The >>Open Source<< Perspective deals with the spatio-temporal distribution pattern of Miocene hominids and suggests a pan-African perspective on the evolution of bipedalism. The shrinking of the rainforest from the Middle Miocene resulted in a selection pressure that was similar along its wide-stretched margin. The earliest hominids might represent co-existing geographic variants.

We present a kinematic model for the Himalayan thrust belt that satisfies structural and metamorphic data and explains recently reported late Miocene–Pliocene geochronologic and thermochronologic ages from rocks in the Main Central thrust zone in central Nepal. At its current exposure level, the Main Central thrust juxtaposes a hanging-wall flat in Greater Himalayan rocks with a footwall flat i...

Balaenidae (right and bowhead whales) are a key group in understanding baleen whale evolution, because they are the oldest surviving lineage of crown Mysticeti, with a fossil record that dates back ∼20 million years. However, this record is mostly Pliocene and younger, with most of the Miocene history of the clade remaining practically unknown. The earliest recognized balaenid is the early Mioc...

Jon E. Keeley and Philip W. Rundel US Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Sequoia-Kings Canyon Field Station, Three Rivers, CA 93271, USA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA Center for Embedded Networked Sensing, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA *Correspondence: E-mail: jon_keeley@u...

To constrain the timing of rifting in the western, eastern, and northern parts of the Alboran Sea basin, seismic reflectors, corresponding to biostratigraphic boundaries and unconformities from the Miocene to Recent, are correlated using synthetic seismograms. Regions of adjacent coeval compression and extension are found in the Alboran Sea basin. Normal faulting continues in parts of the easte...

—The subfamily Equinae in the Great Plains region of North America underwent a dramatic radiation and subsequent decline as climate changed from warm and humid in the middle Miocene to cooler and more arid conditions during the late Miocene. Here we use ecological niche modeling (ENM), specifically the GARP (Genetic Algorithm using Rule-set Prediction) modeling system, to reconstruct the geogra...

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) causing human infectious disease have become increasingly common. Rapid and accurate identification to the species level is, therefore, critical. The Speed-Oligo Mycobacteria assay is an oligochromatographic method that was made available recently for the identification and differentiation of mycobacteria. The present study aimed to evaluate the performance of ...