Niebla antiqua

Niebla is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period (Campanian-Maastrichtian) of Río Negro province, Argentina. The genus contains a single species, Niebla antiqua, and is known from a partial, non-articulated skeleton. The holotype, found in the Allen Formation, represents an adult individual.
Discovery and naming.
The holotype, MPCN-PV-796, was found near Matadero Hill, south of General Roca, Río Negro province, Argentina. The fossil material includes a near-complete braincase, fragmentary jaw and teeth, relatively complete scapulocoracoid, dorsal ribs and incomplete vertebrae.
The genus name "Niebla" comes from the Spanish word for "mist", referring to the foggy days during the excavation of the fossil. The specific name, "antiqua", is derived from a Latin word meaning "old."
Description.
"Niebla" represents one of the most derived abelisaurids. Despite its relatively small size, especially when compared to related dinosaurs like "Carnotaurus", the holotype represents an adult. Based on the remains, "Niebla" would have been roughly long.
The scapulocoracoid is notably similar to that of "Carnotaurus" in having a posterodorsally oriented glenoid, a dorsoventrally expanded and wide coraco-scapular plate, and a very narrow and straight scapular blade. These features are very different from those of other abelisaurids, which may indicate a unique conformation of the pectoral girdle among these South American theropods.
Paleoecology.
"Niebla" is known from the Allen Formation of Argentina. The pterosaur "Aerotitan", as well as theropods ("Quilmesaurus", "Bonapartenykus", "Austroraptor"), sauropods ("Bonatitan", "Pellegrinisaurus, Rocasaurus)" and ornithopods ("Lapampasaurus, Bonapartesaurus)", are also known from the formation.


Iso-Naakkima

Iso-Naakkima is a lake in Southern Savonia, Finland, about 10 km south of the town of Pieksämäki. It is notable for having an eroded impact crater under the northwestern part of the lake. It is one of the oldest known, about 1200 million years old (900–1200 Ma, Mesoproterozoic). Of the known craters older than a billion years old, it is also one of the smallest being only 3 km in diameter.
At the time of the impact event, the continent of Baltica (modern northeastern Europe) was located near the equator. The crater is filled by recent (Quaternary) sediments and is not visible to the surface. Its existence was revealed by strikingly circular geophysical anomalies which are concentrated in a region 3 km in diameter; the actual remnant is about 2 km wide and 160 m deep. Its existence was later confirmed by drilling results. The discovery was made in 1989 and therefore Iso-Naakkima is the fourth known impact structure in Finland.


Imi-n-Ifri Formation

The Imi-n-Ifri Formation is a Sinemurian geologic formation outcropping about from Demnate, to the east of Marrakech, Morocco. Fossil ornithopod tracks have been reported from the formation.
Description.
The formation comprises limestones and dolomites deposited in shallow depth of water, low-energy, marine or lagoonal to supratidal environments. The footprints appear on the surface of a vast limestone on a surface of between . The top of the carbonate sequence is marked by a bench of yellow 'cargneule' capped by a hardground.


List of extreme summits of Mexico

This article comprises four sortable tables of mountain summits of Mexico that are higher than any other point north or south of their latitude or east or west their longitude in Mexico.
The summit of a mountain or hill may be measured in three principal ways:
Westernmost high summits.
!Rank
!Mountain Peak
!State
!Mountain range
!Elevation
!Prominence
!Isolation
!Location


Flammenmergel

The Flammenmergel is a lithological unit of the Lower Chalk in Germany.
In Lower Saxony it reaches a depth of 110 to 150 m in the area of the "Sackmulde" (a fold in the Germanic Basin). The Flammenmergel gets its name from its "flamed" or "burnt" appearance.
According to JORDAN(1968), this appearance is caused by the tracks of burrowing organisms, which consist primarily of siliceous sponge spicules which have been washed into the burrows. The silicic acid, when weathered, forms black streaks, which give the rock its characteristic appearance. Jordan divides the Flammenmergel into five units. The Flammenmergel is a slightly clayey to slightly sandy marl. It is yellow to ochre in colour, whereas the streaky "flames" are dark grey to black. The rock is siliceous and hard.


Ferrucyon

Ferrucyon is an extinct genus of omnivorous mammal of the family Canidae, which inhabited North America during the Pliocene, Blancan in the NALMA classification, from about 4.9 to approximately 2.6 Ma. The type species, "F. avius", was originally interpreted as a relative of the modern crab-eating fox, and described as a species belonging to the genus "Cerdocyon". Ruiz-Ramoni "et al." (2020) reinterpreted it as a vulpine canid related to North American species "Metalopex macconnelli", and to the Eurasian genus "Nyctereutes". This reinterpretation necessitated removal of ""Cerdocyon" avius" from the genus "Cerdocyon", and Ruiz-Ramoni "et al." (2020) transferred it to the separate genus "Ferrucyon".
Taxonomy.
"Cerdocyon" was named by Hamilton-Smith (1839). It was assigned to Canidae by Hamilton-Smith (1839) and Carroll (1988).
"F. avius" was about long. Fossils of the species have been found in Baja California (Refugio Formation).


Santorini (wine)

Santorini is a Greek wine region located on the archipelago of Santorini in the southern Cyclades islands of Greece. Wine has been produced there since ancient times, but it was during the Middle Ages that the wine of Santorini became famous worldwide under the influence of the Republic of Venice. The Italian influence is still present in modern Santorini winemaking: the most famous Tuscan sweet wine is called Vin Santo just like Santorini's Vinsanto/Visanto (labeled such to differentiate it from the Tuscan wine). It is made in a "passito" style from grapes dried in the sun after harvest.
Santorini also produces blended and rosé wine made from white grapes such as Athiri, Aidini and Assyrtiko, and red grapes such as Mandelaria.
History.
In its early geological history, Santorini was the core of an ancient volcano that erupted in about 1640–1620 BC. A large part of the island became submerged, creating the modern day archipelago. Wine was made on the island in Greek and Roman times, but the region became particularly noteworthy in the Middle Ages when Crusaders captured control of the island from the Byzantine empire after Constantinople was sacked in 1203. One of the crusaders was a Venetian nobleman whose family maintained control of the island until 1336 when it became part of the Venetian maritime state Duchy of Naxos.
Under the Venetian influence, with this extensive trade network and maritime control, Santorini wines were widely exported throughout the Mediterranean and Europe. The wine was particularly prized for its ability to withstand the month long sea voyages due, in part, to its sweetness and high alcohol levels. So highly valued was Santorini wines during this period that when the Ottoman Turks captured the region in 1579, they still permitted the uninterrupted trade of the wine even though the religious edicts of their Muslim faith generally forbids alcohol. One explanation for the Turks concession was that the poor soil and perilous topography of the island, with cliffs running right to the sea, made the cultivation of other cash crops difficult. When the Russian Orthodox Church adopted Santorini wine as the official Eucharistic wine of the church, the Ottomans allowed the island producers to trade freely with Russia even during the frequent wars between the two empires.
During the early 19th Century a variety of wines were produced in Santorini, both red and white. The best red wine was called Santorin (or Santo, Vino di Baccho), representing a dry fine-tasting claret, with an approach to port. The most famous white wine was called Nykteri (Vino di Notte or night wine). There were two varieties of Nykteri, one named Kalliste, being stronger and richer; the other, called Elia, was somewhat weaker, but both are mentioned to be equal to the best French wines, particularly for table use. The “king” of Santorini wines, however, was the Vino Santo, occurring in two varieties: dark-red and amber coloured. This wine was sweet, rich, very dry, and has a strong stimulating aroma.The quantity of wine exported was 45-50,000 barrels per year (from 36 to 40 thousand hectoliters).
Climate and geography.
Located in the Aegean Sea, Santorini has a distinctly Mediterranean climate that is characterized by warm temperatures, low rainfall but high humidity during the growing season. The area is subjected to strong winds coming off the oceans which can damage the vines and grapes if they are not trained low to the ground for protection. The vineyard soils of the region are very poor, composed of volcanic ash and rocks. The calcareous subsoils are porous which helps to retain some of the humidity in the air and release it as moisture in the night for the vines to utilize.
Grapes and wine.
The island of Santorini is most famously known for its indigenous white grape varieties Assyrtiko, Athiri and Aidani, though some wines made from international varieties and also from indigenous red grapes such as Mandilaria and Mavrotragano can be found. About 1,200 hectares of land are under vine, however, there is a constant struggle with Santorini's tourism industry that puts this small number at risk of decreasing even further.
Assyrtiko is the island's flagship grape. It's a high acid grape full of citrus and mineral nuances. It can be enjoyed on its own or with grilled fish and meats. The grape is often referred to as a “white grape in red’s clothing,” due to the full-bodied wines it produces with an average of 13.5% abv.
Santorini is immune to phylloxera as its volcanic soils contain none of the clay that is necessary for parasite to survive. As a result, many of the roots found on the vines on Santorini are centuries old. The grape growers of Santorini use a unique bush-training system, known as koulara, to grow the grapes. As the vines grow, they are woven into baskets with the grapes facing toward the inside of the ring. The vine's leaves and vine provide protection for the grapes from harsh winds and sunlight. The koulara are often grown haphazardly on small plots of land and can be mistaken for wild bushes by unknowing passers-by. Grape varieties are frequently grown together and the growers are often unaware which grapes are which until harvest which takes place in mid-August.
At the age of 75 a vine is generally woven into many layers and it may be unable to provide proper nutrients and high enough yields to keep in production. As a result, it is clipped at its roots and a new vine is connected to the rootstock. It is important to keep the roots healthy and in use as their old age has allowed them to grow deep into the calcareous soils, extracting any moisture that may be available.
Santorini classified wines: Santorini, Nykteri and Vinsanto (see below for Vinsanto information.)
Santorini: This wine must contain 75% or more of the Assyrtiko grape variety with the remaining 25% made up from Athiri and/or Aidani. The wine is generally unoaked, but some wineries choose to make a small portion of oaked wine due to Assyrtiko's versatility. Either way has a great gaining potential due to the high acidity of the grapes. The wine is bone-dry with high acid toting flavors of lemon and stone fruits with a distinct taste of minerality.
Nykteri: In Greek, the name means “working the night away” as it was traditionally harvested at night to avoid the hot temperatures and create a fine wine with little extraction from color and exposure to air. The grapes were to be picked before sunrise and pressed and drawn off within the first day. Today, many producers still choose to harvest the grapes at night, but some also harvest during the day. It is at least 75% Assyrtiko with the remaining composition allowed to derive from Athiri and Aidani. After vinification in steel or oak, Nykteri wines must be aged in oak for a minimum of three months. These wines are bone-dry and contain high acid and mineral components bringing forth flavors of citrus and stone fruits.
Mezzo: Although this wine is not part of Greece's classification system, it is a wine commonly produced. This is a sweet wine made from the island's white or red grapes and is similar to Vinsanto, but literally means "less sweet." The grapes are also sun dried, but before vinification dry grape must is added to the run-off juice from the raisoned grapes.
Vinsanto.
Vinsanto is an ancient winemaking tradition of Santorini that dates back thousands of years and represents an important part of Santorini's history.
In order for a wine to be labeled Vinsanto in Santorini the wine must be predominately made from the Assyrtiko grape—at least 51%, the remaining 49% is made up of Athiri and Aidani and some small amounts of locally grown white varieties. Vinsanto does not undergo any chaptalization and is made up only of the natural sugars and acids of the grapes. Vinsanto is made from late harvested grapes that have been dried in the sun for 12–14 days. They are then crushed and fermented and are then aged for a minimum of 24 months in oak barrels. Vinsanto must achieve a minimum of 9% abv.
Vinsanto is known for its golden-orange to dark amber coloring with a complex bouquet of dried apricots, golden raisins and other dried fruits combined with sweet spice and an underlying minerality. Although it is classified as a dessert wine, the high acid of the Assyrtiko and other indigenous grapes grown on the island balance the sugar content to produce an extremely palatable drink that can be paired with a variety of foods.
The winemaking style of vin santo can also be found throughout Italy and has historically been known as Italy's “Holy Wine” as it was used in the Catholic Eucharist due to its sweetness.
Another throry relates its origins partially with Santorini. Santorini was used as a trading port through much of history, but produced very little goods themselves. Only with the Venetian domination the island focused on the cultivation of wine that would be exported from the island throughout the Mediterranean. Packages taken from the island were labeled “Santo” to denote their origin. Wine from the island was denoted “vin” or “vino” (the Italian word for "wine") to denote the packages contents; thus, the term “Vinsanto” was born.
In 2002, the EU determined that there was enough information to name Santorini, Greece as Vinsanto's place of origin thus granting the island exclusive rights to the use of the name Vinsanto on its sweet wines. Italy may still use vin santo or vino santo to denote its winemaking style. Laying down certain rules for applying Council Regulation as regards the description, designation, presentation and protection of certain wine sector products.
Wine Museum of Santorini.
The Wine Museum is established in a cave on the ground of Koutsogiannopoulos Winery near the village of Messaria.


La Bufadora

La Bufadora is a blowhole and tourist attraction located on the Punta Banda Peninsula in Baja California, Mexico, about 17 miles south of Ensenada.
Natural phenomenon.
La Bufadora is often considered a marine geyser, however, it does not have a thermal source or cause, as geysers do. In this case, the spout of sea water is the result of air, trapped in a sea cave, exploding upwards. Air is forced into the cave by wave action and is released when the water recedes, ejecting water up to 100 ft. above sea level. This interaction not only creates the spout, but a thunderous noise as well.
The interval between eruptions is fairly constant, and matches the dominant swell, confirming that the activity at La Bufadora is determined by surface ocean waves. Between 2005 and 2011 the recurrence between eruptions was between 13 and 17 seconds.
La Bufadora is the second largest blowhole in the world, and the only one in the American continent.
Legend.
The folk legend regarding La Bufadora is it that a whale became trapped in the rocky point and blew water to attract its pod’s attention. Eventually, the whale turned to stone, staying there forever.
Tourist attraction.
La Bufadora is one of Ensenada's main tourist attractions, and there are several souvenir and food vendors overlooking the site. In 2017, 150 businesses were operating at La Bufadora.


Peter Wilhelm Lund

Peter Wilhelm Lund (14 June 1801 – 25 May 1880) was a Danish paleontologist, zoologist, archeologist and who spent most of his life working and living in Brazil. He is considered the father of Brazilian paleontology as well as archeology.
He was the first to describe dozens of species of pre-historic Pleistocene megafauna, including the fabled Saber-toothed cat "Smilodon populator". He also made the then ground-breaking discovery that humans co-existed with the long-extinct animal species, something which possibly prompted him to terminate his scientific work. His comprehensive collections are today found at the Danish Natural History Museum in Copenhagen.
Early life and education.
Peter Wilhelm Lund was born into a wealthy family in Copenhagen. He showed an early interest in the natural science and was working towards a career in medicine but following the death of his father, his passion for natural history prompted him instead to opt for that study at the University of Copenhagen. Already as a student, he wrote two prize-winning dissertations. One of them, published in German, won him international recognition.
First trip to Brazil and return to Europe.
Due to a beginning tuberculosis, he traveled to Brazil in 1825 and spent the following three and a half years collecting specimens of plants, birds and insects in the area around Rio de Janeiro, and writing about ants, snails and birds of the region.
Back in Europe in 1829, he achieved a doctoral degree at the University of Kiel, traveled to Italy and later established himself in Paris, where he came under the influence of Georges Cuvier, professor of comparative anatomy at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle and the most influential naturalist and zoologist of the time.
In his "Discours sur les révolutions de la surface du globe" (1825), Cuvier theorized that the extinction of species was caused by natural catastrophes in certain regions of the world. When that happens, the fauna from other regions migrate to populate the now uninhabited area. This became known as catastrophism or the catastrophic theory, and would become the motto of Lund's scientific career.
Return to Brazil and turn to paleontology.
In 1832 Lund returned to Brazil never to return to Europe. He spent the first two years collecting mainly botanical specimens in the provinces of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Charles Darwin also passed through Rio in 1832 but it is unknown whether the two naturalists met.
Then in 1835, Lund traveling inland through the province of Minas Gerais, and in Lagoa, an area characterised by a peculiar Karst geology, discovered several caves full of fossilized bones from extinct Ice Age megafauna species. He eventually settled in the small town of Lagoa Santa, and dedicated the next eight years to excavating, collecting, classifying and studying more than 20,000 bones of extinct species, including mastodons and ground sloths. With him was the Norwegian painter Peter Andreas Brandt who assisted him throughout his work as an illustrator. He was also assisted by the Danish botanist Eugen Warming from 1839 to 1859.
Lund was the first to describe dozens of species, among them the world-famous Saber-toothed cat "Smilodon populator". His exploration took place mainly in the region of Lagoa Santa, which is rich in caves and karst formations and nowadays comprises the northern part of Greater Belo Horizonte. He was also one of the first to recognize, appreciate and record prehistoric rock and cave paintings in South America.
Then in 1843, Lund made a remarkable discovery. During a severe drought, he discovered, deep in a flooded cave, fossilized skulls and bones of 30 human beings. Since these individuals were found among the remains of long-extinct species. This finding led him to realize that humans and the prehistoric animals had co-existed, something which was in frontal opposition to Cuvier's catastrophic theory.
Early retirement and late life.
Only a year after his ground-breaking finds of human remains, Lund suddenly stopped the work in the caves, alleging lack of resources to finance the excavations. He then donated his huge collection to the king and the people of Denmark. Alleging this time a fragile health condition, he decided to stay in Lagoa Santa, never to return to Europe. Whereas Lund possibly took badly to his own findings, Darwin embraced them with enthusiasm.
The next 35 years were spent exchanging letters with the curators of his collections in Copenhagen, as well as receiving the visits of young European naturalists. The complete study of his collections, "E Museo Lundii", was published only in 1888.
While living in Lagoa Santa, he hosted several European naturalists, such as the Danish botanist Eugenius Warming. Lund never married and died in Lagoa Santa three weeks before reaching the age of 79.
Legacy.
The cave where Lund made his discovery of "Lagoa Santa Man" is now protected by the Sumidouro State Park, created in 1980.
The journal "Lundiana" is named in his honour , as is a town in Lagoa Santa. Lund is considered the "Father of Brazilian paleontology and archeology." His voluminous correspondence with Brazilian scientists and institutions is still uncollected.
A species of Brazilian lizard, "Heterodactylus lundii", is named in his honor.


Fasolasuchus

Fasolasuchus is an extinct genus of rauisuchid. Fossils have been found in the Los Colorados Formation of the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin in northwestern Argentina that date back to the Norian stage of the Late Triassic, making it one of the last rauisuchians to have existed before the order became extinct at the end of the Triassic.
Description.
It is quite possibly the largest known member of Rauisuchia, with an estimated length of , even bigger than the prestosuchid "Saurosuchus" at in length. This would make "Fasolasuchus" the largest terrestrial predator to have ever existed save for large theropods. Like "Saurosuchus", it had only a single row of caudal osteoderms, unusual among rauisuchians. It also had a hyposphene-hypantrum articulation that gave the vertebral column extra rigidity. This feature is also seen in several other rauisuchians such as "Postosuchus" as well as saurischian dinosaurs.
Phylogeny.
Cladogram after the analysis of Nesbitt (2011):


Pristerodon

Pristerodon is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid from the Late Permian of South Africa, Zambia and India.
Paleobiology.
Brain and senses.
"Pristerodon" were among the earliest land animals able to hear airborne sound as opposed to hearing via ground vibrations. A South African specimen studied with neutron tomography has shown evidence of an eardrum on its lower jaw with the implication that it was hearing impaired during the act of chewing. The specimen had a 3mm cavity for cochlea which transformed sound frequency ranges into nerve impulses sent on to the brain.
Ecology.
"Pristerodon" were herbivores living on flood plains.


Cerro Arenas

Cerro Arenas is a mountain in the Andes of Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile. It is located west of San José volcano and east of Cerro El Morado. The latter mountain lies on the opposite side of the valley of the Estero Morado, a headwater stream of the Volcán River.


Escalante (El Apagado)

Volcán Escalante also known as "El Apagado" is a stratovolcano on the Chilean side of the border between Bolivia and Chile. It lies immediately SE of Cerro Colorado and SW to volcán Curiquinca, all of which are considered to be part of the Sairecabur volcanic group.


Erpetonyx

Erpetonyx is an extinct genus of bolosaurian parareptile from the Gzhelian stage of the Carboniferous period, with a single known species: Erpetonyx arsenaultorum. It is known from a single articulated and mostly complete specimen from Prince Edward Island in Canada. Phylogenetics has predicted that parareptiles first evolved in the Carboniferous, parallel to eureptiles ("true reptiles"). However, "Hylonomus", the oldest eureptile known from fossil evidence, lived millions of years before parareptiles appeared in the fossil record. The discovery of "Erpetonyx" helped to shorten this gap between parareptile and eureptile fossils, as "Erpetonyx" lived in the Late Carboniferous and is one of the oldest known parareptiles (though "Carbonodraco" is now known to be older). However, it was not closely related to ancestral parareptiles, so its discovery also indicated that the initial diversification of parareptiles occurred earlier in the Carboniferous. "Erpetonyx" was a small reptile, with the entire skeleton about 20 to 25 centimeters (7.9 to 9.8 inches) in length. It was likely carnivorous, and could be characterized by a variety of skeletal features, including a relatively elongated body and large claws with powerful tendon attachment points.
Discovery.
Erpetonyx is known from a single specimen, a remarkably well-preserved skeleton, designated ROM 55402. This specimen hailed from Cape Egmont, in southwestern Prince Edward Island, Canada, in rock layers of the Edgmont Bay Formation that preserves fossils that date back to Gzhelian stage of the Carboniferous period. The specimen was discovered by nine-year-old Michael Arsenault in 2003 who was on vacation with his family at the time. It was acquired by the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in 2004, and later rep. Cape Breton University's Sean Modesto, a paleontologist and expert in ancient reptiles, was the lead author of a 2015 article published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, The team, which included researchers from the ROM, University of Toronto and the Smithsonian Institution, described and named the new genus and species, the first parareptile known from Carboniferous period fossils.
The name Parareptilia was identified by the American zoologist, Olson (1910-1993), in 1947 and Bolosauria was identified by Oskar Kuhn in 1959. "Erpetonyx arsenaultorum" was described and named by Modesto "et al." in 2015. It is the closest relative of bolosaurids.
Description.
The skull was crushed and partially eroded, but some features (like the tooth row) were preserved well enough to be informative. The teeth were sharp, conical, and slightly curved. They gradually decreased in size towards the rear of the skull. Some broken teeth reveal that they had an internal structure of folded dentine, formally known as plicidentine. Plicidentine was once considered to characterize "labyrinthodont" amphibians such as temnospondyls, but it is now known to occur in some extinct amniotes as well. The supratemporal bones at the rear of the skull roof formed small horns, and the palate (roof of the mouth) was covered in small cones known as denticles. Denticles reached almost as far back in the mouth as the large, robust quadrate bones which formed the upper part of the jaw joint. Preserved portions of the braincase were generally similar to those of other reptiles, with the exception of a large opening (likely for the hyomandibular branch of the facial nerve) at the front edge of the base of the braincase.
The body was relatively elongated compared to other parareptiles. There were 5 cervical (neck) vertebrae and 24 dorsal (torso) vertebrae. This leads to a total of 29 presacral (pre-hip) vertebrae, while other parareptiles typically had 26 or fewer. The presacrals were hourglass-shaped when seen from above and tightly connected to each other by means of large, rounded zygapophyses (joint plates). They gradually increased in length and width towards the hip. There were three sacral (hip) vertebrae, although only the first two had large, flared ribs which connected to the ilia (upper hip plates). 20 caudal (tail) vertebrae were also attached to the skeleton, along with a disconnected string of 13 from the tip of the tail and 10 isolated caudals. Estimating from the length of missing portions of the tail, there may have been 58 caudal vertebrae in total.
The forelimbs were generally similar to those of other early reptiles. The humerus (upper arm bone) was slightly longer than the ulna and radius (lower arm bones). The knobs and joints forming the elbow were poorly developed, meaning that "Erpetonyx" may have had more flexible forelimbs than its contemporaries. The hand was incomplete, and some the carpals (wrist bones) were large while others were unusually small. On the other hand, the unguals (claws) were long and sharply pointed, with robust flexor tubercules (tendon attachment bumps). Some of the hip bones were obscured by the rest of the skeleton, but the ischium (front lower plate) was longer than the pubis (rear lower plate). The femur (thigh bone) was twisted, with the knee joints offset at 45 degrees from the rest of the shaft. In other early reptiles, this angle of torsion was smaller, usually 10 to 30 degrees. The slender tibia and fibula (lower leg bones) were shorter than the femur. The tarsals (ankle bones) were much more robust than the carpals, but also more disarticulated. The fourth metatarsal was the longest bone of the foot, and it was unusually expanded near the toe. The ungual of the fourth toe was tall, curved, and sharply pointed. Other toe claws were longer and lower. Nevertheless, all of the toe claws were longer than the other phalanges (toe bones).


Chinchey

Chinchey, also known as Rurichinchay, is a mountain in the Cordillera Blanca in the Andes of Peru. It is located in the region of Ancash, most precisely between the districts of Aco (in Carhuaz Province), Independencia (in Huaraz Province), and Huari (in Huari Province).
Rurichinchay is also the name of the lake northeast of the mountain at and the name of the river which originates at the lake. It flows to the southeast.


Didymograptus

Didymograptus is an extinct genus of graptolites with four rows of cups. They lived during the Middle Ordovician, to Late Ordovician.
Distribution.
Fossils of "Didymograptus" have been found in Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Canada (Northwest Territories, Quebec, Yukon, Newfoundland and Labrador), Chile, China, Colombia (Tarqui, Huila), the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Iran, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Portugal, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States (Alaska, California, Idaho, Nevada, New York, Utah), and Venezuela.


Tacora

Tacora is a stratovolcano located in the Andes of the Arica y Parinacota Region of Chile. Bordering Peru, it is the northernmost volcano of Chile. It is part of the Central Volcanic Zone in Chile, one of the four volcanic belts of the Andes. The Central Volcanic Zone has several of the highest volcanoes in the world. Tacora itself is a stratovolcano with a caldera and a crater. The youngest radiometric age is 50,000 years ago and it is heavily eroded by glacial activity.
Volcanism in the Central Volcanic Zone results from the subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South America Plate. Tacora is constructed on the so-called "Arica Altiplano" and is part of a northsouth alignment of volcanoes. Tacora itself has uncertain reports of historical eruptions and there are active fumaroles.
The fumarolic activity has resulted in the emplacement of substantial deposits of sulfur, which were already mentioned centuries ago. Towards the latter 19th century, systematic mining of the sulfur deposits of Tacora occurred and substantial mining infrastructure was constructed on the mountain.
Geography and geomorphology.
Tacora lies in the Arica y Parinacota Region of Chile, about northeast of Arica. It is the northernmost volcano of Chile and poorly known.
Tacora is part of the Central Volcanic Zone, one out of several volcanic belts of the Andes. The Central Volcanic Zone is one of the world's major volcanic provinces and features both a high density of volcanoes and some of the tallest volcanic edifices in the world. Volcanoes in the Central Volcanic Zone include Sabancaya, El Misti and Ubinas in Peru and Tacora, Isluga, Irruputuncu, Ollague, San Pedro, Putana, Alitar, Lascar and Lastarria in Chile, Bolivia and Argentina; there are about 34 volcanoes in the Chilean portion of the Central Volcanic Zone alone. Of these Lascar is considered to be the most active, with a large eruption in 1993. Aside from volcanoes, the Central Volcanic Zone also features geothermal fields such as El Tatio.
The volcano is a high cone with a summit caldera that opens northwest and a wide crater below the summit within the caldera scarp. Steep lava flows form the bulk of the edifice, along with lava domes and pyroclastic material, and rise about above the surrounding terrain. The edifice is heavily eroded with about of rocks gone but still has a circular shape, and there are traces of a sector collapse scar and of the resulting debris avalanche on the southeastern flank.
According to some reports glaciers occur within the caldera at elevations above , while other reports indicate the absence of perennial snow on the mountain. Glacial valleys and moraines have been recognized on the eastern, southeastern and southern slopes of the volcano, and cirques have been found at elevation. These landforms suggest that the mountain was formerly glaciated. Three sets of moraines have been described, one at elevation possibly linked to the last glacial maximum, an older one at elevation and a third at elevation which may have formed during the Little Ice Age; moraines reach thicknesses of . There is an additional set of moraines at elevation that has been correlated to pre-last glacial maximum glaciations, as well as traces of ice cored moraines and rock glaciers. Some rock glaciers still exist; unlike other glacial bodies in Chile the fronts of rock glaciers on Tacora are not retreating.
The mountain is an important source of water for the region. The Lluta River originates on Tacora, and its waters are highly salty owing to their origin on the volcano. The Chislluma River flows past the northeastern flank of Tacora and the Rio Caracarani past the southeastern one; finally, the Mauri Canal and Uchusuma Canal run along the southeastern slopes.
On the western and northwestern flanks, solfataras are present both in the form of fumaroles and of steaming ground, and the Aguas Calientes de Tacora hot springs are located southwest of the volcano. Further, geyserite cones indicate that geysers were formerly active on the volcano. Seismic tomography has been used to image both the hydrothermal systems and magma systems of the volcano, and Tacora has been prospected for geothermal power generation. In 2009, the Chilean Ministry of Mining recorded bids for geothermal development at Tacora, and one bid was approved by the Ministry in early 2010.
Fumaroles.
Fumarole gases are dominated by water vapour with other components including carbon dioxide, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen and sulfur dioxide. Hydrogen, methane and other hydrocarbons are also common in the exhalations. The temperatures of the fumaroles reach and daily sulfur dioxide emissions have been estimated to be in the major fumaroles.
The fumarolic gases are interpreted to originate by the evaporation of an aquifer that is saturated by solfataric components, resulting both in the exhalation of gases and the development of acid hot springs. This aquifer is mostly replenished by precipitation and to a lesser degree by magmatic water. Further, there appears to be a hydrothermal system with temperatures of under the volcano that fumarolic gases pass through, and a magma system between sea level and of depth. Overall, fumarolic gases at Tacora undergo substantial interaction with rocks and hydrothermal systems before they reach the surface. A cluster of seismic activity below the eastern flank may also be correlated to a fluid system at depth.
Geology.
Subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South America Plate is responsible for the volcanism of the Andes. This volcanism does not occur along the entire strike of the Andes, but in three selected volcanic belts, the Northern Volcanic Zone, the Central Volcanic Zone and the Southern Volcanic Zone. A fourth volcanic zone, the Austral Volcanic Zone, lies south of the Southern Volcanic Zone. These volcanically active belts are separated by gaps where recent volcanism is absent and the subducting plate descends in a much shallower angle.
Volcanoes of the Peruvian Central Volcanic Zone generally occur within a narrow belt and are usually associated with normal faults. Most edifices are between high above their basement and consist of lava flows and pyroclastics. Old edifices are far more common in Chile than in Peru, and are especially rare in the northwestern part of Peru's volcanic zone; this may be the consequence of climatic factors or a later start of volcano-building activity in Peru. About 17 volcanoes are fumarolically active in northern Chile, with igneous activity limited to about 6.
The earliest volcanic activity in northern Chile occurred between 41 and 66 million years ago, and is linked to an ancient volcanic arc. Later during the Miocene two separate but partially overlapping volcanic episodes occurred, the first of which was dominated by the emplacement of ignimbrites and the second by the growth composite volcanoes, with vigorous activity during the Pliocene and Pleistocene.
Local.
The basement beneath Tacora is formed by the Arica Altiplano, a formation lying at about altitude that consists of various sedimentary and volcanic rocks of Pliocene to Pleistocene age. Tacora together with Chupiquiña, Nevado El Fraile and Nevado La Monja forms a long alignment of volcanoes that crosses into Peru and extends from south to north. In addition, a fault system known as the Challaviento reverse fault passes underneath the volcano; it also extends into Peru where it belongs to the active Incapuquio–Challaviento fault system.
Composition.
The volcano is composed of dacite and lesser amounts of andesite in the form of pyroclastic material and lava flows; the latter are predominantly andesitic to basaltic andesite. Minerals contained in the lava flows are biotite, hornblende, olivine, plagioclase and both orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene; alteration has led to the formation of clays. The volcanic rocks are subdivided into two units, an andesitic-dacitic one that forms the bulk of the volcano dacitic lava dome.
Eruptive history.
Tacora was active during the Pleistocene and Holocene epochs less than 700,000 years ago, with one rock sample dated by potassium-argon dating giving an age of 490,000 years before present, an age often given to the entire volcano, as well as another of 50,000 years before present on the upper western flank. Other dating efforts have yielded ages of 340,000 ± 60,000 and 363,000 ± 7,000 years ago. The crater and lava flows on the southern flank are probably the most recent manifestations of volcanic activity.
The volcano supposedly "collapsed" in the 1877 Iquique earthquake, according to secondhand information in a 1903 report on earthquakes in Chile. Single reports of activity in 1930, 1937 and 1950 exist, but the volcano is considered to have no historic eruptions, with fumaroles and seismicity the only ongoing activity.
Mining and sulfur.
Sulfur is found between Tacora and Chupiquiña, and it has been quarried on the northwestern flank. Sulfur deposits on Tacora are among the largest in Chile, with thick layers of sulfur covering surfaces of in the crater and on the northern and eastern slopes. Fumarolic activity is to this day producing new sulfur deposits, and some sulfur deposits may have been originally emplaced as liquid sulfur.
Such sulfur deposits are relatively common on volcanoes of northern Chile, with less common occurrence in the other volcanically active parts of the Chilean Andes; nearly all higher volcanoes in northern Chile are reported to host the mineral. The sulfur develops chiefly from hydrogen sulfide in steam, which precipitates the mineral in rock cavities. Sulfur deposits are typically accompanied by discoloured rocks, since the formation of the sulfur is usually associated with hydrothermal alteration of rock formations. These colours can be spotted from large distances. Aside from sulfur, such deposits commonly contain antimony, arsenic, selenium and tellurium; acid mine drainage occurs on the volcano and has resulted in pollution of the Azufre River within the Lluta River watershed.
The earliest records of the sulfur bodies on Tacora date back to 1637. Sulfur mining in Chile commenced in the late 19th century, driven by Peruvian, English and Chilean prospectors and because the world demand of sulfur by the chemical industry and for other uses increased substantially at that time. During the early 20th century, sulfur mining was widespread in northern Chile and of high global importance, a number of highly pure deposits of sulfur can be found in northern Chile from the Peruvian border south to the Puna de Atacama region.
A. Barrón, Filomeno Cerda, Luis Koch and Rosa Landaeta owned sulfur deposits on Tacora in 1897, and sulfur processing plants were installed in 1888 and 1900 close to Tacora. Several companies mined in the region, which later were sometimes taken over by foreign corporations. A number of mines were active on Tacora volcano, with much of the mining infrastructure being present on the upper northwestern slopes of the mountain; this infrastructure includes cableways, offices, workers' camps and treatment plants both on the mountain and on its foot. The deposits were named Aguas Calientes, Ancara, Chislluma, Santa Elena and Villa Industrial, and the total sulfur ore deposits of Tacora in 1952 were estimated to be at a minimum; in 1922 Tacora was considered the most important sulfur deposit of the Andes.
Transport of sulfur occurred through a dedicated railroad down to Villa Industrial on the Arica-La Paz railway, which served the further transport of the sulfur to Arica, from where it was shipped to all of South America; only after the opening of this railway in 1913 was it possible to use the Tacora deposits to the fullest extent. It is worth noting that the 1929 border treaty between Peru and Chile had explicitly placed Tacora's sulfur deposits entirely within Chilean territory.
The workforce of the Tacora mines was largely indigenous in origin, seeing as only indigenous people were used to the extreme climate conditions on the upper slopes of Tacora. The mining operations also played an important political-cultural role, as they exemplified the imposition of a new, modern culture onto the region.
Mythology.
The religious worship of mountains is widespread in the Central Andes. In local belief, Tacora and Sajama were two mountains in competition for two women (the Nevados de Payachata). Depending on the specific myth either the two women drove Tacora off and removed the top of the mountain, or Sajama did and injured Tacora; Tacora subsequently fled, shedding blood and a piece of its heart.
Botanics.
The "Astragalus" species "Astragalus tacorensis" is named after the volcano, which is its type locality. The flowering plant "Pycnophyllum macropetalum" likewise has its type locality at Tacora.


Scarrittia

Scarrittia is an extinct genus of hoofed mammal of the family Leontiniidae, native to South America during the Late Oligocene epoch (Deseadan in the SALMA classification).
Description.
"Scarrittia" was about in body length, and resembled a rhinoceros with a relatively long body and neck. It had three hoofed toes on each foot, and a very short tail. Due to a fused tibia and fibula, "Scarrittia" would have been unable to turn its legs sideways. The short skull had 44 poorly specialized teeth.
Natural history.
This was a very successful genus with various known species, such as "Scarrittia robusta", "S. barranquensis" and "S. canquelensis", which lived around 30 million years ago. They lived in moist forest, near the coast, in wetlands, lakes, swamps, etc. and they ate soft vegetation, grasses, fruits and trees. Some species were omnivorous, eating also eggs and small mammals. They were not adapted for running, though their large size meant they had few enemies.
Distribution.
Fossils of "Scarrittia" have been found in:


Rebbachisaurus

Rebbachisaurus (meaning "Aït Rebbach lizard") is a genus of sauropod dinosaur of the superfamily Diplodocoidea, that lived during the Late Cretaceous period in Africa about 99-97 million years ago. Remains attributed to "Rebbachisaurus" have been found in Morocco, Niger, Algeria and Tunisia, although only the Moroccan remains can be referred to the genus without doubt. The discovery of "Rayososaurus", a South American sauropod nearly identical to "Rebbachisaurus", supports the theory that there was still a land connection between Africa and South America during the Early Cretaceous, long after it was commonly thought the two continents had separated.
History of discovery.
In 1954, Rene Lavocat discovered the holotype specimen of "Rebbachisaurus", which consists of ten ribs, the right shoulder blade, eleven vertebrae, the sacrum, a humerus, and two bones probably belonging to the pelvis, in the Aoufous Formation at Gara Sbaa, Errachidia in Morocco. He named the type species "R. garasbae" during the same year but only the shoulder blade and a single vertebra from the string of eleven were initially described, very briefly and without illustrations. The fossils were left undescribed and neglected until 2015, when Jeffrey Wilson and Ronan Allain cleaned the holotype and described the remaining fossils that Lavocat never described in 1954. A second specimen, consisting of a partial vertebra measuring up to tall if complete (also found in Aoufous) has also been assigned to "R. garasbae".
A second species was named by de Lapparent in 1960, "Rebbachisaurus tamesnensis". The type specimen, collected by Lapparent in the Gall locality, Irhazer Shale, supposedly composed of two humeri and two femora, and a second specimen composed of four isolated teeth, a dentary fragment with three teeth, over 100 vertebrae, six chevrons, 12 ribs, 5 scapulae, an ilium, two ischia, and numerous limb elements, but however, the material of this taxon was collected from multiple localities across the Sahara, such as several sites in the Elrhaz Formation of Niger, and is not referrable to "Rebbachisaurus". "R. tamesnensis" was probably a synonym or a chimera of "Nigersaurus taqueti".
A third species was named by Calvo and Salgado in 1995, "Rebbachisaurus tessonei". It was discovered in the Candeleros Formation in Argentina, near to where the holotype of "Giganotosaurus carolinii" was discovered. This species was later moved to the new genus "Limaysaurus" in 2004.
Description.
In 2010, Gregory S. Paul estimated "Rebbachisaurus" at and . Holtz gave a bigger length of . In 2020 Molina-Pérez and Larramendi gave a larger estimation of 26 meters (85.3 ft) and 40 tonnes (44 short tons). It possessed a small head, a long, graceful neck and a whiplike tail. "Rebbachisaurus" is distinguished from other sauropods by its unusually tall, ridged back and the spine or sail that lay atop its back, distinguished by the tall ridges of the preserved dorsal vertebrae of the holotype and other specimens.
Classification.
Below is a cladogram following the 2013 analysis by Fanti and colleagues, which confirmed the placement of "Rebbachisaurus" as a basal rebbachisaurid.
A 2015 cladistic study by Wilsona and the French palaeontologist Ronan Allain found "Rebbachisaurus" itself to group with the nigersaurines, and the authors suggested that Nigersaurinae was therefore a junior synonym of Rebbachisaurinae (since that name would have priority).
Paleoecology.
The most common vertebrate remains which coexisted alongside "R. garasbae" in the Aoufous belong to the elasmobranch fish "Onchopristis numidus". Another seven elasmobranchs are reported: "Asteracanthus aegyptiacus", "Distobatus nutiae", "Tribodus" sp., "Lissodus" sp., "Haimirichia amonensis", Cretoxyrhinidae indet., and "Marckgrafia lybica". Lungfish fossils are referred to "Ceratodus humei" and "Neoceratodus africanus". Coelacanth remains are referred to "Mawsonia lavocati" and to the genus "Axelrodichthys". Several taxa of Cladistia and two genera of seminiomorphs (an unnamed "Lepidotes"-like species and "Oniichthys falipoui") are recovered in the Kem Kem beds. Teleosteans are represented by "Cladocyclus pankowskii", "Palaeonotopterus greenwoodi", "Erfoudichthys rosae" and "Concavotectum moroccensis". Amphibians are also present: "Kababisha" sp., the pipid frog "Oumtkoutia anae" and non-pipids frogs. Turtles are represented by several species: "Dirqadim schaefferi", the podocnemidids "Hamadachelys escuilliei", the bothremydids "Galianemys whitei" and "G. emringeri", and the araripemydids "Araripemys" sp. Crocodilians are commonly found; four species are present: "Elosuchus cherifiensis", a genus belonged to the Trematochampsidae, "Araripesuchus rattoides" and "Laganosuchus maghrebensis".
"Rebbachisaurus garasbae" coexisted with many dinosaurs, including an ornithischian and an unnamed basal theropod, both only known from footprints. Among theropods, two carcharodontosaurids ("Carcharodontosaurus saharicus" and "Sauroniops pachytholus"), one spinosaurid ("Spinosaurus aegyptiacus"), one coelurosaur ("Deltadromeus agilis"), an unnamed abelisaur and an unnamed dromaeosaur also coexist with "Rebbachisaurus".
Pterosaurs are also present, although their fossils are extremely rare and enigmatic: an azhdarchid, an ornithocheirid, a tapejarid and a pteranodontid are known to have coexisted with "Rebbachisaurus".


Schloss Westerburg

Schloss Westerburg, first recorded in 1192, but probably built earlier, is situated in the town of Westerburg in the forested hills of the Westerwald and is on the site of an older castle dating to the 12th century. The latter belonged to the counts of Leiningen but was transferred to the House of Runkel as the result of the marriage of Siegfried III of Runkel to a daughter of the House of Leiningen in the early 13th century. In the first half of the 13th century the castle was the seat of the lords of Westerburg, who had split off from the House of Runkel by 1288 with Henry I of Westerburg.
The castle was considerably expanded and remodelled over the course of time and, for a long time was the residence of a branch of the counts of Leiningen-Westerburg. The northeast corner and the north front of the site are probably the oldest surviving sections. They include the castle chapel and probably date to the early 13th century. The building that contains the great hall was built between 1476 and 1483. The remaining parts of the site date to the 18th century when it was expanded to a "schloss".
Schloss Westerburg is in private ownership and houses a restaurant, and a dental institute.


Cryptadapis

Cryptadapis is a genus of adapiform primate that lived in Europe during the late Eocene.


Mount Meru (Tanzania)

Mount Meru is a dormant stratovolcano located west of Mount Kilimanjaro in the country of Tanzania. At a height of , it is visible from Mount Kilimanjaro on a clear day, and is the fifth-highest of the highest mountain peaks of Africa, dependent on definition.
Mount Meru is located just north of the city of Arusha, in the Arusha Region of Tanzania. It is the second-highest mountain in Tanzania, after Mount Kilimanjaro. The Momella route – which starts at Momella gate, on the eastern side of the mountain – is used to climb Mount Meru.
Much of its bulk was lost about 7,800 years ago due to a summit collapse. Mount Meru most recently had a minor eruption in 1910. The several small cones and craters seen in the vicinity probably reflect numerous episodes of volcanic activity. Mount Meru's caldera is wide.
Mount Meru is the topographic centerpiece of Arusha National Park. Its fertile slopes rise above the surrounding savanna and support a forest that hosts diverse wildlife, including nearly 400 species of birds, and also monkeys and leopards.


Germanodactylus

Germanodactylus ("German finger") is a genus of germanodactylid pterodactyloid pterosaur from Upper Jurassic-age rocks of Germany, including the Solnhofen limestone. Its specimens were long thought to pertain to "Pterodactylus". The head crest of "Germanodactylus" is a distinctive feature.
History.
"G. cristatus" is based on specimen BSP 1892.IV.1, from the Solnhofen limestone of Eichstätt, Germany. It was originally described by Plieninger in 1901 as a specimen of "Pterodactylus kochi", and was given its current specific name by Carl Wiman in 1925, meaning "crested" in Latin. Yang Zhongjian determined that it deserved its own genus in 1964. A second species called "G. ramphastinus" (in 1858 accidentally revised to "rhamphastinus" by Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer) was named as a distinct species long before "G. cristatus", described by Johann Andreas Wagner in 1851 as a species of the now deprecated genus "Ornithocephalus". The specific name refers to the toucan, "ramphastinos" in Greek. It is based on specimen BSP AS.I.745, a skeleton from the slightly younger Mörnsheimer Limestone of Daiting, Germany. Peter Wellnhofer added it to "Germanodactylus" in 1970, although Maisch and his coauthors have suggested that it deserves its own genus, "Daitingopterus". David M. Unwin has also referred miscellaneous limb bones and vertebrae from the somewhat older Kimmeridge Clay of Dorset, England to the genus; these finds at the time marked the earliest appearance of short-tailed pterosaurs in the fossil record.
Bennett suggested in 1996 that "Germanodactylus" represented adults of "Pterodactylus", but this has been rejected by further studies, including his own. Bennett's 2006 reappraisal of "Germanodactylus" found both species to be valid and included within the genus, with "G. cristatus" known from four specimens, including two juveniles, and "G. rhamphastinus" from two specimens. The genus differs from other pterosaurs by a combination of characteristics including a sharply pointed jaw tip, four to five premaxillary teeth, and eight to twelve maxillary teeth per side of the upper jaw, robust maxillary teeth that, unlike in "Pterodactylus", are not reduced in size farther from the tip of the jaw, a naso-antorbital fenestra twice the length of the eye socket, and various proportional differences. "G. cristatus" differs from ""G. rhampastinus" by having no teeth in the tip of the jaw and fewer teeth (~13 in each side of the upper jaw and ~12 in the lower versus 16 upper and 15 lower on each side for "G. rhamphastinus"").
Description.
"Germanodactylus" is described as being "raven-sized" in weight. "G. cristatus" had a 0.98 meter wingspan (3.2 ft) and a 13 centimeter (5.1 in) long skull, while "G. rhamphastinus" was somewhat larger, with a 1.08 meter (3.5 ft) wingspan, and a skull measuring 21 centimeters (8.3 in) long.
Head crest.
"Germanodactylus" is known for its head crest, which had a bony portion (a low ridge running up the midline of the skull) and a soft-tissue portion that more than doubled its height. The bony part does not go as far up the head in "G. cristatus" as in "G. rhamphastinus". The soft-tissue portion was not known early on, being first described in 2002 by S. Christopher Bennett. It was probably composed of cornified epidermis. "Germanodactylus" is the first genus for which a soft-tissue component of the crest is known, but similar structures were probably widespread among pterosaurs. Head crests like these are now known to be far more extensive in Pterosauria. Of all the pterosaurs known to date, the most basal form with such a crest is "Austriadactylus" and the most derived are "Hamipterus" and "Tapejara". "Darwinopterus" and "Cuspicephalus" also possess headcrests made of "fibrous" bone, demonstrating that the character is a homology, and not a homoplasy.
Classification.
This genus is unspecialized compared to the pterosaurs of the Cretaceous, and has had varying placements in Pterosauria. Yang Zhongjian, who named the genus, gave it its own family Germanodactylidae. Bennett included the genus in the family Pterodactylidae, and Alexander W.A. Kellner found it to be related to "Pterodactylus" in his 2003 phylogenetic analysis. David M. Unwin, on the other hand, preferred to consider it a basal dsungaripteroid, a group that evolved into dedicated shellfish-eaters. Maisch and co-authors considered the genus "Germanodactylus" to be paraphyletic, meaning the two species were not congeneric. For "G. rhamphastinus" the genus name "Daitingopterus" was used in a table, but the rules of the ICZN were not observed, making the new name a "nomen nudum". However, Maisch and his co-authors did place both "Germanodactylus" species in Dsungaripteroidea, like Unwin. Vidovic and Martill not only considered the contents of "Germanodactylus" to be paraphyletic, but they found the two species to be entirely distinct in their cladistic analysis. "G. cristatus" was considered the sister taxon of both Dsungaripteroidea and Azhdarchoidea, while ""G. rhamphastinus" was sister taxon to a group they called Aurorazhdarchia. Vidovic and Martill did not initially propose a new name for "G. rhamphastinus", but they suggested that it might represent an adult "Diopecephalus", if that genus proves to be valid. However, in a subsequent paper published in 2017, Vidovic and Martill created a new genus for "G. rhamphastinus"", "Altmuehlopterus".
Below is a cladogram showing the results of a phylogenetic analysis presented by Longrich, Martill, and Andres in 2018. In this analysis, they placed the species "G. cristatus" as the sister taxon of "G. rhamphastinus" within the family Germanodactylidae, and contrary to the concepts mentioned above, both of these species were recovered as closer relatives of more primitive pterosaurs, such as "Pterodactylus", within the group Archaeopterodactyloidea.


Cardboard Cathedral

The Cardboard Cathedral, formally called the Transitional Cathedral, in Christchurch, New Zealand, is the transitional pro-cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Christchurch, replacing ChristChurch Cathedral, which was significantly damaged in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The Cardboard Cathedral was designed by the Japanese architect Shigeru Ban and opened in August 2013. It is located on the site of St John the Baptist Church on the corner of Hereford and Madras Streets in Latimer Square, several blocks from the permanent location of ChristChurch Cathedral.
Location.
The building is on a section allocated to the Anglican church in Christchurch's original 1850 survey opposite Latimer Square. It was originally the site of St John the Baptist Church, the first church built in permanent materials by Anglicans in Christchurch, which was demolished after the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The St John parish gave the land, and in return can use the building and will keep it once a permanent cathedral can be used.
History.
Following the earthquakes, Shigeru Ban was invited to Christchurch by Rev. Craig Dixon, the cathedral's marketing and development manager, to discuss a temporary cathedral that could also host concerts and civic events. The concept was developed during that visit. Ban, who is characterised as a "disaster architect", designed the building "pro bono"; Ban collaborated with Christchurch architecture firm Warren and Mahoney.
Initially it was hoped to have the cathedral open in February 2012 for the first earthquake anniversary. A-frame in style, rising , it would incorporate 86 cardboard tubes of each atop long containers. However, it was not until April 2012 that the site was blessed, and construction began on 24 July 2012. Once the decision had been made that the building would remain for St John parish, it was constructed as a permanent structure.
At the same time as the site blessing, controversy raged about the Anglican diocese having applied to Christchurch City Council for an annual maintenance grant of NZ$240,000. Such a maintenance grant had for many years been given for ChristChurch Cathedral, but with the Diocese determined to demolish it there was widespread opposition to an ongoing grant, and city councillors declined the request.
The Great Christchurch Building Trust (GCBT), co-chaired by former MPs Jim Anderton and Philip Burdon, took the Anglican Church to the High Court, to determine whether the decision to demolish ChristChurch Cathedral breached an Act of Parliament that protects church buildings, and whether an insurance payout for ChristChurch Cathedral can be used for the transitional cathedral. In November 2012, the church began fund-raising to pay for the NZ$5 million project following the judge indicating it may not be legal to build a temporary cathedral using the insurance payout, which the judge confirmed as illegal in April 2013.
Exposed cardboard that had become wet before the building was fully enclosed was removed and replaced. While construction was expected to be completed by Christmas 2012, it was pushed back several times. In February 2013, the NZ$5.3 million budget had increased to NZ$5.9 million because of cost escalations.
Following the numerous delays the church hierarchy became secretive about the opening date and "The Press" reported on 2 August 2013 that the date was still unknown, only for an opening ceremony to be held later that day for a small number of invited guests. The contractor handed a symbolic key made from cardboard to the bishop.
The building opened to the public on 6 August 2013 with a dedication service on 15 August. It was the first significant building opened as part of Christchurch's rebuild.
Architecture.
The building rises above the altar. Materials used include -diameter cardboard tubes, timber and steel. The roof is of polycarbon, with eight shipping containers forming the walls. The foundation is concrete slab. The architect wanted the cardboard tubes to be the structural elements, but local manufacturers could not produce tubes thick enough and importing the cardboard was rejected. The 96 tubes, reinforced with laminated wood beams, are "coated with waterproof polyurethane and flame retardants" with two-inch gaps between them so that light can filter inside. Instead of a replacement rose window, the building has triangular pieces of stained glass. The building seats around 700 people. It serves as a conference venue as well as a cathedral.
The Wizard of New Zealand, one of the strongest critics of the Diocese for wanting to demolish ChristChurch Cathedral and who had been a daily speaker in Cathedral Square, called the design "kitsch".
Lonely Planet named Christchurch one of the "top 10 cities to travel to in 2013" in October 2012, and the cathedral was cited as one of the reasons that makes the city an exciting place.


Ancojahua (mountain)

Ancojahua (possibly from Aymara "janq'u" white, "q'awa" little river, ditch, crevice, fissure, gap in the earth, "white brook" or "white ravine") is a mountain in the Huanzo mountain range in the Andes of Peru, about high. It is situated in the Arequipa Region, Condesuyos Province, Cayarani District, and in the La Unión Province, Puyca District. Ancojahua lies south of Condori, southwest of Yana Yana, northeast of Quelcata and east of Pillune. There is a group of lakes southeast of Ancojahua named Ancascocha (possibly from Quechua for "blue lake").


Puntanipterus

Puntanipterus is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous period (Aptian stage) La Cruz Formation of San Luis, Argentina.
The genus was in 1975 named by José Bonaparte and Teresa Sánchez. The type species is "Puntanipterus globosus". The genus name refers to the "Puntanos", the colloquial name for the inhabitants of the province of San Luis after the old name of their capital "San Luis de la Punta de los Venados", and combines this with a Latinized Greek "pteron", "wing". The specific name means "spherical" in Latin, a reference to the form of the lower tibia.
It is based on holotype PVL 3869 (earlier FML 3869) found in 1972, a 105 millimetres long tibiotarsus and seven centimetres long fibula; referred to it were a back vertebra and a wing and foot phalanx. The leg bones were described as similar to those of "Pterodaustro" (from slightly younger rocks), except for having an expanded spherical joint at the ankle and spiny processes on the side faces of the tibia at that end.
Bonaparte in 1978 classified "Puntanipterus" as a member of the Pterodaustridae. The same year Peter Wellnhofer was more careful and limited his assessment to a Pterodactyloidea "incertae sedis". In 1980 Peter Galton concluded it belonged to the Dsungaripteridae. It was still by many considered to be a dsungaripterid by the time Peter Wellnhofer published "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs" (several editions in the 1990s).
However, in the nineties several tibiae conforming to that of "Puntanipterus" were found in the same strata as "Pterodaustro"; a direct comparison is only impossible because more complete specimens of the latter are always very compressed, deforming the ankle morphology; but smaller fragments containing not-compressed ankles all have the build of a "Puntanipterus" tibiotarsus. This is by South American workers seen as a strong indication that both forms are identical.
Glut reported a personal communication from Laura Codorniú and Luis Chiappe (2004) that "Puntanipterus" should be regarded as a junior synonym of "Pterodaustro", In his book, "The Pterosaurs: From Deep Time", Unwin (2006) classified it as a possibly valid species of uncertain relationships. Codorniu and Gasparini (2007) formally synonymized "Puntanipterus" with "Pterodaustro" in their overview of pterosaurs from Patagonia.


Artisa Ukru

Artisa Ukru (Quechua "artisa" wooden boat, "ukru" hole, pit, hollow, "boat pit", also spelled "Artezaucro") is a mountain in the Andes of Peru which reaches a height of approximately . It is located in the Huánuco Region, Huamalíes Province, Llata District.


Nematherium

Nematherium is an extinct genus of ground sloth of the family Scelidotheriidae found in Argentina and Chile during the Middle Miocene epoch (Santacrucian). Fossils have been found in the Cura-Mallín Formation of Chile and the Santa Cruz and Sarmiento Formations of Argentina.


Samarai Islands

The Samarai Islands archipelago, part of the larger Louisiade Archipelago, is located southeast of mainland New Guinea island, within the nation of Papua New Guinea.
Geography.
The archipelago consists of: 4 larger volcanic islands frequently fringed by coral reefs; and 30 smaller coral islands.
The islands stretch over more than , and spread over an ocean area of , between the Solomon Sea to the north and the Coral Sea to the south. The aggregate land area of the islands is about , with Basilaki Island being the largest.
Logea Island, Samarai Island and Sariba Island lie closest to mainland New Guinea, while the Kitai Group lies further east.
The entire archipelago is within the Bwanabwana Rural LLG (Local Level Government), a part of the Samarai-Murua District in Milne Bay Province, southeastern Papua New Guinea. The seat of the Bwanabwana Rural LLG is Samarai, the population center of the Samarai Islands archipelago.
History.
Malay and Chinese sailors may have visited the islands before European explorers. The islands most likely first sighted by Europeans in 1606, by Luis Váez de Torres. Louis Antoine de Bougainville named them the Louisiades in 1768 for King Louis XV of France. European stops were also paid by Admiral Bruni d'Entrecasteaux in 1793, and Captain Owen Stanley in 1849.
Climate.
The islands have a moist tropical climate, and are largely covered with tropical moist broadleaf forests.


Heimat (film series)

Heimat is a series of films written and directed by Edgar Reitz about life in Germany from the 1840s to 2000 through the eyes of a family from the Hunsrück area of the Rhineland-Palatinate. The family's personal and domestic life is set against the backdrop of wider social and political events. The combined length of the 5 films – broken into 32 episodes – is 59 hours and 32 minutes, making it one of the longest series of feature-length films in =cinema history.
The title "Heimat" () is a German word, often translated as "homeland" or "home place", but it has been alleged that the word has no true English equivalent. Usage has come to include that of an ironic reference to the film genre known as "Heimatfilm" which was popular in Germany in the 1950s. "Heimat" films were characterised by rural settings, sentimental tone and simplistic morality.
Aesthetically, the series is notable for the frequent switching between color and black-and-white film to convey different emotional states. In 1987 it won a BAFTA for "Foreign Television Programme".
The first film was released in 1984 with a followup in 1993. A direct sequel to the original film was released in 2003. Using unused footage and outtakes to create a narrative, in 2006, a film was released focusing on the women, as Hermann's daughter Lulu looks back on her family history. A prequel film to the original was released in 2013.
Background.
"Tales from the Hunsrück Villages".
Before creating the "Heimat" series, Edgar Reitz produced a documentary during 1980–81 about people from his home region, the Hunsrück, where he later set the "Heimat" series. In "Geschichten aus den Hunsrückdörfern" () he showed people who had not left the region, unlike "Heimat"'s theme of leaving home. This documentary is not considered to be part of the core "Heimat" series but set the stage for the work to come a few years later.
Autobiographical elements.
Berkeley film and media professor Anton Kaes argued that "auteur" film-maker Reitz's trilogy was autobiographical. Reitz and Paul Simon, his fictional character in "Heimat", had fathers who were skilled craftsmen. Edgar Reitz was born in 1932 and Paul Simon in 1898 in Hunsrück. They grew up there, then left when they were in their twenties and returned in their fifties. Like Hermann Simon in the 1950s, Reitz left rural life for the world of German urban avant-garde arts and intelligentsia. Reitz worked at the Institute of Film Design in Ulm, while Hermann became a celebrated conductor in Munich. Wealthy American entrepreneur Paul Simon returned to Hunsrück only briefly when the war ended, but Hermann Simon's return was more permanent. He and his lover Clarissa restored a house overlooking the Rhine that lay in ruins, eventually composing music for representing and celebrating his relationship to "Heimat". Both Hermann and Reitz "dramatized the tensions between staying home, leaving and returning" (Kaes 1989:164), Hermann through music and Reitz through film.
Development.
After watching "Holocaust", Reitz was offended by the American 'melodramaticisation' of the tragic events and the positive reception the film received. In 1979, Reitz began to make notes of his own life and completed a 250-page screenplay draft based upon his youth. Later in the year, Reitz contacted Peter Steinbach and together after what was planned to be a single night, they stayed for the next thirteen months in a small hut in Woppenroth writing a script. They became friendly with the local villagers and invited them to comment on the characters and incidents in the story.
In 1980, Reitz and Steinbach completed a 2,000-page screenplay. The success of "Berlin Alexanderplatz" had convinced television production companies that there was a market for sagas. After some haggling, Reitz managed to secure funding for the length of the script and remodeling of five Hunsrück villages.
Shooting began on the first film in May 1981, and continued for eighteen months. The cast consisted of 140 speaking parts, 32 full-time actors, 15 non-professional actors and 3,862 extras. Many of the cast had limited stage experience or no acting experience at all. While shooting, the villagers became heavily involved in the project and helped with re-modelling or set changes depending on the time period. Villagers put out advertisements in nearby villages in hope to find authentic items that could be used as props.
During shooting, Reitz decided that certain elements required extra emphasis that only colour could provide. However, Reitz was quick to deny any theories behind the alternations between black-and-white and colour.
Thirteen months were required for editing with Reitz working alongside Heidi Handorf. Together they created an eighteen-hour rough cut that was later trimmed to just over fifteen hours. Post-production continued until the premiere at Munich Film Festival in 1984. The entire project had taken over five years to complete.
While making "Heimat", Reitz had become interested in developing a series of love stories with the working title of "Men and Women". However, in October 1985, Reitz decided to make these tales the basis of "Die Zweite Heimat" (). The film follows the character Hermann as he leaves to study music in Munich and meets new friends, who are all following their own dreams.
Running at over 25 hours, "Die Zweite Heimat" took over six years to write and production lasted 557 days. The cast comprised 71 leading actors, 310 supporting actors and 2,300 extras. The film's soundtrack also became the longest soundtrack ever produced.
Films.
"Heimat".
"Heimat", the original series, premiered in 1984 and follows the life of Maria Simon, a woman living in the fictional village of Schabbach. It was filmed in and around the village of Woppenroth in Rhein-Hunsrück, a rural region of Germany to the west of the Rhineland-Palatinate. Subtitled "Eine Deutsche Chronik — A German Chronicle", it consists of 11 episodes running in total to 15 hours 24 minutes of screen time. The film spans 1919 to 1982, and depicts how historical events affect the Simon family and the community in which they lived. At the start of each episode, Karl Glasisch narrates the story so far over photographs by Eduard Simon.
"Die zweite Heimat" ("Leaving Home").
"Die zweite Heimat" (literally "The Second Heimat"; English title "Heimat 2") (subtitled "Chronik einer Jugend — Chronicle of a Youth") followed in 1992. It is set during the socially turbulent years of the 1960s and how Maria's youngest son Hermann leaves his rural home and makes a new life for himself as a composer in Munich.
Hermann is a musical prodigy whose teenage romance in 1955 with 26-year-old soul-mate Klärchen was considered scandalous by his conservative home village. It resulted in her being expelled and coerced not to contact him ever again. Hermann was crushed and vowed never to love again and to leave his wicked village forever. He arrives in Munich at age 19, overwhelmed and with no place to stay. He finds a private room opening in a month, leaving the deposit with a flamboyant Hungarian woman. His friend Renate, a law student, allows Hermann to sleep on her floor but he is put off by her sexual advances. He finally rooms with Clemens, a fellow Hunsrücker who plays jazz drums in Munich's clubs. Hermann is accepted into the music conservatory, where he meets the incredibly talented Juan from Chile, whose school application is rejected on the grounds his marimbas are "folklore". Hermann and Juan network with the avant-garde culture surrounding the conservatory, including film students, while Hermann takes odd jobs and Juan works as a gymnastics teacher. Both Juan and Hermann have a brief fling with the beautiful cellist Clarissa, who is drawn to those who also fear intimacy. The students are gradually drawn to the Foxhole, a mansion headed by a wealthy art patroness said to be a "collector of artists".
"Heimat 3".
"Heimat 3" (subtitled "Chronik einer Zeitenwende — Chronicle of a Changing Time") premiered in 2004. It continues Hermann's story in 1989 as he returns to Schabbach and depicts the events of the period from the fall of the Berlin Wall until 2000. The cinema version consists of six episodes running to 11 hours 29 minutes, although controversially the version broadcast on the German ARD television network in December 2004 was edited to six 90-minute episodes and it is this 20% shorter version which was released on DVD.
"Heimat-Fragmente" ("Heimat Fragments").
"Heimat-Fragmente" (English title "Heimat Fragments"), subtitled "Die Frauen — The Women", was released in cinemas in 2006 and focuses on the women of the Simon family at the turn of the millennium, and in the 1960s.
"Die andere Heimat" ("Home from Home").
In April 2012, Reitz started filming a prequel to the series: "Die andere Heimat" (literally "The other Heimat"; English title "Home from Home"), with the subtitle "Chronik einer Sehnsucht — Chronicle of a Vision". The film takes place between 1840 and 1844 and centres around two brothers, their families and love relations from the Hunsrück area and their decision whether to flee hunger and poverty by emigrating to Brazil. Principal filming was completed in August 2012. It was screened at the Venice Film Festival in September 2013. The film was awarded a score of 70 on critical aggregator website Metacritic, indicating generally favorable reviews.
Reception.
Release and awards.
After premiering in Germany, "Heimat" was shown in Venice, London and New York festivals. It was shown in movie screens around the world in separate parts. However, it gained its worldwide exposure on television, across 26 countries. In order to shape the film into eleven episodes, Reitz devised introductory segments in which Kurt Wagner as Glasisch narrated the brief story so far, over photographs by Eduard Simon. In Germany, the broadcast received over fifteen million viewers.
"Heimat" earned Edgar Reitz the FIPRESCI Prize at the 1984 Venice Film Festival, while Marita Breuer won the Darstellerpreis for Best Actress at the 1985 Bavarian Film Awards. In the United Kingdom the film won a BAFTA and the London Film Critics' Circle award for Best Foreign Language Film.
"Die Zweite Heimat" premiered at the Venice Biennale and broadcast rights were purchased by television companies in 16 different countries. However, the German backers were disappointed that it received a smaller percentage-viewing share than the first. Reitz said the executives overlooked the fact that in 1984 only three channels existed compared to more than twenty in 1992. In the United States the film had a short theatrical run in New York at The Public Theater. It also screened at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and various Goethe Institute across the country. It was not picked up for television by US cable networks.
In Italy the film was shown at a large venue in Rome, that had sold out tickets weekly. Reitz was presented with the "Eurofipa d’honneur" award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1994.
Critical reception.
"Heimat" received acclaim around the world. Many were enthusiastic how it never felt like a television movie, but a cinematic experience. Many praised the themes through the film about leaving and returning and simply how we connect to the larger world from our home. Reitz received thousands of letters from ordinary people, thanking him for retrieving and unlocking their memories of the 1919–1982 period. However, critic Leonie Naughton accused the film of presenting a "bourgeois history of the Third Reich, a homespun tale of innocence."
"Die Zweite Heimat" received a lukewarm reception in the United States. National press coverage was limited to a single review by Stephen Holden in The New York Times, who described Hermann Simon as "a hotheaded romantic" and the film as a "alternately gripping and lyrical 13-episode serial about German life in the 1960s". Holden also declared the film a "the ultimate highbrow soap opera for couch potatoes".
British press for "Die Zweite Heimat" was more enthusiastic with The Financial Times, The Observer and The Independent all praising it.
Lasting impact.
"Heimat" was one of director Stanley Kubrick's favourite films. It is ranked  59 in "Empire" magazine's "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010. It also finished in 6th place when BBC Two ran a 40th birthday poll celebrating the station's greatest programmes and was 10th in Channel 4's "50 Greatest TV Dramas".
"Heimat" has faced some criticism for its selective interpretation of German history, with some writers noting that there is limited treatment of the hyperinflationary spiral of the 1920s, the Great Depression, or certain aspects of Nazi history such as the Holocaust of World War II. In 1985, Timothy Garton Ash wrote in "The New York Review of Books" that:When you show the 1930s as a golden age of prosperity and excitement in the German countryside, when you are shown the Germans as victims of the war, then you inevitably find yourself asking: But what about the other side? What about Auschwitz? Where is the director's moral judgment? To which the color filters insistently reply: 'Remember, remember, this is a film about what Germans remember. Some things they remember in full color. Some in sepia. Others they prefer to forget. Memory is selective. Memory is partial. Memory is amoral.'"Heimat" 's themes of decadent American values and Western corporate greed rising up against the innocent simplicity of the Hunsrück have been seen as "resurrecting a discourse that prevailed in the nineteenth century about the modernization of Germany's society and economy ... no compromises or delicate balances are possible".
Barbara Gabriel argued that the series was part of a larger movement of national memory work in Germany, provoked in part by the American television series "Holocaust". As European art in general and German art in particular underwent a resurgence in the 1960s, artists like Günter Grass and Edgar Reitz captured international attention as they grappled with issues of identity in a divided, post-Holocaust Germany.


Elephant Field

The Elephant Field (also known as the El Feel Field) is an oil field located in onshore in Libya's Murzuq Basin.
History.
In October 1997, an international consortium led by British company LASMO, along with Eni (33%) and a group of five South Korean companies, announced that it had discovered large recoverable crude reserves (around 700 million barrels) at the NC-174 Block, which is located in the southwestern Libyan desert about 465 miles (800 km) south of Tripoli, Libya. Other participants in the block included Agip Nord Africa B.V. and a consortium of Korean companies, which included the Daesung Group, Daewoo International Corp., Hyundai Corporation, Korea Petroleum Development Corp., and the Majuko Group.
LASMO had entered Libya in 1990 with the Korean consortium named PEDCO and carried out the initial exploration programme of geological fieldwork, 2500 km of seismic acquisition and the drilling of four wildcat wells that led to two oil discoveries in 1993-94. This initial success ensured the viability of further exploration in the area and therefore the pursuit of the Elephant Prospect. The LASMO-PEDCO exploration team had identified the Elephant feature on its extensive seismic database and negotiated with the Libyan NOC to extend the concession area to include the entire prospect. LASMO was subsequently purchased by ENI.
LASMO estimated that production from the field would cost around $1 per barrel. Development costs were estimated to be $500 million. Elephant began production in February 2004 at around . In 2006, Eni indicated that Elephant was producing at around , and the company was hoping to see the field reach full capacity of by 2008.
The operator of the Elephant Field is Agip Oil Company Limited, a company equally owned by NOC and Eni.
In March 2015, operations at the field suffered power outages due to power supply problems.


Cerro del Quinceo

The Cerro del Quinceo (2,787 m) is an inactive volcano and the highest mountain in the municipality of Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico. The mountain is a destination for tracking, hiking and hang gliding.
Estadio Morelos home to Mexico Primera División football club Monarcas Morelia is located at the foot of the mountain.


Wintonopus

Wintonopus is an ichnogenus of dinosaur footprint. Its footprints have been found at Lark Quarry in Australia. The genus is named after the Winton Formation in which the tracks were found. Other tracks were found in the Broome Sandstone of Dampier Peninsula, Western Australia.


Dapedium

Dapedium is an extinct genus of primitive neopterygian ray-finned fish. The first-described finding was an example of "D. politum", found in the Lower Lias of Lyme Regis, on the Jurassic Coast of England (Leach 1822). "Dapedium" lived in the late Triassic and Jurassic periods.
Appearance.
The various species of "Dapedium" ranged from long, and all had an oval to near-circular body. The skin was covered with thick, rhomboid, ganoid (enamel-like) scales. The smallest species so far found is "D. noricum".
The skull was armoured with bony dermal plates, which were especially plentiful in the orbital region. These bones bore irregular tubercles. The small pectoral and pelvic fins, along with the extended dorsal and anal fins formed a functional unit with the tail. The tail was short and stout, providing the power for a sudden change in direction while the fish was swimming.
The upper jaw of "Dapedium" was moveable and could protrude from the mouth, enabling a wider gape to capture larger prey.
Distribution.
"Dapedium" lived mostly in the Jurassic seas of Europe, a peripheral continental shelf sea of the Tethys Ocean. Notable finds have been made in Holzmaden, Germany, in Temple Grafton, Warwickshire, England and in Lyme Regis, Dorset, England.
Behaviour.
The strong and pointed dentition suggests that "Dapedium" was durophagous, feeding on hard-shelled invertebrates, like mussels and sea urchins.


Cryopterygius

Cryopterygius (meaning 'frozen fin' in Greek) is an extinct genus of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur known from the uppermost Jurassic of Central Spitsbergen, Norway. The type species, "Cryopterygius kristiansenae ", is known from a single, but largely complete specimen from the Slottsmøya Member of the Agardhfjellet Formation (middle Volgian/late Tithonian, Late Jurassic). With a total length of , it is a large ichthyosaur. A second species, "C. kielanae", was found in the Kcynia Formation from the Late Jurassic of Poland. It is smaller than the type species, with a length of .


Chawpi Tiyana

Chawpi Tiyana (Quechua "chawpi" central, middle, "tiyana" seat, "central seat", hispanicized spelling "Chaupitiana") is a mountain in the La Raya mountain range in the Andes of Peru, about high. It is located in the Cusco Region, Canchis Province, Marangani District. It lies southwest of Kuntur Quta and south of Wiyachayuq.


Alcamarine (Peru)

Alcamarine (possibly from Aymara and Quechua "allqamari" "mountain caracara", "-ni" a suffix to indicate ownership, "the one with the mountain caracara") is a mountain in the Peruvian Andes, about high. It is located in the Puno Region, Azángaro Province, on the border of the districts of Muñani and San Antón. It lies northwest of Surupana and north of Chamacane.
Alcamarine is situated at the Quellhuiri which originates northwest of the mountain. It flows to the south.


Palaeopomacentrus

Palaeopomacentrus orphae is an extinct species of fish from the Ypresian epoch of Monte Bolca. It is the only known species of the genus "Palaeopomacentrus".


Alberto Angela

Alberto Angela (; born April 8, 1962) is an Italian paleontologist, writer and journalist. Angela is currently a famous history and science communicator in Italy.
Biography.
Alberto Angela was born in Paris, where his father worked as correspondent for RAI.
He accompanied his father, Italian TV announcer Piero Angela, on his trips ever since he was a child, something that allowed him to learn many European languages and to acquire a cosmopolitan culture. After being a student in France, he enrolled in a course of Natural Sciences at the University "La Sapienza" of Rome, finally graduating with 110/110 and a prize for his thesis. He also studied at multiple American universities, where he took courses of specialisation from Harvard, Columbia and UCLA and further focused on palaeontology and paleoanthropology. Once out of university he started working in the research field participating in paleoanthropologic digs in various places in the world, among which Zaire, Ishango, Tanzania, Olduvai and Laetoli, Sultanate of the Oman, Mongolia, and the desert of the Gobi.
In 1988 he published an essay on the new techniques of interactivity in scientific museums, entitled "Musei (e mostre) a misura d'uomo. Come comunicare attraverso gli oggetti". Together with his father he has written various books of scientific subjects: "La straordinaria storia dell'uomo" (1989), "La straordinaria storia della vita sulla Terra" (1992), "Il Pianeta dei Dinosauri" (1993), "Dentro al Mediterraneo" (1995), "La straordinaria storia di una vita che nasce - 9 mesi nel ventre materno" (1996), "Squali" (1997), "Viaggio nel Cosmo" (1998).
As a journalist, he has collaborated with various daily papers and periodicals, among which "La Stampa", "Airone", "Epoca".
On television programs, he has conceived and written together with his father "Il pianeta dei dinosauri", transmitted by Rai Uno in 1993; he is one of the authors of a series of TV program(s), including "Superquark", "Quark Speciale", and "Viaggio nel cosmo" for Raiuno. He is also author of the afternoon documentary container-program "Passaggio a Nord Ovest", on the same channel. In 1998 he was a commentator in the field in the Italian version of the series of documentaries "Big Cat Diary" devoted to the great African feline, entirely realized in co-production between RAI and BBC and for this program, he stayed in the reserve of Masai Mara, in Kenya.
Together with his father, Angela was the host of the program "Ulisse", from 2001 on Rai Tre, for which he won the Premio Flaiano for television. In 2002 he was attacked and robbed by bandits while filming a TV program, in the desert of Niger.
He received the "America Award" of the Italy-USA Foundation in 2017.
In 2018, he received honorary Neapolitan citizenship.
He is a member of the Italian institute of Human Palaeontology (Rome), and of the Centro Studi e Ricerche Ligabue (Venice).


Eudmetoceras

Eudmetoceras is an extinct genus from a well-known class of fossil cephalopods, the ammonites. It lived during the Jurassic Period, which lasted from 171.6 to 168.4 million years ago.


Striatolamia

Striatolamia is an extinct genus of sharks belonging to the family Odontaspididae. These extinct sharks lived from the Early Paleocene to Late Miocene (61.7 to 10.3 Ma).
Etymology.
The Latin genus name "Striatolamia" refers to the striations on the surface of the teeth.
Taxonomy.
This genus had been assigned to families Mitsukurinidae and Striatolamiidae by other authors.
Similar and related genera include "Carcharoides", "Parodontaspis", "Priodontaspis", "Pseudoisurus" and "Synodontaspis".
Species.
Species within this genus include:
Description.
"Striatolamia" species could reach a length of about . Its teeth are notably big and rather common in sediments. The anterior teeth have elongated crowns, with striations on the lingual face and small lateral cusplets. The lateral teeth are smaller and broader, with weaker striations.
"S. macrota" anterior teeth have smaller roots than "S. striata", and they are often recurved. Another difference between these two species is the length of their teeth. Teeth of "striata" are generally smaller () than "macrota" ().
Distribution and habitat.
Most widespread species of "Striatolamia" are "S. striata" and "S. macrota". Fossil teeth and calcified vertebrae of "Striatolamia" species have been found all over the world. These sharks lived in waters with low salinity.


Pierre-Joseph van Beneden

Pierre-Joseph van Beneden FRS FRSE FGS FZS (19 December 1809 – 8 January 1894) was a Belgian zoologist and paleontologist.
Life.
Born in Mechelen, Belgium, he studied medicine at the State University of Leuven, and studied zoology in Paris under Georges Cuvier (1769–1832). In 1831 he became curator at the natural history museum in Leuven, and from 1836 until 1894 was a professor of zoology at the Catholic University of Leuven. In 1842 he became a member of the "Académie des sciences de Belgique", becoming its President in 1881. In 1875 became a foreign member of the Royal Society of London and in 1884 an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
In 1843 he established one of the world's first marine laboratories and aquariums.
He was the father of biologist Edouard van Beneden (1846–1910). Pierre-Joseph van Beneden died in Leuven, Belgium.
Scientific work.
Van Beneden was a specialist in the field of parasitology, being known for his comprehensive studies on the development, transformation, and life-histories of parasitic worms. In 1858 a treatise on this subject won the "Grand prix des sciences physiques" of the Institut de France. It was published in the "International Scientific Series" (1875), under the title "Les commensaux et les parasites dans le règne animal", and was translated into English and German.
He did extensive research in marine biology, and in 1843 established an aquarium and marine laboratory in Ostend.
With French zoologist Paul Gervais (1816–1879), he published an important work on extinct and living cetaceans titled "Ostéographie des Cétacés, vivants et fossiles". His interest in this matter had begun during the excavations rendered necessary by the fortifying of Antwerp, when a number of bones of fossil whales were exposed to view. His papers on the extinct species found near Antwerp were published in the "Annales du musée royal d'histoire naturelle de Brucelles", and with them was incorporated a description of the fossil seals which were discovered in the same area.
He introduced the term mutualism in 1876.
Books.
A selection of books by Pierre-Joseph van Beneden with full text available.
Distinctions.
Van Beneden attended the celebration of the tercentenary of the University of Edinburgh, and was there made an honorary LL.D. He was a foreign member of the Royal Society and also of the Linnæan, Geological, and Zoological societies of London. He was president of the Royal Belgian Academy in 1881, and was created Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold on the occasion of his professorial jubilee. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1886. He became a foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1859. He died in Leuven aged 84 on January 8, 1894. He was always a devout Catholic and, as the writer of his obituary for the Royal Society particularly states, always exhibited "the widest toleration for the views of others".


Iridomyrmex breviantennis

Irdomyrmex breviantennis is an extinct species of ant which belongs to the genus "Iridomyrmex". The first fossils was officially described by Theobald in 1937. A fossil of a queen was observed from France.