In this study we present morphological features of the last instar larvae of Drusus ramae Marinković-Gospodnetić, 1971, and Drusus medianus Marinković-Gospodnetić, 1976, both of which are endemic species from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Using the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene (COI), larvae of these species were successfully associated with adult specimens. We present the most important diagnostic features enabling separation from larvae of the other Drusus species and an identification key for the known larvae of Drusus species in the Balkan Peninsula. Notes on the distribution and ecology of both species are given. Additionally, faunistics and possible conservation implications for studied springs are discussed.
We show crucial evidence for the Cretaceous-Palaeogene (K-Pg) boundary event recorded within a rare succession deposited in an inner-platform lagoon on top of a Mesozoic, tropical, intra-oceanic (western Tethys) Adriatic carbonate platform, which is exposed at Likva cove on the island of Bra c (Croatia). The last terminal Maastrichtian fossils appear within a distinct 10-12 cm thick event bed that is characterised by soft-sediment bioturbation and rare shocked-quartz grains, and is interpreted as a distal tsunamite. Directly overlying this is a 2 cm thick reddishbrown clayey mudstone containing planktonic foraminifera typical of the basal Danian, and with elevated platinum-group elements in chondritic proportions indicating a clear link to the Chicxulub asteroid impact. These results strongly support the first discovery of a "potential" K-Pg boundary tsunamite on the neighbouring island of Hvar, and these two complementary sections represent probably the most complete record of the event among known distal shallow-marine successions.
Drusus klapaleki Marinković-Gospodnetić, 1971, is distributed in central Bosnia and Herzegovina and it belongs to the D. bosnicus Group. In the Balkan Peninsula, the D. bosnicus Group consists of 9 taxa with allopatric distribution. This study has 2 objectives. One is to describe the morphological characters of the Drusus klapaleki larva. Another objective is to find certain morphological and ecological features to larvae of the species belonging to the D. bosnicus Group from the Balkan Peninsula.
Artificial conditions of tissue culture affect growth and physiology of crassulacean acid metabolism plants which often results in formation of hyperhydric shoots. In in vitro conditions Mammillaria gracilis Pfeiff. (Cactaceae) growth switches from organized to unorganized way, producing a habituated organogenic callus which simultaneously regenerates morphologically normal as well as altered hyperhydric shoots. In this study, influence of tissue culture conditions on morphology of cactus spines of normal and hyperhydric shoots was investigated. Spines of pot-grown Mammillaria plants and of in vitro regenerated shoots were examined with stereo microscope and scanning electron microscope. The pot-grown plants had 16-17 spines per areole. In vitro grown normal shoots, even though they kept typical shoot morphology, had lower number of spines (11-12) and altered spine morphology. This difference was even more pronounced in spine number (six to seven) and morphology of the hyperhydric shoots. Scanning electron microscopy analysis revealed remarkable differences in micromorphology of spine surface between pot-grown and in vitro grown shoots. Spines of in vitro grown normal shoots showed numerous long trichomes, which were more elongated on spines of the hyperhydric shoots; the corresponding structures on spine surface of pot-grown plants were noticed only as small protrusions. Scanning electron microscopy morphometric studies showed that the spines of pot-grown plants were significantly longer compared to the spines of shoots grown in tissue culture. Moreover, transverse section shape varies from elliptical in pot-grown plants to circular in normal and hyperhydric shoots grown in vitro. Cluster and correspondence analyses performed on the scanning electron microscope obtained results suggest great variability among spines of pot-grown plants. Spines of in vitro grown normal and hyperhydric shoots showed low level of morphological variation among themselves despite the significant difference in shoot morphology.
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