Cambios en la riqueza taxonómica y en las tasas de primera y última aparición de los Proterotheriidae (Mammalia, Litopterna) durante el Cenozoico

The Proterotheriidae have been recorded from Upper Paleocene until Holocene [«Land-mammal Ages» (= SALMAs) Itaboraian-Lujanian]. They are mainly braquiodonts, with cursorial habits, small to medium sized, and an early tendency toward the monodactily. The objectives of this paper are: 1) to analyze the changes in the diversity and faunistic exchange rates of these South American «ungulates» (at genus and species levels) throughout the biochron of the family; and 2) to relate these changes with the principal changes in climatic-environmental conditions. The results show that Proterotheriidae suffered marked changes in the generic and specific diversity during the Itaboraian-Lujanian SALMAs, with four diversity peaks: two minors in the Casamayoran and Laventan SALMAs, and two majors in the Santacrucian and Huayquerian ones. These peaks were interrupted by two hiatuses in the fossil record, the first in the Divisaderan-Tinguirirican SALMAs, and the second in the Mayoan SALMA. In general, Proterotheriidae show an elevated exchange rate during its biochron, both at genus as well as species levels. This elevated exchange rate indicates that the family possesses a higher biochronological value. Both the fluctuations in taxonomic richness as well as exchange rates are related with the climatic-environmental changes occurred during the Cenozoic. As a rule, higher diversity is observed in those SALMAs in which there is a relatively equalized relation between forests and grasslands. On the other hand, diversity markedly falls when the environments change from wet and closed to most open and arid. The last Proterotheriidae species (Neolicaphrium recens) was confined to the Pleistocene of north-eastern Argentina and western Uruguay, where an ecotone between forests and grasslands is recorded.Los Proterotheriidae han sido registrados desde el Paleoceno Superior hasta el Holoceno [«Edadesmamífero (= SALMAs) Itaboraiense-Lujanense]. Son mayoritariamente braquiodontes, cursoriales, de tamaño pequeño a mediano, que muestran una temprana tendencia hacia la monodactilia. Los objetivos del presente trabajo son: 1) analizar los cambios en la diversidad y las tasas de recambio de estos «ungulados» sudamericanos (tanto a nivel de especies como de géneros) a lo largo de todo su biocrón; y 2) vincular estos cambios con las principales variaciones en las condiciones climático-ambientales. Los resultados muestran que durante el lapso comprendido entre las SALMAs Itaboraiense-Lujanense, los Proterotheriidae sufren grandes cambios en la diversidad genérica y específica, con cuatro picos de diversidad (dos menores en las SALMAs Casamayorense y Laventense y dos mayores en las SALMAs Santacrucense y Huayqueriense). Estos picos están interrumpidos por dos hiatos en el registro fósil, en las SALMAs Divisaderense-Tinguiririquense y en la SALMA Mayoense, respectivamente). En líneas generales, los Proterotheriidae muestran durante su biocrón una elevada tasa de recambio tanto a nivel de géneros como de especies, razón por la cual esta familia puede ser considerada de gran valor biocronológico. Las fluctuaciones en la riqueza taxonómica y las tasas de recambio taxonómico guardan relación con los cambios climático-ambientales acaecidos durante el Cenozoico. Asimismo, la mayor diversidad se observa en aquellas SALMAs en las que hay una relación relativamente equilibrada entre bosques y pastizales, declinando marcadamente la diversidad a medida que los ambientes se tornan más abiertos y áridos. La última especie de Proterotheriidae (Neolicaphrium recens) queda restringida al NE de la Argentina y al O de Uruguay, donde es registrado un ecotono entre bosques y pastizales

Estudio bibliométrico de género en la paleontología de vertebrados. El caso de la revista argentina Ameghiniana (1957-2011)

The objective of this work is to assess gender distribution differences in authorship of papers in the field of vertebrate paleontology published in the Argentine journal Ameghiniana from 1957 to 2011. The bibliometric method was used to analyze gender distribution and evolution of the signing authors, their productivity,geographical origin, authorship composition (i.e., author and co-author), order of authors, taxon and citation levels. Results show predominance of men in number of signatures, mean annual productivity rates and average citation levels. No significant differences were found between gender for the taxa studied or in the order of the signatures. Significant differences were observed in the geographical origin of the authors. In view of the authorship gender distribution of papers published in Ameghiniana, we conclude that men continue to lead in the discipline of vertebrate palaeontology. The increase of women authors, the levelling of productivity over the last decade and the increase co-authorships including women, however, are clear signs of a shifting trend

Analysis of frame-compatible subsampling structures for efficient 3DTV broadcast

The evolution of the television market is led by 3DTV technology, and this tendency can accelerate during the next years according to expert forecasts. However, 3DTV delivery by broadcast networks is not currently developed enough, and acts as a bottleneck for the complete deployment of the technology. Thus, increasing interest is dedicated to ste-reo 3DTV formats compatible with current HDTV video equipment and infrastructure, as they may greatly encourage 3D acceptance. In this paper, different subsampling schemes for HDTV compatible transmission of both progressive and interlaced stereo 3DTV are studied and compared. The frequency characteristics and preserved frequency content of each scheme are analyzed, and a simple interpolation filter is specially designed. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of the different schemes and filters are evaluated through quality testing on several progressive and interlaced video sequences

A Late Cretaceous mammal from Brazil and the first radioisotopic age for the Bauru Group

In the last three decades, records of tribosphenidan mammals from India, continental Africa, Madagascar and South America have challenged the notion of a strictly Laurasian distribution of the group during the Cretaceous. Here, we describe a lower premolar from the Late Cretaceous Adamantina Formation, São Paulo State, Brazil. It differs from all known fossil mammals, except for a putative eutherian from the same geologic unity and Deccanolestes hislopi, from the Maastrichtian of India. The incompleteness of the material precludes narrowing down its taxonomic attribution further than Tribosphenida, but it is larger than most coeval mammals and shows a thin layer of parallel crystallite enamel. The new taxon helps filling two major gaps in the fossil record: the paucity of Mesozoic mammals in more northern parts of South America and of tribosphenidans in the Cretaceous of that continent. In addition, high-precision U-Pb geochronology provided a post-Turonian maximal age (≤87.8 Ma) for the type stratum, which is overlain by the dinosaur-bearing Marília Formation, constraining the age of the Adamantina Formation at the site to late Coniacian–late Maastrichtian. This represents the first radioisotopic age for the Bauru Group, a key stratigraphic unit for the study of Cretaceous tetrapods in Gondwana.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

Longer and less overlapping food webs in anthropogenically disturbed marine ecosystems: confirmations from the past

The human exploitation of marine resources is characterised by the preferential removal of the largest species. Although this is expected to modify the structure of food webs, we have a relatively poor understanding of the potential consequences of such alteration. Here, we take advantage of a collection of ancient consumer tissues, using stable isotope analysis and SIBER to assess changes in the structure of coastal marine food webs in the South-western Atlantic through the second half of the Holocene as a result of the sequential exploitation of marine resources by hunter-gatherers, western sealers and modern fishermen. Samples were collected from shell middens and museums. Shells of both modern and archaeological intertidal herbivorous molluscs were used to reconstruct changes in the stable isotopic baseline, while modern and archaeological bones of the South American sea lion Otaria flavescens, South American fur seal Arctocephalus australis and Magellanic penguin Spheniscus magellanicus were used to analyse changes in the structure of the community of top predators. We found that ancient food webs were shorter, more redundant and more overlapping than current ones, both in northern-central Patagonia and southern Patagonia. These surprising results may be best explained by the huge impact of western sealing on pinnipeds during the fur trade period, rather than the impact of fishing on fish populations. As a consequence, the populations of pinnipeds at the end of the sealing period were likely well below the ecosystem's carrying capacity, which resulted in a release of intraspecific competition and a shift towards larger and higher trophic level prey. This in turn led to longer and less overlapping food webs

Genetic Evidence Highlights Potential Impacts of By-Catch to Cetaceans

Incidental entanglement in fishing gear is arguably the most serious threat to many populations of small cetaceans, judging by the alarming number of captured animals. However, other aspects of this threat, such as the potential capture of mother-offspring pairs or reproductive pairs, could be equally or even more significant but have rarely been evaluated. Using a combination of demographic and genetic data we provide evidence that i) Franciscana dolphin pairs that are potentially reproductive and mother-offspring pairs form temporal bonds, and ii) are entangled simultaneously. Our results highlight potential demographic and genetic impacts of by-catch to cetacean populations: the joint entanglement of mother-offspring or reproductive pairs, compared to random individuals, might exacerbate the demographic consequences of by-catch, and the loss of groups of relatives means that significant components of genetic diversity could be lost together. Given the social nature of many odontocetes (toothed cetaceans), we suggest that these potential impacts could be rather general to the group and therefore by-catch could be more detrimental than previously considered

Copper, zinc, mercury and arsenic content in Micropogonias furnieri and Mugil platanus of the Montevideo coastal zone, Río de la Plata

Abstract Metals (Cu, Zn, Hg) and metalloid (As) concentrations were measured in Micropogonias furnieri and Mugil platanus caught in three areas along the Montevideo coastal zone during winter 2010, spring 2010 and 2011. Compared to previous studies conducted in the zone, both species showed higher (for Cu), similar (for Zn) or lower (for Hg) concentrations. The highest Hg values were found in the M. furnieri of Montevideo bay. There was no spatial variation in Cu, Zn, and As concentrations in muscle, likely due to the high mobility of both species. However, the Cu content in the liver of M. furnieri was higher in fish from the West zone. Cu, Zn and As found in the liver of M. platanus were much higher than in that of M. furnieri. A functional relationship between muscle levels of Zn and Hg and fish length of M. furnieri indicates bioaccumulation of these metals. According to the results, M. furnieri may be used as a temporal bioindicator for Hg, but not as a spatial bioindicator. Mercury levels were below the maximum safety level based on international standard values for human consumption