The Biased Language in Media Commentary at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games

This paper examines the media commentary at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. It focuses on the commentary of five sports: Women’s Snowboarding Halfpipe, Men’s Snowboarding Halfpipe, Individual Figure Skating, Pairs Figure Skating, and Curling. The goal of this paper is to study the language choices that the media commentators made and uncover the gender bias within their language. The differences in how the commentators discuss athletes is significant to understand because it reveals the overall gender bias in sports that is still present in our society today

MORPHOMETRIC APPROACH TO DETERMINATION OF LOWER JURASSIC SIPHOVALVULINID FORAMINIFERA

Siphovalvulina is among the first foraminifera that appear on carbonate platforms of the Lower Jurassic, forming a conspicuous element of low-diversity assemblages prior to recovery after the end-Triassic biotic crisis. The high morphologic variability of species of this genus is usually not documented, which makes the determination of species difficult and subjective. We demonstrate the variability in five morphotypes of Siphovalvulina in Sinemurian and Pliensbachian carbonate rocks from the Dinarides and the Southern Apennines. Due to the different interpretation of its architecture, an emendation of the genus Siphovalvulina is proposed. One morphotype has been left in open nomenclature and could belong to either S. variabilis Septfontaine or to S. beydouni BouDagher- Fadel & Noujaim Clark. Three morphotypes, differing in apical angle and/or size belong to S. ex gr. gibraltarensis BouDagher-Fadel, Rose, Bosence & Lord. We also describe a new genus and species, Radoicicina ciarapicae gen. n., n. sp. from the lower Sinemurian of the Southern Apennines. We suggest a close phylogenetic relationship between the two genera and introduce a new family, Siphovalvulinidae fam. n. of the superfamily Eggerelloidea

Paleocene orthophragminids from the Lakadong Limestone, Mawmluh Quarry section, Meghalaya (Shillong, NE India). Implications for the regional geology and paleobiogeography

The late Paleocene orthophragminids, hitherto poorly known from the Himalayan foreland basins, are studied from the Lakadong Limestone in Meghalaya, northeastern India, in order to establish a systematic, biostratigraphic, and paleobiogeographical framework for them in the eastern Tethys. In the Mawmluh Quarry section (MQS) on the Shillong Plateau, to the southeast of Tibet, orthophragminids are associated with typical Paleocene orbitoidiform taxa endemic to the Indian subcontinent, i.e., Lakadongia Matsumaru & Jauhri ( D Setia Ferràndez-Cañadell) and Orbitosiphon Rao, and various species of alveolinids, miscellaneids, and rotaliids, characterizing the Shallow Benthic Zones (SBZ) 3 and 4. The orthophragminids belong to two lineages of the genus Orbitoclypeus Silvestri: O. schopeni (Checchia-Rispoli) and O. multiplicatus (Gümbel), both well known from the peri-Mediterranean region and Europe (western Tethys). The latter species is identified here for the first time from the eastern Tethys. Previous records of the genus Discocyclina Gümbel from the Lakadong Limestone actually correspond to misidentified Orbitoclypeus; this implies that the late Paleocene orthophragminid assemblages from Meghalaya and eastern Tethys were less diverse than in the western Tethys. The lineage of Orbitoclypeus schopeni in the lower part of the Lakadong Limestone (SBZ 3) is identified as O. schopeni cf. ramaraoi based on the morphometry of a few specimens, whereas in the upper part (SBZ 4) it corresponds to a transitional development stage between O. schopeni ramaraoi and O. schopeni neumannae (with average Dmeanvalues ranging between 192 and 199 μ m). The embryon diameters of O. multiplicatus, recorded only in SBZ 4, range between 300 and 319 μ m on average, corresponding to transitional development stages of O. multiplicatus haymanaensis and O. multiplicatus multiplicatus. Our data, along with a review of previous Paleocene and Eocene records from India and Pakistan, suggest that Orbitoclypeus is the only orthophragminid in the Paleocene of the eastern Tethys, whereas Discocyclina first appears in early Eocene times, being mainly represented by endemic taxa confined to the Indian subcontinent. Facies change in the MQS from a marine to continental setting within SBZ 4 corresponds to the oldest record from the Indian plate in the Paleogene, which may be linked to the flexural uplift of the passive margin of the Indian plate, marking the onset of the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates

Deciphering voids in Dasycladales, the case of Dragastanella transylvanica, a new Lower Cretaceous triploporellacean genus and species from Romania

AbstractDragastanella transylvanica n. gen. n. sp. is described. Its calcified skeleton contains numerous voids, partly related to the molds of soft parts of the alga, but also related to lack of calcification. Interpretation of these voids, especially their attribution to original structures (e.g., primary lateral versus reproductive organ), has important implications for the taxonomic position of the alga, even at the family level. Examination of key sections that include the boundary between sterile and fertile parts of the alga excludes the occurrence of external reproductive organs. Unusual, paired pores in the outer part of the mineralized skeleton reflect an asymmetry within the whorl, excluding the presence of secondary laterals. The alga is characterized by a cylindrical to club-shaped thallus bearing only phloiophorous primary laterals arranged in whorls and flaring outwards, forming a cortex. Mineralized lenticular reproductive organs containing cysts set in the equatorial plane (Russoella-type gametophores) occur inside primary laterals (cladosporous arrangement of the reproductive organs). These characters support establishment of the new genus Dragastanella. Dragastanella transylvanica n. gen. n. sp. resembles species previously referred to Zittelina (Zittelina hispanica and Zittelina massei) and Triploporella (Triploporella matesina and Triploporella carpatica). Except for Triploporella carpatica, whose mineralized skeleton does not permit confident attribution to either Triploporella or Dragastanella n. gen., the other species must be ascribed to Dragastanella n. gen. Therefore, the following new combinations are proposed: Dragastanella hispanica n. comb., Dragastanella massei n. comb., and Dragastanella matesina n. comb. Despite widely overlapping biometrical measurements, these species can be differentiated by the size and location of their reproductive organs, the pattern of calcification around the primary laterals, and relationships among structural parameters such as the size of laterals, number of laterals per whorl, and distance between whorls

A new polyphysacean alga from the Miocene of Romania and its biomineralization

Polyphysacean algal fertile caps from the Sarmatian near Suceava (NE Romania) are here described as a new species, Acetabularia moldavica, ascribed to the extant genus Acetabularia due to the presence of both inferior and superior coronae. Gametangia are preserved and closely packed within the gametophore. The gametangium wall is strongly mineralized and SEM observations show acicular aragonite crystals arranged perpendicularly to the wall surface. The occurrence of mineralized cyst walls distinguishes the new species from the other three species ascribed to the genus Acetabularia, namely Acetabularia miocaenica, Acetabularia chiavonica, and Acetabularia transylvana. Cyst wall biomineralization in A. moldavica sp. nov., Chalmasia, and Halicoryne appears to assist in distinguishing taxa at species level but not at genus level. Four types of intracellular biomineralization can be recognized in polyphysaceans according to the mineralization of cyst walls and intergametangial spaces. The attribution of an extant species to a fossil genus and vice-versa can be problematic when the fossil consists of a mineralized spicule (intracellular biomineralization). Two contrasting examples are Acetabularia schenckii (extant species) assigned to the genus Acicularia (fossil), and Halicoryne morelleti (fossil species) referred to an extant genus (Halicoryne). When it is unclear whether fossil taxa possessed one or two coronae, the attribution of Cenozoic species to an extant genus appears speculative. Therefore, we support the view that the genus Acicularia should only be applied to fossil species. In addition, mineralized aggregates of cysts of Halicoryne morelleti should be distinguished from their possible extant counterparts (Chalmasia, Halicoryne, and Acetabularia) when coronal structures are not preserved. In the literature Halicoryne morelleti has been compared with the fossil genera Sedalanella and Ioanella. The first genus must be considered a junior synonym of Oroseina. A new interpretation of the genus Ioanella is supplied. The two layers of cysts of Ioanella conform poorly with the small ellipsoidal calcareous bodies of Halicoryne morelleti. Therefore, we propose the new genus Patruliuspora for Halicoryne morelleti

Petrascula iberica (DRAGASTAN & TRAPPE), Tersella genotii BARATTOLO & BIGOZZI, and the relationships of club-shaped dasycladalean algae during Late Triassic-Early Jurassic times

New observations on abundant material from the type locality of Petrascula iberica (DRAGASTAN & TRAPPE) GRANIER et al. reveal the presence of a reproductive structure (ampulla) located on the inner-middle part of each primary lateral. This fact suggests a new interpretation of the alga and the establishment of a new genus: Granieria BARATTOLO & ROMANO, n. gen. Also, the taxonomic status of the other club-shaped specimens from both the High and Middle Atlas of Morocco and the Central Apennines of Italy is reviewed

A new, fast method to search for morphological convergence with shape data

Morphological convergence is an intensely studied macroevolutionary phenomenon. It refers to the morphological resemblance between phylogenetically distant taxa. Currently available methods to explore evolutionary convergence either: rely on the analysis of the phenotypic resemblance between sister clades as compared to their ancestor, fit different evolutionary regimes to different parts of the tree to see whether the same regime explains phenotypic evolution in phylogenetically distant clades, or assess deviations from the congruence between phylogenetic and phenotypic distances. We introduce a new test for morphological convergence working directly with non-ultrametric (i.e. paleontological) as well as ultrametric phylogenies and multivariate data. The method (developed as the function search.conv within the R package RRphylo) tests whether unrelated clades are morphologically more similar to each other than expected by their phylogenetic distance. It additionally permits using known phenotypes as the most recent common ancestors of clades, taking full advantage of fossil information. We assessed the power of search.conv and the incidence of false positives by means of simulations, and then applied it to three well-known and long-discussed cases of (purported) morphological convergence: the evolution of grazing adaptation in the mandible of ungulates with high-crowned molars, the evolution of mandibular shape in sabertooth cats, and the evolution of discrete ecomorphs among anoles of Caribbean islands. The search.conv method was found to be powerful, correctly identifying simulated cases of convergent morphological evolution in 95% of the cases. Type I error rate is as low as 4-6%. We found search.conv is some three orders of magnitude faster than a competing method for testing convergence

Paleocene orthophragminids from the Lakadong Limestone, Mawmluh Quarry section, Meghalaya (Shillong, NE India): implications for the regional geology and paleobiogeography

The late Paleocene orthophragminids, hitherto poorly known from the Himalayan foreland basins, are studied from the Lakadong Limestone in Meghalaya, northeastern India, in order to establish a systematic, biostratigraphic, and paleobiogeographical framework for them in the eastern Tethys. In the Mawmluh Quarry section (MQS) on the Shillong Plateau, to the southeast of Tibet, orthophragminids are associated with typical Paleocene orbitoidiform taxa endemic to the Indian subcontinent, i.e., Lakadongia Matsumaru & Jauhri ( =  Setia Ferràndez-Cañadell) and Orbitosiphon Rao, and various species of alveolinids, miscellaneids, and rotaliids, characterizing the Shallow Benthic Zones (SBZ) 3 and 4. The orthophragminids belong to two lineages of the genus Orbitoclypeus Silvestri: O. schopeni (Checchia-Rispoli) and O. multiplicatus (Gümbel), both well known from the peri-Mediterranean region and Europe (western Tethys). The latter species is identified here for the first time from the eastern Tethys. Previous records of the genus Discocyclina Gümbel from the Lakadong Limestone actually correspond to misidentified Orbitoclypeus; this implies that the late Paleocene orthophragminid assemblages from Meghalaya and eastern Tethys were less diverse than in the western Tethys. The lineage of Orbitoclypeus schopeni in the lower part of the Lakadong Limestone (SBZ 3) is identified as O. schopeni cf. ramaraoi based on the morphometry of a few specimens, whereas in the upper part (SBZ 4) it corresponds to a transitional development stage between O. schopeni ramaraoi and O. schopeni neumannae (with average Dmean values ranging between 192 and 199 µm). The embryon diameters of O. multiplicatus, recorded only in SBZ 4, range between 300 and 319 µm on average, corresponding to transitional development stages of O. multiplicatus haymanaensis and O. multiplicatus multiplicatus. Our data, along with a review of previous Paleocene and Eocene records from India and Pakistan, suggest that Orbitoclypeus is the only orthophragminid in the Paleocene of the eastern Tethys, whereas Discocyclina first appears in early Eocene times, being mainly represented by endemic taxa confined to the Indian subcontinent. Facies change in the MQS from a marine to continental setting within SBZ 4 corresponds to the oldest record from the Indian plate in the Paleogene, which may be linked to the flexural uplift of the passive margin of the Indian plate, marking the onset of the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates

Fine-scale seabed habitats off Capri Island, southern Italy

Capri Island is located in the southern sector of the Bay of Naples at the eastern margin of the Tyrrhenian basin off Campania, southern Italy. A seabed area of the northern submerged flank of the island covering B13 km2 was mapped and sampled to characterize geomorphic features and benthic habitats at high resolution (1:5.000 scale). The investigated seabed includes the submerged areas near the island’s coastal cliffs and the offshore zone, up to a depth of 150 m. Morphology and substrate composition of the seabed were characterized using swath bathymetry and sidescan sonar imagery integrated with grab sampling, SCUBA diving, and towed video inspections. The seabed in the study area was characterized by suboutcropping rocky (limestone) areas with thin (,2 m) sediment cover. Geomorphic features included ledge, slope, terrace, and plain. Benthic environments were dominated by coarse biogenic sediments and carbonate buildups made by encrusting organisms (coralligenous bioconstructions), with soft sediments (sandy mud) occurring in water depths of more than 100 m. Seafloor vegetation (Posidonia oceanica) was locally identified alongshore at depth ranging from 5 to 30 m