Origin of bipedalism

Human and chimpanzee locomotor behaviors are described and compared using field patterns derived from measurements of the motions at the joints. Field patterns of human and ape bipedalism are so different that it is doubted whether the nonhuman type could ever have been a precursor of the human type. Chimpanzee quadrupedal vertical climbing and human bipedalism are, on the other hand, similar and a particular variety of this kind of climbing probably was the precursor of human bipedalism. Animals adapted to this variation would have had some brachiation-like morphological traits in their pectoral limbs and some hominid-like morphological traits in their pelvic limbs, traits anticipating the human condition. The australopithecines possessed these traits and must have been adapted to arboreal quadrupedal vertical climbing, having the capacity, at the same time, to perform facultative terrestrial bipedalism, moving on the ground in a manner visually identical to that of humans.     

甘蔗品种资源的表型遗传多样性

为了提高甘蔗品种资源的利用效率, 为甘蔗遗传育种亲本的选择、杂交组合配制及核心种质构建提供理论指导, 我们利用17个质量性状和5个数量性状分析了来自13个国家共20个地区的1,160份甘蔗品种资源的遗传变异、遗传结构和遗传距离等。结果表明: 5个数量性状在不同来源地品种群体之间的变异系数值(CV)变化较大, 说明不同来源地品种群体的数量遗传变异有较大差异, 其中来自海南的品种其群体遗传变异最丰富。质量性状的Shannon-Wiener多样性指数表明, 来自美国的品种群体遗传多样性最高, 其次为中国台湾, 第三为澳大利亚, 说明上述3个地区的甘蔗种质创新比较活跃, 在遗传育种中使用了更多表型性状多样化的亲本。不同来源地品种其群体的遗传分化系数(Gst)和基因流(Nm)显示甘蔗品种群体表型性状的遗传变异主要来自来源地内部, 且不同来源地品种群体之间存在较大的基因交流。遗传距离和UPGMA聚类分析结果表明, 各来源地品种群体之间遗传距离在0.0261–0.2945之间, 其中以福建和广东的品种最为相似, 其次为古巴和美国、广西和云南、澳大利亚和菲律宾、江西和四川、巴西和法国, 说明上述地区在杂交亲本的选择上比较相近。鉴于此, 在遗传育种中应加大利用具有丰富遗传多样性的品种材料并尽量避免选择同一组的品种相互杂交, 同时对于与其他来源地品种群体遗传距离较远的墨西哥品种群体在亲本选配时应给予更多关注。     

Against “Revolution” and “Evolution”

Those standard historiographic themes of evolution and revolution need replacing. They perpetuate mid-Victorian scientists history of science. Historians history of science does well to take in the long run from the Greek and Hebrew heritages on, and to work at avoiding misleading anachronism and teleology. As an alternative to the usual evo-revo themes, a historiography of origins and species, of cosmologies (including microcosmogonies and macrocosmogonies) and ontologies, is developed here. The advantages of such a historiography are illustrated by looking briefly at a number of transitions the transition from Greek and Hebrew doctrines to their integrations by medieval authors; the transition from the Platonist, Aristotelian, Christian Aquinas to the Newtonian Buffon and to the no less Newtonian Lamarck; the departures the early Darwin made away from Lamarcks and from Lyells views. Issues concerning historical thinking about nature, concerning essentialism and concerning classification are addressed in an attempt to challenge customary stereotypes. Questions about originality and influence are raised, especially concerning Darwins tree of life scheme. The broader historiography of Darwinian science as a social ideology, and as a worldview, is examined and the scope for revisions emphasised. Throughout, graduate students are encouraged to see this topic area not as worked out, but as full of opportunities for fresh contributions.     

Evolution, origin and age of lineages in the Californian and Mediterranean floras

This paper addresses some of the conceptual issues involved in the analysis of the age and origin of mediterranean‐climate plant taxa, paying particular attention to three topics: (1) the importance of an explicit time frame in the definition of biogeographical origins, (2) the distinction between the age of traits and the age of taxa, and (3) the idea of mediterranean‐type ecosystems as environmental islands. (1) In California, recent analyses demonstrate that the diversity of species derived from different biogeographical origins is significantly correlated with temperature and precipitation gradients. These patterns support the hypothesis that niche conservatism is an important factor structuring modern diversity gradients. However, depending on how far back in time one looks, a species may be assigned to different origins; future discussions of biogeographical origins need to address the appropriate time frame for analysis. (2) Past research has demonstrated distinctive trait syndromes among woody plants of the Mediterranean, Chile, California and Mexico, and proposed that the syndromes are associated with lineages of different age in these floras. Reanalysis of individual traits demonstrates greater variability among regions than previously reported. The classification of plants into ‘old’ and ‘new’ genera is re‐evaluated, and it is suggested that greater attention be paid to the age of traits, rather than to the age of taxa, especially at an arbitrary rank such as genus. (3) The idea of mediterranean‐climate regions as ‘climatic islands’ is examined. Space–time diagrams of climate enable one to view the emergence of distinctive climatic regions in a continental context. The terms ‘synclimatic’ and ‘anticlimatic’ are proposed, referring to migration routes that parallel climate contours in space and time versus those that cross contours (including the case of geographic stasis in the face of climate change), respectively. Mediterranean‐climate regions have served as important case studies in plant ecology and evolution, and merit continued close examination in the light of continued advances in phylogenetics and palaeoecology.     

Methylation of histone H3 at lysine 37 by Set1 and Set2 prevents spurious DNA replication

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Observations on the ultrastructure of representatives of the genera Hemiselmis and Chroomonas (Cryptophyceae)

Hemiselmis rufescens Parke and three species of the genus Chroomonas have been examined by electron microscopy. They demonstrate certain characteristic features of the Cryptophyceae, such as the presence of trichocysts and the arrangement of thylakoids in pairs in the plastid. The prominent pyrenoid of the genus Chroomonas is penetrated longitudinally by a tongue of cytoplasmic matrix which originates from between the two pairs of plastid membranes. In the genus Hemiselmis, however, the pyrenoid is traversed by a pair of thylakoids. The nucleus, Golgi apparatus and Corps de Maupas also occupy characteristic positions. These features indicate a close relationship between these two genera and the other major genus Cryptomonas, and support the suggestion that the Cryptophyceae is a discrete taxonomic group.