Pentasaurus

Pentasaurus is an extinct genus of dicynodont of the family Stahleckeriidae, closely related to the well known "Placerias". It was found in the Lower Elliot Formation of South Africa, dated to the Norian of the Late Triassic period. The genus contains the type and only species, Pentasaurus goggai. "Pentasaurus" is named after the ichnogenus "Pentasauropus", fossil footprints that were originally described from the lower Elliot Formation in 1970 decades before the body fossils of "Pentasaurus" itself were recognised. "Pentasauropus" footprints were likely made by dicynodonts, and in South Africa "Pentasaurus" itself was the likely trackmaker. The name reflects the fact that a large dicynodont was predicted to have existed in the lower Elliot Formation before any body fossils were recognised, and so "Pentasaurus" was named after its probable footprints. This is a reversal of the more typical occurrence where fossil footprints are named after their presumed trackmakers. The name of the species honours its collector Alfred Brown, nicknamed "Gogga", which means "bug" in Afrikaans.
"Pentasaurus" is also unique for being the only known dicynodont to have coexisted with large sauropodomorph dinosaurs. Prior to its discovery, large sauropodomorphs and dicynodonts were thought to have never ecologically coexisted, with dicynodonts either going extinct prior to large sauropodomorphs evolving or being outcompeted and driven to extinction by the herbivorous dinosaurs. "Pentasaurus" challenges these assumptions, suggesting that dicynodonts and large sauropodomorphs could be contemporaneous, and may instead have been separated through habitat and dietary preferences. Furthermore, "Pentasaurus" expands the range of stahleckeriid dicynodonts in the Late Triassic into South Africa, refuting ideas that dicynodonts were geographically restricted by the Late Triassic.
Description.
The fossil remains of "Pentasaurus" are fragmented and very incomplete, so its overall morphology is poorly understood. However, it was similarly sized to other large Late Triassic dicynodonts, such as the closely related "Placerias", and likely resembled them in appearance.
Skull and mandible.
The only known bones from the skull of "Pentasaurus" is a portion from the roof of the skull, specifically the front end of the intertemporal region consisting of both frontal bones, the left postorbital and the preparietal (a bone unique to dicynodonts and some other therapsids). There are two depressed regions of the skull piece, one along the bottom left side and another cut into the back end, interpreted as representing a site for jaw muscle attachments at the edge of the temporal fenestra and for the pineal foramen, respectively. Otherwise, the skull is notably rough and strongly textured, particularly on a pair of mound-like rugosities at the back edge of the frontals. Frontal rugosities are absent in other kannemeyeriiforms and may be unique to "Pentasaurus", although the bones around the eyes of "Placerias" are similarly rugose.
Only the very front of the mandible of "Pentasaurus" is known, mostly consisting of the fused mandibular symphysis (including the splenial) and part of the left dentary and angular, although the tip of the beak is missing. The mandible is robust, and like other dicynodonts was fused into a toothless beak. The beak was relatively short in "Pentasaurus", with a steep front edge drawn into a mid-line ridge like those of other placeriines, although it is relatively shorter and lacks a pair of grooves typically found on either side of the ridge in other stahleckeriids. The beak is proportionately broader than that of "Placerias", and its edges are smoothly rounded and curve towards the tip, unlike the sharp edged, flattened surfaces on the beaks of "Placerias" or "Stahleckeria". A mid-line groove on the top surface of the beak, present in other kannemeyeriiforms, is unusually shallow in "Pentasaurus", even more so than the notably shallow groove in "Placerias".
The lateral dentary shelf, a characteristic ridge on the jaws of dicynodonts for attaching jaw muscles, is unusual in "Pentasaurus". It is remarkably robust and prominent, and the shelf sits uniquely far forward on the jaw compared to all other dicynodonts. Further unlike other dicynodonts, the shelf does not extend back to meet the mandibular fenestra either, instead curving up at its end from an otherwise horizontal position. Features such as the shape of the beak and lateral dentary shelf likely influenced the feeding style of dicynodonts, although the significance of the unusual morphology in "Pentasaurus" is currently unknown.
Postcranial skeleton.
The postcranial skeleton of "Pentasaurus" is mostly represented by the appendicular skeleton, including parts of the limbs, shoulders and pelvis, with only a single poorly preserved cervical vertebra from the neck representing the axial skeleton.
The shoulder is only known from the glenoid region of the fused scapulocoracoid and is typical for stahleckeriid dicynodonts, including a relatively large glenoid opening for the shoulder joint directed back and out to the side, indicating a sprawled forelimb posture. The forelimb itself is only known from the end of the humerus and the proximal portion of the ulna. The humerus is largely typical of kannemeyeriiform dicynodonts in shape, however, the distal end is unusually large and thickened compared to other stahleckeriids. The capitulum (part of the elbow) in the only known specimen is unossified and would have been cartilaginous, suggesting the specimen may be immature compared to similarly sized specimens of "Placerias". The known portion of ulna is badly worn, but the roundness of its tip suggests that "Pentasaurus" had a separated olecranon process of the elbow, similar to "Placerias" and "Ischigualastia" but unlike some specimens of "Stahleckeria". An unidentified long bone may represent a radius.
The pelvis is known from a partial left pubis and ischium and is typical of kannemeyeriiforms, including notable 'twisting' of the pubic shaft. The only known hindlimb element is the proximal end of a right tibia, and likewise it is typical of kannemeyeriiform dicynodonts. Although similar in construction to sauropodomorph dinosaurs, the internal structure visible at the broken end shows extensive trabecular bone, characteristic of Triassic dicynodonts.
History of discovery.
The only known fossil remains of "Pentasaurus" were collected in the late 19th century by amateur palaeontologist Alfred "Gogga" Brown, an Englishman recluse who lived for much of his life in Aliwal North in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. His first fossil discoveries began in the 1860s, and his collections largely consisted of tetrapod fossils from the Middle Triassic Beaufort Group and Late Triassic–Early Jurassic Stormberg Group. After initially corresponding with and sending a crate of fossils to the geologist Sir Roderick Murchison in London, Brown's relationships with English and later Parisian scientists soured. However, he later accepted an invitation to have his fossils shipped to the Imperial Natural History Museum, now a part of the Natural History Museum, Vienna in Austria. The fossils of "Pentasaurus" were part of a lot accessioned in 1876 that was determined to have been collected from a single locality in the Norian aged lower Elliot Formation, based on the shared brown-grey colour of the bones and brown sandstone matrix surrounding them, as well as the association with fossils of the exclusively lower Elliot dinosaur "Eucnemesaurus".
Prior to the recognition of "Pentasaurus" body fossils, dicynodonts were inferred to have been present in the lower Elliot Formation from preserved footprints and track ways attributed to them. These ichnofossils were described in 1970 as "Pentasauropus incredibilis", and were determined to have most likely been produced by dicynodonts from their large size and five short toes (pentadactyly). Similar trace fossils were identified on other continents, including South and North America, where they were more confidently attributed to large dicynodonts. However, the absence of dicynodont fossils in some localities known to produce "Pentasauropus", as well as their younger age compared to known dicynodont genera, led palaeontologists Adrian Hunt and Spencer Lucas to question this identification.
Re-examination of Brown's collections in the 21st century revealed that a number of bones belonged to a large dicynodont, and in 2018 they were described by palaeontologist Christian Kammerer as a new genus and species, Pentasaurus goggai. The generic name was derived from the ichnogenus "Pentasauropus" due to the likely association between the tracks and their track maker. Such nomenclatural associations are not uncommon in palaeontology (e.g. "Anchisauripus", "Megalosauropus"). However, typically the ichnofossil is named after the presumed track maker, whereas this situation is reversed in "Pentasaurus". The specific epithet is named in honour and recognition of Alfred Brown and his work, derived from his nickname 'Gogga' (pronounced ), an Afrikaan word loosely translated to "bug" that the local villagers nicknamed him for this unusual habits.
"Pentasaurus" is only known from several isolated fragments of bone, of which a partial mandible (NHMW 1876-VII-B-114) was made the holotype specimen. However, because the bones were collected from one locality and that none of them are duplicated, as well as their similar sizes, it is possible that they all belong to only a single individual. Although disarticulated from each other, the known bones are characteristic of dicynodonts and cannot be referred to other large animals known from the Elliot Formation, such as 'rauisuchians' or sauropodomorph dinosaurs. The inferred association between "Pentasaurus" and "Pentasauropus incredibilis" tracks cannot be definitively proven, as there are no known bones from the hands and feet to compare with the shape of the tracks. However, "Pentasaurus" is the only known candidate dicynodont track-maker in the Elliot Formation, and as other Norian localities are only ever known to have supported one species of dicynodont, it is almost certain that "Pentasaurus" produced the "Pentasauropus" tracks originally identified from the Elliot Formation.
Classification.
Although fragmentary, the known remains of "Pentasaurus" are clearly dicynodont and are consistent with belonging to the only known family of Late Triassic dicynodonts, the Stahleckeriidae. Furthermore, a number of features of the lower jaw and humerus support its position in the stahleckeriid subfamily Placeriinae, and so as a close relative of the North American "Placerias", Moroccan "Moghreberia" and the giant Polish "Lisowicia". A phylogenetic analysis performed by Kammerer (2018) supported this relationship, however, it could not resolve the relationships within Placeriinae beyond a polytomy containing "Pentasaurus" and all other placeriines, as shown in the cladogram reproduced below. Later phylogenetic analyses including "Pentasaurus" produced the same results.
The precise relationships of "Pentasaurus" to other placeriines cannot be determined cladistically due to the incompleteness of the known remains, nonetheless, it can still be readily distinguished from other placeriines. Particularly, "Pentasaurus" is characterised by the rounder shape of the beak on its lower jaw, compared to the more angular, straight edged beaks of "Placerias" and "Moghreberia". The robustness and position of the lateral dentary shelf far forward on the lower jaw is also unique to "Pentasaurus" among dicynodonts, as well as the thickness of its distal humerus. The paired mound-like rugosities over its frontals may also be a diagnostic trait of "Pentasaurus".
Palaeoecology.
The lower Elliot Formation consists mostly of red-purple mudstones and thick, stacked layers of sandstone deposited by meandering river channels on a floodplain. The relatively narrow width (10s of metres) of the sandstone channels indicate that the river channels were stable and did not migrate across the floodplain, and sedimentary structures preserved within the sandstone indicate that the rivers were slow-moving and perennial. The stability of the channels suggests that riparian forests were present along the banks of these rivers, which is further supported by the relatively high abundance of fossilised wood fragments found in the lower Elliot Formation. These riparian environments were separated by extensive floodplains that were less well vegetated, but likewise they show little evidence for desiccation. Overall, the evidence is consistent with a humid to semi-arid climate in the lower Elliot Formation, and was a wetter environment than the dry, arid upper Elliot Formation of the proceeding Early Jurassic.
The fauna of the lower Elliot Formation is poorly known compared to the upper Elliot Formation, but they show some similarities to other Norian-aged faunas globally. Only one other therapsid is known from the lower Elliot Formation, the large herbivore "Scalenodontoides", a traversodontid cynodont. Archosaurs are better represented, though mostly by several species of herbivorous sauropodomorph dinosaurs. "Eucnemesaurus" was collected together with "Pentasaurus", and so very likely coexisted with it, but "Pentasaurus" may also have occurred with "Blikanasaurus", "Sefapanosaurus" and "Meroktenos", as well as perhaps "Melanorosaurus" and "Plateosauravus" depending on their stratigraphic positions. Predatory archosaurs are less well known, but include probable 'rauisuchian' remains, including portions of jaws and teeth that were collected with "Pentasaurus". Predatory theropod dinosaurs were also present, but are only known from isolated teeth and footprints. Temnospondyl amphibians are also known from the lower Elliot Formation, but consist of only of chigutisaurids. The footprint record from the lower Elliot Formation records a similar set of fauna to those known from body fossils, although a singular footprint may indicate that crocodylomorphs were also present.
Biogeography.
The coexistence of "Pentasaurus" with large sauropodomorph dinosaurs including as "Eucnemesaurus" in the Elliot Formation is significant, as dicynodonts and large sauropodomorphs are otherwise not known to have coexisted anywhere else in world. Prior to the discovery of "Pentasaurus", it was even suggested that the two groups of herbivores never even coexisted at all, and that sauropodomorphs replaced dicynodonts as large herbivores in most Late Triassic ecosystems, either through ecological turnover or by direct competition. The coexistence of "Pentasaurus" and large sauropodomorphs in the lower Elliot Formation suggests that this may not be the case, and that the two groups may have instead been segregated by habitat preference, and may have fed upon different types of vegetation.
"Pentasaurus" also represents the southernmost example of a placeriine in the world, refuting prior suggestions that placeriine dicynodonts were mostly restricted to the northern hemisphere and demonstrating instead that the group had a more global distribution.


Cerro Bayo Complex

Cerro Bayo is a complex volcano on the northern part border between Argentina and Chile. It consists of four overlapping stratovolcanoes along a north–south line. The main volcano fauce is located on the Argentine side, thought the summit of the complex is just west of the border, in Chile. The volcano is about 800,000 years old, but it is associated with ongoing ground uplift encompassing also the more northerly Lastarria and Cordón del Azufre volcanoes. The high summit is the source of two viscous dacitic lava flows with prominent levees that traveled to the north. In 2007 a steam eruption were observed by researchers investigating nearby salt pans.


Helgikivi


Svilajnac Natural History Museum


Arkenu structures

The Arkenu structures, also known as the Arkenu craters, are a pair of prominent circular geological structures in eastern Libya. The structures are approximately and in diameter, and lie about west of Jabal Arkanu on the eastern margin of the al-Kufrah Basin.
It has been argued that both structures were formed by simultaneous meteorite impacts. Field investigations by Dr. P. Paillou, Dr. A. Rosenqvist, and others reported the presence of impact breccias at the structures’ bottoms, shatter cones pointing toward the center of the structures, and microscopic planar deformation features (PDFs) found in quartz grains of sandstones outcropping in the structures. Based on these reports and other observations, it was proposed that both structures are extraterrestrial impact craters that were formed simultaneously as a double impact event less than 140 million years ago (Jurassic or younger).
More recently, on the basis of field, petrographic, and textural observations, it has been argued that the Arkenu structures are not in fact extraterrestrial impact craters. Field studies found a lack of identifiable shatter cones at both structures. Instead, the striations which were previously reported as shatter cones were identified as ventifacts created by wind erosion in sandstones. These striations are surficial features that are unrelated to fracturing of the sandstone; are consistently oriented with the prevailing Holocene wind patterns; and occur within and outside of, even distal to, both of the Arkenu structures. In addition, detailed petrographic analyses of rock samples from both of the Arkenu structures found a lack of any microscopic effect of shock metamorphism including a lack of planar deformation features (PDFs) in quartz grains and evidence of impact melting, or presence of glass. A lack of any apparent differences between the sedimentary rocks outcropping inside and outside these circular structures was found. Finally, field observations found silicified sandstone dikes and igneous rocks, such as syenite, porphyries, tephrites and phonolites, and lamprophyres (monchiquites) directly associated with each circular feature. Based on these and other observations, it was concluded that the Arkenu structures are stocks of porphyritic syenitic that have intruded the Nubia Formation to form rather simple and eroded ring dike complexes. Hydrothermal activity that followed the intrusion of these ring dike complexes resulted in the formation of massive magnetite–hematite deposits and dikes of silicified sandstone. As a result of this research, the Arkenu structures were removed from and are currently not listed in the Earth Impact Database.


Punatitan

Punatitan (meaning "thin atmosphere giant") is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Ciénaga del Río Huaco Formation of La Rioja, Argentina. It contains one species, Punatitan coughlini.
Etymology.
The generic name "Punatitan" refers to the oxygen-depleted atmosphere characteristic of the Andes. The specific name refers to geologist Tim Coughlin, who first reported dinosaur fossils in the discovery locality.
Description.
Known from the holotype CRILAR-Pv 614 (Paleovertebrate Collection of Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja, Argentina), a partial skeleton composed of the anterior portion of posterior cervical vertebra (likely C12), two middle dorsal vertebrae (likely D6–D7), a partial sacrum, 13 articulated caudal vertebrae (some with articulated haemal arches), the right pubis, the left ischium, and several dorsal ribs, "Punatitan" was roughly long.
Classification.
The describers' phylogenetic analysis places "Punatitan" as a derived member of the Lithostrotia, in the clade Aeolosaurini, which they recover as a subclade of Rinconsauria, opposite to other analyses. Notably, "Punatitan" was recovered within a clade consisting of two species of the genus "Aeolosaurus", but the describers refrained from assigning it to said genus, instead regarding the more basal species' (""A." maximus") placement in "Aeolosaurus" dubious. However, with the reassignment of "Aeolosaurus" "maximus" to the genus "Arrudatitan" in 2021, "Punatitan"'s generic separation could be justified.
Their cladogram is shown below:
Paleoenvironment.
The holotype locality, the Quebrada de Santo Domingo site, preserves one of the largest concentrations of titanosaur eggs in the world. The describing authors suggest some connection with either "Punatitan" or its contemporary "Bravasaurus", which was described in the same paper.


Cristagnostus

Cristagnostus is an extinct genus from a well-known class of fossil marine arthropods, the trilobites. It lived from 501 to 490 million years ago during the Dresbachian faunal stage of the late Cambrian Period of Sweden.


Lake Poukawa

Lake Poukawa is a small shallow hardwater lake in the Hawke's Bay Region, North Island, New Zealand. It is located about 20 km south-west of Hastings, New Zealand, close to the settlement of Te Hauke. It is the largest lake lying within a peatland in the active tectonic Poukawa depression (or Poukawa Basin), between the Raukawa Range and Kaokaoroa Range of central Hawke's Bay. Its maximal depth is less than one metre and its diameter is ca. 1.5 km. It was deeper in the past (about 2.5 metre) but it became artificially drained after the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake. Lake Poukawa became a well-known paleontological site in 1956 when paleontologist Russell Price began with his excavations in the lacustrine deposits. Lake Poukawa had a species rich Pleistocene/Holocene waterfowl fauna. More than 13,400 anatid bones were unearthed at this site since 1956. Extinct birds found at Lake Poukawa include Biziura delautouri, Oxyura vantetsi, Mergus australis, Chenonetta finschi, Pachyornis geranoides, Ixobrychus novaezelandiae, Gallinula hodgenorum, Fulica prisca, Malacorhynchus scarletti, and Cnemiornis gracilis.
Twelve km south of Lake Poukawa is the Te Aute swamp which is known for its moa fossils and tracks. Lake Poukawa is drained by the Poukawa Stream, which flows north-eastward through the Pekapeka Wetland and eventually into the Clive River.


Valle de la Mocha

Valle de la Mocha ("the Valley of Mocha") is a plain in Chile on the north shore of the Bio-Bio River that contained the "reducción" of Mapuche who were transported in 1685, from Mocha Island by Governor José de Garro; from which the valley and plain took its name. Governor Domingo Ortiz de Rosas transferred the old city of Concepcion to this site from Penco after the May 25, 1751 Concepción earthquake.


Shaky Isles

The Shaky Isles or Shaky Islands is a nickname for New Zealand. At one time this nickname was used in New Zealand itself, though its usage there is now seen as dated; it is still fairly widely used in Australia.
The name derived from New Zealand's frequent seismic activity. The islands lie on the margin of two colliding tectonic plates, the Pacific and Indo-Australian Plates. Earthquakes are common, particularly in the southwest of the South Island and in the central North Island, and the North Island's scenery is marked by several active and dormant volcanic cones.
The phrase is at worst only very mildly derogatory, and is usually only used humorously with no pejorative connotations.
The country records more than 14,000 earthquakes a year – but only about 150 are usually felt. Schoolchildren in the country regularly undertake earthquake drills.
Significant recent earthquakes.
4 September 2010: This 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck what was then New Zealand's second largest city, Christchurch. damaging many buildings, but with no loss of life. This was mainly due to New Zealand's building standards, the epicentre being approximately from the city, and the quake hitting at 4:35am.
22 February 2011: A 6.3 magnitude earthquake caused far more damage in Christchurch, including 181 deaths. This quake struck at about lunchtime and was centred closer at Lyttelton, and shallower than the prior quake, explaining the resultant destruction.
21 July 2013: A 6.5 magnitude earthquake struct in the Cook Strait near the town of Seddon and caused moderate damage in New Zealand's capital, Wellington. It was preceded by a strong M5.7 foreshock.
16 August 2013: A 6.6 magnitude earthquake struck near Lake Grassmere in South Islands Marlborough Region. It quake added substantial more damage to the town of Seddon after the 6.5 Seddon earthquake one month prior and both are considered to be an earthquake doublet.
2 September 2016: A 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck near Te Araroa off East Cape, North Island. Damage was localised to towns nearer to the epicentre of the earthquake, with 255 claims for damage compensation being lodged.
14 November 2016: A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck near Culverden and Kaikoura in the North Canterbury area of the South Island. Two deaths have been reported. Moderate to significant damage occurred along the East Coast of central New Zealand, from Christchurch all the way through Wellington. The seabed near Kaikoura was raised 2.5 meters in some places.
Historical references.
Usage of the term “Shaky Isles” in the earlier half of the 20th century indicates a certain sensitivity on the subject among New Zealanders.
“New Zealand need not worry about the untruthful nickname ‘Shaky Isles,’ which appears occasionally in Australian papers, when a report of an earthquake is cabled across the Tasman Sea,” the New Zealand Railways Magazine assured its readers in 1929.
In 1932 (the year after the Hawke’s Bay earthquake in New Zealand’s North Island killed 256 people) New Zealand’s Leader of the Opposition, Australian-born Harry Holland, warned New Zealand’s Parliament of “the serious damage that is being done to New Zealand by the grossly exaggerated and untruthful statements that are published overseas regarding earthquakes, riots, fires, and floods…”
Holland told Parliament: “I visited Australia less than two years ago, and almost invariably when my name appeared in the newspapers I was described as a visitor from the land of shakes. My son was manager of the New Zealand hockey team which toured Australia. They visited Queensland, Victoria, and New South Wales, and some of them went as far as South Australia. He brought back with him clippings from a number of newspapers, in which he and his team were described as the hockey team from the Shaky Isles. He says that when people got off the boat at Sydney they were looked upon as being very fortunate to have escaped from New Zealand, because of the continual shakes. I think the time has come when the Government would be well advised to impose a very much stricter censorship over the damaging cable messages that are sent out.”
In popular culture.
The term "Shaky Isles" has been used multiple times in New Zealand popular culture as a reference to the country. Among the earliest uses of the term was by the Maori Troubadours in 1960, with their song "Shakin' in the Shaky Isles." This was followed up in later decades by Mike Harding in 1989 and Dave Dobbyn in 1991. A New Zealand theatre company headed by Emma Deakin in London is called "The Shaky Isles Theatre Company". "Shaky Isles" is also the name of a cafe chain in Auckland.


Ion Th. Simionescu

Ion Th. Simionescu (born Ion Gheorghiu; July 10, 1873—January 7, 1944) was a Romanian geologist, paleontologist and naturalist.
Born in Fântânele, Bacău County, his parents Maria and Toader Gheorghiu died when he was a young child. He moved to Botoșani to be raised by his maternal grandmother. There, between 1879 and 1883, he attended the same primary school as Nicolae Iorga, who was two grades ahead. Subsequently, between 1883 and 1890, he attended A. T. Laurian High School. In the autumn of 1890, he enrolled in Iași University's sciences faculty. Among his professors were Grigore Cobălcescu and Petru Poni. After graduation in 1894, he briefly worked as a substitute teacher at his high school. In 1895, with a scholarship from the Romanian Academy, he left for the University of Vienna. There, he specialized in paleontology and geology, defending his thesis in the latter subject in 1898. He then went to the University of Grenoble, where he completed his paleontological studies. He returned to Romania in 1899 and won a competition to become a professor at the Iași mineralogy department. In 1905, he became a full professor, rising to dean of the sciences faculty in 1910. He was elected a corresponding member of the Romanian Academy, advancing to titular member in 1911. A member of the National Liberal Party, in 1919, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for a Botoșani seat. He served as rector at Iași from 1922 to 1923. In 1929, he became a professor at the University of Bucharest. He also held important positions within the Education Ministry. He was president of the Romanian Academy from 1941 to 1944. Writing in late July 1941, amidst the ongoing Operation Barbarossa but before the Transnistria Governorate was set us, he praised the liberation of "our Transnistrian brothers", accomplished "thanks to the freedom-bringing German and Romanian armies".
He wrote extensively about paleontology and stratigraphy, describing 707 taxa, of which at least 98 were previously unknown. Over the course of seventeen paleontological works, he named and defined the Volhynian, Bessarabian and Khersonian substages of the Sarmatian. He published a treatise on geology in 1927 and a number of studies on Romania's rock formations, particularly Dâmbovicioara, Dobrudja and the Moldavian Plateau. He was the thesis adviser to Gheorghe Macovei, who in 1909 earned the first geology doctorate in Romania. Aside from his research, he made efforts to popularize science, traveling widely and holding hundreds of conferences in locations ranging from the Romanian Athenaeum to Șendriceni village.


La Cruz Hill

La Cruz Hill () is a hill located in Pichilemu, Chile; the tallest point of the city. The hill is named after the cross located at its top.
Mountain bike competitions take place regularly on the hill, which is also one of the main attractions of Pichilemu.


Lapparentosaurus

Lapparentosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic. Its fossils were found in Madagascar (Isalo III Formation). The type species is L. madagascariensis.
Discovery and naming.
In 1895 Richard Lydekker named a new species of "Bothriospondylus", "B. madagascariensis" based on fossils found before 1894 by Joseph Thomas Last in the Majunga Basin in layers of the Bathonian, the Isalo III Formation. Because there was no real connection with this English form, in 1986 José Fernando Bonaparte named a separate genus. The type species, the only known, is "Lapparentosaurus madagascariensis". The generic name honours Albert-Félix de Lapparent. The holotype assigned by Bonaparte, MAA 91-92, consists of two neural arches. Much more abundant material has been referred, from at least three but perhaps as much as ten individuals from different growth stages. This includes vertebrae and limb elements but no skulls. The species is still lacking a good description and diagnosis. It should not be confused with ?"Bothriospondylus madagascariensis", a distinct taxon now named "Vouivria," or another distinct primitive sauropod from the Isalo III Formation once also referred to as ""Bothriospondylus" madagascarensis", described as the new genus "Narindasaurus" in 2020.
Age determination studies performed using growth ring counts suggest that this sauropod took 31–45 years to reach sexual maturity and was relatively fast-growing given the presence of a large amount of fibrolamellar bone.
Classification.
The phylogenetic position of "Lapparentosaurus" was long poorly understood. It exhibits an unusual combination of characters of both basal and derived sauropods. It has been classified as a brachiosaurid or an indeterminate titanosauriform. However, recent phylogenetic analyses have shown it to be a basal eusauropod, not closely related to brachiosaurids at all. After many decades, Emilie Läng in 2008 recovered a traditional Cetiosauridae including "Lapparentosaurus". An in-depth revision of the genus in 2019 of the genus by Raveloson, Clark & Rasoamiaramana recovered a similar position with "Lapparentosaurus" being part of a paraphyletic Cetiosauridae, also including a multitude of similar Middle Jurassic cetiosaurids such as "Chebsaurus", "Ferganasaurus", and "Cetiosaurus". This position is supported by the presence of two autapomorphies common on both "Lapparentosaurus" and "Cetiosaurus": a pyramid-shaped neural spine from the anterior dorsal vertebrae with tapering in shape or not flaring distally and loss of the spinodiapophyseal lamina on the dorsal vertebrae.
Gallery.
All possible remains of "Lapparentosaurus":


Weissenegg Formation

The Weissenegg Formation is a geologic formation in Austria. It preserves fossils dating back to the Miocene period.
Fossil content.
Various fossils have been found in the formation.


Chacraccocha

Chacraccocha (possibly from Quechua "chakra" field, "qucha" lake, "field lake") is a mountain in the Raura mountain range in the Andes of Peru, about high. It is located in the boundary between the regions of Huánuco and in Pasco.
The lake named Chacracocha lies northeast of the mountain at .


Dormaalocyon

Dormaalocyon latouri (previously known as "'Miacis' latouri"), was a species of carnivorous mammal that existed over fifty-six million years ago. This species is one of the oldest carnivorous mammals that can be traced all the way to present day Carnivora.
The species was discovered when fossils were unearthed in the village of Dormaal, near Zoutleeuw, in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The discovery was first published in January 2014 in the "Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology".


Websteroprion

Websteroprion ("Webster's saw") is a genus of eunicidan polychaete that lived during the middle Devonian period in what is now Canada. It contains a single species, W. armstrongi, recovered from the Kwataboahegan Formation.


Santanaclupea

Santanaclupea is an extinct genus of clupeiform fish from the Romualdo Formation (formerly a member of the then Santana Formation, now Santana Group) of Brazil. It is named after Santana do Cariri, the town that the Santana Formation is named after and "Clupea", Latin for small river fish. The type species of the genus is "Santanaclupea silvasantosi", which was named in honor of Prof. Rubens de Silva Santos.


Nanolania

Nanolania is an extinct genus of rhytidosteid temnospondyl from the early Triassic period (Induan stage) of south central Queensland, Australia. It is known from the holotype QMF 12293, a postorbital fragment associated with lower jaw fragments and from the associated paratypes QMF 14480, a laterally complete skull with mandibles, QMF 35247, a poorly preserved skull with right mandibular ramus, QMF 35393, a badly preserved partial skull and QMF 39666, a posterior orbital and mandibular fragment, recovered from the Arcadia Formation in the Rewan Group. This genus was named by Adam M. Yates in 2000, and the type species is "Nanolania anatopretia".


Mikurrunya Hills

Mikurrunya Hills is a geologic formation situated approximately east of Port Hedland, near Marble Bar Road at the Strelley turnoff, on Nyangumarta country. Mikurrunya Hills is a registered site on the National Native Title Register through the Department of Indigenous Affairs with site ID 9904, site No. P02286; the register records the native title as belonging to the Ngarla people.
The Nyangumarta people have a dreamtime story of the hills: Mikurri is a man with two wives, and the jealousy of the older wife forced the younger wife to live apart from the family.
The name "Mikurrunya" was also that of the tri-lingual newsletter the Strelley Aboriginal community school produced in the 1970s.


Compsoscorpius

Compsoscorpius is an extinct genus of scorpions from the Carboniferous of France and the United Kingdom.


Otto Jaekel

 Otto Max Johannes Jaekel (21 February 1863 – 6 March 1929) was a German paleontologist and geologist.
Biography.
Jaekel was born in Neusalz (Nowa Sól), Prussian Silesia, the son of a builder and the youngest of seven children. He studied at the "Ritterakademie" in Liegnitz (Legnica). After graduating in 1883, he came to study geology and paleontology under Ferdinand Roemer in Breslau (Wrocław) until 1885. Karl von Zittel awarded a PhD to Jaekel in Munich in 1886. Between 1887 and 1889, Jaekel was an assistant of E.W. Benecke at the Geologisch-Paläontologisches Institut in Straßburg, where he received his Habilitation.
He worked at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin and at the Geologisch-Paläontologisches Museum (a combined post) from 1894. Jaekel was considered as an ordinary professor of geology at the University of Vienna in 1903, but this was blocked by intrigue. Between 1906 and 1928, Jaekel was a professor at the University of Greifswald, where he founded the German Paleontological Society in 1912.
After his retirement in Greifswald, Otto Jaekel accepted a position at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou in 1928. He died after a short and unexpected illness in the German Hospital in Beijing.
Work.
As a paleontologist, Jaekel specialized in the study of fossil vertebrates, particularly fishes and reptiles. However, 27 of his publications were about echinodermata. In addition, he wrote about politics, law, literature and art. He was an accomplished painter, and used his skills to produce landscape paintings that illustrate the geology of the Pomeranian coast.
Jaekel's most prominent contribution to paleontology was his supervision of the excavation of several dozen "Plateosaurus" skeletons near Halberstadt, between 1909 and 1922. He described a second species of "Plateosaurus" in 1914.
During World War I, in which he served as a "Hauptmann" (Captain) in the 210th Prussian Infantry Regiment, he attempted to re-start excavations at the southern Belgian town of Bernissart, where several dozen specimens of the dinosaur "Iguanodon" had been dug up in the 1870s. Although he eventually succeeded in persuading the German occupation authorities to support his initiative, the attempt had to be abandoned after the German army surrendered in November 1918.


Floresta Formation

The Floresta Formation (, Df) is a geological formation of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The sequence of siltstones, shales, coquinas and sandstone beds dates to the Devonian period; Late Emsian, Eifelian and Early Givetian epochs, and has a maximum thickness of . The unit is highly fossiliferous; brachiopods, bryozoans, gastropods, trilobites, corals and bivalves have been found in the Floresta Formation. Some fragments of Placoderm fish fossils were found in the Floresta Formation, while the overlying Cuche Formation is much richer in fish biodiversity.
Etymology.
The formation was first described as Floresta Series by Olsson and Carter in 1939. The current definition was given by Botero in 1950. The formation is named after Floresta, Boyacá, where the formation outcrops.
Description.
Lithologies.
The Floresta Formation is characterized by a lower sequence of shales and ochre to beige siltstones with alternating coquinas, while the upper part consists of siltstones with sandy beds.
Stratigraphy and depositional environment.
The Floresta Formation overlies the El Tíbet Formation and is overlain by the Cuche Formation. The age has been estimated to be Late Emsian to Early Givetian. Stratigraphically, the formation is time equivalent with the Portachuelo Formation around Quetame. The Onondaga Formation of New York is considered time equivalent too. The formation contains concretions and a high diversity of fossils. The formation was deposited in a transgressional and regressional epicontinental marine environment at the edge of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean. The uppermost part of the formation has been deposited in a deltaic setting, with the lower sequence formed in a coral reef environment.
Fossil content.
Remains of "Barroisella sp.", "?Tarutiglossa sp.", "Dipleura cf. dekayi", "Dechenella boteroi", "Mannopyge sp.", "Cordania gasepiou", "Viaphacops cristata", "Anchiopsis armata", "Synphoria stemmata", "Coronura cf. lessepsensis", "Greenops cf. grabaui", "Belenopyge contusa", "Kettneraspis callicera", Placoderm fishes, "Platyceras nodosum", "Acrospirifer olssoni", "Anoplotheca cf. silvetii", "Atrypa harrisi", "Australospirifer cf. antarcticus", "Aviculopecten wellsi", "Brachyspirifer palmerae", "Camarotoechia dotis", "Chonetes cf. billingsi", "C. comstockii", "C. cf. stubeli", "Chonostrophia knodi", "Cyclotrypa boyaca", "C. carribeana", "C. dickeyi", "C. reticulata", "C. stellata", "Cymostrophia dickeyi", "C. schucherti", "C. waringi", "Cypricardinia cf. subindenta", "Cyrtina hamiltonensis", "Dalmanites cf. patacamayaensis", "Dictyostrophia cooperi", "Elytha colombiana", "Eodevonaria imperialis", "Favosites aff. hamiltonensis", "Fenestrellina colombiana", "F. olssoni", "F. acuta", "F. quadrata", "F. harrisi", "Fistulipora anomala", "F. megalopora", "Florestacanthus morenoi", "Heliophyllum halli", "Intrapora fragilis", "I. megalopora", "Leiorhynchus mysia", "Leptaena boyaca", "Meganteris australis", "Megastrophia hopkinsi", "M. pygmaea", "Meristella wheeleri", "Nucleospira concinna", "Odontopleura callicera", "Pentagonia gemmisulcata", "Phacops cf. salteri", "Pholidops florestae", "Platyostoma lineata", "Pleurodictyum americanum", "Polypora elegantula", "P. granulifera", "Prismopora inornata", "Schellwienella goldringae", "Semicoscinium colombiensis", "S. minutum", "Spinocyrtia cf. valenteana", "Spinulicosta spinulicosta", "Spirifer kingi", "Strophonella floweri", "S. meridionalis", "Sulcoretepora olssoni", "S. subramosa", "Taeniopora florestae", "Tropidoleptus carinatus", "Unitrypa casteri", "Acanthograptus sp.", "Actinopteria sp", "Amphigenia sp.", "Anthozoa sp.", "Camarotoechia sp.", "Cryptonella sp.", "Cyphaspis sp.", "Cryphaeus sp.", "Dalmanites sp.", "Derbyina sp.", "Gastropoda sp.", "Grammysia sp.", "Homalonotus sp.", "Leptostrophia sp.", "Mediospirifer sp.", "Orthoceras sp.", "Ostracoda sp.", "Orthis sp.", "Paraspirifer sp.", "Proetus sp.", "Pterinea sp.", "Strophodonta sp.", "Thamnopora sp.", and "Vitulina sp." have been described from the Floresta Formation. "Colombianaspis carvalhoae gen. et sp. nov.", "Schizobolus pilasiensis sp. nov." and "Tarijactinoides sp. nov.", were newly described in 2015.
Outcrops.
The Floresta Formation is found at the Floresta Massif around its type locality in Floresta, Boyacá, stretching to the south until between Busbanzá and Nobsa and to the west close to Belén, Cerinza and Tutazá. The formation is also found in the upper course of the Chicamocha River in the eponymous canyon.
Many of the fossils are on display in the paleontological museum of Floresta.


Minden Coalfield

The Minden Coalfield () is located in the northern Wiehen foothills near the German town of Minden. Here, seams of Wealden Coal ("Wealdenkohle") reach the surface of the earth in the Schaumburg Basin ("Schaumburger Mulde"). During the Thirty Years' War Swedish soldiers first discovered this black coal near Minden whilst preparing fieldworks on the Bölhorst. By 1663 it was forbidden to dig privately for coal and severe penalties were imposed for doing so.
A series of shaft systems were sunk increasingly deeper into the earth. Coal continued to be mined until 1 August 1958, for example in the Barsinghausen coalfield ("Barsinghausener Revier") east of Minden in the Deister. The last mine in this coalfield was the Minden Coal Mine ("Kohlenbergwerk Minden") in Meißen.
Geology.
The Wealden near Minden divides into the 150 m thick Lower Wealden Shale ("Unterer Wealdenschieferton") and the 250 m thick Upper Wealden Shale ("Oberer Wealdenschieferton"). The 200 m thick bed of Wealden Sandstone east of the Weser is almost completely absent here. Below the Lower Shale are layers of Malm. The well-sealed shale results in the low water ingress from the hill range, but a high level of mine gas: 90 m³ of firedamp (CH4) per ton of coal.
The beds descend steadily at an incline of 20 - 22° towards the north. Two large faults were discovered in the course of coal mining: The Rösche Fault ("Rösche-Sprung", 60 m) and the Porta Fault ("Porta-Verwerfung", 55 m).
In the Lower Wealden Shale there are two coal seams. The main seam is 1.03 m thick (13 cm of impure coal, 60 cm of tailings and 31 cm of pure coal), 32 cm below is the secondary seam with 31 cm of solid coal.
The main sean was abandoned in later years due to its lack of workability. The coal in the secondary seam has 22% volatile components and is categories as bituminouse coal, low in gas. Its calorific value is 7,600 kcal/kg with a sulphur content of 8-9% as a result of iron sulphide.


Moroccan Meseta

The Moroccan Meseta or Western Meseta, are uplifted terranes of dominantly Palaeozoic rocks exposed along the Moroccan coastal block between the Atlantic Margin and the Middle Atlas.
Geology.
The Meseta Domain, taking its name from Spain's Meseta Central inner plateau is an area of stable Paleozoic rock that was never affected by the Hercynian orogeny and was later covered by Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks. Forming Morocco's Central Massif, the Meseta Domain completely conceals Precambrian rocks, although boreholes have found Neoproterozoic rocks in a Meseta anticline. The domain is split in two by the Middle Atlas fold belt. The Western Meseta has relatively little sedimentary cover and well-developed massifs, while the Eastern Meseta spanning the border with Algeria has numerous, small Paleozoic massifs.
Continuing from the Neoproterozoic until the Middle Devonian, western Morocco and the Anti-Atlas had the same depositional environment—molasse redbed deposition and post-orogeny volcanism. Southern Morocco was flooded by a massive shallow marine shelf, building up significant carbonates, mixed with continental sediments pouring in from inland areas now in the Sahara. In the Late Devonian, western Morocco and the Anti-Atlas split up into fault-bounded basins, which deformed during the Hercynian orogeny.


Alierasaurus

Alierasaurus is an extinct genus of caseid synapsid that lived during the early Middle Permian (Roadian) in what is now Sardinia. It is represented by a single species, the type species Alierasaurus ronchii. Known from a very large partial skeleton found within the Cala del Vino Formation, "Alierasaurus" is one of the largest known caseids. It closely resembles "Cotylorhynchus", another giant caseid from the Middle Permian San Angelo Formation in Texas. The dimensions of the preserved foot elements and caudal vertebrae suggest an estimated total length of about 6 or 7 m for "Alierasaurus". In fact, the only anatomical features that differ between "Alierasaurus" and "Cotylorhynchus" are found in the bones of the feet; "Alierasaurus" has a longer and thinner fourth metatarsal and it has ungual bones at the tips of the toes that are pointed and claw-like rather than flattened as in other caseids. "Alierasaurus" and "Cotylorhynchus" both have very wide, barrel-shaped rib cages indicating that they were herbivores that fed primarily on high-fiber plant material.
Etymology.
The generic name refers to Aliera, the name in local dialect of the town of Alghero, and ‘saurus’ meaning lizard. The specific name is in honor of Ausonio Ronchi the discoverer of the specimen.
Description.
The paleontologists Marco Romano and Umberto Nicosia have identified several autapomorphies in the feet anatomy of "Alierasaurus" : metatarsal IV with distinct axial region, length about twice that of the corresponding proximal phalanx, not short and massive as in other large caseids; metatarsal IV proximal head not orthogonal to the bone axis, forming an angle of 120° with the shaft: with this conformation, the proximal and distal heads are much closer along the medial side of the metatarsal; claw-shaped ungual phalanges proportionally shorter than in "Cotylorhynchus", with a double ventral flexor tubercle very close to the proximal rim of the phalanx; ungual phalangeal axis bent downward and medially; distal transverse section subtriangular, not spatulate as in "Cotylorhynchus".
Discovery.
The holotype of "Alierasaurus" was discovered in the uppermost levels of the Permian Cala del Vino Formation, on top of the Torre del Porticciolo promontory, which separates the Porticciolo Gulf from the northern coast (near the town of Alghero, Nurra, northwest Sardinia). Some bones were found loose on the ground surface, and others still embedded in mudstone-siltstone layer. These sediments were deposited in a former alluvial plain under a relatively mild semi-arid climate. The known material consist of eight articulated caudal vertebrae, two isolated caudal vertebrae, four distal caudal centra, numerous large fragments referable to at least eight other vertebrae, seven proximal portions of hemal arches, three proximal portions (vertebral segment) of dorsal ribs, ten undetermined fragmentary ribs, poorly preserved right scapula and badly crushed right coracoid plate, distal head of the left ulna, and several autopodial elements represented by a fragmentary calcaneum, three metapodials, five non-ungual phalanges, an almost complete ungual phalanx, and two ungual phalanges lacking distal ends. These remains were firstly regarded as belonging possibly to "Cotylorhynchus" (cf "Cotylorhynchus" sp. in the publication of Ronchi et al.) or to a closely related taxon. Later, despite the absence of the most diagnostic elements (notably the skull) for the comparison with other caseids in general and with "Cotylorhynchus" in peculiar, the Sardinian specimen was assigned to a new genus named "Alierasaurus", on the basis of some differences in feet anatomy. In 2017, Marco Romano and colleagues described other bones belonging to the same individual (some caudal vertebrae and fragments of chevrons and ribs). More recently, the same levels have yielded remains of an undescribed sphenacodontid pelycosaur, and footprints of a third animal which was only known in the south of France in slightly younger rocks (ichnogenus "Merifontichnus" from the La Lieude Formation (Wordian) in the Lodève basin).


Priscopedatus

Priscopedatus is an extinct genus of sea cucumbers which existed in Poland during the Triassic period. The type species is "Priscopedatus pyramidalis". It also contains the species "Priscopedatus normani", "Priscopedatus mostleri", "Priscopedatus triassicus", "Priscopedatus elliptiferus".


Nopcsaspondylus

Nopcsaspondylus (meaning "Nopcsa's vertebra", in reference to the original describer) is a genus of rebbachisaurid sauropod dinosaur (a type of large, long-necked quadrupedal herbivorous dinosaur) from the Cenomanian-age (Upper Cretaceous) Candeleros Formation of Neuquén, Argentina. It is based on a now-lost back vertebra described by Nopcsa in 1902 but not named at the time. The specimen had a small vertebral body and large hollows, now known to be typical of rebbachisaurids.


Tolhuaca (volcano)

Tolhuaca Volcano is a stratovolcano straddling the border between the regions of Bío Bío and Araucanía in southern Chile. The volcano has been shaped by glacial erosion, which contrasts with the relatively smooth slopes of its neighbor Lonquimay, due to the younger age of this latter volcano.
The volcano dominates the landscape vistas of Tolhuaca National Park, but is not actually located within its borders. The volcano's slopes are covered in forests. These forests are predominantly araucaria trees among others. There are also numerous small lakes known as "lagunas" among the scenery.


Pelsochamops

Pelsochamops is an extinct genus of Chamopsiid lizard, containing the single species "P. infrequens" from the Santonian aged Csehbánya Formation of Hungary, known from a partial dentary and maxilla fragments. It is the first chamopsiid known from Europe, the rest being known from North America.


Guadalupe Mountains (Hidalgo County)

The Guadalupe Mountains of Hidalgo County () are a 13 mi (21 km) long, sub–range in southwest Hidalgo County, New Mexico, adjacent the southeast border of Arizona's Cochise County. A small portion of the range is in Cochise County, namely the outlet of "Guadalupe Canyon", famous for the Guadalupe Canyon Massacre. The very southern end of the range is also in the border region of Sonora, just north of Federal Highway 2.
The Guadalupe Mountains are on the southern end of the extensive north-south Peloncillo Mountains, that abut the Arizona border.
Range description.
The Guadalupe Mountains are a short sub-range, and about 13 mi long, north to south. The range narrows southwards, with "Guadalupe Canyon" in the center-west of the south section, with Guadalupe Creek traversing due south. The Canyon then turns due west to have its outlet in Arizona.
The north end of the range contains the highpoint of Guadalupe Mountain in the center west. It is the origin of Guadalupe Creek's headwaters flowing due southeast and south; directly northwest, north, and east of Guadalupe Mountain are the headwaters of Cloverdale Creek.
Highpoints.
The highest peak in the range, Guadalupe Mountain, , is at the north-center of the range, and slightly west; the peak is located at . Guadalupe Spring is on its south, part of the headwaters of "Guadalupe Creek-Guadalupe Canyon"; to the east, are the headwaters of "Cloverdale Creek" that flows eastwards towards the ghost town site of Cloverdale.
At the center west of the range, adjacent the Arizona border, lies Bunk Robinson Peak, at .


Fleetwood Kames

The Fleetwood Kames is a 939 hectare provincially significant "Earth Science" Area of Natural and Scientific Interest in Ontario, Canada. The topographical feature is located on the north slope of the Oak Ridges Moraine, in the city of Kawartha Lakes. Part of the parcel, known as Fleetwood Creek, is owned by the Ontario Heritage Foundation.
Formed in the Late Wisconsinan period, it consists of a till plain and drumlins from the Port Bruce Stadial, and kettles, eskers and kames from the Port Huron Stadial. To the north, it is adjacent to the Omemee Esker. The drumlin, part of the Peterborough Drumlin Field, is a rarity on the Oak Ridges Moraine.


Iloca, Chile

Iloca is a small coastal town in Chile, located in the commune of Licantén, Curicó Province, Maule Region. It is located 120 kilometers west of Curicó.
According to the 2002 census, it has a population of 345 inhabitants, although it increases considerably during the summer season.
This settlement was one of the most damaged by the 2010 Chile earthquake, and mostly after its tsunami that hit the Chilean coast hours later. Approximately a 70% of the Iloca's constructions were destroyed by the cataclysm.
The closest main town is Constitución, Chile
Toponymy.
"Iloca" comes from Mapudungun "ilokan", that means in Spanish "carnear" (to kill an animal and to extract its meat).


Chichicapac

Chichicapac (possibly from Quechua "ch'ichi" shoot; dirt, dirty, "chichi" naked; udder full of milk; gold powder, "qhapaq" the mighty one, Hispanicized spellings "Chichicapac, Chichiccapac, Chichicápac, Chichijapac, Chichi Cápac") is a mountain in the Andes of Peru. It is one of the highest peaks of the Carabaya mountain range rising up to . Chichicapac is located in the Puno Region, Carabaya Province, on the border of the districts of Ayapata and Macusani. It lies southeast of the higher mountains Huaynaccapac and Allincapac and northeast of the lake Chaupicocha.


Alkenopterus

Alkenopterus is a genus of prehistoric eurypterid classified as part of the family Onychopterellidae. The genus contains two species, "A. brevitelson" and "A. burglahrensis", both from the Devonian of Germany.
Description.
Like the other onychopterellids, "Alkenopterus" was a small eurypterid. The largest species was "A. brevitelson", being long. The other species, "A. burglahrensis", represents in fact the smallest species of eurypterid known as far, only measuring .
The prosoma (head) was large, with a subquadrate (almost square) to semielliptic (nearly elliptic), horseshoe-like outline. It was anteriorly surrounded by a broad and flat marginal rim that reached its posterior corners. The carapace (the exoskeleton part covering the prosoma) was rounded in the front. Its surface was somewhat inflated, being distinguished several narrow grooves and ridges, most of them wrinkle-like. The prominent lateral eyes were placed in the center of the carapace. They were reniform (bean-shaped), with a strongly arcuate visual surface (a "half moon" in the eye). Between the eyes was located a tubercle or node carrying the ocelli (simple eye-like sensory organs). "A. brevitelson" also had between the eyes, behind the tubercle, certain grooves resembling the reversed V-shaped structure found in some stylonurines.
The appendages (limbs) of "Alkenopterus" are not known in much detail. A pair of poorly preserved appendages of "A. brevitelson" representing the sixth (and last) pair of them is known. The podomeres (leg segments) were more or less rectangular and constant in width. In the end there was a spine about as long as the podomeres which was slightly curved, with a long longitudinal groove. The third to fifth appendages are also known, but they are not exceptionally preserved. Nevertheless, in all of them a distal spine can be identified. Regarding "A. burglahrensis", only an appendage belonging to the sixth pair with five distal podomeres (podomeres that were not underneath the prosoma) is known. The seventh and eighth podomeres (and perhaps more of them) were somewhat prolonged outwards and flattened. They featured spine-like immovable spurs on their anterior margins. On the posterior margin of the seventh podomere was the movable spine-like podomere 7a, characteristic of the eurypterines. All the podomeres had similar proportions, except the distal spine which was slightly curved and probably had a pointed tip.
The opisthosoma (abdomen) suffered a strong to moderate first order differentiation, that is, it was divided into a preabdomen (body segments 1 to 7) and a postabdomen (segments 8 to 12). The preabdomen had lateral convex margins and was quite short and broad, with the first tergite (dorsal half of the segment) being less wide than the subsequent ones. The postabdomen was narrow, had a constant width and did not have epimera (lateral "extensions" of the segment), like the preabdomen. The segments of the whole body were hardly distinguishable from each other. The integument of the body lacked ornamentation and was very smooth. The main difference between "A. brevitelson" and "A. burglahrensis" was the length of the telson ("tail"). The one of "A. brevitelson" was short, measuring only in a long specimen. The ratio between the total body length and telson of this specimen is around 13.6. It was slightly subtriangular (almost triangular) and had a median "keel" (ridge), with an expanded anterior base articulated to the pretelson (segment that preceded the telson). In the other hand, the telson of "A. burglahrensis" was long, measuring in a specimen with in total, with a ratio significantly small of 5.8. It had an expanded anterior portion as well. The telson of both species had, however, the same styliform shape.
History of research.
In 1974, paleontologist Leif Størmer described two specimens of a new eurypterid. SMF VIII 150 (the holotype) is a relatively complete and well preserved fossil with almost all the appendages missing, while SMF VIII 241 (the paratype) is a smaller, little preserved and strongly telescoped (with segments overlapping each other, a defect product of the fossilization of the organism) specimen. Both were collected in the Nellenköpfchen Formation near the municipality of Alken in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany (then West Germany). Currently, they are located in the Naturmuseum Senckenberg. This new eurypterid was named "Alkenopterus brevitelson", with the generic name composed by Alken and the Ancient Greek suffix πτερόν ("pteron", "wing"), commonly used in eurypterids. On the other hand, the specific name "brevitelson" derives from the Latin word "brevis" (short) and the Ancient Greek word τέλσον (literally "terminal", but here referring to the telson). Størmer also compared "Alkenopterus" with "Drepanopterus" and "Moselopterus", placing them in the stylonuroid family Drepanopteridae doubtfully alongside "Onychopterella".
In 2004, paleontologists Markus Poschmann and Odd Erik Tetlie described a series of new fossils found in the Nellenköpfchen Formation, in the center of the Rhenish Massif, Germany. Among them were two new specimens of "A. brevitelson" from Alken, 624-D (a well-preserved prosoma with remains of appendages) and 697-D (a fragmentary specimen with the prosoma, appendages, preabdomen, the last two postabdominal segments and telson). They also redescribed the holotype of "A. brevitelson". Further, a specimen of a new species of "Alkenopterus" was found in another locality in the Nellenköpfchen Formation, near Burglahr (in the same state as Alken). PWL 2002/5011 LS is almost complete and well-preserved but somewhat distorted; it is the only known find of this species. It was named "A. burglahrensis", the specific name coming from Burglahr due to the proximity of its type locality with this municipality. "A. burglahrensis" was very similar to "A. brevitelson", the former having a longer and broader telson and more strongly expanded distal podomeres in appendage VI than the latter.
Poschmann and Tetlie claimed to find no evidence of a podomere 7a in the sixth appendage of "Alkenopterus", determining that it could no longer be classified as part of Drepanopteridae, thus erecting the new family Alkenopteridae for it. This family was not assigned to any superfamily due to the poor knowledge of the second to fourth appendages of its only genus, "Alkenopterus". Alkenopteridae was distinguished by the "Drepanopterus"-type B (with no podomere 7a) fifth appendage and an ""Alkenopterus"-type" sixth appendage, this one having podomeres almost equal in length (except the distal spine) and moderately flattened. Both pairs of appendages lacked spines. The "Alkenopterus"-type leg was introduced as a new standard type of non-spiniferous eurypterid appendage. "Alkenopterus" (as well as Drepanopteridae, now monotypic) would be subsequently included in the Stylonurina suborder for not possessing the podomere 7a. However, in 2014, Poschmann reexamined the holotype of "A. burglahrensis" by carefully removing some of the matrix of the fossil and using light microscopy with a higher magnification. This resulted in the detection of a movable podomere 7a instead of a simple projection as previously thought. Therefore, Poschmann assigned it to the family Onychopterellidae, with whom it shared several characteristics. It is assumed that in the fossils of "A. brevitelson", this podomere was not preserved, but if this is not the case, "A. brevitelson" should be reassigned to Stylonurina and "A. burglahrensis" to a new onychopterellid genus.


John Thomas North

John Thomas North (30 January 1842 – 5 May 1896) was an English investor and businessman. North was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, the son of a coal merchant and a churchwarden. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to millwrights and engineers before working for several years as a mechanic. He moved to Chile where his first occupation was as a boiler riveter in Huasco. He later moved to the Peruvian town of Iquique where he worked as a waterworks operator, importer and ship owner. The War of the Pacific (1879–1883) provided North with an opportunity to purchase large numbers of bonds in the Peruvian nitrate industry. When Chile annexed Iquique and the surrounding province of Tarapacá the Chilean government transferred ownership of the nitrate fields to the bondholders. North was thus able to take a monopoly share of the lucrative Chilean nitrate industry for a very small initial investment, becoming known as "The Nitrate King".
North built upon his nitrates business by expanding into further monopolies in waterworks and freight railways, but also owned several iron and coal fields. North maintained his monopolies by employing lawyers to block competing entrepreneurs both in court and the Chilean National Congress. This was allowed by Chilean president Domingo Santa María, but Santa María's successor, José Manuel Balmaceda, became concerned that Tarapacá was starting to resemble a "state within a state" and resolved to break North's monopoly. Balmaceda had to force competition reforms through against opposition in congress, amongst a series of disputes which would eventually escalate into the 1891 Chilean Civil War between the president and the congress.
North also had investments in the Anglo-Belgian India Rubber Company which operated a concession in the Congo Free State. This company was involved in the extraction and export of rubber from the state, another highly profitable business, but later became involved in abuses of human rights against those under its power. However North's finances were eventually depleted and when he died his business empire had collapsed.
Early life.
North was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, on 30 January 1842, the son of a coal merchant and a churchwarden. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to millwrights and engineers before working for several years as a mechanic. He moved to Chile in South America at the age of 23 where his first occupation was as a boiler riveter in Huasco. He moved from Huasco to Iquique in the province of Tarapacá, which was then part of Peru. Here North established what later became a large business empire, working as a waterworks operator, importer and ship owner.
War of the Pacific.
Territorial disputes between Chile, Peru and Bolivia triggered the War of the Pacific in 1879 with Chile invading and occupying Peruvian and Bolivian land. In the course of the war, North suffered damage to his waterworks, and one of his ships was sunk. However he also befriended the Chilean Admiral Patricio Lynch who later supported him in his business ventures. During the war, North was assisted by two British men: Robert Harvey, who had worked for the Peruvian government in the nitrates (saltpetre) industry, and John Dawson, a banker. North was able to use Harvey's knowledge of the nitrates business and credit provided by Dawson to purchase nitrates bond certificates at low prices from investors who were panicked by Peru's poor military performance during the war. After the war, the Chilean government annexed Tarapacá and allowed the bond holders to take possession of the title deeds to the nitrate fields, perhaps influenced by appeals from North's friends. North thus managed to secure a large share of the Chilean nitrate industry for a very small initial investment in almost worthless bonds. The reason that the Chilean government allowed this is that it would have cost them GBP£4 million to buy the bonds from the mainly British nitrate speculators. By allowing the speculators to start mining the Chilean government could take a share of profits via export duties without having to provide the initial capital costs to begin production of nitrates.
North left Chile and returned to the United Kingdom in order to raise credit to provide for machinery, transport and employment costs. It was there, in February 1883—still eight months before Peru officially ceded the nitrate fields to Chile—that he established the Liverpool Nitrate Company. North dispatched Robert Harvey to Chile with equipment and engineers to begin construction of the mines whilst North remained in Britain to manage the financial side of the enterprise. The mines were operation by 1884 and producing 3,000 short tons of nitrates per month. The company turned large profits and was able to pay dividends in excess of 20% each year until 1886 when it was liquidated by North and his partners in order to found other companies. As a result of his fantastic profits North became known as "The King Of Nitrates" and was a well known public figure in England.
Nitrates were an important source of income for the Chilean government and an increase in export duty from CLP
4 pesos per ton in 1878 to CLP 22 in 1882 resulted in revenue from nitrates increasing from CLP 6 to 25 million. This allowed the government to make cuts in both income and land tax. The reliance of Chile upon its nitrate income caused conflict between the government and the nitrate production cartel. The cartel wanted to maximise the price of nitrates by cutting production whilst the government wanted to maximise their duty income by maximising exports. The nature of the trade meant that the Chilean economy was also totally dependent on imports and exports to and from Britain. The periodic downturns in nitrate revenue caused by the cartel cutting production eventually forced the Chilean government to print more money, causing inflation to increase and the peso to devalue.
North's monopolies.
In the meantime North continued to invest in Chile and founded the Nitrate Railway Company which held a monopoly on nitrate rail transport in Tarapacá and also held a monopoly on the water supply in Iquique. He also owned several coal and iron fields along the Biobío River and a gasworks at Iquique. In Britain he set up North's Navigation Collieries (1889) Ltd. in Glamorgan, south Wales, a venture which turned out to be one of his most successful. By 1920 his Welsh company employed over 6,000 miners and produced over one million tons of coal per year. The development of North's Navigation Collieries Ltd. was largely responsible for the rapid growth of Maesteg and the Llynfi Valley during the years 1890 to 1910. In addition, his nitrate business was the primary cause of the development of the towns of Iquique and Pisagua. To maintain his monopolies, North employed lawyers to block competing entrepreneurs both in court and the Chilean National Congress. Under president Domingo Santa María, North's monopolies went unchallenged, and Santa María's successor in 1886, José Manuel Balmaceda, initially allowed the situation to continue. However, Balmaceda became concerned that the situation in Tarapacá was starting to resemble a "state within a state" and decided to break North's monopoly. Congress was not supportive and Balmaceda had to force through reforms to restore competition in the province. Increasing disputes between Balmaceda and Congress resulted in the outbreak of the Civil War in 1891.
In the meantime North enjoyed the status of a famous high society gentleman in Britain and was worth US$10 million in 1889. He was a friend of the Prince of Wales, later to become Edward VII, and was described, by "The New York Times" as a "lion" of the London social season. He was the owner of a estate with extensive stables and a mansion, Avery Hill, near to Eltham in Kent, which was subsequently acquired by the LCC and opened as a ladies teacher-training college in 1906. North owned several racing horses and won several British racing trophies. North visited the United States in July 1889 where he was described as a member of the nouveau riche and a "Chilean Monte Cristo" because of his recent rise to fame and fortune. He became known as Colonel North as he was appointed Honorary Colonel of the Tower Hamlets Regiment of Volunteer Engineers on 25 March 1885. He regularly allowed the regiment of 250 men to camp in the gardens of his estate for three days at a time. During this time he would hold festivals for the men and the local villagers and at one of these events he challenged the Lieutenant-Colonel to a footrace and won.
Financial decline.
North was approached by King Leopold II of Belgium at a horse racing event to provide funds to establish a concession company to extract rubber from the Congo Free State. North agreed and provided GBP£40,000 of the BEF250,000 initial investment to set up the Anglo-Belgian India Rubber Company (ABIR) at Antwerp on 6 August 1892. ABIR had exclusive rights to all forest products from the Maringa-Lopori basin for 30 years and had police powers within the limits of the concession to enforce the collection of rubber as a tax. The company was initially very successful but by 1898, two years after North's death, his heirs had sold his shares in the company. The company later became infamous for human rights abuses of the inhabitants of its concession and fell into financial troubles.
Despite his varied investments across the world North's finances eventually dwindled, his decline was accelerated by the Chilean Civil War. By the time he died on 5 May 1896 his business empire had collapsed. His death occurred within half an hour of eating some oysters and the shells were sent for analysis but it was suspected that heart problems were the cause of death. He donated Kirkstall Abbey to the city of Leeds, a plaque in the Gift Shop of the Abbey is inscribed "The Abbey and part of the adjoining lands were acquired from the representatives of the Earl of Cardigan by Colonel J.T North a native of Leeds and presented by him to the Corporation of Leeds in the year 1889 to be held in trust for his fellow citizens as a place of public resort and recreation for ever works of preservation were completed by the Corporation in the year 1895". North also made donations to Leeds Infirmary and the Yorkshire College of Science, which later became the University of Leeds.
Further reading.
Harold Blakemore title "British Nitrates and Chilean Politics 1886-1896: Balmaceda and North"
isbn O 485 17704 8


Hochsauerlandkreis

Hochsauerlandkreis (meaning “High Sauerland District” in German) is a Kreis (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Soest, Paderborn, Höxter, Waldeck-Frankenberg, Siegen-Wittgenstein, Olpe, Märkischer Kreis.
The district is named “High Sauerland” because two of the highest mountains of the Sauerland mountainous landscape, Langenberg and Kahler Asten are in its territory. With 2,766 ft / 843 m (Langenberg) and 2,762 ft / 842 m (Kahler Asten) these are also the highest mountains of North Rhine-Westphalia.
History.
The district was established in 1975 in the reorganization of the districts in North Rhine-Westphalia by merging the previous districts Arnsberg, Brilon and Meschede.
Geography.
Geographically the district covers a big part of the Sauerland mountains, including the highest and third highest elevation – the Langenberg near Olsberg with 2,766 ft / 843 m, and the better known Kahler Asten with 2,762 ft / 842 m near Winterberg. These are also the two highest mountains of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Coat of arms.
The coat of arms was inherited from the former district Arnsberg. It shows the eagle as the symbol of the Earls of Arnsberg. When their county lost independence in 1368 it fell to the bishops of Cologne, thus the sign on the breast of the eagle shows the Cologne cross.
Town twinnings.
Hochsauerland is twinned with the following cities:


Mandasuchus

Mandasuchus is an extinct genus of loricatan pseudosuchian from the Manda Formation of Tanzania, which dates back to the Anisian stage of the Middle Triassic. Although this genus was first mentioned by Alan Charig in 1956, a formal description was not published until 2018.
History.
The name was first used in a 1956 doctoral dissertation by Alan J. Charig of the University of Cambridge, along with "Teleocrater", an archosaur formally named in 2017. Several well preserved specimens have been found, although there is little cranial material.
The family Prestosuchidae was erected in 1967 by Alfred Romer to include "Mandasuchus" and three other formally named genera of "rauisuchians". Charig and two coauthors suggested in a 1965 study dealing with saurischians that "Mandasuchus" was a possible ancestor of the "prosauropods" (basal sauropodomorphs), without explanation. In his 1993 study of the phylogeny of Crocodylotarsi (croc-line archosaurs, now known as Pseudosuchia), J. Michael Parrish argued that "Mandasuchus" was not a distinct genus. He proposed that it was in the same genus as the European archosaur "Ticinosuchus ferox" due to the similarity of some homologous postcranial bones, but withheld final taxonomic determination of "Mandasuchus" until Charig provided a published description of the material. However, Charig died in 1997 without publishing on many of the archosaurs he discovered. "Mandasuchus" was finally formally described in 2018 by Richard J. Butler and colleagues, as part of a multinational investigation into the fossils of Triassic rift systems in Tanzania and Zambia. A phylogenetic analysis recovered it as a loricatan more basal than "Prestosuchus" and not synonymous with "Ticinosuchus," albeit not too distantly related either.
Description.
Skull.
Skull material for "Mandasuchus" is limited to maxillae and part of a dentary. The maxilla is low, with an elongated antorbital fenestra and at least 12 tooth sockets separated by discrete interdental plates. The antorbital fenestra is surrounded by an inset basin, the antorbital fossa, as with other archosaurs. However, "Mandasuchus" has a restricted and weakly differentiated antorbital fossa compared to other loricatans and "Ticinosuchus". The ascending (or dorsal) process of the maxilla, which lies in front of the antorbital fenestra, is short and very thin. This process is also uniquely diagonally oriented when seen from above, with its rear edge set inwards from the front edge. The only preserved tooth is thin and serrated. The dentary fragment is incomplete, but seemingly slender and similar to the maxilla.
Postcrania.
The centrum (main spool-shaped component) of "Mandasuchus"'s longest cervical (neck) vertebrae are about 1.8 times longer than high. This is similar to "Ticinosuchus" and intermediate between other loricatans (which have shorter vertebrae) and poposauroids (which have longer vertebrae). Smaller specimens have slightly shorter cervical vertebrae. The lower edge and sides of the cervicals are concave while the rib facets (dia- and parapophyses) and articular processes (pre- and post-zygapophyses) are stout. A long ridge runs along the base of the neural spine while smaller ridges connect the articular processes to the front and rear edges of the neural spines, defining deep pockets in the process. The neural spines themselves are short and expanded at their upper extent to form "spine tables", with those near the shoulder resembling rearward-pointed teardrops when seen from above. Cervical ribs are thick and slightly contact each other. Dorsal (back) vertebrae are taller, wider, and their parapophyses gradually shift upwards, but dorsals are otherwise similar to the cervicals. Dorsal neural spines overhang the rear of their respective vertebrae and possess elliptical spine tables. The single known sacral (hip) vertebra is small, simple, and poorly preserved, but it seems to retain a small rear pocket. The caudal (tail) vertebrae gradually lengthen and simplify down the tail, they gain chevrons starting at the fifth caudal, and their neural spines gradually shorten. The neural spines have small spine tables, less distinct than those of the cervicals and dorsals. Osteoderms (bony plates) extended down the back in two rows which were "staggered". i.e. offset from each other so that the armor is asymmetrical. Individual osteoderms were short, thick, and overlapped the pointed front extent of succeeding osteoderms.
The scapula expands towards its upper extremity (more so than "Ticinosuchus") and has concave front and rear edges. A small muscle scar is present on the rear edge near the glenoid (shoulder socket), similar to one observed in "Batrachotomus," albeit less distinct. The humerus is narrow and has prominent and well-developed muscle attachments, while the ulna is shorter and quite robust.
The ilium is low and similar to that of "Ticinosuchus", with muscle scars for two sacral ribs on its inner surface and no vertical ridge on its outer surface. The pubis is somewhat elongated, with its base forming part of the acetabulum and possessing a small perforation known as an obturator fenestra. The tip of the pubis slightly expands into a bulbous pubic boot resembling that of other basal loricatans. The ischium is only slightly shorter than the pubis and also possesses a three-dimensional expansion at its tip. Although the left and right ischia would have contact each other extensively like those of "Ticinosuchus" and paracrocodylomorphs, this contact was apparently weak enough that the bones were separated during fossilization.
The femur has many archosaurian hallmarks near the hip, such as enlarged proximal tuberosities, a mound-like fourth trochanter, and possibly a groove on the upper surface of the femoral head. It also possessed a scar for the "iliofemoralis" muscle and a distinct oval pit on its rear edge, which is not known in other pseudosuchians. The tibia is straight and possesses typical pseudosuchian features, while the incomplete fibula has a knob-shaped "iliofibularis" scar in its upper half. Although no foot bones are preserved, "Mandasuchus" does have two well-preserved proximal tarsals (ankle bones): the astragalus and calcaneum. Mandasuchus has a "crocodile-normal" or "crurotarsal" ankle, with a prominent peg on the astragalus fitting into a shallower pit on the calcaneum. The ankle has many suchian features, including a flexed (albeit indistinct) tibial facet on the astragalus, and a wide, expanded calcaneal tuber offset from the calcaneum's contact with the fourth distal tarsal.


Togo Mountains

The Togo Mountains is a mountain range which stretches across the central region of the West African country of Togo and across the eastern and western borders of that country into Ghana and Benin. In Ghana, the range is also known as the Akwapim Hills, and in Benin it is also known as the Atakora Mountains . Part of the range is associated with the country of Niger, where the W National Park is found. The African wild dog, "Lycaon pictus", was historically found in this region but may now be extirpated from this locale.
Geography.
The Togo Mountains run across the central region of Togo, ranging from the southwest to the northeast. To the northeast, the mountain range extends into Benin where it is known as the Atakora Mountains, and to the southwest it extends into Ghana where it is known as the Akwapim Hills. The average elevation of these mountains is and the highest peak in Togo is Mount Agou, with a height of . It is in the southwestern part of the range, close to the border with Ghana. Mont Sokbaro, widely cited as the highest point of Benin is part of the Atakora Mountains.
To the north of the Togo Mountains, there is undulating savannah, creased by the broad, meandering valley of the Oti River, a tributary of the River Volta, which flows through Lake Volta and into the Gulf of Guinea in Ghana. Several tributaries to this river system flow from the northern side of the Togo Mountains.
To the south of the mountains lies a plateau, which further south slopes gently towards the coast. The central and southern sides of the mountains drain into tributaries of the Mono River, which flows into the Gulf of Guinea through swampland on the borders of Togo and Benin.