Bubble). The approach is quite general in that it can be applied to find, at a chosen temperature, the accessible (ergodic) regions of a hyper-surface, which is defined across a uniform grid [1 Schön, J.C., Putz, H. and Jansen, M. 1996. Studying the energy hypersurface of continuous system—The threshold algorithm. J. Phys.-Conden. Matt., 8: 143[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]]. We describe both our implementation within the Bubble code and its application to locating the approximate transition states for Mg interstitial diffusion in forsterite, which can then be refined using standard transition state searching [2 Banerjee, A., Adams, N., Simons, J. and Shepard, R. 1985. Search for stationary points on surfaces. J. Phys. Chem., 89: 52[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]].     

A Life-History Model of Human Fitness Indicators

Recent adaptationist accounts of human mental and physical health have reinvigorated the debate over the evolution of human intelligence. In the tradition of strong inference the current study was developed to determine whether either Miller's (1998 Miller, G. F. 1998. “How mate choice shaped human nature: A review of sexual selection and human evolution”. In Handbook of evolutionary psychology: Ideas, issues, and applications, Edited by: Crawford, C. and Krebs, D. 87–129. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.  [Google Scholar], 2000a Miller, G. F. 2000a. Mental traits as fitness indicators: Expanding evolutionary psychology's adaptationism. Evolutionary approaches to human reproductive behavior. Ann N Y Acad Sci, 907: 62–74. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) Fitness Indicator Theory or Rushton's (1985 Rushton, J. P. 1985. Differential K theory: The sociobiology of individual and group differences. Pers Indiv Diff, 6(4): 441–452. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 2000 Rushton, J. P. 2000. Race, evolution, and behavior: A life-history perspective, 3rd, Port Huron, MI: Charles Darwin Research Institute.  [Google Scholar]) Differential-K Theory better accounts for general intelligence (“g”) in an undergraduate university population (N = 192). Owing to the lengthy administration time of the test materials, a newly developed 18-item short form of the Ravens Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM-18; Sefcek, Miller, and Figueredo 2007 Sefcek, J. A., Miller, G. F. and Figueredo, A. J. 2007. “Development and of an 18-item short form of the Ravens Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM-18). (Submitted)”.  [Google Scholar]) was used. A significant, positive relationship between K and F (r = .31, p < .001) emerged. Contrary to predictions, no significant relationships were found between “g” and either K or F (r = –.09, p ≥ .05 and r = .11, p ≥ .05, respectively). Though generally contrary to both hypotheses, these results may be explained in relation to antagonistic pleiotropy and a potential failure to derive correct predictions for within-species comparisons directly from the results of between-species comparisons.     

Buried Tracks: Ichnological Applications of High-Frequency Georadar

Recognition and sampling of traces in unconsolidated sands present a major challenge for ichnologists. This can be partially remedied through the application of high-resolution geophysical techniques, such as ground-penetrating radar (GPR or georadar), which uses electromagnetic impulse for continuous imaging of shallow subsurface. It addition to geological applications, GPR imaging has been used in several studies focused on animal traces as related to conservation of endangered fossorial species (Kinlaw et al., 2007 Kinlaw, A. E., Conyers, L. B. and Zajac, W. 2007. Use of ground penetrating radar to image burrows of the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus). Herpetological Review, 38: 50–56.  [Google Scholar]; Martin et al., 2011 Martin, A. J., Skaggs, S. A., Vance, R. K. and Greco, V. 2011. Ground-penetrating radar investigation of gopher-tortoise burrows: Refining the characterization of modern vertebrate burrows and associated commensal traces. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 43: 381 [Google Scholar]), slope and levee stability (Nichol et al., 2003 Nichol, D., Lenham, J. W. and Reynolds, J. M. 2003. Application of ground-penetrating radar to investigate the effects of badger setts on slope stability at St. Asaph Bypass, North Wales. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, 36: 143–153.  [Google Scholar]; Di Prinzio et al., 2010 Di Prinzio, M, Bittelli, M., Castellarin, A. and Pisa, P. R. 2010. Application of GPR to the monitoring of river embankments. Journal of Applied Geophysics, 7: 53–61.  [Google Scholar]), and mapping of fossil tracks (Matthews et al., 2006 Matthews, N. A., Noble, T. A. and Breithaupt, B. H. 2006. “The application of photogrammetry, remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) to fossil resource management”. In Fossils from Federal Lands, Edited by: Lucas, S. G., Spielmann, J. A., Hester, P. M., Kenworthy, J. P. and Santucci, V. L. Vol. 34, 119–131. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin.  [Google Scholar]; Aucoin and Hasbargen, 2010 Aucoin, C. D. and Hasbargen, L. 2010. Using GPR, GPS and close-range photography to map and characterize dinosaur tracks in the Connecticut River valley. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 42: 276 [Google Scholar]) and tracking surfaces (Webb, 2007 Webb, S. 2007. Further research of the Willandra Lakes fossil footprint site, southeastern Australia. Journal of Human Evolution, 52: 711–715. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Few efforts have been dedicated specifically to characterizing burrow and track characteristics (Stott, 1996 Stott, P. 1996. Ground-penetrating radar: a technique for investigating the burrow structure of fossorial vertebrates. Wildlife Research, 22: 519–530.  [Google Scholar]; Sensors & Software Inc., 2010 [compilation on geophysical projects related to animal burrows]; Buynevich and Hasiotis, 2011; Buynevich et al., 2011; Martin et al., 2011) and most of the above studies are published in journals not routinely accessed by ichnologists.