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A new look at the Cretaceous Lamprey Mesomyzon Chang, Zhang & Miao, 2006 from the Jehol Biota

Geodiversitas 43 (23)

Lampreys, one of the remaining two living jawless vertebrates, carry great weight in the study of vertebrate evolution. They have a long history dating back to the Devonian but left a scarce fossil record. So far, only five unequivocal fossil lampreys have been described, of which four are Paleozoic. Mesomyzon Chang, Zhang & Miao, 2006, the only known Mesozoic lamprey bridging the Paleozoic and extant relatives, was originally considered similar in morphology and life history to modern forms. Although being repeatedly referred to in early vertebrate phylogeny, the morphology of Mesomyzon is far from adequately known.

Pliensbachian corals from the Western Tethys

Geodiversitas 43 (22)

Late Liassic in the Western Tethys has been the cradle of Middle and Late Jurassic diversity of corals. This is what revised and enhanced taxonomy of corals from Pliensbachian and Toarcian stages reveals. The current new taxonomic study of Pliensbachian corals describes 66 species distributed in 41 genera and 20 identified families. It includes four new genera: Podosmilia n. gen., Tubulosmilia n. gen., Prismastrea n. gen. and Spongiocoenia n. gen.; and 20 new species: Axosmilia amellagouensis n. sp., Apocladophyllia guigouensis n. sp., Coryphyllia bicuneiformis n. sp., Coryphyllia capillaria n. sp., Proleptophyllia calix n. sp., Proleptophyllia magna n. sp., Proleptophyllia subphaceloida n.

First report of diversity of Cyanobacteria of Broknes Peninsula of Larsemann Hills, East Antarctica

Cryptogamie, Algologie 42 (15)

A review of Combretum falcatum (Welw. ex Hiern) Jongkind (Combretaceae) and related species from Africa, including Combretum baldwinii Jongkind, sp. nov., from Nigeria

Adansonia 43 (22)

Several new Combretum Loefl. (Combretaceae) collections from Central Africa have revealed a taxonomical confusion in that genus. To correct these mistakes two species, C. pellegrinianum Exell and C. littoreum (Engler) Engler & Diels, are resurrected and one variety, Quisqualis falcata var. mussaendiflora (Engl. & Diels) Liben, is transferred again to species level as C. mussaendiflorum Engl. & Diels. The related Combretum baldwinii Jongkind, sp. nov. from Nigeria is here newly descibed.

A comparison of aleurone cells in centenarian African and contemporary barley seeds to identify the geographic origin

Comptes Rendus Palevol 20 (43)

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is one of the main domesticated cereals. For this reason, barley seeds have been found in numerous archaeological sites, and since the mid-19th century have been available in numerous natural museum collections. About a hundred years ago samples were collected in the African countries of Eritrea and Cyrenaica (now Libya), and have been preserved as ex-situ in the museum collection “L’Orientale” of the University of Naples. The varieties of contemporary barley selected for comparative analysis were grown in Tuscany and are used in the production of craft beer. To ascertain their vitality, the ancient and contemporary seeds were placed in Petri dishes to hydrate under a sterile hood at room temperature after a sterilization procedure.

When did roosters start singing at Arslantepe? A preliminary assessment of the presence and spread of Gallus gallus (Linnaeus, 1758) in Iron Age Eastern Anatolia

Anthropozoologica 56 (16)

Among the faunal remains brought to light in the recent Iron Age excavations at the site of Arslantepe (South-East Turkey), the discovery of the bones belonging to an adult rooster is of particular interest. The red junglefowl, Gallus gallus (Linnaeus, 1758), is not autochthonous of Anatolia; the species is native to and was originally domesticated in south-eastern Asia, reaching the Mesopotamian region only at the beginning of the 3^rd millennium BC. Throughout the Bronze Age and up to the beginning of the Iron Age the evidence of domestic junglefowl remains sporadic. However, from the second half of the 2^nd millennium BC onwards, findings became more consistent, allowing us to trace its spread and evolution.

Quels facteurs limitent l’installation d’une graminée pérenne dominante pour la restauration écologique des pelouses sèches méditerranéennes ?

Naturae 2021 (24)

Ramose false brome, Brachypodium retusum (Pers.) P. Beauv., is a perennial herbaceous species that dominates French dry Mediterranean grasslands. In the Crau plain (South-East of France), its spontaneous re-establishment is very low after human interventions involving soil disturbance contrary to studies from other regions. The major objective of this PhD thesis was to test different hypothesis potentially explaining the different colonisation patterns for improving the re-establishment of this species in future ecological restoration projects. We tested whether these different colonisation patterns are the result of genetic differentiation among populations. We further studied the adaptive differentiation of phenotypic traits to several environmental factors.

Catalogue of Cenozoic radiolarian genera (Class Polycystinea)

Geodiversitas 43 (21)

This catalogue provides the most complete and revised work of Cenozoic genera as of December 2019. It is the result of four exhausting years of collaborative work. The first radiolarian genus was described in 1834 by Meyen, so this revision covers 185 years of research on polycystine radiolarians. Additionally, it concludes a pharaonic research project on the taxonomy of all described genera of radiolarians that started fifteen years ago. The main objective was to provide radiolarian researchers with a modern and revised version of the Campbell’s work accessible to everyone in an open access journal.

Solanum pulneyensis Soosairaj, sp. nov. (Solanaceae) from Palani Hills National Park of Tamil Nadu, India

Adansonia 43 (21)

A new species, Solanum pulneyensis Soosairaj, sp. nov. (Solanaceae) is described from the woody savanna forest of Palani Hills National Park, Tamil Nadu, India. This species is unusual and special as it has subcapsular fruits unlike other Indian Solanum L. species that have berry fruits besides being entirely enclosed within persistent calyx as that of S. wightii Nees. A detailed morphological description with line drawings is provided here.

Caractérisation acoustique des différentes espèces du genre Phaneroptera Audinet-Serville, 1831 en Europe occidentale, et description d’une nouvelle espèce cryptique en France et en Espagne (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae, Phaneropterinae)

Zoosystema 43 (29)

The acoustic characteristics of the different species of the genus Phaneroptera Audinet-Serville, 1831 in Western Europe are described in detail on the basis of the analysis of numerous recordings made in France and Spain for several years. This work led to the discovery of a new cryptic species, Phaneroptera laticerca n. sp., identified on the basis of acoustic criteria, and described from France and Spain. The morphological description of this new species is completed by an analysis of the particularly complex male calling song.

New crustose lichens from a tropical coastal area in Paraná (Brazil)

Cryptogamie, Mycologie 42 (12)

Four new crustose lichens are described from the coastal area in Paraná (Brazil): Cryptothecia duplofluorescens Aptroot & M.F.Souza, sp. nov., Herpothallon purpureum Aptroot & M.F.Souza, sp. nov., Myriostigma xanthominiatum Aptroot & M.F.Souza, sp. nov., and Wirthiotrema xanthopustulatum Aptroot & M.F.Souza, sp. nov. In addition, a list is given of the 111 species that were newly recorded from the state, including nine species that are first records from Brazil. The significance of lichexanthone is discussed.