Gum exudates from the genus Grevillea (Proteaceae)

Analytical data are presented for gum specimens from Grevillea agrifolia, G. candelabroides, G. robusta, G. striata, and G. wickhamii (two specimens), and brief botanical details of this large, complex genus are given. The gum exudates, which are of high molecular weight, show good solubility and give solutions that are much more viscous than any of the Acacia exudates studied so far; they may therefore be of industrial interest.     

NewProconsul (Xenopithecus) from the Miocene of Kenya

A maxillary fragment with M^2–3 from the middle Miocene of Lothidok Hill, northwestern Kenya represents a new species ofProconsul—the typical East African early and middle Miocene hominoid species group. M² inProconsul (Xenopithecus)hamiltoni sp. nov. is about 50% larger than in Kenyan lower MioceneP. (X.)koruensis. Xenopithecus is revived as a subgenus ofProconsul because its species are less derived than typical species of that genus in having small—unexpanded—trigons, in possessing an M² with a significantly lower relative length, and in lacking a hypocone and large metacone on M³; however, xenopithecines share with proconsulines welldefined trigon ridges on M^1–3, large hypocones on M^1–2, greater relative height of M^2–3, and crenulated cingula on M^1–3 four character complexes derived over those of plesiomorphous East African early and middle MioceneLimnopithecus. An upper canine from Lothidok Hill represents a second species ofProconsul, P. (Proconsul)major. This identification confirms earlier records of that species from Lothidok.     

Study of the Vallesian hipparions of the lower Axios valley(Macedonia,Greece)

The hipparions of the Vallesian locality «Ravin dela Pluie in the lower Axios valley are studied. Two different species were found, a large one, H. primigenium and another small one, H. macedonicum. Their characteristics and dimensions as well as their comparison to the eurasiatic Vallesian samples allow us to find that they belong to Upper Vallesian. H. primigenium of Ravin de la Pluie is more evolved than the typical one of Eppelsheim, while H. macedonicum represents to oldest small hipparion which probably comes from a large form of Lower Vallesian. From the former took rise the later small hipparions. Some primitive features of hipparions are also discussed.     

A new species of the genus Chlorencoelia (Helotiales) from China

Chlorencoelia collections from different regions of China were examined. A new species is discovered and named as C. macrospora. The most significant features to distinguish the new species from any other known species of the genus are its very large acsi and ascospores. Three of the five known species of the genus are found from China.     

A peculiar anseriform (Aves: Anseriformes) from the Miocene of Gargano (Italy)

A new large representative of the Anseriformes, Garganornis ballmanni n. gen. et n. sp., from the Miocene of Gargano, Italy, is described from the distal end of a left tibiotarsus. G. ballmanni displays morphological features that are characteristic of the Anseriformes, but differs from all extant and fossil Anseriformes, as well as from taxa closely related to Anseriformes. G. ballmanni is characterized by a very wide and shallow fossa intercondylaris, a less pronounced difference in width of the lateral and medial condyle, reduced epicondyli, and a circular opening of the distal canal. G. ballmanni is larger than any living member of Anseriformes, and with an estimated body mass between 15.3 and 22.3 kg, it was most likely flightless. Although the observed similarities between G. ballmanni and basal taxa might indicate that G. ballmanni represents an insular relict of a stem lineage, it is considered more likely that G. ballmanni was a species of waterfowl highly adapted to a terrestrial lifestyle in an insular environment where mammalian carnivores are rare.     

Sponges and corals from the Middle Eocene (Bartonian) marly formations of the Pamplona Basin (Navarre, western Pyrenees): taphonomy, taxonomy, and paleoenvironments

Sponges and corals from the Bartonian marly formations of the Pamplona Basin (South Pyrenean area, Navarre) are described for the first time. The fossiliferous levels correspond respectively to flood-influenced delta-front (Ardanatz Sandstone) and restricted outer-platform (Ilundain Marls Fm.) environments. The fossil sponges exhibit diagenetic fragmentation, but they are often complete specimens. The skeleton appears partially or totally replaced by calcite and/or in some cases large crystals of celestite. Celestite forms relatively early during diagenesis in a dysoxic environment. Neomorphic fibrous quartzine-lutecine spherulites are also present. Hexactinellids and lithistids occur, but the former predominate. The associations include the species Laocoetis samueli, Guettardiscyphia thiolati and/or Pleuroguettardia iberica, cf. Rhizocheton robustus, and two lithistids indet. Corals are present only in the Ardanatz Sandstone. The fossil skeletons are composed of large neomorphic sparry calcite crystals. The assigned species are Stylocoenia taurinensis, Astrocoenia octopartita, Ceratotrochus bodellei, Placosmiliopsis bilobatus, and Desmophyllum castellolense. The sponge and coral taxa are similar to those previously described from other contemporaneous geological formations of the Pyrenean realm. The Pamplona Basin assemblages appear less diverse than those of the Bartonian of the eastern South Pyrenean area, more similar to that of the Eocene of Biarritz (Aquitanian Basin). This lower diversity is not due to a lower-resolution sampling but to taphonomic bias and/or paleoecological differences. The dominance of hexactinellids, erect morphologies, and sedimentological and micropaleontological data show that the sponge communities lived in deep shelfal waters. The corals, mainly associated with levels with high terrigenous content, seem reworked from shallower and more proximal environments.     

Structure of Genital Papillae in the Far Eastern Holothurians of the Genus Cucumaria (Dendrochirotida: Cucumariidae)

The genital papilla structure of female and male specimens is studied in four species of large holothurians of the genus Cucumaria from the Far Eastern seas of Russia: Cucumaria japonica (Semper), C. okhotensis Levin et Stepanov, C. anivaensis Levin, C. djakonovi Baranova. The papillary forms in these species are extremely various and cannot be considered as characteristic for the species.     

Carnivores from the early/middle Miocene locality of Antonios (Chalkidiki, Macedonia, Greece)

The mammal locality of Antonios is one of the few known early-middle Miocene ones of Greece with large mammals. It is situated in Chalkidiki Peninsula (Macedonia, Greece) and includes both small and large mammals. The study of the carnivores found in Antonios indicates the presence of the following taxa: Proputorius cf. P. sansaniensis, Protictitherium gaillardi, Protictitherium cf. P. crassum, Percrocuta sp., Percrocutidae indet. and Pseusaelurus romieviensis. The material of each taxon is described, compared with other material from various Eurasian localities and determined. The species P. cf. sansaniensis and P. romieviensis are traced for first time in Eastern Mediterranean, while Percrocuta for first time in Greece. The presence of the other carnivoran taxa in the Antonios fauna is also interesting as they are recognized in older stratigraphic levels enriching our knowledge about their stratigraphic distribution. The carnivores of Antonios cannot offer significant data for the dating of the fauna but its age is discussed using the data coming from the carnivores as well as those from older studies of the micromammals and suoids.     

Cuvillierinella salentina (Foraminifera,Rhapydioninidae) and its kinship in the Western Mediterranean area during the Campanian–Maastrichtian

Cuvillierinella salentina Papetti and Tedeschi, 1965 and its related species of the Rhapydioninidae family are widely distributed in the Western Mediterranean region by Campanian–Maastrichtian time. C. salentina, the type species of the genus, is studied in rich populations from its Italian type locality, and several other spots from Greece and Spain. It shows great variability: the well-known type coexists with streptospiral tests almost devoid of endoskeleton and wholly planispiral tests with fine mesh-like endoskeleton, as well as many intermediates. Such populations reflect the large capacity of evolution of at least the group of miliolids from which these populations are derived, if not the species itself. The genera Murciella and Cyclopseudedomia are probably the most direct offshoots, but other taxa appear to arise from this species or at least from the same stock of origin. In the same genus and at the same time (middle part of Campanian age, “CsB6a” zone), two new species are described, both hesitating between the streptospiral and planispiral coiling: – C. fluctuans nov. sp., from Greece, A tests being either streptospiral or planispiral, with primary and secondary chamberlets taking the aspect of polygonal isodiametric network and – C. perisalentina nov. sp., from Italy, with persistent streptospiral coiling and disordered arrangement of secondary chamberlets which allow us to consider its relation with species of the genus Pseudochubbina, hitherto of completely enigmatic origin. Assigned to the same genus, from Upper Campanian–Lower Maastrichtian time (“CsB6b” zone), C. aff. pylosensis, probably related to C. pylosensis, is studied from several populations, and constitutes, with the above mentioned species, what is called C. gr. salentina. Based on material from the CsB6b zone, the new genus Metacuvillierinella nov. gen. is introduced; M. decastroi nov. sp., type species of the new genus, known from Greece and Italy, shows characters common to C. gr. salentina, such as milioline to streptospiral nepionic coiling, large endoskeleton mesh, associated with some original characters, such as the unusual conjunction of the advolute coiling and absence of any final unrolling together with very low dimorphism of generation; this results in flat tests, often sigmoid shaped in axial section, very rare in the family. Thus, the genus Cuvillierinella, and especially C. salentina, appears as a possible source, or at least not far from the origin, of a number of taxa related to one another, constituting a large part of the Rhapydioninidae family. They are gathered together inside the new subfamily Cuvillierinellinae, distinct from the subfamily Rhapydionininae sensu stricto (comprising Rhapydionina and Fanrhapydionina) which makes a different and parallel branch, from Upper Campanian (CsB6b zone) to the end of Cretaceous time (CsB7 zone).     

Evaluation of the DNA Barcodes in Dendrobium (Orchidaceae) from Mainland Asia

DNA barcoding has been proposed to be one of the most promising tools for accurate and rapid identification of taxa. However, few publications have evaluated the efficiency of DNA barcoding for the large genera of flowering plants. Dendrobium, one of the largest genera of flowering plants, contains many species that are important in horticulture, medicine and biodiversity conservation. Besides, Dendrobium is a notoriously difficult group to identify. DNA barcoding was expected to be a supplementary means for species identification, conservation and future studies in Dendrobium. We assessed the power of 11 candidate barcodes on the basis of 1,698 accessions of 184 Dendrobium species obtained primarily from mainland Asia. Our results indicated that five single barcodes, i.e., ITS, ITS2, matK, rbcL and trnH-psbA, can be easily amplified and sequenced with the currently established primers. Four barcodes, ITS, ITS2, ITS+matK, and ITS2+matK, have distinct barcoding gaps. ITS+matK was the optimal barcode based on all evaluation methods. Furthermore, the efficiency of ITS+matK was verified in four other large genera including Ficus, Lysimachia, Paphiopedilum, and Pedicularis in this study. Therefore, we tentatively recommend the combination of ITS+matK as a core DNA barcode for large flowering plant genera.     

A new freshwater mite of the marine genus Halacarellus (Acari: Halacaridae) from the Austrian Alps (Styria, Gesäuse National Park): Description and reflections on its origin

A new halacarid species, Halacarellus fontinalis n. sp., from a spring in the Gesäuse National Park, Austria is described. The species is characterized by three pairs of large, equal-sized acetabula and slender claws and is expected to have evolved in the Tertiary from a Tethyan-Paratethyan Halacarellus species. CaspihalacarusViets, 1928, with a single species, C. hyrcanusViets, 1928, has large and external acetabula similar to those in H. fontinalis. Caspihalacarus is synonymized with Halacarellus.     

Small and large mammals from the Ciota Ciara cave (Borgosesia,Vercelli, Italy): An Isotope Stage 5 assemblage

The Ciota Ciara cave is located within the Monte Fenera karst system (Borgosesia, Vercelli, Italy) at 670 m a.s.l. The cave entrance presents a deposit with Mousterian quartz and flint industry. The faunal remains from Stratigraphic Units 13, 14 and 103 are the subject of this work and are presented here as a whole for the first time. The large mammal assemblage is dominated by Ursus spelaeus. In addition, a few remains of carnivores such as Panthera leo spelaea, Panthera pardus, Meles meles have been found together with ungulates such as Cervus elaphus and Rupicapra rupicapra. The small mammal assemblage is characterized by a high biodiversity, especially in bats, by the dominance of Clethrionomys glareolus and by a relatively large number of Pliomys coronensis, a species that seems to disappear from the Italian Peninsula at the end of Marine Isotope Stage 5 or during the beginning of MIS 4. The changes in frequency of the small and large mammals between the two S.U. suggest a change from a relatively cold-humid (S.U. 14) to a warmer-still humid climate (S.U. 13). Although no radiometric dates are available yet, the small and large mammal assemblages, the presence of Pliomys coronensis and the climate change inferred by the variation of the small mammal frequencies allow us to correlate these two units of the Ciota Ciara cave to a relatively warm moment of Marine Isotope Stage 5.     

The Magelonidae (Annelida: Polychaeta) from the Seychelles, with the description of three new species

Three new species of Magelona are described from the Seychelles: M. conversa, M. falcifera and M. gemmata. Magelona conversa belongs to a 'M. mirabilisgroup', having a rounded prostomium and specialised chaetae on chaetiger 9, but differs from all other members in having long prechaetal neuropodial lamellae on chaetigers 1–8. Magelona falcifera bears large sickle-shaped hooded hooks in the abdomen and thus approaches the genus Meredithia, but lacks prostomial horns. Magelona gemmata belongs to a 'M. longicornis group' in having distinct prostomial frontal horns, and a thorax with lanceolate postchaetal lamellae in the notopodia and ventral neuropodial lobes. The distinctively swollen bud-like tips on the notopodial lamellae of chaetiger 9 are an unique feature. The status of MeredithiaHernández-Alcántara & Solís-Weiss, 2000 and current magelonid terminology are discussed.     

Notes on the biology,taxonomy, and distribution of flashlight fishes (Beryciformes: Anomalopidae)

New information concerning the distribution and biology of anomalopid fishes is presented. There are five valid described species:Anomalops katoptron andPhotoblepharon palpebratus, widely distributed in the central and western Pacific Ocean;P. steinitzi from the Red Sea and Comoro Islands;Kryptophanaron alfredi from the Caribbean; andK. harveyi from Baja California.P. steinitzi differs fromP. palpebratus in coloration, head bone ornamentation, and pelvic ray number. The second known specimen ofK. harveyi is described in detail. The occurrence of large specimens ofAnomalops in deep water and small specimens in shallow water is discussed. Synonyms and a key to the species of anomalopids are provided.     

A new species of Amphictene (Annelida,Pectinariidae) from the northern South China Sea

Pectinariids are a family of polychaetes commonly found in shallow coastal waters around the world, but their diversity is poorly known along the coasts of Asia. Here we describe Amphictene alata sp. n. (Pectinariidae), based on 15 specimens collected from the coastal waters of Guangdong in the northern South China Sea. This new species can be distinguished from all other 13 described species and one described subspecies of Amphictene by having a pair of dorsolateral lobes on segment 3, a pair of large lateral lobes on segment 21, and more scaphal hooks (26 to 37 pairs).     

Neuroglia in the corpus callosum of the primate, slow loris (Nycticebus coucang coucang)

The corpus callosum of adult slow loris consists of a mixed population of several cell types, i.e. free subependymal cells, oligodendrocytes, astrocytes and microglia. The free subependymal cell is rather small and slender with a somewhat patchy nucleus. It shows scanty cytoplasm with free ribosomes. Oligodendrocytes vary both in nuclear and cytoplasmic densities and can be divided into three classes: light, medium dense and dark types. Their cytoplasm contains microtubules, rough endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi saccules. Astrocytes are pale cells with large amount of filaments in their cytoplasm. Microglia are small cells with granulated nuclei. The cells often show large cytoplasmic protrusions containing the usual cell organelles and lipofuscin bodies in their cytoplasm. Lastly, cells with typical features of neurons are occasionally encountered among the white matter.     

Systematics of the calyptridium umbellatum complex (Portulacaceae)

TheCalyptridium umbellatum complex (Portulacaceae), which has been treated as including from one to nine species, is shown to comprise three morphologically distinctive species. Two of these are common, wide-ranging, montane perennial herbs—C. umbellatum, which occurs over a large part of western North America, andC. monospermum, which largely replacesC. umbellatum in cismontane California. The third member of the complex is the rare or possibly extinctC. pulchellum. The perennial members of this complex are accorded the status of a separate genus,Spraguea, by most authors, but a comparative study of the morphology and karyology of all species ofCalyptridium shows this separation to be unwarranted. Chromosome numbers ofn = 22, obtained from eight populations ofC. umbellatum and six ofC. monospermum, constitute the first reported counts for these species. Hybridization studies involvingC. umbellatum andC. monospermum indicate that they are isolated by an incomplete noncrossability barrier.     

Reanalysis of Wupus agilis (Early Cretaceous) of Chongqing,China as a Large Avian Trace: Differentiating between Large Bird and Small Non-Avian Theropod Tracks

Trace fossils provide the only records of Early Cretaceous birds from many parts of the world. The identification of traces from large avian track-makers is made difficult given their overall similarity in size and tridactyly in comparison with traces of small non-avian theropods. Reanalysis of Wupus agilis from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian) Jiaguan Formation, one of a small but growing number of known avian-pterosaur track assemblages, of southeast China determines that these are the traces of a large avian track-maker, analogous to extant herons. Wupus, originally identified as the trace of a small non-avian theropod track-maker, is therefore similar in both footprint and trackway characteristics to the Early Cretaceous (Albian) large avian trace Limiavipes curriei from western Canada, and Wupus is reassigned to the ichnofamily Limiavipedidae. The reanalysis of Wupus reveals that it and Limiavipes are distinct from similar traces of small to medium-sized non-avian theropods (Irenichnites, Columbosauripus, Magnoavipes) based on their relatively large footprint length to pace length ratio and higher mean footprint splay, and that Wupus shares enough characters with Limiavipes to be reassigned to the ichnofamily Limiavipedidae. The ability to discern traces of large avians from those of small non-avian theropods provides more data on the diversity of Early Cretaceous birds. This analysis reveals that, despite the current lack of body fossils, large wading birds were globally distributed in both Laurasia and Gondwana during the Early Cretaceous.