A new species of the genus Tylototriton (Urodela, Salamandridae) from western Thailand

We describe a new species of the newt genus Tylototriton from Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary, Tak Province, western Thailand based on molecular and morphological evidence and named here as Tylototriton umphangensissp. nov. The new species is assigned to the subgenus Tylototriton and differs from other species in having dark-brown to blackish-brown body and limbs, truncate snout, prominent antero-medial ends of the expansion of the dentary bones, laterally protruding quadrate regions, indistinct and small rib nodules, a well-segmented vertebral ridge, and rough dorsolateral bony ridges, which are steeper anterior, and curved medially at the posterior ends. The molecular data show that Tylototriton umphangensissp. nov. differs from T. uyenoi sensu stricto by a 5% genetic sequence divergence of the mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 region gene. The new species and T. uyenoi are both endemic to Thailand, distributed along the Northwest Thai (Dawna) Uplands of Indochina. To clarify the species boundary between Tylototriton umphangensissp. nov. and T. uyenoi, additional field research is needed in adjacent areas. Tylototriton umphangensissp. nov. is restricted to evergreen hill forests in Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary. We suggest that the new species should be classified as Endangered (EN) in the IUCN Red List.

Two new species and new records of lichen-feeding darkling beetles (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Helopini) from Turkey with notes on bionomics and trophic relations

Turkonalassus mavi M. Nabozhenko & B. Keskin, sp. n. and Odocnemis rufocruralis M. Nabozhenko & B. Keskin, sp. n., two distinctive darkling beetle species of the tribe Helopini, are described from the Southeastern Anatolia region of Turkey, based on both their external morphology and genital structures. Turkonalassus mavi sp. n. differs from all congeners by the bluish dorsal surface of the body, the pronotum widest before middle, and wide merged baculi of the median lobe of the aedeagus. Odocnemis rufocruralis sp. n. belongs to the praelonga species-group. Odocnemis rufocruralis sp. n. is similar to O. torosica Nabozhenko & Keskin, 2016, O. terminassianae (Nabozhenko, 2011) and O. kakunini Nabozhenko & Keskin, 2016 but differs from all three taxa by the reddish-brown body with red legs, male apical maxillary palpomere wider than in female, elevate and narrowly separate male protrochanters, and the structure of the very long and narrow apical piece of the aedeagus. New data on distribution, bionomics, and trophic relations of several species of Helopini from Turkey are given. Host lichens are determined for nine species. The majority of studied adult beetles feed on lichens from the families Physciaceae and Parmeliaceae. Some examined taxa feed on Cladoniaceae. Feeding on crustose lichens is registered for the first time for Coleoptera, specifically Odocnemis rufocruralis sp. n. was observed to feed on Pertusaria sp. (on Prunus) in Mardin Province.

A new species of Stegonotus (Serpentes: Colubridae) from the remnant coastal forests of southern Timor-Leste

During the first amphibian and reptile survey of Timor-Leste, we discovered a population of groundsnakes, genus Stegonotus, in the last remnant of lowland coastal forest along the country’s southern coast, which represents a new species. This sexually dimorphic species can be differentiated from all other Wallacean Stegonotus by a combination of 17-17-15 dorsals, ventrals (female 206; males 197–207), paired subcaudals (female 61; males 71–75), the “gull wing +” condition of the rostral, large squared prefrontals that each are 2.5 times the area of the internasals and two-thirds the size of the frontal, a snout-scale ratio of near 0.4 and a frontal-parietal suture ratio of ≤ 1.0, a labial scale formula of 73+4 | 94, five gulars separating the posterior genial and the anteriormost ventral, and an overall brown body coloration that lightens progressively from the vertebral scale row in a dorsal–lateral direction and features color gradients of dark brown posterior edges to lighter brown anterior edges on individual scales. The species is most similar in overall morphology to S. modestus from the central Moluccas and to S. lividus, a species known only from tiny Semau Island that lies off the western end of Timor Island, in close proximity to Kupang, the capital of the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara.

Reimagining the Brown Body

William Forsythe’s screendance Alignigung (2016) depicts two male dancers, one fair- and the other brown-skinned, in hyperflexible and intimate configurations that vacillate between object and human. Alignigung engages with an egalitarian ethos along the same lines as contact improvisation but further demonstrates an alternative masculinity through movement qualities by reimagining the stereotypical brown body.

A new species of Pareas (Squamata, Pareidae) from southern Vietnam

We describe a new species of pareid snake from the Di Linh Plateau in Lam Dong Province of southern Vietnam based on morphological and molecular evidence. Pareas temporalissp. nov. is distinguished from its congeners by having the combination of yellow-brown body colouration; hexagonal-shaped frontal, with lateral sides parallel to the body axis; 16–17 temporals, with 4–5 anterior temporals; loreal and prefrontal not contacting eye; 2–3 preoculars; two suboculars; 2–3 postoculars; 8–9 supralabials; 8–9 infralabials; 15–15–15 dorsal scale rows, all keeled, three vertebral scale rows enlarged; 191 (+1 preventral) ventrals, smooth; 92 subcaudals, all divided; undivided anal scale; two postocular stripes; and a solid dark brown vertebral stripe extending from rear of nuchal collar along the entire length of body and tail. Phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial DNA data recovered the new species to be nested within the P. carinatus complex and to be the sister taxon to P. nuchalis from Borneo.

Copper additive manufacturing using MIM feedstock: adjustment of printing, debinding, and sintering parameters for processing dense and defectless parts

In the present study, an additive manufacturing process of copper using extrusion 3D printing, solvent and thermal debinding, and sintering was explored. Extrusion 3D printing of metal injection moulding (MIM) feedstock was used to fabricate green body samples. The printing process was performed with optimized parameters to achieve high green density and low surface roughness. To remove water-soluble polymer, the green body was immersed in water for solvent debinding. The interconnected voids formed during solvent debinding were favorable for removing the backbone polymer from the brown body during thermal debinding. Thermal debinding was performed up to 500 °C, and ~ 6.5% total weight loss of the green sample was estimated. Finally, sintering of the thermally debinded samples was performed at 950, 1000, 1030, and 1050°C. The highest sintering temperature provided the highest relative density (94.5%) and isotropic shrinkage. Micro-computed tomography (μCT) examination was performed on green samples and sintered samples, and qualitative and quantitative analysis of the porosity confirmed the benefits of optimized printing conditions for the final microstructure. This work opens up the opportunity for 3D printing and sintering to produce pure copper components with complicated shapes and high density, utilizing raw MIM feedstock as the starting material.

Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) Prepupa Phase Fermentation by Organic Acids to Decrease Chitin Content

Black Soldier Fly has high protein but there are anti-nutrients, namely the presence of chitin content that cannot be digested by livestock such as poultry and monogastrics. Chitin is a natural polysaccharide that is abundantly found from crustacean organisms and insects. Chitin is usually bound to the shell or exoskeleton, proteins, minerals and pigments. Black Soldier Fly in the prepupa phase has high protein, dark brown body and a rather hard exoskeleton which causes a high chitin content. The aim of this research was to determine the concentration of propionic and formic acids which could reduce the chitin content of the prepupa phase of the Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) fermentation. This study used a completely randomized design (CRD) with five treatments, namely P1 = (BSF added 50% propionic acid + 50% formic acid), P2 = (BSF added 80% propionic acid and formic acid + 20% aquadest), P3 = (BSF added 60% propionic and formic acids + 40% aquadest), P4 = (BSF added 40% propionic and formic acids + 60% aquadest), P5 = (BSF added 20% propionic acid and formic acid + 80% aquadest) with three repetitions. The results of this study indicate that the P1 treatment (addition of 50% propionic acid + 50% formic acid) resulted in the lowest reduction in chitin content, namely (11.00%), pH value (4.7), total titrated acid (0.014%) and organoleptic (light brown color, very sour aroma and harsh texture).

Evaluation of the taxonomic position of the genus Carinina (Nemertea:Palaeonemertea), with descriptions of two new species

The genus Carinina Hubrecht, 1885 has long been considered the most ‘archaic’ nemertean taxon because its members are distinguished by the basiepidermal position of the brain and lateral nerve cords, characters thought to be plesiomorphic for the phylum. Here we describe two new species, Carinina yushini sp. nov. from the Sea of Japan (Russia) and C. chocolata sp. nov. from the north-east Pacific (Oregon, USA), distinguished by brown body colour. A phylogenetic analysis based on partial sequences of five nuclear and mitochondrial gene regions, 18S rRNA, 28S rRNA, histone H3, 16S rRNA and COI, confirms the monophyly of Carinina (Family Carininidae), and points to a close relationship to Carinoma (Family Carinomidae). The two groups together form a sister clade to the rest of the palaeonemerteans (Family Tubulanidae + Family Cephalotrichidae s.l.). Carinina plecta most likely belongs to the Tubulanidae. A morphological synapomorphy of the clade Carininidae + Carinomidae is a larva with a single midventral eye (in contrast to eyeless larvae of the Tubulanidae and two-eyed larvae of the Cephalotrichidae). Our phylogenetic analysis suggests that the basiepidermal position of the central nervous system is an autapomorphy of Carininidae (and, independently, C. plecta), rather than a plesiomorphy of the phylum Nemertea or the class Palaeonemertea, emphasising that the genus Carinina is no more archaic than any other palaeonemertean genus.

A new species of Phenacorhamdia Dahl 1961 (Siluriformes: Heptapteridae) from the Paranapanema River basin, southeastern Brazil

A new species of Phenacorhamdia is described from Paranapanema River, Upper Paraná River basin, southeastern Brazil. The new species is distinguished from congeners by the combination of following characters 45−46 vertebrae; an entirely dark-brown body; nine pleural ribs; eight branched rays in upper lobe of caudal fin; seven branched rays in pectoral fin; 13 anal-fin rays with 9−10 branched; first basal radial inserted at the 13th vertebrae and eight branchiostegal rays.

Ontogeny of an arlequin: morphological and colour pattern changes from juvenile to adult in Gnathophyllum elegans (Risso, 1816) (Decapoda: Palaemonidae), traced through citizen science and social media data mining

The spotted bumblebee shrimp Gnathophyllum elegans (Risso, 1816) is a caridean species of the family Palaemonidae Rafinesque, 1815 widely distributed in the eastern Atlantic and the entire Mediterranean Sea (Zariquiey Alvarez 1968; d’Udekem d’Acoz 1999; De Grave et al. 2015). It is a solitary sciaphilous taxon that grows up to 40 mm of total length, and at daytime hides under stones, in crevices or amidst Posidonia oceanica (Linnaeus) Delile rhizomes from the intertidal to about 30 m depth, with some authors even considering it as preferring coralligenous environments (Pérès & Picard 1964; Ledoyer 1968; d’Udekem d’Acoz 1999). Such a cryptic behavior makes the detection of G. elegans often difficult in the field, although the species is easily distinguishable by the other eastern Atlantic-Mediterranean shrimp species due to its colourful appearance and mostly due to its dark purple-brown body entirely covered by yellow-orange dots (Zariquiey Alvarez 1968; Falciai & Minervini 1992).