scholarly journals Largest Cretaceous lizard track assemblage, new morphotypes and longest trackways comprise diverse components of an exceptional Korean Konservat-Lagerstätten ichnofauna

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyung Soo Kim ◽  
Jong Deock Lim ◽  
Martin G. Lockley ◽  
Dong Hee Kim ◽  
Laura Piñuela ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lower Cretaceous ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
High Definition ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Limited Distribution ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Track Record ◽  
Gyeongsang Basin ◽  
Body Fossil

Abstract A newly discovered assemblage of lizard tracks from the Lower Cretaceous Jinju Formation (Sindong Group, Gyeongsang Basin) Korea is the largest yet reported from the Cretaceous. It consists of at least 95 tracks comprising five trackways, including a meter-long trackway (T1) with 50 footprints assigned to the new ichnotaxon Neosauroides innovatus ichnosp. nov. Two other trackways (T2 and T3) are designated N. innovatus paratypes characterized by strong heteropody, relatively wide trackways and small narrow manus tracks. These morphological characteristics distinguish Neosauroides innovatus from the previously reported lizard trackways Sauripes hadongensis from the Hasandong Formation and Neosauroides koreaensis from the Haman Formation, both also from the Gyeongsang Basin. These three lizard track assemblages from the Korean Cretaceous constitute the entire global lizard track record for this period. The Mesozoic record of lizard tracksites is more localized than the lizard body fossil record. This limited distribution suggests bias in the track record and the fossil record more generally. However, due to deposition of fine-grained substrates, suitable for high definition track registration, the Jinju Formation is increasingly well known as an ichnological window on small tetrapod activity and based on diversity, abundance and high-quality preservation, is regarded as an exceptional Konservat-Lagerstätten.

scholarly journals Two new long-rostrum cranefly species from the Cretaceous Iberian amber (Diptera, Limoniidae, Helius)

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iwona Kania-Kłosok ◽  
Wiesław Krzemiński ◽  
Antonio Arillo
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Lower Cretaceous ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
First Record ◽  
Northern Spain ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Body Morphology ◽  
Cretaceous Period ◽  
Basque Cantabrian Basin

AbstractFirst record of the genus Helius—long-rostrum cranefly from Maestrazgo Basin (eastern Spain, Iberian Penisula) is documented. Two new fossil species of the genus Helius are described from Cretaceous Spanish amber and compared with other species of the genus known from fossil record with particular references to these known from Cretaceous period. Helius turolensis sp. nov. is described from San Just amber (Lower Cretaceous, upper Albian) Maestrazgo Basin, eastern Spain, and Helius hispanicus sp. nov. is described from Álava amber (Lower Cretaceous, upper Albian), Basque-Cantabrian Basin, northern Spain. The specific body morphology of representatives of the genus Helius preserved in Spanish amber was discussed in relation to the environmental conditions of the Maestrazgo Basin and Basque-Cantabrian Basin in Cretaceous.

scholarly journals The fossil record of whip spiders: the past of Amblypygi

PalZ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolin Haug ◽  
Joachim T. Haug
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
3D Imaging ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Dorsal Shield ◽  
Stereo Images ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
High Quality ◽  
The Past ◽  
Over Time

AbstractWhip spiders (Amblypygi), as their name suggests, resemble spiders (Araneae) in some aspects, but differ from them by their heart-shaped (prosomal) dorsal shield, their prominent grasping pedipalps, and their subsequent elongate pair of feeler appendages. The oldest possible occurrences of whip spiders, represented by cuticle fragments, date back to the Devonian (c. 385 mya), but (almost) complete fossils are known from the Carboniferous (c. 300 mya) onwards. The fossils include specimens preserved on slabs or in nodules (Carboniferous, Cretaceous) as well as specimens preserved in amber (Cretaceous, Eocene, Miocene). We review here all fossil whip spider specimens, figure most of them as interpretative drawings or with high-quality photographs including 3D imaging (stereo images) to make the three-dimensional relief of the specimens visible. Furthermore, we amend the list by two new specimens (resulting in 37 in total). The fossil specimens as well as modern whip spiders were measured to analyse possible changes in morphology over time. In general, the shield appears to have become relatively broader and the pedipalps and walking appendages have become more elongate over geological time. The morphological details are discussed in an evolutionary framework and in comparison with results from earlier studies.

scholarly journals Convergent evolution of ramified antennae in insect lineages from the Early Cretaceous of Northeastern China

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1839) ◽  
pp. 20161448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taiping Gao ◽  
Chungkun Shih ◽  
Conrad C. Labandeira ◽  
Jorge A. Santiago-Blay ◽  
Yunzhi Yao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Motion Detection ◽  
Lower Cretaceous ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Convergent Evolution ◽  
Chemical Cues ◽  
Northeastern China ◽  
Environmental Cues ◽  
Key Innovation ◽  
Temperature Levels

Antennae are important, insect sensory organs that are used principally for communication with other insects and the detection of environmental cues. Some insects independently evolved ramified (branched) antennae, which house several types of sensilla for motion detection, sensing olfactory and chemical cues, and determining humidity and temperature levels. Though ramified antennae are common in living insects, occasionally they are present in the Mesozoic fossil record. Here, we present the first caddisflies with ramified antennae, the earliest known fossil sawfly, and a scorpionfly also with ramified antennae from the mid-Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Northeastern China, dated at 125 million years ago (Ma). These three insect taxa with ramified antennae consist of three unrelated lineages and provide evidence for broad structural convergence that historically has been best demonstrated by features such as convergent mouthparts. In addition, ramified antennae in these Mid-Mesozoic lineages likely do not constitute a key innovation, as they are not associated with significantly increased diversification compared with closely related lineages lacking this trait, and nor are they ecologically isolated from numerous, co-occurring insect species with unmodified antennae.

scholarly journals Types of river sources of the thin-grained aluminosilicaclastics for the Jurassic and lower cretaceous deposits of the West Siberian megabasin

2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 52-61
Author(s):  
A. V. Maslov
Keyword(s):  
Lower Cretaceous ◽  
The Urals ◽  
River Systems ◽  
The West ◽  
Rock Composition ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
The North ◽  
Catchment Areas ◽  
Cretaceous Deposits ◽  
West Siberian Basin

Background. The lithogeochemical features of fine-grained detrital rocks (mudstones, shales, and fine-grained siltstones) allow, with a certain degree of success, the main parameters of the formation of sedimentary sequences to be reconstructed. These parameters include (primarily in terms of their REE and Th systematics) the types of river systems supplying thin terrigenous suspension in the sedimentation area: the rivers of the 1st category – large rivers with a catchment area of more than 100,000 km2; 2nd category – rivers feeding on the products of erosion of sedimentary deposits; 3rd category – rivers draining mainly igneous and metamorphic rocks; and 4th category – rivers carrying erosion products of volcanic associations.Aim. To reveal, based on the analysis of interrelationships between such parameters as (La/Yb)N, Eu/Eu* and the Th content, the types of river systems that fed the Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous deposits of the Shaim oil and gas region (OGR) (Sherkalinsky, Tyumen, Abalak and Mulymya formations) and the region of the North Pokachevsky field of the Shirotnoe Priobye region (Sherkalinsky, Tyumen and Bazhenov formations, Lower Cretaceous deposits).Materials and methods. The ICP MS data for almost 100 samples of mudstones and fine-grained clayey siltstones were used to analyse the features of distribution of lanthanides and Th in the Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous clayey rocks of the Shaim OGR and the area of the North Pokachevsky deposits. Individual and average composition points for formations, members and layers were plotted on the (La/Yb)N-Eu/Eu*, (La/Yb)N–Th diagrams developed by us with classification areas of the composition of fine suspended material of modern rivers of different categories.Results and conclusion. The results presented in the article showed that during the formation of the deposits of the Shaim OGR in the Early and Middle Jurassic, erosion affected either mainly sedimentary formations or paleo-catchment areas that were very variegated in their rock composition. In the Late Jurassic, the source area was, most likely, a volcanic province, composed mainly of igneous rocks of the basic composition, and located within the Urals. This conclusion suggested that the transfer of clastic material from the Urals to the Urals part of the West Siberian basin “revived” much earlier than the Hauterivian. The Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous section of the vicinity of the North Pokachevsky field was almost entirely composed of thin aluminosilicaclastics formed due to the erosion of volcanic formations. These volcanic formations were located, as followed from the materials of earlier performed paleogeographic reconstructions, probably within the Altai-Sayan region or Northern Kazakhstan. Thus, the supply of detrital material in the considered territories of the West Siberian basin had a number of significant differences in the Jurassic and early Cretaceous.

scholarly journals Embryo Morphokinetic Parameters Evaluated Using a Time-Lapse Embryo Monitoring System Can Predict the Embryo Developmental Potential in ICSI Cycles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qina He ◽  
Guidong Yao ◽  
Jiahuan He ◽  
Guang Yang ◽  
Ziwen Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Monitoring System ◽  
Embryo Quality ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Reproductive Technologies ◽  
Embryo Morphology ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Developmental Potential ◽  
Morphokinetic Parameters ◽  
The Mean

Abstract At present, embryo morphology assessment based on the observation of the embryonic morphological characteristics at several specific time points has been mainly used for selecting the high-quality embryo. However, we all know that embryo development is a dynamic process. Many research results on the correlation between the embryo morphokinetic parameters and embryo quality and development potential were inconsistent. With the help of time-lapse imaging, the development processes and outcomes of a total of 365 embryos were cultured and analyzed in this study. The results showed that the mean tPNf and t2 of the high-quality embryo were significantly shorter than the low-quality embryo; the mean t2PBe and tPNa of the high-quality embryo from the implantation group were significantly shorter than those from the non-implantation group. In addition, based on the quartile grouping of each morphokinetic parameter, the embryos that had 21.15≤tPNf≤25.30 value were significantly higher in embryo quality when compared with the embryos that had the tPNf values outside the range on Days 3. Similarly, the embryos that had values of t2≤25.60 were significantly higher in embryo quality than those with outside the range values on Days 3. Thus, we demonstrated that the morphokinetic parameter evaluated using a time-lapse embryo monitoring system can predict the embryo quality, and be benefit for the selection of the high-quality embryos and improvement for the implantation success of the patient in assisted reproductive technologies.

The tale of the headless turtle

Zootaxa ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4200 (2) ◽  
pp. 327 ◽  
Author(s):  
PEDRO S. R. ROMANO
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Lower Cretaceous ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Diagnostic Features ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
The Past ◽  
Early Paleocene ◽  
Phylogenetic Hypotheses ◽  
A New Species

Pelomedusoides is the most diverse clade of side-necked turtles and there is an extensive fossil record (de Broin, 1988; Lapparent de Broin, 2000; Gaffney et al., 2006, 2011) that dates back at least to the Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) (Romano et al., 2014). Its large fossil record evidences a greater diversity in the past, particularly at the end of the Mesozoic, and exhibits a good sampling of species that are represented by skull material (Gaffney et al., 2006, 2011). As a consequence, the most complete and recent phylogenetic hypotheses for this clade (e.g. Romano et al., 2014; Cadena, 2015) are based on matrices comprising a great amount of cranial characters derived largely from Gaffney et al. (2006, 2011). In addition, it is well established that shell characters show a lot of phenotypic plasticity, even in the fossil species (Romano, 2008; Gaffney et al., 2006, 2011). In most cases it consequently is not justified to rely on “diagnostic features” of poorly informative shell-only material for describing a new species. Because of that, most authors remark new morphotypes in the literature when such aberrant specimens are recovered, but do not make any nomenclatural act by proposing a new yet poorly supported species (e.g. Romano et al., 2013; Ferreira & Langer, 2013; Menegazzo et al., 2015). Unfortunately, such a supposedly new bothremydid turtle (Pleurodira: Bothremydidae) from the Early Paleocene of Brazil was recently described based on poorly diagnostic remains (Carvalho et al., 2016; hereafter CGB, for the authors initials) and a correction of this unfounded nomenclatural act is required. In addition I present some comments on shell only material from Brazil in order to guide splitter-taxonomists to stop describing poorly preserved fossil specimens as new species. 

High Definition Television (HDTV) and Video Surveillance

2014 ◽  
pp. 219-223
Keyword(s):  
Video Surveillance ◽  
Video Quality ◽  
Image Data ◽  
Good Choice ◽  
Frame Rate ◽  
Surveillance Video ◽  
High Definition ◽  
High Quality ◽  
High Definition Television ◽  
Quality Video

High definition television is becoming ever more popular, opening up the market to new high-definition technologies. Image quality and color fidelity have experienced improvements faster than ever. The video surveillance market has been affected by high definition television demand. Since video surveillance calls for large amounts of image data, high-quality video frame rates are generally compromised. However, a network camera that conforms to high definition television standards shows good performance in high frame rate, resolution, and color fidelity. High quality network cameras are a good choice for surveillance video quality.

scholarly journals High-Quality Image Captioning With Fine-Grained and Semantic-Guided Visual Attention

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 1681-1693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zongjian Zhang ◽  
Qiang Wu ◽  
Yang Wang ◽  
Fang Chen
Keyword(s):  
Visual Attention ◽  
Image Captioning ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
High Quality Image ◽  
Quality Image

scholarly journals Unlocking the early fossil record of the arthropod central nervous system

2015 ◽  
Vol 370 (1684) ◽  
pp. 20150038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory D. Edgecombe ◽  
Xiaoya Ma ◽  
Nicholas J. Strausfeld
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Compound Eye ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Taxonomic Diversity ◽  
Carbon Films ◽  
Burgess Shale ◽  
Temporal Window ◽  
Ground Pattern ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Central Nervous Systems

Extant panarthropods (euarthropods, onychophorans and tardigrades) are hallmarked by stunning morphological and taxonomic diversity, but their central nervous systems (CNS) are relatively conserved. The timing of divergences of the ground pattern CNS organization of the major panarthropod clades has been poorly constrained because of a scarcity of data from their early fossil record. Although the CNS has been documented in three-dimensional detail in insects from Cenozoic ambers, it is widely assumed that these tissues are too prone to decay to withstand other styles of fossilization or geologically older preservation. However, Cambrian Burgess Shale-type compressions have emerged as sources of fossilized brains and nerve cords. CNS in these Cambrian fossils are preserved as carbon films or as iron oxides/hydroxides after pyrite in association with carbon. Experiments with carcasses compacted in fine-grained sediment depict preservation of neural tissue for a more prolonged temporal window than anticipated by decay experiments in other media. CNS and compound eye characters in exceptionally preserved Cambrian fossils predict divergences of the mandibulate and chelicerate ground patterns by Cambrian Stage 3 ( ca 518 Ma), a dating that is compatible with molecular estimates for these splits.

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