The Collins’ monster,a spinous suspension-feeding lobopodian from the Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia

Lobopodians, a paraphyletic group of rare but morphologically diverse Palaeozoic vermiform animals bearing metameric appendages, are key to the origin of extant panarthropods. First discovered in 1983 on Mount Stephen (Yoho National Park, British Columbia), the Cambrian (Wuliuan) Burgess Shale lobopodian nicknamed ‘Collins’ monster’ is formally described as Collinsovermis monstruosus gen. et sp. nov. A formal systematic treatment of the comparable and poorly known lobopodian Acinocricus stichus from Utah is also provided. The body of Collinsovermis is plump and compact but shows the diagnostic suspension-feeding characters of luolishaniid lobopodians. It possesses 14 contiguous pairs of lobopods, lacking space between them. The 6 anterior pairs are elongate, adorned with about 20 pairs of long and slightly curved ventral spinules arranged in a chevron-like pattern. These appendages terminate in a pair of thin claws and their dorsal surfaces are covered in minute spines or setae. The 8 posterior lobopod pairs, which attach to a truncated body termination, are stout and smooth, each terminated by a single strong recurved claw. Each somite bears a pair of dorsal spines; somites 4 and posteriad bear an additional median spine. The spines on somites 1–3 are much shorter than the spines on the remaining somites. The head is short, bears a terminal mouth and a pair of antenniform outgrowths, and is covered by an oblong sclerite. Collinsovermis, plus Collinsium and Acinocricus, are found to comprise a sub-group of stout luolishaniid lobopodians with remarkably long spinules on the front lobopods, interpreted here as a clade (Teratopodidae fam. nov.) This clade is distinct from both the comparatively slenderer Luolishania and a sub-group composed of Facivermis and Ovatiovermis lacking body sclerites. Luolishaniids were mostly sessile forerunners of arthropods that had coupled efficient suspension-feeding devices and, as in Collinsovermis, strong defensive or deterrent features.     

Translational Science by Public Biotechnology Companies in the IPO“Class of 2000”: The Impact of Technological Maturity

The biotechnology industry plays a central role in the translation of nascent biomedical science into both products that offer material health benefits and creating capital growth. This study examines the relationship between the maturity of technologies in a characteristic life cycle and value creation by biotechnology companies. We examined the core technology, product development pipelines, and capitalization for a cohort of biotechnology companies that completed an IPO in 2000. Each of these companies was well financed and had core technologies on the leading edge of biological science. We found that companies with the least mature technologies had significantly higher valuations at IPO, but failed to develop products based on these technologies over the ensuing decade, and created less capital growth than companies with more mature technologies at IPO. The observation that this cohort of recently public biotechnology companies was not effective in creating value from nascent science suggests the need for new, evidence-based business strategies for translational science.     

Discovery of a “Living Dinosaur”: Globally unique modern hexactinellid sponge reefs off British Columbia, Canada

Summary Globally unique hexactinellid sponge reefs occur on the continental shelf off British Columbia, Canada. They cover about 425 km² of seafloor on the continental shelf off British Columbia (Canada) in water depths between 165 and 240 metres and occur on a low-angle deep shelf, iceberg scoured seafloor, characterized by very low sedimentation rates and very stable environmental conditions. The sponge bioherms are up to 19 metres high with steep flanks, whereas the biostromes are 2–10 metres thick and many kilometres wide. They all consist of dense populations of only seven hexactinellid species. Three of them, all hexactinosan species (Aphrocallistes vastus, Heterochone calyx, Farrea occa) are the main frambuilders, composing a true rigid framework of sponge skeletons encased in a organic rich matrix of modern clay baffled by the sponges. Growth rates of hexactinosan sponges range in the order of 0–7 centimetres per year. The base of the oldest sponge reefs date from approximately 9000 years b.p. Different invertebrate and fish faunas occupy the reefs than occur on adjacent seafloor areas and some species appear to use the sponge reef complex structures as refugia where they can hide. Sidescan sonar data and direct observation by manned submersible clearly show that large areas of sponge reefs have been heavily damaged by seafloor trawling in the past decade. These unique extant siliceous sponge reefs can be used as a modern analogue for a better understanding and interpretation of fossil siliceous sponge reefs, known from many ages and many locations world wide.     

The Decline of the Sharp-Snouted Day Frog (Taudactylus acutirostris): The First Documented Case of Extinction by Infection in a Free-Ranging Wildlife Species?

Infectious diseases are increasingly recognized as the cause of mass mortality events, population declines, and the local extirpation of wildlife species. In a number of cases, it has been hypothesized that pathogens have caused species extinctions in wildlife. However, there is only one definitively proven case of extinction by infection, and this was in a remnant captive population of a Polynesian tree snail. In this article, we review the potential involvement of infectious disease in the recent extinction of the sharp-snouted day frog Taudactylus acutirostris. Our review of available evidence suggests that a virulent pathogen of amphibians, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, caused a rapid, catastrophic decline of this species, from which it did not recover. We propose that this is the first case of extinction by infection of a free-ranging wildlife species where disease acted as both the proximate and ultimate cause of extinction. This highlights a probable underreporting of infectious disease as a cause of biodiversity loss historically and currently.     

Israel: The making of self in the “pioneering” of the nation

The Zionist project was more than a simple “ingathering” of people. All Jews by birth, those who reached Palestine in the early decades of this century were swept into the making of a “new” people with a “new” ethic and a “new” discipline—out of which would emerge the “old‐new” state of Israel. The present article addresses this multiple process with its strains and contradictions, as experiences by the “pioneer” generation and their Palestinian‐born children—the sabra.     

Analysis of the potential fungal biodeteriogen effects in the “Doctorate Library” of the University of Perugia,Italy

Historical collections held in ancient archives and libraries constitute a cultural and artistic heritage of inestimable value. These collections contain a series of organic materials which may alter and perish in time, especially if they are conserved in inadequate environmental conditions and without any specific precautionary devices to protect them from damage caused by chemical, biological and physical factors. It is essential to prevent ‘at risk’ situations to conserve library and archive heritage. Early detection of fungal spores and moulds in conservation environments will permit us to intervene at the infection site at the right moment and also to detect the micro‐environments where climatic parameters are not suitable for conservation purposes.

The aim of this study is to examine potentially biodeteriogen fungal micro‐flora in the environment of the “Doctorate Library”, one of the most important buildings of the University of Perugia, which contains frescos and library collection of great value. The study was carried out through quantitative and qualitative analysis of airborne fungal species and through the evaluation of viable aerobiological particles as potential agents of biodeterioration. The airspore monitoring was made using the active method (by Personal Volumetric Air Sampler Spore Trap, Burkard Company Ltd.) and the passive one (by sedimentation technique on Petri dishes). The results obtained by both methods allowed us to detect numerous potentially biodeteriogen species, to determine their quantity and influence and to evaluate the levels of their variability in time.