A giant European dinosaur and a new sauropod clade

Fossils of a giant sauropod dinosaur, Turiasaurus riodevensis, have been recovered from terrestrial deposits of the Villar del Arzobispo Formation (Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary) of Riodeva (Teruel Province, Spain). Its humerus length (1790 millimeters) and estimated mass (40 to 48 metric tons) indicate that it may have been the most massive terrestrial animal in Europe and one of the largest in the world. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that the fossil represents a member of a hitherto unrecognized group of primitive European eusauropods that evolved in the Jurassic.     

Upper jurassic dinosaur egg from utah

The Upper Jurassic egg described here is the first known egg from the 100-million-year gap in the fossil record between Lower Jurassic (South Africa) and upper Lower Cretaceous (Utah). The discovery of the egg, which was found mixed in with thousands of dinosaur bones rather than in a nest, the pathological multilayering of the eggshell as found in modern and fossil reptilians, and the pliable condition of the eggshell at the time of burial indicate an oviducal retention of the egg at the time of burial.     

A diverse assemblage of Late Cretaceous dinosaur and bird feathers from Canadian amber

The fossil record of early feathers has relied on carbonized compressions that lack fine structural detail. Specimens in amber are preserved in greater detail, but they are rare. Late Cretaceous coal-rich strata from western Canada provide the richest and most diverse Mesozoic feather assemblage yet reported from amber. The fossils include primitive structures closely matching the protofeathers of nonavian dinosaurs, offering new insights into their structure and function. Additional derived morphologies confirm that plumage specialized for flight and underwater diving had evolved in Late Cretaceous birds. Because amber preserves feather structure and pigmentation in unmatched detail, these fossils provide novel insights regarding feather evolution.     

Comment on "A diverse assemblage of Late Cretaceous dinosaur and bird feathers from Canadian amber"

McKellar et al. (Reports, 16 September 2011, p. 1619) analyzed Late Cretaceous amber specimens from Canada and identified some filaments as dinosaurian protofeathers. We argue that their analysis and data do not provide sufficient evidence to conclude that such filaments are feather-like structures. Further investigation, including destructive sampling, must be carried out for more convincing conclusions.     

A basal dinosaur from the dawn of the dinosaur era in southwestern Pangaea

Upper Triassic rocks in northwestern Argentina preserve the most complete record of dinosaurs before their rise to dominance in the Early Jurassic. Here, we describe a previously unidentified basal theropod, reassess its contemporary Eoraptor as a basal sauropodomorph, divide the faunal record of the Ischigualasto Formation with biozones, and bracket the formation with (40)Ar/(39)Ar ages. Some 230 million years ago in the Late Triassic (mid Carnian), the earliest dinosaurs were the dominant terrestrial carnivores and small herbivores in southwestern Pangaea. The extinction of nondinosaurian herbivores is sequential and is not linked to an increase in dinosaurian diversity, which weakens the predominant scenario for dinosaurian ascendancy as opportunistic replacement.     

A crested theropod dinosaur from antarctica

Jurassic fossil vertebrates collected from the Falla Formation in the Central Transantarctic Mountains included a partial skull and postcranial elements of a crested theropod, Cryolophosaurus ellioti gen. nov. sp. nov. The theropod bears some resemblance to the large tetanurans of the Middle to Late Jurassic but also has primitive ceratosaurian features. Elements from a prosauropod, teeth from scavenging theropods, a pterosaur humerus, and a tritylodont molar were also recovered. The presence of this fauna suggests that a mild climate existed at high paleolatitude in this area of Gondwana during the Early Jurassic.     

一株来自红树内生拮抗真菌的鉴定

红树内生真菌在病害的生物防治方面有重要作用。本研究从秋茄的叶片和茎部共分离获得15株内生真菌,经对峙培养试验,有61.54%的菌株对目标病原菌蓖麻枯萎病菌有拮抗作用,其中从叶片组织中分离的内生真菌菌株MKA-5作用最明显。经形态学研究显示,该菌株菌落浅灰色至深灰黑色。分生孢子暗褐色,倒棒形或椭圆形,多数无喙,有纵横隔膜,分隔处溢缩,壁光滑,大小为7.0-18.5×3.0-8.8 μm,形态特征与链格孢 (Alternaria alternata)一致。进一步对该菌株的分子生物学研究,结果表明该菌株的ITS系列与链格孢模式菌株的同源性为100%。综合分析,拮抗菌株MKA-5鉴定为链格孢(A. alternata)。该菌株的鉴定对蓖麻枯萎病的生物防治有重要作用。     

A Cretaceous hoofed mammal from India

The sedimentary record documenting the northward drift of India (Late Cretaceous to late Early Eocene) has recently provided important clues to the evolution, radiation, and dispersal of mammals. Here, we report a definitive Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) archaic ungulate (Kharmerungulatum vanvaleni genus et species nova) from the Deccan volcano-sedimentary sequences exposed near Kisalpuri village in Central India. This find has important implications for the origin and diversification of early ungulates and raises three possible paleobiogeographic scenarios: (i) Archaic ungulates may have been cosmopolitan in distribution. (ii) Kharmerungulatum might be an immigrant from Western Asia. (iii) Archaic ungulates may have originated in India.     

A long-snouted predatory dinosaur from africa and the evolution of spinosaurids

Fossils discovered in Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) rocks in the Tenere Desert of central Niger provide new information about spinosaurids, a peculiar group of piscivorous theropod dinosaurs. The remains, which represent a new genus and species, reveal the extreme elongation and transverse compression of the spinosaurid snout. The postcranial bones include blade-shaped vertebral spines that form a low sail over the hips. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that the enlarged thumb claw and robust forelimb evolved during the Jurassic, before the elongated snout and other fish-eating adaptations in the skull. The close phylogenetic relationship between the new African spinosaurid and Baryonyx from Europe provides evidence of dispersal across the Tethys seaway during the Early Cretaceous.     

Cardiovascular evidence for an intermediate or higher metabolic rate in an ornithischian dinosaur

Computerized tomography scans of a ferruginous concretion within the chest region of an ornithischian dinosaur reveal structures that are suggestive of a four-chambered heart and a single systemic aorta. The apparently derived condition of the cardiovascular system in turn suggests the existence of intermediate-to-high metabolic rates among dinosaurs.     

A fossil bee from Early Cretaceous Burmese amber

The bee fossil record is fragmentary, making it difficult to accurately estimate the antiquity of bee-mediated pollination. Here, we describe a bee fossil [Melittosphex burmensis (new species), Melittosphecidae (new family)] from Early Cretaceous Burmese amber (approximately 100 million years before the present). The fossil provides insights into the morphology of the earliest bees and provides a new minimum date for the antiquity of bees and bee-mediated pollination.     

A precocial avian embryo from the Lower Cretaceous of China

An embryo of an enantiornithine bird has been recovered from the Lower Cretaceous rocks of Liaoning, in northeast China. The bird has a nearly complete articulated skeleton with feather sheet impressions and is enclosed in egg-shaped confines. The tucking posture of the skeleton suggests that the embryo had attained the final stage of development. The presence of well-developed wing and tail feather sheets indicates a precocial developmental mode, supporting the hypothesis that precocial birds appeared before altricial birds.     

1株红树内生真菌高粱附球菌Epicoccum sorghinum的代谢产物及抗菌活性

【目的】研究红树内生真菌高粱附球菌Epicoccum sorghinum L28的代谢产物及其抗真菌活性。【方法】柱层析分离纯化代谢产物,波谱技术鉴定结构;二倍稀释法测试代谢产物对小麦赤霉菌Fusarium graminearum和番茄枯萎菌F. oxysporum的最小抑菌浓度(Minimum inhibitory concentration,MIC)。【结果】分离鉴定出7-羟基-2,5-二甲基色原酮(化合物1)、Livistone A(化合物2)、Barceloneic acid A(化合物3)、Barceloneic lactone(化合物4)、2′-O-methylbarceloneate(化合物5)、Spirostaphylotrichin R(化合物6)、 Spirostaphylotrichin U(化合物7)、β-谷甾醇(化合物8)、β-胡萝卜苷(化合物9)和β-腺苷(化合物10)。化合物1能强烈抑制小麦赤霉菌和番茄枯萎菌的生长,MIC均为100μg/mL;化合物5对番茄枯萎菌的生长具有中等抑制作用,MIC为200μg/mL。【结论】化合物1和化合物5可作为相应抗菌农药...     

A nearly modern amphibious bird from the Early Cretaceous of northwestern China

Three-dimensional specimens of the volant fossil bird Gansus yumenensis from the Early Cretaceous Xiagou Formation of northwestern China demonstrate that this taxon possesses advanced anatomical features previously known only in Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic ornithuran birds. Phylogenetic analysis recovers Gansus within the Ornithurae, making it the oldest known member of the clade. The Xiagou Formation preserves the oldest known ornithuromorph-dominated avian assemblage. The anatomy of Gansus, like that of other non-neornithean (nonmodern) ornithuran birds, indicates specialization for an amphibious life-style, supporting the hypothesis that modern birds originated in aquatic or littoral niches.     

红树林人工湿地的脱氮除磷效果研究

为探究红树林人工湿地对海水池塘尾水中氮（N）、磷（P）元素的净化作用,选择秋茄（Kandelia candel）、桐花树（Aegicerascorniculatum）、红海榄（Rhizophora stylosa）3种红树植物构建人工湿地系统。在试验进行的一个月内,以海水池塘养殖尾水中的N、P为参考,浇灌5、10、15倍和25倍N、P浓度的人工海水,序时收集出水口水样,分别测定不同形态的N、P营养盐含量。研究显示,在N、P浓度升高时,人工湿地系统对氨态氮（NH₄⁺-N）的去除率下降,15倍浓度处理下秋茄对NH₄⁺-N的去除效果显著高于红海榄和桐花树（P<0.05）,红树植物处理组能使系统中硝态氮（NO₃^--N）浓度保持稳定,同时对水体中的亚硝态氮（NO₂^--N）始终有良好的去除效果。试验开始后的0~3 d,系统中磷酸盐（PO₄^3--P）浓度显著下降,表现出对PO₄^3--P良好的去除效果。综合来看,红树林人工湿地对海水池塘养殖尾水中N、P的去除效果较好,可作为海水池塘养殖尾水达标排放的修复技术应用推广。     

红树林生态系统遥感监测研究进展

随着现代遥感技术的迅速发展,遥感监测已经成为红树林生态系统变化监测的重要手段和方法。从遥感技术在生态系统变化监测应用领域入手,综述了国内外红树林遥感监测的发展历程,系统总结了遥感技术在红树林湿地动态、种间分类、群落结构(叶面积指数、冠幅、树高等)、生物量、灾害灾情(病虫害、风暴潮等)、景观格局动态、驱动力、红树林湿地保护与管理等领域应用现状,归纳了不同应用领域遥感监测的理论、方法及研究现状。指出我国在红树林遥感监测中存在的不足。提出红树林遥感监测应在分类标准体系规范化、分类精度提升、红树林生态学特征参数(物种多样性、优势度等)、生态系统环境空间演变过程及遥感监测的尺度效应方面加大研究力度。充分发挥区域综合监测模型在红树林生态系统变化遥感监测中的作用。     

Fast axonal transport in extruded axoplasm from squid giant axon

Development of video-enhanced contrast-differential interference contrast for light microscopy has permitted study of both orthograde and retrograde fast axonal transport of membranous organelles in the squid giant axon. This process was found to continue normally for hours after the axoplasm was extruded from the giant axon and removed from the confines of the axonal plasma membrane. It is now possible to follow the movements of the full range of membranous organelles (30-nanometer vesicles to 5000-nanometer mitochondria) in a preparation that lacks a plasma membrane or other permeability barrier. This observation demonstrates that the plasma membrane is not required for fast axonal transport and suggests that action potentials are not involved in the regulation of fast transport. Furthermore, the absence of a permeability barrier surrounding the axoplasm makes this an important model for biochemical pharmacological, and physical manipulations of membranous organelle transport.