Twelve specimens of early Toarcian Mecoptera and Diptera from the vicinity of Wolfsburg were investigated for the present study. The material was found during house building activities in the 1980s at the locality Große Kley in Mörse, an urban district of the city of Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. The specimens were found in calcareous nodules of the Harpoceras falciferum Zone that occur within the Liassic black shales (Posidonia shale). Six specimens of Mecoptera, five belonging to the family Orthophlebiidae and one belonging to the Bittacidae, and six representatives of the following Diptera families were identified: Ptychopteridae, Limoniidae, Anisopodidae and the superfamily Mycetophiloidea. The fossil fauna of Wolfsburg is similar to that of other early Toarcian sites in Germany, described by Handlirsch (1906, 1939), Bode (1905, 1953) and Ansorge (1996) from Braunschweig, Dobbertin and Grimmen. Two new species are described, Mesorhyphusulrichi sp. nov. (Anisopodidae) and Archipleciomima germanica sp. nov. (Mycetophiloidea).

Identifying the relative importance of urban and non-urban land-use types for potential denitrification derived N2O at a regional scale is critical for quantifying the impacts of human activities on nitrous oxide (N2O) emission under changing environments. In this study we used a regional dataset from China including 197 soil samples and six land-use types to evaluate the main predictors (land use, heavy metals, soil pH, soil moisture, substrate availability, functional and broad microbial abundances) of potential denitrification using multivariate and pathway analysis. Our results provide empirical evidence that soils on farms have the greatest potential denitrifying ability (PDA) (10.92±6.08ng N2O-N·g–1 dry soil·min–1) followed by urban soil (6.80±5.35ng N2O-N·g–1 dry soil·min–1). Our models indicate that land use (low vs. high human activity), followed by total nitrogen (TN) and heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd) was the most important driver of PDA. In addition, our path analysis suggests that at least part of the impacts of land use on potential denitrification were mediated via microbial abundance, soil pH and substrates including TN, dissolved organic carbon and nitrate. This study identifies the main predictors of denitrification at a regional scale which is needed to quantify the impact of human activities on ecosystem functionality under changing conditions.

Geochemical and related studies have been made of near-surface sediments from the River Clyde estuary and adjoining areas, extending from Glasgow to the N, and W as far as the Holy Loch on the W coast of Scotland, UK. Multibeam echosounder, sidescan sonar and shallow seismic data, taken with core information, indicate that a shallow layer of modern sediment, often less than a metre thick, rests on earlier glacial and post-glacial sediments. The offshore Quaternary history can be aligned with onshore sequences, with the recognition of buried drumlins, settlement of muds from quieter water, probably behind an ice dam, and later tidal delta deposits. The geochemistry of contaminants within the cores also indicates shallow contaminated sediments, often resting on pristine pre-industrial deposits at depths less than 1m. The distribution of different contaminants with depth in the sediment, such as Pb (and Pb isotopes), organics and radionuclides, allow chronologies of contamination from different sources to be suggested. Dating was also attempted using microfossils, radiocarbon and 210Pb, but with limited success. Some of the spatial distribution of contaminants in the surface sediments can be related to grain-size variations. Contaminants are highest, both in absolute terms and in enrichment relative to the natural background, in the urban and inner estuary and in the Holy Loch, reflecting the concentration of industrial activity.

After the success of the first two editions of the Palaeontological Virtual Congress in 2019 (first PVC) and 2021 (second PVC; Crespo & Manzanares 2019; Crespo & Citton 2021), we have decided to try to replicate the success with a third meeting of the PVC (Fig. 1). The appearance of new applications and technological advances has played a crucial role in paving the way for enhanced avenues of effective scientific communication. This became even more pronounced from more than two years of challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to this crisis, online platforms gained more relevance and proved key to keeping up the drive for science communication and the dissemination of scientific results (Barral 2020).

Following the identification of grey quartz–albite–chlorite–calcite–muscovite rocks in Meso- to Neo-proterozoic sequences in Scotland as metamorphosed tuffs of intermediate composition, it has been shown that this lithology will generate calc-silicate rocks at higher metamorphic grades. Both rock types occur as thin beds with sharp contacts with their host, occur as multiple beds in isolated suites, and share chemical compositions suggestive of volcanic sources with tholeiitic andesite affinities. The failure to recognise calc-silicate rocks as tuffs might explain the apparent scarcity of volcanogenic material through c.220 million years of early Earth history in Scotland.

Each piece of data is valuable for unearthing the earliest history of tetrapod origin. Despite frequently incomplete preservation, each skeletal element provides important information on the morphology, phylogeny and faunistic diversity of early tetrapodomorphs. We describe here new and earlier collected material from the fossil vertebrate site Yam-Tesovo on the Oredezh River (Leningrad Region, northwestern Russia) in the deposits of the Yam-Tesovo Formation within the Amata Regional Stage (?lowermost Frasnian, Upper Devonian). Upon similarity of their dermal ornamentation, two mandibular fragments are suggested to belong to the new tetrapodomorph taxon Rubrognathuskuleshovi n. gen. et sp. This species demonstrates a general ‘elpistostegalian' morphological pattern with some early tetrapod characters. The new taxon is characterised by an almost closed intercoronoid fossa, a prearticular that is strongly convex in section and bearing small teeth along its dorsal margin, low vertical coronoid laminae and coronoid fangs that enter the coronoid tooth row. The mandibular canal runs partly in open groove or opens to the surface by a row of large pores. The dermal ornament consists of a network of small ridges forming tubercles in the nodes. The postfrontal assigned to Tetrapodomorpha shows a ‘tetrapod-like' pits-and-ridges sculpturing and a supraorbital ridge characteristic of early tetrapods as well as ‘elpistostegalians'. Its long posterolateral bone margin demonstrates a lateral projection similar to that in Tiktaalik and unknown in other ‘elpistostegalians' and early tetrapods. An unusually flattened vomer is doubtfully related to the tetrapodomorph genus Livoniana Ahlberg, Lukševičs & Mark-Kurik, 2000, based upon characteristic multiple tooth rows. Teeth in rows decrease labially and show no clearly enlarged fang pairs. New finds of the last two decades present the earliest records of some tetrapod characters in non-limbed tetrapodomorphs. This challenges previous hypotheses on the origin of tetrapods.

Drillholes on shells provide a useful way to investigate prey and predator relationships. The current study documents predator–prey interactions exemplified by a faunal assemblage of the fossil gastropod Turritella cingulifera from the Pleistocene Szekou Formation in Hengchun Peninsula, Taiwan. All recognisable skeletal and shell fragments that are larger than 3 mm in size were collected and recorded. Processed bulk sediments (5.24 kg) contained 1462 molluscan shells, including 824 specimens of T. cingulifera, and 27 non-molluscan invertebrates. In the current study, approximately 41.6% (609/1462) of molluscs are drilled with at least one hole. Drilling intensities (DIs) regardless of shell completeness in all gastropods, bivalves and the turritelline gastropod T. cingulifera are 0.546, 0.060 and 0.413, respectively. DI on turritellids is significantly lower than that on other gastropods (χ2= 21.039, P < 0.001). Furthermore, the percentage of drillholes that occur in multiply drilled specimens is 34.7% (95/275) for turritelline gastropods based on complete to nearly complete specimens (n = 588). Our study shows no significant preference of drillhole position either on the suture or on the whorl (χ2= 0.055, P = 0.814). Most drillholes are located in whorls two to four proximal to the aperture. Drillhole diameters of the shells with one drillhole and ones with multiple drillholes are 1.0 and 0.5 mm on average, and the results of Mann–Whitney tests indicate that they are significantly different (P < 0.001). The first turritelline gastropod shell with an incomplete drillhole from Taiwan is documented here. The dominant drilling predators were naticids based on the drillhole morphology and the presence of naticids in the same assemblage. No apparent prey size selectivity is observed, so a ‘size refugium’ does not exist for the turritellids in the current study.

The descriptions of two co-occurring cardioid crustaceans from the Ballagan Formation (Tournaisian, Lower Carboniferous) of Chirnside, Scottish Borders, help to resolve the taxonomy of the genus Tealliocaris. Tealliocaris robusta Peach, 1908 is assigned to Schramocaris to form S. robusta (Peach, 1908) comb. nov. on the basis of morphological characters such as the rugosity and position of the branchial carinae as well as the nature of the pleon, and becomes the earliest representative of this genus in Scotland. A new species of Tealliocaris is also recognised from this locality and is described as T. briggsi sp. nov., based on the smooth carapace, lack of pleonic grooves and the number of spines on the scaphocerite and lateral margin of the anterior carapace. The systematic position of the Pendleian specimens identified by Peach (1908) as ‘Tealliocaris robusta var.’ is finally resolved and described as T. weegie sp. nov.

Methodologies that analyse the colouration and external appearance of extant species are very useful tools when facing one of the greatest challenges in the palaeoartistic reconstructions of extinct fauna: inferring the colour patterns. Earlier works have applied this methodology, for example, in the reconstruction of the Miocene bovid Tethytragus, proving that the maximum likelihood (ML) analysis to infer ancestral states has promising potential. This study offers a proposal for the reconstruction of the external appearance of Heteroprox moralesi Azanza 1989, an early cervid of the Middle Miocene present in several fossil sites of Central Spain. For the reconstruction of the external appearance, the colour patterns of all the extant species of the family Cervidae were studied with the method of ML analysis, as well as recent works about their phylogeny. The results show the most probable basal colour pattern of the cervids: dark shades on the limbs, dorsal section, and head of the animal, and, in contrast, lighter colours on the neck and perianal region. This basal pattern can be used as a basis for reconstructing colouration and to hypothesise about the external appearance of extinct taxa. Furthermore, the inferred forest habitat of H. moralesi has been taken into consideration in order to adjust the colour pattern, comparing the final results of the analysis performed in this study with that of the pattern observed in extant forest deer as well as with previous works employing this methodology.

A small lot of fossil whale barnacles from the Upper Pleistocene of California and the Middle Pleistocene (Chibanian) of Oregon (United States West Coast), described in a 1972 unpublished MA thesis, are formally described and illustrated herein. In that thesis, a new genus and species name were proposed; however, according to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, they have no taxonomic standing and are thus unavailable. Based on our reappraisal, two specimens in this lot belong to a new, extinct species that can be assigned to the purportedly extant genus Cetopirus. Cetopirus polysyrinx sp. nov. differs from congeners in that its secondary T-shaped flanges are multitubiferous internally, that is, they are perforated by a high number of irregularly-sized and irregularly-spaced tubules that result in a spongy aspect in transverse section. Whether or not this peculiar condition had any adaptive significance is difficult to determine. Considering that Cetopirus is currently known as an obligate epibiont of right whales (including the North Pacific form Eubalaena japonica (Lacépède 1818)), the host of C. polysyrinx sp. nov. was E. japonica or some other species of Eubalaena. The Plio-Pleistocene deposits of the Pacific coast of North America have yielded a rather idiosyncratic fossil whale barnacle fauna, inclusive of the genera Cetolepas, Cryptolepas and now Cetopirus, which seemingly contrasts with all other coeval assemblages worldwide, the latter being in turn dominated by Coronula spp.

In a former paper I described the variation of the fecundity of women according to age, and arrived at the conclusion that the climax of fecundity in women was at or near the age of 25 years. Researches, completed since that paper was read, regarding the variations of length and weight of children according to the mother's age, and regarding the mortality of childbed as influenced by the mother's age, have been published in the “Edinburgh Medical Journal.” The results of these investigations seem to illustrate and confirm the statement made as to the age of the climax of fecundity, for I have found that, about that age, women produce the bulkiest children, as measured by length and weight; and about the same age of the mother there is the smallest mortality in childbed. As still further adorning the age of 25, I may add, that several sets of observations, including some made in St George's-in-the-East, London, and published in the eleventh volume of the “Journal of the Statistical Society,” show a greater amount of survival and rearing among children born of women about that age than at any other; and recently Dr Arthur Mitchell has published a collection of cases of idiocy, with the respective ages of the mothers at the time of the idiots' births, and these also show a smaller proportion born of women about the age of 25 years than at greater and lesser ages.

Muscovite is so easily recognised by its optical properties that the only cases which seemed to me to call for analysis were those which, from being possessed of characteristic colour, were of special interest. Of these the most singular is a variety found rarely in the great vein of Ben Capval, Harris; it occurs in crystals of a peculiar green tint, the crystals are small and have somewhat of a pearly lustre.

The following experiments and observations have been undertaken with a view to discovering the means by which Tarsonemus is transmitted from one bee to another. It is obvious that a stage of the parasite exists outside the bee, and that there are also several possibilities (which may occur). One is the passage from bee to bee within the hive either directly or through the medium of frames or combs. Another, also within the hive, where the mites may in wandering upon the frames enter the cells and invade the body of the developing larvæ or pupæ, and in this way be present in the bee when it hatches. A third possibility is that whereby foraging infected bees may leave the mite upon flowers, vegetation generally, drinking grounds, or other situations, to be picked up later by other bees chancing to visit these. Crawling or dead bees may in a similar manner prove to be a source of infection through the contamination of the ground about the hive or of the actual hive itself.

Multiplices Solariorum species, genus testaceorum constituentes, ad Turbinacea Lamarck, ad Gasteropoda Cuvier, pertinens, quæ in geologicis Italiæ stratis reperiuntur, monographico modo investigare fortasse præstat. Ratio nec ambigua; variæ enim dubitandi rationes vigebant, tum circa numerum et nomina specierum, tum circa earundem citationes, et auctorum dissensiones, nec non potissimum circa relationes specierum quæ in Italicis divisionibus supracretaceæ formationis adsunt, sive in se spectatis, sive prout cum viventibus conveniunt aut discrepant.

It is not a little remarkable, that in an age which assumes to itself the character of devotion to science, in anatomy, a science which embraces the best interests of humanity, this question should remain unanswered; What is the meaning of the nerves of the spinal marrow being in regular order and perfectly symmetrical: whilst the ten nerves arising from the brain present no similarity one to another, and agree neither in origin, size, nor distribution?

It is plain that we must be in the dark, not only with respect to the knowledge of the nervous system, but of the animal frame generally, whilst such a question is open and courts inquiry, and yet remains without an effort being made towards its solution. We must, I fear, attribute this neglect in part only to the difficulty of the inquiry, and much to the indifference to all that does not tend directly to profit; on which account it has the better demand on the attention of a learned and philosophical Society.

My first precise views of the structure of the Tunicata were formed by the perusal of Mr Huxley's masterly papers dealing with the anatomy of Salpa, Pyrosoma, Doliolum, and Appendicularia, in the Phil. Trans. for 1851, Part II.; and I have since had abundant opportunity of verifying all the important facts, made known by that original observer, in the papers to which I have alluded.

Having thus acknowledged my guide in this field of research, I can scarcely claim much originality as relates to pure anatomy; but I hope that the method here adopted, in opening up this interesting subject, will be found in keeping with nature, as it is the result of much study and practical investigation.

The subject to which I have to invite the attention of the Society this evening is one of no modern origin, the name of Hippocrates, amongst others of the fathers of medicine, being commonly associated with it. There is, indeed, perhaps no branch of medical inquiry whose history dips more deeply into the obscure pages of antiquity. The influence of weather upon disease and mortality has been acknowledged as a potent external force in every age, from that eminently speculative and credulous period when physicians professed to receive their diagnostic as well as their therapeutic inspirations from the stars, down to our own day. And yet there is perhaps no question in the whole cycle of medical sciences which has made slower progress than the one we have now to consider. People believe that the weather affects them. They speak of its influence, sometimes commendingly, more frequently with censure, on the most trivial occasions; but beyond a few commonplace ideas, the result of careless observation, or perhaps acquired only traditionally, they seldom seek a closer acquaintance with the subject. Our language teems with medico-meteorological apophthegms, but they are notoriously vague. The words which are most commonly employed to signify the state of the weather at any given time, possess a value relative only to the sensations of the individual uttering them. The general and convertible terms—bitter, raw, cold, severe, bleak, inclement, or fine and bracing, convey no definite idea of the condition of the weather; nay, it is quite possible that we may hear these several expressions used by different persons with reference to the weather of one and the same place and point of time. In order, then, to render medico-meteorological researches more trustworthy, we must be careful to employ, in the expression of facts, such symbols only as have a corresponding value in every nation.

My main purpose in the following short paper is to publish figures illustrating some of the more important facts of the early development of myotomes and motor nerves in Lepidosiren. The bearing of some of the observations of nerve development upon current theories renders it particularly desirable that they should be illustrated by untouched photographs of the sections. A few photographs illustrating the more important stages in the development of the motor nerve trunks are given on Plate I. For the preparation of the photographs here published, as well as several others, I am indebted to the skill of my friend Dr T. H. Bryce, and of Mr Fingland, our University photographer.

The problem which bears the name of the Italian geometer Malfatti, by whom it was first proposed and solved, has long attracted the attention and exercised the ingenuity of mathematicians, and has been made the subject of many careful and elaborate researches.

The great attention which has been bestowed upon this problem has arisen partly from its intrinsic difficulty, but chiefly on account of the extreme simplicity of the solution finally obtained by Malfatti, which seemed to open new views of geometrical research, and gave reason to hope that simple solutions might in like manner be found of many other geometrical problems usually accounted very difficult or insoluble.

A brief account of the weather of this period as regards temperature was read before the Royal Society last year. It was drawn up at the request of Professor Balfour, to accompany his paper “On the Remarkable State of Vegetation in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden in December 1863.”

From the 26th of October to the end of December the weather was in every way remarkable. Though frost occurred in the end of October and beginning of November it was not severe, and the temperature continued on the whole seasonable till the 12th of November. From this date till the end of the month it ranged unprecedently high, being 9° above the average temperature of the season. It then fell for the next ten days, but on no occasion below the average; and again rose considerably above the average during the week ending with the 18th of December. Under this genial weather vegetation in the open air advanced rapidly to a state of forwardness not usually seen till the month of March. In December 245 plants were in flower in the Gardens in the open air, and of these 35 were spring flowers. The frost which had occurred was insufficient to damage, to any material extent, 210 autumn-flowering plants; and the high temperature of November, which was as high as what ordinarily occurs in the beginning of May, brought the spring flowers prematurely into bloom, so that there was to be seen the rare spectacle of sweet peas and hepaticas flowering together.