Preferential dolomitization in Mio–Pliocene bioclastic clinoforms,Bonaire Island,South Caribbean: insights from petrographic and geochemical analyses

Facies - The late Aptian Lower Serdj Formation (LSF) in the Northern Atlas of Tunisia records a mixed carbonate–siliciclastic system from the southern margin of Tethys. Sedimentological...     

The fossil vertebrate locality Kossom Bougoudi,Djurab desert,Chad: A window in the distribution of the carnivoran faunas at the Mio–Pliocene boundary in Africa

The fossil vertebrate bearing locality Kossom Bougoudi (KB) is situated in the Djurab desert (Chad, Africa), 600 km north-east of N’djamena. It has yielded about 1250 specimens with many mammalian remains, principally artiodactyls. Its geologic age has been estimated to be about 5 Ma by biochronologic estimation and about 5.3 Ma by radiometric studies on cosmogenic nuclides of beryllium (authigenic ¹⁰B/⁹B). The carnivoran fauna contains few specimens which belong to five different families. All the taxa were unknown in central Africa. A large lutrine is close to Sivaonyx but different from known species of the genus. Another large lutrine is similar by its size to a species described from the Middle Pliocene of Uganda. An edentulous mandible of a small machairodont cat resembles a small species of Dinofelis, while a distal humerus indicates the presence of a larger member of the same genus. A hunting hyaenid is also much like the European species. An unidentified canid reaches the size of the recent Canis aureus and an isolated calcaneum matches that of the large extant viverrid. This small fauna allows a first look at the guild of the carnivorans at the Latest Miocene–Pliocene boundary in Central Africa and is a milestone between North African, East African and South African carnivore faunas.     

Drug preparation in evidence? An unusual plant and bone assemblage from the Pompeian countryside, Italy

In 1996 a farmhouse (villa rustica) was excavated near Pompeii (Naples, southern Italy). The villa had the typical characters of other farmhouses of the same period (ca A.D. 79) found in the area. The content of one of thedolia (storage vats) found in the cellar is discussed here and an interpretation of the assemblage is provided. The deposit found at the bottom of the storage vat produced a high percentage of seeds of plants known for their medicinal properties, such asPapaver somniferum (opium poppy). Associated with the residue there were also bones of reptiles and amphibians. It is suggested that the assemblage may represent the residue of a medicinal preparation. Its content includes many plants used in the preparation of ancient drugs calledMithridatium andTheriac. Further indirect archaeological evidence that supports this hypothesis will also be discussed.     

Major deglaciation of east Antarctica during the early Late Pliocene? Not likely from a marine perspective

We have conducted an integrated study of ice-rafted debris (IRD) and oxygen isotopes (measured on Cibicides, Globigerina bulloides, and Neogloboquadrina pachyderma, using identical samples). We used samples from the early Late Pliocene Gauss Chron from ODP Site 114–704 on the Meteor Rise in the subantarctic South Atlantic.During the early Gauss Chron, the oxygen isotopic ratios are generally up to 0.5‰–0.6‰ less than their respective Holocene values. The lowest values in this record can accommodate a warming of about 2.5 °C OR a sea-level rise of about 50 m, but not both, and probably result from some warming and a small reduction in global ice volume. Starting with isotope stage MG2 [3.23 Ma on the Berggren et al. (1985) time scale; 3.38 on the Shackleton et al. (1995b) time scale] oxygen-isotopic values generally increase (and oscillate about a Holocene mean). The first significant IRD appears at the same time. There is a subsequent increase in IRD amounts upsection. In order to reach the site, this material must have been transported by large, tabular icebergs derived from Antarctic ice shelves or ice tongues, similar to occasional, large modern icebergs.This combined record suggests strongly that the Antarctic ice sheet was essentially intact; some warming at the drill site is indicated, but not a major reduction in ice-volume on Antarctica.     

Onset of temperate carbonate sedimentation during transgression in a low-energy siliciclastic embayment (Pliocene of the Val d’Orcia Basin,Tuscany, Italy)

A Mid-Pliocene sequence in the sedimentary fill of the Val d’Orcia Basin (Tuscany, Italy) records coeval accumulation of temperate carbonate and siliciclastic deposits in close proximity. This study investigates the role played by local parameters in influencing the spatially discontinuous onset of carbonate sedimentation. Carbonate facies developed during transgression of an irregular coastline and were restricted to the more enclosed portion of an embayment. Coralline red algae were the main carbonate producers and are preserved in the skeletal association as isolated branches, rhodoliths, and incipient bindstone. When comparing the sedimentological attributes of the siliciclastic- and carbonate-dominated deposits, no significant differences are observed. They both appear to have accumulated in shallow-marine areas, subjected to general low-energy conditions punctuated by sporadic higher-energy events. Nevertheless, coastal morphology and bedrock composition at the basin margin created local heterogeneities that were sufficient to induce restricted spatial distribution of the carbonate-producing factory.     

The Girvanella-like remains from Messinian marine deposits (Sardinia,Italy): Lagerstätten paradigm for microbial biota?

The lower Messinian marine sediments of the Capo San Marco Formation in the Sinis area (Sardinia, Italy) contain extensive carbonate buildups mainly made of microbialites. These microbialites exhibit general thrombolitic fabric and occur in meso-macroscopic scale as dominant cauliflower-like structures, digitations and encrusting rings. All the microbialites are here associated with serpulid tubes and bryozoan colonies. Examination of thin sections from microbialite samples reveal the presence of dense flexuous, not ramified and erect tubular micritic structures, with an external diameter ranging from 30 to 40 μm, all characters being very close to those of the Girvanella-type filaments. Although all microbialites show quite similar structural aspects, only two levels contain clearly visible networks of such filaments. The associated marine biota is diverse (cemented, borers, burrowers) related to the available biotopes (hard substrates, fine grained sediment, cavities…). The general scarcity of microbial remains in Messinian microbialites points out to the problem of taphonomic processes allowing a good preservation of microbial structures. The concept of Lagerstätten could well be extended to the preservation of microscopic organisms in the carbonate material. The discovery of Girvanella-like filaments demonstrates the implication of cyanobacterial organisms in the construction processes of the Messinian thrombolitic buildups. Furthermore, it is the first time that Girvanella-like microbialites are documented from Upper Miocene marine rocks.     

Did the lumbriculids provide the ancestors of the branchiobdellidans,acanthobdellidans and leeches?

Revision of the literature concerning Agriodrilus (Oligochaeta, Lumbriculidae) and Acanthobdella (Acanthobdellida), both supposedly intermediate links in the traditional single line of evolution between lumbriculids, branchiobdellidans, and leeches, supports the alternative hypothesis of an independent origin of most if not all of these groups. Discovery of Phagodrilus, a lumbriculid that is clearly convergent with Agriodrilus in terms of the pharynx, lends further support to this concept. No decision as to the rankings of the various taxa can be made until new material of Acanthobdella is examined and all variable characters are used to determine synapomorphic character states and monophyletic groupings within this complex.     

Instruments and demonstrations in the astrological curriculum: evidence from the University of Vienna, 1500–1530

Historians have used university statutes and acts to reconstruct the official astrology curriculum for students in both the arts and medical faculties, including the books studied, their order, and their relation to other texts. Statutes and acts, however, cannot offer insight into what actually happened during lectures and in the classroom: in other words, how and why astrology was taught and learned in the medieval university. This paper assumes that the astrology curriculum is better understood as the set of practices that constituted it and gave it meaning for both masters and students. It begins to reconstruct what occurred in the classroom by drawing on published and unpublished lecture notes. These offer insight into how masters presented the material as they did, and why. The paper argues three points: first, the teaching of astrology centered on demonstrations involving astrological instruments: specifically, various kinds of paper astrolabes. Second, the astrological instruction focused on conveying the pragmatics of astrology rather than esoteric, theoretical issues. Finally, astrology as it was taught in the arts curriculum was explicitly intended to provide a foundation for students who would advance to study medicine at the university.     

Cloning,expression and purification of the α-carbonic anhydrase from the mantle of the Mediterranean mussel,Mytilus galloprovincialis

We cloned, expressed, purified, and determined the kinetic constants of the recombinant α-carbonic anhydrase (rec-MgaCA) identified in the mantle tissue of the bivalve Mediterranean mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis. In metazoans, the α-CA family is largely represented and plays a pivotal role in the deposition of calcium carbonate biominerals. Our results demonstrated that rec-MgaCA was a monomer with an apparent molecular weight of about 32?kDa. Moreover, the determined kinetic parameters for the CO₂ hydration reaction were k_cat?=??4.2?×?10⁵?s^?1 and k_cat/K_m of 3.5?×?10⁷?M^?1 ×s^?1. Curiously, the rec-MgaCA showed a very similar kinetic and acetazolamide inhibition features when compared to those of the native enzyme (MgaCA), which has a molecular weight of 50?kDa. Analysing the SDS-PAGE, the protonography, and the kinetic analysis performed on the native and recombinant enzyme, we hypothesised that probably the native MgaCA is a multidomain protein with a single CA domain at the N-terminus of the protein. This hypothesis is corroborated by the existence in mollusks of multidomain proteins with a hydratase activity. Among these proteins, nacrein is an example of α-CA multidomain proteins characterised by a single CA domain at the N-terminus part of the entire protein.     

Phorbaketals L–N,cytotoxic sesterterpenoids isolated from the marine sponge of the genus Phorbas

Three new sesterterpenoids, phorbaketals L–N (1–3), were isolated from a marine sponge of the genus Phorbas and their complete structures were elucidated via analysis of HRFABMS and NMR spectroscopic data. Phorbaketal N (3) showed potent cytotoxicity against human pancreas cancer cells (IC₅₀ = 11.4 μM).     

Mammalian predator–prey relationships and reoccupation of burrows in the Pliocene of the Pampean Region (Argentina): new ichnological and taphonomic evidence

Here we describe an unusual fossil assemblage found inside a crotovine from the late Pliocene Chapadmalal ‘Formation’ (Buenos Aires Province). This assemblage contains the greatest vertebrate diversity recovered inside an ichnofossil of this type, including skeletal remains of dasypodids, didelphids, procyonids, anurans and caviomorph rodents within coprolites and disaggregated scatological waste. We describe four general size types for crotovines and palaeoburrows found in the Pliocene to Holocene of Argentina and Brazil, of which the structure found corresponds to the ‘mid-large’ size type and is linked to the activity of the large dasypodid Ringueletia simpsoni. The scatological remains are assigned to a small-sized carnivorous mammal with a body mass of between 1 and 6 kg. Within the guild of Chapadmalalan omnivorous–carnivorous mammals, this inferred mass range is restricted to large didelphids and mid-sized procyonids (represented in the assemblage by Thylophorops chapadmalensis and Cyonasua lutaria, respectively). The data gathered here confirms that the reoccupation of burrows is a common behaviour in small-sized carnivorous mammals at least since the early Pliocene. In addition, we suggest a predator–prey relationship between the studied carnivores and the most abundant small fossorial mammals of the Pampean Pliocene.     

Family history of cancer and the risk of bladder cancer: A case–control study from Italy

BackgroundA family history of bladder cancer has been associated with the risk of bladder cancer, but quantification of the excess risk in different populations is still a relevant issue. Further, the role of a family history of other cancers on the risk of bladder cancer remains unclear.MethodsWe analyzed data from an Italian case–control study, including 690 bladder cancer cases and 665 hospital controls. Odds ratios (ORs) were estimated through unconditional logistic regression models, adjusted for sex, age, study center, year of interview and further for education, smoking and sibling’s number.ResultsThe OR for family history of bladder cancer was 2.13 (95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) 1.02–4.49) from the model with partial adjustment, and 1.99 (95%CI 0.91–4.32) after additional adjustment for smoking and siblings’ number, based on 23 cases (3.3%) and 11 controls (1.7%) with a family history of bladder cancer. The fully adjusted OR was 3.77 when the relative was diagnosed at age below 65 years. Smokers with a family history of bladder cancer had a four-fold increased risk compared to non-smokers without a family history. Bladder cancer risk was significantly increased among subjects with a family history of hemolymphopoietic cancers (OR = 2.97, 95%CI 1.35–6.55). Family history of cancer at other sites showed no significant association with bladder cancer risk.ConclusionThis study confirms an approximately two-fold increased risk of bladder cancer for family history of bladder cancer, and indicates a possible familial clustering of bladder cancer with cancers of the hemolymphopoietic system.     

Is the anthophyte hypothesis alive and well? New evidence from the reproductive structures of Bennettitales

Bennettitales is an extinct group of seed plants with reproductive structures that are similar in some respects to both Gnetales and angiosperms, but systematic relationships among the three clades remain controversial. This study summarizes characters of bennettitalean plants and presents new evidence for the structure of cones and seeds that help clarify relationships of Bennettitales to flowering plants, Gnetales, and other potential angiosperm sister groups. Bennettitales have simple mono- or bisporangiate cones. Seeds are borne terminally on sporophylls. They have a unique structure that includes a nucellus with a solid apex, no pollen chamber, and a single integument, and they are clearly not enclosed by a cupule or other specialized structures. Such features differ substantially from Gnetales, flowering plants, and the seed fern Caytonia, providing no compelling evidence for the origin of the angiospermous carpel. Cladistic tests were performed to assess the strength of the "anthophyte hypothesis" and possible relationships of Bennettitales, Gnetales, and Caytonia to flowering plants. Our results do not support the anthophyte hypothesis for the origin of angiosperms by a transformation of fertile organs that were already aggregated into a cone or flower-like structure. However, the anthophyte topology of the seed plant tree continues to be supported by morphological analyses of living and extinct taxa.     

Assessment of cetacean–fishery interactions in the marine food web of the Gulf of Taranto (Northern Ionian Sea,Central Mediterranean Sea)

Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries - The exploitation of fishery resources acts as a driving force on cetaceans both directly, by determining their fishing mortality or injury as by-catch...     

The palynological assemblages from the J–K boundary beds of the Bureya Basin,Russian Far East

Palynological assemblages were studied from the coal-bearing Upper Jurassic (Talanja Formation) to the Lower Cretaceous (Dublikan Formation) deposits of the Bureya Basin, Russia. The palynological assemblages from the upper part of the Talanja Formation are dominated by gymnosperms, mainly Ginkgocycadophytus (up to 40%) and conifers related to Pinaceae (up to 70%). The contribution of non-seed plants is not great, but their diversity is considerable. The miospore assemblages of the Talanja sequence are characterized by the last appearance of the spore taxa Staplinisporites pocockii, Camptotriletes cerebriformis, Camptotriletes nitida, and Cingulatisporites sanguinolentus. The palynological assemblage from the Dublikan Formation is dominated by ferns (up to 84%), represented mainly by Cyathidites and Duplexisporites. Among gymnosperms the role of Classopollis increases (making up about 20%). Another feature is the first appearance of the spore taxa Stereisporites bujargiensis, Neoraistrickia rotundiformis, Contignisporites dorsostriatus, Appendicisporites tricostatus, and Concavissimisporites asper.     

Palynofacies and TOC analysis of marine and non-marine sediments across the Middle–Upper Jurassic boundary in the central-northern Lusitanian Basin (Portugal)

The Middle–Upper Jurassic transition is a geodynamic benchmark in the evolutionary history of several peri-Atlantic basins. Contrary to the vast Tethyan and peri-Tethyan areas, in the Lusitanian Basin (Portugal), this interval corresponds to a major basin-wide disconformity preceded by a complex forced regression that induced sharp facies variations across the depositional systems. The Middle Jurassic units below are fully marine, whereas the Upper Jurassic sediments (Lower?-Middle Oxfordian), correspond to freshwater/brackish lacustrine, grading into punctuated brackish-restricted lagoonal and shallow-marine paleoenvironments. This study presents total organic carbon and palynofacies data of 34 samples (total analyzed thickness about 85 m) collected from three key sections encompassing the Middle–Upper Jurassic transition in the central-northern sector of the Lusitanian Basin. The palynofacies of the analyzed part of Middle Jurassic units (Cabo Mondego Formation) are characteristic of marine environments at their base, evidencing upwards a regressive trend of the depositional systems. Total organic carbon content is generally low, reaching up to 1.94 wt%. The Upper Jurassic Cabaços Formation presents kerogen assemblages mostly of continental origin, although punctuated by minor intervals of marine influence. Total organic carbon content is more variable, reaching up to 30.56 wt%. Intraclasts of re-deposited fragments of microbial mats were found incorporated in the kerogen assemblages, which point to highly dynamic erosional and depositional processes. Diversity of Botryococcus sp. occurrences was confirmed as an indicator of the degree of paleoenvironmental stability. The vertical distribution and comparison of the kerogen assemblages of the different sections indicate major changes of these parameters among relatively close settings and along narrow vertical intervals, attesting to the high sedimentary dynamics observed in the Lusitanian Basin.     

Paleoecology of microencrusters and encrusting “coralline” sponges in Cipit boulders from the Cassian formation (upper Ladinian-lower Carnian, Dolomites, Northern Italy)

New occurrences of the encrusting ??coralline?? sponges Murania kazmierczaki Reitner, Murania megaspiculata Reitner, and Ceratoporella breviacanthostyla Reitner, often associated with microencrusters, are recorded from the Alpe di Specie (Seelandalpe) and Misurina near Cortina d??Ampezzo in the Dolomites in South Tyrol, Northern Italy. Some specimens with excellently preserved spicule pseudomorphs account for this finding. M. kazmierczaki and Ceratoporella breviacanthostyla normally appear to some extent associated with microencrusters and have strong framework-binding properties, while M. megaspiculata is seldom associated with any of them. The microencrusters involved in these associations include crusts similar to Pseudorothpletzella Schlagintweit and Gawlick, crusts similar to Wetheredella Wood, thalamid sponges, ??Tubiphytes?? Maslov, single- and multi-chambered foraminifera, and Koskinobullina cf. K. socialis Cherchi and Schroeder. While the associations between M. kazmierczaki and Ceratoporella breviacanthostyla are certainly similar, some microencrusters related to one of them are not related to the other.     

Earlywood vessels of the sub-Mediterranean oak Quercus pyrenaica have greater plasticity and sensitivity than those of the temperate Q. petraea at the Atlantic–Mediterranean boundary

Key message

Earlywood vessel features indicate different adaptations of Quercus petraea and Q. pyrenaica , which are probably related with their corresponding Atlantic and sub-Mediterranean ecological requirements.

Abstract

We studied the climatic signal of the earlywood anatomy of a temperate [Quercus petraea (Mattuschka) Liebl.] and a sub-Mediterranean (Quercus pyrenaica Willd.) oak species growing under similar climatic conditions in a transitional area between the Atlantic and Mediterranean regions of the Iberian Peninsula. We hypothesized that both species react differently in their wood anatomy due to their contrasting ecological requirements, and we test the usefulness of earlywood anatomical features to study the behaviour of these ring-porous oaks upon climate. For this, we measured the earlywood vessels, and obtained annual series of several anatomical variables for the period 1937–2006 using dendrochronological techniques, considering whether the vessels belonged to the first row or not. After optimizing the data set by principal component analysis and progressive filtering of large vessels, we selected maximum vessel area and total number of vessels as they resulted to be the optimal variables to describe vessel size and number, respectively. Vessel size of Q. pyrenaica was dependent on precipitation along the previous growing season, whereas it did not show any clear climatic response for Q. petraea. On the contrary, vessel number was related to winter temperature for both species. These relationships observed between climate and anatomy appeared to be stable through time. The results obtained reinforce the utility of earlywood vessel features as potential climate proxies.     

Peltoceratinae (Ammonoidea) from the upper Callovian–lower Oxfordian of Kutch,India: Systematic revision and biostratigraphic implication

The ammonoid subfamily Peltoceratinae is a well-constrained group restricted to the Middle Upper Jurassic; it had a near global distribution. In Kutch (India), they were the most important marine macroinvertebrate group during the upper Callovian–lower Oxfordian. Previous reports suffered from excessive splitting due to failure to account for the large intraspecific variability and sexual dimorphism of these ammonoids. The present systematic revision, based on numerous specimens including many near-complete adult specimens, enables to recognize and describe three species of the genus Peltoceras (P. athleta, P. ponderosum, and P. kumagunense) and two species of the genus Peltoceratoides (P. semirugosus and P. propinquus), as well as identifying their macroconchs and microconchs. We rediscovered Peltoceras athleta, which was previously described by Waagen (1875) but often overlooked by subsequent workers. We were able to identify several morphs within this species that are stunningly similar with those previously reported from France. The presence of P. athleta sensu stricto prompted us to reinstate the Athleta Zone in Kutch, improving intercontinental biostratigraphic correlation. Also, it highlights that the genus Peltoceras has a different biostratigraphic longevity in Kutch: in Europe it is restricted to the upper Callovian, whereas in India it also occurs in the lower Oxfordian.     

On the phylogeny of Early Cardioceratidae (Ammonoidea) and Cadoceratinae from Central Russia at the Bathonian–Callovian boundary

The phylogeny of the Middle Jurassic Cardioceratidae is reconstructed on the basis of a study of their shell morphology and analysis of their stratigraphic distribution. The phylogenetic lineage Cranocephalites → Arctocephalites → Arcticoceras → Paracadoceras is assigned to the subfamily Arctocephalitinae (Upper Bajocian–lowermost Callovian). The subfamily Cadoceratinae (Upper Bajocian–Callovian) also originating from Cranocephalites includes the phylogenetic lineage Greencephalites → Cadoceras → Longaeviceras; and lateral branches Chamoussetia and Platychamoussetia. The origin of the Early Callovian Eckhardites, also assigned to Cardioceratidae, is not established. The generic names Rondiceras and Cadochamoussetia are considered as junior synonyms of Cadoceras and Chamoussetia, respectively. The Early Callovian species Cadoceras bellabimba sp. nov. is described.