Fish remains, mostly otoliths, from the non-marine early Miocene of Otago, New Zealand

Fish remains described from the early Miocene lacustrine Bannockburn Formation of Central Otago, New Zealand, consist of several thousand otoliths and one skeleton plus another disintegrated skull. One species, Mataichthys bictenatus Schwarzhans, Scofield, Tennyson, and T. Worthy gen. et sp. nov., an eleotrid, is established on a skeleton with otoliths in situ. The soft embedding rock and delicate, three−dimensionally preserved fish bones were studied by CT−scanning technology rather than physical preparation, except where needed to extract the otolith. Fourteen species of fishes are described, 12 new to science and two in open nomenclature, representing the families Galaxiidae (Galaxias angustiventris, G. bobmcdowalli, G. brevicauda, G. papilionis, G. parvirostris, G. tabidus), Retropinnidae (Prototroctes modestus, P. vertex), and Eleotridae (Mataichthys bictenatus, M. procerus, M. rhinoceros, M. taurinus). These findings prove that most of the current endemic New Zealand/southern Australia freshwater fish fauna was firmly established in New Zealand as early as 19–16 Ma ago. Most fish species indicate the presence of large fishes, in some cases larger than Recent species of related taxa, for instance in the eleotrid genus Mataichthys when compared to the extant Gobiomorphus. The finding of a few otoliths from marine fishes corroborates the age determination of the Bannockburn Formation as the Altonian stage of the New Zealand marine Tertiary stratigraphy.Werner Schwarzhans, R. Paul Scofield, Alan J.D. Tennyson, Jennifer P. Worthy, and Trevor H. Worth

Gendered self-views across 62 countries: a test of competing models

Social role theory posits that binary gender gaps in agency and communion should be larger in less egalitarian countries, reflecting these countries’ more pronounced sex-based power divisions. Conversely, evolutionary and self-construal theorists suggest that gender gaps in agency and communion should be larger in more egalitarian countries, reflecting the greater autonomy support and flexible self-construction processes present in these countries. Using data from 62 countries (N = 28,640), we examine binary gender gaps in agentic and communal self-views as a function of country-level objective gender equality (the Global Gender Gap Index) and subjective distributions of social power (the Power Distance Index). Findings show that in more egalitarian countries, gender gaps in agency are smaller and gender gaps in communality are larger. These patterns are driven primarily by cross-country differences in men’s self-views and by the Power Distance Index (PDI) more robustly than the Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI). We consider possible causes and implications of these findings

Subtropical rainforest vegetation from Cosy Dell, Southland: plant fossil evidence for Late Oligocene terrestrial ecosystems

Published online: 31 Mar 2014A fossil flora from the basal Chatton Formation at Cosy Dell farm near Waimumu, Southland, New Zealand comprises wood, seeds, pollen and spores. A Late Oligocene age (25.4–24.4 Ma) determined from macro- and nannofossils constrains the beginning of marine transgression in this area. The palynoflora comprises more than 100 taxa, in addition to a few spores recycled from underlying Jurassic Murihiku basement. At least 16 ferns are present. Conifers include Araucariaceae and Podocarpaceae (Dacrydium, Dacrycarpus, Lagarostrobos, Microcachrys, Phyllocladus and Podocarpus). The angiosperm palynoflora comprises monocots including Arecaceae, Asparagaceae, Asteliaceae, Pandanaceae and Typhaceae and numerous dicots including Casuarinaceae, Cunoniaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Loranthaceae, Malvaceae, Myrtaceae, Nothofagaceae, Proteaceae and Strasburgeriaceae. The drift flora includes wood and seeds including the tropical legume Entada. Elongate limpets and mangrove snails provide indirect evidence for seagrasses and mangroves. The predominance of rainforest tree pollen and fern spores suggests a regional subtropical coastal forest and high rainfall.JG Conran, DC Mildenhall, DE Lee, JK Lindqvist, C Shepherd, AG Beu, JM Bannister and JK Stei

A diverse fern flora including macrofossils with in situ spores from the Late Eocene of southern New Zealand

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