Porodica Nemesiidae (Arthropoda, Arachnida) u Hrvatskoj s naglaskom na rod Brachythele

S obzirom na jednu od glavnih podjela paukova, skupina Mygalomorphae je zbog njihove skrovitosti, endemičnosti te slabo diferenciranih determinacijskih struktura slabije istražena nego skupina Araneomorphae. Iako nisu toliko mnogobrojni i raznoliki poput Araneomorphae, Mygalomorphae mogu dati uvid u evolucijski razvoj paukova upravo zbog njihove endemičnosti i specifičnosti. Za razliku od Araneomorphae koji imaju dobro razvijene mehanizme rasprostranjivanja, Mygalomorphae ostaju ''zaključani'' u svom izvorištu, te su kao takvi mnogo značajniji za razumijevanje evolucije pauka. U ovom radu opisana je skupina Mygalomorphae te njena pojavnost u Hrvatskoj, zajedno sa problematikom oko njene filogenije te determinacije rodova koji su prisutni u Hrvatskoj.Regarding one of the main classifications of spiders, taxon Mygalomorphae has not been studied as its counterpart taxon Araneomorphae due to its reclusiveness, poor differentation of morphological characteristics and the fact that large number of Mygalomorphae species are endemic. Although they’re not as numerous or diverse in species as Araneomorphae, Mygalomorphae can give us insight into the evolution of spiders precisely because of their reclusiveness and uniqueness. While Araneomorphae have effective mechanisms for dispersal, Mygalomorphae spiders tend to be ‘’locked up’’ in their centers of origin, thus being more significant in overall understanding of spider evolution. This paper presents overview of the main Mygalomorphae characteristics, as well as Mygalomorphae species of Croatia, along with the issue of their phylogeny, and problems that arise with their determination

Porodica Nemesiidae (Arthropoda, Arachnida) u Hrvatskoj s naglaskom na rod Brachythele

S obzirom na jednu od glavnih podjela paukova, skupina Mygalomorphae je zbog njihove skrovitosti, endemičnosti te slabo diferenciranih determinacijskih struktura slabije istražena nego skupina Araneomorphae. Iako nisu toliko mnogobrojni i raznoliki poput Araneomorphae, Mygalomorphae mogu dati uvid u evolucijski razvoj paukova upravo zbog njihove endemičnosti i specifičnosti. Za razliku od Araneomorphae koji imaju dobro razvijene mehanizme rasprostranjivanja, Mygalomorphae ostaju ''zaključani'' u svom izvorištu, te su kao takvi mnogo značajniji za razumijevanje evolucije pauka. U ovom radu opisana je skupina Mygalomorphae te njena pojavnost u Hrvatskoj, zajedno sa problematikom oko njene filogenije te determinacije rodova koji su prisutni u Hrvatskoj.Regarding one of the main classifications of spiders, taxon Mygalomorphae has not been studied as its counterpart taxon Araneomorphae due to its reclusiveness, poor differentation of morphological characteristics and the fact that large number of Mygalomorphae species are endemic. Although they’re not as numerous or diverse in species as Araneomorphae, Mygalomorphae can give us insight into the evolution of spiders precisely because of their reclusiveness and uniqueness. While Araneomorphae have effective mechanisms for dispersal, Mygalomorphae spiders tend to be ‘’locked up’’ in their centers of origin, thus being more significant in overall understanding of spider evolution. This paper presents overview of the main Mygalomorphae characteristics, as well as Mygalomorphae species of Croatia, along with the issue of their phylogeny, and problems that arise with their determination

Porodica Nemesiidae (Arthropoda, Arachnida) u Hrvatskoj s naglaskom na rod Brachythele

S obzirom na jednu od glavnih podjela paukova, skupina Mygalomorphae je zbog njihove skrovitosti, endemičnosti te slabo diferenciranih determinacijskih struktura slabije istražena nego skupina Araneomorphae. Iako nisu toliko mnogobrojni i raznoliki poput Araneomorphae, Mygalomorphae mogu dati uvid u evolucijski razvoj paukova upravo zbog njihove endemičnosti i specifičnosti. Za razliku od Araneomorphae koji imaju dobro razvijene mehanizme rasprostranjivanja, Mygalomorphae ostaju ''zaključani'' u svom izvorištu, te su kao takvi mnogo značajniji za razumijevanje evolucije pauka. U ovom radu opisana je skupina Mygalomorphae te njena pojavnost u Hrvatskoj, zajedno sa problematikom oko njene filogenije te determinacije rodova koji su prisutni u Hrvatskoj.Regarding one of the main classifications of spiders, taxon Mygalomorphae has not been studied as its counterpart taxon Araneomorphae due to its reclusiveness, poor differentation of morphological characteristics and the fact that large number of Mygalomorphae species are endemic. Although they’re not as numerous or diverse in species as Araneomorphae, Mygalomorphae can give us insight into the evolution of spiders precisely because of their reclusiveness and uniqueness. While Araneomorphae have effective mechanisms for dispersal, Mygalomorphae spiders tend to be ‘’locked up’’ in their centers of origin, thus being more significant in overall understanding of spider evolution. This paper presents overview of the main Mygalomorphae characteristics, as well as Mygalomorphae species of Croatia, along with the issue of their phylogeny, and problems that arise with their determination

The global spread of misinformation on spiders

In the internet era, the digital architecture that keeps us connected and informed may also amplify the spread of misinformation. This problem is gaining global attention, as evidence accumulates that misinformation may interfere with democratic processes and undermine collective responses to environmental and health crises1,2. In an increasingly polluted information ecosystem, understanding the factors underlying the generation and spread of misinformation is becoming a pressing scientific and societal challenge3. Here, we studied the global spread of (mis-)information on spiders using a high-resolution global database of online newspaper articles on spider–human interactions, covering stories of spider–human encounters and biting events published from 2010–20204. We found that 47% of articles contained errors and 43% were sensationalist. Moreover, we show that the flow of spider-related news occurs within a highly interconnected global network and provide evidence that sensationalism is a key factor underlying the spread of misinformation

The global spread of misinformation on spiders

Non peer reviewe

Coastal Sea Level Monitoring in the Mediterranean and Black Seas

Spanning over a century, a traditional way to monitor sea level variability by tide gauges is – in combination with modern observational techniques like satellite altimetry – an inevitable ingredient in sea level studies over the climate scales and in coastal seas. The development of the instrumentation, remote data acquisition, processing and archiving in last decades allowed for extending the applications towards a variety of users and coastal hazard managers. The Mediterranean and Black50 seas are an example for such a transition – while having a long tradition for sea level observations with several records spanning over a century, the number of modern tide gauge stations are growing rapidly, with data available both in real-time and as a research product at different time resolutions. As no comprehensive survey of the tide gauge networks has been carried out recently in these basins, the aim of this paper is to map the existing coastal sea level monitoring infrastructures and the respective data availability. The survey encompasses description of major monitoring networks in the Mediterranean and Black55 seas and their characteristics, including the type of sea level sensors, measuring resolutions, data availability and existence of ancillary measurements, altogether collecting information about 236 presently operational tide gauge stations. The availability of the Mediterranean and Black seas sea level data in the global and European sea level repositories has been also screened and classified following their sampling interval and level of quality-check, pointing to the necessity of harmonization of the data available with different metadata and series at different repositories. Finally, an assessment of the networks’ capabilities60 for their usage in different sea level applications has been done, with recommendations that might mitigate the bottlenecks and assure further development of the networks in a coordinated way, being that more necessary in the era of the human-induced climate changes and the sea level ris

An expert-curated global database of online newspaper articles on spiders and spider bites

Mass media plays an important role in the construction and circulation of risk perception associated with animals. Widely feared groups such as spiders frequently end up in the spotlight of traditional and social media. We compiled an expert-curated global database on the online newspaper coverage of human-spider encounters over the past ten years (2010–2020). This database includes information about the location of each human-spider encounter reported in the news article and a quantitative characterisation of the content—location, presence of photographs of spiders and bites, number and type of errors, consultation of experts, and a subjective assessment of sensationalism. In total, we collected 5348 unique news articles from 81 countries in 40 languages. The database refers to 211 identified and unidentified spider species and 2644 unique human-spider encounters (1121 bites and 147 as deadly bites). To facilitate data reuse, we explain the main caveats that need to be made when analysing this database and discuss research ideas and questions that can be explored with it. </p

The global spread of misinformation on spiders

In the internet era, the digital architecture that keeps us connected and informed may also amplify the spread of misinformation. This problem is gaining global attention, as evidence accumulates that misinformation may interfere with democratic processes and undermine collective responses to environmental and health crises. In an increasingly polluted information ecosystem, understanding the factors underlying the generation and spread of misinformation is becoming a pressing scientific and societal challenge. Here, we studied the global spread of (mis-)information on spiders using a high-resolution global database of online newspaper articles on spider–human interactions, covering stories of spider–human encounters and biting events published from 2010–2020. We found that 47% of articles contained errors and 43% were sensationalist. Moreover, we show that the flow of spider-related news occurs within a highly interconnected global network and provide evidence that sensationalism is a key factor underlying the spread of misinformation. </p

Species diversity of web spinning spiders (Arachnida, Araneae) in Zagreb urban areas

Širenje i ubrzanje urbanizacije dovodi do naglih promjena u okolišu koje mogu poremetiti uloge člankonožaca u njihovim ekološkim nišama. Pauci su dobar modelni organizam za proučavanje utjecaja urbanizacije na člankonošce jer na njihov razvoj mogu utjecati promjene u temperaturi, vegetaciji i dostupnosti plijena. Ciljevi ovog rada bili su: (i) utvrditi broj vrsta, raznolikost i gustoću populacija pauka koje pletu mreže u visoko urbanom okruženju, (ii) odrediti najčešće sinantropske vrste na istraživanim urbanim područjima, (iii) usporediti gustoću populacija pauka u urbanom okruženju i na području s minimalno antropogenog utjecaja, (iv) usporediti gustoću populacija vrste Nuctenea umbratica (Clerck, 1757) u urbanoj sredini te u onoj s minimalno antropogenog utjecaja. Na šest lokacija s tri različita tipa staništa (urbanim staništima, staništima u predgrađu i šumskim staništima) određeno je 30 vrsta pauka, a porodica Araneidae je pokazala najveću brojnost i broj vrsta. Najvećom brojnošću na urbanim staništima istaknula se vrsta N. umbratica. Povećanje brojnosti i broja vrsta zabilježeno je sa smanjenjem antropogenog utjecaja, gdje su urbana staništa pokazala najmanju brojnost i broj vrsta, a šumska najveću. Rezultati rada pružaju osnovu u razumijevanju utjecaja procesa urbanizacije na pauke na području grada Zagreba.The acceleration of urbanization processes leads to abrupt changes in the enviornment that can disrupt the roles of arthropods in their ecological niches. Spiders are a good model organism for studying the impact of urbanization because their development can be affected by changes in temperature, vegetation, and prey availability. The objectives of this study were: (i) to determine the number of web-building spider species, their diversity and density of their populations in urban environment. (ii) to identify the most common synanthropic species in the studied urban areas, (iii) to compare the density of spider populations in urban areas and areas with low impact of urbanization, (iv) determine population densities of Nuctenea umbratica (Clerck, 1757) in the urban areas and areas with low impact of urbanization. Spiders were collected at six locations with three different habitat types (urban habitats, suburban habitats, and forest habitats). A total of 30 spider species were identified, with Araneidae (orb-weaver spiders) showing the highest abundance and species numbers. N. umbratica stood out with the highest abundance. The increase in abundance and number of species was recorded with the decrease in urbanization. Urban habitats showed the lowest abundance and species number, while forest habitats had the highest abundance and species number. The results of this study provide a basis for understanding the impact that urbanization has on spiders in the Zagreb area