text:
This is a partial list of Afghan security forces killed in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021).

Besides serving as an indicator of some of the numbers of policemen, soldiers and private military contractors (PMCs) deaths during specific time periods, this article allows readers to investigate the circumstances of those deaths by reading the citation articles.

By mid-October 2009, overall it was confirmed that more than 5,500 soldiers and policemen were killed since the start of the war. In early March 2014, the number was updated to 13,729. Another 16,511 soldiers and policemen were wounded. Among the dead were 4,551 soldiers who died by 20 March 2013. The number of soldiers killed was updated to 6,835 by September 20, 2014.

Based on the numbers below, in the Afghan Defense and Interior Ministry section figures, by December 31, 2014, 21,008 soldiers and policemen had been killed since June 2002. According to Neta C. Crawford, a Professor of Political Science at Boston University and Co-Director of the Costs of War Project, an estimated 23,470 security forces members, including 14,200 policemen and 7,750 soldiers, had been killed since the start of the war until the end of 2014. Additionally, 28,529 policemen and soldiers were reported killed in the period between January 2015 and mid-November 2018, but this was later revised to over 45,000 fatalities for the period between the end of September 2014 and late January 2019. The Turkish Anadolu Agency reported that, according to declassified figures, an estimated 7,000 Afghan security forces were killed during 2019. Additionally, between 29 February and 21 July 2020, about 3,560 soldiers were killed. Crawford also presented a new updated estimate of 66,000–69,000 dead for the whole war, up to April 2021, and 69,095 dead by August 2021. In addition, right after the end of the war, Afghan general Sami Sadat confirmed 66,000 troops were killed during the 20 years of conflict.

Afghan security forces losses confirmed by time periods

Yearly totals per the Afghan Defense and Interior Ministry

2015–19

2002–14
Note: Most of these annual numbers are per the Afghan calendar which starts on March 21 of the Gregorian calendar.

Yearly totals per the Brookings Institution

Afghan police losses before the start of official records

2006
In 2006, in addition to the overall above-mentioned total, 49 policemen were reported killed and four policemen were missing in action.
 January
 January 3 - One policeman was killed in Zabul province.
 January 5 - A suicide bomber killed three policemen along with seven civilians in Oruzgan province.
 January 27 - A roadside bomb killed two policemen in Helmand province.
 February
 February 3 - Fighting in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province left six policemen dead.
 February 4 - Fighting in the Nauzad district of Helmand province left one policeman dead.
 February 5 - A roadside bomb killed six policemen in Kandahar province.
 February 7 - A powerful bomb exploded outside the police headquarters in Kandahar killing seven policemen and six civilians.
 February 13 - Three policemen were killed when their checkpoint was attacked in Helmand province.
 February 15 - A bomb blast left one policeman dead.
 February 16 - A clash killed one policeman in Nimroz province.
 February 18 - Taliban militants attacked a police post in Helmand province killing three policemen.
 March
 March 12 - Various Taliban attacks in the country left three policemen.
 March 17 - Various Taliban attacks in the country left 10 policemen dead.
 March 19 - A Taliban attack on a police post in Kandahar province left two policemen dead and four missing.

2005
In 2005, in addition to the overall above-mentioned totals, 42 policemen were reported killed.
 May
 May 30 - Four policemen were killed in an attack on a police station in Zabul province.
 August
 August 2 - Taliban militants attacked a police checkpoint in Nuristan province killing four policemen.
 August 17 - A roadside bomb killed one policeman in Kandahar province.
 August 21 - A roadside bomb killed two policemen in Zabul province.
 August 22 - A roadside bomb killed two policemen in Oruzgan province.
 August 31 - Militants kidnapped David Addison, a British engineer, and his interpreter after an attack in western Afghanistan that left at least three policemen dead. Addison's body was found September 3.
 September
 September 4 - Various Taliban attacks in the country left eight policemen dead.
 September 17 - A Taliban attack in Kabul killed three policemen.
 September 18 - Fighting in the east of the country left two policemen dead.
 September 26 - A roadside bomb killed two policemen in Helmand province.
 September 28 - A land mine killed two policemen in Kunar province.
 October
 October 23 - Nine policemen were killed in an ambush in Helmand province.

Afghan private security guard losses
2013
 March 1 – Seven PMCs were killed by a roadside bomb in Konar province.
2009
 February 5 – Six PMCs, guarding the governor of Musa Qala district, were killed by a roadside bomb in Helmand province.
 March 19 – Three PMCs, guarding an Afghan lawmaker, were killed by a roadside bomb in Helmand province. The lawmaker and a senior policeman were also killed.
 April 1 – Ten people were killed, including one PMC, in a Taliban attack on a provincial council building in Kandahar.
 April 20 – One PMC was killed by a roadside bomb in Oruzgan province.
 April 25 – Three PMCs were killed by suicide bombers targeting the governor's offices in Kandahar province.
 April 26 – Two PMCs were killed in a Taliban attack.
 May 2 - One PMC was killed along with an American PMC in a Taliban attack.
 May 4 – Various Taliban attacks in the country killed nine PMCs.
 May 28 – Four PMCs were killed in an ambush in Herat province.
 June 1 – 10 PMCs were killed in an ambush in Farah province.
 June 2 – 10 PMCs were killed in an ambush in Paktia province.
 June 5 – One PMC was killed in fighting in Khost province.
 June 6 – Three PMCs were killed in an ambush in Nimroz province.
 June 7 – Four PMCs were killed in an ambush in Paktika province.
 July 11 - Various Taliban attacks in the country killed five PMCs.
 June 12 - Four PMCs were killed in a Taliban attack.
 June 13 - Nine PMCs were killed by a suicide bomber in Helmand province.
 June 28 - One PMC was killed in an ambush of a logistics convoy in Andar.
 July 2 - Four PMCs were killed by a roadside bomb in Khost province.
 July 12 - Four PMCs were killed in an ambush in Ghazni province.
 July 14 - Three PMCs were killed by a roadside bomb in Helmand province.
 July 25 - Three PMCs were killed by a landmine in Helmand province.
 July 28 - Various Taliban attacks in the country killed nine PMCs.
 July 30 - Four PMCs were killed by a roadside bomb in Helmand province.
 August 4 - Three PMCs were killed in an accidental explosion in Ghazni province.
 September 12 - Six PMCs were killed when Taliban fighters attacked their offices in Kunar province.
 October 2 - A PMC was killed by another South African PMC in Helmand province.
 October 5 - Two PMCs, guarding a businessman, were killed in Kabul.
 October 9 - Six PMCs were killed by a suicide bomber in Paktia province.
 November 16 - Four PMCs were killed when Taliban fighters attacked a bridge construction project in Kunduz province.
2008
 January 14 – An attack by Taliban commandos on a popular luxury hotel in Kabul left six people dead, including two PMCs.
 February 23 – Seven PMCs were killed by a roadside bomb.
 April 8 – 18 PMCs were killed when militants attacked them in Zabul province.
 July 7 – Six PMCs were killed in a Taliban attack.
 July 18 – Various Taliban attacks in the country killed seven PMCs.
 July 21 – Four PMCs were killed when their food convoy was ambushed.
 August 17 - Nine PMCs were killed when a NATO supply convoy was ambushed.
 September 12 - Five PMCs were killed and three were captured when a convoy transporting logistics for NATO troops was ambushed in Farah province.
 September 21 - Two PMCs were killed in a Taliban attack.
 September 25 - 11 PMCs were killed when Taliban militants attacked Indian workers constructing a dam in Herat province.
 October 10 - Two PMCs were killed in an ambush in Farah province.
 October 26 - 24 PMCs were killed in a NATO air strike in Ghazni province.
 November 30 - One PMC was killed by a roadside bomb in Kandahar province.
 December 28 - One PMC was killed in a Taliban attack.
2007
 February 7 - Three PMCs were killed when an explosive-packed motorcycle exploded in Kandahar province.
 March 23 - 15 PMCs were killed and four were missing when a convoy transporting logistics for NATO troops was ambushed in Shahwalikot district of Kandahar province.
 April 15 - A suicide bomber killed four PMCs in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province.
 April 25 - Three PMCs were killed when Taliban fighters stormed a road construction company site near the main highway between Kabul and Kandahar.
 May 17 - A roadside bomb struck the vehicle of a private security company in Kandahar killing four PMCs.
 May 30 - A roadside bomb struck the vehicle of a private security company in the province of Helmand killing two PMCs.
 July 16 - A suicide bomber killed one PMC in Kandahar.
 July 18 - In Loghar, near Kabul, a shooting attack occurred near an office which gives security advice; the attack left a PMC and his driver working for a non-governmental organisation dead.
 July 21 - Four PMCs were killed in an ambush in Farah province.
 July 30 - Taliban militants killed 10 PMCs in the south of the country.
 August 18 - A suicide bomber killed four PMCs in Kandahar along with 11 civilians.
 August 22 - A suicide bomber killed one PMC in Khost.
 August 23 - 10 PMCs were killed when a convoy transporting logistics for NATO troops was ambushed in Zabul province.
 September 3 - A landmine explosion killed six PMCs in Kunar province.
 September 20 - Militants killed one PMC in Zabul province.
 September 23 - Three PMCs were accidentally killed by U.S. soldiers. Three other PMCs were captured in a Taliban attack.
 September 30 - Militants killed one PMC in Ghazni province.
 December 18 - Taliban militants killed 15 PMC's in an ambush near the town of Bala Boluk in the province of Farah.
 December 30 - Taliban militants killed six PMCs in an ambush on their convoy on Afghanistan's main highway in Wardak province.
2006
 March 17–18 – Various Taliban attacks in the country left five PMCs dead and two missing.
 March 28 – Three PMCs were killed by a landmine in Farah province.
 April 23 - Taliban militants attacked a U.S.-funded Afghan construction company killing one PMC.
 May 24 - Various Taliban attacks in the country left three PMCs dead.
 June 18 - A former district chief was killed along with four PMCs who were guarding him in Helmand province.
 September 10 - A suicide bomber killed a provincial governor in eastern Afghanistan along with his nephew and a PMC.
2005
 July 29 - A parliamentary candidate was killed along with six PMCs who were protecting him in Oruzgan province.
 September 27 - A PMC guarding a presidential candidate was killed along with the candidate in Mazar-e Sharif.
2004
 March 5 - One PMC was killed in an ambush in Zabul province.
 August 29 - Three PMCs were killed in an attack outside the doors of their compound in Kabul.
2003
 April 29 - One PMC was killed when his checkpoint was attacked in Kandahar province.
 September 27 - Seven PMCs guarding the governor of Helmand province were killed in an ambush.
2002
 September 5 - An assassination attempt on the Afghan president in Kabul left one PMC guarding him dead along with a civilian.
TotalBased on the above listed reports, an estimated 356 private security guards were killed, six were missing and three were captured during the war.

References

War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) casualties
Security forces fatality reports

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The recent discovery of a security flaw in the NDIS portal which allowed "fraudulent operators" to guess the nine digit plan number of participants and to steal money from their plans, is a very serious flaw. The NDIA now requires in addition to the NDIS number the participants date of birth and surname when accessing plans. This isn't really much of a solution as obtaining an NDIS number along with other personal information is not that difficult. NDIS clients have even been posting their personal information to social media including scanned copies of letters from the NDIS.
If you are an NDIS client there are a number of ways to protect your personal information. Most importantly do not post scanned copies of documents from the NDIS on social media, this gives any potential bad operator enough information to steal from your plan.
Your date of birth is one of the most important pieces of identifying information about you. Everyone seems to ask for it yet there is very little need for it. Sure it's nice to have on facebook so your friends know when your birthday is. It is often seen on resumes when just your age would do. Try to limit where you share your birthdate if possible.
While the NDIS is burdening providers with expensive compliance procedures such as third party verification that have questionable value, it seems the NDIA is having difficulty providing a basic level of privacy for NDIS participants. Unfortunately laws in Australia regarding the privacy of health information are dated, and far behind many other countries. The NDIS Quality and Safeguarding Framework say very little about the protection of client information. In the US the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, also known as HIPAA, was passed in 1996. It provided rules and regulations regarding the privacy of health information, that many Australian organisations today would have trouble adhering to.
The NDIS affects the lives of many vulnerable people who may not understand the best ways to protect themselves from breaches of their privacy. Therefore the onus is on government and disability services to protect the privacy of NDIS participants. This will require better standards for the storage and accessing of personal information.
Created by Mark Basedow on Sept. 16, 2018, 6:38 p.m.. Last modified on Oct. 14, 2018, 9:31 a.m..


Tony came to Linux in 1994 and has never looked back. His entire professional career has been spent working with or on Linux. He has been the Requirements PTL and is the currect Extended Mainenance SIG chair.


text:
Millions have no idea how much is in their bank account
Written by: Paloma Kubiak
Over 8 million adults in the UK don't know how much money they have in their bank account and 20% only check their balance every two weeks or less.
Research from The Money Shop revealed that women are worse at keeping track of their finances, checking their account once a month or less.
One in four females admitted they don't know how much was in their account at the moment compared with 18% of men.
The age group most likely to splash the cash is 35 to 44 year-olds, with 6% spending more than £500 a month on non-essentials, such as holidays, haircuts and evenings out.
In comparison, those aged 65 and over were the group with the biggest savings with one in five managing to have more than £500 left in their account at the end of the month.
Of the 2,014 surveyed, those living in Newcastle, Liverpool and Birmingham came out on top as the most financially responsible cities, with 84% claiming they know the exact amount in their bank accounts.
Losing track of day-today spending not uncommon
Stuart Howard, CEO of The Money Shop, said: "Technology has made it even easier to check bank accounts regularly, but as our research shows, losing track of day-to-day spending isn't an uncommon practice. It is important to us that people are able to understand their finances and make the right decisions whatever their situation, and we are keen to assist in the best way we can."
Warning that surging inflation could wipe out cash savings gains
TSB launches £1,000 savers' prize draw
Low interest rates prompting new investors
HSBC introduces 'quiet hour' in branches for customers with hidden disabilities
Tagged: banking Banking Industry banking sector Cash Savings Household Savings How to Save Money Savers
By Paloma Kubiak
Government urged to revisit Lifetime ISA withdrawal penalty charge
HMRC reclaimed £34m in Lifetime ISA (LISA) withdrawal charges in the 2020/21 tax year –...
Savings rates have increased over the past month, so it's the ideal time to move your ca...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


We work with: ВКонтакте, Instagram, Telegram, YouTube, SoundCloud, FaceBook, TikTok.
Nowadays, social networks are not just a place for online communication, but an excellent opportunity for self-expression and income generation. However, sometimes in order to get a significant result in the promotion, own forces are not enough.
In this case, it is worth turning to professionals!
Getting started with the site is not difficult at all. First of all, you need to sign up and top up your personal account with an amount sufficient to pay for the desired services. The execution of a service starts automatically after you have paid for the order. All stages of execution can be tracked online at any time. Due to the fact that in most cases, instead of bots, people work- the so-called offers, the quality of the services provided is excellent, which means that you can get the desired result in the shortest possible time.
We value our customers and aim at long-term cooperation with each of them. That is why we try to keep the quality at highest level, and also our prices are the lowest in the US and Europe.


Many teams working with students who have significant physical access challenges look to eye gaze technology as a possible solution. In this story, Stacey Harpell, one of SET-BC's Tier 3 Speech Language Pathologists, helps an SD#28 team in Quesnel develop a no-tech solution for a student who will hopefully develop the skills needed to successfully access an AAC device in the future.
A tier three student visit is often a flurry of activity that can be likened to a working bee! Recently, I flew into Quesnel and, first thing the next morning, met with the AAC team – the resource teacher, educational assistants, physical therapist, occupational therapist, and two speech-language pathologists – to go over the student's level of progress and the 5 modes of Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC).
Using a SET-BC resource called the low technology AAC kit we worked together to review the level of symbol the student needs to request specific items or routines. The brain can perceive objects, real life pictures or representational pictures differently. The team collaborated together to decide the size of the symbols and how to have the student choose the vocabulary (for example, reaching out and touching an object or looking toward the symbol). After we decided that using eye gaze was best for the student we built an eye transfer, or E-TRAN, board. We actually built a few 'first versions' of the board. Once we decided on some specific core (frequently used) vocabulary and fringe (less frequently used) vocabulary, we fashioned and customized a cardboard 'practice' E-TRAN board.
The team then modelled making simple requests using eye gaze of quickly reinforced activities (i.e., playing with the banana, requesting to dance…). Once we modelled a few times (to teach the student how to use the board), we asked the student to use the device. Strong and immediate choices were made even when items were changed around the board.
After this trial, the team decided this was a successful communication option, and chose to have an official E-TRAN board made. After a few phone calls we found a sign shop and everyone piled into a car to make the request face to face. As you see in the photo, the E-TRAN board was able to be customized for the student and communication partner.
I really enjoy my work as a SET-BC Tier 3 consultant because the professionals I meet around the Province come together in unique, energized ways to create smart, measurable communication options for their students. I look forward to hearing about the student's progress towards effective communication and hope I have another opportunity to visit the lovely BC interior town of Quesnel very soon!


text:
Home » Products » Game On in Ancient Greece
Game On in Ancient Greece
Written by Linda Bailey
Illustrated by Bill Slavin
The Time Travel Guides
Josh, Emma and Libby Binkerton return to the Good Times Travel Agency --- but this time, with a plan to travel to the future, to the next Olympic Games. What could go wrong? Well, plenty! Like when the owner of the shop misunderstands and sends the children to the ancient Olympic Games instead --- in fifth-century BCE Greece! The Binkertons try to make the best of things. But after discovering some eye-opening facts about the ancient Games, causing a pile-up at the chariot races and having to run for their lives to escape the upset locals, the trio find themselves perilously close to disaster aboard a warship! Can the children finish reading the guidebook that will transport them back to the present before it's too late?
Part of the award-winning graphic novel series from the beloved duo Linda Bailey and Bill Slavin, this exciting blend of fact and fiction makes learning about ancient Greece fun. There's a thrilling adventure story with a fast-paced narrative and humor-filled illustrations that keep the pages turning. And embedded on every page are sections of a guidebook that provide historical facts to flesh out what's happening in the story. Thoroughly researched and vetted by experts, the book encompasses important social studies themes: government, philosophy, social and community structure, customs and religion, food and drink, conflict and cooperation and much more. The back matter includes an index, further resources and additional information about ancient Greece.
Hardcover Paperback
978-1-5253-0273-2 | Oct 1, 2019
4-color 7 x 9 56 pages
Game+On+in+Ancient+Greece
978-1-77138-988-4 | Oct 1, 2019
Guided Reading T
Guided Reading Grade Level 5
Lexile Code Graphic Novel
Lexile Level 610
Time Travel Guides
historical fiction for kids
ancient sports
There are no reviews for this book.
What's a Daring Detective Like Me Doing in the Doghouse?
Stanley's Beauty Contest
What's a Serious Detective Like Me Doing in Such a Silly Movie?


text:
The Half-Life of Dan Brown and John Grisham May 13, 2010 – Tags: Book Swap, Dan Brown, John Grisham, LibraryThing, The Business of Books
Tim Spalding over at LibraryThing did some number crunching from the various book swap sites that are integrated with LibraryThing to find out what the Top Wanted and Unwanted books are.
Dan Brown not only took home the dubious honor of the book most people want to get out of their lives with the Da Vinci Code but he also secured the 2, 3, and 7 slot of the top twenty-five with his books Angels & Demons, Deception Point and Digital Fortress.
But the award for the most books on the list goes to John Grisham with an astounding 13 titles on the top twenty-five.
Granted the print runs for the books of both these author's are in the millions making them more susceptible to disposal but it does reiterate the fleeting nature of the 'popular' book. Also, the resale value of these books is practically nil making them ripe for swapping and eventually recycling.
On the wanted side Michael Pollen's The Ominvore's Dilemma leads the pack with over 5,500 people desiring a copy.
Spalding notes "Perhaps the unwanted books represent who we are, and the wanted are who we want to be."
Full list here
« A Couple of New Blogs for the Rare Book World
Inside Donald Judd's Library »
About the author: Michael Lieberman


Based loosely on fact, Jeremiah Johnson was director Sydney Pollack's tribute to the Western, and the kind of loner hero that populated them. It was unusual for being one of the few snowbound Westerns, of which there are not a huge amount, but Pollack's ingenuity paid off with a film that was strikingly shot - the whole look of it is what you're likely to take away, more than the acting or the plot. Of course, that landscape informed the characters and their direction, making clear how one's environment is as much responsible for your personality as the people you have been around.
Especially in Johnson's case, as he spends quite a bit of the film alone, although there always seems to be someone interrupting his solitude, both in a humorous manner, as Will Geer's veteran trapper Bear Claw does, becoming a mentor to the novice, or more seriously, the Indians do, some of whom tolerate him, but then through little fault of his own turn against him in the last half. The earlier parts are perhaps the most quirky, as Pollack and his scriptwriters Edward Anhalt and John Milius, himself no stranger to self-sufficient leading characters in his movies, come up with a host of bizarre occurences for Jeremiah to encounter, offering what could have been bleak a note of idiosyncrasy.
And a welcome note at that, as all this goes towards making memorable imagery, vital when so many Westerns before it had traded on similar looks and devices as their stock. So not only do we get Redford wrenching the rifle out of the hands of the frozen trapper, but also he is chased by a bear set on him by Bear Claw, or in one of the summer sequences meets another hunter, Del Gue (Stefan Gierasch), buried up to his neck in the sand by the Indians who stole his horse. It is this fellow who sets in motion the second part of the story, as he recruits Johnson to take his revenge and they end up winning him a native bride (Delle Bolton) thanks to the reverence shown him for helping out a settler woman sent insane by her family's slaughter by other Indians.
That escapade also gains Jeremiah an adopted son, who he names Caleb (Josh Albee) as the boy never speaks a word so will not name himself, and before long the man who was feeling his way around this whole mountain business has his own family to look after. But the outside world will not leave him be, and a fateful agreement to allow U.S. troops to assist a party stranded in the snow winds up in tragedy as the Crow Indians don't take kindly to the soldiers riding through their sacred burial ground, just as Johnson had warned. From now on he turns into a killing machine, wiping out all who are sent to destroy him, and what has been almost warm and friendly, a handful of starker sequences aside, grows more desolate for we know that Johnson will not be allowed to rest. Redford does very well handling these shifting tones, and sports an impressive beard too, but while everyone involved was patently aiming for greatness, the film doesn't quite make it, being too episodic and needing stronger bearings - but don't let that put you off. Music by Tim McIntire and John Rubinstein.
This review has been viewed 2708 time(s).


Leadership at Alphatec Spine (ATEC) is implementing new sales strategies, product launches, branding and culture to power a turnaround at the company, which hasn't posted year-over-year growth since 2013. What's different now? Chief Executive Officer Mr. Terry Rich recently commented that the new executive team invested personal assets in the company, indicating commitment to growth.
Though revenues continue to underperform vs. the prior year—ATEC posted 2Q17 revenue of $24.4MM, -24.4% vs. 2Q16, and 1H17 revenue of $52.4MM, -21.2% vs. 1H16—leadership sees substantial opportunities.
Decreases in year-over-year revenue for 2Q and 1H17 were attributed to a blend of volume drop, product mix and pricing due to lost distributors and customers, as well as an overall change in revenue mix associated with challenges faced in 2016—that ultimately led to the late-3Q16 sale of ex-U.S. operations to Globus Medical, in an effort to bolster ATEC's operations.
Further, revenue was affected by the termination of sales relationships that don't jibe with the company's long-term and rebranding strategies, and a transition away from stocking distributors and toward dedicated reps/distributors.
Leadership sees substantial opportunity to grow ATEC's distribution power. The company is "incredibly underrepresented and even completely lacking representation in many of the largest population centers in the U.S.," as noted by Mr. Rich in the company's 2Q call. Industry consolidation is providing a large pool of talent that's now in search of jobs—particularly in areas of ATEC's underrepresentation.
Also, that aforementioned transition to a dedicated sales staff is bolstered by leadership that has experience in exactly this sort of conversion.
These moves are yielding results. In 2Q17, revenue from dedicated reps/distributors grew to >18% of sales, as opposed to <15% of sales in 1Q17. By year-end, ATEC expects that ratio to be 40% of sales.
Product launches are also key; 2017 is ATEC's year for fusion devices like the 2Q full launch of Arsenal Deformity and late-year full launch of Battalion Lateral that includes the Squadron Lateral Retractor. U.S. patents were recently awarded that protect unique, differentiating features of these technologies in the crowded fusion field. ATEC's biologics platform is undergoing a relaunch to capture that additional piece of procedure revenues, too.
What's That Backed Up With?
A desire to transform. Leadership is making bold statements as Alphatec drives to rebuild its reputation.
"We're completely transforming the culture at Alphatec, assuming in most cases that what was done at this company before we arrived was wrong. We're overhauling every process, creating a relentless focus on fiscal responsibility, performance, integrity and accountability." The new leadership, including the Board and Board advisors, is majority-weighted with significant spine experience and includes several team members who have worked together in the past, chiefly at DePuy Synthes, NuVasive and Wright Medical. Throughout 1H17, ATEC added three Area VPs each with over 20 years of spine sales leadership experience. The entire leadership team, per Mr. Rich, has invested personal assets to show their commitment to Alphatec.


Bed with grand architectural geometrical design headboard in solid walnut wood.
Headboard carved in solid American walnut with open panels.
Each section of this headboard is skilfully created in the very best parts of highly figured walnut wood to give each piece of furniture a unique fingerprint.
This is a solid piece of walnut furniture carved from the highest specification blocks of walnut wood and finished in natural oils.
Part of a handmade and crafted solid American walnut wood furniture collection.


Download Evolution: Heroes of Utopia v1.3.3 Apk File Free. You ready to going to the most cruel world in the universe? The world of utopia, Heroes of utopia is a new tech based games use RPG-Clicker. You will learn very fast how to go on a mysterious journey in a strange world of utopia, how to fight with mysterious enemies, this will help you learn about different technologies. You will meet the top 20 heroes of utopia who are just not trying to help you but trying to save the whole universe. Upgrade your weapons and fight with the real armor in the battlefield. Fight with the fighters who are at your fighting level, great cartoon style graphics. You have to win and to win you have to continue tapping.


text:
High Speed Chase – High On Meth – Crashed Car -Fled From Officers – Held On $50,000 Bond
Peter Christian
Rand True Heath
Rand Truth Heath is being held in the Missoula County Jail on $50,000 bond after being charged with felony criminal endangerment and several misdemeanors after an incident that occurred early on Monday morning.
According to court documents, the 25 year-old Heath fled from a traffic stop after being pulled over by a police officer on Toole Avenue. Deputy Missoula County Attorney Mark Handelman explained the charges to Judge Landee Holloway.
Rand Truth Heath Charging Documents
"The defendant was high on meth and led officers on a high-speed chase through town," Handelman began. "He reached speeds in excess of 60 miles per hour in a residential area almost colliding head-on with another vehicle. He eventually crashed into a parked car before fleeing from officers on foot, and while running, discarded a meth pipe. The defendant was recently convicted of burglary and his probation had to be revoked due to several violations. He also has an open drug case in District Court, and the State feels that he is a danger to the community."
Judge Holloway agreed and set bond at $50,000, and ordered Heath to appear in court again on April 17.
Authorities Looking for Missing Big Timber Teen


Schiphol Amsterdam Airport and its partners are continually implementing innovations and smart ways to improve travel convenience. To enable a smooth passenger process whereby the required checkpoints can be passed easily, quickly and document-free, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport has embarked on an innovative Digital Airport Programme, which includes changes to the security process and a biometric boarding trial. Head of Safety, Security and Environment, Wilma van Dijk, reveals more.
The airport's ambition is to become 'Leading Digital Airport' in 2018 and the biometric boarding trial is part of this. The introduction of the very first security scan for passengers, crew and staff and the new security lane deployed in 2015 are some of the results from the airport's collaboration with Dutch airline, KLM, and the Dutch government over the past few years. A trial is also currently taking place with a hand baggage scanner that allows passengers to leave laptops, liquids and gels in their bags during the screening process. Innovative technologies will be tested regularly in the coming period and subsequently rolled out if trails prove successful.
By registering their own biometric markers before a trip, travellers will be able to go through each checkpoint smoothly and automatically, in a 'seamless flow'. Seamless flow will offer travellers a convenient and comfortable travel process while at the same time boosting process speed and efficiency for Schiphol's operational partners.
From the moment they arrive at the airport until they board their flight, travellers have to go through various checkpoints at Schiphol, handing over their passports and boarding passes each time. Whether checking in, dropping off bags, passing through Security Control, crossing the border or boarding the plane, passengers have to present their ID at every turn. Checkpoints are essential and in some cases required by law. They ensure that a passenger's suitcases are loaded onto the right plane, provide access and enable them to cross the border, and also safeguard security. But checkpoints can also be a source of queues and stress.
Advances in technology and IT are paving the way for us to one day innovate this process into a seamless flow. Specifically, Schiphol wants to implement biometrics to achieve a smooth process in which travellers can easily 'flow' from one checkpoint to the next. To use biometrics, travellers first have to register their biometric marker – such as their fingerprint or a facial scan – with their boarding pass and passport upon arrival at the airport. After this single scan they can complete all the requisite steps at the airport quickly and effortlessly using the same biometric marker. This means they spend less time queuing and have more time for leisure.
In seamless flow, the traveller is in control every step of the way. Participation is voluntary therefore the traveller can decide which information he or she wishes to share with Schiphol. Travellers may choose to store their data in a virtual 'biometric safe' that they can 'unlock' by using their biometric marker whenever travelling via Schiphol. Naturally, because privacy always comes first, Schiphol handles information shared by passengers with all due caution.
Vital partners in creating seamless flow are the airlines (concerning the boarding pass) and the national authorities (concerning the passenger's passport). This innovation yields advantages for them, too. By automating process steps we will be better able to cope with growing passenger volumes and staff will be able to focus more on personalised service. Data from the checkpoints will supply more precise and real-time information, pinpointing where travellers are in the travel process. Airlines can then fast-track late passengers to ensure they catch their flight. And with data available earlier in the process, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee will have more time to conduct extra checks where needed, for example.
Schiphol, for its part, will be better able to supply its partners with more adequate information, maximise the limited amount of space available and manage passenger flows more efficiently. By working together to realise seamless flow, we will be able to simultaneously improve the passenger experience, make our processes more efficient and safeguard security.
Together with the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism and KLM, Schiphol is testing two new scanning devices for hand baggage. Again this trial is another way Schiphol is attempting to harness innovative digital developments to make ongoing improvements to the traveller experience.
For the trial, passengers can leave their liquids and gels (LAGs) and laptop in their bags. The software in the scanning devices makes it possible for the security staff to turn the contents of the hand baggage 360 degrees on all axes on a screen; enabling them to view it from all angles and closely inspect it for prohibited items.
The pilot project will take place in two security lanes: one in Departure Hall 3 and one in Transfer Filter E/F, where transfer passengers are checked. The passengers will receive an explanation and instructions on the spot.
Passengers will still have to put their LAGs in a resealable, plastic bag with a volume of not more than 1-litre, with none of the containers in the bag holding more than 100ml. In the specific lane where the pilot project is being carried out, passengers will then receive a separate instruction – that the 1-litre bag containing LAGs may remain in their bag.
Another purpose of the pilot project is to find out whether the screening process can be made simpler and faster for passengers. If everything goes according to plan and the pilot project is completed successfully, Schiphol will gradually introduce these new and innovative hand baggage scanning devices in all 67 security lanes through 2017 / 2018.
Schiphol is working continuously to improve the security process, with the aim of making the security check more pleasant and more comfortable for passengers and ensuring a safe and efficient security process at the airport. The collaboration with the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism and KLM over the past few years has, among other things, resulted in the introduction of the very first security scan for passengers, crew and staff and the new security lane in 2015.
Back in 2015 Schiphol Amsterdam Airport switched over to central security and now uses five large central checkpoints rather than the original 130 security lanes located at the gates. As a result of this overhaul Schiphol now offers a more efficient and service-orientated security process and increased pier space.
In order to enable this transition, the terminal underwent a major overhaul which included an extra floor being constructed in Departure Halls 2 and 3 to accommodate the new checkpoints. On piers E, F and G an additional level was built in order to separate various passenger flows. In total Schiphol now has three security checkpoints for departing passengers and two for transfer passengers. As well as enhanced comfort and efficiency, the new security concept also anticipates the airport's future growth changes with regards to new regulations and new technological developments.
Wilma van Dijk has been Head of Safety, Security and Environment at Schiphol Amsterdam Airport since October 2015. She began her career at the Dutch Ministry of Justice where she held various positions. In 2009 She was appointed as Director Civil Aviation Security at the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism (current NCTV). In 2011/2012, Van Dijk was one of the quartermasters in the development of the current NCTV, where she held the position of Director of Monitoring, Securing and Civil Aviation from 2012 to 2014. During this period she was also Project Director Safety Throne Change and Project Director of International Conferences such as the Nuclear Security Summit and the Global Conference on Cyber Space. Since 2014 Van Dijk was Deputy National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security and Director of Cyber Security at the NCTV.


Journal of Paleontology (2017) 91 (3): 393-406.
Vase-shaped microfossils (VSMs) occur in dolomitic extraclasts of indeterminate provenance within the basal diamictite of the Neoproterozoic Urucum Formation (Jacadigo Group) of west-central Brazil, having an age constrained between 889±44 Ma (K-Ar; basement rocks) and 587±7 Ma (40Ar/39Ar age of early metamorphic cryptomelane in overlying manganese ore). Early isopachous carbonate cement entombed these VSMs, preserving rare direct evidence of original wall composition that is carbonaceous (now kerogenous) in practically all specimens. Some tests are siliceous or composed of a quartz-kerogen mixture; secondary replacement explains some features of these tests, but original biomineralization seems more likely for others. This interpretation, coupled with test morphology, suggests affinity to arcellinid testate amoebae. Five VSM taxa are recognized in the deposit: Cycliocyrillium simplex Porter, Meisterfeld, and Knoll, 2003, and C. torquata Porter, Meisterfeld, and Knoll, 2003, originally described in the Chuar Group (USA), and three new monospecific genera—Palaeoamphora urucumense n. gen. n. sp., Limeta lageniformis n. gen. n. sp., and Taruma rata n. gen. n. sp. Most of the taxonomically important characteristics of these VSMs occur also in extant testate amoebae, but the combinations of some characters, such as organic-walled tests having exceptionally long necks that exhibit terminal apertures (L. lageniformis n. gen. n. sp.), are evidently novel additions to the known diversity of Neoproterozoic VSMs. Evidence of glacially influenced deposition in the conformably overlying Santa Cruz Formation may indicate that the Urucum Formation slightly preceded or was penecontemporaneous with a major Neoproterozoic glaciation, although the VSM-hosting extraclasts must be older, possibly rivaling the age of the testate amoebae of the Chichkan Formation (766±7 Ma) that are currently regarded as the oldest record of protists in the geological record.
Molecular phylogenies and the fossil record indicate that eukaryotic diversification appreciably preceded the early Cambrian appearance of metazoans with hard parts (Knoll, 2014; Butterfield, 2015). Vase-shaped microfossils (VSMs), commonly interpreted to be the oldest evidence of heterotrophic protists in the pre-metazoan fossil record, occur widely in Neoproterozoic rocks younger than ~750 Ma. As illustrated in Figure 1, the morphology of these microfossils is similar to such unicellular eukaryotes as chitinozoans, tintinnids, foraminifera, testate amoebae, and acritarchs (Bloeser et al., 1977; Fairchild et al., 1978; Bloeser, 1985; Schopf, 1992; Porter et al., 2003; Bosak et al., 2012). Affinities of VSMs to testate amoebae were first postulated by Schopf (1992, p. 592) and later acknowledged and corroborated by Porter and Knoll (2000, p. 360), an interpretation now generally accepted for most VSMs (e.g., Bosak et al., 2011; Dalton et al., 2013; Strauss et al., 2014). Extant testate amoebae have been assigned to two taxonomic groups (Lahr et al., 2015): the Amoebozoa (e.g., arcellinids) and the Rhizaria (e.g., euglyphids and foraminiferans).
The most extensive descriptions of Neoproterozoic VSMs are from carbonaceous cherts, shales, and carbonate nodules in shales of the ~742±6 Ma-old Chuar Group of the Grand Canyon, USA (Bloeser, 1985; Karlstom et al., 2000; Porter and Knoll, 2000; Porter et al., 2003). Originally reported as chitinozoans (Bloeser et al., 1977), the Chuar VSMs are currently regarded as among the oldest fossil evidence not only of testate amoebae (Schopf, 1992, p. 588, 592; Parfrey et al., 2011; Fiz-Palacios et al., 2014), but of protists in general (Knoll, 2014; Butterfield, 2015) and of eukaryvory (Porter et al., 2003; Porter, 2011; Knoll, 2014; Strauss et al., 2014). Elaborating on the reported occurrences of VSMs listed by Porter and Knoll (2000), Strauss et al. (2014) tabulated the presence of vasiform microfossils, sensu lato, from more than two dozen Neoproterozoic units worldwide, part of which are illustrated in Figure 2. Of particular interest here are assemblages sharing species in common with the Chuar Group, known from the United States (Pahrump Group, Horodyski, 1993; Corsetti et al., 2003; Uinta Mountain Group, Dehler et al., 2010), Canada (Callison Lake Dolostone, Strauss et al., 2014), Svalbard (Elbobreen Formation, Knoll and Calder, 1983; Backlundtoppen Formation, Knoll et al., 1989; Draken Formation, Knoll et al., 1991), and, with this and a previous report, Brazil (Urucum Formation, Fairchild et al., 1978; this paper). Other occurrences that are broadly similar but contain distinct taxa or taxa requiring further systematic study are known from Greenland (Eleonore Bay Group, Vidal, 1979; Green et al., 1988), Saudi Arabia (Jabal Rockham, Binda and Bokhari, 1980), Sweden (Visingsö Group, Ewetz, 1933; Knoll and Vidal, 1980; Vidal and Siedlecka, 1983; Martí Mus and Moczydłowska, 2000), China (Doushantuo Formation, Duan, 1985; Duan et al., 1993; Li et al., 2008; Dengying Formation, Zhang and Li, 1991; Ding et al., 1992; Duan et al., 1993; Zhang, 1994; Huaibei Group, Xiao et al., 2014), Kazakhstan (Chichkan Formation, Sergeev and Schopf, 2010), Russia (Chatkaragai Suite, Sergeev and Schopf, 2010), and Tasmania (Togari Group, Saito et al., 1988; Turner et al., 1998). Vasiform microfossils having distinctly differing morphology, insufficient illustrations, and/or poor preservation have been reported from Alaska (USA, Tindir Group, Allison and Awramik, 1989; Macdonald et al., 2010), Mongolia (Tsagaan Oloom Formation, Bosak et al., 2011), Namibia (Rasthof Formation, Bosak et al., 2011), Scotland (Bonahaven Formation, Anderson et al., 2013), Norway (Tanafjorden Formation, Vidal and Siedlecka, 1983; Vidal and Moczydłowska, 1995), India (Simla Slates, Nautiyal, 1978; Vindhyan Group, Maithy and Babu, 1988; Vaishnodevi Limestone, Venkatachala and Kumar, 1998), and Russia (Upper Min'yar Formation, Maslov et al., 1994; Maslov, 2004).
Taken together, these numerous reports establish that considerable diversification occurred among testate protists prior to the end of the Precambrian (Fiz-Palacios et al., 2014; Lahr et al., 2015).
The present study analyzes VSMs first reported by Fairchild et al. (1978) from carbonate clasts in diamictite near the base of the Neoproterozoic Urucum Formation (Jacadigo Group, Brazil). To extend this work, we have here used, in addition to standard petrographic microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), two techniques recently introduced in studies of three-dimensionally well-preserved permineralized microfossils: confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM; Martí Mus and Moczydłowska, 2000; Schopf et al., 2006, 2016) and Raman spectroscopy (Schopf et al., 2002, 2016). We show that the Urucum VSMs include two species previously described from the Chuar Group (Porter et al., 2003) as well as others that are sufficiently distinct to warrant erection of three new monospecific genera, one of which is identifiable in figures of previously unnamed specimens from the Chuar Group. Additionally, we record an unnamed form of VSMs that consists of paired tests (Porter et al., 2003, p. 410, fig. 2.1), which we here refer to as "doublets," that resemble products of asexual binary fission in modern testate amoebae. In addition to adding to the known diversity of Neoproterozoic protistans, the Urucum VSMs are exceptional in comparison with practically all other reported VSMs in their preservation of direct evidence of original wall composition, which in the great majority of the tests is carbonaceous (kerogenous). Some walls, however, are composed partially or entirely of silica, the origin and significance of which are discussed below.
The VSMs here reported occur in dolostone clasts within a diamictite near the base of the Urucum Formation in the Neoproterozoic Jacadigo Group of the Urucum massif in the southern Paraguay Fold Belt of west-central Brazil (Fig. 3; Fairchild et al., 1978; Freitas et al., 2011). The Jacadigo Group lies unconformably upon crystalline basement at the junction of the Rio Apa block with the Amazon craton and is composed of two units (Almeida, 1964) (Fig. 3): the ~280 m thick Urucum Formation, consisting of coarse-grained arkoses (including diamictites), conglomerates and breccias, coarse- to medium-grained sandstones and subordinate siltstones and carbonates, having bedded manganese ore close to its top; and the conformably overlying Santa Cruz Formation, for a few tens of meters near its base composed of a granular iron-formation and varied siliciclastic deposits overlain by 300 m of banded hematite-rich iron-formation intercalated with immature siliciclastic layers that include at least three beds of diamictite (Dorr, 1945; Almeida, 1964; Angerer et al., 2016).
A glacial influence upon sedimentation of the Jacadigo Group in the study area near Corumbá has been proposed on the basis of lonestones, diamictites, and recently discovered distinctive δ13C and δ57Fe signatures (Angerer et al., 2016) associated with the iron deposits in the Santa Cruz Formation in the upper part of the group (Barbosa, 1949; Dorr, 1973; Leeuwen and Graf, 1987; Urban et al., 1992). At Morro do Puga (Fig. 3), ~70 km south of the fossiliferous unit studied here, diamictites and a pink cap-carbonate, within the type-section of the Puga Formation (Maciel, 1959), have likewise been interpreted in light of one of the late Neoproterozoic 'Snowball Earth' glacial scenarios (Hoffman et al., 1998; Boggiani and Coimbra, 2002; Hoffman and Schrag, 2002; Babinski et al., 2013). Stratigraphic relationships between this formation and the Jacadigo Group are not clear, however. Freitas et al. (2011) interpreted sedimentation in the Group to reflect continental rifting rather than global glaciation. Moreover, they identified a succession of alluvial fan, siliciclastic lacustrine, fan-delta, and bedload-dominated fluvial depositional systems within the Urucum Formation, conformably underlying the Santa Cruz Formation, that are difficult to relate directly to a glacial paleoenvironment. Based on a proposal by Leeuwen and Graf (1987), these apparently opposing views may be reconciled if deposition of the Urucum-Santa Cruz sequence began just prior to or penecontemporaneously with one of the three major Neoproterozoic glaciations—the Sturtian (~716 Ma), Marinoan (~635 Ma), or Gaskiers (~580 Ma) (ages according to Cohen et al., 2013).
Despite the broad constraints on age of the Jacadigo Group, available data does allow some insight into possible temporal relationships with the Neoproterozoic glaciations. The Jacadigo Group is demonstrably younger than its underlying granitic basement, dated at ~889±44 Ma by K-Ar (K-feldspar from granite; Hasui and Almeida, 1970), and is evidently older than ~587±7 Ma, which is the minimum depositional age based on 40Ar/39Ar dating of the late diagenetic or early metamorphic crystallization of cryptomelane in the manganese ore near the top of the formation (Piacentini et al., 2013). The Jacadigo Group may be younger than ~623±15 Ma (O'Connor and Walde, 1985), based on the K-Ar age of a single sample of poorly exposed quartz porphyry of the La Pimienta Formation that cuts the basement underlying the Bolivian equivalent of the Jacadigo Group (Litherland and Bloomfield, 1981; Litherland et al., 1986). This value and the stratigraphic relationships of the Bolivian quartz porphyry require corroboration. If it could be proved that glacial activity during deposition of the Santa Cruz Formation overlying the Urucum Formation was penecontemporaneous with sedimentation of the Puga Formation at Morro do Puga and in the Serra da Bodoquena, 200 km to the southeast from the site here studied (Walde and Oliveira, 1980; Boggiani, 2010), then the age of ~706±9 Ma (U-Pb, SHRIMP) obtained by Babinski et al. (2013) for the youngest detrital zircon grain in the Puga Formation would also be relevant to that of the Jacadigo Group. Corroboration of this suggestion would require additional data supporting both the correlation between the Puga and Santa Cruz formations and the interpretation that the glaciation affecting the two formations was related to a global rather than a local event. Were such strictures to be substantiated, the age of deposition of the Jacadigo Group would be constrained to the interval from ~590 Ma to ~706 Ma, suggesting the Marinoan and Sturtian events rather than the Gaskiers as candidates for the Puga-Santa Cruz glaciation.
The VSMs described here are not necessarily coeval with any of these glaciations. They occur in clasts of unknown provenance—like the youngest detrital grains of zircon in the Puga Formation (Babinski et al., 2013)—and may come from an eroded pre-Urucum source that is appreciably older than the Puga Formation 706 Ma-old detrital zircon. Thus, they are possibly older than the 740–750 Ma-old VSMs of the Chuar and Yukon groups of North America (Porter et al., 2003; Strauss et al., 2014) and the ~770 Ma-old VSMs of the Chichkan Formation of Kazakhstan (Sergeev and Schopf, 2010).
VSMs in the Urucum Formation were originally reported from dolostone clasts from diamictite near the base of the formation at the northern end of the Morraria do Rabicho collected by Zaine (1991) and from an arkosic breccia near the top of the formation at Morro do Urucum (Fig. 3) collected by Barbour (Fairchild et al., 1978, p. 77, pl. 1, figs. 7–9). The latter outcrop, however, has not been re-located and VSMs have not been discovered in any other arkosic or carbonate beds within the formation. Similarly, nowhere else in the Corumbá region have we found VSMs in other dolostone-bearing units, such as the Bocaina Formation, nor in cap dolostones at the type locality of the Puga Formation at Morro do Puga (Fig. 3; Boggiani et al., 2003; Babinski et al., 2013). Rare, morphologically markedly different VSMs, currently under study by L.M., occur in the Serra da Bodoquena region, preserved in a younger phosphorite of the Corumbá Group.
In summary, the source of the Urucum VSM-bearing clasts is presently unknown and apparently located outside the depositional basin of the Jacadigo Group, which is an interpretation that justifies their description as extraclasts.
The VSM-bearing dolostone extraclasts were collected at three localities, including that of Zaine (1991), within a single extensive outcrop of diamictite near the base of the Urucum Formation at the northern end of Morraria do Rabicho, in the channel leading from the Paraguai River to the Lagoa Negra (locality 1: 19°1'49.98''S, 57°28'11.94''W; locality 2: 19°1'52.61''S, 57°28'15.16''W; locality 3: 19°1'53.20''S, 57°28'15.64''W). VSMs were also studied in four dolostone clasts reportedly collected near the top of the formation at Morro do Urucum, all localities occurring near Corumbá, Mato Grosso do Sul, west-central Brazil (Fig. 3; Fairchild et al., 1978).
The following morphological characters regarded as significant by Porter et al. (2003) are used here to describe the Urucum VSMs: body shape, total length (L) and width (W), aperture diameter (AD), neck length (NL), wall thickness (WT) and uniformity, and test composition. Aspect ratios (L/W) provide an estimate of the sphericity of the tests and are helpful in defining body shape. For tests that exhibit long straight or flared necks (Limeta lageniformis n. gen. n. sp. and Palaeoamphora urucumense n. gen. n. sp., respectively), the aspect ratio was calculated as BL/W, in which BL is "body length" defined as the total test length (L) minus the neck length (NL). In the taxonomic descriptions, below, mathematical averages are indicated by x and their standard deviation by σ.
At the Instituto de Geociências, Universidade de São Paulo (IGc-USP), the clast-hosted VSMs were studied in ~50 µm thick petrographic thin sections using a Leica DM 750 P microscope equipped with a Leica MC 170 HD camera. Some images were obtained using a simplified version of the "white-card" technique of Folk (1987), by placing a small piece of white paper beneath the thin section to diffuse the incoming light beam, thereby softening the visual effect of carbonate crystal boundaries and permitting a clearer view of individual rock components, especially of associated organic matter. Transmitted white light and plane-polarized light optical images of thin section-embedded specimens were also acquired at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) using fluorescence-free microscopy immersion oil and a Leitz Orthoplan 2 microscope equipped with a Nikon DS Microscope Digital Camera.
Confocal laser scanning micrographs were obtained at UCLA using an Olympus Fluoview 300 confocal laser scanning biological microscope system equipped with two Melles Griot lasers, a 488 nm 20mW-output argon ion laser and a 633 nm 10mW-output helium-neon laser. Images were acquired using a 100x oil-immersion objective, fluorescence-free microscopy immersion oil, and filters in the light-path to remove wavelengths <510 nm (for 488 nm laser excitation) and <660 nm (for 633 nm laser excitation) from the laser-induced fluorescence emitted by the specimens. Image-sets were subsequently processed using the VolView v3.4 3D-rendering computer program that permits image manipulation in three dimensions.
Raman molecular-structural compositional analyses of the fossils and associated minerals were carried out at UCLA using a T64000 triple-stage confocal laser-Raman system that permits acquisition both of point spectra and of Raman images that display the two-dimensional spatial distribution of the molecular-structural components of the specimens and their associated minerals. A Coherent Innova argon ion laser provided excitation at 457.9 nm permitting data to be obtained over a range from ~300 to ~3000 cm−1 using a single spectral window centered at 1800 cm−1. The laser power used was ~6–8 mW over a ~1 µm spot, a configuration well below the threshold for radiation damage in kerogenous fossils, and the thin sections were covered by a veneer of fluorescence-free microscopy immersion oil, the presence of which has been shown to have no discernible effect on the Raman spectra acquired (Schopf et al., 2005). Varying pixel intensities in the two-dimensional Raman images, acquired at the ~463 cm−1 band of quartz and the ~1600 cm−1 "G" band of kerogen, correspond to the relative concentrations of the material analyzed.
The petrographic thin sections analyzed here are designated by the prefix GP/5T, which is reserved for type and other published specimens belonging to the Micropaleontology Collection deposited in the Laboratório de Paleontologia Sistemática (LPS) of the Instituto de Geociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil. Thin section GP/L-3E-46, illustrated in Fairchild et al. (1978, p. 77, pl. 1, figs. 7–9), is deposited in the Paleobotany Collection (GP/3) in the LPS. The location of illustrated microfossils is indicated by the number of the thin section in which it occurs and a location indicated by a letter (A, B, C, etc.) on maps of the thin sections deposited in the LPS. The designation HUPC for type specimens described by Porter et al. (2003) refers to the Harvard University Paleobotanical Collections.
The VSM-bearing clasts are predominantly dolomitic, containing small amounts of detrital quartz or other minerals and minor authigenic quartz (Fig. 6.11, 6.13). Dolomite having a fibrous to bladed habit forms a distinct rim around nearly all Urucum VSMs (Figs. 4, 5.1, 5.3, 5.6, 6.1). In such rims, the narrow (<10 µm thick) layer closest to the wall represents early diagenetic isopachous calcite or aragonite cement that later recrystallized and later replaced by sparry dolomite while nevertheless conserving a palimpsest of the fibrous habit of the original carbonate (Figs. 4.1, 4.2, 4.4, 5.1, 5.3, 5.6, 6.1–6.9, 6.14–6.16). Such cement also coats the interiors of some tests or has completely filled them (Figs. 4.2, 6.2). More commonly, however, the tests are filled by mosaic sparry dolomite like that of their encompassing matrix. A significant difference between the Urucum VSMs and practically all such specimens previously described is that they preserve their original wall thicknesses and, importantly, evidence of their original wall composition. The great majority is carbonaceous (kerogenous) (e.g., Fig. 6.1, 6.4–6.9, 6.14), but some exhibit entirely siliceous or mixed kerogenous-siliceous walls, as documented by Raman imagery and optical petrography (Figs. 5.7, 5.8, 6.2, 6.3, 6.7, 6.10, 6.11). Not only have the VSMs retained their walls, but the original shapes of their tests are preserved as well, despite the post-depositional recrystallization and dolomitization that has altered much of the primary rock fabric. We conclude that the very early isopachous carbonate cement was fundamental in preserving the walls of the Urucum VSMs (Figs. 4, 5, 6).
Attempts were unsuccessful to identify the source of the VSM-bearing clasts among carbonate intraclasts present in the continental debris flow-dominated alluvial fan facies of the Urucum Formation (Freitas et al., 2011), all such intraclasts proving to be nonfossiliferous and calcitic rather than dolomitic. Indeed, the isopachous cement encasing the VSMs documented here is much more characteristically marine (Tucker and Wright, 1990) than continental. Such a marine origin for the Urucum VSMs is also consistent with the paleoenvironment inferred for practically all other occurrences of VSMs (e.g., Porter and Knoll, 2000). Available evidence thus indicates that the VSM-bearing clasts should be regarded as extraclasts of unknown provenance apparently derived from pre-Urucum marine rocks.
Of the approximately 3,000 specimens of VSMs detected in clasts from the Urucum Formation, 55 specimens having longitudinal sections oriented parallel to the thin section surface were examined in detail and differentiated into five species and an unnamed form of paired tests here referred to as "doublets." Two of the five taxa, Cycliocyrillium simplex and C. torquata, were originally described by Porter et al. (2003), and the other three are here assigned to new genera and species: Paleoamphora urucumense n. gen. n. sp., Limeta lageniformis n. gen. n. sp., and Taruma rata n. gen. n. sp.
Cycliocyrillium simplex Porter et al., 2003.
Cycliocyrillium torquata Porter et al., 2003.
Bulbous to pyriform VSMs having a circular aperture either flush with the test or associated with a narrow collar or short uncurved neck, not exceeding one-tenth the total length of the specimen; angle between the apertural plane and the aboral axis ~90°.
As originally described by Porter et al. (2003, p. 415), the presence of an uncurved neck is a diagnostic feature for the genus Cycliocyrillium, but the neck is absent in the type species C. simplex. Therefore, we have emended the generic and specific diagnoses to allow for the lack of a neck or collar in the genus and to differentiate clearly between C. simplex, which has no collar or neck, and C. torquata, which does.
The dimensions of the specimens of Cycliocyrillium in the Urucum Formation are similar to those of the type material presented by Porter et al. (2003) from the Neoproterozoic Chuar Group. Unlike the type material, which is preserved as molds, siliceous casts, and carbonate substitutions, the specimens described here exhibit walls of varied composition. Nearly all are carbonaceous (kerogenous) (Figs. 4.1, 6.1), which we interpret as indicating an originally organic wall. A few are siliceous (Fig. 6.2, 6.3) or a carbonaceous-siliceous mixture (Fig. 4.6–4.8). Their possible origins are discussed in the next section.
2003 Cycliocyrillium simplexPorter et al., p. 415, fig. 6.1–6.9.
HUPC# 64455, upper Tonian (~742±6 Ma), Kwagunt Formation, Chuar Group, Arizona.
N=24; GP/5T: 2529 B, C, D, E, I; 2531 A, B, D, E; 2532 B, H; 2534 A, C, E; 2535 A; 2536 F, I, L; GP/5T: 2539 B, C, E, F; 2541 A, C.
Specimens of Cycliocyrillium with smooth apertural margin flush with the rest of the test.
Specimens from the Urucum Formation have pyriform tests (L=50–139 µm, x=87 µm, σ=20 µm; W=42–96 µm, x=62 µm, σ=14 µm), and exhibit a circular aperture (aperture diameter, AD=11–22 µm, x=22 µm, σ=6 µm) without a collar or neck. Aspect ratios (L/W) range from 1 to 1.8 (x=1.4; σ=0.3). Walls organic and uniformly thick (WT=3–6 µm, x=4.3 µm, σ=1.1 µm).
Raman confocal spectroscopy identified silica as well as kerogen within the wall of the specimen illustrated in Figure 5.6–5.8, which raises questions addressed in the next section regarding possible biomineralization in early testate amoebae.
2003 Cycliocyrillium torquataPorter, Meisterfeld, and Knoll, p. 415, figs. 6.11–6.23, 18.1.
2014 Cycliocyrillium torquataPorter et al.; Strauss et al., p. 660, fig. 2F.
HUPC# 64453, upper Tonian (~742±6 Ma), Kwagunt Formation, Chuar Group, Arizona.
N=10; GP/5T 2529 G, H, J, K; 2531 C; 2532 A, C, D, F, G.
Specimens of the genus Cycliocyrillium in which test walls curve orally toward each other and form a a narrow, slightly thickened collar or proceed parallel as a short uncurved neck, not exceeding one-tenth total specimen length, which terminates at the apertural edge.
Specimens from the Urucum Formation have pyriform tests (L=53–113 µm, x=78 µm; σ=27 µm; W=40–84 µm, x=58 µm, σ=19 µm) with a short neck (NL=2–10 µm, x=6 µm, σ=3 µm), terminating in a circular aperture (AD=12–34 µm, x=21 µm, σ=10 µm). Aspect ratios (L/W) range from 1.2 to 1.5 (x=1.3; σ=0.09). Walls carbonaceous or siliceous, of uniform thickness (WT=4–7 µm, x=5.3 µm, σ=1.3 µm).
All Urucum specimens of C. torquata exhibit short necks rather than collars.
Palaeoamphora urucumense n. gen. n. sp., by monotypy.
As for type species, by monotypy.
From palaeo, Greek, ancient; and amphora, Latin, a type of antique Greek vase; with reference to the antiquity and shape of the microfossil.
The funnel-like neck clearly distinguishes Palaeoamphora n. gen. from other taxa having long or short uncurved necks (e.g., Limeta lageniformis n. gen. n. sp. and Cyclocyrillium torquata Porter et al., 2003, respectively).
2003 Unnamed form Porter et al., p. 423, fig. 17.1–17.3.
N=6; Holotype, GP/5T-2534 F (Fig. 6.6). Paratypes (Fig. 6.4, 6.5), GP/5T: 2433 A; 2534 B; 2536 A, B; GP/5T: 2540 A, from the Neoproterozoic Urucum Formation, Jacadigo Group, Corumbá, Brazil (Repository: LPS, IGc-USP).
VSMs having a pyriform test with a funnel-like neck comprising up to one-sixth the total length of the specimen.
Total test length (L)=90–135 µm; x=115 µm; σ=17 µm; W=60–109 µm, x=83 µm, σ=18 µm. Circular aperture (external aperture diameter, AD=37–66 µm, x=52 µm; σ=12 µm) at the terminus of a flaring, funnel-like neck comprising no more than one-sixth total specimen length (NL=11–19 µm, x=15 µm; σ=3.2 µm). Body length (L minus NL=BL), 78–124 µm (x=99 µm; σ=17.5 µm). Total specimen aspect ratios (L/W) 1.2–1.7 (x=1.4; σ=0.17); body aspect ratios (BL/W) 1.1–1.4 (x=1.22 µm; σ=0.13 µm). Walls carbonaceous, of uniform thickness (WT=5–6 µm; x=5.3 µm; σ=0.57 µm).
After the Urucum Formation, in which it was found.
Porter et al. (2003, fig. 17.1–17.3) previously distinguished an "unnamed form" in the Chuar Group, consisting of siliceous casts of three incomplete specimens with partially preserved funnel-like necks. The discovery of seven similar, organically preserved forms with complete necks in the Urucum Formation justifies the erection of this taxon to include all these specimens.
Limeta lageniformis n. gen. n. sp., by monotypy.
Limeta is Guarani (a major indigenous language in South America) for bottle.
The well-developed neck occupying 20–50% of the total specimen length differentiates this new genus and species from other formally VSM taxa, particularly Cycliocyrillium torquata Porter et al., 2003, whose neck does not exceed 10% of total test length.
N=10; Holotype GP/5T: 2529 F (Figs. 4.4, 6.9). Paratypes (Fig. 6.7, 6.8, 7.5, 7.6) GP/5T: 2530 A, D; 2532 E; 2534 D; 2536 B, C, G, K; GP/5T: 2539 A, from the Neoproterozoic Urucum Formation, Jacadigo Group, Corumbá, Brazil (Repository: LPS, IGc-USP).
VSMs with tests consisting of a pyriform to subglobose body and a long neck, 20–50% the total length of the test, with a simple terminal aperture.
Total test length (L)=100–133 µm; x=115 µm; σ=11 µm. W=53–70 µm, x=63 µm, σ=5.6 µm. Circular aperture (AD=12–32 µm, x=21 µm; σ=5 µm) at the terminus of a long, cylindrical neck (NL=20–58 µm; x=40 µm; σ=13 µm). Body length (BL)=56–89 µm; aspect ratios calculated for total test length (L/W) 1.5–2 (x=1.8; σ=0.17), but are considerably less (1.0–1.3) when just the body length (BL/W) is considered. Walls carbonaceous, uniformly thick (WT=5–6 µm; x=5.7 µm; σ=0.58 µm).
Lageniformis, from the Latin, lagena, bottle; and forma, shape.
At least four other long-necked Neoproterozoic microfossils have been illustrated in the paleontological literature, but none qualifies for inclusion in L. lageniformis n. gen. n. sp. Knoll and Calder (1983, pl. 1, fig. 13) drew attention to a "long-necked" VSM in the Ryssö Formation, Svalbard. It is much larger than L. lageniformis n. gen. n. sp. (L=260 µm), but its 'long' neck represents less than 10% of the total test length (NL=19 µm) and its aspect ratio is much greater (2.6). Xiao et al. (2014, fig. 5B) recently presented a ferrous-oxide-lined mold having a neck nearly 60% the total length of the specimen within an assemblage of "possible vase-shaped microfossils" from the Jiayuan Formation (lower Huaibei Group) of China, of presumptive late Tonian (>716 Ma) age. But it, too, is large, more than twice the length (L=320 µm) of the largest specimen of L. lageniformis n. gen. n. sp. (L=133 µm), and has a much squatter body (aspect ratio, BL/W ≈ 0.8 versus 1.0–1.3). Battison and Brasier (2012, fig. 8D) illustrated an unnamed, similarly shaped organic-walled microfossil of smaller size from the Torridon Group (~1 Ga), Scotland, and pointed out its similarity to the acritarch Germinosphaera bispinosa Butterfield, 1994, described from the Svanbergfjellet Formation (700–750 Ma), Spitsbergen (in Butterfield et al., 1994, fig. 16.D, 16.E, 16.G). Both the single specimen from the Torridon Group (L=50 µm; BL=30 µm) and G. bispinosa (BL=13–35 µm) are much smaller than L. lageniformis n. gen. n. sp. (BL=56–89 µm). Additionally, G. bispinosa may exhibit from one to four extremely long unobstructed processes that are very much narrower (3–5 µm) than the neck of L. lageniformis n. gen. n. sp. (12–32 µm).
Taruma rata n. gen. n. sp., by monotypy.
Taruma is Guarani for an olive-shaped fruit; with reference to the shape of the internal chamber in the holotype.
The relatively short cylindrical body, rounded aborally and truncated at the apertural end, distinguishes this taxon from other VSMs.
N=3; Holotype GP/5T 2533 B (Figs. 4.3, 6.10, 6.11); Paratype GP/5T 2538 A (Fig. 6.12, 6.13); from the Neoproterozoic Urucum Formation, Jacadigo Group, Corumbá, Brazil (Repository: LPS, IGc-USP). The specimen in Figure 6.14 (GP/5T-2536 D) is included in this species, but with reservations, as explained below.
VSMs with nearly cylindrical test having a rounded aboral end and a flat to low roof-like oral surface with a central narrow circular aperture.
Holotype (Figs. 4.3, 6.10–6.11) and paratype (Fig. 6.12, 6.13) share the diagnostic characters of the species and are similar in size and aperture diameter, the holotype measuring 94 µm (L) by 65 µm (W) with an aperture diameter of 21 µm, and the paratype, 91 µm by 73 µm with an aperture diameter of 17 µm, which correspond to aspect ratios of 1.4 and 1.2, respectively. The oral pole in the holotype is flat and perpendicular to the aboral axis and "roof-like" in the paratype due to the abrupt inward flexure of the walls at an angle of ~45o. The walls of both the holotype and the paratype are siliceous and are uniformly thick in the paratype (WT=7 µm), but vary in the holotype from 11 µm at the aboral pole to 3 µm at midsection, thickening rapidly around the ellipsoidal internal cavity at the oral pole to 21 µm as measured in the apertural plane.
In the holotype, EDS and Raman spectroscopy confirm the presence of a thin organic coating on the inner side of the siliceous wall. The light brown pigment that colors the palimpsest fibrous texture lining the interior of the paratype (Fig. 6.12) may also be carbonaceous.
Rata from rátã, Guarani for hard; with reference to the reinforced aspect of the oral region in the holotype.
The two specimens assigned to Taruma rata n. gen. n. sp. conform precisely to the species diagnosis and differ from all previously described VSM species in these characteristics, thereby justifying the erection of the species. The walls in both are siliceous, which may represent secondary replacement, although, as discussed in the next section, biomineralization might better explain some petrographic features of the walls. Also, the walls thicken (holotype) or bend abruptly inward (paratype) at the oral pole greatly restricting the aperture. The shape and slight thickening of the wall at the oral pole of a third specimen (Fig. 6.14) are reminiscent of the holotype. However, this specimen differs from the type material in several ways. It is smaller (L=70.0 µm; W=56.1 µm), the oral surface is less well defined, the aperture much larger (27.7 µm), and the wall is kerogenous and much thinner (WT=3.6 µm), especially as measured in the apertural plane (6.5 µm). Thus, the specimen is attributed to Taruma rata n. gen. n. sp. with reservations in the expectation that future finds will clarify its situation.
Among the Urucum VSMs studied in detail are six pairs of contiguous or nearly contiguous globose tests of unequal size, each between 50 and 100 µm in diameter. All six pairs of tests (or "doublets") have carbonaceous walls, but silica is associated with two pairs, including the pair shown in Figure 6.15 and 6.16. This and four other pairs exhibit vestiges of specimen-encompassing isopachous fringing cement.
Doublets are formed in many extant testate amoebae and other protists (e.g., tintinnids) during asexual binary fission. Construction of the daughter tests initiates at the aperture of the parent cell and the two cells/tests remain attached until cytokinesis is complete (Tappan, 1993). From the ~770–740 Ma old Uinta Mountain Group of Utah, Porter et al. (2003) illustrated a VSM doublet of claviform tests joined at their apertures (p. 410, fig. 2.1) that appears to represent just this process. Preliminary three-dimensional CLSM imaging suggests that the Urucum doublets may be similarly joined, but the evidence is inconclusive.
It is now consensus that most VSMs represent testate amoebae (Schopf, 1992; Porter and Knoll, 2000; Porter et al., 2003) having affinities to amoebozoan arcellinids and, less commonly, to euglyphids of the Rhizaria. For example, Porter et al. (2003, fig. 17.1–17.3) illustrated unnamed VSMs having a funnel-like neck from the Chuar Group that they compared to the modern arcellinid Microamphora pontica Valkanov, 1970, although the possibility that these specimens might represent fragmented doublets of a Cycliocyrillium species was also considered. The discovery of similar Urucum specimens that exhibit complete necks supports the comparison with arcellinids such as M. pontica and the inclusion both of damaged and complete forms within a distinct taxon, here designated Palaeoamphora urucumense n. gen. n. sp.
Another Urucum VSM, Limeta lageniformis n. gen. n. sp., similarly invites comparison with arcellinids, specifically with Quaternary testate amoebae such as Difflugia gassowski (Gassowsky, 1936), the long necks (Fig. 7.1, 7.2) of which comprise about a third of the total body length (Ogden and Ellison, 1988). However, modern Difflugia has an agglutinated rather than an organic test like that of L. lageniformis n. gen. n. sp. Other possible analogues among the arcellinids occur within the hyalosphenid genus Padaungiella Kosakyan et al., 2012, but the necks of such taxa are comparatively short and laterally compressed (Fig. 7.3, 7.4) rather than being long and cylindrical as in L. lageniformis n. gen. n. sp. (Fig. 7.5, 7.6).
Urucum VSMs are also morphologically similar to foraminifera, rhizarian protistans (Fig. 1). In particular, the shapes of the two species of Cycliocyrillium and of L. lageniformis n. gen. n. sp. resemble, respectively, the Paleozoic calcareous foraminifers Eolagena minuta Lipina, 1959 (cf., Loeblich and Tappan, 1964, p. C322, fig. 232, parts 5–7), and the internal cavity of the globular proloculus and undivided tubular chamber of Syzrania bella Reytlinger, 1950 (cf., Loeblich and Tappan, 1988, p. 109, pl. 430.1; Fig. 6.8). Such similarities, however, may merely represent evolutionary convergence of body form among morphologically simple protistans, given that the possible affinity of organic-walled VSMs and thick-walled calcitic foraminifera is as yet unsubstantiated.
A strong case for the affinity of the Chuar Goup VSM Melicerion poikilon Porter et al., 2003 to alveolate euglyphids has been put forward by Porter et al. (2003) who compared the regular pattern of holes present in numerous fossil tests to the points of insertion of siliceous scales in the organic test of modern euglyphids. No isolated siliceous scales were reported.
A particularly notable feature of the Urucum VSMs that sets them apart from most other occurrences of VSMs is that the walls are preserved in practically all of the tests. Although the great majority of the Urucum specimens have thin carbonaceous (kerogenous) walls, silica is an important wall component in others. Raman spectroscopy has demonstrated that the wall of the specimen of Cycliocyrillium simplex Porter et al., 2003, shown in Figure 5.6–5.8 is a mixture of kerogen and silica. Petrographic microscopy shows that the walls of the specimen of Cycliocyrillium torquata Porter et al., 2003, shown in Figure 6.2 and 6.3, as well as the holotype and paratype of Taruma rata n. gen. n. sp. (Fig. 6.10–6.13) are siliceous. Silica is also a wall component of the unnamed "doublet" of tests shown in Figure 6.15 and 6.16, an occurrence that raises the interesting question of whether such silica represents secondary replacement or might instead evince primary siliceous biomineralization in early protistans.
Biological use of silica is a major factor that controls the present-day global silica cycle and occurs in diverse extant groups, including protists (e.g., diatoms, ciliates, and testate amoebae), metazoans (viz., sponges), and plants, such as horsetails (Equisetum) and grasses (cf., Hodson et al., 2005; Cornelis et al., 2013; Lahr et al., 2015). Throughout most of the Precambrian, prior to the emergence of silica utilization by eukaryotes (Knoll, 2014), continental erosion provided large amounts of silica to the marine environment (Sarmiento, 2013), as evidenced by the abundance of such abiotically precipitated siliceous rocks as banded iron formations and, of particular paleontologic importance, by the abundance of chert-permineralized microbiotas in Precambrian carbonate paleoenvironments (Maliva et al., 1989; Siever, 1992; Knoll, 2000). Thus, dissolved silica was evidently available throughout early Earth history for its eventual use by early protistans.
Indeed, members of the Arcellinida and Euglyphida are among the most abundant silica-using protistans in present-day ecosystems (Cary et al., 2005; Wilkinson and Mitchell, 2010; Puppe et al., 2014; Lahr et al., 2015). Modern arcellinids exhibit three processes for the incorporation of silica into their tests: (1) by ingesting grains of quartz and/or phyllosilicates and agglutinating them into their tests, a mechanism characteristic of Diffugia Leclerc, 1815 (Châtelet et al., 2013); (2) via biomineralization of amorphous silica into test-encompassing scales, such as occurs in Quadrulella (Kosakyan et al., 2012); and (3) by kleptosquamy, in which siliceous scales previously produced by other testate amoebae are acquired by predation and reutilized (Lahr et al., 2015). Euglyphids are capable of depositing amorphous silica on their cellular membranes (Puppe et al., 2014). Although the oldest unambiguous fossils of this group date from the Paleogene, some 30–50 Ma ago (Barber et al., 2013), it is pertinent to note that Porter et al. (2003) interpreted the ~742 Ma old Chuar VSM Melicerion poikilon Porter, Meisterfeld, and Knoll, 2003, as possibly a siliceous-scaled euglyphid. Given these data, it seems plausible that silica biomineralization may have occurred in protistan lineages at least as early as the late Tonian of the Neoproterozoic when the Chuar Group VSMs were preserved.
Secondary replacement is an alternative interpretation to biomineralization as the process responsible for the presence of silica in the walls of the Urucum VSMs. Intrinsic controls on siliceous replacement of such walls include their original composition, the concentration of organic matter within them, and the skeletal ultrastructure of the fossil. Among the external controls of such silicification are the availability of silica, the chemistry of the depositional and/or early diagenetic setting and permeating pore-waters, and post-depositional diagenetic changes of the texture and composition of the fossil-hosting rocks (Butts, 2014). Secondary silicification of microfossils involves partial to complete replacement of the material making up the original structural components, which in the case of VSMs would be their original test walls. For calcareous skeletal elements, this process consists of dissolution of calcium carbonate and subsequent precipitation of silica, promoted by the differing pH-related solubilities of CaCO3 and SiO2 and the propensity of dissolved silica to nucleate on degraded organic matter (Butts and Briggs, 2011; Butts, 2014). Primary features of walls are generally better preserved if they are permineralized in cryptocrystalline to microcrystalline quartz, as commonly occurs during early diagenetic silicification (cf., Calça and Fairchild, 2012) rather than by mold-filling mosaics of megaquartz, as commonly occurs during late-diagenetic replacement (Butts and Briggs, 2011).
Did the Urucum VSMs exhibit original silica biomineralization or were they secondarily replaced? A detailed petrographic study of the VSMs is underway, but a few preliminary petrographic observations regarding the Urucum siliceous-walled specimens and the doublet (the "Unnamed form") shown in Figure 6 are pertinent. First, silica in the doublet (Fig. 6.15, 6.16) appears more likely to have partially filled rather than to have replaced the test at the right of the specimen and to cut the test at its left, which is consistent with secondary silicification. Second, the entirely siliceous wall of Cycliocyrillium torquata Porter et al., 2003 (Fig. 6.2, 6.3) consists of a single quartz crystal (apparently exhibiting undulatory extinction) and lacks preserved relict wall substructure, which is an observation similarly consistent with secondary silicification. Third, the walls of the type specimen of Taruma rata n. gen. n. sp. (Fig. 6.10–6.13) also consist of quartz as in that of C. torquata, although the size of the quartz crystals is difficult to discern. Authigenic quartz is present within the same fields of view for both the holotype (Fig. 6.11) and the paratype (Fig. 6.13) of T. rata n. gen. n. sp., indicating that siliceous replacement of carbonate and other minerals locally affected the dolostone matrix.
Based on these observations, secondary replacement by quartz of the originally organic walls of the Urucum VSMs seems plausible. However, because only a small minority of the Urucum VSMs has siliceous walls and because such specimens are limited to three of the five taxa here described (two species of Cycliocyrillium Porter, Meisterfeld, and Knoll, 2003 and Taruma rata n. gen. n. sp.) and the unnamed doublets, it would appear secondary silicification was not a selective process.
Nevertheless, secondary silicification is not an entirely satisfactory explanation for all Urucum specimens. For example, were this to have occurred for Cycliocyrillium torquata Porter et al., 2003 (Fig. 6.2, 6.3), silica-substitution would have to have been a substrate-specific process that affected only the original wall of the tests without distorting or disrupting them or altering the adjacent carbonate, including the delicate early diagenetic cement that coats the original wall both inside and out. In this regard, it is significant that the holotype of Taruma rata n. gen. n. sp, (Fig. 6.10) is encased by an external coating of mosaic dolomite substituting an early diagenetic cement. The thin carbonaceous film that coats the inner side of its wall, evidently delimiting the ellipsoidal internal chamber of the test, quite plausibly represents a relict of the originally carbonaceous wall internal to an originally inorganic thick outer wall that was preferentially replaced by quartz (Figs. 5.7, 6.11). The paratype of this taxon is surrounded by mosaic dolomite, but exhibits a clearly defined internal rind of fibrous carbonate (Fig. 6.12, 6.13) that, as in C. torquata (Fig. 6.2), was not disrupted when its wall was presumably replaced by quartz.
Although much evidence points to secondary siliceous replacement of the original organic walls of Urucum VSMs, the foregoing considerations raise two fundamental questions: (1) what was the original composition of the replaced walls, and (2) how were they replaced without altering delicate features in their immediate vicinity?
As an example, what might have been the original composition of the robust walls of Taruma rata n. gen. n. sp.? The simplest explanation would be that like nearly all other Urucum VSMs, they too were originally carbonaceous. If so, their voluminous walls would have offered many more sites for silica nucleation (Maliva and Siever, 1988) than the thinner-walled VSMs, resulting in their preferential silicification. However, it is also possible that the thick walls of T. rata n. gen. n. sp. were originally a mixture of organic matter and silica, as is shown in Figure 5.6–5.8 for a specimen of C. simplex Porter, Meisterfeld, and Knoll, 2003. Were this the case, secondary siliceous replacement might have been favored both by the quantity of degraded organic matter in the thick walls, as suggested above, and by the additional sites for silica nucleation afforded by the fine-grained silica present within the walls. This possibility would require that the silica in the mixed carbonaceous-siliceous wall be primary in origin rather than a product of secondary replacement.
Although it seems unlikely, it is also possible that the thick wall of Taruma rata n. gen. n. sp. was originally inorganic, perhaps being calcareous or composed of cryptocrystalline chalcedony or amorphous opaline silica. If originally calcareous, the wall as preserved would have to have been subsequently replaced by quartz. However, if originally composed of very fine-grained silica, the preserved wall would more likely have been recrystallized rather than silica-replaced, a mode of preservation that might explain how it attained its quartzose composition without alteration of its shape and thickness or dissolution of its encompassing dolomitized rind of early diagenetic fibrous cement. Interestingly, both these possibilities would require the occurrence of biomineralization, for which at present there is no definitive evidence. It nevertheless remains conceivable that further detailed study of the siliceous walls of Taruma rata (e.g., Fig. 6.11, 6.13) might reveal textural evidence, such as the occurrence of carbonate inclusions or relict ultrastructure, indicative of biomineralization that, were it to be substantiated, would be unlikely to have resulted from either silica-agglutination or kleptosquamy, processes that both give rise to irregular test surfaces (Fig. 7.1).
A final question to be considered is "why are organic walls preserved in almost all Urucum VSMs when they are so rarely known in other occurrences of VSMs?" On the basis of the evidence available, we suggest that the answer lies in their encasement during very early diagenesis by a rind of isopachous carbonate cement, which we interpret to have been fundamental to impeding significant subsequent diagenetic degradation (cf., Butts and Briggs, 2011).
Vase-shaped microfossils of the Neoproterozoic Urucum Formation (Jacadigo Group, west-central Brazil) are diverse and exhibit well-preserved walls, providing insight into the biological affinity and evolutionary status of this evidently early originating group of protozoans. Fibrous carbonate cement entombed the tests during early diagenesis, conserving their shape and preserving evidence of their original organic and organo-siliceous compositions. Secondary silica evidently replaced some tests, the occurrence of which does not exclude the possibility of some Urucum VSMs being originally biomineralized. In conjunction with previously described VSMs, the Urucum specimens substantiate the global distribution, early diversification, and abundance of arcellinid testate amoebae in Neoproterozoic oceans.
A doctoral scholarship provided by FAPESP (Proc. 2013/12852-1) supported L.M.; A.K.G. was supported by a UCLA-Eugene V. Cota-Robles Fellowship and CSEOL (the UCLA Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life); D.J.G.L. is supported by FAPESP (Proc. 2013/04585-3); and A.B.K., by CSEOL and WARC (the University of Wisconsin Astrobiology Research Consortium). The authors also thank M.F. Zaine, C. Simonetti, and P.C. Boggiani who participated in earlier research on these fossils, the Journal's reviewers, S. Porter (University of California, Santa Barbara [UCSB]) and M. Marti Mus (Universidad de Extremadura, Spain), and editor M. Moczydłowska-Vidal, for useful suggestions.
Simplified phylogenetic tree of protists, with examples of selected groups of testate amoebae having a significant fossil record shown on the right. (1) Cercozoa (possible euglyphid from near the top of the Ediacaran Bocaina Formation, Corumbá Group, Serra da Bodoquena, Brazil) (GP/5E 2544); (2) modern foraminiferan (https://depts.washington.edu/forams/order-lagenida/genus-lagena/); (3) tintinnids from the Jurassic of Mexico (GP/5E-4280), and (4) vase-shaped microfossil interpreted as arcellinid (Tubulinea) (GP/5T-2529 F); (5) chitinozoan, an extinct group of uncertain affinity (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Whole_chitinozoan_cropped.jpg). Scale bars=25 µm (1), 50 µm (2–4) and 10 µm (5).
Geographic distribution of reported Neoproterozoic vasiform microfossils. References: Backlundtoppen Group—Svalbard (Knoll and Calder, 1983); Simla Slates—India (Nautiyal, 1978); Bonahaven Formation—Scotland (Anderson et al., 2013); Callison Lake Dolostone– Canada (Strauss et al., 2014); Chatkaragai Suite—Russia (Sergeev and Schopf, 2010); Chichkan Formation—Kazakhstan (Sergeev and Schopf, 2010); Chuar Group—USA (Porter et al., 2003); Dengying Formation (Ding et al., 1992; Duan et al., 1993; Zhang, 1994); Doushantuo Formation—China (Duan, 1985; Duan et al., 1993; Li et al., 2008); Draken Formation—Svalbard (Knoll et al., 1991); Elbobreen Formation—Svalbard (Knoll and Calder, 1983); Eleonore Bay Group—Greenland (Vidal, 1979; Green et al., 1988); Huaibei Group—China (Xiao et al., 2014); Rasthof Formation—Namibia (Bosak et al., 2011); Tanafjorden Group—Norway (Vidal and Siedlecka, 1983; Vidal and Moczydłowska, 1995); Togari Group—Tasmania (Saito et al., 1988; Turner et al., 1998); Tsagaan Oloom Formation—Mongolia (Bosak et al., 2011); Tindir Group—USA (Allison and Awramik, 1989; Macdonald et al., 2010); Upper Min'yar Formation—Russia (Maslov et al., 1994; Maslov, 2004); Uinta Mountain Group—USA (Dehler et al., 2010); Urucum Formation—Brazil (this paper); Vaishnodevi Limestone and Vindhyan Group—India (Maithy and Babu, 1988; Venkatachala and Kumar, 1998); and Visingsö Beds—Sweden (Knoll and Vidal, 1980).
Geologic setting of study area. (1) Simplified geological map of the southern Paraguay Fold Belt and (2) schematic stratigraphic column of Jacadigo Group (modified from Freitas et al., 2011); white star in part 1 indicates the approximate location of the fossiliferous locality at the northern end of Morraria do Rabicho.
Schematic representation of textural relationships of VSMs and matrix in dolostone clasts in diamictite of the Neoproterozoic Urucum Formation (Jacadigo Group, Corumbá, Brazil) showing tests of VSMs exhibiting external (1, 2, 4) and partial internal (2) fibrous to bladed palimpsest carbonate cement textures and matrices dominated by mosaic dolospar. (1) Transverse section of the organic test of an indeterminate VSM; (2) longitudinal section through siliceous test of Cycliocyrillium torquata Porter, Meisterfeld, and Knoll, 2003 (Fig. 6.2, 6.3); (3) longitudinal section through the siliceous test of the holotype of Taruma rata n. gen. n. sp. illustrated in Figure 6.10, 6.11; (4) longitudinal section through organic test of the holotype of Limeta lageniformis n. gen. n. sp. (GP/5T-2529 F) illustrated in Figure 6.9. Scale bars=50 µm.
Optical, CLSM, Raman images, and a Raman spectrum of thin section-embedded VSMs from dolostone clasts in diamictite of the Neoproterozoic Urucum Formation (Jacadigo Group, Corumbá, Brazil). (1) Optical image of organic test of Cycliocyrillium simplex Porter, Meisterfeld, and Knoll, 2003 (GP/5T-2537 A); (2) Raman spectrum of test shown in (1), indicating the principal bands of the embedding dolomite and quartz and the "D," "G," and second-order carbonaceous kerogen bands of its test; (3–5) optical (3) and CLSM images (4, 5) of Palaeoamphora urucumense n. gen. n. sp. that exhibits a constricted short neck subtending its aperture (GP/5T-2537 B); (6–8) optical image (6) and corresponding Raman images (7, 8) of a test attributed to C. simplex (GP/5T-2537 C) showing a close association between kerogen (7) and silica (8).
Photomicrographs of petrographic thin sections containing VSMs from the Neoproterozoic Urucum Formation (Jacadigo Group, Corumbá, Brazil), including specimens attributed to taxa first described by Porter et al. (2003) from the Chuar Group (Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA) (1–3) three new monospecific genera (4–13) and an unnamed form of paired tests (15, 16): (1) carbonaceous test of Cycliocyrillium simplex Porter, Meisterfeld, and Knoll, 2003, enclosed by fibrous cement (GP/5T-2537 D); (2) siliceous-walled specimen of Cycliocyrillium torquata Porter, Meisterfeld, and Knoll, 2003, exhibiting a short neck and evidence of an originally fibrous isopachous cement covering both the interior and exterior wall surfaces (GP/5T-2532 G); (3) same specimen under crossed nicols; (4, 5) paratypes of Palaeoamphora urucumense n. gen. n. sp. exhibiting characteristic funnel-like neck and organic wall (GP/5T-2536 A and B, respectively); (6) holotype of Palaeoamphora urucumense n. gen. n. sp. (GP/5T-2534 F); (7) paratype of Limeta lageniformis n. gen. n. sp. (GP/5T-2530 A); (8) paratype of Limeta lageniformis n. gen. n. sp. (GP/5T-2529 F), viewed using the white card technique (see text); (9) holotype of Limeta lageniformis n. gen. n. sp. (GP/5T-2536 C); (10, 11) robust siliceous-walled holotype of Taruma rata n. gen. n. sp. with ellipsoidal internal chamber lined by organic matter (GP/5T-2533 B), viewed using white card technique (see text); (11) same specimen under crossed nicols; secondary quartz partially replaces the carbonate beside the test; (12, 13) siliceous-walled paratype of Taruma rata n. gen. n. sp., exhibiting a roof-like apertural region and an internal palimpsest of fibrous isopachous cement (GP/5T-2545); note secondary quartz beside test; (13) same specimen under crossed nicols; (14) carbonaceous-walled test attributed to Taruma rata with reservations (GP/5T-2536 D). (15, 16) Unnamed form comprising a doublet of adpressed tests of unequal size (GP/5T-2530 B); quartz partially fills one test and cuts the other; (16) specimen under crossed nicols. Scale bars=100 µm for (1, 4–6, 8–13) and 50 μm for (2, 3, 7, 14–16).
Comparison of modern testate amoebae (1–4) and VSMs from the Neoproterozoic Urucum Formation (Jacadigo Group, Corumbá, Brazil) (5, 6). (1, 2) Longitudinal (1) and transverse (2) views of modern Difflugia (images: D.J.G. Lahr); (3, 4) longitudinal (3) and transverse (4) views of modern Padaungiella (images, D.J.G. Lahr); (5, 6) longitudinal (5) and transverse (6) views of paratypes of Limeta lageniformis n. gen. n. sp. with shape similar to Difflugia (GP/5T-2536 C, B, respectively). Scale bars=20 µm (1, 2), 37.5 µm (3), 17.5 µm (4), 50 µm (5), or 20 µm (6).
S19°01'60" - S19°01'60", W57°28'00" - W57°28'00"
Microstructures in metasedimentary rocks from the Neoproterozoic Bonahaven Formation, Scotland: Microconcretions, impact spherules, or microfossils?
, The cap carbonate of the Puga Hill (Central South America) in the context of the post-Varanger Glaciation: Fourth South American Symposium on Isotope Geology, Salvador, Brazil, 2003, Abstracts.
, Silicification, in Laflamme, M., Schiffbauer J.D., Darroch S.A.F., eds., Reading and Writing of the Fossil Record: Preservational Pathways to Exceptional Fossilization: The Paleontological Society Papers, v. 20, p. 15–33.
, A complex microbiota from snowball Earth times: microfossils from the Neoproterozoic Kingston Peak Formation, Death Valley, USA: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, v. 100, p. 4399–4404.
, Manganese and iron deposits of Morro do Urucum, Mato Grosso, Brazil: Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey 946A, 47 p.
New York, Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., Inc.
p., v. 2, 212 p., 847 pl.
, Estimating the timing of early eukaryotic diversification with multigene molecular clocks: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, v. 108, p. 13624–13629.
, Analise dos fósseis de parte da Faixa Paraguai (MS, MT) e seu contexto temporal e paleoambiental. [Ph.D. thesis]: São Paulo, Universidade de São Paulo, 218 p. [in Portuguese with English abstract].