{"title":"A 3-Day Geological Field Trip in Qatar","authors":"J. LeBlanc","doi":"10.37819/biosis.003.01.0199","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37819/biosis.003.01.0199","url":null,"abstract":"The author learned first-hand about the surface stratigraphy and geology of Qatar by dedicating most of his weekends at conducting field works and public guided field tours from 2007 to 2020 while employed by Qatar Petroleum (now QatarEnergy). Here, he summarizes his knowledge of the surface geology of Qatar in a 3-Day field trip designed to provide the participants a hands-on overview of the stratigraphy of the country. The field trip is based on his publication (LeBlanc, 2021) which is an integral part of this geological tour (the participants are referred to it on several occasions) and his other geological publications on Qatar referenced herein (LeBlanc, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019). During this 3-day field trip, outcrops of the Lower Eocene Rus Formation, Middle Eocene Dammam Formation, Lower Miocene Dam Formation, Mio-Pliocene Hofuf Formation, as well as Pleistocene and Holocene deposits will be visited. The fieldtrip’s aim is to help the participants at recognizing the various formations and their members, as well as the most obvious features (faults, folds, dissolution, mineralization, fossils, etc..) that characterize them.","PeriodicalId":412706,"journal":{"name":"Biosis: Biological Systems","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123999091","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
L. Xing, M. Lockley, Zhitao Wang, Jianjun Liu, W. S. Persons IV, Bolin Tong, Liu Chang
{"title":"Dinosaur Track from the Jurassic Xiahuayuan Formation of Northern China","authors":"L. Xing, M. Lockley, Zhitao Wang, Jianjun Liu, W. S. Persons IV, Bolin Tong, Liu Chang","doi":"10.37819/biosis.003.01.0168","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37819/biosis.003.01.0168","url":null,"abstract":"An isolated but moderately well-preserved theropod track from the coal-bearing strata of the Zhangjiakou City region of Hebei Province was reported to have originated from the Xiahuayuan Formation, which is considered Middle Jurassic in age. Although the track has a wide divarication angle and length-width ratio reminiscent of Cretaceous tracks like Magnoavipes, it would be speculative to apply this Identification based on a single track. Therefore, it is considered most likely to be a preservational variant of Kayentapus, in which the heel trace is lacking. Kayentapus is widely known from the Lower Jurassic of China. This is the first report of a track or any vertebrate fossil from the Middle Jurassic of this region of Hebei Province, China.","PeriodicalId":412706,"journal":{"name":"Biosis: Biological Systems","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129659673","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
L. Xing, M. Lockley, A. Romilio, Tao Wang, Liu Chang
{"title":"Dinosaur Tracks from the Lower Jurassic Lufeng Formation of Northern Central Yunnan, China","authors":"L. Xing, M. Lockley, A. Romilio, Tao Wang, Liu Chang","doi":"10.37819/biosis.003.01.0169","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37819/biosis.003.01.0169","url":null,"abstract":"An increasing number of theropod-dominated tracksites have been reported from the Jurassic and Cretaceous of China. These include a significant number from the Lower Jurassic of the Lufeng Basin, famous for its Lufengosaurus fauna and known for a typical Lower Jurassic globally-distributed tetrapod footprint biochron. Here we report another localized theropod track occurrence regular of various scattered tracksites from the Lufeng Formation. The tracks are medium-sized tridactyl tracks from the basal member of the Zhangjia'ao Member, Lufeng Formation which shows an unusually wide divarication between the traces of digits III and IV, which suggest several possible interpretations.","PeriodicalId":412706,"journal":{"name":"Biosis: Biological Systems","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131903552","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Preliminary Review of Dinosaur Track Assemblages from the Tuchengzi Formation in North China","authors":"L. Xing, Zhangxin Yu","doi":"10.37819/biosis.003.01.0165","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37819/biosis.003.01.0165","url":null,"abstract":"In northern China, mainly within Western Liaoning, Northern Hebei and Beijing, vertebrate skeletons from the Tuchengzi Formation (Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous) are scarce. However, a large number of new dinosaur track discoveries have made in past 10 years. So far, a total of 19 dinosaur track sites have been found in the Tuchengzi Formation, collectively containing 2,637 individual tracks and representing at least 2,091 trackmakers. This track record has become an important sample for understanding the Tuchengzi dinosaur fauna. The abundant Tuchengzi track record includes six non-avian theropod ichnogenera (Asianopodus, Eubrontes, Grallator, Menglongipus, Therangospodus, and Velociraptorichnus), three bird ichnogenera (Aquatilavipes, Pullornipes, and Koreanaornis), two sauropod ichnogenera (Brontopodus and cf. Parabrontopodus isp.), and a possible ornithopod ichnogenus (cf. Dinehichnu). This assemblage is saurischian-dominated, which is consistent with most Jurassic and Cretaceous track sites in China. The presence of deinonychosaurian tracks is consistent with the rich skeletal record from the Yanliao Biota or Jehol Biota, and the bird tracks are consistent with the record of shorebirds in Jehol Biota. The existence of ornithopod tracks is doubtful and needs further discoveries to be confirmed.","PeriodicalId":412706,"journal":{"name":"Biosis: Biological Systems","volume":"26 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128054961","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Currently Earliest Angiosperm Fruit from the Jurassic of North America","authors":"Xin Wang","doi":"10.37819/biosis.001.04.0160","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37819/biosis.001.04.0160","url":null,"abstract":"Angiosperms are the single most important plant group in the current ecosystem. However, little is known about the origin and early evolution of angiosperms. Jurassic and earlier traces of angiosperms have been claimed multiple times from Europe and Asia, but reluctance to accept these records remains. To test the truthfulness of these claims, palaeobotanical records from continents other than Europe and Asia constitute a crucial test. Here I document a new angiosperm fruit, Dilcherifructus mexicana gen. et sp. nov, from the Middle Jurassic of Mexico. Its Jurassic age suggests that origin of angiosperms is much earlier than widely accepted, while its occurrence in the North America indicates that angiosperms were already widespread in the Jurassic, although they were still far away from their ecological radiation, which started in the Early Cretaceous.","PeriodicalId":412706,"journal":{"name":"Biosis: Biological Systems","volume":"20 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129853419","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A mid-Cretaceous fungus, Philothysanus burmanicus gen. et sp. nov. (Ascomycota: Spheciophilaceae), on a thrip (Thysanoptera) in Burmese amber","authors":"G. Poinar","doi":"10.37819/biosis.001.04.0158","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37819/biosis.001.04.0158","url":null,"abstract":"Male and female thalli of a mid-Cretaceous fungus attached to a thrip (Thysanoptera) in Burmese amber are described as Philothysanus burmanicus gen. et sp. nov. in the family Spheciophilaceae (Ascomycota). Both spermatia and ascospores are present. Currently, Philothysanus burmanicus gen. et sp. nov., together with the previously described Spheciophilia adercia Poinar, represent the oldest known ectoparasitic fungi of insects and their age can be used as a reference point in future phylogenetic studies on the origin of fungi with this life style.","PeriodicalId":412706,"journal":{"name":"Biosis: Biological Systems","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133094085","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Curious new Caloneurodea from the Bashkirian of the Pas-de-Calais, France (Insecta Archaeorthoptera)","authors":"A. Nel, P. Roques","doi":"10.37819/biosis.001.04.0159","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37819/biosis.001.04.0159","url":null,"abstract":"We describe Oudardgramma bruayensis gen. et sp. nov., first representative of the small order Caloneurodea from the Bashkirian of Bruay-en-Artois. It is characterized by the very small size of the wing, and a unique pattern of the vein M+CuA+CuPa. As the previous oldest Caloneurodea were Moscovian, the new taxon corresponds to the oldest record of the order.","PeriodicalId":412706,"journal":{"name":"Biosis: Biological Systems","volume":"31 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129863175","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Stratigraphic Lexicon: A revised guide to the Cenozoic Surface Formations of Qatar, Middle East (excluding the islands)","authors":"J. LeBlanc","doi":"10.37819/biosis.001.04.0134","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37819/biosis.001.04.0134","url":null,"abstract":"The author learned first-hand about the surface stratigraphy and geology of Qatar by dedicating most of his weekends to conducting field works and public-guided field tours from 2007 to 2020 while employed by Qatar Petroleum. Here, he reviews and updates the surface stratigraphic knowledge of Qatar since the last lexicon was published back in 1975. The geology and macro-paleontology of the Lower Eocene Rus, Middle Eocene Dammam, Lower Miocene Dam, and Mio-Pliocene Hofuf formations are described in detail and well-illustrated. ","PeriodicalId":412706,"journal":{"name":"Biosis: Biological Systems","volume":"144 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122605794","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Captain Vivian Hewitt and the fate of his collection of birds’ eggs and specimens","authors":"David A. Clugston, E. Fuller","doi":"10.37819/biosis.002.03.0128","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37819/biosis.002.03.0128","url":null,"abstract":"Vivian Hewitt was a little-known collector of natural history specimens (mainly birds and their eggs) during the early and middle years of the twentieth century. Although an obscure figure his influence on the museum world of his time – and later – was considerable and his collection of Great Auk material became almost legendary. Some of his story and that of his collection is a matter of published record but many elements remain obscure. In this study, we present previously unpublished details of Hewitt’s extraordinary life.","PeriodicalId":412706,"journal":{"name":"Biosis: Biological Systems","volume":"41 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126160972","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Monocot Flower, Mirafloris burmitis gen. et sp. nov. (Monocots: Angiospermae), in Burmese Amber","authors":"J. G. O. Poinar","doi":"10.37819/biosis.002.03.0126","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37819/biosis.002.03.0126","url":null,"abstract":"A six-merous, slightly bisymmetric monocot flower in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber is described as Mirafloris burmitis gen. et sp. nov. The perianth is composed of two whorls of 3+3 distinctly vascularized tepals connected by an irregular network of veinlets. There are two whorls of 3+3 free stamens with latrorse dehiscence positioned opposite the tepals. A single 3-lobed style arises from the center of the flower. Perigonal nectaries are located at the base of the inner tepals. The oval-spherical pollen possess a single, longitudinal suture. The fossil shows affinities to the order Liliales and family Liliaceae. This is the first showy monocot flower described from Burmese amber and based on recent phylogenetic studies, may be one of the earliest records of a fossil member of the Liliales.","PeriodicalId":412706,"journal":{"name":"Biosis: Biological Systems","volume":"358 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122740490","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}