tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57405043791518299612024-03-19T10:54:08.467+00:00Sciency ThoughtsJoe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comBlogger7607125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-88224406276933221472024-03-16T20:51:00.000+00:002024-03-16T20:51:05.902+00:00Ctenomys uco: A new species of Tuco-tuco from Mendoza Province, Argentina.<p style="text-align: justify;">Tuco-tucos, <i>Ctenomys</i> spp., are a large group of burrowing Rodents found in South America from southern Peru to the southern tips of Chile and Argentina. There are currently 68 living members of the genus, eleven of which have beed described in the last decade, during which time the application of genetic analysis to phylogenetic studies has led to the genus being divided into eight well-supported species groups, as well as several other groups with less clear relationships. The <i>Ctenomys </i><span style="text-align: left;"><i>mendocinus</i> species group has been the subject of several recent studies, which have led to several new species being erected, as well as a number of previously described species having been recognised as populations of other species, and several lineages identified which appear to be as yet undescribed species. One such population is found in </span><span style="text-align: left;">northwestern Mendoza Province, Argentina, with populations at </span><span style="text-align: left;">Tupungato and the </span>Valley of Arenales which were previously thought to belong to the species <i>Ctenomys </i><i style="text-align: left;">mendocinus</i><span style="text-align: left;"> having been identified as genetically distinct, although the morphological distinctness of these Tuco-tucos has not been assessed.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">In a <a href="https://vertebrate-zoology.arphahub.com/article/115242/">paper</a> published in the journal <a href="https://vertebrate-zoology.arphahub.com/">Vertebrate Zoology</a> on 8 March 2024, </span><span style="text-align: left;">Raquel Alvarado-Larios of the </span><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.mendoza.conicet.gov.ar/iadiza/laboratorio-de-filogeografia-taxonomia-integrativa-y-ecologia-lftie/">Laboratorio de Filogeografía</a> at the </span><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.mendoza.conicet.gov.ar/iadiza/">Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas</a>, </span><span style="text-align: left;">Pablo Teta of the </span><span style="text-align: left;">División Mastozoología at the <a href="https://www.macnconicet.gob.ar/">Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales 'Bernardino Rivadavia'</a>, </span><span style="text-align: left;">Pablo Cuello, also of the </span><span style="text-align: left;">Laboratorio de Filogeografía at the </span><span style="text-align: left;">Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas, </span><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://lillo.org.ar/uel/author/jorge-jayat/">Pablo Jayat</a> of the </span><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://lillo.org.ar/uel/">Unidad Ejecutora Lillo</a> and the </span><span style="text-align: left;">Departamento de Ciencias Básicas y Tecnológicasat the <a href="https://www.undec.edu.ar/">Universidad Nacional de Chilecito</a>, </span>Andrea Tarquino-<span style="text-align: left;">Carbonell, again of the </span><span style="text-align: left;">Laboratorio de Filogeografía at the </span><span style="text-align: left;">Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas, </span><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://sistematica.cl/">Guillermo D’Elía</a> of the </span><span style="text-align: left;">Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas and the </span><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://sistematica.cl/coleccion-de-mamiferos/">Colección de Mamíferos</a> at the </span><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.uach.cl/">Universidad Austral de Chile</a>, and </span><span style="text-align: left;">Paula Cornejo and </span><span style="text-align: left;">Agustina Ojeda, again of the </span><span style="text-align: left;">Laboratorio de Filogeografía at the </span><span style="text-align: left;">Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas, formally describe the </span><span style="text-align: left;">Mendoza Tuco-tuco as a new species, based upon genetic and morphological data.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">The new species is named </span><span style="text-align: left;"><i>Ctenomys uco</i>, in reference to the </span><span style="text-align: left;">Valle de Uco, the region in which the new species was discovered. It is a small Tuco-tuco, reaching 215-263 mm in length, with a drab or dusky drab coat, lighter on the flanks and underside, with the underside sometimes also having a brownish tinge. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7psakaLAY7Ys10tu1jkU3nHdeEd9m99g_q-yER-ykgODtmWDW0KcT2gpbasiksDnYBBFdQwTdQAa9-b_PZLQPJXG_W0P9rb3QFx7YrE-2C4aEkIRKKyWOXMuinbku03O327wDPFYJa_3ppRpr_jfXki-eqbETq1fgsVLPkbJAzLW4o1QbX6Sp-besLMI/s979/Screenshot%202024-03-16%20195638.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="619" data-original-width="979" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7psakaLAY7Ys10tu1jkU3nHdeEd9m99g_q-yER-ykgODtmWDW0KcT2gpbasiksDnYBBFdQwTdQAa9-b_PZLQPJXG_W0P9rb3QFx7YrE-2C4aEkIRKKyWOXMuinbku03O327wDPFYJa_3ppRpr_jfXki-eqbETq1fgsVLPkbJAzLW4o1QbX6Sp-besLMI/w400-h253/Screenshot%202024-03-16%20195638.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>External appearance of <i>Ctenomys uco</i>. (A) CMI 7712 (holotype), from Cajón de Arenales, Tunuyán, Mendoza, Argentina; (B) CMI 7737, from Finca Caicayén II, Tupungato, Mendoza, Argentina. <span style="text-align: left;">Alvarado-Larios <i>et al</i>. (2024).</span></b></div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">While the populations assigned to </span><i style="text-align: left;">Ctenomys uco</i><span style="text-align: left;"> were formerly assigned to </span><i>Ctenomys </i><i style="text-align: left;">mendocinus</i><span style="text-align: left;">, but a</span><span style="text-align: left;"> genetic study based upon the </span><span style="text-align: left;">mitochondrial cytochrome <i>b</i> gene found that not just were these populations distinct from </span><i>Ctenomys </i><i style="text-align: left;">mendocinus</i><span style="text-align: left;">, but also that they aren't particularly closely related, with </span><i style="text-align: left;">Ctenomys uco </i><span style="text-align: left;">instead forming a sister species to </span><i style="text-align: left;">Ctenomys fochi</i><span style="text-align: left;">, and these two together forming the sister taxon to a clade which includes </span><i style="text-align: left;">Ctenomys verzi</i><span style="text-align: left;">, </span><i style="text-align: left;">Ctenomys mendocinus</i><span style="text-align: left;">, and </span><i style="text-align: left;">Ctenomys flamarioni</i><span style="text-align: left;">, as well as two as yet un-named lineages.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><i style="font-style: italic;">Ctenomys uco</i><i> </i>is known from only two locations, 39 km appart, but Tuco-tucos have been reported elsewhere in the region, which are likely to belong to the same species, for which reason Alvarado-Larios <i>et al</i>. decline to make a detailed assessment of the species distribution or conservation status at this time. The species seems to be solitary in nature, and lives in an environment between the Low Monte and the Southern Andean Steppe at altitudes of 1000 and 2710 m above sealevel. One of the known populations lives largely within vineyards, digging burrows at the foot of vines.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnVIoT1snSYDvN5wutGKZJzQ2J3xogTDCGltauQeNVJAhQYfdxeCT6vMg2owFtmyEWQo35fbkdSHRNyLGBPbTdI9biEsMRFc_LpceBkMphJ8ZdhVvnN1sKmc36xMa8EzkZdqsxMrk0pMUhPJA9GfcdEVKyZzHPaM5QsVMru7D2kLzNNK82f5N4ibR_nTQ/s978/Screenshot%202024-03-16%20202042.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="978" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnVIoT1snSYDvN5wutGKZJzQ2J3xogTDCGltauQeNVJAhQYfdxeCT6vMg2owFtmyEWQo35fbkdSHRNyLGBPbTdI9biEsMRFc_LpceBkMphJ8ZdhVvnN1sKmc36xMa8EzkZdqsxMrk0pMUhPJA9GfcdEVKyZzHPaM5QsVMru7D2kLzNNK82f5N4ibR_nTQ/w400-h244/Screenshot%202024-03-16%20202042.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Views of the landscapes at the two known localities of <i>Ctenomys uco</i>. (A )Mendoza, Tunuyán, Cajón de Arenales (type locality), (B) Mendoza, Tupungato, vineyards of Finca Caicayén II (note the burrows at the lower right corner on this photograph). </b><b><span style="text-align: left;">Alvarado-Larios <i>et al</i>. (2024).</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The region is close to the Andes, and has a temperate climate with harsh winters, hot summers with cool nights. The mean annual temperature varies between about 10°C and about 15°C, with an average of about 300 mm of rain each year, most of which falls in winter.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">See also...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2022/08/ceratozamia-norstogii-identifying.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="347" data-original-width="616" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGyDra_3yxq_jvD5F0QEYNAFzpW6ZxQttrUdAZNbe9QlgHG1Y1jKuW2np7CsNVAu1b9LaQrFazyD9amYWfCFWnOvGhRytYtnkIAVQn_17YA0moaBzt1VX8jRdyI3LGWdH-37pmoxvFdAL132HObMoP-Uf2OrfWVz6SD5H15CznBoOhlzVbDyADR0SKm2I/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-16%20203148.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2021/02/bounomys-ulantatalensis-four-new.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="345" data-original-width="615" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk2UJWxFimIFjAkRH837W5XAN8Gaz3jMbZw1OZSSf22nBt3rd7P1e2LOmkDG4QjlsU6WCqybznGoDtwYlmacSuVy4YINwFs9kBg6iV9XijvGGpKWzKmmcmeSHcXj6WB5b85FZl2v6Th7fxWjka55BJ1P_p3np7VwLmLs7QsNieqo11qbNt3AuOz3V0xLQ/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-16%20203451.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2020/11/funambulus-palmarum-danger-of-roadkill.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="614" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDT1iHlTV4B0aqpVFg-ZllwdUcEZEdve5MPuI_08ZnEW3uZq6CcinPG4aurumJI8h7VUyLm_KPU_CnfMQdqpXViittagumtkGHqco3WELztenT5RPn0b7v0-PvNc4lHWytNgPyEgrHDvr0RfrnCs3VHlBvPX7UxfSFhCUSsYYLcKBOVGu-cU8hZKCFyvI/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-16%20203753.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2020/11/phyllotis-xanthopygus-worlds-highest.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="345" data-original-width="615" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhS5PYip9WQXc87lecTPSLMGm7nJR_ZvKli7DAujF_BSmiJjsPJTvNd15bcjH0sLxkPVC4vgGFdnRlMP7kth0BqR7JQva7dlZi05gSOST9dfItnfwJ0mPJ5W5AQqGqOU0KiA-D2JL48E3DZgf5dX5-UkXOQ5UyZXFCTD1CYEbTSTkmHsIFqC79La3kFm0/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-16%20204031.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2020/11/coendou-vestitus-assessing-conservation.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="347" data-original-width="615" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7YF-fj72rjkqQ9wILSiC6qw84-QNco9nmIPyIlbqYy99OZaqoM0wimRmOzgnsbEeZfWVN7r4gGhWZlm6YcbwyX9Mi5_3Fqx_h_tmhPYFQdI-ZEzSTJoDSlyEZvF2zUxiNd2vyJtDcmPep0kFGSDSkUAMWG_itabcMEV9dRmi87s5Ql1_KMhFi0ADEF8Q/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-16%20204319.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2020/11/investigating-evolutionary-history-of.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="903" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvfAKb_atoMDvpYDTaiKB7ZHEygCb9G1Q1FOYzctqPw_VkwkiwhRCtKZSy7Ag__ThMyS-McYSz6SxgtI-fdOsSxEM0cCI5cmxvRftRj4DH37ZMp-aTPQlJGjZdI-agCJsX5ELQkSw9iWfQLWaXjogSqH8MgMkJ6LfzvHOeHOmwWCj6cmR04U8d-CxyFM4/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-16%20204608.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SciencyThoughts" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkHdQm6R1lPIrO1-UGyb1SnGYgFbmUT85nvsWnUNdWeVIb2JOf7KczwvK4y3Wb82gzQQiAFFWLpnXAZoQR9AIXOAwa6kjs9EeXuXpRXYm6plPxTcHSwukGHP8RRriizV8841wlGGZjci-IZt3rlp9trzB3vcDFCpsnms8cFPsMe5J0TSRHqyjD5JRG_PM/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174151.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ThoughtsSciency" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvTBD7MhzAGkz0N9oXzLzph39wC9qJa_0vGpgi8SZQCea31spDp1xVWrO0TZ047ZVdJfvhvIC0115tH5NWA74FyGjg1ZU0nWsj5uGsalkvKGqL7sQZsC0HtKTaikXXELWzVON7M0mqhY79t9sO6dKidU8f9NKM1M2ijveTnD5Gs8EGK2FKGQys6Ry44BE/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174927.png" width="200" /></a></div><p></p>Joe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-27946225612735887742024-03-16T16:49:00.002+00:002024-03-16T16:49:53.191+00:00The March Equinox.<p style="text-align: justify;">The March Equinox will fall at 3.04 am GMT on Wedneday 20 March this year. The Earth spins on its axis at an angle to the plain of the Solar System. This means that the poles of the Earth do not remain at 90° to the Sun, but rather the northern pole is tilted towards the Sun for six months of the year (the northern summer), and the southern pole for the other six months (the southern summer). Thus, twice a year neither pole is inclined towards the Sun, on days known as the equinoxes.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYtXc3P5aljjzObT-edYrhqQaoXwSxTeaxLgfrcRQnwkoyUpkWi-LAFjIHLYB7mWpbFoJT8PWXFFWrlIkWIu8BjUjqsViB-WxtzYaTgIGz7zg0uESeK7O4wV18dCRBHbeKo0Gj5MpWR6OobeIPvsn9rI9mHcRYPlOzQupB9B0yULGJcjN8MLOgpqSWVHs/s400/Earth-lighting-equinox_EN.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="230" data-original-width="400" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYtXc3P5aljjzObT-edYrhqQaoXwSxTeaxLgfrcRQnwkoyUpkWi-LAFjIHLYB7mWpbFoJT8PWXFFWrlIkWIu8BjUjqsViB-WxtzYaTgIGz7zg0uESeK7O4wV18dCRBHbeKo0Gj5MpWR6OobeIPvsn9rI9mHcRYPlOzQupB9B0yULGJcjN8MLOgpqSWVHs/w400-h230/Earth-lighting-equinox_EN.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">The tilt of the Earth relative to the incoming light of the Sun at the March Equinox. Przemyslaw Idzkiewicz/<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page">Wikimedia Commons</a>.</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">The equinoxes fall each year in March and September, with the March Equinox being the Spring (or Vernal) Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and the Autumn Equinox in the Southern Hemisphere, while the September Equinox is the Autumn Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and the Spring Equinox in the Southern Hemisphere. On these two days the day and night are both exactly twelve hours long at every point on the planet, the only days on which this happens.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFsQ8QTQ-Ear_bBx4HhBuxeNnLzpyUpiNUbFjanEEb8ARLnxmvopW3H2Eoy5xeW7OwZ__GSizVuldt6tSP-yYUTdeq-zneBL9Wl4QcJtBJ-Oufof20chMvpErD3xvu9IlhOhV_6EFWrPaDo_Yu0a-f0dT8dg0l2WELgCgSsYLXV6pAvdbLwUON6KOTIcA/s400/SEASONS.GIF" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="127" data-original-width="400" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFsQ8QTQ-Ear_bBx4HhBuxeNnLzpyUpiNUbFjanEEb8ARLnxmvopW3H2Eoy5xeW7OwZ__GSizVuldt6tSP-yYUTdeq-zneBL9Wl4QcJtBJ-Oufof20chMvpErD3xvu9IlhOhV_6EFWrPaDo_Yu0a-f0dT8dg0l2WELgCgSsYLXV6pAvdbLwUON6KOTIcA/w400-h127/SEASONS.GIF" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">The tilt of the Earth relative to the Sun at the planet's equinoxes and solstices. </span><a href="http://star-www.st-and.ac.uk/index.php/" style="text-align: left;">Astronomy Group</a><span style="text-align: left;">/</span><a href="https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/" style="text-align: left;">University of St Andrews</a><span style="text-align: left;">.</span></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">See also...</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/03/comet-c2021-s3-panstarrs-makes-its.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="904" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR_5oODvdgvbZeBXyMDAp-zUDrRvHBDCYboUO7U6xUS3Gq1efz0aIJSAK69GEzXOqbbCbUROQHKxIQMY-2_8y4SqCNOSzL_gChf5h7hIudJULQbtrY9gjZgL3ntPr6an3H3YItJHWUjJ2orQ7q6-ed5vmwfVc11A-QjZukMoZPb2_iwJs3n4C0sVank_w/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-16%20163919.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/03/asteroid-2024-ef-passes-earth.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="903" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghsEPnG5i27ME4BFoypUji3kFfyMxnwxA17OL54RHqdvWgVSxIdZTpUVscXx1i5umyvwrO2_9YQT4FlhvHI2vWpLMR0RdsZMG-dg9YB4YrQrSY4wrSaEdJ-KWJ_FuTy0IS2OFB69RBBnJW7fGlcwm69lsP47CpQLLvuP8AjVdApW5e22zTa-j5YjgJtOQ/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-16%20164216.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9TV4bod1e0FLyTR5tTFuYoLpgJA-SgGauqdGWtBtuu9ANAIpPL8Lw_kEJEyoSAV7NwRVZbKmTRFDW5NaGMqfDYYPQevl-edcHHWX3sWg3j6EXzvWPmwBsZG488uzUq4EaN4_lu6qBeTCP_r1Q3yTAtq6MFkiSJ3ZpWYka2aOA4duNJCKI2baOWt_bqco/s200/Screenshot%202024-03-05%20215224.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9TV4bod1e0FLyTR5tTFuYoLpgJA-SgGauqdGWtBtuu9ANAIpPL8Lw_kEJEyoSAV7NwRVZbKmTRFDW5NaGMqfDYYPQevl-edcHHWX3sWg3j6EXzvWPmwBsZG488uzUq4EaN4_lu6qBeTCP_r1Q3yTAtq6MFkiSJ3ZpWYka2aOA4duNJCKI2baOWt_bqco/s1600/Screenshot%202024-03-05%20215224.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/01/fireball-meteor-off-coast-of-wales.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="113" data-original-width="200" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibxE5GB3rsVbvWWsn5AL_eQNEYvS4kHzbxAhhKp0iGknZ2Swo7AF51GBAecj6pYZYB8sonHsARMYS19cmhbkW-qQMzcuc2DFY9SDhQkl7UYjfJx5mujLw-aSpfmnuR3zEpnec9sMEJ1JqwdsnDrp3UNbixnZzBQJCEEmHb9dLfdCMPbymFO3PXcVGPynI/s1600/Screenshot%202024-03-05%20215455.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SciencyThoughts" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-NUREm7kH3b5TR-cJOgKDvqe7v7UUL5Yu-zkd605UW3oVgvobztuB4-JlkiLEFWTHbwBRoJtHl-USp7YjKZ3OOxJOlATb3aMbOCKs5QyKRNLA2XNgP5MHCgV-Zkyje28QjIum4Y5d4o895q7KqFDohiR5gFIyyq0Zp67DnblD5oHQuKnA9zUT2qRd7cg/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174151.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ThoughtsSciency" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIzAIuz0PjY00ppqDA9DpVEntZtiyFzp5ZqhW4OyF6-Yszn369bmDEGpe6V0XqnLq17a8vYNM5r5egik-slfw8DoBea2tZhhVpgTKbkQrOLgCq4c95pNSEmKj9FYZTCpi2BpKXBZrXBiCBWWWIaDfz2nDA5ImCa8XkR6X4qJDJJ9nFCVfSVdDF8Of8V6k/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174927.png" width="200" /></a></div>Joe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-69223630320295556852024-03-16T13:41:00.000+00:002024-03-16T13:41:08.971+00:00Understanding the giant handaxes of the British Lower Palaeolithic.<p style="text-align: justify;">The Lower Palaeolithic is the earliest stage in the archaeological record from which stone tools are known, and while such ancient tools are rare, they are much more common than the remains of the Hominins which produced them, or any other remains of their activity, thus providing a key insight into the activities of our ancient ancestors. The first bifacial handaxes appear in the African archaeological record about 1.76 million years ago, and are considered to be a significant conceptual leap from the Oldowan core-and-flake technology which preceded them, although whether these axes had an entirely novel function or were a new technological approach to tasks which were already undertaken is unclear. One of the notable manifestations of this technology was the manufacture of 'giant' handaxes, notably larger than other examples of these tools, sufficiently large that archaeologists are divided as to whether they had any practical function at all.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">It has been suggested that the purpose of these giant axes may have been social rather than practical, with the production of such tools representing a significant time investment, and therefore being an indicator of patience and commitment to a project. Giant, highly symmetrical handaxes from British sites such as Furze Platt and Shrub Hill have been used to support this hypothesis. An alternative suggestion is that the Hominins involved may have found the manufacture of such giant axes an aesthetically pleasing activity in its own righty, an early sign of artistic expression emerging from the purely functional.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In a <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/big-enough-to-matter-on-the-frequency-and-chronology-of-giant-handaxes-in-the-british-lower-palaeolithic/8F5E9AF0E082FF9F35E669512F52B163">paper</a> published in the journal <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity">Antiquity</a> on 4 March 2024, <a href="https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/luke-c-dale/">Luke Dale</a> of the <a href="https://www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/archaeology/">Department of Archaeology</a> at <a href="https://www.durham.ac.uk/">Durham University</a>, <a href="https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/aaron-a-rawlinson/">Aaron Rawlinson</a>, also of the Department of Archaeology at Durham University, and of the <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/our-work/departments/britain-europe-and-prehistory">Department of Britain, Europe and Prehistory</a> at the <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/">British Museum</a>, <a href="https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/peter-g-knowles/">Pete Knowles</a> and <a href="https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/frederick-w-foulds/">Frederick Foulds</a>, again of the Department of Archaeology at Durham University, <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG170191">Nick Ashton</a>, also of the Department of Britain, Europe and Prehistory at the British Museum, <a href="https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/d-r-bridgland/">David Bridgland</a> of the <a href="https://www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/geography/">Department of Geography</a> at Durham University, and <a href="https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/mark-white/">Mark White</a>, once again of the Department of Archaeology at Durham University, present the results of a study of giant handaxes from across the British Lower Palaeolithic.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Dale <i>et al</i>. note that symmetry is often cited as a key feature of giant handaxes, but that no previous study appears to have actually looked at whether these axes are actually more symmetrical than other axes from the same period, nor whether the style or frequency of these objects varies over time. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">All giant handaxes are associated with the Acheulean technology, which in Britain was present by Marine Isotope Stage 13, about 500 000 years ago, and may have appeared as early as Marine Isotope Stage 15, about 600 000 years ago, if recent dates for the Fordwich and the Bytham River terraces are correct. The global climate underwent a series of oscilations during the Middle Pleistocene (781 000-126 000 years ago), which in Britain manifested as a series of warm interglacials during which Hominins invaded and settled the landscape, interspersed with colder glacial intervals during which they disappeared. This pattern results in a series of distinct cultural intervals within the British Acheulean, providing a potential opportunity to detect discrete phases in the manufacture of giant handaxes in Britain.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Dale <i>et al</i>. obtained data on 4160 handaxes of all sizes, from 47 sited dating to between Marine Isotope Stage 15 and Marine Isotope Stage 9. For convenience, each (odd) Marine Isotope Stages was considered to represent a warm phase, as well as the cool phases bracketing it, thus Marine Isotope Stage 11 in fact refers to the Marine Isotope Stage 10-11-12 cool-warm-cool cycle; each cycle therefore represents about 100 000 years. The warm phases covered by Dale <i>et al</i>.'s study are MIS 15 (approximately 610 000 to 560 000 years ago), MIS 13 (approximately 524 000-474 000 years ago), MIS 11 (approximately 427 000 to 364 000 years ago), MIS 9 (approximately 328 000-301 000 years ago. Many of the sites in the study are well dated, but others represent chronologically mixed assemblages, such as Dunbridge in Hampshire, where the artefacts were recovered from dredged aggregates, have only been tentatively dated, such as Whitlingham in Norfolk, or are known to have been the subject of collecting biases, such as Furze Platt in Berkshire. Dale <i>et al</i>. recognise that these factors will have an impact on the reliability of their study, but reason that the size of their dataset should offset this. They also note that a further two giant handaxes were discovered at Frindsbury in Kent after the initial daft of their study was submitted, and that these are thought to date to MIS 9.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Handaxes were divided into six classes on the basis of their symmetry, with Class 1 representing near perfect symetry, and Class 6 indicating almost no symmetry.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Dale <i>et al</i>. measured the length of all the 4160 handaxes in their study, splitting them into four categories; small (less than 80 mm in length), average (80-150 mm in length), large (150-220 mm in length) and giant (more than 220 mm in length.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Forty two of the handaxes fell into the 'giant' category, of which 33 can be confidently assigned to the MIS 9 cycle, the final stage of the Acheulian in Britain. A single giant axe was dated to MIS 11, and two to MIS 13 - although one of these is- derived from a MIS 6 gravel bed, and is interpreted as having been reworked from a MIS 13 deposit. Since MIS 9 only represents about 1% of the British Pleistocene record, this concentration of giant handaxes in MIS 9 deposits is interpreted as being significant.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In the 1960s archaeologist Derek Roe developed a system of classifying handaxes upon their shape. The majority of giant handaxes in Dale <i>et al</i>.'s study conform to Roe's Group I (pointed, with cleavers) and Group III (plano-convex), both of which are associated with MIS 9. Notably, handaxes in an assemblage from Broom on the Devon/Dorset border, which included several giant handaxes, while still from MIS 9, did not easily fit into Roe's scheme. The stone tools here were made from chert derived from the Upper Greensand, and tended to be ovate or asymmetrical, unlike other MIS 9 assemblages.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Other than the presence of giant handaxes in the MIS 9 material, the size distribution of handaxes between different interglacials varied little, with the average size of the axes varying only by 10-20%, although the MIS 15 handaxes appear on average slightly larger than those from later assemblages, and the MIS 11 assemblage contained a higher proportion of small handaxes than other stages. However, Dale <i>et al. </i>note that their MIS 15 material came from only two sites, Brandon Fields in Suffolk and Fordwich in Kent, with the material used at Fordwich being elongated pipeflint, which lends itself to the making of larger bifaced tools with a minimal amount of effort. Given this, Dale <i>et al</i>. are reluctant to read much into this data without further MIS 15 material becoming available.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Analysis also suggests that axes from MIS 13 and MIS 9 are on average larger than those from MIS 11, and MIS 9 axes are also slightly larger, on average, than those from MIS 13. Dale <i>et al</i>. are uncertain whether this variation relates to cultural differences between the different populations colonising Britain in each interglacial, and make no further assessment of this data at this time.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTiBPKXwrVb9_P_YpI2Cpj3CLrK4z1ryd7QiIhaVHZpOpf1h2mOg-MstqICpAsZ4-kMtW_OUfjOLShWdS3vRKmsEizbqNgXhxzR8TDACjTa79D6UueIvdE_Er0CuvLsd_Ugn5e6O4sKY9ZgFLXtSqM1szbiD2EXYVsVxK1kQiQi029seZ_MBUSj5wVGS8/s640/Screenshot%202024-03-15%20201450.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="640" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTiBPKXwrVb9_P_YpI2Cpj3CLrK4z1ryd7QiIhaVHZpOpf1h2mOg-MstqICpAsZ4-kMtW_OUfjOLShWdS3vRKmsEizbqNgXhxzR8TDACjTa79D6UueIvdE_Er0CuvLsd_Ugn5e6O4sKY9ZgFLXtSqM1szbiD2EXYVsVxK1kQiQi029seZ_MBUSj5wVGS8/w400-h305/Screenshot%202024-03-15%20201450.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">A comparison of handaxe length between MIS 15, 13, 11 and 9, with handaxes grouped according to length class. MIS 15 displays a greater proportion of handaxes in the large class, while small handaxes are much more limited. MIS 11 displays a greater proportion of small handaxes. Giant handaxes represent a very small percentage of the total assemblage, emphasising their status as extreme outliers beyond the usual variation in handaxe length. Frederick Foulds & Mark White in Dale <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">The majority of giant handaxes come from the Thames Valley or its southern tributaries, although examples are also known from Norfolk Yare, the Axe Valley and Solent River deposits. The majority of sites where they are found are close to primary chalk-flint outcrops, where large flint nodules were available. However, some were found in flint-poor areas, such as Wolvercote and Stanton Harcourt in Oxfordshire, whereas older archaeological sites, such as Boxgrove in West Sussex, and Elveden in Suffolk, are located near excellent sources of large flint nodules, but yield no giant handaxes. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">No giant handaxes available from Stoke Newington in London, one of the UK's best MIS 9 sites, although it is known that the site did yield such axes; as the original excavator of the site, Victorian archaeologist Worthington Smith, illustrated several giant handaxes in his book, Man, the primeval savage, but then gave these away to distinguished visitors to the site; these axes are thought to be either in private collections or lost. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1hGRRjLuVzmgTAPqsU_cNe_dt86saAyXmMgC3sHNZ25oek-kaqxdVEZezXLToPaCb80FgPQw5X7Zj7ttSQkdtrKI8UMmIOtLMYRoY_9DwnsmCc0oZUoPHxOjYnn7_fvDav7Di_LSfL9RqjDmWuz37E8Kuv2zRJ4SZn31HH82nkXvnZXvoMt6gDB4yxj4/s766/Screenshot%202024-03-15%20205049.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="546" data-original-width="766" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1hGRRjLuVzmgTAPqsU_cNe_dt86saAyXmMgC3sHNZ25oek-kaqxdVEZezXLToPaCb80FgPQw5X7Zj7ttSQkdtrKI8UMmIOtLMYRoY_9DwnsmCc0oZUoPHxOjYnn7_fvDav7Di_LSfL9RqjDmWuz37E8Kuv2zRJ4SZn31HH82nkXvnZXvoMt6gDB4yxj4/w400-h285/Screenshot%202024-03-15%20205049.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Geological map displaying the locations of sites with giant handaxes in relation to underlying bedrock geology, coloured as per the British Geological Society scheme. Colours for chalk bedrock are highlighted in the legend. Note that large clasts in overlying superficial deposits largely reflect local geology and ‘exotic’ raw materials would generally be smaller in size. Dale <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">Of the forty two giant handaxes in the study, thirty five (or 83%) are pointed, typically conforming to the lanceolate (lance-shaped) or ficron (having a pointed planform shape with biconcave edges) type. These shapes are considered to be part of the same typological grouping as chisel-ended cleavers, a grouping which is thought by many archaeologists to be restricted to MIS 9. Although ficrons are associated with giant axes, not all ficron handaxes are giant; known ficrons range in size from 63 mm to 307 mm.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDr9wSwioOB8OF2mYtvr-NsxuWOnFkAYBnDchCZcLyBOt5vOV0VAf-Aic30JsGV1DEzVzwPbcmU9FUXQyy89GdUtRtQiFXurLQLxMWUpZirFHpykn37ubdrn3CeNm20uG3DHAKKatsPQUAl9kH1Sxighe69vr6DC2F61MMfxxC6k7LHiEYbspiFeUhqgg/s561/Screenshot%202024-03-15%20210924.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="517" data-original-width="561" height="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDr9wSwioOB8OF2mYtvr-NsxuWOnFkAYBnDchCZcLyBOt5vOV0VAf-Aic30JsGV1DEzVzwPbcmU9FUXQyy89GdUtRtQiFXurLQLxMWUpZirFHpykn37ubdrn3CeNm20uG3DHAKKatsPQUAl9kH1Sxighe69vr6DC2F61MMfxxC6k7LHiEYbspiFeUhqgg/w400-h369/Screenshot%202024-03-15%20210924.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Examples of giant pointed and ficron handaxes: (A) the ‘Beast of Biddenham’ (length 253 mm); (B) a giant ficron from Canterbury West (length 285mm) (photographs courtesy of the British Museum (A) and <a href="http://theseasidemuseumhernebay.org/">The Seaside Museum</a>, Herne Bay (B)). Dale <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">Since the overwhelming majority of the giant axes date from MIS 9, Dale <i>et al</i>. examined axes from this stage for their symmetry. Handaxes from this interval were found to vary a great deal in their degree of symmetry, although there was a direct corelation between axe length and symetry, with longer axes tending to be more symmetrical than shorter ones. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Splitting the axes into groups based upon their size emphasised this trend, with axes in larger categories being more symmetrical than those in smaller size categories. Examination of earlier axes suggested that this tendency for larger axes to be more symmetrical was also present in MIS 11, but not MIS 15 or 13, although the number of axes available from the earlier periods makes this result less reliable. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">However, this tendency for larger axes to be more symmetrical in MIS 11 and 9 deposits may be influenced by another trend, which is for axes in general to be much more symmetrical in MIS 13 and 11, compared to other periods, and in particular to MIS 9. Thus, the increased symmetry seen in the large MIS 9 axes is balanced by a decrease in the symmetry seen in smaller axes, with the smallest axes (less thn 100 mm in length) tending to be roughly and quickly made, with very low symmetry. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Giant handaxes are often cited as a key feature of Hominin cognitive and cultural development. Dale <i>et al</i>.'s study demonstrates that these items became prevalent in Britain during MIS 9, i.e. immediately prior to the Lower-Middle Palaeolithic transition, 300 000 and 250 000 years ago. This interval has already been identified as one of significant technological innovation, beginning with a non-handaxe phase, which was then followed by a period with handaxes, then a final phase in which a hierachical core-working technology, known as the proto-Levallois was introduced. The linking of giant handaxes to this stage adds another element to this increasing cultural complexity.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The presence of giant handaxes is often independent of the availability of suitable manufacturing materials, with giant handaxes known from areas of Oxfordshire where there are no sources of suitable large flints. This implies that either the raw material or the finished axes were transported for at least 25-40 km to the sites where they were found. This phenomenon has also been observed in France, with a giant handaxe found at Caune de l’Arago in Pyrénées-Orientales Department, more than 30 km from any suitable source of material. This transportation of materials is another new innovation from this phase, with most previous Lower Palaeolithic sites using stone sourced less than 5 km from the location where it was discovered. The increased effort being put into moving giant axes to locations away from the materials from which they were made lends further support to the hypothesis that these were valuable items, although another possibility is that these tools had a long working life, and were subject to regular reworking to maintain a sharp edge, which would explain the plano-convex form of many handaxes, including those at Wolvercote in Oxfordshire. Under this hypothesis, many large handaxes would have been discarded prematurely, before being extensively reduced.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Many of the giant handaxes are ficrons, a type of axe otherwise rare in Britain. Large ficrons are particularly striking objects, apparently crafted with care to maintain the length of the axe while reducing the width of the upper and central portions of the axe. This may have been a way to correct for a lack of symmetry in the original platform (the rock from which the ficron was made), or a sign of the tool having an extended lifespan, with regular resharpening. Another hypothesis is that the width reduction may have been a way to reduce the weight of the tool part of a general Acheulian trend for longer tools to be narrower. The alternative is that the ficron-shape was desired from the outset, and that the extra effort put into producing an axe of this shape is an indicator of the significance of the object to the people who made it. Whatever the truth, there does appear to be a link between the high symetry, large size, and unusual shape of these giant ficrons which appears to show a degree of artistry transcending the merely functional.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">It has often been speculated that giant handaxes had no practical function, but experimentation has shown that examples far larger than anything found in Britain can be used as tools. Even the largest giant axes can be used two handed, can be used for digging, or can be used as static cutting tools across which materials could be drawn. Despite this possible functionality, all the British giant handaxes are distinctively formed and highly symmetrical, making it hard to believe that aesthetic considerations played no part in their manufacture. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The oldest known giant axe is 1.6 million years old, and came from the Olduvai FLK West site in Tanzania. This is long before anything else considered to be even possibly an expression of communal artistic standards, and therefore was presumably made by an individual for reasons that were important to them alone. A more communal approach to aesthetics begins to appear about 500 000 years ago, at which point tools also being to appear which have been shaped to make the most of features such as fossils on the rock cortex. Giant handaxes may also represent an aesthetic development, with the size and symmetry of stone tools being increased to create visually pleasing objects. This implies the people who made these tools were capable in taking pleasure in creating such objects, which would imply an increasing level of cognitive and social development.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Giant handaxes may also have had some symbolic purpose. The manufacture and then apparent discarding of objects which take a degree of forward planning and labour investment may have been a way of marking territory, or signposting important locations to other members of the community.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The ability to produce giant handaxes clearly predates MIS 9; they are known from earlier in the Lower Palaeolithic and across the Acheulean world. A 300 mm-long lanceolate giant handaxe from Caune de l’Arago is thought to date from MIS 14, and other examples from across northern France, at sites including St Acheul and Thennes in the Somme Valley, Vaudricourt in Pas-de-Calais, and Montguillain in Oise Department, have variously been dated to MIS 11 and 9, although none of these dates are considered to be particularly secure. Giant handaxes are also known from the Levant and Middle East, though these tend to be less accurately dated. A 220 mm long example from Qesem Cave in Israel is thought to be between 420 000 and 200 000 years old, while a 265 mm-long basalt handaxe was found at Wadi Dabsa in Saudi Arabia. A site at Porto Maior in north-west Spain was occupied for a long interval across MIS 8-7, by a people of apparent African affinities, who regularly produced giant handaxes, picks and cleavers. Giant handaxes have been found at 23 sites across Africa, including Olduvai in Tanzania, where the largest such axe is 330 mm long and 1.4 million years old, Isenya in Kenya, where the largest axe is 253 mm long and 700 000 years old, and Kalambo Falls in Zambia, where the largest axe is 350 mm long and 300 years old. However, the African Acheulian, with which many sites in southern Europe and the Middle East are also associated, has a greater emphasis on large cleavers, picks, and handaxes, together referred to as 'large cutting tools'.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The MIS 9 giant handaxes from Britain appear to show a different phenomenon, a discrete technological interval in which larger, more symmetrical tools suddenly appeared. In France, the MIS 9 sites in the Somme Valley are the closest available to compare, with the Cagny l’Epinette locality producing 33 handaxes, the largest of which is still less than 170 mm in length, while the Revelles site has produced 52 handaxes, none more that 190 mm long. Ferme de l’Epinette, a MIS 10 site in the Somme Valley has produced 31 handaxes, all less than 180 mm long, while the MIS 9 stage of the Soucy complex in the Paris Basin has produced 178 handaxes, the largest of which are 155 mm long, and no handaxe from the entire complex exceeds 180 mm. The Orgnac Cave site in the Ardèche Department has a sequence of archaeological layers running from MIS 10 to MIS 8, but has produced no handaxes more than 200 mm in length. The MIS 9 layers at Menez-Dregan in Brittany have produced 29 handaxes, all less than 160 mm in length, although this may be because the tools are made from sandstone and microgranite beach pebbles which would not lend themselves to making bigger tools. This lack of large rocks for use as a source of tools may also account for the generally small handaxes found at Atapuerca in Spain.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Thus the production of giant handaxes in Britain appears to be a geographically, as well as chronologically, restricted phenomenon. This fits in with a more modern understanding of the Acheulian Culture, which includes many such small-scale variations, rather than being a single long-lived and widespread monoculture, as was once perceived. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">See also...</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/09/evidence-for-construction-of-wooden.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="906" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFpCipiqXCp6AKmHSsgWc3pmdLndXzp2eB6YFLJBF2-gEqqevIEluKyWvXKaA1fwNWL77POsKbyKivxB_NPDEGI4TnTk9rgEsSu0mqPYzvn6Y9ZzEyRljgZCq3pJOn6_zLFO3WmkaHxX7dbfQkYBqFiNeRlLlKzfdDOQoPkuYAqP9eorAEXK-3sq5u6OU/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-16%20131853.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/07/a-pair-of-exceptionally-large-ficron.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="614" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuu81rIK0aVFUp-uEoLhf7dDS1GX5YLEvRI3_3B6jYNfR7bwhxDlIvIcryLwxJkOLyYV6qa2zuqdZk9f1agIw7xnGIOIoYfWhFmHt-SwjHNBf87cxrd4Jf7qNx2A40H3XIeEvDtonQAtnqWXHT_Wuu1YUbVWn59gn-F5uXHpJ7IxvE6ST6tkXrv_a2Cew/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-16%20132211.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2022/08/assessing-authenticity-of-acheulean.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrET_lvIeRkaUEJYI7au8b7nte6NBAMC-wgMoxlhZ9C4cUxSqmhUT7D3xBEPCNmQa3MJqThinKswtFkbCCTgCD22NQRqH_t95wWpxcDCTzVvtV_lg0zDa4qsl9XC9hmytqWmWfgKHC0uLnPHqShp6Cg_K4tXFK9jABGmatqXBrqOuhywcICjSfB4JOpOI/s1600/Screenshot%202023-07-09%20175717.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2020/12/evidence-for-two-separate-dispersals-of.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="906" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjetuYU9TXKnfrY6xwfCTWDlAQ1jjOM5lanvtT_WXC-cRyYGGqLAxsYNVxge1Ftf774VeyyMCN8MM2taCOknEJa-3Id_wyo-czKWsMpYibUTWNrlr2k_mLoCckESCzLOO1gkocnq6pv5VQsqni2FURBPHq0S07BuQ7k33rkhmn5sBpOe2kRLs28h8YND38/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-16%20133000.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2019/10/using-morphometric-analysis-to-identify.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="900" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHisFMtdTzDUUCdcHK230RIP_G4Gl4Bn0jEHmUrHfVgb5TowalXtUMeCWi2n5gWSIIwRVcZM8FaKSH8rBMInrK9VFHxmM69B0lwt8IPWr-7CgBN1Dt6kcSQx3viNEu8txPCWunKMLDpxoxvgt8e31OdK5jgmec0s0SmTz1BuGrGkASPor7i0dc2roupUc/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-16%20133317.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2018/10/a-middle-pleistocene-acheulean-site.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="113" data-original-width="200" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4H064LmrPZVT_XVZEZljbsJ7BcSOalMFUcTfbbQygzry7fCpnFT9odZv189rFJZFBGEICm3rVdafqrudP0jMFG66bRlbZq1EtEsge3DkD91g_-yRSTnRi37gKhbLldb2vzoc0hc_Yxp8ztW-yrH3S2o1QtJ5jdiuUr2zGLzS_ABeAQox9aHsnMsKZeQs/s1600/Screenshot%202023-09-30%20193111.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SciencyThoughts" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0n0lEGCDFba1KY0L476wfUQrugBnrlJ34AZU78GAHKmaj-kWvWiI2e9dynO7T6R75BBYW7LYEfBe_0uikq4Reo7AlA7egQVSjMfthRuFliTaAEu0ngKynjxjMD14x2HlLWyS8PYVcUSzKkJGI09tfzB5GkA4u0dCwP_3EC3a8BD9JbbULv2AA8dCL0Gc/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174151.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ThoughtsSciency" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ctR6hQt5gzR2D8KlMVBRfyfZL89IAfany9is4XxWRNKzl5ZXxM7JMaLZjkzui2pTY_ZqHXgmiu7Sr5j11gMaMFRIOwMK0c1UURu4Crmf1Zdxefn6_059F76UF7g8dEBzxaeCiaIWnVx2GnXtf-8U7Nl1dHRU1-w83EOdp8-8aJvSuNf4_se5OiFizVs/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174927.png" width="200" /></a></div>Joe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-10029735822307579062024-03-14T07:17:00.000+00:002024-03-14T07:17:16.683+00:00Comet C/2021 S3 (PANSTARRS) makes its closest approach to the Earth.<p style="text-align: justify;">Comet C/2021 S3 (PANSTARRS) will pass by the Earth at a distance of 194 168 000 km (130% of the distance between the Earth and the Sun), on Friday 15 March 2024. At this time the comet will be in the constellation of Aquila, with a magnitude of 7.20, which is bright enough to be visible with a small telescope or large pair of binoculars.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHQmOFbbwEBC6AFQV4G3-Kqj50AiZQ5iiMEIiO3cJAS6ExqqmxvczPrJK7yr-NHuLlL9i7HcZFihw6IMQR1CC0EiBHOcJ69E3ecYcUnU81Va6WXOE0A2R2-xya-YsRibpJPxROGnpPFsNG7Yh2UP3xZsGDqfqh0ZGAHOuw7mTbRfJHVDFTF1i-jnh5tik/s554/Screenshot%202024-03-14%20062734.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="554" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHQmOFbbwEBC6AFQV4G3-Kqj50AiZQ5iiMEIiO3cJAS6ExqqmxvczPrJK7yr-NHuLlL9i7HcZFihw6IMQR1CC0EiBHOcJ69E3ecYcUnU81Va6WXOE0A2R2-xya-YsRibpJPxROGnpPFsNG7Yh2UP3xZsGDqfqh0ZGAHOuw7mTbRfJHVDFTF1i-jnh5tik/w400-h400/Screenshot%202024-03-14%20062734.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">An image of Comet C/2021 S3 (PANSTARRS) taken on 5 February 2023 with the <a href="https://www.itelescope.net/">iTelescope</a> <a href="https://support.itelescope.net/support/solutions/articles/231917-telescope-30">T30 Telescope</a> at <a href="https://www.sidingspringobservatory.com.au/">Siding Spring Observatory</a> in New South Wales. The image is a composite of three 180 second images. <a href="https://www.astrobin.com/users/prystavski/collections/">Taras Prystavski</a>/<a href="https://welcome.astrobin.com/">Astrobin</a>.</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">Comet C/2021 S3 (PANSTARRS) was discovered on 26 September 2021 by the PANSTARRS sky survey, located at <a href="https://about.ifa.hawaii.edu/facility/haleakala-observatories/">Haleakala Observatory</a>, Hawaii. The name C/2021 S3 (PANSTARRS) implies that it is a Comet (C/), that it was the 3rd comet discovered in the second half of September 2021 (period 2023 S), and that it was discovered by the PANSTARRS sky survey.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Comet C/2021 S3 (PANSTARRS) is a Parabolic Comet, which is to say a comet that was disrupted from an orbit in the Oort Cloud, and is passing through the Inner Solar System on a parabolic orbit that will probably not bring it back again. This parabolic trajectory is tilted at an angle of 58.53° to the plain of the Solar System.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTa-y_5MKHpLHlfLvAcwRaBaUkWWKlHwJl2H1eGwguhUZ52bJ5eZyUnTRsGilvROj2fh8VVxJ99p2Thc4LSDIwq1GNAhnzVgM1H49AhZm-CKseO_C4C44crbGL-4e3LxXqJLhGKzi6PydSgBS9yW67yC2gtGGbpK5OIeeYWSWBD2-v3JIDG_og18ZSwGI/s920/orbit-viewer-snapshot%20(14).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="920" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTa-y_5MKHpLHlfLvAcwRaBaUkWWKlHwJl2H1eGwguhUZ52bJ5eZyUnTRsGilvROj2fh8VVxJ99p2Thc4LSDIwq1GNAhnzVgM1H49AhZm-CKseO_C4C44crbGL-4e3LxXqJLhGKzi6PydSgBS9yW67yC2gtGGbpK5OIeeYWSWBD2-v3JIDG_og18ZSwGI/w400-h261/orbit-viewer-snapshot%20(14).jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">The trajectory of Comet C/2021 S3 (PANSTARRS), and its position aon 15 March 2024. JPL Small Body Database.</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">See also...</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/03/asteroid-2024-ef-passes-earth.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="907" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKFeacIRoazzVk3KT5CV_7N2XSAgWQ8oXMWCTslz7atr10IkZuPw5knJ2IlsWMJhiW6ftlrpWYzwE84iGdcecmNzbApHbbZV2pXN7dDb2Uh35iVYr9zLEVhWTEp358zZGevLusT0LuWiEGC1JDcszeHsT39BzMqJv9K6OV_jsR8mvimm4uwCBW44mdIUU/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-14%20070550.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/02/looking-for-chinguetti-meteorite.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="639" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEwtNd5gOw4SGaKkl8f49DTo-ndeN7S2ndiGhz6ZUi6Wywo5XTxFOcLP9dE_AAko6bS-a8bisFAFSWA83lwv7J2mucbOR1fGvRQ-UrYpxZq-Dbc7lEmaylC5qubq5r3HuLorYB5JzvPKiiwJPqDR-DccJCQBDOWlK1BLpeUxWeKPFUUGbX3hQ5_Xa23aQ/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-14%20070818.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/02/images-from-japans-smart-lander-for.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRrOfgDs5eW7O3j9R-8F4SAvvxCfeNmMgmsJiqMaU_4LTV3KX9LEiYoxQrzhNGiojHJ8ReZQSjUmjlyCZLmlDEcxa33xbFWzF5iw9CpM3lOhYMjQG4msusBHC-sjOARZU5h0PKi1q1xtIa8DHcH-dOc6aIuwZnN74XJ9TugCjZ4iOXZ_vJ-Izd0uFKS8c/s1600/Screenshot%202024-02-25%20205016.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; 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margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ThoughtsSciency" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvXLdHodhaydUCljkKufqXceP3JQp1XFVkxvfudtAXJH4eu-sTCZqxZ6_8waAh1ZBoKX6RhVYgZ0cAn4nLR-9nUS1Vi-5baTfuk0eNMSrVcIlEALReVizRQSM0fxhZbgIbugjiA9J2EASwLqqogrpSZkwb__ZIdwHmOzGtGMWdcVqycqmW_ES40EPw5bM/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174927.png" width="200" /></a></div>Joe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-32423722634084196042024-03-13T19:57:00.000+00:002024-03-13T19:57:30.646+00:00Dinocephalosaurus orientalis: New specimens shed new light upon a remarkable marine Archosauromorph from the Middle Triassic of southwestern China.<p style="text-align: justify;">Archosauromorphs first appeared in the Permian, and became the dominant Vertebrate group in terrestrial ecosystems during the Mesozoic. While Archosauriform groups such as the Pseudosuchians (Crocodile-lineage Archosaurs) and Avemetatarsalians (Pterosaurs and Dinosaurs) became the dominat groups of Archosaurs from the Jurassic onwards, a variety of non-Archosauriform Archosauromorphs, such as the Rhynchosauria, Allokotosauria, and Tanystropheidae played an important role in Triassic ecosystems. The Tanystropheidae are one of a number of groups of highly gracile (slender) Triassic Archosauromorphs, once thought to represent a single clade, but now thought to be a loose group of basal Archosauromorphs, refered to as non-Crocopodans, where the Crocopodans comprise the Rhynchosauria, Allokotosauria, and Archosauriforms.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">These gracile non-Crocopodans were a diverse group, inhabiting terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments, and in one case (<i>Ozimek volans</i>), possibly taking to the air. However, their delicate skeletons did not favour preservation, and many species are known only from compressed and fragmentary remains. One such species is <i>Dinocephalosaurus orientalis</i>, a non-Crocopodan Archosauromorph from the Middle Triassic Guanling Formation of Guizhou Province, China, which was described in 2003 from a specimen comprising an isolated, well-preserved skull and the first three anterior cervical vertebrae preserved in articulation. Subsequent specimens revealed that <i>Dinocephalosaurus orientalis</i> was of similar size and proportions to the better known <i>Tanystropheus longobardicus</i>, but while both species have extremely elongated necks, exceeding the lengths of their trunks, the neck of <i>Tanystropheus longobardicus</i> has 13 elongated cervical vertebrae, whereas <i>Dinocephalosaurus orientalis </i>has at least 32 vertebrae in its neck. Furthermore, a specimen which cannot confidently be assigned to the species, but which must clearly be closely related, was found to be gravid, with an embryo (not an egg) within its abdominal cavity, indicating the birth of live young, almost certainly an adaptation to a fully marine lifestyle.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In a <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/earth-and-environmental-science-transactions-of-royal-society-of-edinburgh/article/dinocephalosaurus-orientalis-li-2003-a-remarkable-marine-archosauromorph-from-the-middle-triassic-of-southwestern-china/C7D48539139475EFCAAC35342089ACB8">paper</a> published in journal <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/earth-and-environmental-science-transactions-of-royal-society-of-edinburgh">Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh</a> on 23 February 2024, <a href="https://www.naturkundemuseum-bw.de/forschung/palaeontologie/team-palaeontologie/stephan-spiekman">Stephan Spiekman</a> of the <a href="https://www.naturkundemuseum-bw.de/">Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart</a>, <a href="http://english.ivpp.cas.cn/en_sourcedb_ivpp/staff/202310/t20231029_401815.html">Wei Wang</a> of the <a href="http://english.ivpp.cas.cn/">Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology</a> of the <a href="https://english.cas.cn/">Chinese Academy of Sciences</a>, Lijun Zhao of the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History, <a href="https://evbio.uchicago.edu/faculty/olivier-rieppel">Oliver Rieppel</a> of the <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/">Field Museum of Natural History</a>, <a href="https://www.nms.ac.uk/collections-research/collections-departments/natural-sciences/meet-the-team/dr-nick-fraser/#:~:text=Nick%20Fraser%20is%20head%20of,Aberdeen%2C%20Dr%20Fraser%20studied%20zoology.">Nicholas Frazer</a> of <a href="https://www.nms.ac.uk/">National Museums Scotland</a>, and <a href="http://english.ivpp.cas.cn/en_sourcedb_ivpp/staff/202310/t20231029_401743.html">Chun Li</a>, also of the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, describe five new specimens of <i>Dinocephalosaurus orientalis</i>, and discuss their implications for our understanding of the species. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuKdevJ68dYsITdT8oqGM1iTplptDeMeX2zLUsz0hiPJPt1Y60ofI26pCE2b7wKR2tGbjlj11DlEzCDrKIQXyNtXPBkfycfsNcAVRdoRUQ75UcqhataZ7CsV2xmt6XSA9qjauraZThuW_H5sTI3RNyCxYFj6Zrvd7o65ZhY_Sk1iB_gxveio9ZU3AABPo/s582/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20193839.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="412" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuKdevJ68dYsITdT8oqGM1iTplptDeMeX2zLUsz0hiPJPt1Y60ofI26pCE2b7wKR2tGbjlj11DlEzCDrKIQXyNtXPBkfycfsNcAVRdoRUQ75UcqhataZ7CsV2xmt6XSA9qjauraZThuW_H5sTI3RNyCxYFj6Zrvd7o65ZhY_Sk1iB_gxveio9ZU3AABPo/w454-h640/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20193839.png" width="454" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">The holotype of <i>Dinocephalosaurus orientalis</i>. (a) Photograph. (b) Photograph with interpretative drawing. Abbreviations: fr, frontal; j, jugal; la, lacrimal; mx, maxilla; na, nasal; op, opisthotic; pa, parietal; pl, palatine; pm, premaxilla; pof, postfrontal; po, postorbital; pro, prootic; pt, pterygoid; scl, sclerotic plates; soc, supraoccipital; sq, squamosal. <span style="text-align: justify;">Spiekman </span><i style="text-align: justify;">et al</i><span style="text-align: justify;">. (2024).</span></b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">The first additional specimen described by Spiekman <i>et al</i>., IVPP V13898, has previously been described in 2008, and is the specimen upon which most of our current understanding of the species is based. This specimen comprises the skull, most of the vertebral column, elements of all four limbs and some elements of the pectoral and pelvic girdle. This specimen is more complete than the holotype (first specimen described), however, the skull is relatively poorly preserved, strongly dorsoventrally compressed and exposed in ventral view.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZAoIvX1euuSGPqzQpry2152zpAFEr1e8RChA-RhHfPddyGKKIf8UOjy5_r_UL-GT5BGOgar9TTJxD2E9sOJpyFyaYjIfnxBoI7KZI7EYIBCRId2b3lkF8t1zfvjWaSSLRjeOhXtrs9Xqn4aIUU0mzpJNGJiBdNBqhizCi7y4_QRTLGjgvw0wIDRMolqM/s1156/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20194915.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="1156" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZAoIvX1euuSGPqzQpry2152zpAFEr1e8RChA-RhHfPddyGKKIf8UOjy5_r_UL-GT5BGOgar9TTJxD2E9sOJpyFyaYjIfnxBoI7KZI7EYIBCRId2b3lkF8t1zfvjWaSSLRjeOhXtrs9Xqn4aIUU0mzpJNGJiBdNBqhizCi7y4_QRTLGjgvw0wIDRMolqM/w400-h209/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20194915.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;"><i>Dinocephalosaurus orientalis</i>, IVPP V13898 (referred specimen). (a) Photograph. (b) Interpretative drawing. <span style="text-align: justify;">Spiekman </span><i style="text-align: justify;">et al</i><span style="text-align: justify;">. (2024).</span></b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">The second next specimen, IVPP V17977, is described for the first time, as are all subsequent specimens. This specimen comprises the skull and mandible preserved in ventral view on one block, followed by the first to the 16th cervical vertebrae, together with associated cervical ribs, preserved in articulation on three additional slabs.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkpZTQ2sOiTBS3WsJ4HZKwegYnre0OUbr_swTYka4HmOVSS4LDzMnYK61xRCYjusaJKqxcibQlQHYy7k4YoeFc_0QUMDXgxmSCag71BLvQfj-c6aHdrr5oM_TvqGDccT4zPZRQRsCDPAE4epc81l2qQOwLBYNdql6c0sj7q492alE-DTutSy6N2SJEq_k/s492/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20200007.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="492" data-original-width="355" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkpZTQ2sOiTBS3WsJ4HZKwegYnre0OUbr_swTYka4HmOVSS4LDzMnYK61xRCYjusaJKqxcibQlQHYy7k4YoeFc_0QUMDXgxmSCag71BLvQfj-c6aHdrr5oM_TvqGDccT4zPZRQRsCDPAE4epc81l2qQOwLBYNdql6c0sj7q492alE-DTutSy6N2SJEq_k/w462-h640/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20200007.png" width="462" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;"><i>Dinocephalosaurus orientalis</i>, IVPP V17977 (referred specimen). (a) The specimen as preserved on four slabs (photograph, scale bar in cm). (b) Interpretative drawing of the skull, lower jaw and cervical vertebrae 2–9. Abbreviations: ang, angular; ax, axis; bs, basisphenoid; cv, cervical vertebra; d, dentary; ncr, neural crest; oph, opisthotic; pl, palatine; poz, postzygapophysis; prz, prezygapophysis; pt, pterygoid; q, quadrate; v, vomer.</b><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><b style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Spiekman </span><i style="text-align: justify;">et al</i><span style="text-align: justify;">. (2024).</span></b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">The second new specimen, ZMNH M8727, comprises elements of an exploded skull, a total of 28 cervical vertebrae of which the axis and the following 17 cervical vertebrae are preserved in articulation; two scattered vertebrae located next to the 28th cervical vertebra, one of them exposed in anterior view, a string of six vertebrae lying in front of the remains of the pectoral girdle and forelimbs, plus associated cervical, dorsal and gastral ribs.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBqpAgycr4llXt6nnEdM-p1TILPIUOO9UXWdOfoVLZb9NFkgWhRuuc0QJr8O533oVa0RRCrjSv7AfEWEsSxuPRZOp5eRGiPXClLkBuieQaegjqiHrzBdApWBgjw9BplcCl1OZvWQZOkSN5E4aEBQyPFW9P1t_qggf9TddHXaVZhVWocasiRPbB2EmX3MQ/s947/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20200812.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="947" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBqpAgycr4llXt6nnEdM-p1TILPIUOO9UXWdOfoVLZb9NFkgWhRuuc0QJr8O533oVa0RRCrjSv7AfEWEsSxuPRZOp5eRGiPXClLkBuieQaegjqiHrzBdApWBgjw9BplcCl1OZvWQZOkSN5E4aEBQyPFW9P1t_qggf9TddHXaVZhVWocasiRPbB2EmX3MQ/w400-h225/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20200812.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;"><i>Dinocephalosaurus orientalis</i>, ZMNH M8727 (referred specimen). (a) Photograph. (b) Interpretative drawing. Abbreviations: ax, axis; co, coracoid; d, dentary; hu, humerus; mx, maxilla; pm, premaxilla; pt, pterygoid; q, quadrate; ra, radius; sc, scapula; ul, ulna.</b><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><b style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Spiekman </span><i style="text-align: justify;">et al</i><span style="text-align: justify;">. (2024).</span></b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">The third new specimen, ZMNH M8728, comprises a partially preserved skull exposed in right lateral view, plus the cervical and most of the dorsal vertebral column represented by 56 vertebrae preserved in articulation (i.e. 32 cervical vertebrae and 23 dorsal vertebrae), cervical and dorsal ribs; elements of both pectoral girdles and forelimbs; and the gastral rib basket. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7iSOoh2FZ2B4O7Nz4OuGk0WIvP5VU53UkN1f-a0Ht9p3Npc5ejBBnv2dA0wZ-h0Od7doifiqME6eKXuKt3LjqECuAZQHabkI2okEyf7YhoyvgSEfoq8vb5jGCyRRHpCva8TGaZp5Q6WpnO4bRzoQSWpK7qJWXjAJc9krtDZoRxAhgCdwNueJ6eiJqO2U/s579/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20202032.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="579" data-original-width="492" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7iSOoh2FZ2B4O7Nz4OuGk0WIvP5VU53UkN1f-a0Ht9p3Npc5ejBBnv2dA0wZ-h0Od7doifiqME6eKXuKt3LjqECuAZQHabkI2okEyf7YhoyvgSEfoq8vb5jGCyRRHpCva8TGaZp5Q6WpnO4bRzoQSWpK7qJWXjAJc9krtDZoRxAhgCdwNueJ6eiJqO2U/w544-h640/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20202032.png" width="544" /></a><b style="text-align: left;"><i>Dinocephalosaurus orientalis</i>, ZMNHM8728 (referred specimen). (a) Photograph. (b) Interpretative drawing. Abbreviations: cl, clavicle; co, coracoid; co-sc, articulated coracoid and scapula; cr, cervical rib; cv, cervical vertebra; hu, humerus; ns, neural spine; ra, radius; ul, ulna. <span style="text-align: justify;">Spiekman </span><i style="text-align: justify;">et al</i><span style="text-align: justify;">. (2024).</span></b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">The next new specimen, ZMNH M8752, comprises the skull and mandible, neck, trunk and complete tail, ribs, gastral ribs, pectoral girdle and forelimbs as well as pelvic girdle and hindlimbs, making it one of the most complete specimens known.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAdpw0N19smS9uwZwZ6jUeFEPBFGGcUVmYgz_c1d8BsakLhJHswo_DojsZwMhzRSlF93ARNb36aQgodxYoHT1fKc6GUU2O-K8IiB4iBRqGmJSPUfBd6cNCm0a0YrHLDFAd2Pij2Xss0i04Y4HTcyZvjiqGqFU9iKy50HMt1onycpkoQyZZkk5D1Rm-iPk/s710/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20202748.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="710" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAdpw0N19smS9uwZwZ6jUeFEPBFGGcUVmYgz_c1d8BsakLhJHswo_DojsZwMhzRSlF93ARNb36aQgodxYoHT1fKc6GUU2O-K8IiB4iBRqGmJSPUfBd6cNCm0a0YrHLDFAd2Pij2Xss0i04Y4HTcyZvjiqGqFU9iKy50HMt1onycpkoQyZZkk5D1Rm-iPk/w400-h344/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20202748.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;"><i>Dinocephalosaurus orientalis</i>, ZMNH M8752 (referred specimen). (a) Photograph. (b) Interpretative drawing. Abbreviations: as, astragalum; ca, calcaneum; ca.v, caudal vertebra; cl, clavicle; co, coracoid; cv, cervical vertebra; do.v, dorsal vertebra; dt, distal tarsal; fib, fibula; hu, humerus; in, intermedium; mand, mandible; ra, radius; sc, scapula; tib, tibia.</b><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><b style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Spiekman </span><i style="text-align: justify;">et al</i><span style="text-align: justify;">. (2024).</span></b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">The final new specimen, IVPP V20295, however, is the most complete and fully articulated specimen recovered to date, comprising a skull is preserved in dorsal view and is in complete articulation with the neck and the rest of the body, which is essentially exposed on its left side. The total vertebral count is 145, comprising 32 cervical vertebrae, 30 dorsal vertebrae, 2 sacral vertebrae and 81 caudal vertebrae.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibsQ63c4cZ9MxMdmJOuKQ1TDZfmBYIzUdkTIciNhgtqajpkP81_f2oCYWR04Ylu79u0-ysdopACYmsi0VeTzqCADQlTEN-oGH6X23ze1xBU34fgvi1NE2B6GHJ8XjgQqVm_5NXe-bPTcKGTx1tJCGcRzINAqTMfipQuo39xYNvo0aNQHTCm8vHwUYgdqY/s705/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20190612.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="705" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibsQ63c4cZ9MxMdmJOuKQ1TDZfmBYIzUdkTIciNhgtqajpkP81_f2oCYWR04Ylu79u0-ysdopACYmsi0VeTzqCADQlTEN-oGH6X23ze1xBU34fgvi1NE2B6GHJ8XjgQqVm_5NXe-bPTcKGTx1tJCGcRzINAqTMfipQuo39xYNvo0aNQHTCm8vHwUYgdqY/w400-h299/Screenshot%202024-03-12%20190612.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;"><i>Dinocephalosaurus orientalis</i> IVPP V20295.Complete articulated skeleton in dorsal to left lateral view. Abbreviations: ax, axis; ca.v, caudal vertebra; cv, cervical vertebra; do.v, dorsal vertebra; ga, gastralia; l.co, left coracoid; l.fe, left femur; l.hu, left humerus; l.il, left ilium; l.is left ischium; l.man, left manus; l.pes, left pes; l.pu, left pubis; l.ra, left radius; l.sc, left scapula; r.hu, right humerus; r.co, right coracoid; r.fi, right fibula; r,ma, right manus; r.ra, right radius; r.sc, right scapula; r.ti, right tibia; r.ul, right ulna.</b><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><b style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Spiekman </span><i style="text-align: justify;">et al</i><span style="text-align: justify;">. (2024).</span></b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">Based upon this new material, Spiekman <i>et al</i>. re-interpret <i>Dinocephalosaurus orientalis</i> as a large non-Crocopodan Archosauromorph, reaching as much as 6 m in length, with a neck twice as long as its trunk. It's post-orbital skull is short, and the suborbital fenestra has been obliterated. There is a single fang on each pre-maxillary, as well as further fangs on the front part of the maxilla and dentary. There are 62 pre-sacral vertebrae, of which 32 are cervical, as well as two sacral vertebrae and 81 caudal vertebrae. The limbs are reduced, apparently due to paedomorphosis (the retention of juvenile traits in adults), with a lack of suturing in several places in clearly adult specimens, and a reduction in the number of phalanges.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhex2_Aazm_wG_BuAllFenjQvaK7_uQDlVucNTcV5BhdWH_BUVMI4asRdVlG3zB-YNEFYzUEagbnWc-0tqqOi6LZQQy9ACtlgMak-f7Eeuk1FHgmYfea6_wJuL34Itxazc_j6IVCC54wheZkknczQFolWi9crqsu2kE6oM74gSXAY4HPhfotbenqCIiqIw/s730/Screenshot%202024-03-13%20182513.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="730" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhex2_Aazm_wG_BuAllFenjQvaK7_uQDlVucNTcV5BhdWH_BUVMI4asRdVlG3zB-YNEFYzUEagbnWc-0tqqOi6LZQQy9ACtlgMak-f7Eeuk1FHgmYfea6_wJuL34Itxazc_j6IVCC54wheZkknczQFolWi9crqsu2kE6oM74gSXAY4HPhfotbenqCIiqIw/w400-h263/Screenshot%202024-03-13%20182513.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;"><i>Dinocephalosaurus orientalis</i>, ZMNHM8728, interpretative drawings of selected elements. (a) Right mandibular ramus in lateral view. (b) Right pterygoid in lateral view. (c) Posterior cervical vertebrae and anteriormost dorsal vertebra (cv26–do.v1) in right lateral view. (d) Mid-dorsal vertebrae in right </b><b style="text-align: left;">lateral view. (e) Right forelimb, as preserved. (f) Left forelimb, as preserved. Abbreviations: ang, angular; ar, articular; c, centrum; cv, cervical vertebra; d, dentary; dc, distal carpal; do.v, dorsal vertebra; hu, humerus; int, intermedium; mc, metacarpal; ncr, neural crest; ns, neural spine; pl.p.pt, </b><b style="text-align: left;">palatine process of the pterygoid; poz, postzygapophysis; prz, prezygapophysis; q.p.pt, quadrate process of the pterygoid; sang, surangular; sym, symphysis; tr.p, transverse process; tr.p.pt, transverse process of the pterygoid; ra, radius; rad, radiale; ul, ulna; uln, ulnare. <span style="text-align: justify;">Spiekman </span><i style="text-align: justify;">et al</i><span style="text-align: justify;">. (2024).</span></b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">Spiekman <i>et al</i>. also note that a specimen of an aparently gravid <i>Dinocephalosaurus </i>has been described from a different location, Luoping County in Yunnan Province. This specimen is incomplete making confident assignment to the same species difficult, but has no traits which would justify erecting a second species. Notably, although presumably an adult, this specimen is only about half the size of the largest specimens from the Guanling Formation specimens, suggesting that if it does belong to the same species, then that species must have shown strong sexual dimorphism.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Specimens of <i>Dinocephalosaurus orientalis</i> are quite abundant in the Guanling Formation, a coastal deposit laid down in the eastern Tethys Ocean, but no similar specimens have to date been found in deposits from the western Tethys, which outcrop in Europe and the Middle East, despite many of these sites having been sampled extensively for over three centuries. However, based upon their new material, Spiekman <i>et al</i>. not that two maxillae from the Lower Muschelkalk of Krapkowice and Gogolin in Upper Silesia, Poland, and a dentary from the Lower Muschelkalk of Winterswijk in the Netherlands, currently assigned to '<i>Lamprosauroides goepperti</i>', show strong similarities to <i>Dinocephalosaurus orientalis</i>, although the extremely fragmentary nature of this European material prevents a proper re-evaluation at this time.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Extremely elongate necks appear to have been achieved at least twice in non-Crocopodan Archosauromorphs, with <i>Dinocephalosaurus orientalis</i> increasing the number of vertebrae in its neck, while <i>Tanystropheus</i> spp. increased the length of the individual cervical vertebrae. While this might seem likely to have given <i>Dinocephalosaurus orientalis</i> a more flexible neck than <i>Tanystropheus</i> spp., both taxa had elongated cervical ribs which would have served to stiffen the neck, something widespread in non-Crocopodan Archosauromorphs. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It is possible thar the arrangement of cervical ribs and an elongate neck would have facilitated suction feeding, however, both taxa have 'fish-trap' dentition, suggesting that this is unlikely, as the long teeth would tend to prevent prey being drawn into the buccal cavity. Instead Spiekman <i>et al</i>. theorise that both taxa probably caught prey with a lateral snapping motion of the head, something which has also been proposed for piscivorous Triassic Sauropterygians. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMfaYmAWfPLieYFRfNj1G-K_1_Zs6agld2awW9H_o6QFp629eeJDXGV8tzNfjnVq-AnAeLa8Y5FJLJol87CBT16kEtJqDOLPBUB5PnAzzejyWMA4mkCv7dbOj_EzXt1UrudmN62o4h85airugQIEPlBuaDW0X8yB5wHmMVVFtADgZeeu7TvyPc6napHEM/s588/Screenshot%202024-03-13%20184208.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="417" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMfaYmAWfPLieYFRfNj1G-K_1_Zs6agld2awW9H_o6QFp629eeJDXGV8tzNfjnVq-AnAeLa8Y5FJLJol87CBT16kEtJqDOLPBUB5PnAzzejyWMA4mkCv7dbOj_EzXt1UrudmN62o4h85airugQIEPlBuaDW0X8yB5wHmMVVFtADgZeeu7TvyPc6napHEM/w454-h640/Screenshot%202024-03-13%20184208.png" width="454" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Restoration of <i>Dinocephalosaurus orientalis</i>. The skull in (a) left lateral; (b) dorsal; and (c) ventral views. (d) The skeleton in left lateral view with a silhouette of a diver for scale. Abbreviations; ect, ectopterygoid; fr, frontal; j, jugal; la, lacrimal; mx, maxilla; na, nasal; pa, parietal; pal, palatine; pm, premaxilla; po, postorbital; pof, postfrontal; prf, prefrontal; pt, pterygoid; q, quadrate; sq, squamosal; vo, vomer. <span style="text-align: justify;">Spiekman </span><i style="text-align: justify;">et al</i><span style="text-align: justify;">. (2024).</span></b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">The largest specimens of <i>Dinocephalosaurus orientalis</i> are considered to be adults with some confidence, showing full fusion of the bones of the skull and trunk region. Notably, a specimen from the Triassic of Yunnan, which appears very similar to <i>Dinocephalosaurus orientalis</i>, but is not complete enough to confidently assign to the species, is gravid, suggesting either that <i>Dinocephalosaurus orientalis</i> was sexually dimorphic, or that a second, much smaller species of <i>Dinocephalosaurus </i>was also present. The limbs of <i>Dinocephalosaurus orientalis</i> are underdeveloped, with little development of articular surfaces and poorly ossified carpus and tarsus, even compared to the functionally similar <i>Tanystropheus</i> spp., suggesting that <i>Dinocephalosaurus orientalis</i> had a greater degree of adaption to a marine environment, and was probably not capable of leaving the water and crawling onto land. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">See</span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> also...</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2020/08/elessaurus-gondwanoccidens-new-species.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="643" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVf4Y9WBsdL8t5a1k3AF9V9aiOqUMS9OIVS26OPRb33E90vDhb2EJejbCg1Dw_GwFW2PHw1KPGjbQfjxu1_BRedY0OzesETB9Ozsv1_iy5s3NYkLEiSCejdnbbHvhCWjb-sXWh45kUFrR7mAtDEC8LlS8cjozusJr6kLrTeN1SFOwHp7s-GYTsNvDQI58/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-13%20192747.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; 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margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ThoughtsSciency" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5taU0mhNfZ9hou1pPbvwU9vW5AkdqhT0trDM2Q7Hqd194FRStWIY5ii9KfEsnacb7gXQ7E_LKzO9rTBQeV6VsJ1WY3WOdKEfcMlbt9J1y0c16VXBoeeHyGfHieKRTrnmgb59f8u9shF_lg6o2IZO1ogLBeJL1AULfaRrxUCTO9MQBMyFo6C5uIV0qvIw/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174927.png" width="200" /></a></div>Joe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-41770587039035990752024-03-11T07:43:00.000+00:002024-03-11T07:43:18.923+00:00Scorpiops (Euscorpiops) krachan: A new species of Scorpion from Thailand.<p style="text-align: justify;">The Scorpion genus <i>Scorpiops</i> comprises medium-sized, generally brown Scorpions found across South, Southeast, and East Asia. The genus is generally split into several subgenera, although not all of these are accepted by all experts in the field, while some Scorpion specialists elevate some or all of the subgenera to genus level.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In a <a href="https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/113398/">paper</a> published in the journal <a href="https://zookeys.pensoft.net/">Zootaxa</a> on 6 March 2024, Wasin Nawanetiwong of the <a href="https://www.biology.sc.chula.ac.th/">Department of Biology</a> at <a href="https://www.chula.ac.th/en/">Chulalongkorn University</a>, <a href="https://is.mendelu.cz/lide/clovek.pl?id=17641;lang=en">Ondřej Košulič</a> of the Department of Forest Protection and Wildlife Management at <a href="https://mendelu.cz/en/">Mendel University in Brno</a>, Natapot Warrit, also of Chulalongkorn University, Wilson Lourenço of the <a href="https://www.mnhn.fr/fr">Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle</a>, and Eric Ythier of <a href="http://www.bygtaxa.com/">BYG Taxa</a>, describe a new species of <i>Scorpiops</i> from the <a href="https://www.thainationalparks.com/kaeng-krachan-national-park">Kaeng Krachan National Park</a> in Phetchaburi Province, Thailand.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The new species is described on the basis of three male and one female specimens, all collected within the park. It is placed within the subgenus <i>Euscorpiops</i>, and given the specific name <i>krachan</i>, in reference to the national park.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwAXa-AW28xx9-KCu3KGhrXsUfBy0GHtubWGEBxngMo5Er04NvKfJxLDU7f0U7P3u5AbQvV91Xfu3V6YpfJ3v48QhJkDjTQa4FSWkcQ3FAQoGEOoqoZZ5irva5teQCFuBirifGZQD93buJ6uWExa4WzYX_hGjtG9x6Y21qeWuQq4YX4rIAlTyi31FM89A/s496/Screenshot%202024-03-11%20065706.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="496" data-original-width="359" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwAXa-AW28xx9-KCu3KGhrXsUfBy0GHtubWGEBxngMo5Er04NvKfJxLDU7f0U7P3u5AbQvV91Xfu3V6YpfJ3v48QhJkDjTQa4FSWkcQ3FAQoGEOoqoZZ5irva5teQCFuBirifGZQD93buJ6uWExa4WzYX_hGjtG9x6Y21qeWuQq4YX4rIAlTyi31FM89A/w464-h640/Screenshot%202024-03-11%20065706.png" width="464" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;"><i>Scorpiops (Euscorpiops) krachan</i>. (A), (B) Male holotype, habitus, dorsal (A) and ventral (B) aspects. (C), (D) Female paratype, habitus, dorsal (C) and ventral (D) aspects. Scale bar is 1 cm. <span style="text-align: justify;">Nawanetiwong <i>et al</i>. (2024).</span></b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">Male specimens of <i>Scorpiops (Euscorpiops) krachan</i> ranged from 21.7mm to 26.9 mm in length, while the female specimen measured 25.9 mm, small for the subgenus. These Scorpions are brownish yellow in colour, with the females being darker than the males. Males have notably longer pedipalps and chelae than the females. The carapace has a weakly granular texture.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9640hX4Qfh71PAYjI4xHyNHOQ0ZPPpTm5hYffQ_4hUNmoKUQRPu_xlQN7aBYsQrgwl1are8j1EaYl5ZnaDCaa8uBq2QHVR8IUj0NzZBrwpjqtLBRiVdY7WK5WeHb8RIOX8wn-syD9a7ujQP1LfSOKLBTvpcTY6uq0Y9IJH36T-GCIyaQvcFVUPcjWFQA/s724/Screenshot%202024-03-11%20070651.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="724" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9640hX4Qfh71PAYjI4xHyNHOQ0ZPPpTm5hYffQ_4hUNmoKUQRPu_xlQN7aBYsQrgwl1are8j1EaYl5ZnaDCaa8uBq2QHVR8IUj0NzZBrwpjqtLBRiVdY7WK5WeHb8RIOX8wn-syD9a7ujQP1LfSOKLBTvpcTY6uq0Y9IJH36T-GCIyaQvcFVUPcjWFQA/w400-h293/Screenshot%202024-03-11%20070651.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;"><i>Scorpiops</i> (<i>Euscorpiops</i>) <i>krachan</i>, female with pre-juveniles (instar I). Nawanetiwong <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">Members of the genus <i>Scorpiops</i> have been described from a wide range of forest types at altitudes of between 40 m and 1800 m above sealevel. <i>Scorpiops (Euscorpiops) krachan</i> is the second member of the genus to be reported in Phetchaburi Province, and is found in the Tenasserim Mountain Range, which is covered by rainforests. Specimens were found under rocks in a transitional zone between secondary and primary rainforest. Members of the genus <i>Scorpiops</i> are ambush predators, giving them a rather sedentary lifestyle, and therefore limited distribution potential, which leads to a high rate of endemism within the genus.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVUt2fesMR7MtEoNm79BSeEsgw4y0Hyv7lbnYmnAHIXXyAigISafPBW5DwqiiJ6__UPoi14jrgHQXaiye7hkWHpTl-FJBFUvAIwkIiZJTD1oFOoCSYwt8dubXSQSqsEtvCz1XbZ0QFUSunMOxxlXygpRKoNZPnqDrz7IXqIwCiV7ptBdfRgGtvWH7Ts9Y/s545/Screenshot%202024-03-11%20071850.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="362" data-original-width="545" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVUt2fesMR7MtEoNm79BSeEsgw4y0Hyv7lbnYmnAHIXXyAigISafPBW5DwqiiJ6__UPoi14jrgHQXaiye7hkWHpTl-FJBFUvAIwkIiZJTD1oFOoCSYwt8dubXSQSqsEtvCz1XbZ0QFUSunMOxxlXygpRKoNZPnqDrz7IXqIwCiV7ptBdfRgGtvWH7Ts9Y/w400-h266/Screenshot%202024-03-11%20071850.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Natural habitat of <i>Scorpiops</i> (<i>Euscorpiops</i>) <i>krachan </i>in Kaeng Krachan National Park, Phetchaburi Province, Thailand. Nawanetiwong <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">See also...</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2022/12/hottentotta-pooyani-new-species-of.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="639" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPQ_lnnLgMa8zFBfMufK6R5nFQ20hV_94QXvPoT8QHHpIppQuEcCfhHFoTjbExDkWF0yJMVYC0AQYPrC18_nppm6s4QpORjW2g2zWFPajzfF1LK3fksmZikoXeMBCtg3H1-BEXxYxbV58mooWQWobkrewARUZAKC-qvy-afVfUrGkGkkoVw2IgFW2yCuY/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-11%20072437.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2020/03/parioscorpio-venator-new-species-of.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="639" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq9eGdAlHMmXuapD6hx-efHcGABMUYXF-g3tYM_aQCSDnS59doKxm4J7Lixe0AOK1W1OFkZclC3tUee9PaL-uyxRcmhfulsvQJOvjkzxzNA-MGeM8wNG04aQVDZyMNXVjF1jMvsE8uggW2v4UOo2Cn9nwriJW-U_QterdsKXEDnJIlx0D5L4ieyQKXgnM/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-11%20072718.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2020/01/chinese-national-arrested-trying-to.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="908" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-1V1itedBZujxHmXsn4-AsFsPAOCNUAHXHfj9_t9lzdFC4TImxrvWejE3ERIgEYqpIjz6oP7QEYVJSRstGpIfwdunLE-K5ewQyqRfciwmAauWn1qk-nmeFKgBGFTWdK7ehHs5xsOQiUgRJpcfhB6J2eb9GubAOuh-JswRIhWWJiTFAQbHUp-efdlpK6A/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-11%20073109.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2018/08/alloscorpiops-viktoriae-new-species-of.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="639" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlypj3yQOv2WifaNrmTaSZfFDuqeEXE3BIBH-NOYMwoOQCDqLQxmD_lLuzTZNpocNBhIQEZHk6lN2Hs86H9E_bUi_RF1Lc-tVfEHkqb5t2PSbmiLT2C-K3stWOHdsAEDTj_QJiR9Vk0u-lqc4q7hYUK6iE7OJttaOUYihyJENciS_32mzznuse6_kNRgo/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-11%20073332.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2018/02/physoctonus-amazonicus-new-species-of.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="640" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ_ZzLyGOTsG2-Sj6N55jsspqgChOMVb67SKwvN07TS9bOPfjAAGBEPU8eZPp50-PuqLo5_o6QVHZNsrSWwZhA4Vvg3SbeUHvfK5Rx-xPoVPic-g4LEDNUaiBWxHyFajvUsus4uMos3eWUTnu4P5CQV0bHBpbFPRBtMBn44PzrU5aQQyF5o9k257GCWeE/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-11%20073623.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/04/opsieobuthus-tungeri-scorpion-from.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="361" data-original-width="634" height="114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinwPn2YMRWmqGogDjrILDDdjJQ-S5d-1R1Aq324hrM5oqp-rFjMW80V1gw2eEMcvW1mwwz9v0MepTLRa_ogEHDki_WS9zaACBrRX2K_IOgtrIxdipAWW2YXMarEw1Bhxbkl1ScvNEUWji6hWuT3Jav6EWLtnFlH46ojpTCMatS8EwlXc5DG_KmnzRv4Jg/w200-h114/Screenshot%202024-03-11%20073900.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SciencyThoughts" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG-yKprS13DQuq_1hfgcZ5CQvJmN8VnsHZDUav-jnceFih9nNs8Vj2jLWypKUs81_xncILEr5vZrPCKsPFLFUvdBnvecUJMgleSNjql86js9EZmg3rKcxThqd4vswKUf2L5cEXxcKfqAPjkoKQcmy6qMaJXjSBfw9j3BFDc0Si9N0Mq7Q9Wf5gIbqcIxI/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174151.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ThoughtsSciency" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqVjiXRZjDKGi37TS4qeINaUYH3Zd4edpHlTWx92I0xfwxMsAAuD9_XR6GsoPBIcYX4J2RbwLSWJ_CyKO4vPqWuwaQg6Rfcm1LXcaUG1Hc1Jfw6oFlPHz66NZn27X_zQRPOZunTGRhsCtZtfCHkInhgu2Mc2T66Mzgo5AVaz2nuvFQ7wcGUvil91eKgsY/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174927.png" width="200" /></a></div>Joe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-7659644830125510572024-03-10T16:14:00.000+00:002024-03-10T16:14:05.920+00:00Flooding and landslides kill at least twenty one in West Sumatra.<div style="text-align: justify;">Twenty one people are now known to have died, with six more still missing and around 80 000 forced to flee their homes amid flooding and landslides in West Sumatra Province, Indonesia. The worst affected area is Pesisir Selatan District, where a mudslide on the side of a mountain engulphed several villages on Friday 8 March 2024, with seven people killed in the village of Koto XI Tarusan, a popular tourist destination with many traditional houses, and two more in neighbouring villages. A further three people have been confirmed dead in the neighbouring district of Padang Pariaman, where around 700 homes are reported to have been damaged or destroyed by the flooding.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqZ2n-3Ql1AorWtGmLatMH89Ay1V8P1cu0kU6aZ0X-cdc0YW0LL-CQQgg14IGGfMTXj7QB7YF6neDQTaJuIrAQYJgRg7-ucDbCq9hiZ40_y9d6jazPOFPcyIm2IX7dhUsStGpxICLqVEPzOxE7nGe1b9L9RWVJZ-maNOt0kxQVsJ8W4Cw6TVpRkkCb1cg/s962/4165-2777-f05989094a034093945727ecc4c6ab85.jpg.article-962.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="962" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqZ2n-3Ql1AorWtGmLatMH89Ay1V8P1cu0kU6aZ0X-cdc0YW0LL-CQQgg14IGGfMTXj7QB7YF6neDQTaJuIrAQYJgRg7-ucDbCq9hiZ40_y9d6jazPOFPcyIm2IX7dhUsStGpxICLqVEPzOxE7nGe1b9L9RWVJZ-maNOt0kxQVsJ8W4Cw6TVpRkkCb1cg/w400-h266/4165-2777-f05989094a034093945727ecc4c6ab85.jpg.article-962.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Flood damage in Western Sumatra. <a href="https://apnews.com/">AP</a>.</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sumatra has a wet tropical climate, with a rainy season that lasts from October to April, when rainfall typically reaches 200-300 mm per month and a dry season from May to September, when rainfall is usually below 200 mm per month (though the area is never truly dry. This is driven by the Southeast Asian Monsoon Seasons, with the Northeast Monsoon driven by winds from the South China Sea feuling the wetter rainy season and the Southwest Monsoon driven by winds from the southern Indian Ocean the drier dry season. Such a double Monsoon Season is common close to the equator, where the Sun is highest overhead around the equinoxes and lowest on the horizons around the solstices, making the solstices the coolest part of the year and the equinoxes the hottest.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgBImWif5WK2NmeFiaBzRCRR5C8LybaT4zEYVngcW-mFHiwOFDsbck_a6OstW3vNgS0btj06N_H_RqaZOKN1JkkQ3Bg5D37SRwrmUo6LBd_eNEFpAwF-SJtlavct8wF2ncAqUctVhsckG96rtnY2QGZafW5iP2tgLH9QH-_uUa_PjGkfj60nVviZaM2p8/s400/monsoon-map.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="400" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgBImWif5WK2NmeFiaBzRCRR5C8LybaT4zEYVngcW-mFHiwOFDsbck_a6OstW3vNgS0btj06N_H_RqaZOKN1JkkQ3Bg5D37SRwrmUo6LBd_eNEFpAwF-SJtlavct8wF2ncAqUctVhsckG96rtnY2QGZafW5iP2tgLH9QH-_uUa_PjGkfj60nVviZaM2p8/w400-h240/monsoon-map.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>The winds that drive the Northeast and Southwest Monsoons in Southeast Asia. Mynewshub.</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Monsoons are tropical sea breezes triggered by heating of the land during the warmer part of the year (summer). Both the land and sea are warmed by the Sun, but the land has a lower ability to absorb heat, radiating it back so that the air above landmasses becomes significantly warmer than that over the sea, causing the air above the land to rise and drawing in water from over the sea; since this has also been warmed it carries a high evaporated water content, and brings with it heavy rainfall. In the tropical dry season the situation is reversed, as the air over the land cools more rapidly with the seasons, leading to warmer air over the sea, and thus breezes moving from the shore to the sea (where air is rising more rapidly) and a drying of the climate.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRhSj-R-rGijGsUCK-8ClaSJS5ZVl6D0IaAxQsFZmgFcw_ac_Q-fTPifg6z4bJ_quSA2bfoCUdNxU5-eCZVZtrlCUlGT4f3oa1-Brc0BKo3ev-vERkg_x3ldymE4aY362hvfRhghdWM1Ss4q8zP9MAGLRsPhsF91CTZ38deF88UNUVxhOydtWTD3DEiOY/s400/monsoon.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="376" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRhSj-R-rGijGsUCK-8ClaSJS5ZVl6D0IaAxQsFZmgFcw_ac_Q-fTPifg6z4bJ_quSA2bfoCUdNxU5-eCZVZtrlCUlGT4f3oa1-Brc0BKo3ev-vERkg_x3ldymE4aY362hvfRhghdWM1Ss4q8zP9MAGLRsPhsF91CTZ38deF88UNUVxhOydtWTD3DEiOY/w376-h400/monsoon.gif" width="376" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Diagrammatic representation of wind and rainfall patterns in a tropical monsoon climate. <a href="http://www.geo.arizona.edu/">Geosciences</a>/<a href="http://www.arizona.edu/">University of Arizona</a>.</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This year the rains were over a month late, not starting until January, and then exceptionally heavy, a pattern thought to be linked to the el Niño weather-system presently over the South Pacific; el Niño weather-systems typically being linked to more extreme weather patterns in Southeast Asia.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The El Niño is the warm phase of a long-term climatic oscillation affecting the southern Pacific, which can influence the climate around the world. The onset of El Niño conditions is marked by a sharp rise in temperature and pressure over the southern Indian Ocean, which then moves eastward over the southern Pacific. This pulls rainfall with it, leading to higher rainfall over the Pacific and lower rainfall over South Asia. This reduced rainfall during the already hot and dry summer leads to soaring temperatures in southern Asia, followed by a rise in rainfall that often causes flooding in the Americas and sometimes Africa. Worryingly climatic predictions for the next century suggest that global warming could lead to more frequent and severe El Niño conditions, extreme weather conditions a common occurrence.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTRwX3eKhNLfqWrm1rRPdeAt5-7-6b_5LSkXElGgGYxe9WRb69dUic_1khY3xNAM7CYJHj0w3k-CjNB0tIyUsNMg82mKH02UjKL0PAApuca3n6pfx08YKkYMrfZtUUReG5wLyfXERmBLEfh27tGqjmyqq_fVy7OqIodwgCPazddO0wdhy-h1l5tYGRlKY/s400/El%20Nino%20weather.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="271" data-original-width="400" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTRwX3eKhNLfqWrm1rRPdeAt5-7-6b_5LSkXElGgGYxe9WRb69dUic_1khY3xNAM7CYJHj0w3k-CjNB0tIyUsNMg82mKH02UjKL0PAApuca3n6pfx08YKkYMrfZtUUReG5wLyfXERmBLEfh27tGqjmyqq_fVy7OqIodwgCPazddO0wdhy-h1l5tYGRlKY/w400-h271/El%20Nino%20weather.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Movements of air masses and changes in precipitation in an El Niño weather system. <a href="http://www.visualizingscience.com/">Fiona Martin</a>/<a href="https://www.climate.gov/">NOAA</a>.</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The development of an el Niño weather-system this year is considered particularly alarming by climate scientists, as the world has had several consecutive years in which average global sea-surface temperatures have equalled or slightly surpassed the hottest previous average temperatures recorded, despite the climate being in a la Niña phase. As sea surface temperatures are typically significantly warmer during an el Niño phase than a la Niña phase, the development of such a phase could push temperatures into areas not previously encountered on Earth since Modern Humans first appeared, potentially triggering or accelerating other climatic problems, such as glacial melting, droughts in tropical forests, and changes in ocean circulation, which might in turn take us further into unfamiliar climatic territory.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">See also...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/12/eleven-confirmed-dead-and-twelve-still.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="640" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWsKDxewhWbrgdg4IxCYs-viStV7sqHHAAW5shKa0yZSNGuhpXV-X8OQpZap88OOjVGDhh7BlglsgqrgicYMPV6U0LjfEu8hLMbcLtzkZctblg_EebluOC3iqN7z71T060D3Z9Ek6BlvN6Mbj3gZRZ54GfsoBzJglz6GXZCMkS6CedmynDuC1I2b8S5-0/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-10%20155505.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2022/02/magnitude-62-earthquake-beneath-west.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="899" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGdLSdQcdtQR9XHuoHRwbiQUXUfR7rUl99BGVqNLGkc9PoiRQVwLpJjpDxQzOKWJx2_HVdzpSJ2zf7FNf_HV-3kYJoLfOyDJnGpcUecybKR2v78HVjncAOQi-ehhnbk-jUfRoTZYO8P8yBLP3lCr_BS1O3C1yExuNy-RRBhe3f8tdLMOk9mnGsmN4eMb8/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-10%20155821.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2021/05/magnitude-72-earthquake-off-coast-of.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="907" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-7Y3XMOQZC1snIqTFd6eROWZc3wfDANf3fOmH3tbiZuVRJCxpFerfck7iN79Z0MCDvF6SwY-nVePBggnWMFk3xyHytAjj1u6mrA2caNfLE_juysXo07yGgNkB7r69uNgwIknOhtoBF3u2bG3ODhhR823h_YGliQ6nCIyo9HNZNunAQ60ZHTS8iJ40jWY/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-10%20160108.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2020/04/landslide-kills-nine-at-illegal-mine-in.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="901" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgInoSiSWq9T-kCVaC_9s07AjrACMKlTbhT-fADuKFzSv0eJu8qeozICEjKppJTkcIueXnmy1JNcxJNRBZ2H4VBRpvPSW967Vz0jM5bN9X-7dEUelw2A9R8FNODjmoduAVhEEFqLkoXgm1XIDokIQOIXYEqD6I8rM1wBIXY1Z613rDCo-4tAGw6ab5wc_Q/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-10%20160340.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2018/10/landslides-and-flash-floods-kill-36-in.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="901" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0fhuAU_fVc05JKMiiVjJDZuNzHKl6LCxnZflWvzB20JG-ichGxgJH3L7-VLbRN7pjuvZHPzN018U4HJTBJSxOL1cDhyZ5tJWGNWMu9lVLFVVwCnIvhCOYKDTP5j_pmLRzTFlIGI_jLjhO83C1GqI5uB5uCf3b6lfyN_sfwDOMEBn9SfC1i1FAKKXXDRQ/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-10%20160632.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2018/06/eruption-on-mount-kerinci-sumatra.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="904" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0XdZMVgdGntRj8EN3gTjBX8Qm7zoKrNJrrnyHxgIK1YL8yrj0aojApOnvguZA3XYik1LLyJRm-My0e6tal6UMj0ja3IVgu2EIVwxke0Qaarh1VduM-qe4_hnCvGMcXHPRaldX5o8ifeyWBsIpnaMZiY7lyJntnh9ltUt4acduHQQLelsSPeQZuFjNN6A/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-10%20160858.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SciencyThoughts" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4E5GsrMQQqxWHSShSSZSmCeRj6vdsKEA4t0EylHAk1L-fYM8w3VZmXriLdpxXxv6On-fy1vwbpNMLBSANHSLe5yBsANP_lieTGEQ8XPxUReW2HKzkm_LWuB__66qlXYIsc4buLEWmWI_tuy4gcXib3tRsGSckE1yH89dRM-UnoIsTByGAlBGPc8t4FA/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174151.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ThoughtsSciency" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrLpDYBRMwFiSclWGOl1dMXDwA4nUstKWcZonTEqTAaugPJLxcCrtSRsGPOs5N6Gkph1vsAN3NZntQL6Ad1hHInuuU7CV-rGmKcdLcaQjGVqhF0Cd2jcGsGJ8vQq7dDAD_oyIj1KPRZkQlUsw8_uRU-XrwTCiH-E7R_gEqMkaJSmyGmlIbKXUfQY6T7jk/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174927.png" width="200" /></a></div>Joe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-85154889913513466152024-03-09T21:05:00.000+00:002024-03-09T21:05:41.341+00:00Eruption on Mount La Cumbre, Fernandina Island.<p style="text-align: justify;">At about 11.50 pm local time on Saturday 2 March 2024, a circumferential fissure on the upper southeastern flank of Mount La Cumbre, an active shield volcano on Fernandina Island in the Galápagos Islands. The fissure propagated for between three and five kilometres, and produced gaseous emissions with a low ash content which rose to between two and three kilometres above the summit of the volcano. These emissions continued to about 4.00 am before subsiding, with lava also issuing from the fissure between about 0.45 and 1.35 am. Based upon satellite observations of the eruption, about 46 460 tons of sulphur dioxide were released from the fissure on 3 March, with a further 24 000 of sulphur dioxide being released on 4 March, and about 2228 tons on 5 March. Lava continued to flow down the flanks of the mountain over this time, reaching 7.9 km from the fissure by Wednesday 6 March.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim75IUqQ8eb0lwczJsuSCtIolP5QSPBYQgvaCHUhaLJ35eFlHbtP-iOt_yxUFSeSkvXOM-YiEn9-cXQf3aF2llgaBD3Lo40eVN6BnTvVr2c4-Nudxq2fwozbvWoS1iZ_FssQMVdlKXQIioWBtbon70fM62VjaGWyH0zbg6qrTPfvPzBezLiddRaygH9kM/s1036/Screenshot%202024-03-09%20202334.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="1036" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim75IUqQ8eb0lwczJsuSCtIolP5QSPBYQgvaCHUhaLJ35eFlHbtP-iOt_yxUFSeSkvXOM-YiEn9-cXQf3aF2llgaBD3Lo40eVN6BnTvVr2c4-Nudxq2fwozbvWoS1iZ_FssQMVdlKXQIioWBtbon70fM62VjaGWyH0zbg6qrTPfvPzBezLiddRaygH9kM/w400-h243/Screenshot%202024-03-09%20202334.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Lava issuing from a fissure on the side of Mount La Cumbre, Fernandina Island, on 3 March 2024. Andy Torres/<a href="https://galapagos.gob.ec/?lang=en">Parque Nacional Galápagos</a>/<a href="https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/">Getty Images</a>.</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">The volcanos of the Galapagos are fuelled by a mantle plume, the Galapagos Hotspot, an upwelling of hot magma from deep within the Earth’s mantle which pierces the overlying Nazca Plate, and moves independently of it. This plume transverses the plate at a rate of 0.46 degrees per million years, which has led to the formation of the string of volcanoes which form the Galapagos Islands. However, analysis of the geochemical composition of the lavas of Wolf Volcano, one of the Galapagos volcanoes, has shown that these are distinct from the lavas of the neighbouring Ecuador and Darwin volcanoes, but show strong similarities to lavas produced on the Galapagos Spreading Centre over 200 km to the north, a trait shared with lavas from other Galapagos volcanoes, most notably Santa Cruz and Genovesa, suggesting that there is some interplay between these two sources.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTkFMKxQzi0hphpYlhhXs9jzmWlBVzVc2MDS6553yrQyadDKTvEXTUSnMhtVixDZbBwTWt6xbKxBWRJHBC_Z5_o27EbpxhnOkek5lMTKMAkSDeSogLzA4Idf5koK7UIO65_VKWnf-KPgHnDRWUTlD2pg6CUru9o417wgubncy6AMp2oIJKd4WdL5_FeuM/s400/GalapagosFig1_1000px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="400" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTkFMKxQzi0hphpYlhhXs9jzmWlBVzVc2MDS6553yrQyadDKTvEXTUSnMhtVixDZbBwTWt6xbKxBWRJHBC_Z5_o27EbpxhnOkek5lMTKMAkSDeSogLzA4Idf5koK7UIO65_VKWnf-KPgHnDRWUTlD2pg6CUru9o417wgubncy6AMp2oIJKd4WdL5_FeuM/w400-h270/GalapagosFig1_1000px.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">The relative positions of the Galapagos Islands and Galapagos Spreading Center. <a href="http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/soestwp/">School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology</a>/<a href="http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/soestwp/">University of Hawaii at Manoa</a>.</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">See also...</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2022/01/eruption-on-wolf-volcano-in-galapagos.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="905" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipQQZH9dxkEiyylHSwVhyGP-n829Mf54asj-xBY-q1VFxb6oT8ZuqcKOeq_7f0UnWKgHEk3EIEmGuxw2MhYRyh1rZxML6D_Dkdm2O3gP_Ny0pw3e9FH4aa1tLDmwBzMu45Gd_WyXRZ4zAAP81KIl30PEscWC8WdVgi0Tas_YwrUXryAhhgvuamCa8jEmk/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-09%20203444.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2018/06/evacuations-ordered-after-eruption-on.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="905" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-GT002xaQg-M39JNMn9TlNqY7NxOdn4liB2XsxsYPePrJ7qUBCcEDXCzepu5a71GlmAR1hPc03wZ0XqROTl97YaZpqDP_YUjhwFlLk1KPIHxypirvZoSppUZxsXkalcw-Olo3V6b8t_jLx0G6bS-U8yGgT1jpJ0-fMCrl2UEnRkBWyuLFI6z5xxLrdc/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-09%20203706.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2018/02/british-tourist-attacked-by-shark-while.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="906" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDHRhXOfYqR0gTiddBnFy-EP_sLsZMEvdZzg1iUU7Yyv0wQ3KskQpeNZop_3oFfl8eBn9FvIdvE5dtsecnzaS7P69dggc6nSczHyrmQ6Q9nr2JmqkxVRfv2173fozbedbJjo-bqp2cinb5ZC2XmWxXRb8Exd-6fV6vhpAeTzbsD6vBLfGmjrWu9MbuIME/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-09%20204547.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/05/eruption-on-wolf-volcano.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="903" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9RcHKzrZlNwgCVGYxl251I1jm1slbZJQp-hQhe0MuACeRCOBFzEHNXM1ccilq6viuwFYID27ZUJMHZyV-Kv00muV8VEJmvL4ZxcWBad5M6JTYoFtZobk33LLQjdQStlKp60jT43VajEQJZ2vf5Fgo29B4CdbkmJvikRs8Mz39cEh7sI54RlV76yDB16g/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-09%20205142.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2012/06/death-of-lonesome-george-and-extinction.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="906" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivxerdDgR4rIZfM14CTzk4LMs4MUszeAa2x7Hd5-QjL3sgemMA9SojDmp41iyCpjJUP2rXoBQ23vbx60tuot8Opsq9YSk1lwilUn1D8xfaXk4C__m3EPGlfc5UdUYSM5YyaapbvhUEHJWhNiA6D97vHfen50zGGo6TUOu2SnPFmM0JMuGYSRhdM1tDv6k/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-09%20205401.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2012/03/new-species-of-catshark-from-galapogus.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="903" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVA2XrQgzAC5O2YLhB5z1ruUfOeh7iflF3a-FK1C1noAgw9qEdU2-ZLBOdVZeF7Q7th268R3XPM8bNIVNz75DXzRMZZM25-iQUPQoP-kbHkzQ-viw0OOciB7PiX9E4cuasVQD11mNaFXMRjBnyT3bMx5cebvm9gIzo2XLW_PRIGZ_0FIVfRqvb-5sgwsY/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-09%20205719.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SciencyThoughts" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP_TfVe1BLPPOMxZUFKK6jMYsaW1BzwOoBJwePqUXs1Fge8yczLG2lf6pTMGUuEJCG3WR3K3EW3x5PupeTOGnmszQgYw0v3IFo0tiDgO9EJxqke17sxbg8OYhVLo4n-XTEV-9WNuBmhb5Ini0cYGuK55dr2tw1GKdPAMClgRy6RzjrA9cgdlR5c3Sjvss/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174151.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ThoughtsSciency" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ_BxfQ8IyPGyYidEfBQCgCb2RGQlJt_ubQMMzXuyF7QZnEtaKx35jkcDdZDgG9BWCRKsV0o9j3S6UOj2JmqWU-jbjKi8jv6vUGS09tkz4lzlkrwK-eU7mXjDmTC0FROhFG6NVM7PJ2LhxCZ7OmgAb2U3FJCk6dVEeCPjPIxkID11_1LK0MC5tHsdaY-A/w200-h111/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174927.png" width="200" /></a></div>Joe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-87709619076600692022024-03-08T20:12:00.000+00:002024-03-08T20:12:45.552+00:00Pegethrix qiandaoensis: A new species of Cyanobacterium from Zhejiang Province, China.<p style="text-align: justify;">Cyanobacteria are filament-forming photosynthetic Bacteria, which are thought to have been the first oxygen-producing organisms to have evolved, thereby having a profound impact on the evolution of the Earth's atmosphere and biosphere. They are still ubiquitous organisms today, and play an important ecological role in many environments. Traditionally, Cyanobacteria were classified on the basis of their morphological characteristics, but the advent of genetic techniques has shown that this classification system was of little value, with convergent evolution producing similar forms in many distantly related lineages, and many species able to produce different morphologies in different environments.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In a <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/16/3/161">paper</a> published in the journal <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/journal/diversity">Diversity</a> on 5 March 2024, Kaihui Gao of the Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Subtropical Water Environment and Marine Biological Resources Protection at <a href="https://www.wzu.edu.cn/en/About.htm">Wenzhou University</a>, Yao Cheng of the College of Life Sciences and Technology at Harbin Normal University, Rouzhen Geng of the Research Center for Monitoring and Environmental Sciences of the <a href="https://www.tba.gov.cn/slbthlyglj/polices/content/slth1_f0bdc73d19454cd38387ee58090f6147.html">Taihu Basin & East China Sea Ecological Environment Supervision and Administration Authority</a>, Peng Xiao and He Zhang, also of the Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Subtropical Water Environment and Marine Biological Resources Protection, and of the National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Ecological Treatment Technology for Urban Water Pollution at Wenzhou University, Zhixu Wu of the <a href="https://epb.hangzhou.gov.cn/col/col1692934/index.html">Hangzhou Bureau of Ecology and Environment</a>, Fangfang Cai of the Hubei Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science at <a href="https://www.whpu.edu.cn/en/">Wuhan Polytechnic University</a>, and Renhui Li, again of the Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Subtropical Water Environment and Marine Biological Resources Protection, and of the National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Ecological Treatment Technology for Urban Water Pollution at Wenzhou University, describe a new species of Cyanobacteria from Qiandao Lake in Zhejiang Province, China.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Qiandao Lake is an artificial reservoir formed in 1959 by the damming of the Xin'an River, which created a lake which covers an area of 573 km² and holds 17.8 km³ of water. The lake also has over a thousand islands, and makes a popular tourist destination. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTQsm_IZ4dl4C7YI0XZAzF5VekSM6L0k0Y9GGxBFwUj8tVLFIkgPk-BodNUlsHG1UmvkF3LuQo8JwGIYDF_9QAn2cR6dsH3cqUcyCbyfliO9x5td0X5Iw4jif-jLaA2A9IuAJfaKzE86fQGmUdm13C_GJIjXVWy-1trpJp7bA0H9BMhL0Qjz1Rki2iyhA/s788/qiandao-lake-788.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="446" data-original-width="788" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTQsm_IZ4dl4C7YI0XZAzF5VekSM6L0k0Y9GGxBFwUj8tVLFIkgPk-BodNUlsHG1UmvkF3LuQo8JwGIYDF_9QAn2cR6dsH3cqUcyCbyfliO9x5td0X5Iw4jif-jLaA2A9IuAJfaKzE86fQGmUdm13C_GJIjXVWy-1trpJp7bA0H9BMhL0Qjz1Rki2iyhA/w400-h226/qiandao-lake-788.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: justify;">Qiandao Lake. <a href="https://www.chinadiscovery.com/">China Discovery</a>.</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">Gao <i>et al</i>. collected samples from the surface of the lake, which were cultivated in the laboratory, producing a bright blue-green or olive-green Cyanobacterium, with simple filaments lacking nodules. The filaments are long, and become thicker as they age, reaching a maximum of about 4.0 μm in diameter. Individual cells are 1.7 to 2.7 μm in length and have rounded ends.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">A genetic analysis of the Cyanobacterium utilising the 16S rRNA gene, which is commonly used as a molecular marker for identifying Prokaryotes, revealed that it could be placed confidently within the genus <i>Pegethrix</i>, which is surprising, as all previously described members of the genus are nodule-forming and have been found growing on surfaces of soil, stones, and rocks, and at thermal springs. The new species is named <i>Pegethrix qiandaoensis</i>, meaning 'from Qiandao'.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdQHTsit7LoBElXyrX9sR873aeb3h8mCTHm3t6lmPFCS-lkxtusQinx0LRhVM9_VWWKscvJfVOidTJWt-SnjA5M2B8sF1q9SIDv15-i81yAwZEHXbOs8y63kVIk5BVOqadObVV8rTDYtqQSN8Y_xLgo2a5Z7ZcFiVYGKFNJJkd9WDNpL-QnB2yw-jbw_s/s591/Screenshot%202024-03-08%20193738.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="522" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdQHTsit7LoBElXyrX9sR873aeb3h8mCTHm3t6lmPFCS-lkxtusQinx0LRhVM9_VWWKscvJfVOidTJWt-SnjA5M2B8sF1q9SIDv15-i81yAwZEHXbOs8y63kVIk5BVOqadObVV8rTDYtqQSN8Y_xLgo2a5Z7ZcFiVYGKFNJJkd9WDNpL-QnB2yw-jbw_s/w566-h640/Screenshot%202024-03-08%20193738.png" width="566" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Light microscopy of <i>Pegethrix qiandaoensis</i> strains. A Single trichome with a sheath (a), (h), (i). Morphological photos confirm that the strains that were studied have no obvious nodules cells and no knots have been observed in the filaments (a)–(i). Observed obvious cell wall structure (e), (g), (i). Macro-culture status of <i>Pegethrix qiandaoensis</i> strains (j). Scale bars are 10 μm. Gao <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">The discovery of <i>Pegethrix qiandaoensis</i> emphasises the importance of genetic methods in the study of Cyanonacterial relationships. The species is morphologically and ecologically quite distinct from other members of the genus, and would probably not have been placed in the same family using traditional classification techniques, but genetic analysis shows a close relationship between all species of <i>Pegethrix</i>. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">See also...</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2022/02/thainema-salinarum-new-species-of.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="639" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs07fdHRCVCSCSbvHwVkAyUUdz1PGUt4PmKBmlecjukni0sM_Wp5snXV9Vm-p-pJAtJkvTMfdEVlxsYArN45bVz8asoabTHEY2a9ZNf6mixXudjVOZ98wpAp1wuEaNA_MGaiquG5nNV29fHfM0cNWgbGg4d48Do42eHtnWLIuA1QGJU1XvACXeYWQggik/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-08%20195249.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2021/08/looking-for-conection-between-length-of.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="907" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR6JEZvFp9USn5ERJ_AxDxVb71oJc9UcvGpAg6zrXAUKv6Q1A-2miG45r56H6f1G3cCJIodlmyqwhqwLGwRVGzQ5uT-GKX68waDx5sn6Ltsxm2zCmeR9pIkcp3gxs-qL4HjU5gYH_n-U1wwiHVHgmUV7CthV0MXr23SlTZl6Kp1PAJz0JsuJcxymJ8l-E/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-08%20195523.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2020/09/mystery-of-botswanan-elephant-deaths.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="907" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2P8Ohc-aIO_0Yy_gaAeD69nZYv8vcpu9BkVV4RQG0LwEgyoA9wdn4aaFagzTsROsTo_XNbIX8Gc_v_mW374eGQSQuuu-B-Ch2f7WD8DZjRZ-DnJnVHt36ohZVDXnahMF7-smPj4DjBP-VBRW2LMQ3_0KxcVOn2YkJ8ErxcJG8PSmcqZD19XIKwdVpZtU/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-08%20195753.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2020/06/water-in-indian-meteor-crater-changes.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="905" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkPt-xHtHkkAUjVXT0iYJFt28zwm9pv1zAfWZ1vmGBJSfeceL8Kv4xLqSp3EPFTKvydhFDpBlNWBnkCyk44S9UuxrS75eNY4H5ey5QPsaP9o57nisRALkSBLsrQ1bcVXBSsUfN3028v70t6kekQidMymINMVRtBKRjfN2GkqPr57S5s5XxJf2Sd195AvU/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-08%20200027.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2020/05/looking-for-nutrient-source-of.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="907" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrD7SAXT9Fl7fI-1g-L9XJOc9zNRbf8liwGRDxTZhxK7ZvAxHdkC4j5425lRxuCn5p4XRGl8S4XtCLycIToTz0iARDQiSuxyFyX_25JdSkWxbK2QHiZqkLxIOmMmaLPubeB2ujdFJ-ZPIjAD0oW6631FconMXOoI1rnytH_OHkFRlqjhbH1zC4bZ2ECSU/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-08%20200322.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2020/04/looking-for-causes-of-recurring.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="641" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifGzP0zzhZa_YVgGMwkT3aPdX0K5sOqiGwPUTrhXZOezsfhE68M69DBUfCYpAk0n7sbJ-PrJA7ZWk2kGG9BpP_jgk6fVAiD84rVdNlO692TggjEJExC7FKMnFWNxGny7SvpWpNoLWi4HbQiAoET4qIWgF5WVVCn32ojYy-LQBB31cyuMyXQYam-TBmIeo/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-08%20200603.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SciencyThoughts" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY-R1tkYEy7TQwcKYyR-2PYxW1HeZE0wR44NUFnuspDJDF63IXeewZayhpYNpHJ971LKtCBoqLrnNYfoC-7JJzsdnIEFdxx0DsLTfl_T42Mcbgdz-E_RHTk2rbHlIANAbS7eNum0ld83JXYuWAbjp1mAH0Ts2hd95NKHgLsFdZputWNI81yEp04pzA9RM/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174151.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ThoughtsSciency" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTzMeHwvwlp4LjFPAkdauTcOCvilJjGWUuZV0WhPbXNbmYGsr6H9CwOw8hcWxxF3xTydgnYXNOW9B-ckdnL-PK0hB_ky45CFK4IlCJV14R1Z_svfB8zIlBLLEerUF09dqqtclDcxd0H-bh1TjSLK548IIEx_sgdpXrVn1uZDAoLKfm9XQ99yW-Le7YSdo/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174927.png" width="200" /></a></div>Joe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-10810876200683487482024-03-06T20:55:00.001+00:002024-03-06T21:06:00.152+00:00Archaeologists uncover tomb of a Gran Coclé lord in southern Panama.<p style="text-align: justify;">Archaeologists from the <a href="https://www.fundacionelcano.org/">El Caño Foundation</a> have uncovered a tomb which they interpret as belonging to a lord or other important figure from the Gran Coclé culture within the El Caño Archaeological Park in Coclé Province, southern Panama, according to a <a href="https://micultura.gob.pa/descubren-importante-tumba-con-suntuoso-ajuar-de-oro-en-parque-arqueologico-el-cano/">press release</a> issued by the Panamanian <a href="https://micultura.gob.pa/">Ministry of Culture</a>. The tomb is thought to date to between 750 AD and 800 AD, and contains a variety of gold and ceramic objects, as well as an elaborate funerary trousseau (burial costume) comprising five pectorals (large medallions work on a necklace in the centre of the breast), two belts of spherical gold beads, four bracelets, two earrings in the shape of human figures (a man and a woman), an earring in the shape of a double crocodile, a necklace of small circular beads, five earrings made with sperm whale teeth with gold covers, a set of circular gold plates, two bells, bracelets and skirts made with dog teeth and a set of bone flutes.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy9QFJPKTH4eEVRsnElxEkDG1SXGHHS8R9ut7NOOswWL0q-slP5zwPKT9DdGG8N9saedoMXHPiZoVHq-EoHrd6DkAcUgGcVZeuF4PYTB1oxbGN-ygLDixvPpd8hiCt2WKQMSE0qHJxVPPpoXPdbaM2LLrsZnecaIisblzV2r9VHhjoGq9PZ6iP5SfNqLQ/s768/Screenshot%202024-03-06%20195812.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="514" data-original-width="768" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy9QFJPKTH4eEVRsnElxEkDG1SXGHHS8R9ut7NOOswWL0q-slP5zwPKT9DdGG8N9saedoMXHPiZoVHq-EoHrd6DkAcUgGcVZeuF4PYTB1oxbGN-ygLDixvPpd8hiCt2WKQMSE0qHJxVPPpoXPdbaM2LLrsZnecaIisblzV2r9VHhjoGq9PZ6iP5SfNqLQ/w400-h268/Screenshot%202024-03-06%20195812.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: justify;">Gold items recovered from the tomb of a Gran Coclé lord excavated within the El Caño Archaeological Park. Panamanian Ministry of Culture.</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">Most notably, and in common with other burials associated with important people of the Gran Coclé culture, the main occupant of the tomb was not buried alone, but with a number of companions. Previous excavations of such tombs have found between eight and thirty two people buried in addition to the main occupant, who were presumably either sacrificed at the time of the tomb owner's death, or had died previously and been stored elsewhere until the main burial. The tomb has not yet been completely excavated, so it is unclear how many additional bodies there are. What is noteworthy is that the main occupant of the tomb was buried face down (common for important Gran Coclé figures) on top of the body of a woman.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-w5Yfa9_fWzWUIYr6TTZNYmtyOsYs-Zjiyi8myNBedITbyJROJxGgRU02nw9kuVSsySacKiRNhklVTB9q0S9It-CXik_FBi5yEGOys7tD9gwfYHXDHUwGZYITQA-dWU0nqHTI_xS-AfUU6omFIjmE_rUaLiM7IrSnpxoPZb9ttXVnqaT1rl98H4aYvpI/s764/Screenshot%202024-03-06%20201135.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="764" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-w5Yfa9_fWzWUIYr6TTZNYmtyOsYs-Zjiyi8myNBedITbyJROJxGgRU02nw9kuVSsySacKiRNhklVTB9q0S9It-CXik_FBi5yEGOys7tD9gwfYHXDHUwGZYITQA-dWU0nqHTI_xS-AfUU6omFIjmE_rUaLiM7IrSnpxoPZb9ttXVnqaT1rl98H4aYvpI/w400-h264/Screenshot%202024-03-06%20201135.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">An earing in the shape of a man uncovered during the excavation of the tomb of a Gran Coclé lord. Panamanian Ministry of Culture.</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">The El Caño Archaeological Park contains a series of funerary sites associated with the Gran Coclé culture, dated to between 700 AD and 1000 AD. The site has been excavated intermittently since it was discovered in 1925, and is considered to be Panama's most important archaeological site as well as a major tourist attraction, making an important contribution to the economy of the region.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzwKfMUHwDszsqxKI_qKmF7s0L2yeoePJFmHEaS46zIivMLJpx0smIZkHWsLuumS_y0kbCoKWk3XhL8JL2A4lUmG0sQKjxMxJa4XtEQz2pD06on2qi-PHMLLE9qUxxIGR9CQ9-umvY0rBWm7zv8iTYz5tbGEUAuO37CFm2VJN-Zq6stjBX4N8msOMiwzo/s766/Screenshot%202024-03-06%20202012.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="766" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzwKfMUHwDszsqxKI_qKmF7s0L2yeoePJFmHEaS46zIivMLJpx0smIZkHWsLuumS_y0kbCoKWk3XhL8JL2A4lUmG0sQKjxMxJa4XtEQz2pD06on2qi-PHMLLE9qUxxIGR9CQ9-umvY0rBWm7zv8iTYz5tbGEUAuO37CFm2VJN-Zq6stjBX4N8msOMiwzo/w400-h269/Screenshot%202024-03-06%20202012.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Further gold items excavated from the tomb of a Gran Coclé lord. Panamanian Ministry of Culture.</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">See also...</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/02/jade-mask-among-items-found-in-mayan.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="904" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4JLbBKeV5JedOGR5fKHncJ3VP5wvJyBkXRTnC6qY4trf4VR3p2neAoaSbwT-Tv7iwr8Yo6bnowPFE_ng1GjY_XXjFnBdI6wQqNNofjjwhDQuRKQcCgUxgG59CDwi_6TXKScH9HnJ7hHdbso9Q6hoSBDBFhgUCcIsFztcGuidus9Oq1oaqzS3zGks56io/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-06%20202800.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2020/12/determining-ownership-of-human-hominin.html" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="906" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhFKQ1cQudViev5pUqn-SijFieK2M06-BKi4ehrwkbaWVdNBLf04Pid3UP9HQQ41swRAk2DNdROCoyI7Tnd64s9QjA1CPWUBBYN7s07YLinvqlx3-QIosRndNpUd6-loES6__KKR9RhBJ5PWK8gKv7yvT6nmYWDByDNWwTLQhot5dCvsovr14q7o1vGhI/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-06%20203809.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2019/12/a-jadeite-gouge-with-wooden-handel-from.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="640" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmVRAQvQDVB4bdNvn0TseRK_xshaWth9GaI4YQVmhSoDk6LBNwsGvQnVjMRgkOiVyLkVZd3p3kj7RPJV8BY4Rz35eIVNbrAyjxopq0rGH7oNJiJUtIoKMXrvaaqfiIDaVLNKF5-O6IdrrMHgArT6ZdVwXs0OCjUenHicqPBRF6UQCwLdaVhPRX25AKB8s/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-06%20204026.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2017/03/salmonella-enterica-enteric-fever.html" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="903" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd3vkVqx0ItdzZgYrKqlkf5fhzWDjRmQz-TcTwLpZHRbnRvAq0AncluA_eK0PJ8dpZW-KYrx-gqtP7OU61CLpQnUkz-M6MBsz-cGBS-6KgGjKlcV-UdhX3HvG-6qpsY5RKB-KGKJwzkH6j1zMwbf7RjJlqBTePUhe9xEq0-8FlWmScw3f9tT0VEM2oSLc/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-06%20204452.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/11/genotyping-500-year-old-inca-child-mummy.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="905" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwWD5vz-rBFdAFJ6EMaxU0tq0H953jIYuWr36LnI_zm36qfsmKe2BK0r_venwE-xYw-_iwVHgXEvoCq5_Icve0oBGnVui5mFGVKbo7aFp_uq8oBbOjT069LaCR__mJkwTIKZIsJ1f4cqp3lbMQGNIpWl19WYg27oKtfAYE8IDDyxvSCGq4f8qBnGd4DTg/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-06%20204801.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/04/bone-infection-in-pre-columbian-skull.html" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="901" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgak3sJWMdmipemJQGJeJ6QytKCNmBpl-whrhhbDD9J1PdwYYn6JRxl2h-tnOwSNLW88x_wGmlxfp5_xXIWokYAIfSvBP5dhHzEBgCQf0fleQPjcWF8syCnOxswJbwuDra9azLpgVWuJb5Pmk-e-BSZgvKIcmQKZHFHrPaEX6StWIlXeI9lncrYfWVsDAo/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-06%20205104.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SciencyThoughts" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTh6cNTn98CnVjqD-tT0yXibXMph0hyKBEaM9fY0wBQ9fBRzrXL8nEUnK1YaxwyVaFuPXgeAyWVCYqY9t7GwNqP_2ynI-RRdsgE3sCXFzs_NyMneXNsUVdZwbemSPGbJD3TNx970SrEYaTn2dLSdmDUEsulLJnySAHns7Cos7PdlufToabQlb1lyHTvU8/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174151.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ThoughtsSciency" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVljJbrvRhexE-l6rLPVyk3WRV7rHYuqJeXvL9Ns_qU0hUZw1x-NRI7p0TCHDdvxTrA9AR6-FUud0LZno9u7CusxX5SlUmitT3hKI-8ZO6WW9BCvNOWI4j4rSt9_G1rQKot_s2DyZ7mI2daUsDxSVW2kcoeMx7shQIlsNCR8HYJGUvseCgcPIx-tvtpqE/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174927.png" width="200" /></a></div>Joe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-30493011114003891342024-03-05T22:01:00.002+00:002024-03-05T22:01:27.123+00:00Asteroid 2024 EF passes the Earth.<p style="text-align: justify;">Asteroid 2024 EF passed by the Earth at a distance of about 58 340 km (15% of the average distance between the Earth and the Moon or 0.04% of the distance between the Earth and the Sun), with a velocity of about 8.64 km per second, at about 7.00 am GMT on Monday 4 March 2024. There was no danger of the asteroid hitting us, though were it to do so it would not have presented a major threat. 2024 EF has an estimated equivalent diameter of 3-9 m (i.e. it is estimated that a spherical object with the same volume would be 3-9 m in diameter), and an object of this size would be expected to explode in an airburst (an explosion caused by superheating from friction with the Earth's atmosphere, which is greater than that caused by simply falling, due to the orbital momentum of the asteroid) more than 30 km above the ground, with only fragmentary material reaching the Earth's surface.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-mxx6fAAPNVq2xqr4Ggo-IcJ7HH2ANxqXX7ypjN9898v-NvsShUJ-6qdziHEWlJ8lawEoH9UO2I1j77IYa0owzcW7O3fdiEuvMMElTeRNNbVS642oNrxrEqLH3g6Envd2Sloz0ioqlMi3FMrCbPWG-Dr5ySf6woYiNj51SC1xYAlivH5Pdg4Cip_TX0/s920/orbit-viewer-snapshot%20(14).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="920" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-mxx6fAAPNVq2xqr4Ggo-IcJ7HH2ANxqXX7ypjN9898v-NvsShUJ-6qdziHEWlJ8lawEoH9UO2I1j77IYa0owzcW7O3fdiEuvMMElTeRNNbVS642oNrxrEqLH3g6Envd2Sloz0ioqlMi3FMrCbPWG-Dr5ySf6woYiNj51SC1xYAlivH5Pdg4Cip_TX0/w400-h261/orbit-viewer-snapshot%20(14).jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">The relative positions of 2024 EF and the Earth at 7.00 am on Moday 4 March 2024. <a href="http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi">JPL Small Body Database</a>.</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">2024 EF was discovered on 2 March 2024 (two days before its closest approach to the Earth) by the <a href="http://www.arizona.edu/">University of Arizona</a>'s Mt. Lemmon Survey at the <a href="https://www.as.arizona.edu/">Steward Observatory</a> on Mount Lemmon in the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson. The designation 2024 EF implies that the asteroid was the sixth object (asteroid F - in numbering asteroids the letters A-Z, excluding I, are assigned numbers from 1 to 25, with a number added to the end each time the alphabet is ended, so that A = 1, A1 = 26, A2 = 51, etc., which means that F = 6) discovered in the first half of March 2024 (period 2024 E - the year being split into 24 half-months represented by the letters A-Y, with I being excluded).</p><p style="text-align: justify;">2024 EF is calculated to have a 534 day (1.46 year) orbital period, with an elliptical orbit tilted at an angle of 1.29° to the plain of the Solar System which takes in to 0.94 AU from the Sun (94% of the distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun) and out to 1.63 AU (1.63 times the distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun, somewhat more than the distance at which the planet Mars orbits). It is therefore classed as an Apollo Group Asteroid (an asteroid that is on average further from the Sun than the Earth, but which does get closer). </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyekwgC9ErE-7XtNtSPrObpTRi6XeLJKmAdCLeLqXIYeVxqL6K0jYYhhCkgR9ePy1Z2Tvn3ZnjwyA_Y7q_2EAilg1rEpvU2UAt2W5bZ2VWFsz-1wAP3mt39CRm1mDt3nWCQS0ma81b2FFoJq5FPnaB7jyG98ik2fiA8zuL3j3koevtxUho8PYhzIej1A4/s920/orbit-viewer-snapshot%20(14)a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="920" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyekwgC9ErE-7XtNtSPrObpTRi6XeLJKmAdCLeLqXIYeVxqL6K0jYYhhCkgR9ePy1Z2Tvn3ZnjwyA_Y7q_2EAilg1rEpvU2UAt2W5bZ2VWFsz-1wAP3mt39CRm1mDt3nWCQS0ma81b2FFoJq5FPnaB7jyG98ik2fiA8zuL3j3koevtxUho8PYhzIej1A4/w400-h261/orbit-viewer-snapshot%20(14)a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">The relative positions and orbits of 2024 EF and the Earth at 7.00 am on Monday 4 March 2024. JPL Small Body Database.</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">This means that 2024 EF has regular close encounters with the Earth, with the last calculated to have happened in June 2021, and the next predicted for September this year (2024).</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">See also...</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/02/looking-for-chinguetti-meteorite.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihUavIvCg2wSMGSQm1SsoZwRSppFn25aQo752c68brPjz9cpi_zmTclF9_MaBYQtHOYsYFI45QsYWQPTpCue3XTBuzO60euG7KhyphenhyphenjZa6b3-qudeaghAzYWVn_X9lO_F3A7Afb2trFCI-nCOwLwCBgu7rYcamTqYQ1fl4Lx97Q5OqHBcVlO_nyZDLedXQA/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-05%20214625.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/02/images-from-japans-smart-lander-for.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="903" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGx7l7BGsAJtbv2nNi4VBvgOu4Xb1xCjgqbjAvr16D-5_iW4YEJu_rFaMqa8dngtYNU0vkNAhZhhUPn7Z6Ac_-5e6D3yPXhaKU4deIGGPIh5jqAkCl-6ytVKBpXak3su5yJ6zV-DjmCq7staWaf-LiyGSgrihkYGgfrL4whCpcK6x2uO_4ZynueJ_X-7k/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-05%20214916.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/01/asteroid-2024-bx1-impacts-earth.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="908" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPEcrHKBcmjweqbiY4Y2CtDJ55vblzKLvIvXoqgCw_qGdce5PIsmb28PLy88vGF-OGM7UxY1oWk8legbH6mcYBoKTO2CIDqlTFvLpXawZWJl9ZsElZle0f7aqo7y3rPAiU3Zs9IUHuA8dePE7uEMRpGneYYDZiD2-GggdBix7S9wyboyq29ES54laPV94/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-05%20215224.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/01/fireball-meteor-off-coast-of-wales.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="904" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4hzbVMAlNIZDxi7OLiznG8o7EDju_CNCy0yQonw5cA0jNjUXl-eN92RlRumARJPCWXVc5rsncrS-B1XX8oAin9wUmpy7FR1o_JK6COtc3WgaLQPahesCHvRaSk6yAYULmHLDKjSZ3JhgylNpUcKmHtO2gPyed56423HUq-njE7oChruaOln7Nrl1roiI/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-05%20215455.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-floating-snows-of-titan.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi61gvPCwr_2rMSHP9S3ShwkOQX1WnIkYsDWWbNGu3IdbneEuJ-VF7n6XbfdNqKwfhoDgZeON36fGQRh8A5UaqE-owScQa0uveWpVWdid_h_pjDQzlf6XTydM1eyKTxMjz4OYWMf322DQmIfVDLDLOALHNGC1J_RlX_s9EH4E-4ZrqES0uyBUM9DXnWIPU/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-22%20065459.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/01/new-images-of-io.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbEQucG1uARwd7sJMF43Bj2m0_ENzBbZgNCnf5uUok0dw9wA1Y5QmEgU7ZLmvKugqt7qjl3F5T5K02pkODwGaHXWqoAjhiLM3jZiXnuXnj7IfIfU7YR0epBv_0W5ya6IrHSAhpwbw1Xmtj7OJ8Dsc2_9ohBnc-sUB2_vJ3cSLDcHLdbtTpvPI3YDvKF34/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-22%20065745.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SciencyThoughts" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiouBLiCGKB0xjBX15ANc5cXKDNgYnwDEl4h5Q-lD9qd2ZZQSuE4Fh773e0PaJWg0fKV5KBw3ClcjWnYFCN7wqoBXgfh-vDZOlvpLQ6gJJmKxBgxuprrP8PYglarUuDl-Zw7Lo4s8uLvO8Ves-AKdaaw49GE9b2gsVHMwjUhn3kIsgHpUfx0vwkNbxmq68/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174151.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ThoughtsSciency" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_A7x486e42OBsfwJWkyoM4QVqGgdW0vM8sPJCJ-yFYxR6-gQ1dJOVaKtqtEXaF2Tzc3Vu6f2Bz8vBBZ9szVC3f79ldtfOJ6m1rcfGAEXDuW35IgwrPDEb2YEuF8yMfi_020u4vcCyXl5PqEZGoR19UifNLPv_ku4iEB8ObdyksnlUWA6mU_ir7srbHlU/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174927.png" width="200" /></a></div>Joe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-91594149930667281492024-03-04T20:35:00.000+00:002024-03-04T20:35:24.278+00:00Promyrmekiaphila korematsui: A new species of Trapdoor Spider from California.<p style="text-align: justify;">Cryptic species are species which resemble one-another physically yet are reproductively isolated from each other. While such species clusters can come about due to convergent evolution, the vast majority are closely related species which have become reproductively isolated, but which have not diverged morphologically, usually as a result of a physical barrier splitting a population, followed by genetic drift. This is particularly common among morphologically conservative groups with low distribution rates, such as Mygalomorphs (Tarantulas, Trapdoor Spiders etc.), which are large Spiders occupying silk-lined burrows, typically remaining at a single site for their entire lives. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">In a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.10983">paper</a> published in the journal <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/20457758">Ecology and Evolution</a> on 1 March 2024, <a href="https://www.bondlab.org/our-team/james-starrett-phd">James Starrett</a>, <a href="https://www.bondlab.org/our-team/emma-jochmin">Emma Jochim</a>, <a href="https://www.bondlab.org/our-team/james-starrett-phd-2zg5p-9xfc2">Iris Quayle</a>, <a href="https://www.bondlab.org/our-team/xaiver-zahnle">Xavier Zahnle</a>, and <a href="https://caes.ucdavis.edu/people/jason-bond-0">Jason Bond</a> of the <a href="https://www.ucdavis.edu/">University of California, Davis</a>, present the results of a genetic study of the Trapdoor Spider genus <i>Promyrmekiaphila</i>, which is known only from California, and describe a new species, the third within the genus.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The genus <i>Promyrmekiaphila </i>was first described in 1950 by the Swiss arachnologist and herpetologist Ehrenfried Schenkel to describe a morphotype of Trapdoor Spider found across California, which he named <i>Promyrmekiaphila gertschi</i>. This was later found to have previously been described by the French naturalist Eugène Simon as <i>Aptostichus clathratus</i> in 1891, though it was later recognised that the assignation of the species to the genus <i>Aptostichus</i> was wrong, and Schenkel's name <i>Promyrmekiaphila</i> was adopted, leading to the combination <i>Promyrmekiaphila </i><i>clathratus.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">In 2007 and 2008 Amy Stockman and Jason Bond, then both at the <a href="https://biology.ecu.edu/">Department of Biology</a> at <a href="https://www.ecu.edu/">East Carolina University</a>, carried out a study of the population of <i>Promyrmekiaphila </i><i>clathratus</i> using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), coming to the conclusion that there were in fact two species within the genus, <i>Promyrmekiaphila </i><i>clathratus</i> found throughout the coastal ranges in central and northern California, and a new species, which they named <i>Promyrmekiaphila </i><span style="text-align: left;"><i>winnemem</i>, which was found at </span>the northern end of the Central Valley. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">However, Stockman and Bond recognised that a study based upon mtDNA alone had its limitations, and that there still remained the possibility of other, cryptic, species of <i>Promyrmekiaphila </i>being found in California. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Starrett <i>et al</i>.'s new study is based upon a wider gene set. This identified a number of deeply separated lineages within the <i>Promyrmekiaphila </i><i>clathratus</i> population, although Starrett <i>et al</i>. decline to name these as new species at this time, reasoning that they are not yet sufficiently genetically different to be reproductively isolated. However, a small group of Spiders found close to the San Andreas Fault line, from mid-San Francisco Peninsula to the Diablo Range, east of Paicines, were found to comprise a sister group to the <i>Promyrmekiaphila </i><i>clathratus </i>and <i>Promyrmekiaphila </i><i style="text-align: left;">winnemem</i><span style="text-align: left;"> pair, therefore clearly representing a new species.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">This new species is named </span><span style="text-align: left;"><i>Promyrmekiaphila korematsui</i>, in honour of </span><a href="https://korematsuinstitute.org/freds-story/">Fred Toyosaburo </a><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://korematsuinstitute.org/freds-story/">Korematsu</a>, who </span>was awarded the United States <span style="text-align: left;">Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998 in recognition of his lifelong dedication as a civil rights activist and his resistance to the </span><span style="text-align: left;">incarceration of Japanese Americans in concentration camps during World War II.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyMk1YH7O6B54f_Npd1LeICmWzkio4_XjyS07U9Q7TJbnbjY4dZV2Oqnf7KeDbo9ZnUiobSv2oSg4uzJFcTDU_ZPZLazGlqzBkuI5mdYNb93jtWZUXqMpwgXehJ6Xenm-maiF_WhA5CERynHYjlw6LFHwJBiM9pp3KH5JWp1A2K7uJHky9OX6Wvaw2dt4/s532/Screenshot%202024-03-04%20200836.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="386" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyMk1YH7O6B54f_Npd1LeICmWzkio4_XjyS07U9Q7TJbnbjY4dZV2Oqnf7KeDbo9ZnUiobSv2oSg4uzJFcTDU_ZPZLazGlqzBkuI5mdYNb93jtWZUXqMpwgXehJ6Xenm-maiF_WhA5CERynHYjlw6LFHwJBiM9pp3KH5JWp1A2K7uJHky9OX6Wvaw2dt4/w464-h640/Screenshot%202024-03-04%20200836.png" width="464" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i>Promyrmekiaphila korematsui</i>, male live habitus photographs, side and dorsal views. <span style="text-align: justify;">Starrett </span><i style="text-align: justify;">et al</i><span style="text-align: justify;">. (2024).</span></b></div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i style="text-align: left;">Promyrmekiaphila korematsui</i><span style="text-align: left;"> is found </span>d in shaded ravines and along roadcuts in O<span style="text-align: left;">ak woodland habitat. Its distribution overlaps with that of </span><i>Promyrmekiaphila </i><i>clathratus</i>, which may have implications for evolution of the genus, although the small sample size available for the genus so far prevents any detailed analysis at this time.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">See also...</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/10/idioctis-parilarilao-new-species-of.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="638" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-pmuoVebgj66mH-4WlEHuFjMYJ3aKBKAutePYE3QJ3sMPrTmPfjKWwbysGvJqlXQYoLHU2TqTQp_0SlFt3-4v6WppQ6viD_vSGAtdlUMOI0yqvnLWvHCIfRhadN3RkwwOMLTd7W18jWXRrh55RP5yLIzufUVdGJdrIWhF8n5341pKwXgGyROk6Asd8qM/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-04%20202038.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/09/megamonodontium-mccluskyi-new-species.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="641" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieSVJ73acCpVIwmhsKk4IzOZowHzPBR6XrdamK4xWQ6V0wxGginPA7y5py86TlZNeUJnODwqjoq5DLG4MbjJUzm6P0wj7PgtA9OtiJ_7byJuWudv6DMyFL46j_9JHd9GBBYglrl40gEUdV5R7-btdi6c1iBVgXu1Vf6yAZRcIQJI7y8X0Zx7C-VFtuBZ4/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-04%20202505.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2022/12/eresus-da-eresus-yukuni-two-new-species.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="639" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCL9I9ks-I5tf2nRjfE0zDZONPGnYB3801fEM3WAvuf7ooTfNRINCdn61MSkdZH1ETOtUGQg5JzVczYK3FkwrH40ZjmfDPsmVb677tpYhKHpJywdhP6jGZzzHFjFNvveIw30IDNm4AMXoHy20FHRmLiRq6FtnuemQoqBfUZkCBX2vvTR5Jw0k2Z6pnefQ/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-04%20202757.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2021/09/maratus-nemo-new-species-of-wetland.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8u8A3xKhVD1FpjuhjEEqfvu8Zqom5yGyzgR5daPdsCQcjrSusvUAmYugxDpXb3bB_d9EGuE-fUJRuBbmgsh6TsKMAXnG-iY7prX_-ipg0Sswnslf_i9qmo3MoJ0x-JJY0_xn00K9xn6DGFgYDVCJZ347sXjKlKFT_uXSKBxOBYUowaEQ0cIvaYAToo-s/s1600/Screenshot%202023-09-17%20105903.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2020/09/sceliscelis-marshi-scelidocteus-taitave.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZauz-1jNhk7678Ja3vyeVfLMzNfIhz-_v_UQ1oyITA84KRDmGA3_TspL0zE8gtOKy2HGPyne6ExcB8aVLgZJCiiJ-XnyZ4nzC1735U8gmBAIeKxPnNwX0T-itTTGurjIQl1Y6brusJCXZo-O_f_dCr1MQL7A57UGLlaAWRyPOtzZ2KKUBj5vXtpeRaK4/s1600/Screenshot%202023-09-17%20110438.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2020/08/belippo-eburnensis-new-species-of-ant.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj18J1fW6p0fxu_1fIuPzZdJCf9uyQJAY1-vjSt-GRtN4-irFYgWBkjvktlBGbYfSA1JMfh-nXs4qWrnIvtYt7xvocwiLHzEmVhUCbJjRjpz1jqZEDiuBf5Y0K25UHwUzKvgQY-1xwl3LQe9secxabReBoAfP8xvpZWrbeWQ1T5bB5AO23b54WupVHBeCY/s1600/Screenshot%202023-09-17%20110806.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SciencyThoughts" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiPNT9buSJbcNDnnNHaWF9lYOx1L8ievZnw4rdjqQ38KZGwSH4UKRYaXqrsOWMxK2z-RvTNOlebsHEy0ALNczhJKKG4_pwpnPtzwEvWkCNkYpjV_hEJYKtXSVcCt6iXQ45ry2Zi26GyF5A67r6Sye9vi7g5jLZUeqY8rY7EU2IJ9lG6CmGV1XpDy4MDMA/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174151.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ThoughtsSciency" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLNUenWtof6oqjUOEQ7E_9Cqb-7uZfqOLDbakgvEEVYu_XbtBdLmhvvpEOc8_02cK9epjZ0MBO6fKl6YnwxIffUgqbwYAWKQLnN-2H7UVwEzLwDhCXFVdDU3fxSmwxAgOZ-2uM6d4vfV-DdCa0T051lZk3LlG4oT4YVYyWwFvl8VTUpOWMFN4qyq39OLQ/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174927.png" width="200" /></a></div>Joe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-19070936563997694772024-03-03T18:35:00.001+00:002024-03-03T18:35:57.997+00:00Talaromyces sedimenticola: A new species of Ascomycote Fungus from the deepest part of the Mariana Trench.<p style="text-align: justify;">The Challenger Deep forms the deepest part of the Mariana Trench, reaching 10 971 m below sealevel. Curiously, recent studies have shown that the hadal depths of the oceans (areas more than 6 km deep) have a higher microbial carbon turnover than occurs at abyssal depths, between 4 km and 6 km below the surface. This has been supported by metagenomic studies which have shown significantly more genes coding for carbohydrate-active enzymes and peptidase are being expressed at these depths. This has led microbiologists to take an interest in the organisms living in the sediments of the deepest ocean trenches. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">In a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10482-024-01945-1">paper</a> published in the journal <a href="https://link.springer.com/journal/10482">Antonie van Leeuwenhoek</a> on 28 February 2024, Hongbo Zhou of the <a href="https://en.csu.edu.cn/Schools/schools3/Minerals_Processing_and_Bioengineering.htm">School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering</a> and the Key Laboratory of Biometallurgy at <a href="https://en.csu.edu.cn/">Central South University</a>, Liting Xu and Wenxian Liu, also of the School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering at Central South University, Kaiwen Ta of the <a href="http://www.gzb.cas.cn/English/Institutes/idse/">Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering</a> of the <a href="https://english.cas.cn/">Chinese Academy of Sciences</a>, Xincun Wang of the <a href="https://english.im.cas.cn/research_/researchdivisions/202012/t20201207_256127.html">State Key Laboratory of Mycology</a> at the <a href="https://english.im.cas.cn/">Institute of Microbiology</a> of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jianwei Guo of the College of Agronomy and Life Sciences at <a href="https://english.kmust.edu.cn/">Kunming University</a>, Wenxi Luo, Zhiyuan Peng, and Qiaoni Huang, again of the School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering at Central South University, and Yuguang Wang, once again of the School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering and the Key Laboratory of Biometallurgy at Central South University, describe a new species of Ascomycote Fungi from the Challenger Deep.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The new species is described on the basis of two strains isolated from samples collected by the Research Vessel Tan Suo Yi Hao in September 2019, from a depth of 10 063 m below sealevel. A genetic analysis of these strains suggests that they belong to the same species, and, surprisingly, that that species is a member of the genus <i>Talaromyces</i>, which mostly comprises terrestrial moulds, forming a sister taxon to a clade which includes <i>Talaromyces </i><span style="text-align: left;"><i>trachyspermus</i>, which is a serious commercial pest species, frequently infecting packaged fruit juices, and </span><i>Talaromyces </i><span style="text-align: left;"><i>assiutensis</i>, which is found growing within the leaves of</span><span style="text-align: left;"> Mangroves around the South China Sea. The new species is named </span><span style="text-align: left;"><i>Talaromyces sedimenticola</i>, in reference to the environment where it was found.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXfVuZ-TqtKL4dvX0unICz-JOjN2UbfZpZ58OACXxRkOFyBp0f-0gLwb-213r39bJQrj-VnOe1Qw4wmZkysBvYl6xEF3768hGTjKu4tkloduNHzBKQ9YKiJ2k3__UmCPB97qVkolYOiqytgI0Qpdw3eOojPrq6LBMPJ6qSHq2A9LAbo9PeHBLBlVHS4ww/s417/Screenshot%202024-03-03%20143722.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="248" data-original-width="417" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXfVuZ-TqtKL4dvX0unICz-JOjN2UbfZpZ58OACXxRkOFyBp0f-0gLwb-213r39bJQrj-VnOe1Qw4wmZkysBvYl6xEF3768hGTjKu4tkloduNHzBKQ9YKiJ2k3__UmCPB97qVkolYOiqytgI0Qpdw3eOojPrq6LBMPJ6qSHq2A9LAbo9PeHBLBlVHS4ww/w400-h238/Screenshot%202024-03-03%20143722.png" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4AIu5mP6U4HRdUlhhS-89qi3PhTY_Yc-rBFX6LRJqrcsRQ3vCZ-VxwTVVViidsEDyY23e8VU7lAGZ8FHiOAV7yXVRnskY3NiJozxmy3inA0IgVAaQ-q80BdYcwVDhXRNyud9PaxUHWrtgVQA0LotAzmQXxFTAUa7HDU4ThoEmkqwPfqk74rkFng50ScE/s294/Screenshot%202024-03-03%20143841.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="246" data-original-width="294" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4AIu5mP6U4HRdUlhhS-89qi3PhTY_Yc-rBFX6LRJqrcsRQ3vCZ-VxwTVVViidsEDyY23e8VU7lAGZ8FHiOAV7yXVRnskY3NiJozxmy3inA0IgVAaQ-q80BdYcwVDhXRNyud9PaxUHWrtgVQA0LotAzmQXxFTAUa7HDU4ThoEmkqwPfqk74rkFng50ScE/w400-h335/Screenshot%202024-03-03%20143841.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Morphological characteristics of <i>Talaromyces sedimenticola, </i>(k), (l) conidiophores, (m) conidia. Zhou <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">While morphologically similar, and genetically close, to other members of the genus </span><i>Talaromyces</i>, <i style="text-align: left;">Talaromyces sedimenticola </i><span style="text-align: left;">shows some remarkable physiological traits, which mark it out as distinctive. It could be grown at temperatures of between </span><span style="text-align: left;">4°C and 50°C, unlike most </span><i>Talaromyces</i> species, which typically grow between about 28<span style="text-align: left;">°C and 40</span><span style="text-align: left;">°C. It could also survive and grow over a far wider pH range than any other species within the genus, pH 1.5-12, whereas other </span><i>Talaromyces </i>species could only survive in the pH range 4-8, with the exception of <i>Talaromyces </i><span style="text-align: left;"><i>aculeatus</i>, a widespread soil-dwelling form, which can survive over the range pH 1-7. </span><i style="text-align: left;">Talaromyces sedimenticola</i><span style="text-align: left;"> is also remarkably halotollerant, able to flourish on media with 0-14% sodium chloride (weight over volume). More curiously, </span><i style="text-align: left;">Talaromyces sedimenticola</i><span style="text-align: left;"> was unable to metabolise sucrose, tryptone, or monobasic potassium phosphate, all of which can be utilised by other members of the genus, although it was able to utilise other common foodstuffs, such as glucose, maltose, lactose, xylose, soluble starch, glycerol, peptone, ammonium sulphate, potassium phosphate, </span><span style="text-align: left;">potassium</span><span style="text-align: left;"> chloride, and </span><span style="text-align: left;">magnesium</span><span style="text-align: left;"> sulphate. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">See also...</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/01/tuber-itzcuinzapotl-new-species-of.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="640" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI5kuEfLxgv85MLE42P88RxxudE0ATPYB2rFYQrEAcIwPqiOz6PdV1nl2S3XbVgjvGszCS9F5iCdHjEjGLQOLuykUCsrUe_k00eKgQA6xRXNN0OM_iPR8AcyPTFRo5-A0IUG-SJv3ZX8sI-3jzEzp6f4h5JqSfpFrjaRfRaznz0USNjR4cWM3C6A6Pokg/w200-h111/Screenshot%202024-03-03%20175300.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/06/fungal-meningitis-infections-reported.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="905" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmuUicO_PYF-Dn3x7ppPjs-l8hPvL9QUyz3bxcrj2vo2M1LkZ5gO1QZoVkwBYsZrvF-p_dZfkR0M8Ml9W_RDf5YzSktWTpbvyVNRZx53F8lyIJdCySJHQYcTXn5K3mZDaqzukBLs26SDzEyyEJk9zHhSKmStN5OL8HusLbfqjtJonKMCGWpNPwDybRnqw/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-03%20175747.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2022/12/drechslerella-daliensis-drechslerella.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="641" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWdwL1oLF_KBG9tiUQwh-fM0Z2goALoMGAEL2Y031K0URv4SOlJT9S_sGiefG18PsrjoxKFL60mSp5TVvNPEK6xl6V8g7xxxHNox-w1tMDuc7Gx3E9oj2qmdjBJDwX916bzsf5PjQ6gkutlFAkseyWVx0A0ZJieKfH2h3BRQtO0DdEL1Rv6NbCXoHF-0M/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-03%20180533.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2022/10/menisporopsis-aquatica-new-species-of.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="641" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFX71bHgpz7xaLDhf2jn0cKQrBRKVl7eyytouugvatmswknveEAuhI6S7g4Da6xD25L7nshkEBfHbN7-JBQ1XGBb_auC97xe4yebbyYJmWDI_flpdgXMvqHfXkZFGzM4_aN_nccb8Ue2A7YQ6FKyoNCRfZ3dozEHqgMCngv2FsNwdtuZmggl5HCVdN15s/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-03%20181040.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2020/04/seven-new-species-of-marine-fungi-from.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="907" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEighEBGYMKwN-CpQVjGjmUqjs5wvp4jFtCVf-T4qEJW7T6A9IDZGh95tBcn3yVNli0k0SmXYqHQMJkGi0fqFIpkuPyYtxttr7S0DQ8fbS21e2uHsg2nZ7cWJOyYxssItNluhzIYa94Hogil5BKrrBbhOM_iodk6h96GTf8Dfo8400rA0Fji7I-J6tmdNtM/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-03%20182020.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2020/03/fodinicola-acaciae-novel-endophytic.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="361" data-original-width="643" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSjhnTckxS1uwXBl7cK0NHUXX9WcOoy-FAufnKm9iaYoHOr-K9Dvnv-mTsnBxDpXPVlZ71hLaBvdQuGe2y5EgmGGzowxXZk0mmhQ1e1plplxTr8WTvnx1Di_QIS1xsT9ETSiWV29yeBiRn7gNzazQJfwA81qewOiFK4PRB65zjxWiRqX9x5timIZdyfmE/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-03%20182712.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SciencyThoughts" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiauve3E3lUxbQisKkqe1a5aRdhESzB8xRtHmtWXeXuHxtBBC-o85sB3CVrPQkNOgyn6HATSREqEStsSWnZbkxAnsfQ3oYU7LQ3QFulUxyzsj6SY_ia9sQVOS-89UlFYrUbvrFrT1ywmWLK4RoGnpk8yec9T9CWeQA0bqb4Ak898NNzEpqoNvnOJvUGzQ0/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174151.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ThoughtsSciency" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnlgsg-gznh8gzrEJd_rB_MsRJyFxvqOK3T1s9OhyMYSAA3gT7EUmmQY9zGZM91PZ2MmyAXltKPV_rN-zjT_NEcVPa2CYwzdsxCk0k-Tcy66sHX_vWxwdP7Q_WWmbhtgg74Wr4s-aS2PgrmmmviO85TZ3W1IWNhWoh7mu6OtzkMcA0EdP8A1nsH20IHNE/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174927.png" width="200" /></a></div>Joe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-31563367884970568952024-03-02T21:46:00.000+00:002024-03-02T21:46:56.584+00:00Skeleton of Neolithic child uncovered in Tamil Nadu, India.<p style="text-align: justify;">Archaeologists from the Department of Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Madras, have uncovered the skeleton of a child thought to be 9-11 years old, based upon the presence of a deciduous first molar in the mandible, at a Neolithic site in the village of Chettimedu near Chengalpattu in Tamil Nadu. The body was orientated north-south with the head to the north, and facing to the west, a practice which began in the Neolithic and persisted into the Early Historic Period. It is thought to date to between 3000 BC and 2500 BC and was buried alongside a broken pot in the Burnished Grey Ware style, which is typical of the Late Neolithic in southern India. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO0VRII4UanTsTgCzR3qt04wn36ZBTaVja1KSZKKOz7UFh5EQJUNDT_tfyKU-IDYn5qPHw0PRV5DK-hQVC2rM9RgiQpjeF8ahdjVdUnm2gvOI-J4wMIq6o_J_dwTWR37IBE1-dD2uHrebUkOiaJJFuuLnBjtipz3X8BIwgThymcgEG0V69d_FgqlzllGw/s768/BB1j0F8i.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="768" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO0VRII4UanTsTgCzR3qt04wn36ZBTaVja1KSZKKOz7UFh5EQJUNDT_tfyKU-IDYn5qPHw0PRV5DK-hQVC2rM9RgiQpjeF8ahdjVdUnm2gvOI-J4wMIq6o_J_dwTWR37IBE1-dD2uHrebUkOiaJJFuuLnBjtipz3X8BIwgThymcgEG0V69d_FgqlzllGw/w400-h272/BB1j0F8i.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>The pot beside the skeleton is typical of neolithic period. Many shreds of burnished red ware and burnished grey ware belonging to the same period were also found at the burial site. <a href="https://www.newindianexpress.com/">New Indian Express</a>.</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">While typical of the southern Indian Neolithic, Burnished Grey Ware is actually rare in Tamil Nadu State, having been found only at the Chettimedu site and at Valasai in Vellore District, 370 km to the southwest. As well as the Burnished Grey Ware, examples of Burnished Red Ware, Black and Red Ware, All-black Ware, Red Slipped Ware, Red Ware and Coarse Red Ware have been found in different layers at the site, with pottert from the uppermost layers having some writing upon it, implying a sequence of occupation lasting through the Neolithic and Iron Age into the Early Historic Period. Some bricks also thought to date to the early historic period were also found. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The site at Chettimedu was first identified in 2019, by construction workers digging foundations for a new project. The initial material uncovered included incised potsherds, earrings made of baked clay, and iron arrowheads, associated with the Iron Age-to-Early Historic Period Sangam Culture, which lasted from about 600 BC to about 300 AD. Subsequent excavations have uncovered material from a succession of earlier periods, including some pottery which may be associated with the Chalcolithic Malwa Culture of central India.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">See also...</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/02/bronze-age-metalworks-found-in-northern.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="906" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTswmE73TYMPc3WLa-j52OuBpZCjyCO5MR1opWXvawKSvLaHnSwgpdcdkjE9mhA8ypHDnbv7eZT6ngxPCeaEjS8RmS-AsssImsS-2qRA52Jr8icmNVJxjW2Xhmn8FSXo85y6XZSYI4hRbjvHFoOro3u3XXgpJHzBUm-NKh2BR-EmM2kPPhUwfegYk03Rk/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-02%20205602.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/11/au-ram-neolithic-jewellery-making.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="637" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhrywx8Nlpi59wtOkK7IGuzmS1yxL4SUhtBkPS8059yWfwDDI-u8gj-fu8lergc1qT45G0ssKHTOsD2LZp47-2LAi0o6XThnNpW8gLmmAkqP7TeoqMIYK6kikOjzNXUbtZGqdCNQ2QxJXAt5WxH3hdQS8FRVa78CQwVCFszucoFF0EUvkPnICF8fOcshc/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-02%20210832.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/11/a-hoard-of-coins-from-indus-valley.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="643" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuPdle_EnB-DgqlqyspXIb2sN8hiuAX0X6BhmCU2d7kRWH8k38se9jCzg2R9xFsxNMwpFsjw5SOqljP2KsxwNUrIUF5-pWjKPK1UOMMNgWqbyMGxm0etEWFI1Z-0LC-biZzDptVulQ-YdZkSNugyUtQrfQjWqm-Nyzwz6LABF81QakcAmff2bm9f2rJtU/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-02%20211412.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/09/changing-burial-practices-across.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="904" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSPYkcOXI9zAe8wQUYzSFz8M1gkGicJpxSFVE0l7uIZPSwAHe-R4ZdXdvk2vGnBmOFZNobRdNnrDB_DvHeCnODYMPgPtpVIjqmJj0RFcZ9kvisKA3tNJ36SuclilcQjkZWNmQstRGeh8TUlIzJeEcJb9V4gu-QUmaXYsmUC-Y_tWWc9uoP7eB9x-3-98U/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-02%20212304.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2021/12/looking-at-use-of-potters-wheels-by.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="907" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7qMBqfzTeJbqhg00KR_eSyh3AmdulMK4Ozh6wY_LDnE4Gnl0Mx3nTZjWxBOPJy7P6VKjtqP0qVm7Dv1GR_DFQBnRBDivmIQUajpJAWGb8W9XmiQ9FEXHhtgfMQEFs9-qCpSb9zj6lbkg2dm7ovZk6byXyP6f7zlu4FDp8jF8D9y0Wm6R7HdHIRFI1I8o/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-02%20213552.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2020/12/determining-ownership-of-human-hominin.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="905" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWmjc7x4v1K4WpD1-zJ3ZDGoOQpb3ckwKQrHIYkQFjdycBGwZZet_vceGClYW4r5nHZ71wqJpsjK-lXvLZheMMKhUyS4yclu8aeBNDbJBq0Xh6WpNgaHoXgf7N0HvyD6HB12pV_3rs5DxavudUvBnnuYFmAD3uajosFbirJN5HSADroy2aE4yXnfPswWY/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-02%20214147.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SciencyThoughts" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXXusYgNzIlqHzGXZwacXqXN_-K_A_tVq3TyoXMNPX5kaQzGGq-f1vPqVH-isojGdeOXyfn0urkHDaq8TtK26ZXxo7wDO2gWC0fcDdwbuaSQPrPqi_oG2QiejwVASTXrjPvjzd8U-8z2oImtmXQz7KaPTeMwuL-5-OIWSNHZ8T7KdrKyBTiFpVzR-METw/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174151.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ThoughtsSciency" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuc5W6RwRP0skF9DDuA4uoiPhejOeY0CHXfYjghNOVE91toFgNydU_-ylQaxe4ZHZJ3HG5fOn87T00UHTVDXgrrSdESs_5vPfRhuxoQ1tzs2kAjzRKd3jUinJmtNIOpDQveQOfZkVZrSSk9JwMfEHWqPbpMic3TEZ6CbF23s48defmeWhuvRq5z4U4Bdk/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174927.png" width="200" /></a></div>Joe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-81818494695499258872024-03-01T20:33:00.000+00:002024-03-01T20:33:10.593+00:00Bityle oriens: A new species of Longhorn Beetle from Mindanao Island, the Philippines.<p style="text-align: justify;">The islands of the Philippines are considered to be one of the world's biodiversity hotspots, with a largely tropical forest ecosystem scattered across a large number of islands, leading to a very high rate of endemism (the occurrence of species with limited geographical ranges). However, much of this biodiversity is currently threatened by habitat loss as forests are converted to agricultural use. One of the groups most threatened by this are Beetles, a hyper-diverse Insect group which reach their most specious in tropical forests. Many Beetles found in the Philippines are unique to the islands, but often closely related to species found in Indonesia, Malaysia, and elsewhere in Southeast Asia.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In a <a href="https://philjournalsci.dost.gov.ph/127-vol-153-no-1-february-2024/2012-catalog-of-the-genus-bityle-pascoe-1865-coleoptera-cerambycidae-lamiinae-apomecynini-with-the-description-of-bityle-oriens-sp-nov-from-davao-oriental-mindanao-philippines">paper</a> published in the <a href="https://philjournalsci.dost.gov.ph/">Philippine Journal of Science</a> in February 2024, Milton Norman Medina of the Tropical Genomics Laboratory and the Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences at <a href="https://dorsu.edu.ph/">Davao Oriental State University</a>, and the <a href="https://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/our-museums/national-museum-of-natural-history/">National Museum of Natural History Philippines</a>, Amy Ponce, also of the Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Davao Oriental State University, and Jhonnel Villegas of the Faculty of Teacher Education and Center for Futures Thinking and Regenerative Development at Davao Oriental State University describe a new species of Longhorn Beetle from Davao Oriental Province on Mindanao Island, the Philippines.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The new species is placed in the genus <i>Bityle</i>, which contains six previously described species from Mindanao and Luzon islands in the Philippines and Sulawesi in Indonesia, and given the specific name <i>oriens</i>, meaning 'east', in reference to Davao Oriental Province. The species is described from one male and two female specimens collected in the Municipality of Boston, which is part of the Eastern Mindanao Biodiversity Corridor, a continuous stretch of forest ecosystems that serve as a biological sanctuary in the eastern part of Mindanao.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsSxL_D-4EOzrIRdRFhVwtXoM6NZeyVuKBPqGQUu4dXh6l46_GfCqBnb2dP87Rbgx30YoNRAFjEXsNNDKEnAbnYOsi1AV1QSE69lbD9EqItKNoT0XVAxiU71kcs5C4mQhjm0cRZ0AA1A3uTGPOBiC0VDOnLPA8Z82YvyA81fI36r1Nv8TnEbce4inJ3F0/s511/Screenshot%202024-03-01%20200212.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="383" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsSxL_D-4EOzrIRdRFhVwtXoM6NZeyVuKBPqGQUu4dXh6l46_GfCqBnb2dP87Rbgx30YoNRAFjEXsNNDKEnAbnYOsi1AV1QSE69lbD9EqItKNoT0XVAxiU71kcs5C4mQhjm0cRZ0AA1A3uTGPOBiC0VDOnLPA8Z82YvyA81fI36r1Nv8TnEbce4inJ3F0/w480-h640/Screenshot%202024-03-01%20200212.png" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Habitus of <i>Bityle oriens</i>: (A) Holotype male, dorsal aspect; (B) paratype female, dorsal aspect; (C) frons </b><b style="text-align: left;">of male holotype; (D) lateral aspect, male holotype. Medina <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">Females of <i>Bityle oriens</i> are slightly larger than males, reaching 9.5 mm as opposed to 8.0 mm, but otherwise externally similar. The Beetles are black in colour, with white hairs on the head, antennae, legs, and underside, while the upper part of the body is covered by black hairs, except three bands of white hairs on the elytra.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">See also...</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/01/amasa-parviseta-new-and-highly-invasive.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="640" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfOMj8r2l6kDY2rj0nML12jEP2Udw64MBgQzYWY4PU6k_NhUvWYO_5D5xaGZsTmUhn7z22A-doQfRoj5lBMJMf55zRFcaSu4hKt9sKeByQB-KbIOXbw49X2XPdp_3bfQbhUAttVuBg_1vUqsNvdo3yckejCGAJTuPjdbzbTHc_AzATiErv0H4si7l1VDg/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-01%20201235.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/11/anchonidium-selvanum-new-species-of.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="361" data-original-width="638" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxvXYrWXCvN38YEC_TGnYhC9VK8OfcrAIgI7F16QBFc6o4FpRaEbr3R6UZ7_X6tYhKtrM1TSZTzQaY0d6YawMHI_usg1tlzFL4_KPsx6tBeChd_cbYuI_4qkYkafOkHD-HIvs0_8-fbQmq-6mUZk_X2PTmT4xDLXtpHf-cGsH6BAoPMJQtWwvZpqPrd5g/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-01%20201600.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/04/mahengea-mckayi-new-species-of-scarab.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="642" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZHUj4PH4y8Epmr7U520AumIQ22OE1Trar9wA1lQVht_hV9y6aipi4ARuD3rJx9XWFIbAVgVXcL83aIydRSYoDUj4efxg5M8TLL0lVN85esUkT-qSdWmtjEAUwl-PuUqp2EUKp7mRQ1DudGSHavA8HWg0-3aaKKQj3Uv8XKzP45O1KWgDCDAzFsVLQvgE/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-01%20201946.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2022/12/yprezethinus-grimaldii-pselaphine-rove.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="640" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipZuWwlvID0SXF4h36SRiKbVlgj6VQ8gxme3Maqf-8NX6hsYJwkmfGzwrDtfD1_c1KT93uWdk3kdqpKXglJDzDG2Hu_ir8XCYhdzVr60hDOJgs0ifiH3jXmo_J-OhXXluvj3ERcfD15yjD8_MfV416yeUJoJU05C3l35dcnHIdilOr9_cU6iMp08uE4nE/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-03-01%20202238.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2022/04/petalacmis-triplehorni-new-species-of.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="640" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9bdF9yt0cdXYytOCTRr849LEb2ABoUm2YGFsvG6ZVb_tbSaj1Wv2rqm7SPLC0EalxFUzy2F7GfLDNBhe3r2BalvQCxjfXJdKDZkui2Uy43y6LMLE3mjHXkbJSk8Wgv2aQfRC88Ujbyk50Ox-8_O60M8YKo__YzUinzkzwXwSLrmP8RQVPAkDTzqIXp94/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-03-01%20202534.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; 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margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ThoughtsSciency" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJSP0hMz1rErwQ55qhgeAtbFh1bMuUuSJMs-DNCDpcBlxlskbEDYeHBKxcEM94hEfbybq3qrqiVMVnOha_2yjYoGuk_upQc5kwfbYCUDw5fafBPSPqIApEryuHk5us-GhE5tfcW1UTNIoJjJTjNWHj7TcTs0hPQUO2QwiXAUgN_4DS4xekSpmyJJeE9h8/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174927.png" width="200" /></a></div>Joe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-65472694197770117562024-03-01T07:22:00.001+00:002024-03-01T07:22:51.271+00:00Simoniteuthis michaelyi: A new species of Vampire Squid from the Early Jurassic of Luxembourg.<p style="text-align: justify;">The modern Vampire Squid, <i>Vampyroteuthis infernalis</i>, is considered to be a relict species, having a mosaic of features associated with the Octobrachia (Octopus) and Decabrachia (Squid, Cuttlefish, and the extinct Belemnites). Notably, it has a well-developed gladius (mineralised internal support equivalent to the pen of Squid or the cuttlebone of Cuttlefish), and a rudimentary tenth pair of arms, both features of the Decabrachia, leading to the common name 'Vampire Squid', although molecular studies have placed this Cephalopod firmly within the Octobrachia. <i>Vampyroteuthis infernalis</i> is therefore considered to be the sole living member of the Order Vampyromorpha. This order has a fossil record dating back to the Mesozoic, and has been divided into two suborders, the Vampyromorphina, which contains the living Vampire Squid and a single Oligocene species, <i>Necroteuthis hungarica</i>, and the Loligosepiina, which contains 13-14 genera from the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In a <a href="https://sjpp.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13358-024-00303-y">paper</a> published in the <a href="https://sjpp.springeropen.com/">Swiss Journal of Palaeontology</a> on 14 February 2024, <a href="https://bspg.snsb.de/sektion-mitarbeiter/dr-dirk-fuchs/">Dirk Fuchs</a> of the <a href="https://bspg.snsb.de/">Bayerische Staatssammlung Für Paläontologie Und Geologie</a>, and Robert Weis and Ben Thuy of the <a href="https://www.mnhn.lu/">Musée National d’histoire Naturelle Luxembourg</a>, describe a new species of Vampyromorph Cephalopod from the Early Jurassic Schistes Carton of Luxembourg.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The new species is described on the basis of a single specimen from a bituminous black shale exposed in Bascharage, southeast Luxembourg, which is considered to be of equivalent age to the better known Posidonia Shale of southwest Germany. These deposits are thought to have been laid down in a shallow part of the northwestern peri-Tethys, close to the London-Brabant landmass. The shales lack any sign of bioturbation or benthic fauna, have a high organic carbon content, and contain fossils of pelagic Animals with articulated skeletons and soft tissue preservation, leading palaeontologists to interpret the environment as being a shallow, enclosed sea with sheltered conditions and an oxygen-depleted seafloor.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The new species is named <i>Simoniteuthis michaelyi</i>, where '<i>Simoniteuthis</i>' Jo Simon, a volunteer palaeontologist at the Musée National d’histoire Naturelle Luxembourg, who skilfully and patiently cleaned the fossil in the nodule and unveiled the soft part preservation (the sufix '-teuthis' means 'Squid'), and '<i>michaelyi</i>' honours Patrick Michaely, the director of the museum.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The specimen is preserved as part and counterpart on a split shale slab, and consists of the gladius and head-arm complex, including the proximal and middle parts of the arms, and the eyeballs. The remains of two small Fish can be observed within the tentacle area. Seen under UV light, the musculature of the arms can be observed. Like other members of the Suborder Loligosepiina, <i>Simoniteuthis michaelyi</i> has only eight pairs of arms, lacking the rudimentary tenth pair found in the living <i>Vampyroteuthis infernalis</i>. Details of the gladius are largely obscured by leaked ink, but it is 23 cm in length, and has distinct lateral wings, a diagnostic feature of Vampyromorphs.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSNHKT9Fj7nf14GlNDW-h9MYIyLYQoI9uvgzcOIxr48Ky4N4MF21xFzNLV-_7He2fFitOKSMkNUDHFgxBUEzcL-Lss02DcOHMy10wMzpColVxNq-aNA550BlPW56NlHQ6pg76s7qiiExFY-JwTu4eKHVRjuoKCLhwHpd8ICi1Hz9aZgTwvjDnfLjOtmgI/s540/Screenshot%202024-02-29%20201057.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="540" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSNHKT9Fj7nf14GlNDW-h9MYIyLYQoI9uvgzcOIxr48Ky4N4MF21xFzNLV-_7He2fFitOKSMkNUDHFgxBUEzcL-Lss02DcOHMy10wMzpColVxNq-aNA550BlPW56NlHQ6pg76s7qiiExFY-JwTu4eKHVRjuoKCLhwHpd8ICi1Hz9aZgTwvjDnfLjOtmgI/w400-h321/Screenshot%202024-02-29%20201057.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;"><i>Simoniteuthis michaelyi</i>, holotype (MNHNL TI024), Lower Toarcian, Serpentinum Chronozone, Exaratum Subchronozone, Bascharage. (A)–(D) slab; (E)–(G) counter-slab. (A) overview; (B) camera lucida drawing of (A); (C) close-up of the head–arm complex; (D) same under UV-light showing the weakly illuminating arm musculature; (E) overview; (F) close-up of the preyed Fish, red colour Specimen 1 (op, opercle; sop, subopercle), blue colour Specimen 2 (caud, caudal fin; sop, subopercle; centra, central vertebra); (G) same under UV-light. Scale bars are 10 mm. Fuchs <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">The number of arms in Vampire Squid remains somewhat of a puzzle. The common ancestor of all Coleoid Cephalopods is thought to have had five pairs of arms, a state retained in the living Squid and Cuttlefish. Members of the Octobrachia, including Octopus and the Mesozoic Loligosepiina, appear to have lost one pair of arms, leaving them with four. The living Vampire Squid, however, retains a rudimentary fifth pair of retractable, filamentous arms. Since it is unlikely that the species would have re-evolved a fifth pair of arms, it is assumed that it is a member of a lineage that has never lost the fifth pair of arms, implying that the Octopus and Loligosepiina lineages lost their fifth pair of arms separately. Confusingly, the extinct Suborder Prototeuthina, variously thought to be the ancestor of all Octobrachians, the ancestor of Vampyromorphs but not Octopus, or Octopus but not Vampyromorphs, also appear to have had only four pairs of arms. Possible filamentous arms have been reported on two Jurassic Vampyromorphs; a specimen of <i>Mastigophora brevipinnis</i> from Wiltshire, England (though other members of the same species appear to lack these extra arms), and possibly a specimen of <i>Jeletzkyteuthis coriaceus </i>from the Posidonia Shale. Niether of these species are thought to be closely related to the Vampyromorphina, nor to one-another, which, combined with the uncertainty as to whether they have a tenth pair of arms at all, provides palaeontologists with little help in unravelling the history of the fifth pair of tentacles.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_YmZI1i9TYambt-T12uh2pcO1md6b78ECvl1Re9-lMqazva53xfheKb9soZcEqJit0_YHJ7Qf7ySqJ7jjCKNRV3vwDImeJPLNJgZXpY213kKGT3CogPgPLlfOsMp767aOgnDq5kSHtGgq5-UQHjrzKIIuxSRw0WFnDV_stNQouaOKviLnTng13ilXhzU/s545/Screenshot%202024-02-29%20203050.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="392" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_YmZI1i9TYambt-T12uh2pcO1md6b78ECvl1Re9-lMqazva53xfheKb9soZcEqJit0_YHJ7Qf7ySqJ7jjCKNRV3vwDImeJPLNJgZXpY213kKGT3CogPgPLlfOsMp767aOgnDq5kSHtGgq5-UQHjrzKIIuxSRw0WFnDV_stNQouaOKviLnTng13ilXhzU/w460-h640/Screenshot%202024-02-29%20203050.png" width="460" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Gladius morphology of <i>Simoniteuthis michaelyi</i>, holotype (MNHNL TI024), Lower Toarcian, Serpentinum Chronozone, Exaratum Subchronozone, Bascharage. (A) Overview of the slab; (B) close-up of the anterior hyperbolar zone showing the course of growth increments; (C) schematic morphology and measurements; (D) overview of the counter-slab; (E) close-up of the posterior gladius showing the course of growth increments. Scale bars are 10 mm. Fuchs <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">The presence of two small Fish associated with the head-arm complex of <i>Simoniteuthis michaelyi</i> has implications for the taphonomy of the Schistes Carton. The most logical explanation for Fish being found in this location is predation by the Mollusc, and such small Fish are known to have been an important part of the diet of many Early Jurassic Cephalopods. Cephalopods with captured prey Fish have been found in several other deposits where the bottom waters are thought to have been anoxic, which has led to the suggestion that they may have been distracted by the capture of the Fish, causing them to drift into anoxic waters and die.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">See also...</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/08/nautilus-shell-beads-from-end.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="904" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisMCqmPmByFiftDoSn-aVRe4R_SzTHNDZ3LHa1wf5-dhWGnsaobfFe44dLiaatMvx_JMVIrR8KaFiieJh1uWpFw1iAxlyjAkwIeH6oDVaVouNFOZ90m2zZGWmTGV2ctug8gCJprjp7KfY9Dp5QmCSdtVn-8_tF_AfKh89bscuGKx1utLHWsYVFsA18nas/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-29%20205245.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; 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margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2020/06/using-high-resolution-computedtomo.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="909" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxPg8u_JazJ1lHC17UboUlaxh13tonHyxOy7_TrH42E7X8_kcTFU_o9X06fEbRsDTeJCbtQDHkvHcnEk87kwT0QjDboBXsfKPdpqq6qMunz31dR7ttb7c1qFerZSIdLq34MUTpNEfj8n5YGnA3f4zqrNnzDmZ6RLvwgChapU9vjJ7RvrdzTzUiVhR4HVo/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-29%20210100.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2020/06/ptychites-embreei-new-species-of.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="636" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBwaUTQAxTnim3nG1f0uNija2Xj68Pry1zgKaskyssuKWhyNuqHesJQloedF7AdYr67CH6Q9GOyFqtS-z1QbOtGc2sRVeBwogX9D_ZEmPc2D49oE5nEEDFdJMP4KRR8qarhCLHVq5IkKqIUH9mMTslo7rLAJx5u8ZwLjhJdY6v2Woua6tXwQuIgzi9y0g/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-29%20210526.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; 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margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ThoughtsSciency" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNKbPXez6wSwFNNxaBqk8Hyj0dmMf8j22krYBpL2RMkgWTnUkr-jUy6aeZxk0etONDmMKy8GONbWVfyyj2D1ZiPfHSJhyphenhyphenYNb6Vm8wA3kZThWRbVTngt9I0E2w1FcUfgvYXbQEIwDBWffgEC-Uxxsd6WPwFaG5T02BBF952FXJTlXnjkVTOk0MofLpwD54/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174927.png" width="200" /></a></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Joe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-83555945884504989262024-02-29T06:46:00.002+00:002024-02-29T06:46:49.088+00:00Stygobromus anacostensis: A new species of subterranean Amphipod from Washington D.C.<p style="text-align: justify;">The genus <i>Stygobromus</i> contains 137 described species of Amphipod Crustaceans found in subterranean environments, predominantly in North America. The diversity of this group is particularly high in groundwater habitats of the Piedmont and Atlantic Coastal Plain of Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, an area from which thirteen species have been described to date, seven from shallow subterranean habitats in the lower Potomac River Basin and the area around Washington D.C. With over 150 identified seepage springs, Washington D.C. is a particularly suitable environment for the study of these Crustaceans, whose known diversity is thought to hide a significant number of cryptic species (species which physically resemble other species, but which are genetically isolated from them).</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In a <a href="https://subtbiol.pensoft.net/article/112984/">paper</a> published in the journal <a href="https://subtbiol.pensoft.net/">Subterranean Biology</a> on 15 February 2024, <a href="https://www.uah.edu/science/faculty-staff/matthew-niemiller">Matthew Niemiller</a> of the <a href="https://www.uah.edu/science/departments/biology">Department of Biological Sciences</a> at the <a href="https://www.uah.edu/">University of Alabama in Huntsville</a>, Andrew Cannizzaro of the <a href="https://miamioh.edu/cas/departments/biology/index.html">Department of Biology</a> at <a href="https://miamioh.edu/index.html">Miami University</a>, Thomas Sawicki of the <a href="https://cst.famu.edu/departments-and-centers/department-of-biology/index.php">Department of Biological Sciences</a> at <a href="https://www.famu.edu/">Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University</a>, and <a href="https://www.american.edu/cas/faculty/dculver.cfm">David Culver</a> of the <a href="https://www.american.edu/cas/environmental/">Department of Environmental Science</a> at the <a href="https://www.american.edu/">American University</a>, describe a new species of <i>Stygobromus</i> from a hypotelminorheic seepage spring (seepage spring of shallow subterranean origin) at <a href="https://www.nps.gov/anac/index.htm">Anacostia Park</a> in metropolitan Washington D.C.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The new species is named <i>Stygobromus anacostensis</i>, where '<i>anacostensis</i>' means 'from Anacosta' in reference to the place where it was discovered. The species is described on the basis of five specimens collected from a seepage spring that emerges from a small, 2-m high rockface about 5 m from Malcolm X Avenue SE in September and October 2021.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfAY5DdYS9RhVMDXBsDByuOq22rxzOdkOWbgljwcGT3XAMYK9r1Hb8TvNa_I3A2SszU_M3McjpoIWhkf2uheF-uX_Xxi4vDffDrNzCfm00Jb6xLJR3ScPWVJzJXyGpDxi9HRXw6_2_H3EBhkQu4FTfSIyO-AQbCZ97umJ7mLm-N31B7g0PT4IWXv36dkA/s558/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20214022.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="554" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfAY5DdYS9RhVMDXBsDByuOq22rxzOdkOWbgljwcGT3XAMYK9r1Hb8TvNa_I3A2SszU_M3McjpoIWhkf2uheF-uX_Xxi4vDffDrNzCfm00Jb6xLJR3ScPWVJzJXyGpDxi9HRXw6_2_H3EBhkQu4FTfSIyO-AQbCZ97umJ7mLm-N31B7g0PT4IWXv36dkA/w398-h400/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20214022.png" width="398" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;"><i>Stygobromus anacostensis</i>, habitus: (A) Holotype male, 5.9 mm (USNM 1606902) (B) Allotype female, 5.3 mm (USNM 1606903). Scale bar is 1 mm. Niemiller <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>Stygobromus anacostensis</i> is notable in its small size, with the largest male specimen found measuring 5.9 mm in length while the largest female was only 5.3 mm long. It can be distinguished from all other members of the genus by having two pairs of antennae, with the second pair being clearly shorter than the first, and by blade-like edges to its gnathopods (mouthparts made from modified limbs). A genetic analysis recovered <i>Stygobromus anacostensis</i> as the sister species to <i>Stygobromus potomacus</i>, a species which has also been found in Anacostia Park, as well as in <a href="https://dwr.virginia.gov/vbwt/sites/caledon-state-park/">Caledon State Park</a> in Virginia, roughly 100 km to the south.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>Stygobromus anacostensisI </i>is known only from a single location, a seepage spting in an urban area. While the site of this spring is on land controlled by the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/index.htm">National Park Service</a>, it is close to a major urban thoroughfare, and vulnerable to road salt, as well as any potential drainage improvement work carried out in the area. For this reason, Niemiller <i>et al</i>. recomend that the species be classified as Critically Endangered under the terms of the <a href="https://www.iucn.org/">International Union for the Conservation of Nature</a>'s <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/">Red List of Threatened Species</a>, and given the status of Critically Imperilled under the <a href="https://www.natureserve.org/">NatureServe</a> wildlife conservation scheme.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">See also...</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2020/06/pereionotus-tinggiensis-new-species-of.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="641" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhulepyuj4aXIueloF0YgrIEeyEN3rX4BqLHHGu9gYzSH01P1s4SJHZy0X7T5HH1ZJgwUCJmp_c6l6aedYPGjvP1bDVcqbULx58GYKrXcNwwbXFkABPZaWVAf3NUf1zpo00b0_yahofC5lDii_8HdHnPJTItHez-taSNN2kSOK2VRUqBFyjxVeU6FICsjE/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-29%20062245.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2019/12/cerrorchestia-taboukeli-new-species-of.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="641" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-zAjtUOaOHL4LwsSmXO7jm044vSFJXoHQLKGjB5pz0oHldKf24cZYFrPXJdTtmIc2XUTwgIHM5Yu0hS4MO-f03shpvGWBQirkOXWUGa0pymVtOJEhxR2uZ_z3SskGtHC91kPdwrPKwuAkUVTBA4ZICHuG7cgRTvenjHpA7kCWvwVX_-s69v4srYeCKKo/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-02-29%20062656.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2017/02/persistent-organic-pollutants-in.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="906" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUIf-MLrQMJxv7O5asi9__so_lYmUUO7ty_ZAIxRlIvQrPjvIf-4ATiS41ROKV71wOqqop68-RyUauZpGPSTqf81YU9wXFekj6DBtEYZIS2ljz91pFiESUsNyKcx9jBqdr4WUDyGIsfJOsU2go0UEEGLMxJKfDeY02fd-hKX-velQ4BG7FeX_LQo3l3qs/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-29%20062954.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/12/epimeria-abyssalis-new-species-of.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="637" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUvRJpAFjD9mTLEALT5VZagyLPPgdsrpC6pEaX1RUhTC9uotGEP0PUn3f-6I0TPePIThMHSy01l9RV01ezMxD57XChyNLTG_DXC5U6KCNFPsDZ7JiSBFUNCiZFuRxJtlJdw1cv5OErIaLk4TutICXJKq3rzRJ_8AfUtX4Levg9g38Zg77wqsa_ZZjLbA4/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-29%20063453.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/10/rosagammarus-minichiellus-not-amphipod.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="639" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQz-0SLR_SmFVtB_dIG2qjqGeK9bWsFdILdNWTHsS3LnOHTSvfDeNj3nNb7tCmjN-vorKbkAmOTMlY-z0Tv0vXYu6uqlm-b2hBoGhvgZYW9qpwAkQl6ZkooECrS8lYyjVwFUFotNAGa4vhPqAbyClYt7UITQf9SbLectDJIQmyAJuut6H1QsFtn9Wh_oc/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-29%20063829.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/12/phoxocephalus-tiomanensis-new-species.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="641" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNrZFaAPC_NoKSEQx0GcGHlCFrPRRZw1aX3-EgAJoKgv6cSULSWUI4ASbvqmcIydlQNWBC185_qX_w4JjkqImJ5Stf7rbr6VptyiJO2r5tuGvWroMvlEK5bNjwoce-OuMysVVPugavlNEiOZMnBVjy4lQPrE-dzdjcr4QKWVaEuOe2vC_Ab7z5NISol1M/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-02-29%20064113.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SciencyThoughts" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgyn_fSVJLqJiaGpyWqOGeALvFVKycBqVwktqn5LvnssHvMakTEZydILhlfOUA2chrgmwbHtuDsFNWp8Gfi5_tnucUme7WGP1ZtDSRgcO_qQt4AHr59oVTQ3a5ftazq3BCWJyBnXyKJTzxsQmqwPFhclBkLt0Tr8cqWXoKzm8WzWAwsANJhO5BuQtB_P0/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174151.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ThoughtsSciency" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxwq-4z8vdexO-k6xc8-9nRPvv9UPAhI-pyu4tgyZxCIk4ezO6EFdjfLWT4Eymey-Ilt5Tt7vAN1mU2bT4MgELkzM897oFibPV3njOJbgdwnbK3b8ygd1Q53ahpee96EyDkx9fAAx7yHdQX6ghpe_QfhtmBIqFjc2AyIzSGtSthu6WmEpXzTF0HamIVdM/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174927.png" width="200" /></a></div>Joe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-15579950668183579142024-02-28T19:59:00.000+00:002024-02-28T19:59:02.401+00:00Bronze Age metalworks found in northern Oman.<p style="text-align: justify;">Archaeologists from the <a href="https://pcma.uw.edu.pl/en/">Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology</a> at the <a href="https://en.uw.edu.pl/">University of Warsaw</a> have unearthed evidence of Bronze Age metalworking during exploratory work in the Qumayrah Valley of northern Oman. The team, who have been working in Oman since 2016, spent five weeks in the area in November and December 2024, uncovering about 50 structures associated with the Bronze Age Umm an-Nar and Wadi Suq cultures, as well as a smaller amount of Iron Age and later material, according to a <a href="https://pcma.uw.edu.pl/en/2024/02/12/metallurgical-sites-in-oman/">press release</a> issued on 12 February 2024.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu1pUhu1dJtmHe4c_cy_toGYaY7686JAyo1KhjW89ps7uaDzbFwPlxTN8ymW6Ne3TYiRWSKKZVnELsYTWutLUY_cqCROMPC5gxikYKBodkPejfg65WmKF-ybd-LfAE-ofM1d6Pq56ErBNJcBNMJI4BaaZmEk2FJVj8lG2zBISnuIZiVDiJH9StPcDFoGQ/s898/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20181558.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="898" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu1pUhu1dJtmHe4c_cy_toGYaY7686JAyo1KhjW89ps7uaDzbFwPlxTN8ymW6Ne3TYiRWSKKZVnELsYTWutLUY_cqCROMPC5gxikYKBodkPejfg65WmKF-ybd-LfAE-ofM1d6Pq56ErBNJcBNMJI4BaaZmEk2FJVj8lG2zBISnuIZiVDiJH9StPcDFoGQ/w400-h245/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20181558.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">The approximate location of the <span style="text-align: justify;">Qumayrah Valley in northern Oman. <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Qumayra,+Oman/@23.3142953,54.6227147,6z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x3e8ae2af0745e015:0x57132bb24a4bfae2!8m2!3d23.9339397!4d56.1993502!16s%2Fg%2F1thbv3wq!5m1!1e4?entry=ttu">Google Maps</a>.</span></b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">The oldest structures found date to the Early Bronze Age Umm an-Nar Culture, which is thought to have lasted from about 2600 BC to about 2000 BC, and include round stone towers at the Ajran 1 and QB 6 localities, and a number of tower tombs at Ajran 4. This period appears to have seen a significant economic boom in the region, leading to a rise in population, and more archaeological remains being left behind than in subsequent periods.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFyzqS_eeUPgb5TQEmPkxcZZ3PMRPWmfr0OGpEE6_WENR0vkrhP3CelrPJTLDi2T8RD0npqo_u9Uxl8NAsoIriDnJMT6veTy9gv_YYiaZlKjYbflIrAuYLXOIYXOEgct0XAdIgpPw8Tb0jG0R7UCWoCKoD5giOKa7SxJiw9aV2lXlyuu6OSHL9tRv_tmU/s1500/1_Oman-2023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFyzqS_eeUPgb5TQEmPkxcZZ3PMRPWmfr0OGpEE6_WENR0vkrhP3CelrPJTLDi2T8RD0npqo_u9Uxl8NAsoIriDnJMT6veTy9gv_YYiaZlKjYbflIrAuYLXOIYXOEgct0XAdIgpPw8Tb0jG0R7UCWoCKoD5giOKa7SxJiw9aV2lXlyuu6OSHL9tRv_tmU/w400-h266/1_Oman-2023.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Reconnaissance at site QB 6, where the remains of a round tower building made of white limestone were found. <a href="https://pcma.uw.edu.pl/o-nas/pracownicy/agnieszka-szymczak/">Agnieszka Szymczak</a>/Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology.</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">This Umm an-Nar economic boom is thought to have been driven by long distance trade with India and Mesopotamia, with the main export from Oman being copper. Because of this, the Polish team have been searching for signs of copper working in the Qumayrah Valley. The discoveries made this season include a complex of sites around Wadi Salh, which include slag fields up to 220 m by 50 m and 25 cm to 50 cm thick, along with dozens of stone tools thought to have been used for crushing ore, and the remains of numerous furnaces. Several buildings thought to have been used as workshops have also been identified.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0zVAWD7FZPyv8qUdmmCz1yekjhrsXCTfL8vDk1S5mJWq39rGxyEFB5r_9jRSZzKdYH1JAJiHK4MbQ3-gS8B7jqahgVCwjUjwMZard6cYRBPKA4sBVGHpXLL2PXmWvYKEmkANBiNV5dHV3BCn5MYh1840Z0Lc5buHdJIWBcKEii-2eVSn97SlDwncIn9c/s1500/7_Oman-2023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0zVAWD7FZPyv8qUdmmCz1yekjhrsXCTfL8vDk1S5mJWq39rGxyEFB5r_9jRSZzKdYH1JAJiHK4MbQ3-gS8B7jqahgVCwjUjwMZard6cYRBPKA4sBVGHpXLL2PXmWvYKEmkANBiNV5dHV3BCn5MYh1840Z0Lc5buHdJIWBcKEii-2eVSn97SlDwncIn9c/w426-h640/7_Oman-2023.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">A slag field in Wadi Salh; flags mark stone tools for crushing ore. Agnieszka Szymczak/Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology.</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">Iron Age remains are much less common in the region, but the team did find a site, QA 20, where what appears to have been an Iron Age observation tower and accompanying settlement was located at the intersection of two valleys. The settlement, thought to have dated to between 1100 BC and 600 BC, comprised a dense arrangement of adjoining houses on either side of a narrow street. Thirty three rooms have been excavated so far at this site, covering an area of about 1400 m².</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcOHkYXfSoRfSpW9mbXjaVGy7Xl0qHSLu6CMhZAtdbhFPl5wqlkgQ7NleBPV5zOjRK2TpglMyIFyPSkMeMFW9XSK1I9M7CWgGNEXpPruz69DhmVMiwGcyg7_CloH4OoF1mbde3sE3LMCvn0EdqYTX1b8kBYW3bY81cDHeDvSOChlPgeE0fCGtG_p1C3CI/s1500/11_Oman-2023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcOHkYXfSoRfSpW9mbXjaVGy7Xl0qHSLu6CMhZAtdbhFPl5wqlkgQ7NleBPV5zOjRK2TpglMyIFyPSkMeMFW9XSK1I9M7CWgGNEXpPruz69DhmVMiwGcyg7_CloH4OoF1mbde3sE3LMCvn0EdqYTX1b8kBYW3bY81cDHeDvSOChlPgeE0fCGtG_p1C3CI/w400-h266/11_Oman-2023.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Representatives of the local community, teachers and students from schools in the village of Qumayrah with members of the Omani-Polish expedition at the QA 20 site. Olga Puszkarewicz/Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology.</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">See also...</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/01/investigating-walled-oasis-at-khaybar.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="906" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9QnRvng7EyvLceUZ49IeShqXLYzFAzDFq80bis88-CHSQfrWp9vtggRx-kzmGFylCo3Wl1Qpou4QAbe2z_baFUSYLcstu3rzgWe6G3iMT-xsEgj-Ga60o6TgToqz4uVcGEF2RmvmAk7PhS2jTSEJrbnc19GBL5yAWHjfDc9u4X9mepOI4I7U6gHyYyok/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20193502.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/01/letti-desert-1-new-archaeological-site.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="641" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdYHzUCGihFBqZNsrXR8ADhgUL-I0jpnDLVEKzR8No2zjOSEIT2daKHz9uSWIz_d9_u2R3yNeLoDKfHVmjdA7dV8pRNNbtkZflso33xzc9IsvTXIVn4OTfflAkgY6DTsHKD_W4_DcZOvDlycAy-UdyTrtdIDMVQ_BOcmDTpEI8W4Vt3FSXG4LQaMBs_Rg/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20193810.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/11/a-hoard-of-coins-from-indus-valley.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="638" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSkGPGBpH16HmK5npdu1dwgW3mNcBCc7n2u_UNSS7BX5s-NPNV9jT6VO5qqKmPWg_q5hslINFHXLz9YwSKx4KCASNFnrF9cKCCBTWCF2wRyJw69FaoCIl6qQqOZNr6qUgYf6lb_ist5FLafaw6R8cz4j0gx7ivqbW1qWOWHjseVA6NodfgcZ1TsEdTW4I/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20194223.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/10/sealed-wine-vessels-found-within-tomb.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="361" data-original-width="641" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHSCInd5O62WG4QVWPUMQLR0zccV3yMvJUUNQoaXwjeARCgucPrTzf_Q1Bknm1lkVmHTLAxRM1AIPE14WBtQ21yBDAzvdYX5-XomfCBuaLhYz_1aOXO9Mad4FyAE135-WhJnZUV0b5HsyWhCrbrdYxVHCcyJQ6xOnWCVLkl979xR0HL6zIOX9DG1kraU4/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20194550.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/09/changing-burial-practices-across.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="850" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxME91dkC5vmw_86eRq5z4fuCkzT8JUGGB5DQBNcUbwU8J0Vdk0d1xfpr5X8pKh4qWEfXGehMW9mvRkjIjc72WQ1-H2P4uNVS57SgXfI-OksBFv773Aixylo863tHQBSPLxB8DskqCnKZ556svx1xV_-rmQdHTrQIeO3iH8wbijGw3GivEaQGgcWUeUfE/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20194946.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/07/using-x-ray-fluorescence-imaging-to.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="850" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxq3uchVUsFUwtv-GFvjLC2xHzOISFLO-oluB0vDsgqs5urHRLi456pBtXW5oUcQTqXXBivBDYX_mw29gmj838vOFE09-AlxTQPGFKCOdJpjH8CTFrrtal0OQumfxlGi1aV-9KVeBtld8mwe7NcHf7X1xVHxBleYr2kcawCgaxkqWKkY8TWER9i8IYtK4/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-28%20195417.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SciencyThoughts" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU9RfFhcAo5gKRCBAjuq2pfIVRqGbb8rJ_ElygEFQ1NjL8B2P9M3wiol9IwtDKpUGzH6zU942uGBzuPdyIWL6bS8xSUpzviGcE3TR61VZ6Tt5Je2LNXrwJ7htNhBcP45uCLvedkTUozSAtK6LAKzFcJUQjsA8RJrSeXmckCkSU7KPmLdDTBPOoRBFE4VQ/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174151.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ThoughtsSciency" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcwq9Bp77ZsXatdrcI8cjRi_sPj7SmI-DhcJddXS-y_Vmlv3lh6uzda5OgZtOkttRabt8QyXk84qeRbONP8RSJEvcjgJN19QLXY4B3JcCoxg0_of3WERnqtMLDvMPDkpyH9UjpOJGaGaFYdWkQ95C6iGgOx1AflB5YMWJyLMmjn7FP0zzNMbVokGh2Ck4/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174927.png" width="200" /></a></div>Joe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-64993932491961949782024-02-25T21:02:00.000+00:002024-02-25T21:16:24.427+00:00Looking for the Chinguetti Meteorite.<p style="text-align: justify;">In 1916 a young French army officer called Captain Gaston Ripert reported being taken to see a giant meteorite in the Mauritanian desert, south of Chinguetti. The story is a strange one, with Ripert claiming he was taken blindfolded, at night, on a ten hour Camel ride into the desert, where he observed a huge iron structure 100 m long and 40 m wide, recovering a smaller, 4.5 kg meteorite from its surface. Shortly after returning to Chinguetti, where he was commander of the local Camel corps, Ripert reported that his guide, a local chief, was poisoned, leaving him unable to relocate the site.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The eccentric nature of this story led many people to dismiss it out of hand. It was not unusual for western travellers of the time to make up tales of wild adventure; some even paid ghostwriters to create particularly entertaining tales. However, officers in colonial armies were supposed to refrain from such nonsense, and some aspects of Ripert's story were hard to rectify with the story being complete fiction. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">During the past century a number of expeditions have sought to locate Ripert's meteorite, with the first in 1924, although by this time Ripert was stationed in Cameroon, and could only be communicated with by letters. This meant that the early searches concentrated on the area to the southwest of Chinguetti, although Ripert later clarified that the area he was taken to was probably to the southeast. The French naturalist and explorer Théodore Monod mounted a number of expeditions to find the meteorite, starting in 1934, but was unable to locate it. In the 1950s an expedition by the French army used a declinometer (instrument for measuring magnetic declination) in a search for the meteorite, without success, and in the 1990s a team from the British TV station <a href="https://www.channel4.com/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA5-uuBhDzARIsAAa21T_aOgQinwAacoy-0BPoVJ7UiI_WVYe61V6Fz7iWdgzc3ffe1-8CulsaAmmdEALw_wcB">Channel 4</a> used a magnetometer during a search for the meteorite, but took only a few measurements.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Despite all this, there are a number of elements of the story suggest that it was not complete fiction, not the least of this being Ripert's willingness to talk to experts about his journey for the rest of his life. The smaller rock which Ripert recovered did prove to be a meteorite, albeit one which, when subjected to radionuclide analysis in 2001 was shown not to have been part of a larger body (radionuclides form near the surface of asteroids due to a constant bombardment by cosmic rays, but these can only penetrate a little way, so the radionuclides they form are absent from the interior of large bodies). Finally, Ripert reported observing metallic needles protruding from the large meteorite, which he tried unsuccessfully to break off, finding that they were too ductile (able to be deformed without losing toughness) for the tools he had at hand). In 2003, the American geologist and meteorite specialist <a href="https://www.geology.pitt.edu/dr-william-cassidy">William Cassidy</a> reported similar ductile metal needles protruding from nickel-rich zones of iron meteorites, but this was clearly unknown to science in 1916.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1tCEztvluMoQxnxbi8VIcBwXXMOF6_H-Y7JjlBjsaWnLdLJeXgqt3-xWmj9kfq2Ck00fWdowRYcPN1RMGiV7UdOQAF71L7CDE28q4Y2tM0mhkHhRohJSS0ha9FOW5RqsbqF0XTGduQNIdGkbFo3L026K-YldvcKzTBPFH1O9DxmhzmVLj3fI8LqaEjrE/s773/Chinguetti_meteorite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="773" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1tCEztvluMoQxnxbi8VIcBwXXMOF6_H-Y7JjlBjsaWnLdLJeXgqt3-xWmj9kfq2Ck00fWdowRYcPN1RMGiV7UdOQAF71L7CDE28q4Y2tM0mhkHhRohJSS0ha9FOW5RqsbqF0XTGduQNIdGkbFo3L026K-YldvcKzTBPFH1O9DxmhzmVLj3fI8LqaEjrE/w400-h358/Chinguetti_meteorite.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">A fragment of the smaller meteorite brought back by Gaston Ripert in the collection of the <a href="https://naturalhistory.si.edu/">Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History</a>. <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page">Wikimedia Commons</a>.</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">In a <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.14150">paper</a> published on the <a href="https://arxiv.org/">arXiv</a> database at <a href="https://www.cornell.edu/">Cornell University</a> on 21 February 2024, Robert Warren of Salisbury in England, <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/s.j.warren">Stephen Warren</a> of the <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/astrophysics/">Astrophysics Group</a> at <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/">Imperial College London</a>, and Ekaterini Protopapa of the <a href="https://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/">Department of Physics</a> at the <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/">University of Oxford</a>, describe the results of a more recent search for the Chinguetti Meteorite, and the prospects for either discovering its existence or proving its non-existence in the future.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Warren <i>et al</i>. began by collating remote-sensing data covering the region from multiple sources; they are reasonably confident that other researchers will have searched <a href="https://earth.google.com/web/">Google Earth</a> for signs of the meteorite, but they also accessed data from other sources, including the <a href="https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/sensors/srtm#:~:text=The%20Shuttle%20Radar%20Topography%20Mission,global%20dataset%20of%20land%20elevations.">Shuttle Radar Topography Mission</a>, the <a href="https://earth.esa.int/eogateway/missions/alos">Advanced Land Observing Satellite</a> (ALOS), and <a href="https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/">Landsat</a>.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Using the reasoning that the only way a 40 m high meteorite could have disappeared in the deserts of Mauritania is for it to have been covered by a sand dune, Warren <i>et al</i>. began by searching for a region of high dunes which could be reached from Chinguetti by Camel in under 10 hours. There are two bands of dunes close to Chinguetti; the Les Boucles field, most of which is within 20 km of the city, and the Batraz field, which is between 40 and 60 km to the southeast. Much of the intervening area is also covered by sand dunes, but these are not large enough to describe an object as that described by Ripert.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qLBY2q0-ResUtQNvUBe-C68_FcaumzZqxn28Kifjnaa6MUaXnZY-pSP8ToODgpfVmcnQris_Crv424H2AzQNuXcviccrd8wCb5M6WC0am08GtumSk_vbZ2XxsFVF4_uiWnjRzxVyO5MIqUMJOqxckNCL9n8G9xQ8PyKjXBI_Dp3nvUAVVu-gIsI6-ns/s709/Screenshot%202024-02-25%20160230.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="709" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qLBY2q0-ResUtQNvUBe-C68_FcaumzZqxn28Kifjnaa6MUaXnZY-pSP8ToODgpfVmcnQris_Crv424H2AzQNuXcviccrd8wCb5M6WC0am08GtumSk_vbZ2XxsFVF4_uiWnjRzxVyO5MIqUMJOqxckNCL9n8G9xQ8PyKjXBI_Dp3nvUAVVu-gIsI6-ns/w400-h299/Screenshot%202024-02-25%20160230.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Map showing the high sand dunes, greater than 30 m height, to the south of Chinguetti. Warren <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">Warren <i>et al</i>. made two trips into the desert from Chinguetta, in the company of experienced local chameliers, one lasting eleven days and one lasting six. They found that Camels typically travel at speeds of between 2.0 and 3.6 km per hour, assuming good terrain, with the maximum speed achieved by unburdened Camels being about 5.0 km per hour. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">However, even assuming that Ripert and his guide were riding Camels unburdened by anything other than themselves, it is unlikely that this maximum speed would have been achieved for 10 hours, because the primary concern of the chameliers is for the welfare of their Camels, which are not only the most important assets they own, but also their only way of getting back to safety should a problem arise. This meant that if Warren <i>et al</i>.'s chameliers expected a journey to take four hours, they would travel for two hours, then give the Camels a three hour break to rest and feed, before completing the journey, something they were quite inflexible about. Neither would they travel in a straight line on anything other than the flattest terrain, but instead would zig-zag to avoid taking the Camels over steps and ledges, and would never take their Camels over the tops of dunes.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Ripert himself mentioned taking several detours during his journey, which makes a journey 50 km in a straight line from Chinguetta even less plausible. However, for the sake of convenience, Warren <i>et al</i>. take the area within 50 km of the city as a search area. This includes the more distant Batraz Dune Field, which Warren <i>et al</i>. consider unlikely, although they do concede that there is a route along a dry river bey which could bring a determined Camel rider this far in 10 hours if breaks were neglected. They also rule out the area of the Les Boucles Dune Field which lies within 10 km of the city, reasoning that Ripert, who was in charge of the local Camel Corps, would have recognised a location in this area. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7QtlQAoeiwoFKLw1-Is7QBmBpI_VdVptAP8R2JDqtT7DQ6ONaHoAt9wNvRfeHKq98RGgHFoGpMArOLZS3BC5YU4eLJamjKYw-KHsd6HbXdWlBK5wLpeGf0RLhbGC3pMehVaBFjelO_-_YOBhN32rumIga3k4e4_Z4RUtMvFfOvJ5u6C3QDtnoz0dixU/s946/Screenshot%202024-02-25%20195000.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="946" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7QtlQAoeiwoFKLw1-Is7QBmBpI_VdVptAP8R2JDqtT7DQ6ONaHoAt9wNvRfeHKq98RGgHFoGpMArOLZS3BC5YU4eLJamjKYw-KHsd6HbXdWlBK5wLpeGf0RLhbGC3pMehVaBFjelO_-_YOBhN32rumIga3k4e4_Z4RUtMvFfOvJ5u6C3QDtnoz0dixU/w400-h220/Screenshot%202024-02-25%20195000.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">A sand dune in the <span style="text-align: justify;">Les Boucles Dune Field to the south of </span><span style="text-align: justify;">Chinguetta. <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/contrib/105082367310812540957/photos/@34.9042342,7.8506116,5z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m3!8m2!3m1!1e1?entry=ttu">Bruno Locatelli</a>/<a href="https://www.google.com/maps/">Google Maps</a>.</span></b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">Having defined their search area, Warren <i>et al</i>. then searched their dataset for dunes large enough to have covered the meteorite described by Ripert. According to Ripert's description, the northeastern side of the meteorite was already covered by a dune at the time when he visited. The area is noted for its strong, prevailing winds, which blow northeast to southwest more-or-less constantly all year round, causing sand dunes to migrate in the same direction, and Ripert stated in 1932 that he thought it possible that the meteorite would already have been covered by the dune. Taking Ripert's estimate that the meteorite was 40 m high, it would require a dune more than 40 m high to cover it.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Sand dunes in a desert do not typically stack up against one-another; instead, they are usually discrete structures, with flat spaces between them. Warren <i>et al</i>. identified dunes higher than 30 m high in their remote sensing dataset, in order to give an error of margin, creating a map showing dunes which meet this criterion within the two dune fields. Since dunes are unlikely to have moved more than 100 m since 1916, the meteorite, if buried, must be within 100 m of the western edge of the dune covering it. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Since a height of 30-40 m is reached within 300-400 m of the western flank of the dunes, it would in theory be possibly for a walk along the western flank of the dunes with a magnetometer (a passive instrument that measures changes in the Earth's magnetic field), and be confident of passing within 500 m of the meteorite, a distance at which it ought to be highly detectable.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Warren <i>et al</i>. also not that a magnetic survey of the area has been carried out by aircraft on behalf of the <a href="https://www.petrole.gov.mr/?The-Ministry-of-Petroleum-Energy">Mauritanian Ministry of Petroleum Energy and Mines</a> by the <a href="https://www.fugro.com/">Fugro</a> geological surveying company, using funds provided by the <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/home">World Bank</a>, and this data has subsequently been made available to teams of scientists working on other projects. With this in mind, Warren <i>et al</i>. wrote to the Ministry requesting access to the data, but have yet to receive an answer.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Between 13 and 17 December 2022 Warren <i>et al</i>. carried out a magnetometer survey of the eastern part of the Les Boucles Dune Field on foot, covering the western edges of six large dunes, based upon which they are confident that the presence of a large iron meteorite beneath these dunes can be ruled out. Based upon the time this took, they estimate that a survey of all the potential dunes would require an expedition lasting three weeks. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">See also...</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/02/images-from-japans-smart-lander-for.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="908" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ixD00s2h-WNc0aZRWLDtRD_Vh4tBJi2H_ADfSpddRedIt1ot0SkXGizlR6602gQhTcqB7vVwnlmZRLh7WM0Hq51VXQocogPxj-bYCad2WGigJPbf4sfS9px6LRivZwMK1_s0yW1XgofCxaBpK_v7bc58-xZr6YXS-oKQpbjz26IGR__cyj50yaZTB9g/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-02-25%20205016.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/01/asteroid-2024-bx1-impacts-earth.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="903" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJPycU3jJYWv6IYgOzdryacoOK46j8SByxHT9tXu10uAKSMV1UWnkzDE2q6A3ijSB3ghe0WfccYs1BMi2xnNBe6p1UJOoHKOaWfL7fv6l6swPYCNcDFUv7fAA7Vvy4RBsob8U4udVD-QLNiHqkj4x5Kcm13_lz2G6BH8PpojQtkDdX_JvrFoiSSiljpnE/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-25%20205307.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/01/fireball-meteor-off-coast-of-wales.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ36Mx9BU6NkkV8NPVh42msy03dkWoKdlroF69kWMmVo1MSnuWxUmN4KgvcsUoPkVXiNZMWqTe0vB_mtbaQa_YRO4_prPO3E4fdskBDJ8xB5w9Y-OUF8PDtkprj7qbcBR8UIEHszdSp_vZRbwiNxJorlppL3rQf__dtmSZM5eqx3haU9FwjZ94oGuKcOQ/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-29%20192731.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-floating-snows-of-titan.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="113" data-original-width="200" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLUU7Xmntg5Fm1WxMXD5XZ6MfKWJtKTJ4oAUvi0zYBt-YSq-PT1WWHqUVuJTgSPDYE0p6wP2bcxbFOKvx3biBV56B9VpeeRKANZgC8CQqretvnPOoT7vsdrnEdnTkCNEYkmyxMYOWawdS-ztF0p3pr2KYx9KaLGIEClGZxK5uYzg9bPWdAq4DPbJDjahI/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-29%20193114.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/01/new-images-of-io.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglGdjfLUTeL7_5btbhXk2jOSI98dde5w6LAHOh1sxkONs4F2gWUSpQ0ZOEN1G7V42N0Kvyt4FO_tevcok_-QWM6ysNSJ12bwakaOBZ-TcpK9XEuHRGZBXV718dJ9-BUxUyDlkeDrZ8NXPxNaukSDdM4KGXpZbZ__6mdE8qiN4Y5E2t5HacA4rXZo7FoeQ/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-10%20210008.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/01/fireball-meteor-over-southwest-england.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdMTWKLUsn2c6vTyDkKEyIXblM4LRcHKxg8zqZZSykB2h2zL9d-99t_MURUQTlocHZFFGDJ_WvYDKdXXq3k-znC_5wXLFlDNtB1MGkIpSL37beh4N9YNI8FHBqirHrTuBJGyI9w0BVVa0kdnn97WtqEHrhPbT7nbzeOf_TCZFXg5qPnKw6aOVJvQqRotY/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-29%20193613.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SciencyThoughts" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ0DMeBW_RGI_An4SSVgBoqncZysYLQ0aDBUkzo1IaUpST8bQfn3nHI_t8QvpQNhaNCSy295NKYgjYSCHiwRtfwRgtni65HYvYn_3PUayWmKBeo0yWuSSwh4iceAz4etaOZMuQSsrpeW2npxYmMJYrB_kylP8aw0q7NiPEjpWeU9deLR2TW3PPF5ni1TM/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174151.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ThoughtsSciency" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_uK6XYIRsaAIzYiovgB1WzB5bjPKLaphPI1w1jRRaMkmEZKHsEaMn8W7i0nCYHvOjEZIRQwAjOrtQKRoMuqhCJjbVNlN0kPenQ2NYNzyzpzYDiDKz-xXB34uYPgZrE2JTt6euxuWB81P-vedDowzOfahwfaHBDo07dxCHhhB7z5jFYJot3PFvScu3qSg/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174927.png" width="200" /></a></div>Joe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-1223149020645843422024-02-24T18:25:00.000+00:002024-02-24T18:25:19.038+00:00Aethozoon flavum: An in-faunal solitary Bryozoan found in deep sea sediments from Mayotte Island. <p style="text-align: justify;">Bryozoans are a phylum of suspension feeding Lophotrochozoans found in all aquatic environments from lakes and rivers to the deep oceans. Bryozoans have a simple bodyplan, with a ciliated tentacle crown called a lophophore, which is used to collect food, and a u-shaped digestive tract, all of which is contained within a thick body wall, the cystid, which is often mineralized. The majority of Bryozoans are colonial with linked cystids, often forming elaborate structures, as well as connected digestive tracts, which enable them to share food. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">In a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12526-024-01409-9">paper</a> published in the journal <a href="https://link.springer.com/journal/12526">Marine Biodiversity</a> on 21 February 2024, <a href="https://evolution.univie.ac.at/news-and-events/detailansicht/news/thomas-schwaha/">Thomas Schwaha</a> of the <a href="https://evolution.univie.ac.at/">Department of Evolutionary Biology</a> at the <a href="https://www.univie.ac.at/en/">University of Vienna</a>, Daniela Zeppilli of <a href="https://www.umr-beep.fr/">Biologie et Écologie des Ecosystèmes marins Profonds</a> at the <a href="https://brest-edu.com/">University of Brest</a>, <a href="https://www.ucm.es/bee/directorio?id=36680">Alberto González‑Casarrubios</a> of the <a href="https://www.ucm.es/bee">Department of Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution</a> at the <a href="https://www.ucm.es/english">Complutense University of Madrid</a>, and <a href="https://uam.es/Ciencias/diego-cepeda-gomez/1446834431740.htm?language=en&pid=1446779332501&title=Cepeda%20G?mez%20Diego">Diego Cepeda</a> of the <a href="https://www.uam.es/ss/Satellite/Ciencias/en/1234888218714/1242650192382/generico/detalle/Departamento_de_Biologia.htm">Department of Biology</a> and Research Centre for Biodiversity and Global Change at the <a href="https://www.uam.es/uam/en/inicio">Autonomous University of Madrid</a>, describe a new species of solitary Bryozoan from the sediments around Fani Maoré, a recently discovered submarine volcano off eastern Mayotte, a French overseas department in the Comoros Islands of the southern Indian Ocean.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Visible fauna was not present around Fani Maoré, but sediment samples recovered from the site were found to be rich in meiofauna (small benthic Invertebrates), with an unknown Aethozoid Bryozoan being the most abundant non-Nematode species. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Aethozoids are a small and poorly understood group of non-mineralized, usually solitary, Bryozoans, with only five previously described species in four genera; <i>Aethozoon pellucidum</i>, from the northeast Atlantic, and recently the deep Kuril-Kamchatka Trench at depths of greater that 7000 m, <i>Aethozooides</i> <i>uraniae</i> from the deep-sea hypersaline anoxic Urania basin of the eastern Mediterranean, <i>Franzenella limicola</i> from the shallow Baltic, and <i>Solella radicans</i> and <i>Solella </i><span style="text-align: left;"><i>monniotae f</i></span>rom the deep North Atlantic.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The new species is placed in the genus <i>Aethozoon</i> and given the specific name <i>flavum</i>, the Latin word for yellow, in reference to the colour of the examined specimens. These are between 1787 μm and 2996 μm in length (average length 2281 μm), with a wider basal section 295 μm to 392 μm in length which contains the containing gonads, digestive tract, retractor muscles and funicular system. Two types of appendage are present at the base, kenozooidal cystid appendages, which appear tp be used for asexual reproduction; with examined specimens having a budding stages attached, and the related <i>Aethozooides uraniae</i> also produces buds from kenozooidal cystid appendages. <i>Aethozoon </i><i>flavum</i> is also apparently capable of sexual reproduction, with all examined specimens being similtaneous hermaphrodites. Not all specimens of <i>Aethozoon </i><i>flavum </i>had kenozooidal cystid appendages, while some had two. The other type of appendages are known as non-kenozooidal cystid appendages, and are less clear in purpose, but may be remnants of former attachment to a parent zooid.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizk69izUdtl-k1bwf1aXOJ1tq4xOYU0wZdi0AtDDblrvVsa1-WeTw1kRWbrCzkbQWcQdFSMfkTv-WAyHActjLcUzvkIP7F1gTvaJWXg6_pn_wdyk6eEqLgiXP5igoktobkrXTa1EZZcO9I5hYft8eAJ9seioWdOr-O1TVoYF22pK1HkGUecvi80_WYLgI/s907/Screenshot%202024-02-24%20155825.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="907" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizk69izUdtl-k1bwf1aXOJ1tq4xOYU0wZdi0AtDDblrvVsa1-WeTw1kRWbrCzkbQWcQdFSMfkTv-WAyHActjLcUzvkIP7F1gTvaJWXg6_pn_wdyk6eEqLgiXP5igoktobkrXTa1EZZcO9I5hYft8eAJ9seioWdOr-O1TVoYF22pK1HkGUecvi80_WYLgI/w400-h225/Screenshot%202024-02-24%20155825.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Details of single zooids of <i>Aethozoon flavum</i>. (a) Holotype (MNHNIB-2017-723) showing long, non-kenozooidal cystid appendages; (b) Paratype (MNHN-IB-724) showing shorter cystid appendages </b><b style="text-align: left;">including two shorter kenozooidal ones; (c) Paratype (MNHN-IB-725) showing zooid devoid of polypide and kenzooidal cystid appendage with distal bud; (d) </b><b>Schematic drawing</b><b style="text-align: left;">. Abbreviations: </b><b>alt, anal tube; am, apertural muscles; </b><b style="text-align: left;">b, bud; </b><b>bdb, basal duplicature band; ca, cardia; cae, caecum; db, duplicature band; fg, foregut; fuc, funicular cords;</b><b style="text-align: left;"> kca, kenozooidal cystid appendage; </b><span style="text-align: left;"><b>int, intestine;</b></span><b style="text-align: left;"> nca, nonkenozooidal cystid appendage; ply, polypide; </b><b>py, pylorus; o, orifice; rm, retractor muscles; v, vestibulum; vw, vestibular wall</b><b style="text-align: left;">. Schwaha <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">See also...</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2020/06/freshwater-bryozoans-from-cuba.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="908" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpO0I5bmyFMFsniHzeIt0q47hOw_Ov7kofBg2cJ2ziXkv8QrSY-pBQ7dHdKD6nkxwq4kiWmVm8tqAHs3RbEhcnMM39SiRT0Xt4XcX5uUNjEqJzNCwfyJLowjesSj28Nnr5mYAHHOjoYqvNJqRQQ6B2q0uHT1o-6r_fMYvs3I5T8qiUmYagGekWxEkcAOM/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-02-24%20175348.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2018/12/cellaria-oraneae-new-species-of.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="642" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDXs8ezSPLRn3Tpv-YdlIYgWXG12iUgTBtGoXDGcBChP8XjeCKnYQAWzW8UEfhVdVgCp9RRC3yY5mmRPhj2bIIVeqzCTxO6JYqlN_Yy_Cvpq7HP0xHl3CIl1p1Zx5AduDJ1YlLz4wz5vHakExoxfJkcgwCaU5bELm0S8JIqPf6unKWpmyOQaR9Uz2MJhE/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-02-24%20180323.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2018/11/beania-serrata-beania-mediterranea-two.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="640" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvTSPLTcZipTLnfy8RKADet9GYvxS0qCVgSI_FjX9wHK4eDeCmM0ZMswf8Dn4W3Ozz2VjIpcBVP8TtrG-zZBPhOKlUe024sraM69vTWpOAIBVfNr2I5R9TBrnIR4YeWOGeysUN9WI21UWwjsTVWcGzhdtQbQ7exaKTJ2NBKnBx0M-cdCB61xc3Oa_GdGE/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-02-24%20180731.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2017/11/bryozoas-from-seamounts-islands-and.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="903" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO7uT6cLo4G5XqqJFdOju-syGmuksY8GgD64vfFudxcBGxehED6q268j7GoL-x5JMtYQHHTwogzXiUfS_30WNmykGYrTGCFR6a0xOyT002vWnIoRyQwUkWzJEqb6n-KaCiA232OJprbQmi8t2jJDuLdBTRKJzMzH6cZuD5GlLpgUeT6az_8Rr615K0qcw/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-24%20181321.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/11/two-new-species-of-bryozoans-from-late.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="905" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMLu5CBnSa4v9VdY89FH1fa_IFJnImfeQrkaP_GgyyZUEbQgDxFXIDfkNyHqOD4g8g_bduUJ6SL8S0G4BVWXjfqSiuba-VThUV4vJ6dNJd5cXbRdq4EoBmBgTelzFsgtKsDRxUGGpkgwfPafTVLTFLnvSHdDZmCZXrJ-UzaN45UVcOvjBQ4t7vuVkR0O0/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-02-24%20181559.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/08/four-new-species-of-bryozoans-from-new.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="905" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh5Uu3ljF3wopPUNnhePgTctMVWh45wPFrYzU5P7F-GZvmpe1bE5GB8kXyqTPMuhCDop59jluEmF7M_Epw5AXDaCMBgk8Toi-nYvrynwekZjnyFgZhcXgdUIb2KF38RlGS38mPsP5lyqBlzIC_VwkCuYiijNzMUez50IUxwogns1CSfQzLiI00hMcKINk/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-24%20181820.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SciencyThoughts" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiadHq6KfaAtm9YN0AWOxJAm1ZUMJ1D6P9KRIOF1vJiuLX4V2HA_3_yUhEbl4IN_K-boiboCddP9S-TN1VnUEm1HBx7HvjkeyMhQC0JVFNZr_cuQeNQfvhvi6CS9xEO8zs1FeaQj9Bddq793Z_KijkOXmt0tGm7aA5BMP2k5cadkM9i1Le6bs_o9uImgUw/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174151.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ThoughtsSciency" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1EBjpHL-pP8FOi22HvcphIvGno57sM3A76OoSyvTJHRGzYOZ4nnpdv-r4OK6ZZ3uF6v6HSWdD3BtHP2MuozIJ4h3wp53e3gD7IiAKpq4J0AOWlvUI52vyZl0QqkO7v5NomncglpTUkybUZMrZn_GtUOdaBWn-BjuESQ4vYjziyWKFbwvOMIebzPQq1Zk/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174927.png" width="200" /></a></div>Joe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-63460522358483102312024-02-23T19:49:00.000+00:002024-02-23T19:49:35.844+00:00Eruptions on Mount Popocatépetl.<p style="text-align: justify;">Mount Popocatépetl, a 3020 m high stratovolcano (cone-shaped volcano made up of layers of ash and lava) about 70 km from Mexico City in the eastern Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, began suffering regular seismic events (small Earthuakes associated with the movement of magma in chambers beneath the volcano) on 14 February 2024, followed by a series of eruptions which produced ash columns up to 6 km high, which drifted to the north, northeast, and south. Ashfalls were reported in the municipalities of Nativitas, Santa Isabel, Tetlatlahuaca, Tlaxcala, Santa Ana Chiautempan, and Zacatelco, and Hermanos Serdán International Airport, was forced to be closed while ash was cleared from its runways. Earthquakes and smaller eruptions persisted for the nest week, with an ashfall again reported in the municipality of Hueyapan on 19 February. A 12 km exclusion zone around the volcano has been declared as a precaution.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsL9LHtgJMVBKEXrwnrxZgKqZFA_G7KSPI93-5oDTKzmYwMcVUu29SXe6adFbiAQTVygLU3NoaK6__ldFElhyphenhypheneTlr8RWddOcqunfNmnV55-I6dEcm1VfU_zwmRR5JDw_-VSwvSPUcTuyqzip8WzJDRABOSGZYzdr1DMAX9Fp9TZ7Fy9dcgsTL5Vgm4qCA/s780/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20074800.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="780" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsL9LHtgJMVBKEXrwnrxZgKqZFA_G7KSPI93-5oDTKzmYwMcVUu29SXe6adFbiAQTVygLU3NoaK6__ldFElhyphenhypheneTlr8RWddOcqunfNmnV55-I6dEcm1VfU_zwmRR5JDw_-VSwvSPUcTuyqzip8WzJDRABOSGZYzdr1DMAX9Fp9TZ7Fy9dcgsTL5Vgm4qCA/w400-h226/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20074800.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">An eruption on Mount Popocatépetl seen from Puebla. Daniel Llerandi/<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/">BBC</a>.</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">Popocatépetl has been more or less constantly erupting since the mid 1990s, but most of the time this activity remains at a low level. Major eruptions on Popocatépetl are a cause for concern as the volcano is in a densely populated area, with 30 million people living within the potential hazard zone. The last major eruption, a Plinian (or Vesuvian) event in about 800 AD, triggered a series of pyroclastic flows and lahars that scoured the basins around the volcano.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The volcanoes of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt are fuelled by the subduction of the Cocos Plate beneath the North American Plate along the Middle American Trench to the south of Mexico. As the subducting plate sinks into the Earth it is melted by the heat and pressure, and volatile minerals liquefy and rise through the overlying North American Plate as magma, fuelling Mexico's volcanoes. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAfXK76RflCmJGzIo4qx5lSQKHTbvrVcar2cR1ofsO5kKarH8cc2Qqskq_T_o3ikLs0H5s9TZZWKEqJmoa4eL91HGIz0bScLidYhl8RdAVQ3Hrf3iVdYEWYlcRIiD6Dek-T9QYZnw-ADRqqeCDkoRXtF9OsB8kFOmjaCL_XiYp9lLLDCEsJT3wEHve2Sk/s400/25-years-of-notable-disasters-in-mexico-1985-2010-lessons-learned-for-preparedness-mitigation-and-preparedness-36-638.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="229" data-original-width="400" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAfXK76RflCmJGzIo4qx5lSQKHTbvrVcar2cR1ofsO5kKarH8cc2Qqskq_T_o3ikLs0H5s9TZZWKEqJmoa4eL91HGIz0bScLidYhl8RdAVQ3Hrf3iVdYEWYlcRIiD6Dek-T9QYZnw-ADRqqeCDkoRXtF9OsB8kFOmjaCL_XiYp9lLLDCEsJT3wEHve2Sk/w400-h229/25-years-of-notable-disasters-in-mexico-1985-2010-lessons-learned-for-preparedness-mitigation-and-preparedness-36-638.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">The subduction of the Cocos Plate beneath the North American Plate in Mexico, and how it leads to volcanoes and Earthquakes. <a href="http://ksu.edu.sa/en/">King Saud University</a>.</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">The Cocos Plate is thought to have formed about 23 million years ago, when the Farallon Plate, an ancient tectonic plate underlying the East Pacific, split in two, forming the Cocos Plate to the north and the Nazca Plate to the south. Then, roughly 10 million years ago, the northwesternmost part of the Cocos Plate split of to form the Rivera Plate, south of Beja California.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrbWD0iIvkMJBf-tZJbPcEAOFvVE_KuFHJmFv42yQlAx5ZFAehaxziei2OJ3qFbCP4FW3r6wlfI73bS2MvTm825CvfDoSoBEcvQmAfsWQSSCUUFamrwiaWeqAWVPHD9kDs1PHm_7nsGG57-UfSw8jlUjYvKTqc3S0_seNTK3BRzUWGRziWPAR_0drLzpQ/s400/jan96f1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="306" data-original-width="400" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrbWD0iIvkMJBf-tZJbPcEAOFvVE_KuFHJmFv42yQlAx5ZFAehaxziei2OJ3qFbCP4FW3r6wlfI73bS2MvTm825CvfDoSoBEcvQmAfsWQSSCUUFamrwiaWeqAWVPHD9kDs1PHm_7nsGG57-UfSw8jlUjYvKTqc3S0_seNTK3BRzUWGRziWPAR_0drLzpQ/w400-h306/jan96f1.gif" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">The position of the Cocos, Nazca and Rivera Plates. <a href="http://mceer.buffalo.edu/">MCEER</a>/<a href="http://www.buffalo.edu/">University at Buffalo</a>.</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">In a <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2011JB008631">paper</a> published in the <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/21699356">Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth</a>, in 2011, a team led by <a href="https://seismolab.caltech.edu/stubailo_i.html">Igor Stubailo</a> of the <a href="http://www.ess.ucla.edu/">Department of Earth and Space Sciences</a> at the <a href="http://www.ucla.edu/">University of California Los Angeles</a>, published a model of the subduction zone beneath Mexico using data from seismic monitoring stations belonging to the Mesoamerican Seismic Experiment, the <a href="http://www.geo.uu.nl/Research/Seismology/nars/">Network of Autonomously Recording Seismographs</a>, the <a href="http://www.usarray.org/">USArray</a>, Mapping the Rivera Subduction Zone and the <a href="http://www2.ssn.unam.mx/website/jsp/principal.jsp">Mexican Servicio Sismologico Nacional</a>.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The seismic monitoring stations were able to monitor not just Earthquakes in Mexico, but also Earthquakes in other parts of the world, monitoring the rate at which compression waves from these quakes moved through the rocks beneath Mexico, and how the structure of the rocks altered the movement of these waves.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Based upon the results from these monitoring stations, Stubailo et al. came to the conclusion that the Cocos Plate was split into two beneath Mexico, and that the two plates are subducting at different angles, one steep and one shallow. Since the rate at which a plate melts reflects its depth within the Earth, the steeper angled plate melts much closer to the subduction zone than the shallower angled plate, splitting the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt into sections above the different segments of the Cocos Plate, and causing it to apparently curve away from the subduction zone.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgepPV8dQ5Ydc8kdyggRXvcw6PFj1flHFLGzK7J2l7hgW_ZaiLJqPXV7o8-I93UtaslqWAupSD2dN1WUqRyy40oRA_JecmfbHmJKQFfM9TF32laFZ21qD7cUxrpLy09fkZLGI4vH7Y2pnnfYZfv6t4AaHPZUsRV5Mp994sHaHniFE-6adePoPI1BWcp5xE/s400/Cocos%20Plate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="334" data-original-width="400" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgepPV8dQ5Ydc8kdyggRXvcw6PFj1flHFLGzK7J2l7hgW_ZaiLJqPXV7o8-I93UtaslqWAupSD2dN1WUqRyy40oRA_JecmfbHmJKQFfM9TF32laFZ21qD7cUxrpLy09fkZLGI4vH7Y2pnnfYZfv6t4AaHPZUsRV5Mp994sHaHniFE-6adePoPI1BWcp5xE/w400-h334/Cocos%20Plate.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Top the new model of the Cocos Plate beneath Mexico, split into two sections (A & B) subducting at differing angles. (C) Represents the Rivera Plate, subducting at a steeper angle than either section of the Cocos Plate. The Split between the two has been named the Orozco Fracture Zone (OFZ) which is shown extended across the Cocos Plate; in theory this might in future split the Cocos Plate into two segments (though not on any human timescale). Bottom Left, the position of the segments on a map of Mexico. Darker area is the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, orange circles are volcanoes, brown triangles are seismic monitoring stations, yellow stars are major cities. Bottom Right, an alternative model showing the subducting plate twisted but not split. This did not fit the data. Stubailo <i>et al</i>. (2012).</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">See also...</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/01/tuber-itzcuinzapotl-new-species-of.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="639" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Gggri1ls24Ij4GH5nf6PD15n6q7VYZ2vJU85d17cZVxNei9beCMyZvRJYTcgjg5HeNratVwtTtueeFmReJg_P6WalGIXGrNzHf34lLjFv16QOwOkcwKDhF8HoAqJ2Tqq-2fOthKZosnalbckqfyDij1lvR-ApxvP-J8bEkkedDWilPON_6kqmyu7IDk/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20192553.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/10/one-person-dead-after-hurricane-lidia.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="903" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwQBO8KbQNZMG2RgOdEcXTbNhkC9DuO7q6WBkkZTQuXVqncopZfbFZleHm5QhQKPJzU2Zy61INul0rB4w0u8gdYDaSAO9c8llEkMhaM1NqjTq2LpROUZ_MAsYlCAHxhVy-XvchfwtOnldK7SXFPUbfRVnVaTnq5StqJ27UPpEpRffq7Boq77PTlLbFA0U/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20192924.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/06/fungal-meningitis-infections-reported.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="905" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgceFVQ-qXSiV-KJkAv-ntgYch-aob0iXCd-UXk9YicLG8w_3IT4zj_a7ln_5H2ZZfF73wbRQxtc7OhkjnRcFWNx2wde6ok1W3PRGTIWTmXvG-q-6Ab__K92LyEKNb9JtOAwr2Hi6S4QICCdp9mtXFSjloFQxcNYvGiR3eVprPx2T9I5Lcaj48nQA91yGo/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20193319.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/05/eruption-on-mount-popocatepetl-closes.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="640" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDiO1RgOy8DpbisimUIqQXYk4aIBG5LJ2I_xScpYDwnhZqj-IM8DvZ8w8xRTB4pOxE7ijPPqmGlNmUsOFchf9TustIjngqh_WaV4zpW-laC9EqdtJOAt4lZTuU_1IKmrvVSvISqNvkrCEYJssRkya9QX8EApKjXN_2QE5VznaCB-KjUSq35tw62OjMU4U/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20193648.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/04/trying-to-identify-invasive-colonial.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="902" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1adOvYK9fg4EncpIAdIXP49CLMOZDe6U94bXWFlmmpnHhuSsT8gbXu6D8gJ94HXLApPhcu5o6C7_bR-pPOFLQGqUA1pnHGxDHoPwxt2uPmejlZzdBlMry3Cx0ll9HJwLxdbaFF4mF4I96269VbVCHxhnNKp0SdAP5K6RuxCdsfG_AHOAw12f0laYgTNk/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20194035.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/01/chroogomphus-conacytiensis-chroogomphus.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT-vmVxguThmhOVe2I8HDAaX4HdSBqk7fjva2HXKadGtJFK-XlxutSymGvWR8lJjYygn5soSsUUiN5jwJxUrGam_mxIe65gpZLa67EkWWiCJ2qrV0LVUgiFTuKVu3xuaVOeqY0qgNJfJz5kZgzfqvCvdePWyYCxUU0Nqa44txxERu2vE-GCLOX5WD_y8I/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-23%20194400.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SciencyThoughts" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix8dKgozHYjJ0RTTCc-WbUAfhRkM1HwbZGpDcObiZsmXOdnKgzo3OfF-40bOgXtwTGl4EBthoxMrZLGOvcBDlpp7wGdI_3evaWQ6tBmJMcZQe-d4gVODfAl_D5N496zaxizPaVQO3aGtnoLhkK9jIv-PAOuwnFK16WS4D3Q-kVXLo532RZsAsWqm0hJis/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174151.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ThoughtsSciency" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVGXB6y4NaP9xW4Pnl9bdSoeYeS-Xu2NpX7CHyaCpVDT0BAucKIu9gC0JAnN9F4Uxntf5BRhPJk7B56TWlocyTfrRGbIwohcX8w9XqD6Q8L-mUJFEsQQtz4YmPbCBga5KL6QZd4_1j9hyM6HgntdLfhhOCS2myJaXHkApAbYGJvPXXJn3TUKjorSbzeXo/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174927.png" width="200" /></a></div>Joe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-77988918864411954582024-02-22T22:45:00.000+00:002024-02-22T22:45:40.007+00:00The oldest known rock art in Patagonia, and what it tells us about the people who made it.<p style="text-align: justify;">Patagonia lies at the southern tip of the Americas, and was one of the last areas to have been settled by Humans, who did not arrive there until the end of the Pleistocene. The area has a unique environment, which would have presented challenges to the people settling there. It also has a climate particularly suitable for the preservation of archaeological remains, making it particularly interesting to archaeologists. The area has extensive rock art, but to date little of this has been accurately dated.</p><div style="text-align: justify;">In a <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adk4415">paper</a> published in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/journal/sciadv">Science Advances</a> on 14 February 2024, <a href="https://www.conicet.gov.ar/new_scp/detalle.php?id=44823&datos_academicos=yes">Guadalupe Romero Villanueva</a> of the <a href="https://inapl.cultura.gob.ar/">Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano</a>, <a href="https://historia.uta.cl/index.php/academicos/marcela-sepulveda-retamal/">Marcela Sepúlveda</a> of the Department of Social Sciences at the <a href="https://www.uta.cl/">Universidad de Tarapacá</a>, José Cárcamo-Vega of the Laboratorio de Espectroscopía Vibracional at the <a href="https://uchile.cl/">Universidad de Chile</a>, <a href="https://cais.uga.edu/team_member/alex-cherkinsky/">Alexander Cherkinsky</a> of the <a href="https://cais.uga.edu/">Center for Applied Isotope Studies</a> at the <a href="https://www.uga.edu/">University of Georgia</a>, <a href="https://medeporras.wixsite.com/maria-eugenia-de-porras">María Eugenia de Porras</a> of the <a href="https://ianigla.conicet.gov.ar/">Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales</a>, and <a href="https://vip.uct.cl/profesores/ramirobarberena/">Ramiro Barberena</a> of the <a href="https://vip.uct.cl/ciic/">Centro de Investigación, Innovación y Creación</a> at the <a href="https://www.uct.cl/">Universidad Católica de Temuco</a>, and the <a href="https://fcen.uncuyo.edu.ar/instituto-ciencias-basicas">Instituto Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Básicas</a> at the <a href="https://www.uncuyo.edu.ar/">Universidad Nacional de Cuyo</a>, present dates for four pieces of rock art from the Cueva Huenul 1 archaeological site in Neuquén Province, in the northern part of Argentinian Patagonia, and discuss the implications of this for the early peopling of the region.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Cueva Huenul 1 archaeological site is located a kilometre above sealevel, to the east of the Andes amid the inland deserts of northern Patagonia. The Andes present a major topographic barrier, preventing the prevailing westerly winds from carrying moisture from the Pacific to the South American Arid Diagonal, where the Cueva Huenul 1 site is located. Precipitation in the region is between 150 mm and 200 mm each year, 75% of which falls in the winter. Rainfall tends to be higher in the west, closer to the Andes, and dryer to the east. with more abundant vegetation in areas with higher rainfall.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF5uKTFs_7nFOhlNm8DZCjcBUlFud7FNFOL1LL96N6CuFJ9ZQwNZBCRn9IGaP0xX1M5anmRS5mtiTDICkiSoqigFn2XUQzdDI-3xNpi7bqF4b4_iqMF1YNSnmqcr5Nu8bCOVLuwzEZXrvbtsuZkFrqIspa4tGQz44bzSrQar0bIlL4CJpwRr93sBNdzRs/s788/Screenshot%202024-02-21%20175517.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="377" data-original-width="788" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF5uKTFs_7nFOhlNm8DZCjcBUlFud7FNFOL1LL96N6CuFJ9ZQwNZBCRn9IGaP0xX1M5anmRS5mtiTDICkiSoqigFn2XUQzdDI-3xNpi7bqF4b4_iqMF1YNSnmqcr5Nu8bCOVLuwzEZXrvbtsuZkFrqIspa4tGQz44bzSrQar0bIlL4CJpwRr93sBNdzRs/w400-h191/Screenshot%202024-02-21%20175517.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Location of <span style="text-align: justify;">Cueva Huenul 1</span>, other sites with rock art in northern Neuquén Province (Argentina), and palaeoecological sites from northwestern Patagonia. María Eugenia de Porras in Villanueva <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Cueva Huenul 1 site is a cave with a habitable area of 620 m³, formed by the erosion of ignimbrites of the Tilhué Formation beneath an overlying basalt layer of the El Puente Formation, which have not eroded and now form the ceiling of the cave. Excavations within this cave have produced over 5500 lithic artifacts, principally flaked stone objects, and 8800 bone specimens, mostly Guanaco, <i>Lama guanicoe</i>. The site also has a long, and well-defined dating sequence, spanning 12 000 years, with a number of discrete phases of activity identified. The microenvironment within the cave appears to have remained stable and dry over this period, allowing for the excellent preservation of items such as Animal dung, and plant remains. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMl_sEg3FbJO_rq0ywVe1NDXhnkTG3V6zuihSAtga0QPk29XC-Nfl_rTX7dLEnW6HA3l-HB8j-WzBnt52ry8ehJXCHTUTM2UjvLMX9eu6JibUS10WVGuYO8qeAwQZNvp8BxL6sOaUYnYUYgpqTMhAf-BugKMVqaVxEMEq-3-WuZHwpRdcUDn6Am6PUKpY/s487/Screenshot%202024-02-21%20182252.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="406" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMl_sEg3FbJO_rq0ywVe1NDXhnkTG3V6zuihSAtga0QPk29XC-Nfl_rTX7dLEnW6HA3l-HB8j-WzBnt52ry8ehJXCHTUTM2UjvLMX9eu6JibUS10WVGuYO8qeAwQZNvp8BxL6sOaUYnYUYgpqTMhAf-BugKMVqaVxEMEq-3-WuZHwpRdcUDn6Am6PUKpY/w534-h640/Screenshot%202024-02-21%20182252.png" width="534" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Cueva Huenul 1</span> environment and landscape. (A) emplacement of <span style="text-align: justify;">Cueva Huenul 1</span> (yellow arrow) in a volcanic landscape within the Monte desert. (B) to( D) Views of the cave’s geology and topography. (E) View from <span style="text-align: justify;">Cueva Huenul 1</span> of the volcanic landscape of northwestern Patagonia. Guadalupe Romero Villanueva in Villanueva <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Notably, the Cueva Huenul 1 site has yielded a remarkable quantity of art-related materials, including perforated shell beads, decorated Guanaco bones, and pyro- engraved gourds. Also found inside the cave was a pit-structure containing a large number of twigs from the desert shrub <i>Senna aphylla</i>, which have been stained with red ochre. A large amount of pigments, of various colours and in varying states of preparation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj78eXr9rObG_86iY8B0WQGrdHBdeHifFpI-ZXINZGHMYyo2vJMzhh9rRkd95WA-4eqcqNkQ8qfyy2iv4-3I7vF4C9neiJHOEdhMJyGBhEhpxF9fsDf7NSgdKwHmiNdNyKBC2BYMUoCW71DpUmLDmavIt8Lg4TdNx11fMPebMelOAsP33jyUZLJoMLDYTo/s511/Screenshot%202024-02-21%20205234.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="377" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj78eXr9rObG_86iY8B0WQGrdHBdeHifFpI-ZXINZGHMYyo2vJMzhh9rRkd95WA-4eqcqNkQ8qfyy2iv4-3I7vF4C9neiJHOEdhMJyGBhEhpxF9fsDf7NSgdKwHmiNdNyKBC2BYMUoCW71DpUmLDmavIt8Lg4TdNx11fMPebMelOAsP33jyUZLJoMLDYTo/w472-h640/Screenshot%202024-02-21%20205234.png" width="472" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Cueva Huenul 1 </span>site plan and special findings. (A) excavation units at ch1. (B and C) General and detailed view of pit structure filled with vegetal remains of <i style="text-align: justify;">Senna aphylla</i> stained with red ochre. (D) Pyro-engraved gourd. (E) Perforated shell bead. (F) decorated guanaco (Lama guanicoe) bone. (G) Pigments. each image has an individual metric scale. Guadalupe Romero Villanueva and Ramiro Barberena in Villanueva <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The site has a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape, although it is not visible from any other known archaeological site in the region, nor can any such site be seen from the cave. Other sites in the region include a series of smaller caves and rockshelters, most of which only appear to have been used within the last 2000 years. Some of these, such as El Ciénego and Paso de las Tropas, also have rock art, although it is less diverse in technical style and less formalised than the art at Cueva Huenul 1. The Cueva Yagui site, to the north of Cueva Huenul 1, also records a long timeline, in this case about 8 500 years, and appears to have been more intensely occupied, on the basis of stone tools, abundant ceramics, and faunal remains, with this occupation being particularly intense over the past 2000 years. Both the stratigraphic sequences and the styles of rock art suggest that Cueva Huenul 1, Cueva Yagui, and other sites appear to have been linked.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cueva Huenul 1 hosts one of the most impressive collections of rock art in northwestern Patagonia, with central portion of the cave’s internal wall and part of the ceiling covered by 895 discrete pieces of rock art, which have been grouped into 466 identifiable motifs. Most of these motifs are geometric shapes rather than pictures, with strokes, dots, circles, and lines being common, and parallel lines, reticulates, polygons, and cruciforms also present, as well as some Human silhouettes and a face, and silhouettes of Guanaco and Choique, <i>Rhea pennata</i>, and some representations of dynamic group activities. A range of colours are used in the cave art, although a haematite-derived red is the most common, along with different hues of white, yellow, and black.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGBSH4LQ0yNK0To5RgKVFOu9sg6zKDjyYYRp9Jg6uGxHXLOiLB_XmAYVJk9KA0ugK_FagmNga1A9xJL_YhNd9mlasyzrM3UCA7F_k11_0K-y2IS_7RBKqx4hA6sgpj3T7pME92ad6xWuavoZTT6x4SPCjcTLEsIkWNJLUzfl7w10rxAZ-4I7P5nepQQ1Q/s639/Screenshot%202024-02-21%20203512.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="497" data-original-width="639" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGBSH4LQ0yNK0To5RgKVFOu9sg6zKDjyYYRp9Jg6uGxHXLOiLB_XmAYVJk9KA0ugK_FagmNga1A9xJL_YhNd9mlasyzrM3UCA7F_k11_0K-y2IS_7RBKqx4hA6sgpj3T7pME92ad6xWuavoZTT6x4SPCjcTLEsIkWNJLUzfl7w10rxAZ-4I7P5nepQQ1Q/w400-h311/Screenshot%202024-02-21%20203512.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Examples of the rock art of <span style="text-align: justify;">Cueva Huenul 1</span>. Each tracing has a 10cm scale bar. Guadalupe Romero Villanueva in Villanueva <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A large number of motifs are superimposed over earlier artworks, and there appear to be three distinct degrees of weathering, as well as distinct artistic phases. The majority of the art is presumed to be of Late Holocene origin, based upon similarities to styles of art used at other localities. However, the long history of occupation at the site combined with presence of a clear artistic sequence, raises the possibility that some art at the site may be much older.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Four artworks at the Cueva Huenul 1 site were chosen to be dated. These were all classified as 'comb-shapes' based upon a shared basic morphology of a perpendicular horizontal line with several parallel vertical lines extending downwards from it. Within this simple pattern, however, the comb motifs can be divided into simple and complex forms. Three of the motifs examined, UT3- M48, UT5- S4- M7, and UT3- M37, were of the simple type, while the fourth, UT5-S2-M19, was of the complex form. All of the comb motifs are executed in a reddish black pigment. Most are isolated from other artworks, although one (UT5-S2-M19) is part of a complex series of superimposed images from different periods. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifOFYS0z1tkDoEpi5s8RyaDuDZMnZwtlAyFblRgaA4V43J6FFw3OyiSUv0bPVM7r3UFhq5MFs6ZBI4mP6sZLXZwYjUm8BS9Ewzs6XCb1S3q-f_rNuRGE2kb5sXs_tzZf9SFzY6YZQFu0eyAzQ2wUFaBDPi-0BfegI7LORSBsA7Z_0Msrwt6-0wjPQT3tU/s549/Screenshot%202024-02-21%20210421.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="484" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifOFYS0z1tkDoEpi5s8RyaDuDZMnZwtlAyFblRgaA4V43J6FFw3OyiSUv0bPVM7r3UFhq5MFs6ZBI4mP6sZLXZwYjUm8BS9Ewzs6XCb1S3q-f_rNuRGE2kb5sXs_tzZf9SFzY6YZQFu0eyAzQ2wUFaBDPi-0BfegI7LORSBsA7Z_0Msrwt6-0wjPQT3tU/w564-h640/Screenshot%202024-02-21%20210421.png" width="564" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Dated rock art paintings from <span style="text-align: justify;">Cueva Huenul 1</span>. (A) Motif Ut3- M37. (B) Motif Ut3- M48. (C) Motif Ut5- S4- M7.</b><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><b style="text-align: left;">Guadalupe Romero Villanueva in Villanueva <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">By careful examination of the motifs, Villanueva <i>et al</i>. were able to establish that there was no potentially contaminating organic matter either on, within, or below the paint layer. Three layers were found to be present, the bedrock, the pigment layer, and an overlying layer of translucent particles forming a patina. The pigment layer was identified spectrographically as amorphous carbon; this was found not to contain any significant amount of phosphates, making it unlikely it was derived from carbonized bone.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDBoPIACAnzsC8IH7WRqHC9LDrAZIiTKniGG1R0u7VXzeAJ-CeqqMzZ2P1SRrNqddBlRGvs3-y2x_FGK9-QYd8LZILMKbZT067wKmVwHN_IaGRxjD7PBHctHdubJo5ta6sDleYkhYuvsLr025ZhqEK5OGIA6R1MZYFr8wpj-1d6Yw7j_3aORu5If1AKT0/s760/Screenshot%202024-02-21%20213455.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="760" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDBoPIACAnzsC8IH7WRqHC9LDrAZIiTKniGG1R0u7VXzeAJ-CeqqMzZ2P1SRrNqddBlRGvs3-y2x_FGK9-QYd8LZILMKbZT067wKmVwHN_IaGRxjD7PBHctHdubJo5ta6sDleYkhYuvsLr025ZhqEK5OGIA6R1MZYFr8wpj-1d6Yw7j_3aORu5If1AKT0/w400-h228/Screenshot%202024-02-21%20213455.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Dated rock art motif UT5- S2- M19 from <span style="text-align: justify;">Cueva Huenul 1</span>. (A) Original photograph and digital enhancement with <a href="https://www.dstretch.com/">DStretch</a> of the complete rock art panel. (B) Original photograph and digital enhancement with DStretch of the dated black comb-shaped motif. (C) digital tracing of the complete rock art panel showing the dated black comb-shaped motif underlaying a series of superimpositions.</b><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><b style="text-align: left;">Guadalupe Romero Villanueva in Villanueva <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Further examination of the samples by Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis demonstrated the presence of plant cells within the pigment layer of all four examined motifs, as well as a composition consistent with a carbonaceous material mixed into an aluminosilicate matrix (i.e. a mixture of charcoal and clay), with the overlying layer of material rich in calcium and sulphur, probably indicating some form of salt. The precise origin of the wood used to make the charcoal was impossible to determine, although it is likely to have been one of the woody shrubs known to have been growing in the region in the Middle Holocene, such as <i>Prosopis</i> spp., <i>Larrea</i> sp., or <i>Schinus</i> sp..</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdEN9ndpjc1r4uPNLnqI65ApLM3UCCsi2cojeEEUQxFCcEx4ZAFA5dlcC-ity25gvdRtf2ZpHqD2tcjX4aEYF8NUgZ7Risjn3Ba1h5AT9RBF4zfR3A-U3qmQby56OAy7jSWCPNSnK5vqq9i2BDVmOZIuCYCLZxEMZ65c4dxhTCrChm1LriFa1jQe1zy04/s791/Screenshot%202024-02-21%20214628.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="791" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdEN9ndpjc1r4uPNLnqI65ApLM3UCCsi2cojeEEUQxFCcEx4ZAFA5dlcC-ity25gvdRtf2ZpHqD2tcjX4aEYF8NUgZ7Risjn3Ba1h5AT9RBF4zfR3A-U3qmQby56OAy7jSWCPNSnK5vqq9i2BDVmOZIuCYCLZxEMZ65c4dxhTCrChm1LriFa1jQe1zy04/w400-h238/Screenshot%202024-02-21%20214628.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Cross section microphotography of sample CH1-AMS1 embedded in resin showing three differentiated layers. From the bottom, the layers which can be distinguished are; the bedrock support, the black pictorial layer, and a thin layer of patina or varnish. Marcela Sepúlveda and</b><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><b style="text-align: left;">Guadalupe Romero Villanueva in Villanueva <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Based upon this, Villanueva <i>et al</i>. conclude that the black pigment was formed by the incomplete burning of Plant matter, something which should lead a carbon¹⁴ signature. Since there are no long-lived trees in the region, material from which can give misleading date information, the charcoal can be assumed to have come from a short-lived woody C₃ shrub and/or a Cactus (which have their own Crassulacean acid metabolism resulting in a distinctive carbon isotope signature). It was possible to recover sufficient carbon from three of the motifs to be confident that the isotope signature recovered was accurate, while one sample, taken from motif UT5-S2-M19, yielded a much lower amount of carbon, raising concerns that contamination from later sources (this is the motif which is partially overlain by later artworks), leading to this data being excluded from the remainder of the study. The remaining three motifs were found to be between 7728 and 7565 years old (UT3- M48), between 6271 and 6239 years old (UT5- S4- M7), and between 5643 and 5629 years old (UT3- M37).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As well as the dates obtained for the rock art motifs, Villanueva <i>et al</i>. obtained 16 dates from archaeological remains at the site, in order to build up a stratigraphic sequence. This led them to conclude that there had been four stages of occupation at the site, over a period of about 18 000 years. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The first phase is calculated to have lasted approximately 4683 years, from about 17 407 to about 12 934 years before the present. During this phase the cave was occupied by Giant Sloths, with no signs of Human activity. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The second phase is calculated to have lasted approximately 1620 years, from about 11 721 to about 10 162 years before the present, and shows evidence of the first Human activity in the area, including Guanaco bones with cut marks, hearths with charcoal, and a grass bedding structure. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There is then a significant hiatus in activity, with the third phase starting about 8171 years ago and lasting for approximately 3246 years, till about 5074 years before the present. This phase includes the emergence of rock art at the site, with all three dates obtained for the comb motifs falling within this interval, as well as the ochre covered Plant remains. Assuming that the average Human generation time was about 25 years, this would suggest a cultural tradition using similar symbolism which lasted for about 130 generations. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The final phase of activity at the cave includes much more intensive activity, includuing the majority of the rock art, as well as cultural similarities to other sites in the region, and spans about 1500 years in the Late Holocene.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Climatically, the area had a sharper east-west variation in moisture during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene, until about 10 000 years ago, with the western Andes being wetter than today, while the eastern Andes were drier. The region to the east of the Andes, inclding the Cueva Huenul 1 site, was significantly more arid than today between about 10 400 and 9 400 years ago. From about 10 000 years ago onwards both the Andes and Eastern Patagonia became extremely arid.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The area reached peak aridity in the Middle Holocene, with widespread deserts and only patchy, fragmented areas of habitable land, which could have acted as stepping stones for the first Humans entering the environment. Large areas would have either too dry for occupation, or too unstable to be entered on more than a temporary basis. Nevertheless, Humans did enter the landscape during this time, probably relocating frequently, and needing to maintain social contact over large distances, while at the same time coming up with innovative technologies for subsistence.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">By assembling a comprehensive database of radiocarbon dates for Human activity across the South American Arid Diagonal region, Villanueva <i>et al</i>. conclude that during the period 14 000 to 10 400 years before present the first Human population appeared and rapidly grew, expanding to occupy new niches. From about 10 800 to 7000 years ago a period of cultural stasis appeared, combined with a slowly declining population. The oldest rock art at Cueva Huenul 1 is slightly less that 8000 years old, coinciding with the later part of this period of apparent cultural stasis. The population is also thought to have remained fairly static or shrank across South America between about 9000 and about 5500 years ago. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This suggests that during the Middle Holocene northwestern Patagonia was probably home to a small and scattered population of highly mobile hunter-gatherers, coping with an extremely arid climate with occasional wetter spells. This population was static or shrinking slightly, widely scattered, and having to cope with frequent but unpredictable extreme weather conditions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The dating of the comb motifs in the rock art of Cueva Huenul 1 gives a date for the origins of rock art in northwestern Patagonia. The repeated nature of these motifs makes it unlikely that these marks were random, with similar marks being repeated several times over a period of about 3000 years, suggesting it was linked to a system for passing information between generations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Transmission of knowledge can become linked to particular sites, which eventually become key locations for a culture, where people meet to re-enforce cultural identities and maintain extended social networks. Villanueva <i>et al</i>. suggest that Cueva Huenul 1 first became such a culturally important site during the Late Pleistocene, being used regularly over a period of about 1400 years across the End Pleistocene and Early Holocene. Visits to the site continued into the Middle Holocene, though the behaviour of the visitors changed, with the appearance of activities such as marking the walls. During this phase, there is little sign of non-ritual activities, such as food-processing or tool-making. Villanueva <i>et al</i>. suggest that the transition of the space to a ritual centre where these profane activities were not carried out probably implies that the site was not, as previously assumed, abandoned for long periods during the Middle Holocene, but rather underwent a change of purpose connected to its new, sacred status. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Villanueva <i>et al</i>. suggest the emergence of sites such as Cueva Huenul 1 which helped hold widely scattered cultures together would have been key to Human survival in the arid landscape of northwestern Patagonia. The emergence or rock art was probably a way of re-enforcing knowledge transfer across generations, building upon an earlier oral tradition. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The population of many areas in South America apparently struggled to cope with conditions in the Middle Holocene, as increasing aridity fragmented the available liveable spaces, leading to a slowly dwindling population. The first rock art at Cueva Huenul 1 coincides with this period, possibly aiding social cohesion and helping people to survive a particularly harsh period, before populations began to recover between 7000 and 5000 years ago. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The dating of the rock art at Cueva Huenul 1 gives an insight into the context in which such art first appeared in Patagonia. Here, a style of art appears around 8000 years ago and persists for over 3000 years. This happened at a time when the climate was much drier and less predictable than today, at a time when Human populations were at best maintaining stasis, and were probably suffering frequent crashes. It this marginal, sparsely populated environment the rock art apparently helped to preserve collective knowledge across multiple generations. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">See also...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/08/direct-archaeological-evidence-for.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA4_yLv3ZWV8bRcpSAXp4w32Jw-RDbuMYVeDcXT2ODfbRPiIweWVV4DeyxPbXZOlSWATrwlIrL2eulMzRPVvktmiCMjdwhwXhaDGgL8sSJzrHYrjWlKwH8Dke2iMwTGXdGDgbGCYhpg8yLU7oQJA2K9IHm13KW4rFBmNkZOOL8XvCi9AAFUlEh0bKAi8M/s1600/Screenshot%202024-02-05%20072107.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/01/looking-for-variations-in-human.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="903" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWbiWBPBZKxwln2CfHvYjTblmPgM7e0bjlMATMjUcIwqz9APHT_lajuJJVzA3BrPhCm0HSDO6J-jRnaz2uCnhc_VfNW6sFqwS8YQW91tO0TJJz84N1wRslXKMA8ts8H1OOh3p_5JtdwKcP0aOcdP3pIKsMUfwKKDKTp7xbFfSXSjDDuLvGzEs1ZpvP8SI/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-22%20222609.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2019/11/archaeologists-discover-new-nazca.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHOrY-wXpReiR8i-FdGWhS32nFA93c2yA2ENso_Uk9gQT-1fq7_3DkJ0VCq65P1QjxZWRA1UXqUHnz924aWHSxssBO19d__PjY6B5BqpY-1QVJExffkQaE2vmDsGbX_DjVpMbTJ6sWl7v7TS5WEBJZFIHe2hFMfzLGFYXTIQE4bJdcW85jDR-ludRXTvQ/s1600/Screenshot%202023-08-09%20153657.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/05/decapod-crustaceans-from-tarioba-shell.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="638" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJJBu9geQSXpxpYVKOkDJQDmX-z3jEq4z3r8jlELr4g0YDN5rpGiDnOLZbitwnIZvM-Qs2AvoQl2mOY-b91J78wnpdzSZwU2FJzWfDAIaSg9rxPP8vUP29_eqS1MMM-tgC4s0wLq-yst_1Kz8Sd_fBWfoSnQSvpbACEJVIJRWxgOBDJgwsNmMSHIparQ/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-22%20223115.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/11/genotyping-500-year-old-inca-child-mummy.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="905" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSnCDGdJ0ddtBhDnWnDUwxm1B2NZbzpU24gVnZiC_U6TQVpVr3lBSIHMIF6m3hVutMcyts7yT8GA9qfcnQ1jzD1egHgVeg0h2RtsH0jFBADKNU-HX908h5b7rQVo7TUUZngpu0ngRykVuZkeiR0q1WY_6c7U2IuiA6ITlckkooT5wAkQdLfZ9LJvYhz3k/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-22%20223500.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2012/02/pleistocene-rock-carving-from-brazil.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="902" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-PcoGOFygGJRHLzTU-s5Eyt3JHAc2nEutESUQVQLziCv4aRKvSMzTtTXRQHQhvgDnF6g-LtbIKLR0jLyIhxv5F53Wvpc8LxrwMcnPZXALbl0OriS43azL4ENuhbJPdoizq3UjPdtL36I_6LABbyL1pHCzx9naG6OLkvju-me8GpGYJuZLHlp0JkO0DSg/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-22%20223741.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SciencyThoughts" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDxkQhHQDY5EiQ8X-BW10UWjhcqzXK-AKw9PSV0Pg6kAKl09ZMz45AiZG26s4ObALWafoV-AwbR5Uzj-9MknZUepS1bz88ZYSpfrxNDn5EfBSebUfbFwfIh0k8LLJ2aM5i7C8vxUGPAAEIlhJML3ocv5ezorAbWd70-w6ca_imSNu50V4vpwvVhrhQUdg/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174151.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ThoughtsSciency" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhduwXcCa-IYuH7W9nkGrJXkXvt0rMF-ymJ4vLPlYlW-u4Ehk9j9d9leGAqsES4APF8c_a51G5y8DkJc1TGs7YEqlXBPgyPrmBiLTeSXPsDKhgXGhN0YaV-4vDkzRlreDfxVQRqFw3B4EvZ_5QKP-GYSLj8JuCj1pU7KfbbyRNJLkvEv3XKIRIVHVcdLAs/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174927.png" width="200" /></a></div>Joe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-71568035475098519642024-02-19T18:59:00.000+00:002024-02-19T18:59:14.973+00:00Investigating Crocodile attacks around Roviana Lagoon, New Georgia, the Solomon Islands.<p style="text-align: justify;">Saltwater Crocodiles, <i>Crocodylus porosus</i>, are found in coastal environments in the Asia-Pacific region from the Bay of Bengal, throughout Southeast Asia and New Guinea, to northern Australia, and as far east as the Solomon Islands. Unlike other Crocodile species, they are not currently considered to be threatened, being classified as of Least Concern under the terms of the <a href="https://www.iucn.org/">International Union for the Conservation of Nature</a>'s <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/">Red List of Threatened Species</a>. However, this assessment is essentially dependent on good relations between Human and Crocodile populations; Saltwater Crocodiles will attack Humans and livestock, causing injuries and deaths, as well as less obvious economic damage by excluding Humans from areas where they become dangerous. This in turn can lead to retaliatory actions by Humans, removing troublesome Crocodiles, or sometimes whole populations, from areas where they are seen as harmful. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Saltwater Crocodiles feed in tidal rivers and creeks, freshwater lakes and Mangrove forests, and will occasionally forage on Coral reefs. While they cross open sea to seek new territory, they do not usually hunt or feed there. Female Saltwater Crocodiles can reach about 3 m in length, and can weigh as much as 150 kg, but the largest males can reach more than 6 m in length and weigh more than 1000 kg. Males will try to defend a territory and the females within it, chasing away smaller males, who then go on to look for territories of their own, which can lead to changes in the social structure and behaviour of Crocodile groups.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In a <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/article/humancrocodile-interactions-in-the-western-solomon-islands-the-importance-of-local-data-for-reducing-attacks-on-people/5FA36CED409D8E026CABA49D86BDC3CB">paper</a> published in the journal <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx">Orynx</a> on 22 January 2024, <a href="https://www.ru.ac.za/ichthyology/people/academicstaff/professorshankaraswani/">Shankar Aswani</a> of <a href="https://www.ru.ac.za/">Rhodes University</a> and <a href="https://smi.uq.edu.au/profile/11311/joshua-matanzima">Joshua Matazima</a> of the <a href="https://www.uq.edu.au/">University of Queensland</a> present the results of a study of negative Human-Crocodile interactions around Roviana Lagoon on the island of New Georgia in the Solomon Islands.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">A previous study examined Human-Crocodile interactions across the Solomon Islands over the period 1998-2017. This study identified 225 Crocodile attacks across the islands, with 83 of these being fatal, including 31 on children. Aswani and Matazima's study concentrates on a much smaller area, and is aimed at understanding Human-Crocodile interactions in a specific, localised environment with a view to developing specific policies for that location, something which it is difficult to achieve from wider scale national surveys.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Aswani and Matazima's study concentrated on four villages, Dunde, Baraulu, Nusa Hope, and Kozou, located on the 700 km² Roviana Lagoon, on the southwest of New Georgia island. Each village has a population of between 50 and 300 people. Twenty three men and thirty seven women from sixty households across the four villages were interviewed by three locally hired assistants, in the local Roviana language. Twenty of the interviewees reported that a member of their household being attacked by a Crocodile between 2000 and 2020, four in Dunde, seven in Baraulu, five in Nusa Hope and four in Kozou.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjumK6ioASzIo6F979DwLX3Gw5hHBimSZTrut8JWDndDpaRY6EGbYXuk-MwI04gNya8RjqdEJEIxyLtKSpPepU2Wiczk6D2crv9kKwWck94M-2tuYWf44_MH-VkaEZPyRv0gC04-G0XaUb9aIidtiQnA0IcXr0XBHB_hAW5FuJNHgAc0tZDoa2NFOG6gL8/s720/Screenshot%202024-02-18%20213308.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="720" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjumK6ioASzIo6F979DwLX3Gw5hHBimSZTrut8JWDndDpaRY6EGbYXuk-MwI04gNya8RjqdEJEIxyLtKSpPepU2Wiczk6D2crv9kKwWck94M-2tuYWf44_MH-VkaEZPyRv0gC04-G0XaUb9aIidtiQnA0IcXr0XBHB_hAW5FuJNHgAc0tZDoa2NFOG6gL8/w400-h280/Screenshot%202024-02-18%20213308.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Locations of the four villages (Dunde, Baraulu, Nusa Hope and Kozou) in which residents were interviewed regarding incidents with Saltwater Srocodiles, <i>Crocodylus porosus</i>, in Roviana Lagoon, New Georgia Group, western Solomon Islands, during 2000-2020. <span style="text-align: justify;">Aswani & Matazima (2024).</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A total of twenty attacks were recalled, of which two were fatal. Ten of the recalled incidents happened in the evening, eight in the afternoon, and two in the morning. Sixteen victims were female, and four were male; one woman and one man were killed during the study period. Two were under twenty years of age, eight were between 20 and 39, two were 40-59, and eight were over sixty years of age. The majority of the victims were attacked while collecting shellfish along the sea shore and in Mangrove forests. Ten of the victims were attacked when the water was murky, with the other ten attacked when the water was clear. No retaliatory attacks were made against Crocodiles be the people of the area.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The pattern of attacks recorded in Roviana Lagoon were quite different to that recorded in the Solomon Islands-wide survey, although it may be similar to other localised areas within the nation. Across the Solomons, the majority of the victims were male, attacked at night while fishing, while in Roviana Lagoon the majority of the victims were female, attacked in the afternoon or early evening while gathering shellfish. Clearly, any system developed to minimize the number of Crocodile attacks based upon the national statistics would have little impact at Roviana Lagoon, since such a plan would likely concentrate on protecting men involved in night-fishing, an activity not practiced in Roviana Lagoon. Even a female specific plan developed from national statistics would be unlikely to be helpful, as across the Solomon Islands the majority of women are attacked while washing clothes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Shellfish gathering, both for sustenance and sale, is an important activity to the women of Roviana Lagoon, but clearly leaves them vulnerable to attacks by Crocodiles. This activity is carried out almost exclusively by women, although they are frequently accompanied by children of both sexes. Most of the attacks happened in late afternoon or early evening, and water clarity did not appear to be a factor, possibly because the low sun shining onto clear water can make submerged Crocodiles just as hard to spot as the water being cloudy. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Aswani and Matazima recommend that in order to minimise the number of Crocodile attacks, the women of Roviana Lagoon avoid collecting shellfish in the late afternoon and evening as much as possible, and that where this cannot be avoided, always forage in groups at this time of day, which will both improve the chances of spotting Crocodiles before attacks occur, and of rescuing any victims should attacks occur. They further recommend that future studies of Crocodile attacks focus on much narrower geographic areas when the purpose is to develop strategies to minimise attacks.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">See also...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/01/gavialis-gangeticus-gharials-on-upper.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="908" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp4TCc9cP0A9qrDfrXT8y3gH2e6U6jtKqbj5s9zXUaN6Jkk2VjHWIEAKldd-pr1k2COn82hWo4K6bq5gAfl-HDuDrU1xal9jSFO1qByPmDL-mPpfsZI-eWClmp-Sk6VoUQkWqPmLuNAHSk7tlzVrJWswytb4nSPeA7I7NCdT7aq1cC_kaRPmnm35evS9c/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-02-19%20183538.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/07/alligator-munensis-new-species-of.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="362" data-original-width="642" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisXcolG4PQKPaZYyOQKwmwtKK_1I37S7G4ijhWYYJ46H2FqBvZ_hsejMXpMKAE_TWNwfPfvu_aKmc-jOdBlH1Pz6Em0YFTEdy26omBwbjiPJdewpIsWT8Ri9xsELj_l77lY4V0xQ-VG36g39Ds0Txu_R03uJ6hx_vKy5_F6zffu6vwEjdkMgSrBVKZn4A/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-19%20183857.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/05/remains-of-missing-fisherman-found.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="907" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk_zy6eio0mr_xywvwQjQ8tBhvCMBTOlG7E52mnnwPS9uRrA1AMVrWCmCN1ob-MZzAACgIpz-s-ZtMrpC3ygxMd2AArE7nvRcJSvi1933DPCE7IAFDuVKd2ajzMW2hxicx8FSXRlmKlpY_nrEe9UY6HlDBo8-V03L8qXGWNjjUY86SGQzLg9r2ZqnMuw0/w200-h112/Screenshot%202024-02-19%20184332.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/03/crocodile-captured-after-attacking-12.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="903" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimxDNet4OQVLDTvkv3OwjwCLZohz8AcZmH6h3fXorchGe2DGpSBCyfSOCEZlmSU7MTS-lhMvgkvtaCwYzct76mUq9rMjyFW_svve9w3Mlloxyg6KHuv1qRocZGpXbEQ_HOzcMq40skT9_Tk2C-WCrlqfDjQcGfA15I6aVI471TyhuD5IaXi_Hg71Gy7Rc/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-19%20184632.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2022/05/crocodile-killed-following-death-of.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="905" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs1JR7lDVyg9G8SqeZpOBvXdpics-q_j0QPzHXN6Qoxcb0ZbznWp1Gouxszs09iMe3NRWqbcXtEILxXoOCgp2NjWTmVElUfvMEgJeWbSKmliVzCjend6DRknIb_8xgYENP-jhF-EUNV-E9V6AJEJmhRjImFIM7uMsAM9AxD8wwtlYAa82ZPLesmsALH4M/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-19%20184913.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2022/04/fisherman-attacked-by-crocodile-in.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="905" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNwWhdWTrjRs84HeGBzFR2edpX-1AUW6GRxtipT2ksodrIpueKuIS-H6hz2u2Orrxo9NfWpYwj2WdyCUGvxuappGKJ0H9W80P1CTSKakl9K7MLPmBPtWYwnirK-DUI-meEaYOqjk6ANC2HW_yb6tZAQgPE-LuMQAO2Frl06kTxDIqBA00OLSm3dgUGY8U/w200-h113/Screenshot%202024-02-19%20185243.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SciencyThoughts" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="200" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikM2YG2E3rKn0Sb4XaiLWGdDlX-AridZItnc9GlePs-3FsM_2OnN5lqJ9tyvdUqeVriorYbKdgCs3VqwQv7Vc3RfT22kVdkgexBAFfT6t3Xuylik9m5i8WGHOmlEkg-HrKfG0qmbx-1js2as-bNkJBWCom8wrHij6gWVp8WiIQ2L3gP5vCY4v30lFiHtA/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174151.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ThoughtsSciency" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2m53JKj5pkMDhmMoKGjJrD3Eg2R5xADhFCMhe8aEm-xrcsw6KPrwv9wW-ZZLgnBTjHlDmZfJNysKsdxgZZP5wDT1boQmp-UJwhMzp_BuN0mfmhGeWsxmhpJQYx0_39-XMGnhO-zz4SB834qkAJKXwiS2r9nFrio9mJbcMlpWLTT39UpPcTzRlyUv3tcQ/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174927.png" width="200" /></a></div>Joe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-74454717382759878112024-02-18T18:51:00.001+00:002024-02-18T18:51:45.916+00:00Understanding the orientation of graves in the Bronze Age Gumugou Cemetery of Xinjiang Province, China.<p style="text-align: justify;">Many cultures bury their dead with a preferred orientation, and understanding how this is chosen can tell us a great deal about the beliefs of a culture. The orientation of graves has been extensively studied for ancient European and Mediterranean cultures, demonstrating that burials were often aligned with both terrestrial and celestial objects of importance by ancient peoples, but has been less well studied in other parts of the world.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X24000440">paper</a> published in the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-archaeological-science-reports">Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports</a> on 17 February 2024, Jingjing Li of the <a href="http://english.xao.ac.cn/">Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory</a>, <a href="https://people.ucas.ac.cn/~jarken?language=en">Jarken Esimbek</a>, also of the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, and of the <a href="https://english.ucas.ac.cn/">University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences</a>, and Yingxiu Ma, again of the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, examine the orientation of graves in the Bronze Age Gumugou Cemetery of Xinjiang Province, China.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The Gumugou Cemetery is located on the eastern fringe of the Taklimakan Desert, in the Tarim Basin, to the north of the now dry Kongque (Peacock) River and about 70 km to the west of the Lop Nor Salt Lake. The cemetery has been dated to between 3800 and 3400 years before the present, and along with a series of related sites within the region between Lop Nor and the Taklimakan Desert, is considered representative of one of the oldest known Bronze Age cultures within Xinjiang Province.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu7mkhrdet2a3GH_k682mN_S49WrcR58dCz1O1PM2ylk65kUTHZDnklFMw-SJYyJlUWgEtFxK6n6OTmDgDkTOOjnWntnVPjBzUFMbH5qeSg-uZQmeRbtuOFSqzKT_4OC1RLCE8TBFQz2jps0EXlOTHqN6YeptQswibiQrN_hNcnE6pgK7GhEkgH2TUISE/s902/Screenshot%202024-02-18%20150142.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="902" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu7mkhrdet2a3GH_k682mN_S49WrcR58dCz1O1PM2ylk65kUTHZDnklFMw-SJYyJlUWgEtFxK6n6OTmDgDkTOOjnWntnVPjBzUFMbH5qeSg-uZQmeRbtuOFSqzKT_4OC1RLCE8TBFQz2jps0EXlOTHqN6YeptQswibiQrN_hNcnE6pgK7GhEkgH2TUISE/w400-h235/Screenshot%202024-02-18%20150142.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Location of the Gumugou Cemetery and other archaeology sites in the Tarim Basin, Xinjiang. Li <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">The Gumugou Cemetery site was excavated in the winter of 1979 by an expedition from the Xinjiang Institute of Archaeology under the leadership of <a href="http://www.ihss-en.pku.edu.cn/en/article/index.aspx?nodeid=120&page=ContentPage&contentid=3602">Binghua Wang</a>. A total of 42 burials were discovered and excavated, all within an area of 1600 m³. The burials could be divided into two types, with six Type I burials forming an upper layer, and 36 Type II burials forming a lower layer. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The Type I burials are quite often placed above Type II burials, and are surrounded by seven rounds of timber posts. These Type I burials apparently contained wooded coffins, which have long decayed away, leaving the (well preserved) Human remains exposed. A small amount of grave goods were present. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia4RrCSP4k_TmOf2Z21TToF_hmtkglrOGZaBNEQCPWfT5dYRHCToM0COmq9McwTaLoWSwixYe6iP8LvhQ-i0EZjv6int8VfHMrdev2RWWi9FllOGyzIeSqhzOiJk2FRaCwljNjrY8Y46Lr3B9NEGniGsU8hehjAqYj_pBLV2S17_nF3BYU4MrrIrV6FCs/s791/Screenshot%202024-02-18%20171238.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="494" data-original-width="791" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia4RrCSP4k_TmOf2Z21TToF_hmtkglrOGZaBNEQCPWfT5dYRHCToM0COmq9McwTaLoWSwixYe6iP8LvhQ-i0EZjv6int8VfHMrdev2RWWi9FllOGyzIeSqhzOiJk2FRaCwljNjrY8Y46Lr3B9NEGniGsU8hehjAqYj_pBLV2S17_nF3BYU4MrrIrV6FCs/w400-h250/Screenshot%202024-02-18%20171238.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Surface of Type I burials of the Gumugou site. Li <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">Type II burials form a lower layer and each contain a single body placed within a boat-shaped coffin between two posts, one at the head of the coffin and one at the feet. These contained more numerous grave goods, including pointed felt hats, leather, woollen capes, grass woven baskets, bone and stone artifacts, wheat grains, and <i>Ephedra</i> twigs. While grave goods were more numerous in the Type II burials than the Type I burials, there was otherwise little to differentiate them, and they are presumed to have come from the same culture.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSsJOJdme9RWASrpyLcMtNCL5ixKJRH-RPsygJfo5MH8nXN58etk72hEj0CDoHDahTdExylsWJT8qIs8IGIMW6Is52wMRwmsOuZw2jM2E701PSJ2XAMQWp_yLF_5mSIw-SP7Q1IsF_bSQfVRm0ihE6eszVGQ5CCyuIYCCaXSYBdCzdaPRyykmKsJPMUoo/s687/Screenshot%202024-02-18%20172058.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="529" data-original-width="687" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSsJOJdme9RWASrpyLcMtNCL5ixKJRH-RPsygJfo5MH8nXN58etk72hEj0CDoHDahTdExylsWJT8qIs8IGIMW6Is52wMRwmsOuZw2jM2E701PSJ2XAMQWp_yLF_5mSIw-SP7Q1IsF_bSQfVRm0ihE6eszVGQ5CCyuIYCCaXSYBdCzdaPRyykmKsJPMUoo/w400-h308/Screenshot%202024-02-18%20172058.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Part of Type II burials of Gumugou Cemetery. Binghua Wang in Li <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">The tombs are aligned roughly along an east-west axis, with their heads to the east, which, combined with the posts surrounding the Type I burials, which resemble solar rays, was taken as evidence of sun-worship by the people who used the cemetery.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">However, Wang took care to record every detail about the graves, including the azimuth of each burial (the azimuth is an orientation relative to true north, where north is 0°, east is 90°, south is 180°, etc.). Li <i>et al</i>. collated this data, and compared it to a calculated solar arc for sunrises at the site. A solar arc of sunrises is made up of the azimuth of the sunrise throughout the year, giving an arc (in the Northern Hemisphere) with the Summer Solstice to the north and the Winter Solstice to the south. At the Gumugou Cemetery the sunrise azimuth is 57.7° on the summer solstice and 120.8° on the winter solstice, while the graves have azimuths of between 102° and 58°.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9of4Hn2fL0CqcvWY9j97VaW1RZ2bP5eLVdQSl6U7kECGxQCt_A4QSMZ-RlNgM6pXLpM73ITOIZN7OkHEdYPO5aEnnA1FjdSzEpg6sw6ndLlBlr9-evYRCZx01j3SdQJxaO3YEpY2bydWoi5b5NUS6J9F37xj8UedjzixTVjbuZUJCqShT6AEWbNs49uc/s730/Screenshot%202024-02-18%20174645.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="730" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9of4Hn2fL0CqcvWY9j97VaW1RZ2bP5eLVdQSl6U7kECGxQCt_A4QSMZ-RlNgM6pXLpM73ITOIZN7OkHEdYPO5aEnnA1FjdSzEpg6sw6ndLlBlr9-evYRCZx01j3SdQJxaO3YEpY2bydWoi5b5NUS6J9F37xj8UedjzixTVjbuZUJCqShT6AEWbNs49uc/w400-h244/Screenshot%202024-02-18%20174645.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Orientations of the grave in Gumugou cemetery. Li <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">The region where the Gumugou Cemetery is located has an arid desert climate with temperatures reaching as high as 40°C in the summer and falling as low as -20°C in the winter, and strong winds in spring and autumn leading to dust storms which can cause potentially lethal respiratory illnesses. The graves in the cemetery contain men and women, adults and children, with no apparent connection between age and/or gender of the occupant and the type of burial, the amount of grave goods, or the orientation of the grave. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">The graves vary in orientation, but are clustered around azimuth directions of 90° and slightly north of this. If the graves were orientated in line with the orientation of the sun at the time of burial, as Li <i>et al</i>. suspect, then the overwhelming majority of the dead would have been buried at or around the Spring and/or Autumn Equinoxes. Since it is unlikely that people were only dying at these times of year, Li <i>et al</i>. instead suggest that the graves represent secondary burials, with the dead being stored elsewhere until the favoured season of funerals.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJf4Oy1Ng6PRY5S3Wv1QKx8QmixndZ-Ncod_VZtNjNS0ezs12gkf8zR4AylZE3Cauf4CY3jTo6KEkQyBwdkRnFHACeEkTw8GjOhxL2eLepvkCpVx5iwdTN5RzRXieMPK7ipgJuCQfvsXaGgd219-SQzpD-LJ53VIDAtcuvO0RZDq5XncOa6i9hIl6ksAM/s1021/Screenshot%202024-02-18%20180241.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="1021" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJf4Oy1Ng6PRY5S3Wv1QKx8QmixndZ-Ncod_VZtNjNS0ezs12gkf8zR4AylZE3Cauf4CY3jTo6KEkQyBwdkRnFHACeEkTw8GjOhxL2eLepvkCpVx5iwdTN5RzRXieMPK7ipgJuCQfvsXaGgd219-SQzpD-LJ53VIDAtcuvO0RZDq5XncOa6i9hIl6ksAM/w400-h164/Screenshot%202024-02-18%20180241.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Histogram of aligned skeletons. Li <i>et al</i>. (2024).</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">See also...</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/11/a-hoard-of-coins-from-indus-valley.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="643" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOzwS7y5xzDMDggTQpmFcOimGfmoG2zGYfz_ytn49V678GWFj3QDKWuxH-m0Il6JnIImlwYfp5pQMG97xMt8YO1cRCF2dWtpAKmlnXjc0Im_2W9nHuLGLsIyJOYyyUPfIScH78JXiWAMT6Wo2C7m1gq-_m1-xNxE8XXPoR5s_9j57QsW6QXe5EOABOKfs/w200-h111/Screenshot%202024-02-18%20181327.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-causes-and-impacts-of-dust-and-sand.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; 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margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ThoughtsSciency" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="111" data-original-width="200" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5mD8gnncErKVTqIlyc3ysV4zFj9tXYhhI5-CzrC4w6LnvtXzwHImtCbbIeV_wp8jz0PS-UB6IvnDOaS8U2Bf_cH-z0_ZQpxfuk1lCfSREWzHi_snFHga4JWmz3LYTOtoqSkQQtTcl86rUTijGDj2h9SxmDKkA8w9LbNzgcI7GcTKzy11OdEiqHnGFYDE/s1600/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20174927.png" width="200" /></a></div>Joe Bauwenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16443718116334841340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740504379151829961.post-30086179428947642252024-02-17T20:24:00.002+00:002024-02-17T20:24:52.067+00:00A possible crown-group Bird from the Late Cretaceous Lance Formation of Wyoming.<p style="text-align: justify;">The origins and evolution of Mesozoic Birds are now well understood, but the emergence and development of the crown group Birds (a crown group contains all living members of a group, their most recent common ancestor, and everything descended from that ancestor) remains largely clouded in mystery. Most living Bird groups have a very poor fossil record, if they have a fossil record at all, despite Birds being the most diverse group of flying Vertebrates alive today, with more than 10 000 species. Fossils, where known, tend to be extremely fragmentary in nature, with most phylogenies of the group based entirely upon genetic data. This is particularly frustrating as the living Birds are the only group of Dinosaurs to have survived the End Cretaceous Extinction, something which has been taken to imply they had some quality missing in all other Avian and non-Avian Dinosaur groups. However, while crown group Birds are known to arisen before the End of the Cretaceous, they appear to have been at best a minor component of the Cretaceous Fauna, with few-or-no specimens found even in deposits which have produced numerous fossils of extinct Mesozoic Bird groups.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In a <a href="https://bmcecolevol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12862-024-02210-9?fbclid=IwAR24ggT_xvfohW7kMUJZYvyNWzK1SCGQSfQHbjGbJLmWSsEafQBYZ6e0Aws">paper</a> published in the journal <a href="https://bmcecolevol.biomedcentral.com/">BMC Ecology and Evolution</a> on 9 February 2024, <a href="https://chasebrownstein.weebly.com/">Chase Doran Brownstein</a> of the <a href="https://eeb.yale.edu/">Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology</a> at <a href="https://www.yale.edu/">Yale University</a> and the <a href="https://www.stamfordmuseum.org/">Stamford Museum and Nature Center</a>, describes a possible crown group Bird from the End Cretaceous Lance Formation of Wyoming.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The specimen, YPM VP 59473, comprises partial skeleton consisting of the complete left quadrate, portions of the skull roof a partially articulated, though very poorly preserved, cervical series, a fragment of the synsacrum, the left humerus, the articulated left radius and ulna, partial left tibiotarsus, and a partial pes. The material is largely disarticulated, but all of the bones are from a young juvenile and no duplicate bones are present, supporting the idea that they came from a single Animal.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN9NrWphqFmHskxP09-x55WrdJx3e4-AzYhbgnNhq20WUE8tHkwU4hCKrWhHvuJR3igP8YuvxCCHOc4Pjp3eqEcda1qlfwiuO4m1utGgzmpy4bciP1y9EezztGAPdtCd235rL2iky7VCIGAINXfvT8MHU1VQ_o1nN9DZFNXOfjMBW6lmwW6wx3qe1EiBg/s895/Screenshot%202024-02-17%20182004.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="895" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN9NrWphqFmHskxP09-x55WrdJx3e4-AzYhbgnNhq20WUE8tHkwU4hCKrWhHvuJR3igP8YuvxCCHOc4Pjp3eqEcda1qlfwiuO4m1utGgzmpy4bciP1y9EezztGAPdtCd235rL2iky7VCIGAINXfvT8MHU1VQ_o1nN9DZFNXOfjMBW6lmwW6wx3qe1EiBg/w400-h258/Screenshot%202024-02-17%20182004.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Preservation of YPM VP 59473. The blocks containing all bones of the holotype (except for the humerus, tibiotarsus, synsacrum fragment, and large distal pedal phalanx) are shown under light microscopy (a), (e), (h) and with multiple x-ray views of the largest (b), (c), (d), second largest (f), (g), </b><b style="text-align: left;">and smallest (i) blocks as rendered in <a href="https://www.volumegraphics.com/en/products/vgstudio.html">VGStudio</a>, showing the relative placement of bones in the matrix blocks. Brownstein (2024).</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">Despite the extremely fragmentary nature of the material, Brownstein feels confident in assigning the specimen to the Galloanserae, the group which includes the living Land and Water Fowl, and one of the three groups of Neornithine Birds thought to have diverged before the End of the Cretaceous, with the Palaeognaths and the Neoaves. This diagnosis is on the basis of the clear separation of the otic and squamosal capitula on the quadrate, the presence of a subcapitular tuberculum below the squamosal capitulum on the quadrate, the expansion of the ventral condyles and pterygoid condyle on the quadrate, the humeral head being dorsally offset from the rest of the proximal margin of the humerus, tricipital fossa being deeply excavated, and the dorsal tubercle of the humerus being large and offset from the rest of the proximal margin, all of which traits are typical of Galloanserine Birds, but absent in the various Mesozoic Avian stem groups.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj32lCOLNaGANYMcJXbUuXOU8tdhzej0jH6snjyyeBx5HxYEWsaey1KqMAoFsq7R8WEYsI3JSZSLFi8bUa9e9gi-XeNOUyM16qx_tA3XtRfru4DMmAA2PK6-WjIwRB1DjA5tvhw1yl8PtLL7TOwEOCOZ2_urzJXPprCrL8ZDQqmekFqXJDgLy9E_CGEVUQ/s971/Screenshot%202024-02-17%20183504.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="492" data-original-width="971" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj32lCOLNaGANYMcJXbUuXOU8tdhzej0jH6snjyyeBx5HxYEWsaey1KqMAoFsq7R8WEYsI3JSZSLFi8bUa9e9gi-XeNOUyM16qx_tA3XtRfru4DMmAA2PK6-WjIwRB1DjA5tvhw1yl8PtLL7TOwEOCOZ2_urzJXPprCrL8ZDQqmekFqXJDgLy9E_CGEVUQ/w400-h203/Screenshot%202024-02-17%20183504.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Forelimb of YPM VP 59473. Humerus in (a) posterior, (b) anterior, (c) lateral, and (d) medial views. In (a) and (b), both CT scans and colour images are shown. Radius in (e) anterior, (f) posterior, (g) lateral, (h) medial, and (i) distal views. Ulna in (j) posterior, (k) anterior, (l) lateral, and (m) medial views. Brownstein (2024).</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;">While the presence of a Galloanserine Bird in an End Cretaceous deposit is not unexpected, the presence of the specimen in the Lance Formation is significant in two ways. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Firstly, because the deposit is from the Northern Hemisphere; phylogenetic studies of Birds based upon genetic data have found that the earliest diverging members of many groups have Southern Hemisphere distributions, which has led to speculation that the Neornithine Birds might have had a Southern Hemisphere origin, and the establishment of YPM VP 59473 adds to a growing body of data which contradicts that, suggesting that Neornithine Birds already had a global distribution in the Late Mesozoic. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Secondly, unlike other deposits which have yielded Mesozoic Neornithine Birds, the fossils of the Lance Formation are thought to have been buried in situ, rather than being an accumulation deposit. This is important because the deposit has also produced toothed stem-Birds from at least four major clades, as well as Eudromaeosaurian, Alvarezsaurid, Troodontid, and potentially ‘four-winged’ Microraptorine Dinosaurs, all of which are thought to have been ecologically close to Birds. This is significant, as it suggests that the Neornithine Birds were not occupying some ecological niche which protected them from the impacts of the End Cretaceous Extinction, but instead were part of a community of ecologically similar Animals living in similar environments. This undermines the idea that Neornithine Birds were able to survive the End Cretaceous Extinction because they were in some way special, supporting the alternative hypothesis that they survived due to simple luck an important but sometimes overlooked factor in evolutionary biology.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6-7ZhYGnokFQv6TetqVltF5I2NQr29SL8z4EWY-oBVppLQnPxbsibmxi9E901f05TdtijWvXgcg7bCziqs4OxWm17iE_5KgNr_jDVVRxow4VbbKEmueCQFrc1_GgNAbxD82WZOtVDGZrpO2JgaFhQX9o7m4wofMkWXAd4NUmbqgDjg_212E0vH2dM3kI/s974/Screenshot%202024-02-17%20185552.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="974" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6-7ZhYGnokFQv6TetqVltF5I2NQr29SL8z4EWY-oBVppLQnPxbsibmxi9E901f05TdtijWvXgcg7bCziqs4OxWm17iE_5KgNr_jDVVRxow4VbbKEmueCQFrc1_GgNAbxD82WZOtVDGZrpO2JgaFhQX9o7m4wofMkWXAd4NUmbqgDjg_212E0vH2dM3kI/w400-h159/Screenshot%202024-02-17%20185552.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">The ecological and temporal origins of living Birds. Left side of the diagram shows the temporal and spatial range extensions and records of key small-bodied non-Avian Theropod clades found in the Lance Formation assemblage, and cladogram at right shows the major clades of stem and crown Birds that survive to or past the End Cretaceous extinction, with ecologically relevant features that have been considered important to differential Avian survival through that event noted along branches. All clades shown on tree are unambiguously represented in the Lance Formation assemblage, except Neoaves and Paleognathae. Bird illustrations by John Gould. Brownstein (2024).</b></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">See also...</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2024/02/record-number-of-breeding-eurasian.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="505" data-original-width="909" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFqlCRL8NkxlWGuioVtfSV_8u86p8Lo1i9H70mpKqwF5aJbAoREcjZrZJskvTxKFimsVt9Bda7Hj4Ho5bDvuZmZufoHcitE50SJNXxCpkTzm24U3ckR93JljVFctv0OEbaUXbM8lMtnbabD5RXjawSgqCVXhrVWYhXkg_Al5UBGDCzZ7TlqEDnVQvZSXE/w200-h111/Screenshot%202024-02-17%20190534.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><a href="https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2023/09/fujianvenator-prodigiosus-novel-avialan.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; 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