Search results for "CLASSIFICATION"

Peat stratigraphy and changes in peat formation during the Holocene in Latvia

2015

Mires represented by raised bogs, fens, and transitional mires cover approximately 10 % of Latvia. They started to form towards the end of the last glacial period and the beginning of the Holocene under varying geological and palaeoecological conditions. The aim of the study was to evaluate how the results of peat palaeobotanical investigation can reveal changes in the conditions of peat formation and allow a subdivision to be made of the Holocene according to the scheme suggested by the INTIMATE group (Walker et al. 2012). Records from 21 mires have been evaluated to find evidence of changes in mire vegetation and peat formation, and to discover whether these records define boundaries allo…

The carbonates of the Permian Lakes of North Massif central, France

1992

During the Permian, large fluvio-lacustrine basins occurred within the West European Hercynian chain. The deposits were mainly detrital (conglomerates, sandstones and pelites). The two studied sites, Couy borehole and Aumance basin contain several dolomitic beds alternating with pelites containing Ostracods. The carbonate layers constitute various dolomitized facies with dolosparite, laminated and bituminous dolomites, oolites, oncolites and stromatolites, and pedological nodules. Microfacies are varied. The dolomite crystals can be either isolated rhombs scattered in pelites or rhombs and xenomorphic crystals cementing sandstones; in dolomicrites, dolomicrosparites and dolosparites, crysta…

Phylogeny and biogeography of fossil and extant Microtus (Terricola) (Mammalia, Rodentia) of Sicily and the southern Italian peninsula based on curre…

2011

Abstract The fossil record of the Savi vole, Microtus ( Terricola ) savii , is analyzed in terms of morphological and morphometrical variability of the first lower molar, in order to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships between insular and mainland populations and the dispersal events. The present work gives a contribution to better understand the phylogenetic history of this taxon in Sicily and Southern Italy during the interval Middle Pleistocene – Holocene, in an attempt to reconstruct the relationships between insular and continental voles and to clarify some paleobiogeographical aspects. The morphometrical data have been acquired by traditional measurements of the first lower molar a…

Defining the Island Dwarfing Rate of an Extinct Sicilian Elephant Using Ancient DNA

2020

Evolution on islands, and the often extreme phenotypic changes associated with it, has attracted much interest from evolutionary biologists. However, measuring the rate of change of a particular phenotypic trait of extinct animals can be challenging, due to the incompleteness of the fossil record. Here, we use combined molecular and fossil evidence to define the minimum and maximum rate of dwarfing in an extinct Mediterranean dwarf elephant from Puntali Cave (Sicily). Despite the challenges associated with recovering ancient DNA from warm climates, we successfully retrieved a mitogenome from a sample with an estimated age between 147,000 and 50,000 years. Our results suggest that this speci…

1999

The Quaternary karstic site of Sierra de Quibas (Abanilla, Murcia, Spain) has provided a wide faunistic list with 53 species distributed among gastropods, myriapods, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Especially interesting among the gastropods is Palaeoglandina that became extinct in Europe during the Pliocene. It remains as a relict genus in the Pleistocene of the Iberian Peninsula. Two of the birds, Gypaetus barbatus and Geronticus eremita, and a snake, Elaphe cf. E. sealaris, are scarcely represented in the fossil record. For several birds, it is the first record in the Lower Pleistocene of the Iberian Peninsula. Among the mammals, the presence of the Cercopithecine Macaca sylvanu…

Evaluation of cliff recession in the Valle dei Templi in Agrigento (Sicily)

2015

Abstract The sacral complex of the Valle dei Templi in Agrigento, added in the UNESCO Heritage Site List, stands over the crest of a rigid calcarenite cuesta, which overlies a layer of partially saturated (S = 6–12%) carbonate sand. In turn, the sand stratum lies on a thick stratum of clays. The environment is highly prone to landslides as highlighted by several previous studies that identify the undermining of slopes and the discontinuity pattern, occurred in the late Neotectonic phase, as causes of cliff failure. For wider and less exposed areas, where the undermining local instabilities can be present because of the specific morphology of the site, a recent research has proposed a new in…

Biogeographical comparison of winter bird assemblages in urban environments in Finland

1996

We studied biogeographical variation of urban bird assemblages in Finland. Winter birds were censused by single-visit study plot method from thirty-one centres of villages or towns along 950 km latitudinal extent. A total twenty-eight bird species was observed and the average density was 61.2 ind./10 ha. The number of dominant species in study areas varied between two and seven and their proportion of the whole assemblage was over 70%. Species richness, but not the density of birds, decreased northwards in pooled data. Higher species richness in south than in north was mainly due to the higher amount of delayed migratory birds (e.g. waterbirds, finches) and southerly distributed bird specie…

<strong>New records of <em>Pseudophatnoma</em> <em>laosana</em> B. Lis, 1999 (Hemiptera: Tingoidea: Cantacaderidae) fro…

2015

The lace-bug genus Pseudophatnoma was described for P. corniculata from the Riau Archipelago in Indonesia, and because of its morphological characteristics the genus was placed in the subfamily Cantacaderinae of the family Tingidae (Blote 1945).

Tarsius tumpara: A New Tarsier Species from Siau Island, North Sulawesi

2008

Abstract: A new, critically endangered species of tarsier, one of the world's 25 most endangered primates, is described from the remote island of Siau, North Sulawesi, based on distinguishing characteristics of the tail tuft, pelage coloration, skull, and vocalizations. Siau is part of the Sangihe Island chain, a volcanic arc composed of islands that rise from the ocean floor. There is a single previous record of a tarsier from Siau; a skull in the Dresden Museum that Meyer (1897) classified with tarsiers from Sangihe Island as Tarsius sangirensis. Sangihe and Siau Islands are geologically separated by about 60 km of ocean that greatly exceeds 1,000 m in depth. Genetic data for the new spec…

Cottus gobio Linnaeus, 1758 Community Interest Species Conservation in Upper Târnava Mare River Basin, Through Fish Populations Rehabilitation for Br…

2017

Abstract The ADONIS: CE software has been used for two fish species, Cottus gobio, of conservation interest and Salmo trutta fario, of economic interest, to design an on-site (upper Târnava Mare River) adapted support-system model for management decision-making. Habitat needs and indicators of favourable conservation status have been investigated, pressures and threats to these fish species have been determined, and management elements have been suggested. This management system allows the proper organization of management measures for the renaturation of the local natural fish associations in the local brown trout zone.