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Evolution of cetaceans

The evolution of cetaceans is thought to have begun in the Indian subcontinent from even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla) 50 million years ago (mya) and to have proceeded over a period of at least 15 million years. Cetaceans are fully aquatic marine mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla and branched off from other artiodactyls around 50 mya. Cetaceans are thought to have evolved during the Eocene (56-34 mya), the second epoch of the present-extending Cenozoic Era. Molecular and morphological analyses suggest Cetacea share a relatively recent closest common ancestor with hippopotami and that they are sister groups. Being mammals, they surface to breathe air; they have five finger bones (even-toed) in their fins; they nurse their young; and, despite their fully aquatic life style, they retain many skeletal features from their terrestrial ancestors. Research conducted in the late 1970s in Pakistan revealed several stages in the transition of cetaceans from land to sea.

The two modern parvorders of cetaceans – Mysticeti (baleen whales) and Odontoceti (toothed whales) – are thought to have separated from each other around 28–33 mya in a second cetacean radiation, the first occurring with the archaeocetes. The adaptation of animal echolocation in toothed whales distinguishes them from fully aquatic archaeocetes and early baleen whales. The presence of baleen in baleen whales occurred gradually, with earlier varieties having very little baleen, and their size is linked to baleen dependence (and subsequent increase in filter feeding).

Early evolution

The aquatic lifestyle of cetaceans first began in the Indian subcontinent from even-toed ungulates 50 million years ago, with this initial stage lasting approximately 4-15 million years. Archaeoceti is an extinct parvorder of Cetacea containing ancient whales. The traditional hypothesis of cetacean evolution, first proposed by Van Valen in 1966, was that whales were related to the mesonychians, an extinct order of carnivorous ungulates (hoofed animals) that resembled wolves with hooves and were a sister group of the artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates). This hypothesis was proposed due to similarities between the unusual triangular teeth of the mesonychians and those of early whales. However, molecular phylogeny data indicates that whales are very closely related to the artiodactyls, with hippopotamuses as their closest living relative. Because of this observation, cetaceans and hippopotamuses are placed in the same suborder, Whippomorpha. Cetartiodactyla (formed from the words Cetacea and Artiodactyla) is a proposed name for an order that includes both cetaceans and artiodactyls. However, the earliest anthracotheres, the ancestors of hippos, do not appear in the fossil record until the Middle Eocene, millions of years after Pakicetus, whereas the first known whale ancestor appeared during the Early Eocene; this difference in timing implies that the two groups diverged well before the Eocene. Molecular analysis identifies artiodactyls as being very closely related to cetaceans, so mesonychians are probably an offshoot from Artiodactyla, and cetaceans did not derive directly from mesonychians, but the two groups may share a common ancestor.

The molecular data are supported by the discovery of Pakicetus, the earliest archaeocete. The skeletons of Pakicetus show that whales did not derive directly from mesonychians. Instead, they are artiodactyls that began to take to the water soon after artiodactyls split from mesonychians. Archaeocetes retained aspects of their mesonychian ancestry (such as the triangular teeth) which modern artiodactyls, and modern whales, have lost. The earliest ancestors of all hoofed mammals were probably at least partly carnivorous or scavengers, and today's artiodactyls and perissodactyls became herbivores later in their evolution. Whales, however, retained their carnivorous diet because prey was more available and they needed higher caloric content in order to live as marine endotherms (warm-blooded). Mesonychians also became specialized carnivores, but this was likely a disadvantage because large prey was uncommon. This may be why they were out-competed by better-adapted animals like the hyaenodontids and later Carnivora.

Indohyus
Indohyus was a small chevrotain-like animal that lived about 48 million years ago in what is now Kashmir. It belongs to the artiodactyl family Raoellidae, which is believed to be the closest sister group of Cetacea. Indohyus is identified as an artiodactyl because it has two trochlea hinges, a trait unique to artiodactyls. Approximately the size of a raccoon or domestic cat, this omnivorous creature shared some traits of modern whales, most notably the involucrum, a bone growth pattern which is the diagnostic characteristic of any cetacean; this is not found in any other species. It also showed signs of adaptations to aquatic life, including dense limb bones that reduce buoyancy so that they could stay underwater, which are similar to the adaptations found in modern aquatic mammals such as the hippopotamus. This suggests a similar survival strategy to the African chevrotain or water chevrotain which, when threatened by a bird of prey, dives into water and hides beneath the surface for up to four minutes.

The first fossils of the Indohyus were unearthed by Indian geologist A. Ranga Rao. He discovered a few teeth and a jawbone amongst rocks that he had collected. After his death, his widow Leelavathi Rao donated the rocks to professor Hans Thewissen. His technician accidentally broke open a couple of the donated rocks and discovered additional Indohyus fossils.

Pakicetidae
The pakicetids were digitigrade hoofed mammals that are thought to be the earliest known cetaceans, with Indohyus being the closest sister group. They lived in the early Eocene, around 50 million years ago. Their fossils were first discovered in North Pakistan in 1979, located at a river not far from the shores of the former Tethys Sea. After the initial discovery, more fossils were found, mainly in the early Eocene fluvial deposits in northern Pakistan and northwestern India. Based on this discovery, pakicetids most likely lived in an arid environment with ephemeral streams and moderately developed floodplains millions of years ago. By using stable oxygen isotopes analysis, they were shown to drink fresh water, implying that they lived around freshwater bodies. Their diet probably included land animals that approached water for drinking or some freshwater aquatic organisms that lived in the river. The elongated cervical vertebrae and the four, fused sacral vertebrae are consistent with artiodactyls, making Pakicetus one of the earliest fossils to be recovered from the period following the Cetacea/Artiodactyla divergence event.

Pakicetids are classified as cetaceans mainly due to the structure of the auditory bulla (ear bone), which is formed only from the ectotympanic bone. The shape of the ear region in pakicetids is highly unusual and the skull is cetacean-like, although a blowhole is still absent at this stage. The jawbone of pakicetids also lacks the enlarged space (mandibular foramen) that is filled with fat or oil, which is used in receiving underwater sound in modern cetaceans. They have dorsal orbits (eye sockets facing up), which are similar to crocodiles. This eye placement helps submerged predators observe potential prey above the water. According to a 2009 study, the teeth of pakicetids also resemble the teeth of fossil whales, being less like a dog's incisors, and having serrated triangular teeth, which is another link to more modern cetaceans. It was initially thought that the ears of pakicetids were adapted for underwater hearing, but, as would be expected from the anatomy of the rest of this creature, the ears of pakicetids are specialized for hearing on land. However, pakicetids were able to listen underwater by using enhanced bone conduction, rather than depending on the tympanic membrane like other land mammals. This method of hearing did not give directional hearing underwater.

Pakicetids have long thin legs, with relatively short hands and feet which suggest that they were poor swimmers. To compensate for that, their bones are unusually thick (osteosclerotic), which is probably an adaptation to make the animal heavier to counteract the buoyancy of the water. According to a 2001 morphological analysis by Thewissen et al., pakicetids display no aquatic skeletal adaptation; instead they display adaptations for running and jumping. Hence pakicetids were most likely aquatic waders.

Ambulocetidae
Ambulocetus, which lived about 49 million years ago, was discovered in Pakistan in 1994. They were vaguely crocodile-like mammals, possessing large brevirostrine jaws. In the Eocene, ambulocetids inhabited the bays and estuaries of the Tethys Sea in northern Pakistan. The fossils of ambulocetids are always found in near-shore shallow marine deposits associated with abundant marine plant fossils and littoral mollusks. Although they are found only in marine deposits, their oxygen isotope values indicate that they consumed a range of water with different degrees of salinity, with some specimens having no evidence of sea water consumption and others that did not ingest fresh water at the time when their teeth were fossilized. It is clear that ambulocetids tolerated a wide range of salt concentrations. Hence, ambulocetids represent a transition phase of cetacean ancestors between fresh water and marine habitat.

The mandibular foramen in ambulocetids had increased in size, which indicates that a fat pad was likely to be housed in the lower jaw. In modern toothed whales, this fat pad in the mandibular foramen extends posteriorly to the middle ear. This allows sounds to be received in the lower jaw, and then transmitted through the fat pad to the middle ear. Similar to pakicetids, the orbits of ambulocetids are on the top of the skull, but they face more laterally than in pakicetids.

Ambulocetids had relatively long limbs with particularly strong hind legs, and they retained a tail with no sign of a fluke. The hindlimb structure of Ambulocetids shows that their ability to engage in terrestrial locomotion was significantly limited compared to that of contemporary terrestrial mammals, and likely did not come to land at all. The skeletal structures of the knee and ankle indicates that the motion of the hindlimbs was restricted into one plane. This suggests that, on land, propulsion of the hindlimbs was powered by the extension of dorsal muscles. They probably swam by pelvic paddling (a way of swimming which mainly utilizes their hind limbs to generate propulsion in water) and caudal undulation (a way of swimming which uses the undulations of the vertebral column to generate force for movements), as otters, seals and modern cetaceans do. This is an intermediate stage in the evolution of cetacean locomotion, as modern cetaceans swim by caudal oscillation (a way of swimming similar to caudal undulation, but is more energy efficient).

A recent study suggests that ambulocetids were fully aquatic like modern cetaceans, possessing a similar thoracic morphology and being unable to support their weight on land. This suggests that complete abandonment of the land evolved much earlier among cetaceans than previously thought. However the scientists involved in the study cautioned that the study was limited by a lack of information on the exact density of the bone, the location of the centre of mass, and the reliance of false ribs for thoracic support.

Remingtonocetidae
Remingtonocetids lived in the Middle-Eocene in South Asia, about 49 to 43 million years ago. Compared to family Pakicetidae and Ambulocetidae, Remingtonocetidae was a diverse family found in north and central Pakistan and western India. Remingtonocetids were also found in shallow marine deposits, but they were obviously more aquatic than ambulocetidae. This is demonstrated by the recovery of their fossils from a variety of coastal marine environments, including near-shore and lagoonal deposits. According to stable oxygen isotopes analysis, most remingtonocetids did not ingest fresh water, and had hence lost their dependency on fresh water relatively soon after their origin.

The orbits of remingtonocetids faced laterally and were small. This suggests that vision was not an important sense for them. The nasal opening, which eventually becomes the blowhole in modern cetaceans, was located near the tip of the snout. The position of the nasal opening had remained unchanged since pakicetids. One of the notable features in remingtonocetids is that the semicircular canals, which are important for balancing in land mammals, had decreased in size. This reduction in size had closely accompanied the cetacean radiation into marine environments. According to a 2002 study done by Spoor et al., this modification of the semicircular canal system may represent a crucial 'point of no return' event in early cetacean evolution, which excluded a prolonged semi-aquatic phase.

Compared to ambulocetids, remingtonocetids had relatively short limbs. Based on their skeletal remains, remingtonocetids were probably amphibious cetaceans that were well adapted to swimming, and likely to swim by caudal undulation only.

Protocetidae
The protocetids form a diverse and heterogeneous group known from Asia, Europe, Africa, and North America. They lived in the Eocene, approximately 48 to 35 million years ago. The fossil remains of protocetids were uncovered from coastal and lagoonal facies in South Asia; unlike previous cetacean families, their fossils uncovered from Africa and North America also include open marine forms. They were probably amphibious, but more aquatic compared to remingtonocetids. Protocetids were the first cetaceans to leave the Indian subcontinent and disperse to all shallow subtropical oceans of the world. There were many genera among the family Protocetidae. There were different degrees of aquatic adaptations in this group, with some able to support their weight on land, and others not. The discovery of the southeastern Pacific Peregocetus indicates they crossed the Atlantic and achieved circumstances-equatorial distribution by 40 mya. Their amphibious nature is supported by the discovery of a pregnant Maiacetus, in which the fossilised fetus was positioned for a head-first delivery, suggesting that Maiacetus gave birth on land. If they gave birth in the water, the fetus would be positioned for a tail-first delivery to avoid drowning during birth.

Unlike remingtonocetids and ambulocetids, protocetids have large orbits which are oriented laterally. Increasingly lateral-facing eyes might be used to observe underwater prey, and are similar to the eyes of modern cetaceans. Furthermore, the nasal openings were large and were halfway up the snout. The great variety of teeth suggests diverse feeding modes in protocetids. In both remingtonocetids and protocetids, the size of the mandibular foramen had increased. The large mandibular foramen indicates that the mandibular fat pad was present. However the air-filled sinuses that are present in modern cetaceans, which function to isolate the ear acoustically to enable better underwater hearing, were still not present. The external auditory meatus (ear canal), which is absent in modern cetaceans, was also present. Hence, the method of sound transmission that were present in them combines aspects of pakicetids and modern odontocetes (toothed whales). At this intermediate stage of hearing development, the transmission of airborne sound was poor due to the modifications of the ear for underwater hearing while directional underwater hearing was also poor compared to modern cetaceans.

Some protocetids had short, wide fore- and hindlimbs that were likely to have been used in swimming, but the limbs gave a slow and cumbersome locomotion on land. It is possible that some protocetids had flukes. However, it is clear that they were adapted even further to an aquatic life-style. In Rodhocetus, for example, the sacrum (a bone that, in land-mammals, is a fusion of five vertebrae that connects the pelvis with the rest of the vertebral column) was divided into loose vertebrae. However, the pelvis was still connected to one of the sacral vertebrae. The ungulate ancestry of these archaeocetes is still underlined by characteristics like the presence of hooves at the ends of the toes in Rodhocetus.

The foot structure of Rodhocetus shows that protocetids were predominantly aquatic. A 2001 study done by Gingerich et al. hypothesized that Rodhocetus locomoted in the oceanic environment similarly to how ambulocetids pelvic paddling, which was supplemented by caudal undulation. Terrestrial locomotion of Rodhocetus was very limited due to their hindlimb structure. It is thought that they moved in a way similar to how eared seals move on land, by rotating their hind flippers forward and underneath their body.

Basilosauridae
Basilosaurids and dorudontines lived together in the late Eocene around 41 to 33.9 million years ago, and are the oldest known obligate aquatic cetaceans. They were fully recognizable whales which lived entirely in the ocean. This is supported by their fossils usually found in deposits indicative of fully marine environments, lacking any freshwater influx. They were probably distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical seas of the world. Basilosaurids are commonly found in association with dorudontines, and were closely related to one another. The fossilised stomach contents in one basilosaurid indicates that it ate fish.

Although they look very much like modern cetaceans, basilosaurids lacked the 'melon organ' that allows toothed whales to use echolocation. They had small brains; this suggests they were solitary and did not have the complex social structures of some modern cetaceans. The mandibular foramen of basilosaurids covered the entire depth of the lower jaw as in modern cetaceans. Their orbits faced laterally, and the nasal opening had moved even higher up the snout, closer to the position of the blowhole in modern cetaceans. Furthermore, their ear structures were functionally modern, with the insertion of air-filled sinuses between ear and skull. Unlike modern cetaceans, basilosaurids retained a large external auditory meatus.

Both basilosaurids have skeletons that are immediately recognizable as cetaceans. A basilosaurid was as big as the larger modern whales, with genera like Basilosaurus reaching lengths of up to 60 ft long; dorudontines were smaller, with genera like Dorudon reaching about 15 ft long. The large size of basilosaurids is due to the extreme elongation of their lumbar vertebrae. They had a tail fluke, but their body proportions suggest that they swam by caudal undulation and that the fluke was not used for propulsion. In contrast, dorudontines had a shorter but powerful vertebral column. They too had a fluke and, unlike basilosaurids, they probably swam similarly to modern cetaceans, by using caudal oscillations. The forelimbs of basilosaurids were probably flipper-shaped, and the external hind limbs were tiny and were certainly not involved in locomotion. Their fingers, however, retained the mobile joints of their ambulocetid relatives. The two tiny but well-formed hind legs of basilosaurids were probably used as claspers when mating. The pelvic bones associated with these hind limbs were not connected to the vertebral column as they were in protocetids. Essentially, any sacral vertebrae can no longer be clearly distinguished from the other vertebrae.

Both basilosaurids and dorudontines are relatively closely related to modern cetaceans, which belong to parvorders Odontoceti and Mysticeti. However, according to a 1994 study done by Fordyce and Barnes, the large size and elongated vertebral body of basilosaurids preclude them from being ancestral to extant forms. As for dorudontines, there are some species within the family that do not have elongated vertebral bodies, which might be the immediate ancestors of Odontoceti and Mysticeti. The other basilosaurids became extinct.

Baleen whales
All modern baleen whales or mysticetes are filter-feeders which have baleen in place of teeth, though the exact means by which baleen is used differs among species (gulp-feeding within balaenopterids, skim-feeding within balaenids, and bottom plowing within eschrichtiids). The first members of both groups appeared during the middle Miocene. Filter feeding is very beneficial as it allows baleen whales to efficiently gain huge energy resources, which makes the large body size in modern varieties possible. The development of filter feeding may have been a result of worldwide environmental change and physical changes in the oceans. A large-scale change in ocean current and temperature could have contributed to the radiation of modern mysticetes. The earlier varieties of baleen whales, or "archaeomysticetes", such as Janjucetus and Mammalodon had very little baleen and relied mainly on their teeth.

There is also evidence of a genetic component of the evolution of toothless whales. Multiple mutations have been identified in genes related to the production of enamel in modern baleen whales. These are primarily insertion/deletion mutations that result in premature stop codons. It is hypothesized that these mutations occurred in cetaceans already possessing preliminary baleen structures, leading to the pseudogenization of a "genetic toolkit" for enamel production. Recent research has also indicated that the development of baleen and the loss of enamel-capped teeth both occurred once, and both occurred on the mysticete stem branch.

Generally it is speculated the four modern mysticete families have separate origins among the cetotheres. Modern baleen whales, Balaenopteridae (rorquals and humpback whale, Megaptera novaengliae), Balaenidae (right whales), Eschrichtiidae (gray whale, Eschrictius robustus), and Neobalaenidae (pygmy right whale, Caperea marginata) all have derived characteristics presently unknown in any cetothere and vice versa (such as a sagittal crest ). Mysticetes are also known for their gigantism, as baleen whales are among the largest organisms to ever have lived; they reach lengths greater than 20 m and weigh more than 100,000 kg. This gigantism is directly related to their feeding mechanism – mysticete size has been found to be dependent on the amount of baleen a mysticete can use to filter its prey. Additionally, size is a positively selected trait that gives mysticetes a boost in fitness. Mysticete populations will therefore slowly become even more gigantic as whales with larger amounts of baleen are selected.

Toothed whales
The adaptation of echolocation occurred when toothed whales (Odontoceti) split apart from baleen whales, and distinguishes modern toothed whales from fully aquatic archaeocetes. This happened around 34 million years ago in a second cetacean radiation. Modern toothed whales do not rely on their sense of sight, but rather on their sonar to hunt prey. Echolocation also allowed toothed whales to dive deeper in search of food, with light no longer necessary for navigation, which opened up new food sources. Toothed whales echolocate by creating a series of clicks emitted at various frequencies. Sound pulses are emitted, reflected off objects, and retrieved through the lower jaw. Skulls of Squalodon show evidence for the first hypothesized appearance of echolocation. Squalodon lived from the early to middle Oligocene to the middle Miocene, around 33–14 million years ago. Squalodon featured several commonalities with modern toothed whales: the cranium was well compressed (to make room for the melon, a part of the nose), the rostrum telescoped outward into a beak, a characteristic of the modern toothed whales that gave Squalodon an appearance similar to them. However, it is thought unlikely that squalodontids are direct ancestors of modern toothed whales.

The first oceanic dolphins such as kentriodonts, evolved in the late Oligocene and diversified greatly during the mid-Miocene. The first fossil cetaceans near shallow seas (where porpoises inhabit) were found around the North Pacific; species like Semirostrum were found along California (in what were then estuaries). These animals spread to the European coasts and Southern Hemisphere only much later, during the Pliocene. The earliest known ancestor of arctic whales is Denebola brachycephala from the late Miocene around 9–10 million years ago. A single fossil from Baja California indicates the family once inhabited warmer waters.

Ancient sperm whales differ from modern sperm whales in tooth count and the shape of the face and jaws. For example, Scaldicetus had a tapered rostrum. Genera from the Oligocene and Miocene had teeth in their upper jaws. These anatomical differences suggest that these ancient species may not have necessarily been deep-sea squid hunters like the modern sperm whale, but that some genera mainly ate fish. Contrary to modern sperm whales, most ancient sperm whales were built to hunt whales. Livyatan had a short and wide rostrum measuring 10 ft across, which gave the whale the ability to inflict major damage on large struggling prey, such as other early whales. Species like these are collectively known as killer sperm whales or macroraptorial sperm whales.

Beaked whales consist of over 20 genera. Earlier variety were probably preyed upon by killer sperm whales and large sharks such as megalodon. In 2008, a large number of fossil ziphiids were discovered off the coast of South Africa, confirming the remaining ziphiid species might just be a remnant of a higher diversity that has since gone extinct. After studying numerous fossil skulls, researchers discovered the absence of functional maxillary teeth in all South African ziphiids, which is evidence that suction feeding had already developed in several beaked whale lineages during the Miocene. Extinct ziphiids also had robust skulls, suggesting that tusks were used for male-male interactions.

Skeletal evolution

Modern cetaceans have internal, rudimentary hind limbs, such as reduced femurs, fibulas, and tibias, and a pelvic girdle. Indohyus has a thickened ectotympanic internal lip of the ear bone. This feature compares directly to that of modern cetaceans. Another similar feature was the composition of the teeth, which contained mostly calcium phosphate which is needed for eating and drinking by aquatic animals, though, unlike modern day toothed whales, they had a heterodont (more than one tooth morphology) dentition as opposed to a homodont (one tooth morphology present) dentition. Although they somewhat resembled a wolf, the fossils of pakicetids showed the eye sockets were much closer to the top of their head than that of other terrestrial mammals, but similar to the structure of the eyes in cetaceans. Their transition from land to water led to reshaping of the skull and food processing equipment because the eating habits were changing. The change in position of the eyes and limb bones is associated with the pakicetids becoming waders. The ambulocetids also began to develop long snouts, which is seen in current cetaceans. Their limbs (and hypothesized movement) were very similar to otters.

Limblessness in cetaceans does not represent a regression of fully formed limbs nor the absence of limb bud initiation, but rather arrest of limb bud development. Limb buds develop normally in cetacean embryos. Limb buds progress to the condensation phase of early skeletogenesis, where nerves grow into the limb bud and the apical ectodermal ridge (AER), a structure that ensures proper limb development, appears functional. Occasionally, the genes that code for longer extremities cause a modern whale to develop miniature legs (atavism).

Pakicetus had a pelvic bone most similar to that of terrestrial mammals. In later species, such as Basilosaurus, the pelvic bone, no longer attached to the vertebrae and the ilium, was reduced. Certain genes are believed to be responsible for the changes that occurred to the cetacean pelvic structure, such as BMP7, PBX1, PBX2, PRRX1, and PRRX2. The pelvic girdle in modern cetaceans were once thought to be vestigial structures that served no purpose at all. The pelvic girdle in male cetaceans is different in size compared to females, and the size is thought to be a result of sexual dimorphism. The pelvic bones of modern male cetaceans are more massive, longer, and larger than those of females. Due to the sexual dimorphism displayed, they were most likely involved in supporting male genitalia that remain hidden behind abdominal walls until sexual reproduction occurs.

Early archaeocetes such as Pakicetus had the nasal openings at the end of the snout, but in later species such as Rodhocetus, the openings had begun to drift toward the top of the skull. This is known as nasal drift. The nostrils of modern cetaceans have become modified into blowholes that allow them to break to the surface, inhale, and submerge with convenience. The ears began to move inward as well, and, in the case of Basilosaurus, the middle ears began to receive vibrations from the lower jaw. Today's modern toothed whales use their melon organ, a pad of fat, for echolocation.

Radiation events
There are three major radiation events that mark diversification and speciation in the evolutionary history of Cetacea. The first occurred around the middle Eocene (40 Mya) when these early cetaceans abandoned riverine and shallow coastal habitats, setting the scene for Protocetidae – the first fully marine cetacean. With the oceans and its nutrients at their disposal, rapidly diversifying protocetids were also responsible for the first major geographic expansion, dispersing throughout North Africa, Europe, and North America. The second of three major radiation events occurred near the start of the Oligocene (~34 Mya) when Neoceti diverged from Basilosauridae. This radiation event concurrently occurs with the breakup of Gondwana and the opening of the Southern Ocean, wildly changing ocean ecosystems, productivity, and temperature gradients. The timing of this second radiation event is not coincidental, as the following diversification of cetaceans was likely due to new ecological opportunities the change in oceans gave them. The final major radiation event, occurring throughout the middle Miocene and into the Pliocene (12 Mya to 2 Mya), was not due to a specific event but is associated with widespread generic expansion of odontocetes and mysticetes. Some modern genera of cetaceans began to emerge, including Balaenoptera, a genus of rorquals that includes the blue whale. Delphinidae, ocean dolphins, also arose during this radiation event in the late Miocene.

Culture

Culture is group-specific behavior transferred by social learning. Tool use to aid with foraging is one example. Whether or not a dolphin uses a tool affects its eating behavior, which causes differences in diet. Also, using a tool allows a new niche and new prey to open up for that particular dolphin. Due to these differences, fitness levels change within the dolphins of a population, which further causes evolution to occur in the long run. Culture and social networks have played a large role in the evolution of modern cetaceans, as concluded in studies showing dolphins preferring mates with the same socially learned behaviors, and humpback whales using songs between breeding areas. For dolphins particularly, the largest non-genetic effects on their evolution are due to culture and social structure.

Based on a 2014 study, the population of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.) around Shark Bay of Western Australia can be divided into spongers and nonspongers. Spongers put sea sponges on their snouts as protection against abrasions from sharp objects, stingray barbs, or toxic organisms. The sponges also help the dolphins target fish without swim bladders, since echolocation cannot detect these fish easily against a complex background. Spongers also specifically forage in deep channels, but nonspongers are found foraging in both deep and shallow channels. This foraging behavior is mainly passed on from mother to child. Therefore, since this is a group behavior being passed down by social learning, this tool use is considered a cultural trait.

Researchers in a 2014 study in Shark Bay found the fatty acid analyses between the West and East Gulf populations to differ, which is due to the two areas having different food sources. However, when comparing data from within the West Gulf, the spongers vs. the nonspongers in the deep channels had very different fatty acid results even though they are in the same habitat. Nonspongers from deep and shallow channels had similar data. This suggests that sponging was the cause of the different data and not the deep vs. shallow channels. Sponging opened up a new niche for the dolphins and allowed them access to new prey, which caused long-term dietary changes. By producing different food sources within a population, there is less intrapopulation competition for resources, showing character displacement. As a result, the carrying capacity increases since the entire population does not depend on one food source. The fitness levels within the population also change, thus allowing this culture to evolve.

Social structure
Social structure forms groups with individuals that interact with one another, and this allows for cultural traits to emerge, exchange, and evolve. This relationship is especially seen in the bottlenose dolphin populations in southwestern Australia, which have been known to beg for food from fishermen. This begging behavior was spread through the population due to individual (dolphins spending time around boats) and social (dolphins spending time with other dolphins who express begging behavior) learning.

Culture can, however, impact social structure by causing behavior matching and assortive mating. Individuals within a certain culture are more likely to mate with individuals using the same behaviors rather than a random individual, thus influencing social groups and structure. For example, the spongers of Shark Bay preferentially stick with other spongers. Also, some bottlenose dolphins in Moreton Bay, Australia followed prawn trawlers to feed on their debris, while other dolphins in the same population did not. The dolphins preferentially associated with individuals with same behavior even though they all lived in the same habitat. Later on, prawn trawlers were no longer present, and the dolphins integrated into one social network after a couple of years.

Social networks can still affect and cause evolution on their own by impending fitness differences on individuals. According to a 2012 study, male calves had a lower survival rate if they had stronger bonds with juvenile males. However, when other age and sex classes were tested, their survival rate did not significantly change. This suggests that juvenile males impose a social stress on their younger counterparts. In fact, it has been documented that juvenile males commonly perform acts of aggression, dominance, and intimidation against the male calves. According to a 2010 study, certain populations of Shark Bay dolphins had varying levels of fitness and calf success. This is either due to social learning (whether or not the mother passed on her knowledge of reproductive ability to the calves), or due to the strong association between mother dolphins in the population; by sticking in a group, an individual mother does not need to be as vigilant all the time for predators.

Genetic studies conducted on Clymene dolphins (Stenella clymene) focused on their natural histories, and the results show that the origin of the species was actually an outcome of hybrid speciation. Hybridization between spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) and striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) in the North Atlantic was caused by constant habitat sharing of the two species. Relationships between these three species had been speculated according to notable resemblances between anatomies of the Clymene and the spinner dolphins, resulting in the former being regarded as subspecies of the latter until 1981, and the possibility of the Clymene dolphin as a hybrid between the spinner and the striped dolphins have come to question based on anatomical and behavioral similarities between these two species.

Environmental factors
Genome sequences done in 2013 revealed that the Yangtze river dolphin, or "baiji" (Lipotes vexillifer), lacks single nucleotide polymorphisms in their genome. After reconstructing the history of the baiji genome for this dolphin species, researchers found that the major decrease in genetic diversity occurred most likely due to a bottleneck event during the last deglaciation event. During this time period, sea levels were rising while global temperatures were increasing. Other historical climate events can be correlated and matched with the genome history of the Yangtze river dolphin as well. This shows how global and local climate change can drastically affect a genome, leading to changes in fitness, survival, and evolution of a species.

The European population of common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) in the Mediterranean have differentiated into two types: eastern and western. According to a 2012 study, this seems to be due to a recent bottleneck as well, which drastically decreased the size of the eastern Mediterranean population. Also, the lack of population structure between the western and eastern regions seems contradictory of the distinct population structures between other regions of dolphins. Even though the dolphins in the Mediterranean area had no physical barrier between their regions, they still differentiated into two types due to ecology and biology. Therefore, the differences between the eastern and western dolphins most likely stems from highly specialized niche choice rather than just physical barriers. Through this, environment plays a large role in the differentiation and evolution of this dolphin species.

The divergence and speciation within bottlenose dolphins has been largely due to climate and environmental changes over history. According to research, the divisions within the genus correlate with periods of rapid climate change. For example, the changing temperatures could cause the coast landscape to change, niches to empty up, and opportunities for separation to appear. In the Northeast Atlantic, specifically, genetic evidence suggests that the bottlenose dolphins have differentiated into coastal and pelagic types. Divergence seems most likely due to a founding event where a large group separated. Following this event, the separate groups adapted accordingly and formed their own niche specializations and social structures. These differences caused the two groups to diverge and to remain separated.

Two endemic, distinctive types of short-finned pilot whale, Tappanaga (or Shiogondou) the larger, northern type and Magondou the smaller, southern type, can be found along the Japanese archipelago where distributions of these two types mostly do not overlap by the oceanic front border around the easternmost point of Honshu. It is thought that the local extinction of long-finned pilot whales in the North Pacific in the 12th century could have triggered the appearance of Tappanaga, causing short-finned pilot whales to colonize the colder ranges of the long-finned variant. Whales with similar characteristics to the Tappanaga can be found along Vancouver Island and northern US coasts as well.

title: Evolution of cetaceans


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Lynn Arnold

Personal

Married to Elaine (née Palmer), they have five children and (as at 2024) eight grandchildren.

Lynn Maurice Ferguson Arnold, AO (born 27 January 1949) is an Anglican priest and a former Australian politician, who represented the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party, serving as Premier of South Australia between 4 September 1992 and 14 December 1993, during the 11 years of Labor government which ended in a landslide defeat of his government at the 1993 election.

After leaving politics, Arnold worked for World Vision from 1997 to 2007, and for Anglicare SA after March 2008. In November 2013, he was ordained as a deacon in the Anglican Church. In December 2014, he was ordained a priest in St Peter's Cathedral, Adelaide.

Political career
Entering in Parliament as member for Salisbury on 15 September 1979, Arnold became a Minister after the election of the John Bannon Labor Government in 1982. He served as Minister of Education, Tertiary Education, Agriculture and State Development. He held the seat of Salisbury until it was abolished on 6 December 1985, and then represented Ramsay from 7 December 1985 to 11 December 1993.

Arnold was elected Labor leader and Premier of South Australia in September 1992, following the resignation of John Bannon after the $3.1 billion collapse of the State Bank of South Australia. However, the change of leader did not appease the simmering voter anger against Labor ahead of a statutory general election due for 1993. A warning sign came at the March 1993 federal election, which saw two of Labor's longest-standing federal strongholds fall to the Liberals. Hindmarsh was won by a non-Labor member for the first time since 1919 and only the second time ever, while Grey was won by the conservatives for only the second time in 50 years.

Arnold waited as long as he could, finally calling an election for 11 December. That resulted in the 11-year Labor government being swept out of office in a massive swing to the Liberal Party led by Dean Brown. Labor suffered an 8.9%, 14-seat swing, and its share of the two-party-preferred vote was reduced to 39.1%. That was mainly because Labor was decimated in its long-time stronghold in Adelaide, losing all but nine seats in the capital. Arnold was elected in the newly created seat of Taylor.

Most commentators did not blame Arnold for the landslide defeat and believed Labor would have been heavily defeated regardless of who was leading the party. Almost a year after the election, Arnold resigned as Labor leader, and left politics. He was succeeded as Labor leader by his deputy, Mike Rann, who had earlier succeeded him in Ramsay. Arnold's resignation led to a by-election for Taylor on 5 November 1994, at which Trish White retained the seat for Labor.

Life after politics
In August 2003, Arnold received a Ph.D. in sociolinguistics from the University of Adelaide (Graduate School of Education). In his doctoral thesis he drew a number of conclusions that were based on the study of the language of Asturianu (also known as Bable), spoken in the northern Spanish province known as the Principau d’Asturies.

Arnold was Chief Executive of the humanitarian organisation World Vision Australia from 1997 until 2003. In 2003, he was appointed Regional Vice President of World Vision International for the Asia Pacific Region, based in Bangkok, Thailand. In October 2006, he was appointed Senior Director (Board Development & Peer Review) for World Vision International, heading a team assisting World Vision boards and advisory councils in the development of their governance capacity, and also for administering peer review programs in World Vision partnerships.

On 8 December 2007, the Anglican Archbishop of Adelaide, the Most Revd Jeffrey Driver, announced Arnold's appointment as Chief Executive of Anglicare SA, and he served in that role from 18 March 2008 to 30 June 2012. He left to explore ordination to the Anglican priesthood, and was succeeded by the Reverend Peter Sandeman.

Arnold was ordained as a deacon in Adelaide in November 2013. In December 2014, he was ordained a priest by the Archbishop of Adelaide, and is currently serving as Assistant Priest at St Peter's Cathedral, Adelaide.

He was chair of the Don Dunstan Foundation from 2010 to June 2020, when Jane Lomax-Smith was announced as the new chair. Arnold remains on the Board as Director and Patron.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Lynn Arnold


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Altmark incident

The Altmark incident (Norwegian: Altmark-affæren; German: Altmark-Zwischenfall) was a naval incident of World War II between British destroyers and the German tanker Altmark, which happened on 16–17 February 1940. It took place in what were neutral Norwegian waters. On board the Altmark were roughly 300 Allied prisoners (officially internees), whose ships had been sunk by the pocket battleship Graf Spee in the Southern Atlantic Ocean.

British naval forces cornered the tanker, and later the destroyer HMS Cossack boarded the Altmark near the Jøssingfjord and liberated all the prisoners. Eight German sailors were killed and ten wounded during hand-to-hand fighting, which took place during the boarding. A British sailor was also wounded during the fighting. The German government claimed that the boarding had been a violation of international law and of Norwegian neutrality and later used the incident in the propaganda broadcasts of "Lord Haw-Haw".

Background
In February 1940, the German tanker GERMAN TANKER Altmark was returning to Germany with 299 captured British sailors on board. These were prisoners of war who had been picked up from ships sunk by the pocket battleship GERMAN CRUISER Admiral Graf Spee.

On its way from the southern Atlantic to Germany, the Altmark passed through Norwegian waters. International law did not ban the transfer of prisoners of war through neutral waters. On the insistence of British contacts who had been pursuing the vessel, it was investigated three times on 15 February by the Royal Norwegian Navy. First, the tanker was boarded by officers from the torpedo boat HNoMS Trygg, off Linesøya, then by officers from the torpedo boat HNoMS Snøgg in the Sognefjord, and finally personally by Admiral Carsten Tank-Nielsen and naval personnel from the destroyer HNoMS Garm in the Hjeltefjord. In each instance, the men who boarded the ship carried out cursory searches and took the Germans' word that the vessel was conducting purely commercial business. The British prisoners held in the ship's hold reportedly made strenuous efforts to signal their presence, but the Norwegian search parties did not inspect the hold, and allowed the ship to continue on its way.

Following the third boarding, Altmark was escorted southwards by the torpedo boats HNoMS Skarv and HNoMS Kjell and the guard boat HNoMS Firern.

Incident
Altmark was then spotted off Egersund later that same day by British aircraft, which raised the alarm in the Royal Navy. The aircraft were stationed at RAF Thornaby, in the North East of England. After being intercepted by the destroyer HMS Cossack (F03), captained by Philip Vian, Altmark sought refuge in the Jøssingfjord, but Cossack followed her in the next day. The Altmark 's Norwegian naval escorts blocked initial attempts to board the ship, and aimed their torpedo tubes at the Cossack. Captain Vian then asked the British Admiralty for instructions, and received the following orders directly from the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill:

"Unless Norwegian torpedo-boat undertakes to convoy Altmark to Bergen with a joint Anglo-Norwegian guard on board, and a joint escort, you should board Altmark, liberate the prisoners, and take possession of the ship pending further instructions. If Norwegian torpedo-boat interferes, you should warn her to stand off. If she fires upon you, you should not reply unless attack is serious, in which case you should defend yourself, using no more force than is necessary, and ceasing fire when she desists. Suggest to Norwegian destroyer that honour is served by submitting to superior force."

The British government made no particular objection to the fact of a prison ship traversing neutral waters. In fact, in official papers regarding the incident, they noted the fact that the Royal Navy had done the same, for example in December 1939, when the cruiser HMS Despatch (D30) passed through the Panama Canal, which was neutral waters, with German prisoners aboard from the freighter Düsseldorf. But the crew of the Altmark had gone hundreds of miles out of their way to make the long run through Norwegian waters to Germany. Besides, the Norwegian government had not permitted the Germans to transport prisoners through Norwegian waters (the Altmark having falsely claimed to be carrying none), and the HMS Despatch (D30) crew had been truthful regarding the nature of their cargo and voyage.

The Norwegian naval forces refused to take part in a joint escort and reiterated that their earlier searches of Altmark had found nothing. Vian then stated that he intended to board Altmark and invited the Norwegians to take part, but that was also refused. In the ensuing action, Altmark ran aground. The British then boarded her at 22:20 on 16 February and, after some hand-to-hand fighting with bayonet, overwhelmed the ship's crew and went down to the hold. One of the released prisoners stated that the first they knew of the operation was when they heard the shout "any Englishmen here?" from the boarding party. When the prisoners shouted back "yes! We are all British!", the response was "well, the Navy's here!", which brought cheers.

This incident is frequently cited as the last Royal Navy action with cutlasses. However, the HMS Cossack Association do not believe this to be true. Barton and McGrath, the authors of British Naval Swords and Swordsmanship, also think that is dubious and point out that Frischauer and Jackson, the authors of The Altmark Affair, interviewed a large number of the crew, none of whom verified the use of cutlasses. Barton and McGrath suggest that idea may have originated from German accusations that the British were "sea-pirates". However, Jim Rhodes, a former crew member of Cossack, wrote in the April 2002 newsletter of the Association that he had witnessed a cutlass being carried by one of the boarding party. Rhodes had not taken part in the action, had watched from B Gun deck and had been too far to identify the cutlass holder. Rhodes stated that four cutlasses had been kept on board for ceremonial purposes.

Seven German sailors were killed, and eleven wounded during the fighting, six seriously. The German dead were buried in Sogndal Cemetery above Jøssingfjord. HMS Cossack left the Jøssingfjord just after midnight on 17 February. The Norwegian escorts protested but did not intervene. The official explanation later given by the Norwegian government was that according to international treaty, a neutral country was not obliged to resist a vastly-superior force.

Aftermath
The Norwegians were angered that their neutrality had been infringed, as they did not want to be dragged into the war. Nonetheless, the Altmark incident sowed doubts about Norwegian neutrality among the Allies and in Germany. Adolf Hitler, who earlier had decided on 14 December 1939 on the invasion of Norway after discussions with Admiral Erich Raeder and Vidkun Quisling, ordered intensified planning on 19 February 1940 for attacks on Norway and Denmark, which eventually took place on 9 April 1940 under the code name Operation Weserübung. However, as noted by the British politician Maurice Hankey, the incident "does not seem to have given Hitler the pretext he was seeking for launching an invasion of Norway".

The Altmark incident gave the British a short-lived but sorely-needed morale boost during the Phoney War. The incident also had a lasting propaganda effect in German-occupied Norway during the war, when the Norwegian collaborationist government tried to neutralise its nickname "quislings" by using the location of the skirmish, Jøssingfjord, to coin the derogatory term "jøssing", referring to pro-Allies and anti-Nazis. The efforts backfired, as "jøssing" was immediately adopted as a positive term by the general public, and it was banned from official use by 1943.

The phrase "the Navy's here" became well known in Britain and was used as the title of a book about the incident; the publisher referred to "the simple statement which stirred the imagination of the world". A popular song was written by Ross Parker and Hughie Charles and saluted the incident by comparing it with those of Drake, Nelson, Beatty and Fisher.

title: Altmark incident


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Dean Brown

Dean Craig Brown, AO (born 5 April 1943) is a politician who served as the Premier of South Australia between 14 December 1993 and 28 November 1996, and also served as 10th Deputy Premier of South Australia between 22 October 2001 and 5 March 2002, representing the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia. He became premier when he led the party to a landslide win at the 1993 state election, and lost the office when he lost a leadership challenge to John Olsen in November 1996.

Early life
Prior to entering politics Brown was a research scientist. Brown holds a Bachelor of Rural Science, Diploma in Business Administration, and he earned a Master of Rural Science at the University of New England.

Political career
Dean Brown's political career was marked by his rivalry with John Olsen, the two representing the moderate and conservative wings of the South Australian Liberal Party respectively. He was first elected to the House of Assembly for the safe Liberal seat of Davenport in east Adelaide on 10 March 1973, and joined the Liberal Movement faction of the party. He served in the ministry of David Tonkin from 1979 to 1982. After Tonkin lost the 1982 election and retired from politics, Brown ran in the ensuing leadership contest, losing to Olsen. For the 1985 election, an electoral redistribution left both Brown and Stan Evans, the member for Fisher, vying for Liberal preselection in Davenport. In the ensuing factional battle (Evans is a member of the conservative wing), Brown won preselection, but Evans remained in the race as an "Independent Liberal." At the election, Brown suffered a swing of 30 percent on the primary vote and 24 percent on the two-party vote, enough to lose the seat to Evans.

Dean Brown returned to politics in 1992. The Labor government of John Bannon was embarrassed by the losses of the State Bank of South Australia, but incumbent Opposition Leader Dale Baker was unable to capitalize. Baker resigned and called a spill for all leadership positions. It initially appeared that Olsen, who had been appointed to the Australian Senate after losing the 1989 state election, would return to his old post with little difficulty. The Liberal Party's conservative faction persuaded former Deputy Premier Roger Goldsworthy to resign his safe seat of Kavel and hand it to Olsen, and Baker intended to hand the leadership back to Olsen as soon as he was securely back in the legislature. However, a number of moderate Liberals were unwilling to let Olsen take the leadership unopposed. They persuaded leading party moderate Ted Chapman to stand down from his equally safe seat of Alexandra on the Fleurieu Peninsula and hand it to Brown so he could challenge Olsen for the leadership. This allowed both Brown and Olsen to re-enter parliament at by-elections on the same day, the 1992 Kavel by-election and 1992 Alexandra by-election respectively. In the ensuing ballot, Brown narrowly defeated Olsen.

Bannon retired in late 1992 and was succeeded by Lynn Arnold. However, Arnold was unable to change Labor's fortunes, and Brown went into the 1993 election as an unbackable favorite to be the state's next premier. At that election, Brown led the Liberals to one of the biggest landslides ever recorded at the state level in Australia. They took 14 seats from Labor and won a record 60.9 percent of the two-party vote. They also won all but nine seats in Adelaide, Labor's power base for more than half a century—in some cases, taking seats where Labor had not been seriously threatened in decades. At this election, Brown was elected for Finniss, a reconfigured version of Alexandra. With a 14-seat majority—the largest in South Australia's history—Brown seemed to be in a formidable position. Indeed, there was talk that the Liberals would be in power for a generation.

However, he had considerable difficulty reining in his large party room, which was torn by the factional battles that have long plagued the SA Liberals. He didn't seem to project an image of confident leadership. By late 1996, the Liberals' poll numbers were in clear decline. Well aware that the Liberals had a year at most to recover before the next election, two prominent moderate backbenchers, Joan Hall and Graham Ingerson, the latter having briefly served as Brown's deputy in Opposition, threw their support to Olsen. With Hall and Ingerson's backing, Olsen launched a successful party-room coup against Brown in November. Hall had been a staffer to then Opposition Leader Brown prior to the 1993 election which saw Hall being elected to Parliament. However despite Hall having previously worked on his staff, Brown as Premier did not promote Hall to his ministry and as a retaliation Hall switched her support to Olsen.

Brown became the first premier to leave office without facing an election since Crawford Vaughan.

As a concession to Brown, Olsen named Brown as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs in his government. After the Liberals were narrowly returned at the 1997 election, Brown became Minister for Human Services.

After Olsen was forced to resign as premier in 2001, Brown sought to regain the premiership but lost out to Deputy Premier Rob Kerin. As a concession to Brown, Kerin named Brown deputy leader of the Liberal Party, and hence Deputy Premier. He took on the added portfolios of Disability Services and Ageing. After the Liberal Party lost government at the 2002 election, Brown became Deputy Opposition Leader until 2005 when he announced that he would leave politics at the 2006 election, and resigned the deputy leadership.

In October 2007, Brown was appointed special drought adviser to South Australian Premier Mike Rann.

title: Dean Brown


text:
User:Mk270

I have abandoned Wikipedia.

It cannot be fixed.

Having attempted to edit Wikipedia quietly, on and off, for seventeen years, and having had nothing but hassle (and an incredibly time-consuming battle to keep racist pseudoscientific lunacy out of the article on the Hungarian language), I see further contribution as actively harmful and wasteful of my time.

The behaviour of Wikipedia in relation to Johann Hari was equally disgraceful.

Mk270 (talk) 05:36, 6 June 2020 (UTC)

title: User:Mk270


text:
Liberalism in Armenia

This article gives an overview of liberalism in Armenia. It is limited to liberal parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had representation in the National Assembly of Armenia.

Background
Prior to Armenia's independence, a national liberal movement arose in the country. Armenia officially gained its independence in 1991 from the Soviet Union. Following which, there were some attempts to establish a national liberal movement, however, these initial attempts were largely unsuccessful.

History
Below is a list of Liberal parties which sought to gain support during the turn of the nineteenth to the twentieth century:

From Armenakan Party to Democratic Liberal Party

 * 1885: National liberals formed the Armenakan Party.
 * 1908: The Armenakan Party merged with a faction of the Reorganised Hunchak Party into the Ramgavar Party.
 * 1918: A liberal anti-violence faction of the Reorganised Hunchak Party' formed the Liberal Party (Azadagan Party).
 * 1921: The Ramgavar Party merged in exile with the Liberal Party into the Democratic Liberal Party (Ramgavar Azadagan Party). This party continued operating in exile and is said to be represented in the first parliament after Armenian independence in the 1990s.

Recent developments

 * The 2018 Armenian revolution sparked a wave of protests calling for an end to political corruption and to strengthen democratic values in Armenia. The protests brought an end to the rule of the Republican Party of Armenia, which had been in power from 1995 to 2017.
 * During the revolution, the Way Out Alliance had emerged as a liberal political alliance. The alliance had a Pro-European orientation and believed that Armenia should have closer relations with the European Union. Nikol Pashinyan was the main figurehead and leader of the Way Out Alliance.
 * Prior to the 2018 Armenian parliamentary election, Pashinyan formed a new liberal democrat alliance called the My Step Alliance. Following the election, the alliance won 88 seats in the National Assembly and Pashinyan was appointed Prime Minister of Armenia on 9 May 2018.
 * Meanwhile, Bright Armenia, another liberal party, became the third largest party in the National Assembly following the elections. The party maintained a Classical Liberal ideology. The party opposed Armenia's membership in the Eurasian Union and supported Armenia's full membership in the EU and wished to begin the first steps of accession negotiations without delay. It is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party. The party is also an affiliated member of the European Liberal Forum through their education program, the Institute of Liberal Politics.
 * Following the 2021 Armenian parliamentary election, Nikol Pashinyan's centrist liberal Civil Contract party, retained a majority in the National Assembly.
 * The Liberal Party was founded in March 2021 and also participated in the elections, winning just 1.17% of the vote.

European orientation

 * Armenia is a full member of the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights, the EU's Eastern Partnership and the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly; all of which support the development and maintenance of democratic values in Armenia.
 * Some other political parties, which do not have current representation in the National Assembly, also advocate for closer European integration of Armenia and strengthening of liberal democratic values in the country. This includes the European Party of Armenia, For The Republic Party, Free Democrats, Heritage, Republic Party, Liberal Democratic Union of Armenia and the Rule of Law Party.
 * In November 2017, a new Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement was signed by Armenia and the EU. The agreement includes provisions to further improve human rights and strengthening democratic reforms in Armenia. The agreement was ratified and entered into force on 1 March 2021.

title: Liberalism in Armenia


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Susanthika Jayasinghe

Deshabandu Kameradin Susanthika Jayasinghe (සුසන්තිකා ජයසිංහ; Tamil: சுசந்திகா ஜயசிங்ஹ, born December 17, 1975) is a Sri Lankan retired sprinter, who specialised in the 100 and 200 metres. She won the Olympic silver medal for the 200m event in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, the second Sri Lankan to win an Olympic medal after Duncan White and the first Asian woman to win an Olympic or World Championship medal in a sprint event. She is also the only Asian athlete to have claimed an Olympic medal in sprint events. She is also the first and only Sri Lankan to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships. Her silver medal achievement at the 2000 Sydney Olympics also stood as the only Olympic medal for a South Asian in athletics event for 21 years before Neeraj Chopra's gold medal achievement at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She is fondly nicknamed as the Asian Black Mare. She has represented Sri Lanka at the Olympics on three occasions in 1996, 2000 and 2008. She is considered one of the most decorated sprinters in Sri Lanka. However, she is also a deemed as a controversial figure in Sri Lanka.

She became a victim of politics during the peak of her career as many politicians and sports officials attempted to take credit for her medal achievements despite not supporting her prior to competing at the events. She was embroiled in political controversies including a series of false doping allegations, standoff with politicians, seven year old murder trials against her former spouse and sexual harassment. She was also sidelined for major part of her career due to injury concerns and also endured a troubled marriage life.

Early years
Jayasinghe was born in Ethnawala, Warakapola, Uduwaka, Sri Lanka. She was born as the fifth and youngest child in her family. She was brought up in a poor family in a small village 60 kilometres north of Colombo, where running spikes cost more than the average month's wage, she had no access to proper sports equipment or coaches.

Her father who served as a bus driver at the Ceylon Transport Board had eventually lost his job by the time she was born. The burden fell on the shoulders of her mother who cut rubber trees to run the family. Later on Susanthika too lent a helping hand to her family by rolling beedi. She earned around Rs. 22.50 by selling about 15000 beedis within four days. Despite the financial tussles, she pursued her primary education at the Uduwaka Junior School. She later switched to Athnawala Maha Vidyalaya to continue her studies.

She was encouraged to take up athletics by an army officer who watched her closely when she was running in an inter-school competition at the age of 16. The army officer who watched her event as a spectator recommended her to join Sri Lanka Army soon after completing the school education. She agreed his offer and signed up as a volunteer recruit and also trained hard in athletics while being attached with the army.

She enlisted in the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force to pursue her athletic career, and was attached to the 3rd Battalion, Sri Lanka Army Women's Corps (SLAWC) as a Private. In 1994, she competed in the All Island Athletic Championship from a team from the SLAWC and won the best player trophy.

Professional athletics career
She rose to prominence at the age of 18 after claiming a gold in 200m and a silver in 100m events during the 1994 Asian Junior Championships which was held in Jakarta.

She thereafter joined the Sri Lankan national athletic squad competing in the 1994 Asian Games. She made her South Asian Games debut at the age of 15 during the 1995 edition and claimed gold medals in 100m and 200m sprint events. She also got due recognition for her silver medal performances in 100m events at the Australian Open and Taipei Open in 1995.

She made her maiden Olympic appearance at the age of 20 representing Sri Lanka at the 1996 Summer Olympics and competed in the women's 100m event. She clinched silver medal in the women's 200m race at the 1997 World Championships. She also became the first Sri Lankan to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships.

With no support from her national athletics association, she had to go heavily into debt to reach the Olympics. She faced severe financial constraints and mental challenges before her journey to the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She even auctioned and sold out all her trophies in order to raise adequate funds to buy tickets with the intention of training in the USA prior to the Sydney Olympics.

She qualified to take part at the 2000 Summer Olympics after winning the 100m sprint event at the National Athletics Championships. Notably, she competed in her first track event at the home soil after a gap of 2 years as she was sidelined for several months after sustaining a hamstring injury.

Just a month prior to the scheduled Olympic event, she bettered her own national record in 200m sprint event twice within just 2 days at the 25th National Sports Festival in August 2000. She also went onto claim gold medals in both 100m and 200m events at the 2000 National Sports Festival in her comeback return to the field after successfully recovering from a hamstring injury which ruled her out for several months.

In the women's 200 meters at the 2000 Summer Olympics, she finished behind Marion Jones and Pauline Davis-Thompson to win the bronze medal and became Sri Lanka's first Olympic medalist since 1948. On October 5, 2007, Jones admitted to having taken performance-enhancing drugs prior to the Olympics, and Jayasinghe was later awarded the silver medal.

Jayasinghe was suspended from competition in April 1998 for failing a drug test that she claimed was rigged because of her political beliefs and a falling out with a Sports Ministry official. She was later cleared of the offense. During a press conference for the women's 200m medalists at the 2000 Olympics, when asked whether her country would be proud of her, she said in a quiet voice:

"I can't explain. You wouldn't understand. They give me, trouble, trouble, trouble. I give them bronze medal. It'll make them sad... It was trouble with me. Doping and sexual harassment." She alleged during a live segment on Lasantha Wickrematunge's show that the minister S. B. Dissanayake had attempted to sexually harass her. Later, Jayasinghe claimed that she did not specifically accuse Minister Dissanayaka. The television program where Susie made her allegations against S. B. Dissanayake which was aired on TNL TV was suspended after the involvement of powerful politicians.

She then went on to speak of officials coming to her house, giving her a drug test and refusing to seal the urine specimen with her watching. She refused to sign the release. Later they told her she had tested positive for nandrolone. By the time she was cleared, she was no longer welcome by her country's sporting establishment.

After returning home with her Olympic medal she was attacked by a male athlete because, she believed, she had been supporting former government members in an election campaign. It was believed that she reportedly wore a yellow ribbon around her wrist during the 2000 Summer Olympics women's 200m final and also during the medal ceremony in a show of support for a political movement. The Government of Sri Lanka failed to deliver an hero's welcome when she returned from Sydney with her bronze medal and instead the politicians of the government made scathing attack on her.

However, after her medal achievement she was supported by a national fundraising drive in her homeland. She visited Los Angeles to train with Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam (Asian Games Gold Medalist in the high jump in 1958, and two time Olympian in the high jump, in 1952 and 1956). In May 2001, she also underwent a four-month training stint from American coach Tony Campbell before competing at the 2001 World Athletics Championships.

She was the flag bearer for Sri Lanka during the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics. She was slated to be on the entry list for the women's 100 metres but a fracture in her right leg caused her to pull out from the competition. She continued to struggle with injury concerns throughout 2005 and returned to action in 2006. On her comeback return she claimed gold medal in women's 200m event at the 2006 South Asian Games.

Shortly thereafter, she won gold medals in the 100 m and 200 m at the 2007 Asian Athletics Championships in Jordan and a bronze medal in the 200 m race at the 2007 IAAF World Championships. It was her first World Championship medal in 10 years. On 13 August 2007 she was ranked by the IAAF as 18th in the world for the 100 m sprint and 20th in the world for the 200 m sprint.

She also appeared as the flagbearer for Sri Lanka in both the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics. She became the first and only Sri Lankan athlete to have appeared as a flagbearer in two Olympic events.

On February 5, 2009, Jayasinghe announced her retirement from sports  in order to focus on becoming a mother. On March 31, 2009, she gave birth to a baby boy.

In November 2010, she announced her plan to return to competition.

Honours
She was awarded the Most Outstanding Sportswoman of the Year in 2008 by the then Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse.

She was conferred with the prestigious Deshabandu title during the 2017 Sri Lankan national honours by the then President Maithripala Sirisena.

Post-sports career
Jayasinghe contested the 2010 general election from the Kegalle district from the United People's Freedom Alliance, however failed to secure a seat. In 2016, she was appointed as a paid adviser in the Ministry of Sports for selecting and training prospective track athletes. In June 2017, she attempted to sell her silver medal due to suspension of her Sports Ministry pay. She accused the state and government officials of continuously neglecting her despite her Olympic achievement. She has also been a vocal critic of Sri Lanka Athletics Federation administrators over the years for the lackluster performances by Sri Lanka in athletics.

She accompanied the Sri Lankan Athletics contingent for the 2019 South Asian Games where unexpectedly Sri Lanka eclipsed the medal tally of India in athletics events during the Kathmandu South Asian Games and it also marked the first instance of Sri Lanka with a higher medal achievement than India in athletics at a South Asian Games competition after a gap of 15 years.

Personal life
She married her sports trainer Dhammika Nandakumara on 17 November 2000 at the Ambepussa Rest House. Susanthika was engaged to him in 1994 and the official wedding was arranged for them after a gap of six years following the silver medal achievement for her.

In 2016, she was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the Diyatalawa Hospital after being diagnosed with dengue. In 2016, her husband was arrested for assaulting her. She was hospitalised and was discharged soon after. She has one son and one daughter.

On 14 September 2021, she along with her two children were tested positive for COVID-19 after undergoing a PCR test.

title: Susanthika Jayasinghe


text:
John Olsen

John Wayne Olsen, AO (born 7 June 1945) is an Australian former politician, diplomat and football commissioner. He was Premier of South Australia between 28 November 1996 and 22 October 2001. He is now President of the Federal Liberal Party, Chairman of the Australian American Association, Chairman of the Adelaide Football Club and Deputy Chairman of the Adelaide Oval Stadium Management Authority.

Olsen was twice the parliamentary leader of the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia in the South Australian House of Assembly, from 1982 to 1990 and again from 1996 to 2001. He unsuccessfully led the party to both the 1985 election and 1989 election. After the 1989 election he left South Australian parliament to fill a casual vacancy in the Australian Senate. He returned to the South Australian parliament in 1992, but was defeated for the Liberal party leadership by Dean Brown.

However, in 1996, Olsen successfully challenged Brown for the Liberal leadership, and hence became Premier. He led the party to a narrow victory at the 1997 election, and remained Premier until 2001. He was resigned in 2001, after he was found to have misled parliament during the Motorola affair. Olsen is the longest-serving Liberal Party of Australia Premier of South Australia and the fourth-longest-serving Leader of the Opposition.

After politics Olsen worked as a diplomat and political lobbyist. He became the State President of the South Australian Liberal Party in June 2017. He previously held that position from 1976 to 1979. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in January 2007.

Early life
Olsen was born on 7 June 1945 in Kadina, South Australia, the son of Joyce Rosalind (née Heath) and Stanley John Olsen, and the nephew of South Australian Politician Leslie Heath. When he was 18, his father suffered a fatal heart attack while driving the family speedboat. He attended Kadina Memorial High School, later completing a certificate in business studies at the University of Adelaide and becoming a fellow of the National Institute of Accountants.

Olsen began his working career in 1962 as a clerk with the Savings Bank of South Australia. He later became managing director of the family business J. R. Olsen & Sons Pty Ltd, a car and machinery dealer. He served as president of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of South Australia from 1974 to 1976.

Political career
Olsen was elected to the Kadina Town Council in 1971. He served as mayor from 1974 to 1977, reputedly "South Australia's youngest ever mayor". He was the final mayor before the town was merged into the District Council of Kadina.

In 1976, Olsen was elected president of the Liberal Party of Australia (South Australian Division), serving until 1979. He was first elected to the South Australian House of Assembly at the 1979 election as a Liberal in the Barossa Valley seat of Rocky River. He represented this seat, renamed Custance at the 1985 election, until 1990.

Olsen's political career was marked by a bitter rivalry with Dean Brown, the two representing the conservative and moderate wings of the South Australian Liberal Party respectively. After the 1982 election and the electoral defeat and retirement of David Tonkin, Olsen defeated Brown for the state Liberal Party leadership and became Leader of the Opposition. Up against the Labor premier John Bannon, Olsen lost both the 1985 election and 1989 election. In the latter election, the Liberals won a majority of the two-party vote (52 percent) with a five-seat swing. However, most of that majority was wasted on landslides in the Liberals' rural heartland. Even with the likely support of the one National Party MP, the Liberals were still one seat short of making Olsen Premier.

Olsen resigned as state Liberal leader soon after the election and returned to the backbench. He was appointed to the Australian Senate in 1990 to fill a casual vacancy caused by the resignation of Tony Messner.

However, in 1992, after less than two years in the Senate, he resigned to return to state politics. The Bannon government was under pressure from the collapse of the State Bank of South Australia. However, Olsen's successor as state Liberal leader, Dale Baker, was unable to gain significant ground. Baker resigned as state Liberal leader in 1992 and called a spill for all leadership positions, intending to hand the leadership back to Olsen as soon as he was securely back in the legislature. To facilitate this, former Deputy Premier Roger Goldsworthy, a leading member of the Liberals' right wing, resigned his seat of Kavel, based on Mount Barker, and handed it to Olsen. However, several members of the party's moderate wing were unwilling to see Olsen take the leadership uncontested. They arranged for leading party moderate Ted Chapman to give up his seat of Alexandra and hand it to Brown so Brown could challenge for the leadership. Olsen returned to the House of Assembly at the 1992 Kavel by-election, on the same day as Brown at the 1992 Alexandra by-election. This time, Brown narrowly defeated Olsen in the leadership ballot, and thus became premier when the Liberals won the 1993 election in a landslide where the Liberals won 37 of the 47 seats available, the most that any party has won since the abolition of the Playmander. Olsen became Minister for Industry and Minister for Infrastructure until 1997, when a cabinet reshuffle saw him become Minister for Information Technology and Minister for Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs.

Soon after taking office, Olsen led negotiations with Motorola to build a software centre in Adelaide. Motorola decided to open the centre in April after winning a number of incentives, including becoming the supplier for a government radio network, and a contract was signed in June. During a September Question Time, Olsen stated that there had been no discussions with Motorola about the radio contract. This statement would ultimately prove to be his undoing.

Premier
By late 1996, however, the Liberals' poll numbers under Brown were stagnating in the face of factional battles and concerns about the slow pace of reform. With a statutory general election due in 1997, two prominent Liberal moderate backbenchers, Joan Hall (wife of former Premier Steele Hall) and Graham Ingerson (who had briefly served as Brown's deputy in Opposition), threw their support to Olsen. With Hall and Ingerson's support, Olsen challenged Brown for the party leadership in November 1996. This time, he succeeded and was sworn in as Premier, with Ingerson as his deputy.

During the ensuing 1997 election campaign, most commentators agreed that Olsen lost the leaders' debate against Labor's Mike Rann. The election was extremely close; on election night many Liberals feared that Labor had managed the 12-seat swing it needed to take back government (Labor had taken two Liberal seats at by-elections). Ultimately, the Liberals suffered a 9.4% swing and lost 11 seats, one short of making Rann Premier. Olsen was forced into a minority government supported by National and independent MPs. It was the first time that the main non-Labor party in South Australia had won a second term since adopting the Liberal Party label in 1974. After one of those crossbenchers, former Liberal Mitch Williams, returned to the party in December 1999, Olsen held a one-seat majority for eight months until he expelled longtime Liberal maverick Peter Lewis in July 2000.

Policies
Among a number of controversial policies, Olsen's government undertook the privatisation of the state-owned electricity industry (ETSA), partly to improve the government's parlous financial situation due to the State Bank disaster and partly in response to the introduction of the Australian National Electricity Market, despite promising not to do so at the 1997 election. The fiscal arguments for privatisation were vigorously criticised by a number of economists. Sharp increases in the retail price of electricity, a consequence of the working of the National Electricity Market, contributed to the growing unpopularity of the government. The management of the state's water supply was privatised in 1996 with a $1.5bn 15-year contract being awarded to United Water, a subsidiary of Veolia.

Olsen steered water management and conservation projects, including the recycling of water from Adelaide's Bolivar Water Treatment Plant to the Northern Adelaide Plains. He also endorsed and facilitated the Barossa Water Project, a water distribution scheme from the River Murray to the Barossa Valley floor, alleviating the Barossa Valley winegrowers' water irrigation problems and boosting annual production by $30 million.

While in office, he negotiated a $850 million ‘smart-city' redevelopment of Adelaide's northern suburban area (Mawson Lakes) and facilitated the contract negotiations and construction of the Adelaide-Darwin Rail line.

The Olsen Government also secured major sporting events including the Tour Down Under and V8 Supercar Series. The Tour Down Under has become an economic plus for South Australia generating almost 40,000 visitors and $50million in economic benefit during the annual 5 day event. The V8 Supercar series attracts more than 270,000 attendees most years

He pursued a vigorous program of economic reform through the corporatisation and privatisation of government services which included the single largest public outsourcing project of its kind at the time in the world – the outsourcing of the State's water industry, a contract which included the establishment of a private sector water industry.

Resignation
In 1998, an inquiry was established into the process of bringing the technology company Motorola to South Australia. The first report prepared by former chief magistrate Jim Cramond cleared Olsen of any wrongdoing. A second report prepared by Dean Clayton, QC, found Olsen had misled parliament, and also found that Olsen had made representations to Cramond that were labelled "misleading and inaccurate", "dishonest" and had "no factual basis".

Olsen denied any wrongdoing, saying "...I absolutely refute Mr Clayton's assertion. The report clearly indicates there are no criminal activities, no illegal activities." Nonetheless, amid speculation that he would face a leadership challenge, he resigned as Premier on 10 October 2001. He did not stand for re-election in 2002.

Following the Clayton report, the matter was referred to the then Director of Public Prosecutions, the late Paul Rofe, QC. The Director of Public Prosecutions found no illegal activity and disagreed with some of the findings from the Clayton report. Olsen claimed he was vindicated, noting that two out of three reports had cleared him of any wrongdoing. In 2018 Olsen stated that "I note that the standard I applied to myself at the time seems to have disappeared from modern politics.”

Liberal Party presidency
On 24 May 2017 Olsen announced that he had been asked to stand for the position of State President of the SA Liberals at a party vote on 16 June with cross-factional support, after incumbent Steve Murray stood down from the position on 23 May to contest Davenport at the 2018 state election. Olsen was successful. He had previously served as state president in 1979, before giving up the post to enter parliament. Olsen stepped down from this role in September 2020. Prior to becoming Liberal Party President, Olsen was a registered political lobbyist and had worked with Bespoke Approach as a Special Advisor.

In 2020, Olsen was elected President of the Federal Liberal Party. He was elected unopposed with the support of Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Consul-General in Los Angeles & New York
Since leaving South Australian politics, Olsen was appointed by the Howard federal Liberal government as Australian Consul-General to Los Angeles. On 7 December 2005, his Liberal Party colleague and fellow South Australian, Australian Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer announced that Olsen would become the new Australian Consul-General in New York.

Olsen started G’Day USA in 2004, a week-long program showcasing the best of Australia. The program expanded to New York in 2007 and has become the largest annual foreign country promotion in the United States.

Football administration
Olsen was appointed chairman of the South Australian Football Commission in 2010. He played a role in the negotiations to move football from Football Park to Adelaide Oval. He served as president of the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) from 2014 to 2020. He is a life member of the West Adelaide Football Club with whom he was the number-one ticket holder for 17 years.

Olsen is presently the Deputy Chairman of the Adelaide Oval Stadium Management Authority.

On 13 October 2020 Olsen was announced as the Chairman of the board of directors of the Adelaide Football Club, one of two Adelaide-based professional Australian rules football clubs participating in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Personal life
Olsen married Julie Abbott in 1968, with whom he had two sons and a daughter.

title: John Olsen


text:
Rob Kerin

Robert Gerard Kerin (born 4 January 1954) is a former South Australian politician who was the Premier of South Australia from 22 October 2001 to 5 March 2002, representing the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia. He was also Deputy Premier of South Australia from 7 July 1998 until he became Premier and, after losing government, leader of the opposition until after the 2006 election.

Early life
Born to parents Maurice and Molly Kerin in Crystal Brook, Kerin attended the Adelaide Catholic secondary school, Sacred Heart College Senior.

Parliament
Kerin was elected to parliament in 1993 as the member for the mid-north rural electoral district of Frome. Between 1995 and 2001 he held various ministries in the Brown and Olsen governments: Primary Industries, Natural Resources and Regional Development, Minerals and Energy, State Development, Tourism and Multicultural Affairs. Following the resignation of Deputy Premier Graham Ingerson in 1998, Kerin succeeded him.

Premier
Olsen was forced to resign from the premiership after misleading parliament which would come to be known as the Motorola affair. Kerin narrowly defeated former premier Dean Brown to become Liberal leader and premier. Brown was given the role of deputy premier.

Kerin took office less than six months before the 2002 election. At that election, Labor took two seats from the Liberals, one seat short of victory. The result was another hung parliament. While Labor was now only one seat short of a majority as opposed to the Liberals now four seats short of a majority, the Liberals won 50.9 percent of the two-party vote. The balance of power rested with four conservative crossbenchers—one National and three independents. They were initially expected to support the Liberals, allowing Kerin to stay in office with a minority government.

However, in a surprise move, Peter Lewis, who had since been elected as an independent after being expelled from the Liberals in 2000, announced that he and his fellow crossbenchers would support the ALP and its leader Mike Rann to form minority government; in return, Lewis himself wanted to be made Speaker of the House of Assembly. When Kerin learned this, he argued that the Liberals still had a mandate to govern since they had won a majority of the two-party vote. He intended to stay in office unless Rann demonstrated he had a working majority on the floor of the Assembly. On paper, Kerin was well within his rights to take this course of action; convention in the Westminster system gives the incumbent first minister the first opportunity to form a government when no party has a clear majority.

Three weeks of political limbo ended on 5 March. At Kerin's request, the House of Assembly was called into session earlier than is normally the case after an election. With Lewis in the speaker's chair, Kerin moved a confidence motion in his own government. The motion was defeated, leaving Kerin with no choice but to resign in favour of Rann.

Opposition leader
Kerin remained Liberal leader, and hence became Leader of the Opposition. His approach to leadership and parliamentary tactics was more congenial than usual; this led to both praise from those who saw him as a 'nice guy' and criticism from those who believed his style was ineffective compared to the so-called "media savvy and aggressive" parliamentary tactics of the Rann Labor government.

At the 2006 election the Liberals were soundly defeated, suffering a statewide swing against them of about 7.7 percent. Following that loss, Kerin stood down as Liberal leader, but remained in parliament. He was succeeded as Liberal leader by Iain Evans.

To date, Kerin is the last former head of a main government in Australia to have served as leader of the opposition.

Parliamentary resignation
In 2007, Kerin announced he would not be seeking re-election at the 2010 election. Kerin announced on 11 November 2008 that he would resign from parliament immediately rather than at the next election. This triggered the 2009 Frome by-election. Independent Geoff Brock won the seat in a very close contest, with his presence to later deny the Liberals government at the 2014 election.

title: Rob Kerin


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Colemanite

Colemanite (Ca2B6O11·5H2O) or (CaB3O4(OH)3·H2O) is a borate mineral found in evaporite deposits of alkaline lacustrine environments. Colemanite is a secondary mineral that forms by alteration of borax and ulexite.

It was first described in 1884 for an occurrence near Furnace Creek in Death Valley and was named after William Tell Coleman (1824–1893), owner of the mine "Harmony Borax Works" where it was first found. At the time, Coleman had alternatively proposed the name "smithite" instead after his business associate Francis Marion Smith.

Uses
Colemanite is an important ore of boron, and was the most important boron ore until the discovery of kernite in 1926. It has many industrial uses, like the manufacturing of heat resistant glass.

title: Colemanite


text: Category:Sri Lankan athletes

title: Category:Sri Lankan athletes


text:
Talk:Five-a-side football

Untitled
This comment, not an article, needs to be moved to the discusion page of futsal and deleted as an article.

207.69.140.20 11:42, 3 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Futsal
This is just to notify that there is a related discussion at Talk:Futsal where the other article Five a side football had its discussion page pointed.

Microfutbol
Does anyone watching this page know how microfutbol relates to either futsal or 5-a-side? Microfutbol currently doesn't have an article and is listed on Articles requested for more than a year. -- Rick Block (talk) 02:08, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

 * A Microfútbol stub now exists. What is the relationship between Microfútbol and other forms of five-a-side football? -- Karada 10:23, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Futebol de Salão
Quote: ''One common Five-a-side soccer game is called Futebol de Salão. However, this is not recognized by FIFA, and therefore isn't very well known.''

It cannot be both common and not very well known (unless it is, perhaps, played in secret?) -- Picapica 10:02, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

I was going to post exactly the same thing. Is it maybe common in Brazil or Argentina but not in the rest of the world?161.12.7.4 15:28, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

 * Futebol de Salão is Futsal! Futebol de Salão, see the futsal article. Grunners (talk) 14:11, 14 November 2008 (UTC)

Reverted suspected vandalism
I've reverted the two changes made by Gbairn on 4 June 2010. I couldn't find any mention anywhere of the people he added, and I suspect Gbairn was just bignoting acquaintances. I also reverted the remark on sliding tackles to simply say they are forbidden. An expert in the field should correct this statement if it's not correct. Paul Foxworthy (talk) 15:25, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Minifootball
European Minifootball Federation and other pages link here, but this page DOES NOT mention minifotball at all. ????

Paralympics
A version of five-a-side football is played by blind players and is a Paralympic sport. Please see Paralympic association football which described 5-a-side for blind players (and a 7-a-side version for players who have cerebral palsy). This article should at least briefly mention it as it seems to be the only version of 5-a-side that is actually played at a global level involving numerous national teams. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 10:45, 17 October 2016 (UTC)

Copyright problem removed
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title: Talk:Five-a-side football


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Creedite

Creedite is a calcium aluminium sulfate fluoro hydroxide mineral with formula: Ca3Al2SO4(F,OH)10·2(H2O). Creedite forms colorless to white to purple monoclinic prismatic crystals. It often occurs as acicular radiating sprays of fine prisms. It is translucent to transparent with indices of refraction of nα = 1.461 nβ = 1.478 nγ = 1.485. It has a Mohs hardness of 3.5 to 4 and a specific gravity of 2.7.

Creedite was first described in 1916 from the Creede Quadrangle in Mineral County, Colorado. It is a product of intense oxidation of ore deposits.

Occurrence
Creedite is a rare hydroxylhalide mineral. Creedite usually forms from the oxidation of fluorite ore deposits. Creedite was named after the location where it was discovered in 1916 in the Colorado Fluorspar Co. Mine at Wagon Wheel Gap, located at Creede Quadrangle, Mineral County, Colorado.

It was later found in other fluorite veins near Tonopah, Nye County, Nevada; in the Grand Reef mine, Graham County, Arizona; in the Darwin district, Inyo County, California. It also occurs in the Potosi and other mines of Santa Eulalia, Chihuahua, Mexico. It is also found in La Paz, Bolivia; Pamir Mountains, Tajikistan and Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan.

Geologic association
Creedite typically occurs with low-grade metamorphic rocks on a fluorite – calcite – quartz matrix or on a sulfide-matrix with its oxidized products. Creedite most commonly found in the form of creedite – carbonate – cyanotrichite – woodwardite – spangolite – kaolinite association. The other less common creedite association is creedite – limonite – kaolinite – hemimorphite – smithsonite – hydrozincite – aurichalcite. Creedite also occurs in skarn formation which usually has association with sulfides, spangolite, brochantite, linarite, limonite, cuprite, wad and kaolinite. In general, creedite usually found as two to three millimeters radial aggregates and less commonly as a single prismatic crystals up to one millimeters long.

Structure
Creedite structural composition study was conducted by utilizing 1390 Philips diffractometer with Fe – filtered CoK radiation (λ=1.79021Å), 10–90° 2θ range, peak-height relative intensities. It was concluded that the creedite falls into monoclinic crystal system (2/m) that has space group of C2/c. It was also found that creedite has basal reflections of (2 0 0) and (4 0 0) that are enhanced due to preferred orientation which concur with Michael Fleischer's orientation.

title: Creedite