The onset of major Northern Hemisphere glaciations and their impact on dinoflagellate cysts and acritarchs from the Singa section, Calabria (southern Italy) and DSDP Holes 607/607A (North Atlantic)

The climatic deterioration related to the onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciations (circa 2.52 Ma B.P.) must have lead to reorganization and relocation of species associations and may have enhanced species turnover. The present study investigates how this deterioration affects the dinoflagellate cyst and acritarch assemblages from two locations, DSDP Site 607 (North Atlantic) and the Singa section (southern Italy). The records from these locations cover the interval from 2.8 to 2.2 Ma with at least a 5 ka resolution and they have been correlated to the Milankovitch periodicities on a cycle to cycle basis by means of integrated high resolution stable isotope, calcium carbonate, foraminiferal, palynological and magnetostratigraphical datasets. In the present study this high resolution stratigraphic framework is used for a detailed correlation of events occurring in each of the depositional sequences. It also enables further assessment of the palaeoenvironmental preferences of some dinoflagellate cyst forms. Comparison of the two palynological records reveals a close correspondence in the timing of major assemblage changes and extinction events, confirming their Milankovitch cycle based correlation. A close link between periods of Northern Hemisphere cooling (at oxygen isotope stages 110, 104 and 100-96) and increased dinoflagellate cyst turnover appears to be present for both DSDP Site 607 and the Singa section. The turnover events can also be recognized in the records of planktic foraminifera and calcareous nannoplankton. Comparison of the Singa section with Site 607 and with other time equivalent marine palynological data sets, shows that some oceanic taxa respond similarly over a large area. The biostratigraphical implications are discussed. Notably the last occurrence of Invertocysta lacrymosa appears to be a valuable marker for isotope stage 110 in the Mediterranean and North Atlantic.     

A NEW CANID GENUS FROM THE PLIOCENE OF YUSHE,SHANXI PROVINCE

DuringthecourseofreviewofthephylogenyofthefossilNorthAmericantaxa.ofthecanidsubfamilyCaninae,TedfordandTaylor(MS)wereabletorecognizethatthetaxonCanisdavisiMerriam,1911,fromtheearlyHemphillianofOregon,anddefinedonamaxillaryfragmentbearingM1-2,couldbeassociatedwithabundantmaterialrepresentingallelementsoftheskeletonfromcorrelativeandlaterHemphillian(lateMiocene)depositsoftheUnitedStates.StudyofthesematerialsinthecourseofacladisticanalysisofphylogenyrevealedthatC.davisiassumedthepositionofa…     

Evidence of predation damage in Pliocene Apletosia maxima (Brachiopoda)

Abstract:  Little is known about predation of Mesozoic and Cenozoic articulated brachiopods, but it is far from clear whether this is because they suffered very little predation pressure or because there have been few attempts to search for evidence of it. A study of 248 museum specimens of the large Pliocene terebratulid Apletosia maxima from the Coralline Crag (UK) has revealed that more than 16 per cent of them show evidence of having been attacked by predators. The styles of damage can be attributed to drilling muricid gastropods (most of which were successful) and failed crushing attacks probably by decapods. Brachiopods are usually thought to offer a poor tissue yield to potential predators, but in this instance it appears that A. maxima was attractive to predators even though they were living with a rich molluscan fauna. It is suggested that the mass of adductor and diductor muscles (likely to be spicule-free) of these particularly large brachiopods may have made them profitable. Further studies of post-Palaeozoic brachiopod faunas are required, particularly those from mixed shallow-water communities, before it can be established whether articulated brachiopods have or have not been driven into refugia by increasing predation pressure.     

On stratigraphic subdivision of hominoid fossil localities of Yuanmou,Yunnan

There are four hominoid localities in the Yuanmou basin. There is no appreciable difference of fossil mammals collected from them respectively. On the other hand, judging from the occurrence of the strata and the characteristics of the deposits as well as from the trace of the neotectonics, the “homo layers” are identical to “Ramapithecus layers” in their occurrence. Thus the Hominoid fossils are exactly the same age.     

The great American biotic interchange and diversification history in Dynastes beetles (Scarabaeidae; Dynastinae)

Biotic interchange between geographic regions can promote rapid diversification. However, what are the important factors that determine the rate of diversification (e.g., trait‐dependent diversification) vary between study systems. The evolutionary history of Dynastes beetles, which can be found in both North and South Americas and exhibit two different altitudinal preferences (highland and lowland) is tested for the effects of biotic interchange between continents and different ecological preferences on the rate of species diversification. Additionally, the hypotheses of geological time‐dependent and lineage specific diversification rates are also tested. Results from this study indicate that in Dynastes beetles a pre‐landbridge dispersal hypothesis from South to North America is preferred and that the speciation rates estimated using BAMM are similar between lineages of different geographic origins and different altitudinal preferences (i.e., diversification rate is not trait‐dependent). On the other hand, my result from marcoevolutionary cohort analysis based on BAMM outputs suggests that the rate of speciation in Dynastes beetles is, instead of trait‐dependent (geographic and ecological), lineage specific. Furthermore, a steadily increasing speciation rate can be found in Pliocene and Pleistocene, which implies that geological and climatic events, i.e., colonizing North America, habitat reformation in the Amazonia, and forest contraction in Pleistocene, may have together shaped the current biodiversity pattern in Dynastes beetles.     

Fish fauna of the Camp dels Ninots locality (Pliocene; Caldes de Malavella,province of Girona,Spain) – first results with notes on palaeoecology and taphonomy

The Konservat-Lagerstätte locality Camp dels Ninots (Late Pliocene) in north-eastern Spain was interpreted as a maar lake and its sediments produced, among others, numerous fish fossils. These are represented by articulated (and semi-articulated) specimens and isolated bones and can be classified (within open nomenclature) to two Cyprinidae species: a barb Barbus (‘Luciobarbus’) sp. and a chub Leuciscus sp. The selected specimens of both groups are described and main morphological characters are presented. The composition of the fish fauna clearly indicates a freshwater environment. From the point of the view of taphonomy, it is possible to recognise two different types of preservations of the fish fossils at the locality: (i) larger specimens are preserved in good conditions, with occasional partial dislocations from their natural anatomical position, and relatively quickly buried by sediment, whereas (ii) a second type was observed in smaller specimens with supposed decomposition in the hypoxic environment and with slow burying.     

Causes of perceived faunal change in the later Neogene of East Africa

African terrestrial vertebrate faunas change over the time range from 14 my to 4 my, the period during which hominids are presumed to have diverged from other hominoids. The most complete local sequence showing this is provided by the Tugen Hills, west of Lake Baringo in Kenya. A large component of the pattern of faunal changes seen there, and at other relevant sites, could be explained by local environmental alterations, or by sampling properties of fossil assemblages and collections. It is hard to justify global climatic change as the sole explanation of observed faunal shifts, although such external factors cannot be ruled out and on general grounds are likely to be involved. As yet there is no convincing demonstration of synchronicity in faunal turnover. Evidence of a simple shift from forest conditions to grasslands, an event that has been correlated with the origins of hominid bipedalism, is hard to detect. Existing data suggest a more patchy distribution of forest and grassland in both space and time.     

First discovery of fossil dung beetle brood balls and nests in the Chadian Pliocene Australopithecine levels

The Pliocene continental formations of the paleo-lake Chad system are known because of the recent discovery of the first australopithecine known west of the Rift Valley. The structures under study are found in sandstone levels associated with a rich fauna, including mammals, birds, reptiles and fishes. Analysis of the depositional environment and fauna indicates a mosaic landscape of gallery forest, savannah, grassland and ephemeral rivers interrupted by lacustrine episodes. This sandstone facies contains bioturbation in the form of sandstone balls 4-12 cm in diameter, slightly flattened at the poles. These structures are characterized by an external husk or crust and by a decimetric cavity in the upper part of the ball. Between the husk and the cavity are a number of concave laminae similar to those of a bulb, whose concavity is directed toward the upper cavity. The comparison between these structures and the brood balls of modern Scarabaeidae shows great similarity, especially in the external husk, the concave internal laminae and the chamber of the grub in the upper part of the structures. This bioturbation is interpreted as fossil brood balls of dung beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae). Fossil dung beetle brood balls are generally rare, but have been known since the 1940s. They can be very abundant in any series, as described by several authors in South America. The first fossil dung balls were described in this area in 1938 by Frenguelli and by Roselli. These authors describe elementary spherical forms of 35 mm in diameter on average, flattened at the poles and with an upper cavity. The fossil dung beetle brood balls discovered in Chad are the first in which all the internal characteristic structures are preserved. Many of them are connected by a remarkably large net of tunnels which has no parallel in the past or the present.     

甘肃东乡首次发现熊亚科化石——龙担哺乳动物群补充报道之二(英文)

2006年作者在和政县发现了两件产自东乡龙担动物群的熊类化石:一完整下颌(HMV1422)和一个咬合在一起的头骨及下颌(HMV 1454)。熊类系龙担哺乳动物群中未曾描述过的新成员。这两件标本虽然有少许不同,但都和李亦征(1993)所记述的沂南熊Ursus(Protarctos)yinanensis十分接近,而被归入该种。该种修订后的鉴别特征是:头骨长头型,头长接近中等大小的现生黑熊,头骨最大宽约为最大长的一半;矢状嵴长,约为顶长的1/3;眶下孔与眼眶前缘相距近,两者均在M1上方;颧骨前端仅组成眼眶下缘,其后端止于关节窝前缘水平;硬腭短,齿列之后的腭长小于P4长的1.5倍或M2长的3/4。前臼齿数目全;P4原尖小,位于裂凹正内方;M1短长方形,宽/长～80%;M2跟座中长,M2宽/长56%～58%;M2长/M1长133%～153%。m1无前下后尖及前下内尖,分隔下三角座和跟座的横沟窄(前后),横沟中没有明显的嵴和沟;m2短于m1,其前、后接近等宽。与U.boeckhi相比,P4相对更小;臼齿相对更窄长;M1不呈五边形;M2跟座更大;m1横沟短,V形。现生熊亚科的6个种在分子和生化特性上非常接近,且其分异的时间非常短。这使以生化和分子生物学为研究手段的遗传学家越来越倾向于把它们归入同一个属,即Ursus。但是以形态特征为研究对象的古生物学家却大多依据形态上的明显差异而把它们分成多个属。不过古生物学家也常把欧亚大陆上新世-第四纪早期的熊类化石简单地归入Ursus一个属。在对比研究东乡熊化石时,我们对欧亚大陆同期的熊化石作了较仔细的观察,发现m1的形态变化在熊亚科的演化中分异显著,在分类中应具重要意义。结合头骨及牙齿的其他特征,这一时期熊类化石主要可以分为三组:1)m1形态简单者,无前下后尖和前下内尖,横沟表面基本光滑。2)m1具嵴形图案者,具前下后尖,但无前下内尖,在三角座后壁和横沟中形成V,Y或X形嵴。这一组熊类的m1和现生黑熊者最为接近。3)m1具前下后尖、前下内尖,次级附尖很发育,主尖及附尖多为圆锥形。这一组熊类的m1和现生棕熊者最为接近。属于第一组的有Baroth-Kopecz的U.boeckhi,沂南熊及Serrat d'en Vacquer的一件左下颌(1890年描述)。第二组包括产自Perrier,Weze,Layna,Wolfersheim等地点的熊类及Serrat d'en Vacquer的一件头骨及下颌(1892年描述)。第三组包括发现于欧洲众多地点(Val d'Arno,St.Vallier等)的U.etruscus。上述三组熊类在m1形态上的差异和组内变异的程度,使我们倾向于把它们分为不同的属,其属名分别应为:Protarctos,Euarctos和Ursus。Protarctos包括P.boeckhi(MN 14),P.ruscinensis(MN 15)和P.yinanensis(相当于MN 16-17)。Euarctos包括E.pyrenaicus(MN 15),E.minimus(MN 16-17)和现生美洲及亚洲的黑熊。而Ursus则包括U.etruscus(MN 17)及许多后期类型,如U.spelaeus等,以及现生的U.arctos(可能还有U.maritimus)。     

Repeated trans-Atlantic dispersal catalysed a global songbird radiation

Aim Turdus thrushes are one of the most speciose and widespread songbird genera, comprising nearly 70 species that combined have a near‐global distribution. Herein, we use molecular phylogenetic, molecular clock and behavioural evidence to examine the historical biogeography of the genus. Ancestral area reconstructions in conjunction with divergence estimates and palaeoclimatogical data are used to test whether the long‐standing paradigm of Beringian colonization or trans‐Atlantic dispersal best explains modern distributions in the New and Old Worlds. Location Worldwide, with emphasis on New World–Old World biotic interchange. Methods Using a molecular phylogenetic hypothesis of Turdus thrushes, we reconstructed ancestral area relationships utilizing the five major continental or regional areas occupied by species in the genus. We also examined the evolution of behaviours on the phylogeny, and estimated the timing of major lineage divergences via a molecular clock. Results Turdus originated in Eurasia, and following the colonization of Africa underwent a series of five trans‐Atlantic sweepstake dispersals. The data reject the alternative hypothesis that connections between Old and New World Turdus species can be attributed to movement through Beringia with subsequent extinction. Divergence estimates indicate that these dispersals all occurred near the Miocene–Pliocene boundary, 5 Ma. A significant phylogenetic correlation between migratory and flocking behaviour is evident in the genus. Main conclusions The initial divergence of Turdus in the Old World was followed by a series of trans‐Atlantic sweepstake dispersal events. These dispersals are temporally correlated with a specific palaeoclimatic system, which would have facilitated transport of Turdus from the Caribbean to the Old World across the Atlantic. Uplift of the Central American Seaway 4.7 Ma effectively shut down the palaeoclimatic system, and no additional trans‐Atlantic dispersals are evident in Turdus after this time. Migratory movements by ancestral lineages in flocks, rather than as single individuals, suggest an increased likelihood of successfully colonizing new areas, post‐dispersal.