Search results for "Vertebrate"
showing 10 items of 830 documents
Sedimentology and vertebrate fossils of the Frasnian Ogre Formation, Gurova outcrops, eastern Latvia
2020
Combined sedimentological and palaeontological study of the siliciclastic sequence of the Ogre Formation in the easternmost area of its distribution in Latvia was aimed at the facies analysis of the deposits and at detailed observation of the taxonomical and taphonomical peculiarities of the fossil vertebrate assemblage. Two facies associations, tidally-influenced fluvial channels and lateral tidal bars, have been identified in exposures along the Gurova River. Sedimentological evidences suggest that the studied deposits were formed in the fluvial environment with strong tidal influence. The sedimentary concentrations of vertebrate remains, dominated by the antiarch Bothriolepis maxima, por…
Preliminary report on the microvertebrate faunal remains from the Late Triassic locality at Krasiejów, SW Poland
2019
Fossil vertebrate remains from the Keuper unit in the vicinity of the village of Krasiejów have been analyzed for almost two decades. However, the main goal of these works was focused mainly on large vertebrates. Here the authors present the first description of microvertebrate fossils from that site. The collection of around 5,000 specimens is mainly comprised of teeth and scales. The most numerous remains belong to osteichthyans: dipnoans (Ptychoceratodus and cf. Arganodus), palaeoniscids, semionotids, redfieldiids and chondrichthyans, such as Lonchidion sp., which is the first indisputable record of that genus in the Upper Triassic of Poland and the first shark at the Krasiejów locality.…
The Riverine Organism Drift Imager: A new technology to study organism drift in rivers and streams
2023
1. Drift or downstream dispersal is a fundamental process in the life cycle of many riverine organisms. In the face of rapidly declining freshwater biodiversity, there is a need to enhance our capacity to study the drift of riverine organisms, by overcoming the limitations of traditional labour-intensive sampling methods that result in data of low temporal and spatial resolution. 2. To address this need, we developed a new technology, the Riverine Organism Drift Imager (RODI), which combines in situ imaging with machine-learning classification. This technique expands on the traditional methodology by replacing the collection cup of a drift net with a camera system that continuously images r…
Anthropic impact, bioactive molecules, sustainable development, my keyword? Biodiversity!
2023
Biodiversity is my main research focus and that of my research group. We study a range of different aspects concerning biodiversity, such as the impact anthropic activities have on biodiversity and how to improve its preservation, its use as a valuable resource for the extraction of bioactive molecules, and the study of its distribution. The research group has over twenty years of experience in the study of zoology, and, more in particular, the immune and behavioural responses of aquatic invertebrates and fish. For many years, the group has observed the effects of various anthropogenic activities, such as the acoustic and chemical impacts on the physiological and behavioral responses of inv…
EFFECT OF SUBMARINE ACOUSTIC NOISE IN JUVENILE SEA BREAM (SPARUS AURATA) AND MUSSELS (MYTILUS GALLOPROVINCIALIS)
2018
The earth’ resources are running out, the population will increase and further sources will be needed. These, were found in the deep ocean. To date the mining activities (Deep Sea Mining, DSM) they have not started. One impact of DSM could be underwater noise. Considering the noise frequencies of anthropic activities in the ocean, and the European directive on underwater noise control, we stressed the animals with four acoustic 1/3 band noises around: 63 Hz, 125 Hz, 500 Hz, 1kHz. We study the effects on Sparus aurata juveniles, and on Mytilus galloprovincialis. We will analyse behavioural., molecular and biochemical responses Los recursos de la tierra se están agotando, la población aumenta…
Sulfate sensitivity of aquatic organism in soft freshwaters explored by toxicity tests and species sensitivity distribution
2023
Elevated concentrations of sulfate in waterways are observed due to various anthropogenic activities. Elevated levels of sulfate can have harmful effects on aquatic life in freshwaters: sulfate can cause osmotic stress or specific ion toxicity in aquatic organisms, especially in soft waters where Ca2+ and Mg2+ concentrations are low. Formerly, chronic toxicity test data in soft water have been scarce. The chronic and acute sulfate toxicity tests conducted with aquatic organisms from 10 families across various trophic levels in this study multiplied the number of tests conducted in soft freshwater conditions and enabled derivation of the species sensitivity distribution (SSD) and sulfate haz…
Flotsam samples can help explain the δ13C and δ15N values of invertebrate resting stages in lake sediment
2018
Abstract The stable isotopic composition of chitinous remains of Cladocera (water fleas) and freshwater Bryozoa (moss animals) preserved in lake sediment records can provide supporting insights into past environmental and ecosystem changes in lakes. Here we explore whether analyses of these remains isolated from lake flotsam can provide information on the driving variables affecting the isotopic composition of these remains. We collected flotsam in 53 lakes and found enough material in 33 lakes to measure the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios (expressed as δ13C and δ15N values, respectively) of resting stages. These values were compared with lake characteristics, water chemistry mea…
Anti-inflammatory activity in selected Antarctic benthic organisms
2014
Antarctic benthos was prospected in search for anti-inflammatory activity in polar benthic invertebrates, in two different geographical areas: deep-bottoms of the Eastern Weddell Sea and shallow-waters of the South Shetland Islands. A total of 36 benthic algae and invertebrate species were selected to perform solubility tests in order to obtain extracts that were soluble at an innocuous ethanol concentration (0.2%) for cell culture, and further test them for anti-inflammatory activity. From these, ethanol extracts of ten species from five different phyla resulted suitable to be studied in cell macrophage cultures (RAW 264.7). Cytotoxicity (MTT method) and production of inflammatory mediator…
Light-dependent CK2-mediated phosphorylation of centrins regulates complex formation with visual G-protein.
2008
AbstractCentrins are Ca2+-binding EF-hand proteins. All four known centrin isoforms are expressed in the ciliary apparatus of photoreceptor cells. Cen1p and Cen2p bind to the visual G-protein transducin in a strictly Ca2+-dependent way, which is thought to regulate light driven movements of transducin between photoreceptor cell compartments. These relatively slow motile processes represent a novel paradigm in light adaptation of photoreceptor cells.Here we validated specific phosphorylation as a novel regulator of centrins in photoreceptors. Centrins were differentially phosphorylated during photoreceptor dark adaptation. Inhibitor treatments revealed protein kinase CK2 as the major protein…
Responses of taxonomic distinctness and species diversity indices to anthropogenic impacts and natural environmental gradients in stream macroinverte…
2007
SUMMARY 1. Many studies have shown traditional species diversity indices to perform poorly in discriminating anthropogenic influences on biodiversity. By contrast, in marine systems, taxonomic distinctness indices that take into account the taxonomic relatedness of species have been shown to discriminate anthropogenic effects. However, few studies have examined the performance of taxonomic distinctness indices in freshwater systems. 2. We studied the performance of four species diversity indices and four taxonomic distinctness indices for detecting anthropogenic effects on stream macroinvertebrate assemblages. Further, we examined the effects of catchment type and area, as well as two varia…