Occurrence of the Ordovician-type aglaspidid Tremaglaspis in the Cambrian Weeks Formation (Utah, USA)

The Guzhangian Weeks Formation preserves a diverse, yet virtually unstudied, non-trilobite arthropod fauna. Here we describe Tremaglaspis vanroyi sp. nov., the oldest representative of an enigmatic group of extinct arthropods, the Aglaspidida. Tremaglaspis was previously known from the Lower Ordovician and its morphology was regarded as particularly derived within the clade. Its occurrence in the Cambrian of Utah suggests that much of the early evolutionary history of the Aglaspidida remains unknown. A review of the environmental settings of previous aglaspidid findings suggests that these arthropods preferentially inhabited shallow-water environments, which may partially explain their limited fossil record

New multipodomerous appendages of stem-group euarthropods from the Cambrian (Stage 4) Guanshan Konservat-Lagerstätte.

Funder: Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard UniversityFunder: Herchel Smith Postdoctoral FellowshipStem-group euarthropods are important for understanding the early evolutionary and ecological history of the most species-rich animal phylum on Earth. Of particular interest are fossil taxa that occupy a phylogenetic position immediately crownwards of radiodonts, for this part of the euarthropod tree is associated with the appearance of several morphological features that characterize extant members of the group. Here, we report two new euarthropods from the Cambrian Stage 4 Guanshan Biota of South China. The fuxianhuiid Alacaris? sp. is represented by isolated appendages composed of a gnathobasic protopodite and an endite-bearing endopod of at least 20 podomeres. This material represents the youngest occurrence of the family Chengjiangocarididae, and its first record outside the Chengjiang and Xiaoshiba biotas. We also describe Lihuacaris ferox gen. et sp. nov. based on well-preserved and robust isolated appendages. Lihuacaris ferox exhibits an atypical combination of characters including an enlarged rectangular base, 11 endite-bearing podomeres and a hypertrophied distal element bearing 8-10 curved spines. Alacaris? sp. appendages display adaptations for macrophagy. Lihuacaris ferox appendages resemble the frontal appendages of radiodonts, as well as the post-oral endopods of chengjiangocaridid fuxianhuids and other deuteropods with well-documented raptorial/predatory habits. Lihuacaris ferox contributes towards the record of endemic biodiversity in the Guanshan Biota

Valor de la morfina liofilizada en la revascularización miocárdica

Introduction: epidural analgesia is a mainstay in cardiac surgery. Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the use of lyophilized morphine and epidural bupivacaine in postoperative analgesia of myocardial revascularization. Method: A comparative and prospective study was conducted in 160 patients. They were divided into two groups: group M received epidural analgesia with morphine (2 mg) associated with 100 mg of bupivacaine, and group B bupivacaine only. Results: there was a prevalence of males. The ages and the average weights of both groups were similar (p>0.05). In group M, 90% of patients had excellent analgesia eight hours after the intervention, and it was good to excellent after 12 and 24 hours. On the other hand, 50% of patients in group B talked of an average analgesia eight hours after the operation –which extended to 80% of patients after 12 hours– and, after 24 hours, all the patients in group B complained of an inadequate or poor analgesia (p0.05); el 90% de los enfermos del grupo M tenían una analgesia excelente ocho horas después de la intervención y entre buena y excelente a las 12 y 24 horas, mientras que el 50% de los pacientes del grupo B referían una analgesia regular a las ocho horas de operados -lo que se extendió al 80% de los enfermos a las 12 horas- y, a las 24 horas, la totalidad de los enfermos del grupo B se aquejaban de una analgesia insuficiente o mala (p<0.05); el promedio de analgesia postoperatoria obtenida del grupo M fue de 29,41 horas y del grupo B de 9,76 horas (p<0.01) y los principales efectos adversos fueron la hipotensión arterial y la bradicardia. Conclusiones: la morfina demostró su utilidad como agente analgésico en la operación de las arterias coronarias. Los pacientes con bupivacaína y morfina epidural tuvieron mejor analgesia con tiempos más prolongados que los tratados con bupivacaína

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

Appendicular anatomy of the artiopod Emeraldella brutoni from the middle Cambrian (Drumian) of western Utah

The non-biomineralized artiopod Emeraldella brutoni Stein, Church & Robison, from the middle Cambrian (Drumian) Wheeler Formation in Utah represents the only confirmed occurrence of the genus Emeraldella outside of the stratigraphically older (Wuliuan) Burgess Shale Konservat-Lagerstätte in British Columbia. The hitherto known sole specimen of this species is preserved in dorsal view and lacks critical information on the ventral appendages. Here, we redescribe E. brutoni based on a new completely articulated specimen that illustrates the appendage organization in exceptional detail. The main body consists of a cephalic region covered by a semicircular head shield, a trunk including 10 tergites with expanded pleurae plus a cylindrical terminal segment, and a long articulated tailspine. The head carries a pair of elongate and flexible antennae, a pair of lateral eyes, and three pairs of post-antennal appendages. We report the presence of eyes in Emeraldella for the first time. The first post-antennal limb solely consists of an endopod with well-developed paired spiniform endites. The remaining cephalic appendages and those associated with all but the last trunk segments possess exopods terminating in paddle-shaped, distal lobes fringed with robust setae. The cylindrical terminal segment bears a pair of posteriorly oriented caudal flaps reminiscent of trunk exopods, and a styliform, possibly uniarticulate tailspine longer than the main body. The new data on E. brutoni suggests an exopodal origin for the paired caudal structures in Vicissicaudata, and improve our understanding of the fundamental organization of this major clade within Artiopoda

Furongian (Jiangshanian) occurrences of radiodonts in Poland and South China and the fossil record of the Hurdiidae

The Furongian period represents an important gap in the fossil record of most groups of non-biomineralizing organisms, owing to a scarcity of Konservat-Lagerstätten of that age. The most significant of these deposits, the Jiangshanian strata of the Sandu Formation near Guole Township (Guangxi, South China), have yielded a moderately abundant, but taxonomically diverse soft-bodied fossil assemblage, which provides rare insights into the evolution of marine life at that time. In this contribution, we report the first discovery of a radiodont fossil from the Guole Konservat-Lagerstätte. The specimen is an incomplete frontal appendage of a possibly new representative of the family Hurdiidae. It is tentatively interpreted as composed of seven podomeres, six of which bearing laminiform endites. The best preserved of these endites is especially long, and it bears short auxiliary spines that greatly vary in size. This is the second occurrence of hurdiids and more generally radiodonts in the Furongian, the first being the external mould of an oral cone from Jiangshanian strata of the Wiśniówka Sandstone Formation in Poland. Restudy of this Polish specimen confirms that it belongs to a hurdiid radiodont and best compares to Peytoia. The family Hurdiidae includes the oldest (basal Cambrian Epoch 2) and youngest (Early Ordovician, possibly Early Devonian) representatives of the Radiodonta and as such, has the longest stratigraphical range of the group. Yet, hurdiids only became prominent components of marine ecosystems during the middle Cambrian (Miaolingian), and their fossil record in younger strata remains limited

The first aglaspidid sensu stricto from the Cambrian of China (Sandu Formation, Guangxi)

Aglaspidids represent an obscure group of lower Palaeozoic arthropods with a patchy biogeographic distribution. Before the recent description of a representative from Tasmania, these arthropods were exclusively known from Laurentia during the late Cambrian. Here we describe a new species, Aglaspella sanduensis sp. nov., from the Furongian of China, confirming that aglaspidids sensu stricto were already widely distributed worldwide by the late Cambrian; this demonstrates that some aglaspidids had great dispersal capabilities. A new diagnosis of the genus Aglaspella is proposed and the species formerly known as Aglaspella eatoni is assigned to a new taxon, Hesselbonia gen. nov