Two new <i>Typhloreicheia</i> species from Sardinia and their biogeographical significance (<i>Coleoptera</i>, <i>Carabidae</i>,<i> Scaritinae</i>)

Typhloreicheia monacha sp. n. and T. ilianae sp. n. are described from two caves of Central-Eastern Sardinia (Nuoro province): the Bue Marino cave and the Nurra ‘e Pradu cave, respectively. Both caves are located in the part of the island where many highly specialised subterranean carabid beetles are localised. T. monacha is apparently related to two other species of the same area, i.e. T. onnisi Casale &amp; Magrini, 2004 and T. elegans (Dodero, 1916); T. ilianae is closely related to T. henroti Jeannel, 1957, known from a cave near Dorgali. Relationships and diagnostic features among these taxa are discussed and illustrated, and a key for identification of the specialised subterranean Typhloreicheia species of Sardinia is provided. The hypothesis of adaptive radiation of Reicheiina species in Sardinia, recently proposed by the senior author of this contribution, is further elaborated in light of new data

Movement patterns of marine turtles in the Mediterranean Sea: a review

Understanding the at-sea spatial behaviour of sea turtles is a priority for their conservation. In the present paper, the current information on the distribution and movement patterns of the two species breeding in the Mediterranean, the loggerhead and the green turtle, is reviewed, focusing mainly on the 195 published routes of satellite-tracked turtles. A satisfactory level of knowledge about adults’ migrations and other movements is reached only for loggerheads breeding at Zakynthos Island, Greece, and for green and loggerhead females nesting in Cyprus, while studies at foraging grounds are limited to loggerheads in the western and central parts of the basin. Adult males and females mostly show quite uniform post-breeding migratory patterns, typically moving towards individually specific neritic foraging grounds. A much higher variability is shown by loggerhead juveniles, which is probably associated with differences in their spatial behaviour while in oceanic or neritic waters. Evidence of seasonal migrations driven by lower temperatures in winter is available only for adult and juvenile loggerheads frequenting the two northernmost parts of the basin, i.e. the Ligurian and the northern Adriatic Sea. Current knowledge gaps and priorities for further research in the Mediterranean are discussed

DUE NUOVE SPECIE SINTOPICHE DI TYPHLOREICHEIA DELLA SARDEGNA SUD-ORIENTALE (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

Vengono descritte e illustrate due nuove specie sintopiche di Typhloreicheia della Sardegna sud-orientale: la prima, T. carlonnisi n. sp., campionata alla base del pozzo d'ingresso della Grotta Su Pittiolu de Gospuru (Armungia, Cagliari), la seconda, T. paladinii n. sp., campionata sotto i massi che circondano l'ingresso della medesima cavità e sul Monte Lora presso San Vito (Muravera). La prima risulta affine per molti caratteri alle specie del "gruppo angelae" (sensu Magrini 2003a), e si distingue dalle altre Typhloreicheia note di Sardegna per la combinazione dei seguenti caratteri: piccole dimensioni, tempie appiattite e poco sporgenti, elitre con setole discali presenti nelle interstrie 2-3-5-7 e margini laterali con denticoli presenti fino all'apice; edeago breve, con apice del lobo mediano sottile e incurvato ventralmente in visione laterale, asimmetrico in visione ventrale. Lamella copulatrice costituita da una lamina allungata con apice arrotondato, con la porzione dorsale nettamente sclerificata in forma di artiglio. La seconda, appartenente al "gruppo occulta" (sensu Magrini &amp; Bulirsch 2002), si differenzia dall'affine Typhloreicheia viti Magrini &amp; Bulirsch, 2002 per le elitre più allungate e meno convesse, per l'edeago più robusto, con lobo mediano meno appuntito e appena incurvato a sinistra in visione ventrale e apice più corto e largo in visione laterale, e per la lamella copulatrice con apice più arrotondato; le differenze nettamente maggiori nei confronti delle altre specie del gruppo sono evidenziate nella chiave dicotomica allegata. La spettacolare radiazione adattativa del genere Typhloreicheia in Sardegna, recentemente proposta e discussa da uno degli autori del presente contributo (A.C.), e le ipotesi concernenti l'origine di questa linea di Reicheiina nell'isola, sono richiamate ed evidenziate alla luce dei nuovi dati

The first “lost year” of Mediterranean sea turtles: dispersal patterns indicate subregional management units for conservation

Identifying highly frequented areas is a priority for sea turtle conservation, and the distribution of young individuals in open waters represents a major knowledge gap due to methodological biases. The drift of hatchlings from 38 loggerhead Caretta caretta and 10 green Chelonia mydas turtle nesting sites in the Mediterranean was simulated for the first 6 mo of life, with simulations repeated for 5 different years (2001 through 2005). Results indicate that hatchlings from the Levantine and south-central Mediterranean sites are mainly retained in the same areas of origin, while those from the Ionian area mainly disperse to the Ionian, Adriatic and southcentral Mediterranean areas. Combining hatchling dispersal with existing empirical information on juveniles and adults, a general distribution model among nesting sites, and oceanic and neritic foraging grounds for Mediterranean sea turtles is proposed. The Levantine zone may be particularly key for the conservation of the Mediterranean populations of both species, since it may host the highest concentration of individuals. Subregional management units identified by dispersal patterns may facilitate turtle conservation through a relatively small-scale international approach. In-water studies in specific zones are identified as a research priority for improving current knowledge and informing conservation plans. © Inter-Research 2014

QUEINNECTRECHUS FABBRII, NEW SPECIES OF TRECHINE BEETLE FROM THE ZHEDUO SHAN MOUNTAINS, SOUTH-WESTERN CHINA (COLEOPTERA, CARABIDAE)

Queinnectrechus fabbrii, new species of trechine beetle from the Zheduo Shan Mountains (Sichuan, south-western China), is described. Specimens of the new taxon have been sampled on the western slopes of the mountain at 4300-4500 m, in alpine pastures with Rhododendron. The new species is sympatric, but not syntopic, in the same mountain with two other Queinnectrechus species, i.e. Q. zheduoshanus Uéno, 1998 and Q. glacialis Uéno, 1998, both of them living on the eastern slopes, the first at 3250 m, in forest, and the second on moraines at 3870-3920 m, respectively. Morphological and diagnostic features of the new taxon are described and illustrated. Furthermore, a key is given for identification of the closely related species of the genus, known so far from the Gongga Shan massif and its vicinities

TYPHLOREICHEIA GRAFITTII, NUOVA SPECIE DELLA SARDEGNA CENTRO-ORIENTALE (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

Nel presente contributo è descritta e illustrata Typhloreicheia grafittii n. sp. della Sardegna centro-orientale, campionata nel tratto iniziale, a sviluppo orizzontale, della Grotta Sa Rutta 'e s'Edera 588 Sa/NU (Fennau, Urzulei, Nùoro). La specie risulta affine, per i caratteri dell'edeago e della lamella copulatrice, ad alcune specie del Sud dell'isola, quali T. pellita Leo, Magrini &amp; Fancello, 2005 e T. regina Leo, Magrini &amp; Fancello, 2005, ma se ne differenzia nettamente per alcuni caratteri peculiari: in primo luogo per l'habitus molto stretto e allungato, "cliviniforme", con pronoto che presenta un valore PMW/PL di solo 0,93, uno dei più bassi all'interno del genere, ed elitre parallele ai lati per buona parte della loro lunghezza, con denticolazione marginale piuttosto ridotta, di soli 10-11 denticoli presenti nei 2/3 basali dell'elitra. L'endofallo presenta una lamella copulatrice simile a quella delle due specie citate, ma molto più sottile in visione laterale e fornita di una seconda lamina dorsale, ampia e meno sclerificata, non presente negli altri due taxa. La nuova specie, per i suoi peculiari caratteri morfologici, si pone per ora in posizione isolata rispetto ai gruppi di specie già noti, e presenta caratteristiche più tipiche di un abitatore di ambiente endogeo o sotterraneo superficiale che non di un elemento proprio di ambiente sotterraneo profondo

La informació física no específica: el best-seller de la quimiometria

En aquesta conferència, homenatge al Prof. Enric Casassas, el Prof. Forina exposa de manera molt didàctica, tres idees importants a tenir presents per tots els que treballen en Quimiometria o utilitzen tècniques quimiomètriques. L'objectiu sempre ha de ser resoldre una situació química real, procurant emprar eines de qualitat coneguda i no cal tenir recança en aplicar-les a situacions com ara la informació física no específica.This lecture, a tribute to Prof. Enric Casassas, Prof. Forina presents in a very didactic way, three important ideas to take into account for all those who are working in chemometrics or use chemometric techniques. The main goal should always be to resolve a real chemistry situation, trying to use tools of known quality and we should not afraid to apply Chemometrics to situations such as non-specific physical information

Gaussian Process Prior Variational Autoencoders

Variational autoencoders (VAE) are a powerful and widely-used class of models to learn complex data distributions in an unsupervised fashion. One important limitation of VAEs is the prior assumption that latent sample representations are independent and identically distributed. However, for many important datasets, such as time-series of images, this assumption is too strong: accounting for covariances between samples, such as those in time, can yield to a more appropriate model specification and improve performance in downstream tasks. In this work, we introduce a new model, the Gaussian Process (GP) Prior Variational Autoencoder (GPPVAE), to specifically address this issue. The GPPVAE aims to combine the power of VAEs with the ability to model correlations afforded by GP priors. To achieve efficient inference in this new class of models, we leverage structure in the covariance matrix, and introduce a new stochastic backpropagation strategy that allows for computing stochastic gradients in a distributed and low-memory fashion. We show that our method outperforms conditional VAEs (CVAEs) and an adaptation of standard VAEs in two image data applications.Comment: Accepted at 32nd Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS 2018), Montr\'eal, Canad

DNA mitocondrial revela la importancia regional e interregional de la plataforma continental mediterránea africana para la tortuga boba (Caretta caretta)

The wide north African continental shelf in the central Mediterranean is known to be one of the few important areas in the basin for loggerhead turtles in the neritic stage. In order to assess the origin of these turtles, sequences of the mtDNA control region were obtained from 70 turtles caught by bottom trawlers in the area, and compared with known sequences from turtles from Mediterranean and Atlantic nesting sites. Five haplotypes were identified (Haplotype diversity = 0.262; nucleotide diversity = 5.4×10-3). Specific haplotypes indicate contributions from distant rookeries such as Turkey and the Atlantic, which shows that Atlantic turtles entering the Mediterranean while in the oceanic phase use at least one Mediterranean continental shelf as a neritic foraging ground. A new haplotype and another one previously found only in foraging areas, highlight the genetic information gaps for nesting sites, which undermine powerful mixed stock analyses. Despite these limitations, the results reveal the regional importance of the study area as a neritic foraging ground for turtles that are probably from most of the Mediterranean nesting aggregates. Therefore, reducing turtle mortality resulting from the high fishing effort in the area should be regarded as key for Mediterranean turtle conservation and is also possibly important for Atlantic populations.La amplia plataforma continental africana en el Mediterráneo se reconoce como una de las pocas áreas importantes en la cuenca para la tortuga boba en su estadio nerítico. Para evaluar el origen de estas tortugas se obtuvieron secuencias de mtDNA de la región control de 70 tortugas capturadas en el área por arrastreros y se compararon con las conocidas de localidades de anidación en el Mediterráneo y el Atlántico. Se identificaron cinco haplotipos (diversidad de haplotipos = 0.262; diversidad de nucleótidos = 5.4×10-3). Los haplotipos específicos indican contribución de localidades alejadas como Turquía y el Atlántico, mostrando que las tortugas atlánticas que entran en el Mediterráneo en la fase oceánica usan, al menos, una plataforma continental mediterránea como territorio de anidación y alimentación. Un nuevo haplotipo y otro más, previamente encontrado sólo en áreas de alimentación, destacan el vacío de información genética de los sitios de anidación, lo que socava el poder de los análisis de stocks mixtos. A pesar de estas limitaciones, los resultados revelan la importancia regional del área de estudio como área de alimentación para las tortugas de, probablemente, la mayor parte de los agregados de anidación mediterráneos. Por tanto, la reducción de la mortalidad de tortugas debida al alto esfuerzo de pesca en el área debería ser considerado clave para la conservación de la tortuga mediterránea y, posiblemente, importante también para la poblaciones atlánticas