Article
Entomology
Jindrich Rohacek, Christel Hoffeins
Summary: This study describes seven fossil flies found in Baltic amber, with four new species, and establishes a new fly family, Clusiomitidae. This indicates an unusually diverse acalyptrate fly group in the amber forest of Europe during the Eocene climatic optimum.
Article
Biology
Shenglan Xu, Hanzhang Song, Helanlin Xiang, Weiqiu Liu, Cheng Quan, Jianhua Jin
Summary: Fruit fossil species of Ceratophyllum have been discovered in South China, providing evidence for their distribution in the late Eocene and wide expansion in subtropical China during the Miocene.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Oris Rodriguez-Reyes, Emilio Estrada-Ruiz, Camila Monje Dussan, Lilian de Andrade Brito, Teresa Terrazas
Summary: Migration of Boreotropical megathermal taxa during the Oligocene and Miocene played a key role in assembling diversity in tropical regions. A new fossil species named Anacardium gassonii sp. nov. adds essential information to the understanding of the historical biogeography of the genus, confirming previous interpretations of its migration patterns from Europe to North America through Panama to diversify in South America.
Article
Geography, Physical
Ian R. K. Sluiter, Guy R. Holdgate, Tammo Reichgelt, David R. Greenwood, A. Peter Kershaw, Nick L. Schultz
Summary: This study presents a composite terrestrial pollen record of vegetation and climate change in the Gippsland Basin of south-eastern Australia during the late Eocene through Oligocene. It reveals mesothermic climates with an average mean annual temperature of 16 degrees C, evidencing a cooling trend through the Eocene-Oligocene Transition (EOT) and subsequent warming cycles through the Oligocene. The study also highlights the importance of a warm period in the Early to early Late Oligocene accompanied by increases in Araucariaceae pollen.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Gianpiero Fiorentino, John Lattke, Adrian Troya, Christine Sosiak, Minsoo Dong, Phillip Barden
Summary: This article reports the discovery of a fossil worker ant, Neoponera vejestoria, in Miocene-age Dominican amber. It represents the first fossil member of this predatory ant lineage and provides insights into the ecological community structure on the island since the Miocene.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Yimin Tian, Robert A. Spicer, Jian Huang, Zhekun Zhou, Tao Su, Mike Widdowson, Linbo Jia, Shihu Li, Wenjian Wu, Li Xue, Penghui Luo, Shitao Zhang
Summary: The sedimentary basins of Yunnan in Southwest China provide detailed records of Cenozoic paleoenvironmental change, important for understanding the development of modern floral diversity in the region. High resolution U-Pb dating has allowed researchers to redefine the age of fossil-bearing strata in the Wenshan Basin, indicating a significantly greater antiquity than previously recognized. This age revision highlights late Eocene-early Oligocene regional tectonism and suggests a Paleogene origin for Asia's high plant diversity.
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Barry William McDonald, Patricia Ellyett Watson
Summary: This study investigated the relationship between time in bed and sleeping difficulties with demographic variables and nutrient intakes in pregnant women during the second and third trimester. The findings showed that time in bed was associated with welfare or disability status, marital status, and age. Additionally, there were correlations between dietary intake and sleep. The study highlights the importance of various factors in influencing sleep during pregnancy and confirms previous research on the relationship between diet and sleep.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jonathan M. Waters, Steven Ni, Graham A. Mcculloch
Summary: Deforestation is a major threat to biodiversity, but the biological impacts of this disturbance are not fully understood. In New Zealand, deforestation has led to fragmented forest stands, providing an opportunity to study anthropogenic biological change. This study used freshwater environmental DNA (eDNA) data to test for biological shifts related to deforestation. The results showed consistent differences in species composition and function between forested and deforested areas, indicating the emergence of a new 'deforested' assemblage. These findings demonstrate that environmental change can drive predictable biological shifts over large geographic regions, and highlight the power of eDNA analysis in assessing anthropogenic ecosystem change.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2024)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Peter Kanowski, Peter Edwards
Summary: Australia and New Zealand share many historical and contemporary commonalities, including issues related to First Nations rights, agriculture and forestry, urbanisation, and climate change. The intersections and experiences within the frontiers offer promising prospects for synergies and learning between the two countries and beyond.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Sigit W. Prabowo, Raymond J. Longbottom, Brian J. Monaghan, Martin J. Ryan, Chris W. Bumby, Diego del Puerto
Summary: This paper examines the phase and microstructural evolution of New Zealand titanomagnetite ironsand during fluidized bed reduction by hydrogen gas. The experimental results show that the sticking of particles does not occur within a certain temperature range, indicating the feasibility of fluidized bed processing of this type of iron ore.
Article
Geography, Physical
Thomas Gillot, Isabelle Cojan, David Badia
Summary: Two new climofunctions based on major elements were proposed and applied to modern and ancient soils to establish detailed paleoclimatic data for the Oligo-Miocene period. The results revealed fluctuations in paleoclimate trends and a regional pattern of climate development during the middle Neogene, with implications for the interrelation between climate instability and continental climate.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Soil Science
Pierre Roudier, Nathan Odgers, Sam Carrick, Andre Eger, Sharn Hainsworth, Dylan Beaudette
Summary: Soilscapes are a regionalisation of the landscape based on soil types and environmental gradients. This study developed a soilscape regionalisation for New Zealand using Gradient Forest analysis and validated the results using actual soil profile observations. The resulting layers from this exercise can be used for various pedometrics applications such as soil sampling, soil survey boundaries, and digital soil mapping.
Article
Geography, Physical
Joseph G. Prebble, Elizabeth M. Kennedy, Tammo Reichgelt, Christopher Clowes, Tom Womack, Dallas C. Mildenhall, J. Ian Raine, Erica M. Crouch
Summary: The study of a 100 million year composite pollen record from New Zealand reveals a significant temporal separation between the diversification and dominance of angiosperms in Austral landscapes. While diversification occurred during the Cretaceous, maximum frequency of angiosperms did not occur until the Eocene, 40 million years later. Major floral changes were observed in the middle Eocene and middle Miocene intervals, as well as around key transitions such as the Cretaceous-Paleogene, Paleocene-Eocene, and Pliocene-Pleistocene. These changes were influenced by the northward drift of Zealandia, global climate events, and environmental factors such as circumpolar circulation and cooling.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Chris Larsen, Dicky Harishidayat, Kamaldeen O. Leif Omosanya
Summary: This study analyzed the geomorphologic controls on the evolution of fourteen submarine channels within the Clifdenian-Tongaporutuan interval of the Southern Taranaki Basin. The findings revealed two main groups of channels: isolated and amalgamated stacks, which further include high sinuosity-meandering, low sinuosity-meandering, and straight channels. The interactions between turbidity flows and seafloor topography, as well as the eustatic sea-level fall and tectonic activities, played significant roles in shaping the channels. The integrated analysis and unique case study contribute to research on submarine channels and provide insights into various geological aspects.
MARINE AND PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Aaron D. Pan, Bonnie F. Jacobs, Ellen D. Currano, Manuel de la Estrella, Patrick S. Herendeen, Xander M. van der Burgt
Summary: The research focuses on the well-preserved legume leaflet compressions from the early Miocene Mush plant assemblages in Ethiopia. A new fossil species of Anthonotha, named Anthonotha shimaglae, has been identified based on morphological and micromorphological characteristics. The occurrence of this species in the early Miocene forests of the Ethiopian plateau has implications for the evolutionary and biogeographic history of wet forest taxa in eastern Africa.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PLANT SCIENCES
(2023)