207 research outputs found
Stellar Populations in Barred Galaxies
We developed an iterative technique to better characterize stellar
populations and the central activity of barred galaxies using evolutionary
synthesis codes and OASIS data. The case of NGC5430 is presented here. Our
results are reinforcing the role played by the bar and nuclear structures for
the evolution of galaxies.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, to be published in the proceedings of IAU Symp.
262 "Stellar Populations - Planing for the Next Decate" (Aug. 2009
Oxygen and nitrogen abundances in Virgo and field spirals
The oxygen and nitrogen abundances in the HII regions of the nine Virgo
spirals of the sample from Skillman et al (1996) and in nine field spiral
galaxies are re-determined with the recently suggested P - method. We confirm
that there is an abundance segregation in the sample of Virgo spirals in the
sense that the HI deficient Virgo spirals near the core of the cluster have
higher oxygen abundances in comparison to the spirals at the periphery of the
Virgo cluster. At the same time both the Virgo periphery and core spirals have
counterparts among field spirals. We conclude that if there is a difference in
the abundance properties of the Virgo and field spirals, this difference
appears to be small and masked by the observational errors.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
Terrestrial Isopods from Spanish Amber (Crustacea: Oniscidea): Insights into the Cretaceous Soil Biota.
Terrestrial isopods (Crustacea: Oniscidea) are a model group for studying the colonization of land. However, their fossil record is remarkably scarce and restricted to amber inclusions, and therefore amber deposits represent valuable windows to their past diversity and morphology. Here we present a new collection of 11 terrestrial isopod specimens preserved in Albian-aged amber from the Peñacerrada I outcrop, northern Spain, which collectively represent the most thoroughly documented fauna of Mesozoic Oniscidea. The three new genera and species identified belong to three of five major groups of the Oniscidea: Eoligiiscus tarraconensis, new genus and species (Ligiidae), Autrigoniscus resinicola, new genus and species (Synocheta: Trichoniscidae), and Heraclitus helenae, new genus and species (Crinocheta: Detonidae?). These taxa significantly expand the known fossil record of Oniscidea and demonstrate that considerable cladogenesis had already transpired by the Albian. The assemblage represents the earliest-known diversification of Oniscidea, extending direct evidence of terrestrialization in the group back to the late Early Cretaceous. These new taxa exhibit some characteristics that may inform hypotheses relating to general patterns of terrestrial isopod evolution. A discussion is provided about different aspects of the paleoecology and biology of the fossils compared to the Recent fauna. The new species indicate that Cretaceous isopods were a group of considerable adaptive diversity, exhibiting innovations analogous to what Recent isopods would exhibit 105 million years later
A defensive behavior and plant-insect interaction in Early Cretaceous amber - The case of the immature lacewing Hallucinochrysa diogenesi
Amber holds special paleobiological significance due to its ability to preserve direct evidence of biotic interactions and animal behaviors for millions of years. Here we review the finding of Hallucinochrysa diogenesi P erez-de la Fuente, Delcl os, Pe~nalver and Engel, 2012, a morphologically atypical larva related to modern green lacewings (Insecta: Neuroptera) that was described in Early Cretaceous amber from the El Soplao outcrop (northern Spain). The fossil larva is preserved with a dense cloud of fern trichomes that corresponds to the trash packet the insect gathered and carried on its back for camouflaging and shielding, similar to that which is done by its extant relatives. This finding supports the prominent role of wildfires in the paleoecosystem and provides direct evidence of both an ancient planteinsect interaction and an early acquisition of a defensive behavior in an insect lineage. Overall, the fossil of H. diogenesi showcases the potential that the amber record offers to reconstruct not only the morphology of fossil arthropods but, more remarkably, their lifestyles and ecological relationships
Evidence of an interaction from resolved stellar populations: The curious case of NGC1313
The galaxy NGC1313 has attracted the attention of various studies due to the
peculiar morphology observed in optical bands, although it is classified as a
barred, late-type galaxy with no apparent close-by companions. However, the
velocity field suggests an interaction with a satellite companion. Using
resolved stellar populations, we study different parts of the galaxy to
understand further its morphology. Based on HST/ACS images, we estimated star
formation histories by means of the synthetic CMD method in different areas in
the galaxy. Incompleteness limits our analysis to ages younger than ~100Myr.
Stars in the red and blue He burning phases are used to trace the distribution
of recent star formation. Star formation histories suggest a burst in the
southern-west region. We support the idea that NGC1313 is experiencing an
interaction with a satellite companion, observed as a tidally disrupted
satellite galaxy in the south-west of NGC1313. However, we do not observe any
indication of a perturbation due to the interaction with the satellite galaxy
at other locations across the galaxy, suggesting that only a modest-sized
companion that did not trigger a global starburst was involved.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
A new dustywing (Neuroptera: Coniopterygidae) from the Early Cretaceous amber of Spain.
A new Cretaceous dustywing, Soplaoconis ortegablancoi gen. et sp. nov. (Neuroptera: Coniopterygidae), is described from four specimens preserved in Early Cretaceous (Albian, ~105Ma) El Soplao amber (Cantabria, northern Spain). Two additional specimens are assigned to this new taxon. A crossvenational abnormality on an area of diagnostic significance from one of the holotype's forewings provides a reminder of the importance of not ruling out character plasticity or teratoses when evaluating palaeodiversity. A comment on the possible palaeoecological significance of the co-occurrence as syninclusions of plant trichomes with the holotype of S. ortegablancoi and seven of the eleven described Burmese amber dustywing species is provided
New mantises (Insecta: Mantodea) in Cretaceous ambers from Lebanon, Spain, and Myanmar
Diverse new material of mantises found in the Cretaceous amber-bearing deposits from Lebanon (Barremian), Spain (Albian), and Myanmar (AlbianeCenomanian) are described and figured. The Lebanese and Spanish forms are nymphs; while the one from Myanmar is an adult specimen. The Lebanese nymph corresponds to a new specimen of Burmantis lebanensis Grimaldi, 2003 while the adult Burmese (Myanmar) specimen belongs to the new species Burmantis zherikhini. The Spanish specimen represents a new genus and species and is established as Aragonimantis aenigma, but is considered family incertae sedis. The Spanish specimen is the first record of Mesozoic mantises from western-European amber deposits. A revised phylogenetic hypothesis for Cretaceous mantises is propose
2D-Galactic chemical evolution: The role of the spiral density wave
© 2019 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. We present a 2D chemical evolution code applied to a Milky Way type Galaxy, incorporating the role of spiral arms in shaping azimuthal abundance variations, and confront the predicted behaviour with recent observations taken with integral field units. To the usual radial distribution of mass, we add the surface density of the spiral wave and study its effect on star formation and elemental abundances. We compute five different models: one with azimuthal symmetry which depends only on radius, while the other four are subjected to the effect of a spiral density wave. At early times, the imprint of the spiral density wave is carried by both the stellar and star formation surface densities; conversely, the elemental abundance pattern is less affected. At later epochs, however, differences among the models are diluted, becoming almost indistinguishable given current observational uncertainties. At the present time, the largest differences appear in the star formation rate and/or in the outer disc (R ≥ 18 kpc). The predicted azimuthal oxygen abundance patterns for t ≤ 2 Gyr are in reasonable agreement with recent observations obtained with VLT/MUSE for NGC 6754
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