The Ta'arof Tournament: cultural performances of ethno-national identity at a diasporic summer camp

Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork, interviews and audio recordings at a US summer camp by and for Iranian-heritaged youth, this paper analyses the construction of ethno-national identity during the ‘Ta'arof Tournament’, a popular camp activity that literally makes sport of the Iranian custom of self-effacement, politeness and hospitality. A repertoire of six ta'arof strategies is identified: (a) reliance on pre-existing, commonly used ta'arof phrases, (b) ‘code-switching’ between English and Persian, (c) body gestures, (d) novel, hyperbolic ‘ta'arof-style’ phrases, (e) exaggerated ‘Iranian’ accents and (f) subversive and humorous re-enactments of life in immigrant households. Camp participants embrace, renew and transform the quintessentially ‘Iranian’ custom of ta'arof while self-consciously performing for one another. Despite scholarship that relies on ‘cultural trauma’ and ‘stigma’ to explain identity ‘loss’ among immigrant groups, these findings reveal that the ironic, tender cultural performance of ‘rituals’ like ta'arof serve as powerful source material for group affinity and belonging in diaspora.     

Sources of resistance to stem nematode, Ditylenchus dipsaci (Kühn) Filipjev, in species of Medicago and Trifolium

The putatively resistant lucerne cv. Euver was as susceptible to 11 English and 11 French populations of ‘lucerne race’ stem nematode, Ditylenchus dipsaci, as the susceptible cv. Europe. The ‘resistant’ cv. Vertus showed some resistance to five of the English and four of the French populations but was just as susceptible as Europe to three English and four French populations. Twelve annual species of Medicago were very resistant to a mixture of two English and two French populations of the nematode. None of 13 perennial spp. of Medicago was very resistant to the same mixture of nematodes but resistant plants were identified in M. borealis, M. dzhawakhetica, M. glutinosa and M. romanica. Twenty six spp. of Trifolium were resistant to a mixture of two English and two French populations of ‘red clover race’ stem nematode.     

The problem of peers in Vietnamese interaction

In Vietnamese, address (second‐person reference) is typically accomplished by the use of a kin term regardless of whether the talk's recipient is a genealogical relative or not. All Vietnamese kin terms encode a specification of either relative age or relative generation of participants, and there are no reciprocal terms akin to English ‘brother’ or ‘sister’; rather, a speaker must select between terms such as ‘older brother’ (anh) or ‘younger sibling’ (em). Since generation is normatively associated with a difference in age, the result is a ubiquitous indexing of age and status hierarchies in all acts of address. This results in a problem for peers. How, in such a system, should they address one another (and also self‐refer)? In this article, we describe the various practices that speakers use to subvert the system and thus avoid indexing differences of age or station. Specifically, we describe four practices: (1) the use of true pronouns in address and self‐reference; (2) the use of proper names in address and self‐reference; (3) the use of kin terms in address and pronouns in self‐reference; and (4) the ironic use of kin terms in address. We conclude that the Vietnamese system well illustrates what is likely a universal tension between hierarchy and equality in acts of address and self‐reference, by showing how speakers deconstruct the vector of age and indicate that they consider one another peers. We further suggest that although the literature in this area has focused on the ways in which languages convey differences of status and rank, social order is built as much upon relations of parity and sameness – on identification of the other as neither higher nor lower than me – as it is upon relations of hierarchy.     

The multiple dimensions of racial mixture in Rio de Janeiro,Brazil: from whitening to Brazilian negritude

Abstract

The notion that racial mixture is a central feature of Latin American societies has been interpreted in different, if not strictly opposite, ways. On the one hand, scholars have presented it as evidence of weaker racial boundaries. On the other, it has been denounced as an expression of the illusion of harmonic racial relations. Relying on 160 interviews with black Brazilians, we argue that the valorization of racial mixture is an important response to stigmatization, but one that has multiple dimensions and different consequences for the maintenance of racial boundaries. We map out these different dimensions – namely, ‘whitening’, ‘Brazilian negritude’, ‘national identification’ and ‘non-essentialist racialism’ – and discuss how these dimensions are combined in different ways by our interviewees according to various circumstances. Exploring these multiple dimensions, we question any simplistic understanding of racial mixture as the blessing or the curse of Latin American racial dynamics.     

The influence of genetic background on resistance to the cabbage aphid (Brevicoryne brassicae) in Kale (Brassica oleracea var. acephala)

Resistance to Brevicoryne brassicae has been identified in the progeny of two selected kale (B. oleracea var. acephala) plants, one from the F1 hybrid cultivar ‘Arsis RS’ and one from the landrace ‘Butzo’. These plants were crossed with susceptible B. oleracea morphotypes that have different periods to flowering. The type of susceptible plant line used had an effect on the resistance phenotypc of the progeny. Tested F2 populations derived from these crosses show that resistance is not under simple genetic control. This, in addition to variation in aphid numbers within accessions, suggests that separation of genetic components of control from environmental ‘noise’ for any accession may only be possible by the production of double haploid plant lines.     

Pyrogeography,historical ecology,and the human dimensions of fire regimes

In our 2011 synthesis (Bowman et al., Journal of Biogeography, 2011, 38 , 2223–2236), we argued for a holistic approach to human issues in fire science that we term ‘pyrogeography’. Coughlan & Petty (Journal of Biogeography, 2013, 40 , 1010–1012) critiqued our paper on the grounds that our ‘pyric phase’ model was built on outdated views of cultural development, claiming we developed it to be the unifying explanatory framework for all human–fire sciences. Rather, they suggest that ‘historical ecology’ could provide such a framework. We used the ‘pyric transition’ for multiple purposes but did not offer it as an exclusive explanatory framework for pyrogeography. Although ‘historical ecology’ is one of many useful approaches to studying human–fire relationships, scholars should also look to political and evolutionary ecology, ecosystems and complexity theories, as well as empirical generalizations to build an interdisciplinary fire science that incorporates human, ecological and biophysical dimensions of fire regimes.     

A new genus of pliosaur (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Lower Jurassic of Holzmaden,Germany

Abstract: The exquisitely preserved holotype of the pliosaur ‘Rhomaleosaurus’victor (SMNS 12478) is described from the Toarcian Posidonien‐Schiefer (Upper Lias, Lower Jurassic) of Holzmaden (Baden‐Württemberg), Germany. The specimen presents a novel combination of synapomorphies and unique morphometric proportions separating it from Rhomaleosaurus sensu stricto and warranting the erection of a new genus, Meyerasaurus gen. nov. Historically, the name ‘Thaumatosaurus’ has been interchangeable with Rhomaleosaurus and is frequently associated with SMNS 12478 in the literature. However, this is an invalid taxon and cannot be reinstated. The anatomy of Meyerasaurus victor is compared in detail with other pliosaurs, and its taxonomic affinity is reviewed. M. victor belongs to the family Rhomaleosauridae and shares several anatomical characters with Rhomaleosaurus including a short and robust premaxillary rostrum (length‐to‐width ratio c. 1.0), parallel premaxilla–maxilla sutures anterior to the nares, vomers contacting the maxillae posterior to the internal nares, and c. 28 cervical vertebrae minus the atlas–axis. The known geographical distribution of Rhomaleosaurus, which previously extended across the German and English palaeobiogeographical zones, is reduced to the English zone as a consequence of the referral of SMNS 12478 to a new genus. This is significant because it contributes to an ongoing trend of increasing generic separation between the German and English zones, while increasing the generic diversity within the German zone itself.     

LIBRARY LETTERS

Lampert, W. & Sommer, U. (1997) Limnoecology: the ecology of lakes and streams. Oxford University Press, Oxford. xiv+382 pp., figs, tables, index. Hardback: Price £37.50. ISBN 0-19-509592-8. This book is an English translation of a volume that was first published in German in 1992 and is the result of a collaboration between Winfried Lampert, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Limnology at Plon, and Ulrich Sommer, Professor of Biological Oceanography at the University of Kiel. The book was written in response to the criticism that most textbooks in ecology use examples that are drawn, almost exclusively, from terrestrial systems. The authors’ intention was to produce a book on limnology that would highlight fundamental principles and would thus be of interest to a much wider audience. The first chapter, ‘Ecology and evolution’, develops the theme by explaining that one of the main aims of ecology is to investigate not only how organisms are adapted to their environment but also why they have developed particular adaptations. A number of important concepts, such as the difference between proximate and ultimate factors, are discussed and illustrated with examples drawn from the aquatic literature. The second chapter, ‘Methods of ecological research’, describes some of the methods used to test hypotheses and includes advice on the design of laboratory and field experiments. Some of this advice may appear elementary, but experienced researchers would do well to remember that ‘correlation analysis can be used to draw numerical, but not functional, relationships.’ Chapter 3, ‘Special features of aquatic habitats’, has clearly been included for the sake of completeness. The basic physical and chemical characteristics of lakes are discussed in time-honoured fashion and a few pages devoted to the special characteristics of running waters. The organization of Chapter 4, ‘The individual in its habitat’, is rather unbalanced and clearly reflects the authors’ areas of special interest. The best sections in the chapter are those devoted to the functional responses of aquatic organisms and the feeding mechanisms of the microcrustacea. Chapter 5, ‘Populations’, combines an introduction to the basic principles of population ecology with a review of more recent issues, such as the concept of r and K selected organisms. The factors that control population size are discussed in a simple but informative way, and are illustrated with examples drawn from studies of phytoplankton and zooplankton. Chapter 6, ‘Interactions’, is the longest in the book and clearly reflects the author's interest in the temporal dynamics of planktonic crustacea. The chapter starts in a fairly traditional way by reviewing the competition models of Lotka-Volterra and Tilman but then pursues a number of specialist issues, such the impact of chemical signals (kairomones) on the growth of rotifers. Chapter 7, ‘Communities’, is largely devoted to a discussion of the ‘top-down’ versus ‘bottom-up’ controversy that has preoccupied plankton ecologists for several decades. The authors provide a commendably dispassionate overview of the historical argument and highlight some recent studies that try to reconcile these opposing views. The chapter includes a brief discussion of the causes and maintenance of diversity and ends with a somewhat displaced account of the river continuum concept. Chapter 8, ‘Ecosystem perspectives’, is another chapter that appears to have been written as a matter of duty. The carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and silica cycles are, however, described before the authors return to the terra firma of plankton succession and the ‘climax’ concept. Chapter 9, ‘Final remarks’, is only three pages long but leaves the reader in no doubt as to why this book was written. The authors clearly view the recent trend towards more marketable ‘applied’ research with considerable concern: ‘The objective of this applied ecology is not the development of generalized theories, but the optimization of human living conditions.’ In a concluding paragraph, they point out that the relationship between ecology and environmental science can be compared to the relationship between physics and engineering. ‘Physics provides the fundamental materials from which the engineers make products.’ This is not a new definition of ecology, but we are left with the clear implication that this book would not have been written if the authors had spent most of their time working in the ‘engineering’ department! Like any book, its structure and content is strongly influenced by the specialist knowledge of the writers. The authors are at their best when they describe recent developments in their own fields of interest. The least satisfactory sections are the chapters and sections devoted to lake physics, chemistry and the spatial organization of limnetic systems. For example, in Chapter 3 the authors include a figure that purports to show that small vertical variations in water temperature can produce micro-layers of phytoplankton in the near-surface ‘mixed zone’. Thermally induced layers of this kind are periodically recorded in lakes, but in this example there is no evidence of any physical discontinuities. In 1892, Forel, a Swiss Professor, defined limnology as ‘the oceanography of lakes’. This book has not been designed as a textbook in that classical sense but provides an excellent introduction to those aspects of limnology that have a strong ecological bias. The book is well produced with clear line drawings and includes boxed sections of text that explain some technical issues in more detail. The translater should be congratulated for producing a text that reads very well in English and, as far as I can judge, conveys the philosophical as well as the factual message of the original text. Overall, it is a valuable, indeed elegant, addition to the existing English texts, which I would also recommend to those interested in general ecological theory.     

Male-like females, mimicry and transvestism in butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)

Abstract. When a butterfly species has a polymorphic female, with one of the forms closely resembling the male, it is customary to suppose that this form is ancestral, and that the ‘odd’ forms have arisen later. R. I. Vane-Wright, on the other hand, has suggested that in some species the male-like form may be a ‘transvestite’ female, the ancestral form of the female having been strikingly unlike the male. As later-derived forms are usually, but not always, genetically dominant to ancestral forms, we can make some choice between these hypotheses by discovering the dominance relations of the male-like and the ‘odd’ forms of the female. In the mimetic Papilio aegeus the male-like form is shown to be recessive to the ‘odd’ (mimetic) form, as has essentially been the case in all other butterflies so far investigated. Papilio phorcas is now shown to be the exception: the ‘odd’ (non-mimetic) form is recessive to the male-like form. We conclude that usually the male-like form is ancestral, but that P.phorcas may be an authentic example of ‘transvestism’, or the ‘transfer’ of male epigamic colour to the female of the species. The yellow, male-like pattern of the mimetic Papilio dardanus may be dominant or recessive to the mimetic forms according to the genetic background: largely recessive in Madagascar, and southern and western Africa, dominant to most forms in Ethiopia, and probably dominant to one mimetic form but recessive to the others in Kenya. All female dardanus patterns, both mimetic and yellow, are strongly dominant to both female phorcas patterns in P. dardanus × P. phorcas hybrids (P. ‘nandina’). The simplest explanation of this situation is that the male-like pattern of dardanus is ancestral, and that dominance has become locally reversed in Ethiopia. The dominance relations, and the sex- or autosomal-linkage of two forms can be determined without pedigree-breeding, simply by observing a few offspring each from a large number of wild-caught females.     

Everyone Will Be Jealous For That Mutika

In this paper I describe a phenomenon I refer to by its Aboriginal English name — ‘humbugging’ — in a western Arnhem Land Aboriginal settlement. By discussing the focal object in this phenomenon — the ‘mutika’ (car)¹ — I argue that a most interesting process of de-commoditization is occurring in this settlement. I use examples of humbugging to illustrate how the car in this community has tremendous symbolic as well as practical significance. I use. in particular, the work of Douglas and Isherwood (1979) and Appadurai et al. (1986), and argue that their ‘social life of things’ theoretical framework is appropriate for interpreting the importance of the ‘mutika’. I also suggest, however, that this framework needs to be re-thought in order to incorporate the challenge which de-commoditization presents to it.     

Ultrastructure of Spermiogenesis in Acanthocotyle and Myxinidocotyle (Platyhelminthes,Monogenea, Acanthocotylidae)

Abstract Spermiogenesis was studied by transmission electron microscopy in the acanthocotylid monogeneans Myxinidocotyle californica (from Eptatretus stoutii) and Acanthocotyle lobianchi (from Raja clavata). In Myxinidocotyle and Acanthocotyle, the zone of differentiation shows two 9+‘1’ axonemes, the elongating nucleus and mitochondrion, and a single cortical cytoplasmic microtubule. This single microtubule is found in the mature spermatozoon of both species and was also noted in capsalids. This requires a modified definition of ‘pattern 2’ of spermatozoa which becomes: ‘spermatozoa with two axonemes and no cortical microtubules, except one single element much shorter than the spermatozoon’. A very unusual structure was found in Myxinidocotyle, but not in Acanthocotyle: the centriolar derivative of one of the 9+‘1’ axonemes is made up of 18 diverging singlets of unequal length associated with electron-dense cytoplasm. This seems to be the first case of a centriolar derivative without nine-fold symmetry associated with an axoneme with nine-fold symmetry.     

Is evolutionary biology becoming too politically correct? A reflection on the scala naturae,phylogenetically basal clades,anatomically plesiomorphic taxa,and ‘lower’ animals

The notion of scala naturae dates back to thinkers such as Aristotle, who placed plants below animals and ranked the latter along a graded scale of complexity from ‘lower’ to ‘higher’ animals, such as humans. In the last decades, evolutionary biologists have tended to move from one extreme (i.e. the idea of scala naturae or the existence of a general evolutionary trend in complexity from ‘lower’ to “higher” taxa, with Homo sapiens as the end stage) to the other, opposite, extreme (i.e. to avoid using terms such as ‘phylogenetically basal’ and ‘anatomically plesiomorphic’ taxa, which are seen as the undesired vestige of old teleological theories). The latter view tries to avoid any possible connotations with the original anthropocentric idea of a scala naturae crowned by man and, in that sense, it can be regarded as a more politically correct view. In the past years and months there has been renewed interest in these topics, which have been discussed in various papers and monographs that tend to subscribe, in general, to the points defended in the more politically correct view. Importantly, most evolutionary and phylogenetic studies of tetrapods and other vertebrates, and therefore most discussions on the scala naturae and related issues have been based on hard tissue and, more recently, on molecular data. Here we provide the first discussion of these topics based on a comparative myological study of all the major vertebrate clades and of myological cladistic and Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of bony fish and tetrapods, including Primates. We specifically (i) contradict the notions of a scala naturae or evolutionary progressive trends leading to more complexity in ‘higher’ animals and culminating in Homo sapiens, and (ii) stress that the refutation of these old notions does not necessarily mean that one should not keep using the terms ‘phylogenetically basal’ and particularly ‘anatomically plesiomorphic’ to refer to groups such as the urodeles within the Tetrapoda, or the strepsirrhines and lemurs within the Primates, for instance. This review will contribute to improving our understanding of these broad evolutionary issues and of the evolution of the vertebrate Bauplans, and hopefully will stimulate future phylogenetic, evolutionary and developmental studies of these clades.     

The phylogenetic affinities of the Socotra Bunting Emberiza socotrana

The monophyly of the African ‘brown bunting’ complex was corroborated by a recent molecular study. However, the little-known Socotran endemic Emberiza socotrana, which is morphologically similar to the other taxa in this complex, was not included. Here we present a hypothesis of the phylogenetic relationships of the Socotra Bunting based on one mitochondrial gene and one nuclear intron. We found the Socotra Bunting to be deeply nested within the African ‘brown bunting’ complex and, although morphologically most similar to E. capensis, it proved to be more closely related to the E. striolata/sahari and E. tahapisi/goslingi species groups. The phylogenetic uniqueness of the Socotra Bunting underpins once more the evolutionary importance of the Endemic Bird Area of Socotra, which is often considered the ‘Galápagos of the Indian Ocean’.     

The Interdiction of Music in Islam

There is no authorisation in the Qur'an for the interdiction on music. That interdiction, when it is voiced, is the product of a conviction among some Muslims, supported by hadith (just as it is opposed with hadith) that Islam does not countenance music. In a country such as Pakistan, with a strong tradition of devotional music which (taken with the poetry, with which it is always associated) has become entwined with the identity politics of the provinces or sub‐‘nations’ which make up the vaster nation, a comprehensive ban on music would be impossible to enforce, though there are ‘ulamā’ and sectarian parties who desire it. This paper focuses on an instance where music is even harder to extricate from an accompanying text: the recitation of the Qur'ān. In the eyes of Muslims, Qur'anic recitation is not music. This denial raises further questions about the nature of music and, in particular, its involvement with the ‘extramusical’. Adorno's observations on the relation of music to language, and the anthropologist Friedson's complaint that ethnographers focus on text, at the expense of music, are examined in the light of the circumstance that the world over, music is associated with texts of one kind or another. Even when, as in the case of the ‘curing’ ritual described by Friedson, words are unimportant, or missing, music is seldom a phenomenological whole. Music ‘leans’, or is ‘leant on’: it lends its unrivalled ‘eloquence’ to many a cause, from commodity marketing to the structured working out of ritual, or, among lovers, to the remembered quality of experience. All these potentialities of music are relevant to the question of its interdiction and to the Muslim denial that the recitation of the Qur'ān is music.     

Transient silencing of VvCSN5 enhances powdery mildew resistance in grapevine (Vitis vinifera)

As one of the most economically important fruit crops in the world, the grapevine (Vitis vinifera) suffers significant yield losses from various pathogens including powdery mildew caused by Erysiphe necator. In contrast, several wild Chinese grapevines, including Vitis pseudoreticulata accession Baihe-35-1, are highly resistant to powdery mildew pathogens. Here, we identified a grapevine gene CSN5 (COP9 signalosome complex subunit 5), designated VvCSN5, that was differentially expressed between the resistant ‘Baihe-35-1’ and susceptible ‘Thompson Seedless’ during powdery mildew isolate Erysiphe necator NAFU1 infection. Moreover, transient silencing of VvCSN5 in ‘Thompson Seedless’ leaves enhanced resistance to En NAFU1. This resistance manifested in cell wall callose deposition at attempted infection sites and hypersensitive response-like cell death of penetrated epidermal cells. Several defense-related marker genes (VvPR1, VvPR3, VvPAD4, and VvRBOHD) had higher basal expression levels in VvCSN5-silenced leaves. In addition, we found the structure and activity of CSN5 promoters in ‘Thompson Seedless’ and ‘Baihe-35-1’ were different, which may have been behind their different resistances to powdery mildew infection. Taken together, these results implied that grapevine CSN5 plays an important role in the response to powdery mildew infection.

     

When rare species become endangered: cryptic speciation in myrmecophilous hoverflies

The myrmecophilous hoverfly, Microdon mutabilis, is listed as a ‘Rare’ or ‘Nationally Notable Species’ in UK Red Data Books. As an obligate social parasite, feeding only from ant colonies, its life‐style satisfies theoretical conditions under which cryptic speciation is predicted to evolve; namely, strong selection for nonmorphological adaptations that enhance its exploitation of a local subspecies or populations of its host. Samples of larvae and pupae in Ireland, Scotland and England showed that M. mutabilis exploits a single and different host ant species on different sites across its range. In nine southern English colonies, 95.6% of infested nests were of Myrmica scabrinodis whereas in six Irish and two Scottish colonies 100% and 94.2%, respectively, of the infested nests were of Formica lemani, despite M. scabrinodis being common at all sites. Although the adults from ‘scabrinodis’ (and lemani) populations are cryptic, morphometric measurements of pupae showed consistent diagnostic characters that were sufficiently distinct for these ecotypes to be classed as separate species. We conclude that M. mutabilis is the ‘lemani‐type’ and designate the ‘scabrinodis‐type’ as a new species, Microdon myrmicae spec. nov. Thus, one of the listed threatened species of the British Isles becomes two species, each possessing about half the number of populations and occupying half the range of the original ‘species’. Each also inhabits a different serai stage within grassland or heathland, and will require a different management regime if its declining populations are to be conserved. ‘M. mutabilis’ is reported with other host ant species on the European continent. In the light of our results, these may prove to be additional cryptic species. We suggest that cryptic speciation is apt to evolve in species, such as myrmecophiles, endoparasites and koinobiont parasitoids, whose life‐styles result in strong selection on their physiological or behavioural characters. The implications for Red Data Book classifications and for practical conservation are discussed. © 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2002, 75 , 291–300.