Erythrosuchus

Erythrosuchus ("red crocodile") is an extinct genus of archosauriform reptile from the Triassic of South Africa. Remains have been found from the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone of the Beaufort Group in the Karoo of South Africa.
In the Late Triassic, the ecological niche left by "Erythrosuchus" was filled by creatures like "Saurosuchus" and "Postosuchus".
Description.
"Erythrosuchus" was the largest predator of its time, and was around long. It walked on all fours and had limbs which were positioned semi-vertically under its body, unlike the more sprawling gait of most earlier reptiles. Its head was large and dinosaur-like, reaching a length of , and had sharp, conical teeth.
"Erythrosuchus" was the largest erythrosuchid, but apart from its size, it was similar in appearance to other related genera. It had a large head and comparatively short neck. One of the few distinguishing features of "Erythrosuchus" other than its size is the smoothness of the margin of the squamosal, a bone at the rear of the skull. In other erythrosuchids, the margin of this bone projects backward from the skull, giving it a hook-like appearance. In "Erythrosuchus", the margin is convex and lacks a hook.
Discovery.
"Erythrosuchus" is known from many specimens, most of which are fragmentary. The holotype, described by Robert Broom in 1905 and known as SAM 905, is poorly preserved. Only small pieces of the limbs, pectoral and pelvic girdles, skull, and a few vertebrae present in this specimen. A thorough description of the genus was given by German paleontologist Friedrich von Huene in 1911. The fossil material that served as the basis for the description is now housed in the Natural History Museum in London, England. Like the holotype, it is very fragmentary, and some specimens may even belong to the same individual as SAM 905. One specimen, known as BMNH R 3592, is relatively more complete, with much of the postcranial skeleton intact.
Early restorations of the skull of "Erythrosuchus" depicted it as being tall, similar in appearance to "Tyrannosaurus". However, a complete skull that was later described in 1963 revealed that the true shape was less tall than previously thought. This skull, known as BPI 5207 and currently part of the collection of the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research in South Africa, has a somewhat pointed snout. Earlier restorations may have shown a deeper snout because it was not known at the time how the bones of the skull articulated with one another.
The braincase has also been studied, and possesses features that are shared with other early archosauriforms. Many of these characteristics are considered plesiomorphic, or ancestral, in archosaurs. While "Erythrosuchus" is not considered an archosaur, it is thought to be closely related to the last common ancestor of all archosaurs.
Classification.
The hypothetical last common ancestor of archosaurs is thought to have shared many features with "Erythrosuchus", many of which are found in the braincase. For example, the inner part of the otic capsule (the skeletal structure surrounding the inner ear) is not entirely ossified, or completely formed of bone. Neither is the channel for the perilymphatic duct, which is a tube that leaves the lagena. The lagena is the portion of the inner ear responsible for hearing, and is known as the cochlea in mammals (although in mammals it is coiled rather than straight). "Erythrosuchus" has a short lagena, which is also expected in the last common ancestor of all archosaurs.
Some features of the ankle of "Erythrosuchus" suggest that it was beginning to adapt toward digitigrady, or walking on toes rather than having the entire foot placed on the ground. The ankle is similar to that of "Euparkeria"; the ankles of both of these animals are more advanced than those of other archosauriformes.


Allcochayoc

Allcochayoc (possibly from in the Quechua spelling "Allquchayuq"; "allqu" dog, "-cha", "-yuq" suffixes, "the one with a little dog (or little dogs)") is a mountain in the Andes of Peru which reaches a height of approximately . It is located in the Huancavelica Region, Churcampa Province, on the border of the districts of Coris and Locroja District.


Sphingidites

Sphingidites is an extinct and monotypic moth genus in the family Sphingidae. Its only species is Sphingidites weidneri. It is a compression fossil of a prepupal larva. Both the genus and species were first described by Kurt Kernbach in 1967. The fossil was found at Willershausen clay pit in Germany and it was dated to the Pliocene.


Tuzla oil field

The Tuzla oil field is an oil field located in Tuzla, Tuzla Canton. It was discovered in 2004 and developed by Energopetrol. The total proven reserves of the Tuzla oil field are around 360 million barrels (50×106tonnes), and production is supposed to be centered on .


Rodolphoolithus

Rodolphoolithus is an oogenus of elongatoolithid egg native to Morocco. It is known only from a single partial egg and several eggshell fragments, but it probably had a highly elongated shape like other Elongatoolithids. They have an eggshell with two layers: a mamillary layer and a continuous layer. The mamillary layer is relatively thick (compared to other Elongatoolithids); it is a half to two thirds the thickness of the continuous layer. The ornamentation of its outer surface is ramotuberculate, i.e. covered with low, irregular ridges. Unfortunately, the pore system cannot be observed due to recrystallization of the fossilized eggshell. Like other Elongatoolithids, "Rodolphoolithus" was laid by small theropods.


Acanthostomatops

Acanthostomatops is an extinct genus of zatracheidid temnospondyl from the Lower Permian Döhlen Basin of Saxony.
History of study.
"Acanthostomatops" was originally named for the type species, "Acanthostoma vorax," in 1883. However, the genus name "Acanthostoma" was previously used for a polychaete worm back in 1813, and the present name was given in 1961. Detailed descriptions of the taxon were given by Steen & Brough (1937), with an emphasis on the ontogeny of the taxon based on the large sample size given by Boy (1989) and Witzmann & Schoch (2006). Werneburg (1998) described a larval specimen of "A. vorax", but this was later proven to be a specimen of the micromelerpetid "Branchierpeton amblystomum".
Anatomy.
"Acanthostomatops" is diagnosed by six features: (1) lacrimal and prefrontal projecting into orbital; (2) quadratojugal with two lateral spikes; (3) choana laterally constricted by palatal tusk sockets; (4) small, rectangular interclavicle; (5) large and robust humerus present in larval stages; (6) 21-22 presacral vertebrae positions. Compared to the other zatracheidids, it has the proportionately widest skull and the smallest internarial fontanelle, which only slightly divides the nasals. it also lacks posteriorly extensive tabular horns and postparietal horns. It is also the only zatracheidid with definitively known postcranial material.
Development.
Over 30 specimens of "A. vorax" are known from the type locality near Dresden. The ontogenetic changes have been described in detail most recently by Witzmann & Schoch (2006). Among the changes that occur are a proportional shortening of the femur and the trunk relative to the skull and a distinct remodeling of the hyobranchial apparatus, with resorption of the larval form's ceratobranchials and the formation of a complex apparatus of hypobranchials that the authors suggested was for supporting the tongue. Based on the changes to the skeleton and the distribution of size classes within the locality, Witzmann & Schoch (2006) suggested that "A. vorax" had a biphasic life history, with an aquatic larval to juvenile form and a terrestrial adult form.


Captorhinus

Captorhinus is an extinct genus of captorhinid reptiles that lived during the Permian period. Its remains are known from Oklahoma, Texas, Europe, India, the Pedra de Fogo Formation, Parnaíba Basin, Brazil and the Madumabisa Mudstone, Zambia.
Description.
While there are several forms of "Captorhinus", there are three main species that are the best known. The previously mentioned "Captorhinus aguti" is the type species of "Captorhinus", but there is also a fair amount of material collected on "Captorhinus magnus" and "Captorhinus laticeps".
The most distinguishable trait of "Captorhinus" is its namesake: the hooking of the snout from prominent ventral angulation of the premaxillary process. Other notable characteristics include the dorsally positioned alary process of the jugal on the medial surface and flushed with the orbital margin, the retroarticular process longer anteroposteriorly than broad, and the anteriormost dentary tooth strongly procumbent. The posterior teeth are either chisel-shaped or ogival. Until the late 1990s, "Captorhinus" was diagnosed by the presence of multiple rows of marginal teeth on the maxillary and dentary bones. However, single-rowed captorhinid elements have been discovered, proving this hypothesis incorrect.
"Captorhinus aguti".
Although a subfamily of Captorhinidae, Moradisaurinae, also possessed multiple-tooth-rows, the best-known type species "Captorhinus aguti" clearly acquired multiple-rowed-teeth independently. In contrast to the teeth rows in moradisaurines, the "C. aguti" rows are oriented obliquely to the margins, where each row is followed posterolaterally by the next one. The toothed areas of the maxilla and dentary are broader in "C. aguti" than in single-tooth-rowed captorhinids.
The vertebral structure in "C. aguti" is that commonly possessed by primitive reptiles. The centra are amphicoelous and notochordal, with swollen, relatively massive neural arches. The vertebral column is differentiated into presacral, sacral, and postsacral or caudal vertebrae.
Similarly to extant reptiles, "C. aguti" has a functional “mesotarsal” joint. It divides the tarsus into a proximal and distal unit, where the centrale is linked mechanically to the proximal (astragalus-calcaneum) unit. The increased flexibility due to this multiple-jointed arrangement allowed for the articulations between the centrale and first three distal tarsals on the medial side of the mesotarsal joint to have mechanical independence from the lateral articulation between the astragalus-calcaneum and the fourth and fifth distal tarsals. This is almost certainly closely correlated with the primitive sprawling step cycle. Due to the shape of the distal femoral articulation, "Captorhinus aguti" would have had little capacity to compensate for lateral movement of the femur.
"Captorhinus magnus".
"Captorhinus magnus" has thus far been identified from only the Richards Spur locality in Oklahoma, a site that also produced the remains of "C. aguti". Fossils of "C. magnus" are found predominately in the deeper regions of the fissure complex, whereas in the upper, younger sediments of the fillings, "C. magnus" remains are extremely rare. This suggests the ecological replacement of "C. magnus" by the smaller, multiple-rowed "C. aguti" during the Early Permian.
The skeletal elements of "Captorhinus magnus" possess a nearly identical morphology to those elements of "Captorhinus aguti", with the lone exception of the size difference. "Captorhinus magnus" averaged about twice as large as "C. aguti." Another important difference between the two species is that the teeth are arranged in a single row. "Captorhinus magnus" possesses ogival check teeth, where the distal tips of the teeth exhibit a triangular shape when viewed in anterior view. Unlike "C. aguti", the femur of "C. magnus" possesses a concave proximal articular surface in both immature and mature individuals. This allows for distinction between similar-sized femora of "C. aguti" and "C. magnus", regardless of the ontogenetic stage of the individuals preserved. Without the presence of the femur or a tooth-bearing element, it would prove difficult to distinguish between "C. magnus" and "C. aguti", although the two can likely be differentiated with size as the sole criterion.
"Captorhinus laticeps".
"C. laticeps" is distinguished from "C. aguti" by the lack of multiple tooth rows, but is very similar in all other aspects. "Captorhinus laticeps" is considerably smaller than "C. magnus", and possesses chisel-shaped teeth instead of ogival teeth on the posterior portion of the maxilla and dentary.
History of discovery.
In 1882, Edward Cope described a fragmentary skull from the Lower Permian of Texas collected by W. F. Cummins at Coffee Creek as "Ectocynodon aguti". The name had then been revised several times by different paleontologists as more genera were discovered. In 1911, paleontologist Ermine Cowles Case revised the recently discovered species. He decided to refer "P." ("Ectodynodon") "aguti", "P. aduncus", and "P. isolomus" to "Captorhinus", and established a new family, Captorhinidae.
Named by Cope from the Latin word, “captor,” meaning “one who catches something,” and the Greek word, “rhino,” meaning, “of the nose.” This is based on the theory that the characteristically curved premaxilla of "Captorhinus" may have been used to catch prey.
Paleobiology.
Diet.
Possible prey from the known fauna of the early Permian of both Texas and Oklahoma may have included other small amniotes, small dissorophid temnospondyls, and microsaurian lepospondyls. The comparatively small body size of basal captorhinids suggests that they were probably in competition for food with only the youngest of varanopids and sphenacodontids. These species most likely compromised the smallest carnivore guild among early Permian predators.
Palaeoecology.
"Captorhinus" is known from the Admiral, Belle Plains, Clyde, Arroyo, Vale, and possibly the Choza Formations, Lower Permian, of Texas. The genus is also known from the Lower Permian fissure deposits at Richards Spur, Oklahoma, and the Cutler Formation, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. The morphology of small captorhinids is best known from the vast amount of material collected near Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The majority of bones found belong to the multiple-tooth-rowed captorhinid, "Captorhinus aguti". The fossils found are currently in the Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (OMNH). Two specimens held in the OMNH that have been part of the diagnostic process of these species are OMNH 52366, an almost complete right maxilla, and OMNH 52367, a partial right dentary. It is uncertain if the two elements belong to the same individual. Another commonly mentioned captorhinid, "Labidosaurus hamatus", was found in a Lower Permian geologic group in Texas, called the Clear Fork Group. There is a skull and incomplete postcranial skeleton of "Captorhinus" in the possession of the American Museum of Natural History. Another significant specimen belongs to the Chicago Museum of Natural History taken from the Richard’s Spur, Oklahoma locality.


Cerro Tenerife (Chile)

Cerro Tenerife is a mountain located next to the small town of Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine National Park in Chilean Patagonia.
It measures 1,650 meters and takes its name from the island of Tenerife in Spain because the Spanish settler who settled in the place, called Ernesto Casasola was from the island of Tenerife and the hill resembled the volcano Teide located in that Spanish island.


Mandagomphodon

Mandagomphodon is an extinct genus of traversodontid cynodonts from the Middle Triassic Lifua Member of the Manda Beds of Ruhuhu Valley, Tanzania. The type species "Mandagomphodon hirschsoni" was named by Crompton in 1972 as a species referable to "Scalenodon". Later studies, including a 2003 phylogenetic analysis of traversodontid relationships, did not find the species of "Scalenodon" from the Manda Formation to form a single clade, meaning that many were not referable to the genus. The study suggested that "S. hirschsoni" had more in common with other traversodontids like "Luangwa". "S. attridgei" was viewed as a possible synonym of "S. charigi", which was also found to be only distantly related to "S. angustifrons". Therefore, a new generic name "Mandagomphodon" was erected for "S. hirschsoni" by James A. Hopson in 2013.


Micodon

Micodon is an extinct genus of New World monkeys from the Middle Miocene (Laventan in the South American land mammal ages; 13.8 to 11.8 Ma). Its remains have been found at the Konzentrat-Lagerstätte of La Venta in the Honda Group of Colombia. The type species is "M. kiotensis", a very small monkey among the New World species.
Description.
Fossils of "Micodon" were discovered in the La Victoria Formation, that has been dated to the Laventan, about 13.5 Ma. "Micodon" is the smallest primate found in the La Venta fauna, and within size range of "Saguinus" and "Callithrix". It differs from most callitrichines in the generally low-relief morphological pattern, large size of the talon basin, and particularly, the considerably large size of hypocone. The morphology and position of the hypocone is distinctly different from the conditions found in such genera as "Callimico" and "Saimiri". By comparison with "Micodon", the hypocone is far smaller in "Callimico", where it appears as an excrescence of the lingual cingulum. This cusp is more developed in "Saimiri". Overall, the "Micodon" M1 shows some gross resemblances to certain "Saguinus", although none of the specimens examined hardly approach this fossil in hypocone development.
"Micodon" is clearly within the size range of living marmosets but is well below the size range of larger marmosets, such as "Callimico goeldii" and "Leontopithecus chrysopygus". Since the callitrichines are probably a modified radiation that underwent their major diversification at a small body size, it is considered very likely that "Micodon" is a marmoset. The "Micodon" M1 suggests that body size/tooth size reduction preceded the loss of the hypocone cusp. It has been argued that the combination of tricuspid molars and small size literally define a marmoset phyletically. On the other hand, "Callimico" is a four-cusped ceboid whose anatomy suggests that it is cladistically closest to the tricuspid marmosets, and alternative schemes of platyrrhine phylogeny place the four-cusped cebines, "Cebus" and "Saimiri", as the sister-taxon of the entire group. The upshot of these latter views is that a four-cusped molar would be fully expectable in small, ancestral callitrichine, and even in callitrichin sister-group. The upper first molar (M1) with a subtriangular outline with a narrow lingual side resembles that of the oldest New World primate discovered to date, the Late Eocene "Perupithecus" from the Peruvian Amazon.
It has been suggested the specimens ascribed to "Micodon", smaller than "Aotus dindensis", may actually be deciduous teeth of another primate species found at La Venta such as "Saimiri annectens" or "S. fieldsi". More material is needed for a better description of the genus.
A body mass of has been estimated for "Micodon".
Habitat.
The Honda Group, and more precisely the "Monkey Beds", are the richest site for fossil primates in South America. From the same level as where "Micodon" has been found, also fossils of "Cebupithecia", "Mohanamico", "Saimiri annectens", "Saimiri fieldsi" and "Stirtonia" have been uncovered. It has been argued that the monkeys of the Honda Group were living in habitat that was in contact with the Amazon and Orinoco Basins, and that La Venta itself was probably seasonally dry forest. The evolutionary separation from "Aotus" of "Micodon" has been placed in the Early Miocene at 17.5 Ma.


Monach Formation

The Monach Formation is a geologic formation of Early Cretaceous (Valanginian) age in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin that consists primarily of sandstone. It is present in the northern foothills of the Canadian Rockies and the adjacent plains in northeastern British Columbia.
Lithology.
The Monach Formation consists primarily of clean, white to light grey, well sorted, medium- to coarse-grained quartzose sandstone, and grey to brown, thin bedded to finely laminated argillaceous sandstone, with lesser interbeds of dark grey mudstone, thin coal seams, carbonaceous shale, and rare conglomerate.
Environment of deposition.
The Monach Formation was deposited in marine and nonmarine environments within and adjacent to the Western Interior Seaway. Depositional settings ranged from marine to shoreline, deltaic, river channel, floodplain, and swamp environments.
Paleontology and age.
The age of the Monach Formation has been determined from its fossil fauna, primarily species of the bivalve "Buchia".
Thickness and distribution.
The Monach Formation is present in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies and the adjacent plains in northeastern British Columbia. It extends from the Chowade River in the north, to south of the Sukunka River where it grades into the Gorman Creek Formation. It attains a maximum thickness of in the foothills, and thins to zero about or less beyond the eastern edge of the foothills where it was removed by erosion prior to the deposition of the Cadomin Formation.
Relationship to other units.
The Monach Formation is part of the Minnes Group. It was deposited conformably on the Beattie Peaks Formation and is conformably overlain by the Bickford Formation, both of which also belong to the Minnes Group. To the east where it was removed by erosion, the Monach Formation is unconformably overlain by the Cadomin Formation. To the south it grades into the Gorman Creek Formation.


Allochiton

Allochiton is an extinct genus of polyplacophoran molluscs. "Allochiton" became extinct during the Jurassic period.


Sphenonectris

Sphenonectris is an extinct genus of thelodont, which lived in Canada during the Early Devonian period.


Wollaston Lake

Wollaston Lake is a lake in northeastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is northeast of Prince Albert. With a surface area of (excluding islands; if islands are included), it is the largest bifurcation lake in the world – that is, a lake that drains naturally in two directions.
About 10% of the lake's water drains into the Fond du Lac River, which flows out of the lake to the northwest, where it drains into Lake Athabasca, which ultimately drains into the Arctic Ocean via the Mackenzie River system. The rest of the water drains into the Cochrane River, which flows out of the northeastern side of the lake and into Reindeer Lake, which drains via the Churchill River system into Hudson Bay.
Wollaston Lake's main inflow is the Geikie River which flows from the southwest into the southwest section of the lake. If Hudson Bay is considered an arm of the Atlantic Ocean, then the Geikie is the largest river in the world to flow naturally into two oceans.
Wollaston Lake is also the largest lake entirely within Saskatchewan, although the Saskatchewanian portions of Lake Athabasca and Reindeer Lake are both larger.
Samuel Hearne learned of the lake in 1770 and David Thompson noted in 1796 the dual outlets as "perhaps without parallel in the world." In 1807, Peter Fidler named the lake after William Hyde Wollaston.
The only settlement on its shores is also named Wollaston Lake. The settlement includes the northern hamlet of Wollaston Lake with a population of 129 and the adjacent village of Wollaston Post of the Hatchet Lake Dene Nation with a population of 1251.
Access.
Access to the lake is provided by the community airstrip (Wollaston Lake Airport) and an all-weather road (Highway 905) to La Ronge. This road passes by the western side of the lake, while the community of Wollaston Lake is located on the eastern side, but the lake can be crossed by a winter road when the lake is frozen (November through June) and by the Wollaston barge when it is not. Air service is also provided to Points North Landing, a service centre for nearby uranium mines. This industry provides jobs for local residents, but has raised concerns over possible contamination of the lake.
Fish species.
Fish species found in the lake include walleye, yellow perch, northern pike, lake trout, Arctic grayling, lake whitefish, cisco, burbot, white sucker and longnose sucker.
Treated effluent from the Rabbit Lake uranium mine is released into Hidden Bay on the southwestern side of the lake.


Chapi (Peru)

Chapi (possibly from Quechua for tin) or Ch'api (possibly from Aymara for thorn) is a mountain in the Apolobamba mountain range in the Andes of Peru. It is located in the Puno Region, Putina Province, on the border of the districts Ananea and Sina. Chapi is situated southeast of the mountains Ananea and Ritipata, north-west of Riti Urmasca and north-east of the lake Asnococha.


Auquitaipe

Auquitaipe (possibly from Aymara "awki" father; gentleman, "taypi" center, middle) is a mountain in the Barroso mountain range in the Andes of Peru, about high. It is located in the Tacna Region, Tacna Province, Palca District, and in the Tarata Province, Tarata District. It lies northeast of Coruña.


Rhabdotites

Rhabdotites is an extinct genus of sea cucumbers which existed in Poland during the Triassic period. It contains the species "Rhabdotites mortenseni" and "Rhabdotites rectus".


Tunupa

Tunupa is a dormant volcano in the Potosí Department of southwestern Bolivia.
It stands on the northern side of the Salar de Uyuni at an elevation of on the Bolivian Altiplano. Tunupa was active in the Pleistocene, with most of the volcano constructed by lava flows that erupted between 1.36 and 1.56 million years ago. Later glaciers developed on the mountain.
There is a cave with several mummies about half way up and an ancient village at the foot with a modest "salt hotel".
Geography and geomorphology.
Tunupa is located in Bolivia, at the centre of the Altiplano about east of the main volcanic arc. It forms a peninsula in the Salar de Uyuni, which surrounds the volcano on its southern side. The volcano is located within the Salinas de Garci-Mendoza municipality, and the towns of Ayque, Coquesa and Jirira lie on its southern slopes.
Volcanism in the backarc of the Central Andes is represented by several types of volcanoes, including several monogenetic volcanoes, stratovolcanoes such as Cerro Tuzgle, Tunupa and Uturunku and large ignimbrites like Altiplano-Puna volcanic complex, Galán, Los Frailes volcanic field and Morococala.
The volcano rises about above the surrounding terrain, the summit of the volcano is heavily hydrothermally altered and its summit crater degraded by erosion, with crags representing remnants of the old lava conduit. Several lava domes were emplaced on top of lava flows from Tunupa on its eastern flank. Pyroclastic flows are found on the northern flank. Erosion and glaciation have generated a deposit of eroded material that surrounds much of the volcano.
There is no present-day permanent ice on Tunupa as the region is too dry but the mountain was glaciated in the past, and large valley glaciers descended to elevations of when they reached their largest extent. Later shorter glaciers reoccupied the same valleys; outwash gravel deposits are found downstream below the moraines, such as below the Chalchala and Pocolli valleys on the southern flank of the volcano where most glacial landforms are found. Glacial landforms include glacial striae and ice drift deposits are found on the volcano, as are several extensive moraine systems. Three separate stages of glaciation have been inferred at Tunupa, one dating proposal dates the first advance to about 160,000 before present, the second lasts until about 15,000 years/may coincide with the existence of Lake Tauca before present and the last one occurred during the Younger Dryas.
The southern slopes of Tunupa are incised by the shorelines of former lakes that occupied the Altiplano, such as Lake Minchin and Lake Tauca. Crusts of algae, stromatolites and river deltas are also found at these former shorelines. Over seven separate shoreline stages have been identified at Tunupa, which was part of an island in Lake Tauca. It is likely that evaporation from the lake increased precipitation at Tunupa and thus allowed glaciers to grow to larger sizes than they would have without such evaporation.
Geology.
Subduction has been occurring off the western margin of South America for the past 200 million years. Presently, the Nazca Plate is subducting eastward below South America. The subduction is responsible for the formation of the Altiplano high plateau; the Tibetan Plateau is the only other place in the world where oceanic subduction has generated a high plateau.
Volcanism in the Andes occurs in a frontal volcanic arc, but also in the back-arc region. This back-arc volcanism that Tunupa is part of has an uncertain origin; one proposed process is delamination, whereby the lowermost mafic section of the crust and lithosphere underneath separates itself from the above lying layers. This separation process then triggers volcanic activity through either decompression melting, dehydration melting, increases in temperature, or some combination of these processes. Back-arc volcanism in the region started about 25-30 million years ago.
East of Tunupa lie the Huayrana lavas, which are much older (Potassium-argon dating has yielded an age of 11.1 ± 0.4 million years ago). Tunupa and Sillajhuay farther west form a chain of volcanoes known as the Serranía Intersalar, which lies within the so-called Pica gap where recent volcanism is rare. This chain of volcanoes was active starting from the Oligocene to the Quaternary.
Composition.
Tunupa is formed principally by andesite, trachyandesite and trachydacite, forming a potassium-rich calc-alkaline suite. The rocks contain phenocrysts of amphibole, biotite, clinopyroxene, uncommon olivine, uncommon orthopyroxene, oxides and plagioclase. The lava domes are more silicic than the main volcanic edifice.
An average magma output of has been estimated, which is comparable to Lascar and Parinacota. Delamination of the crust, hydration-induced melting and magma mixing processes have been used to explain the magma chemistry at Tunupa. It has been proposed that as the lower crust undergoes delamination, certain water-containing minerals such as amphibole and phlogopite become unstable and enrich magma with niobium, tantal and titanium.
Climate.
Average temperatures at Oruro are . While they decrease to at an elevation of about , the dry climate of the region limits the development of glaciers; average precipitation is less than in the southwestern Altiplano.
Eruption history.
Initial Potassium-argon dating has yielded ages of 2.5 ± 0.5 and 1.8 ± 0.2 million years ago on samples from Tunupa. Later performed argon-argon dating produced ages between 1.55 ± 0.01 and 1.40 ± 0.04 million years ago, with even younger dates of 440,000 ± 40,000 years before present. The main edifice developed first, the lava domes were emplaced later. The volcano is considered to be extinct.
Mythology.
In Aymara legends, Tunupa is personified as a deity with varying attributes and often linked to legends about the origin of the Salar de Uyuni.


Hertha Doreck

Hertha Doreck, née Sieverts (1889 – 30 March 1991), was a German paleontologist.
Life.
Hertha Walburger Doris Doreck was born in Völklingen, German Empire, in 1899. She trained as a teacher for schools in Prussia, but became interested in mathematics and the natural sciences. Doreck focused on zoology, paleontology and geology during her time at the University of Berlin and she researched Cretaceous Crinoids for her dissertation under the supervision of Josef Felix Pompeckj that she completed in 1927. Only able to find a series of short-term positions, she was finally hired at the Institute for Applied Geology in Bonn at a very low salary in 1930. Although she mostly worked as a personal assistant, she was able to work with the fossil collection. After five years she got a training opportunity at the
National Prussian Geological Institute in Berlin and was hired there in 1936 she as a scientific assistant. This job entailed mapping and field work and was unusual to be performed by a woman at that time. Her public employment ended in 1936 when she married Walter Doreck and
entered the housewife and "private-research" phase of her life. Despite having two daughters, Horeck continued to be active in research and reported her work on Crinoids in the journal "Zentralblatt" for fourteen years. "In the early 1950s, Doreck was invited to Lawrence, Kansas, by R. C.Moore, and publicized as the 'German Crinoid Expert.' She had devised a system of classification for Mesozoic Crinoids that, although never published, was and still is the basis for the systematics of this group. During the last years of her research, Doreck turned to the systematics of the Holothuroideans. During the years she spent as a housewife, she had little time to pursue her research goals. Her husband became seriously ill, and she took care of him until his death in 1972. She died on 30 March 1991."


Ignavusaurus

Ignavusaurus is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived during the Early Jurassic in what is now Lesotho. Its fossils were found in the Upper Elliot Formation which is probably Hettangian in age (around 200 million years ago). It was described on the basis of a partial, well preserved articulated skeleton. The type species, "I. rachelis", was described in 2010 by Spanish palaeontologist F. Knoll.
Discovery.
The holotype was discovered in southern Lesotho near Ha Ralekoala. The fossils were discovered in a mostly articulated state, although the skull was badly damaged, having broken into more than 120 fragments. An unpublished 2002 Ph.D dissertation referred to the remains, but they were not formally described for several years, and the find remained unpublished.
In 2010, the fossils were described by F. Knoll of the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales-CSIC in Madrid as a new taxon, "Ignavusaurus rachelis". The fossils were brought to the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, where they were provisionally catalogued as BM HR 20; the plan was to return the fossils to Lesotho upon the opening of the Lesotho National Museum.
Etymology.
The generic name "Ignavusaurus" is derived from the Latin word "ignavus" ("coward") and Ancient Greek "sauros" ("lizard"). It refers to the type locality – Ha Ralekoala, that literally means "The place of the father of the coward". The specific name of the type species, "rachelis", honours Spanish palaeontologist Raquel López-Antoñanzas.
Description.
The holotype had a body length of about and weighed about . Histological analysis of the humerus and femur indicates that BM HR 20 was fast-growing individual, maybe less than one year old, based on age determination studies.
Like other early sauropodomorphs, "Ignavusaurus" had a long, slender neck and tail. It generally resembled "Massospondylus" and "Melanorosaurus", two other sauropodomorphs from southern Africa, although the shape and position of the teeth, among other factors, led Knoll to conclude that the remains belong to a previously unknown genus.
Classification.
"Ignavusaurus" is a basal sauropodomorph, a member of the long-necked, herbivorous, saurischian dinosaurs. Although originally recovered as more primitive than Plateosauria by Knoll (2010), Yates et al. (2011) noted that some characters used to place "Ignavusaurus" outside Massopoda are reflective of juvenile status and instead are more similar to juvenile "Massospondylus", considering "Ignavusaurus" probably synonymous with "Massospondylus". Meanwhile, a cladistic analysis presented by Apaldetti et al. (2011) found "Ignavusaurus" to be a valid genus which is most closely related to "Sarahsaurus" within Massopoda, somewhat agreeing with Yates et al. that "Ignavusaurus" is not as primitive as originally thought. A cladistic analysis conducted by Chapelle and Choiniere (2018) in their paper updating knowledge of the skull of "Massospondylus" recovered "Ignavusaurus" along with "Sarahsaurus" in Massospondylidae, as did the cladistic analysis of Chapelle et al. (2019).


Bechala

Bechala is a genus of insects in the extinct order Megasecoptera. It existed during the late Carboniferous in what is now Germany. It was described by Jan-Michael Ilger and Carsten Brauckmann in 2012, and the type species is "B. sommeri". Its type specimen was a wing (AKH 524) discovered at the Küchenberg quarry, in the Ziegelschiefer Formation. The wing measurements are 39x6 millimetres.


Guallatiri

Guallatiri is a high volcano in Chile. It is located southwest of the Nevados de Quimsachata volcanic group and is sometimes considered to be part of that group. It is a stratovolcano with numerous fumaroles around the summit. The summit may be composed of either a lava dome or a pyroclastic cone, while the lower flanks of the volcano are covered by lava flows and lava domes. The volcano's eruptions have produced mostly dacite along with andesite and rhyolite.
Guallatiri has been active in historical times with a number of eruptions, the latest in 1960. Fumarolic and seismic activity is ongoing and has resulted in the deposition of sulfur and other minerals on the volcano. The volcano is covered by an ice cap above elevation. Guallatiri, along with several other volcanoes, is part of Lauca National Park.
Geography.
Guallatiri is located in the Putre commune of Parinacota province in the Arica y Parinacota Region of Chile. The nearest populated centers are Guallatire, Ancuta and Chiriguaya; other nearby communities include Ancuta, Chachacomani, Chiriguaya, Jancoaque and Uncaliri. The city of Arica lies west of the volcano. The name of the volcano comes from Aymara , meaning "place of the ", with meaning Andean goose. The volcano is also known as Huallatiri, Huallatire, Guallatire and Punata.
The volcano is located in the Lauca National Park, along with the two higher Pomerape and Parinacota volcanoes; the volcanoes Parinacota, Quisiquisini, Guallatiri and Poquentica form the eastern limit of the Lauca basin. Sometimes Guallatiri is considered to be part of the Nevados de Quimsachata volcanic chain, a long chain of volcanoes.
Other volcanoes with historical phreatic-phreatomagmatic activity in northern Chile include Irruputuncu, Isluga, Lascar and San Pedro. Further, fumarolic activity has been reported at Alitar, Lastarria, Olca, Ollague, Putana and Tacora.
Geology.
Guallatiri is a high complex volcano formed mainly by lava flows but also featuring dacitic or andesitic lava domes, such as Domo Tinto on the southern flank. The volcano is wide and rises about over the surrounding terrain. A volume of has been estimated. The volcano's foot covers a surface of about . The summit is formed by a pyroclastic cone; alternative interpretations see it as a lava dome or a hydrothermally altered, scree-covered lava plug. The vent lies south of the summit and the summit crater is breached westwards and northwards.
Lava flows radiate from the summit and lava domes dot its flanks. Some lava flows are up to long and high and thick lava flows are particularly noticeable on the western and northern slope of the volcano. "Breadcrust" lava bombs are found on the northern flanks, probably carried there by glaciers. Other eruption products include ash flows and tephra layers. The former are particularly developed on the south-southwest flank and the tephras particularly on the southern-eastern flanks.
Guallatiri is underpinned by the rocks of the Lauca Formation, which has an age of 10–0.5 million years. An older basement domain known as the Lupica Formation is exposed north, west and south of the volcano and contains sediments and volcanic rocks. It is of Oligocene-Miocene age. Like other volcanoes in the area, it formed on top of the Chilean Altiplano.
Guallatiri may have formed during the Pliocene, with a second stage of volcanic activity recommencing during the Pleistocene; the volcano started forming about 710,000 years ago. Two stages of volcanic activity in the Pleistocene-Holocene have been identified, although a three-stage chronology of volcanic activity has been proposed as well; this proposal envisages two earlier lavic stages and a third stage characterized by the emission of pyroclastics and lava domes. Volcanic activity in the Quimsachata volcanic chain migrated south from the now deeply eroded Acotango and Humarata volcano to the more recent Capurata and Guallatiri volcanoes. There is evidence indicating that lava flows forming Stage I of volcanic activity were erupted during the middle Pleistocene and the lava domes forming Stage II were erupted in the Pleistocene-Holocene. The lava bombs on the northern flank suggest that eruptions which produced small amounts of rocks occurred in recent times.
Glaciation and hydrology.
Guallatiri has glaciers, including one on the summit and an ice cap above elevation. It is the most southern volcano in the Central Andes with an ice cap as south of Guallatiri tropical summer precipitation is insufficient to support glaciation; only south of 27° does winter precipitation become sufficient to support glaciers again. The glacier area shrunk at a rate of 2.69% per year between 1987 and 2016. Fumaroles have melted holes in the glaciers. Thin moraines are preserved on the flanks at altitudes of and in the summit area.
These glaciers drain towards the Chungara river. A number of streams and dry valleys originate on Guallatiri. Parts of the western and southern flank drain into the Rio Lauca. The Patulas and Caullatiri rivers descend the southwestern flank and the Chirigualla and Captalia rivers the northwestern one.
Petrology.
Guallatiri has erupted andesite, dacite and rhyolite, with dacite dominating. Pyroxene andesites are found up to of altitude. Analysis of lava at Domo Tinto lava dome has indicated that phenocrysts include amphibole, biotite, pyroxene and some apatite. Mafic inclusions have also been found in Domo Tinto rocks. The Domo Tinto eruption may have been triggered by the injection of basaltic andesite into two magma chambers containing crystalline andesite. Native deposits of sulfur are also found and sometimes form flows similar to but smaller than the sulfur flows at Lastarria. Sulfur is the most common mineral in fumarolic deposits; but arsenic, boron, calcium and silicon are also found. Such fumarolic deposits at Guallatiri and the other Andean volcano Lastarria aside from pure sulfur also consist of anhydrite, auripigment, baryte, burkeite, cristobalite, galena, gypsum, magnetite, pyrite, quartz and sassolite.
Domo Tinto rocks have been analyzed for isotope and chemical composition studies. They are potassium-rich calc-alkaline rocks as is typical for Andean volcanism in this area. On the basis of petrology, magma temperatures of the Tinto rocks have been estimated at for the andesitic component and for the basaltic andesite component. SiO2 contents range from 58 to 75%, with dacites having a content of 63–70%.
Eruptive activity.
Solfataric activity is ongoing. In 1985 and 1987 yellow (sulfur-bearing) steam clouds were reported, reaching heights of above the summit. The fumaroles cluster in two places, in the crater and on the southern flank where they reach over down. They have forms like cones and jets. The fumaroles are reported to make "jet"-like noises and temperatures range from - ASTER imaging has indicated temperature anomalies of up to 8 kelvins. Water vapour and carbon dioxide making up the bulk of the gases, other components are hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen sulfide, methane and sulfur dioxide. The volcano produces about of sulfur dioxide. Most of the fumarolic gases originate in deep magma, but interactions with country rock and shallow aquifers do take place. Bubbling pools occur in the Chirigualla geothermal area northwest of the summit. Cold springs around the volcano also show volcanic influence in the form of an enrichment with sulfate and carbonate.
Likewise, the volcano features ongoing seismic activity, including about two earthquakes per day and three seismic swarms in 2011–2012. Another earthquake swarm was associated with the 2001 Peru earthquake. No deformation of the edifice has been observed, however.
The lava dome Domo Tinto was K-Ar dated at 5,000 ± 3000 BP. Its eruption was probably a relatively tranquil effusive eruption. Present day volcanic activity is generally poorly documented, with minor phreatic eruptions recorded. Ash eruptions are reported in the first half of the 19th century. In 1913 and 1959, glow was observed in the summit crater, and a phreatic eruption was reported in 1960. Activity is also reported for 1779, 1802, 1826–1831, 1850, 1859, 1864, 1864, 1870, 1902, 1904, 1908, 1912 and 1959. Guallatiri is the second-most active volcano in northern Chile after Lascar. In 2015 volcano alert levels on Guallatiri was temporarily raised due to deformation of the edifice and changes in the seismic activity.
Threats and preparedness.
The Chilean National Geology and Mining Service keeps a record of regular reports of the activity status of Guallatiri, which is considered to be Chile's 27th most dangerous volcano. A hazard map exists of Guallatiri with three areas of different risk. The red zone occupies the areas interested by late activity of the volcano and river valleys, in total most of the upper parts of the volcano. The orange and yellow zones are areas threatened in the case of medium-large and large scale eruptive activity, respectively.
Ash falls, flank eruptions, lahars and pyroclastic flows are hazards associated with Guallatiri. The town of Guallatiri on its southern flank is especially threatened - pyroclastic flow deposits have been found next to the town - as are the southern and eastern flanks in general. Explosive activity with eruption columns of height may result in ashfall in Arica and Putre depending on the season. There are villages with hundreds of people, including small villages in western Bolivia that may be impacted by Guallatiri tephra. In addition to volcanic hazards, Guallatiri is a regionally important arsenic source; arsenic is a common pollutant in Chilean waters.
Religious and archeological importance.
Unlike on several other Andean summits, no Inka archeological sites are visible on Guallatiri, perhaps discouraged by the persistent volcanic activity. Nevertheless, the mountain was considered an "apu" by the surrounding populace. It is said that townsfolk living in the town of Guallatire worshipped the mountain from Capurata, a nearby mountain. Even today, churches in Ancuta and Guallatire point towards the volcano.


Hippurites atheniensis

Hippurites atheniensis is an extinct species of fossil saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Hippuritidae. These fossils occur in the Late Cretaceous deposits of Greece, Serbia, Dalmatia, Istria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Italy.


Paleoparadoxia

Paleoparadoxia ("ancient paradox") is a genus of large, herbivorous aquatic mammals that inhabited the northern Pacific coastal region during the Miocene epoch (). It ranged from the waters of Japan (Tsuyama and Yanagawa), to Alaska in the north, and down to Baja California, Mexico. "Paleoparadoxia" was about long.
Description.
"Paleoparadoxia" is thought to have fed primarily on seaweeds and sea grasses. The jaws and the angle of the teeth resemble a backhoe bucket. Its bulky body was well adapted for swimming and underwater foraging. Originally interpreted as amphibious, "Paleoparadoxia" is now thought to have been a fully marine mammal like their living relatives, the sirenians, spending most of their lives walking across the sea bottom like marine hippos. Studies on its habitat preference show that it favoured deep, offshore waters.
 named the genus "Cornwallius" but synonymized it as a species of "Paleoparadoxia".


Sebecus

Sebecus (meaning "Sebek" in Latin) is an extinct genus of sebecid crocodylomorph from Eocene of South America. Fossils have been found in among others Patagonia. Like other sebecosuchians, it was entirely terrestrial and carnivorous. The genus is currently represented by a single species, the type "S. icaeorhinus". Several other species have been referred to "Sebecus", but were later reclassified as their own genera.
History and species.
Named by American paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson in 1937, "Sebecus" was one of the first known sebecosuchians. Simpson described the type species, "S. icaeorhinus", from a fragmented skull and lower jaw found in the Sarmiento Formation. The specimen was discovered by the American Museum of Natural History's First Scarritt Expedition to Patagonia. Teeth had been known since 1906 when Argentine paleontologist Florentino Ameghino associated them with carnivorous dinosaurs. The more complete material found by Simpson firmly established that the new animal was a crocodyliform. Although Simpson's fossil was considered one of the best finds of the expedition, Simpson described the genus only briefly in 1937. He noted its unusual ziphodont dentition in which the teeth were laterally compressed and serrated. Simpson was preparing a more detailed monograph on the genus, but entered the United States Army before its completion. Another American paleontologist, Edwin Harris Colbert, completed Simpson's work, thoroughly describing the genus and placing it in a new family, Sebecidae. Colbert placed "Sebecus" and the Cretaceous baurusuchid "Baurusuchus" (also from South America) in the suborder Sebecosuchia (erected by Simpson for all ziphodont crocodylomorphs), as both had deep snouts and ziphodont teeth.
The name "Sebecus" is a Latinisation of Sebek (also called Sobek), the crocodile god of ancient Egypt. Sebek was considered an alternative to the Greek χάμψαι, or "champsa" in crocodilian nomenclature (the Greek historian Herodotus claimed that champsa was the Egyptian word for crocodile). The specific name "icaeorhinus" of the type species is derived from the Greek words εικαίοs and ρύγχος. Εικαίοs means "random" or "not according to plan" and ρύγχος means "snout", in reference to the animal's unusually deep snout.
In 1965, American paleontologist Wann Langston, Jr. named a second species, "S. huilensis", from the Miocene Honda Group at the La Venta locality in Colombia. "S. huilensis" was named on the basis of skull fragments. The deposits are Laventan in age (about 13 million years old), extending the range of the genus into the Neogene by around 40 million years. In 1977, remains were described from the Miocene of Peru.
A third species of "Sebecus", "S. querejazus", was named in 1991 from the early Paleocene Santa Lucia Formation in Bolivia. This extended the range of "Sebecus" back to the beginning of the Paleogene, soon after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. In 1993, Gasparini "et al." described "Sebecus carajazus". This was not a fourth species but a misspelling, or "lapsus calami", of "Sebecus querejazus".
A 2007 study of sebecids reclassified several species. The two species "S. huilensis" and "S. querejazus" were given their own genera, "Zulmasuchus" and "Langstonia", respectively. "Langstonia huilensis", named after Langston, was distinguished from "Sebecus" by its narrower snout and widely spaced teeth. "Zulmasuchus querejazus", named after Zulma Gasparini, one of the authors of the study, differs from "Sebecus" in its wider snout.
The postcranial skeleton of "S. icaeorhinus" was virtually unknown until Pol "et al." (2012) described postcranial remains of several individuals of this species, including a partially articulated specimen MPEF-PV 1776 with anterior region of the dentary (allowing the identification of this individual as representing "S. icaeorhinus") and most of the postcranial skeleton preserved. Estimates of total body length and mass of MPEF-PV 1776 vary from 2.2 to 3.1 m, and from 52.2 to 113.5 kg, respectively. The postcranial skeleton of "Sebecus" provides additional evidence of its terrestriality. Its limbs, especially femora, were proportionally longer than limbs of living crocodilians; the shoulder-to-hip length of its body can be estimated at 2.3 times the length of the femur - similar to another, unrelated terrestrial crocodylomorph, "Pristichampsus", while American alligators have proportionally shorter femora.
Description.
Unusual among crocodyliforms, "Sebecus" has a deep, narrow snout. The nares, or nostrils, open anteriorly at the tip of the snout. While most crocodilians have flat skulls that are raised near the eyes and postorbital region behind the eyes, the skull of "Sebecus" is essentially level. The great depth of the snout makes most of the length of its upper margin level with the margin of the orbits, or eye sockets. The supratemporal fenestrae, two holes on the skull table, are relatively small.
Laterally compressed, or ziphodont teeth, are characteristic of "Sebecus" and other sebecosuchians. Although the teeth vary in size, they are homodont, having a similar shape throughout the jaw. At the tips of the upper and lower jaws, the teeth are rounder in cross-section. The fourth dentary tooth is raised in the lower jaw to form an effective canine. The foremost teeth of the lower jaw are much smaller and lower than the fourth tooth. At the tip of the jaw the first dentary tooth is procumbent, or directed forward. The teeth of the upper and lower jaws form an alternate pattern to allow the jaw to close tightly. A notch is present between the maxilla and premaxilla bones of the upper jaw, accommodating the fourth dentary tooth when the jaw is closed. The procumbent first dentary teeth fit between the first and second premaxillary teeth. This close fit allows the serrated edges of the teeth shear with one another.
The articulation between the articular and quadrate bones at the jaw joint is well developed. Along with the broad downturned "wings" formed by the pterygoid and ectopterygoid bones at the bottom of the skull, this articulation restricts the jaw to up-and-down movement. The jaw movement and close shearing of the teeth suggest that "Sebecus" was carnivorous. Its compressed, blade-like teeth would have been well-suited for cutting meat. In contrast, living crocodilians have circular, widely spaced teeth and usually consume their food in large pieces. "Sebecus" likely consumed food in a manner more similar to theropod dinosaurs than living crocodilians. In particular, the teeth of tyrannosaurids bear the closest resemblance to those of "Sebecus". Both animals have serrated teeth with rounded projections called denticles, and sharp clefts between the denticles called diaphyses. These diaphyses compress meat fibers between the serrations and rip them apart. Ultrastructural analyses using electron microscopes have revealed microwear scratches on the teeth that are suggestive of this form of cutting.
Colbert's monograph on "Sebecus" included a description of the brain, Eustachian tubes, and jaw musculature. Details of these soft tissues were inferred from characteristics of the skull and endocasts, or molds of its interior. The deep snout of "Sebecus" makes the shape of its brain somewhat different from those of living crocodiles, although its structure is the same. The olfactory bulb is elongate and makes up a significant portion of the brain. The cerebrum is narrow and long in comparison to crocodilians, and tapers toward the olfactory bulb. The temporal lobes are somewhat smaller than those of living crocodilians. Colbert interpreted the smaller cerebrum of "Sebecus" as a sign of primitiveness, with an evolutionary trend toward larger brain size in crocodilians. Hans C. E. Larsson performed a 2001 study of the endocranial anatomy of the dinosaur "Carcharodontosaurus saharicus", comparing the ratio of its cerebrum to its total brain volume to the ratios of other prehistoric reptiles. Larsson found that "Sebecus" and "Allosaurus fragilis" had similar ratios to "C. saharicus", falling within the 95% confidence range characterizing living reptile species.
The Eustachian tubes, passages that connect the middle ear with the pharynx, are very complex in crocodilians. Unlike those of other vertebrates, the tubes are made of several interconnected branches. This branching is fully developed in "Sebecus", and probably appeared much earlier in crocodylomorphs.
The jaw muscles of "Sebecus" were likely similar to those of living crocodilians, but the distinctively deep skull of "Sebecus" indicates that the muscles were longer. In "Sebecus", the shape of the skull and jaws provides more room for adductor muscles, or muscles that close the jaws. The supratemporal fenestrae at the top of the skull are relatively wide, allowing for the passage of large muscles. In crocodilians, the depressor muscle that opens the jaws originates near the top of the skull and inserts into a projection at the back of the jaw called the retroarticular process. Living crocodilians have a straight retroarticular process at the back of the jaw and a low point of origin for the depressor muscle. "Sebecus", with its deeper skull, has a higher point of origin for the depressor, but the retroarticular process curves upward to make the length of the depressor about the same as it is in crocodilians. Like living crocodilians, the depressor muscle of "Sebecus" was relatively underdeveloped. Therefore, while the closure of the jaws would have been very strong, the ability to open the jaws would be much weaker.
Classification.
Because it is represented by relatively complete fossil material, "Sebecus" has been used to define larger groups of crocodyliforms such as Sebecidae and Sebecosuchia. The suborder Sebecosuchia was established to group "Sebecus" with "Baurusuchus" and has grown to include many other sebecid and baurusuchid members. While "Sebecus" and "Baurusuchus" are well known, other forms are known from only a few fragmentary specimens.
"Sebecus" has been placed in various positions among metasuchian crocodyliforms. It has often been placed in a larger sebecosuchian clade. Carvalho "et al." (2004) used "Sebecus" in their definition of Sebecidae, considering the clade to include the most recent common ancestor of "Sebecus" and "Libycosuchus" and all of its descendants. Carvalho "et al." also established a sebecisuchian clade that was defined using "Sebecus" and referred to as Baurusuchoidea. "Sebecus" and other sebecosuchians are often contrasted with the smaller-bodied Cretaceous notosuchians. Turner and Calvo (2005) considered Sebecosuchia to be the sister taxon of Notosuchia and placed "Sebecus" as a basal member the clade. Several recent phylogenetic analyses have resulted in a polyphyletic Sebecosuchia, with some members such as "Baurusuchus" being more closely related to notosuchians and other such as "Sebecus" forming a clade of metasuchians more distantly related to Notosuchia. Larsson and Sues (2007) named this clade Sebecia. The following cladogram simplified after an analysis of notosuchians presented by Pol "et al." in 2012.


Ictidognathus

Ictidognathus is an extinct genus of therocephalian therapsids that lived in South Africa during the Late Permian. Fossils are found in the "Tropidostoma" and "Cistecephalus" Assemblage Zones of the Beaufort Group in the Western Cape.


Sarir field

The Sarir Field was discovered in southern Cyrenaica during 1961 and is considered to be the largest oil field in Libya, with estimated oil reserves of . Sarir is operated by the Arabian Gulf Oil Company (AGOCO), a subsidiary of the state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC).
Location.
The Sarir field or, more specifically, Sarir C is on west edge of the Calanscio Sand Sea at the southeast margin of the Sirte Basin. Sarir C, which is part of a three-field complex, is 56 km long and 40 km wide covering 378 km². To its north is Sarir L, covering . Situated between the two is a much smaller Sarir North pool. Estimated ultimate oil recovery from Sarir L is .
Pre-Discovery.
In 1957, the Libyan government granted Concession 65 to Bunker Hunt, an independent oil producer from Texas. By 1960, BP had assumed a 50% interest in C-65 and became the operator. After large discoveries in the Sirte Basin in 1958 and 1959, a reflection seismology survey was conducted on C-65, followed by an aeromagnetic survey showing the existence of large structures. Later that year, BP began drilling in C-65, 80, and 81, targeting Paleocene and Cretaceous carbonates that had yielded discoveries in the Nasser (Zelten), Defa, Raguba field, and Bahi fields. Mobil discovered Cretaceous basal sand at Amal in 1959, but early results did not recognize its full potential.
Before drilling the C-1-65 well, BP drilled six tests to basement in C-65, 80, and 81. None had high hydrocarbon shows. Eocene, Paleocene, and Cretaceous carbonates were generally freshwater bearing, and basement highs were draped in Late Cretaceous shales. There were occasional redbed vestiges at the shale-basement contact and bitumen veining. Many wells proved expensive due to lost circulation in Paleocene-Cretaceous carbonates and caving in underlying Late Cretaceous shales. This was so severe that the Sarir field was nearly bypassed because oil was not anticipated in the Nubian Formation. However BP's chief geologist insisted a basement core be taken in every well. This turned out to be a good decision, since C-1-65 was subsequently shown to be a prolific reservoir with initial production rates of .
Discovery.
For years BP avoided using gas detectors on its oil platforms, citing numerous false alarms. However, in 1961, Baroid was hired to set up gas detectors on BP's Libyan wells. C-1-65 gave high readings. This was assumed to be a false alarm, but high readings persisted. Examinations of shale caving samples revealed oil-stained sand grains at the bottom of the plates. 61 m of petroleum play was drilled. The top play in Lower Cretaceous sandstones occurred at 2631 m. On drill-stem tests C-1-65 produced at a rate of .
Post-Discovery.
C-1-65 had an oil column exceeding 76 m, above predicted closure for its shallow reflection structure. Although seismic maps gave structural indications, details were unreliable at the reservoirs top 1676 m below. Thus, while the second and third wells were drilled, a seismic refraction survey was shot. It gave control over the basement structure, but since the first four wells proved reservoir sands varied from 141-410m in thickness over a relatively short distance, the survey gave little control over the trapping structure. Seismic maps on both horizons and subsurface information showed the reservoir structure and helped limit drilling in dry holes.
After discovery continuous drilling occurred with up to five rigs at a time. Initially, short outsteps up to 4 km were made, followed by bolder drilling to confirm reserves and justify costs for a 516 km oil pipeline to Tobruk. Once confirmed, C-1-65 was steadily drilled on a 2 km grid spacing. At this time, two smaller fields were discovered: Sarir North and L-65.
In May 1965 five infill wells were sabotaged. The incident occurred during the reign of King Idris before the 1969 coup led by Colonel Qaddafi. The wild wells were not reported in the news media and the perpetrations not revealed. Until the Persian Gulf War of 1991 this was the largest simultaneous well fire ever. In recognition of the number and ferocity of the blowouts BP called for the fire fighter Red Adair plus his lieutenants Boots & Coots. On arrival the crew drove around the field to assess the task. One of the wells had not caught fire but was erupting crude. Living up to his larger than life reputation mirrored by John Wayne in the film Hellfighters Adair approached the well and closed the undamaged master valve saying (reputedly) "one down four to go". On return to the main camp he informed BP that he could cap the wells unaided and dispatched Boots & Coots back to Houston. He extinguished the fires in 3 weeks.
Initial production from the main Sarir oil wells averaged , with some achieving rates of . Since Sarir does not have a gas cap and GORs vary between 60-225 static ft³ per barrel, pressure maintenance was an issue. Fresh water was used, available from about 46 m to 518 m. Some areas used downhole pumps to maintain production. Desalters were also added, since the large salt amounts entrained in crude production were untolerable by many refineries.
Discovery Method.
Sarir was discovered by geophysical methods and subsurface geology with no topographic or geomorphic anomalies being reported. An air magnetometer revealed the southwestern A structure and its southeastern prolongation, which was later found to be a buried fault line. Sarir is located on the northwest plunge of a gravity maximum axis and overshadowed by two western features: (1) a large gravity maximum, the A structure; (2) a strong gravity maximum, the B structure. The eastern feature, rising to a gravity maximum, is known as the C structure (Sarir C).
Seismic reflection and refraction surveys (1960-1961) revealed that the C structure has a pronounced basement feature. An Eocene seismic reflection horizon was mapped, showing a few hundred feet of relief over the entire complex, compared to a refraction map showing up to 610 m. After drilling the first two wells in C-65 (A and B structures), an Eocene map showed the C structure as having of closure. This was considered sufficient justification to proceed with drilling.
Structure.
The Sirte Basin province ranks 13th among the world’s petroleum provinces, having known reserves of of oil equivalent () of oil, of gas, of natural gas liquids. It includes an area about the size of the Williston Basin of the northern United States and southern Canada (≈490,000 km²). Late Mesozoic and Tertiary features developed on a Precambrian basement and eroded Paleozoic surface. The main northwest-to-southeast synclinal trough experienced repeated subsidence during fault adjustments. Several regional horst and graben trends originating in the Late Cretaceous remained active during the Tertiary as the Basin continued subsiding. The faults predominant trend is northwest-to-southeast, other northeast-to-southwest trends may form part of a conjugate pattern controlled by the gross texture basement.
In Pre-Cretaceous times, areas that became Sarir accumulations were occupied by topographic highs. It is probable that, even at this time, they were controlled by sets of conjugate faults trending northwest-to-southeast and northeast-to-southwest. The southern C structure may have been connected to a larger hinterland where Cretaceous sediments were derived and subsequently subsided.
Major fault movement occurred during Cretaceous sand deposition, most evident on north and west flanks of the C structure subject to uplift and erosion. This is expressed by a disconformity that removed successively deeper reservoir beds to the north and west. Major downwarping to the south probably began near the end of the Cretaceous period, isolating the C structure from its hinterland, forming it into a trap, and providing a deep shale trough that may have been a major hydrocarbon generating areas.
There was little fault movement during the Tertiary, but differential compaction created a simple anticline draped over the underlying Cretaceous structure. At basement level, Sarir C is less pronounced than structures to the south and northwest, which have poor sand development, in that Late Cretaceous shales rest on basement without the intervening sandstone reservoir of the Sarir field.
The fall from the Sarir C crest to the southern low is 1000 m, occurring over a 22 km distance equivalent to an overall dip of 2.5°. The steepest dip recorded is 4.5°. The triangular-shaped crest has an east-west base roughly 40 km long and a north-south perpendicular of 20 km. Vertical closure is 122 m. Sarir North and L-65 are on a northwest extension of the northeast side of the C structure. L-65, has a triangular shape with a southwest-trending flank. Structural evolution was marked by vertical tectonic movement with little evidence of horizontal stresses.
Stratigraphy.
The Sarir stratigraphic column generally resembles succession patterns throughout the Sirte Basin, with some variations. In the early regressive phase, basal sandstones were deposited on a Precambrian basement of igneous and metamorphic rocks. Sandstones are dated on angiosperm pollen as younger than Albian, probably from the Late Cretaceous. After a lengthy hiatus, represented by unconformity and sandstone erosion, a transgressive sequence of red, green, and purple Anhydrite shales was laid. Variegated bed remnants occur in crestal sections of many northern structures, such as in wells B-1-65 and C-1-80.
Above the transgressive sequence are Late Cretaceous shales with tight, micritic carbonate, marking the top of the Mesozoic. These shales thicken into troughs, providing the field's sole source rock. The youngest fauna are Maastrichtian, with an apparent disconformity between the Late Cretaceous and Paleocene, marked by high levels of gamma radiation on logs.
The Paleocene is also a carbonate-shale succession with carbonate build-ups over structural highs, forming some of the basin's best reservoirs. Although thick carbonates exist over the field and other highs in C-65 and surrounding areas, no hydrocarbons were found. Reservoir water is usually fresh or brackish, suggesting flushing. Limestones were extensively dolomitized, resulting in large cavities and lost circulation while drilling.
In the Lower Eocene, Basin conditions became restricted, producing an alternating dolomite and anhydrite sequence with a consistent thickness. The mid-Eocene saw development of a wide carbonate platform, richly nummulitic, also constant in thickness. There are argillaceous limestone interbeds, marl, and occasional calcareous sandstones. The Late Eocene reflects more frequent lateral variations of interbedded limestones, dolomites, marls, and shales.
Recent to Oligocene succession consists of; (1) lower zone of fine to coarse sands with some clay partings and dolomite beds; (2) middle zone of gray-green, red-brown shales and clays; and (3) an upper zone of largely unconsolidated, slightly feldspathic sands. This is typical of the area where total thickness is 914 m, almost equally divided into the three main components.
Trap.
Sarir C is contained in a structural-stratigraphic trap, represented by dips to the east, south, and west and the major northeast-southwest-trending fault on its northwest flank. In much of the central and northwest, the reservoir subcrops and is sealed by shales that unconformably overlie it. Minor sand accumulations in the transgressive series above the basal sands occur in updip, pinchout traps.
Sarir C's main trap is not full to the spill point, which is downplunge on the ridge west of the structure. The oil column has a maximum height of 91 m, with a 122 m vertical closure. Crude distribution in the trap is affected by lithological variation. Oil-water levels are common in the main reservoir members, but the transgressive series is 43 m higher.
Sarir North is a separate trap with its own oil-water contact, 30 m deeper than Sarir C. L-65 also has an independent oil-water contact. The field has no gas cap; petroleum has a low gas-oil ratio between 60-225 standard ft3/bbl. Some crude differentiation occurs, probably due to gravity separation. Overall, it consists of a fairly light, waxy crude having a mean gravity of 37° API, wax content of 19%, and a sulfur content under 0.25%. The pour point ranges from 12° to 24 °C.
Gravity segregation of crude in the trap produced a peripheral tar mat in permeable intervals of the reservoir intersecting the oil-water level. The tar mat varies in thickness, reaching a 21 m maximum in the east. Viscous oil from the top of the tar mat has a mean gravity of 24°-25° API, a pour point of about 71 °C, wax content of 15%, and an asphaltene content of 14-22%.
Terror Activity.
Output from El Sarrir field was shut in after a bomb attack on February 16 damaged the field’s pipeline to Libya’s only operating land based oil port.


Candelariodon

Candelariodon is an extinct genus of carnivorous probainognathian cynodonts from the Middle Triassic Santa Maria Formation of the Paraná Basin in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. "Candelariodon" is known from a partial mandible having some complete teeth. It was first named by Téo Veiga De Oliveira, Cesar Leandro Schultz, Marina Bento Soares and Carlos Nunes Rodrigues in 2011 and the type species is "Candelariodon barberenai".
Description.
The holotype (MMACR PV-0001-T) of "Candelariodon barberenai" comes from the "Dinodontosaurus" Assemblage Zone of the Pinheros-Chiniquá Sequence, Santa Maria Supersequence. It corresponds to the lower portion of the traditional Santa Maria Formation and the Santa Maria 1 Sequence of Zerfass et al. (2003). The outcrop that yielded MMACR PV-0001-T is located about south of Candelária, Rio Grande do Sul, southeastern Brazil, in the Pinheiro, an area in which several tetrapods characteristic of the "Dinodontosaurus" Assemblage Zone have been discovered.


Skinnera

Skinnera is an Ediacaran-aged fossil found in Australia. It was discovered by A.L. Halliday and M.M. Bruer near Mount Skinner in the locality of Anmatjere, in the Northern Territory of Australia some time before 1969. Mary Wade of the University of Adelaide originally formally described "Skinnera" as a medusa.
Description.
"Skinnera" is a small, disk-shaped fossil preserved as a composite mold. Specimens range in diameter from 3.9-32mm; most are about 10mm across. They are slightly domed and all approximately 2mm tall. The fossils have three-fold symmetry and are characterized by three large, pouch-shaped depressions in the center which are speculated to be the stomach. These central depressions are connected to an outer rim of approximately 15 smaller pouch-shaped depressions along the perimeter of the disk by canals,
Diversity.
There is only one known species, "S. brooksi."
Discovery.
A.L. Halliday, geologist, and M.M. Bruer, field assistant, were on a geological expedition near Mount Skinner while working for Kennecott Explorations, Pty. Ltd. when they found fossiliferous deposits near the mountain. They marked off three locations, Mt. Skinner No. 1-3. The majority of fossils were found between sites Mt. S2 and Mt. S3. Halliday and Bruer notified Mary Wade of the Department of Geology at the University of Adelaide. Wade collected additional fossils aided by Halliday and Bruer. Two types of fossils were found which Wade designated as Form A and Form B. There were about twice as many fossils of Form A than Form B. Wade named Form A "Hallidaya brueri," for the discoverers, and Form B "Skinnera brooksi" for the location. Wade (1969) described "Skinnera" as a medusa, though, other sources classify it as a trilobozoan related to "Tribrachidium" and "Hallidaya".
Distribution.
"Skinnera" is known from three sites in the Northern Territory of Australia near Mount Skinner. Fossils were primarily found between sites Mt. Skinner 2 and Mt. Skinner 3.
Taphonomy.
The fossils were found in flaggy bedding of maroon and green shales with subgreywacks, impure siltstone, and claystones. The fossils are found flattened, parallel to the bedding plane with the dorsal surface up.
Significance.
"S. brooksi" was described by Mary Wade, a leading female paleontologist at the time in a male dominated field.


Calymenidius

Calymenidius is an extinct genus of trilobites.


Mihanikos

Mihanikos (Greek: Ο χορός του Μηχανικού, literally "The dance of the mechanic") is a traditional dance from the Greek island of Kalymnos. It is typically only performed by men dancing in a line. In basic it is a normal Syrtos.
The dance depicts the crippling effects of decompression sickness caused by sponge diving, which was the main source of income on Kalymnos during the last half of the 19th century. This is shown by the leading dancer who (on the slow part of the music) seemingly has to struggle to stand and walk, and uses a stick in doing so. His feet and legs shake violently and sometimes he almost collapses. This "mechanic" behaviour gives the dance its name. Sometimes he is seen being assisted by the second dancer in line. The other dancers dance on normally, until at some point the music picks up speed and leading dancer picks up the rhythm and they dance together in line, with the leading dancer joyfully showing off. This may happen only once during the dance, or the slow and fast parts may alternate, with or without the leading dancer joining the line.


Acmarhachis

Acmarhachis is a genus of trilobite in the order Agnostida, which lived in what are now Australia (Queensland, Tasmania), Canada (British Columbia, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories), China (Anhui), Kazakhstan, Russia (Kharaulakh), and the US (Alaska, Alabama, Nevada, Maryland, Vermont). It was described by Resser in 1938, and the type species is "Acmarhachis typicalis".
Description.
Like all Agnostida, "Acmarhachis" is diminutive and the headshield (or cephalon) and tailshield (or pygidium) are of approximately the same size (or isopygous) and outline. As in all Agnostina, "Acmarhachis" has two thorax segments. When Agnostina are enrolled, a tiny opening between the cephalon and the thorax becomes visible (the cephalothoracic aperture) that uniquely distinguishes this group from the Eodiscina. A feature shared with all Agnostoidea is that the frontal lobe of the central raised area of the cephalon (or glabella) is not laterally expanded compared to the backward lobe, like in the Condylopygoidea. In "Acmarhachis" the furrow at midline between the front of the glabella and the border is weak or absent. The glabella has a long ogival to subquadrate front lobe, and the furrow defining it at its back is straight. The back lobe of the glabella is accompanied by two triangular basal lobes of moderate to large size. On the pygidium the axis or rhachis reaches the border. It is divided along its length in three lobes. It is shaped a bit like an amphora, the back pointed and strongly constricted across the middle lobe. The middle lobe also carries a node where it contacts the posterior lobe.


Ludwig Glauert

Ludwig Glauert MBE (5 May 1879 – 1 February 1963) was a British-born Australian paleontologist, herpetologist and museum curator. He is known for work on Pleistocene mammal fossils, and as a museum curator who played an important role in natural science of Western Australia.
Glauert was born in Ecclesall, Sheffield, England. His father was Johann Ernst Louis Henry Glauert, merchant and cutlery manufacturer, and his mother was Amanda, née Watkinson. He was educated in Sheffield at Sheffield Royal Grammar School, at Firth University College and the Technical School, studying geology, becoming a Fellow of the Geological Society of London in 1900.
In 1908 he and his wife migrated to Perth, Western Australia, where he joined the Geological Survey there as a paleontologist, working to arrange the collections of the Western Australian Museum. In 1910 he became part of the permanent staff of the museum and in 1914 was promoted to Keeper of Geology and Ethnology. From 1909 to 1915 he carried out fieldwork at the Margaret River caves, finding fossils of several species of extinct monotremes and marsupials in the Pleistocene limestone there.
He was a member of the Western Australian Naturalists Club and published regularly in the West Australian Naturalist as well as in Western Mail in 'The Naturalist' columns
He was appointed MBE in the 1960 New Year Honours.
Glauert died in Perth.
"Varanus glauerti", a species of Australian monitor lizard is named in his honor.


Dolichocebus

Dolichocebus is an extinct New World monkey genus that lived in Argentine Patagonia (Sarmiento Formation) from about 21 to 17.5 million years ago during the Early Miocene (Colhuehuapian in the SALMA classification). The type species is "D. gaimanensis".


Drotops

Drotops is a genus of trilobites from the order Phacopida, family Phacopidae that lived during the Eifelian of the Middle Devonian. It was described by Struve in 1990 under type species "Drotops megalomanicus". Their fossils are found in present day Morocco, specifically the Maïder Region located South West of Erfoud.
Description.
"Drotops" is large in comparison to most other trilobite genera, and can reach lengths of . "Drotops" can be distinguished from other genera in this family by its size. It looks generally like a very large "Phacops" with large pustules covering its surface, with a high density on the glabella. "Drotops armatus" is distinguished from "Drotops megalomanicus" because of its spines present on the eye ridges and along the thorax. The species have fairly large schizochroal eyes which were mounted on turret-like structures that gave a near 360-degree field of view. As with many other trilobites, individuals curl into a ball to protect itself from the predators with its hard exoskeleton.
Species.
Drotops megalomanicus ("megalomanicus" from the Greek "μεγαλο": "megalo-", meaning large or great, and "μανία": "mania", meaning madness, frenzy) is described from fossils found in Jbel Issoumour, Morocco.
Drotops armatus (armatus from the Latin "armātus" meaning armed or fortified) is from Jbel Issoumour, Morocco.
"Drotops armatus" is similar in appearance to the genus "Phacops", albeit much larger. A significant feature of this species is that it has spines protruding from its exoskeleton, presumably to deter predators. "D. armatus" has an enlarged glabella covered in rounded pustules, and schizochroal eyes which contained multiple lenses.