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The current study aims to shading light on the most important hotspot in Hor Al-Dalmaj, southern Iraq As a result of increased human growth, over-hunting of birds, and ongoing threats to the ecosystem, there is an urgent need to identify Habitat selection through Fauna in Hor Delmaj, as they are the most threatened by hunters, and it serves as a stoplight for thousands of migratory birds. From September 2020 to March 2021, an ecological survey was conducted to collect data on Fauna and review the results. In Kernel Density Estimation Modeling in ArcGIS, 200 checklists were generated and divided into 349 points in the LFC analysis file. The observed maximum value KDE of habitat selection by fauna is 24.84 km2, which is known as core habitat. KDE is not well guarded or is not securely shielded from hunters.

The most tedious and hectic job is to identify the tiny benthic animals by spending thousands of hour under the microscope, since all the fauna need to be counted, sorted, picked and permanently mounted on glass slides for taxonomic identification. All faunal identifications need a lot of preprocessing and it consumes a lot of time to identify a single specimen. Therefore, to reduce the complexity of many such procedures, combined with the desire to identify larger datasets, we came up with new software based on artificial intelligence which can automatically identify the benthic fauna through the microscopic images. In this paper, we propose a machine learning method for automatic visual identification through the images of the benthic fauna. To this end, we propose a neural network model, where we demonstrate that the proposed approach differentiates the fauna based on images. However, it works well with vast amounts of image data and significant computational resources.

The evolution of species composition and species richness from the end of the Middle Pleistocene to the Middle Holocene (∼200–5 ka, MIS7–MIS1) studied in two Central European bioregional mammal assemblages include 176 chrono-species. The study is based on the list of 745 palaeontological sites and 1604 dated localities. For each region, the descriptive models (non-metric multidimensional scaling technique used) of evolution were obtained for full mammal assemblages as well as particular mammalian “guilds” (carnivorous, large herbivorous, small herbivorous and insectivorous). The models for full assemblages revealed several properties of the evolution process: non-linearity, combination of stationary and nonstationary states, irreversible (evolutionary per se) and reversible changes, threshold like effects accompanying transitions between stationary and non-stationary states, and elements of adaptive dynamics in changing environmental conditions. The evolutionary trajectories of mammal “guilds” have the same properties but differ significantly from each other and their relative complexity is no less than the trajectories of full mammal assemblages. Hence, the evolution shows emergent property and irreducibility of complexity at different structural levels of an assemblage. Throughout MIS7–MIS1 the regional faunas responded to global climate changes (δ18O used as temperature variable), but had various contents, directions, consequences mediated by current species composition and geographic positions in relation to the Saale and the Weichsel continental ice sheets. The study shows a time/spatial invariance (scale-invariant property) of species richness for the stationary states of fauna evolution (especially during MIS3), which is described by a power law function. A mammal assemblage evolution is discussed within the framework of concept of open non-linear self-organising complex quasi-deterministic system with an ability of adaptive behaviour. Internal organisation of such systems justifies their existence and evolution in the area at a borderline between order and chaos and thus their evolution is intrinsically unpredictable.

The paper presents new data on the subfossil insects and molluscs, as well a new radiocarbon date for the Gornovo site in the Southern Fore-Urals. As a result, the stratigraphic interpretation of the sediments of the lower part of the first above floodplain terrace of the Belaya River is corrected and they are assigned to the Tabulda Horizon (MIS 3) of the Upper Pleistocene in the regional scheme of the Fore-Urals Quaternary. The malacofauna of the locality is represented by 27 species of terrestrial and freshwater molluscs. The composition of molluscs in the deposits of MIS 3 indicates the succession of deposit accumulation in the river valley from the stage of reservoirs that periodically connecting with the river to the stage of the overgrown oxbow lake. Single occurrence of mollusc shells in the loams of MIS 2 is a result of sharp climate change. New insect material includes 136 species of Coleoptera from 17 families, as well as Heteroptera and Hymenoptera representatives. 29 species of beetles (Carabidae, Histeridae, Scarabaeidae, Elateridae, Tenebrionidae, Chrysomelidae, Brentidae and Curculionidae) are recorded for the Pleistocene for the first time. The insect assemblages from Gornovo site are assigned to periglacial and humid boreal faunal types. The entomofauna of the periglacial type has no analogues in the recent fauna; it corresponds to the deposits assigned to the middle of MIS 3. This entomofauna is characteristic to the MIS 2 and MIS 3 insect assemblages from the south of West Siberian Plain. Based on entomological data, the climate of the middle of MIS 3 of the Southern Fore-Urals is reconstructed as dry and cold, extracontinental, with mean July temperature not exceeding +15 °C. Steppe landscapes likely prevailed in open areas and coniferous forests were restricted to river valleys. Beetles from deposits dated to end of MIS 3 are assigned to the fauna of the boreal humid type. These insect assemblages are significantly poorer in diversity than periglacial type assemblages and are represented mainly by near water and forest Coleoptera. Based on these species, meadow and forest landscapes were reconstructed. The reconstructed mean air temperature of July ranged from +16 to +19 °C. This suggests a trend towards more mild conditions in the region connected to the climate warming at the end of MIS 3. It is likely that humidification during this period was regional, determined by the proximity of the site to the Southern Urals Mountains.

For the palaeo-ecological development and interpretation of the macrofauna (Bivalvia and Gastropoda) of the Eemian Sea in the southwestern Baltic Sea region (NE Germany), up to date studies and summarising assessments are largely missing. With the main goal of revising the Eemian marine fauna, the authors have undertaken numerous new samplings in recent years. This study begins by focusing on the Warnow Bay in today's Warnow valley near Rostock. In addition to examining older data from the literature, the sandpit at Schwaan and drillings of the State Geological Survey from Boitin, Reez and Rostock were studied. Parallel to this, was also undertaken pollen analyses. Despite hundreds of drillings from the region of the former Warnow Bay, evidence of the marine Eemian was relatively rare. Apparently the sandy sediments were reworked and redistributed by glaciotectonic, glaciofluvial and fluvial processes during the Weichselian glaciation. There is as yet no definite proof of autochthonous marine sediments. They are predominantly shallow-marine sands several meters thick which are found mostly at a depth of about 30–20 m b.s.l. but more rarely also relatively close to the surface in opencast mining or cliff sections. The sands are rich in marine mollusc fauna of which 29 species have been identified so far and which also include Lusitanian specimens such as Acanthocardia paucicostata, Lucinella divaricata or Polititapes senescens. Account was also taken of accompanying marine fauna such as barnacles and echinoderms. In addition, the sediments contain fresh water molluscs also including the interglacial indicator species Belgrandia germanica.

The site of Bouchain is the first recent Neolithic site excavated in northern France. The four excavation campaigns have revealed an activity zone on the bank of a palaeochannel of the Scheldt river. The fauna comprising 1892 bone remains buried in a waterlogged sediment is very well preserved revealing surface modifications including cutting, breakage and cooking. Wild mammals and birds are important components of the subsistence strategy summing up to 43% of vertebrate remains. Fowling constitutes 15% of exploited wild resources with a focus on waterfowl, primarily mallard. No equivalent pattern of fowling could be found in the final Neolithic nor in the middle Neolithic sites of the regional context. The closest subsistence strategies to the one of Bouchain was found in the Netherlands within contemporaneous sites where hunting for mammals and waterfowl played a major role in the diet.

The age of the Silurian “Lower Red Beds” (LRBs), which occur widely in South China, has long been controversial because of the scarcity of index fossils. Here, we report a fauna with abundant trilobites from the LRBs in Wuhan, Middle Yangtze region, consisting of Aulacopleura (Paraaulacopleura) pijiazhaiensis, ‘Encrinuroides’ yichangensis, Gaotania hubeiensis, Hyrokybe gaotanensis, Japonoscutellum yichangense, Latiproetus latilimbatus, and Ptilillaenus lojopingensis. These trilobites are common in the Leijiatun, upper Xiangshuyuan, Shihniulan, and Lojoping formations in the Upper Yangtze region, and belong to the middle to upper Aeronian Ptilillaenus or ‘Encrinuroides’–Ptilillaenus–Latiproetus assemblages. The discovery of this trilobite assemblage suggests that the LRBs are probably partly of middle–late Aeronian age in the Middle Yangtze region. Thus, the lower boundary of the LRBs is likely diachronous in the Yangtze region, ranging from the middle–late Aeronian to the early Telychian. The discovery of the Ptilillaenus assemblage in the Wuhan LRBs expands the paleogeographic distribution of this assemblage and provides evidence of deeper depositional environment of the LRBs in the study area versus shallow waters in other areas of the Yangtze region.

Carboniferous fusulinids, including 23 species in 7 genera, are identified from the Lumazhai area, Ziyun County, southern Guizhou, China. They are mainly composed of Staffella, Pseudoendothyra, Pseudostaffella, and Fusulinella, which suggest a late Moscovian age. The fusulinid assemblage is characterized by the dominance of staffellids that shows a different composition from the other late Moscovian fusulinid faunas reported in South China. Combined with microfacies analysis, we suggest that the different faunal composition most likely resulted from varying depositional settings, implying the sensitivity of fusulinids to sedimentary environments. This phenomenon of “synchronous but heterogeneous fusulinid biofacies”, caused by changing sedimentary condition, is significant in explaining taxonomic variation especially with limited collection of fusulinid fossils.

We report, for the first time, and systematically describe chancelloriid from the region, including Chancelloria bella, Allonnia cf. tintinopsis, Al. cf. erromenosa, Al. tripodophora, Archiasterella cf. coriacea, Ar. cf. hirundo, Ar. cf. tetraspina, and Ar. cf. fletchergrully, along with previously reported chancelloriid species (Chancelloria cruceana, C. eros, and Archiasterella sp.). The current chancelloriid fauna is similar in taxonomic composition to the Cambrian Burgess Shale-type biotas and to those of China and South Australia. Based on the sclerite construction, we found that the different articulatory facet types may be used to distinguish Allonnia from Archiasterella, and the number of rays is closely related with the arrangement of sclerite rays. The chancelloriid fauna is found stratigraphically between the Glossopleura trilobite zone of the restricted-shelf facies and the Oryctocephalus trilobite zone of the open-shelf facies, spanning the Wuliuan Stage (Delmaran/Topazan) of the Miaolingian Series, middle Cambrian. This study is significant for better understanding the diversity of this enigmatic and cosmopolitan group in the middle Cambrian warm platform of the Precordillera.

Isolated pharyngeal teeth, pectoral, dorsal and suborbital fish spines were unearthed in a new outcrop located on the right bank of the Prut River, at Falciu, Romania. They document Late Miocene aquatic ecosystems of the Dacian basin. Seven taxa were identified and described, six of them belonging to the order Cypriniformes and one to Siluriformes. The Cobitidae is here firstly reported in the fossil record of Romania. All the fish teeth and skeletal remains are from representatives marking shallow water. The fossils were probably buried into sediments accumulated near the mouth of a rather fast-flowing river that drained into a brackish body of water, part of the Dacian basin. The composition of the fauna is similar to the coeval ones from the North (Ukraine and Republic of Moldova) and from the South (Turkey) of the Black Sea basin.

The flat bark beetle fauna (Coleoptera: Cucujidae) has not been intensively studied in the Korean Peninsula; a few records of this insect family are known from the literature from this region. Based on the data collected from the iNaturalist citizen science database, local entomological fora and websites, as well as Facebook social media, new distributional data for Cucujidae are provided from the Korean Peninsula, including the first records of Cucujus haematodes haematodes from South Gyeongsang and North Chungcheong provinces and Pediacus japonicus from North Gyeongsang and South Jeolla provinces, all in South Korea. Moreover, critical analysis of the literature suggests excluding one species, Cucujus coccinatus, from the fauna of the entire Korean Peninsula as it was recorded based on misidentification with C. h. haematodes. The citizen scientific data made 74% of all known records of Cucujidae in the studied area, which clearly proves the importance of citizen science in studies focused on insect biodiversity, especially in the case of species characterized by at least medium body size. A country-level and province-level checklist and a diagnosis of Cucujidae species currently known from the Korean Peninsula are provided.

Establishing body mass from skeletal remains of an animal is of importance to researchers in the fields of ecology, palaeontology and archaeozoology. Establishing such standards requires that different body parts follow allometric growth curves, and that one can access a sufficiently large sample of individuals of known size and weight for the target species. Here, we have used data collected from modern living and dead leopard tortoises Stigmochelys pardalis (Bell, 1928), to reconstruct body size and mass from measurements taken on individual postcranial bones. The results show high correlations in both mass and size for various dimensions taken on most skeletal elements, enabling reconstruction of these parameters from individual skeletal measurements. To highlight the application of such data to fossil fauna, allometric equations derived from regression analyses of the modern animals were applied to a sample of Later Stone Age (ca. 10,000 BP to present) leopard tortoise remains from Wonderwerk Cave located in the central interior of South Africa. Results for this archaeological sample show significant changes in size and body mass over time. These best correlate with shifts in paleoenvironmental conditions rather than with anthropogenic pressures that have commonly been implicated in size reduction or biased sex ratios in tortoise populations.

Understanding the historical dynamics of wildlife distribution and abundance is essential to developing appropriate conservation measures. Here we investigate the occurrence and status of medium-to large-sized fauna (excluding avifauna) for the mountain Kingdom of Lesotho and immediate adjoining regions of South Africa, from the late Pleistocene to the present-day. We provide historical timelines and records of reported medium to large faunal taxa based on: data from eight published archaeological excavations, analyses of several hundred unpublished 19th and 20th century historical documents (including missionary letters, diaries, colonial reports and newspapers), and 58 recent oral history interviews. Vegetation and climate changes through the Holocene are also noted, based on archaeo-botanical records. Through these sources, we record 61 medium to large faunal species for Lesotho and surrounding regions over the past ~21 ka, of which only 22 are present today. Some species not previously known to the region are documented (e.g. Temminck's pangolin). Most species were present during the early 19th century, but many regional species extinctions and a major faunal population decline occurred between 1845 and 1850, owing mainly to settler hunting campaigns. Subsequent extinctions have taken place over a wider temporal interval, due to factors including overhunting, human-wildlife conflicts and habitat loss. It seems that some taxa were forced into unsuitable mountain refugia where species eventually succumbed to genetic erosion and/or harsh climatic conditions. Our results increase current understanding of regional faunal and environmental changes, such as the timing of species occurrences and extinction events and processes in Lesotho. Such work adds valuable knowledge to understanding the environmental heritage of the region. Information can be disseminated into wildlife records, national environmental reports, the WWF, the national school environmental educational curriculum and to National Parks and Heritage Sites.

Our results present a taxonomic and palaeoecological study on non-marine gastropods from the latest Cretaceous to Paleocene deposits of the Pingyi Basin, Shandong Province, eastern China. These gastropods are systematically described: three species belonging to three genera including Physa dongtaiensis Gu, 1989, Hydrobia datangensis Yu, 1977, and the newly established species Cyathopoma pingyiensis sp. nov.; two indeterminata genera and species including Truncatelloidea gen. et sp. indet., and Pomatiopsidae gen. et sp. indet. Among them, Truncatelloidea gen. et sp. indet. and Cyathopoma pingyiensis sp. nov. are the dominant species with the longest record. Cyathopoma pingyiensis, sp. nov. is the earliest representative of this widely distributed Asian extant genus. Sedimentological facies analysis of the gastropod-bearing beds suggested that Truncatelloidea gen. et sp. indet. lived in a small pond with a river inlet and a shallow lake, while Ph. dongtaiensis, ?Pomatiopsidae gen. et sp. indet, and ?H. datangensis only thrived in the shallow lake. Cyathopoma pingyiensis sp. nov. inhabited the land area around the shallow lake. Our results showed that no significant species change of the gastropod fauna across the K/Pg (Cretaceous/Paleogene) boundary was observed in the Pingyi Basin.

The effect of plastic wrapping on decomposition rate and carrion fauna of rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.) was examined in spring in a semi-urban area in North Algeria. All decomposition stages were observed in all carcasses, with the same durations in the control but different durations in the wrapped carcasses. Decomposition of the carcasses in the plastic wrapping was significantly slower than that of the exposed ones. A total of 12,516 specimens, belonging to 36 families and 69 species, were morphologically identified. Thirteen species of forensic relevance were also identified at the molecular level using the cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) barcode region, and the sequences were submitted to online databases. Wrapping had a significant effect on species composition (χ2 = 569.269, df = 55, p

An analysis of voluminous data on the European fossil small mammals datable to the Dnieper (Saale) Glaciation (MIS 6) allowed establishing the main characteristics of the species composition in the faunas, their distribution and diversity. As is shown by the analysis, the faunas of small mammal underwent cardinal changes within the subcontinent boundaries at that time, with the exception of the faunas of the southern peninsulas. Some subarctic species are proved to penetrate southwards as far as 48° N in Western Europe and up to southern France and the British Isles in Western Europe. The steppe species enlarged their ranges to the north and to the west (up to the British Isles). This fact suggests the disappearance of the continuous forest zone. Occasional forest mammal species persisted in Eastern Europe; in most localities of Western Europe, however, forest mammal remains are present along with those of steppe and subarctic mammals. A structural stability of mammal faunas was preserved on the southern peninsulas that had not been heavily influenced by the glaciation. The transition to the Mikulino (Eem) Interglacial (MIS 5e) was marked by changes in the structure of mammal assemblages on the subcontinent. The ranges of subarctic mammal species shifted northwards, the forest zone was restored gradually, which was served to the restoration of forest species populations. Steppe species ranges shifted to the east of Europe. Unlike the faunas of the Dnieper (Saale) Glaciation, noted for “mixed” composition of mammals belonging to ecologically different groups, the faunas of Mikulino (Eem) Interglacial acquired the zonal structure approximately. The paper was primarily aimed at estimating general regularities in the small mammal fauna distribution beginning from the level of individual species to regional faunal complexes. We concluded that the small mammal fauna of the late Dnieper (Saale) ice age responded to the Mikulian/Eemian warming in a way not unlike the Late Pleistocene “Mammuthus–Coelodonta Faunal Complex” response to the Holocene warming, though with a lesser loss of the species richness.

The analysis of small mammal and freshwater mollusk remains from the fluvial deposits of VI terrace of Dniester R. in Levada section (Moldova, Transnistria) revealed the main characteristic of species composition and evolutionary level of these remains and permitted their placement in the stratigraphic scale of Middle Pleistocene faunas of Eastern Europe. The Levada fauna corresponds to the same stage as the fauna from the fluvial deposits of VI terrace of Dniester in stratotype of Tiraspolian faunistic complex in Kolkotova Balka section. These faunas existed between the Early Tiraspolian faunas which correlate to the second part of MIS 19 and with MIS 18, and the Late Tiraspolian (MIS 16 and MIS 15). Mimomys savini, Lagurus transiens, Microtus (Terricola) arvalidens, Lasiopodomys (Stenocranius) gregaloides are the species most characteristic of these faunas. The Levada fauna reflects interglacial climate conditions. The faunas of this evolutionary level existed during the second part of the Iliinskian Interglacial of the Russian Plain and during the Cromer Interglacial 2 of West Europe. The freshwater mollusks from Levada section (Viviparus tiraspolitanus Pavl., V. subcrasus Lung., Lithoglyphus naticoides C. Pf. and others) reflects a warm climate close to that of the Mediterranean.

Nematode damage to coffee poses a serious threat to coffee production all over the world, including Vietnam. Accordingly, the nematode community composition could be a reliable indicator of ecological shifts that affect coffee plants' health. Here, we analysed the nematode communities in the rhizosphere of a monoculture Robusta coffee plantation in Dak Lak of the Central Highlands, Vietnam. We found changes in the community composition of nematodes in an age gradient of replanting coffee plants and revealed distinct patterns of nematode distribution in the soils of healthy and diseased plant groups. Further analyses indicate the impact of intensive farming and inefficient nematode controls, which caused disturbances and a gradual decrease of the nematode fauna diversity in the plantation soil. These results can add to a complete prediction model for plant fitness using nematode community composition.

The Hongguleleng Formation, the highest and most important Devonian marine carbonate horizon in western Junggar, contains an endemic shallow-water Icriodus–Polygnathus conodont fauna with rare palmatolepids and other genera. The conodont faunas from the Bulongguoer and the Wulankeshun sections are similar, with high abundance (about 40%) of endemic taxa (13 taxa), indicating isolation of the Junggar Basin during early Famennian. Non-endemic species in the faunas suggest that the Lower Member of the Hongguleleng Formation is assignable to the Pa. rhomboidea Zone to the Pa. marginifera marginifera Zone of early Famennian, not including the Frasnian–Famennian boundary. The Upper Member may be of late Famennian–early Tournaisian in age on the basis of our preliminary faunal analysis.

The Bashkirian (Late Carboniferous) ammonoid genus Bilinguites has a nearly global distribution in the tropical and subtropical zones and 25 species have been described up till now. Most of them are considered endemic, but some may have a wide geographic distribution. Our study on new and previously collected materials from North China (Gansu and Ningxia) shows that the stratigraphically youngest species of Bilinguites in North China and Western Europe are morphologically very similar, possibly indicating correspondence of the ammonoid faunas. Bilinguites scalpratus is revised and established as a stratigraphically important species of the genus in North China; it co-occurs with the first gastrioceratid species Cancelloceras pachygyrum. This occurrence can be correlated with the Western European co-occurrence of Cancelloceras cancellatum and Bilinguites superbilinguis at the base of the G1 Zone.

Wild birds have been identified as reservoirs of many pathogens transmissible to humans through bird-biting mosquitoes. Understanding the diversity of vector fauna in bird-conservation areas, is a cornerstone to later develop early detection systems and reduce the risk of emerging disease incidence. Prek Toal is a bird Sanctuary in the Tonle-Sap area in Cambodia hosting the largest migratory bird colony of southeast Asia. The Culicidae fauna was investigated during both dry and rainy seasons. In total, 8,224 mosquitoes from 6 genera and 25 species were collected. The two most represented genera were Anopheles (8 species) and Culex (11 species), while the dominant species was Culex vishnui (58.8%). During the rainy season, 1.6 fold more mosquitoes were caught and the number of species doubled. One of the most notable feature is the absence of any Aedinii mosquito which could be attributed to the low human density around the area, and the large populations of migratory birds. A total of 13 species from 3 genera are reported to be of medical importance. 6 medically-important species were collected in all 3 sites, and are known to bite both wild birds and humans: An. barbirostris, An. campestris, Cx. bitaeniorhynchus, Cx. vishnui, Ma. indiana and Ma. uniformis. One of the most important feature is the over-abundance of Culex vishnui, largely dominant in Prek Toal throughout the seasons and the sites, and being present everywhere in Cambodia. This finding stresses its potentiality to act as bridge vectors in the case of new disease emergence.

The lower/upper Emsian boundary witnessed prominent diversification of biostratigraphically important genera Polygnathus Hinde, Caudicriodus Bultynck, and Latericriodus Muller. In contrast, conodonts previously reported around this boundary from the South China Block were characterized by relatively low species or subspecies diversity, and only a few widely distributed and extensively studied zone-defining taxa were recorded. In this paper, conodonts from the Daliantang Formation at the Daliantang section (Guangnan, southeastern Yunnan), one of the representative sections of the transitional facies between the benthic Xiangzhou facies and the pelagic Nandan facies, are investigated. The conodont fauna shows a remarkably high species or subspecies diversity, with fourteen taxa that are assignable to the notoperbonus Zone and inversus Zone. Five polygnathid species are described: P. gronbergi Klapper and Jonson, P. inversus Klapper and Jonson, Polygnathus sp. B, P. luciae Martinez-Perez and Valenzuela-Rios, and P. mashkovae Bardashev. The latter two are reported for the first time from the South China Block. Additionally, three icriodontid taxa are also described, of which L. guangnanensis n. sp. is characterized by distinctly chevron-shaped transverse rows in the anterior part and a well-developed process branching off to the outer side. The new conodont record increases our understanding of the diversification and faunal composition around the lower/upper Emsian boundary in the South China Block. It contributes to the regional and inter-regional biostratigraphical correlation between shallower- and deeper-water facies and also furnishes important South China material for future discussion and deliberation on the position of the lower/upper Emsian boundary.

The Middle Pleistocene – Late Pleistocene transition of European large mammal's fauna (Proboscidea, Artiodactyla, Perissodactyla, Carnivora, Hystrix and Castor) assemblages has been studied in 18 European regional faunal assemblages. This study is based on the data yielded from 423 palaeontological sites (758 localities) dated within interval of MIS 6–MIS 4. All the data was aggregated by 9 time intervals (time scale). For ten bioregions, we have been able to obtain descriptive models of evolution of their faunal assemblages. It allowed detecting common rules of changes in large mammals' fauna composition in Europe on the whole as well as changes in the distribution of individual species and their groups within the regions. We have studied the changes in biodiversity parameters (Shannon index, index of self-organization) and Mourelle–Ezcurra species turnover index within MIS 6–MIS 4 time interval. The evolution of European fauna was compared for MIS 6–MIS 5 transition and MIS 2–MIS 1 transition as well as influence of change in global temperature on these transitions was described. In addition, we have showed the correlation between modern species richness with the species richness in MIS 6, MIS 5 and MIS 4 and proposed the hypothesis of historical succession of European bioregions.

Two Pleistocene sections in the middle reaches of the Volga River – Spasskoe and Yagodnoe – have been described in details and analyzed, small mammal remains being recovered and identified. The fauna includes remains of open landscape species: Eolagurus luteus (Eremin and Moloskovsky, 1981), Lagurus lagurus Pallas, 1773, Lasiopodomys (Stenocranius) gregalis (Pallas, 1779) and others. Bone remains of a tundra species – collared lemming Dicrostonyx sp. were found in the Spasskoe section. No forest species are present in the sequence, nor remains of water vole Arvicola. The species richness of the faunas is rather low, which may be related to insufficient amount of material or to a specific climate. Such low species richness is typical of the periglacial faunas of the Pleistocene. The authors of recent article attribute the third Volga terrace to the Late Pleistocene refer usually to the 3rd terrace deposits in the lower reaches of the Volga where the Caspian Upper Khazarian (Hyrcanian) layers are found at the base of the sequence. The rodent molar morphology permits to date fauna to the beginning of the Late Pleistocene (to the early stages of the Valday glaciation) and to reconstruct periglacial steppes widely distributed in the Volga middle reaches at that time.

The evolution of the crocodyliforms through the K-Pg crisis has often been evaluated, but each time, the crocodyliforms were considered as forming a homogeneous group. I considered here, the evolution of two longirostrine taxa from the Campanian to the Thanetian: tethysuchians and gavialoids. The gavialoids are almost restricted to Laurasian continents, where tethysuchians form most of the Gondwanan crocodyliform fauna. This segregation can be compared with climatic distribution: tethysuchians are restricted to hot climatic areas, where gavialoids are restricted to a northern, warm temperate climatic belt from where tethysuchians were almost excluded. This suggests that gavialoids were more tolerant of cooler climates than tethysuchians. The tethysuchians could have been excluded from the European continent by the existence of a cool European oceanic current, whilst on the contrary, the presence of a proto-gulfstream along north-east American coast could have allowed the presence of some tethysuchians in marine realm in this area. Both gavialoids and tethysuchians strongly diversified after the K-Pg crisis, particularly on Gondwanan continents, and mostly with tethysuchian species. Most of these tethysuchians were non-marine during the Maastrichtian, and the number of marine species strongly increases after the K-Pg crisis, whilst the number of non-marine ones remains nearly constant. This rise of marine diversity compared to non-marine forms is congruent with previous hypotheses suggesting that the crocodyliforms did not suffer from the K-Pg crisis, but on the contrary, benefited from the extinction of large marine reptiles to diversify after the crisis mainly in this environment. So, if the history of the crocodyliforms on the whole is important, the evolution of each group should be considered separately, as their evolution could be influenced by regional environmental conditions and factors.

Within the subfamily Scelidotheriinae, Valgipes bucklandi represents one of the least known taxa due to its scarce records and material found so far. This Pleistocene ground sloth had been registered only in Brazil, within the Brazilian Intertropical Region (BIR) in the states of Bahia, Minas Gerais, Piaui, Rio Grande do Norte and, more recently, outside the BIR, in Mato Grosso do Sul. A particular feature of this sloth is the proximal and distal fusion of the tibia and fibula in adults. Here, we report a tibia-fibula assigned to V. bucklandi found in Arroyo del Vizcaino (Canelones, Uruguay), a fossiliferous site that harbors a large amount of megamammal remains at an approximate age of 30 ka (29696–32009 cal yr B.P.). We performed stable isotopes analyses and ecological niche models (ENM) to study V. bucklandi distribution and climatic and dietary preferences, as well as to better understand its presence ~2000 km southward of its previous recorded occurrences. δ13C values were consistent with those of the BIR, indicating a similar preference for C3 plants, while the results of δ18O values could be related to colder and more humid environments, clearly different from those obtained from BIR specimens. Furthermore, the ENM results also showed colder and more humid environments for the AdV record, with the occurrence being in the margins of the predicted potential distribution of the taxa. This discovery expands the distribution of this taxa to southern colder climates, indicating a greater climatic tolerance. Moreover, our results support the existence of mixed faunas composed of Southern and Northern taxa coexisting in Southern Uruguay at the onset of the Last Glacial Maximum, and provide evidence of the existence of an open mosaic habitat with patches of mixed vegetation in the region.

Tham Wiman Nakin or “Snake Cave” has so far been recognized as being the only late Middle Pleistocene Homo-bearing fauna, dated to older than 169 ka, in mainland Southeast Asia. Since the last two decades, the highly diversified mammal fauna found from this cave has been widely used as standard references for several studies, though the majority of fossil primates, carnivores, and ungulates have never been described in detail. This paper presents taxonomic descriptions of unpublished fossil specimens from the long-known collection of Tham Wiman Nakin. As a result, the fauna of Tham Wiman Nakin consisted of at least 28 large mammal taxa. Although several previously described specimens are re-assigned to different tooth elements and/or mammal taxa, our taxonomic study confirms the existence of most of the species identified from the previous work and describes three additional taxa for the locality: an Asian badger, a tiger, and a Himalayan goral. The Tham Wiman Nakin fauna is one of the most diverse Pleistocene mammals, including a hominin, in mainland Southeast Asia and documents long-term survivors of living species since the late Middle Pleistocene. Based on several recent dates of fossil sites in mainland Southeast Asia, biochronological data imply a possible faunal age up to the maximum of 300 ka for the Tham Wiman Nakin fauna, but younger than that of Pha Bong where Gigantopithecus was present. Fossil records in the region also suggest a relatively stable fauna through Pleistocene glacial-interglacial cycles, at least from the late Middle to latest Pleistocene. The extinction occurring in the mainland varied across taxa and likely resulted in less impacted biodiversity loss prior to the Holocene, compared to other continents, as indicated by the small proportion of species becoming extinct during each interval. The importance of stable mosaic habitats through time may provide clues to the long-term survival of several large mammal taxa in the region.

Pleistocene vertebrate faunas have long been known from the island of Timor but have rarely been studied. In particular, dwarf elephant-like proboscideans such as Stegodon were once widespread across the island, including to the Atambua Basin, but the cause of their extinction is unknown. Here, we document the fossil Pleistocene fauna of this basin with their palaeoenvironmental context. We also investigate the possibility of human-Stegodon chronological overlap. Our methods include field survey, excavation, pollen analysis, and U-series dating. Palaeoenvironmental data based on geomorphology and hydrological information show a transition from marine to fluvial depositional conditions in the basin during Pleistocene. Pollen data supports this interpretation and shows a clear shift from mangrove to terrestrial vegetation types. Palaeoclimatic conditions after the transition are characterized by a high humidity with high-flow water across the basin. Fossils of vertebrate faunas are restricted to fluvially-derived sandstone units. Meanwhile lithic artefacts were recorded widely across the basin, in the from of surface finds. There is so far no example of direct association of lithic artefacts with extinct Pleistocene faunas. Direct dating of the vertebrate fossils suggest they came from the Middle Pleistocene or earlier, and consequently pre-date the oldest current records of modern human existence on the island ~45,000 years ago.

Sackdilling Cave is a karst fissure filled with a fossiliferous breccia including abundant fossil remains, mostly snails and small mammals. The taxonomic status of mustelid remains from this cave was previously regarded as controversial and, consequently, different authors listed different species from the locality. A detailed revision of the material shows the presence of five mustelid species: Meles sp., Martes vetus, Mustela strandi, Mustela palerminea, and Mustela praenivalis. Among them, especially noteworthy is the presence of the type specimen of Martes vetus. The Sackdilling holotype resembles Martes foina and differs from that of Martes martes in a short and broad viscerocranium; wide and less extended forward incisor row; compressed, short and wide temporal region; large, strongly inflated and convex tympanic bullae; and narrow P3 with weak lingual bulge. Some dental characters are specific for Martes vetus and show some intermediate values between Martes foina than Martes martes. Among them are the P4 protocone length and the M1 trigon length. The revised material from Sackdilling Cave of Mustela palerminea and Mustela praenivalis was compared with that from other Early and early Middle Pleistocene sites of Europe and showed the presence of intermediate characters. Subsequently, based on the entire mustelid assemblage and other faunal elements (mainly rodents), the age of this fauna was estimated as ca. 0.9–0.7 Ma.

Groundwater depletion is a significant global issue, but its impact on the often-enigmatic subterranean biodiversity and its conservation remains poorly understood. In the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot of India, poor governance of groundwater resources is threatening its evolutionarily distinct subterranean freshwater fauna, some taxa of which represent Gondwanan relics.

The paper describes new Lower Jurassic corals from the South-Eastern Pamir Mountains (Tajikistan) and interprets their relationships with contemporaneous West Tethyan corals. Taxonomic similarities with Pliensbachian European and North African faunas indicate a Pliensbachian age for this fauna, which was previously considered to be of Hettangian/Sinemurian age. Together with the taxa earlier described from the Pamirs, this fauna consists of 30 species of 25 genera, including Triassic holdover genera such as Stylophyllopsis, Phacelostylophyllum and Eocomoseris. The bulk of the fauna represents new Jurassic genera: Alichurastrea, Eomicrophyllia, Guembelastreomorpha, Gurumdynia, Pinacomorpha, Protostephanastrea, Psenophyllia, Sedekastrea and Stylimorpha. Earlier coral studies of the region concerned the genera: Archaeosmilia Melnikova, 1975, Archaeosmiliopsis Melnikova, 1975, Cylismilia Roniewicz, 1988, Pachysmilia Melnikova, 1989, and Prodonacosmilia Melnikova in Melnikova and Roniewicz, 1976. Two species that were considered to belong to the genus Cylismilia, are redescribed and reclassified in the genera Psenophyllia, and Archaeosmilia Melnikova, respectively.

There is ongoing debate in northeastern Pacific coast archaeology over the degree to which humans impacted pinniped ecologies, and how ancient oceangoing canoes and pinniped hunting influenced social complexity. This study presents the analysis of vertebrate fauna from the West End site (CA-SCAI-106) on Santa Catalina Island, California that is characterized by an abundance of eared seals (e.g., California sea lion, Zalophus californianus) and explores butchering and transport decisions made by hunters in the late Holocene (~1315-570 cal BP). Age and sex data demonstrate that indigenous people exploited rookeries with access to adult males and females, as well as juvenile pups. Subadults were the most sought after demographic category, likely due to their density at haul-outs, their size that facilitates easier transportation, and the sustainable offtake strategy that does not drastically impact future generations. Canoes likely aided in the transportation of select animal parts, but did not facilitate offshore hunting. These findings are integrated into regional history and paleoenvironment reconstructions and provide a case study for understanding the role of marine mammals in indigenous Californian lifeways with broader implications for the dynamic character of human-environment interactions, particularly with respect to the role of human predation.

Northern Asia (here, the Russian Federation east of the Urals) played a key role in the spread of anatomically modern humans (AMH) across the Eurasian continent during the Upper Palaeolithic (UP). This time interval witnessed the climatically harshest and most variable part of the last glacial epoch when AMH spread to all continents, with the exception of ice-covered Antarctica, thus raising questions about how humans and environments interacted. Our review of available proxy records shows that the study region was largely dominated by productive steppe and tundra plant communities, which promoted a diverse small- to mega-scale fauna throughout the UP. While this rich fauna was an ideal food resource for AMH populations, its possible influence on the growth of woody plants through grazing is less well resolved. Another non-climatic factor that may have impacted on the spread of woody taxa are human activities (e.g. setting fires to facilitate hunting). Evidence that small populations of woody taxa were distributed in climatically favourable habitats comes from plant macroremains from sediment sequences and archaeological sites and from aDNA data. Contrary to the long-standing view of a generally colder-than-present last glacial climate, these proxy records reveal evidence that summers were warmer than today by several degrees Celsius, providing additional advantages for human activities. Another benefit for large herbivores, and thus human subsistence, were the generally low winter precipitation levels (similar to those of the modern steppe regions of Mongolia), which sustained year-round grazing grounds. These factors apparently outweighed the harsh colder-than-present winter conditions and promoted habitation of AMH in Northern Asia even during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) ca. 30‒18 cal kyr BP. While our understanding of qualitative climate trends, mainly based on fossil pollen records, has substantially improved, quantification of climate parameters is still a challenging task. For the last glacial interval in Northern Asia, plant macroremains, chironomids, diatoms and ostracods may provide suitable alternative proxies.

The predominant landscape of the Atlantic Forest of the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro is made up of forest fragments surrounded by a matrix of modified habitat, which may influence the occurrence and distribution of host species and their parasites in comparison with the original continuous forest. The present study describes the structure, composition, and diversity of the helminth community found in rodents in two areas of an open matrix of different status of conservation. The abundance, intensity, and prevalence were calculated for each helminth species in rodent species. The influence of biotic and abiotic factors on the abundance and prevalence of the helminth species was also investigated. Community structure was analyzed based on the beta diversity and a bipartite network. Nine helminth species were recovered from Akodon cursor, Necromys lasiurus and Mus musculus, with the greatest helminth species richness being recorded in A. cursor (S = 8), followed by N. lasiurus (S = 6), and M. musculus (S = 3). Only three of the helminths recorded in A. cursor had been recorded previously in this rodent in the Atlantic Forest, where 12 different helminths have been recorded, so that the other five are new occurrences for this rodent. All the helminth species of N. lasiurus had been reported previously in this rodent in the Cerrado and Caatinga regions. Mus musculus was infected with the same helminths as the local fauna. Host species and locality were the most important factors influencing helminth abundance and prevalence. Beta-diversity was high for infracommunities indicating more substitutions of helminth species than losses among individuals. Three helminths species were shared by the three host species. The reduced beta-diversity observed in the component communities was consistent with the overlap observed in the helminth fauna of the host species., Graphical abstract Image 1, Highlights • The less disturbed area had higher helminth species richness. • Most helminth species had higher abundance and prevalence in the most disturbed area and host species and locality explained helminth variations in abundance and prevalence. • Turnover was the most important component in infracommunities beta-diversity. • Akodon cursor is a new host for five nematodes and one acanthocephalan species.

The American pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus, was introduced to Europe more than one hundred years ago. Currently it is a common fish in European freshwaters but relatively few specific parasites infect this fish in this new habitat. In Europe only a single species, Myxobolus dechtiari seems to represent the American myxosporean fauna of centrarchid fishes. M. dechtiari was found in both Portugal and Hungary. This species forms plasmodia with elongated shape inside the cartilaginous rays of gill filaments. In the advanced stage of infection, after disruption of plasmodia, small groups of myxospores remain enclosed in the cartilaginous gill rays causing distortions in the filaments. Myxospores were ellipsoidal in frontal view and lemon-shape in sutural, length 12.5 ± 0.46 (12–13.4) μm, width 10 ± 0.37 (9.6–10.4) μm, and thickness 7.4 ± 0.37 (7–8) μm; the polar capsules were pyriform, equal in size, length 5.6 ± 0.21 (5.3–6) μm, width 3.2 ± 0.16 (3–3.6) μm; Seven to eight polar tube coils were arranged perpendicularly to the capsule length. There was a small, round, 0.4 ± 0.1 (0.3–05) (N = 50) intercapsular appendix in the spores. The small subunit ribosomal DNA (ssrDNA) of M. dechtiari differed from other myxozoans sequenced to date. Phylogenetic analysis of the ssrDNA gene sequence placed this species in a clade including actinospores and Myxobolus species: Raabeia type1, Triactinomyxon sp., and Myxobolus osburni infecting the same host fish. The focus of our study was to prove that the pumpkinseed, a fish originated from North-America introduced one of its myxosporean parasite to Europe. Emphasis was put on to demonstrate the unique feature of this parasite causing infection in the cartilaginous gill rays., Graphical abstract Image 1, Highlights • American pumpkinseed fish were introduced to Europe as an ornamental fish. • Relatively few specific parasites are reported from the pumpkinseed in Europe. • The myxosporean Myxobolus dechtiari described originally in Canada infects the introduced host both in Hungary and Portugal. • SsrDNA sequences of M. dechtiari from pumpkinseed fish is provided.

Post-Wealden dinosaur remains are rare in the UK, so any material from late Early or Late Cretaceous deposits is potentially of palaeoecological and palaeobiogeographical significance. Four dinosaur specimens collected from the Woburn Sands Formation (Aptian) of Upware, Cambridgeshire were described briefly by Walter Keeping in 1883, but have not been reappraised since. These specimens are identified herein as a ?turiasaurian sauropod tooth and indeterminate iguanodontian ornithopod remains (a tooth, middle caudal vertebra, pollex ungual). Although collected from the Woburn Sands Formation, it is likely that all of these fossils were reworked from older (now absent) sediments and they have usually been regarded as either ‘Wealden’ or Neocomian in age, presumably due to previous identifications of some of these specimens as Iguanodon. However, consideration of UK dinosaur faunas and regional geology indicates that these fossils could potentially be older. Further work is needed on the derived terrestrial fossils of the Lower Greensand Group in order to constrain their ages more precisely so that they can be incorporated into broader studies of regional diversity and palaeoecology.

Lungfish (Dipnoi) date back to the Devonian, and some fossil taxa as well as extant African lungfishes are known for their ability to aestivate, tolerating low-oxygen environments associated with seasonal drying. Extant lungfishes are separated into two families: Lepidosirenidae (Protopterus in Africa and Lepidosiren in South America) and Neoceratodontidae (Neocerotadus in Australia). African lungfishes were more geographically and phylogenetically diverse on the continent in the past than they are today, with only 5% of extinct taxa recorded from the sub-Saharan fossil record. Given the sparse record of Lepidosirenidae fossils from continental Africa, any new materials are important for understanding diversification of the clade. Here we describe new lungfish fossils cautiously referable to Protopterus annectens and Protopterus aethiopicus, which are strongly supported sister taxa based on the molecular phylogeny. Specimens were collected from the late Oligocene Nsungwe Formation in the Rukwa Rift Basin (RRB) of southwestern Tanzania. The late Oligocene Nsungwe Formation represents a sequence of continental rift-fill deposits of the Songwe sub-basin of the RRB and is subdivided into the lower Utengule and upper Songwe members. Recovery of such material from the Paleogene of Africa below the equator addresses a sizable gap in the lungfish fossil record. It also expands the Nsungwe Formation fauna that includes invertebrates, alestid fishes, ptychadenid anurans, snakes, and several clades of mammals, deepening paleoecological insights into the late Oligocene record of the continental African interior. At present, P. aethiopicus and P. dolloi have an extensive modern eastern African distribution associated with the rift lakes and a region where extant members of P. annectens are not presently known. Fossil specimens described herein document presence of the clade during Paleogene volcanic activity in the western branch of the Eastern African Rift System.

The Mesonychia is a group of archaic carnivorous mammals of uncertain phylogenetic affinities with a Holarctic distribution during the Paleogene. Intensive fossil collecting efforts in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, have resulted in recovery of the largest sample and most complete specimens yet known of the mesonychid Dissacus praenuntius from the second biozone of the Wasatchian North American Land Mammal Age (Wa-0). The Wa-0 biozone corresponds to the body of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), a brief but intense global warming event that occurred ~56 myr ago that significantly impacted terrestrial mammal faunas, including dwarfing in many mammal lineages. To evaluate the potential response of this lineage to climate change, we compared the PETM sample of D. praenuntius with those recovered from just before the PETM in the last biozone of the Clarkforkian North American Land Mammal Age (Cf-3) and just after the PETM in the Wa-1 biozone. While the sample size is still too small to say with certainty, tooth size (as a proxy for body weight) of D. praenuntius appears to be smaller during the late PETM than during either the pre-PETM Cf-3, or post-PETM Wa-1 biozones, suggesting the possibility of a muted dwarfing response to the PETM. However, the pattern observed for D. praenuntius differs from that of many other PETM mammals, as the shift to smaller body size is less pronounced and may have only occurred in late Wa-0.

There are many Middle-Upper Pleistocene outcrop sections in the Lower Volga region (Caspian Lowland, Russia) in between cities of Volgograd and Astrakhan. The present study focuses on the Seroglazovka locality, which is among the most famous key sites within the Lower Volga region. The Seroglazovka locality is of great regional interest, because of its clear exposure of genetically variable Middle and Upper Pleistocene deposits containing diverse complexes of fauna and flora. Even though the Seroglazovka locality was studied by many researchers, the diversity and along-strike variability of the depositional facies often makes the stratigraphic interpretation challenging. In this study, we performed an extensive and integrated study of the Seroglazovka locality including detailed outcrop mapping with lithological description, as well as diverse biostratigraphy analysis and OSL-dating. In addition to outcrop data, we used recently obtained borehole data near the Seroglazovka locality, which cover almost the entire Quaternary interval. This multidisciplinary approach permitted us to confidently stratify the Quaternary interval of the Seroglazovka locality into a series of regional horizons and subhorizons including the Akchagyl, Apsheron, Tyurkyan, Baku, Khazar and Khvalyn. Furthermore, we correlated the interpreted section to the adjacent parts of the Caspian Lowland and the Regional Stratigraphic Scale. Our results allowed us to determine the main Pleistocene palaeoenvironments and their evolution within the study area. Our findings are important to understand the processes, which led to the modern faunistic composition of the Lower Volga region, and to clarify the role of glacial refugia in the settlement of certain species and further colonization of water basins and land areas with habitable environments. Finally, we suggest the Seroglazovka locality as the key reference Pleistocene section for the Lower Volga region.

Extant snake faunas have their origins in the mid-Cenozoic, when colubroids replaced booid-grade snakes as the dominant species. The timing of this faunal changeover in North America and Europe based on fossils is thought to have occurred in the early Neogene, after a period of global cooling opened environments and made them suitable for more active predators. However, new fossils from the late Oligocene of Tanzania have revealed an early colubroid-dominated fauna in Africa suggesting a different pattern of faunal turnover there. Additionally, molecular divergence times suggest colubroid diversification began sometime in the Paleogene, although the exact timing and driving forces behind the diversification are not clear. Here we present the first fossil snake referred to the African clade Lamprophiinae, and the oldest fossil known of Lamprophiidae. As such, this specimen provides the only potential fossil calibration point for the African snake radiation represented by Lamprophiidae, and is the oldest snake referred to Elapoidea. A molecular clock analysis using this and other previously reported fossils as calibration points reveals colubroid diversification minimally occurred in the earliest Paleogene, although a Cretaceous origin cannot be excluded. The elapoid and colubrid lineages diverged during the period of global warming near the Paleocene-Eocene boundary, with both clades diversifying beginning in the early Eocene (proximate to the Early Eocene Climate Optimum) and continuing into the cooler Miocene. The majority of subclades diverge well before the appearance of colubroid dominance in the fossil record. These results suggest an earlier diversification of colubroids than generally previously thought, with hypothesized origins of these clades in Asia and Africa where the fossil record is relatively poorly known. Further work in these regions may provide new insights into the timing of, and environmental influences contributing to, the rise of colubroid snakes.

The Ypresian Cambay Shale Formation at Vastan, Mangrol, and Tadkeshwar lignite mines in Gujarat, western India, has yielded a rich vertebrate fauna including madtsoiid, palaeophiid, booid, and colubroidean-like snakes. The latter are particularly abundant, but their systematic affinities are difficult to resolve. Here we describe new specimens of the colubroidean-like snake Thaumastophis missiaeni, including anterior, middle, and posterior trunk vertebrae, as well as caudal vertebrae. The combination of primitive and derived caenophidian and colubroidean vertebral characters confirms Thaumastophis as the earliest known stem-colubriform snake while Procerophis, from the same beds, is more derived and considered to represent a crown-Colubriformes. Additionally, Thaumastophis shares with Renenutet enmerwer from the late Eocene of Egypt a unique combination of vertebral characters that suggests an exchange with North Africa was possible along the southern margin of the Neotethys. We erect the new family Thaumastophiidae for Thaumastophis and Renenutet on the basis of their shared derived vertebral morphology.

The majority of the southern Baltic Sea seabed encompasses homogenous soft-bottom sediments of limited productivity and low biological diversity, but shallow productive areas in the coastal zone such as wetlands, vegetated lagoons and sheltered bays show a high variety of benthic habitat types offering favourable biotopic conditions for benthic fauna. Within Polish marine areas, semi-enclosed Puck Bay (the western part of the Gulf of Gdansk) features an exceptionally diverse environment covering a range of benthic habitats which underscores its unique biological value and aesthetic quality and providing an impetus for conservation and ecosystem-based development. Full-coverages maps on benthic habitats in this area are therefore a necessary foundation for maritime spatial planning and implementation of strategies for sustainable management and protection of the coastal environment. This study presents the first comprehensive description and distribution of benthic habitats in Puck Bay which were categorised using the revised EUNIS 2019 classification system. Typological analyses were carried out based on inventory datasets from 1995 to 2019 including scientific publications, satellite images, open databases, topographic and geological maps, reports, theses, information available on websites and unpublished data shared willingly by individual researchers and administrative institutions. Collating various spatial data sources, that were first georeferenced and then visualized using techniques available in ArcMap 10.4.1 software (Esri), resulted in the mapping of benthic habitats and sites of important and protected plant species, which can contribute to the high confidence in environmental assessments and monitoring activities.

The discovery of a fossil Equus skull in Jinyuan Cave, Luotuo Hill, Dalian, is reported herein. The specimen was identified as Equus qingyangensis, based on the complexity of morphological features, and is considered to be as young as 1.2 Ma. Combined with the new finding, the known specimens of E. qingyangensis were reviewed and compared with other stenonid horse species in Eurasia. A skull previously reported as E. teilhardi, unearthed in the Nihewan Basin, is revised as E. qingyangensis. The recorded locations of E. qingyangensis findings are Bajiazui, Nihewan (s. s.), and the Jinyuan Cave. According to paleomagnetic data, mammalian fauna correlations, and significant environmental events, the ages of the Bajiazui and Nihewan (s. s.) localities are considered to be 2.1–1.7 Ma and correspond with the late Villafranchian faunae in Europe. Thus, based on the records, the temporal range of E. qingyangensis is 2.1–1.2 Ma. With climate change and exposure of the Bering Strait, the occurrence of E. qingyangensis in China was a significant biotic event. E. qingyangensis and another gracile species, E. stenonis, appeared and dispersed throughout Eurasia, and wolf-like canids and the large hyenid Pachycrocuta emerged during this period. Considering the roles equid and canid species played, we propose that this Equus–Canis occurrence represented a substantial biotic event during a series of major environmental and ecological changes.

Several members of the Mediterranean mosquito fauna are the potential vectors of Plasmodium vivax malaria. Although it is known that such primates as Macaca populated the Old Continent at least from the late Miocene era, the possible continuity of the Mediterranean mosquito fauna in Europe previously were not studied. In this study, the potential summer generation number of a Plasmodium vivax-like malaria protozoon and the suitability patterns of the Mediterranean mosquito fauna were modelled for 2 latest Neogene and 10 Quaternary periods. In addition, the mid-Pliocene and mid-Pleistocene Macaca distributions were also modelled. The model results show that the mid-Pliocene and mid-Pleistocene potential range of the Mediterranean mosquito fauna was much more extensive than the present days, covering the western and central parts of Europe. The mid-Pliocene and mid-Pleistocene Macaca populations lived in such areas where the Mediterranean Anopheles species could exist, and the potential summer generation number of Plasmodium vivax-like protozoon could be 3–4. During the Pleistocene interglacials and the Holocene era, many ancient human populations lived under such mild climatic conditions where the Mediterranean malaria mosquitoes and the malaria parasites could persist. In the Last Glacial Maximum, the members of the Mediterranean fauna were restricted to small refugia, which gradually increased in the last 21 ka reaching the present-day conditions. The Atlantic coasts of western Europe, the North Pontic area – and to a lesser extent-the Carpathian Basin seems to be sensitive to climatic changes related to the spread of Mediterranean mosquito vectors. The results support the permanent survival of P. vivax-like parasites throughout the Quaternary Period in Europe.

Heterotrigona itama is a stingless bee species from Meliponini tribe. The bee collects nectar, pollen and resin to produce honey, bee bread, and propolis. The bee is also known to visit and collect nectar from various types of flowers but there are limited studies on why this species of bee prefers to visit certain types of flowers. This study was conducted to identify the nectar concentration in selected flowers favoured by H. itama and the relationship between the bee and the morphology of the flowers. Nectar was obtained from different species of flowers and the concentrations were measured using a digital refractometer. The tube length of each flower species and the tongue length of the bees were also measured. The results revealed that flowers preferred by H. itama have high nectar concentrations. The tube lengths of the preferred flowers were between 2.0 and 4.0 mm, which is compatible with the tongue length of the bee. This study revealed that both nectar concentration and flower morphology are important factors for the bees in choosing their food sources. The results from this study will benefit the beekeepers in the identification of flowers that should be planted in their farms to improve stingless bee beekeeping activities. Understanding the relationship between the bees and their flower preferences could also help us to understand the importance of conserving both the bee colonies and the various species of flowering plants to ensure the sustainability of flora and fauna in the ecosystem.

The Atlantic Forest is a highly fragmented biodiversity hotspot, which in Argentina is represented by the Paranaense Forest, covering a wide area of the province of Misiones. In conservation studies, groups of vertebrates, plants and arthropods are generally used together but other invertebrates scarcely used. In the present work, we aim to provide information on new species of freshwater gastropods, from protected and unprotected areas. Specimens were collected in a protected area (Yaboti Biosphere Reserve) and in two unprotected areas (Alba Posse city and Centro de Investigaciones Antonia Ramos -CIAR-). The shell, radula, internal anatomy and the molecular information of the partial sequence of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) were analysed. The phylogenetic trees were obtained using Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference analyses. Altogether, the anatomical, shell, and genetic studies allow us to differentiate six new species of the genus Potamolithus from the others present in Argentina and the surrounding areas. These new species raise the number of freshwater gastropods for the malacological province Rio Uruguay to 64. Three of the new species have been found within a protected area, while other three at unprotected areas. The presence of invasive species, such as Limnoperna fortunei (Dunker 1857) and Melanoides tuberculata (Muller, 1774), as well as the possible creation of a hydroelectric dam, may modify the environment inhabited by the new endemic fauna.

The Eastern Palaearctic and Oriental fauna of gall wasp inquilines (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) has been historically understudied. Previously, ten species of Synergus Hartig (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Synergini), the most speciose genus of inquilines associated with Fagaceae galls worldwide, were known to occur in mainland China despite this region harbors a great number of potential fagaceous tree hosts. After the examination of all the Synergus specimens deposited at the Parasitic Hymenoptera Collection of the Agriculture and Forestry University of Zhejiang (ZAFU, China), we provide a revision of this genus in mainland China. Three new species (S. drouarti Pujade-Villar, sp. nov., S. ponsatiae Lobato-Vila & Pujade-Villar, sp. nov. and S. rovirae Lobato-Vila & Pujade-Villar, sp. nov.) are described and illustrated. Four species (S. areolatus (Weld, 1926) comb. nov.; S. formosanus Schweger & Melika, 2015, S. gifuensis Ashmead, 1904 and S. ishikarii Melika & Schweger, 2015) are new records for this area. Saphonecrus reticulatus Pujade-Villar, Wang & Guo, 2014 is proposed as syn. nov. of Synergus castaneus Pujade-Villar, Bernardo & Viggiani, 2013, and Synergus changtitangi Melika & Schweger, 2015 as syn. nov. of S. deqingensis Pujade-Villar, Wang & Chen, 2015. We provide new biological and distributional data for all the species as well as redescriptions, pictures and other corrections for those which were originally poorly characterized. Lastly, we provide an updated key to the Eastern Palaearctic and Oriental Synergus species, with a table summarizing all of them.

The biodiversity changes of trilobites in the middle Yangtze region of South China in the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event and the end-Ordovician mass extinction have been analysed. The Ordovician trilobites in this region originated in the early Tremadocian and radiated from the late Floian to the early Katian. Two peaks of diversity appeared in the late Dapingian to the early Darriwilian and the early Katian. The extinction occurred in the late Katian, followed by a survival period in the Hirnantian. The Whiterock fauna began to surpass the Ibex fauna during the early Katian and were dominant by the late Katian to the Hirnantian, indicating that Cambrian Evolutionary Fauna was gradually replaced. The study once again confirms the view that the effects of factors such as sea level, climate, oxygen content, nutrient supply, and tectogenesis differ temporally and to different degrees in different regions, resulting in differences in the vertical sequence and horizontal combination of ecosystems, which is the reason for the different evolution patterns of Ordovician trilobites in different regions.

The desiccation of the Mediterranean Basin at the end of the Miocene was a milestone in the evolution of the Mediterranean sandfly fauna. This severe environmental change should have notably influenced their paleobiogeography as well as paleoecology and might have triggered the rapid speciation of the ancestors of the extant European sandfly species. The aim of this study was to explore how the Messinian Salinity Crisis could influence the distribution and migration routes of the ancient Mediterranean sandfly species. The unknown ecological requirements of this ancient species were replaced by the distribution-limiting climatic values of three species of extant European phlebotomine sandflies which represent the three ecological types of European sandfly fauna. The former potential occurrence patterns were determined by Climate Envelope Modelling Method. As a climate model for the Messinian Period in the Mediterranean Basin, the modified mid-Pliocene warm period model was used. The thermal surplus of the desiccated seafloor was reconstructed based on the atmospheric lapse rate. It was found that the extraordinary hot climate of the Mediterranean abyssal plain did not allow the direct cross-migration of the ancient sandfly species anywhere between Europe and North Africa neither through Gibraltar nor the Strait of Sicily. While Phlebotomus neglectus and Phlebotomus papatasi could colonize the Adriatic Plain, Phlebotomus ariasi could not. The results indicate that the Messinian played an important role in the speciation rather than migration of the ancestors of present-day Mediterranean sandflies.

The famous Rhaetian bone bed (Late Triassic, 205 Ma) is well known because it marks a major switch in depositional environment from terrestrial red beds to fully marine conditions throughout the UK and much of Europe. The bone bed is generally cemented and less than 10 cm thick. However, we report here an unusual case from Saltford, near Bath, S.W. England where the bone bed is unconsolidated and up to nearly 1 m thick. The exposure of the basal beds of the Westbury Formation, Penarth Group includes a bone bed containing a diverse Rhaetian marine microvertebrate fauna dominated by sharks, actinopterygian fishes and reptiles. Despite the unusual sedimentary character of the bone bed, we find similar proportions of taxa as in other basal Rhaetian bone beds (55–59 % Lissodus teeth, 13–16 % Rhomphaiodon teeth, 12–14 % Severnichthys teeth, 6–9% Gyrolepis teeth, 3–4% undetermined sharks’ teeth, 1–3% undetermined bony fish teeth, and