Lepidopteris callipteroides,an earliest Triassic seed fern of the Sydney Basin,southeastern Australia

Earliest Triassic shales in the Coal Cliff Sandstone, Caley Formation, Widden Brook Conglomerate and Dooralong Shale (all basal Narrabeen Group) of the Sydney Basin contain a low diversity fossil flora that survived the greatest mass extinction of all time at the Permian-Triassic boundary. Only one species of seed fern is known from this flora and its affinities were unclear until discovery of its reproductive organs and complete large leaves. An ovuliferous reproductive organ, Peltaspermum townrovii sp. nov., can be attributed to the same plant as the leaves because of their identical stomatal apparatus, which is cyclocytic with papillae overhanging the stomatal pit. Polleniferous organs, Permotheca helbyi sp. nov., may have belonged to the same plant, but are only linked by evidence of association on the same bedding plane yielding no other gymnosperms. Pollen masses found within the polleniferous organ include grains identified as Falcisporites australis (de Jersey) Stevens (1981) when found dispersed. The leaves of this plant have long been enigmatic and attributed to ‘Thinnfeldia’ callipteroides or ‘Dicroidium’ callipteroides; however, these genera had very different cuticular structure. Reassessment of the frond architecture of this plant, based on a large, nearcomplete specimen together with information from cuticles and ovuliferous organs, allows reassignment to Lepidopteris callipteroides (Carpentier) comb. nov. The remarkable cuticle thickness, small stomatal size and low stomatal index of these leaves reflect a time of unusually high atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide. This plant was an invader of the Sydney Basin from northern Gondwana, spreading southward during the post-apocalyptic earliest Triassic greenhouse.     

A new crustacean clam shrimp (Spinicaudata: Eosestheriidae) from the Upper Triassic of Argentina and its importance for ‘conchostracan’ taxonomy

A new species of a fossil crustacean clam shrimp (Spinicaudata: Eosestheriidae) Menucoestheria wichmanni is described from the lower Upper Triassic Vera Formation (Los Menucos Complex) in Río Negro Province, southern Argentina. This discovery represents the first record of this family in the Triassic of Argentina and the southernmost record of South American Triassic ‘conchostracans’ (Spinicaudata). The new species shows close affinities with Middle Jurassic faunas from Antarctica and offers important data on the taxonomy (notably the use of ornamentation characters), palaeobiogeography (as South America hosts the oldest-known fossils of this family) and evolution of the Gondwanan faunas. Other South American eosestheriid species are tentatively recognized. Menucoestheria is hypothesized to be the ancestral form of the Triassic–Jurassic Gondwanan eosestheriids. Relationships between European and Gondwanan eosestheriids remain unresolved.     

Spiriferoidea (Brachiopoda) from the Early Permian Del Salto Formation of Argentina

The fossil lycopod Pleuromeia longicaulis (Burges) comb. nov. and its supposed cone Cyclostrobus sydneyensis (Walkom) Helby &; Martin 1965 are common in the Scythian to Anisian Garie and Newport Formations north of Sydney, N.S.W. P. longicaulis probably lived in extensive monodominant stands in the interdistributary bays of the ‘Gosford delta’ system, bordering a large coastal lagoon or lake. C. sydneyensis was borne as a single erect terminal cone. It was shed intact and may have floated some distance before breaking up and releasing its heterospores.

Austrostrobus ornatum Morbelli and Petriella 1973 from southern Patagonia is now included as a further species of Cyclostrobus.

The Pleuromeiaceae appear to have been facultative coastal halophytes. They probably originated in Eurasia and migrated along early Triassic shorelines, reaching eastern Australia by the mid-Scythian. The coastal habitat of the Pleuromeiaceae and other Triassic lycopods explains the biostratigraphic usefulness of the spores Aratrisporites spp., Nathorstisporites hopliticus Jung 1958, and Banksisporites pinguis (Harris) Dettmann 1961 compared with coexisting fully terrestrial fossil floras. These opportunistic lycopods appear to have expanded in times of recovery from global life crises.     

A new ‘bone-cracking’ dasyurid (marsupialia), from the Miocene of Riversleigh,northwestern Queensland

Ganbulanyi djadjinguli gen. et sp. nov. is described on the basis of an upper molar and premolar from an early-late Miocene site in Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland. The paucity of material constrains certainty in the determination of it's phylogenetic position. But, among dasyuromorphians, and dependent on the interpretation of tooth homology, this species shows unequivocal synapomorphies only with the derived dasyurine Sarcophilus, and/or Barinya wangala, a possible sister taxon to the modern dasyurid radiation (i.e., Sminthopsinae, Phascogalinae, Dasyurinae). Other apomorphies, evident in G. djadjinguli, are common to both carnivorous thylacinids and dasyurids within the order. Some dental features of Ganbulanyi djadjinguli are treated as adaptations to a ‘bone cracking’ habitus. If this interpretation is correct, then this species represents the only pre-Pliocene Australian taxon known to occupy such a niche and perhaps the smallest specialist ‘bone-cracker’ within Mammalia.     

A new Pliocene tree kangaroo species (Marsupialia,Macropodinae) from the Chinchilla Local Fauna,southeastern Queensland

A new species of very large tree kangaroo, Bohra wilkinsonorum, is described from a maxillary fragment from the Pliocene Chinchilla Sands of southeastern Queensland. Allocation to Bohra, which has previously been known from postcranial material only, is suggested on the basisof its similar size and stage of evolution to Bohra paulae. Both species of Bohra are plesiomorphic with respect to species of Dendrolagus, and are much larger than any known species of Dendrolagus. This new taxon from Chinchilla has expanded the tree kangaroo record from the Pliocene of southeastern Australia, supporting the hypothesis that the group originated in the late Miocene of ‘mainland’ Australia, finding refuge in north-eastern Queensland and New Guinea as climate became drier in the Quaternary. Fossil tree kangaroos are unknown from the Pliocene of Papua New Guinea where most living species now occur.     

A simple Bayesian approach to tree‐ring dating

Tree‐ring dating involves matching sequences of ring widths from undated timbers to dated sequences known as ‘master’ chronologies. Conventionally, the undated timbers (from a building or woodland) are sequentially matched against one another, using t‐tests to identify the relative offsets with the ‘best’ match, thus producing a ’site’ chronology. A date estimate is obtained when this is matched to a local master chronology of known calendar age. Many tree‐ring sequences in the UK produce rather low t‐values and are thus declared not to have a ‘best’ match to a master chronology. Motivated by this and the routine use of Bayesian statistical methods to provide a probabilistic approach to radiocarbon dating, this paper investigates the practicality of Bayesian dendrochronology. We explore a previously published model for the relationship between ring widths and the underlying climatic signal, implementing it within the Bayesian framework via a simulation‐based approach. Probabilities for a match at each offset are produced, removing the need to identify a single ‘best’ match. The Bayesian model proves successful at matching in both simulated and real examples.     

Phenology of Six Ficus L., Moraceae,Species and its Effects on Pollinator Survival,in Brisbane,Queensland, Australia

The biogeography and historical distribution of various plants often depend as much on the environmental tolerance of their pollinators as they do on the tolerance of the plant. A four year, phenological study of 35 trees from six Ficus species was carried out in Brisbane's Central Business District. The presence of syconia (figs) and their sexual phases was recorded monthly for each tree. All six species bore ‘female’ phase syconia randomly in any month. The presence of ‘male’ phase syconia was seasonal for Ficus benjamina, Ficus microcarpa and Ficus virens. It was less seasonal for Ficus obliqua and Ficus rubiginosa. Ficus macrophylla exhibited aseasonal distribution of ‘male’ phase syconia. Symbiont pollinator wasp mortality was the cause of the skew in the seasonal distribution of ‘male’ phase syconia. Ficus benjamina, F. microcarpa and F. virens seldom had ‘male’ and ‘female’ phase syconia concurrently on an individual tree, while F. macrophylla and F. obliqua often did. Ficus rubiginosa was intermediate between the two groups. Intra‐tree overlap of syconia in both sexual phases permits short dispersal flights by pollinators and is advantageous to their survival during the cooler months. The pollinators of F. benjamina, F. microcarpa and F. virens, historically tropical and tropical/subtropical species, are unlikely to establish in temperate areas due to high winter mortality rates. The other three Ficus species historically occurred in temperate climates and the pollinators of two, F. macrophylla and F. rubiginosa, are extending their range into temperate Australia and New Zealand. The pollination biology of Ficus spp. will thus be a determining factor in whether a species is able to naturalise or become invasive in a location that experiences a particular climate, or if it is safe to use as a horticultural amenity species.     

Explorations in Rome, 1871, 1872

The identification of an eighteenth-century plan and a set of nineteenth-century photographs, in conjunction with a new survey of its remains, has permitted the reinterpretation of an early eleventh-century building at Avranches, in the Département of Manche, Normandy. This has shown that it measured 37 m by at least 27 m, was at least 16 m high, and that it can be considered as a donjon or ‘keep’, or, as now more usually termed, a ‘tour maîtresse’ or ‘great tower’. The remains of the building and its interpretation are described, with the aid of plans and the key material referred to above. Among the largest ‘great towers’ known (at least in plan) and one of the three known pre-Conquest examples in the Duchy, it is of great significance to the rapidly advancing study of this class of building.     

First record of fossil woods from the Mariño Formation (Miocene), Mendoza,Argentina and their palaeobiogeographical implications

The first Miocene records of silicified fossil woods from the Mariño Formation, Potrerillos area, Andes Precordillera, Mendoza province, Argentina are described. Rhaphithamnoxylon artabeae gen. et sp. nov. is described as the first fossil wood referable to Verbenaceae from Argentina. This new fossil species is related to extant Rhaphithamnus Miers, sharing the following anatomical features: diffuse porosity, distinct growth ring boundaries, numerous small to very small vessels, commonly in radial multiples, 1–3 seriate rays, and heterocellular and scarce paratracheal axial parenchyma. Rhaphithamnus contains only two extant species: R. spinosus (A.L. Juss.) Moldenke, which occurs in the Valdivian forests of Chile and Argentina, and R. venustus (Philippi) Robinson, which is endemic to the Juan Fernández Islands. Representatives of Verbenaceae are distributed predominantly in the Americas from Patagonia (Argentina) to Canada, and they are inferred to have originated in South America. The fossil wood described herein provides new age and geographical constraints on the raphithanoid lineage within Verbenaceae. Other fossil woods recorded from the Mariño level are retained under open nomenclature, as they possess a combination of mostly solitary broad vessels, and smaller vessels in radial multiples or in clusters, with numerous, vasicentric to confluent axial parenchyma, and heterocellular, high rays. Thus, they have features akin to dicotyledonous lianas or vine-like or small shrub species.     

Cronies,economic crime and capitalism in Putin's sistema

The books included in this review article are essential for the understanding of what I call Putin's sistema—the governance model that originated in the Soviet system but has transformed and adapted to global change. Each book tackles, from a different angle, the issues of Russia's transition and suggests ways to describe its political consequences. The books all attempt to identify some underlying logic or organizing force in a Russian society that has emerged through weak institutions. Although I join the authors in their criticisms of the ‘transition paradigm’ and its ‘opening‐breakthrough‐consolidation of democracy’ formula, transformations of the Soviet sistema seem to resonate with the ‘opening‐breakthrough‐consolidation of capitalism’. Perestroika can be seen as an ‘opening’ in shaking the foundations of sistema; Yeltsin's era as a ‘breakthrough’; and Putin's regime as the ‘consolidation’ of capitalism but with its distinct characteristics.     

Nothofagus macrofossils from the Tertiary of Tasmania

Leaves assignable to Nothofagus from two fossil deposits in Tasmania represent the first macrofossils of this genus from the Tertiary in southeastern Australia. One fossil species, N. johnstonii, is closely related to the extant Australian species N. cunninghamii while the other fossil species, N. tasmanica, has very close affinites with the extant Australian species N. moorei. All four of these species are closely interrelated. The pollen type produced by the fossil species is unknown, since all three types are present in the microfloras. However, both N. cunninghamii and N. moorei produce N. menziesii-type pollen. The macrofossils confirm the conclusion from pollen studies that evolution in Nothofagus has occurred very slowly.     

‘GRANITO DEL FORO’ AND ‘GRANITO DI NICOTERA’: PETROGRAPHIC FEATURES AND ARCHAEOMETRIC PROBLEMS OWING TO SIMILAR APPEARANCE

Granitoid rocks were among the stone materials most frequently used for columns and pillars during the Roman period. When employed in Rome and the Mediterranean provinces, they were mainly quarried in Egypt, in Asia Minor and in Italy. Some of these rocks show very similar macroscopic features, so it is often very difficult to tell them apart with the naked eye. This is the case with the ‘Granito del Foro’ (or Marmor Claudianum), from the Gebel Fatireh, in the Eastern Desert, and the ‘Granito di Nicotera’ (Calabria), both exploited from the first century ad onwards. Both feature medium grain size and a white‐greyish colour with black patches. In order to obtain a certain microscopic and geochemical discrimination of these rocks, and to provide the first known petrographic classification of the ‘Granito di Nicotera’, a comprehensive mineralogical, petrographic and geochemical investigation was performed on several samples from the quarry. The results were compared with the corresponding data known for Marmor Claudianum in the literature. Good discrimination between the granites is possible, mainly on the basis of modal mineralogy and geochemical characteristics. The ‘Granito del Foro’ contains hornblende, while the ‘Granito di Nicotera’ contains muscovite, and has a distinctive peraluminous index and trace element abundances.     

The origin of rock boring in mytilacean pelecypods

Rock boring is a widespread mode of life in pelecypods, occurring in some representatives of eight superfamilies. After a brief review of rock boring mechanisms of the Mytilacea, the systematic position and taxonomy of Corallidomus scobina new name are discussed and evidence is presented for regarding this species as a facultative rock boring mytilacean pelecypod. This is the oldest known (Late Ordovician) occurrence of rock boring by pelecypods in the fossil record.     

Taxonomic status of the Eocene penguins Orthopteryx gigas Wiman, 1905 and Ichtyopteryx gracilis Wiman, 1905 from Antarctica

Traditionally, the systematics of the Seymour Island fossil penguins has been based on Wiman's groups defined by the robustness and size of isolated postcranial bones. However, current evaluations of fossil penguins necessitate that new species be established when the specimens include at least a tarsometatarsus or in some cases a humerus. Accordingly, neither of the two species reviewed herein (Orthopteryx gigas and Ichtyopteryx gracilis) are represented by remains sufficiently complete to validate a new taxon. Orthopteryx gigas is based on an isolated synsacrum lacking diagnostic characters. Ichtyopteryx gracilis is based on a tarsometatarsus but with insufficient preservational quality to justify discrimination of the species. For these reasons both Orthopteryx gigas and Ichtyopteryx gracilis should be considered nomen dubia.     

A new giant python from the Pliocene Bluff Downs Local Fauna of northeastern Queensland

Liasis dubudingala n. sp., described on the basis of isolated vertebrae from the Early Pliocene Bluff Downs Local Fauna, is the largest snake known from Australia. Dependance of vertebral proportions on intracolumnar position indicates that the fossil taxon can be excluded from the Morelia/Python clade. High neural spines suggest possible affinity with Liasis olivacea, whereas a posterior dentary fragment with small teeth is unlike L. olivacea and more similar to Liasis mackloti or species of Bothrochilus and Leiopython. As these extant species have all recently been treated as members of Liasis, the new species is assigned to that genus.     

Neosecoptera,a new insect suborder based on specimen discovered in the Late Carboniferous of Tasmania

Psychroptilus burrettae gen. et sp. nov., from the Late Carboniferous of Tasmania, combines characters of the insect orders Palaeodictyoptera and Megasecoptera. Psychroptilus is referred to the Megasecoptera because it lacks paratergal processes on the pronotum, and because its wing venation is simple, with reduced cross veins. However, its wings are not narrowed at their bases, but are as broad as those of the Palaeodictyoptera. It is placed in a new suborder of the Megasecoptera, the Neosecoptera. This suborder differs from the Suborders Eumegasecoptera and Protohymenoptera in having: 1, broad wings that are not narrowed at base; 2, the hind wing slightly broader than the fore wing; and 3, anal veins that all arise from close to the wing base. The insect is possibly the oldest recorded in the southern hemisphere although age determinations of this and the only other known probable Late Carboniferous species, Hadentomoides dwykensis Riek, are not precise. The inclusion of the insect fossil in varve-like sediments and the very few associated fossil species, are indicative of a very cold habitat either at or adjacent to the area producing the sediments. The great majority of insect fossils are associated with abundant plant remains or other fossils indicative of warm conditions in the area of sedimentation. None is recorded from an area apparently as cold as that under which Psychroptilus burrettae was preserved.     

Significance of new species of Cryptorhynchia (Brachiopoda) from the Middle Jurassic of Kutch,India

Cryptorhynchia is a brachiopod genus, until recently known only from the late Bathonian. Two new species C. karuna and C. jhooraensis are here described from the middle Bathonian at Kutch, western India and record the earliest known occurrences of the genus. They constitute ancestor-descendant lineages with the two existing younger species C. pulcherrima and C. rugosa respectively. Evolution in both cases shows ‘parallel’ trends and the descendants are scaled-down versions of their respective progenitors. Statistical analyses reveal that this evolutionary miniaturization involves allometry-induced heterochrony, especially progenesis, and is marked by a rapid speciation event compatible with the punctuational model. Evolution appears to be anagenetic and may be attributed to the unstable nature of environment where onshore innovation produced smaller descendants that adopted r-strategy. Facies distribution and functional morphology suggest that species of Cryptorhynchia were well adapted to shallow, unstable carbonate shelf. However, they disappeared suddenly at the Bathonian - Callovian boundary which was marked by a global transgression. The possible causal factors of their extinction may be the consequent changes in bathymetry and substrate condition.     

Growing Knowledge in Bolivip,Papua New Guinea

Knowledge practices in the Mountain Ok or Min area of Papua New Guinea have, since Fredrik Barth's pioneering Baktaman study, come to exemplify ‘secrecy’ in Melanesian ethnography and have consequently represented something of an enigma to anthropological interpretation. This paper reports research among the Angkaiyakmin of Bolivip village, Western Province, and addresses the problem posed by Min revelatory practices. The Barthian paradigm interprets awem as ‘secret knowledge’, and holds that revelations are restricted to infrequent performances of male initiation rituals which serve to manage the distribution of secrets exclusively among suitably qualified men. The Bolivip data, however, suggest that awem (glossed here as ‘important’) is more widely known, and conventionally revealed to women and junior initiates in hidden contexts. Through analysing the movements involved in composing efficacious forms by combining ‘halves' in Bolivip, and illustrating the comparison Angkaiyakmin draw between taro gardening and cult ritual, the paper argues for a reorientation of approaches to ‘secrecy’ and to conceptions of ‘knowledge’.