Books Reviews

Books reviewed: Mladen Lazic (ed.), Protest in Belgrade – Winter of Discontent. Malcolm Anderson, States and Nationalism in Europe since 1945. Ida Blom, Karen Hagemann and Catherine Hall (eds.), Gendered Nations: Nationalisms and Gender Order in the Long Nineteenth Century. Stephen May, Language and Minority Rights: Ethnicity, Nationalism and the Politics of Language. Shari J. Cohen, Politics without a Past. The Absence of History in Postcommunist Nationalism. Alison Palmer, Colonial Genocide. Michael King, Moriori: a People Rediscovered Gurharpal Singh, Ethnic Conflict in India: a Case Study of Punjab. Crispin Bates (ed.), Community, Empire and Migration: South Asians in Diaspora. Yoram Hazony, The Jewish State. Yaacov Ro’i, Islam in the Soviet Union. From World War II to Gorbachev. Marta Dyczok, Ukraine. Movement without Change, Change without Movement. Neboj?a Popov (ed.), The Road to War in Serbi – Trauma and Catharsis. Ger Duijzings, Religion and the Politics of Identity in Kosovo. Julie A. Mertus, Kosovo – How Myths and Truths Started a War.     

Friends Farm: Australia’s First Quaker Commune

Australia has a long and rich history of religious groups trying to establish some sort of utopia by removing themselves from urban centres to rural idylls. The first of these was H errnhut, in western Victoria (1853–1889), and today there are many such as D anthonia B ruderhof and N ew G ovardhana, in NSW, C henrezig, in Queensland and R ocky C ape H utterites in Tasmania. While Quakers in the UK and USA have a tradition of forming rural communes starting from the seventeenth century, the first, and most important of such in Australia was F riends F arm, established in 1869 on what is now Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. This group was led by the charismatic Alfred Allen, a radical Quaker from Sydney. He believed that he had been reborn, held Christ within him, and had achieved sin‐free perfection. He was disowned, twice, by Sydney Quakers after when he led his small band of would‐be communards to the “wilderness” of Queensland where they sought to create a perfect society. Not surprisingly, it did not quite work out that way.     

Petroleum type determination through homogenization temperature and vapour volume fraction measurements in fluid inclusions

Physical parameters of petroleum‐bearing fluid inclusions such as bulk density (ρ), molar volume (V_m), vapour volume fraction (?_vap) and homogenization temperature (T_h) are essential information to model petroleum composition (x) in inclusions and to reconstruct palaeotemperature and palaeopressure of trapping. For the main petroleum types contained in a fluid inclusion, we can follow how ?_vap and T_h are simultaneously influenced by a change of bulk density in a ?_vap versus T_h projection. We have correlated T_h and ?_vap for different petroleum compositions for a large range of bulk density values. However, postentrapment events under new pressure (P) and temperature (T) conditions can greatly modify the initial fingerprints of physical conditions and chemical composition of fluid inclusions. Re‐equilibration is frequent, especially in the case of fragile minerals. Stretching and leakage phenomenon have been simulated using the Petroleum Inclusion Thermodynamics (pit ) software, from virtual petroleum inclusions with known hydrocarbon composition. The aim of these simulations is to understand how ?_vap and T_h evolve with these re‐equilibration phenomena, with respect to the oil composition. Results of stretching simulations show a characteristic increase of T_h and ?_vap along correlation curves, with the curve shape dependent on petroleum composition. Leakage simulations show an increase of T_h and a smaller increase or even a decrease in ?_vap. Consequently, the better preserved inclusions in a given population can be presumed to be those that have the lowest T_h. Applications of T_h and ?_vap measurements of natural inclusions in calcite and in quartz showed that the fragility of the host mineral is a key factor allowing the recording of post‐entrapment events. Inclusions that have stretched or leaked are identified and the best preserved inclusions selected for evaluation of P–T–x trapping conditions. Moreover, petroleum types trapped in inclusions can be identified from ?_vap and T_h measurements without compositional modelling.     

Book reviews

Abstract

Jonathan Derrick, Africa's ‘Agitators’: Militant Anti-Colonialism in Africa and the West, 1918–1939

Richard T. Reid, A History of Modern Africa: 1800 to the Present

Leo Zeilig, Patrice Lumumba: Africa's Lost Leader

Jay Straker, Youth, Nationalism and the Guinean Revolution

Philip Bonner, Amanda Esterhuysen and Trevor Jenkins (eds.), A Search for Origins: Science, History and South Africa's Cradle of Humankind

Pippa Green, Choice, not Fate. The Life and Times of Trevor Manuel

Peter Limb, Nelson Mandela. A Biography

Richard Calland, Anatomy of South Africa: Who Holds the Power?

Peter Harris, In a Different Time: The Inside Story of the Delmas Four

Zarina Maharaj, Dancing to a Different Rhythm: A Memoir

Peter Joyce, The Making of a Nation: South Africa's Road to Freedom

Richard Mendelsohn and Milton Shain, The Jews in South Africa: An Illustrated History

Paul Deléage, End of a Dynasty: The Last Days of the Prince Imperial, Zululand 1879

R. W. Johnson, South Africa's Brave New World: The Beloved Country since the End of Apartheid

Karen E. Flint, Healing Traditions: African Medicine, Cultural Exchange, and Competition in South Africa, 1820–1948

Gerald M. Oppenheimer and Ronald Bayer, Shattered Dreams? An Oral History of the South African AIDS Epidemic

Markku Hokkanen, Medicine and Scottish Missionaries in the Northern Malawi Region, 1875–1930: Quests for Health in a Colonial Society

Stephens Phatlane, Poverty, Medicine and Disease in South Africa: The Era of High Apartheid, 1948–1976

Y. G.-M. Lulat, United States Relations with South Africa. A Critical Overview from the Colonial Period to the Present

Celestine J. Pretorius (ed.), Op Trek: Die Daaglikse Lewe Tydens die Groot Trek     

THE PRIORITY OF LARGE CITIES IN ZIPF RANK-SIZE RULE SYSTEMS

The author seeks to establish possible reasons for differences in the rates of growth of towns within urban systems with rank-size regularities. It is shown that a system follows Zipf s law if the growth of population N _i of the towns of the system follows the regularity M(ΔN _i )/N _i ～ (In N _i - c) where M is the mathematical expectation, ΔN _i is an increment of Ni over a short period of time, ～ stands for “directly proportional,” and c is a constant.     

Conodonts and tabulate corals from the Upper Ordovician Angullong Formation of central New South Wales,Australia

Zhen, Y.Y., Wang, G.X. &; Percival, I.G., August 2016. Conodonts and tabulate corals from the Upper Ordovician Angullong Formation of central New South Wales, Australia. Alcheringa 41, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518.

The Angullong Formation is the youngest Ordovician unit exposed in the Cliefden Caves area of central New South Wales. Its maximum age is constrained by a Styracograptus uncinatus graptolite Biozone fauna at the very top of the underlying Malongulli Formation, but the few fossils previously reported from higher in the Angullong Formation are either long-ranging or poorly known. From allochthonous limestone clasts in the middle part of the formation, we document a conodont fauna comprising Aphelognathus grandis, A. solidum, Aphelognathus sp., Aphelognathus? sp., Belodina confluens, Drepanoistodus suberectus, Panderodus gracilis, Panderodus sp., Phragmodus undatus, Pseudobelodina inclinata and Pseudobelodina? sp. aff. P. obtusa, which supports correlation with the Aphelognathus grandis Biozone (late Katian) of the North American Midcontinent succession. The species concepts of Aphelognathus and Pseudobelodina are reviewed in detail. Associated corals are exclusively tabulates, dominated by agetolitids, including Agetolites angullongensis sp. nov., Heliolites orientalis, Hemiagetolites breviseptatus, Hemiagetolites sp. cf. H. spinimarginatus, Navoites sp. cf. N. circumflexa, Plasmoporella bacilliforma, P. marginata, Quepora sp. cf. Q. calamus and Sarcinula sp. Affinities of the coral fauna from the Angullong Formation are closer to faunas from northern NSW and northern Queensland than to the locally recognized Fauna III of late Eastonian age in central NSW. We propose a subdivision of Fauna III to account for this difference, with the late Katian Fauna IIIB characterized by the incoming of agetolitid corals. The currently known distribution of representatives of this group with adequate age constraints suggests that agetolitids possibly originated in North China, subsequently migrating to Tarim, South China and adjacent peri-Gondwanan terranes while also spreading eastward to northern Gondwana, where they progressively moved through eastern Australia to reach the central NSW region by the early Bolindian.

Yong Yi Zhen* (yong-yi.zhen@industry.nsw.gov.au) and Ian G. Percival (ian.percival@industry.nsw.gov.au), Geological Survey of New South Wales, W.B. Clarke Geoscience Centre, 947–953 Londonderry Road, Londonderry, NSW 2753, Australia; Guangxu Wang (gxwang@nigpas.ac.cn), State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, 39 East Beijing Road Nanjing 210008 PR China.     

AptŌΣ eΠiŌϒΣiŌΣ

In Polyb. 21,7,1–4 there are several words that are used in a particular sense not (clearly) accounted for in our dictionaries, notably LSJ. The words are: (1) πuρ?óρō?, device in the shape of a funnel used for throwing fire, (2) κημó?, receptacle in the shape ōι a funnel or basket used for throwing fire, fire‐basket, (3) αγκúλη, loop or case for fastening poles resembling bowsprits, (4) κōντó?, particular kind ōι bowsprit carrying a receptacle for fire (κημó?), (5) εμβōλń and παρεμβōλń, ramming through frontal, and front lateral, attack respectively, (6) εκταρ?ττōμαι, Med., stir violently and throw out.     

Ordovician stromatoporoids from Tasmania

The Hunter Siltstone near Grenfell, New South Wales, contains a rich Upper Devonian fish fauna including the sinolepid Grenfellaspis and the new antiarchs Bothriolepis grenfellensis sp. nov. and Remigolepis redcliffensis sp. nov. Bothriolepis grenfellensis sp. nov. is the first bothriolepid species described from N.S.W., and R. redcliffensis sp. nov. is the first species of Remigolepis described from Australia. Traditionally, the Hunter Siltstone was considered to be uppermost Famennian or earliest Carboniferous in age based on the presence of Grenfellaspis, and the related taxon Sinolepis, which is known from the Wutung and Sanmentan formations of southeastern China. However, available data indicates the Hunter Siltstone may be early Famennian in age. Ongoing work suggests that all Famennian Bothriolepis from N.S.W., including B. grenfellensis, possess a trifid preorbital recess, but differ in other aspects of headshield morphology. In North China, the Famennian Zhongning Formation contains six species of Remigolepis and a species of Sinolepis. However, R. redcliffensis does not show any similarity to these species beyond those of Remigolepis as a whole.     

Middle–Upper Jurassic marine gastropods from central Saudi Arabia

Ferrari, M., El-Hedeny, M., Zakhera, M., El-Sabbagh, A. & Al Farraj, S., May 2018. Middle?Upper Jurassic marine gastropods from central Saudi Arabia. Alcheringa.

A total of 68 gastropod specimens are reported from the Middle?Upper Jurassic sedimentary successions exposed at central Saudi Arabia. The studied material comes from the Tuwaiq Mountain and Hanifa formations at the Khashm al Qaddiyah, Dirab, Jabal al Abakkayn and Maáshabah sections. Thirteen species are identified, described and illustrated. Among them, a new Aporrhais species (A. sauditica sp. nov.) is introduced. In addition, two further possible new Pseudomelania species from the same strata are mentioned. Other members of the assemblage include Kosmomphalus? sp. aff. K. reticulatus Fischer, Bourguetia? sp. aff. B. saemanni (Oppel), Bourguetia? sp., Ampullospira sp., Globularia? sp. cf. G. bajociana Fischer, Purpuroidea sp. aff. P. glabra Morris and Lycett, Purpuroidea sp., Cossmannea sp. aff. C. desvoidyi (d’Orbigny), Cryptoplocus sp. aff. C. depressus (Voltz) and Actaeonina? sp. Stratigraphically, seven species of this gastropod assemblage were only reported from the Middle Jurassic, whereas the other six ones are extending from the Middle to the Upper Jurassic of the studied succession. As compared with their gastropod content, the Khashm al Qaddiyah represents the richest section (33 out of 68 specimens, 48.5%), whereas the Maáshabah section showed an impoverished gastropod assemblage (only three specimens, 4.4%). The species reported here show paleobiogeographical affinities with coeval gastropod assemblages from India, east Africa, Middle East (Israel, the Sinai of Egypt) and western Tethys. The identified species confirm three depositional settings: open shelf lagoon, shoal/fore-shoal and open marine environments. The lower degree of fragmentation, poor sorting and scarcity of abrasion indicate a parautochthonous faunal assemblage.

Mariel Ferrari [mferrari@cenpat-conicet.gob.ar] Instituto Patagónico de Geología y Paleontología (IPGP-CCT CONICET-CENPAT), Bvd. Brown 2915, U9120CD, Puerto Madryn?Chubut, Argentina; Magdy El-Hedeny* [mmelhedeny@gmail.com] Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21568, Egypt; Mohamed Zakhera? [zakhera40@yahoo.com] Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Aswan University, Aswan 81528, Egypt; Ahmed El-Sabbagh [ah.elsabbagh@gmail.com] Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21568, Egypt; Saleh Al Farraj [salfarraj@hotmail.com] College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 12371, Saudi Arabia. *Also affiliated with Deanship of Scientific Research, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia. ?Also affiliated with Vice Rectorate for Development and Quality, Najran University, Najran 11001, Saudi Arabia.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed: Walter Carlsnaes, Thomas Risse and Beth A. Simmons, Handbook of International Relations. Richard Shapcott, Justice, community, and dialogue in International Relations. Arthur Lupia, Matthew D. McCubbins and Samuel L. Popkin, Elements of reason: cognition, choice and the bounds of rationality. Daniel C. Thomas, The Helsinki effect: international norms, human rights, and the demise of communism. Karen E. Smith and Margot Light, Ethics and foreign policy. John H. Jackson, The jurisprudence of GATT and the WTO: insights on treaty law and economic relations. Peter Ronayne, Never again?: the United States and the prevention and punishment of genocide since the Holocaust. Samantha Power, ‘A problem from hell’: America and the age of genocide. Michael Barnett, Eyewitness to a genocide: the United Nations and Rwanda. Ann Marie Clark, Diplomacy of conscience: Amnesty International and changing human rights norms. Sven Behrendt and Christian–Peter Hanelt, Bound to cooperate: Europe and the Middle East. William Brown, The European Union and Africa: the restructuring of north–south relations. Piero Gleijeses, Conflicting missions: Havana, Washington and Africa 1959–1976. Dennis Kux, The United States and Pakistan, 1947–2000: disenchanted allies. Ulrich Pfeil, Die DDR und der Westen: transnationale Beziehungen 1949–1989. Gregory Rattray, Strategic warfare in cyberspace. Adekeye Adebajo and Chandra Lekha Sriram, Managing armed conflicts in the 21st century. Louise Olsson and Torunn L. Tryggestad, Women and international peacekeeping. Caroline O. N. Moser and Fiona C. Clark, Victims, perpetrators or actors? Gender, armed conflict and political violence. Charles S. Cogan, The third option: the emancipation of European defense, 1989–2000. Kevin Wright, Arms control and security: the changing role of conventional arms control in Europe. Noam Chomsky and David Barsamian, Propaganda and the public mind. Dusan Kecmanovic, Ethnic times: exploring ethnonationalism in the former Yugoslavia. Will Guy, Between past and future: the Roma of central and eastern Europe. Fred Myers, The empire of things: regimes of value and material culture. Jagdish Bhagwati, Free trade today. Peter A. Hall and David Soskice, Varieties of capitalism: the institutional foundations of comparative advantage. Alice H. Amsden, The rise of ‘the rest’: challenges to the west from late–industrializing economies. Garry P. Sampson, The role of the World Trade Organization in global governance. Bjorn Lomborg, The skeptical environmentalist: measuring the real state of the world. Jeanne X. Kasperson and Roger E. Kasperson, Global environmental risk. Neville Wylie, European neutrals and non–belligerents during the Second World War. Percy Cradock, Know your enemy: how the Joint Intelligence Committee saw the world 1945–1968. Peter Hennessy, The secret state: Whitehall and the Cold War. David P. Calleo, Rethinking Europe’s future. Larry Siedentop, Democracy in Europe. Martin A. Smith and Graham Timmins, Building a bigger Europe: EU and NATO enlargement in comparative perspective. Geoffrey Pridham and Attila Ágh, Prospects for democratic consolidation in East Central Europe. Saadia Touval, Mediation in the Yugoslav wars. Helga Haftendorn, Deutsche Aussenpolitik zwischen Selbstbeschränkung und Selbstbehauptung. Neil Robinson, Russia: a state of uncertainty. Yves Boyer and Isabelle Facon, La politique de sécurité de la Russie: entre continuityé et rupture. Harir Dekmejian and Hovann Simonian, The troubled waters: the geopolitics of the Caspian region. Geneive Abdo, No God but God: Egypt and the triumph of Islam. Richard B. Parker, The October War: a retrospective. Michael Schatzberg, Political legitimacy in middle Africa: father, family, food. Goran Hyden, Dele Olowu and Okoth Ogendu, African perspectives on governance. Tunde Zack–Williams, Diane Frost and Alex Thomson, Africa in crisis: new challenges and possibilities. Mark Huband, The skull beneath the skin. Thomas Callaghy, Ronald Kassimir and Robert Latham, Intervention and transnationalism in Africa: global–local networks of power. J. Stephen Morrison and Jennifer Cooke, Africa policy in the Clinton years: critical choices for the Bush administration. Sara Berry, Chiefs know their boundaries: essays on property, power and the past in Asante, 1896–1996. Jim Broderick, Gary Burford and Gordon Freer, South Africa’s foreign policy: dilemmas of a new democracy. Korwa Gombe Adar and Rok Ajulu, Globalization and emerging trends in African states’ foreign policy–making processes: a comparative perspective of southern Africa. Chris Alden, Mozambique and the construction of the new African state: from negotiations to nation building. Rotimi T. Suberu, Federalism and ethnic conflict in Nigeria. Martin Meredith, Mugabe: power and plunder in Zimbabwe. Achille Mbembe, On the postcolony. Brian Raftopoulos and Lloyd Sachikonye, Striking back: the labour movement and the post–colonial state in Zimbabwe 1980–2000. Nicholas Lardy, Integrating China into the global economy. Thomas G. Moore, China and the world market: Chinese industry and international sources of reform in the post–Mao era. David M. Lampton, The making of Chinese foreign and security policy in the era of reform, 1978–2000. Chao Chien Min and B. Dickson, Remaking the Chinese state: strategies, society and security. Colin Mackerras, The new Cambridge handbook of contemporary China. Dawa Norbu, China’s Tibet policy. Julian Weiss, Tigers’ roar, Asia’s recovery and its impact. John Ravenhill, APEC and the construction of Pacific Rim regionalism. Edmund Terence Gomez, Political business in East Asia. Matthew Jones, Conflict and confrontation in South East Asia, 1961–1965: Britain, the United States, Indonesia and the creation of Malaysia. John Hilley, Malaysia: Mahathirism, hegemony and the New Opposition. Joseph S. Nye Jr, The paradox of American power: why the world’s only superpower can’t go it alone. Guy Poitras, Inventing North America: Canada, Mexico and the United States. Steven Casey, Cautious crusade: Franklin D. Roosevelt, American public opinion, and the war against Nazi Germany. Shawn J. Parry–Giles, The rhetorical presidency: propaganda and the Cold War, 1945–1955. Cecil V. Crabb Jr., Leila E. Sarieddine and Glenn J. Antizzo, Charting a new diplomatic course: alternative approaches to America’s post–Cold War foreign policy. H. Bruce Franklin, Vietnam and other American fantasies. Victor Bulmer–Thomas. Regional integration in Latin America and the Caribbean: the political economy of open regionalism. Antoni Estevadeordal and Carolyn Robert, Las Americas sin barreras: negociaciones comerciales de acceso a mercados. Eric Thomas Chester, Rag–tags, scum, riff–raff and Commies. Anthony Payne and Paul Sutton, Charting Caribbean development.     

Taxonomy and historical inertia: Clidastes (Squamata: Mosasauridae) as a case study of problematic paleobiological taxonomy

I review the taxonomic history of two problematic mosasaur species, Clidastes liodontus and Clidastes moorevillensis. The genus Clidastes is thought to represent an early radiation of a diverse clade known as the Mosasaurinae. However, most phylogenetic analyses recover the genus as paraphyletic with respect to more highly nested mosasaurines such as Mosasaurus, Prognathodon, and Globidens. The fragmentary holotype of Clidastes liodontus was never figured or fully described, and was destroyed in World War II. Over 20 years after destruction of the holotype, relatively complete specimens were referred to Clidastes liodontus based upon a single, variable character. Another taxon, originally designated Clidastes liodontus moorevillensis in a master’s thesis and then elevated to Clidastes moorevillensis in a separate dissertation, has never been formally described and lacks definitive diagnostic characters that differentiate it from the contemporary concept of Clidastes liodontus. Clidastes provides an excellent example of how historical inertia in taxonomic nomenclature can build over decades and skew our interpretations of the diversity, paleobiology, biogeography, and biostratigraphy of a taxon. Clidastes liodontus is a nomen dubium and Clidastes moorevillensis a nomen nudum. I recommend that both names be abandoned. Removal of those names frees us from a burdensome taxonomy and eliminates cognitive biases that hinder objective understanding and exploration of early-diverging mosasaurines, and is a necessary first step toward a taxonomic revision of the lineage(s) involved.     

Two new cowries (Gastropoda: Cypraeidae) from the middle Miocene of South Australia

Yates, A.M., December, 2008. Two new cowries (Gastropoda: Cypraeidae) from the middle Miocene of South Australia. Alcheringa 32, 353–364. ISSN 0311-5518.

The South Australian specimens of the cypraeids Umbilia leptorhyncha (McCoy, 1877) and Lyncina (Austrocypraea) contusa (McCoy, 1877) are re-examined. Umbilia caepa sp. nov. differs from U. leptorhyncha in its smaller size, more strongly pyriform shape, weaker and less extensive apertural dentition, plate-like columellar margin of the posterior canal and more extensive basal flanges. True U. leptorhyncha is also recorded from the Cadell Formation of South Australia, demonstrating that the two species were sympatric in the Murray Basin. The specimens originally referred to Cypraea contusa var. from the Cadell Formation have had a confusing taxonomic history and they are here named as a new species Lyncina (Austrocypraea) cadella sp. nov. The new species differs from true L. (A.) contusa in its smaller size, less extensive malleations of the dorsal surface, fewer apertural teeth and a projecting internal margin of the fossula. These two new species boost a small but growing list of species that were endemic to the Murray Basin during the middle Miocene.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Cristovam Buarque, The End of Economics? Ethics and the Disorder of Progress. Gautam Mathur, Economic Justice in a Free Society. Gerry Rodgers, Charles Gore and José B. Figueiredo (eds), Social Exclusion: Rhetoric, Reality, Responses. G. P. Chapman and M. Thompson (eds), Water and the Quest for Sustainable Development in the Ganges Valley. Krishna Bharadwaj, Accumulation, Exchange and Development: Essays on the Indian Economy. Willem van Schendel, Reviving a Rural Industry. Silk Producers and Officials in India and Bangladesh 1880s to 1980s. Jennifer A. Widner (ed.), Economic Change and Political Liberalization in Sub-Saharan Africa. Adebayo Adedeji (ed.), Africa Within the World: Beyond Dispossession and Dependence. Jomo K. S. (ed.), Industrialising Malaysia: Policy, Performance, Prospects. K. Saradamoni (ed.), Finding the Household: Conceptual and Methodological Issues. Md Anisur Rahman, People's Self-Development: Perspectives on Participatory Action Research. A Journey through Experience. Michael Painter and William H. Durham (eds), The Social Causes of Environmental Destruction in Latin America. Ilja A. Luciak, The Sandinista Legacy: Lessons from a Political Economy in Transition. Overseas Development Administration, A Guide to Social Analysis for Projects in Developing Countries. Heng-Kang Sang, Project Evaluation. Techniques and Practices for Developing Countries. Charles Stewart Goodwin, The Third World Century.     

Reassessment of the Silurian problematicum Rutgersella as another post-Ediacaran vendobiont

Retallack, G.J., 1.7.2015. Reassessment of the Silurian problematicum Rutgersella as another post-Ediacaran vendobiont. Alcheringa 39, 573–588. ISSN 0311-5518

Rutgersella is a problematic fossil from the early Silurian (Llandovery) Shawangunk Formation of New Jersey, at first interpreted as a jellyfish comparable with Ediacaran fossils, such as Dickinsonia. Three proposed species of Rutgersella from the same locality are here regarded as growth or reproductive variants of a single species, R. truexi. Sedimentary structures, associated trace fossils and petrographic examination now show that they were sessile organisms of intertidal mudflats. These fossils have been dismissed as pyrite suns, but thin-sections show that they were weakly pyritized, organic structures, with a quilted hollow internal structure, similar to Seilacher’s constructional and taxonomic concept of Vendobionta. As for Cambrian Swartpuntia, and Devonian Protonympha, Rutgersella may be a post-Ediacaran vendobiont. The biological affinities of Rutgersella are problematic, but are compared with coenocytic green algae, cellular slime moulds, puffball-like fungal fruiting bodies and foliose lichens.

Gregory J. Retallack [gregr@uoregon.edu], Department of Geological Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1272, USA.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed: Jenny, Edkins, Nalini, Persram and Veronique, Pin‐Fat, (ed.) Sovereignty and subjectivity Robert M. A., Crawford, Idealism and realism in International Relations: beyond the discipline Hazel, Smith, (ed.) Democracy and International Relations: critical theories/problematic practices Ian, Clark, Globalization and International Relations theory Nicholas J., Wheeler, Saving strangers: humanitarian intervention in international society Robert, Jackson, The global covenant: human conduct in a world of states Michael, Byers, (ed.) The role of law in international politics: essays in international relations and international law Rein, Müllerson, Ordering anarchy: international law in international society Thomas D., Grant, The recognition of states: law and practice in debate and evolution Boutros, Boutros‐Ghali, Unvanquished: a US–UN saga Edward, McWhinney, The United Nations and a new world order for a new millennium: self‐determination, state succession, and humanitarian intervention Sherman W., Garnett, (ed.) Rapprochement or rivalry? Russia–China relations in a changing Asia Maria do, Ceu Pinto, Political Islam and the United States: a study of US policy towards Islamist movements in the Middle East Fawaz A., Gerges, America and political Islam: clash of cultures or clash of interests? Michael, Cox, Adrian, Guelke and Fiona, Stephen, (ed.) A farewell to arms? From ‘long peace’ to long war in Northern Ireland John, Darby and Roger Mac, Ginty, (ed.) The management of peace processes Barbara F., Walter and Jack, Snyder, (ed.) Civil wars, insecurity and intervention David P., Auerswald, Disarmed democracies: domestic institutions and the use of force Robert, O'Neill and John, Baylis, (ed.) Alternative nuclear futures: the role of nuclear weapons in the post‐Cold War world Lisa A., Baglione, To agree or not to agree: leadership, bargaining and arms controls Andrew, Rojecki, Silencing the opposition: antinuclear movements and the media in the Cold War Christian, Joppke and Steven, Lukes, (ed.) Multicultural questions Robert K., Schaeffer, Severed states: dilemmas of democracy in a divided world James F., Hollifield and Calvin, Jillson, (ed.) Pathways to democracy: the political economy of democratic transitions Graeme, Gill, The dynamics of democratization: elites, civil society and the transition process Ted Robert, Gurr, People versus states: minorities at risk in the new century Karen, Armstrong, The battle for God: fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam Mark, Juergensmeyer, Terror in the mind of God: the global rise of religious violence John L., Esposito and Michael, Watson, (ed.) Religion and global order Ger, Duijzings, Religion and the politics of identity in Kosovo Mahmoud, Sadri and Ahmad, Sadri, (ed. and transl.) Reason, freedom, and democracy in Islam: essential writings of Abdolkarim Soroush Gary P., Sampson, Trade, environment and the WTO: the post‐Seattle agenda Gary P., Sampson and W. Bradnee, Chambers, (ed.) Trade, environment and the millennium Robert, Gilpin, The challenge of global capitalism: the world economy in the 21^st century Ngaire, Woods, (ed.) The political economy of globalization Thomas, Friedman, The Lexus and the olive tree R. J. Barry, Jones, The world turned upside down? Globalization and the future of the state Morris, Goldstein, Graciela L., Kaminsky and Carmen M., Reinhart, Assessing financial vulnerability: an early warning system for emerging markets Christopher L., Gilbert and David, Vines, (ed.) The World Bank: structure and policies Catherine L., Mann, Sue E., Eckert and Sarah Cleeland, Knight, Global electronic commerce: a policy primer Stephen G., Cecchetti, Hans, Genberg, John, Lipsky and Sushil, Wadhwani, Asset prices and central bank policy Ulrich, Bartsch and Benito, Müller with Asbjørn, Aaheim, Fossil fuels in a changing climate: impacts of the Kyoto Protocol and developing country participation Axel, Michaelowa and Michael, Dutschke, (ed.) Climate policy and development: flexible instruments and developing countries Matthew, Paterson, Understanding global environmental politics: domination, accumulation, resistance Martin H., Folly, Churchill, Whitehall and the Soviet Union, 1940–1945 Saul, Kelly and Anthony, Gorst, (ed.) Whitehall and the Suez crisis Scott, Lucas, Freedom's war: the US crusade against the Soviet Union 1945–56 Sergei N., Khrushchev, Nikita Khrushchev and the creation of a superpower Stephen, Twigge and Len, Scott, Planning Armageddon: Britain, the United States and the command of Western nuclear forces 1945–1964 Qiang, Zhai, China and the Vietnam wars, 1950–1975 Wolfgang, Wessels, Die Oeffnung des Staates: Modelle und Wirklichkeit grenzueberschreitender Verwaltungspraxis 1960–1995 Jonathan P. G., Bach, Between sovereignty and integration: German foreign policy and national identity after 1989 Emil J., Kirchner, (ed.) Decentralization and transition in the Visegrad: Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia Heinz, Kramer, A changing Turkey: the challenge to Europe and the United States Gráinne de, Búrca and Joanne, Scott, (ed.) Constitutional change in the EU: from uniformity to flexibility? Colin, Crouch, (ed.) After the euro: shaping institutions for governance in the wake of European Monetary Union Paul, Kubicek, Unbroken ties: the state, interest associations, and corporatism in post‐Soviet Ukraine Gordon B., Smith, (ed.) State‐building in Russia: the Yeltsin legacy and the challenge of the future Andrei, Shleifer and Daniel, Treisman, Without a map: political tactics and economic reform in Russia Greg, Austin and Alexey D., Muraviev, The armed forces of Russia in Asia Avi, Shlaim, The iron wall: Israel and the Arab world Mai, Yamani, Changed identities: the challenge of the new generation in Saudi Arabia Hilal, Khashan, Arabs at the crossroads: political identity and nationalism Neil, Quilliam, Syria and the New World Order Michael M., Gunter, The Kurdish predicament in Iraq: a political analysis Julian, May, (ed.) Poverty and inequality in South Africa: meeting the challenge Susan Collin, Marks, Watching the wind: conflict resolution during South Africa's transition to democracy Larry, Diamond and Mark F., Plattner, (ed.) Democratization in Africa Michela, Wrong, In the footsteps of Mr Kurtz: living on the brink of disaster in the Congo Roger, Tangri, The politics of patronage in Africa: parastatals, privatization and private enterprise Fátima Moura, Roque, Building peace in Angola: a political and economic vision Janet, MacGaffey and Rémy, Bazenguissa‐Ganga, Congo–Paris: transnational traders on the margins of the law Reinhard, Drifte, Japan's quest for a permanent Security Council seat: a matter of pride or justice? Gerald L., Curtis, The logic of Japanese politics: leaders, institutions and the limits of change Fred I., Greenstein, The presidential difference: leadership style from FDR to Clinton Rebecca K. C., Hersman, Friends and foes: how Congress and the President really make foreign policy Bill, Weinberg, Homage to Chiapas: the new indigenous struggles in Mexico Alison, Brysk, From tribal village to global village: Indian rights and international relations in Latin America Carmelo, Mesa‐Lago, with Alberto Arenas, de Mesa, Ivan, Brenes, Verónica, Montecinos and Mark, Samara, Market, socialist, and mixed economies: comparative policy and performance: Chile, Cuba, and Costa Rica     

Religion,secularisation and nationalism in Quebec and the Basque Country: a comparative approach

This article analyses the relationship between religion, secularisation and nationalism in Quebec and the Basque Country using a comparative approach. I will first outline the ethnic‐religious origin of these nationalist movements. Second, I will examine the extent to which the ‘new’ secular and violent nationalism (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna and Front de Libération du Québec) that emerged in the 1960s was fuelled in its origin by a transfer of sacrality. Third, I will address an aspect that has led some theorists to view religion and nationalism as analogous phenomena, in which nationalism is construed as a religion of blood sacrifice. Fourth, I will examine another aspect that leads to this view of religion and nationalism as analogous phenomena, as the latter also provides a framework of transcendent meaning through an imaginary of continuity between the different generations. The article concludes with a series of general considerations on the relations between nationalism, secularisation and religion.     

Miocene scleractinian corals from a mixed siliciclastic–carbonate system: Bakhtiari succession,Zagros Basin (central-western Iran)

Colonial scleractinian corals were sampled from three levels within a Miocene marine unit of the Bakhtiari succession, Zagros Basin, central-western Iran. The first two coral-bearing intervals, A and B, contain small-scale scattered colonies and show a poor coral diversity, whereas the third, consisting of a strongly lithified limestone package, reflects a well-developed biostromal framework with higher coral skeletal volume within the Bakhtiari succession. The Bakhtiari succession coral assemblages are characterized by Porites sp. cf. P. maigensis, Porites sp. cf. P. mancietensis, Porites sp. cf. P. collegniana, Tarbellastraea reussiana, Favia sp., Montastrea sp. cf. P. tchihatcheffi, Favites sp. cf. P. neugeboreni, Favites sp. cf. P. neuvillei, Agathiphyllia sp. and Acropora sp. Sedimentological and palaeontological data indicate that the depositional environment is consistent with a mixed carbonate–siliciclastic ramp that was gently deepening basinwards from the shoreline. The hemispherical and massive growth forms of colonies and sparse branching forms dominated the well-illuminated euphotic zone. Abundant domestone and dense pillarstone coral growth fabrics interdigitating with coarse-grained terrigenous sediments developed in the shallow inner ramp environment. Branching forms and meandroid branching colonies together with some massive forms mostly inhabited the low-energy conditions of the lower euphotic to oligophotic zones of the middle ramp. In the middle parts of the mixed carbonate–siliciclastic ramp, sparse pillarstone together with domestone comprises a mixstone coral growth fabric. Fluctuations in nutrient and clastic sediment input, salinity and the growth of red algae likely terminated coral growth.     

Systematic status of the Miocene darter ‘Liptornis’ hesternus Ameghino, 1895 (Aves,Suliformes, Anhingidae) from Patagonia,Argentina

Diederle, J.M., 1.8.2015. Systematic status of the Miocene darter ‘Liptornis’ hesternus Ameghino, 1895 (Aves, Suliformes, Anhingidae) from Patagonia, Argentina. Alcheringa 39, 589–594. ISSN 0311-5518.

Liptornis hesternus was established by Ameghino in the late 1800s on the basis of a cervical vertebra (NHMUK-A599) from the Santa Cruz Formation (Santacrucian, South American Land Mammal Age, early Miocene, Burdigalian Stage) of Patagonia, Argentina. Although taxonomic attributions were controversial, the specimen is now confidently assigned to Anhingidae. Recently, however, L. hesternus was designated a nomen dubium because of its uninformative diagnostic characters and apparent loss of the holotype. Nevertheless, NHMUK-A599 has been relocated and is redescribed here prompting referral to Anhinga. A combination of traits are shared with the extant Anhinga anhinga and A. melanogaster, and the material is dimensionally compatible with A. anhinga. The estimated body size of NHMUK-A599 would have been larger than A. minuta but less than A. grandis, A. subvolans, A. fraileyi and A. walterbolesi. Finally, Anhinga hesterna is considered valid and represents the stratigraphically oldest occurrence of the genus in South America and the southernmost yet recorded.

Juan M. Diederle [juandiederle@cicyttp.org.ar], Laboratorio de Paleontología de Vertebrados, Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción (CICYTTP-CONICET), Materi y España, E3105BWA Diamante, Entre Ríos, Argentina.     

Late Silurian pentameride brachiopods from Yass and Molong,New South Wales

The five known species of pentameride brachiopods from the Yass Syncline Ludlow (LateSilurian) succession, belonging to the superfamilies Pentameroidea, Gypiduloidea and Clorindoidea, are fully revised; no new species are recognised. The pentameroids Conchidium sp. cf. hospes and Aliconchidium yassi are confined to the Bowspring Limestone Member (Silverdale Formation). The gypiduloid Ascanigypa glabra and externally homeomorphic clorindoids Barrandina wilkinsoni and Clorinda minor replace them in the overlying Barrandella Shale Member, the last two extending into the Yarwood Siltstone Member (Black Bog Shale). Clorinda minor is also possibly present in the Rainbow Hill Member (Rosebank Shale). All except C. minor are uncommon to rare components of the Yass brachiopod fauna. Clorinda molongensis, a species of uncertain mid- to late Silurian age from the Molong Limestone, is also revised. Aliconchidium and Barrandina are known only from Yass, whereas Clorinda is cosmopolitan. Conchidium alsois widespread, but C. hospes is a species from the Prague Basin probably also known from the Urals and the Tien Shan. Ascanigypa is another Prague Basin taxon, recently recognised in Arctic Canada.