甘肃早白垩世恐龙蛋化石新类型（英文）

甘肃省早白垩世地层中,出土了大量恐龙骨骼以及恐龙足迹化石,但是至今未有蛋化石的报道。根据发现于兰州-民和盆地下白垩统河口组的蛋壳化石,建立一恐龙蛋新蛋属、蛋种,并将其归于一新蛋科:Polyclonoolithidae(多小枝蛋科)。新发现的蛋化石标本不同于所有已知的恐龙蛋类型,具有独特的显微特征组合:分叉的蛋壳单元向外延伸至蛋壳外表面,并未在靠近蛋壳外表面处融合成层;弦切面上具相互链接或独立的多角形的蛋壳单元;以及不规则的气孔道。中国的恐龙蛋化石大多出自晚白垩世地层,仅在辽宁有早白垩世恐龙蛋的报道。新发现扩展了中国恐龙蛋化石的地质和地理分布,也有可能为圆形蛋科蛋壳结构的起源提供新的认识。     

Microbial metabolite fluxes in a model marine anoxic ecosystem

Permanently anoxic regions in the ocean are widespread and exhibit unique microbial metabolic activity exerting substantial influence on global elemental cycles and climate. Reconstructing microbial metabolic activity rates in these regions has been challenging, due to the technical difficulty of direct rate measurements. In Cariaco Basin, which is the largest permanently anoxic marine basin and an important model system for geobiology, long‐term monitoring has yielded time series for the concentrations of biologically important compounds; however, the underlying metabolite fluxes remain poorly quantified. Here, we present a computational approach for reconstructing vertical fluxes and in situ net production/consumption rates from chemical concentration data, based on a 1‐dimensional time‐dependent diffusive transport model that includes adaptive penalization of overfitting. We use this approach to estimate spatiotemporally resolved fluxes of oxygen, nitrate, hydrogen sulfide, ammonium, methane, and phosphate within the sub‐euphotic Cariaco Basin water column (depths 150–900 m, years 2001–2014) and to identify hotspots of microbial chemolithotrophic activity. Predictions of the fitted models are in excellent agreement with the data and substantially expand our knowledge of the geobiology in Cariaco Basin. In particular, we find that the diffusivity, and consequently fluxes of major reductants such as hydrogen sulfide, and methane, is about two orders of magnitude greater than previously estimated, thus resolving a long‐standing apparent conundrum between electron donor fluxes and measured dark carbon assimilation rates.     

Integrating anthropogenic factors into regional‐scale species distribution models—A novel application in the imperiled sagebrush biome

Species distribution models (SDMs) that rely on regional‐scale environmental variables will play a key role in forecasting species occurrence in the face of climate change. However, in the Anthropocene, a number of local‐scale anthropogenic variables, including wildfire history, land‐use change, invasive species, and ecological restoration practices can override regional‐scale variables to drive patterns of species distribution. Incorporating these human‐induced factors into SDMs remains a major research challenge, in part because spatial variability in these factors occurs at fine scales, rendering prediction over regional extents problematic. Here, we used big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) as a model species to explore whether including human‐induced factors improves the fit of the SDM. We applied a Bayesian hurdle spatial approach using 21,753 data points of field‐sampled vegetation obtained from the LANDFIRE program to model sagebrush occurrence and cover by incorporating fire history metrics and restoration treatments from 1980 to 2015 throughout the Great Basin of North America. Models including fire attributes and restoration treatments performed better than those including only climate and topographic variables. Number of fires and fire occurrence had the strongest relative effects on big sagebrush occurrence and cover, respectively. The models predicted that the probability of big sagebrush occurrence decreases by 1.2% (95% CI: ?6.9%, 0.6%) when one fire occurs and cover decreases by 44.7% (95% CI: ?47.9%, ?41.3%) if at least one fire occurred over the 36 year period of record. Restoration practices increased the probability of big sagebrush occurrence but had minimal effect on cover. Our results demonstrate the potential value of including disturbance and land management along with climate in models to predict species distributions. As an increasing number of datasets representing land‐use history become available, we anticipate that our modeling framework will have broad relevance across a range of biomes and species.     

Seed germination and dormancy traits of forbs and shrubs important for restoration of North American dryland ecosystems

• In degraded dryland systems, native plant community re‐establishment following disturbance is almost exclusively carried out using seeds, but these efforts commonly fail. Much of this failure can be attributed to the limited understanding of seed dormancy and germination traits.
• We undertook a systematic classification of seed dormancy of 26 species of annual and perennial forbs and shrubs that represent key, dominant genera used in restoration of the Great Basin ecosystem in the western United States. We examined germination across a wide thermal profile to depict species‐specific characteristics and assessed the potential of gibberellic acid (GA₃) and karrikinolide (KAR₁) to expand the thermal germination envelope of fresh seeds.
• Of the tested species, 81% produce seeds that are dormant at maturity. The largest proportion (62%) exhibited physiological (PD), followed by physical (PY, 8%), combinational (PY + PD, 8%) and morphophysiological (MPD, 4%) dormancy classes. The effects of chemical stimulants were temperature‐ and species‐mediated. In general, mean germination across the thermal profile was improved by GA₃ and KAR₁ for 11 and five species, respectively. We detected a strong germination response to temperature in freshly collected seeds of 20 species. Temperatures below 10 °C limited the germination of all except Agoseris heterophylla, suggesting that in their dormant state, the majority of these species are thermally restricted.
• Our findings demonstrate the utility of dormancy classification as a foundation for understanding the critical regenerative traits in these ecologically important species and highlight its importance in restoration planning.

     

怀来盆地西沟湾1号旧石器地点试掘简报

西沟湾1号旧石器地点位于河北省张家口市怀来县官厅镇珠窝园村,埋藏于永定河右岸第二级阶地后缘。2015年8-9月对该地点进行试掘,揭露面积约27m2,出土232件石制品和19件动物化石。石制品原料以粗面岩为主,应为就地取材;类型包括石核、石片、断块等,标本大小总体以小型为主;石核剥片均采用硬锤锤击法。石制品的类型和技术特征显示其总体属于石片石器技术体系。结合遗物和堆积状况,推测西沟湾1号地点为一处原地埋藏类型的临时性石制品剥片场所。依碳十四年代测定,初步推断该地点的时代为旧石器时代晚期。     

Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci in Penstemon rostriflorus (Plantaginaceae) and cross‐species amplification

Eight novel microsatellite primer pairs are presented for Penstemon rostriflorus, representing the first microsatellite markers available for this genus. Loci were characterized for 20 individuals from two populations in the Great Basin, USA. All loci are polymorphic within P. rostriflorus (seven to 13 alleles per locus; observed heterozygosity between 0.40 and 0.95), and therefore useful for population genetic studies within the species. Cross‐species transferability was tested on 40 additional species of Penstemon, and results indicate that these primers pairs will likely be useful for population genetic studies on many Penstemon species.     

An integrated reconstruction of the early Pleistocene palaeoenvironment of Homo erectus in the Denizli Basin (SW Turkey)

The early Pleistocene travertines from Kocabaş in the Denizli Basin (SW Turkey), from which the only known Homo erectus from Anatolia derives, are covered by a succession of lake deposits. So far, the taphonomic history of the site has precluded a detailed palaeoecological analysis. This paper details the sedimentary succession and palaeoenvironmental conditions by analysing the micro- and macropalaeontological species compositions. These data provide direct evidence of the opportunities and limiting factors of the environment inhabited by hominins during the early Pleistocene. Four distinctive lithostratigraphic units are recognized in the Quaternary succession, consisting of: Lower Travertine, Lower Conglomerates, Upper Travertine, and Upper Conglomerates. These units correspond to an alternation of lacustrine limestone, fluvial-lacustrine siliciclastic deposits and subaerially precipitated travertine accumulations. The age of the succession is constrained by cosmogenic nuclide concentration, palaeomagnetic measurements and large mammal biostratigraphy which suggest deposition occurred between ∼1.6 and 1.2 Ma. The travertine succession contains a moderately diverse macromammal fauna, including Homo erectus, decapod crustaceans and leaf imprints. The herbivore association likely dwelled in a mixed landscape during temperate and humid climatic conditions, supported by negative δ¹⁸O values from analysed gastropod and bivalve shells. The presence of an anomalohaline lake is indicated by an abundant and well-preserved ostracod community, consisting of alkaline tolerant taxa and freshwater genera further supported by the presence of cardiid bivalves.     

Ammonoids and nautiloids from the earliest Spathian Paris Biota and other early Spathian localities in southeastern Idaho,USA

Intensive sampling of three earliest Spathian sites represented by the Lower Shale unit and coeval beds within the Bear Lake vicinity and neighboring areas, southeastern Idaho, yielded several new ammonoid and nautiloid assemblages. These new occurrences overall indicate that the lower boundary of the Tirolites beds, classically used as a regional marker for the base of the early Spathian, and therefore the regional Smithian/Spathian boundary, must be shifted downward into the Lower Shale unit and coeval beds. Regarding ammonoids, one new genus (Caribouceras) and two new species (Caribouceras slugense and Albanites americanus) are described. In addition, the regional temporal distribution of Bajarunia, Tirolites, Columbites, and Coscaites is refined, based on a fourth sampled site containing a newly reported occurrence of the early Spathian Columbites fauna in coeval beds of the Middle Shale unit. As a complement to ammonoids, changes observed in nautiloid dominance are also shown to facilitate correlation with high-latitude basins such as Siberia during this short time interval, and they also highlight the major successive environmental fluctuations that took place during the late Smithian–early Spathian transition.     

Multi‐proxy analyses of Late Cretaceous coprolites from Germany

A total of 462 coprolites from three localities exposing Upper Cretaceous deposits in the Münster Basin, northwestern Germany, have been subjected to an array of analytical techniques, with the aim of elucidating ancient trophic structures and predator–prey interactions. The phosphatic composition, frequent bone inclusions, size and morphology collectively suggest that most, if not all, coprolites were produced by carnivorous (predatory or scavenging) vertebrates. The bone inclusions further indicate that the coprolite producers preyed principally upon fish. Putative host animals include bony fish, sharks and marine reptiles – all of which have been previously recorded from the Münster Basin. The presence of borings and other traces on several coprolites implies handling by coprophagous organisms. Remains of epibionts are also common, most of which have been identified as the encrusting bivalve Atreta. Palynological analyses of both the coprolites and host rocks reveal a sparse assemblage dominated by typical Late Cretaceous dinoflagellates, and with sub‐ordinate fern spores, conifer pollen grains and angiosperm pollen grains. The dinoflagellate key taxon Exochosphaeridium cenomaniense corroborates a Cenomanian age for the Plenus Marl, from which most studied coprolites derive. The findings of this study highlight the potential of a multi‐proxy approach when it comes to unravelling the origin, composition and importance of coprolites in palaeoecosystem analyses.     

Genetics and telemetry indicate unexpected movements among structured populations for Brachyplatystoma platynemum in the Amazon

The genetic analysis of Brachyplatystoma platynemum individuals sampled from the lower Madeira River reinforces the existence of two structured populations in the Amazon Basin (Madeira and Amazon populations). However, the recapture of an individual from the Amazon population in the Solimões River, which was telemetry-tagged in the Madeira River after the damming, indicates that fish from the Amazon population move between the two river systems. This has not yet been observed, however, in the Madeira River population, which is currently divided and isolated in the lower and upper Madeira River by the construction of two dams.