Redescription of the Upper Cretaceous marine squamate Acteosaurus tommasinii von Meyer, 1860, notes at least 10 cervical vertebrae, 27 dorsal vertebrae, an absence of pachyostosis on the vertebrae ...and ribs, overall limb reduction where the forelimbs are smaller than the hind limbs, a flattened pubic bone with a square pubic process and subrectangular descending ramus, small postzygapophyses on the trunk vertebrae, long and narrow neural spines on the caudal vertebrae, and posteroventrally positioned, unfused haemal arches on the caudals. Cladistic analysis of Acteosaurus and other marine squamates, including mosasauroids, dolichosaurs, pontosaurs, Adriosaurus, and Aphanizocnemus, and living and fossil snakes (Dinilysia, Yurlunggur, Eupodophis, Haasiophis, Pachyrhachis, Scolecophidia, Macrostomata, and Anilioidea) resulted in three most-parsimonious trees of 280 steps (C.I. = 0.59, R.I. = 0.81, R.C. = 0.48). All recovered tree topologies found support for the monophyly of the clade Ophidiomorpha, inclusive of Dolichosauridae (Dolichosaurus, Coniasaurus), Pontosaurus, Aphanizocnemus, Adriosaurus, Acteosaurus, and Ophidia. Acteosaurus is found to be a basal ophidiomorph and the sister taxon to the Ophidia.
A new species of the genus AdriosaurusSeeley, 1881, Adriosaurus skrbinensis, is described and diagnosed by the following unique features: presence of 30 dorsal vertebrae; much larger body size than ...that of A. suessi and A. microbrachis (about 60% larger); forelimbs much more reduced than the hind limbs, i.e., with a humerus/femur ratio of only 0.40; parietal foramen lying on the suture line between frontal and parietal; and anterior margin of the parietal convex anteriorly. Further features observed in A. skrbinensis, but obscured or poorly preserved in other adriosaurs, include intercentra articulating with (not fused or sutured to) cervical vertebrae; presence of high, rectangular neural spines on caudal vertebrae; very long chevron bones articulated to posterior ventral margin of caudal vertebrae; pubic bone with well-developed square anterior process and distinct pubic foramen. This new fossil suggests variability in the dorsal vertebrae count of Adriosaurus, ranging between 28 and 30. Similar to what has been observed in living scincids and anguids, there seems to be a direct relationship between axial elongation and shortening of the humerus in Adriosaurus. Cladistic analysis resulted in one shortest cladogram that places A. skrbinensis as the sister taxon to A. suessi.
Although live-bearing (viviparity) has evolved around 100 times within reptiles, evidence of it is almost never preserved in the fossil record. Here, we report viviparity in mosasauroids, a group of ...Cretaceous marine lizards. This is the only known fossil record of live-bearing in squamates (lizards and snakes), and might represent the oldest occurrence of the trait in this diverse group; it is also the only known fossil record of viviparity in reptiles other than ichthyosaurs. An exceptionally preserved gravid female of the aigialosaur Carsosaurus (a primitive mosasauroid) contains at least four advanced embryos distributed along the posterior two-thirds of the long trunk region (dorsal vertebrae 9-21). Their orientation suggests that they were born tail-first (the nostrils emerging last) to reduce the possibility of drowning, an adaptation shared with other highly aquatic amniotes such as cetaceans, sirenians and ichthyosaurs; the orientation of the embryos also suggests that they were not gut contents because swallowed prey are usually consumed head-first. One embryo is located within the pelvis, raising the possibility that the adult died during parturition. Viviparity in early medium-sized amphibious aigialosaurs may have freed them from the need to return to land to deposit eggs, and permitted the subsequent evolution of gigantic totally marine mosasaurs.
With immediate access to new information on breast cancer research, more and more people are turning to non-profits for guidance. With no template describing exactly how to find a cure for such a ...destructive disease, it is hard for the general public to understand all the twists and turns along the way. Non-profits play off their emotional connection to educate on the scientific side of cancer research. Women and those affected by the disease have come to rely on these organizations to find support, information, and, eventually, a cure. This perspective piece follows the non-profit world full circle to try to better understand the fondness masses have toward non-profit organizations.
Constructions of women's activism as social service, volunteer, or charity work contribute to the relative invisibility of these forms of activism. The author conducted field research at an affiliate ...office of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. She analyzes how these women volunteers resist the label "activist" at the same time that they engage in activities that resemble activism. The author also examines the reasons for their resistance to the term. Her analysis shows that implicit connections between constructions of activism and gender shape the extent to which volunteers think of their work either as political or as activism. In light of Komen 's heteronormative gender ideology, the author concludes by raising questions about the relationships among gender, activism, and civic participation.
In July and August in 2015, the massive flood has occurred and caused extensive and severe damages throughout Myanmar. We investigated disaster response by Myanmar government as well as the river ...infrastructure function in the Bago River Basin. As a result, we observed that the Government of Myanmar promoted actions of disaster risk reduction through Emergency Operation Centre based on the National Natural Disaster Management Law enacted in 2013. Moreover, disaster response system that had not been seen before was under formulation at local level, such as information sharing among departments and information provision to the public. Especially in the Bago River Basin where the great flood had struck in 2011, countermeasures for flood risk reduction including a large-scale river improvement were being taken from both structural and non-structural measures.
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