In the eastern extremity of the Isle of Wight, near Bembridge, marine interglacial deposits occur at a variety of different elevations. The highest of these, the Steyne Wood Clay, is an estuarine deposit that lies between 38 and 40 m o.d . and rests on Bembridge Marls (Lower Oligocene). The Steyne Wood Clay, which had previously been assigned to the post-temperate substage of a Middle Pleistocene interglacial, has now yielded a diverse coccolith assemblage dominated by Gephyrocapsa oceanica and G. caribbeanica . The absence of both Pseudoemiliania lacunosa , with a last occurrence datum at ca. 0.475 M a B P. and Emiliania huxleyi , with a first occurrence datum at ca. 0.275 Ma B P, suggests deposition during this time interval. The dating of the Steyne Wood Clay is further constrained by palaeomagnetic data, indicating normal geomagnetic polarity, and by amino acid ratios consistent with an early M iddle Pleistocene age. An extended and revised list of Foraminifera and Ostracoda is given, including the description of Leptocythere steynewoodensis sp.nov. The low-level interglacial deposits make up the Bembridge Raised Beach, here formally defined as consisting of high-energy beach gravels, intertidal sands and organic muds, which represent a single fining-upwards sequence. Pollen analysis of the organic muds indicates that these accumulated during the early and late-temperate substages of the Ipswichian interglacial (Ip IIb - III) . Therm oluminescence dates of ca . 115 Ka BP have been obtained from sand lenses within the Raised Beach itself, which also support correlation with the Ipswichian. The Bembridge Raised Beach occupies an altitudinal range of 5-18 M O.D . and thickens rapidly in a westerly direction where it abuts a cliff cut into the Bembridge Marls. Details are given of the composition, morphology and sedimentology of the gravels constituting the Beach, and similarities to recent cuspate foreland and split accumulations are highlighted. A similar origin is proposed for this feature. The upper surface of the Beach has been soliflucted and deposits of matrixsupported gravel, rich in clay, thicken downslope in an easterly direction. This solifluction has been disturbed by cryoturbation. Both the in situ and soliflucted beach are mantled by brickearth, a reworked aeolian silt, which reaches a maximum thickness of 10 m. A Late Devensian age for this unit has been established by thermoluminescence dates in the range 16.0+1.5 to 21.5 + 2 K a BP. Near Lane End, a sedge-peat rich in plant macrofossils and insects occurs between two gravel units. These appear to post-date the Raised Beach and are interpreted as of fluvial origin. The gravel capping the cliffs at Priory Bay, the richest source of Palaeolithic artefacts on the Isle of Wight, occurs between 29 and 33 M O.D. and is also thought to be a fluvial aggradation unrelated to the Raised Beach. The relationship of these marine deposits to those occurring on the adjacent mainland are considered. The Steyne Wood Clay is correlated with the Slindon Sands at Boxgrove, part of the Goodwood-Slindon Raised Beach, which occur at an identical elevation and have produced a similarly diverse coccolith assemblage. Additional palaeontological evidence from Boxgrove suggests that the interglacial deposits should be assigned to a temperate stage falling in the latter part of the ‘Cromerian Complex’. Correlation of the Steyne Wood Clay and Slindon Sands with oxygen isotope stage 9, 11 or 13 seems very probable. Reasons for the occurrence of marine deposits of this age at ca. 40 M O.D.. are considered and it is thought that neotectonic activity is at least partly responsible. Mean rates of uplift of between 5.3 and 15.5 mm ka -1 have been calculated from age estimates for stages 9, 11 and 13 derived from the deep-sea record. However, it is unlikely that the uplift was uniform in either rate or direction. The diverse coccolith assemblages preserved in the Steyne Wood Clay and in the Slindon Sands indicate a full open connection with the marine waters of the central English Channel, and suggests that a thermocline was then present in the Channel at a time when the Straits of Dover were probably closed. The interglacial channel deposits on the modern foreshore of Bracklesham Bay near Earnley have produced a limited coccolith assemblage. Because the altitudinal and palynological differences between these deposits and the Steyne Wood Clay are so great, they are thought to belong to different interglacial stages. The Bembridge Raised Beach is thought to equate with similar deposits on the northern shore of the Solent at Selsey, Stone and West Wittering, which has also now yielded pollen, reported here.

The spiders of the prodidomine genus Zimiris Simon have a unique spinneret configuration; although seldom collected, they appear to be synanthropic and hence widely distributed. The type species, Z. doriai Simon, was previously known only from the Old World (Sudan, Yemen, and India), but a male is newly recorded from Hispaniola (representing the first report of the family Prodidomidae from that island). Zimiris mammillana Thorell from Java, Z. grisea Banks from Mexico, Z. guianensis Dalmas from French Guiana, and Neozimiris platnicki Alayón from Cuba are newly synonymized with Z. doriai. A closely related species, Z. diffusa, is newly described for females from St. Helena and India, and a male from Socotra, that are hypothesized to be similarly synanthropic and conspecific.

Genetic differences among tree species, their hybrids and within tree species are known to influence associated ecological communities and ecosystem processes in areas of limited species diversity. The extent to which this same phenomenon occurs based on genetic variation within a single tree species, in a diverse complex ecosystem such as a tropical forest, is unknown. The level of biodiversity and complexity of the ecosystem may reduce the impact of a single tree species on associated communities. We assessed the influence of within-species genetic variation in the tree Brosimum alicastrum (Moraceae) on associated epiphytic and invertebrate communities in a neotropical rainforest. We found a significant positive association between genetic distance of trees and community difference of the epiphytic plants growing on the tree, the invertebrates living among the leaf litter around the base of the tree, and the invertebrates found on the tree trunk. This means that the more genetically similar trees are host to more similar epiphyte and invertebrate communities. Our work has implications for whole ecosystem conservation management, since maintaining sufficient genetic diversity at the primary producer level will enhance species diversity of other plants and animals.

Over the last three decades, the fossil record of spiders has increased from being previously biased towards Tertiary ambers and a few dubious earlier records, to one which reveals a much greater diversity in the Mesozoic, with many of the modern families present in that era, and with clearer evidence of the evolutionary history of the group. We here record the history of palaeoarachnology and the major breakthroughs which form the basis of studies on fossil spiders. Understanding the preservation and taphonomic history of spider fossils is crucial to interpretation of fossil spider morphology. We also review the more recent descriptions of fossil spiders and the effect these discoveries have had on the phylogenetic tree of spiders. We discuss some features of the evolutionary history of spiders and present ideas for future work.

A new stratigraphic framework is proposed for the Quaternary of a portion of central West Greenland, based primarily on faunal and geochronologic studies of shallow shelf deposits. Twenty‐four occurrences of pre‐Holocene deposits were already known in West Greenland and data from 18 new sites are presented, together with new information on some of the previously described localities. Four pre‐Holocene marine events are described. The interglacial Ivnaarssuit and Nordre Laksebugt marine events are considered to be Middle Pleistocene in age. The interstadial Laksebugt marine event is considered to be late Middle Pleistocene, whereas the Svartenhuk marine event is correlated with the last interglacial. For the last glacial period an extensive ice shelf is proposed west of Disko. The oldest postglacial deposits are dated at 10,470 ± 130 14C‐years BP.

Abstract. Throughout Earth history a small number of global catastrophic events leading to biotic crises have caused mass extinctions. Here, using a technique that combines taxonomic and numerical data, we consider the effects of the Cenomanian-Turonian and Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinctions on the terrestrial spider fauna in the light of new fossil data. We provide the first evidence that spiders suffered no decline at the family level during these mass extinction events. On the contrary, we show that they increased in relative numbers through the Cretaceous and beyond the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event.

The Dominican Republic amber, as a data set for ecological investigation, is subject to unique biases. To understand the paleoecology of Hispaniola during the Miocene it is not sufficient only to identify the amber inclusions, the biases of entrapment also need to be elucidated. This study compares the spider (Araneae) fauna from Recent Neotropical rainforests with assemblages from Dominican Republic amber deposits. This comparison demonstrates that the site of the original resin secretion is farther removed from the ground layer than has previously been suggested. In many spider families, particularly the web weavers, mature males lead an active lifestyle as they roam in search of the more sedentary females. Male spiders are significantly more common as amber inclusions than females. When the sex ratios of preserved spiders are examined in relation to the predation strategies of their extant relatives, at family level, wandering spiders appear more susceptible to entombment than sedentary spiders. This implies that spiders, and presumably other co-occurring organisms, were trapped primarily by wandering onto sticky resin rather than by being engulfed passively by less viscous, flowing resin.

We apply Very-High-Resolution X-Ray Computed Tomography (VHR-CT) to a minute fossil spider (~1 mm long) from Eocene amber of the Paris Basin, France. We demonstrate that the newly described genus and species of Micropholcommatidae, Cenotextricella simoni, retains excellent details of the somatic and male pedipalpal morphology that allows unqualified comparison with extant species. Thus, in addition to calibrating the tree of life, such fossils can now be incorporated into cladistic matrices and their resultant phylogenies. This is the first fossil record of the family Micropholcommatidae, extending the known geological range of the family by 53 million years (lowermost Eocene) and that of the symphytognathoid clade by approximately 5-9 million years.