What’s in a name? The naming of Australopithecus sediba May 10, 2010
Posted by Alan in : SAJS, Uncategorized , add a commentProf Alan Morris, UCT; Associate Editor of SAJS
The first person to describe a new fossil gets the rights to name it. This has got be done at the time of the first publication as the privilege is not retrospect. Hesitate and someone else will pip you at the post. The payout is pretty impressive because the once the fossil has been named, the name is there forever with your priority stamped all over it in Latin.
But not everything in the name game is about priority and bragging rights. The whole system of classification is an art, not a science, and the choice of name tells you as much about the researcher as it does about the fossil. (more…)
South African Journal of Science: current issue highlights October 23, 2009
Posted by Linda in : SAJS , 2commentsUniversities in a time of change
The common thread between all universities is that they are centres of debate and independent and critical thinking. In this issue, Nithaya Chetty discusses the threat that the suppression of academic freedom poses to South African universities, and raises his concerns regarding their corporatisation; and an associated marginalisation of the views of academics.
He points out that there is a widely-held view in South Africa, that academic freedom is a front for the perpetuation of elitism, and resistance to transformation. He thus argues that in order for our universities to protect academic freedom, it is essential for them to embrace valid processes of transformation.
Read more: S. Afr. J. Sci. 105 (9/10), 325 – 327.
South Africa’s gold production: not worth its weight in gold?
South Africa’s gold mining industry continues to be a major economic force in the country, but it is not nearly as important as it used to be. South Africa has, for example, recently fallen into second place behind China in the world ranking of gold producing countries. Despite this decline in production, South Africa still claims first place in the world ranking of gold reserves. Hartnady discusses the credibility of this claim using a critical analysis of gold production on the Witwatersrand. He argues that the Witwatersrand goldfields are 95% exhausted, and that it is time to examine the benefits of a declining industry against the costs to the environment.
Read more: S. Afr. J. Sci. 105 (9/10), 328 – 330.
Possible termite fossils in South Africa
The range of possible trace fossil architectures found in the Lower Jurassic sandstones in the Karoo region is reported for the first time in this issue by Bordy et al. The architecture of these sandstone structures indicates that they are fossils of an early Jurassic social insect, and they may be the best preserved social insect traces from the former Gondwana reported to date. This discovery in South Africa, together with an increasing number of fossils attributed to termite origin in North America, suggests that sociality in insects originated in the early Mesozoic, before the breakup of Pangea, which would explain their worldwide distribution today.
Read more: S. Afr. J. Sci. 105 (9/10), 356 – 362
Fire management in threatened fynbos
Brian van Wilgen reviews current and historical fire management practices in fynbos. In fynbos, burning was initially considered to be destructive and prevented where possible. But gradually, as the vital role of fire in fynbos ecosystems became better understood, managers turned to prescribed burning and experimented with different space and time protocols. Despite these policies of prescribed burning, wild fires remain the dominant feature in fynbos, fortunately driving a variable fire regime that remains broadly aligned with conservation objectives. The problem of conserving fire-adapted fynbos is complicated by invading alien trees that are also fire adapted. Despite improvements in control methods, alien trees, notably pines, continue to spread almost unchecked. Biological control offered some hope for controlling pines, but was ruled out as too high a risk for these commercially important trees. Failure to address this problem adequately will almost certainly result in the severe degradation of remaining fynbos ecosystems.
Read more: S. Afr. J. Sci. 105 (9/10), 335-342.
