bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Conductance in the wood of selected Carboniferous plants
Authors: Cichan Michael A.
Published: July 2016

Specific conductance was calculated for secondary xylem in seven Carboniferous stem taxa utilizing an equation derived from the Hagen-Poiseuille relation. Arborescent and lianoid representatives of major pteridophytic (Calamitaceae, Lepidodenraceae, Sphenophyllaceae) and gymnospermous (Cordaitaceae, Medullosaceae) groups were examined. In the calamiteArthropitys communisand the seed plantCordaites(Cordaixylonsp. andMesoxylonsp.), conductance corresponded approximately to the low end of the range for both extant conifers and angiosperms. A substantially higher conductance was determined for the wood ofArthropitys deltoides, conforming to the high end of the range for conifers and the low-middle part of the range for angiosperms. The highest conductance values were found inSphenophyllum plurifoliatum, Medullosa noei, andParalycopodites brevifoliusand corresponded to the middle-high portion of the range for vessel-containing angiosperms. This outcome is particularly significant in light of the fact that tracheary elements in the fossils are imperforate. The results indicate that conductance in secondary xylem of some of the most ancient, woody groups was comparable to that in extant plants and that highly effective conducting tissue developed relatively early in plant evolution. Moreover, it is suggested that the general relationship between wood anatomy, growth habit, and ecology demonstrated for living plants can also be extended back in time to include fossil plants.
Survivorship Analysis of Fossil Taxa When Real-Time Extinction Rates Vary: The Paleogene Planktonic Foraminifera
Authors: Pearson Paul N.
Published: July 2016

For a survivorship curve to show a meaningful pattern, it is essential that a suitably homogeneous group is selected for analysis. If taxa have originated at different times in the geological record and have consequently experienced different extinction probabilities during the times that they existed, they do not constitute such a homogeneous group. A correction factor for variations in real-time extinction rates must be employed, as is described here. By application of the “corrected survivorship score,” it is shown that the Paleogene planktonic foraminifera exhibit a very strong survivorship pattern, namely an extinction probability that progressively increases with taxonomic longevity. That is to say, when extinction occurred, it was preferentially selective of older taxa. This is manifested as convexity in the survivorship curves. However, the pattern is degraded by variations in the real-time extinction rate, which causes straightening of the survivorship curves if they are calculated in the usual uncorrected way. If the law of constant extinction is to be tested for a given group, it is necessary either that stochastically constant real-time extinction rates are demonstrated or that variations in the extinction rate are corrected for in the manner described. As a separate issue, it is also essential that biologically meaningful taxa are analyzed. The convexity of planktonic foraminiferal survivorship curves is probably an artifact of the way evolving lineages have been subdivided in the application of typological taxonomy. Consequently, we are still a long way from being able to use survivorship analysis of planktonic foraminiferal data for adequately testing evolutionary models such as the Red Queen's hypothesis.
Mechanical couplings in the shell closing mechanism of articulate brachiopods: implications for the evolution of skeleto-muscular architecture
Authors: Ackerly Spafford C.
Published: July 2016

Rapid shell closure in articulate brachiopods occurs by a twitch contraction of the “quick” adductor muscles. Rapid accelerations and decelerations of the valves induce large accelerations of the surrounding fluid, placing constraints on the speeds of closure; inertial forces govern the mechanics of the closing mechanism. The position, size, and physiological properties of the muscles, and the size and shape of the shell, govern the properties of the shell closing system. A numerical model predicts that, for given muscle and shell characteristics, there is a location of the adductor muscle which maximizes the shell's closing velocity, and that this position shifts allometrically with size. Positive allometry in the muscle's moment arm length is observed in both living and fossil brachiopods, although the observed coefficients are less than those predicted by the model.

The brachiopod closing mechanism provides a model for understanding the biomechanical interrelationships between components of dynamic skeletal systems. Dynamic systems, where the muscles induce resisting inertial reactions, are characterized by mechanical feedback loops, or couplings. Mechanical couplings may represent an important class of constraints on the evolution of skeleto-muscular architecture.
Phylogenies and angiosperm diversification
Authors: Doyle James A. , Donoghue Michael J.
Published: July 2016

Approaches to patterns of diversification based on counting taxa at a given rank can be misleading, even when all taxa are monophyletic. Such “rank-based” approaches are unable to reflect a hierarchy of evolutionary events because taxa of the same rank cannot be nested within one another. Phylogenetic trees specify an order of origination of characters and clades and can therefore be used in some cases to test hypotheses on causal relationships between characters and changes in diversity. “Tree-thinking” also clarifies discussions of the age of groups, by distinguishing between splitting of the stem-lineage from its sister group and splitting of the crown-group into extant clades.

Cladistic evidence thatPentoxylon, Bennettitales, and Gnetales are the sister group of angiosperms implies that the angiosperm line (angiophytes) existed by the Late Triassic. The presence of primitive members of five basic angiosperm clades indicates that the crown-group (angiosperms) had begun to diversify by the mid-Early Cretaceous (Barremian-Aptian), but not necessarily much earlier. The greatest unresolved issue raised by cladistic analyses concerns the fact that the angiosperm tree can be rooted in two almost equally parsimonious positions. Trees rooted near Magnoliales (among “woody magnoliids”) suggest that the angiosperm radiation may have been triggered by the origin of intrinsic traits, e.g., a fast-growing, rhizomatous habit in the paleoherb and eudicot subgroup. However, trees rooted among paleoherbs, which are favored by rRNA data, imply that these traits are basic for angiosperms as a whole. This could mean that the crown-group originated not long before its radiation, or, if it did originate earlier, that its radiation was delayed due to extrinsic factors. Such factors could be a trend from environmental homogeneity and stability in the Jurassic to renewed tectonic activity and disturbance in the Early Cretaceous. Potentially relevant pre-Cretaceous fossils cannot be placed with confidence, but may be located along the stem-lineage (stem angiophytes); their generally paleoherb-like features favor the paleoherb rooting. The history of angiophytes may parallel that of Gnetales: some diversification of the stem-lineage in the Late Triassic, near disappearance in the Jurassic, and vigorous radiation of the crown-group in the Early Cretaceous.
Discordance and concordance between morphological and taxonomic diversity
Authors: Foote Mike
Published: July 2016

Morphological and taxonomic diversity each provide insight into the expansion and contraction of major biological groups, while the nature of the relationship between these two aspects of diversity also has important implications for evolutionary mechanisms. In this paper, I compare morphological and taxonomic diversity within the classes Blastoidea and Trilobita, and within the trilobite clades Libristoma, Asaphina, Proetida, Phacopida, and Scutelluina. Blastoid morphology is quantified with homologous landmarks on the theca, and trilobite form is measured with a Fourier description of the cranidium. Morphological diversity is measured as the total variance among forms in morphological space (proportional to the mean squared distance among forms). Blastoid taxonomic diversity is based on published compilation of stratigraphic ranges of genera. TheZoological Recordwas used to determine the number of new species of trilobites described since the publication of theTreatise; temporal patterns in species richness are similar to those for generic richness based on theTreatise, suggesting a common underlying signal.

Morphological variety and taxonomic richness often increase together during the initial diversification of a clade. This pattern is consistent with diffusion through morphospace, although some form of adaptive radiation cannot be ruled out. Morphological diversity varies little throughout much of the history of Proetida, a pattern that may suggest major constraints on the magnitude and direction of evolution, and that agrees with the perception of Proetida as a morphologically conservative group. Two major patterns are seen during the decline of clades. In Blastoidea, Trilobita, Libristoma, and Asaphina, morphological diversity is maintained at substantial levels, and in fact continues to increase, even in the face of striking reductions in taxonomic richness. This pattern suggests continued diffusion through morphospace and taxonomic attrition that is effectively non-selective with respect to morphology. In Phacopida, Scutelluina, and to some extent in Proetida, morphological diversity decreases along with taxonomic diversity. This pattern suggests heterogeneities such as elevated extinction and/or reduced origination in certain regions of morphospace. As found previously for the echinoderm subphylum Blastozoa, all studied clades of trilobites except Proetida show maximal morphological diversity in the Mid–Late Ordovician and maximal taxonomic diversity sometime during the Ordovician, suggesting some degree of common control on diversification patterns in these groups.
The Triassic Explosion(?): a statistical model for extrapolating biodiversity based on the terrestrial Molteno Formation
Authors: Anderson John , Anderson Heidi , Fatti Paul , Sichel Herbert
Published: July 2016

Fitting the generalized inverse Gaussian-Poisson distribution (GIGP) toobservedfrequency distributions of taxa from the Late Triassic Molteno Formation of South Africa has yielded estimates of the correspondingpreservedbiodiversities. Three extrapolations have been made on the basis of the uniquely rich megaflora/insect coassemblages from 100 taphocoenoses: insect species—335observed, 7740preserved; vegetative species—206observed, 667preserved; gymnosperm ovulate orders—16observed, 84preserved.The reliability of the results varies according to the abundance and observed diversity of the taxa. These results, with further estimations in a companion paper ofexisteddiversity (regional, continental and global), hint at Late Triassic floral and faunal richness akin to today. This conflicts with the traditionally held model of an increasing cone of biodiversity through time and suggests a phase of explosive evolution in the Triassic hitherto unsuspected. Application of the GIGP to other well-documented collections from other periods might reveal a pattern of diversity trends offering fundamentally new insights into the evolving terrestrial biosphere.
Numerical studies of water conduction in land plants: evolution of early stele types
Authors: Roth Anita , Mosbrugger Volker
Published: July 2016

During land plant evolution, a change in stelar architecture, i.e., in the geometric arrangement of the water-conducting tissue inside the plant axis, can be observed. In the most primitive stele type, the protostele, the vascular tissue is organized as a simple central strand. Further evolutionary changes led to more peripherally arranged vascular tissues. In the siphonostele, for example, the vascular tissue forms a hollow cylinder filled with pith. A functional explanation of this early stelar evolution is provided in the present paper. Using a numerical simulation approach, we analyze the water transport properties of various protostelic and siphonostelic model axes. The results indicate that several geometric parameters are relevant for understanding the water transport properties of various stele types and for explaining the early stelar evolution: the parenchymatic path lengths (i.e., the distance between the xylem surface and the transpiring plant surface), the ratio of xylem surface over transpiring surface, and the ratio of cross-sectional area of xylem to cross-sectional area of the parenchyma outside of the xylem. As a whole, the evolution of early stele types may be viewed as a size-related multi-criteria optimization process in which the xylem volume as well as the fluid pressure gradients in the parenchyma and in the xylem are minimized. For slender plant axes, a protostele appears to be the optimal stelar architecture. In wider plant axes, however, other stelar architectures (such as a siphonostele) prove to be more efficient than a protostele.
Time-averaging and postmortem skeletal survival in benthic fossil assemblages: quantitative comparisons among Holocene environments
Authors: Meldahl Keith H. , Flessa Karl W. , Cutler Alan H.
Published: July 2016

We used radiocarbon ages on dead Holocene shells of the venerid bivalveChionespp. to investigate how time-averaging and taphonomy in shallow marine benthic assemblages vary with sedimentary and tectonic setting. We compared shells collected from the sediment surface in five depositional environments from two regions of the Gulf of California, Mexico: Bahía Concepción, a young faulted rift basin with high rates of terrigenous and carbonate sedimentation; and Bahía la Choya, an intertidal system along a sediment-starved shelf. Frequency distributions of shell ages in all environments form a hollow curve, with a mode at young ages and a long tail toward older ages. This pattern suggests that shells are added to the taphonomically active zone (TAZ) at roughly constant rates (via continuous shell deaths), and removed from the TAZ at random, either through destruction or by achieving final burial. Shell half-lives (the amount of time to remove half the shells from the TAZ) provide a comparative measure of time-averaging. Time-averaging varies with sedimentary and tectonic setting. The lowest amounts of time-averaging (shell half-lives of 90 to 165 years) occur in Bahía Concepción, where rapid rates of terrigenous sedimentation (on fan-deltas) and carbonate sedimentation (in pocket bays) bury shells rapidly. Time-averaging is higher in the sediment-starved environments of Bahía la Choya (shell half-lives of 285 to 550 years). The highest amounts of time-averaging occur the inner tidal flats of Bahía la Choya (shell half-life of 550 years). Here the conjunction of low sedimentation rates with low rates of shell destruction (due to periodic tidal emergence) permits shells to persist in the TAZ for very long time spans.

There is no systematic relationship between a shell's age and its taphonomic condition (taphonomic grade) in any environment, probably because of the complex and random nature of burial-exhumation in the TAZ. Agevariancetends to increase with increasing taphonomic alteration: highly altered shells range in age from young to several thousand years old, while less altered shells are mostly young. The correspondence between time-averaging and the taphonomic condition of entire shell assemblages is also weak, but might be resolved with further study.

These results provide quantitative data on time-averaging in benthic assemblages as a function of sedimentary and tectonic setting, and suggest some guidelines for facies appropriate for particular studies. Shallow marine rift basins like Bahía Concepción can potentially contain within-horizon fossil assemblages representing time spans of only a few hundred years—time resolution often beyond reach in paleontology. In contrast, sediment-starved shelf habitats like Bahía la Choya are unlikely to yield assemblages with time resolution finer than several thousands of years.
Rarefaction and rarefiction—the use and abuse of a method in paleoecology
Authors: Tipper John C.
Published: July 2016

Rarefaction is a method for comparing community diversities that has consistently been abused by paleoecologists: here its assumptions are clarified and advice given on its application. Rarefaction should be restricted to comparison of collections from communities that are taxonomically similar and from similar habitats: the collections should have been obtained by using standardised procedures. The rarefaction curve is a graph of the estimated species richness of sub-samples drawn from a collection, plotted against the size of sub-sample: it is a deterministic transform of the collection's species-abundance distribution. Although rarefaction curves can be compared statistically, it may be more efficient to compare the species-abundance distributions directly. Both types of comparison are discussed in detail.
Interpretation of paleoecological similarity matrices
Authors: Pielou E. C.
Published: July 2016

Consider a one-dimensional sequence (temporal or spatial) of samples from a many-species community. The sequence may exhibit no steady change, or gradual, steady change, or one or more abrupt, stepwise changes. The pattern is graphically displayed in a similarity matrix, whose elements are the pairwise similarities between every possible pair of samples.

Statistical study of the patterns of similarity matrices will be shown to be informative. A criterion, Q, is proposed for measuring the “disarray” of a similarity matrix; matrices constructed from “perfect” sequences, exhibiting uninterrupted steady change, have Q = 0. The probability distribution of Q in “random” similarity matrices (constructed from sequences in which the ordering is wholly haphazard) is examined.

Several applications are illustrated, using data on foraminiferal assemblages in marine sediment cores as examples. Use of the criterion permits the following: (1) Objective recognition of regions in which stratigraphy is especially well preserved. (2) Selection for study of cores in which the sequence of change is especially clear, and rejection of cores in which the natural sequence has been obscured by reworking. (3) Judgment as to whether, in sequences exhibiting stepwise changes, gradual change between the steps occurs as well. (4) Discrimination between species-sets that track gradual environmental change and sets that switch abruptly. (5) Objective choice of the best similarity index for measuring pairwise similarities in a given body of data.
Estimating taxonomic durations and preservation probability
Authors: Foote Mike
Published: July 2016

Paleontological completeness and stratigraphic ranges depend on extinction rate, origination rate, preservation rate, and the length of the interval of time over which observations can be made. I derive expressions for completeness and the distribution of durations and ranges as functions of these parameters, considering both continuous- and discrete-time models.

Previous work has shown that, if stratigraphic ranges can be followed indefinitely forward, and if extinction and preservation occur at stochastically constant rates, then extinction rate and preservability can be estimated from (1) discrete (binned) stratigraphic ranges even if data on occurrences within ranges are unknown, and (2) continuous ranges if the number of occurrences within each range is known. I show that, regardless of whether the window of observation is finite or infinite, extinction and preservation rates can also be estimated from (3) continuous ranges when the number of occurrences is not known, and (4) discrete ranges when the number of occurrences is not known. One previous estimation method for binned data involves a sample-size bias. This is circumvented by using maximum likelihood parameter estimation. It is worth exploiting data on occurrences within ranges when these are available, since they allow preservation rate to be estimated with less variance. The various methods yield comparable parameter estimates when applied to Cambro-Ordovician trilobite species and Cenozoic mammal species.

Stratigraphic gaps and variable preservation affect stratigraphic ranges predictably. In many cases, accurate parameter estimation is possible even in the face of these complications. The distribution of stratigraphic ranges can be used to estimate the sizes of gaps if their existence is known.
Septal complexity in ammonoid cephalopods increased mechanical risk and limited depth
Authors: Daniel Thomas L. , Helmuth Brian S. , Saunders W. Bruce , Ward Peter D.
Published: July 2016

The evolution of septal complexity in fossil ammonoids has been widely regarded as an adaptive response to mechanical stresses imposed on the shell by hydrostatic pressure. Thus, septal (and hence sutural) complexity has been used as a proxy for depth: for a given amount of septal material greater complexity permitted greater habitat depth. We show that the ultimate septum is the weakest part of the chambered shell. Additionally, finite element stress analyses of a variety of septal geometries exposed to pressure stresses show that any departure from a hemispherical shape actually yields higher, not lower, stresses in the septal surface. Further analyses show, however, that an increase in complexity is consistent with selective pressures of predation and buoyancy control. Regardless of the mechanisms that drove the evolution of septal complexity, our results clearly reject the assertion that complexly sutured ammonoids were able to inhabit deeper water than did ammonoids with simpler septa. We suggest that while more complexly sutured ammonoids were limited to shallower habitats, the accompanying more complex septal topograhies enhanced buoyancy regulation (chamber emptyingandrefilling), through increased surface tension effects.
Morphologic change in the clawed lobsterHoploparia(Nephropidae) from the Cretaceous of Antarctica
Authors: Tshudy D. , Baumiller T. K. , Sorhannus U.
Published: July 2016

AntarcticHoplopariaexhibit morphologic changes upsection in a stratigraphic record considered to be long (approximately 15 m.y.) and free of major hiatuses. Five characters exhibit change upsection, and the overall morphologies of the geologically oldest and youngest lobsters are different. The observed patterns could be the result of either phyletic evolution or gradual invasion of one or more species into the range of the original species. The most parsimonious interpretation of the data argues against the invasion hypothesis but supports the phyletic evolution hypothesis.
Cretaceous foraminifera and the evolutionary history of planktic photosymbiosis
Authors: D'Hondt Steven , Zachos James C.
Published: July 2016

Ecotypic correlations between stable isotopic signals and skeletal size indicate that some Late Cretaceous serial planktic foraminifera were strongly photosymbiotic. In contrast, coeval trochospiral planktic foraminifera do not exhibit the isotope/size signatures that typify strongly photosymbiotic species. Comparison to Cenozoic taxa demonstrates that photosymbiosis has recurred throughout planktic foraminiferal history and has evolved independently in superfamilies characterized by very different gross skeletal morphologies. The historical contingency of that evolution is illustrated by the consequences of the Cretaceous/Paleogene mass extinction, which terminated the Cretaceous lineages of photosymbiotic planktic foraminifera but did not permanently extinguish photosymbiont reliance by planktic foraminifera.
Morphological Diversity In The Evolutionary Radiation Of Paleozoic and Post-Paleozoic Crinoids
Authors: Foote Mike
Published: July 2016

The Paleozoic and post-Paleozoic radiations of crinoids present an opportunity to explore genomic and ecological explanations for patterns of morphologic diversification. Analysis of discrete-character data that cover the principal features of the crinoid skeleton shows that both Paleozoic and post-Paleozoic increases in morphological disparity were abrupt; this is consistent with rapid exploitation of open ecological opportunities in both cases. For the post-Paleozoic, this result is sensitive to some aspects of data analysis and sampling, so it cannot be regarded as unequivocal. The deceleration in morphological diversification within each radiation is consistent with an observed decline in rates of taxonomic origination as well as with the attainment of functional or structural limits. Despite these similarities in the two radiations, Paleozoic crinoids exploited a wider range of morphological designs than did their post-Paleozoic successors. Post-Paleozoic crinoids exploited a wide range of ecological strategies despite being stereotyped in many aspects of form. This difference between the radiations is consistent with an increase in the rigidity of genetic and developmental systems. The range of post-Paleozoic designs is not in essence a subset of the Paleozoic spectrum. The two radiations resulted in morphological distributions that are largely nonoverlapping, perhaps reflecting a different range of ecological strategies.
Variation in dinosaur skeletochronology indicators: implications for age assessment and physiology
Authors: Horner John R. , de Ricqlès Armand , Padian Kevin
Published: July 2016

Twelve different bones from the skeleton of the holotype specimen of the hadrosaurian dinosaur Hypacrosaurus stebingeri were thin-sectioned to evaluate the significance of lines of arrested growth (LAGs) in age assessments. The presence of an external fundamental system (EFS) at the external surface of the cortex and mature epiphyses indicate that the Hypacrosaurus specimen had reached adulthood and growth had slowed considerably from earlier stages. The number of LAGs varied from none in the pedal phalanx to as many as eight in the tibia and femur. Most elements had experienced considerable Haversian reconstruction that had most likely obliterated many LAGs. The tibia was found to have experienced the least amount of reconstruction, but was still not optimal for skeletochronology because the LAGs were difficult to count near the periosteal surface. Additionally, the numbers of LAGs within the EFS vary considerably around the circumference of a single element and among elements. Counting LAGs from a single bone to assess skeletochronology appears to be unreliable, particularly when a fundamental system exists.

Because LAGs are plesiomorphic for tetrapods, and because they are present in over a dozen orders of mammals, they have no particular physiological meaning that can be generalized to particular amniote groups without independent physiological evidence. Descriptions of dinosaur physiology as “intermediate” between the physiology of living reptiles and that of living birds and mammals may or may not be valid, but cannot be based reliably on the presence of LAGs.
Morphologic diversity of inarticulate brachiopods through the Phanerozoic
Authors: Smith Loren H. , Bunje Paul M.
Published: July 2016

The origins and maintenance of morphological diversity through the Phanerozoic have been documented in several groups of invertebrates. By using shape analysis of the ventral valve, we quantify morphological diversity within the inarticulate brachiopods, which have a species-rich lower Paleozoic history followed by low richness through the rest of the Phanerozoic. Morphological diversity peaked during the Cambrian, and was subsequently maintained despite significant decreases in richness at all taxonomic levels. The loss of morphological diversity, associated with late-Paleozoic decreases in the number of orders and the Permo-Triassic mass extinction, was followed by rapid morphological rediversification without concordant taxonomic diversification. Any limits upon the generation of diverse morphologies were established early in the Cambrian and were maintained and approached through the history of this group.
The New Stratigraphy and its promise for paleobiology
Authors: Holland Steven M.
Published: July 2016

If your undergraduate experience in stratigraphy was anything like mine, it was overwhelmingly dull. It was all about nomenclature and classification and endless lists of formation names. There were apparently no questions to be asked and the goal of stratigraphy was to devise boxes into which to place all types of geologic data. Notwithstanding the important work of correlation, the perception was that it was the sedimentologists who did the real science, science that focused on the processes of sediment accumulation and their controlling factors. Since then, stratigraphy has undergone a conceptual revolution, and it is necessary to examine how the field has changed and what those advances mean for paleobiology.
Sea cows and sea grasses
Authors: Domning Daryl P.
Published: July 2016

The review of current developments in paleobotany by Knoll and Rothwell (1981) prompts some supplementary observations on the state of marine paleobotany and, more generally, the problem of investigating groups with a poor fossil record. The marine angiosperms and the larger noncalcareous algae are such groups, being represented by very few fossils widely scattered in time and space (den Hartog 1970; Parker and Dawson 1965). Tropical freshwater macrophytes are likewise poorly known as fossils (Sculthorpe 1967).
Form and function: structural analysis in evolutionary morphology
Authors: Lauder George V.
Published: July 2016

A theoretical approach to the analysis of historical factors (Raup 1972) in evolutionary morphology is presented which addresses transformational hypotheses about structural systems. This (structural) approach to testing historical hypotheses about phylogenetic constraints on form and function and structural and functional versatility involves (1) the reconstruction of nested sets of structural features in monophyletic taxa, (2) the use of general or emergent organizational properties of structural and functional systems (as opposed to uniquely derived morphological features), and (3) the comparative examination of the consequences for structural and functional diversity of these general features in related monophyletic taxa.

Three examples of emergent organizational properties are considered: structural complexity, repetition of parts, and the decoupling of primitively constrained systems. Two classes of hypotheses about the evolution of design are proposed. Transformational hypotheses concern historical pathways of change in form as a consequence of general organizational features which are primitive for a lineage. Relational hypotheses involve correlations between structure-function networks primitive for a clade and morphological diversity both between and within terminal taxa. To the extent that transformational and relational hypotheses about form are corroborated, they provide evidence of underlying regularity in the transformation of organic design that may be a consequence of the hierarchical organization of structural and functional patterns in organisms.
There was biological disturbance on Pleistocene coral reefs
Authors: Kaufman Les
Published: July 2016

The threespot damselfish, Eupomacentrus planifrons, is an algal-gardener and a major cause of biological disturbance on modern Caribbean coral reefs. The hermatypic coral Acropora cervicornis produces characteristic gall-like growths called “chimneys,” in response to damage by the threespot. Chimneys have been discovered on coral fragments excavated from the Jamaican Falmouth Formation, an Upper Pleistocene reef assemblage. This indicates that algal gardening, and thus biological disturbance, has been an integral aspect of Caribbean coral reefs since at least the last sea-level stand, some 125,000 yr BP.
II. An Account of some Remains of Roman and other Antiquities in Monmouthshire. Addressed to the President, Council, and Fellows, of the Society of Antiquaries, by John Strange, Esq.
Authors: Strange John
Published: July 2016

From Brecknock I proceed to Abergavenny chiefly along the vale of Usk, through which the twelfth iter of Antoninus is supposed to have passed. As there were several Roman stations along, or near, this valley, as Gobannium, Burrium, Isca, or Caerleon, according to Camden, and Venta Silurum, now Caerwent, Monmouthshire has constantly engaged the attention of curious inquirers, and has already afforded very considerable and interesting remains of Roman Antiquities. But as some particulars have, notwithstanding, passed unnoticed, and others have not been faithfully represented, I shall submit to the judgement of this learned Society such observations as occurred to me in my researches through this county.
IV. An Account of some hitherto undescribed Remains of Antiquity, by the Rev. John Watson, M.A. F.S.A. and Rector of Stockport in Cheshire
Authors: Watson John
Published: July 2016

It is something remarkable, that the general plan of the Roman military stations in this island is better known than those of the Saxons and Danes, which in great measure is owing to these latter not making roads of communication between the different places which they fortified. Another reason is, that sufficient attention has not been paid to the subject, especially in some of the northern parts of England, as is evident with respect to the former of these two invaders, from the map inserted in Gibson's Chronicon Saxonicum. An improvement of this has often been wished for; but we cannot expect such an undertaking to have the desired effect, till better search has been made after these kind of remains, and the discoveries made public. With this view, I beg leave to lay before the Society a short account of a few military works of this sort, as yet, I believe, unnoticed by any writer.
XI. Observations on Patriarchal Customs and Manners. By the Hon. Daines Barrington
Authors: Barrington Daines
Published: July 2016

Having read the book of Genesis lately with attention, I have formed a short sketch of the patriarchal customs and manners, some of which, and more particularly what relates to their marriages, I never could at all comprehend from the perusal of detached chapters; it need scarcely be observed also that such customs and manners must in many respects differ from those of their descendants, when they became a considerable nation, and lived in cities.
XV. A further Account of some ancient Roman Inscriptions, lately observed in the Provinces of Istria and Dalmatia, and also in Italy, with Remarks. In a Letter to the Rev. Dr. Milles, Dean of Exeter, and President of the Society of Antiquaries, from John Strange, Esq. F.R.S. his Majesty's Resident at Venice
Authors: Strange John
Published: July 2016

The Society having been pleased to insert, among their printed tracts, the letter which I lately did myself the honour to address to you, concerning some ancient Roman Inscriptions, collected a few years since by the learned Abbé Fortis, in a tour through Istria and Dalmatia; I persuade myself that a further account of other similar remains of antiquity, since communicated to me, chiefly from those parts, by the same gentleman, will also prove agreeable. I am therefore encouraged in the present communication, which I also hope will prove acceptable to the gentlemen of the Society, should you think proper to recommend it to them.
XVII. An Illustration of a Saxon Inscription on the Church of Kirkdale in Rydale in the North-Riding of the County of York. In a Letter addressed to Mr. Gough, by John-Charles Brooke, Esq. of the Herald's College, F.S.A.
Authors: Brooke John-Charles
Published: July 2016

In a tour I made last summer from Scarborough to the South of Yorkshire, I paid a visit to the Rev. Dr. Comber, a relation of mine, whose seat is not far distant from Kirkdale church in Rydale in that county; and one day we took a ride to see the curious Saxon inscription over the South door of that building, sometime since discovered by the Rev. Mr. William Dade, rector of Barmston, a worthy clergyman in the East-Riding, and of which, as you informed mè, Mr. Pegge communicated a copy to the Society in a letter addressed to the late Bishop of Carlisle, anno 1771.
XX. Description of the Dune of Dornadilla. By the Reverend Mr. Alexander Pope, Minister of Reay. In a Letter, to Mr. George Paton, of Edinburgh. Communicated by Mr. Gough
Authors: Pope Alexander
Published: July 2016

The Dune, or Tower, of Dornadilla [a], in the parish of Diurnes, on Lord Reay's estate, is situate in a place called Strathmore, on the East side of the river that runs through Strath, on a sloping ground; so that it seems the foundation gave way on that side towards the river, being on a declivity. It stands seven miles from the ocean, or rather ten miles, and from the building to the sea, is a ridge of hills, rising higher and higher till they terminate in the sea, and they are all forest ground, called Bin-hope. There are on the hill near it, several hollows, or pits, which were quarries of old; but fanciful people would make them places where men and dogs lodged in the hunting season.
XXI. Observations on the Stone Coffins found at Christ-Church. By Mr. Pegge. In a Letter to Gustavus Brander, Esq.
Authors: Pegge
Published: July 2016

I cannot deny myself the pleasure of presenting you with some cursory observations on three very singular stone coffins lately discovered at your seat of Christ-church Twynham, of which you was so obliging as to send me a sketch.
XXIV. A Description of an ancient Fortification near Christ-Church, Hampshire. In a Letter to Gustavus Brander, Esq; from Francis Grose, Esq; F.A.S.
Authors: Grose Francis
Published: July 2016

I send you the drawings and description of the entrenchment on Hengistbury Head, and the Camp on St. Catherine's-Hill, the fruit of our joint labours, in the measurement and investigation of which both you and our friend Topham worked so assiduously.
XXV. An Account of ancient Monuments and Fortifications in the Highlands of Scotland. In a Letter from Mr. James Anderson, to George Wilson, Esq; of Lincoln's-Inn
Authors: Anderson James
Published: July 2016

Nothing seems to be so well calculated for throwing light on the origin of nations, as an attention to the radical construction of the language of the people, and to the nature of those monuments of remote antiquity that have escaped the ravages of time.
XXIX. Memoire on the Roman Earthen Ware fished up within the Mouth of the River Thames. By Thomas Pownall, Esq. F.S.A.
Authors: Pownall Thomas
Published: July 2016

Within the space of a few years back, people who are curious in antiquities have taken occasion to observe a very peculiar kind of red earthen ware found amidst the cottage furniture of the fishermen on the Kentish coast, within the mouth of the river Thames. On examination they have discovered it to be ancient Roman manufacture. Upon enquiry after the source from whence such great quantities of this earthen ware could have been for so many years derived, a traditional story has been brought forward, and is now the current solution of this curious fact; namely, that some Roman vessel, freighted with these wares, must have been many ages ago cast away; and that upon the wreck of its hulk breaking up, this curious lading poured forth into the open sea on the coafts, hath been dragged up from time to time by the fishermen's nets: and the place of the wreck has been supposed to be somewhere about Whitstablebay.
XXXII. Observations arising from an Enquiry into the Nature of the Vases found on the Mosquito Shore in South America. By Thomas Pownall, Esq. F.A.S.
Authors: Pownall Thomas
Published: July 2016

There is nothing more curious, at least in my opinion, in the history of the animal man, than to observe the various resources which he has, and the varied efforts that he makes, to supply the encreased extended demands of his advancing civilization. The first progress of his powers is the most rapid, and the wisest, as founded in use and reason. But after the purposes of real use are answered, and he finds himself at ease, imagination and caprice take the lead in his devices. Having got above the necessity of attending to bare uses, every thing that is absurd and deformed comes into model; the more deformed it is, and the more deviating from nature, common sense, and plain use, the more it strikes him as ingenious, and having the merit of invention. Such are the barbarous and grotesque models of all nations and people in this second stage of their advancing civilization. This principle of conceited imagination operates through all uniformly under the like circumstances in thus deviating from reason founded on use, and in thus deforming nature.
XXXIII. Description of a Roman Bath, discovered at Dover. In a Letter to Daniel Minet, Esq. F.R. and A.S. By the Rev. Mr. Lyon
Authors: Lyon
Published: July 2016

When I had the pleasure of meeting you last, our conversation turned upon the form of the buildings of the ancients, the nature of the cement, and the variety of materials made use of by them in their different structures, particularly in their baths. I mentioned that soon after I came to this town, I discovered the remains of a Roman structure at the West end of the parish church of St. Mary the Virgin; which remains have since repeatedly been laid open for the purposes of interment. You requested me to give you an accurate description of every part of this fabric, with my conjectures at what æra it was built, and for what use I conceived it was intended: I now sit down to comply with your request, but that I may give you as just an idea as I can of this ancient piece of masonry, by a minute description of its several parts, I have annexed a drawing, where A, B, C, D, E, F, represent the ichnography of the West end of the church.
XXXIV. The Episcopal Coins of Durham, and the Monastic Coins of Reading, minted during the Reigns of Edward I. II. and III. appropriated to their respective Owners. By Benjamin Bartlet, F.A.S.
Authors: Bartlet Benjamin
Published: July 2016

We find amongst the coins minted at Durham, during the reigns of the three first Edwards, several pennies bearing particular marks in some one or other part of the coin: one has a cross moline at the beginning of the legend on each side of the piece; a second has the same cross in the second quarter of the reverse; a third has it at the beginning of the legend on the obverse only; another has a lion rampant betwixt two fleurs de lis in the same place. Some of these being placed where in succeeding reigns the mint mark stood, have been taken notice of by two writers on these subjects, but no reasons assigned for their use. There are also from the same mint two others, which have the upright limb of the cross turned in the form of a pastoral staff, one of them to the right, the other to the left; they are said to have come from the bishops mint, but the prelates name are not mentioned.
XXXVIII. Description of the Great Seal of Mary d'Estè, the second Wife of King James II, from an Impression in the Collection of Mr. Benjamin Bartlet, F.S.A. By Mr. Brooke, of the Herald's College
Authors: Brooke
Published: July 2016

The seal, of which you favoured me with the impression, belonged to Mary d'Estè, the second wife of king James II, and being so extremely well preserved, and as yet unpublished, a view of it may probably give entertainment to the Society of Antiquaries.
XLI. The Penny with the Name of Rodbertus IV. asserted to Robert Duke of Normandy; and other Matters relative to the English Coinage occasionally discussed. By the Rev. Mr. Pegge. In a Leter to Dr. William Hunter
Authors: Pegge
Published: July 2016

From the mode of proceeding observed by the Society of Antiquaries in regard to their publications, it is evident, that they have no objection to reviewing any paper in the Archaeologia, either for the purpose of correcting errors, or the further illustration of the subject.
X. Observations on the Aestel. By the Reverend Dr. Milles, in a Letter to the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Carlisle, President
Authors: Milles
Published: July 2016

In a paper lately communicated by your Lordship to the Society, from Mr. Pegge, that learned gentleman has animadverted very properly on the mistakes which Mr. Lisle, and after him Mr. Hearne, have been guilty of in translating a passage of king Alfred's preface to Gregory's pastoral; for they represent him as sending a copy of this book to each of his cathedral churches, together with certain mancusses or marks of gold the fairest of his coin. But the passage is thus rendered in Spelman's life of that king, “Ad unamquamque episcopi sedem in regno unum (sc. librum) “misi, superque singulos libros stylum qui est quinquaginta man-“cussae.”
XI. Observations on Mr. Peter Collinson's Paper on the Round Towers in Ireland, printed in the first Volume, p. 305. By Owen Salusbury Brereton, Esq. F.R.S.
Authors: Brereton Owen Salusbury
Published: July 2016

When I lately made the tour of the south west parts of Ireland, I saw several of those buildings called usually Penitential Towers; not one of them had either belting or girting, nor the least sign of there having been any room in them till within ten feet of the top; that room had windows exactly facing the cardinal points; from thence, downward to the entrance, which is about fifteen feet above the surface of the ground, only a few slits were cut, just to give light to persons going up or down the stairs. These towers are all built of stone, and exceeding strong, the stones and mortar remarkably good; and in general they are intire to this day, though many churches near which they stood are either in ruins or totally destroyed.
XII. Observations on the Round Tower at Brechin, in Scotland. By Richard Gough, Esq.
Authors: Gough Richard
Published: July 2016

Mr. Gordon, in his Itinerarium Septentrionale, p. 164, 165, and pl. LXII. has described and exhibited two round towers in Scotland; one at Abernethy, near Perth, the other at Brechin. The first being in the capital city of the Picts, of whom it is the only remain, has probably occasioned these monuments to be called Pictish. But as they are more numerous in Ireland, where we have no reason to think that people ever were, and all in that kingdom, as well as in Scotland, stand near parochial or cathedral churches, or churches of some consideration, it seems a more probable conjecture that they were erected in the earliest ages of Christianity, before the introduction of bells (which were first invented or made use of in the 6th or 7th century), from whence to call the people to church by the sound of trumpets or horns, such having been found near, several in Ireland. That at Ardmore has since been used as a belfrey; and Mr. Smith describes two channels cut in the door sill, to let the rope out, the ringer standing below the door, on the outside: in which manner the bells are still rung at Kelso in Scotland.
XVII. An Account of the Monument commonly ascribed to Catigern. By Mr. Colebrooke
Authors: Colebrooke
Published: July 2016

In the parish of Addington, near Town Malling, in Kent, about 500 paces to the north east of the church, in a rabbit warren, upon a little eminence, are the remains of several large stones, placed in an oval form. The inside of the area from east to west is 50 paces, the breadth in the middle from north to south 42 paces; at the east end is a flat stone, placed somewhat like that which they call the Altar at Stone Henge: Pl. vi. fig. 1. No. 1. This stone in the longest part is nine feet, in the broadest seven feet, and near two feet thick. Behind this, a little to the north, is another flat stone, No. 2. which seems to have stood upright, but is now, by some accident thrown down. This is fifteen feet long, seven feet wide, and two feet thick. The stone No. 3. next the altar on the north side, is seven feet high, seven feet wide, and two feet thick; the top of this hath been broken off.