Discovery Of A Rare Pterosaur Bone Bed In A Cretaceous Desert With Insights On Ontogeny And Behavior Of Flying Reptiles.

A pterosaur bone bed with at least 47 individuals (wing spans: 0.65-2.35 m) of a new species is reported from southern Brazil from an interdunal lake deposit of a Cretaceous desert, shedding new light on several biological aspects of those flying reptiles. The material represents a new pterosaur, Caiuajara dobruskii gen. et sp. nov., that is the southermost occurrence of the edentulous clade Tapejaridae (Tapejarinae, Pterodactyloidea) recovered so far. Caiuajara dobruskii differs from all other members of this clade in several cranial features, including the presence of a ventral sagittal bony expansion projected inside the nasoantorbital fenestra, which is formed by the premaxillae; and features of the lower jaw, like a marked rounded depression in the occlusal concavity of the dentary. Ontogenetic variation of Caiuajara dobruskii is mainly reflected in the size and inclination of the premaxillary crest, changing from small and inclined (∼ 115°) in juveniles to large and steep (∼ 90°) in adults. No particular ontogenetic features are observed in postcranial elements. The available information suggests that this species was gregarious, living in colonies, and most likely precocial, being able to fly at a very young age, which might have been a general trend for at least derived pterosaurs.

Dioszegia antarctica sp. nov. and Dioszegia cryoxerica sp. nov., psychrophilic basidiomycetous yeasts from polar desert soils in Antarctica

International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 60

Orientalism and Imperialism in French West Africa. Considerations on travel literature, colonial tourism, and the desert as a “commodity” in Mauritania

In this article we intend to make a summary overview of the influence that literary production, originated under colonial mapping missions or later in travel writing, had in the construction and establishment of a discourse to advertise and promote tourism in Mauritania. To this end we will draw on travel narratives that are illustrative of different periods and that correspond in some way to discourses of otherness. In this specific case, such discourses relate to the “Moors” of the West African coast and were produced in various historical contexts. We will also consider the discourse present in the tourism promotion materials of the colonial period and we will demonstrate to what extent it can be engaged in a dialogue with 19th and 20th centuries’ Western colonial literature.

Reptiles of Marshall Field North Arabian desert expeditions, 1927-1928, by Karl P. Schmidt.

v.17:no.6(1930)

A molecular contribution to the controversial taxonomical status of some freshwater snails (Caenogastropoda: Rissooidea, Cochliopidae) from the Central Andes desert to Patagonia

For over 40 years malacologists have been discussing the taxonomical status of Heleobia species, an enigmatic genus from Cochliopidae family (Caenogastropoda: Rissooidea). As with other rissooidean families, the considerable character convergence and the paucity of anatomical synapomorphies has proved to be a problem in resolving cochliopid phylogenetic relations and establishing the validity of several nominal cochliopid species. Here we present a molecular contribution to solve the taxonomical status of one of the most abundant Southern South America cochliopid genera which has many endemic species. We report molecular evidence that supports three of the four Heleobia groups described for this region, the "australis", "parchappii" and "piscium" groups. The fourth, the "hatcheri" group, belongs not to Heleobia but to a different genus which itself should not be considered as part of the family Cochliopidae but closely related to genus Potamolithus Pilsbry & Rush, 1896.

Desert Grace

Combined media on paper. 91" x 42", Private Collection

Desert II

Combined media on paper. 42" x 60"

Infecção por Enterobius vermicularis em populações agro-pastoris pré-colombianas de San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Enterobius vermicularis eggs were found in human coprolites collected from the archaeological site of San Pedro de Atacama, North of Chile, in occupational layers dated from 1,000 BC. Agricultures and herding were begining at this period of time in this region of South America. The paleoparasitological data amplifies the knowledge about the distribution of human oxyuriasis in Pre-Columbian America.

Desert and Distributive Efficiency

It is highly desirable for an allocation of goods to be efficient. However, one might also deem it important that an allocation gives individuals what they deserve. This paper investigates whether it is possible for an allocation to be both efficient and give people what they deserve. It will first of all consider comparative desert, and conclude that it is possible to satisfy both desiderata. It will then consider absolute desert by integrating Shelly Kagan’s work on desert and economic theory. The conclusion will be that there are potential conflicts between absolute desert and efficiency. The paper will then examine how to select the best compromise between the two values, considering several different conceptions of absolute desert.

Vegetation changes in a river oasis on the southern rim of the Taklamakan Desert in China between 1956 and 2000

The indigenous vegetation surrounding the river oases on the southern rim of the Taklamakan Desert has drastically diminished due to overexploitation as a source of fodder, timber and fuel for the human population. The change in the spatial extent of landscape forms and vegetation types around the Qira oasis was analyzed by comparing SPOT satellite images from 1998 with aerial photographs from 1956. The analysis was supplemented by field surveys in 1999 and 2000. The study is part of a joint Chinese-European project with the aim of assessing the current state of the foreland vegetation, of gathering information on the regeneration potential and of suggesting procedures for a sustainable management. With 33 mm of annual precipitation, plants can only grow if they have access to groundwater, lakes or rivers. Most of the available water comes into the desert via rivers in the form of seasonal flooding events resulting from snow melt in the Kun Lun Mountains. This water is captured in canal systems and used for irrigation of arable fields. Among the eight herbaceous and woody vegetation types and the type of open sand without any plant life that were mapped in 2000 in the oasis foreland, only the latter, the oasis border between cultivated land and open Populus euphratica forests and Tamarix ramosissima-Phragmites australis riverbed vegetation could be clearly identified on the photographs from 1956. The comparison of the images revealed that the oasis increased in area between 1956 and 2000. Shifting sand was successfully combated near to the oasis borders but increased in extent at the outward border of the foreland vegetation. In contrast to expectations, the area covered with Populus trees was smaller in 1956 than today due to some new forests in the north of the oasis that have grown up since 1977. Subfossil wood and leaf remnants of Populus euphratica that were found in many places in the foreland must have originated from forests destroyed before 1956. In the last 50 years, the main Qira River has shifted its bed significantly northward and developed a new furcation with a large new bed in 1986. The natural river dynamics are not only an important factor in forming the oasis’ landscape but also in providing the only possible regeneration sites for all occurring plant species. The conclusion of the study is that the oasis landscape has changed considerably in the last 50 years due to natural floodings and to vegetation degradation by human overexploitation. The trend towards decreasing width of the indigenous vegetation belt resulting from the advancing desert and the expansion of arable land is particularly alarming because a decrease in its protective function against shifting sand can be expected in the future.

[Ressenya del llibre The Desert is no lady: southwestern landscapes in women's writing and art, de Vera Norwood i Janice Monk (ed.)]

Ressenya del llibre The Desert is no lady: southwestern landscapes in women's writing and art, obra on s’interrelacionen tres temes que són paisatge, gènere (en aquest cas, la dona) i literatura (i, per extensió, un quart que és l’art)