Preserved appendages in a Silurian binodicope: implications for the evolutionary history of ostracod crustaceans

Ostracod crustaceans originated at least 500 Ma ago. Their tiny bivalved shells represent the most species-abundant fossil arthropods, and ostracods are omnipresent in a wide array of freshwater and marine environments today and in the past. Derima paparme gen. et sp. nov. from the Herefordshire Silurian Lagerstätte (~430 Ma) in the Welsh Borderland, UK, is one of only a handful of exceptionally preserved ostracods (with soft parts as well as the shell) known from the Palaeozoic. A male specimen provides the first evidence of the appendages of Binodicopina, a major group of Palaeozoic ostracods comprising some 135 Ordovician to Permian genera. The appendage morphology of D. paparme, but not its shell, indicates that binodicopes belong to Podocopa. The discovery that the soft-part morphology of binodicopes allies them with podocopes affirms that using the shell alone is an unreliable basis for classifying certain fossil ostracods, and knowledge of soft-part morphology is critical for the task. Current assignment of many fossil ostracods to higher taxa, and therefore the evolutionary history of the group, may require reconsideration

Preserved appendages in a Silurian binodicope: implications for the evolutionary history of ostracod crustaceans

Ostracod crustaceans originated at least 500 Ma ago. Their tiny bivalved shells represent the most species-abundant fossil arthropods, and ostracods are omnipresent in a wide array of freshwater and marine environments today and in the past. Derima paparme gen. et sp. nov. from the Herefordshire Silurian Lagerstätte (~430 Ma) in the Welsh Borderland, UK, is one of only a handful of exceptionally preserved ostracods (with soft parts as well as the shell) known from the Palaeozoic. A male specimen provides the first evidence of the appendages of Binodicopina, a major group of Palaeozoic ostracods comprising some 135 Ordovician to Permian genera. The appendage morphology of D. paparme, but not its shell, indicates that binodicopes belong to Podocopa. The discovery that the soft-part morphology of binodicopes allies them with podocopes affirms that using the shell alone is an unreliable basis for classifying certain fossil ostracods, and knowledge of soft-part morphology is critical for the task. Current assignment of many fossil ostracods to higher taxa, and therefore the evolutionary history of the group, may require reconsideration

A importância das artes num projecto autárquico de turismo cultural

As artes são uma mais-valia em qualquer projecto de Turismo Cultural. Faz todo o sentido a comunhão da estética, da ética, memórias, usos e costumes, tradições e conhecimento, que nos afecta, melhorando a visão do mundo que nos rodeia e fazendo de nós turistas ou não, pessoas abertas às diferenças e às mudanças dum mundo, que se altera a cada moment

Evaluation of university library impact on students’ academic success

U radu se iznosi teorijski okvir vrednovanja knjižnica, a posebno se govori o mogućnostima istraživanja utjecaja zbirki i usluga sveučilišnih knjižnica na akademski uspjeh studenata. Ukazuje se na terminološke probleme vezane uz vrednovanje knjižnica, o važnosti vrednovanja za poslovanje knjižnica, o knjižničnoj statistici, a posebno o mjerenju utjecaja knjižničnih zbirki i usluga na korisnike. U Hrvatskoj se do sada nisu provodila istraživanja utjecaja sveučilišnih knjižnica na korisnike, a istraživanja vezanih uz utjecaj knjižnice na obrazovanje studenata jako je malo i u svijetu. Razlog tome je činjenica da je utjecaje relativno teško izmjeriti, no oni su veoma važni pokazatelji uspješnosti poslovanja određene akademske knjižnice.The paper gives a theoretical framework for library evaluation, and indicates possible effects the library collections and services might have on students’ academic achievement. The paper discusses terminological problems, the importance of evaluation for library performance, library statistics, and focuses on the measurement of impact of library collections and services on their users. So far, there has been no research in Croatia about the impact of university libraries on student academic achievement, and the studies that deal with this topic are rare even around the world. The reason for this lies in the fact that the outcomes are very difficult to measure, and are therefore avoided in measurements. However, they represent extremely important indicators of university library impact on students’ academic performance

The paleobiogeographical significance of the Silurian and Devonian trilobites of Japan

Six major groups of trilobites from the Silurian and Devonian of Japan are evaluated for their paleobiogeographical signature. Silurian illaenids and scutelluids show four generic-level and at least two species-level links with the Australian segment of the Gondwana paleocontinent; encrinurids also indicate two generic-level links with Australia and also the South China paleocontinent; whilst Devonian phacopids, and possibly proetids, suggest at least two generic-level links with the North China paleocontinent. These different patterns may reflect the fragmentary biostratigraphical record of Japanese trilobites, but they also appear to reflect paleoenvironmental parameters associated with lithofacies, and paleoecology. Thus, Japanese assemblages of proetids and phacopids occurring in deep-water clastic lithofacies have counterparts in similar settings in North China, and Japanese scutelluids and illaenids are strongly associated with shallow marine carbonate lithofacies that are similar to those of their occurrences in Australia. Japanese encrinurids occur in carbonate rocks indicative of shallow marine settings in the Kurosegawa Terrane, and they demonstrate a consistent paleobiogeographical affinity with Australia and South China. Larval ecology cannot be directly assessed for Japanese trilobite groups. However, proetids have consistently been shown to have planktonic protaspides, whereas illaenids, scutelluids, and encrinurids have benthic protaspides. Planktonic protaspides would have a greater propensity for distribution in ocean currents than benthic ones, and therefore may be of more limited paleobiogeographical utility. The combined data from the six different groups indicates that the complex paleobiogeographical patterns of the Japanese trilobite assemblages need to be interpreted with caution, and similarity of taxa does not necessarily denote paleogeographical proximity to other regions

The implications of a Silurian and other thylacocephalan crustaceans for the functional morphology and systematic affinities of the group

Background: Thylacocephala is a group of enigmatic extinct arthropods. Here we provide a full description of the oldest unequivocal thylacocephalan, a new genus and species Thylacares brandonensis, which is present in the Silurian Waukesha fauna from Wisconsin, USA. We also present details of younger, Jurassic specimens, from the Solnhofen lithographic limestones, which are crucial to our interpretation of the systematic position of Thylacocephala. In the past, Thylacocephala has been interpreted as a crustacean ingroup and as closely related to various groups such as cirripeds, decapods or remipeds. Results: The Waukesha thylacocephalan, Thylacares brandonensis n. gen. n. sp., bears compound eyes and raptorial appendages that are relatively small compared to those of other representatives of the group. As in other thylacocephalans the large bivalved shield encloses much of the entire body. The shield lacks a marked optical notch. The eyes, which project just beyond the shield margin, appear to be stalked. Head appendages, which may represent antennulae, antennae and mandibles, appear to be present. The trunk is comprised of up to 22 segments. New details observed on thylacocephalans from the Jurassic Solnhofen lithographic limestones include antennulae and antennae of Mayrocaris bucculata, and endites on the raptorial appendages and an elongate last trunk appendage in Clausocaris lithographica. Preserved features of the internal morphology in C. lithographica include the muscles of the raptorial appendage and trunk. Conclusions: Our results indicate that some `typical' thylacocephalan characters are unique to the group; these autapomorphies contribute to the difficulty of determining thylacocephalan affinities. While the new features reported here are consistent with a eucrustacean affinity, most previous hypotheses for the position of Thylacocephala within Eucrustacea (as Stomatopoda, Thecostraca or Decapoda) are shown to be unlikely. A sister group relationship to Remipedia appears compatible with the observed features of Thylacocephala but more fossil evidence is required to test this assertion. The raptorial appendages of Thylacocephala most likely projected 45 degrees abaxially instead of directly forward as previously reconstructed. The overall morphology of thylacocephalans supports a predatory mode of life

Evolution of the Silurian trilobite Tapinocalymene from the Wenlock of the Welsh Borderlands

Volume: 23Start Page: 783End Page: 80

Metamorphosis in a Silurian barnacle

Exceptionally preserved fossils from the Wenlock Series (Silurian) of Herefordshire, UK, provide unique evidence of metamorphosis from free-swimming cyprid larva to attached juvenile in a Palaeozoic barnacle. The larva had large brush-like anterior limbs. The juvenile shows the head transformed into a stalk and the development of the primordial condition of five mineralized plates within the carapace. The discovery of a cyprid larva indicates that crown group cirripedes had evolved by the Silurian

The type species of Calymene (Trilobita) from the Silurian of Dudley, England

Volume: 28Start Page: 783End Page: 79