Partial hindlimb of Blikanasaurus cromptoni n. gen. and n. sp.,representing a new family of prosauropod dinosaurs from the upper triassic of South Africa

The holotype of the prosauropod dinosaur Blikanasaurus cromptoni n. gen. and n. sp., a partial hindlimb, is described from the lower Elliot Formation (= Red Beds) (upper Carnian or lower Norian; Upper Triassic) of Herschel district, Transkei, South Africa. The new prosauropod family Blikanasauridae is characterized by a hindlimb that is extremely stocky, especially the metatarsus, with the distal tarsals medially situated. Blikanasaurus was an early experiment in the direction of heavily-built, quadrupedal saurischians, but it was not on the evolutionary line that gave rise to the Sauropoda.     

Cyclotosaurus cf. PosthumusFraas (Capitosauridae,Stereospondyli) from the Huai Hin Lat Formation (Upper Triassic), Northeastern Thailand: With a note on capitosaurid biogeography

Part of a large capitosaurid skull, similar to that of Cyclotosaurus posthumus from the Upper Triassic of Germany, has been discovered in the upper part of the Huai Hin Lat Formation near Chulabhorn (Nam Phrom) Dam. This discovery is consistent with the presumed Norian age of this formation. Although the phylogeny of the Capitosauridae is still unclear, the group of Upper Triassic Cyclotosaurus species to which C. posthumus belongs is monophyletic and seems to be known only from Laurasia or Northwestern Gondwana (Morocco). The occurrence of C. cf. posthumus in Thailand is consistent with the hypothesis previously put forward, that this part of Southeast Asia was bound to Laurasia in Mesozoic times.     

A revision of the sanitheriidae,a new family of suiformes (mammalia)

A reassessment of sanitheres Diamantohyus and Sanitherium based on important new material from Kenya, results in the view that the group warrants familial status separate from the Suidae with which it has been grouped until now. Analysis of distribution patterns and co-occurrences with other faunal elements in East Africa indicates that sanitheres probably preferred to live in or near wet habitats, notably swamps and lake margins. The geographic distribution and biostratigraphy of sanitheres is examined.     

The fin spine of a new holocephalan from the lower jurassic of Lyme Regis,Dorset, England

A fin spine previously described as ‘Myriacanthus paradoxus’ Agassiz from the Lower Lias (Lower Jurassic) of Lyme Regis, is allocated to the new genus and species Recurvacanthus uniserialis. The spine is unusual in possessing a single median row of four large, hook-like, downturned denticles on the distal part of the posterior wall. It is concluded that the unique specimen should be classified with the myriacanthoid chimaeriform holocephalans since it possesses a tubercular ornament on the lateral walls.     

Ludlovian,Pridolian and Lochkovianin la Meignanne (Massif Armoricain): Biostratigraphy and correlations based on Bivalvia and Chitinozoa

Black carbonate rocks («ampelitic limestones)exposed in la Meignanne, NW of Angers, Massif Armoricain, as tectonic lenses within a complex tectonic structure of grey Pragian limestones are assigned from Bivalvia and Chitinozoa to the Upper Silurian and Lowermost Devonian. Biostratigraphical and paleoecological analyses show that the Silurian-Devonian boundary in this area is developed in offshore facies and that it may be correlated directly with the international stratotype of the Prague Basin (Barrandian, Bohemia). Paleogeographical communication between the two areas is indicated by 28 species of bivalves in common from two Pridolian assemblages (with Cheiopteria bridgei and with Snoopyia insolita) and one Lochkovian (with Antipleura bohemica). Stratigraphical correlation with the Prague Basin is also based on the chitinozoan zonal index species for the Uppermost Pridolian (Urnochitina urna) and Lowermost Lochkovian (Eisenackitina bohemica). A Lochkovian age is further supported by the discovery of Monograptus uniformis uniformis in the assemblage with Antipleura bohemica. A Ludlovian age is indicated by the occurence of «Hemicadium elevatum and an abundance of the ostracode Entomozoe (Richteria) migrans, which is an index species for the Middle Ludlovian in Bohemia.     

Pliocene Scelidotheriinae (Xenarthra,Tardigrada) from the Pampean region of Argentina: Morphology,chronology, and comments on the diversity of the subfamily

Scelidotheriinae (Mammalia, Pilosa) is a xenarthran mylodontid clade recorded in much of South America from the middle Miocene to the early Holocene. However, studies of their Neogene representatives are still scarce compared to their Quaternary representatives. The main goal of this contribution is to report new remains of Proscelidodon rothi (Ameghino, 1908) found in the basal levels of the El Polvorín Formation (Pliocene), cropping out near the city of Olavarría (Buenos Aires Province, Argentina). On the basis of the faunistic association, these deposits were assigned to the late Pliocene. The new materials include a skull, a mandible, and a calcaneal fragment (Xen-121), which enhance the characterization of this taxon, and allow more precise comparisons with other Neogene and Quaternary Scelidotheriinae. This new record extends the biochron and geographic distribution of the species, until now recorded in the latest Pliocene (Marplatan Stage/Age, Vorohuean Subage) of Olavarría.     

Paranthodon africanus (broom) a stegosaurian dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of South Africa

The holotype of Paranthodon africanus (Broom) from the Kirkwood Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of the Algoa Basin, Cape Province, South Africa consists of a partial skull, the bones of which are very similar to those of Stegosaurus. Both sides of the maxillary tooth crowns have a bulbous cingulum and a very prominent central vertical ridge above the large apical denticle that is bordered anteriorly and posteriorly by four to seven smaller denticles. Diagnostically stegosaurian material is also known from the Lower Cretaceous of England (Craterosaurus) and China (Wuerhosaurus) and the Upper Cretaceous of India (Dravidosaurus).     

Civettictis braini nov. sp. (Mammalia: Carnivora), a new viverrid from the hominin-bearing site of Kromdraai (Gauteng,South Africa)

A new Plio-Pleistocene viverrid species is described based on two newly discovered maxillae (KW 10141 and KW 10383) from the recent excavations at the hominin-bearing site of Kromdraai (Gauteng, South Africa). This major site allows us to address the conundrum of Paranthropus and Homo origins in South Africa and presents a highly diverse carnivore spectrum (at least 22 species) including herpestids and viverrids. Civettictis braini nov. sp. is a viverrid species comparable in size to the extant African civet Civettictis civetta (Schreber, 1776). However C. braini nov. sp. differs significantly from the extant species in its dental proportions. Its canine and three premolars (P1–P3) are relatively robust, while its carnassials (P4) and two molars (M1, M2) are extremely reduced. This new species supplements our knowledge on carnivore taxonomic diversity and paleoecology in Southern Africa about 2 millions of years ago.     

Dysomma alticorpus,a new species of cutthroat eel from the Gulf of Aqaba,Red Sea (Teleostei: Synaphobranchidae)

The cutthroat eel Dysomma alticorpus n. sp. is described based on a single specimen collected in a trammel net at a depth of 350 m off Eilat, Israel, Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea. The new species belongs to the Dysomma anguillare species complex, which comprises species possessing a well-developed pectoral fin, intermaxillary teeth, a uniserial row of 7–15 large compound teeth in the lower jaw (which may be followed by a few smaller teeth), and an anteriorly situated anus with the trunk shorter than the head length. It is characterised by a combination of the following characters: origin of the dorsal fin well anterior to the base of the pectoral fin, predorsal length 13.8% TL; preanal length 22.8% TL; three compound teeth on the vomer; head pores: IO 4, SO 3; M 6; POP 0; AD 1, F 0, ST 0; lateral-line pores: predorsal 4, prepectoral 8, preanal 14, total 57–58, the last at the posterior two-thirds of the total length; MVF 7–16–115; total vertebrae 115. Dysomma alticorpus n. sp. is compared with other species of the genus. A revised key to the species of the genera Dysomma and Dysommina is provided.     

Eurocharax Tourainei nov. gen., nov. sp. (poisson teleosteen, Ostariophysi): Nouveau Characidae fossile des «Calcaires a Bythinies du Var

The study of fossil Fishes preserved in the «calcaires à Bythinies of Montmeyan, la Mourotte and Saint-Julien-le-Montagné basins (Var. France), makes possible the demonstration of their referal to the family Characidae: These Fishes, here mentioned as Eurocharax tourainei nov. gen., nov. sp., clearly differ from the Lower Eocene Characid fishes of Languedoc and Paris Basin by their set of teeth. The brackish condition of the “calcaires à Bythinies is taken into account for explaining the probable biogeographical history of these Fishes.     

The Pachycrocuta and Hyaena lineages (plio-pleistocene and extant species of the Hyaenidae). Their relationships with miocene ictitheres: Palhyaena and Hyaenictitherium

The large «crocutoïd hyaenas from the Plio-Pleistocenedeposits of Eurasia do not belong to the same lineage as the extant species Hyaena hyaena and must be referred to the genus PachycrocutaKretzoi, of which an emended diagnosis is given. This revision takes into account some undescribed or ill-known specimens from Russia, China and Africa. They definitely establish that Pachycrocuta ranged over Eurasia, from West Europe to East China, as early as the early Villafranchian at least, and that it was present in North Africa too; a large sample from the Odessa Catacombs affords an estimation of the intraspecific variation in the Ruscinian species, H. pyrenaica, known until now by only a few specimens from the western part of the Mediterranean basin, and it shows H. pyrenaica to be the ancestral form of the Villafranchian Eurasian species P. perrieri, from which derived P. brevirostris, the last species of the lineage, as previously shown by other authors.It appears that the “Hyaena lineage evolved simultaneously in Africa; we knew already that the root of this lineage is H. abronia, a species from the late Miocene of South Africa whose generic attribution is discussed relative to some Ictitheres from Shan-Si, Samos, Sahabi and Klein Zee. The hypothesis of a common African origin of the two lineages is not excluded, if not demonstrated. The relationships of the Pleistocene European species H. prisca and that of the extant African species H. brunnea are discussed.     

Tannuaspis,Tuvaspis and Ilemoraspis,endemic osteostracan genera from the Silurian and Devonian of Tuva and Khakassia (USSR)

Three osteostracan genera, Tannuaspis, Tuvaspis and Ilemoraspis, from the Silurian and Devonian of the Autonomous Republic of Tuva and the Autonomous Region of Khakassia (USSR), are revised on the basis of the type material briefly described by Obruchev (1956, 1961, 1964). Tannuaspis bears some resemblances with the Tremataspididae. Tuvaspis may be closely related to Tannuaspis. Finally, there is no evidence of paired fins and cornual processes in Ilemoraspis (neither is there any evidence of their absence). Tannuaspis and Ilemoraspis share some characters which are not found in any other osteostracan: widely separated orbits, very small and oval lateral fields, situated at the same level as the median dorsal field. These resemblances may suggest that these two genera (to which Tuvaspis may be added) form a monophyletic group of osteostracans, which may be endemic to this part of Central Asia.     

基于MaxEnt模式的白头叶猴栖息地评价——以广西崇左白头叶猴保护区为例

针对物种分布格局与其环境变量关系的研究,对于生态廊道规划与环境恢复研究具有重要意义.本文以白头叶猴(Trachypithecus leucocephalus)为研究对象,针对广西崇左白头叶猴国家级自然保护区51个白头叶猴分布点和11个环境变量数据,利用MaxEnt模型(maximum entropy modeling)...     

Lipoprotein(a) and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease,the Impact of Available Lipid-Lowering Medications on Lipoprotein(a): An Update on New Therapies

ObjectiveTo review evidence of existing and new pharmacological therapies for lowering lipoprotein(a) (Lp[a]) concentrations and their impact on clinically relevant outcomes.MethodsWe searched for literature pertaining to Lp(a) and pharmacological treatments in PubMed. We reviewed articles published between 1963 and 2020.ResultsWe found that statins significantly increased Lp(a) concentrations. Therapies that demonstrated varying degrees of Lp(a) reduction included ezetimibe, niacin, proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitors, lipoprotein apheresis, fibrates, aspirin, hormone replacement therapy, antisense oligonucleotide therapy, and small interfering RNA therapy. There was limited data from large observational studies and post hoc analyses showing the potential benefits of these therapies in improving cardiovascular outcomes.ConclusionThere are multiple lipid-lowering agents currently being used to treat hyperlipidemia that also have a Lp(a)-lowering effect. Two RNA therapies specifically targeted to lower Lp(a) are being investigated in phase 3 clinical trials and, thus far, have shown promising results. However, evidence is lacking to determine the clinical relevance of reducing Lp(a). At present, there is a need for large-scale, randomized, controlled trials to evaluate cardiovascular outcomes associated with lowering Lp(a).