The occurrence of the coronuloid barnacle Chelonibia Leach, 1817 as an encruster on mammalian bone in the central Mediterranean Sea

Među kornjačama i kitovima (Coronuloidea: Chelonibiidae, Coronulidae, † Emersoniidae i Platylepadidae), pripadnici vrste Chelonibia testudinaria (Linnaeus, 1758) poznati su kao epizoični brumbuljci koji se mogu pričvrstiti na prilično širok spektar podloga (prvenstveno na kornjače, rakove i velike vodene sisavce koji se hrane biljkama iz reda Sirenia). Trenutno su prepoznate tri živa morfija C. testudinaria; od njih, manje specifična za domaćina je morph patula, koja također prikazuje izuzetno jednostavnu, nespecijaliziranu arhitekturu ljuske. U ovom radu izvještavamo o nekoliko ljuski helonibiida, koje se odnose na morfe patule C. testudinaria, koja inkrustira lopaticu kitova sakupljenu s dna Jadranskog mora prema Salentu (regija Apulia, jugoistočna Italija) i okvirno upućenu na Tursiops truncatus (Montagu, 1821). Ovo je jedan od rijetkih zapisa u svijetu o brumbuljku iz nežive podloge, a i kao drugi slučaj inkrustriranja na kosti sisavca. Takva neobična pojava potom se ukratko raspravlja u širem kontekstu komensalizma brumbuljaka i supstrata staništa.Among the turtle and whale barnacles (Coronuloidea: Chelonibiidae, Coronulidae, †Emersoniidae and Platylepadidae), the members of the chelonibiid species Chelonibia testudinaria (Linnaeus, 1758) are known as epizoic barnacles that can attach to a rather wide spectrum of substrates (primarily sea turtles, crabs and sirenians). At present, three living morphs of C. testudinaria have been recognised; of these, the less host-specific is the patula morph, which also displays a remarkably simple, unspecialised shell architecture. Here we report on several chelonibiid shells, referred to the patula morph of C. testudinaria, encrusting a cetacean scapula collected from the floor of the Adriatic Sea facing Salento (Apulia Region, southeastern Italy) and tentatively referred to Tursiops truncatus (Montagu, 1821). This is one of the few records worldwide of a coronuloid barnacle from an inanimate substrate, as well as the second as an encruster on mammalian bone. Such an unusual occurrence is then briefly discussed in the broader framework of the coronuloid commensalism and substrate habits

Determination of anisotropic dipole moments in self-assembled quantum dots using Rabi oscillations

By investigating the polarization-dependent Rabi oscillations using photoluminescence spectroscopy, we determined the respective transition dipole moments of the two excited excitonic states |Ex> and |Ey> of a single self-assembled quantum dot that are nondegenerate due to shape anisotropy. We find that the ratio of the two dipole moments is close to the physical elongation ratio of the quantum dot.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, MS Word generated PDF fil

A new record of Physeteroidea from the upper Miocene of the Pietra leccese (southern Italy): Systematics, paleoecology and taphonomy of a fossil macroraptorial sperm whale

We report on a partial skeleton of sperm whale (Cetacea, Odontoceti, Physeteroidea) from the Pietra leccese, a Miocene limestone widely exposed in the Salento Peninsula (southern Italy). This specimen was found in Tortonian strata cropping out at the Cisterna quarry, not far from the holotype of the stem physeteroid Zygophyster varolai. The presence of a deep and rectilinear groove medial to the tympanosquamosal recess of the squamosal, the bowed mandibles, and some dental features suggest that this specimen belongs to a still undescribed new genus and species of macroraptorial sperm whale that displays some affinities with the late Miocene Acrophyseter from Peru. Nevertheless, due to the incompleteness and poor preservation state of the skull, we abstain from creating a new taxon. The teeth exhibit both apical wear and deep occlusal facets, and three teeth even lost their crowns. These dental modifications suggest that the studied specimen used a raptorial feeding strategy for preying upon food items such as large-sized bony fishes or diminutive marine mammals. The bones are mostly disarticulated and broken, and some of them preserve traces hinting at the action of macro-scavengers, possibly including both sharks and bony fishes. Furthermore, the skull is pervasively encrusted by oysters, which suggests that it laid on the seafloor for a long time before being buried. This find provides new clues about the composition of the Miocene vertebrate assemblage of the Pietra leccese and indicates that various macroraptorial sperm whale species inhabited the Mediterranean Basin during the Tortonian

Trace fossils on a trace fossil: A vertebrate-bitten vertebrate coprolite from the miocene of Italy

Despite their long history of discoveries and research, of all the vertebrate coprolites currently known worldwide, only a very few have been explicitly recognised as exhibiting bite marks by other vertebrates. These rare specimens represent “compound ichnofossils”, i.e., trace fossils (the lithifie faeces) on which other trace fossils (the tooth incisions) are present. Here we report on an unusual large-sized coprolite from the Miocene “Pietra leccese” formation of southern Italy that displays several superficia bite marks. This specimen is described, f gured, and chemically characterised by means of hand-held energy dispersive X-ray f uorescence – the firs application of this method to the analysis of a vertebrate coprolite. Based on its size, morphology, structure, and major-element composition, the Pietra leccese coprolite is here identifie as the fossilised excreta of a large carnivorous vertebrate, possibly a shark, whereas the tooth incisions are attributed to the biting action of indeterminate f sh, likely including both bony and cartilaginous fish Biting seemingly occurred prior to the eventual deposition of the scat at the seafl or (i.e., when it was still in the water column) and probably ref ects unintentional snagging or aborted exploratory coprophagy aimed at testing the palatability of the faeces. In conclusion, the highly idiosyncratic specimen described in this paper represents a significa t addition to the overly scanty record of vertebrate-bitten vertebrate coprolites and provides an unusual window on the ecological interactions between marine vertebrates in the Miocene central Mediterranean ecosystems witnessed by the remarkable fossil assemblage of the Pietra leccese

The shark-toothed dolphin Squalodon (Cetacea: Odontoceti) from the remarkable Montagna della Majella marine vertebrate assemblage (Bolognano formation, Central Italy)

The extinct family Squalodontidae consists of heterodont, medium-sized odontocetes, featuring a long rostrum that houses large, procumbent incisors and heavily ornamented postcanine teeth carrying accessory denticles, hence their vernacular name, "shark-toothed dolphins". These longirostri-ne toothed whales are often seen as bridging the anatomical gap between archaic Oligocene odontocetes and their late Miocene to Holocene relatives. Possibly among the major marine predators of their time, the shark-toothed dolphins are important components of several lower Miocene marine-mammal assemblages from the North Atlantic and Mediterranean/Paratethysian realms. In the present work, a partial skull of Squalodontidae is described from the strata of the Bolognano Formation cropping out in the northeastern sector of the Montagna della Majella massif (Abruzzo, central Italy), which has previously yielded a rich lower Miocene marine-vertebrate assemblage, including eleven taxa of elasmobranchs as well as subordinate teleosts and very fragmentary remains of marine reptiles and mammals. The specimen consists of the anterodorsal portion of a rostrum, preserving parts of both pre-maxillae and left maxilla, and the anteriormost seven upper left teeth. This partial skull is here identified as belonging to the genus Squalodon, whose presence in the Montagna della Majella vertebrate assemblage had already been tentatively proposed on the basis of two fragmentary teeth. The paleontological significance of this find is discussed in the broader framework of the Euromediterranean record of Squalodon

Does the Boltzmann principle need a dynamical correction?

In an attempt to derive thermodynamics from classical mechanics, an approximate expression for the equilibrium temperature of a finite system has been derived [M. Bianucci, R. Mannella, B. J. West, and P. Grigolini, Phys. Rev. E 51, 3002 (1995)] which differs from the one that follows from the Boltzmann principle S = k log (Omega(E)) via the thermodynamic relation 1/T= dS/dE by additional terms of "dynamical" character, which are argued to correct and generalize the Boltzmann principle for small systems (here Omega(E) is the area of the constant-energy surface). In the present work, the underlying definition of temperature in the Fokker-Planck formalism of Bianucci et al. is investigated and shown to coincide with an approximate form of the equipartition temperature. Its exact form, however, is strictly related to the "volume" entropy S = k log (Phi(E)) via the thermodynamic relation above for systems of any number of degrees of freedom (Phi(E) is the phase space volume enclosed by the constant-energy surface). This observation explains and clarifies the numerical results of Bianucci et al. and shows that a dynamical correction for either the temperature or the entropy is unnecessary, at least within the class of systems considered by those authors. Explicit analytical and numerical results for a particle coupled to a small chain (N~10) of quartic oscillators are also provided to further illustrate these facts.Comment: REVTeX 4, 10 pages, 2 figures. Accepted to J. Stat. Phy

Just a different place to graze? An unusual occurrence of the echinoid feeding trace Gnathichnus pentax on a marine vertebrate coprolite (Miocene, Italy) and its palaeoethological implications

Faeces produced by marine vertebrates and macro-invertebrates contain sufficient organic matter to represent a usable food source for a wide array of macroscopic animals. In some extant marine environments, coprophagy even represents a crucial trophic interaction in food webs. In ancient ecosystems, coprophagy by macroscopic animals is occasionally exemplified by coprolites that exhibit biting traces or burrows. Here, we report Gnathichnus pentax on an exquisitely preserved vertebrate-bitten vertebrate coprolite from the marine calcareous deposits of the Pietra leccese (Miocene, southern Italy). This unusual occurrence is interpreted as evidence of the feeding activity of a regular echi-noid; in particular, it may represent either exploratory coprophagy or the browsing of an algal (microbial) film that locally developed on the exterior of the faeces. Strengthening the former interpretation, the development of microbial communities on submerged faeces often leads to their destruction; furthermore, some extant Antarctic echinoderms are well known to ordinarily feed on vertebrate faeces, and coprophagy is believed to be fairly widespread among sea urchins. Supporting the algal browsing hypothesis, in turn, only a limited area of the external surface of the faeces was subject to grazing, and the resulting trace is neatly defined, which suggest that the feeding sea urchin targeted a precise location on the dung's exterior when the latter was already rather firm. To our knowledge, the G. pentax specimen studied here represents the first published record of this ichnotaxon on a coprolite

The human hand and foot in evolution and art : the effects of wearing footwear

The structures of the human hands and feet are shaped by evolution and its effects on the brain, skeleton and other structures, and on behavior. We used measurements obtained of hands and feet from living humans in Europe, the Americas (South and North) and Australia and images of hands and feet in cave art, paintings, and photographs obtained from the Web including some from Africa. We used the ratios of the third finger/width of hand and second toe/width of foot. We hypothesized that hand ratios would not have changed over millennia whereas, because of the use of footwear and mechanical locomotion, the ratios obtained from feet could have changed significantly. Here we report that statistical analyses and modeling confirmed our initial hypothesi

Did Frédéric Chopin die from heart failure?

On October 17, 1849, Poland's greatest composer, Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) died aged 39. His cause of death remains unknown. An investigation of the documental sources was performed to reconstruct the medical history of the artist. Since his earliest years, his life had been dominated by poor health. Recurrent episodes of cough, fever, headaches, lymphadenopathy- a series of symptoms that may be attributed to viral respiratory infections- manifested in his teens. Later in life, he had chest pain, hemoptysis, hematemesis, neuralgia, and arthralgia. Exhaustion and breathlessness characterized all his adult life. Coughing, choking, and edema of the legs and ankles manifested four months before his death. Several hypotheses ranging from cystic fibrosis to alpha-1 anti-trypsin deficiency and pulmonary tuberculosis have been proposed to explain Chopin's lifelong illness. We suggest that Chopin had dilated cardiomyopathy with consequent heart failure and cirrhosis that caused his death