Search results for "D.N.A."
showing 10 items of 6568 documents
Middle Triassic sharks from the Catalan Coastal ranges (NE Spain) and faunal colonization patterns during the westward transgression of Tethys
2020
Abstract Palaeogeographic changes that occurred during the Middle Triassic in the westernmost Tethyan domain were governed by a westward marine transgression of the Tethys Ocean. The transgression flooded wide areas of the eastern part of Iberia, forming new epicontinental shallow-marine environments, which were subsequently colonized by diverse faunas, including chondrichthyans. The transgression is recorded by two successive transgressive–regressive cycles: (1) middle–late Anisian and (2) late Anisian–early Carnian. Here, we describe the chondrichthyan fauna recovered from several Middle Triassic stratigraphic sections (Pelsonian-Longobardian) located at the Catalan Coastal Basin (western…
Dietary evidence from Central Asian Neanderthals: A combined isotope and plant microremains approach at Chagyrskaya Cave (Altai, Russia).
2021
Neanderthals are known primarily from their habitation of Western Eurasia, but they also populated large expanses of Northern Asia for thousands of years. Owing to a sparse archaeological record, relatively little is known about these eastern Neanderthal populations. Unlike in their western range, there are limited zooarchaeological and paleobotanical studies that inform us about the nature of their subsistence. Here, we perform a combined analysis of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes on bone collagen and microbotanical remains in dental calculus to reconstruct the diet of eastern Neanderthals at Chagyrskaya Cave in the Altai Mountains of Southern Siberia, Russia. Stable isotopes identify…
Letter to the editor regarding the article “Taking advantage of seagrass recovery potential to develop novel and effective meadow rehabilitation meth…
2020
Alagna et al. (2019) suggest new transplantation methods for Posidonia oceanica (Linnaeus) Delile, inspired by its natural recovery process after disturbance due to dredging operations for gas-pipelines. They observe that P. oceanica vegetative fragments naturally settled only on loose calcareous stones deployed to fill the trenches of the gas-pipeline. No recovery was noted on dead matte, sand and large calcarenitic boulders. Following a new pilot restoration project currently ongoing in the same area, we demonstrate that natural recovery also occurs on dead matte. After examining other alternative transplantation methods for P. oceanica, the Authors suggest using their "habitat enhancemen…
The mapping of the Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile barrier reef meadow in the southeastern Gulf of Tunis (Tunisia)
2016
Abstract Barrier reefs are among the most important ecomorphosis for Posidonia oceanica meadows and have long been subjected to anthropic pressures. The authors mapped the entire Sidi Rais (northeastern Tunisia) Posidonia oceanica barrier reef by means of remote sensing based on processing a satellite image acquired via Google Earth © software, coupled with field observations obtained by snorkeling. The map thus produced represents the P. oceanica barrier reef in its current state, covering a total area of 156.77 ha, the reef being divided into three distinct sections separated by reverse flows with each section subject to varied anthropic factors and disturbances.
The cranium of Proviverra typica (Mammalia, Hyaenodonta) and its impact on hyaenodont phylogeny and endocranial evolution.
2019
19 pages; International audience; We describe the first endocast reconstruction of a hyaenodont mammal based on X‐ray microtomography. The endocast belongs to the type material of the European hyaenodont Proviverra typica. We performed phylogenetic analysis to contextualize the evolution of endocranial size and complexity in Hyaenodonta. We added several European hyaenodonts and modified several codings of the most recent character–taxon matrix established to question the relationships within Hyaenodonta. Including these new species in a phylogenetic analysis reveals a new clade: Hyaenodontoidea. Comparisons with several previously described endocasts show that there was an increase in comp…
An enigmatic marine reptile, Hispaniasaurus cranioelongatus (gen. et sp. nov.) with nothosauroid affinities from the Ladinian of the Iberian Range (S…
2017
An incomplete skull of a marine reptile with an atypical elongation of the postorbital region is described. The find comes from the Muschelkalk facies (Cañete Formation) of the Villora section (Iberian Range, Cuenca Province, Spain), characterised by a shallow marine (intertidal) environment and dated as Ladinian in age. The small skull has a rectangular shape, lacking, as preserved, upper temporal openings and a parietal foramen. The upper temporal openings might be secondarily closed. However, the absence of a parietal foramen and squamosals in the preserved part and the incompleteness of the pterygoids make a posteriorly postponed location of the upper temporal openings also conceivable.…
Middle-Late Triassic chondrichthyans remains from the the Betic Range (Spain)
2017
Purpose In the present study, we described, for first time, the chondrichthyan fauna from several Middle-Late Triassic sections in the Betic Domain and compare it with other recent described coeval faunas from the Iberian Ranges. Methods Specimens were retrieved after the dissolution (with 10% acetic acid) of carbonate rocks. Results The assemblage comprises of seven species belonging to six genera (Hybodus plicatilis, Omanoselache bucheri comb. nov., Omanoselache contrarius comb. nov., Lonchidion derenzii, Lissodus aff. L. lepagei, Pseudodalatias henarejensis and cf. Rhomaleodus budurovi), most of them non-nesoselachian. Chondrichthyans remains occur in levels dating from Ladinian to Carni…
A new genus for the eastern dwarf galagos (Primates: Galagidae).
2017
13 pages; International audience; The family Galagidae (African galagos or bushbabies) comprises five genera: EuoticusGray, 1872; GalagoGeoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1796; GalagoidesSmith, 1833; OtolemurCoquerel, 1859; and SciurocheirusGray, 1872, none of which is regarded as monotypic, but some (Euoticus and Otolemur) certainly qualify as oligotypic. We argue for the recognition of a sixth genus, if the taxonomy is to reflect galagid evolution accurately. Genetic evidence has consistently demonstrated that the taxa currently referred to the genus Galagoides are not monophyletic but form two clades (a western and an eastern clade) that do not share an exclusive common ancestor; we review 20 years…
The problem of misidentification between edible and poisonous wild plants: Reports from the Mediterranean area
2018
Abstract Today, in many European countries, people are looking for wild edible plants to experience new tastes and flavors, by following the new trend of being green and environmentally friendly. Young borage and spinach leaves can be easily confused by inexpert pickers with those of other plants, including poisonous ones, such as Mandragora autumnalis Bertol. (mandrake) or Digitalis purpurea L. (foxglove), common in southern and northern Italy respectively. In the last twenty years, several cases of intoxication by accidental ingestion of mandrake and foxglove have been reported. The purpose of this work was to perform a pharmacognostic characterization of young leaves from borage, mandrak…
Chaenothecopsis schefflerae (Ascomycota: Mycocaliciales): a widespread fungus on semi-hardened exudates of endemic New Zealand Araliaceae
2017
Ascomycetes specialised to live on hardened plant exudates occur worldwide, but the number of species so far described is relatively small (c.30). Particularly within the genus Chaenothecopsis (Ascomycota:Mycocaliciales), many species produce their ascomata on hardened but still relatively fresh outpourings of conifer resin or angiosperm exudate. Temperate rainforests of New Zealand provide habitat for several endemic Chaenothecopsis species, including Chaenothecopsis schefflerae, which was previously known from a single sample collected from the exudate of Schefflera digitata (Araliaceae) in the early 1980s. Here we show that C.schefflerae is neither lost nor very rare, but occurs sporadic…