The present study explored gender differences in emerging language skills in 13,783 European children from 10 non-English language communities. It was based on a synthesis of published data assessed with adapted versions of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDIs) from age 0.08 to 2.06. The results showed that girls are slightly ahead of boys in early communicative gestures, in productive vocabulary, and in combining words. The difference increased with age. Boys were not found to be more variable than girls. Despite extensive variation in language skills between language communities, the difference between girls and boys remained. This suggests that the difference is caused by robust factors that do not change between language communities.

The Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE) was the most rapid and sustained increase in marine Phanerozoic biodiversity. What generated this biotic response across Palaeozoic seascapes is a matter of debate; several intrinsic and extrinsic drivers have been suggested. One is Ordovician climate, which in recent years has undergone a paradigm shift from a text-book example of an extended greenhouse to an interval with transient cooling intervals – at least during the Late Ordovician. Here, we show the first unambiguous evidence for a sudden Mid Ordovician icehouse, comparable in magnitude to the Quaternary glaciations. We further demonstrate the initiation of this icehouse to coincide with the onset of the GOBE. This finding is based on both abiotic and biotic proxies obtained from the most comprehensive geochemical and palaeobiological dataset yet collected through this interval. We argue that the icehouse conditions increased latitudinal and bathymetrical temperature and oxygen gradients initiating an Early Palaeozoic Great Ocean Conveyor Belt. This fuelled the GOBE, as upwelling zones created new ecospace for the primary producers. A subsequent rise in δ13C ratios known as the Middle Darriwilian Isotopic Carbon Excursion (MDICE) may reflect a global response to increased bioproductivity encouraged by the onset of the GOBE.

Variation in communicative skills, defined as gestures, vocabulary comprehension and vocabulary production, was examined as a function of gender, birth order, childcare and socioeconomic status (SES) in 1,019 18-month-old children. The children were recruited at their regular check-up at a number of randomly selected Child Health Care centers in a Swedish county. The participation rate was 88%. The children were assessed by their mothers using a short version of the Swedish Early Communicative Development Inventories. The results demonstrate significant effects of gender and birth order on vocabulary comprehension and vocabulary production. Girls scored higher than boys and first-born children scored higher than later-born children. Type of childcare (family care, care at home and day-care centers) interacted with gender and birth order on vocabulary production and indicated that family care is not as advantageous as care at home or at day-care centers. SES had no effect on children's communicative skills at this age.

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A succession of 26 conodont zones and 63 successive subzones and conodont faunas have been identified in the exposed latest Landovery to latest Ludlow strata of Gotland, Sweden. All zones, and several of the subzones and faunas, have been identified elsewhere on Baltica, as well as on other palaeocontinents, indicating that this zonation serves well as the standard zonation for calcareous successions. The average duration of the 24 Wenlock and Ludlow zones was 396±208 ka, using the latest radiometric timescale. However, most zones and subzones formed during the widely recognised Silurian oceanic events correspond to less time per unit -in the order of 30 to 100 ka -and most of those formed during intervening episodes correspond to a few 100 ka. The average duration of the 61 Wenlock and Ludlow zones, subzones, and faunas was only 156±82 ka, i.e., among the highest biostratigraphical resolution available for Phanerozoic epochs. On Gotland the combined known maximum thickness of the strata has increased to more than 750 m.

Spoken language in children with Down syndrome and in children in a normative group was compared. Growth trends, individual variation, sex differences, and performance on vocabulary, pragmatic, and grammar scales as well as MaxLU (maximum length of utterance) were explored. Subjects were 330 children with Down syndrome (age range: 1-5 years) and 336 children in a normative group (1;4-2;4 years;months). The Swedish Early Communicative Development Inventory-words and sentences (SECDI-w&s) was employed. Performance of children with Down syndrome at ages 3;0 and 4;0 was comparable with that of children in the normative group at ages 1;4 and 1;8 respectively. In comparison with children in the normative group of similar vocabulary size, children with Down syndrome lagged slightly on pragmatic and grammar scales. The early development proceeded in most cases with exponential or logistic growth. This stresses the great potential of early intervention.

A core drilling (Andrarum-3), from the classical locality at Andrarum, Scania, southernmost Sweden, penetrated a 28.90-m-thick Cambrian succession. The core comprises dark grey to black, finely laminated mudstones and shales with early concretionary carbonate lenses (stinkstones or orsten ) and a few primary carbonate beds. The middle Cambrian (provisional Series 3) part of the core comprises 17.35 m, whereas the Furongian Series (upper Cambrian) part covers the remaining 11.55 m. Nineteen trilobite and two phosphatocopine genera are present in the middle Cambrian, whereas the less diverse Furongian interval yielded four trilobite and three phosphatocopine genera. Other, less frequent, faunal elements include conodonts ( s . l .), brachiopods, sponge spicules, bradoriids, and coprolites. Trilobites and phosphatocopines were used to subdivide the core into seven biozones ranging from the Ptychagnostus atavus Zone to the Parabolina spinulosa Zone ( P . spinulosa Subzone). Carbon isotopic analyses ( δ 13 C org ) through the core show two important excursions, the negative DrumIan Carbon isotope Excursion (DICE) in the Pt . atavus Zone, and the Steptoean Positive Carbon Isotope Excursion (SPICE) beginning near the first appearance of Glyptagnostus reticulatus and extending upward into the Olenus and Agnostus ( Homagnostus ) obesus Zone. The DICE displays a peak value, in the samples at hand, of -30.45‰ δ 13 C org in the lower part of the P . atavus Zone. The δ 13 C org values increase through the overlying L . laevigata and A . pisiformis zones and display peak values of c . -28.00‰ δ 13 C org in the lowermost Furongian Olenus wahlenbergi and O . attenuatus subzones. Thereafter the values decrease significantly through the O . scanicus Subzone. Both isotopic excursions have been documented from several palaeocontinents, but never before from Baltica. Moreover, for the first time these excursions are recorded from organic matter in an alum shale setting. The recorded shift of +1.50-2.00‰ δ 13 C org is approximately half the magnitude of the SPICE documented from other regions. This discrepancy may be related to temporal variations in the type, origin, or diagenesis of the organic fraction analysed. ᮀ Biostratigraphy , Cambrian , carbon isotope stratigraphy , DICE , SPICE , Sweden , trilobites . Per Ahlberg [per.ahlberg@geol.lu.se], Niklas Axheimer [niklas.axheimer@geol.lu.se], Mats E. Eriksson [mats.eriksson@geol.lu.se], Birger Schmitz [birger.schmitz@geol.lu.se], and Fredrik Terfelt [fredrik.terfelt@geol.lu.se],

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