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Li X, Huang D. Predators or Herbivores: Cockroaches of Manipulatoridae Revisited with a New Genus from Cretaceous Myanmar Amber (Dictyoptera: Blattaria: Corydioidea). INSECTS 2022; 13:732. [PMID: 36005357 PMCID: PMC9409346 DOI: 10.3390/insects13080732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2022] [Revised: 08/01/2022] [Accepted: 08/10/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Manipulator modificaputis Vršanský and Bechly, 2015 (Manipulatoridae, Corydioidea) is a purported predatory cockroach from Cretaceous Myanmar amber, based on a single male. It is distinctive by the nimble head, elongate pronotum and legs, and particularly by the extraordinarily long maxillary palpi. In the present study, we redescribe Manipulator modificaputis based on six new fossils including males and females, and comment on the original description. The closely related Manipulatoides obscura gen. & sp. nov. is proposed on the basis of five fossils, including males and females. It differs from Manipulator in weaker spination of the legs, including the type-C forefemoral spination instead of the type-A of Manipulator. Some undetermined adults and nymphs are also described. We discuss the ethology of Manipulatoridae and speculate that they might feed on flowers. They are unlikely to be specialized predators since they lack necessary weaponry for capturing prey; in contrast, their unique morphotype appears to be suitable for efficient foraging and locomotion amid flowering twigs. The possibility of being kleptoparasites of the spider-web is also discussed. In addition, regenerated four-segmented tarsi are found from the new species.
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Vršanský P, Aristov D, Hain M, Kúdelová T, Kúdela M, Metscher B, Palková H, Káčerová J, Hinkelman J. Longest-surviving Carboniferous-family insect found in Mesozoic amber. Biologia (Bratisl) 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s11756-022-01192-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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3
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Shi C, Wang S, Cai HH, Zhang HR, Long XX, Tihelka E, Song WC, Feng Q, Jiang RX, Cai CY, Lombard N, Li X, Yuan J, Zhu JP, Yang HY, Liu XF, Xiang QP, Zhao ZT, Long CL, Schneider H, Zhang XC, Peng H, Li DZ, Fan Y, Engel MS, Wang YD, Spicer RA. Fire-prone Rhamnaceae with South African affinities in Cretaceous Myanmar amber. NATURE PLANTS 2022; 8:125-135. [PMID: 35102275 DOI: 10.1038/s41477-021-01091-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2021] [Accepted: 12/17/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The rapid Cretaceous diversification of flowering plants remains Darwin's 'abominable mystery' despite numerous fossil flowers discovered in recent years. Wildfires were frequent in the Cretaceous and many such early flower fossils are represented by charcoalified fragments, lacking complete delicate structures and surface textures, making their similarity to living forms difficult to discern. Furthermore, scarcity of information about the ecology of early angiosperms makes it difficult to test hypotheses about the drivers of their diversification, including the role of fire in shaping flowering plant evolution. We report the discovery of two exquisitely preserved fossil flower species, one identical to the inflorescences of the extant crown-eudicot genus Phylica and the other recovered as a sister group to Phylica, both preserved as inclusions together with burned plant remains in Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar (~99 million years ago). These specialized flower species, named Phylica piloburmensis sp. nov. and Eophylica priscastellata gen. et sp. nov., exhibit traits identical to those of modern taxa in fire-prone ecosystems such as the fynbos of South Africa, and provide evidence of fire adaptation in angiosperms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chao Shi
- College of Marine Science and Biological Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
- Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - Shuo Wang
- College of Marine Science and Biological Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China.
- Fushun Amber Institute, Fushun, China.
| | - Hao-Hong Cai
- College of Marine Science and Biological Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
| | - Hong-Rui Zhang
- College of Marine Science and Biological Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
| | - Xiao-Xuan Long
- College of Marine Science and Biological Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
| | - Erik Tihelka
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Bristol, UK
| | - Wei-Cai Song
- College of Marine Science and Biological Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
| | - Qi Feng
- College of Marine Science and Biological Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
| | - Ri-Xin Jiang
- College of Marine Science and Biological Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
| | - Chen-Yang Cai
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and Center for Excellence in Life and Palaeoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Natasha Lombard
- Biosystematics and Biodiversity Collections Division, National Herbarium, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Xiong Li
- Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - Ji Yuan
- Shanghai World Expo Museum, Shanghai, China
| | - Jian-Ping Zhu
- College of Life Science, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China
| | - Hui-Yu Yang
- College of Marine Science and Biological Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
| | - Xiao-Fan Liu
- College of Marine Science and Biological Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
| | - Qiao-Ping Xiang
- State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Zun-Tian Zhao
- College of Life Science, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China
| | - Chun-Lin Long
- College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Minzu University of China, Beijing, China
| | - Harald Schneider
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK
- School of Life Sciences, Sun Yatsen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Xian-Chun Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Hua Peng
- Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - De-Zhu Li
- Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - Yong Fan
- Fushun Amber Institute, Fushun, China
| | - Michael S Engel
- Natural History Museum, and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Yong-Dong Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and Center for Excellence in Life and Palaeoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Robert A Spicer
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, China
- School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
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4
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Tihelka E, Li L, Fu Y, Su Y, Huang D, Cai C. Reply to: Pelretes vivificus was a pollinator of Cretaceous angiosperms. NATURE PLANTS 2022; 8:41-44. [PMID: 34949806 DOI: 10.1038/s41477-021-01045-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2021] [Accepted: 11/09/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Erik Tihelka
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Centre for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Bristol, UK
| | - Liqin Li
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Centre for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Yanzhe Fu
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Centre for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Yitong Su
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Centre for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Diying Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Centre for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Chenyang Cai
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Centre for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China.
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Bristol, UK.
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Smith KT. Paleontology: It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Oculudentavis! Curr Biol 2021; 31:R950-R952. [PMID: 34375597 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.06.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Few animals have experienced such jarring taxonomic whiplash as has Oculudentavis, a tiny tetrapod preserved in amber. A new specimen of this perplexing lineage now shows that it is a lizard unlike any ever discovered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krister T Smith
- Department of Messel Research and Mammalogy, Senckenberg Research Institute, and Faculty of Biological Sciences, Goethe University, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
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Tihelka E, Li L, Fu Y, Su Y, Huang D, Cai C. Angiosperm pollinivory in a Cretaceous beetle. NATURE PLANTS 2021; 7:445-451. [PMID: 33846595 DOI: 10.1038/s41477-021-00893-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2020] [Accepted: 03/03/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Despite the crucial importance of flower-visiting insects in modern ecosystems, there is little fossil evidence on the origins of angiosperm pollination. Most reports of pollination in the Mesozoic fossil record have been based on the co-occurrence of the purported pollinators with pollen grains and assumed morphological adaptations for vectoring pollen. Here, we describe an exceptionally preserved short-winged flower beetle (Cucujoidea: Kateretidae) from mid-Cretaceous amber, Pelretes vivificus gen. et sp. nov., associated with pollen aggregations and coprolites consisting mainly of pollen, providing direct evidence of pollen-feeding in a Cretaceous beetle and confirming that diverse beetle lineages visited early angiosperms in the Cretaceous. The exquisite preservation of our fossil permits the identification of the pollen grains as Tricolpopollenites (Asteridae or Rosidae), representing a record of flower beetle pollination of a group of derived angiosperms in the Mesozoic and suggesting that potentially diverse beetle lineages visited early angiosperms by the mid-Cretaceous.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik Tihelka
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Centre for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Liqin Li
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Centre for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Yanzhe Fu
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Centre for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Yitong Su
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Centre for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Diying Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Centre for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
| | - Chenyang Cai
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Centre for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China.
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
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Schmidt AR, Regalado L, Weststrand S, Korall P, Sadowski EM, Schneider H, Jansen E, Bechteler J, Krings M, Müller P, Wang B, Wang X, Rikkinen J, Seyfullah LJ. Selaginella was hyperdiverse already in the Cretaceous. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2020; 228:1176-1182. [PMID: 32282937 DOI: 10.1111/nph.16600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2020] [Accepted: 04/01/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander R Schmidt
- Department of Geobiology, University of Göttingen, Goldschmidtstraße 3, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Ledis Regalado
- Instituto de Ecología y Sistemática, Carretera de Varona 11835 e/Oriente y Lindero, La Habana 19, CP 11900, Calabazar, Boyeros, La Habana, Cuba
| | - Stina Weststrand
- Gothenburg Botanical Garden, Carl Skottsbergs gata 22A, 413 19, Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Petra Korall
- Systematic Biology, Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, 752 36, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Eva-Maria Sadowski
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115, Berlin, Germany
| | - Harald Schneider
- Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Menglun, 666303, Yunnan, China
| | - Eva Jansen
- Department of Geobiology, University of Göttingen, Goldschmidtstraße 3, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Julia Bechteler
- Nees-Institut für Biodiversität der Pflanzen, Universität Bonn, Meckenheimer Allee 170, 53115, Bonn, Germany
| | - Michael Krings
- SNSB-Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, Richard-Wagner-Straße 10, 80333, Munich, Germany
- Department für Geo- und Umweltwissenschaften, Paläontologie und Geobiologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Richard-Wagner-Straße 10, 80333, Munich, Germany
| | - Patrick Müller
- Amber Study Group, c/o Geological-Palaeontological Museum (CeNak) of the University of Hamburg, Bundesstraße 55, 20146, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Bo Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing, 210008, China
| | - Xin Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing, 210008, China
| | - Jouko Rikkinen
- Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, PO Box 7, 00014, Helsinki, Finland
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, PO Box 65, 00014, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Leyla J Seyfullah
- Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Althanstraße 14, 1090, Vienna, Austria
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Abstract
Insect pollination of flowering plants (angiosperms) is responsible for the majority of the world's flowering plant diversity and is key to the Cretaceous radiation of angiosperms. Although both insects and angiosperms were common by the mid-Cretaceous, direct fossil evidence of insect pollination is lacking. Direct evidence of Cretaceous insect pollination is associated with insect-gymnosperm pollination. Here, we report a specialized beetle-angiosperm pollination mode from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber (99 mega-annum [Ma]) in which a tumbling flower beetle (Mordellidae), Angimordella burmitina gen. et sp. nov., has many tricolpate pollen grains attached. A. burmitina exhibits several specialized body structures for flower-visiting behavior including its body shape and pollen-feeding mouthparts revealed by X-ray microcomputed tomography (micro-CT). The tricolpate pollen in the amber belongs to the eudicots that comprise the majority of extant angiosperm species. These pollen grains exhibit zoophilous pollination attributes including their ornamentation, size, and clumping characteristics. Tricolpate pollen grains attached to the beetle's hairs are revealed by confocal laser scanning microscopy, which is a powerful tool for investigating pollen in amber. Our findings provide direct evidence of insect pollination of Cretaceous angiosperms, extending the range insect-angiosperm pollination association by at least 50 million years. Our results support the hypothesis that specialized insect pollination modes were present in eudicots 99 million years ago.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tong Bao
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 210008 Nanjing, China
- Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 210008 Nanjing, China
- Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany
| | - Bo Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 210008 Nanjing, China;
- Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 210008 Nanjing, China
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100101 Beijing, China
| | - Jianguo Li
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 210008 Nanjing, China
- Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 210008 Nanjing, China
| | - David Dilcher
- Department of Geology and Atmospheric Science, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405
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Grimaldi DA, Peñalver E, Barrón E, Herhold HW, Engel MS. Direct evidence for eudicot pollen-feeding in a Cretaceous stinging wasp (Angiospermae; Hymenoptera, Aculeata) preserved in Burmese amber. Commun Biol 2019; 2:408. [PMID: 31728419 PMCID: PMC6838090 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-019-0652-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2019] [Accepted: 10/07/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Angiosperms and their insect pollinators form a foundational symbiosis, evidence for which from the Cretaceous is mostly indirect, based on fossils of insect taxa that today are anthophilous, and of fossil insects and flowers that have apparent anthophilous and entomophilous specializations, respectively. We present exceptional direct evidence preserved in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber, 100 mya, for feeding on pollen in the eudicot genus Tricolporoidites by a basal new aculeate wasp, Prosphex anthophilos, gen. et sp. nov., in the lineage that contains the ants, bees, and other stinging wasps. Plume of hundreds of pollen grains wafts from its mouth and an apparent pollen mass was detected by micro-CT in the buccal cavity: clear evidence that the wasp was foraging on the pollen. Eudicots today comprise nearly three-quarters of all angiosperm species. Prosphex feeding on Tricolporoidites supports the hypothesis that relatively small, generalized insect anthophiles were important pollinators of early angiosperms.
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Affiliation(s)
- David A. Grimaldi
- American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024-5192 USA
| | - Enrique Peñalver
- Museo Geominero, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España. Ríos Rosas 23, E-28003 Madrid, Spain
| | - Eduardo Barrón
- Museo Geominero, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España. Ríos Rosas 23, E-28003 Madrid, Spain
| | - Hollister W. Herhold
- American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024-5192 USA
| | - Michael S. Engel
- Division of Entomology, Natural History Museum, and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045 USA
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Earliest behavioral mimicry and possible food begging in a Mesozoic alienopterid pollinator. Biologia (Bratisl) 2019. [DOI: 10.2478/s11756-019-00278-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
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