3D spectroscopy of dwarf elliptical galaxies
  I present some results of 3D spectroscopy for a small sample of dwarf
elliptical galaxies, mostly members of small groups. The galaxies under
consideration have a typical absolute magnitude of -18 (B-band), and at the
Kormendy's relation they settle within a transition zone between the main cloud
of giant ellipticals and the sequence of diffuse ellipticals. By measuring Lick
indices and investigating radial profiles of the SSP-equivalent ages and
metallicities of the stellar populations in their central parts, I have found
evolutionary distinct cores in all of them. Typically, the ages of these cores
are 2-4 Gyr, and the metallicities are higher than the solar one. Outside the
cores, the stellar populations are always old, T>12 Gyr, and the metallicities
are subsolar. This finding implies that the well-known correlation between the
stellar age and the total mass (luminosity) of field ellipticals (Trager et al.
2000, Caldwell et al. 2003, Howell 2005) may be in fact a direct consequence of
a larger contribution of nuclear starbursts into the integrated stellar
population in dwarfs with respect to giants, and does not relate to
`downsizing'.
