Search results for "FOSS"
showing 10 items of 556 documents
Condylar distances in hypermobile temporomandibular joints of patients with excessive mouth openings by using computed tomography
2014
Objectives: hypermobility in Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) can manifest higher range of motions in mandible. The aim of this study was to compare the position and distances of the head of condyle to glenoid fossa in TMJs of healthy individuals and patients with mild, moderate and severe TMJ hypermobility. Material and Methods: In this clinical study, 69 patients (between the ages of 22 to 42) with manifestation of joint hypermobility were included and Computed tomography were administered for both TMJs. The patients were divided into three groups based on their maximum mouth opening (MMO): (A) with MMO of 50-55 mm; (B) with MMO between 55 to 65 mm; and (C) with MMO >65 mm. Also, 15 healthy …
To be or not to be heavier: The role of dermal bones in the buoyancy of the Late Triassic temnospondyl amphibian Metoposaurus krasiejowensis.
2022
Stereospondyli are a clade of large aquatic temnospondyls known to have evolved a large dermal pectoral girdle. Among the Stereospondyli, metoposaurids in particular possess large interclavicles and clavicles relative to the rest of the postcranial skel-eton. Because of the large size of these dermal bones, it was first proposed that they served as ballast during hydrostatic buoyancy control which assisted metoposaurids to live a bottom-dwelling mode of life. However, a large bone need not necessarily be heavy, for which determining the bone compactness becomes crucial for under-standing any such adaptation in these dermal bones. Previous studies on the evolu-tion of bone adaptations to aqu…
A hidden species becoming visible : biogeography and ecology of Rhynchotalona latens (Cladocera, Anomopoda, Chydoridae)
2019
A long hidden chydorid (Chydoridae, Cladocera) taxon, first found as fossil specimens and recently redefined as Rhynchotalona latens (Sarmaja-Korjonen et al., Hydrobiologia 436: 165-169, 2000) is investigated for its biogeography and ecology. Late Holocene sediment sequence from Lake Sylvilampi, NE Finnish Lapland, and R. latens spatial distribution in relation to limno-climatic attributes in Finland were examined. Principal component analyses of fossil cladoceran communities showed that R. latens is mostly affiliated with Alonella excisa-Alonopsis elongata-Alonella nana species pool. Generalized linear modeling of R. latens responses to limno-climatic variation indicated that it prefers ac…
Coprolites in natural traps : direct evidence of bone-eating carnivorans from the Late Miocene Batallones-3 site, Madrid, Spain
2021
We describe two carnivoran coprolites found in the pseudokarst natural carnivore trap of Batallones-3, from the Late Miocene of Spain. The larger one, comprising multiple indistinguishable fragments of broken and corroded bones, indicates that the producer of the dropping might have been highly capable of crushing the softer parts of large bones. On the other hand, the smaller one shows several relatively larger and more complete bone fragments, thus exhibiting a greater capacity to break and swallow large portions of bone. The external morphology of the large coprolite is similar to that of extant bears, whereas the smaller one more closely resembles that of the living insectivorous hyaeni…
First record of Mesopithecus (Cercopithecidae, Colobinae) from the Miocene of the Iberian Peninsula
2015
We report dental remains of the extinct colobine monkey Mesopithecus from the Turolian (MN13, Late Miocene, ca. 6.23 Ma) locality of Venta del Moro (Valencia, Spain). They include most of the deciduous dentition and the unerupted germs of the first molars of a single infantile individual, as well as two lower left lateral incisors from two additional individuals. On the basis of morphometric comparisons, mainly based on the Ms, these remains are attributed to the Late Miocene species Mesopithecus pentelicus. They represent a significant addition to the knowledge of the deciduous dentition of this taxon, much less well-known than the permanent dentition. Although this genus was widely distri…
Short-term occupations at high elevation during the Middle Paleolithic at Kalavan 2 (Republic of Armenia).
2021
The Armenian highlands encompasses rugged and environmentally diverse landscapes and is characterized by a mosaic of distinct ecological niches and large temperature gradients. Strong seasonal fluctuations in resource availability along topographic gradients likely prompted Pleistocene hominin groups to adapt by adjusting their mobility strategies. However, the role that elevated landscapes played in hunter-gatherer settlement systems during the Late Pleistocene (Middle Palaeolithic [MP]) remains poorly understood. At 1640 m above sea level, the MP site of Kalavan 2 (Armenia) is ideally positioned for testing hypotheses involving elevation-dependent seasonal mobility and subsistence strateg…
Molecular phylogeny of the Notostraca
2012
Abstract We used a combined analysis of one nuclear (28S rDNA) and three mitochondrial markers (COI, 12S rDNA, 16S rDNA) to infer the molecular phylogeny of the Notostraca, represented by samples from the six continents that are inhabited by this group of branchiopod crustaceans. Our results confirm the monophyly of both extant notostracan genera Triops and Lepidurus with good support in model based and maximum parsimony analyses. We used branchiopod fossils as a calibration to infer divergence times among notostracan lineages and accounted for rate heterogeneity among lineages by applying relaxed-clock models. Our divergence date estimates indicate an initial diversification into the gener…
Phylogeography of lions (Panthera leossp.) reveals three distinct taxa and a late Pleistocene reduction in genetic diversity
2009
Lions were the most widespread carnivores in the late Pleistocene, ranging from southern Africa to the southern USA, but little is known about the evolutionary relationships among these Pleistocene populations or the dynamics that led to their extinction. Using ancient DNA techniques, we obtained mitochondrial sequences from 52 individuals sampled across the present and former range of lions. Phylogenetic analysis revealed three distinct clusters: (i) modern lions, Panthera leo; (ii) extinct Pleistocene cave lions, which formed a homogeneous population extending from Europe across Beringia (Siberia, Alaska and western Canada); and (iii) extinct American lions, which formed a separate popula…
Molecular phylogeny of the extinct cave lion Panthera leo spelaea.
2004
To reconstruct the phylogenetic position of the extinct cave lion (Panthera leo spelaea), we sequenced 1 kb of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene from two Pleistocene cave lion DNA samples (47 and 32 ky B.P.). Phylogenetic analysis shows that the ancient sequences form a clade that is most closely related to the extant lions from Africa and Asia; at the same time, cave lions appear to be highly distinct from their living relatives. Our data show that these cave lion sequences represent lineages that were isolated from lions in Africa and Asia since their dispersal over Europe about 600 ky B.P., as they are not found among our sample of extant populations. The cave lion lineages presented h…
The Anti Nuclear Litany
2012
Can nuclear energy become a viable alternative to fossil fuels? Almost all of French electricity is generated in nuclear plants, as is half of the electricity in Ukraine, Sweden and Belgium, a third in Finland and South Korea and a fifth in many other countries, among them Spain, Germany, the UK and the USA.