scholarly journals A Tody (Alcediniformes: Todidae) From The Early Oligocene of Germany

The Auk ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 124 (4) ◽  
pp. 1294-1304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald Mayr ◽  
Charles W. Knopf

Abstract We describe a postcranial skeleton of a stem-group tody (Aves: Alcediniformes: Todidae) from the early Oligocene of Germany. The fossil is tentatively assigned to Palaeotodus itardiensisMourer-Chauviré, 1985, which previously was known only from a few incomplete bones from the early Oligocene of France. It is the most substantial fossil record of a Paleogene stem-group tody described so far and shows many previously unknown skeletal details. The specimen confirms the occurrence of Todidae, which are today restricted to the Caribbean Greater Antilles, in the Paleogene of Europe. The biogeographical significance of these finds depends on the phylogenetic relationships between Todidae and other alcediniform birds. If Todidae are not the sister taxon of Momotidae (motmots) as suggested by a recent phylogenetic analysis of molecular data, occurrence of stem-group Todidae in the Old World fossil record actually follows from the currently assumed Old World origin of alcediniform birds. Ein Todi (Alcediniformes: Todidae) aus dem unteren Oligozän Deutschlands

2011 ◽  
Vol 279 (1731) ◽  
pp. 1093-1099 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Heikkilä ◽  
Lauri Kaila ◽  
Marko Mutanen ◽  
Carlos Peña ◽  
Niklas Wahlberg

Although the taxonomy of the ca 18 000 species of butterflies and skippers is well known, the family-level relationships are still debated. Here, we present, to our knowledge, the most comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the superfamilies Papilionoidea, Hesperioidea and Hedyloidea to date based on morphological and molecular data. We reconstructed their phylogenetic relationships using parsimony and Bayesian approaches. We estimated times and rates of diversification along lineages in order to reconstruct their evolutionary history. Our results suggest that the butterflies, as traditionally understood, are paraphyletic, with Papilionidae being the sister-group to Hesperioidea, Hedyloidea and all other butterflies. Hence, the families in the current three superfamilies should be placed in a single superfamily Papilionoidea. In addition, we find that Hedylidae is sister to Hesperiidae, and this novel relationship is supported by two morphological characters. The families diverged in the Early Cretaceous but diversified after the Cretaceous–Palaeogene event. The diversification of butterflies is characterized by a slow speciation rate in the lineage leading to Baronia brevicornis , a period of stasis by the skippers after divergence and a burst of diversification in the lineages leading to Nymphalidae, Riodinidae and Lycaenidae.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 338-341
Author(s):  
ANDRÉ NEL ◽  
CRISTIAN PELLA

The lacewing family Nemopteridae Burmeister, 1839 is very poorly represented in the fossil record with three Early Cretaceous genera of uncertain affinities from the Brazilian Crato Formation, one ‘mid’-Cretaceous representative of the stem group of the Crocinae Navás, 1910 in the Burmese amber, and two Cenozoic nemopterine genera Marquettia Navás, 1913 (late Eocene-early Oligocene) and Paleonemia Claisse et al., 2019 (middle Oligocene). Also two undetermined Nemopterinae are recorded from the late Eocene and the Oligocene (Lu et al., 2019a: Table 1; Claisse et al., 2019).


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huang Shi-Ke ◽  
Kevin D. Hyde ◽  
Ausana Mapook ◽  
Sajeewa S.N. Maharachchikumbura ◽  
D. Jayarama Bhat ◽  
...  

Abstract Sordariomycetes is an earlier and one of the widely distributed class of Ascomycota. The class was initially classified based on morphology in having inoperculate and unitunicate asci. With the development of DNA based phylogenetic analysis, several undetermined or polyphyletic members of Sordariomycetes were reclassified. However, not all species belonging to this class have been sequenced and analyzed. There are a number of species, especially those old and poorly studied ones which have never been sequenced before and not even recollected again for further taxonomic verification. One of the main objective in this study is to revise and update the taxonomy of several well-known old and poorly studied species whose classification are still obscure. Herein, we re-examined the type materials and/or authentic specimens together to explore 74 relatively poorly-studied genera, which mainly belong to Boliniales, Calosphaeriales, Chaetosphaeriales, Jobellisiales, and Sordariales classified under Diaporthomycetidae and Sordariomycetidae. We provide descriptions, notes, figures and/or drawings and discussed their phylogenetic relationships. As a result, the monotypic Jobellisiales is transferred from Hypocreomycetidae to Diaporthomycetidae. Based on phylogenetic analysis, the polyphyletic Lasiosphaeriaceae is divided into five families, Bombardiaceae (Apodospora, Bombardia, Bombardioidea and Fimetariella), Lasiosphaeriaceae (Anopodium, Bellojisia, Corylomyces, Lasiosphaeria, Mammaria and Zopfiella), Lasiosphaeridaceae (Lasiosphaeris), Strattoniaceae (Strattonia) and Zygospermellaceae (Episternus and Zygospermella). In addition, a new family Neoschizotheciaceae is established based on Neoschizothecium. Analysis of the type species of Boothiella, Stellatospora, Sulcatistroma and Tengiomyces placed them in Sordariaceae, Chaetomiaceae, Hypocreales and Coronophorales, respectively. We classify the genera lacking molecular data based on their morphology and expect them to be recollected; that is, Kacosphaeria in Calosphaeriales; Arnium, Biconiosporella, Camptosphaeria, Diffractella, Emblemospora, Eosphaeria, Periamphispora, Ramophialophora, Synaptospora and Tripterosporella in Sordariales; Conidiotheca in Sordariomycetes; Copromyces, Effetia, Endophragmiella and Tulipispora are accommodated in Ascomycota. Besides, we establish a new genus Neoschizothecium based on phylogenetic analysis. New combinations proposed include: Camaropella amorpha, Cam. microspora, Cam. plana, Cladorrhinum grandiusculum, Cla. leucotrichum, Cla. terricola, Cla. olerum, Helminthosphaeria plumbea, Immersiella hirta, Jugulospora minor, Lasiosphaeris arenicola, Neoschizothecium aloides, Neo. carpinicola, Neo. conicum, Neo. curvisporum, Neo. fimbriatum, Neo. glutinans, Neo. inaequale, Neo. minicaudum, Neo. selenosporum, Neo. tetrasporum, Neurospora autosteira, Podospora brunnescens, P. flexuosa, P. jamaicensis, P. hamata, P. macrospora, P. spinosa, Strattonia petrogale and Triangularia microsclerotigena, T. nannopodalis, T. praecox, T. samala, T. tarvisina, T. unicaudata, T. yaeyamensis. New epithets are proposed for Apiorhynchostoma apiosporum and Podospora dacryoidea.


2012 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter E. Kondrashov ◽  
Spencer G. Lucas

We describe the relatively complete skeleton of Tetraclaenodon undoubtedly associated with its dentition, from the Torrejonian interval of the Nacimiento Formation in the San Juan Basin, New Mexico. Tetraclaenodon is the most primitive and oldest genus of the family Phenacodontidae and is very important for assessing the phylogenetic relationships of the family. The newly described skeleton belonged to a lightly built terrestrial mammal that could use trees for shelter. The structure of the ulna, manus, femur, crus, and pes corresponds to that of a typical terrestrial mammal, while morphological features such as the low greater tubercle of the humerus, long deltopectoral crest, pronounced lateral supracondylar crest, and hemispherical capitulum indicate some scansorial adaptations of Tetraclaenodon. The postcranial skeleton of Tetraclaenodon does not exhibit the cursorial adaptations seen in later phenacodontids and early perissodactyls. Phylogenetic analysis did not recover monophyletic “Phenacodontidae”; instead, phenacodontids formed a series of sister taxa to the Altungulata clade. Tetraclaenodon is the basal-most member of the “Phenacodontidae” + Altungulata clade.


2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 20140266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre-Henri Fabre ◽  
Julia T. Vilstrup ◽  
Maanasa Raghavan ◽  
Clio Der Sarkissian ◽  
Eske Willerslev ◽  
...  

The Capromyidae (hutias) are endemic rodents of the Caribbean and represent a model of dispersal for non-flying mammals in the Greater Antilles. This family has experienced severe extinctions during the Holocene and its phylogenetic affinities with respect to other caviomorph relatives are still debated as morphological and molecular data disagree. We used target enrichment and next-generation sequencing of mitochondrial and nuclear genes to infer the phylogenetic relationships of hutias, estimate their divergence ages, and understand their mode of dispersal in the Greater Antilles. We found that Capromyidae are nested within Echimyidae (spiny rats) and should be considered a subfamily thereof. We estimated that the split between hutias and Atlantic Forest spiny rats occurred 16.5 (14.8–18.2) million years ago (Ma), which is more recent than the GAARlandia land bridge hypothesis (34–35 Ma). This would suggest that during the Early Miocene, an echimyid-like ancestor colonized the Greater Antilles from an eastern South American source population via rafting. The basal divergence of the Hispaniolan Plagiodontia provides further support for a vicariant separation between Hispaniolan and western islands (Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica) hutias. Recent divergences among these western hutias suggest Plio-Pleistocene dispersal waves associated with glacial cycles.


PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra T. Boersma ◽  
Nicholas D. Pyenson

The diversification of crown cetacean lineages (i.e., crown Odontoceti and crown Mysticeti) occurred throughout the Oligocene, but it remains an ongoing challenge to resolve the phylogenetic pattern of their origins, especially with respect to stem lineages. One extant monotypic lineage,Platanista gangetica(the Ganges and Indus river dolphin), is the sole surviving member of the broader group Platanistoidea, with many fossil relatives that range from Oligocene to Miocene in age. Curiously, the highly threatenedPlatanistais restricted today to freshwater river systems of South Asia, yet nearly all fossil platanistoids are known globally from marine rocks, suggesting a marine ancestry for this group. In recent years, studies on the phylogenetic relationships in Platanistoidea have reached a general consensus about the membership of different sub-clades and putative extinct groups, although the position of some platanistoid groups (e.g., Waipatiidae) has been contested. Here we describe a new genus and species of fossil platanistoid,Arktocara yakataga, gen. et sp. nov. from the Oligocene of Alaska, USA. The type and only known specimen was collected from the marine Poul Creek Formation, a unit known to include Oligocene strata, exposed in the Yakutat City and Borough of Southeast Alaska. In our phylogenetic analysis of stem and node-based Platanistoidea,Arktocarafalls within the node-based sub-clade Allodelphinidae as the sister taxon toAllodelphis pratti. With a geochronologic age between ∼29–24 million years old,Arktocarais among the oldest crown Odontoceti, reinforcing the long-standing view that the diversification for crown lineages must have occurred no later than the early Oligocene.


Author(s):  
Gregory D. Edgecombe

Phylogenomics underpins a stable and mostly well-resolved hypothesis for the interrelationships of extant arthropods. Exceptionally preserved fossils are integrated into this framework by coding their morphological characters, as exemplified by total-evidence dating approaches that treat fossils as dated tips in analyses numerically dominated by molecular data. Cambrian fossils inform on the sequence of character acquisition in the arthropod stem group and in the stems of its main extant clades. The arthropod head problem incorporates unique appendage combinations and remains of the nervous system in fossils into a scheme mostly based on neuroanatomy and Hox expression domains for extant forms. Molecular estimates of arthropod origins in the Cryogenian or Ediacaran predate a coherent picture from the arthropod fossil record, which commences as trace fossils in the earliest Cambrian. Probabilistic morphological clock analysis of trilobites, which exemplify the earliest arthropod body fossils, supports a Cambrian origin, without the need to posit an unfossilized Ediacaran history.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cara Van Der Wal ◽  
Shane T. Ahyong ◽  
Simon Y. W. Ho ◽  
Luana S. F. Lins ◽  
Nathan Lo

The mantis shrimp superfamily Squilloidea, with over 185 described species, is the largest superfamily in the crustacean order Stomatopoda. To date, phylogenetic relationships within this superfamily have been comprehensively analysed using morphological data, with six major generic groupings being recovered. Here, we infer the phylogeny of Squilloidea using a combined dataset comprising 75 somatic morphological characters and four molecular markers. Nodal support is low when the morphological and molecular datasets are analysed separately but improves substantially when combined in a total-evidence phylogenetic analysis. We obtain a well resolved and strongly supported phylogeny that is largely congruent with previous estimates except that the Anchisquilloides-group, rather than the Meiosquilla-group, is the earliest-branching lineage in Squilloidea. The splits among the Anchisquilloides- and Meiosquilla-groups are followed by those of the Clorida-, Harpiosquilla-, Squilla- and Oratosquilla-groups. Most of the generic groups are recovered as monophyletic, with the exception of the Squilla- and Oratosquilla-groups. However, many genera within the Oratosquilla-group are not recovered as monophyletic. Further exploration with more extensive molecular sampling will be needed to resolve relationships within the Oratosquilla-group and to investigate the adaptive radiation of squilloids. Overall, our results demonstrate the merit of combining morphological and molecular datasets for resolving phylogenetic relationships.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 171727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Conrad D. Wilson ◽  
Jason D. Pardo ◽  
Jason S.  Anderson

The vertebrate fossil record of the earliest Carboniferous is notoriously poorly sampled, obscuring a critical interval in vertebrate evolution and diversity. Recent studies of diversity across the Devonian–Carboniferous boundary have proposed a vertebrate mass extinction at the end-Devonian, and recent phylogenies suggest that the origin of the actinopterygian crown may have occurred in the earliest Carboniferous, as part of a broader recovery fauna. However, the data necessary to test this are limited. Here, we describe a partial actinopterygian skull, including diagnostic elements of the posterior braincase, from the Tournaisian Horton Bluff Formation of Blue Beach, Nova Scotia. The braincase surprisingly shows a confluence of characters common in Devonian taxa but absent in Mississippian forms, such as an open spiracular groove; lateral dorsal aortae that pass through open broadly separated, parallel grooves in the ventral otoccipital region, posterior to the articulation of the first infrapharyngobranchial and an intertemporal–supratemporal complex. Phylogenetic analysis places it deep within the actinopterygian stem, among Devonian moythomasiids and mimiids, suggesting more phylogenetically inclusive survivorship of stem group actinopterygians across the end-Devonian mass extinction. With a high lineage survivorship in tetrapods and lungfish across the Devonian–Carboniferous boundary and high vertebrate diversity at Tournaisian localities, this hints at a more gradual turnover between Devonian and Carboniferous vertebrate faunas.


2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (23) ◽  
pp. 6028-6033 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaurav Srivastava ◽  
Rakesh C. Mehrotra ◽  
David L. Dilcher

The morning glory family, Convolvulaceae, is globally important in medicine and food crops. The family has worldwide distribution in a variety of habitats; however, its fossil record is very poorly documented. The current fossil record suggests an origin in North America, which is in contrast to molecular data that indicate an East Gondwana origin. We report Ipomoea leaves from the late Paleocene (Thanetian; 58.7–55.8 million years ago) of India, which was a part of East Gondwana during this time. This is the earliest fossil record for both the family Convolvulaceae and the order Solanales. This suggests that the sister families Convolvulaceae and Solanaceae diverged before the Eocene in Gondwana-derived continents. The evidence presented here supports the conclusion from molecular phylogenetic analysis of an East Gondwana origin of Convolvulaceae.


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