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A new stygobiotic species of Belgrandiella from a cave in north Bulgaria was described. Nine shells were collected by the author on 09.03.2013 at the entrance of the Water cave (Vodnata) near village of Musina, north Bulgaria, N43 13 14.9 E25 25 39.6, 198 m alt. The systematic position of the genus Belgrandiella was also discussed.

Soil organisms can seasonally and temporally influence many factors of soil formation and structure. Burrowing insects create biopores resulting in preferential flow through the soil profile. Most insect species have one or more life stages in soil, however, social insects are the primary taxa studied in context of soil function and structures. Soil-inhabiting southern mole cricket, Scapteriscus borellii Giglio-Tos and tawny mole cricket, Scapteriscus vicinus Scudder (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae), create subterranean tunnels and likely alter soil infiltration and hydraulic conductivity. X-ray CT scans were used to generate three-dimensional images of tunnel characteristics of Scapteriscus mole cricket in different soils and for various life stages. One mole cricket was introduced to a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) cylindrical arena filled with soil and allowed to construct their tunnels for 7 days under controlled conditions in the greenhouse. X-ray CT scans produced high resolution, three-dimensional renderings of tunnel architecture. Greenhouse trials also compared the hydraulic conductivity of saturated soil ( K sat ) infested with mole crickets to soil columns with earthworms. Additionally, infiltration and runoff rates were compared under field conditions in bermudagrass ( Cynodon dactylon (L.) × Cynodon transvaalensis (Burtt-Davy)) in the presence and absence of mole crickets. Both species produce tunnels generally ≥2.5 times their body in width. Southern mole cricket tunnels produce twice as many tunnels branches near the surface compared to lower in the soil profile. Immature and adult mole crickets produce tunnels that are similarly constructed yet adults displace about three times the amount of soil during immatures. Mole crickets construct tunnels 64.1 cm long with 208.8 cm 3 volume in loamy soils, which is about double the length and volume of tunnels in clay soils. The K sat was similar when mole crickets or earthworms were present, but both were greater relative to arenas with no soil invertebrates. Under field conditions, plots in bermudagrass where mole crickets were active had 41% reduction in runoff and a 12% greater infiltration relative to un-infested turfgrass. Biopores created by mole crickets in turfgrass and pastures create preferential flow through soil that may increase the movement of water and solutes from the soil to groundwater. This work highlights the interconnections between biodiversity in soils and soil function, and the importance of expanding studies on soil invertebrates beyond the few candidate taxa already studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Marikana massacre ruptured the South African sociopolitical horizon in August 2012. This analysis aims to expose or make visible the scopic regimes at work when interpreting the event. By referencing Judith Butler’s “frame theory” (2009) and Nicholas Mirzoeff’s “the right to look” (2011), the event is unpacked, among other things, as the volatile intersection of differing world views and technics of vision. Three scopic frames are used to interrogate the event: the first aims to unmask “oversights” during the event, whereas the remaining two deal more with inversions of sight which bear on “foresight” and “insight”. In terms of oversight, the first frame refers to the overseeing or invigilation of the event via instruments of visuality or vision machines (e.g. satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles, and helicopters), promising complete transparency. The second oversight comes in the representations of the events as media spectacle, becoming part of a new mediated visibility. The final oversight refers to the miners as subalterns becoming visible in a system that renders them invisible from the start. The second cluster of the visual complex, namely the appeal to foresight, surfaces through the calling on aSangoma(traditional healer) formuti(traditional medicine) to render the miners invincible/invisible to the enemy. The third and final cluster refers to artists Ayanda Mabulu’sYakhal’inkomo—Black man’s cry(2013) and Mary Wafer’sMineexhibition (2012), aiming to provide some insight into the unrepresentability of the event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patterns of genetic diversity in the groundwater fauna of Australia have largely focused on obligate stygobites of relatively large size, namely, crustaceans. Oligochaete worms, with their smaller size and broader ecological niches, provide a contrasting model in which to examine such patterns. Genetic diversity in subterranean oligochaetes in the Pilbara region of Western Australia were examined using one nuclear (18S) and two mitochondrial (COI, 12S) regions. The observed variation was assessed at three levels of hydrology -- river basin, creek catchment, and individual bore or site -- to document geographic patterns. Most species appeared to be restricted to an individual catchment; however, five species, representing three families, were widespread, with some haplotypes being shared between bores, catchments and even basins. General patterns suggest that while hydrology plays a role in the distribution of oligochaete species, it does not always confine them to catchments, in contrast to patterns observed in groundwater isopods and amphipods in the region. We suggest that intrinsic characteristics of oligochaetes, such as body size, shape, reproductive strategy and ecological requirements, may have allowed them greater dispersal within the subterranean biome of the Pilbara. In particular, oligochaetes may occupy subterranean and surface waters, increasing their opportunities for dispersal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the groundwater ecosystems are diversely populated habitats, it is believed that a lot of species wait for description in these special environments. But, increasing pollution in the world also affects groundwater ecosystems. Macroinvertebrates living as a subterranaean form in groundwaters play an important role in the purification of these habitats and provide usable water quality and they can be extinct before their description. Water wells which are man-made holes to get water from underground are very important environment for a lot of living things. They are made by the digging or drilling of groundwater in underground aquifers and sometimes stygobiont species occurs and can live in these habitats. The wells can create proper environments for living things. In this study, we investigated macroinvertebrate fauna of the wells which are used for drinking/using in a province at Turkish Thrace. For this aim, a total of 80 water wells were sampled during the years 2009-2010. Thus, it was aimed to determine the biodiversity on the macroinvertebrate fauna of these special habitats. As a result, macroinvertebrates belonging to Annelida (Oligochaeta, Hirudinae), Arthropoda (Isopoda, Amphipoda, Diptera), and Mollusca (Gastropoda, Bivalvia) were reported as the first records in the wells of the studied area. Also, an eyeless stygobiont Amphipod species, Niphargus valachicus, was also found at two different water wells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subterranean niche is a specialized environment that presents its inhabitants with a unique set of microclimatic conditions. African mole-rats are strictly subterranean and exhibit a continuum of sociality ranging from solitary to highly social. Colonies of the Damaraland mole-rat F ukomys damarensis comprise of a dominant breeding or reproductive female and one or two male consorts and a number of subordinate and non-reproductive individuals of both sexes. In this study, we investigated the locomotor activity patterns of reproductive and non-reproductive female Damaraland mole-rats with the intention to investigate daily timing of activity and activity levels with changes in ambient temperature and also whether activity would differ between the reproductive castes at different ambient temperatures. The Damaraland mole-rats displayed predominantly nocturnal activity at all three temperatures and the levels of activity were different for all three temperatures tested. Mole-rats exhibited the lowest levels of activity at 30°C; they are most active at 25°C while they display intermediate levels of activity at 20°C. Despite exhibiting the majority of their activity during the night, non-reproductive females display significantly more day-time activity compared with the reproductive females at all three temperatures. Nocturnal activity is comparable between reproductive and non-reproductive animals at 20 and 25°C, but not at 30°C. Daily locomotor activity rhythms of the Damaraland mole-rats appear to be relatively flexible and respond to comparatively small changes in ambient temperatures. Differences in daily activity between reproductive and non-reproductive animals may emphasize the existence of physiological and morphological castes in the Damaraland mole-rat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thomomys clusius Coues, 1875 is a geomyid commonly called the Wyoming pocket gopher. Despite a varied taxonomic history, T. clusius is now recognized as a distinct species and as the smallest of 12 species in the genus Thomomys. The species is endemic to Wyoming, where it is restricted to about 1.97 million ha in the southern part of the state. T. clusius is often found in flat areas characterized by Gardner's saltbush (Atriplex gardneri) and fine-textured soils. Although the United States Fish and Wildlife Service concluded in 2010 that listing under the Endangered Species Act was not warranted, state and federal agencies continue to recognize T. clusius as a sensitive species due to its limited distribution and population size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new species of Hubbardiidae, Paradraculoides eremius sp. nov., is described from Bungaroo, Pilbara, Western Australia based on male and female specimens collected from troglofauna traps. Although similar in form to other Paradraculoides known from the Pilbara bioregion, it has a distinctive male flagellum which is distally rounded rather than tapering to a point as in other species. It is known from only a small area of less than 10 km2 in the Hamersley Range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Records of mygalomorphs inhabiting caves have increased in the past years. We present data on a population ofTrechonasp. spiders, found in a quartizite cave in Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The spiders and their retreats were marked, and this population was followed for 17 months. The population consisted of up to 100 individuals, comprising the worlds’ largest known cave-dwelling population of mygalomophs. The estimated population size (Jolly-Seber model) varied from 50.36 to 853.43, the latter considered much overestimated. We did not find individuals ofTrechonasp. in the surrounding epigean areas. The number of spiders was higher in the entrance zone than in the other two zones (twilight and dark zones). We found that individuals at the entrance zone showed similar activity to a nocturnal spider, whereas the other two groups showed conspicuous differences from this pattern, spending longer periods without rest, on the sheet-web as a sit-and-wait predator. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Caves are long-known examples of evolutionary replications where similar morphologies (troglomorphies) evolve independently as the result of strong natural selection of the extreme environment. Recently, this paradigm has been challenged based on observations that troglomorphies are inconsistent across taxa and different subterranean habitats. We investigated the degree of replicated phenotypic change in two independent cave invasions by the freshwater isopod Asellus aquaticus; the first in a sulphidic aquifer in Romania, the second in a sinking river in the Dinaric Karst in Slovenia. Both ancestral surface populations still live alongside the subterranean ones. Phylogenetic analyses show independence of the two colonization events, and microsatellite analysis shows no evidence of ongoing genetic exchange between surface and subterranean ecomorphs. The overall morphology has changed dramatically at both sites (50 of 62 morphometric traits). The amount of phenotypic change did not reflect differences in genetic diversity between the two ancestral populations. Multivariate analyses revealed divergent evolution in caves, not parallel or convergent as predicted by the current paradigm. Still, 18 traits changed in a parallel fashion, including eye and pigment loss and antennal elongation. These changes might be a consequence of darkness as the only common ecological feature, because Romanian caves are chemoautotrophic and rich in food, whereas Slovenian caves are not. Overall, these results show that morphologically alike surface populations can diverge after invading different subterranean habitats, and that only about one-third of all changing traits behave as troglomorphies in the traditional sense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to (i) evaluate species richness and endemicity for the stygobiont oligochaete taxa (Annelida, Clitellata) in the Cantabrian region of northern Spain; and (ii) identify the environmental factors that determine the stygobiont assemblages at the regional scale. We recorded and examined more than 7,000 specimens of groundwater oligochaetes from 58 sampling sites. Of 62 identified species, 15 were classified as stygobionts, raising the known stygobiont oligochaete richness in the Cantabrian region to 21 species. As a result, the region is the second richest area for stygobiont oligochaete fauna in Europe after Slovenia with 28 species. Stygobiont oligochaetes exhibited a high degree of endemicity: 9 stygobionts were endemic to their type localities and 8 were restricted to geographic areas of less than 240 km in length, which underlines the narrow geographic ranges for subterranean fauna. Differences among the karsts were observed but the measured environmental factors did not explain the structure of the stygobiont assemblages in the Cantabrian region. Electrical conductivity, latitude and longitude influenced stygobiont species distributions but correlation values were low. Other ecological and historical factors should be evaluated in future; in particular, marine transgressions-regressions may have played a major role as evidenced by the large number of stygobionts of marine origin (8 species) found in both coastal and inland karsts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses data from interviews with 69 self-described members and associates of street gangs in London to explore how young people choose their actions and construct their identities from the material and cultural resources they find in their locales. It explores ‘drift’ as a potential explanation of actions of gang members and finds it wanting. It suggests that Giddens’ concept of structuration, when combined with Matza and Sykes’ notion of subterranean traditions, offers a powerful tool for the explanation of how and why some young people in socio-economically deprived urban areas seek association with gangs through the performance of violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the first detailed descriptions of postcranial elements of the fossil marsupial mole Naraboryctes philcreaseri (Marsupialia: Notoryctemorphia), from early Miocene freshwater limestone deposits in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland. Qualitative functional analysis of these elements suggest that Na. philcreaseri was very well-adapted for burrowing, albeit somewhat less so than the living marsupial moles Notoryctes typhlops and N. caurinus. Quadratic discriminant analysis of limb measurements suggests that Na. philcreaseri was subterranean, and its Index of Fossorial Ability is almost identical to that of Notoryctes species, being among the highest known for any mammal. These results suggest that notoryctemorphians evolved their specialised, "mole-like" subterranean lifestyle prior to the early Miocene. Given that forested environments predominated in Australia until the middle-late Miocene, this transition to subterranean behaviour may have occurred via burrowing in forest floors, in which case fossorial mammals that live in tropical rainforests today (such as the placental golden moles Chrysospalax trevelyani and Huetia leucorhina) may represent reasonable living analogues for early notoryctemorphians. However, alternative scenarios, such as a cave-dwelling or semi-aquatic ancestry, should be considered. Phylogenetic analysis using a Bayesian total evidence dating approach places Naraboryctes as sister to Notoryctes with strong support (Bayesian posterior probability = 0.91), and indicates that Naraboryctes and Notoryctes diverged 30.3 MYA (95% HPD: 17.7-46.3 MYA). The age and known morphology of Na. philcreaseri does not preclude its being ancestral to Notoryctes. Using estimates of divergence times and ratios of nonsynonymous to synonymous substitutions per site, we infer that the nuclear gene "Retinol-binding protein 3, interstitial" (RBP3), which plays a key role in vision, became inactive in the Notoryctes lineage ~5.4 MYA (95% HPD: 4.5-6.3 MYA). This is much younger than previous published estimates, and postdates considerably the age of Na. philcreaseri, implying that RBP3 was active in this fossil taxon; hence, Na. philcreaseri may have retained a functional visual system. Our estimate for the inactivation of RBP3 in the Notoryctes lineage coincides with palaeobotanical evidence for a major increase in the abundance of grasses in Australia, which may indicate the appearance of more open environments, and hence selection pressure on notoryctemorphians to spend less time on the surface, leading to relaxed selection on RBP3. Ultimately, however, a fuller understanding of the origin and evolution of notoryctemorphians - including when and why they became "molelike" - will require improvements in the Palaeogene fossil record of mammals in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy limitation has long been the primary assumption underlying conceptual models of evolutionary and ecological processes in cave ecosystems. However, the prediction that cave communities are actually energy-limited in the sense that constituent populations are consuming all or most of their resource supply is untested. We assessed the energy-limitation hypothesis in three cave streams in northeastern Alabama (USA) by combining measurements of animal production, demand, and resource supplies (detritus, primarily decomposing wood particles). Comparisons of animal consumption and detritus supply rates in each cave showed that all, or nearly all, available detritus was required to support macroinvertebrate production. Furthermore, only a small amount of macroinvertebrate prey production remained to support other predatory taxa (i.e., cave fish and salamanders) after accounting for crayfish consumption. Placing the energy demands of a cave community within the context of resource supply rates provided quantitative support for the energy-limitation hypothesis, confirming the mechanism (limited energy surpluses) that likely influences the evolutionary processes and population dynamics that shape cave communities. Detritus-based surface ecosystems often have large detrital surpluses. Thus, cave ecosystems, which show minimal surpluses, occupy the extreme oligotrophic end of the spectrum of detritus-based food webs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociality and cooperative breeding are associated with enhanced longevity in insects and birds, but whether this is also true for mammals is still subject to debate. African mole-rats (Bathyergidae) have recently been claimed to be the only mammalian family in which such an association may exist because cooperatively breeding bathyergids seem to be substantially longer lived than solitary bathyergids. However, although ample longevity data are available for several social bathyergids, almost nothing is known about mortality distribution and lifespan in solitary bathyergids. Here we present robust long-term data on the longevity of a solitary African mole-rat, the silvery mole-rat Heliophobius argenteocinereus . Our findings show that this species is much longer-lived than previously believed. Nonetheless, our comparative analysis suggests that sociality has indeed a positive effect on longevity in this family. We argue that the extreme longevity seen particularly in social bathyergids is probably caused by a combination of subterranean lifestyle and cooperative breeding.

A pleon of a new fresh water isopod, provisionally attributed to the family Sphaeromatidae (Monolistrini sensu Racovitza, 1910)was found in a cave in Dalmacija (Croatia). Although known from such a small part of the body, Merozoon vestigatum g. n., sp. n. is easily recognizable. It is doubtlessly a new species which can only be attributed to a new genus in agreement with the criteria up to now used for this genera-group. All pleonites are fused with the pleotelson, the free epimera of the anterior pleonites are very poorly developed, not reaching the pleotelson lateral borders; uropods are strongly reduced, uniarticulate, inserted in the middle of the pleotelson lateral sides. It could be shown that its inclusion into Sphaeromatidae can hardly be challenged, and that its only alternative, Cirolanidae, is very unlikely.

From the subterranean waters of Cerjanska Jama Cave in Croatia (Klenovnik, Ravna Gora, Varaždin reg.) a new species of the family Niphargidae (Crustacea, Amphipoda), Niphargus cerjanensis, sp. n. is described and figured, species rather close to the Niphargus stygius Complex of taxa. The poorly known taxon Niphargus stygius karamani Schellenberg, 1935 known from the subterranean waters on Slovenian-Croatian border region is redescribed and figured. Taxonomical position of both taxa is discussed and N. karamani is elevated to the specific rank. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A traditional approach used to assess whether immune defense is costly is to explore the existence of trade-offs between immunity and other functions; however, quantitative studies of the energetic costs associated with the activation of the immune system are scarce. We assessed the magnitude of a PHA-triggered immune response and the associated energetic costs in 60-day old Ctenomys talarum. We expected that the magnitude of the macroscopic inflammatory response to PHA is lower in young tuco-tucos compared with that of adults, given the allocation of substantial energy to growth, and that the magnitude of the inflammation is lower in male pups compared to females, due to the higher investment in growth of the larger sex. Concomitantly, we expected that the pups challenged with PHA show an increase in oxygen consumption compared to control animals and that a positive association exists between magnitude of the PHA-induced inflammation and oxygen consumption. Contrary to what was expected, young tuco-tucos mounted a higher inflammatory response compared with adults and there were no differences in the magnitude of this response between sexes. The inflammatory response induced by a PHA injection did not represent a significant energetic cost for young tuco-tucos. There were no differences in oxygen consumption between PHA-injected and control animals, and tuco-tucos that mounted a higher inflammatory response to PHA did not show higher oxygen consumption. Energy expenditure, however, is not the only physiological cost involved in trade-offs between immune response and various functions of the organism, and other currencies are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A new species of the pseudoscorpion genus Anatemnus, A. subvastus, is described from subterranean environments in the Pilbara bioregion of Western Australia. Like Oratemnus cavernicola from New South Wales, it lacks eye spots, and has slightly elongated appendages and pallid colouration. It is known from only a small area of less than 20 km². We also attribute Oratemnus cavernicola to the genus Anatemnus, forming the new combination Anatemnus cavernicola (Beier, 1976), but note that the generic assignment of both species should be reviewed pending an assessment of all genera of Atemninae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe a new species of amblyopsid cavefish (Percopsiformes: Amblyopsidae) in the genus Amblyopsis from subterranean habitats of southern Indiana, USA. The Hoosier Cavefish, Amblyopsis hoosieri sp. n., is distinguished from A. spelaea, its only congener, based on genetic, geographic, and morphological evidence. Several morphological features distinguish the new species, including a much plumper, Bibendumlike wrinkled body with rounded fins, and the absence of a premature stop codon in the gene rhodopsin. This is the first new cavefish species described from the United States in 40 years and exemplifies how molecular data can alert us to the presence of otherwise cryptic biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global climate changes during the Cenozoic (65.5-0 Ma) caused major biological range shifts and extinctions. In northern Europe, for example, a pattern of few endemics and the dominance of wide-ranging species is thought to have been determined by the Pleistocene (2.59-0.01 Ma) glaciations. This study, in contrast, reveals an ancient subsurface fauna endemic to Britain and Ireland. Using a Bayesian phylogenetic approach, we found that two species of stygobitic invertebrates (genus Niphargus) have not only survived the entire Pleistocene in refugia but have persisted for at least 19.5 million years. Other Niphargus species form distinct cryptic taxa that diverged from their nearest continental relative between 5.6 and 1.0 Ma. The study also reveals an unusual biogeographical pattern in the Niphargus genus. It originated in north-west Europe approximately 87 Ma and underwent a gradual range expansion. Phylogenetic diversity and species age are highest in north-west Europe, suggesting resilience to extreme climate change and strongly contrasting the patterns seen in surface fauna. However, species diversity is highest in south-east Europe, indicating that once the genus spread to these areas (approximately 25 Ma), geomorphological and climatic conditions enabled much higher diversification. Our study highlights that groundwater ecosystems provide an important contribution to biodiversity and offers insight into the interactions between biological and climatic processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The East African root rat (Tachyoryctes splendens) is a solitary fossorial rodent occurring in the eastern parts of central Africa. Unlike bathyergid mole-rats, T. splendens occasionally goes aboveground to feed and consequently it is periodically exposed to the natural light-dark cycle. The locomotor activity of T. splendens was assessed under various light regimes. T. splendens entrains its activity to light cycles and displays distinct nocturnal activity with the total percentage of activity during the dark phase at 87.78% ± SD 11.01%. In constant darkness, T. splendens shows free-running rhythms of slightly shorter than 24 h (2340 ± SD 013 h), while still exhibiting most of its activity during subjective night. Upon inversion of the light cycle, time of reentrainment was exceptionally long. Nocturnal activity time (α) was shortened in response to a shorter night length from 1129 to 0746 h; however, when the dark phase was lengthened, α remained roughly similar to that of the 12L:12D photoperiod at 1124 h. A difference in circadian activity is apparent from the laboratory and field findings, thus in a natural situation, other environmental factors may influence activity patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]