Range extension of the Melogale personata I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1831 (Mustelidae) in Nepal

Melogale personata I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1831, Large-toothed Ferret Badger (Mustelidae), is distributed from Nepal to Vietnam with very few records. It historically is known by only one recent sighting record from an unspeci-fied area of Nepal. The IUCN species distribution map shows this species in the Okhaldhunga District. We confirm the presence of M. personata in Nepal based on a sighting of a juvenile individual. This is the first record of this species from Syangja District, Nepal. The geographical range of this species is extended farther west in Nepal.

First occurrence of the giant shark Carcharocles megalodon (Agassiz, 1843) (Lamniformes; Otodontidae) at Buenos Aires Province, Argentina

Carcharocles megalodon is considered a macropredatory shark that inhabited the seas around the world from middle Miocene to late Pliocene. In Argentina, it has only been formally recorded at two localities. Here, we report the first record for this taxon in the Buenos Aires Province. This occurrence is based on an isolated tooth recovered on the beach at the Punta Médanos locality, which lacks clear stratigraphic context. Based on the regional geology, the specimen probably came from Pliocene beds. Its size indicates that it probably belongs to a juvenile individual. Keywords: Carcharocles megalodon, macropredatory shark, fossil teeth, Mar de Ajó.

The Early Permian Bolosaurid Eudibamus cursoris: Earliest Reptile to Combine Parasagittal Stride and Digitigrade Posture During Quadrupedal and Bipedal Locomotion

A comprehensive description of the holotype skeleton is presented here for the first time of the lower Permian (Artinskian) reptile Eudibamus cursoris from the Bromacker locality of Germany since the brief description of the holotype in 2000. The holotype is essentially complete and is the only known bolosaurid represented by a well-preserved articulated skeleton. Included in the description here is a superbly preserved, partial, articulated second specimen of E. cursoris discovered at the same locality that includes a short portion of the vertebral column associated with the pelvis and right hindlimb. Descriptions of the holotype and new specimen add substantially to features of the skull and postcranium that not only confirm a bolosaurid assignment, but also add significantly to an already long list of structural features supporting an ability unique among Paleozoic vertebrates to reach relatively high bipedal and quadrupedal running speeds employing a parasagittal stride and digitigrade stance with the limbs held in a near vertical posture. Structural differences between the two specimens are restricted to the tarsi and are attributed to different ontogenetic stages of ossification, with the holotype representing a more juvenile individual, and the larger second specimen representing a more mature animal.

The Iron Age Dogs from Alaybeyi Höyük, Eastern Anatolia

To date, little is known about the biological and cultural status of Iron Age dogs in Anatolia. Here, we present a zooarchaeological study of an assemblage of 143 Iron Age dog bones, including two dog skeletons, unearthed from the 2016 and 2017 salvage excavations at Alaybeyi Höyük, Eastern Anatolia. At least eight adults and one juvenile individual, along with a large number of miscellaneous specimens, were identified. The morphological status of the Alaybeyi dogs were primarily compared to previously published Iron Age dogs from Yoncatepe in Eastern Anatolia, and with the average mean of 18 modern dog breeds. Unlike in other Eastern Anatolian Iron Age sites, butcher marks were observed in some specimens, indicating at least occasional cynophagy at the site. Noticeable pathologies were found in about 5% of the sample, particularly pathologies of the oral cavity and dentitions, suggesting that some of the dogs at Alaybeyi Höyük might have been undernourished, had to live on solid food, and probably injured by humans. The results of this study reflect both the morphological and biological status of Alaybeyi dogs, as well as the Alaybeyi people’s attitudes toward dogs, adding vital information to the very limited archaeological knowledge of dogs in Anatolia.

Effets combinés des facteurs anthropiques et climatiques sur l’état des populations de trois espèces ligneuses vulnérables

Les facteurs climatiques et anthropiques sont à l’origine de la régression de la population de nombreuses espèces ligneuses en zone soudanienne. Anogeissus leiocarpa, Bombax costatum et Detarium microcarpum sont des espèces qui ont une importance socio-économique avérée et donc elles se révèlent être vulnérables. L’évaluation comparée de l’état des peuplements des trois espèces dans les aires protégées et non protégées suivant le gradient climatique permettra de disposer d’informations utiles pour leur gestion durable. La structure des populations a été évaluée à partir d’inventaires forestiers basés sur un échantillonnage aléatoire à travers des parcelles rectangulaires de 1000 m². Les individus dont le diamètre du tronc à 1,3 m de hauteur est supérieur ou égal à 5 cm ont été mesurés. La régénération (individus à D1,3 m < 5 cm) a été comptée par classe de hauteur dans des sous-placettes de 25 m². Les densités et les surfaces terrières des trois espèces varient significativement suivant le gradient de protection dans chaque secteur climatique. A. leiocarpa et D. microcarpum possèdent de bonnes structures démographiques dans les deux secteurs climatiques soudaniens, indépendamment du type d’utilisation de terres. Seule la densité de B. costatum montre une différence significative le long du gradient climatique entre les aires protégées. L’étude révèle l’importance des aires protégées dans la conservation de ces espèces vulnérables.Mots clés : Burkina Faso, zone soudanienne, aires protégées, aires non protégées, espèces vulnérables, conservation. Climate and land use types are mainly responsible for the decline of many woody species in Sudanian areas. Anogeissus leiocarpa, Bombax costatum and Detarium microcarpum are high-value but vulnerable species due to the anthropogenic pressure. The compared assessment of the state of the targeted species in the protected and unprotected areas along the climatic gradient will provide information that could help implementing sustainable management of these species. The population structures were evaluated from forest inventories based on a random sampling through rectangular plots of 1000 m². The adult individuals of each species with diameters ≥ 5 cm at 1.30 m of heigh were measured. The juvenile individual with diameters that were less than 5 cm were counted and classified into height classes within plots size of 25 m². The structural characteristic of the targeted species vary significantly between land uses within each climatic zone. A. leiocarpa and D. microcarpum showed a stable population structure between the two climatic sectors, irrespective of management regimes. Only density of B. costatum shows a significant difference in the PAs and along climatic gradient. The study reveals the importance of protected areas for these vulnerable species conservations.Keywords: Burkina Faso, Sudanian zone, protected areas, unprotected areas, vulnerable species, conservation.

New insights into the giant mustelids (Mammalia, Carnivora, Mustelidae) from Langebaanweg fossil site (West Coast Fossil Park, South Africa, early Pliocene)

Giant mustelids are a paraphyletic group of mustelids found in the Neogene of Eurasia, Africa and North America. Most are known largely from dental remains, with their postcranial skeleton mostly unknown. Here, we describe new craniodental and postcranial remains of the large lutrine Sivaonyx hendeyi and the leopard-size gulonine Plesiogulo aff. monspessulanus from the early Pliocene site Langebaanweg, South Africa. The new material of the endemic S. hendeyi, includes upper incisors and premolars, and fragmentary humerus, ulna and a complete astragalus. Its postcrania shares more traits with the living Aonyx capensis than the late Miocene Sivaonyx beyi from Chad. Sivaonyx hendeyi could therefore be tentatively interpreted as a relatively more aquatic taxon than the Chadian species, comparable to A. capensis. The new specimens of Plesiogulo comprise two edentulous maxillae, including one of a juvenile individual with incomplete decidual dentition, and a fragmentary forelimb of an adult individual. The new dental measurements point to this form being amongst the largest specimens of the genus. Both P3-4 differs from the very large species Plesiogulo botori from late Miocene of Kenya and Ethiopia. This confirms the existence of two distinct large species of Plesiogulo in Africa during the Mio/Pliocene, P. botori in the Late Miocene of Eastern Africa (6.1–5.5 Ma) and Plesiogulo aff. monspessulanus at the beginning of the Pliocene in southern Africa (5.2 Ma). Lastly, we report for the first time the presence of both Sivaonyx and Plesiogulo in MPPM and LQSM at Langebaanweg, suggesting that the differences observed from the locality may be produced by sedimentation or sampling biases instead of temporal replacement within the carnivoran guild.

DINAMIKA POPULASI ELANG JAWA (NISAETUS BARTELSI) DI KAWASAN CAGAR ALAM GUNUNG PICIS DAN CAGAR ALAM GUNUNG SIGOGOR

Javan Hawk-Eagle is one of priority species which is natural population need to increase 10 percent, so that BBKSDA East Java chooses the monitoring site to monitor this species dynamic population. The observations which conduct in Gunung Picis and Gunung Sigogor Nature Reserve Areas for seven days in every years on July-August since 2013 until 2018 shows that Javan Hawk-Eagle population in those areas has been increase. The population increase show by juvenile individual and finding the species in new locations.

The multimodality of the adolescents' personological profile in the context of the gender-role identity

The article deals with the analysis of the issue of the variability of the juveniles' personal development under the conditions of the modern socio-cultural space. It has been identified that the personological constructs of the transition-to-adulthood entities explicate the mental matrices of an individual's socialization in accordance with the cultural dimensions of the society. It has been found that the gender-role identity is a necessary indicator of the egalitarian consciousness of a transition-to-adulthood entity. The author regards the phenomenology of the gender-role identity as an integrative personological construct that determines a person's awareness of his/her belonging to a gender and the formatting of his/her life experience relative to his/herself. The sociocultural conditionality of the gender-role differences in the juveniles' behavior has been substantiated. The gender-role standards are defined in the article as typical patterns (models) of emotionally colored perceptions regarding feminine and masculine scenarios of behavior and personality traits. Based on the analysis of the empirical material, the article outlines the tendencies of the manifestation of the multimodality of gender-role concepts of resilience and the locus of control of a juvenile individual. The distinctive features of the development of the personal constructs of juveniles of different genders as a dimension of the integrative individual profile of a person during his/her transition to adulthood have been ascertained. Generalized statistically average results of the empirical measurement of the juvenile students' personal constructs are presented. It has been statistically corroborated that the constructs being researched of the subjective profile of an individual are formatted at the juvenile age, which exactly should be the object of corrective and preventive interventions in the dynamic context of the psychological support for the transition to adulthood. The results obtained substantially complement the materials presented by the scientific community regarding the trends in the conceptualization of indicators for the transition to adulthood of the present-day young people.

Reassessment of a juvenile Daspletosaurus from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada with implications for the identification of immature tyrannosaurids

Daspletosaurus is a large tyrannosaurine found in upper Campanian deposits of Alberta and Montana. Although several large subadult and adult individuals of this taxon are known, only one juvenile individual, TMP 1994.143.1, has been identified. This specimen has played a key role in the idea that juvenile tyrannosaurid individuals are difficult to differentiate among species. Here the taxonomic affinity of TMP 1994.143.1 is reassessed in light of a juvenile tyrannosaurine postorbital recently discovered in the Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta. Anatomical comparisons and phylogenetic analyses reveal that TMP 1994.143.1 is referable to the albertosaurine Gorgosaurus libratus, whereas the new postorbital belongs to a small juvenile Daspletosaurus. This taxonomic reassignment of TMP 1994.143.1 results in the juvenile ontogenetic stage of Daspletosaurus being known only from two isolated cranial elements. The new postorbital provides insights into early Daspletosaurus ontogeny, revealing that the cornual process developed earlier or faster than in other tyrannosaurids. Although some ontogenetic changes in the postorbital are found to be unique to Daspletosaurus, overall changes are most consistent with those of other large tyrannosaurines. Our results also show that diagnostic features develop early in ontogeny, such that juveniles of different tyrannosaurid species are easier to differentiate than previously thought.

A three-dimensional skeleton of Goniopholididae from the Late Jurassic of Portugal: implications for the Crocodylomorpha bracing system

We here describe an articulated partial skeleton of a small neosuchian crocodylomorph from the Lourinhã Formation (Late Jurassic, Portugal). The skeleton corresponds to the posterior region of the trunk and consists of dorsal, ventral and limb osteoderms, dorsal vertebrae, thoracic ribs and part of the left hindlimb. The paravertebral armour is composed of two rows of paired osteoderms with the lateral margins ventrally deflected and an anterior process for a ‘peg and groove’ articulation. We also compare its dermal armour with that of several Jurassic and Cretaceous neosuchian crocodylomorphs, establishing a detailed description of this type of osteoderms. These features are present in crocodylomorphs with a closed paravertebral armour bracing system. The exceptional 3D conservation of the specimen, and the performance of a micro-CT scan, allowed us to interpret the bracing system of this organism to assess if previous models were accurate. The characters observed in this specimen are congruent with Goniopholididae, a clade of large neosuchians abundant in most semi-aquatic ecosystems from the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of Laurasia. However, its small size, contrasted with the sizes observed in goniopholidids, left indeterminate whether it could have been a dwarf or juvenile individual. Future histological analyses could shed light on this.