Review on: Khramov A.. Monkey and Adam: Can a Christian Be an Evolutionist? M.: Nikeia, 2019. 216 p. ISBN 978-5-91761-902-6

Книга А. В. Храмова, кандидата биологических наук, старшего научного сотрудника Палеонтологического института РАН, посвящена важнейшей теме в рубрике «Наука и религия», а именно вопросу о том, может ли христианин быть эволюционистом. Трудно придумать более важную и вместе с тем более проблемную область для исследования. С одной стороны, эволюция давно уже стала общепризнанной основой биологии как науки, с другой же, среди христиан по этому вопросу нет не только единства, но и вообще какого-то адекватного понимания того, как эволюция совместима с учением о творении. Наиболее характерные позиции в данном вопросе хорошо известны и сводятся к двум основным: фундаменталистский креационизм и теистический эволюционизм. Тем не менее автор рецензируемой книги предлагает пойти срединным путём, который именуется альтеризмом. The book by A. V. Khramov, Ph.D. in Biology, Senior Researcher at the Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, is devoted to a crucial topic under the rubric 'Science and Religion', namely the question of whether a Christian can be an evolutionist. It is hard to think of a more important and yet more problematic area to investigate. On the one hand, evolution has long been the generally accepted basis of biology as a science, but on the other hand, there is not only no unanimity on this question among Christians, but no adequate understanding at all of how evolution is compatible with the doctrine of creation. The most characteristic positions on this issue are well known and boil down to two main ones: fundamentalist creationism and theistic evolutionism. However, the author of the book under review proposes a middle way, called alterism.

Discussions about creation of new paleontological journals for Citizen Science (community science / crowd science / civic science) on the forum of the Paleontological Institute (FASO), Part 2

See the content of the attachement.

Discussions about creation of new paleontological journals for Citizen Science (community science / crowd science / civic science) on the forum of the Paleontological Institute (FASO), Part 1

See the content of the attachement.

Deep mourning with the loss of Ekaterina Alekseevna (Katya) Sidorchuk (09.07.1981–20.01.2019), an excellent and promising palaeontologist

Ekaterina Alekseevna Sidorchuk (Katya to all that knew her) (Fig.1) was born in Moscow into a family of scientists: her father was a geomorphologist and her mother a Quaternary palynologist. Soil/peat microsamples from the North Russian Quaternary, the main research material of her mother, are commonly rich in oribatid mites, which Katya started to study when she entered the Geographical Faculty of Moscow State University after completing her high school education in 1998. In the Department of Biogeography, her study of Quaternary oribatids was guided by the known Russian acarologist, the late Prof. Dmitry Krivolutsky. Katya graduated from the University in 2004 and post-graduated in 2007 when she obtained her PhD degree for the study titled “Oribatid mites as bio-indicators of environmental change during the Holocene (modern and fossil bog communities of Northern European Plain)”. The next year, 2008, she entered the A.A. Borissiak Paleontological Institute and worked at the Arthropoda Laboratory until her recent untimely departure.

THE HISTORY OF GEOLOGICAL AND PALEONTOLOGICAL STUDY OF BOLSHOYE BOGDO MOUNTAIN

The history of the geological and paleontological study of Bolshoye Bogdo mountain, as well as the evolution of the views on their geological structure, has been considered.The first descriptions of the rocks composing the Bolshoye Bogdo mountain, published in the 18th century by academicians S.G. Gmelin and P.S. Pallas, have been given. A particular attention has been paid to the results obtained during the expedition conducted under the guidance of the English geologist R.I. Murchison in 1841. A great contribution to the knowledge of the geological structure and paleontological characteristics of Bolshoye Bogdo mountain was made by A.B. Auerbach, who discovered here the remains of Triassic temnospondyl amphibians and fish for the first time for the territory of European Russia. A new stage in the study of the paleontology of the Bolshoye Bogdo mountain, which began in 1912, has been characterized. A well-known paleontologist and writer LA. Efremov worked there in the 1926th and 1928th years and conducted scientific research and searches for vertebrate remains. Later, the study of the geological structure of the Bolshoye Bogdo mountain was carried out by the staff of the Saratov State University, Borissiak Paleontological Institute and other scientific institutions of Russia.

FORGOTTEN PAGES OF HISTORY: A. P. BYSTROV (1899–1959)

The article is devoted to the outstanding scientist anatomist, paleontologist, doctor of biological sciences, lieutenant-colonel of medical service A. P. Bystrov (1899–1959), who lived only 60 years. Twenty-five years he was connected with the military department, two years worked inMoscowin the Paleontological Institute, the last 13 years of his life he taught at the geological faculty ofLeningradstate university.

The oldest representative of the family Austropanorpidae (Mecoptera) from the Lower Jurassic of Siberia

ABSTRACTThe family Austropanorpidae (Mecoptera) was described by Willmann in 1977 from the Eocene of Australia, based on one genus and species, Austropanorpa australis Riek, 1952. During a restudy of the collection of the Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, a second and much older representative of this family was found. This specimen, described as Orthophlebia martynovae Sukatsheva, 1985 from Siberia (Russia), was considered until now to be a member of family Orthophlebiidae. We transfer this species to the Austropanorpidae, extending the age of this family back to the Early Jurassic. An updated diagnoses of the family Austropanorpidae and genus Austropanorpa are presented here.

New data on Carboniferous crinoids from the Moscow Region*

Despite more than 150 years of study of crinoids from the Moscow Region there are numerous undescribed taxa from well-known localities as well as others from poorly known localities. In recent years, through the acquisition of new collections as well as new discoveries, the holdings of Carboniferous crinoids of the Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Science have been greatly increased. This has allowed a more detailed study of the faunas, which is in pro­gress. Among the crinoids in the collection there are representatives of the family Pirasocrinidae Moore & Laudon, 1943, that are abundant in the Pennsylvanian of the USA, and previously unknown in the Carboniferous of the Moscow Region, as well as representatives of the genera Allosocrinus Strimple, 1949, Cibolocrinus Weller, 1909 and Elibatocrinus Moore, 1940, also previously unknown in the Moscow Region. There is also the first recognized Pennsylvanian member of the family Taxocrinidae Angelin, 1878. The stratigraphic distribution of the most common crinoids from the Carboniferous of the Moscow Region is compiled. The crinoid faunas that characterize the Upper Carboniferous Substages are described. They are represented by at least four crinoid faunas (Myachkovian, Khamovnikian, Dobryatinian and Noginskian) which are named respectively for the Substages name. The most typical crinoids of these faunas are mentioned, including unde­scribed forms. All previously described valid species of crinoids from the Carboniferous of the Moscow Region are listed.