Determination of ages and fossil Coleoptera fauna from eight sites in the London region

These data sets report the fossil beetle assemblages identified from the Mesolithic to Late Bronze Age at eight sites in the London region. All but one of the study sites are within 2 km of the modern course of the Thames. The sites produced 128 faunal assemblages that yielded 218 identified species in 41 families of Coleoptera (beetles).  Beetle faunas of Mesolithic age indicate extensive wetlands near the Thames, bordered by rich deciduous woodlands. The proportion of woodland species declined in the Neolithic, apparently because of the expansion of wetlands, rather than because of human activities. The Early Bronze Age faunas contained a greater proportion of coniferous woodland and aquatic (standing water) species. An increase in the dung beetle fauna indicates the presence of sheep, cattle and horses, and various beetles associated with crop lands demonstrate the local rise of agriculture, albeit several centuries after the beginnings of farming in other regions of Britain. Late Bronze Age faunas show the continued development of agriculture and animal husbandry along the lower Thames. About 33% of the total identified beetle fauna from the London area sites have limited modern distributions or are extinct in the U.K. Some of these species are associated with the dead wood found in primeval forests; others are wetland species whose habitat has been severely reduced in recent centuries. The third group is stream-dwelling beetles that require clean, clear waters and river bottoms.

Dzieła Zygmunta Kaczkowskiego /

t.1. Od autora. Mąż szalony. Bitwa o chorążankę. Junakowie. Swaty na Rusi -- t.2. Kasztelanice Lubaczewscy. Murdelio -- t.3. Tradycje sanockie. Gniazdo Nieczujów. Starosta hołobucki -- t.4. Grób Nieczui -- t.5. Grób Nieczui (dokończenie). Stach z Kępy. Bajronista -- t.6. Bajronista (dokończenie). Dziwo-żona -- t.7-8. Dziwo-żona (dokończenie). Wnuczęta -- t.9. Wnuczęta (dokończenie). Kato. Bracia ślubni -- t.10-11. Bracia ślubni (dokończenie). Sodalis Marianus.

Effect of aestivation on long bone mechanical properties in the green-striped burrowing frog, Cyclorana alboguttata

The green-striped burrowing frog, Cyclorana alboguttata, survives extended drought periods by burrowing underground and aestivating. These frogs remain immobile within cocoons of shed skin and mucus during aestivation and emerge from their burrows upon heavy rains to feed and reproduce. Extended periods of immobilisation in mammals typically result in bone remodelling and a decrease in bone strength. We examined the effect of aestivation and, hence, prolonged immobilisation on cross-sectional area, histology and bending strength in the femur and tibiolibula of C alboguttata. Frogs were aestivated in soil for three and nine months and were compared with control animals that remained active, were fed and had a continual supply of water. Compared with the controls, long bone size, anatomy and bending strength remained unchanged, indicating an absence of disuse osteoporosis. This preservation of bone tissue properties enables C. alboguttata to compress the active portions of their life history into unpredictable windows of opportunity, whenever heavy rains occur.

Resource partitioning in sympatric delphinids: Space use and habitat preferences of Australian snubfin and Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins

1. Many species of delphinids co-occur in space and time. However, little is known of their ecological interactions and the underlying mechanisms that mediate their coexistence. 2. Snubfin Orcaella heinsohni, and Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins Sousa chinensis, live in sympatry throughout most of their range in Australian waters. I conducted boat-based surveys in Cleveland Bay, north-east Queensland, to collect data on the space and habitat use of both species. Using Geographic Information Systems, kernel methods and Euclidean distances I investigated interspecific differences in their space use patterns, behaviour and habitat preferences. 3. Core areas of use (50% kernel range) for both species were located close to river mouths and modified habitat such as dredged channels and breakwaters close to the Port of Townsville. Foraging and travelling activities were the dominant behavioural activities of snubfin and humpback dolphins within and outside their core areas. 4. Their representative ranges (95% kernel range) overlapped considerably, with shared areas showing strong concordance in the space use by both species. Nevertheless, snubfin dolphins preferred slightly shallower (1-2 m) waters than humpback dolphins (2-5 m). Additionally, shallow areas with seagrass ranked high in the habitat preferences of snubfin dolphins, whereas humpback dolphins favoured dredged channels. 5. Slight differences in habitat preferences appear to be one of the principal factors maintaining the coexistence of snubfin and humpback dolphins. I suggest diet partitioning and interspecific aggression as the major forces determining habitat selection in these sympatric species.

Anatomy and variability of "Cuvierichelys parisiensis", a geoemydid turtle that crosses the Eocene-Oligocene boundary in Belgium

Abundant material of turtles from the early Oligocene site of Boutersem-TGV (Boutersem, Belgium), is presented here. No information on the turtles found there was so far available. All the turtle specimens presented here are attributable to a single freshwater taxon that is identified as a member of Geoemydidae, Cuvierichelys. It is the first representative of the ‘Palaeochelys s. l.–Mauremys’ group recognized in the Belgian Paleogene record. This material, which allows to know all the elements of both the carapace and the plastron of the taxon, cannot be attributed to the only species of the genus Cuvierichelys so far identified in the Oligocene, the Spanish form Cuvierichelys iberica. The taxon from Boutersem is recognized as Cuvierichelys parisiensis. Thus, both the paleobiogeographic and the biostratigraphic distributions of Cuvierichelys parisiensis are extended, its presence being confirmed for the first time outside the French Eocene record. The validity of some European forms is refuted, and several characters previously proposed as different between Cuvierichelys iberica and Cuvierichelys parisiensis are recognized as subjected to intraspecific variability.

Distribución y taxonomía de mamíferos (clase mammalia) en el Cerro El Potosí Galeana, Nuevo León, México

El Cerro El Potosí es un área prioritaria para la Comisión Nacional para la Biodiversidad (CONABIO) y un Área Natural Protegida por el estado (Anónimo, 2000), debido a la existencia de una gran diversidad de tipos de vegetación y de especies de importancia fitogeografica o su orografía y altitud (3715 msnm) se considera un área promotora de procesos de especiación, registrándose especies endémicas y relictuales como el caso del Pinus culminicola y Nucifraga columbiana , es una de las montañas más altas del noroeste del país, está enclavada en la Sierra Madre Oriental. Con base en la información previa disponible, se presume que esta área ostente una mayor diversidad de flora y fauna. El objetivo principal fue el análisis de la diversidad y distribución de los mamíferos en los diferentes estratos vegetativos y altitudes dentro de los límites del Cerro El Potosí. Con el propósito de realizar las comparaciones de las diversidades de las especies en forma altitudinal, por vegetación, estacional; Se seleccionó la prueba de Chi-cuadrada para determinar dependencia entre especies y la altitud, tipo de muestreo o tipo de vegetación. Se efectuaron 24 salidas (mensuales) de campo, de noviembre del 2006 a octubre del 2008, de 3 a 4 días por salida. Se registraron 27 especies (14 Familias, 24 géneros, 27 especies, y 14 especies no reportadas previamente). De acuerdo al tipo de vegetación la riqueza se concentro en el bosque de pino seguido por el bosque de encino, las especies se distribuyeron en uno, en dos o más estratos de vegetación (patrones), para los diferentes tipos de vegetación se distribuyeron las especies de Silvilagus floridanus, Thomomys bottae, Peromyscus melanotis, Peromyscus levipes ambiguus, Canis latrans y Lynx rufus. Las especies que sólo se encontraron en un solo tipo de vegetación fueron Bassariscus astutus, Conepatus mesoleucus, Corynorhinus townsendii, Didelphis virginiana, Eptesicus fuscus, Puma yagouaroundi, Lasiurus cinereus, Lasiurus ega, Leptonycteris nivalis, Mustela frenata y Sorex milleri, por lo que se aprecia la diversidad encontrada en el sitio, esto en gran medida por la asociación de la vegetación y la altura marcado por la temperatura reportada para el sitio. Las especies que se localizaron en dos o más estratos o patrones de vegetación fueron Myotis thysanodes, Sciurus alleni, Otospermophilus variegatus, Microtus mexicanus, Urocyon cinereoargenteus, Procyon lotor, Puma concolor, Pecari tajacu y Odocoileus virginianus.