Extinct Order Research Articles

How to Recognize Mosses from Extant Groups among Paleozoic and Mesozoic Fossils

This paper describes a range of Paleozoic and Mesozoic mosses and assesses how far they can be referred to extant taxa at the family, ordinal, or class levels. The present study provides new data on Paleozoic mosses of the order Protosphagnales, re-evaluating affinities of some groups previously thought to be unrelated. The leaf areolation pattern, combined with the leaf costa anatomy, results in the subdivision of Protosphagnales into five separate families: Protosphagnaceae (at least six genera), Polyssaieviaceae (at least three genera), and three monogeneric families: Rhizonigeritaceae, Palaeosphagnaceae, and Servicktiaceae. We urge caution in referring Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic fossil mosses as members of Dicranidae and Bryidae, as they may belong to the extinct moss order Protosphagnales. Additional evidence supports the relation of the Permian genus Arvildia to extant Andreaeopsida. We segregate Late Palaeozoic and Early Mesozoic mosses that are superficially similar to extant members of either Dicranales or Polytrichales, into the artificial informal group of Archaeodicranids, distinguishing them from ecostate Paleozoic and Mesozoic mosses, which are combined here into another artificial informal group, Bryokhutuliinids. The latter includes the genus Bryokhutuliinia, widespread in contemporary Asia, from the Middle Jurassic to the Lower Cretaceous, as well as other superficially similar ecostate plants from different regions worldwide, ranging from the Upper Palaeozoic to the Lower Cretaceous. A list of Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Eocene moss fossils suitable for age calibration in phylogenetic trees is provided.

Wappleria tremoris gen. et sp. nov. the first representative of the insect order Caloneurodea in Spain (León, NW Spain) found in a Late Carboniferous forest

ABSTRACT We present a new genus and species of Caloneurodea from the Gzhelian (Stephanian B) of El Bierzo coalfield, in NW Iberian Peninsula (León, Spain) belonging to an uncertain family. Wappleria tremoris gen. et sp. nov. is described on the basis of a new specimen found in the Stephanian B strata of Casilda Mine, of Gzhelian age (Late Pennsylvanian, Late Carboniferous). The extinct order Caloneurodea (superorder Archaeorthoptera) is really scarce worldwide, it was previously found in the Carboniferous and Permian of Europe, North America, and Asia. This new specimen represents the first evidence of the order Caloneurodea from Spain, and the second record from the Iberian Peninsula, filling a gap in the Carboniferous palaeogeographical puzzle of this species in Europe. Little is known about the ecology and general biology of Caloneurodea. Nevertheless, Wappleria tremoris gen. et sp. nov. was found in close association with a rich palaeobotanical assemblage, dominated by pteridophytes, pteridospermatophytes, and gymnosperms, suggesting that W. tremoris could show a preference for forests under humid conditions.

Joint OH-PLIF and Mie scattering imaging of enhanced water mist suppression of buoyant fires

This study presents the first near-field measurements of interactions between reaction layers and water mist droplets suppressing a buoyant turbulent diffusion flame that is representative of a fire. Joint Mie scattering and OH-PLIF are employed at a high repetition rate of 400 Hz to image the droplet field and OH structure, which are deemed here to approximate the high-temperature reaction zone. Compressed natural gas (CNG) buoyant diffusion flames are stabilised on the Sydney Turbulent Buoyant Fire Burner, which is surrounded by a low-velocity air co-flow that is seeded with fine water mist droplets (d32 ∼ 50 µm). The water mist is doped with varying concentrations of metal alkali salts (NaHCO3, KHCO3) that release radical scavenging molecules, providing enhanced suppression capabilities through chemical inhibition in addition to the quenching effect from the water droplets. The spray boundary condition across the wind tunnel exit plane is quantified using Phase Doppler Interferometry. Flame extinction limits are measured by defining the critical condition at which the flame destabilises and lifts off the burner exit plane. A stability map is developed to quantify suppression efficacy in terms of the water mist flow rate and inhibitor concentration. Joint Mie-OH images of selected cases at varying extinction levels show that the addition of inhibitor introduces frequent breakages in the OH layers, marking regions of local extinction and reignition. Large mass fractions of inhibitor in the water, which, once evaporated, produces excess salt crystals in the local extinction zones that causes streaks of salt clouds that line both the lean and rich side of the flame. The chemical scavenging effects of the OH radical by NaHCO3 and KHCO3 is quantified by evaluating the reduction of the mean OH fluorescence signal in the flame at varying locations. Probability density functions for the OH area characterise local extinction in the flame due to the radical scavengers. The order of OH radical depletion and localised extinction in the flame due to the water mist follows: KHCO3 > NaHCO3 > H2O.

The first Triassic elasmobranch teeth from the Southern Hemisphere (Canterbury, New Zealand)

ABSTRACT The Triassic record of modern sharks, rays, and skates (Elasmobranchii) is scattered and geographically biased towards the Northern Hemisphere and Europe in particular. Here, we report the first Triassic elasmobranch teeth from the Southern Hemisphere, originating from Norian strata of New Zealand. The teeth are few in numbers but relatively well preserved and indicate the presence of three different taxa, that all can be included in the extinct order Synechodontiformes. Different dental characters and combinations of characters suggest that the teeth represent previously undescribed species with apparently no close relatives in the Triassic elasmobranch record from the Northern Hemisphere.

Winged Fruits of Friisifructus aligeri gen. et sp. nov. from the Late Cretaceous of Western North America

Premise of research. Fossil flowers and fruits with unresolved affinities among extant angiosperms may potentially represent extinct families or orders. The characterization and systematic assessments of such fossils will undoubtedly further our understanding of extinct angiosperm diversity, which is crucial for reconstructing the evolution of angiosperms in deep time. Here, we report two three-dimensionally preserved winged fruits from Campanian (∼82–80 Ma) deposits on Sucia Island, Washington State, that represent a new genus. We explore potential phylogenetic relationships of this genus relative to higher taxa across the angiosperm phylogeny.Methodology. The fossils were studied using microcomputed tomography (μCT) scanning and light microscopy. A three-dimensional reconstruction of one winged fruit was created from the μCT scans. The phyloscan method was used to assess the systematic positions of the winged fruits. Using the reconstruction, the fossil fruits were compared to extant angiosperms and extinct winged fruits to assess potential affinities.Pivotal results. The μCT scans and reconstruction of the winged fruit reveal a pentamerous perianth, five pairs of fin-wings, two whorls of persistent stamens, five semicircular nectary pads, an inferior unilocular ovary, and a style with three stylar branches. Phyloscan analyses recover the winged fruits within the rosid clade, but they cannot be assigned to any extant family or order within the group because of differing floral and fruit morphologies.Conclusions. The winged fruits are assigned to Friisifructus aligeri gen. et sp. nov. This new genus and species add to the diversity of winged fruits from the Cretaceous, which are relatively uncommon. Moreover, the unique morphology of Friisifructus indicates that this genus may belong to an extinct family of rosids.

The Embodiment of Buddhist History: Interpretive Methods and Models of Sāsana Decline in Burmese Debates about Female Higher Ordination

The mid-twentieth century was celebrated in Theravāda civilizations as the halfway point in the five-thousand-year history of the Buddha’s dispensation, the sāsana. Around this time in Burma, fierce debates arose concerning the re-establishment of the extinct order of Theravāda nuns. While women were understood as having a crucial role in supporting and maintaining the sāsana, without a sanctioned means of higher ordination, they were excluded from its centre, that is, as active agents in sāsana history. In this paper, I explore what was at stake in these debates by examining the arguments of two monks who publicly called for the reintroduction of the order of nuns, the Mingun Jetavana Sayadaw (1868–1955) and Ashin Ādiccavaṃsa (1881–1950). I will show that both used the enigmatic Milindapañha (Questions of Milinda) to present their arguments, but more than this, by drawing from their writings and biographies, it will be seen that their methods of interpreting the Pāli canon depended on their unique models of sāsana history, models which understood this halfway point as ushering in a new era of emancipatory promise. This promise was premised on the practice of vipassanā meditation by both lay men and especially women, the latter who, through their participation in the mass lay meditation movement, were making strong claims as dynamic players in the unfolding of sāsana history. The question of whether the order of nuns should be revived therefore hinged on the larger question of what was and was not possible in the current age of sāsana decline. Beyond this, what I aim to show is that mid-twentieth-century debates around female ordination concerned the very nature of the sāsana itself, as either a transcendent, timeless ideal, or as a bounded history embodied in the practice of both monks and nuns.

Host community composition, community assembly pattern, and disease transmission mode jointly determine the direction and strength of the diversity-disease relationship

Rapid global biodiversity loss and increasing emerging infectious diseases underscore the significance of identifying the diversity-disease relationship. Although experimental evidence supports the existence of dilution effects in several natural ecosystems, we still know very little about the conditions under which a dilution effect will occur. Using a multi-host Susceptible-Infected-Recovered model, we found when disease transmission was density-dependent, the diversity-disease relationship could exhibit an increasing, decreasing, or non-monotonic trend, which mainly depended on the patterns of community assembly. However, the combined effects of the host competence-abundance relationship and species extinction order may reverse or weaken this trend. In contrast, when disease transmission was frequency-dependent, the diversity-disease relationship only showed a decreasing trend, the host competence-abundance relationship and species extinction order did not alter this decreasing trend, but it could reduce the detectability of the dilution effect and affect disease prevalence. Overall, a combination of disease transmission mode, community assembly pattern, and host community composition determines the direction or strength of the diversity-disease relationship. Our work helps explain why previous studies came to different conclusions about the diversity-disease relationship and provides a deeper understanding of the pathogen transmission dynamics in actual communities.

Shedding light on the enigmatic extinct insect order Glosselytrodea: new diversity and key morphological insights into non‐tegmenized Permian forms

AbstractGlosselytrodeans are enigmatic extinct (Permian–Jurassic) insects classified in their own order. The monophyly of Glosselytrodea is not universally accepted and its large‐scale relationships remain problematic, namely because its diversity is largely known from hardened (i.e. tegmenized/‘elytrized’) forewings of allegedly derived forms. Thus, new data on the group’s early diversity and/or complete specimens are critical. Herein we describe the oldest glosselytrodean known,Moscheloptera phantasmagen. et sp. nov. (Permoberothidae), based on a forewing from the Niedermoschel black shale (Germany; early Permian). The holotype ofPermoberotha villosaTillyard (Permoberothidae) (a forewing) and a previously described complete conspecific specimen, both from Elmo (USA; early Permian), are reassessed and photographically figured for the first time. A new, completeP. villosaspecimen from Elmo preserves body structures hitherto not reported among glosselytrodeans, including complex pretarsal claws and detailed male genitalia. The holotypes of two further species,Sylvaelytron latipennatumNovokshonov (herein transferred to Permoberothidae) andArchoglossopterum shoricumMartynova (Archoglossopteridae), are also reassessed and figured. An emended diagnosis and an updated catalogue of the Glosselytrodea are provided.GlossopterumSharov is returned to its own family: Glossopteridae Sharov. Our findings substantially expand the knowledge of the Permoberothidae, which is the earliest glosselytrodean lineage and lacks sclerotization‐related forewing specializations. Although the exact phylogenetic position of glosselytrodeans is still unresolved, the female and male terminalia described herein almost certainly support them as early holometabolan insects, possibly closer to the mecopterid rather than the neuropteroid lineage. Shedding light on Glosselytrodea improves our understanding of the early evolution of the Holometabola.

Nusaviichthys nerivelai gen. et sp. nov., an Albian crossognathiform fish from the Tlayúa lagerstätte, Mexico

The fish Nusaviichthys nerivelai gen. et sp. nov. is described here based on well-preserved fossils from the Albian deposits of the Tlayúa quarry, near Tepexi de Rodríguez, Puebla, central Mexico. The occurrence of this new fish from Tlayúa expands the taxonomical and morphological diversity of the crossognathiformes of the Caribbean region of America during the Early Cretaceous. The inclusion of the osteological features of this species into comparative and phylogenetic analyses reveal its belonging to the order Crossognathiformes, suborder Pachyrhizodontoidei, and family Notelopidae; some of the most significant of these features include the presence of a large extrascapula bone; circumorbital bones forming a completely closed ring; medioparietal condition of the skull; posterior infraorbitals hypertrophied, covering the entire cheek, and extended up to the anterior part of the opercular bones; the relative short uroneural 1 anteriorly restricted to the preural 1; and the cycloid scales with a crenulated posterior edge. This new species differs from its relatives in the presence of numerous and small conic teeth in both jaws and vomer; the large triangular gular plate, and the numerous radiating grooves ridges present in the supraorbital, dermosphenotic, skull roof bones, opercular bones, and jaws; and the almost horizontal position of the neural and hemal spines of the last caudal centra. Despite the weak support, the naturalness of this extinct teleost order is recovered in the phylogenetic analysis performed here, which includes this new Mexican fossil fish as well as other crossognathiform genera not included in previous studies.

Macrauchenia patachonica Owen, 1838: Limb bones morphology, locomotory biomechanics, and paleobiological inferences

Macrauchenia patachonica Owen, 1838 was among the last and largest litopterns, an extinct order of South American native ungulates. Macrauchenia patachonica had anatomical peculiarities as extremely retracted nasals, enlarged cervical vertebrae, and limb bones proportions without good living analogs that lead to asking about its paleobiology. To quantitatively assess the strange combination of limb bone features in M. patachonica, we constructed an indicator of differences in anatomical adaptations for efficient running between forelimb and hind limb (IDFH). We also made a multivariate analysis using data on osteological ratios of living mammals and two other litopterns. We discuss several biomechanical and paleobiological implications of the striking differences between hind limb and forelimb design in M. patachonica. Our main suggestion is that M. patachonica, during fast locomotion, probably used a posture with the neck in a horizontal position.

De frailes a escolta. Valor histórico del Cuartel de Barbones de Lima (1825-1879)

En el distrito de El Agustino, apenas a la salida de la antigua muralla de Lima, se ubica el histórico y antiguo Cuartel Barbones —valioso conjunto donde entre otras dependencias se acuartela la escolta del presidente de la República, de importante participación en el tradicional cambio de guardia en la Plaza Mayor— cuya larga historia comienza cuando fue convento y hospital de la casi desaparecida orden religiosa de los betlemitas. En esta investigación se ha buscado contextualizar los hechos ocurridos entre 1825 y 1879, años de la entonces nueva República Peruana, de la relación de la Iglesia con el Ejército y de su impacto en el patrimonio edificado religioso teniendo como ejemplo al antiguo Hospital de Convalecientes Nuestra Señora del Carmen.

Wintertime chemical characteristics of aerosol and their role in light extinction during clear and polluted days in rural Indo Gangetic plain

This paper reports the chemical and light extinction characteristics of fine aerosol (PM2.5) during the winter period (2017–18) at Lumbini, Nepal, a rural site on the Indo Gangetic Plains. A modified IMPROVE algorithm was employed to reconstruct light extinction by chemical constituents of aerosol. The fine aerosol levels impacted visibility adversely during daytime, but during nighttime visibility was controlled by fog droplets rather than by aerosols. The PM2.5 chemical constituents showed varying characteristics during clear and polluted days. The average NO3−/SO42− concentration ratio was 0.57 during clear and 1.36 and polluted days, signifying a change in secondary inorganics and formation processes mainly due to decreasing photochemical production and due to increased partitioning of nitrate particles at a lower temperature. The increased secondary organics contribution and the higher OM/OC ratio (2.2) during polluted days showed the vital role of aqueous processing and biomass burning emissions in determining the concentration of organics. Total light extinction was 2.3 times higher on polluted days compared to clear days, while the PM2.5 mass concentration was 1.5 times higher. This variation in mass and extinction order signifies that various chemical components in fine particles have a more considerable impact on light extinction. On clear days we found that carbonaceous particles (OM and EC) made a major contribution to light extinction. In contrast, the extinction contribution by secondary inorganic (especially NH4NO3) increased significantly during polluted days, with hygroscopic growth and enhanced scattering efficiency at higher RH conditions playing a major role. The comparison between clear and polluted days altogether suggests that regulating the nitrate sources can help significantly in improving the visibility levels and restrict fog haze development during wintertime in rural IGP.

Demography of the Crimean Tatar Population of the 16th – 18th Centuries (According to the Materials of the Necropolis near the Village of Fontan)

Introduction. The article discusses the demographic characteristics of the population of the Crimean Tatar village of Karmysh-Kelechi of the 16th – 18th centuries based on the materials of Fontan-1 burial ground. Methods and materials. Research procedures included the construction of mortality tables that characterize the sequence of extinction of a certain generation of people or general patterns of changes in mortality for cohorts of the population with a similar order of extinction. The mortality tables contain various demographic indicators that were analyzed during the study. Results. As a result of the analysis, the author has found out the main demographic indicators of this population. These include a high mortality rate of children from newborn to 4 years with a predominance of children under 1 year; a slight predominance of the male population over the female; the average age of death for children was 20.6; the average age of death of the adult population – 36.5.; men lived three years longer than women. Moreover, in women, two peaks of mortality occur during the childbearing period and are probably associated with the stress that accompanies the female body during pregnancy and childbirth. The distribution of the male mortality reflects the natural process of aging and death. It is possible that the high infant mortality rate, as well as the lower average age of death, may be due to adverse external factors. The comparative analysis of the demographic indicators of the population who left Fountain-1 burial ground with synchronous groups shows that they all correspond to the indicators of populations of the Early Modern times and do not get out of the general context.

A New Coral Genus with Prominent, Ramified Main Septum (Aptian, Tanzania)

The new coral Heteroamphiastrea loeseri gen. et sp. nov., Family Carolastraeidae, Superfamily Heterocoenioidea, is described from the lower Aptian of the Lindi Region (Tendaguru area) in southeast Tanzania. The new genus is characterised by a cerioid colony type, an underdeveloped septal system with bilateral symmetry defined by a strong main septum with secondary outgrowths and the presence of a marginarium. Overall, this monospecific genus shows skeletal features of the family Carolastraeidae, but like other genera of the family, it shares some morphological features with the families Heterocoeniidae (Heterocoenioidea) and Amphiastreidae (Amphiastreoidea). Heteroamphiastrea gen. nov. exemplifies corals with relatively rare morphology. They are the most controversial Mesozoic corals without consensus on high-rank taxonomy. Heterocoenioidea and Amphiastreoidea have been recently classified into the suborder Heterocoeniina, Amphiastreina or Pachythecaliina, separately or together. Further, they were classified into the Order Scleractinia or into the extinct Order Hexanthiniaria.

윤재천 수필문학론의 미적 특성 연구

Yoon Jaecheon has pioneered and established a new direction for essay literature. Proving its literary value, he has led the development of Korean essay literature by establishing theories of essay literature and proposing critical criticism, open attitudes, and a fusion-oriented spirit.BR First, Yoon Jaecheon’s essay literary theory rediscovered the value of natural phenomena based on the principle of relationship with humanity and circularity, and he added the reflective depth of ecological consciousness. The awareness and writing of positive ecological consciousness, which embraces the universal order of creation and extinction and imprints the signs of production rediscovered in extinction, is the ultimate message he has continually conveyed. In addition, Yun Jaecheon’s essays are, basically, mixed with two heterogeneous philosophies, namely romantic and experimental. This indicates that Yoon has always pursued an experimental writing method to overcome the limitation while dreaming of an ideal world that is impossible to realize. This is Yoon Jaecheon

Developmental gene expression as a phylogenetic data class: support for the monophyly of Arachnopulmonata.

Despite application of genome-scale datasets, the phylogenetic placement of scorpions within arachnids remains contentious between two different phylogenetic data classes. Paleontologists continue to recover scorpions in a basally branching position, partly owing to their morphological similarity to extinct marine orders like Eurypterida (sea scorpions). Phylogenomic datasets consistently recover scorpions in a derived position, as the sister group of Tetrapulmonata (a clade of arachnids that includes spiders). To adjudicate between these hypotheses using a rare genomic change (RGC), we leveraged the recent discovery of ancient paralogy in spiders and scorpions to assess phylogenetic placement. We identified homologs of four transcription factors required for appendage patterning (dachshund, homothorax, extradenticle, and optomotor blind) in arthropods that are known to be duplicated in spiders. Using genomic resources for a spider, a scorpion, and a harvestman, we conducted gene tree analyses and assayed expression patterns of scorpion gene duplicates. Here we show that scorpions, like spiders, retain two copies of all four transcription factors, whereas arachnid orders like mites and harvestmen bear a single copy. A survey of embryonic expression patterns of the scorpion paralogs closely matches those of their spider counterparts, with one paralog consistently retaining the putatively ancestral pattern found in the harvestman, as well as the mite, and/or other outgroups. These data comprise a rare genomic change in chelicerate phylogeny supporting the inference of a distal placement of scorpions. Beyond demonstrating the diagnostic power of developmental genetic data as a phylogenetic data class, a derived placement of scorpions within the arachnids, together with an array of stem-group Paleozoic scorpions that occupied marine habitats, effectively rules out a scenario of a single colonization of terrestrial habitat within Chelicerata, even in tree topologies contrived to recover the monophyly of Arachnida.

Is †Skleroptera (†Stephanastus) an order in the stemgroup of Coleopterida (Insecta)?

The Carboniferous insect taxon †Stephanastus polinae was assigned to a monotypic new order †Skleroptera, which was postulated as the sister group of the clade Strepsiptera + Coleoptera (= Coleopterida). The placement of †Stephanastus in Holometabola and the proposed relationship with Coleopterida are very likely unjustified. Suggested shared derived features of Skleroptera + Coleopterida are vague, insufficiently documented (characters of proximal leg segments) or likely based on misinterpretation (wing veins). Based on the wing venation we suggest a position in the extinct hemimetabolous order †Protelytroptera.

Anatomy, affinities, and evolutionary implications of new silicified stems of Sphenophyllum Brongniart, 1828 from the early Carboniferous (Mississippian) of France and Germany

Sphenophyllum Brongniart, 1828 is the best-known representative of Sphenophyllales, an extinct order of small plants belonging to the Sphenophytes, the group that contains extant horsetails. Sphenophyllum is known from the Devonian to the Triassic, but most specimens are late Carboniferous in age and the anatomy of specimens present at other times is poorly known because most are preserved in compression/impressions. The Lower Carboniferous (Tournaisian) deposits of Montagne Noire in France and Thuringia in Germany contain impressions attributed to Sphenophyllum but also a few rare permineralized specimens. In this study, we describe in detail the anatomy of these specimens and compare them to other anatomically preserved Sphenophyllum species, as well as to the impressions already described in both areas. The new specimens show different developmental stages, some have a little amount of wood while the others only have primary tissues. Two specimens are branching. All are assigned to Sphenophyllum insigne Williamson. While Late Carboniferous Sphenophyllum produced a wood with a very peculiar anatomy (very large tracheids, axial system of parenchyma), that of the oldest Sphenophyllales (Devonian-Early Carboniferous) seems to be simpler and probably had different hydraulic and mechanical properties.

Testing how antagonistic interactions impact the robustness of plant-pollinator networks

Given ongoing pollinator declines, it is important to understand the dynamics of linked extinctions of plants driven by pollinator extinctions. Topological robustness models focused on this question suggest relatively high robustness of plant species to pollinator species extinctions. Still, existing robustness models typically assume that all interactions in plant-pollinator networks are positive, which is clearly not always the case. For example, many pollinators remove floral resources without transferring pollen, or even damage floral structures in the case of nectar robbing. Here we introduce antagonistic interactions into plant-pollinator networks and assess the resilience of plant communities to pollinator species losses. Incorporating antagonistic interactions leads to lower network robustness, i.e. an increased rate of plant species loss (as compared to networks with only mutualistic interactions) in empirical plant-pollinator networks. In conjunction with extinction order, the addition of increasingly antagonistic interactions was idiosyncratic in that it did not always magnify the effects of extinction order across the three networks. These results underscore the importance of considering the full spectrum of interaction outcomes when assessing robustness to coextinctions in plant-pollinator networks, as well as other ecological systems.

Predicting the non‐linear collapse of plant–frugivore networks due to habitat loss

Habitat loss can trigger cascades of secondary extinctions, changing the organization of interacting assemblages. Until recently, most extinction models in interaction systems had limited ecological realism. Here, we estimate a realistic sequence of species extinctions resulting from habitat loss to assess its impacts on the structure of frugivory networks from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We show that realistic and random extinctions led to similar patterns. We also identified a threshold in the response of network structure to habitat loss. When forest cover was reduced to less than 40% of the landscape, network organization changed dramatically. Hence, the number of species being lost, rather than the order of species extinctions, is the key determinant of its impacts on the organization of frugivory networks. We highlight the need to conserve around 40% of forest cover to keep the basic organization of frugivory networks, a threshold already reached at the best‐preserved Brazilian Atlantic Forest bioregion.