The anatomy of an unstable node: a Levantine relict precipitates phylogenomic dissolution of higher-level relationships of the armoured harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones: Laniatores)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shlomi Aharon ◽  
Jesus A. Ballesteros ◽  
Audrey R. Crawford ◽  
Keyton Friske ◽  
Guilherme Gainett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Phylogenetic Signal ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Phylogenetic Placement ◽  
Unstable Node ◽  
The Family ◽  
Family Level ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Tree Topologies ◽  
Unstable Position

After tumultuous revisions to the family-level systematics of Laniatores (the armored harvestmen), the basally branching family Phalangodidae presently bears a disjunct and irregular distribution, attributed to the fragmentation of Pangea. One of the curious lineages assigned to Phalangodidae is the monotypic Israeli genus Haasus, the only Laniatores species that occurs in Israel, and whose presence in the Levant has been inferred to result from biogeographic connectivity with Eurasia. Recent surveys of Israeli caves have also yielded a new troglobitic morphospecies of Haasus. Here, we describe this new species as Haasus naasane sp. nov. So as to test the biogeographic affinity of Haasus, we sequenced DNA from both species and RNA from Haasus naasane sp. nov., to assess their phylogenetic placement. Our results showed that the new species is clearly closely related to Haasus judaeus, but Haasus itself is unambiguously nested within the largely Afrotropical family Pyramidopidae. In addition, the Japanese ‘phalangodid’ Proscotolemon sauteri was recovered as nested within the Southeast Asian family Petrobunidae. Phylogenomic placement of Haasus naasane sp. nov. in a 1550-locus matrix indicates that Pyramidopidae has an unstable position in the tree of Laniatores, with alternative partitioning of the matrix recovering high nodal support for mutually exclusive tree topologies. Exploration of phylogenetic signal showed the cause of this instability to be a considerable conflict between partitions, suggesting that the basal phylogeny of Laniatores may not yet be stable to addition of taxa. We transfer Haasus to Pyramidopidae (new familial assignment). Additionally, we transfer Proscotolemon to the family Petrobunidae (new familial assignment). Future studies on basal Laniatores phylogeny should emphasise the investigation of small-bodied and obscure groups that superficially resemble Phalangodidae.

Anystipalpus, Antennoseius and Vitzthumia: a taxonomic and nomenclatural conundrum of genera (Acari: Mesostigmata: Dermanyssina), with description of four species of Anystipalpus

Zootaxa ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2243 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
EVERT E. LINDQUIST ◽  
MARÍA L. MORAZA
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Type Species ◽  
Carabid Beetles ◽  
New Combination ◽  
Adult Females ◽  
The Family ◽  
Two New Species ◽  
Family Level ◽  
History Of

The genus Anystipalpus Berlese, 1911, of uncertain prior placement in the superfamilies Ascoidea or Dermanyssoidea, is redescribed, based on reexamination of type and other material of the type-species, A. percicola Berlese, and of material representing Anystipalpus livshitsi (Eidelberg) new combination and two new species, A. labiduricola n. sp. and A. kazemii n. sp. Anystipalpus nataliae (Eidelberg) new combination and Anystipalpus ukrainicus (Sklyar) new combination are determined to be junior synonyms of A. percicola Berlese and A. livshitsi (Eidelberg), respectively, new synonymies. The genus is known thus far only from adult females phoretic under the elytra of carabid beetles and the tegmina of labidurid earwigs in Eurasia. The relationships between it and the closely related Antennoseius Berlese, 1916 and Vitzthumia Thor, 1930, are reviewed, and the options for the family level placement of these genera are reconsidered. Attention is given to some gnathosomatic attributes that are commonly overlooked in description of species of these closely related genera. Phoresy and the role of adult female morphs in the life history of these mites, as well as the extraordinary phoretic association of one species with earwigs are discussed.

scholarly journals Nuclear and mitochondrial phylogenomics of the Diplostomoidea and Diplostomida (Digenea, Platyhelminthes)1

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean A. Locke ◽  
Alex Van Dam ◽  
Monica Caffara ◽  
Hudson Alves Pinto ◽  
Danimar López-Hernández ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Traits ◽  
Rapid Radiation ◽  
Mt Dna ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Higher Taxa ◽  
The Family ◽  
Family Level ◽  
Genome Phylogeny ◽  
Mt Genome ◽  
A New Species

AbstractHigher systematics within the Digenea, Carus 1863 have been relatively stable since a phylogenetic analysis of partial nuclear ribosomal markers (rDNA) led to the erection of the Diplostomida Olson, Cribb, Tkach, Bray, and Littlewood, 2003. However, recent mitochondrial (mt) genome phylogenies suggest this order might be paraphyletic. These analyses show members of two diplostomidan superfamilies are more closely related to the Plagiorchiida La Rue, 1957 than to other members of the Diplostomida. In one of the groups implicated, the Diplostomoidea Poirier, 1886, a recent phylogeny based on mt DNA also indicates the superfamily as a whole is non-monophyletic. To determine if these results were robust to additional taxon sampling, we analyzed mt genomes from seven diplostomoids in three families. To choose between phylogenetic alternatives based on mt genomes and the prior rDNA-based topology, we also analyzed hundreds of ultra-conserved elements (UCEs) assembled from shotgun sequencing. The Diplostomida was paraphyletic in the mt genome phylogeny, but supported in the UCE phylogeny. We speculate this mitonuclear discordance is related to ancient, rapid radiation in the Digenea. Both UCEs and mt genomes support the monophyly of the Diplostomoidea and show congruent relationships within it. The Cyathocotylidae Mühling, 1898 are early diverging descendants of a paraphyletic clade of Diplostomidae Poirier, 1886, in which were nested members of the Strigeidae Railliet, 1919; the results support prior suggestions that the Crassiphialinae Sudarikov, 1960 will rise to the family level. Morphological traits of diplostomoid metacercariae appear to be more useful for differentiating higher taxa than those of adults. We describe a new species of Cotylurus Szidat, 1928, resurrect a species of Hysteromorpha Lutz, 1931, and find support for a species of Alaria Schrank, 1788 of contested validity. Complete rDNA operons are provided as a resource for future studies.

scholarly journals An Analysis of the Street Tree Population of Greater Melbourne at the Beginning of the 21st Century

2006 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 155-163
Author(s):  
Stephen Frank ◽  
Glenn Waters ◽  
Russell Beer ◽  
Peter May
Keyword(s):  
Data Sets ◽  
Botanical Composition ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Prunus Cerasifera ◽  
Tree Population ◽  
Tree Inventory ◽  
Street Tree ◽  
The Family ◽  
Family Level ◽  
Prunus Spp

An audit of the street tree population of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, was undertaken to establish its size and botanical composition as a reference point for future studies. The 31 independent municipalities that comprise metropolitan Melbourne were approached to provide information on their respective street tree populations. Where available, data from individual municipalities on population, area, and total street length were also collected. Of the 31 municipalities surveyed, 23 had undertaken some form of street tree inventory or audit. These individual data sets were combined into a single database. Data queries were then undertaken to obtain a range of information. A total of 922,353 trees, comprising 1127 taxa, were captured in this superset of data. Australian native plants made up the majority of the trees with 60% of the total. Of the Australian native taxa, wattles (Acacia spp.), gums or eucalypts (Eucalyptus spp.), paperbarks (Melaleuca spp.), bottlebrush (Callistemon spp.), and Queensland brush box (Lophostemon confertus [R. Br.] Peter G. Wilson and Waterhouse) comprised 394,730 individuals (43% of all trees). Of the exotic taxa, Prunus spp. were the most common with 86,227 individuals (9% of the total). Queensland brush box was the most common taxon surveyed with 61,959 individuals. Purple-leaf cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera Ehrh. ‘Nigra’) was the most common exotic taxon with 35,402 individuals. An analysis of the diversity of this population showed that it meets a set of minimum diversity criteria apart from the dominance of the Myrtaceae at the family level.

A new species of Succinoraphidia Aspöck & Aspöck, 2004 (Raphidioptera: Raphidiidae) from the late Eocene Rovno amber, with venation characteristics of the genus

Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4576 (3) ◽  
pp. 570 ◽  
Author(s):  
EVGENY E. PERKOVSKY ◽  
VLADIMIR N. MAKARKIN
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Late Eocene ◽  
Diagnostic Character ◽  
Rovno Amber ◽  
Baltic Amber ◽  
Basal Group ◽  
The Family ◽  
Family Level ◽  
A New Species ◽  
Plesiomorphic Character

Succinoraphidia radioni sp. nov. (Raphidiidae) is described from the late Eocene Rovno amber, Ukraine. The genus also includes two species from contemporaneous Baltic amber, i.e., S. exhibens Aspöck & Aspöck, 2004 and S. baltica (Carpenter, 1957), comb. nov. The venation of Succinoraphidia is analysed. It possesses several plesiomorphic character states at the family level, and the monotypic subfamily Succinoraphidinae represents a basal group within the family or possibly even a potential stem group of Raphidiidae. All diagnostic character states of Succinoraphidia (except the structure of the pterostigma) are found in a few Cretaceous species of the paraphyletic Mesoraphidiidae, but some of these are not found in the extant Raphidiidae. 

Geometric morphometrics uncovers a new species of ponyfish (Teleostei: Leiognathidae: Equulites), with comments on the taxonomic status of Equula berbis Valenciennes

Zootaxa ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 2427 (1) ◽  
pp. 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
PROSANTA CHAKRABARTY ◽  
J.JEANETTE CHU ◽  
LUTHFUN NAHAR ◽  
JOHN S. SPARKS
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Taxonomic Status ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Light Organ ◽  
Geometric Morphometric ◽  
The Family ◽  
External Feature ◽  
Family Level ◽  
Male Specific ◽  
A New Species

A new species of Equulites is revealed using geometric morphometric techniques and is herein described. Based on features recovered in recent comparative analyses, members of Equulites have been diagnosed on the basis of internal and external male-specific traits related to their light-organ system (LOS; Sparks et al., 2005; Sparks, 2006; Sparks and Chakrabarty, 2007; Chakrabarty and Sparks, 2008). These sexually-dimorphic traits are hypothesized to allow males to signal to conspecific females in photic sexual displays using bacterially-generated luminescence (Woodland et al., 2002; Sasaki et al., 2003; Wada et al., 2005). The holotype and sole name-bearing type of Equulites leuciscus (BMNH 1858.4.21.243, 104.9 mm SL) is an adult female, and therefore lacks the diagnostic external feature of the LOS, a large, translucent flank patch, used to identify species in this genus. Geometric morphometric shape analysis of individuals ascribed to Equulites leuciscus, a traditionally widespread, "catch-all" taxon, reveals two discrete shape groups. Based on the results presented below, members of one of these groups correspond to a morphological variant that represents the new species (Equulites absconditus Chakrabarty & Sparks) described herein, whereas the other group corresponds to traditional E. leuciscus. In addition, the taxonomic status of Equula berbis Valenciennes, to which many female and poorly preserved specimens of the new species have erroneously been attributed, is reviewed and E. berbis is concluded to be a nomen dubium of uncertain placement beyond the family level.

REVISION OF THE CHIGGER-LIKE LARVAE OF THE GENERA NEOTROMBIDIUM LEONARDI AND MONUNGUIS WHARTON, WITH A REDEFINITION OF THE SUBFAMILY NEOTROMBIDIINAE FEIDER IN THE TROMBIDIIDAE (ACARINA: PROSTIGMATA)

1971 ◽  
Vol 103 (11) ◽  
pp. 1557-1590 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. E. Lindquist ◽  
P. H. Vercammen-Grandjean
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
North America ◽  
New Combination ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
The Family ◽  
Family Level ◽  
Caribbean Area ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
The One

AbstractThe trombidiid subfamily Neotrombidiinae Feider is re-established and redefined, based primarily on larval characters but also on adult characters. It is closely related to the trombidiid Trombellinae on the one hand and to the Leeuwenhoekidae on the other. It consists of two genera, namely Monunguis Wharton, which is monobasic and known only from the larva, and Neotrombidium Leonardi, with 13 described species of which 7 are known from the larva and 8 from the adult (the larva and adult of 2 species are correlated by rearings).The history of the family-level placement of this group, and the controversy over whether or not to recognize two genera, are reviewed. The characters that justify the separate recognition of Monunguis and Neotrombidium are enumerated.The larva of each of the following species of Neotrombidiinae is described, illustrated and keyed: Monunguis streblida Wharton from the Caribbean area, Neotrombidium barringunense Hirst from Australia, N. tricuspidum Borland from North America, N. tenuipes (Womersley) from Malaya, N. samsinaki (Daniel) new combination from central Europe, N. anuroporum new species from Central America, N. bengalense new species from India, and N. tenebrione new species from eastern North America. Six other species of this group, known only from the adult, are listed separately but are not treated taxonomically here.The larvae of Neotrombidiinae parasitize adult insects: those of Monunguis are hyperparasites on streblid flies whereas those of Neotrombidium are ectoparasites of cerambycid, clerid, elaterid, and tenebrionid beetles that pass part of their life history under the bark of trees.In the Microtrombidiinae, Camerotrombidium Thor is noted as the valid replacement name for the preoccupied Ottonia Kramer.

scholarly journals Patterns of coevolution between ambrosia beetle mycangia and the Ceratocystidaceae, with five new fungal genera and seven new species

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.G. Mayers ◽  
T.C. Harrington ◽  
H. Masuya ◽  
B.H. Jordal ◽  
D.L. McNew ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Related Species ◽  
Ambrosia Beetles ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Phylogenetic Placement ◽  
Ambrosia Fungi ◽  
The Family ◽  
History Of ◽  
Divergence Dates ◽  
Morphological Variants

Ambrosia beetles farm specialised fungi in sapwood tunnels and use pocket-like organs called mycangia to carry propagules of the fungal cultivars. Ambrosia fungi selectively grow in mycangia, which is central to the symbiosis, but the history of coevolution between fungal cultivars and mycangia is poorly understood. The fungal family Ceratocystidaceae previously included three ambrosial genera (Ambrosiella, Meredithiella, and Phialophoropsis), each farmed by one of three distantly related tribes of ambrosia beetles with unique and relatively large mycangium types. Studies on the phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary histories of these three genera were expanded with the previously unstudied ambrosia fungi associated with a fourth mycangium type, that of the tribe Scolytoplatypodini. Using ITS rDNA barcoding and a concatenated dataset of six loci (28S rDNA, 18S rDNA, tef1-α, tub, mcm7, and rpl1), a comprehensive phylogeny of the family Ceratocystidaceae was developed, including Inodoromyces interjectus gen. & sp. nov., a non-ambrosial species that is closely related to the family. Three minor morphological variants of the pronotal disk mycangium of the Scolytoplatypodini were associated with ambrosia fungi in three respective clades of Ceratocystidaceae: Wolfgangiella gen. nov., Toshionella gen. nov., and Ambrosiella remansi sp. nov. Closely-related species that are not symbionts of ambrosia beetles are accommodated by Catunica adiposa gen. & comb. nov. and Solaloca norvegica gen. & comb. nov. The divergent morphology of the ambrosial genera and their phylogenetic placement among non-ambrosial genera suggest three domestication events in the Ceratocystidaceae. Estimated divergence dates for the ambrosia fungi and mycangia suggest that Scolytoplatypodini mycangia may have been the first to acquire Ceratocystidaceae symbionts and other ambrosial fungal genera emerged shortly after the evolution of new mycangium types. There is no evidence of reversion to a non-ambrosial lifestyle in the mycangial symbionts.

scholarly journals A new lineage of Cretaceous jewel wasps (Chalcidoidea: Diversinitidae)

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e4633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Haas ◽  
Roger A. Burks ◽  
Lars Krogmann
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
Burmese Amber ◽  
Phylogenetic Placement ◽  
New Family ◽  
Early Diversification ◽  
The Family ◽  
Family Level ◽  
Cladistic Analyses

Jewel wasps (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) are extremely species-rich today, but have a sparse fossil record from the Cretaceous, the period of their early diversification. Three genera and three species,Diversinitus attenboroughigen. & sp. n., Burminata caputaeriagen. & sp. n. andGlabiala barbatagen. & sp. n. are described in the family Diversinitidae fam. n., from Lower Cretaceous Burmese amber. Placement in Chalcidoidea is supported by the presence of multiporous plate sensilla on the antennal flagellum and a laterally exposed prepectus. The new taxa can be excluded from all extant family level chalcidoid lineages by the presence of multiporous plate sensilla on the first flagellomere in both sexes and lack of any synapomorphies. Accordingly, a new family is proposed for the fossils and its probable phylogenetic position within Chalcidoidea is discussed. Morphological cladistic analyses of the new fossils within the Heraty et al. (2013) dataset did not resolve the phylogenetic placement of Diversinitidae, but indicated its monophyly. Phylogenetically relevant morphological characters of the new fossils are discussed with reference to Cretaceous and extant chalcidoid taxa. Along with mymarid fossils and a few species of uncertain phylogenetic placement, the newly described members of Diversinitidae are among the earliest known chalcidoids and advance our knowledge of their Cretaceous diversity.

scholarly journals Formal Syntax and Deep History

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Ceolin ◽  
Cristina Guardiano ◽  
Monica Alexandrina Irimia ◽  
Giuseppe Longobardi
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Signal ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Deep Time ◽  
Language History ◽  
The Family ◽  
Formal Syntax ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Tree Topologies ◽  
Syntactic Theories

We show that, contrary to long-standing assumptions, syntactic traits, modeled here within the generative biolinguistic framework, provide insights into deep-time language history. To support this claim, we have encoded the diversity of nominal structures using 94 universally definable binary parameters, set in 69 languages spanning across up to 13 traditionally irreducible Eurasian families. We found a phylogenetic signal that distinguishes all such families and matches the family-internal tree topologies that are safely established through classical etymological methods and datasets. We have retrieved “near-perfect” phylogenies, which are essentially immune to homoplastic disruption and only moderately influenced by horizontal convergence, two factors that instead severely affect more externalized linguistic features, like sound inventories. This result allows us to draw some preliminary inferences about plausible/implausible cross-family classifications; it also provides a new source of evidence for testing the representation of diversity in syntactic theories.

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