Science and earth science

Polish Polar Research

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Polish Polar Research | 2014 | No 3

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Abstract

New echinoid material from the Oligocene Chlamys Ledge Member (uppermost part of the Polonez Cove Formation) on King George Island, West Antarctica, includes the “regular” echinoid Caenopedina aleksandrabitnerae sp. n. and poorly preserved spatangoids, here tentatively identified as members of the genus Abatus . Caenopedina aleksandrabitnerae sp. n. is characterized by fully tuberculate genital plates, which sets it apart from most other species in the genus, by the uneven periproctal margin which indicates that periproctal plates were incorporated into the apical disc, and by moderately wide interambulacral plates with a height/width ratio of 1:3. Among the modern Caenopedina species it is closest to the Australian and New Zealand representatives, which is in contrast to previous reviews of Cenozoic Antarctic echinoid faunas that suggested limited relationship to the Australasian region. This is the first record of Caenopedina from Antarctica; it considerably extends its historical distribution to the south.
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Authors and Affiliations

Andreas Kroh
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Abstract

The present review aims to improve the scope and coverage of the phylogenetic matrices currently in use, as well as explore some aspects of the relationships among Paleogene penguins, using two key skeletal elements, the humerus and tarsometatarsus. These bones are extremely important for phylogenetic analyses based on fossils because they are commonly found solid specimens, often selected as holo− and paratypes of fossil taxa. The resulting dataset includes 25 new characters, making a total of 75 characters, along with eight previously uncoded taxa for a total of 48. The incorporation and analysis of this corrected subset of morphological characters raise some interesting questions considering the relationships among Paleogene penguins, particularly regarding the possible existence of two separate clades including Palaeeudyptes and Paraptenodytes , the monophyly of Platydyptes and Paraptenodytes , and the position of Anthropornis . Additionally, Notodyptes wimani is here recovered in the same collapsed node as Archaeospheniscus and not within Delphinornis, as in former analyses.
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Authors and Affiliations

Martín Chávez Hoffmeister
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Abstract

In this study, weather conditions causing warm waves in north−western Spits − bergen, exemplified by Ny− Å lesund station, were analyzed. Between 1981 and 2010, 536 days with the maximum temperature exceeding 8.3 ° C (the value of 95 percentile) were selected. 37 warm waves, which altogether lasted 268 days, were identified. A typical feature of pressure pattern causing warm waves was the appearance of positive anomalies of both the sea level pressure and the height of isobaric surface 500 hPa in the Euro−Atlantic sector of the Arctic. This indicates a presence of high−pressure systems in this region. Extremely warm days appeared more often with the circulation from the eastern than the western sector. Longer and warmer heat waves occurring in the last decade of the analyzed period may be considered as a sign of climate warming, which has a significant impact on environment, i.e. reduction in area and thickness of glaciers, reduction of permafrost and snow cover, changes in biodiversity, etc . The increase in the air temperature and more frequent occurrence of heat waves may encourage development of tourism in polar areas, potentially causing further changes in the environment.
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Authors and Affiliations

Arkadiusz Marek Tomczyk
Ewa Bednorz
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Abstract

The infection of black rockcod, Notothenia coriiceps, with digeneans in Admiralty Bay (South Shetland Islands ) within three months, from November 2007 to January 2008, is compared with the infection in the same three months in 1978/79, based on the examination of twenty fish collected in each month. Digenea found in 1978/1979 season were more numerous, and more diverse. Only five digenean species, Macvicaria georgiana , Neolebouria antarctica , Lepidapedon garrardi , Genolinea bowersi and Lecithaster macrocotyle , were recorded during both investigations, whereas three species, Neolepidapedon trematomi , Elytro− phalloides oatesi and Gonocerca phycidis , only in 1978/79. M. georgiana was the dominant species in 1978/79 and sub−dominant in 2007/08. Other digeneans were found in N. coriiceps in 2007/08 invariably together with M. georgiana. G. bowersi was the sub−dominant species in 1978/79 and the most common species in 2007/2008. Infections with Digenea belonging to other species were much less intense. Of the three rare or common species in 1978/79, the two, L. garrardi and L. macrocotyle , occurred in both seasons, whereas E. oatesi occurred only in 1978/79. Three remaining species were sporadic or absent. The overall results therefore demonstrated that infections with almost all digenean species were less strong in 2007/08 than three decades earlier, in 1978/79. Only data on M. georgiana , G. bowersi and L. g arrardi were statistically significant (p <0.05). Data on the occurrence of 14 species of Digenea in N. coriiceps from South Shetland Islands, South Orkney Islands, South Georgia, Argentine Is − lands, Melchior Islands, Adelie Land and Heard Island are given.
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Authors and Affiliations

Krzysztof Zdzitowiecki
Zdzisław Laskowski
Witold Jeżewski
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Abstract

This article describes the morphological characteristics of the populations of green alga, Tetraspora gelatinosa , growing in the stressful Arctic conditions (77 ° 00’22” N, 015 ° 32’54.33” E). We present the first detailed morphological characteristics of this species from such a high latitude. Populations from both stagnant and flowing waters were studied. Depending on the type of habitat, their mucilaginous colonies (thalli) have different shapes, but the structure, size and the placement of the vegetative cells, akinetes and ameboid forms, as well as the pseudocilia morphology of both populations, were very similar. Literature data on the distribution of T. gelatinosa indicate that it is a cosmopolitan species. Our data are compared with some characteristic features of this species growing in different geographical and climatic zones. No significant differences were found in the morphology of the colonies compared, nor in the location and the inner structure of cells. How − ever, there were slight differences in cell size between the populations from warm and cold zones.
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Authors and Affiliations

Dorota Richter
Jan Matuła
Mirosława Pietryka

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