Collembola, Diplura, and Protura are basal orders of Hexapoda that are associated primarily with leaf litter and other decaying vegetative materials. These three clades historically have been considered monophyletic orders of insects, but some systematists recently have ranked them as classes independent of the class Insecta [1]. Collembola are unique in having a projecting furcula on the abdom...

Abstract In the present study we examined effect of presence wheat bugs ( Eurygaster spp. and Aelia spp.) on mortality, progeny production infestation patterns three stored product insects, Trogoderma granarium Everts, Sitophilus oryzae (L.) Rhyzopertha dominica (F.). The bioassays were carried out under laboratory conditions (25 ± 1 °C, 60 5% relative humidity (r.h.) continuous darkness), 20 a...

Past studies have shown that birds use their wings not only for flight, but also when ascending steep inclines. Uphill flap-running or wing-assisted incline running (WAIR) is used by both flight-incapable fledglings and flight-capable adults to retreat to an elevated refuge. Despite the broadly varying direction of travel during WAIR, level, and descending flight, recent studies have found that...

Sap sucking heteropteran cereal bugs—members of the Eurygaster and Aelia genus—are serious pests wheat. Moreover, they feed on a variety gramineous plant species, including rye, barley, oat, maize, millet. They are widely distributed in European continent. The purpose this review paper is two-fold; it summarizes currently available data biological characteristics, inflicted damage, their distri...

Birds have frequently evolved to exploit insular environments by becoming adapted to a terrestrial lifestyle and losing the ability to fly, usually via reducing the wings and pectoral girdle. The enigmatic flightless ibis Xenicibis xympithecus (Threskiornithidae) from the Quaternary of Jamaica provides a rare example of flight loss in ibises. We report on previously undescribed fossils of Xenic...

Here we redescribe the holotype and only specimen of Segisaurus halli, a small Early Jurassic dinosaur and the only theropod known from the Navajo Sandstone. Our study highlights several important and newly recognized features that clarify the relationships of this taxon. Segisaurus is clearly a primitive theropod, although it does possess a tetanuran-like elongate scapular blade. Nonetheless, ...

The Chinese Lower Cretaceous Jehol Group is the second oldest fossil bird-bearing deposit, only surpassed by Archaeopteryx from the German Upper Jurassic Solnhofen Limestones. Here we report a new bird, Chongmingia zhengi gen. et sp. nov., from the Jehol Biota. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that Chongmingia zhengi is basal to the dominant Mesozoic avian clades Enantiornithes and Ornithuromorph...

The last several years have seen the discovery of many new theropod dinosaur taxa. Data obtained from these and from fragmentary forms not previously utilized in cladistic analyses are examined. An analysis of forty one primary ingroup taxa and 386 characters yielded a set of most parsimonious cladograms which preserves many previously discovered relationships (e.g., a basal split between Cerat...

Abstract A new enantiornithine, Musivavis amabilis n. gen. sp., is reported from the Lower Cretaceous Jehol Biota in western Liaoning, China. The taxon similar to bohaiornithids robust subconical teeth, bluntly expanded omal ends of furcula, caudolaterally oriented lateral trabeculae with triangular distal sternum, and a second pedal digit. Yet it differs members Bohaiornithidae several feature...

OBJECTIVE To compare inverted-L mini-sternotomy performed above the sternal furcula with conventional sternotomy in patients with aortic valve diseases who undergo surgical treatment. METHODS We operated upon 30 patients who had aortic valve lesions that had clinical and hemodynamic findings. All patients underwent inverted-L sternotomy, which extended from above the manubrium of the sternum ...