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A fossil albatross from the early Oligocene of the North Sea Basin
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We describe a stem group representative of Diomedeidae from the early Oligocene (Rupelian) of Belgium. The fossil remains, wing, and pectoral girdle bones of two individuals are described as Tydea septentrionalis, gen. et sp. nov., and constitute the earliest well-established record of the taxon and the first Paleogene record from the North Sea Basin. The new species was about the size of the extant Black-browed Albatross (Thalassarche melanophris) and establishes that albatrosses had already reached a large size 30 mya. The wing bones of T. septentrionalis are distinguished by several plesiomorphic features from those of species in crown group Diomedeidae, which may indicate differences in aerodynamic performance between the fossil species and extant albatrosses. We detail that a previously described early Miocene species, “Plotornis” arvernensis, should be expunged from the fossil record of albatrosses. However, the new fossils provide further evidence that the extant, mainly Southern Hemispheric, distribution of albatrosses is relictual compared with the past distribution of the total group (stem group + crown group). With unambiguous records from the early Oligocene, early Miocene, and Pliocene, albatrosses are now known to have had a long evolutionary history in the European part of the North Atlantic, but the reasons for their extinction remain poorly understood
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Chapter 2. Systematics and paleobiogeography of early bats
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no abstract
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La grotte de Spy (Jemeppe-sur-Sambre; prov. de Namur) : approche historique et synthétique de 130 ans de fouilles et de collections
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DNA barcoding reveals new insights into the diversity of Antarctic species of Orchomene sensu lato (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Lysianassoidea)
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On the genus Halirages (Crustacea, Amphipoda), with the description of two new species from Scandinavia and Arctic Europe
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A new common deep-sea species of Halirages Boeck, 1871 closely related to H. qvadridentatus G.O. Sars, 1877, H. cainae sp. nov., is described after specimens collected in the Norwegian Sea during the MAREANO 2009-111 cruise. Examination of the syntypes of H. elegans Norman, 1882 demonstrates that Norman's species is a junior synonym of H. qvadridentatus G.O. Sars, 1877 and that the species usually named H. elegans in literature was actually undescribed. The name H. stappersi sp. nov. is proposed for that species. A key to and a checklist of Halirages species is given.
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The genus Liljeborgia in the Mediterranean Sea, with the description of a new species (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Liljeborgiidae)
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A new amphipod crustacean, Liljeborgia clytaemnestra sp. nov., is described based on specimens from Malta and the Bay of Naples. It is quite similar to the sympatric L. dellavallei Stebbing, 1906, but it has narrower and more regular-sized spines on the propodus of pereiopods 3–4. The longest spine on the dorsolateral border of the peduncle of uropod 1 is not strongly elongate in adult males, as in L. dellavallei. The apical spines on the lobes of the telson are much longer than in L. dellavallei. L. clytaemnestra sp. nov. is actually more similar to two northeastern Atlantic species, the British L. pallida (Spence Bate, 1857) and the Scandinavian L. brevicornis (Bruzelius, 1859) than to the Mediterranean L. dellavallei. In L. clytaemnestra sp. nov., article 2 of the mandibular palp has setae on distal third, whilst setae are restricted to tip in the two other species. Article 3 of the mandibular palp is also longer in L. clytaemnestra sp. nov. than in the two Atlantic species. The spines of the outer plate of the maxilliped are longer in L. clytaemnestra sp. nov. than in the two other species. The most distal spine of the propodus of pereiopods 3–4 is reduced in L. clytaemnestra sp. nov. and L. brevicornis, but not in L. pallida. The serration of the posterior border of the basis of pereiopod 7 is much stronger in L. clytaemnestra sp. nov. than in the two other species. Finally, in L. clytaemnestra sp. nov., the spines of the lobes of the telson are longer than in L. pallida. A lectotype is designated for L. dellavallei. The presence/absence of a posterodorsal tooth on pleonite 3 in L. dellavallei is discussed. The validity of L. kinahani (Spence Bate, 1862) is questioned. An identification key is proposed for Mediterranean Liljeborgia species.
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Exploring species level taxonomy and species delimitation methods in the facultatively self-fertilizing land snail genus Rumina (Gastropoda: Pulmonata)
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A second remarkable slug and a thin-shelled Trochonanina snail from the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania (Stylommatophora: Helicarionoidea: Urocyclidae)
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The genus Pradoxa Fernandes & Rolán, 1993 (Gastropoda: Muricidae) in SãoTomé, Príncipe and Annobón.
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The genus Pradoxa is revised and all the species are described, compared and illustrated. Two new species are described from São Tomé, Pradoxa gorii spec. nov. and P. urdambideli spec. nov. The radula is illustrated for P. confirmata (Fernandes & Rolán, 1990), P. thomensis (Fernandes & Rolán, 1990) and P. gorii spec. nov. The subfamilial classification is discussed and a comparative table is added in the appendix.
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Description of Muricopsis (Muricopsis) gorii (Gastropoda: Muricidae: Muricopsinae) from southern São Tomé.
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A new species of Muricopsis is described from Sete Pedras Island, São Tomé. It is compared with Muricopsis matildeae Rolán & Fernandes, 1991.
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