Search results for "D.N.A."

Shape, size, and quantity of ingested external abrasives influence dental microwear texture formation in guinea pigs

2020

Food processing wears down teeth, thus affecting tooth functionality and evolutionary success. Other than intrinsic silica phytoliths, extrinsic mineral dust/grit adhering to plants causes tooth wear in mammalian herbivores. Dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) is widely applied to infer diet from microscopic dental wear traces. The relationship between external abrasives and dental microwear texture (DMT) formation remains elusive. Feeding experiments with sheep have shown negligible effects of dust-laden grass and browse, suggesting that intrinsic properties of plants are more important. Here, we explore the effect of clay- to sand-sized mineral abrasives (quartz, volcanic ash, loess,…

Dental microwear texture gradients in guinea pigs reveal that material properties of the diet affect chewing behaviour

2021

ABSTRACT Dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) is widely used for diet inferences in extant and extinct vertebrates. Often, a reference tooth position is analysed in extant specimens, while isolated teeth are lumped together in fossil datasets. It is therefore important to test whether dental microwear texture (DMT) is tooth position specific and, if so, what causes the differences in wear. Here, we present results from controlled feeding experiments with 72 guinea pigs, which received either fresh or dried natural plant diets of different phytolith content (lucerne, grass, bamboo) or pelleted diets with and without mineral abrasives (frequently encountered by herbivorous mammals in natu…

Positive effect of platelet rich fibrin on osseointegration

2016

Background Leukocyte-platelet rich fibrin (L-PRF) is a second generation platelet concentrate clinically used to accelerate tissue healing and bone regeneration. Achieving reduced implant osseointegration time could provide immediate or early loading of implants. The aim of this study was to evaluate the L-PRF-induced osseointegration and bone-implant contact (BIC) in an experimental animal model. Material and Methods Twelve 4-month-old New Zealand white rabbits were used. Following general anesthesia, 3-5 mL of blood was obtained from the central artery in rabbit ear and L-PRF was prepared. Two implant cavities (5 mm long and 3 mm in diameter) were created in each tibia with a total of fou…

Redescription of the forgotten New Caledonian weevil genus Callistomorphus Perroud, 1865 (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Eugnomini) with descriptions of …

2019

Callistomorphusis one of the “forgotten” genera of the tribe Eugnomini inhabiting rain forest in New Caledonia. In this paper, the genusCallistomorphusand the type speciesC.farinosusare redescribed. Eight new species,Callistomorphusfundatussp. n.,C.gibbussp. n.,C.malleussp. n.,C.minimussp. n.,C.rutaisp. n.,C.szoltysisp. n.,C.torosussp. n.andC.turbidussp. n., are described, originating from the main island of New Caledonia. Illustrations and SEM photographs of the external morphology and the male and female terminalia are provided, as well as dorsal habitus colour photographs of the adults, a key to the species, a distribution map, and a discussion of the systematic position ofCallistomorphu…

Taxonomy 2.0: computer-aided identification tools to assist Antarctic biologists in the field and in the laboratory

2020

Species inventories are essential to the implementation of conservation policies to mitigate biodiversity loss and maintain ecosystem services and their value to the society. This is particularly topical with respect to climate change and direct anthropogenic effects on Antarctic biodiversity, with the identification of the most at-risk taxa and geographical areas becoming a priority. Identification tools are often neglected and considered helpful only for taxonomists. However, the development of new online information technologies and computer-aided identification tools provides an opportunity to promote them to a wider audience, especially considering the emerging generation of scientists…

Benchmark database for fine-grained image classification of benthic macroinvertebrates

2018

Managing the water quality of freshwaters is a crucial task worldwide. One of the most used methods to biomonitor water quality is to sample benthic macroinvertebrate communities, in particular to examine the presence and proportion of certain species. This paper presents a benchmark database for automatic visual classification methods to evaluate their ability for distinguishing visually similar categories of aquatic macroinvertebrate taxa. We make publicly available a new database, containing 64 types of freshwater macroinvertebrates, ranging in number of images per category from 7 to 577. The database is divided into three datasets, varying in number of categories (64, 29, and 9 categori…

Incidental catch of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) along the Sicilian coasts by longline fishery

2018

It has been estimated that 44,000 Caretta caretta turtles die every year due to anthropomorphic activity in the Mediterranean Sea, and that longline fishing is one of the most significant causes of mortality. A total of 482 specimens of C. caretta were rescued from different parts of the Sicilian coast (Mediterranean Sea) from 2014 to 2016. The most numerous stranding was recorded during the spring and summer seasons, mainly along the north and eastern coasts of Sicily. The curved carapace length for all the specimens ranged from between 19 and 95 cm and most of these were young or sub adults. The highest number of strandings was recorded in 2014 and 2015, with 206 and 169 individuals, resp…

2020

Phytoplankton synthesizes essential ω-3 and ω-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) for consumers in the aquatic food webs. Only certain phytoplankton taxa can synthesize eicosapentaenoic (EPA; 20:5ω3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6ω3), whereas all phytoplankton taxa can synthesize shorter-chain ω-3 and ω-6 PUFA. Here, we experimentally studied how the proportion, concentration (per DW and cell-specific), and production (µg FA L−1 day−1) of ω-3 and ω-6 PUFA varied among six different phytoplankton main groups (16 freshwater strains) and between exponential and stationary growth phase. EPA and DHA concentrations, as dry weight, were similar among cryptophytes and diatoms. However, Crypto…

Growth patterns, sexual dimorphism, and maturation modeled in Pachypleurosauria from Middle Triassic of central Europe (Diapsida: Sauropterygia)

2018

Bone tissue, microanatomy, and growth are studied in humeri of the pachypleurosaurs Dactylosaurus from the early Anisian of Poland and of aff. Neusticosaurus pusillus from the Lettenkeuper (early Ladinian) of southern Germany. Histology and modeled growth curves are compared to already published data of other pachypleurosaurs. Therefore, we herein established growth curves for Anarosaurus from the middle Anisian of Winterswijk (the Netherlands) and for pachypleurosaurs from the Anisian/Ladinian of the Alpine Triassic (i.e., Neusticosaurus spp. and Serpianosaurus). Humeri of Dactylosaurus, Anarosaurus, and aff. N. pusillus, all from the Germanic Basin, usually display an inner ring of (pre-)…

Root hair anatomy and morphology in Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile and substratum typology: First observations of a spiral form

2018

Abstract The morpho-anatomical root hair features of P. oceanica ramets collected in meadows settled on different substrata (sand, matte and rock) were analysed. On each substratum, nine plagiothropic rhizomes each one composed by 3–6 interconnected short shoots were collected between April and May 2016 at 10 m of depth. On sand and on rock, the adventitious roots showed two distinct tubular and spiral-shaped hairs, clustered in yellowish-gray gelatinous pads. Tubular root hair tips were dactiliform and generally attached to grains of rock fragments. Moreover, a sub-circular swelling zone occurred. On matte , root hairs did not form gelatinous pads, were very short and had a simple distal p…