A new Miocene deep-sea chiton and early evidence for Teredinidae-sustained wood-fall communities

Deep-sea wood-falls are important biodiversity hot spots for insights on chemosynthesis-based communities. The study of deep-sea wood-fall-related palaeocommunities from the Neogene of north Italy shed light on interesting associations from the Miocene of Torrente Cinghio (Tortonian) and of Moncasale di Casina (Langhian). The most common components of this association are typical chemosynthetic/wood-fall molluscs, such as the gastropods Homalopoma sp. and Pseudonina bellardii, the bivalves Idas sp. and shipworms, and the chiton Leptochiton lignatilis n. sp., which belongs to a genus typical of recent sunken woods in tropical waters. The new species described is compared with other fossil and recent congeners, especially with those sharing the same kind of tegmental sculpture, fully covered with randomly or quincuncially arranged granules. An overview of the sunken wood-related chitons is provided. Surprisingly no taxa of the boring bivalves of the family Xylophagidae, whose species have been known to be fundamental for sustaining this kind of deep sea chemosynthetic ecosystem, were found in the studied site; however, other boring Teredinidae bivalves have been abundantly recovered. This suggests that, conversely to what has previously been observed on sunken wood communities, Teredinidae may be viewed as a counterpart for the maintenance of deep-sea wood-fall ecosystems

Intertidal chitons (Mollusca: Polyplacophora) from southern Madagascar

This paper focuses on five species of Polyplacophora (Mollusca) collected from Lavanono, southern Madagascar. Ischnochiton sirenkoi is described as a new species and is compared with the two Ischnochiton species known from Madagascar, I. yerburyi (E.A. Smith, 1891) and I. sansibarensis Thiele, 1909, and with all known Indian Ocean Ischnochiton species. Findings for the other species here discussed provide a significant extension of previously known geographical range. Chaetopleura chelazziana Ferreira, 1983 is reported for the first time in the chiton fauna of Madagascar. The taxonomic status of Callistochiton ashbyi (Barnard, 1963), previously considered a synonym of C. crosslandi Sykes, 1907, is discussed. This taxon, which was described from a unique intermediate valve from South Africa, is re-evaluated and recognized as a valid species, differing from C. crosslandi in several significant characters. We also present an unusual feature detected in almost all the specimens of Cryptoplax dupuisi Ashby, 1931, which are characterized by the absence of dorsal girdle spicules on the first four valves, a feature never reported in other chiton species. Type material of Callistochiton madagassicus Thiele, 1909, Chiton ashbyi (Barnard, 1963) is figured

Modeling ecohydrological dynamics of smallholder strategies for food production in dryland agricultural systems

In dryland environments, characterized by low and frequently variable rainfall, smallholder farmers must take crop water sensitivity into account along with other characteristics like seed availability and market price when deciding what to plant. In this paper we use the results of surveys conducted among smallholders located near Mount Kenya to identify clusters of farmers devoting different fractions of their land to subsistence and market crops. Additionally, we explore the tradeoffs between water-insensitive but low-value subsistence crops and a water-sensitive but high-value market crop using a numerical model that simulates soil moisture dynamics and crop production over multiple growing seasons. The cluster analysis shows that most farmers prefer to plant either only subsistence crops or only market crops, with a minority choosing to plant substantial fractions of both. The model output suggests that the value a farmer places on a successful growing season, a measure of risk aversion, plays a large role in whether the farmer chooses a subsistence or market crop strategy. Furthermore, access to irrigation, makes market crops more appealing, even to very risk-averse farmers. We then conclude that the observed clustering may result from different levels of risk aversion and access to irrigation

Lacuna ossea emorragica, descrizione di un casoSolitary bone cyst, a case report.

Lo scopo di questo lavoro è quello di descrivere un caso di una cisti ossea traumatica in un paziente di 11 anni. La lesione è stata diagnosticata dopo aver consigliato di eseguire una ortopantomografia di controllo. La sede di insorgenza della lesione è tra II premolare e I molare inferiori di sinistra,in contiguità con gli apici degli elementi dentari. Dalla visione dell’ OPT i denti in esame erano stati precedentemente devitalizzati, ciò faceva supporre una cisti radicolare, ma al momento dell’ atto chirurgico appariva una lesione,senza parete,contenente liquido ematico. Il capitolo delle lesioni ossee radiotrasparenti è alquanto vasto e solo un attento esame clinico,anamnestico ed istologico possono coadiuvarci nella giusta diagnosi

Middle Miocene conoidean gastropods from western Ukraine (Paratethys): Integrative taxonomy, palaeoclimatogical and palaeobiogeographical implications

The late Badenian (early Serravallian) conoideans from the Pidhirtsi Beds of western Ukraine (central Paratethys) have been investigated by means of a comprehensive and easy-to-perform morphometric approach, allowing the characterisation of eleven species, of which seven are new to science: Mangelia angulicosta sp. nov., M. larga sp. nov., M. pseudorugulosa sp. nov., M. odovychenae sp. nov., Bela varovtsiana sp. nov., Bela? robusta sp. nov., Pyrgocythara turrispiralata sp. nov. Additionally we also identified Raphitoma cf. R. ringicula, Andonia sp. aff. A. transsylvanica, Teretia cf. T. turritelloides, and Haedropleura sp. aff. H. septangularis. The relative high number of new species documented, relative to the total previously known from this stratigraphic interval, is interpreted as resulting mainly from combined methodological (dearth of taxonomic studies on Ukrainian conoideans) and environmental (high degree of habitat fragmentation in reef setting) factors. The conoideans documented herein add important information regarding palaeoclimaticalogical and palaeobiogeographical interpretations of the Serravallian Paratethys. The conoideans display strong affinity at the species level and complete overlap at the genus level with Neogene Proto-Mediterranean−Atlantic conoideans, thereby challenging the interpretation of late Badenian Paratethyan macrofaunal assemblage endemism. The lack of typical warm-water indicators (e.g., Conidae, Clavatulidae, or Pseudomelatomidae) within the studied material supports the interpretation that the fauna thrived during the late phase and/or soon after the Middle Miocene Climatic Transition (14.2−13.8 Ma)