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Ochreriades fasciatus.
No full text18 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 26 cm.Herein we present information on the nesting behavior of Ochreriades fasciatus (Friese) found occupying beetle galleries in dead trunks and branches of certain trees and shrubs in Israel. We also describe the pre- and postdefecating larvae thereby making known the mature larva for this uncommon Old World genus. Females of O. fasciatus build linear nests in existing burrows in dead wood; depending on the length of the burrow, 1-5 cells are placed in one nest. The cell partitions are made of hardened mud, while the nest plug consists of pebbles fixed together with mud. Ochreriades fasciatus is oligolectic on Lamiaceae and probably strongly associated with the two related genera Ballota and Moluccella. It is hoped that information concerning its nesting biology, host-plant relationships, as well as larval development and anatomy will eventually prove valuable in determining the phylogenetic position of this genus relative to other megachiline bees
Xeromelissa.
No full text20 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 26 cm.Herein are described the nests and their contents of Xeromelissa nortina (Toro and Moldenke) and of X. sielfeldi (Toro and Moldenke), found in the dry, high Atacama Desert of northern Chile. Nests of the former, discovered in 2014, contained linear cell series in the central pith channels of dead, broken twigs of Baccharis, revealing clear, cellophanelike cell linings that presumably control cell humidity. From the cells, postdefecating larvae were obtained, permitting their description and comparison with our meager understanding of other larval xeromelissines. Nests of X. sielfeldi, also found in broken dead twigs, were discovered and first studied in 1971 before the species was described and named, thereby delaying publication until now. Although similar in most respects to nests of X. nortina, they occupied abandoned beetle burrows. Toro and Moldenke provided information on eggs, predefecating larvae, and pupae, described herein. At the time of that discovery, adults of X. rozeni (Toro and Moldenke), a bee with an exceedingly long proboscis, were also active, permitting observation on their feeding habits, which are included herein
Male reproductive system of goblin spiders.
No full text72 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 26 cm. Part of the oonopid PBI project. (Acknowledgments)Goblin spiders (Oonopidae Simon, 1890) are distributed worldwide and among the most species-rich spider taxa. However, goblin spiders are understudied in many aspects and their phylogenetic relationships are not well resolved. As previously shown for numerous other spider groups the male and female reproductive system bears many characters of phylogenetic relevance. Moreover, the diversity of sperm structures within spiders is astonishingly diverse and often taxon specific. In the present study, we analyzed the primary male reproductive system and spermatozoa of goblin spiders for the first time. We investigated 18 species of 13 genera representing the subfamilies Orchestininae and Oonopinae by means of light and transmission electron microscopy. We scored 44 characters from the gross morphology of the reproductive system as well as spermatozoa including four new characters for the male spider reproductive system. All investigated species transfer sperm as synspermia, a method corroborating with the recently proposed "Synspermiata" clade unifying all ecribellate Haplogynae. Furthermore, goblin spiders show by far the highest diversity of sperm structures in spiders. In total, we recovered 30 unambiguous synapomorphies for different oonopid taxa. In a comparison with all other spider taxa studied to date, we identified the longest sperm (Neoxyphinus termitophilus) and longest sperm conjugates (Orchestina). Moreover and most remarkable is the presence of aflagellate sperm in Opopaea apicalis, which is the first report of the loss of a sperm flagellum in tetrapulmonate arachnids. These findings are of high interest not only because of their phylogenetic implications, but also with regard to their contribution to our understanding of postcopulatory sexual selection in spiders
Konetontli.
No full textSupplemental Material for 'Systematic revision of the North American syntropine vaejovid scorpions with a subaculear tubercle, Konetontli González-Santillán and Prendini, 2013. (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 397)' - http://hdl.handle.net/2246/661
Bats from Olduvai Gorge.
No full text35 pages : illustrations, map ; 26 cm.Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania is most famous for producing some of the first discoveries of fossil hominins in East Africa. Zinjanthropus (= Paranthropus) boisei was initially discovered in 1959 from Olduvai Bed I. During screen-washing operations to search for more hominin material at Olduvai, an associated faunal assemblage was accumulated including 40 numbered specimens of fossil bats. Except for seven dental specimens, this collection consists entirely of postcrania, almost exclusively complete or fragmentary humeri representing both proximal and distal ends. Although briefly discussed in preliminary reports, these specimens have remained undescribed for over 50 years and have never been comprehensively compared to extant species. Our analyses indicate that the Olduvai bat fossils represent five families and nine genera, and include four new species: Myzopoda africana, n. sp., Cardioderma leakeyi, n. sp., Scotoecus olduvensis, n. sp., and Nycticeinops serengetiensis, n. sp. The Olduvai bat fossils come from the FLK North 1 and FLK NN1 levels, both of early Pleistocene age, and ranging between 1.80 and 1.85 Ma based on ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating techniques, respectively. Compared to the meager Pleistocene bat record from elsewhere on mainland Africa, the Olduvai bat assemblage, although richer, is similar in the predominance of vespertilionids. The East African Olduvai bat fauna differs from Pleistocene faunas from South Africa in including both Myzopoda and Cardioderma but lacking both hipposiderids and rhinolophids. These taxonomic differences are likely the result of differential sampling due to variation in roosting site preferences (cave-dwelling vs. non-cave-dwelling taxa) and foraging habitats (open vs. forested) in East and South Africa
New genus Volborattella.
No full text71 pages : illustrations (some color), maps (some color) ; 26 cm. "Species descriptions were generated with the aid of the oonopid PBI descriptive database"--Page 10.A new genus of goblin spider from Madagascar, Volborattella Saucedo and Ubick, is proposed and its five included species newly described and illustrated: V. teresae, the type species, V. guenevera, V. nasario, V. paulyi, and V. toliara. These species differ from other oonopids in several unusual characters, especially the variously modified setae: abdominal scutes having thick recumbent setae with large bases and conspicuous pits; the pedicel region with mats of plumose setae and associated cuticular projections; and anterior metatarsi with prolateral combs. The male palp of Volborattella appears to be unique in having a terminal projection (embolar superior prong, ESP) that forms an abrupt spiral and the female a receptaculum with an accessory duct (curved tube). Volborattella resemble members of the Gamasomorpha complex in lacking leg spines and having a flattened abdomen with complete scutes, but differ genitalically. The Volborattella female has a receptaculum that is wider than long (as opposed to longer than wide in the Gamasomorpha complex) and the male has the embolar region sharply bent (as opposed to evenly curved), which places the genus in the Pelicinus complex. The relationship of Volborattella to other pelicinoids is not resolved. Although the genus most closely resembles some Silhouettella Benoit, Noideattella Álvarez-Padilla et al. and Lionneta Benoit in various genitalic features, somatically it shares with Tolegnaro Álvarez-Padilla et al. and two undescribed Malagasy genera the gamasomorphoid body form and plumose setae. Volborattella females are unusual in having antisymmetrical internal genitalia, with the CTs occurring in either a left or right position, and that these differences in handedness (antisymmetry) are evenly distributed. The shape and size of the CT, as examined through light and scanning microscopy, suggest that it is a coupling pocket for the ESP; if so, Volborattella females are either righties or lefties in their palpal preference
Whitney South Sea Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History. Extracts from the Journal of Rollo H. Beck, vol. 1, Sept. 1920-June 1923.
No full textExtracts from the Journal of Rollo H. Beck
Prince Maximilian.
No full text155 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), color portraits ; 26 cm.Prince Maximilian of Wied made important collections of reptiles and other vertebrate animals during pioneering expeditions to Brazil and North America. These were purchased for the American Museum in 1869. The present paper emphasizes Brazilian materials collected in 1815-1817. Prince Maximilian (aka Wied, Neuwied, and Prince Max) published extensively on this collection, especially in the Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte von Brasilien ("Contributions to the natural history of Brazil, 1825-1833")--a meticulous account of the species collected--and in Abbildungen zur Naturgeschichte Brasiliens ("Illustrations of the natural history of Brazil, 1822-1832"). The unnumbered folio plates of the Abbildungen are so important, and so difficult to access, that the herpetological ones are resized and reprinted herein. These hand-colored plates are rare (only 300 of each were produced) and are reproduced herein "as is" with arbitrary plate numbers 1-56; this numbering approximates the organization of the present work and also the order of species presentation in volume 1 of the Beiträge. When received at AMNH, the herpetological specimens were accompanied by the Prince's handwritten manuscript list, dated 1860, with 441 numbered items. The list is not a specimen catalog but a useful index to the collection, as indicated by its title: Verzeichniss der Reptilien-Sammlung nach Duméril, Bibron, und Jan. It includes separately numbered lists of genera and of species in the collections and therefore corresponds to taxa, not to actual specimens. Wied did not designate types, a concept not yet established; Wied types, like Linnaean types, must be identified retrospectively. Our objective has been to identify the surviving types of Brazilian reptiles and amphibians in the Maximilian collection. Our starting point was forcibly the Beiträge, a work of singularly modern conformation. It may contain for each species a synonymy, a description, measurements, meristic data, and a discussion of distribution. The criteria for decision on the identification of types were fourfold: the description, the measurements, the scale counts, and the Abbildungen plates. A total of 21 primary type specimens were thus identified in the Wied collection (including some originally identified as types or cotypes). These include 15 holotypes (mostly newly identified) and six lectotypes (mostly newly designated). However, Wied had named about 61 species from his Brazilian collection, so approximately 40 primary type specimens of reptiles and amphibians are missing. Most of these never reached the American Museum; many had disappeared in Europe before Maximilian had started writing his 1860 manuscript catalogue. Wied wrote that he had been unable to preserve several specimens; some of the others may be in European museums or possibly in the remaining collection of his friend Blasius Merrem at the University of Marburg
Classified catalogue of Chinese books in the Library of the American Museum of Natural History, New York City : arranged in order of Imperial catalogue, Si ku quan shu zong mu (ssu k'u ch'üan shu tsung mu)
Get PDF93 leaves ; 48 cm.The Laufer collection at the American Museum of Natural History, New York, consists of about 550 works, nearly all of them in Chinese. As they were brought back from a 1902-1904 field trip to Siberia, Central Asia, and China, they are all published before 1904. Many of the works are unavailable elsewhere in the United States.
The strengths of the collection are: the Northwestern and Western regions including Xinjiang and Mongolia (local chronicles; publications by and on Chinese Muslims; Qing government publications on Chinese Muslims; maps of the region); Qing archaeological scholarship (ancient coins, stone inscriptions); and illustrated works (ritual performances, mirror for the emperor, geographical treatises, sacred edict, novels, minorities). The Museum also holds a sizeable amount of photographs brought back by Laufer. A first batch has been made accessible on-line, see .
The catalogue reproduced here was compiled in 1918. It is organized according to the Siku quanshu zongmu scheme. While not really suitable for these types of books, the advantage is that works with a similar focus will appear in the catalogue in close proximity. The transcription used is Wade-Giles. This catalogue is published in this format to facilitate access while the Museum prepares a full on-line catalogue.
The books can be accessed on site
