Marco Romano

Bio: Marco Romano is an academic researcher from Sapienza University of Rome. The author has contributed to research in topics: Cave & Carbonate platform. The author has an hindex of 16, co-authored 78 publications receiving 742 citations. Previous affiliations of Marco Romano include Museum für Naturkunde & University of the Witwatersrand.

A Huge Caseid Pelycosaur from North-Western Sardinia and Its Bearing on European Permian Stratigraphy and Palaeobiogeography

Abstract: Skeletal remains, some loose on the surface and others still embedded, have been recovered from the uppermost part of an outcrop of the Permian Cala del Vino Formation located near Torre del Porticciolo (Alghero, Nurra, NW Sardinia). Taphonomic analysis suggests that all the elements pertain to a single individual; ongoing studies indicate the fossil represents a large caseid close (or referable) to Cotylorhynchus; otherwise restricted to a narrow geographic and stratigraphic zone of the central USA. The new finding, the first of a caseid in Italy and one of few in Europe, enlarges the known distribution of the family and provides a significant and key chronostratigraphic constraint for the continental succession of this area and, in turn, helps establish a stratigraphic framework for the Permian units cropping out in Italy and southern France.

Crouching theropod at the seaside. Matching footprints with metatarsal impressions and theropod authopods: a morphometric approach

Abstract: We compare theropod footprints with elongate metatarsal prints from central Italy with known autopod structures in major theropod groups, in order to more accurately define the trackmaker attribution. Our work, using morphometric analysis, shows the considerable potential of explorative methods such as PCA (principal component analysis) and cluster analysis when describing important characters for a given taxonomic group (body and ichnofossils) and identifying important anatomical regions. Moreover, the results of the analysis suggest that the putative trackmaker is likely a member of Ornithomimosauria, with significant affinities in the posterior autopod structure with the genus Struthiomimus . The fundamental importance of integrating both osteological and ichnological data, when investigating locomotor and behavioural hypotheses, is highlighted. This approach could also contribute positively to the complex cognitive process of trackmaker identification and be favourable for the attainment of a more natural definition of ichnotaxa.

Taphonomic and Ecologic Information Form Bone Weathering

Abstract: Bones of recent mammals in the Amboseli Basin, southern Kenya, exhibit distinctive weathering characteristics that can be related to the time since death and to the local conditions of temperature, humidity and soil chemistry. A categorization of weathering characteristics into six stages, recognizable on descriptive criteria, provides a basis for investigation of weathering rates and processes. The time necessary to achieve each successive weathering stage has been calibrated using known-age carcasses. Most bones decompose beyond recognition in 10 to 15 yr. Bones of animals under 100 kg and juveniles appear to weather more rapidly than bones of large animals or adults. Small-scale rather than widespread environmental factors seem to have greatest influence on weathering characteristics and rates. Bone weathering is potentially valuable as evidence for the period of time represented in recent or fossil bone assemblages, in- cluding those on archeological sites, and may also be an important tool in censusing populations of animals in modern ecosystems.

The Osteology of the Reptiles

Abstract: IN no domain of zoological science have the con tributions of American naturalists been more splendid than in that of vertebrate palaeontology, and in the list of pioneer workers in this domain an honoured place will always be accorded to Samuel Wendell Williston, who, born and nurtured in obscurity, had by the time of his death in 1918 won his way to recogni tion as the chief authority upon the extinct amphibians and reptiles. Apart from his specialist papers upon fossil vertebrates and upon modern dipterous flies, Williston was well known to the general zoologist for his excellent book on “Water Reptiles of the Past and Present,” published in 1914, and during the last year of his life he was busily engaged in the preparation of a second work of a general character on “The Reptiles of the World, Recent and Fossil.” The volume now under review comprises the main part of this general work, so far as it had been completed at the time of the author's death, put into shape and edited at the competent hands of Prof. W. K. Gregory. The Osteology of the Reptiles. By Prof. Samuel Wendell Williston. Arranged and edited by Prof. William King Gregory. Pp. xiii + 300. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: Oxford University Press, 1925.) 18s. 6d. net.

Nature of Photon

Abstract: It is well known that the photon is only a quanta of electromagnetic radiation However, there are many myths around the photon in contemporary physics, for example, the photon loses energy when traveling through space The article explains the basic features of the photon, such as wave-particle duality, the relation between a continuous electromagnetic wave and a quanta, the interaction of electric and magnetic fields, space of photon, speed of light

Lessons from the Past: Biotic Recoveries from Mass Extinctions

Abstract: Although mass extinctions probably account for the disappearance of less than 5% of all extinct species, the evolutionary opportunities they have created have had a disproportionate effect on the history of life. Theoretical considerations and simulations have suggested that the empty niches created by a mass extinction should refill rapidly after extinction ameliorates. Under logistic models, this biotic rebound should be exponential, slowing as the environmental carrying capacity is approached. Empirical studies reveal a more complex dynamic, including positive feedback and exponential growth phase during recoveries. Far from a model of refilling ecospace, mass extinctions appear to cause a collapse of ecospace, which must be rebuilt during the recovery. Other generalities include the absence of a clear correlation between the magnitude of extinction and the pace of recovery, or the resulting ecological and evolutionary disruption; the presence of a survival interval, with few originations, immediately following an extinction and preceding the recovery phase; and the presence of many lineages which persist through an extinction event only to disappear during the subsequent recovery. Several recoveries encompass numerous missing lineages, groups which are found before the extinction, then later in the recovery, but are missing during the initial survival-recovery phase. The limited biogeographic studies of recoveries suggest considerable variability between regions.

Microbiota and the social brain

Abstract: Sociability can facilitate mutually beneficial outcomes such as division of labor, cooperative care, and increased immunity, but sociability can also promote negative outcomes, including aggression and coercion. Accumulating evidence suggests that symbiotic microorganisms, specifically the microbiota that reside within the gastrointestinal system, may influence neurodevelopment and programming of social behaviors across diverse animal species. This relationship between host and microbes hints that host-microbiota interactions may have influenced the evolution of social behaviors. Indeed, the gastrointestinal microbiota is used by certain species as a means to facilitate communication among conspecifics. Further understanding of how microbiota influence the brain in nature may be helpful for elucidating the causal mechanisms underlying sociability and for generating new therapeutic strategies for social disorders in humans, such as autism spectrum disorders (ASDs).