First evidence of Proganochelys quenstedtii (Testudinata) from the Plateosaurus bonebeds (Norian, Late Triassic) of Frick, Canton Aargau, Switzerland

Proganochelys quenstedtii represents the best-known stem turtle from the Late Triassic, with gross anatomical and internal descriptions of the shell, postcranial bones and skull based on several well-preserved specimens from Central European fossil locations. We here report on the first specimen of P. quenstedtii from the Late Triassic (Klettgau Formation) Frickberg near the town of Frick, Canton Aargau, Switzerland. Similar to other Late Triassic ‘Plateosaurus-bearing bonebeds’, Proganochelys is considered to be a rare faunal element in the Swiss locality of Frick as well. The specimen, which is largely complete but was found only partially articulated and mixed with large Plateosaurus bones, overall resembles the morphology of the classical specimens from Germany. Despite being disarticulated, most skull bones could be identified and micro-computed tomography (CT) scanning of the posterior skull region reveals new insights into the braincase and neurovascular anatomy, as well as the inner ear region. These include the presence of a fenestra perilymphatica, potentially elongated cochlear ducts, and intense vascularization of small tubercles on the posterior end of the skull roof, which we interpret as horn cores. Other aspects of the skull in the braincase region, such as the presence or absence of a supratemporal remain ambiguous due to the fusion of individual bones and thus lack of visible sutures (externally and internally). Based on the size of the shell and fusion of individual elements, the specimen is interpreted as a skeletally mature animal

TRACING ORIGIN AND COLLAPSE OF HOLOCENE BENTHIC BASELINE COMMUNITIES IN THE NORTHERN ADRIATIC SEA

The shallow northern Adriatic Sea has a long history of anthropogenic impacts that reaches back many centuries. While the effects of eutrophication, overfishing, pollution, and trawling over recent decades have been extensively studied, the major ecological turnovers during the Holocene as a whole remain poorly explored. In this study, we reconstruct ecological baselines defining benthic ecosystem composition prior to major anthropogenic changes at four stations characterized by low sedimentation and millennial-scale time averaging of molluscan assemblages. We discriminate between natural and anthropogenic drivers based on (1) stratigraphic changes in the composition of molluscan communities observed in sediment cores and (2) changes in concentrations of heavy metals, pollutants, and organic enrichment. The four 1.5-m long sediment cores reach back to the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary, allowing for a stratigraphic distinction of the major sea-level phases of the Holocene. During the transgressive phase and maximum flooding, sea-level and establishment of the modern circulation pattern determined the development of benthic communities in shallow-water, vegetated habitats with epifaunal biostromes and, in deeper waters, with bryozoan meadows. After sea-level stabilization, the composition of these baseline communities remained relatively uniform and started to change markedly only with the intensification of human impacts in the late highstand, leading to a dominance of infauna and a decline of epifauna at all sites. This profound ecological change reduced species richness, increased the abundance of infaunal suspension feeders, and led to a decline of grazers and deposit feeders. We suggest that modern soft-bottom benthic communities in the northern Adriatic Sea today do not show the high geographic heterogeneity in composition characteristic of benthos prior to anthropogenic influences

3D data and models related to the publication: An updated description of the osteology of the pancake tortoise Malacochersus tornieri (Testudines: Testudinidae) with special focus on intraspecific variation

The inner ear and brain endocast (Fig. 1) using micro CT scandata is part of a revised osteological analysis of the pancake tortoise Malacochersus tornieri (Mautner et al., 201X). This tortoise has a very flat shell, which allows the animal to hide in cracks and under rocks in its natural habitat, i.e. rocky arid shrub and thorny brush environments in Tanzania and adjacent countries in eastern Africa (e.g., Procter, 1922)

Supplement_data-table_S01 – Supplemental material for Molluscan benthic communities at Brijuni Islands (northern Adriatic Sea) shaped by Holocene sea-level rise and recent human eutrophication and pollution

<p>Supplemental material, Supplement_data-table_S01 for Molluscan benthic communities at Brijuni Islands (northern Adriatic Sea) shaped by Holocene sea-level rise and recent human eutrophication and pollution by Schnedl Sara-Maria, Alexandra Haselmair, Ivo Gallmetzer, Anna-Katharina Mautner, Adam Tomašových and Martin Zuschin in The Holocene</p

Suppl_data-table_S02 – Supplemental material for Molluscan benthic communities at Brijuni Islands (northern Adriatic Sea) shaped by Holocene sea-level rise and recent human eutrophication and pollution

<p>Supplemental material, Suppl_data-table_S02 for Molluscan benthic communities at Brijuni Islands (northern Adriatic Sea) shaped by Holocene sea-level rise and recent human eutrophication and pollution by Schnedl Sara-Maria, Alexandra Haselmair, Ivo Gallmetzer, Anna-Katharina Mautner, Adam Tomašových and Martin Zuschin in The Holocene</p

Morphological profiling of human T and NK lymphocytes by high-content cell imaging

International audienceThe immunological synapse is a complex structure that decodes stimulatory signals into adapted lymphocyte responses. It is a unique window to monitor lymphocyte activity because of development of systematic quantitative approaches. Here we demonstrate the applicability of high-content imaging to human T and natural killer (NK) cells and develop a pipeline for unbiased analysis of high-definition morphological profiles. Our approach reveals how distinct facets of actin cytoskeleton remodeling shape immunological synapse architecture and affect lytic granule positioning. Morphological profiling of CD8+ T cells from immunodeficient individuals allows discrimination of the roles of the ARP2/3 subunit ARPC1B and the ARP2/3 activator Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP) in immunological synapse assembly. Single-cell analysis further identifies uncoupling of lytic granules and F-actin radial distribution in ARPC1B-deficient lymphocytes. Our study provides a foundation for development of morphological profiling as a scalable approach to monitor primary lymphocyte responsiveness and to identify complex aspects of lymphocyte micro-architecture