Evolution and biogeography ofLyalliaandHectorella(Portulacaceae), geographically isolated sisters from the Southern Hemisphere

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 417-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven J. Wagstaff ◽  
Françoise Hennion

AbstractThe Southern Hemisphere contains many monotypic taxa, for which phylogenetic relationships are important to illuminate biogeographical history. The monotypic genusLyalliais endemic to the sub-Antarctic Iles Kerguelen. A close relationship with another monotypic taxon, the New Zealand endemicHectorella, was proposed. They share a dense cushion growth habit with small coriaceous leaves that lack stipules. The solitary flowers are bicarpellate with two sepals, 4–5 petals, 3–5 stamens and a bifid style. The fruit is an indehiscent capsule with 1–5 seeds. The flowers ofLyallia kerguelensisare hermaphroditic with four petals and three stamens whereas the flowers ofHectorella caespitosaare female, male or hermaphroditic, with five petals and five stamens.Lyallia kerguelensisis rare on Kerguelen, whereasHectorella caespitosais confined to the South Island of New Zealand. Our phylogenetic analysis oftrnK/matK intergenic spacer andrbcL sequences provides evidence supporting a close relationship betweenLyalliaandHectorella. The two species form a well-supported clade that is nested within the Portulacaceae. Divergence estimates suggest they shared a common ancestor during the late Tertiary long after the fragmentation of Gondwana. Such relationships underscore the importance of transoceanic dispersal and extinctions for plant evolution in the Southern Hemisphere.

1999 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Bickel

The Australian species of two genera, Nothorhaphium, gen. nov. andSyntormon Loew (Diptera : Dolichopodidae), are described, illustrated and keyed, and discussed in context of the Western Pacific fauna. The two genera are phylogenetically close. The Australian Nothorhaphium comprises four species: N. aemulans Becker, comb. nov. (= Xiphandrium pudicum Parent, syn. nov.), N. nudicorne, sp. nov., N. callosum, sp. nov., and N. curalo, sp. nov. The montane New Guinean N. oro, sp. nov. is also described, and its close relationship with the predominantly southern temperate Australian fauna is discussed, suggesting it was part of a common Australian fauna which became isolated with the uplift of New Guinea in the mid–late Tertiary. The Australian Syntormon comprises six species: S. xiphandroides Parent, S. flexibile Becker, S. singularis, sp. nov., S. tasmanense, sp. nov., S. janelithae, sp. nov., and S. lucare, sp. nov. As well, S. aotearoa is described from New Zealand. Genera once thought to be close to Syntormon are discussed. The subfamily Rhaphiinae is briefly discussed, noting the problem of subfamily definition. The New Zealand Syntormon formosus Parent is placed in new combination [= Dactylonotus formosus (Parent)] in a genus previously known only from southern Africa.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Fernández-López ◽  
M. Teresa Telleria ◽  
Margarita Dueñas ◽  
Mara Laguna-Castro ◽  
Klaus Schliep ◽  
...  

AbstractThe use of different sources of evidence has been recommended in order to conduct species delimitation analyses to solve taxonomic issues. In this study, we use a maximum likelihood framework to combine morphological and molecular traits to study the case of Xylodon australis (Hymenochaetales, Basidiomycota) using the locate.yeti function from the phytools R package. Xylodon australis has been considered a single species distributed across Australia, New Zealand and Patagonia. Multi-locus phylogenetic analyses were conducted to unmask the actual diversity under X. australis as well as the kinship relations respect their relatives. To assess the taxonomic position of each clade, locate.yeti function was used to locate in a molecular phylogeny the X. australis type material for which no molecular data was available using morphological continuous traits. Two different species were distinguished under the X. australis name, one from Australia–New Zealand and other from Patagonia. In addition, a close relationship with Xylodon lenis, a species from the South East of Asia, was confirmed for the Patagonian clade. We discuss the implications of our results for the biogeographical history of this genus and we evaluate the potential of this method to be used with historical collections for which molecular data is not available.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Peter C. Almond ◽  
Sándor Gulyás ◽  
Pál Sümegi ◽  
Balázs P. Sümegi ◽  
Stephen Covey-Crump ◽  
...  

Abstract Calcareous loess in North Canterbury, eastern South Island, New Zealand (NZ), preserves subfossil bird bone, terrestrial gastropods, and eggshell, whose abundances and radiocarbon ages allowed us to reconstruct aspects of palaeoenvironment at high resolution through 25 to 21 cal ka BP. This interval includes millennial-scale climatic variability during the extended last glacial maximum (30–18 ka) of Australasia. Our loess palaeoclimatic record shows good correspondence with stadial and interstadial climate events of the NZ Climate Event Stratigraphy, which were defined from a pollen record on the western side of South Island. An interstade from 25.4 to 24 cal ka BP was warm but also relatively humid on eastern South Island, and loess grain size may indicate reduced vigour of the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds. The subsequent stade (24–22.6 cal ka BP) was drier, colder, and probably windier. The next interstade remained relatively dry on eastern South Island, and westerly winds remained vigorous. The 25.4–24 ka interstade is synchronous with Heinrich stade 2, which may have driven a southward migration of the subtropical front, leading to warming and wetting of northern and central South Island and retreat of Southern Alps glaciers at ca. 26.5 ka.


2005 ◽  
Vol 134 (2) ◽  
pp. 377-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. H. DYET ◽  
D. R. MARTIN

An epidemic of meningococcal disease caused by serogroup B meningococci expressing the P1.7-2,4 PorA protein began in New Zealand in 1991. The PorA type has remained stable. Different porB have been found in association with the P1.7-2,4 PorA, although type 4 has been most common. The clonal origins of B:P1.7-2,4 meningococci isolated from cases during 1990 to the end of 2003 were analysed. In 1990, the year immediately preceding the recognized increase in disease rates, all three subclones (ST-41, ST-42, and ST-154) of the ST-41/44 clonal complex occurred among the five isolates of B:P1.7-2,4. The two sequence types, ST-42 and ST-154, continued to cause most disease throughout New Zealand. Isolates belonging to subclone ST-41 were mostly identified early in the epidemic and in the South Island. 16S rRNA typing indicated that isolates belonging to the subclones ST-41 and ST-154 share a common ancestor, with those typing as ST-42 more distantly related with some genetically ambiguous. It is possible that ST-41 and ST-154 may have evolved one from the other but evolution to ST-42 is more difficult to explain. It is possible that one or more of the ST types could have been introduced into New Zealand prior to the first detection of clinical cases in 1990. Genetic diversity may have occurred during carriage in the community.


Paleobiology ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 302-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Cichan

Specific conductance was calculated for secondary xylem in seven Carboniferous stem taxa utilizing an equation derived from the Hagen-Poiseuille relation. Arborescent and lianoid representatives of major pteridophytic (Calamitaceae, Lepidodenraceae, Sphenophyllaceae) and gymnospermous (Cordaitaceae, Medullosaceae) groups were examined. In the calamite Arthropitys communis and the seed plant Cordaites (Cordaixylon sp. and Mesoxylon sp.), conductance corresponded approximately to the low end of the range for both extant conifers and angiosperms. A substantially higher conductance was determined for the wood of Arthropitys deltoides, conforming to the high end of the range for conifers and the low-middle part of the range for angiosperms. The highest conductance values were found in Sphenophyllum plurifoliatum, Medullosa noei, and Paralycopodites brevifolius and corresponded to the middle-high portion of the range for vessel-containing angiosperms. This outcome is particularly significant in light of the fact that tracheary elements in the fossils are imperforate. The results indicate that conductance in secondary xylem of some of the most ancient, woody groups was comparable to that in extant plants and that highly effective conducting tissue developed relatively early in plant evolution. Moreover, it is suggested that the general relationship between wood anatomy, growth habit, and ecology demonstrated for living plants can also be extended back in time to include fossil plants.


2018 ◽  
Vol 201 ◽  
pp. 77-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie van den Bos ◽  
Andrew Rees ◽  
Rewi Newnham ◽  
Marcus Vandergoes ◽  
Janet Wilmshurst ◽  
...  

2007 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Driskell ◽  
Les Christidis ◽  
B. J. Gill ◽  
Walter E. Boles ◽  
F. Keith Barker ◽  
...  

The results of phylogenetic analysis of two molecular datasets sampling all three endemic New Zealand ‘honeyeaters’ (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae, Anthornis melanura and Notiomystis cincta) are reported. The undisputed relatedness of the first two species to other honeyeaters (Meliphagidae), and a close relationship between them, are demonstrated. However, our results confirm that Notiomystis is not a honeyeater, but is instead most closely related to the Callaeidae (New Zealand wattlebirds) represented by Philesturnus carunculatus in our study. An estimated divergence time for Notiomystis and Philesturnus of 33.8 mya (Oligocene) suggests a very long evolutionary history of this clade in New Zealand. As a taxonomic interpretation of these data we place Notiomystis in a new family of its own which takes the name Notiomystidae. We expect this new phylogenetic and taxonomic information to assist policy decisions for the conservation of this rare bird.


Radiocarbon ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 2029-2034 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Hogg ◽  
Chris Turney ◽  
Jonathan Palmer ◽  
Ed Cook ◽  
Brendan Buckley

Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (CAMS) Tasmanian Huon pine (Lagarostrobos franklinii) decadal measurements for the interval AD 745–855 suggest a mean interhemispheric radiocarbon offset (20 ± 5 yr), which is considerably lower than the previously reported mean interhemispheric offset for the last 2 millennia (44 ± 17 yr). However, comparable University of Waikato (Wk) New Zealand kauri (Agathis australis) measurements show significantly higher values (56 ± 6 yr), suggesting the possibility of a temporary geographic (intrahemispheric) offset between Tasmania, Australia, and Northland, New Zealand, during at least 1 common time interval. Here, we report 9 new Wk Tasmanian Huon pine measurements from the decades showing the largest Huon/kauri difference. We show statistically indistinguishable Wk Huon and Wk kauri 14C ages, thus dispelling the suggestion of a 14C geographic offset between Tasmania and Northland.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jocelyn C. Turnbull ◽  
Sara E. Mikaloff Fletcher ◽  
India Ansell ◽  
Gordon Brailsford ◽  
Rowena Moss ◽  
...  

Abstract. We present 60 years of Δ14CO2 measurements from Wellington, New Zealand (41° S, 175° E). The record has been extended and fully revised. New measurements have been used to evaluate the existing record and to replace original measurements where warranted. This is the earliest atmospheric Δ14CO2 record and records the rise of the 14C "bomb spike", the subsequent decline in Δ14CO2 as bomb 14C moved throughout the carbon cycle and increasing fossil fuel CO2 emissions further decreased atmospheric Δ14CO2. The initially large seasonal cycle in the 1960s reduces in amplitude and eventually reverses in phase, resulting in a small seasonal cycle of about 2 ‰ in the 2000s. The seasonal cycle at Wellington is dominated by the seasonality of cross-tropopause transport, and differs slightly from that at Cape Grim, Australia, which is influenced by anthropogenic sources in winter. Δ14CO2 at Cape Grim and Wellington show very similar trends, with significant differences only during periods of known measurement uncertainty. In contrast, Northern Hemisphere clean air sites show a higher and earlier bomb 14C peak, consistent with a 1.4-year interhemispheric exchange time. From the 1970s until the early 2000s, the Northern and Southern Hemisphere Δ14CO2 were quite similar, apparently due to the balance of 14C-free fossil fuel CO2 emissions in the north and 14C-depleted ocean upwelling in the south. The Southern Hemisphere sites show a consistent and marked elevation above the Northern Hemisphere sites since the early 2000s, which is most likely due to reduced upwelling of 14C-depleted and carbon-rich deep waters in the Southern Ocean. This developing Δ14CO2 interhemispheric gradient is consistent with recent studies that indicate a reinvigorated Southern Ocean carbon sink since the mid-2000s, and suggests that upwelling of deep waters plays an important role in this change.


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