Contributions of Henry Weed Fowler (1878-1965), with a brief early history of ichthyology at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia
Abstract not supplied at this time
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Abstract not supplied at this time
We observed six diatom taxa from North American samples and one taxon from China that are considered within the genus Encyonema Kützing. Two of the taxa are described as new, Encyonema reimeri Spaulding, Pool et Castro sp. nov . and Encyonema nicafei Spaulding sp. nov . A third taxon, Encyonema stoermeri Spaulding, Pool et Castro nom. nov., shat. nov . is assigned a new name and rank. In the past, these taxa have been ascribed to several names, but primarily the names Cymbella muelleri Hustedt and C. muelleri f. ventricosa (Tempère et Peragallo) Reimer have been used, based on their inclusion in the two volumes of “The Diatoms of the United States”. We compare the new species with other members of this group of taxa, including Encyonema latum Krammer, E. sinicum Krammer and E. yellowstonianum Krammer. This group of species shares the features of 1) a broad axial area, 2) raphe branches curved with the convex side toward the dorsal valve margin, 3) slightly expanded and dorsally deflected proximal raphe ends, and 4) oval areolae near the axial area, becoming lineolate, or transapically elongate, towards the dorsal margin. We expect that many of the species reported in the U.S. have been identified using names of species from other continents. We also expect that critical microscopy and use of original literature is likely to clarify the geographic distribution of species within Encyonema . This work is important in order to understand, document and protect the species diversity of diatoms and their aquatic habitats.
No abstract available.
Literature records or other documentation are given for 57 species of shorefishes added to the Bahaman ichthyofauna since publication of Fishes of the Bahamas ; included are 32 new species described or discovered since 1967. Known distribution is specified for each species, including extralimital ranges of non-endemics. Fourteen species are listed as known only from the Bahamas although some likely occur elsewhere. It is concluded that the Bahamas has played a minor role in the evolution of Atlantic tropical marine fishes. [Bahaman ichthyofauna, endemism, new records]
William Maclure (1763-1840), a geologist of Scottish ancestry, was also a man of many other talents and interests including educator, philanthropist, world traveler, prolific writer, patron of science, businessman, bibliophile, and social reformer. He produced the first American printing of a geological map of the United States in 1809 and followed this with four other editions identified as 1811, 1817A, 1817B, and 1817C. All were well received and reproduced by others at least 15 times, as recently as 1989. Maclure has been called 'Father of American Geology,' a title he rightly deserves, primarily for these maps, but also for the first cross sections through the Appalachians, many other geological articles, and substantial donations of specimens, books, and funds to many learned institutions, including the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Maclure's delineation of Appalachian geology followed Werner's geognostic classification of strata using Primary, Transition, Secondary, and Alluvial, but with modifications and considerable doubt concerning their Neptunian origin. He added 'Rock Salt' on his 1809 map as a line on the western edge of the Appalachians and 'Old Red Sand Stone' on the 1811 map for the basins later identified as Triassic. In his later articles, Maclure noted several times that 'trap' or basalt was an igneous rock and not an aqueous precipitate. He further stated that the Secondary and Transition strata are aggregates from the disintegration of the older Primitive rocks. He came to the conclusion near the end of his life that organic remains indicate '...that nature began with the most simple, and gradually proceeded to the more complicated and perfect.'.
John Bachman (1837:391) described the “fringe-footed shrew,” Sorex fimbripes Bachman, 1837, in his landmark monograph on the North American Soricidae (Mammalia: Eulipotyphla), in which he recognized 13 uniquely New World species. Characters he attributed to S. fimbripes resulted in its being interpreted as a tiny, semi-aquatic species and contributed to the complexity of its subsequent taxonomic history. The status and location of the holotype, which should aid in resolving questions about the nature of S. fimbripes, instead have added to the confusion. Originally studied by Bachman in South Carolina, the holotype was later thought to have been identified in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (ANSP), and it is currently considered to be in the National Museum of Natural History (USNM), Washington, D.C. To clarify the identity of the species and its holotype, I compared descriptions of the holotype and the ANSP type with the USNM specimen and with eight species of eastern North American shrews. I conclude that the three accounts of S. fimbripes refer to three different specimens and that the holotype was probably destroyed during the American Civil War. Bachman's S. fimbripes was most likely equivalent to S. cinereus Kerr, 1792, S. fontinalis Hollister, 1911, or S. fumeus Miller, 1895, but without the holotype, its identity cannot be determined definitively, and the name is a nomen dubium.