An Early Permian brachiopod–gastropod fauna from the Calytrix Formation,Barbwire Terrace,Canning Basin,Western Australia

Taboada, A.C., Mory, A.J., Shi, G.R., Haig, D.W. & Pinilla, M.K., 12.11.2014. An Early Permian brachiopod–gastropod fauna from the Calytrix Formation, Barbwire Terrace, Canning Basin, Western Australia. Alcheringa 39, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518

A small brachiopod–gastropod fauna from a core close to the base of the Calytrix Formation within the Grant Group includes the brachiopods Altiplecus decipiens (Hosking), Myodelthyrium dickinsi (Thomas), Brachythyrinella narsarhensis (Reed), Neochonetes (Sommeriella) obrieni Archbold, Tivertonia barbwirensis sp. nov. and the gastropod Peruvispira canningensis sp. nov. The fauna has affinities with that of the late Sakmarian?early Artinskian Nura Nura Member directly overlying the Grant Group in other parts of the basin but, as with all lower Cisuralian (and Pennsylvanian) glacial strata in Western Australia, its precise age remains poorly constrained, especially in terms of correlation to international stages. Although the Calytrix fauna lies within the Pseudoreticulatispora confluens Palynozone, the only real constraint on its age (and that of the associated glacially influenced strata) is from Sakmarian (Sterlitamakian) and stratigraphically younger faunas. A brief review of radiometric ages from correlative strata elsewhere in Gondwana shows that those ages need to be updated. The presence of Asselian strata and the position of the Carboniferous?Permian boundary remain unclear in Western Australia.

Arturo César Taboada [ataboada@unpata.edu.ar], CONICET-Laboratorio de Investigaciones en Evolución y Biodiversidad (LIEB), Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Sede Esquel, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia ‘San Juan Bosco’, Edificio de Aulas, Ruta Nacional 259, km. 16,5, Esquel U9200, Chubut, Argentina; Arthur Mory [arthur.mory@dmp.wa.gov.au], Geological Survey of Western Australia, 100 Plain Street, East Perth, WA 6004, School of Earth and Environment, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; Guang R. Shi [grshi@deakin.edu.au], School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Melbourne Burwood Campus, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia; David W. Haig [david.haig@uwa.edu.au], School of Earth and Environment (M004), The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; María Karina Pinilla [mkpinilla@fcnym.unlp.edu.ar], División Paleozoología Invertebrados, Museo de Ciencias Naturales de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n, 1900 La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina.     

Trace fossils on penguin bones from the Miocene of Chubut,southern Argentina

Several traces of biological interaction were found on penguin bones from the basal levels (Aquitanian) of the Miocene Gaiman Formation in the lower Chubut valley of the Provincia del Chubut, Argentina. The fossil-bearing beds were deposited in littoral to sublittoral environments within sediments of mostly pyroclastic origin. We interpret many traces to have been produced by predators and/or scavengers while the penguins were still in a breeding area. Many bones show cracking marks due to aerial exposure. The material is disarticulated as is usual in recent breeding areas. Potential predators were coeval terrestrial mammals, most probably marsupial carnivores. After a marine transgression, these bones were buried or exposed on the sea bottom where they could be colonized by algae, sponges, cnidarians, and other benthic organisms. We identified sponge borings in several bones. Other traces are interpreted to have been produced by echinoderms feeding on sponges or algae. No evidence of other invertebrate predators such as muricid or naticid gastropods, or decapods was found. Finally, other traces appear to have been generated by shark and possibly teleostean vertebrates feeding on epibionts. One coracoid is interpreted to have been marked by a shark that is common in the Gaiman Formation, the carcharhiniform Galeocerdo aduncus. From an ethological (Seilacherian) classification, traces on bones from the Gaiman Formation include Domichnia (sponge perforations), Praedichnia (terrestrial marsupials, sharks, teleosteans) and Pasichnia (echinoderms). Remarkably, remains of marine organisms with skeletons made of calcium carbonate are very poorly preserved in the Gaiman Formation. Only large oysters, sparse shell fragments, skeletal moulds, and bioturbation is evident. The fossil assemblage is mainly composed of phosphatic (e.g. teeth, bones, crustacean parts) and siliceous (sponge spicules, diatoms) remains.     

The first fossil avian egg from Brazil

Marsola, J.C.A., Grellet-Tinner, G., Montefeltro, F.C., Sayão, J.M., Hsiou, A.S. & Langer, M.C., 2014. The first fossil avian egg from Brazil. Alcheringa 38, 563–567. ISSN 0311-5518.

In contrast to the rich record of eggs from non-avian dinosaurs, complete eggs attributable to Mesozoic birds are relatively scarce. Nevertheless, several well-preserved specimens have been discovered over the last three decades revealing functional and phylogenetic characters that shed light on the breeding strategies of extinct birds. Here we report the first fossil avian egg from Brazil, which was discovered in Upper Cretaceous strata of São Paulo in the southeastern part of the country. The taxonomic identity and structural features of the biomineralized tissues were determined using a combination of Scanning Electron Microscopy, Wave Dispersion Energy analyses and Computed Tomography. These show that the 125.5-μm-thick shell of the 31.4?×?19.5?mm egg incorporates three structural layers of similar thickness with both prismatic and aprismatic boundaries. Close similarity between the Brazilian bird egg and those of enantiornithines from the Upper Cretaceous Bajo de la Carpa Formation (Río Colorado Subgroup) of Argentina advocates affinity with basal Ornithothoraces. Furthermore, coherency of their depositional contexts might imply a compatible preference for breeding and nesting environments.

Júlio Cesar de A. Marsola [juliomarsola@gmail.com], Annie Schmaltz Hsiou [anniehsiou@ffclrp.usp.br] and Max C. Langer [mclanger@ffclrp.usp.br], Laboratório de Paleontologia de Ribeirão Preto, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida Bandeirantes 3900, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo state, 14040-901, Brazil. Gerald Grellet-Tinner [locarnolugano@gmail.com], Centro Regional de Investigaciones La Rioja—Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Entre Ríos y Mendoza s/n, 5301 Anillaco, Argentina; Orcas Island Museum, PO Box 134, 181 North Beach Road, Eastsound, WA 98245. Felipe C. Montefeltro [felipecmontefeltro@gmail.com], Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Avenida 24A 1515, Rio Claro, São Paulo State, 13506-900, Brazil. Juliana M. Sayão [jmsayao@gmail.com], Laboratório de Diversidade do Nordeste, Núcleo de Biologia, Centro Acadêmico de Vitória, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Rua do Alto do Reservatório s/n, Bela Vista, Vitória de Santo Antão, Pernambuco state, 52050-480, Brazil. Received 18.12.2013; revised 30.4.2014; accepted 18.5.2014.     

Utilizing U–Pb CA-TIMS dating to calibrate the Middle to Late Jurassic spore-pollen zonation of the Surat Basin,Australia to the geological time-scale

Wainman, C.C., Hannaford, C., Mantle, D. & McCabe, P.J., April.2018. Utilizing U–Pb CA-TIMS dating to calibrate the Middle to Late Jurassic spore-pollen zonation of the Surat Basin, Australia to the geological time-scale. Alcheringa XX, xx-xx.

Spore-pollen palynostratigraphy is commonly used to subdivide and correlate Jurassic continental successions in eastern Australia and thus aid the construction of geological models for the petroleum and coal industries. However, the current spore-pollen framework has only been tenuously calibrated to the geological time-scale. Age determinations are reliant on indirect correlations of ammonite and dinoflagellate assemblages from New Zealand, the North West Shelf of Australia and Southeast Asia to the standard European stages. New uranium-lead chemical abrasion thermal ionization mass spectrometry (U–Pb CA-TIMS) dates from 19 tuff beds in the Middle–Upper Jurassic Injune Creek Group of the Surat Basin enables regional spore-pollen palynostratigraphic zones to be precisely dated for the first time. These results show the base of the APJ4.2 and APJ4.3 subzones are similar in age to previous estimates (Middle Jurassic, Bathonian) from indirect palynostratigraphic correlation. However, the base of the APJ5 Zone and the APJ6.1 Subzone may be somewhat younger than previously estimated, possibly by as much as 2.5 and 4.2 Myrs, respectively. The continued utilization of U–Pb CA-TIMS dates will further refine the absolute ages of these zones, improve the inter- and intra-basinal correlation of Middle–Upper Jurassic strata in eastern Australian basins and greatly enhance intercontinental correlations.

Carmine Christopher Wainman [carmine.wainman@adelaide.edu.au] and Peter James McCabe [peter.mccabe@adelaide,edu.au] Australian School of Petroleum, University of Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia; Carey Hannaford [carey.hannaford@mgpalaeo.com.au] and Daniel Mantle [dan.mantle@mgpalaeo.com.au] MGPalaeo Pty Ltd, 5 Arvida Street, Malaga, WA, 6090, WA, Australia.     

Affinities and palaeobiogeographical significance of some Ordovician bivalves from East Yunnan,China

Comparisons of conodont and trilobite communities from the Arenig-Llanvirn of northern Spitsbergen show that both groups were influenced by the same environmental factors, related to a shallow to deep water profile at the western edge of the proto-Atlantic Ocean (Iapetus). The majority of both conodonts and trilobites had benthic or nektobenthic habits; a few genera of both groups were pelagic. Temperature was a major influence on the distribution of conodonts; similar genera could occur on both sides of ancient oceans (e.g. Iapetus) given the same temperature regime.     

Stromatolite recognition in ancient rocks: an appraisal of irregularly laminated structures in an Early Archaean chert-barite unit from North Pole,Western Australia

The word ‘stromatolite’ should only be applied to organosedimentary structures predominantly accreted by sediment trapping, binding and/or in situ precipitation as a result of the growth and metabolic activities of benthic, principally prokaryotic, micro-organisms. Structures of uncertain origin that resemble stromatolites should be called ‘stromatoloids’. This cautious approach would eliminate the currently common assumption that structures with mesoscopic morphological similarities to microbially accreted sedimentary structures must be biogenic, a misconception that hampers investigations into the antiquity of life.

A hierarchical series of meso- and microstructural attributes of stromatolites can be used to assign gradually increasing probabilities of biogenicity to stromatoloids. This method is particularly useful for interpreting ancient noncolumnar stromatoloids with poor microstructural preservation. In a range of Early Archaean pseudocolumnar, nodular and stratiform stromatoloids from North Pole studied using this method, none could be proved to be stromatolites and only a few are probable or possible stromatolites. As these stromatoloids closely resemble previously reported structures from North Pole interpreted as stromatolites, we consider that the evidence for the existence of life c. 3500 my ago at North Pole is less definitive than previously supposed.     

Antidote to Alienation: The Voluntary Association in the Work of Robert Nisbet

Abstract

The American sociologist Robert Nisbet argued that alienation was endemic in the modern world. He blamed processes of individualization and politicization where political power was utilized to separate individuals from intermediate associations. While Nisbet was accused of nostalgia for a lost past of medieval communalism, he pointed to the voluntary association as a source of community in the modern world. Using Nisbet's historical and sociological analysis, this article explains the phenomena of alienation in Nisbet's thought and argues that the voluntary association is capable of integrating individuals into meaningful communities.     

Communism,Heritage and Tourism in East Asia

This study examines the linkages which connect Communism, heritage and tourism with reference to selected East Asian states which are governed by Communist regimes or have recent experience of Communist rule. Aspects of the heritage of Communism are seen to be of interest to tourists, but related visitor attractions also have a wider social and political significance and illustrate how tourism can be employed as a hegemonic tool and propaganda vehicle. Heritage, including that of Communism itself, thus serves as economic, social and political capital within a Communist context where the defining characteristics of government give rise to a distinctive relationship between political systems, heritage and tourism.     

Our history is not false: perspectives from the revitalisation culture

Two dominant themes in architectural conservation doctrine are to (1) avoid the fabrication of ‘false’ histories through the clear differentiation of ‘new’ from ‘old’ building fabric; and (2) the deprecation of subjective ways in which the perception of building fabric engenders sense of place. This study explores the cultural values of a group of citizens engaged in revitalising their historic downtown through the ‘Main Street’ program in Anderson, South Carolina, United States. This ‘revitalisation culture’ values and promotes treatments to its historic environment that emphasise the conjectural fabrication of ‘historic’ elements to existing buildings and the use of historicised design for new, infill construction. Whilst these values go against the grain of conservation doctrine, the revitalisation culture is preserving a kind of authenticity that stems from socially and culturally constructed values in an effort to maintain the ability of the historic environment to engender ‘spontaneous fantasies’, which serve to emotionally attach the revitalisation culture with its historic downtown. Ultimately, the revitalisation culture is engaging in ‘unethical’ behaviour from the perspective of conservation professionals, which begs the question of whose values deserve attention and if the field of heritage conservation is able and willing to accept pluralistic concepts of how the authenticity of historic places can and should be conserved.