Burma Terrane Amber Fauna Shows Connections to Gondwana and Transported Gondwanan Lineages to the Northern Hemisphere (Araneae: Palpimanoidea).

Burmese amber is a significant source of fossils that documents the mid-Cretaceous biota. This deposit was formed around 99 Ma on the Burma Terrane, which broke away from Gondwana and later collided with Asia, although the timing is disputed. Palpimanoidea is a dispersal-limited group that was a dominant element of the Mesozoic spider fauna, and has an extensive fossil record, particularly from Burmese amber. Using morphological and molecular data, evolutionary relationships of living and fossil Palpimanoidea are examined. Divergence dating with fossils as terminal tips shows timing of diversification is contemporaneous with continental breakup.Ancestral range estimations show widespread ancestral ranges that divide into lineages that inherit different Pangean fragments, consistent with vicariance. Our results suggest that the Burmese amber fauna has ties to Gondwana due to a historical connection in the Early Cretaceous, and that the Burma Terrane facilitated biotic exchange by transporting lineages from Gondwana into the Holarctic in the Cretaceous.

The Morphological Diversity of Antlion Larvae and Their Closest Relatives over 100 Million Years.

Among lacewings (Neuroptera), representatives of the groups Ascalaphidae (owlflies) and Myrmeleontidae (antlions) are likely the most widely known ones. The exact taxonomic status of the two groups remains currently unclear, each may in fact be nested in the other group. Herein, we refer to the group including representatives of both with the neutral term "owllion". Owllion larvae are voracious ambush hunters. They are not only known in the extant fauna, but also from the fossil record. We report here new findings of a fossil owlfly larva from Eocene Baltic amber, as well as several owlfly-like larvae from Cretaceous Kachin amber, Myanmar. Based on these fossils, combined with numerous fossil and extant specimens from the literature, collections, and databases, we compared the morphological diversity of the head and mouthpart shapes of the larvae of owllions in the extant fauna with that of owllion-like larvae from three time slices: about 100 million years ago (Cretaceous), about 40 million years ago (Eocene), and about 20 million years ago (Miocene). The comparison reveals that the samples from the Eocene and Miocene are too small for a reliable evaluation. Yet, the Cretaceous larvae allow for some conclusions: (1) the larval morphological diversity of owllion larvae increased over time, indicating a post-Cretaceous diversification; (2) certain morphologies disappeared after the Cretaceous, most likely representing ecological roles that are no longer present nowadays. In comparison, other closely related lineages, e.g., silky lacewings or split-footed lacewings, underwent more drastic losses after the Cretaceous and no subsequent diversifications.

The Diversity of Aphidlion-like Larvae over the Last 130 Million Years.

Aphidlions are larvae of certain lacewings (Neuroptera), and more precisely larvae of the groups Chrysopidae, green lacewings, and Hemerobiidae, brown lacewings. The name 'aphidlion' originates from their ecological function as specialised predators of aphids. Accordingly, they also play an economic role as biological pest control. Aphidlions have, mostly, elongated spindle-shaped bodies, and similarly to most lacewing larvae they are equipped with a pair of venom-injecting stylets. Fossils interpreted as aphidlions are known to be preserved in amber from the Cretaceous (130 and 100 million years ago), the Eocene (about 35 million years ago) and the Miocene (about 15 million years ago) ages. In this study, new aphidlion-like larvae are reported from Cretaceous amber from Myanmar (about 100 million years old) and Eocene Baltic amber. The shapes of head and stylets were compared between the different time slices. With the newly described fossils and specimens from the literature, a total of 361 specimens could be included in the analysis: 70 specimens from the Cretaceous, 5 from the Eocene, 3 from the Miocene, 188 extant larvae of Chrysopidae, and 95 extant larvae of Hemerobiidae. The results indicate that the diversity of head shapes remains largely unchanged over time, yet there is a certain increase in the diversity of head shapes in the larvae of Hemerobiidae. In certain other groups of Neuroptera, a distinct decrease in the diversity of head shapes in larval stages was observed.

Changes in the Morphological Diversity of Larvae of Lance Lacewings, Mantis Lacewings and Their Closer Relatives over 100 Million Years.

Neuroptera, the group of lacewings, comprises only about 6000 species in the modern fauna, but is generally assumed to have been more diverse and important in the past. A major factor of the modern-day ecological diversity of the group, and supposedly in the past as well, is represented by the highly specialised larval forms of lacewings. Quantitative analyses of the morphology of larvae revealed a loss of morphological diversity in several lineages. Here we explored the diversity of the larvae of mantis lacewings (Mantispidae), lance lacewings (Osmylidae), beaded lacewings (Berothidae and Rhachiberothidae, the latter potentially an ingroup of Berothidae), and pleasing lacewings (Dilaridae), as well as fossil larvae, preserved in amber, resembling these. We used shape analysis of the head capsule and stylets (pair of conjoined jaws) as a basis due to the high availability of this body region in extant and fossil specimens and the ecological importance of this region. The analysis revealed a rather constant morphological diversity in Berothidae. Mantispidae appears to have lost certain forms of larvae, but has seen a drastic increase of larval diversity after the Cretaceous; this is in contrast to a significant decrease in diversity in adult forms.

New records and detailed distribution and abundance of selected arthropod species collected between 1999 and 2011 in Azorean native forests.

BACKGROUND: In this contribution we present detailed distribution and abundance data for arthropod species identified during the BALA - Biodiversity of Arthropods from the Laurisilva of the Azores (1999-2004) and BALA2 projects (2010-2011) from 18 native forest fragments in seven of the nine Azorean islands (all excluding Graciosa and Corvo islands, which have no native forest left). NEW INFORMATION: Of the total 286 species identified, 81% were captured between 1999 and 2000, a period during which only 39% of all the samples were collected. On average, arthropod richness for each island increased by 10% during the time frame of these projects. The classes Arachnida, Chilopoda and Diplopoda represent the most remarkable cases of new island records, with more than 30% of the records being novelties. This study stresses the need to expand the approaches applied in these projects to other habitats in the Azores, and more importantly to other less surveyed taxonomic groups (e.g. Diptera and Hymenoptera). These steps are fundamental for getting a more accurate assessment of biodiversity in the archipelago.

Spin Hall effect devices.

The spin Hall effect is a relativistic spin-orbit coupling phenomenon that can be used to electrically generate or detect spin currents in non-magnetic systems. Here we review the experimental results that, since the first experimental observation of the spin Hall effect less than 10 years ago, have established the basic physical understanding of the phenomenon, and the role that several of the spin Hall devices have had in the demonstration of spintronic functionalities and physical phenomena. We have attempted to organize the experiments in a chronological order, while simultaneously dividing the Review into sections on semiconductor or metal spin Hall devices, and on optical or electrical spin Hall experiments. The spin Hall device studies are placed in a broader context of the field of spin injection, manipulation, and detection in non-magnetic conductors.

Spin Hall effect transistor.

The field of semiconductor spintronics explores spin-related quantum relativistic phenomena in solid-state systems. Spin transistors and spin Hall effects have been two separate leading directions of research in this field. We have combined the two directions by realizing an all-semiconductor spin Hall effect transistor. The device uses diffusive transport and operates without electrical current in the active part of the transistor. We demonstrate a spin AND logic function in a semiconductor channel with two gates. Our study shows the utility of the spin Hall effect in a microelectronic device geometry, realizes the spin transistor with electrical detection directly along the gated semiconductor channel, and provides an experimental tool for exploring spin Hall and spin precession phenomena in an electrically tunable semiconductor layer.

Sooty moulds from European tertiary amber, with notes on the systematic position of Rosaria ('Cyanobacteria').

Sooty moulds are described and illustrated from European amber dating back to 22-54 Myr. All the fossils are fragments of superficial subicula composed of brown moniliform hyphae with markedly tapering distal ends. The subglobose cells are identical to those of extant Metacapnodium (Metacapnodiaceae, Capnodiales) species. Also other preserved features, like the type of apical growth, wide-angled branching and the production of two distinctive conidial states, supports a placement in this genus. The fossils demonstrate that Metacapnodium hyphae have remained unchanged for tens of millions of years. This confirms that hyphal morphology and conidial states should be accorded considerable classificatory significance in this group of fungi. The following nomenclatural change is made: Metacapnodium succinum comb. nov. (syn. Rosaria succina). The type specimen was initially described as a filamentous cyanobacterium, due to similarities with Rosaria ramosa. Also the systematic position of this attribute is shortly discussed.

The oldest fossil myxogastroid slime mould.

A piece of Baltic amber (Tertiary, Eocene) contains a sporocarp of a slime mould which is assigned to the recent genus Arcyria and described as A. sulcata sp. nov. Apart from a fossil stemonitoid myxomycete, there are no further unambiguous fossil records of slime moulds and therefore the fossil gives new insights into the evolutionary history of the Myxomycetes.