A New Pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Morocco

The Kem Kem beds in South Eastern Morocco contain a rich early Upper (or possibly late Lower) Cretaceous vertebrate assemblage. Fragmentary remains, predominantly teeth and jaw tips, represent several kinds of pterosaur although only one species, the ornithocheirid Coloborhynchus moroccensis, has been named. Here, we describe a new azhdarchid pterosaur, Alanqa saharica nov. gen. nov. sp., based on an almost complete well preserved mandibular symphysis from Aferdou N'Chaft. We assign additional fragmentary jaw remains, some of which have been tentatively identified as azhdarchid and pteranodontid, to this new taxon which is distinguished from other azhdarchids by a remarkably straight, elongate, lance-shaped mandibular symphysis that bears a pronounced dorsal eminence near the posterior end of its dorsal (occlusal) surface. Most remains, including the holotype, represent individuals of approximately three to four meters in wingspan, but a fragment of a large cervical vertebra, that probably also belongs to A. saharica, suggests that wingspans of six meters were achieved in this species. The Kem Kem beds have yielded the most diverse pterosaur assemblage yet reported from Africa and provide the first clear evidence for the presence of azhdarchids in Gondwana at the start of the Late Cretaceous. This, the relatively large size achieved by Alanqa, and the additional evidence of variable jaw morphology in azhdarchids provided by this taxon, indicates a longer and more complex history for this clade than previously suspected

Dinamica dal Neogene al Quaternario della Corsica orientale e della Toscana

Si illustrano qui i risultati della ricerca eseguita nell'ambito del programma INTERREG II Corsica-Toscana svolta in collaborazione fra Università di Pisa e Università di Corte. Secondo il programma "Dil1amica dal Neogene all'Attuale in Corsica, nell'Arcipelago Toscano e in Toscana ", abbiamo eseguito lo studio di alcune successioni stratigrafiche presenti nella Toscana Marittima, nell'isola di Pianosa e nel bacino còrso di A1éria. I nostri studi sono stati rivolti alle rocce sedimentarie dal punto di vista della loro composizione litologica, delle caratteristiche sedimentologiche e delle associazioni fossilifere. L'insieme di queste analisi ha consentito, attraverso la precisazione degli ambienti di deposizione degli insiemi di strati litologicamente analoghi (formazioni), di ricostruire le successioni stratigrafiche delle diverse località studiate. Queste località, essendo ubicate ai margini occidentale e orientale del Mare Tirreno Settentrionale (e Mar Ligure a Nord dell 'Isola d'Elba), vanno considerate di grande importanza nella ricerca della storia dello sviluppo di questo mare. Uno degli scopi del nostro lavoro è stato quello di aggiornare i riferimenti cronostratigrafici delle diverse formazioni neogeniche e quaternarie secondo la scala semplificata di fi g. L Questo aggiornamento rientra nei necessari studi di base ad altre ricerche, in specie di natura geofisica e geodinamica, che da alcuni anni sono state svolte e tuttora si svolgono anche nel Tirreno Settentrionale, sia nei suoi fondali che a maggiori profondità. Ovviamente il nostro studio ha inizio dal Neogene (Mio cene+ Pliocene), vale a dire 23.8 Ma (milioni di anni) perché le rocce più antiche che si incontrano in queste aree fanno parte di vicende geologiche da considerarsi del tutto estranee e precedenti alla nascita e allo sviluppo del Tirreno. La fig. 2 indica, attraverso le isobate, le profondità dei fondali marini del Tirreno Settentrionale. Risultano evidenti la stretta piattaforma continentale (che si estende dalla costa fino all 'isobata dei 200 m) a Est della Corsica, il profondo Canale Corso, l'ampia Piattaforma continentale Toscana che comprende le isole dell'arcipelago ed infine le maggiori profondità a SE dell'Isola di Montecristo

Hardening Mechanism through Phase Separation of Beta Ti-35Nb-7Zr-5Ta and Ti-35Nb-7Ta Alloys

AbstractThe β titanium alloys are highly attractive metallic materials for biomedical applications due to their high specific strength, high corrosion resistance and excellent biocompatibility, including low elastic modulus. The aim of this work is the evaluation of hardening mechanism through phase separation in β Ti-35Nb-7Zr-5Ta (TNZT) and Ti-35Nb-7Ta (TNT) alloys. Ingots (50 g) of TNZT and TNT alloys were arc-furnace melted in Ar(g)atmosphere. XRD using synchrotron radiation together with TEM and HRTEM analysis showed the coexistence of two separated phases (β and β’) with similar crystalline structures and slightly different lattice parameters in TNZT and TNT alloys. It was detected a heterogeneous microstructure alternating nanosized dark and bright regions (∼10 nm) with different compositions (Nb-rich β and Ta-Zr-rich β’).In aged condition (400ºC/4h), TNZT and TNT alloys undergoes coherent spinodal decomposition of β phase into two solid solution phases with coherent interface, different compositions and elastic strain associated with nanometric domains of Nb-rich β and Ta-(Zr)-rich β’ phases.</jats:p

Molecular Phylogeny of Anthyllis spp.

Abstract For the genus Anthyllis (Fam. Fabaceae, tribe Loteae), with few exceptions, little information is available on the genetic variation among and within species. This genus contains 20 species distributed throughout Europe, Africa and the Mediterranean basin. The most widespread species is A. vulneraria, and over 30 intraspecies taxa have been identified based on plant morphology. To study the molecular phylogeny of the genus, the sequences of the internal transcribed spacers ITS1 (18S-5.8S) and ITS2 (5.8S-25S) of the nuclear ribosomal DNA of 10 Anthyllis species, including 11 subspecies of A. vulneraria and three subspecies of A. montana, were obtained and analysed together with sequences of five other species of the genus obtained from GenBank. Our results suggest that the genus Anthyllis is not monophyletic and is divided in two main clades: the Anthyllis sensu strictu and the “tetraphylla clade”. The former includes most of the Anthyllis species, and the latter includes three annual species more closely related to Lotus. All the taxa were also analysed according to seven chloroplast microsatellites, and these data closely confirm the results obtained with the ITS phylogen

Offshore tidal bioclastic bodies in epeiric seas: Miocene examples from SE France and Corsica

Date du colloque&nbsp;: 07/2012International audienc

Offshore tidal bioclastic bodies in epeiric seas: Miocene examples from SE France and Corsica

Date du colloque&nbsp;: 07/2012International audienc

Offshore tidal bioclastic bodies in epeiric seas: Miocene examples from SE France and Corsica

Date du colloque&nbsp;: 07/2012International audienc