A new kogaionid multituberculate mammal from the Maastrichtian of the Transylvanian Basin,Romania

The Latest Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) terrestrial sedimentary sequences of the Haţeg Basin in Transylvania are well known for the so-called “Haţeg Island” vertebrate faunas, which evolved in endemic (insular?) conditions. In addition to frogs, lizards, turtles, crocodilians, birds and dinosaurs, peculiar multituberculate mammals have been recorded, all belonging to the family Kogaionidae. Here, a new species of the genus Barbatodon is reported from the Maastrichtian Şard Formation in the Transylvanian Basin (Alba County, Romania). Barbatodon oardaensis n. sp. is characterized by M1 cusp formula 3:4:2 and is much smaller than the two other Maastrichtian kogaionids from Transylvania, Barbatodon transylvanicus and Kogaionon ungureanui. The origin and paleobiogeography of kogaionids are discussed.     

The ecology and social behaviour of the Neotropical butterfly Heliconius xanthocles Bates in Colombia

The mimicry, population ecology¹, adult behaviour and life cycle of Heliconius xanthocles were studied at two sites in Colombian tropical forest. The results were compared with the known biology of other Heliconius species. H. xanthocles is probably unpalatable and is a Mullerian comimic of some other species. In the Amazon basin H. xanthocles belongs to the 'dennis ray' mimicry ring of the Heliconiini, which includes Eueides tales, H. bumeyi, H. elevatus, H. melpomene and H. erato. In the Rio Negro valley, where the latter species either do not exist or have different mimetic allegiances, the 'clennis-ray' pattern of H. xanthocles breaks down. The adults are pollen-feeders, like other Heliconius. but they also visit other food sources such as bird droppings. During a mark-recapture programme in the Rio Negro, adults were found to be almost entirely restricted to small areas near their foodplant Passiflorapraeacuta. Females were rarer than males, but this was probably due to a behavioural difference between the sexes. The males had a Fisher-Ford survival rate of 0.95 per day and a life expectancy of 19 days. Population size estimates of males were between 11 and 17 individuals. These estimates are lower than, but comparable to those for other Heliconius. Males as well as females visit the larval toodplant, and an adult male was observed hovering over a small group of larvae. The females lav batches of 12–41 eggs. The largest batch (41 eggs) was laid cooperatively by two females. The larvae are gregarious feeders on shoot-tips of Passiflora praeacuta. and all lile stages are described for the first time. Predation on the larvae by a bug is described. The pupa has a distinctive morphology unlike that of other Heliconius. The adult population ecology, mimicry and larval behaviour are discussed.