Two new species of mid-Cretaceous webspinners in amber from northern Myanmar (Embiodea: Clothodidae,Oligotomidae)

Two new genera and species of Cretaceous webspinners (Embiodea) are described and figured, both preserved in amber from northern Myanmar. Atmetoclothoda orthotenes Engel and Huang, gen. et sp. nov., is the first fossil representative of the putatively primitive family Clothodidae, and is segregated into its own subfamily, Atmetoclothodinae Engel and Huang, subfam. nov., owing to its primitive retention of a distinct mentum, a quadrate submentum with straight borders, a postocciptal suture that meets the hypostomal sulcus at the posterior tentorial pit, and subgenae that do not meet medially (thus a ventral bridge or gula is lacking), completely symmetrical terminalia, and unsegmented cerci that apically bear a small inner lamellar projection. Litoclostes delicatus Engel and Huang, gen. et sp. nov., is the first definitive fossil of Oligotomidae (not including a subfossil species in Pleistocene copal and which is likely synonymous with an extant taxon), and differs from modern genera in a combination of head, tarsal, and terminalic morphology. The new fossil species double the known Cretaceous fossils and add a further two families to the Mesozoic record for the order.     

Urban re-generations: afterword to special issue on the politics of urban greening in Australian cities

ABSTRACT

‘Urban re-generations' is written as an afterword to the special issue of Australian Geographer on ‘The Politics of Urban Greening in Australian Cities'. The collection prompts a deep questioning of reparative and regenerative work associated with greening, green spaces and green infrastructures. The climate-driven 2019-2020 bushfire crisis and COVID-19 have amplified the visibility of the more-than-human connectivity of our cities and the deep underlying structures of social and environmental inequity underpinning a variety of urban green spaces and agendas. Inspired by the articles in this special issue, the afterword explores how we might call back the grammars and practices of regeneration from their service to the neo-liberal, settler-colonial city and instead nurture reparative de-colonial practices that aid in the collaborative work of re-composing, becoming into better relation with, and working in modes of situated historical and cultural difference, with green and just cities.     

Modeling nonlinear wave–wave interactions with the elliptic mild slope equation

An approach is developed to simulate wave–wave interactions using nonlinear elliptic mild-slope equation in domains where wave reflection, refraction, diffraction and breaking effects must also be considered. This involves the construction of an efficient solution procedure including effective boundary treatment, modification of the nonlinear equation to resolve convergence issues, and validation of the overall approach. For solving the second-order boundary-value problem, the Alternating Direction Implicit (ADI) scheme is employed, and the use of approximate boundary conditions is supplemented, for improved accuracy, with internal wave generation method and dissipative sponge layers. The performance of the nonlinear model is investigated for a range of practical wave conditions involving reflection, diffraction and shoaling in the presence of nonlinear wave–wave interactions. In addition, the transformation of a wave spectrum due to nonlinear shoaling and breaking, and nonlinear resonance inside a rectangular harbor are simulated. Numerical calculations are compared with the results from other relevant nonlinear models and experimental data available in literature. Results show that the approach developed here performs reasonably well, and has thus improved the applicability of this class of wave transformation models.     

2Passalopalpidae,a new family from the Cretaceous Burmese amber,as the possible sister group of Passalidae Leach (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea)

A new family of Scarabaeoidea is revealed from the Cretaceous amber of Myanmar (earliest Cenomanian, near 100 Ma), on a series of males and females, most in perfect condition. Passalopalpidae fam. nov., Passalopalpus cheni gen. et sp. nov., are probably extinct since a long time. Observations were made on the whole body (head, thorax, abdomen) and appendages (mouthparts, antennae, legs, wings). Most characters are remarkable and plesiomorphic, compared to Passalidae Leach, as well as to some other Scarabaeoidea. Morphological characteristics demonstrate that the fossil species is typically « passaloid », but that it cannot belongs to Passalidae. Passalopalpidae and Passalidae are clearly distinct families, with strong assumption to be sister groups. The systematic interpretation of the fossil could fill a historic gap: the sister group of Passalidae had been established previously never in a solid way. Passalids are Gondwanian, whereas passalopalpids lived on former eastern Laurasia. Vicariance of both taxa, each on one of the super-continents, seems to support recent hypotheses of phylogeny and paleobiogeography for Passalidae. Other preliminary notes are given on the morphology, biology and phylogenetic relationships of passalopalpids.     

Recent contributions to the standard Albian/Cenomanian boundary chronology from Hokkaido,Japan: A review for data reintegration and numerical age recalibration

The numerical age of the Albian/Cenomanian (A/C) boundary (=Early/Late Cretaceous Epoch boundary) has recently been updated using new radiometric dates from Hokkaido, Japan. Yet, an element of uncertainty still remains in the age scaling due to inaccurate chronostratigraphic contexts surrounding the tuff beds that have been geochronologically studied in the Oyubari and Soeushinai areas. To ensure stability in the Cretaceous time scale, this paper rigorously reevaluates the current status of Hokkaido A/C chronology, clarifying the limitations and making refinements via proper reintegration of published chronostratigraphic data. In the case of the Oyubari area, its A/C biostratigraphic scheme is limited by near-absence of ammonites and planktonic foraminifera at the Albian–Cenomanian transition, resulting in a large discrepancy in the proposed boundary levels based on these macro- and microfossil taxa. These problems can be solved by solid data integration aided by event- and δ¹³C-sratigraphy from the adjacent Ashibetsu area, wherein the A/C boundary is well documented by the superior planktonic foraminiferal record. Based on the resultant A/C boundary redefinition for the Oyubari area in conjunction with a simple linear interpolation from two published UPb ages, the A/C boundary age can be independently calibrated to be 100.8 Ma [with ±1.4 Myr uncertainty (=analytical precision)], which is consistent with that currently in use in the Geologic Time Scale 2012 (100.5 ± 0.4 Ma). In the case of the Soeushinai area, its chronostratigraphic framework is limited by rather complex geological structure and vertically/laterally variable lithologies. Moreover, the accuracy of geochronological data from this area is undermined by the fact that the dated tuff levels do not bracket the inferred A/C boundary.     

The first fossil Perilestidae (Odonata: Zygoptera) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber

Palaeoperilestes electronicus gen. et sp. nov. is the first perilestid damselfly described from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. This new damselfly can be attributed to the family Perilestidae by the midfork being distal of the subnodus and the base of IR2 quite near to the base of RP2, both features found in the extant genera Perilestes and Perissolestes. Palaeoperilestes electronicus gen. et sp. nov. has a strongly zigzagged IR1, however, differing from Perilestes and Perissolestes which have a straight IR1. The discovery not only adds to the diversity of damselflies in Burmese amber, but also puts the origin of Perilestidae back to at least the mid-Cretaceous.     

The oldest armoured harvestman (Arachnida: Opiliones: Laniatores), from Upper Cretaceous Myanmar amber

The oldest laniatorean harvestman, Petrobunoides sharmai gen. et sp. nov. (Opiliones: Laniatores) is described, from the Upper Cretaceous (lowermost Cenomanian) amber of Myanmar. This is the first fossil Laniatores recovered from Southeast Asia, which is placed in the extant family Epedanidae. It is also the first fossil known within the superfamily Epedanoidea; a relatively derived clade of Laniatores restricted to Southeast Asia today. At ca. 99 Ma, this new amber inclusion is substantially older than the previous oldest record of a member of Laniatores from Baltic amber (ca. 44–49 Ma); however, given the Palaeozoic age of Laniatores implied by molecular data, the new record from Burmese amber is probably still too young for constraining or calibrating the date of cladogenesis for total group Laniatores. Nevertheless, it provides a much better constraint for Epedanoidea, adding the first useful laniatorean fossil to provide an internal calibration point for a clade of Grassatores.     

The first araripeneurine antlion in Burmese amber (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae)

Burmaneura minuta gen. et sp. nov., the first araripeneurine antlion in amber, is characterized, described and compared with the modern and Mesozoic Myrmeleontidae. The precise position of the fossil within this group is debatable. Interestingly, despite a rather rich fossil record, all Mesozoic Myrmeleontidae belong to subfamilies that are not recorded in the Cenozoic, although this might merely reflect the artificiality of the classification as the extinct groups may be paraphyletic with respect to their younger counterparts (e.g., Araripeneurinae may very well be nothing more than a stem group of no classificatory value).     

Late Cenomanian environmental conditions at the submerged Tatric Ridge,Central Western Carpathians during the period preceding Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 – A palaeontological and isotopic approach

Micropalaeontological and isotopic studies of the upper Cenomanian turbiditic/hemipelagic sediments from the High-Tatric unit (Central Western Carpathians; Polish part of the Tatra Mountains) has been undertaken to characterize the sedimentary conditions in the Tatric basin, a part of the Western Tethys, related to the interval preceding the late Cenomanian oceanic anoxic event (OAE2). The deposition of these sediments, including organic-rich layers (TOC up to 0.7%), corresponds to the Rotalipora cushmani foraminiferal Zone. Microfacial, foraminiferal and palynological analyses show that the sea floor was located at upper bathyal depths and the water column was poorly oxygenated. The intrabasinal carbonate material indicates moderate primary productivity with rare periods of upwellings. The scarcity of marine fossils in redeposited material and features of carbonate lithoclasts suggest very low productivity in the nearshore surface water, most probably due to a low-density hyposaline cap as surface runoff from the southern margin of the basin. The carbon isotopic study documents the negative values of δ¹³C_carb in the whole section as an effect of transfer of isotopically light carbon sourced from various sources. Such negative values of δ¹³C_carb are characteristic of the upper Cenomanian sediments, deposited in relatively shallow water basins, characterized by input of terrestrial organic matter and/or carbonate particles known from the Western Interior sections, the Atlantic coastal plain, the northwestern African margin, the eastern margin of the Apulian Platform and shelf sediments in the NW Europe and Tethyan Himalayas. Most probably, all of these events could be related to the global sea level fluctuations that occurred ca. 95.5–94.5 Ma comparing with the Haq (2014) eustatic curve.     

Organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst records from a prospective Turonian – Coniacian (Upper Cretaceous) GSSP,Słupia Nadbrzeżna,Poland

A river section at Słupia Nadbrzeżna, central Poland, has been proposed as a candidate Turonian – Coniacian (Cretaceous) GSSP, in combination with the Salzgitter-Salder quarry section of Lower Saxony, Germany. Results of a high-resolution (25 cm) palynological study of the boundary interval in the Słupia Nadbrzeżna section are presented. Terrestrial palynomorphs are rare; marine organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts dominate the palynological assemblage. The dinoflagellate cyst assemblage has a low species richness (5–11 per sample; total of 18 species recorded) and diversity (Shannon index H = 0.8–1.4), dominated by four taxa: Circulodinium distinctum subsp. distinctum; Oligosphaeridium complex; Spiniferites ramosus subsp. ramosus; Surculosphaeridium longifurcatum. Declining proportions of O. complex and S. ramosus subsp. ramosus characterise the uppermost Turonian, with an increased dominance of S. longifurcatum in the lower Coniacian. The Turonian – Coniacian boundary interval includes an acme of C. distinctum subsp. distinctum in the upper Mytiloides scupini Zone, a dinoflagellate cyst abundance maximum in the Cremnoceramus walterdorfensis walterdorfensis Zone, and the highest occurrence of Senoniasphaera turonica in the basal Coniacian lower Cremnoceramus deformis erectus Zone. Most previously reported Turonian – Coniacian boundary dinoflagellate cyst marker species are absent; a shallow-water oligotrophic epicontinental depositional setting, remote from terrestrial influence, likely limited species diversity and excluded many taxa of biostratigraphic value.