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The genus Myrmecina was described basing on males of M. graminicola. Though representing the caste type, males were sufficiently described in only two out of 105 species known in the genus. However, the morphology of the male external genitalia remained undescribed. Re‐examining by SEM the male of M. graminicola, we describe and illustrate in detail for the first time the external genitalia, redefining and updating the morphological male diagnosis of the genus. We also analyze the overall morphology, illustrating additional peculiar characters of this species as follows: (i) a very distinctive stipital groove in the dorsolateral stipes; (ii) a developed uncinate‐shaped mesoscutellar arm; (iii) the antennal cleaning; and (iv) the absence of meso‐ and metatibial spurs. This morphological study will be useful as a base for further morphological descriptions of the males in other species of the same genus to support correct taxonomic identifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU Forestry Strategy 2030 includes an ambitious reforestation/afforestation plan aimed at planting 3 billion trees that should lead the European Union toward carbon neutrality by 2050. We argue that important ecological aspects were not sufficiently considered in the Strategy. The consequences of large‐scale afforestation plans on biodiversity‐rich open areas were poorly considered. "Where to plant" is a key aspect, as one of the targets for planting trees may be biodiversity‐rich open areas, that are already declining due to natural shrub and tree encroachment. We suggested that urban areas and areas near linear infrastructures should be the main targets of afforestation. Concerning "What to plant" non‐native species should be avoided in all cases. Among native species, certain geno‐ecotypes may not equally perform under the effects of climate change. We therefore suggest a throughout revision of the EU Forestry Strategy 2030 with the inclusion of ecologically driven principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tertiary‐Piedmont Basin (NW Italy) is an episutural basin that developed from the late Eocene on the Alps–Apennines tectonic junction. Several coeval geodynamic processes, including the loading and exhumation of the Western Alps, the outward migration of the Apennine accretionary wedge and the opening of the Liguro‐Provençal rift basin, controlled the basin evolution. We integrate fluid‐inclusion microthermometry, low‐temperature thermochronology and burial history with numerical modelling to constrain the palaeo‐geothermal gradients required and evaluate the mechanisms that governed the basin thermal history. Apatite fission‐track and (U‐Th‐Sm)/He analyses of the basal late Eocene turbidites show reset ages of ca. 25 and 20 Ma, respectively, which require temperatures to be >120°C. Homogenization temperatures up to ca. 130°C from fluid inclusion analyses from authigenic minerals confirm the thermochronometric data, supporting a significant post‐depositional heating in the lower sequence of the basin. Stratigraphic reconstructions and decompaction of the basin fill indicate that the maximum burial experienced by the basal strata at 25 Ma is 2.3 ± 0.1 km, which is not sufficient to reset the AFT thermochronometric system when applying a typical geothermal gradient (ca. 20–30°C/km). An elevated geothermal gradient of 45 ± 5°C/km is thus necessary to explain the thermochronometric dates and the elevated thermal signature at shallow depths. 2D numerical simulations indicate that such an elevated palaeo‐geothermal gradient can be best explained by mantle upwelling, consistent with crustal thinning caused by the inception of the Liguro‐Provençal rift basin and related outward migration of the Alpine and Apennine fronts during the Oligocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formation of carbonate build‐ups associated with seafloor methane vents – where microbially mediated sulphate‐dependent anaerobic oxidation of methane produces alkalinity – is well documented in modern marine environments and in the geologic record. However, the triggering event(s) behind the processes leading to hydrocarbon disequilibrium, seeping and consequent deposition of seep‐carbonates remain poorly constrained. This contribution characterises the salinity, geochemistry and temperature framework of a suit of fluid inclusions from hydrocarbon‐derived seep‐carbonate veins, collected from the Marmorito Formation in the Monferrato Hills, NW Italy. The datasets yield evidence of three different precipitation events, which comprise porous structures composed of well bladed calcites and aggregated spherules of aragonite. Fluid inclusions analysis shows the presence of a heterogeneous entrapment of immiscible fluids proving the paleo‐dissolution of a suite of complex hydrocarbons, which have a wide range of closing temperature starting at ca. 60°C. These physical and chemical conditions are considered to indicate seep‐carbonate deposition driven by disequilibrium of hydrocarbon‐bearing compounds at temperatures much warmer than the background ambient bottom waters (ca. 1 to 5°C) due to the influence of the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene tectonic compression at the junction of the southern Alps and Apennines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fossils sometimes show unusual morphological features absent in living organisms, making it difficult to reconstruct both their affinity and their function. We describe here a new lacewing larva, Ankyloleon caudatusgen. et sp.n. (Neuroptera) from the Cretaceous amber of Myanmar, characterized by an abdomen unique among insects, with 'tail‐like' terminal segments bearing a ventral pair of vesicles. Phase‐contrast X‐ray microtomography reveals that these structures were dense and equipped with a median duct, suggesting that they were likely pygopods used for locomotion, holding the position through adhesive secretions. Our phylogenetic analyses, combining genomic and morphological data from both living and fossil lacewings, proved critical to placing Ankyloleongen.n. on the lacewing tree of life as an early representative of the antlion clade, Myrmeleontiformia. These results corroborate the view that derived myrmeleontiform lacewings 'experimented' with unusual combinations of features and specializations during their evolutionary history, some of which are now lost. Zoobank registration: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:0C0AC565‐1AC9‐42CC‐831D‐EDA38BA36F64 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social parasitic beetle Paussus favieri (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Paussini) performs different types of stridulations, which selectively mimic those emitted by different ant castes of its host Pheidole pallidula (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Myrmicinae). However, the significance of this acoustical mimicry for the success of the parasitic strategy and the behaviors elicited in the host ants by stridulations was unknown. We reared Paussus favieri in Pheidole pallidula colonies and filmed their interacting behaviors. We analyzed in slow motion the behavior of ants near a stridulating beetle. We analyzed separately trains of pulse (Pa + Pb, produced by repeated rubbings) and single pulse (Pc, produced by a single rubbing) of stridulations, clearly recognizable from the shaking up and down of the beetle hind legs, and associated them with different ant responses. The full repertoire of sounds produced by P. favieri elicited benevolent responses both in workers and soldiers. We found that different signals elicit different (sometimes multiple) behaviors in ants, with different frequency in the two ant castes. However, Pc (alone or in conjunction with other types of pulses) appears to be the type of acoustic signal mostly responsible for all recorded behaviors. These results indicate that the acoustic channel plays a pivotal role in the host–parasite interaction. Finding that a parasite uses the acoustical channel so intensively, and in such a complicated way to trigger ant behaviors, indicates that acoustic signals may be more important in ant societies than commonly recognized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hoverfly Microdon myrmicae is a rare and extremely localised social parasite of Myrmica ants, only occurring around wet grassland. Dispersal, location of the host, and oviposition are crucial steps in the life of ant parasites but are poorly known due to the challenge of studying such rare species.Using genome‐wide loci obtained by RADseq, we investigated the genetic structure and relatedness of Mi. myrmicae larvae and its ant host, collected from three localities in South West England, and inferred biological and behavioural traits.We found that: (a) Mi. myrmicae larvae show high inbreeding levels and severe heterozygosity deficiency, as an expression of the small population size that favours the mating between siblings or half‐siblings; (b) Mi. myrmicae adults can disperse for many kilometres, spreading much more than it is reported for its sibling species, Microdon mutabilis; (c) a single female lays small egg bunches in different ant colonies, sometimes spanning substantial distances (bet‐hedging strategy); in parallel, a single ant nest can harbour eggs from different Microdon females; (d) preliminary evidence suggest that contrary to Mi. mutabilis, host colony choice seems not to depend on the number of queens residing in a single colony.These results overall strongly deviate from what previously found for Mi. mutabilis, whose females oviposit in the natal nest generation after generation. We argue that such different ecological traits and parasitic strategies between closely related species are mainly ascribable to the different selective pressure on the two ant hosts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The partitioning of different grain‐size classes in gravity flow deposits is one of the key characteristics used to infer depositional processes. Turbidites have relatively clean sandstones with most of their clay deposited as part of a mudstone cap or as a distal mudstone layer, whereas sand‐bearing debrites commonly comprise mixtures of sand grains and interstitial clay; hybrid event beds develop alternations of clean and dirty (clay‐rich) sandstones in varying proportions. Analysis of co‐genetic mudstone caps in terms of thickness and composition is a novel approach that can provide new insight into gravity flow depositional processes. Bed thickness data from the ponded Castagnola system show that turbidites contain more clay overall than do hybrid event beds. The Castagnola system is characterized by deposits of two very different petrographic types. Thanks to this duality, analyses of sandstone and mudstone composition allow inference of which proportion of the clay in each of the deposit types was acquired en route. In combination with standard sedimentological observations the new data allow insight into the likely characteristics of their parent flows. Clean turbidites were deposited by lower concentration, long duration, erosive, muddy turbidity currents which were more efficient at fractionating clay particles away from their basal layer. Hybrid event beds were deposited by shorter duration, higher‐concentration, less‐erosive sandier flows which were less efficient at clay fractionation. The results are consistent with data from other turbidite systems (for example, Marnoso‐arenacea). The approach represents a new method to infer the controls on the degree of clay partitioning in gravity flow deposits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The architecture of foreland basins and the resulting distribution of clastic sediments are related to the constant interplay between tectonics and sedimentation. Specifically, basin floor modifications strongly influence dimensions, continuity and connections of sand‐size and fine‐grained deposits. Given the increasing need to identify deep potential reservoir deposits, the large‐scale definition of clastic porous targets and their seals is a matter of interest for oil and gas industry. Here, we present the reconstruction of the Po Plain and Northern Adriatic Foreland Basin (with an extent of ca. 40,000 km2) and its Pliocene–Pleistocene evolution, as an example of a sedimentary clastic system controlled by strongly non‐cylindrical foreland geometry. The study is based on the basin‐scale mapping of six unconformity‐bounded sequences, performed by interpreting a dense network of seismic lines and correlating well‐log data. This provides a three‐dimensional model of the step‐by‐step evolution of the basin and a description of the sediment dispersal pattern. We found that the basin records the change from a continuous (cylindrical) to highly fragmented (non‐cylindrical) foredeep geometry during Late Pliocene. In the Northern Apennines case, the main factors driving the development of a non‐cylindrical geometry are mainly related to inherited inhomogeneity in the downgoing block linked to its Mesozoic extensional faulting, and the relative orientation of these lineaments with respect to the direction of orogen migration. During the late Pliocene–Pleistocene the two directions progressively became close to parallel, and the Northern Apennines system reacted changing from a cylindrical to a non‐cylindrical state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) involved the progressive isolation of the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic between 5.97 and 5.33 Ma, and a sea‐level fall whose timing, modalities, and magnitude remain actively debated. At that time, the central Mediterranean was undergoing strong tectonic activity due to the rollback of the Adria slab and eastward migration of the Apenninic belt. The combined effects of the post‐evaporitic MSC sea‐level drop and morphostructural changes (due to the Intra‐Messinian phase) resulted in a regional unconformity, which shows erosive markers and conformable relationships with the Messinian and Mio–Pliocene boundary in the Po Plain and Northern Adriatic Foreland. Here, we produce a palaeotopographic reconstruction of the Po Plain‐Northern Adriatic region (PPNA) during the Messinian peak desiccation event based on such regional unconformity. We mapped this surface through wells and 2D seismic data form Eni's private dataset. The unconformity shows V‐shaped incisions matching the present‐day southern Alpine valleys and filled with Messinian post‐evaporitic and Pliocene deposits, suggesting that the modern drainage network is at least of late Messinian age. The Messinian unconformity has been restored to its original state through flexural‐backstripping numerical modelling. The resulting landscape suggests a maximum sea‐level drop of 800–900 m during the MSC peak, and is consistent with stratigraphic and sedimentologic data provided by previous works. The modelled shoreline separates the subaerially eroded land from an elongated basin composed by two ca. 400 and 1,000 m deep depocentres during the maximum sea‐level drop. These results suggest that the Mediterranean was split in at least three sub‐basins subject to independent base levels, fresh‐water budgets, and flexural responses during the maximum lowstand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Cretaceous, the Neuquén Basin transitioned from an extensional back-arc to a retroarc foreland basin. We present a multi-proxy provenance study of Aptian to Santonian (125-84 Ma) continental sedimentary rocks preserved in the Neuquén Basin used to resolve changes of sediment drainage pattern in response to the change in tectonic regime. Sandstone petrology and U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology constrain the source units delivering detritus to the basin; apatite U-Pb and fission track dating further resolve provenance and determine the age and patterns of exhumation of the source rocks. Sandstone provenance records a sharp change from a mixed orogenic source during Aptian time ( ca. 125 Ma), to a magmatic arc provenance in the Cenomanian ( ca. 100 Ma). We interpret this provenance change as the result of the drainage pattern reorganisation from divergent to convergent caused by tectonic basin inversion. During this inversion and early stages of contraction, a transient phase of uplift and basin erosion, possibly due to continental buckling, caused the pre-Cenomanian unconformity dividing the Lower from Upper Cretaceous strata in the Neuquén Basin. This phase was followed by the development of a retroarc foreland basin characterised by a volcanic arc sediment provenance progressively shifting to a mixed continental basement provenance during Turonian-Santonian (90-84). According to multi-proxy provenance data and lag times derived from apatite fission track analysis, this trend is the result of a rapidly exhuming source within the Cordillera to the west, in response to active compressional tectonics along the western margin of South America, coupled with the increasing contribution of material from the stable craton to the east; this contribution is thought to be the result of the weak uplift and exhumation of the foreland due to eastward migration of the forebulge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Alps are the archetypical collisional orogenic system on Earth, and yet our understanding of processes controlling topographic growth in the Cenozoic remains incomplete. Whereas ideas and models on the Alps are abundant, data from the foreland basin record able to constrain the timing of erosion and sedimentation, mechanisms of basin accommodation and basin deformation are sparse. We combine seismic stratigraphy, micropaleontology, white mica 40Ar/39Ar, detrital zircon (U-Th)/He and apatite fission track thermochronology to Oligocene-Pliocene samples from the retrowedge foreland basin (Saluzzo Basin in Italy) and to Oligocene-Miocene sedimentary rocks from the prowedge foreland basin (Bârreme Basin in France) of the Western Alps. Our new data show that exhumation in the Oligocene-Miocene was nonuniform across the Western Alps. Topographic growth was underway since the Oligocene and exhumation was concentrated on the proside of the orogenic system. Rapid and episodic early Miocene exhumation of the Western Alps was concentrated instead on the retroside of the orogen and correlates with a major unconformity in the proximal retroforeland basin. A phase of orogenic construction is recorded by exhumation of the proximal proforeland in both the Central and Western Alps at circa 16 Ma. This is associated with high sedimentation rates, and by inference erosion rates, and suggests that an increase in accretionary flux associated with the dynamics of subduction of Europe under Adria controlled orogenic expansion in the Miocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to characterize the antennal morphology of Osmoderma eremita, a threatened scarab beetle inhabiting tree hollows. O. eremita males produce a sex pheromone, ( R)-(+)- γ-decalactone, responsible mainly for the attraction of females but also other males. Gross and fine morphology of microstructures including sensilla, microsculpture and pores were analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscopy. The antenna of O. eremita showed the typical lamellicorn shape of scarab beetles, with a basal scape, a pedicel, a funicle composed of five antennomeres and a club composed of three lamellae. Six different subtypes of sensilla chaetica (Ch.1 − 6), Böhm sensilla (Bo), one subtype of sensilla basiconica (Ba.1), two subtypes of sensilla coeloconica (Co.1 − 2), two subtypes of sensilla placodea (Pl.1 − 2), pores and peculiar folds were described. The two sexes did not show any significant differences in the occurrence and number of the sensilla placodea, known to be responsible for the pheromone reception. Instead, some sexual differences were found on the occurrence and topology of three different microstructures: (1) one subtype of sensillum chaeticum (Ch.2) occurring on the pedicel only in males; (2) a characteristic pore occurring on the funicle only in males; (3) a peculiar fold occurring on different antennomeres of the funicle in the two sexes, on the fourth in males and on the fifth in females. A comparison between sensilla of O. eremita and those of other Scarabaeoidea is provided. Microsc. Res. Tech. 79:178-191, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual patches are abdominal areas identifiable by modified setation, present in the males of several groups of Tachinidae (Diptera). We comparatively studied more than 40 species belonging to 24 genera representative of subfamilies known to bear these organs, using light microscopy and scanning ( SEM) and transmission ( TEM) electron microscopy. We provide a detailed characterization of the fine structure of the setae and microtrichia composing these sexual patches and of the underlying epithelium. Study of abdominal sections showed that, close to the patch area, the epidermis forms a thick layer composed of numerous secretory units of strictly associated cells, ending at the level of cuticular pores at the base of the setae. We hypothesize a secretory function of these structures. The segmental pattern of the sexual patches across the Tachinidae is defined and predictable. We note that almost all the segmental patterns share the presence of sexual patches on abdominal tergite 4, underscoring the diversity of male sexual specializations that occur on the fourth abdominal segment of muscomorph flies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We evaluated completeness, accuracy, and historical trend of the taxonomic knowledge on the myrmecophilous ground beetle tribe Paussini (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Paussinae). Accumulation curves for valid names and synonyms of species, subgenera, and genera were modelled using logistic functions. Analyses of trends in synonymies suggest that few currently accepted taxa will be recognized to be synonymous in the future. This may indicate that Paussini are a taxonomically relatively stable tribe of carabid beetles. However, this result might also be due to the lack of recent taxonomic work in some biogeographical regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several specimens of the myrmecophilous beetle Paussus favieri were reared in ant nests of Pheidole pallidula. Their interactions were recorded and all behaviors observed are described. Duration and frequency of five behaviors of P. favieri were analyzed with ANOVA and post hoc Tukey tests; these comprised rewarding, antennal shaking, antennation, escape, and "no contact". Significant differences both in duration and in frequency among behaviors were detected. The main result is that the rewarding behavior, during which the beetle provides attractive substances to the host, is performed significantly more frequently than all others. This result strongly supports the hypothesis that the chemicals provided by the beetles and licked by the ants are of great importance for the acceptance and the full integration of P. favieri in the ant society. This result also suggests that, contrary to previous findings and interpretations, the myrmecophilous strategy of P. favieri is very similar to the symphilous strategy described for P. turcicus. The occasional interactions of some beetle specimens with the P. pallidula queen were recorded, illustrated, and discussed, indicating the possibility of a more complex strategy of P. favieri involving a chemical mimicry with the queen. In addition, the courtship performed by the beetle is described for the first time, together with a peculiar "cleaning" behavior, which we hypothesize functions to spread antennal chemicals over the body surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Early Jurassic dolomitized carbonates are a hydrocarbon exploration target in Northern Italy. Of these carbonates, the Liassic Albenza Formation platform and the overlying Sedrina Formation shelf were studied to define a pervasive dolomitization model and to shed light on dolomite distribution in the sub-surface. Field work, as well as analyses of well cores, stable isotopes, trace elements and fluid inclusions, was carried out on the outcropping thrust belt and sub-surface deformed foreland of the Southern Alps. Petrographic analyses showed a first, pervasive, replacement dolomitization phase (D1) followed by volumetrically less important dolomite cement precipitation phases (D2, D3 and D4). The δO values fall between −8·2‰ and 0·1‰ Vienna-Pee Dee Belemnite with the more depleted samples belonging to dolomite cement-rich dolostones; the δC ranges from 2·6‰ to 3·7‰ Vienna-Pee Dee Belemnite. Analysis of trace elements showed different Fe and Mn contents in the sub-surface and outcropping dolostones, and a higher Fe in the younger dolomite cements. An increase in the precipitation temperature (up to 130 °C from fluid inclusion data) and a decrease in diagenetic fluid salinity (from sea water to brackish) are observed from the first pervasive replacement dolomite to the dolomite cement phases. Field observations indicate that, in the Albenza Formation, dolomitization was limited to palaeohighs or faulted platform margins in the Early Jurassic carbonates. The pervasive replacement phase is interpreted based on a 'compaction model'; the formation fluids expelled from compacting basinal carbonates could have funnelled along faults into permeable palaeohighs. The high homogenization temperature of the dolomite cements and decreased salinities indicate precipitation at great depth with an influx of meteoric water. These data, along with the thermal history, suggest that the dolomite cements precipitated according to the 'tectonic squeegee' dolomitization model. The dolomite precipitation temperature was set against the thermal history of the carbonate platform to interpret the timing of dolomite precipitation. The dolomite precipitation temperatures (90 to 100 °C) were reached in the studied formations first in the thrust fold belt (Early Tertiary, 60 Ma), and then in the foreland succession during the Late Tertiary (10 Ma). This observation suggests that the dolomite precipitation fronts moved southwards over time, recording a 'diagenetic wave' linked to the migration of the orogenic system. Observations suggest that the porosity increased during the first phase of replacement dolomitization while the dolomite cementation phases partially occluded the pores. The distribution of porous dolomitized bodies is therefore linked to the 'compaction dolomitization' model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the first study of Australian blister beetle larvae. The first-instar larva of one species of the endemic genus Palaestra Laporte de Castelnau, 1840, is described as well as those of other phoretic species without adult association and consequently unplaced to genus. Two main larval types (Groups 1 and 2) are recognised, as are distinct morphotypes within each group. Although both groups are assignable to the Nemognathinae, they are characterised by traits not paralleled by subfamily representatives from other regions of the world. Group 1, which includes Palaestra, is the more distinctive, whereas Group 2 shares most characteristics with members of the cosmopolitan tribe Nemognathini. A tabular comparison of larval groups and morphotypes is included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The monogeneric subtribe Mystropomina Chaudoir (Carabidae: Paussinae: Ozaenini) contains two species endemic to Australia: Mystropomus subcostatus Chaudoir and Mystropomus regularis Bänninger. In this paper, we describe and illustrate the larva of M. subcostatus providing the first larval description in this subtribe, thereby filling an important gap in our knowledge of paussine larval morphology. We compare the structural features of this larva with the other known larvae in the subfamily and provide an identification key to larvae of Australian paussine genera. We find no external structural features that indicate that this larva lives with ants, as do many other members of the carabid beetle subfamily Paussinae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genus Actenodia Laporte de Castelnau (Meloidae: Mylabrini) is revised. It includes 18 species distributed in the Mediterranean and Saharo-Arabian regions, and in eastern and southern Africa; A. carpanetoi sp.n. from Mozambique is described. The bionomics of the genus is summarized, according to a collection of records on phenology, elevation, habitat preference and host plants. A classification of the genus is proposed after a morphological cladistic analysis: one Afrotropical lineage clearly emerged with three distinct groups of species, whereas other taxa, all Palaearctic except A. mirabilis, remained unresolved. The analysis of the nuclear internal transcribed spacer 2 rDNA sequences of some Palaearctic and Afrotropical species supports the distinction of the Afrotropical lineage. The first instar larvae of two species, A. chrysomelina from southern Africa and A. denticulata from Arabia, are described for the first time and compared with two other Palaearctic species described previously; inferences from larval morphology are discussed. The adult morphology of all species is described briefly and illustrated, and a key to the species is provided, as well as locality data. Three new synonymies are proposed: A. extera Dvořák, 1993 syn.n. = A. septempunctata Baudi di Selve, 1878; A. sexpunctata Pic, 1948 syn.n. = A. curtula Fähraeus, 1870 ; A. unimaculata lanzai Kaszab, 1973 syn.n. = A. unimaculata Pic, 1908. The biogeography of the genus is discussed within the framework of a more general analysis of the disjunct distribution models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two case histories are presented to give evidences for sediment cooling during increasing burial depth due to heat flow decrease at the end of crustal stretching in extensional settings. The first refers to the Lower Cretaceous succession accumulated in a strongly subsiding trough within the Sirt Basin (Libya); the second relates to the Mesozoic succession of the Lombardian Basin (NW Italy) formed during Late Triassic–Early Jurassic rifting of the northern margin of the Adriatic microplate. In both cases, heat flow decreasing at the end of crustal stretching overbalanced the thermal effect of increasing burial depth causing a net cooling of rocks. These examples provide an alternative to exhumation for explaining cooling events recorded by rifting sedimentary sequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Larval structural characters are an important component in phylogenetic reconstruction of the subfamily Paussinae. Based on larval characters, two main cladistic hypotheses have been proposed concerning basal relationships within Paussinae: (1) Metriini as sister-group of Ozaenini + Paussini, with Ozaenini as a paraphyletic group and the genus Physea as sister-group of Paussini; and (2) Metriini as sister-group only of the monophyletic Ozaenini, with the Paussini as sister-group of Metriini + Ozaenini. We present here a review of these hypotheses and a new cladistic analysis based on larvae, emphasizing the phylogeny of Ozaenini. The analysis includes the following taxa: Metrius (Metriini), Itamus, Pachyteles, Sphaerostylus, Physea (Ozaenini), Platyrhopalopsis and Paussus (Paussini). For both Physea and Platyropalopsis larvae we provide new detailed descriptions, because previous descriptions are inadequate to allow an advanced phylogenetic discussion. A total of fifty-six characters are analysed. Most characters show alternative states organized into sequences of character states, each of which is logically derivable from its neighbour in the sequence, resulting in an almost completely pectinate cladogram. Metrius is the sister-group of all other Paussinae, and Paussini are a highly derived offshoot within the ozaenine grade. According to the present analysis, Physea, regarded traditionally as a typical ozaenine, represents the ozeanine sister to Paussini, showing that Ozaenini are paraphyletic. As our analysis is based on the few paussine genera sufficiently known at the larval stage, which represent a low number of the extant paussine genera, the results are merely illustrative of the evolution of the major clades within the subfamily. More detailed information about the phylogeny of ozaenines could arise from a more comprehensive analysis, mainly including adult morphological characters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]