Cranial shape variation and phylogenetic relationships of extinct and extant Old World leaf-nosed bats

Wilson, L.A.B., Hand, S.J., López-Aguirre, C., Archer, M., Black, K.H., Beck, R.M.D., Armstrong, K.N. & Wroe, S., July 2016. Cranial shape variation and phylogenetic relationships of extinct and extant Old World leaf-nosed bats. Alcheringa 40, 509–524. ISSN 0311-5518

The leaf-nosed bats in Hipposideridae and Rhinonycteridae currently have an Old World tropical to subtropical distribution, with a fossil record extending back to the middle Eocene of Europe. The Riversleigh World Heritage fossil site in northwestern Queensland constitutes a particularly rich archive of faunal diversity for Old World leaf-nosed bats, having yielded more than 20 species. We used 2D geometric morphometrics to quantify cranial shape in hipposiderids and rhinonycterids, with the aim of referring unallocated fossil species, particularly from Riversleigh, to each family within a phylogenetic framework, and using a quantitative approach to reconstruct cranial shape for key clades in these Old World radiations. Our sample comprised 21 extant hipposiderids and rhinonycterids, 1 megadermatid and 1 rhinolophid, in which 31 landmarks were placed in lateral and ventral views, and five measurements were taken in dorsal view. The phylogeny used as the framework for this study was based on an analysis of 64 discrete morphological characters from the dentition, cranium and postcranium scored for 42 extant and fossil hipposiderids and rhinonycterids and five outgroup taxa (rhinolophids and megadermatids). The phylogenetic analysis was conducted using maximum parsimony, with relationships among selected extant taxa constrained to match the results of recent comprehensive molecular studies. Our phylogenetic results suggest that the Riversleigh leaf-nosed bats probably do not represent an endemic Australian radiation, with fossil species spread throughout the tree and several with sister-group relationships with non-Australian taxa. Discriminant analyses (DA) conducted separately on each dataset resulted in cross-validated classification success ranging from 61.9% for ventral landmarks to 71.4% for lateral landmarks. Classification of the original grouped cases resulted in success of 81% for each dataset. Of the eight fossil taxa included as unknowns in the DA, six were found to be assigned to the same group as recovered by the phylogenetic analysis. From our results, we assign the Riversleigh Miocene species Archerops annectens, Brachipposideros watsoni, Brevipalatus mcculloughi, Rhinonicteris tedfordi and Xenorhinos halli to Rhinonycteridae, and Riversleigha williamsi and Hipposideros bernardsigei to Hipposideridae. Our results support Pseudorhinolophus bouziguensis, from the early Miocene of Bouzigues in southern France, as belonging to Hipposideridae, and probably Hipposideros. The reconstructed ancestor of hipposiderids was distinguished from that of the rhinonycterids by having a shorter rostrum, and less of a distinction between the rostrum and braincase.

Laura A.B. Wilson [laura.wilson@unsw.edu.au], Suzanne J. Hand [s.hand@unsw.edu.au], Camilo López-Aguirre [c.lopez-aguirre@unsw.edu.au], Michael Archer [m.archer@unsw.edu.au] and Karen H. Black [k.black@unsw.edu.au], PANGEA Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052; Robin M.D. Beck [r.m.d.beck@salford.ac.uk], School of Environmental & Life Sciences, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT, UK; Kyle N. Armstrong* [kyle.armstrong@adelaide.edu.au], Department of Genetics and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia. *Also affiliated with South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia; Stephen Wroe [swroe@une.edu.au], School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351, Australia.     

The Bennachie Colony: A Nineteenth-Century Informal Community in Northeast Scotland

In this paper we explore the intertwined issues of improvement and community relations within the context of the Colony site, a nineteenth-century informal settlement in Scotland best known through caricatures of the poor and stereotypes of rural living. Drawing on a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research framework, a collaborative initiative involving academics and community researchers has begun rediscovering and rethinking the history of the Colony. Our investigations have established a rich and unexpected tapestry of life that played out at multiple scales of analysis according to a variety of issues. The settlement’s rise and fall was shaped by wider improvement processes impacting parts of Europe and beyond, but it is also an example of how outside influences were adopted locally, resisted and adapted; material conditions that played directly into the way community relations were themselves constituted. The lessons learned have implications for the archaeology of improvement and the study of informal communities on a global scale.     

Heat treatment in the South African Middle Stone Age: temperature induced transformations of silcrete and their technological implications

It was recently found that silcrete raw material was heat-treated during the South African Middle Stone Age (MSA) for altering its flaking properties. This finding led to hypotheses about the implications for the MSA hunter-gatherers such as the cost of thermal treatment in terms of investment and firewood. To date, these hypotheses lack a solid basis, for data on the thermal transformations of South African silcrete and, hence, the necessary heating procedure and heating environment, is missing. In order to produce such data, we conducted an experimental study within the framework of the Diepkloof project. This work is based on the petrographic, mineralogical and structural analysis of South African silcrete from the West Coast and its thermal transformations. Our results shed light on the nature of these transformations, the ideal heating temperatures and the tolerated heating speed. The processes occurring in silcrete are comparable to flint, i.e. the loss of chemically bound ‘water’ and the formation of new Si–O–Si bonds, but their intensity is less pronounced. Effective heating temperatures are significantly higher than for flint and the heating speed tolerated by South African silcrete is relatively fast. These findings imply that silcrete heat treatment cannot be directly compared with flint heat treatment. Unlike flint, heating silcrete does not require the setup of a dedicated heating environment and may have been performed in the same time as other fire related activities. This would represent only a minor supplementary investment in time and firewood. These results have broad implications for the discussion about technological evolution and the acquisition of specialised knowledge in the MSA.     

New material referable to Wakaleo (Marsupialia: Thylacoleonidae) from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area,northwestern Queensland: revising species boundaries and distributions in Oligo/Miocene marsupial lions

Gillespie, A.K., Archer, M., Hand, S.J. & Black, K.H., 2014. New material referable to Wakaleo (Marsupialia: Thylacoleonidae) from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland: revising species boundaries and distributions in Oligo/Miocene marsupial lions. Alcheringa 38, 513–527. ISSN 0311–5518.

New material of Wakaleo oldfieldi and W. vanderleueri from the Miocene freshwater limestones of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland, is described. This material includes the first known upper dentition of W. oldfieldi and dentaries of both species bearing the previously undescribed and morphologically distinct M₃. Previously, the two species were distinguished only by size differences in P3 and the size of P₃ relative to M1. Wakaleo oldfieldi exhibits a more plesiomorphic M₃ that retains a well-developed talonid basin in contrast to W. vanderleueri, which has lost this structure. The phyletic succession and geological occurrences of Wakaleo species make this genus an important taxon in biochronological analyses of Australian Cenozoic assemblages. At Riversleigh, W. oldfieldi is found in deposits allocated to Faunal Zone B and Faunal Zone C, which are regarded as early and middle Miocene in age, respectively. The presence of this species in the Kutjamarpu Local Fauna of central Australia suggests that fauna may be of a similar age. Broader faunal correlations have suggested Faunal Zone C correlates with the middle Miocene Bullock Creek Local Fauna, which contains the more derived W. vanderleueri. Based on stage-of-evolution arguments, W. oldfieldi should occur in older deposits than those yielding W. vanderleueri. The presence of both species of Wakaleo in Faunal Zone C assemblages at Riversleigh suggests that current presumptions about the contemporaneity of the many Faunal Zone C Sites should be examined more rigorously.

Anna K. Gillespie [a.gillespie@unsw.edu.au], Michael Archer [m.archer@unsw.edu.au], Suzanne J. Hand [s.hand@unsw.edu.au] and Karen H. Black [k.black@unsw.edu.au] School of Biological Earth and Environmental Science, UNSW 2052, Sydney, Australia. Received 3.1.2014, revised 21.2.2014, accepted 21.3.2014.     

The strath report: britain confronts the H‐Bomb, 1954–1955

Late in 1954, the British government convened a secret committee of civil servants to explore the implications of the hydrogen bomb for Britain in a nuclear war. Headed by William Strath, this small and secret cadre of experts thought through the destruction that would follow a thermonuclear attack on the UK. This paper examines the recently declassified “Strath Report” and its ramifications. Drawing on intelligence assessments, technical analysis and economic predictions, its conclusions were profoundly pessimistic. Its portrayal of widespread devastation and the likely collapse of civil society shocked politicians and government officials, and led not only to massive revisions in the UK's plans for war but to official attempts to suppress public discussion of thermonuclear weapons and civil defence.     

Introduction

Previous scholarly research has relied upon participant observation and indirect measures such as southern Democrats in positions of power to determine the presence and success of the Conservative Coalition in congressional committees. These measures are used in turn to ascertain the relationship between Conservative Coalition committee success and subsequent Conservative Coalition floor success. A more realistic measure of CC committee success, constructed from previously unavailable committee roll call votes, reveals the Conservative Coalition appears at approximately the same rate as it does on the floor and is slightly more successful in committee. A portion of the variation in the Conservative Coalition committee success rate is explained by a regression model utilizing a measure of CC committee strength and two measures of committee chair influence as independent variables. The analysis reveals the strongest predictor of CC committee success is the willingness of the chair to join the CC followed by the size of the coalition.