Astronomical alignments of paleo-Christian basilicas in Romania

In this paper we present the first comprehensive study of the astronomical alignments of paleo-Christian basilicas located in present day Romania. 20 basilicas from 10 sites have been investigated using a digital compass and tools such as Google Earth, Stellarium, and heywhatsthat.com. Results show that except two all fall within the solar sunrise arc. Of these some point to the rising Sun during the feast days of well-known Christian saints. The two exceptions at Argamum and Dinogeția indicate that the basilicas may be converted. The astronomical analysis in these two cases indicates a possible alignment with the moonrise during the major lunar standstill and the rising of the stars Arcturus, Castor, Mirach, and Algiebe

A 2500-yr late holocenemulti-proxy record of vegetation and hydrologic changes from a cave guano-clay sequence in SW Romania

We provide sedimentological, geochemical, mineral magnetic, stable carbon isotope, charcoal, and pollen-based evidence froma guano/clay sequence in Gaura cuMuscă Cave (SWRomania), fromwhichwe deduced that from ~1230 BC to ~AD 1240 climate oscillated betweenwet and dry. From ~1230 BC to AD 1000 the climate was wetter than the present, prompting flooding of the cave, preventing bats fromroosting, and resulting in a slowrate of clay accumulation. The second half of the MedievalWarm Period (MWP) was generally drier; the cave experienced occasional flash flooding in between which maternity bat roosts established in the cave. One extremely wet event occurred around AD 1170, when Fe/Mn and Ti/Zr ratios show the highest values coincident with a substantial increase of sediment load in the underground stream. The mineral magnetic characteristics for the second part of the MWP indicate the partial input of surface-sourced sediments reflecting agricultural development and forest clearance in the area. Pollen and microcharcoal studies confirm that the overall vegetation cover and human land use have not changed much in this region since the medieval times

Varijabilnost u broju trupnih segmenata vrste Clinopodes flavidus c. L. Koch, 1847 (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha)

Broj telesnih segmenata je meristički karakter koji kod Arthropoda pokazuje značajnu varijabilnost — od oblika sa samo nekoliko (<10) segmenata do Chilopoda i Diplopoda čiji trup može biti izgrađen iz više stotina segmenata. Nedovoljno se zna o mehanizmima koji dovode do ove varijabilnosti; jedini zglavkar kod koga je dobro poznata kontrola konačnog broja segmenata je Drosophila. Međutim, kod mušica se ne javlja variranje broja segmenata između prirodnih populacija, a i insekti kao klasa pokazuju vrlo malu interspecijsku varijabilnost što ih čini slabim model sistemom za proučavanje ovog fenomena. Sa druge strane, red Geophilomorpha (oko 1250 vrsta, 215 rodova, 13 porodica) objedinjuje dve specifične prednosti koje omogućavaju proučavanje varijabilnosti i mikroevolucije broja trupnih segmenata. Naime, kod većine vrsta (izuzetak je porodica Mecistocephalidae) javlja se intraspecijska varijabilnost u broju segmenata sa nogama za hodanje. Pored toga, svi trupni segmenti se formiraju tokom embriogeneze (epimorfni tip razvića), zbog čega je moguće porediti različite populacije, bez obzira na njihovu uzrasnu strukturu. Mi smo u ovoj studiji po prvi put kod vrste Clinopodes flavidus C. L. Koch, 1847, koja uglavnom naseljava centralnu i jugoistočnu Evropu, istraživali vezu između broja trupnih segmenata, geografske širine i klimatskih parametara. Nalazi za C. flavidus ukazuju na statistički značajnu pozitivnu korelaciju broja segmenata i geografske širine, što je u suprotnosti sa tradicionalnim obrascem po kome juţne populacije imaju veći broj trupnih segmenata od severnih. Takođe, utvrđena je značajna pozitivna korelacija broja segmenata i prosečne temperature najvlažnijeg tromesečja u godini, što samo potvrđuje postojanje fenotipske plastičnosti ovog svojstva u prirodnim populacijama geofilomorfnih hilopoda. Na kraju, uočena je i jaka negativna korelacija broja segmenata i količine padavina tokom najvlažnijeg tromesečja u godini, čemu bi trebalo posvetiti posebnu pažnju u budućim istraživanjima.Jerinić-Prodanović D, editor. Plenary Lectures and Abstracts. Symposium of Entomologists of Serbia 2013 with International Participation; 2013 Sep 18-22; Tara, Serbia. Belgrade: Entomological Society of Serbia; 2013. p. 56

A new cave-dwelling species of the genus Geophilus Leach, 1814 (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha) from the chemoautotrophic-based Movile Cave (Southern Dobrogea, Romania)

Geophilus zagreus sp. nov., a troglomorphic geophilid endemic to the Movile Cave sulfidic groundwater ecosystem, is described and illustrated. It is distinguished from other European Geophilus species by a high number of coxal pores on the ventral side of the coxa of the last pair of legs. Its affinities with the other two troglobitic species of the genus are discussed. The mitochondrial COI barcode is sequenced for the new species and phylogenetic analysis is carried out to elucidate its placement within Geophilus. Other syntopic Chilopoda from Movile cave are listed.https://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:D549ACAF-5DE4-403E-8D1A-5E6232A635E