Notocene stratigraphy of the Fletcher Creek and Inangahua Junction areas, North Westland

In the Inangahua and Fletcher Creek areas, North Westland, Greenland Group greywackes and argillites, into which the Tuhua Group granitic rocks have intruded, are unconformably overlain by lower Tertiary to lower Pleistocene transgressive and regressive sediments. Several reference sections in the Tertiary strata have been measured, of which the thickest totals over 1000 m, and is subdivided into the Brunner Formation (coal measures): Island Formation; sandstone and algal limestone and the Kaiata Formation, mudstone, interpretted as a transgressive sequence. The Cobden formation, unconformably lapping onto the Kaiata Formation is delimited at its base by a breccia, deposited during Whaingaroan basin warping and basement faulting, and at its top by a glauconitic phosphatic richly fossiliferous horizon. The regressive sequence is represented by the Inangahua Formation of graded bedded foraminiferal limestones, sandstones and silts conformably overlain by coal measures in Fletcher Creek. Overlying the coal measures is a thin sequence of fossiliferous marine strata of possibly Waitotaram age, overlain by Old Man Gravels deposited at the beginning of the Kaikoura Orogeny. Calcareous Algae and a Teredenit are described in detail

Geology and palaeontology of the Hindon Maar Complex: A Miocene terrestrial fossil Lagerstätte in southern New Zealand

Highlights • Hindon Maar Complex is a new mid-Miocene Fossil-Lagerstätte in New Zealand. • Anoxia in maar lakes allowed exquisite preservation of plant and animal fossils. • The biota is from a lake and Nothofagus/podocarp/mixed broadleaf forest ecosystem. • Fossils record high diversity at humid, warm Southern Hemisphere mid-latitudes. Abstract This paper highlights the geology, biodiversity and palaeoecology of the Hindon Maar Complex, the second Miocene Konservat-Lagerstätte to be described from New Zealand. The Lagerstätte comprises four partly eroded maar-diatreme volcanoes, with three craters filled by biogenic and highly fossiliferous lacustrine sediments. The exceptionally well-preserved and diverse biota from the site is derived from a mid-latitude Southern Hemisphere lake-forest palaeoecosystem, including many fossil taxa not previously reported from the Southern Hemisphere. The most common macrofossils are leaves of Nothofagus, but the flora also includes conifers, cycads, monocots (such as Ripogonum and palms), together with Lauraceae, Myrtaceae and Araliaceae leaves and flowers. The small maar lakes were surrounded by Nothofagus/podocarp/mixed broadleaf forest growing under humid, warm temperate to subtropical conditions. The fossil fauna comprises insects in the orders Odonata, Hemiptera, Thysanoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera and Trichoptera, and the fish assemblage includes a non-migratory species of the Southern Hemisphere Galaxias (Galaxiidae) and a significant new record of the freshwater eel Anguilla (Anguillidae). The fossil assemblage also includes the first pre-Quaternary bird feathers from New Zealand and abundant coprolites derived from fish and volant birds, presumably waterfowl. Palynomorph analysis and a 40Ar/39Ar age of 14.6 Ma obtained from basanite associated with the maar complex indicate that the Hindon Maar Complex is of mid-Miocene age (Langhian; New Zealand local stage: Lillburnian). It thus provides a new and unique perspective on Neogene terrestrial biodiversity and biogeography in the Australasian region, around the end of the mid-Miocene thermal optimum and prior to late Miocene–Pleistocene climate cooling episodes when many warm-temperate and subtropical forest components became extinct in New Zealand

COPPADIS-2015 (COhort of Patients with PArkinson's DIsease in Spain, 2015), a global--clinical evaluations, serum biomarkers, genetic studies and neuroimaging--prospective, multicenter, non-interventional, long-term study on Parkinson's disease progressio

Background: Parkinson?s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder causing motor and non-motor symptoms that can affect independence, social adjustment and the quality of life (QoL) of both patients and caregivers. Studies designed to find diagnostic and/or progression biomarkers of PD are needed. We describe here the study protocol of COPPADIS-2015 (COhort of Patients with PArkinson?s DIsease in Spain, 2015), an integral PD project based on four aspects/concepts: 1) PD as a global disease (motor and non-motor symptoms); 2) QoL and caregiver issues; 3) Biomarkers; 4) Disease progression.Methods/design: Observational, descriptive, non-interventional, 5-year follow-up, national (Spain), multicenter (45 centers from 15 autonomous communities), evaluation study. Specific goals: (1) detailed study (clinical evaluations, serum biomarkers, genetic studies and neuroimaging) of a population of PD patients from different areas of Spain, (2) comparison with a control group and (3) follow-up for 5 years. COPPADIS-2015 has been specifically designed to assess 17 proposed objectives. Study population: approximately 800 non-dementia PD patients, 600 principal caregivers and 400 control subjects. Study evaluations: (1) baseline includes motor assessment (e.g., Unified Parkinson?s Disease Rating Scale part III), non-motor symptoms (e.g., Non-Motor Symptoms Scale), cognition (e.g., Parkinson?s Disease Cognitive Rating Scale), mood and neuropsychiatric symptoms (e.g., Neuropsychiatric Inventory), disability, QoL (e.g., 39-item Parkinson?s disease Quality of Life Questionnaire Summary-Index) and caregiver status (e.g., Zarit Caregiver Burden Inventory); (2) follow-up includes annual (patients) or biannual (caregivers and controls) evaluations. Serum biomarkers (S-100b protein, TNF-?, IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, vitamin B12, methylmalonic acid, homocysteine, uric acid, C-reactive protein, ferritin, iron) and brain MRI (volumetry, tractography and MTAi [Medial Temporal Atrophy Index]), at baseline and at the end of follow-up, and genetic studies (DNA and RNA) at baseline will be performed in a subgroup of subjects (300 PD patients and 100 control subjects). Study periods: (1) recruitment period, from November, 2015 to February, 2017 (basal assessment); (2) follow-up period, 5 years; (3) closing date of clinical follow-up, May, 2022. Funding: Public/Private. Discussion: COPPADIS-2015 is a challenging initiative. This project will provide important information on the natural history of PD and the value of various biomarkers

Gender Gap in Parental Leave Intentions: Evidence from 37 Countries

Despite global commitments and efforts, a gender-based division of paid and unpaid work persists. To identify how psychological factors, national policies, and the broader sociocultural context contribute to this inequality, we assessed parental-leave intentions in young adults (18–30 years old) planning to have children (N = 13,942; 8,880 identified as women; 5,062 identified as men) across 37 countries that varied in parental-leave policies and societal gender equality. In all countries, women intended to take longer leave than men. National parental-leave policies and women’s political representation partially explained cross-national variations in the gender gap. Gender gaps in leave intentions were paradoxically larger in countries with more gender-egalitarian parental-leave policies (i.e., longer leave available to both fathers and mothers). Interestingly, this cross-national variation in the gender gap was driven by cross-national variations in women’s (rather than men’s) leave intentions. Financially generous leave and gender-egalitarian policies (linked to men’s higher uptake in prior research) were not associated with leave intentions in men. Rather, men’s leave intentions were related to their individual gender attitudes. Leave intentions were inversely related to career ambitions. The potential for existing policies to foster gender equality in paid and unpaid work is discussed

Notocene stratigraphy of the Fletcher Creek and Inangahua Junction areas, North Westland

In the Inangahua and Fletcher Creek areas, North Westland, Greenland Group greywackes and argillites, into which the Tuhua Group granitic rocks have intruded, are unconformably overlain by lower Tertiary to lower Pleistocene transgressive and regressive sediments. Several reference sections in the Tertiary strata have been measured, of which the thickest totals over 1000 m, and is subdivided into the Brunner Formation (coal measures): Island Formation; sandstone and algal limestone and the Kaiata Formation, mudstone, interpretted as a transgressive sequence. The Cobden formation, unconformably lapping onto the Kaiata Formation is delimited at its base by a breccia, deposited during Whaingaroan basin warping and basement faulting, and at its top by a glauconitic phosphatic richly fossiliferous horizon. The regressive sequence is represented by the Inangahua Formation of graded bedded foraminiferal limestones, sandstones and silts conformably overlain by coal measures in Fletcher Creek. Overlying the coal measures is a thin sequence of fossiliferous marine strata of possibly Waitotaram age, overlain by Old Man Gravels deposited at the beginning of the Kaikoura Orogeny. Calcareous Algae and a Teredenit are described in detail

Schematic reconstruction of the forest habitat on the shores of paleolake Manuherikia, South Island, New Zealand in the early Miocene.

<p>Schematic reconstruction of the forest habitat on the shores of paleolake Manuherikia, South Island, New Zealand in the early Miocene.</p

Upper teeth of extinct and extant mystacinid species.

<p>A–B, <i>Mystacina miocenalis</i> sp. nov., St Bathans, Central Otago, New Zealand; Early Miocene. A, holotype, CM2013.18.381, right M1. B, paratype, MNZ S.52355, left M2. C–D, <i>Mystacina tuberculata</i>, Predator Cave, Takaka Hill, Nelson, NZ; Holocene. NMNZ S.32400. C, left M1. D, left M2. E, <i>Mystacina robusta</i>, Exhale Air Cave, Ellis Basin, Mt Arthur, Nelson, NZ; Holocene. NMNZ S.35205, left P4-M3. F, <i>Icarops paradox</i>, Judith’s Horizontalis Site, Riversleigh, Queensland Australia; Early Miocene. QM F30582, left P4-M3. G, <i>Icarops</i> sp., Outasite, Riversleigh; Early Miocene. QM F30586, left M1. Abbreviations: c, cingulum; mcl, metaconule; me, metacone; ml, metaloph; ms, mesostyle; mt, metastyle; pa, paracone; pcl, paraconule; pf, profossa; pl, paraloph; pr, protocone; ps, parastyle. To scale; bar = 2 mm.</p

Measurements (mm) of upper teeth (P4-M2) and postcranial remains (humerus and radius) of St Bathans Early Miocene mystacinids (bold) compared with summary statistics for those elements in New Zealand Quaternary <i>Mystacina</i> species and Australian Oligo–Miocene <i>Icarops</i> species.

<p>Measurements of New Zealand Quaternary <i>Mystacina</i> species from Worthy et al. [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0128871#pone.0128871.ref032" target="_blank">32</a>], Worthy and Scofield [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0128871#pone.0128871.ref033" target="_blank">33</a>] and this study; those of Australian Oligo–Miocene <i>Icarops</i> species are from Hand et al. [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0128871#pone.0128871.ref006" target="_blank">6</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0128871#pone.0128871.ref014" target="_blank">14</a>]. <i>Mystacina robusta</i> (E) is from Stewart Island area [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0128871#pone.0128871.ref033" target="_blank">33</a>]; <i>M</i>. <i>robusta</i> (Waitomo) is from Waitomo and Hawkes Bay, North Island, where this species is largest [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0128871#pone.0128871.ref032" target="_blank">32</a>]. Abbreviations: D, distal; H, humerus; L, length; P, proximal; P4, posterior upper premolar; M1, first upper molar; M2, second upper molar; max., largest specimen in sample; min., smallest specimen in sample; R, radius; W, width;</p><p>^†, extinct.</p><p>Measurements (mm) of upper teeth (P4-M2) and postcranial remains (humerus and radius) of St Bathans Early Miocene mystacinids (bold) compared with summary statistics for those elements in New Zealand Quaternary <i>Mystacina</i> species and Australian Oligo–Miocene <i>Icarops</i> species.</p

List of palynomorphs recorded from the St Bathans <i>Mystacina</i> fossil locality (H41/f061), and from three other sites (H41/f100, H41/f101, H41/f102) stratigraphically higher in the same section.

<p>Full citations and botanical affinities in Raine et al. [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0128871#pone.0128871.ref042" target="_blank">42</a>] and Mildenhall et al. [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0128871#pone.0128871.ref040" target="_blank">40</a>]</p><p>List of palynomorphs recorded from the St Bathans <i>Mystacina</i> fossil locality (H41/f061), and from three other sites (H41/f100, H41/f101, H41/f102) stratigraphically higher in the same section.</p

Polar and brown bear genomes reveal ancient admixture and demographic footprints of past climate change

Polar bears (PBs) are superbly adapted to the extreme Arctic environment and have become emblematic of the threat to biodiversity from global climate change. Their divergence from the lower-latitude brown bear provides a textbook example of rapid evolution of distinct phenotypes. However, limited mitochondrial and nuclear DNA evidence conflicts in the timing of PB origin as well as placement of the species within versus sister to the brown bear lineage. We gathered extensive genomic sequence data from contemporary polar, brown, and American black bear samples, in addition to a 130,000- to 110,000-y old PB, to examine this problem from a genome-wide perspective. Nuclear DNA markers reflect a species tree consistent with expectation, showing polar and brown bears to be sister species. However, for the enigmatic brown bears native to Alaska's Alexander Archipelago, we estimate that not only their mitochondrial genome, but also 5–10% of their nuclear genome, is most closely related to PBs, indicating ancient admixture between the two species. Explicit admixture analyses are consistent with ancient splits among PBs, brown bears and black bears that were later followed by occasional admixture. We also provide paleodemographic estimates that suggest bear evolution has tracked key climate events, and that PB in particular experienced a prolonged and dramatic decline in its effective population size during the last ca. 500,000 years. We demonstrate that brown bears and PBs have had sufficiently independent evolutionary histories over the last 4–5 million years to leave imprints in the PB nuclear genome that likely are associated with ecological adaptation to the Arctic environment.Published versio