Sauroniops

Sauroniops is a genus of carnivorous basal carcharodontosaurid theropod dinosaur known from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian stage) of Morocco.
In the early twenty-first century a collector donated a dinosaur skull bone to the Italian Museo Paleontologico di Montevarchi. He had acquired the specimen from a Moroccan fossil dealer, who again had bought the piece from local fossil hunters near Taouz. Its exact provenance is therefore uncertain. Later research showed that it presented a new species that was in 2012 reported and described by Andrea Cau, Fabio Marco Dalla Vecchia and Matteo Fabbri.
The same year, 2012, the specimen was by the same authors formally named in a subsequent publication as the type species "Sauroniops pachytholus". The generic name has the intended meaning of "Eye of Sauron", a powerful entity from the "Lord of the Rings" fantasy novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, combining his name with a Classical Greek ὄψ, "ops", "eye". Like in the novels the corporeal presence of Sauron had largely been limited to a single searching eye, "Sauroniops" is only known from a single bone above the eye socket. The specific name is derived from Greek παχύς, "pachys", "thick", and θόλος, "tholos", "round building with conical roof", in reference to the thick vaulted skull roof.
The holotype, specimen MPM 2594, had probably been recovered from the Kem Kem Group, dating to the Cenomanian. It consists of a left frontal bone.
A later study in 2020 suggested that "Sauroniops" was a junior synonym of "Carcharodontosaurus saharicus," though this statement has been criticized by Cau.
Description.
"Sauroniops" was a large bipedal predator. The describers established several unique traits, differentiating "Sauroniops" from its relatives, such as "Carcharodontosaurus" which is found in the same layers. The nasal bone has an area of contact with the frontal bone over 40% of the latter's length. The frontal has in the left front corner a thick vaulted area. On the front upper rim the frontal has a trapezoid facet to contact the prefrontal, which is no part of the upper rim of the eye socket, and is separated from the facet for the lacrimal bone by a thin vertical ridge. The contact area with the lacrimal is D-shaped, extremely large and has four times the height of the facet with the postorbital bone. On the rear inner side of the frontal an elevated rim is present that is joint to the front vaulted area by a saddle-shaped depression and more towards the front midline of the skull continues in a series of rugosities.
The frontal has a preserved length of 186 millimetres. Near the contact with the lacrimal the bone is extremely thickened to a height of seventy-three millimetres and vaulted; a second thick area is present at the rear separated from the first by a hollow surface. Such a thickening of the skull roof is more typical of the Abelisauridae in which group however, it is the postorbital that shows the phenomenon. The authors explained the thickening as an adaptation for display or to strengthen the skull for intraspecific head-butting.
The holotype of "Sauroniops" was originally interpreted as belonging to a derived member of the Carcharodontosauridae. A more extensive cladistic analysis in the naming paper showed a more basal position in the same group as a sister species of "Eocarcharia". The similarities to the abelisaurids would then be convergences.


Battle of Kos

The Battle of Kos () was a brief battle in World War II between British/Italian and German forces for control of the Greek island of Kos, in the then Italian-held Dodecanese Islands of the Aegean Sea. The battle was precipitated by the Allied Armistice with Italy. German forces with strong air support quickly overwhelmed the Italian garrison and the recent British reinforcements, denying the Allies a base to attack the German presence in the Balkans and leading to the expulsion and death of the island's Jewish population.
Background.
With the capitulation of Italy in September 1943, German forces in the Balkans and the Mediterranean moved to take over the Italian-held areas. At the same time, the Allies, under the instigation of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, endeavoured to occupy the Dodecanese island chain. The Dodecanese islands, under Italian control since 1912, were strategically located in the southeastern Aegean Sea, and Churchill hoped to use them as a base against German positions in the Balkans, and as a means to pressure neutral Turkey into the war on the Allied side.
British landings.
The main prize, the island of Rhodes, fell to a swift attack by a German mechanized brigade. Nevertheless, British forces landed on several islands, most notably Kos and Leros, and together with the Italian forces located there, there were hopes of eventually regaining Rhodes. On 13 September 1943 thirty-eight Liberators from North Africa bombed the three airfields on Rhodes, effectively grounding the German Air Force ("Luftwaffe") aircraft, while Special Boat Section (SBS) units landed on Kos, occupying the port and the airfield near the village of Antimachia. On 14 September two Beaufighters and a number of Spitfires from 7 Squadron, SAAF flew on to the airfield. On the night of the 14/15 September, 120 paratroopers from 11th Parachute Battalion were dropped by Dakotas of No. 216 Squadron RAF on the island. The paratroopers were welcomed by the Italian garrison, who laid straw on the landing zone.
At first light on 15 September, a standing patrol of two Spitfires of No. 7 SAAF Squadron was maintained over Kos to give cover to the transport aircraft and ships bringing stores and reinforcements. Among these were the first troops of the RAF Regiment who flew from the British Mandate of Palestine with nine Hispano-Suiza HS.404 guns for anti-aircraft defence, followed two days later by a second detachment, which brought up to strength one of the first of the Regiment's Squadrons to be transported to the battlefield by air with all its weapons.
On the ground, the Allied force consisted of the 1st Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, a company from 11th Parachute battalion of 1st Airborne Division, a company of men from the SBS, and Royal Air Force (RAF) personnel under the command of Lt. Col. L.R.F. Kenyon. The force totalled ca. 1,600 British (although only 1,115 were combatants, 880 army and 235 from the RAF Regiment) and about 3,500 Italian servicemen from the original garrison.
Battle.
German aerial bombardment.
The German counter-attack began on 17 September with heavy air-bombardment. The Messerschmitt 109s and Junkers 88s involved met at first with varying success, because of the RAF gunners on the ground and the South African Spitfires in the air. However, "Butterfly Bombs" made Antimachia temporarily unserviceable and damaged the Douglas C-47 Skytrains, but the first detachments of the Durham Light Infantry were landed. One Dakota came down in the sea and its occupants were rescued but interned in Turkey.
German bombing and cannon fire attacks continued to harass the garrison over the next few days. The Luftwaffe flew 100 aircraft into the Aegean area bringing their strength up to 360 aircraft. While the German air cover improved, the Allies could only rely on a limited number of aircraft due to decisions made by General Eisenhower concerning the British involvement in the Balkan theatre:
The limited aircraft cover for the operation on Kos was completely inadequate and would have a serious effect on the British ability to defend the island. Over the weeks from 13 September to 3 October the Allied aircraft defending Kos suffered many losses from bombardment of the airfield and in air combat. By 26 September the No. 7 Squadron SAAF was reduced to four serviceable aircraft. No. 74 Squadron RAF was flown on to Kos on this day.
The defenders' position on Kos, never enviable, soon became serious and, presently, desperate, for the Italian anti-aircraft defence was negligible and their own resources meagre. To add to their troubles, the area round the airfield they had to protect was too rocky to permit digging in, and there was no time to build blast walls before the enemy was upon them. The air attacks were so severe that casualties inflicted on the British paratroopers forced them to be withdrawn on 25 September.
German landings - Operation "Polar Bear".
On 1 October 1943, a concentration of shipping was observed in the ports of Crete, and early on the following morning a convoy steaming in a north-north-easterly direction south-east of Melos was sighted by British aircraft. Urgent supplies were landed on Kos by five Dakotas, and during their unloading the news came that a small German invasion fleet of 10 vessels was at sea. This flotilla carried a task force composed of a battle group ("Kampfgruppe") from the 22nd Infantry Division in Crete, as well as "Brandenburg" special forces from the mainland, namely the 1st Amphibious Battalion and the 5th Paratrooper Battalion, part of the entire Regiment of Brandenburgers assigned to the attack, all under the command of Lt Gen Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller.
At 04.30 hours on 3 October the invasion of Kos began. By mid-day, 1,200 Germans, well-armed with light artillery and armoured cars, were ashore and in action. Dive-bombing by Junker 87s added to the difficulties of the defence, and in the afternoon Antimachia was overrun. The main German convoy, which had been attacked from air was estimated to have consisted of seven transports, seven landing craft, three destroyers and numerous caiques (fishing craft) and other small craft. The principal landings took place at Marmari and Tingachi (in the north central part of the island) and at Camare Bay (south-west) with subsidiary landings at Forbici and Capo Foco (on the north-east and south-east tips of the island).
Paratroops were dropped west and south of Antimachia. By 12.00 hours the Germans were reported as having landed 1,500 men. At about 13.30 hours a further small German paratroop landing of a company from the Brandenburg Division was made in the centre of the island, and more troops arrived by sea. For the British forces the situation was reported as confused, but by 18.00 it was further reported as critical. The Durham Light Infantry, SBS and paratroopers fought gallantly but in the face of superior numbers and heavier equipment were forced to withdraw to positions covering the town and port of Kos and the airfield. That evening the Germans attacked the British positions in strength reducing the British position to a small area around the town of Kos. The German strength had been reinforced to an estimated 4,000 men by the evening of 3 October.
The Italian and British forces had ceased organised resistance by 06.00 on 4 October. 1,388 British and 3,145 Italians were taken prisoners, while the captured Italian commander of the island, Col. Felice Leggio, and nearly 100 of his officers were shot in a major warcrime by the Germans. A German communiqué of 5 October reporting the cessation of hostilities on Kos gave the number of prisoners taken as 600 British and 2,500 Italians, with more Italians coming in. A number of the British force escaped to neighbouring islands and were rescued by the Special Boat Service operating at night.
Aftermath.
The capture of Kos would have disastrous consequences for British operations in the Dodecanese Islands. Deprived of air cover, the Allies were in the long run unable to hold the other islands, while the Germans pressed their advantage, capturing Leros a month later and completing their conquest of the Dodecanese by the end of November. In the conclusion of the official despatch covering these operations, it is remarked that:
A further consequence of the German occupation of Kos was the deportation of the small long established Jewish congregation to the European death camps. None of the Jews survived the war.


Palaeopropithecus

Palaeopropithecus is a recently extinct genus of large sloth lemurs from Madagascar related to living lemur species found there today. Three species are known, Palaeopropithecus ingens, P. maximus, and P. kelyus. Radiocarbon dates indicate that they may have survived until around 1300 - 1620 CE. Malagasy legends of the "tretretretre" or "tratratratra" are thought to refer to "P. ingens".
Evidence suggests a solely arboreal lifestyle with frequent upside down suspension, hence the name sloth lemur.
Anatomy.
"Palaeopropithecus" primarily lived in the trees to stay away from predators as well as to gain valuable resources. To survive properly in the trees, "Palaeopropithecus" had long and powerful arms and legs, each with significantly long fingers and toes to allow them to hang upside down on branches. These were used to swing from branch to branch to travel across the jungle of Madagascar. These long arms made it much easier to grab hold of various trees and branches, making travel at the arboreal level easier. Laurie Godrey states in "The Extinct Sloth Lemurs of Madagascar", "Thus, these animals exhibit the odd behavioral combination of being both specialized leapers and adept climbers and hangers." The long arms of "Palaeopropithecus" had hook like extremities on their hands and feet. This benefited "Palaeopropithecus" by enabling them to hook their bodies onto the foliage to stabilize themselves as they traversed through the trees. "Palaeopropithecus" on average weighed between 100-120 pounds. This weight is heavier than most modern lemurs and could potentially have caused the species to fall while hanging on branches, forcing the species to make sufficient use of their long arms and legs to survive. "Palaeopropithecus" eating habits were different from those of modern lemurs. The teeth of Palaeoprophithecus indicate that the animal was folivorous to eat leaves and tougher so they can eat hard foods such as nuts and seeds. This helped them fill out a generalized niche where they had multiple food resources to rely on.
The anatomy of their bones were generally curved with a sixty-degree bend on major bones in the legs and arms. These bones were much denser than normal and with the addition of the curved structure of the bones it allowed "Palaeopropithecus" an easier capability to swing from branch to branch.This “curvature indicates that the sloth lemurs are one of the most suspensory clades of mammals ever to evolve. The curved bones also helped them gain more torque and speed allowing, them to reach branches at great distances. The relatively small body of "Palaeopropithecus", while large compared to the modern lemur, had a great degree curve because it was smaller in stature. There is an inverse relationship between the bigger the animal and the smaller the bone degree curve.
Biomechanical theory suggests that bone curvature in "Palaeopropithecus" hand bones is linked to the functional demands of the organism's environment. This is because curved phalanges, such as the phalanges of "Palaeopropithecus", are commonly associated with the gripping function needed to survive in an arboreal habitat.
Diet.
The "Palaeopropithecus" species were probably folivorous based on dental morphology, consuming a mixed diet of foliage and fruit to varying degrees. They supplemented their leaf-eating with substantial amounts of seed-predation, much like modern indrids. There is also no molar use wear evidence that "Palaeopropithecus" relied on terrestrial foods (C4 grasses, tubers, rhizomes).
"P. ingens" faced weaning early on and lost their deciduous teeth early. After a little over a month they learned and were able to forage for solid food much earlier than other lemur species. More than likely "P. ingens" had to find food for themselves at an early age.The degree to how much of their diet consisted of seeds is somewhat uncertain but because of the pitting of the teeth it is clear they ate seeds. "Palaeopropithecus ingens" and "P. maximus" have similar use-wear scars. These were apparently mixed fruit and foliage consumers; neither species appears to have been a hard-object specialist.
"P. kelyus" had smaller teeth than the other two species. Its dental characteristics could be described from the "P. kelyus" subfossil maxilla fragmentshowing a parastyle and a highly developed mesostyle. While other "Palaeopropithecus" must have fed on leaves and fruit, the differences in the teeth of "Palaeopropithecus kelyus" suggest that this animal could chew much more food like nuts and seeds compared with the other two known species. Evidence is accumulating that they may survive on low quality (that is highly fibrous) staple or fallback foods and a life-history “strategy” of low maternal input and slow returns in an unpredictable and periodically stressful environment. "Palaeopropithecus" was the most suspensory of all known strepsirhines, and so they would feed in suspensory postures. Locomotion on the ground would have been ungainly, and probably quite rare, except to creep across the ground from one feeding tree to the next when presented with gaps in the forest canopy. Their large, hook-like claws were not optimal for walking.
Behavior.
"Palaeopropithecus" likely had a very active behavior based on the morphology of the limbs. It engaged in hanging upside down from all four limbs in a sloth-like posture at a high frequency, as indicated by the morphology of the lumbar vertebrae and the high degree of phalangeal curvature. It is regarded as being among the most suspensory clades of mammals ever to evolve.
Extinction.
When "Palaeopropithecus" became extinct is not exactly clear, however scientists have suggested that it could be as recent as about five hundred years ago. The reason behind the extinction of the several species of "Palaeopropithecus" has been attributed to the presence of humans to the island of Madagascar, the earliest evidence of which dates back to 2325±43 yr BP. Scientists have found fossils of "Palaeopropithecus" that appeared to have cut marks in them, suggesting flesh removal with a sharp object, indicating that the species was hunted by the earliest colonists to the island of Madagascar as a source for food. The first evidence of the early human butchery to "Palaeopropithecus" was found by Hon. Paul Ayshford Methuen, in 1911, who traveled to Madagascar expressly to collect bones of the extinct lemurs for the Oxford Museum. The slow locomotion habits of "Palaeopropithecus" likely made them an easy target for their human predators, who would consume them for food, as well as use the bones for tools. Along with being relatively large, these lemurs became targets because they were active during the day as were humans. Along with their diurnal nature, another factor that led to their extinction was a slow reproductive rate. They were killed faster than they could reproduce.
The introduction of humans to Madagascar brought change to an island that had yet to experience the lifestyles of human beings. Some believe that hunting was not the only problem brought to Madagascar by humans. There is a possibility that humans bringing over livestock may have affected some species. Although it would not have been disastrous, it could have finished off some species. Just a small amount of competition could offset the balance of an ecosystem.
Also, the introduction of man-made charcoal and fire to the island caused considerable damage to the forests where "Palaeopropithecus" lived and bred. Based on radiocarbon dating, it was found that "Palaeopropithecus" survived into the last millennium. While human intervention definitely damaged their populations and their habitats, the extinction of "Palaeopropithecus" occurred comparatively recently.
Miscellaneous.
There were three known species of "Palaeopropithecus": "Palaeopropithecus ingens", "Palaeopropithecus maximus", and "Palaeopropithecus kelyus". "Palaeopropithecus ingens" is thought to also be the mythical Malagasy creature known as the Tretretre, or the alternate name of Tratratra. According to new radiocarbon dates, "Palaeopropithecus" may have still been alive at 1500CE. However, Yale biologists who extracted DNA from the bones and teeth of 9 subfossil individuals from "Palaeopropithecus" state that all the giant lemurs analyzed died well over 1,000 years ago. Another thing they confirmed was that there is a close relationship between the sloth lemurs and currently living indrids. For example, "Palaeopropithecus" were born with highly developed teeth, just like indrids.


Tipas

Cerro Walther Penck (also known as Cerro Cazadero or Cerro Tipas) is a massive complex volcano in the Andes, located in northwestern Argentina, Catamarca Province, Tinogasta Department, at the Puna de Atacama. It is just southwest of Ojos del Salado, the highest volcano in the world. Walther Penck itself is perhaps the third highest active volcano in the world.
Vulcanism.
The complex covers a surface area of , it consists of stratovolcanoes, lava domes, and lava flows. There are reports of fumarolic activity, and de Silva and Francis (1991) considered that the volcano was last active in the Holocene. The Tipas-Cerro Bayo complex was active 2.9-1.2 million years ago with dacites and rhyolites. Magma composition is typical for Andean stratovolcanoes. Tomographic studies of the underlying crust indicate a pattern of seismic attenuation beneath Tipas.
Elevation.
It has an official height of 6658 meters, however, based on the elevation provided by the available Digital elevation models, SRTM (6663m), ASTER (6627m), SRTM filled with ASTER (6663m), TanDEM-X(6699m), and also a handheld GPS survey by Maximo Kausch on 04/2013 (6688 meters), Walther Penck is about 6670 meters above sea level.
The height of the nearest key col is 6019 meters. so its prominence is 651 meters. Walther Penck is listed as mountain, based on the Dominance system and its dominance is 9.76%. Its parent peak is Ojos del Salado and the Topographic isolation is 9.8 kilometers. This information was obtained during a research by Suzanne Imber in 2014.


Intiornis

Intiornis (meaning "Inti bird") is an extinct genus of avisaurid enantiornithean birds which existed in what is now North-West Argentina during the late Cretaceous period (Campanian age).
Description.
The genus is known from a partial hind limb found in beds of the Upper Cretaceous Las Curtiembres Formation. It was named by Fernando Emilio Novas, Federico Lisandro Agnolín and Carlos Agustín Scanferla in 2010, and the type species is "Intiornis inexpectatus". "Intiornis" was the size of a sparrow, thus representing the smallest enantiornithes known from South America. Its closest relative was "Soroavisaurus" from the Lecho Formation (Maastrichtian age) of northwestern Argentina.


Maurice Collignon

Maurice Jules Marie Collignon (9 June 1893, Saint-Malo – 21 October 1978, Moirans) was a French geologist and paleontologist, who is best known for his research of Cretaceous period ammonites from Madagascar.
A career military officer, in 1914 he received his diploma from the military academy at Saint-Cyr, then spent the next 36 years associated with the French armed services. In the meantime he conducted geological and paleontological research; as early as 1928 he was providing descriptions of ammonite fauna from Madagascar. In 1950 he retired from military service with the rank of major general. He then joined the "Service géologique d'outre-mer" as a paleontologist, and afterwards directed four 6-month missions of paleontological exploration in Madagascar (1952, 1953, 1954, 1957).
From 1959 to 1978 he was a correspondent member of the Académie des sciences. During his career, he described numerous fossil taxa, such as the ammonite genus "Cunningtoniceras". The ammonite family Collignoniceratidae commemorates his name.


Huancune (Peru)

Huancune (possibly from Aymara "wanq'u" guinea pig) is a volcano in the Barroso mountain range in the Andes of Peru, about high. It is situated in the Tacna Region, Tacna Province, Palca District, southeast of Achacollo and north of the Chupiquiña volcano.


Puertecillo

Puertecillo is a beach located inside the Topocalma Fundo in Navidad, Cardenal Caro Province, Chile.
It was discovered by surfers in the late 1980s. On the south end of the beach there is a long sand bottom left point break. Over the last 20 years, several surfers have built a surfing-oriented community. The main gathering spot is the "Para de Gozar", where a culture of taking care of the beach is the main focus.
Since developers built a road through the forest and ran electrical lines several years ago there are few houses now and a handful of residents, less than 100, and a few tourists, most surfers. There are about 3 restaurants, 1 small store, a couple of real estate offices, and some houses. Still the beaches are for the most part empty. There is a real estate development there too, which this publication calls a threat, but there's not a lot of flat ground to build and what has been built so far is small.


Tropeognathus

Tropeognathus (meaning "keel jaw") is a genus of large pterosaurs from the late Early Cretaceous of South America. This genus is considered to be a member of the family Anhangueridae, however, several studies have also recovered it within another family called Ornithocheiridae. Both of these families are diverse groups of pterosaurs known for their keel-tipped snouts and large size. "Tropeognathus" is regarded as the largest pterosaur found in the Southern Hemisphere, only rivaled by the huge azhdarchids. The type and only species is "Tropeognathus mesembrinus". Fossil remains of "Tropeognathus" have been recovered from the Romualdo Formation, which is a Lagerstätte located in the Santana Group of the Araripe Basin in northeastern Brazil.
Discovery and naming.
In the 1980s the German paleontology museum "Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und historische Geologie" in Munich acquired a pterosaur skull from Brazilian fossil dealers that had probably been found in Ceará, in the geological group called the Santana Group, which is located in the Araripe Basin (Chapada do Araripe) of Brazil. In 1987, it was named and described as the type species "Tropeognathus mesembrinus" by Peter Wellnhofer. The generic name is derived from Greek τρόπις, "tropis", "keel", and γνάθος, "gnathos", "jaw". The specific name is derived from Koine "mesembrinos", "of the noontide", simplied as "southern", in reference to the provenance from the Southern hemisphere.
The holotype, BSP 1987 I 46, was discovered in a layer of the Romualdo Formation within the Santana Group, dating to the latest Aptian and earliest Albian stages. Along with the holotype, several other pterosaur specimens were found in the fossil site, these specimens however, were referred to genera such as "Anhanguera" and "Cearadactylus". The uncovered holotype consists of a skull with lower jaws. A second specimen was referred by André Jacques Veldmeijer in 2002: SMNS 56994, which consists of a partial mandible. In 2013, Brazilian paleontologist Alexander Kellner referred a third, larger, specimen: MN 6594-1, a skeleton with skull, with extensive elements of all body parts, except the tail and the lower hindlimbs.
After "Tropeognathus mesembrinus" was named by Peter Wellnhofer in 1987, other researchers tended to consider it part of several other genera, leading to an enormous taxonomic confusion. It was considered an "Anhanguera mesembrinus" by Alexander Kellner in 1989, a "Criorhynchus mesembrinus" by Veldmeijer in 1998 and a "Coloborhynchus mesembrinus" by Michael Fastnacht in 2001. Later the same year, David Unwin referred the "Tropeognathus" material to "Ornithocheirus simus", making "Tropeognathus mesembrinus" a junior synonym, though he had reinstated a "Ornithocheirus mesembrinus" in 2003. In 2006, Veldmeijer accepted that "Tropeognathus" and "Ornithocheirus" were cogeneric, but rejected "O. simus" as the type species of "Ornithocheirus" in favor of "O. compressirostris", which was named as "Lonchodectes" by Unwin due to an analysis by English paleontologist Reginald Walter Hooley in 1914. This made Veldmeijer use the names "Criorhynchus simus" and "Criorhynchus mesembrinus" instead. In 2013 however, Taissa Rodrigues and Alexander Kellner concluded "Tropeognathus" to be valid, and containing only "T. mesembrinus", the type species.
Back in 1987, Wellnhofer had named a second species called "Tropeognathus robustus", based on specimen BSP 1987 I 47, which is a more robust lower jaw. In 2013 however, "T. robustus" was considered as a species of "Anhanguera", resulting in an "Anhanguera robustus".
Description.
Size.
"Tropeognathus" is known to have reached wingspans of about , as can be inferred from the impressive size of the specimen MN 6594-1. The maximum wingspan estimate for "Tropeognathus" reaches , making it slightly larger than the average estimate, though much larger than other close relatives such as "Ornithocheirus" and "Coloborhynchus", which are typically estimated to be between . A skull unearthed belonging to the related "Coloborhynchus" likely measured , which led to a wingspan estimate of , respectively larger than the average estimates for this genus, but still shorter than that of "Tropeognathus". This specimen however, was concluded to belong to the another genera, though in several studies, some paleontologists consider it under the species "Coloborhynchus capito", which was originally called "Ornithocheirus capito" by the British paleontologist Harry Govier Seeley back in 1870.
Skull and crests.
The skull of "Tropeognathus" bore distinctive convex "keeled" crests on its snout and underside of the lower jaws, and this was prominent, well-developed, and relatively large in "Tropeognathus", specially in males, however, compared to other relatives such as "Ornithocheirus", they were relatively thin rather than thick. The upper crests arosed from the snout tip and extended back to the "fenestra nasoantorbitalis", the large opening in the skull side. An additional, smaller crest projected down from the lower jaws at their symphysis ("chin" area). The similar anhanguerid "Anhanguera" possessed jaws that were tapered in width, but expanded into a broad, spoon-shaped rosette at the tip, which differed from "Tropeognathus" for having a narrower appearance. The jaws can be distinguished from its relatives by a few differences in the crest: unlike its close relatives "Coloborhynchus" and "Ornithocheirus", the crest on the upper jaw of "Tropeognathus" was more prominent and much larger, and therefore resulting in a broader skull.
Vertebrae.
The first five dorsal vertebrae of "Tropeognathus" are fused into a notarium, with five sacral vertebrae fused into a synsacrum, and the third and fourth sacral vertebrae are keeled within. The front blade of the ilium is strongly directed upwards, resulting in a narrow structure.
Classification.
In 1987, Wellnhofer assigned "Tropeognathus" to a Tropeognathidae. This concept was not adopted by other workers; several researchers place "Tropeognathus mesembrinus" in the Anhangueridae, along with "Anhanguera", while other cladistic analyses place "Tropeognathus" within the Ornithocheiridae as a basal member, meaning that it was more closely related to "Ornithocheirus" than "Anhanguera". This concept is mostly used by the European colleagues, who prefer to use the Ornithocheiridae as the most inclusive group rather than the Anhangueridae. A topology made by Andres and Myers in 2013 placed "Tropeognathus" within the family Ornithocheiridae in a more basal position than "Ornithocheirus", and the family itself is placed within the more inclusive clade Ornithocheirae. However, many subsequent analyses made in 2019 and 2020 have recovered "Tropeognathus" within the family Anhangueridae, with a specific one by Borja Holgado and Rodrigo Pêgas in 2020, placing "Tropeognathus" more specifically within the subfamily Tropeognathinae, sister taxon to "Siroccopteryx".
Topology 1: Andres & Myers (2013).
Topology 2: Holgado & Pêgas (2020).
In popular culture.
"Tropeognathus mesembrinus" was the subject of an entire episode of the award-winning BBC television program "Walking with Dinosaurs" (which used the first name of its cousin "Ornithocheirus" but was incorrectly named as a species of it, as "Ornithocheirus mesembrinus"). In "Walking with Dinosaurs: A Natural History", a companion book to the series, it was claimed that several large bone fragments from the Santana Group (known as Santana Formation in the book) of Brazil had indicated that "O. mesembrinus" may have had a wingspan reaching almost and a weight of , making it one of the largest known pterosaurs. However, the largest definite "Ornithocheirus mesembrinus" specimens described at the time measured , in terms of wingspan. The specimens which the producers of the program used to justify such a large size estimate were described in 2012, and were under study by Dave Martill and David Unwin at the time of "Walking With Dinosaurs"' production. The final description of the remains found a maximum estimated wingspan of for this large specimen. Unwin stated that he did not believe the higher estimate used by the BBC was likely, and that the producers likely chose the highest possible estimate because it was more "spectacular." Nevertheless, specimen MN 6594-V in 2013 was, at its degree of completeness, the largest known pterosaur individual.


Dyskritodon

Dyskritodon ("tooth of unknown origin", from Greek δυσκρίτος, "dyskritos") is a genus of extinct mammal from the Early Cretaceous of Morocco, and possibly the Early Jurassic of India. Of uncertain affinities, it is tentatively described as a eutriconodont.
Description.
The type species, "D. amazighi", is known from the Ksar Metlili Formation in the Atlas Mountains, dating to the Berriasian. It is known from several molars, about 1.85 mm long. These teeth are noted for being rather high and narrow crowned, bearing three main cusps that decrease in height posteriorly, as well as two minuscule mesial cusps.
"D. indicus" is known from a single lower molar tooth from the Kota Formation, dating to the Hettangian-Pliensbachian. It is very similar to "D. amazighi", differing in being smaller (1.24 mm), having a shorter posterior root and some differences in the cusps. However, compared to "D. amazighi" molars, it is "drastically less complete".
Classification.
Sigogneau-Russell referred the genus to Eutriconodonta on the basis of its basic triconodont shape. However, she considered it aberrant enough to warrant a separate family within the clade. Further studies have similarly found it rather distinct from other eutriconodonts, and it is listed as an "incertae sedis" taxon. It is nonetheless more "advanced" than morganucodontids and other basal Mammaliformes.
Due to the large temporal distance between both species, different environments and general incompleteness of the Indian material, there is also doubt as to whereas "D. indicus" is closely related to "D. amazighi". For now, its relationship to it is, too, provisory.
Biology.
As it was found in relative abundance in marine deposits, "D. amazighi", like the contemporary "Ichthyoconodon", has been suggested to be an aquatic piscivore. Similarities between its molars and those of mammals such as seals and cetaceans have corroborated this hypothesis. Posterior analysis have shown a lack of precise equivalency between eutriconodont molars and those of therian mammals, rending this assessment as a fish-eater cautious, but the high state of preservation of the animal's teeth indicates that it died in situ or nearby, in open waters.
"D. indicus", by contrast, appears in a terrestrial environment.


Bombus randeckensis

Bombus randeckensis is an extinct bumblebee from the Miocene rocks of the Randeck Maar in southwestern Germany. It was discovered in 2012, and confidently placed in the subgenus "Bombus".


South Australian Mining Association

South Australian Mining Association was a no-liability company which established several mines in South Australia, notably the "Grey Wheal", or north mine at Burra, which made a fortune for its promoters, the "Snobs", while the adjacent southern claim, by the Princess Royal Company ("Nobs") proved worthless.
History.
The South Australian Mining Association (SAMA) was formed in 1841 following a letter to the South Australian newspapers by Johann Menge, extolling the mineral wealth which he believed lay under the soil, and later itemised. and discovery of silver-lead ore to the east of Adelaide, dubbed the Wheal Gawler mine. Shares were offered to the public. John Bentham Neales was agent and George Morphett the barrister for the Association, whose shares were under-subscribed, and whatever mining may have taken place was not newsworthy.
On 16 April 1845 the Association was resurrected, or a new one formed with the same name (it is not easy to determine which), as a no liability (or no-responsibility in the terminology of the day) company. At the land sales of 19 April 1845 the Association made a purchase adjoining Captain Bagot's property near Kapunda, and another on the River Torrens near Montacute.
Henry Mildred was appointed chairman; seven members of the Association were elected to form the board of management (three to be replaced each year). They were (in order of votes received) Emanuel Solomon, John Cundy Sleman (who left Australia in December 1846), Charles Beck, Samuel Stocks, jun., William Peacock, Jacob Hagen, George Bean. Other candidates were: (again in order of votes received) William Paxton, Matthew Smith, Thomas Whistler, Samuel Payne, Tom Cox Bray, Robert Sanders and Edward Castres Gwynne. The firm of Smart & Payne was appointed their solicitors and Henry Ayers secretary. Other subscribers were: J. Dickens, Michael Featherstone, J. B. Graham, G. S. Kingston, J. B. Neales, John Newman, Robert Pepperell, John Ridley, George Stevenson, ?? White. Other names were William Allen, Frederick John Beck, Joseph Bouch, James Bunce, (Edward?) Drew, Anthony Hall, John Hallett, James Hardman, James Masters, Christopher Septimus Penny, Henry Roach, John Slatter, Thomas Waterhouse.
Following a newspaper advertisement soliciting mineral samples, on 9 June 1845 William Strear brought samples of a rich copper ore into the office of Henry Ayers, the Association's secretary. Strear, a young shepherd employed by pastoralist James Stein, had walked the from Burra; a similar find was reported by Thomas Pickett, a bullock driver employed by William Robinson of Gum Creek, near Manoora. News of the discovery was published on 21 June in Adelaide newspapers, and the site was soon named The Monster Mine.
A Special Survey of of August 1845 on the Burra Creek was drawn up, and which was expected to encompass any potential mine sites. Two parties tendered for the mineral rights: the Association and the Princess Royal Company (dubbed the "Nobs", these were much wealthier individuals), whose members were George F. Aston, John Grainger; Charles Hervey Bagot, Francis S. Dutton and other proprietors of the Kapunda mine; two (unnamed) English investors; Thomas Shepherd, Joseph Johnson, and George Tinline. George Morphett acted as Chairman, E. A. Wright as Secretary. An amicable arrangement was made between these two groups: that each should pay half the £20,000 in specie demanded by Governor Grey, that the surveyed area should be divided in two, which was done on 20 September 1845, and by some means it was resolved that the Association should have the northern moiety and the Princess Royal Company the southern.
The Association wasted little time; they despatched ten Cornish miners, a blacksmith and a captain to the site and began blasting on 29 September, and soon bullock drays loaded with the red copper oxide ore were inching their way to Port Adelaide. Within seven months the Association had made a profit of £20,000; and £90,000 in the first eighteen months. Some shareholders sold up and returned to England with their new-found wealth; Emanuel Solomon realised £200 for every £5 share and went on to other projects, others held on and reaped enormous dividends every year until 1860. In the twelve months to 31 March 1848, 13,533 tons of ore was shipped. By 1 September 1848 every £5 share had earned £50 for its owner, and £315 in the 21 years before the Association was dissolved. Meanwhile, the economy of South Australia, which had been in the doldrums since George Grey became Governor of South Australia in 1841, recovered completely.
By March 1848 the number of men and boys working at the mine had risen to 567 and 13,533 tons of ore had been carted to the Port in the previous year by some eight hundred teamsters and between six and seven thousand bullocks.
By 1851 there were 1013 working at the mine, and that year shipped 23,338 tons of ore, which would have yielded around 5,000 tons of copper metal, worth something over £450,000.
In September 1848 the miners, who were paid on the tribute system, went on strike over the way assay of their ore was handled. After a week, management met the strikers; Police were on hand but the meeting was orderly and the dispute was settled amicably. A few weeks later, management announced that wages of labourers and carters were to be reduced to 21s. per week, well below what had attracted them to Burra. This especially drew the ire of family men, who were already struggling with the hardships and high living expenses of Burra. The Association won out: the workers accepted the new contract and went back to work in early November. Burra Burra shares rallied to £129.
Around mid-1851 news of the gold finds in Victoria reached Burra, and in the year to 31 March 1852, two thirds of the workforce left to try their luck, but the Association still raised some 11,000 tons of ore, for a profit of £58,000. Most of the gold seekers returned disillusioned and eager to return to paid work. In this year the Monster Engine and its massive cast-iron pipework was installed, so that mining could continue below the water table. Keeping water out of the mines at depth remained a major engineering and financial problem.
A new prospect named the Karkulto Mine, south of Burra, near Emu Plains, was opened up in 1850. The SAMA and the Royal Mining Company each purchased a large block of land and commenced mining. The Royal Mining Company found some copper but more iron and soon exhausted its funds and the directors' patience. The SAMA abandoned the mine in 1869 without it ever showing a profit.
By 1867 the price of copper had dropped to £70 per ton; so low that digging the ore out was no longer profitable. An English expert, John Darlington, came out in 1868 and recommended that what had been a series of underground mines should be opened out to become an open-cut mine in order to recover at low cost the lower grade ore. This was commenced in 1870 and continued until the mine was closed in 1887, but the open cut yielded little or no ore. From 1867 to 1872 no ore was taken out, then captain Robert Sanders took over, and forked the water to the 70 fathom () level, whence it was pumped out, and mining continued for another five years, then on 14 September 1877 mining ceased and 250 men were unemployed. Captain Sanders secured a position with the Walhalla mine in Gippsland.
The Association continued to exist as an absentee landlord of many properties in Burra, and by its tough negotiating attitude acted as a brake on development of the town. Much of this property was offered at auction off by Bagot, Shakes & Lewis in 1904, but the reserve prices were so high that only a small fraction was sold and critical blocks adjoining the Burra Creek were held back. Another auction was held in 1912


Thomson orogeny

The Thomson Orogeny was a mountain building event from 510 to 495 million years in Gondwana, now situated mainly in the Australian state of Queensland.
Structural geology and sequence of events.
The rocks deformed during the Thomson Orogeny, referred to as the Thomson Orogen, underlie most of western and central Queensland in Australia. The rocks are mostly rich in quartz and metasedimentary, overlain by younger Mesozoic rocks and the Devonian backarc basin sediments of the Adavale Basin. Detrital zircon dating of Thomson Orogen rocks indicates ages between 510 and 495 million years ago, spanning the Cambrian to the Devonian.
In the northern part of the Thomson Orogen, rifting in the late Neoproterozoic is recorded in the lower metamorphic rocks of the Anakie Province.
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In the south, the Thomson Orogen borders the Lachlan Orogen, separated by the Olepoloko Fault in the west and the Louth-Eumarra Shear Zone in the east. Unlike the Thomson Orogen, the Lachlan Orogen has significant Silurian sedimentary rocks. The Thomson Orogen extends east under the Bowen Basin and based on seismic reflection data, seems to the underlie the western edge of the New England Orogen. In the north, it borders the North Queensland Orogen and much older Paleoproterozoic craton rocks.


Atawallpa (Cusco)

Atawallpa (Aymara for hen, Hispanicized spelling "Atahualpa") is a mountain in the Andes of Peru, about high. It is located in the Cusco Region, Espinar Province, on the border of the districts of Condoroma and Ocoruro. The mountain northwest of it is Atawallpa Much'u ("hen's little child"). Atawallpa lies at a lake named Wallatani ("the one with the Andean goose", Hispanicized "Guallatane").


Chiaraje (Cusco-Puno)

Chiaraje (possibly from Aymara "ch'iyara" black, "jaqhi" precipice, cliff, "black cliff") is a mountain in the Vilcanota mountain range in the Andes of Peru, about high. It is situated in the Cusco Region, Canchis Province, Sicuani District, and in the Puno Region, Melgar Province, Nuñoa District. Chiaraje lies south-west of the mountain Sambo and north-west of the mountain Chiaracce of the Nuñoa District.


Protobrotula

Protobrotula is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived during the early Oligocene epoch.


Anka Wachana (Chumbivilcas)

Anka Wachana (Quechua "anka" black-chested buzzard-eagle or eagle, "wacha" birth, to give birth "-na" a suffix, "where the eagle is born", Hispanicized spelling "Ancahuachana") is a mountain in the Andes of Peru. Its summit reaches about above sea level. Anka Wachana is situated in the Cusco Region, Chumbivilcas Province, Velille District.


Salina, Sicily

Salina () is one of the Aeolian Islands north of Sicily, southern Italy. It is the second largest island in the archipelago.
Salina is divided between three "comuni": Santa Marina on the eastern coast, Malfa to the north, and Leni to the south-west. From Leni down towards the sea is the village of Rinella. Above the village of Leni is Valdichiesa in the center of the island. The other smaller villages are Capo Faro, Pollara and Lingua.
There are currently approximately 2,600 residents living on the island.
Geography.
Salina has a total surface area of . It is included on the World Heritage List especially because of its worth for vulcanology. It is composed of six volcanoes: the oldest ones are at "Pizzo di Corvo", "Monte Rivi" and close to Capo Faro, although these are barely recognisable from a morphological point of view, while the volcano-layer of "Monte Fossa delle Felci" at is the highest peak in the archipelago and "Monte dei Porri" are both almost perfectly preserved. A lower crater lies just above sea level near the small village of Pollara, on the north west corner of the island, half of which has fallen into the sea.
The most recent eruption on Salina occurred on the western part of the island about 13,000 years ago and formed the semi-circular crater of Pollara; its activity was mainly explosive and produced large pumice deposits.
All that remains of the endogenic activities are some post-volcanic phenomena called “gurgling” and a thermal spring at Pertuso. The gurgling phenomena are at Rinella and are basically caused by the emission of underwater gas (hydrogen sulphate) and vapours. When this phenomenon is at its most active it can lift the sea-bed.
Vegetation.
From a distance Salina looks entirely green with two rounded high mountains and a smooth coastline. More than 400 different types of plants grow on the island and grapes, olives and capers are cultivated.
Salina was the first among the Aeolian islands to protect its environment with a natural preserve, known as the "Riserva Naturale del Fossa delle Felci e dei Porri".
The mountainsides of the island are covered with ferns, poplars, chestnut trees and typical Mediterranean vegetation including with caper bushes, prickly pear cactus. and a variety of orchards, olive groves and vineyards. The island is particularly notable for Malvasia, a famous white wine that is only produced on Salina. It is golden in colour and has an intense, delicately sweet bouquet. There has also been a local revival of the production of superior-quality low-acid olive oil.
It is claimed that Salina produces the best capers in the world and during the first weekend of June there is an annual caper festival.
History.
A Greek settlement, from the fourth century BC through to the times of Imperial Rome, once lay on the modern-day site of the small town of Santa Marina. A number of tombs from this era have been discovered further inland. Several traces of Greek and Roman culture have been found on the island.
In the Hellenic Age the island was named "Didyme" (Δίδυμη), a Greek name which refers to the two mountains as "twins". The island was inhabited as far back as the Bronze Age and has been developed and then abandoned many times over the subsequent millennia.
Areas on the island, including the two mountain peaks, were designated as a natural reserve in 1981.
Main sights.
In the 18th century the ruins of a typical Imperial Roman villa were noted here but have since sunk into the ground.
Transportation.
Salina has two ports, Santa Marina and Rinella, served by ferries and hydrofoils. Hydrofoil service is active from Naples, Palermo, Reggio Calabria, Messina and Milazzo.
There is a regular bus service connecting all the villages on the island. A main road connects Lingua, Santa Marina, Malfa and Pollara; a side road runs between the two volcanoes to Leni and Rinella.
Culture.
The island was the setting of the 1970 film "Road to Salina " (in Italy released as "Quando il sole scotta" and in France as "La route de Salina") directed by George Lautner. Christophe's composition "The Girl From Salina," written for the film's score, became a hit in Europe on its own right. The track was later used by Quentin Tarantino in his 2004 film "Kill Bill 2".
The 1994 Michael Radford film ", casting Messinese actress Maria Grazia Cucinotta, was filmed on the island of Procida and on Salina.
Salina is also a setting in the novel sequence ", by Timothée de Fombelle.


Pardy Island Formation

The Pardy Island Formation is a formation cropping out in Newfoundland.


Algoasaurus

Algoasaurus (; "Algoa Bay reptile") is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Berriasian-early Valanginian-age Early Cretaceous Upper Kirkwood Formation of Cape Province, South Africa. It was a neosauropod; although it has often been assigned to the Titanosauridae, there is no evidence for this, and recent reviews have considered it to be an indeterminate sauropod.
The type species, "A. bauri", was named by Robert Broom in 1904 from a cervical vertebra, femur, an ungual phalanx and a scapula. The fossils were recovered in 1903 from a quarry by workmen who did not recognize them as dinosaur specimens, so many of the bones, probably including the rest of the once near-complete holotype, were made into bricks and thus destroyed. The animal may have been around 9 m (30 ft) long when it died.


Peltostega

Peltostega is an extinct genus of prehistoric trematosaurians. The type is the only known species, Peltostega erici It is known from the Early Triassic Kongressfjellet Formation of Svalbard and Jan Mayen.


Patagotitan

Patagotitan is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Cerro Barcino Formation in Chubut Province, Patagonia, Argentina. The genus contains a single species known from multiple individuals: Patagotitan mayorum, first announced in 2014 and then validly named in 2017 by José Carballido, Diego Pol, and colleagues. Contemporary studies estimated the length of the type specimen, a young adult, at with an approximate weight of , although subsequent mass estimates indicate a mass of .
Discovery.
Remains of "Patagotitan mayorum", a part of a lower thighbone, were initially discovered in 2008 by a farm laborer, Aurelio Hernández, in the desert near La Flecha, about west of Trelew. Excavation was done by palaeontologists from the Museum of Paleontology Egidio Feruglio. The lead scientists on the excavation were Jose Luis Carballido and Diego Pol, with partial funding from The Jurassic Foundation. Between January 2013 and February 2015, seven paleontological field expeditions were carried out to the La Flecha fossil site, recovering more than 200 fossils, both of sauropods and theropods (represented by 57 teeth). At least six partial skeletons, consisting of approximately 130 bones, were uncovered, making "Patagotitan" one of the most complete titanosaurs currently known.
The type species "Patagotitan mayorum" was named and described by José Luis Carballido, Diego Pol, Alejandro Otero, Ignacio Alejandro Cerda, Leonardo Salgado, Alberto Carlos Garrido, Jahandar Ramezani, Néstor Ruben Cúneo and Javier Marcelo Krause in 2017. The generic name combines a reference to Patagonia with a Greek Titan for the "strength and large size" of this titanosaur. The specific name honours the Mayo family, owners of La Flecha ranch.
The holotype, MPEF-PV 3400, was found in a layer of the Cerro Barcino Formation, dating from the latest Albian. The particular stratum has an age of 101.62 plus or minus 0.18 million years ago. The holotype consists of a partial skeleton lacking the skull. It contains three neck vertebrae, six back vertebrae, six front tail vertebrae, three chevrons, ribs, both breast bones, the right scapulocoracoid of the shoulder girdle, both pubic bones and both thighbones. The skeleton was chosen to be the holotype because it was the best preserved and also the one showing the most distinguishing traits. Other specimens were designated as the paratypes. Specimen MPEF-PV 3399 is a second skeleton including six neck vertebrae, four back vertebrae, one front tail vertebra, sixteen rear tail vertebrae, ribs, chevrons, the left lower arm, both ischia, the left pubic bone and the left thighbone. Specimen MPEF-PV 3372 is a tooth. Specimen MPEF-PV 3393 is a rear tail vertebra. Specimen MPEF-PV 3395 is a left humerus as is specimen MPEF-PV 3396, while specimen MPEF-PV 3397 is a right humerus. Specimen MPEF-PV
3375 is a left thighbone while MPEF-PV 3394 is a right one. Specimens MPEF-PV 3391 and MPEF-PV3392 represent two calfbones.
The animals found, though excavated in one quarry, did not all die at the same time. Within the 343 centimetre thick sediment containing the fossils, three distinct but closely spaced horizons correspond to three burial events in which young adults perished due to floods. The water did not transport the carcasses any further but covered them with sandstone and mudstone. The animals were about the same size, differing no more than 5% in length. As far as can be ascertained, all bones discovered belong to the same species and are thus part of a monospecific assemblage.
Description and size.
Like other titanosaur sauropods, "Patagotitan" was a quadrupedal herbivore with a long neck and tail and is notable for its large size. In 2014 news reports stated size estimates of long with a weight of ; science writer Riley Black had cautioned in 2014 that it was still too early to make size estimates with the desirable scientific certainty. In 2017 the species description of "Patagotitan mayorum" was published which estimated a length of long, with an approximate weight of when using a scaling equation, and when using volumetric method based on 3D skeletal models. In 2019 Gregory S. Paul listed "Patagotitan" at in length and in weight using volumetric models, making it smaller than "Argentinosaurus" which was estimated at or more in length and in weight. A mass estimate using a revised scaling equation yielded a mean estimate of , with a range including margin of error of , which is close to the estimate of previously obtained from the volumetric method.
Patagotitan's humerus was long, smaller from that of other giants such as "Notocolossus" (1.76 meters) and "Paralititan" (1.69 meters). Its femur measured in length making it the longest known, although Paul estimated the total size of the isolated femur (MLP-DP 46-VIII-21-3 specimen), which is referred to "Argentinosaurus", at making it larger than Patagotitan's. He also noticed that the articulated dorsal series length was larger in "Argentinosaurus" (4.47 meters) than in "Patagotitan" (3.67 meters).
The researchers who described "Patagotitan" stated in the media:
Following the publication of "Patagotitan," Riley Black and paleontologist Matt Wedel further cautioned against the media hype. In blog posts, Wedel noted that based on available measurements "Patagotitan" was comparable in size to other known giant titanosaurs, however, almost every bone measurement that could be compared are larger in "Argentinosaurus". Wedel also criticised the researchers mass estimation technique. "" In other studies "Argentinosaurus" has been estimated at .
Distinguishing traits.
The authors indicated nine distinguishing traits of "Patagotitan". The first three back vertebra have a "lamina prezygodiapophysealis", a ridge running between the front articular process and the side process, that is vertical because the front articular process is situated considerably higher than the side process. With the first two back vertebrae, the ridge running to below from the side front of the neural spine has a bulge at the underside. Secondary articulating processes of the hyposphene-hypantrum complex type are limited to the articulation between the third and fourth back vertebra. The middle and rear back vertebrae have vertical neural spines. In the first tail vertebra, the centrum or main vertebral body has a flat articulation facet in front and a convex facet at the rear. The front tail vertebrae have neural spines of which the transverse width is four to six times larger than their length measured from the front to the rear. The front tail vertebrae have neural spines that show some bifurcation. The upper arm bone has a distinct bulge on the rear outer side. The lower thighbone has a straight edge on the outer side.
Classification.
In 2017, "Patagotitan" was placed, within the Titanosauria, in the Eutitanosauria and more precisely the Lognkosauria, as a sister species of "Argentinosaurus". Several subclades of the Titanosauria would have independently acquired a large body mass. One such event would have taken place at the base of the "Notocolossus" + Lognkosauria clade leading to a tripling of weight from maximal twenty to maximal sixty tonnes.
Paleoecology.
"Patagotitan" lived during the Late Cretaceous period, between 102 and 95 million years ago, in what was then a forested region. The bearing sediments indicate that sedimentation took place with a low energy setting, related to floodplains of a meandering system (Carmona et al., 2016).


Lechkogel Formation

The Lechkogel Formation is a geologic formation in Austria. It preserves fossils dating back to the Triassic period.


Sciurumimus

Sciurumimus ("Squirrel-mimic," named for its tail's resemblance to that of the tree squirrel, "Sciurus") is an extinct genus of tetanuran theropod from the Late Jurassic of Germany. It is known from a single juvenile specimen representing the type species, Sciurumimus albersdoerferi, which was found in a limestone quarry close to Painten in Lower Bavaria. The specimen was preserved with traces of feather-like filaments.
The "Sciurumimus" specimen was first announced in 2011 in an informal presentation, but not formally described and named until the following year. Although originally classified as a basal megalosauroid, later phylogenetic analyses dispute this placement.
Description.
"Sciurumimus" is known from a single holotype fossil that is exceptionally well-preserved, with full skeleton in complete articulation along with fine details of soft tissue. It is comparable in size and proportions to the juvenile coelurosaur "Juravenator", although differs significantly in several anatomical details. The skull of "Sciurumimus" is proportionally large, at 156% of the length of the femur and longer than the cervical vertebrae series. These body proportions, along with short forelimbs, lack of fusion in the skeleton, and regular tooth morphology indicate the specimen represents a very young, probably early-posthatchling individual.
The fossil preserves filamentous plumage at the tail base and on other parts of the body. These structures are described as being identical to the stage 1 feathers preserved in some ornithischians, the basal tyrannosaur "Dilong", and the basal therizinosauroid "Beipiaosaurus". Although most of the preserved soft tissue on the "Sciurumimus" holotype likely represent integumentary structures, a small patch of what may be muscle tissue is observed along the rear edge of the tibia.
Classification.
When first discovered, a phylogenetic analysis suggested that "Sciurumimus" may have been a primitive member of the Megalosauroidea, a clade of large carnivorous dinosaurs more primitive than many other well-known theropods like the tyrannosauroids and carnosaurs, making it the most basal known feathered theropod. This classification was supported by one of three initial analyses conducted by the scientists who described it. The other two analyses, which the authors regarded as less well supported, found it as more closely related to "Monolophosaurus" and Avetheropoda, and in an unresolved position among avetheropods and megalosauroids, respectively. The exact position in the various analyses was difficult to determine due to the fact that the only known specimen is a very young juvenile.
This initial study was criticized by several researchers, who noted that some of the old analysis the scientists used to plug in data from the new fossil were incomplete and missing relevant data on various species. In an analysis published in 2013 "Sciurumimus" was obtained as one of the most primitive members of the Coelurosauria, more derived than the megalosauroids. However, this analysis focused on the Coelurosauria and the dataset on which it was based contained only one megalosaurid and only four terminal taxa outside the Coelurosauria. Other analyses found it to be an allosauroid or a tetanuran outside Avetheropoda. Paul (2016) placed it among basal neocoelurosaurs. A detailed reanalysis of the taxon was done in the supplementary material of Hartman et al (2019) which found several characters to be misscored, and when the uncorrected "Sciurumimus" was placed in the matrix "Juravenator" was also found to be a basal tetanuran, while if "Sciurumimus" was absent "Juravenator" would be found to be a basal coelurosaur. The analysis found "Sciurumimus" to be a compsognathid, though they noted that this position was tentative. Foth "et al". (2020) again placed, albeit tentatively, "Sciurumimus" in Megalosauroidea, this time accompanied by "Juravenator".


Johann August Georg Edmund Mojsisovics von Mojsvar

Johann August Georg Edmund Mojsisovics von Mojsvár (October 18, 1839October 2, 1907) was an Austro-Hungarian geologist and palaeontologist.
Biography.
Mojsisovics was the son of the surgeon Georg Mojsisovics von Mojsvar (1799–1860). His name in Hungarian: Ödön. He was born in Vienna. He studied law in Vienna University, taking his doctorate degree in 1864, and in 1867 he entered the Geological Institute, becoming chief geologist in 1870 and vice-director in 1892. He retired in 1900, and died at Mallnitz on October 2, 1907.
Works.
Mojsvar paid special attention to the Cephalopoda of the Austrian Triassic, and his publications include:
With Melchior Neumayr (1845–1890) he conducted the "Beiträge zur Paläontologie und Geologie Österreich-Ungarns" (Contributions to the Palaeontology and Geology of Austria-Hungary). In 1862, with Paul Grohmann and Dr. Guido von Sommaruga, he founded the Österreichischer Alpenverein (Austrian Alpine Club), and he also took part in establishing the German Alpine Club ("Deutscher Alpenverein"), which combined with the former in 1873.
He is responsible for naming the stage on the geologic time scale known as the "Carnian", after the Carnian Alps, in 1869.


Lycorhinus

Lycorhinus is a genus of heterodontosaurid ornithischian dinosaur from the Early Jurassic (Hettangian to Sinemurian ages) strata of the Elliot Formation located in the Cape Province, South Africa.
Description.
"Lycorhinus", including the remains described by Gow in 1975 as "Lanasaurus", is a small ( in length) herbivorous dinosaur despite the long canines it sported in its jaws.
History of discovery.
The fossil material consists of dentaries and maxillae, hence the characters mentioned by the name "Lycorhinus angustidens" that Sidney H. Haughton attributed to the remains in 1924, where the generic name means "wolf snout", as it was at first misidentified as a cynodont, and the specific descriptor means "constricted tooth".
The holotype, SAM 3606, consists of a mandible found by Dr M. Ricono.
Three other species of "Lycorhinus" have been named. "Lycorhinus parvidens" was created by Robert Broom and "Lycorhinus tucki" by Richard Anthony Thulborn in 1970 renaming "Heterodontosaurus tucki", but these have failed to find recognition. "Lycorhinus consors", named by Thulborn in 1974, was renamed "Abrictosaurus" by James Hopson in 1975.
"Lanasaurus".
The type and only species of "Lanasaurus" is "L. scalpridens", described by Christopher Gow in 1975 from the same horizon as "Lycorhinus". The generic name is derived from Latin "lana", "wool" and Greek "saurus", "lizard", and honours Professor Alfred Walter Crompton, nicknamed "Fuzz" because of his woolly hair. The specific name is derived from Latin "scalprum", "chisel", and "dens", "tooth". It is based on a partial upper jaw bone, the maxilla, holotype BP/1/4244, found in the Upper Elliot Formation of Free State. The teeth show a typical replacement pattern in which during each replacement cycle every third tooth is renewed.
Gow himself in 1990 concluded that the holotype of "Lanasaurus" was actually a specimen of "Lycorhinus angustidens". This has been commonly accepted since.
Classification.
"L. angustidens" is thought to be allied to "Heterodontosaurus". Only in 1962 Alfred Walter Crompton recognised it was an ornithischian dinosaur. Thulborn in 1971 created a separate Lycorhinidae but this group was in 1972 equated with Heterodontosauridae by Peter Galton.


James Kitching

James William Kitching (6 February 1922 – 24 December 2003) was a South African vertebrate palaeontologist and regarded as one of the world’s greatest fossil finders.
Career.
His work in the southern hemisphere, including Antarctica, led to the establishment of one of the world's finest fossil collections, housed at the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research (BPI) in Johannesburg.
He contributed greatly to the Karoo palaeontology of southern Africa, and Gondwana, and was an authority on the stratigraphic and distributional relationships of Permo-Triassic reptiles from South Africa. He published more than fifty papers and books on various facets of palaeontology. His contribution to Karoo palaeontology of southern Africa and Gondwana, earned him international recognition.
Kitching also studied Pleistocene mammals. In this regard he excavated and researched fossils from several cave sites, the most notable being the Cave of Hearths and the limeworks at Makapansgat where he discovered the type specimen of what Professor Raymond Dart described as a new species of the "ape man" Australopithecus, "A. prometheus" in 1947. This is now considered a synonym of the type species, "A. africanus", which Dart described in 1925.
Together with Professor Raymond Dart, he undertook pioneering taphonomic research on the bone accumulations at Makapansgat. These projects entailed spending time in the Netherlands, Belgium and France to study Palaeolithic mammalian faunas; he was also involved in the analysis of fossils from Pinhole Cave in England.
Despite not having had a standard undergraduate academic background, he was permitted by the Senate of the University of the Witwatersrand to register for a Master of Science degree. For his research on Karoo fossils, completed in 1972, he was awarded a doctorate. Having refined the biostratigraphy of the rocks of the Beaufort Group in South Africa, he started a major collecting project in the Triassic and Jurassic rocks of the Elliot and Clarens Formations in South Africa, and published the first biostratigraphic scheme for these lithological units as well.
Awards and honours.
At the time of his retirement at the age of 68 in 1990, Professor James Kitching was Reader in Karoo Biostratigraphy and also Director of the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research. Subsequently, he was appointed Honorary Research Professorial Fellow at the Institute, a position he held until his death. He received numerous national and international awards including honorary doctorates from UPE and Wits, the Gold Award of the Zoological Society of South Africa, The Draper Award of the Geological Society of South Africa, honorary life membership of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in the United States and the Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa, and most recently the prestigious Morris Skinner Award of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Early life.
His introduction to fossils and collecting started at the age of six, when he scoured the countryside around Nieu-Bethesda, where he grew up, to find specimens for Robert Broom. A year later he discovered the type specimen of "Youngopsis kitchingi" Broom. This fossil was the first of many new species which he would present to science in later years.
When the University of the Witwatersrand set up the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, he was appointed as the first member of staff on 26 October 1945 and mandated to collect fossils from the Karoo. His first collecting trip was to the Graaff-Reinet district where he had spent his youth with his brothers Ben and Scheepers.
Footnotes.
A prominent rock ridge (85°12'S 177°06'W) on the west side of Shackleton Glacier, between Bennett Platform and Matador Mountain, in the Queen Maud Mountains in Antarctica is officially mapped 'Kitching Ridge' in his honour.
Invited to join the Ohio State University Institute of Polar Studies 1970-71 geological party to the Queen Maud Mountains as part of the US Antarctic Research Programme, he, together with James (Jim) Collinson, was the first person to identify and collect therapsid (proto-mammal) fossils there, of Lystrosaurus Zone age, confirming the former continental link between southern Africa and Antarctica.
In 1977 James Kitching recovered seven Massospondylus eggs that had been exposed by roadmaking operations in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park in South Africa. In January 2000, Professor Robert Reisz from the University of Toronto at Mississauga in Canada was on a research visit to South Africa and borrowed the fossil eggs to take back to Canada. Diane Scott of his laboratory carried out the difficult preparation under a high magnification microscope. Hans Sues, a Smithsonian palaeontologist who helped analyse the 190-million-year-old eggs — the oldest from a vertebrate animal ever discovered — confirmed that Kitching had been correct in his identification of the eggs. The embryos are so well preserved, that they have yielded remarkable insights into dinosaur biology and behaviour. They are the oldest evidence for caregiving among dinosaurs in that the animals' undeveloped teeth suggest that Massospondylus hatchlings needed help in feeding.
He married Betty Kitching and had a family of one son and two daughters.


Zafarani gas field

The Zafarani gas field is a natural gas field located in the Indian Ocean. It was discovered in 2012 and developed by and Statoil. The well that discovered Zafarani gas field was spudded in 2012. The total proven reserves of the Zafarani gas field are around 5 trillion cubic feet (143×109m³), and production is slated to be around 100 million cubic feet/day (2.9×105m³).


Tataouinea

Tataouinea is an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaur in the subfamily Rebbachisaurinae of Rebbachisauridae which lived in the Early Cretaceous Tunisia. Only one species, "T. hannibalis", is known.
Discovery and naming.
The first known elements of the holotype were discovered in the Aïn el Guettar Formation in 2011 by Aldo Luigi Bacchetta, but he was unable to excavate the specimen until 2012. The remains were subsequently studied by Federico Fanti, Andrea Cau, Mohsen Hassine and Michela Contessi. The genus was named in 2013 and in 2015, more material of the holotype specimen was uncovered after the initial description were analysed. These included additional tail vertebrae.
Description.
Its bones were extensively pneumatic, providing strong support for the theory that sauropods had birdlike respiratory systems. Key characteristics of its vertebral morphology show that "Tatouinea" was a rebbachisaurid, closely related to the nigersaurines of Europe. A phylogenetic analysis was published alongside the paper, finding a clade of nigersaurines to include "Rebbachisaurus", thus forcing the subfamily to be renamed Rebbachisaurinae.
The exact size of "Tataouinea" is unknown, but comparison to similar sauropods indicates a size of about meters long and a height of around at the hips for the holotype individual.
Etymology.
The genus name bears the name of the region where it was discovered, Tataouine, and the epithet honours Hannibal, a Carthaginian punic military commander.
Classification.
"Tataouinea" was placed in the Rebbachisaurinae by Fanti "et al." (2015). The 2015 cladogram of Fanti "et al." is shown below.
Paleoecology.
"Tataouinea" was discovered in the Jebel El Mra Member or the nearby Oum ed Diab Member of the Aptian-Albian Aïn el Guettar Formation. It coexisted with an unnamed carcharodontosaurid, "Carcharodontosaurus", "Spinosaurus", the notosuchian "Araripesuchus", an unnamed sauropod, an unnamed iguanodont, an unnamed ornithocheirid pterosaur, an unnamed species of "Sarcosuchus" and a species of fish known as "Maswonia".


Eocursor

Eocursor (meaning "dawn runner") is genus of basal ornithischian dinosaur that lived in what is now South Africa during the Early Jurassic. Remains of this animal have been found in the Upper Elliot Formation and it is among the most completely known early ornithischians, shedding new light on the origin of the group.
The exact age of this taxon has been the subject of uncertainty. It was originally interprereted as living during the Late Triassic (Norian age), around 210 million years ago; however, Olsen, Kent & Whiteside (2010) stated that there is no independent geochronological support for its assumed age, and the available data makes it impossible to conclusively determine whether "Eocursor" is of Triassic or Early Jurassic (potentially as young as Sinemurian) age. "Eocursor" was subsequently interpreted as a taxon of Early Jurassic age by McPhee "et al." (2017), who identified the specimen as having originated from the Upper (not Lower) Elliot Formation.
Fossils of "Eocursor" were originally collected in 1993, but were not formally described until fourteen years later. The type species, Eocursor parvus, was described in 2007 by Richard J. Butler, Roger M. H. Smith, and David B. Norman. "Eocursor" was one of the earliest known ornithischians, and sheds some light on early dinosaur relationships because early dinosaurs are known from mostly incomplete skeletons. "Eocursor" is known from partial skeletal elements, including skull fragments, spinal elements, pelvis, long leg bones, and unusually large grasping hands.
Description.
"Eocursor" was a lightly built bipedal dinosaur with an estimated length of about 1 m (3 ft). The general aspect of the animal resembles that of the early Jurassic ornithischians such as "Lesothosaurus" and "Scutellosaurus". Its large hands resembled those of the Heterodontosauridae, a clade of primitive ornithischians. The morphology of the triangular teeth, not unlike those of an iguana, suggests partial herbivory. The tibia was significantly longer than the femur, indicating it was a swift runner.
Discovery and naming.
In 1993, the holotype specimen of "Eocursor" (SAM-PK-K8025) was collected from the Upper Elliot Formation in Free State, South Africa. The skeleton, although only partially complete, is one of the best-preserved early ornithischian skeletons ever found. The fossils include a partial skeleton: portions of the skull, lower jaw, vertebrae, and limbs.
In June 2007, the fossils were formally described by an international team of paleontologists: Richard Butler of the Natural History Museum, London, and the University of Cambridge, David Norman of the University of Cambridge, and Roger M. H. Smith of the Iziko South African Museum. The fossils were named "Eocursor parvus", from the Greek word "eos" (meaning "dawn"), and the Latin words "cursor" (meaning "runner") and "parvus" ("little"), "in reference to the early occurrence of this ornithischian, its apparent locomotory abilities and its small size."
Classification.
"Eocursor" was an early ornithischian, one of the first so-called "bird-hipped" dinosaurs, a group which would eventually give rise to animals such as "Stegosaurus", "Triceratops", and "Iguanodon". Butler "et al." consider "Eocursor" more primitive than "Lesothosaurus" and Heterodontosauridae, but more derived than the "Pisanosaurus", as a basal ornithischian forming a sister clade of Genasauria.


Protoclupea

Protoclupea is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived from the Oxfordian to the early Tithonian stage of the Late Jurassic epoch. Fossils have been found in the Domeyko Range of Antofagasta Region, northern Chile. The genus has been compared with other South American fishes as "Luisiella" and "Varasichthys".


Benthamaspis

Benthamaspis is an extinct genus from a well-known class of fossil marine arthropods, the trilobites. It lived during the early part of the Arenig stage of the Ordovician Period, a faunal stage which lasted from approximately 478 to 471 million years ago.


Scarborough Formation (Ontario)

The Scarborough Formation is a Pleistocene geologic formation in Ontario.


Ccarhuarazo (Huancavelica)

Ccarhuarazo or Qarwarasu (Quechua, "qarwa" leaf worm; larva of a beetle; pale, yellowish, golden, Ancash Quechua "rasu" snow, ice, mountain with snow, Hispanicized spelling "Ccarhuarazo") is a mountain in the Chunta mountain range in the Andes of Peru. It is located in the Huancavelica Region, Castrovirreyna Province, Santa Ana District, and in the Huancavelica Province, Huancavelica District. Ccarhuarazo is situated southeast of Kuntur Wamani and Wamanrasu. Its highest peak is on the border of the provinces. Two other peaks which reach and more than lie to the northeast in the Huancavelica District.


Cabaray

Cabaraya is a stratovolcano in Bolivia. It lies between the volcanoes Isluga and Tata Sabaya, immediately east of the border with Chile.


Rotliegend Group


Ramadas Volcanic Centre

Ramadas Volcanic Centre is a volcano in northeastern Argentina. It is the source of a widespread explosive eruption deposit in northeastern Argentina, the Corte Blanco Tuff which was erupted 8.73 ± 0.25 million years ago. Perlite occurs at the volcanic centre and is actively mined.
Geology and geomorphology.
Regional.
The volcano lies north of the town of San Antonio de Los Cobres. It is part of the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes, a belt of volcanoes spanning Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. The Central Volcanic Zone includes the Altiplano-Puna volcanic complex, where during the late Miocene large explosive eruptions of silicic composition occurred; Ramadas is part of this volcanic complex. The basement beneath Ramadas is formed by the Puncoviscana Formation of Precambrian-Cambrian age and the site of the volcano coincides with a fault.
The region is formed by the Puna high plateau, the Eastern Cordillera and the Subandean Ranges, the first of which is delimited by faults. Summits within the active volcanic arc can reach elevations of over .
Local.
Ramadas lies at an altitude of and is formed by a wide amphitheatre like structure, which has been interpreted as a tuff ring. Much of the volcano is buried by more recent rocks, rendering it difficult to visualize. A rhyolitic lava dome-like structure with dimensions of is located at the centre. Presently, streams cross the areal.
Eruption history.
Ramadas is an isolated monogenetic volcano. It is the origin of the Corte Blanco Tuff deposit, a widespread formation generated by a Plinian eruption. This eruption deposited large amounts of pumice and smaller amounts of ignimbrite and pyroclastic surge mainly to the east of the vent. The eruption left fallout as far as away, the total volume of the deposits is over . After an initially intense explosive eruption, phreatomagmatic deposits and obsidian were emplaced within a depression that appears to be a caldera. Potassium-argon dating has yielded an age of 8.73 ± 0.25 million years ago for this eruption.
Petrology.
The Corte Blanco Tuff is formed by a peraluminous rhyolite. Red garnet occurs in the form of crystals within the rhyolite; other mineral inclusions are biotite, feldspar, quartz and tourmaline. Monazite and zircon have also been observed.
The Ramadas Volcanic Centre is known for the unusual presence of several formations of perlite-bearing rocks, including a lapilli rich one. This perlite has been quarryed, with two active quarries including Don Joaquin and El Sol.


Tambach Formation

The Tambach Formation is an Early Permian-age geologic formation in central Germany. It consists of red to brown-colored sedimentary rocks (red beds) such as conglomerate, sandstone, and mudstone, and is the oldest portion of the Upper Rotliegend within the Thuringian Forest Basin.
The overall geology records a history with three distinct stages of sedimentation within a mountainous environment. First, tectonic activity forms a basin (the Tambach Basin) dominated by high-energy debris flows, sheetfloods, and braided rivers. These incise underlying rhyolitic rock, depositing a coarse conglomerate known as the Bielstein Conglomerate. Second, calmer conditions allow the basin to widen, and the conglomerate is marginalized by finer sediments which were previously only common at the center of the basin, such as the characteristic Tambach Sandstone. These finer sediments were deposited through repeated sequences of flooding, followed by calm water, followed by exposure to air. The overall climate would have been similar to modern tropical savannas, with hot and dry periods broken up by heavy rainfall, likely multiple times in a year. The third stage involves a return of tectonic conditions, this time inducing wide deposits of polymictic (heterogenous) conglomerate known as the Finsterbergen conglomerate.
The Tambach Formation also includes one of the most important Permian fossil localities in Europe: the Bromacker locality. This former sandstone quarry and surrounding sites preserves several different facies types, with different fossil components. Thick sandstone channel fills in the lower section at Bromacker are overlain with mudstone from ephemeral lakes. A diverse assemblage of trace fossils such as footprints are imprinted onto the mudstone drapings. The upper section of Bromacker contains siltstone deposited through sheetfloods, in which well-preserved articulated skeletons of terrestrial tetrapods have been discovered. These include early amphibians like "Rotaryus" and "Tambaroter," and early reptiles like "Eudibamus" and "Thuringothyris". Unlike most fossil-preserving Permian red beds, aquatic vertebrates are absent at Bromacker while carnivorous synapsids (like "Dimetrodon") are rare and herbivorous diadectids are abundant. Plant and arthropod fossils have also been found in shales at Bromacker.
History.
Starting in the 1840s, five-toed footprints had been described from various sandstone quarries and roadcuts in the Gotha district of Germany. The stratigraphy of rocks near Tambach-Dietharz was mapped out in 1876, and named as the "Tambacher Schichten" (Tambach strata) in 1895, although at the time it was believed to include several additional rock layers (now termed the Elgersberg and Eisenach Formations) which have since then been separated from it. in 1887 the first fossilized footprints from Bromacker were discovered by a local fossil collector named Heinrich Friedrich Schäfer. The find was donated to the Ducal Museum in the city of Gotha, after which it was independently reported on by various German paleontologists who had received photographic evidence. Wilhelm Pabst, the curator of the Ducal Museum's natural history department, collected and described 140 sandstone slabs from the Tambach Formation from 1890 until his death in 1908. The collection was rediscovered in the 1950s, and subsequently restudied by GDR paleontologists such as Hermann Schmidt, Arno Hermann Müller, and Hartmut Haubold.
Fossilized tetrapod bones were discovered in the upper beds of Bromacker by Thomas Martens in 1974, prompting further attention from Gotha paleontologists. These include Harald Lutzner, who formally delineated the Tambach Formation as a sequence including two conglomerate layers separated by a sandstone layer. In the coming years, research contacts were made with Western paleontologists such as Jürgen Boy (University of Mainz) and David Berman (Carnegie Museum of Natural History). This allowed excavation to ramp up and the Tambach Formation to achieve worldwide fame. A 1993 German-American joint expedition recovered articulated tetrapod fossils, and trace fossil collecting was resumed after more than 80 years thanks to the excavation of a new sandstone quarry at Bromacker in 1995. The first Tambach body fossils outside of Bromacker were discovered in 2008, in a construction site in downtown Tambach-Dietharz. In 2010, the exhibits comprising Gotha's Museum of Nature began the process of being moved from the Ducal Museum (which was being converted to an art museum) to the Friedenstein Castle. Due to funding issues, collecting from Bromacker has been limited and the Tambach collection is being archived at the historic Perthesforum complex prior to the construction of a new Permian exhibit.
Geology.
The Tambach Formation mainly lies within a basin currently occupied by the Thuringian Forest, and it is stratigraphically younger than the Rotterode Formation and older than the Eisenach Formation. It is the oldest part of the Thuringian Forest Basin's Upper Rotliegend succession, a name referring to a sequence of purely sedimentary rocks in the Lower Permian of Germany. The sediments of the Tambach Formation were deposited in a small Permian graben (termed the Tambach Basin), which was oriented in a northeast to southwest direction and incised into the igneous and sedimentary rocks of the Rotterode Formation. The Tambach Basin would have about 250 square km during the Permian, though modern outcrops only occupy about 50 square km, not counting the northeastern portion of the basin which has had its deposits erased by later geological processes.
Traditionally, the Tambach Formation is considered to be divided into three discrete layers: a lower and an upper conglomerate layer (Bielstein and Finsterbergen Konglomerate, respectively), separated by a somewhat narrower layer of finer sediments such as sandstone, the Tambach-Sandstein (Tambach sandstone) member. However, the borders between these layers are often imprecise, and some geologists have offered a more complex depositional picture with three stratigraphic stages defined by changes in basin-wide sedimentology, rather than specific rock types.
The lowest stage (stage I) experienced a period of high tectonic activity (part of the Variscan orogeny) to the southeast, the Oberhof uplift. The formation of the basin among this tectonic backdrop initially led to powerful debris flows and sheet floods, and then active braided rivers flowing along its edge with lower-energy rivers, floodplains, and lakes at its center. The coarse (cobble/boulder-scale) and rhyolitic Bielstein conglomerate was deposited among the high-energy marginal environments while early portions of the Tambach sandstone were deposited further away from the basin's edge. The most prominent flow direction in the well-preserved eastern part of the basin is northwest, towards the center of the basin.
Decreasing tectonic activity in the middle stage (stage II) leads to increased erosion, lowering the relief along the edge of the basin. As a result, the braided rivers at the edge slowed down, lowering the size of the clasts to cobble/pebble conglomerate. The center of the basin graded into small streams and marshes, depositing sandstone, siltstone, shale and mudstone in fossiliferous red beds. Although the Tambach Basin may have been hydrologically isolated during this period, with its waterways draining internally, some paleontologists instead consider its waters to flow into another basin in the northeast, which was not preserved. The last stage (stage III) experienced a return of tectonic activity (the Ruhla crystalline uplift) to the northwest, although the relief was still fair flat. Ruhla-sourced alluvial fans and braidplains became more common, gradually allowing mineral-rich and polymictic pebble-sized conglomerate to build up and expand into the center of the basin, forming the Finsterbergen conglomerate.
Bromacker.
The most famous and fossiliferous locality within the Tambach Formation is the Bromacker locality, a cluster of small abandoned quarries near the town of Tambach-Dietharz. Strata exposed to the surface at Bromacker corresponds to the center of the Tambach Basin, during the time of the upper portion of stage I and the lower portion of stage II. Stage I sediments at Bromacker are termed the "lower beds" or "Bromacker sandstone" and stage II sediments are the "upper beds" or "Bromacker horizon".
The lower beds are dominated by thick sheets of fine-grained sandstone, often with cross-bedding indicating that the paleocurrent was oriented towards the northeast. These sandstone layers are typically blanketed by homogeneous mudstone, which sometimes preserved mudcracks, plant fossils, invertebrate burrows, and tetrapod footprints. The thick sandstone layers (and their mudstone drapings) are not continuous, interrupted by a succession of finer and darker micaceous sediments such as shale, siltstone, and (rarely) very fine sandstone. This reconstructs a sequence of repeated flooding events, involving strong, straight rivers eroding channels through the silty floodplain at the center of the basin, leaving behind sandy channel fills (sandstone) and fine-grained overbank deposits (shale and other sediments). The mudstone drapings can be explained as precipitate from extensive ephemeral lakes that evaporated in the weeks following the floods, after which they became mudflats. Many of the mudcrack fragments were ripped up by the next flood, being incorporated into the subsequent sandstone sheets as intraclasts.
The narrower upper beds also represent alternating flooding and still water conditions, albeit with finer clasts and lower topography. The sandstone channel fills are mostly replaced by homogeneous layers of red siltstone, which were prone to breaking along sharp edges. This siltstone contained mudcrack fragments, calcite-encased roots, and well-preserved partial or articulated skeletons of terrestrial tetrapods. These sediments indicate that reduced relief in stage II of the Tambach Formation had made sheetfloods the dominant erosional force, rather than individual channels. The lowest sheetflood deposit was particularly rich in diadectid fossils. The fine sediment successions were also altered, becoming dominated by finely laminated (and only occasionally micaceous) shale in which conchostracans and arthropod remains were fossilized. These indicate a transition to more permanent lakes and broad floodplain conditions at the center of the Tambach Basin, rather than the ephemeral fluvial environment of the lower beds.
An extensive older sequence, the "Tambach-Wechsellagerung" (Tambach interbedding) was discovered in 2004 through borehole data. This sequence somewhat resembled the lower beds, with alternating fine micaceous deposits and thick sandstone sheets filled with a breccia of mudstone intraclasts. However, the sandstone layers had no evidence of cross-bedding, and the mud drapings responsible for most of the Tambach trace fossils were absent as well. Rare fragments of vertebrate fossils were present, along with calcite structures.
Age.
Uranium-Lead dating is not possible for the Tambach Formation, which lacks fresh volcanic rocks. The similar Elgersburg Formation to the southeast contains rhyolite dated to 274 +/- 4.9 million years ago. However, it is unclear whether the strata at Elgersburg are younger, older, or equivalent in age to the Tambach Formation. Biostratigraphy is more informative but still imprecise. Insect and conchostrachan biostratigraphy places it into the Sakmarian-Artinskian "Moravamylacris kukalovae" and late Artinskian "Lioestheria monticula/andreevi" biozones, respectively. The only species of tetrapod known to exist in both the Tambach Formation and North American faunas is "Seymouria sanjuanensis", which persisted for approximately 15 million years between the Asselian and the early Kungurian. Since the species of "Dimetrodon" present at Tambach is smaller than those present in the red beds of Texas, the Tambach Formation was likely older than those formations. The Tambach Formation was placed within the Seymouran LVF (Land Vertebrate Faunachron) of Lucas (2006), a biozone which was estimated to include the Artinskian-Kungurian boundary. Combining both invertebrate and tetrapod biostratigraphy, the age of the Tambach Formation is likely within the Artinskian stage.
Climate.
The sand and silt-rich portions of the Tambach Formation were likely deposited in a warm climate with both hot, dry parts of the year and periodic heavy rainfall events. The dry times were severe enough to evaporate the Tambach basin's flood-induced ephemeral lakes within a matter of days, restricting the ability of a permanent aquatic fauna to colonize the basin. However, most plant root fossils are horizontally (rather than vertically) oriented, indicating that the climate was generally humid enough that native plants would not need to evolve deep roots or other xerophytic adaptations. Because of this, the Tambach Formation would probably fall under the modern tropical savanna climate, despite its lack of grass. Modern climatic equivalents include the northern African savanna and the Llanos of Venezuela and Colombia. There is evidence that sub-zero temperatures may have occurred on some nights during the dry season, likely as a result of the basin's high elevation. The climate may have been drier during the conglomerate-rich periods of the Tambach Formation.
Paleobiota.
The ecosystem of the Tambach Formation is unusual for its lack of aquatic animals such as xenacanthid sharks, "Eryops", or "Diplocaulus", which are otherwise common in Early Permian red beds. This is best explained by its mountainous environment, isolated from the monsoonal lowland floodplains which deposited most of the red beds. In addition, the ephemeral nature of the Tambach Basin's lakes and rivers means that only aquatic animals adapted to such conditions, such as conchostracans, were able to flourish. The Tambach Basin did support a diverse amphibian fauna, but only terrestrially-adapted types including dissorophoids and seymouriamorphs. Large herbivorous tetrapods such as caseids and especially diadectids are the most common body fossils recovered from the formation, while carnivorous synapsids are relatively rare. This is in contrast to North American environments, where fossils of carnivores such as "Dimetrodon" outnumber herbivore fossils. The environmental conditions of Tambach likely created a food web which was very different from that of the lowlands. The most common plants were tough, drought-adapted types such as conifers, while seed ferns and other lowland plants were much rarer. Fibrous terrestrial plants encouraged colonization of the basin by herbivorous land animals, but the dry climate prevents the development of an aquatic food chain, inhibiting animals such as large species of "Dimetrodon", which get a large portion of their food from waterways.


Torlesse Composite Terrane

The Torlesse Composite Terrane is a plate tectonic terrane forming part of the South Island of New Zealand. It contains the Rakaia, Aspiring and Pahau Terranes and the Esk Head Belt. Greywacke (or Torlesse Greywacke) is the dominant rock type of the composite terrane; argillite is less common and there are minor basalt occurrences. The Torlesse Composite Terrane is found east of the Alpine Fault in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Its southern extent is a cryptic boundary with the Caples Terrane within the Haast Schists in Central Otago. It is named for the Torlesse Range in Canterbury.
Description.
The Rakaia Terrane rocks, of Permian to late Triassic age (300–200 Ma), occur south of Rangiora. The Pahau Terrane rocks, of Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous age (160–100 Ma), occur to the north, and are probably derived from the Rakaia Terrane. At the boundary between these two terranes is the Esk Head Belt, an wide mélange of broken and deformed rocks. The Aspiring Terrane (Aspiring Lithologic Association) is officially included within the Torlesse Composite Terrane; however, it has a higher proportion of igneous rocks and a different sedimentary source. Its original relationship with the Rakaia Terrane is obscured by the Haast Schist.
Deposition.
The greywacke of the Torlesse Composite Terrane was deposited on the eastern side of New Zealand from the Late Carboniferous through to the Middle Cretaceous. It was deposited in giant deep sea fans that extended beyond the ends of ancient submarine canyons. A fan starts with a submarine canyon on the continental shelf. Then turbidity currents rush down the canyon like giant undersea avalanches. They carry all sorts of sediments from the shallower seafloor of the continental shelf. At the end of the canyon the turbidity current spreads out and creates giant fans of sediment that blanket the deep seafloor. These sediments may have derived in part from the granitic rocks of northeastern Australia, as suggested by studies of the mineral grains.
Metamorphism.
The Torlesse Composite Terrane has undergone metamorphism and been transformed into Haast Schist. In the Haast Schists, the minerals that make up greywacke became coarser grained and altered to other minerals including quartz, feldspar and biotite. Rare pods of pounamu (jade) are found in the higher metamorphic grades near the Alpine Fault.