scholarly journals A new species of Eogruidae (Aves: Gruiformes) from the Miocene of the Linxia Basin, Gansu, China: Evolutionary and climatic implications

The Auk ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 137 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace Musser ◽  
Zhiheng Li ◽  
Julia A Clarke

Abstract Despite having one of the most robust fossil records within core-gruiform birds (rails, cranes, and allies), the biogeographic history of Gruidae (cranes) and key drivers of diversification within this group remain largely unknown. The Eogruidae of Eurasia represent some of the earliest known crane-like fossils. Here, we present description of a new species represented by a well-preserved specimen of a foot from the late Miocene (7–6.5 mya) Liushu Formation of Linxia Basin, Gansu, China. It is the only eogruid fossil that has been found in this formation and is the first eogruid known from northwest China. Linxia Basin is located along the margin of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, which allows for new insight into Miocene dispersal of the Eogruidae and potential climatological and geological connections. It is also the first specimen with an associated tarsometatarsus and nearly complete phalanges, including a claw, which provides further morphological information on this taxon. Referral of the new specimen to Eogruidae is based on extreme reduction of the trochlea of metatarsal II, which is most similar to the condition present in the eogruid subclade traditionally termed Ergilornithidae.

Zootaxa ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 2478 (1) ◽  
pp. 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
DMITRY A. SIDOROV ◽  
JOHN R. HOLSINGER ◽  
VADIM V. TAKHTEEV

Two new species of the subterranean amphipod genus Stygobromus are described from groundwater habitats in Siberia: Stygobromus mikhaili n. sp. from a spring in the Central Altay Mountains and Stygobromus anastasiae n. sp. from two non-freezing springs in South Pribaikalye in the Irkutsk area. Additional taxonomic details of the previously described S. pusillus (Martynov) from Teletskoye Lake, also in Central Altay, are illustrated based on syntype material. Utilization of SEM has revealed a tiny structure on antenna 2 that appears to be a new character, and may prove useful in future analyses. Descriptions of the two new species raise the total number of described species in the genus Stygobromus to 134, but four or possibly five have been found in the Palearctic region outside North America. However, it is likely that continued exploration of subterranean groundwater habitats in Siberia and other parts of the Palearctic will reveal additional new species of Stygobromus and provide more insight into the origin and geographic distribution of this large, northern hemisphere, subterranean freshwater amphipod genus. Careful evaluation of taxonomic affinities of the new species and comparison with previously described congeners should provide further insight into the biogeographic history of Stygobromus.


Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4324 (1) ◽  
pp. 121 ◽  
Author(s):  
LUIS M. P. CERÍACO ◽  
MARIANA P. MARQUES ◽  
ANDREAS SCHMITZ ◽  
AARON M. BAUER

The Cobra-Preta (black snake in Portuguese) of Sao Tomé Island in the Gulf of Guinea has historically been referred to as Naja (Boulengerina) melanoleuca (Squamata: Elapidae). Its presence on the island has been traditionally explained as an introduction from the mainland by Portuguese settlers, supposedly to control the rat population. This explanation has been widely accepted by local authorities and even international conservation agencies. The taxonomic identity of this snake has remained undisputed by all taxonomists who have published about it, with the exception of L. Capocaccia in 1961. Arguments supporting the human introduction hypothesis are weak and are contradicted by historical, morphological and molecular data. Further, the biogeographic history of the Gulf of Guinea oceanic islands and recent insights on the taxonomic identity and evolutionary history of other taxonomic groups occurring there suggest that the Cobra-Preta, in fact, represents a distinct lineage of the melanoleuca group, endemic to São Tomé. We here describe the Cobra Preta as a new species. The new species differs from N. (B.) melanoleuca, its sister species, by a distinct coloration ventral pattern and the type of contact of the sublingual scales. Data on the toxicology, distribution, ecology, folklore and conservation status of the new species are presented. 


Author(s):  
Mariela C. Castro ◽  
Murilo J. Dahur ◽  
Gabriel S. Ferreira

AbstractDidelphidae is the largest New World radiation of marsupials, and is mostly represented by arboreal, small- to medium-sized taxa that inhabit tropical and/or subtropical forests. The group originated and remained isolated in South America for millions of years, until the formation of the Isthmus of Panama. In this study, we present the first reconstruction of the biogeographic history of Didelphidae including all major clades, based on parametric models and stratified analyses over time. We also compiled all the pre-Quaternary fossil records of the group, and contrasted these data to our biogeographic inferences, as well as to major environmental events that occurred in the South American Cenozoic. Our results indicate the relevance of Amazonia in the early diversification of Didelphidae, including the divergence of the major clades traditionally ranked as subfamilies and tribes. Cladogeneses in other areas started in the late Miocene, an interval of intense shifts, especially in the northern portion of Andes and Amazon Basin. Occupation of other areas continued through the Pliocene, but few were only colonized in Quaternary times. The comparison between the biogeographic inference and the fossil records highlights some further steps towards better understanding the spatiotemporal evolution of the clade. Finally, our results stress that the early history of didelphids is obscured by the lack of Paleogene fossils, which are still to be unearthed from low-latitude deposits of South America.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Rainer R. Schoch ◽  
Gabriela Sobral

Abstract The late Paleozoic temnospondyl Sclerocephalus formed an aquatic top predator in various central European lakes of the late Carboniferous and early Permian. Despite hundreds of specimens spanning a wide range of sizes, knowledge of the endocranium (braincase and palatoquadrate) remained very insufficient in Sclerocephalus and other stereospondylomorphs because even large skulls had unossified endocrania. A new specimen from a stratigraphically ancient deposit at St. Wendel in southwestern Germany is recognized as representing a new taxon, S. concordiae new species, and reveals a completely ossified endocranium. The sphenethmoid was completely ossified from the basisphenoid to the anterior ethmoid region, co-ossified with the parasphenoid, and the basipterygoid joint was fully established. The pterygoid bears a slender, S-shaped epipterygoid, which formed a robust pillar lateral to the braincase. The massive stapes was firmly sutured to the parasphenoid. In the temnospondyl endocranium, character evolution involved various changes in the epipterygoid region, which evolved distinct morphologies in each of the major clades. UUID: http://zoobank.org/5e6d2078-eacf-4467-84cf-a12efcae7c0b


1952 ◽  
Vol s3-93 (24) ◽  
pp. 427-434
Author(s):  
MONICA TAYLOR

Material collected in Loch Tannoch was allowed to macerate in a chemical nutrient. A rich crop of Euglena gracilis as well as other infusoria resulted. Eight months later, when the Euglena had encysted, many amoebae were found at the bottom of the receptacle. They constitute a new species, here named Amoeba hugonis. An average adult specimen, when extended, measures about 104x52·2µ. The nucleus consists of a central karyosome lying in the nuclear sap, separated from the cytoplasm by a wellmarked nuclear membrane. Between the latter and the karyosome is situated an achromatic ‘collar’ with chromatin particles embedded in it. Fission is described, but a study of mitosis has been deferred. The life-history of this small amoeba is very similar to that of the large A. proteus, &c. The cycle occupies two months. Chromidia begin to appear in the cytoplasm of the early adult. They give rise to spores, out of which amoebulae hatch.


Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4974 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-134
Author(s):  
MINLI CHEN ◽  
JINLONG LIU ◽  
BO CAI ◽  
JUN LI ◽  
NA WU ◽  
...  

An adult sand snake specimen was collected during a herpetofaunal survey conducted in the Turpan Basin in northwest China. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that this specimen, along with other snake sloughs and skins collected from different localities in the Turpan Basin formed a clade that is sister to Psammophis lineolatus. This taxon exhibited substantial divergence from its congeners (P. lineolatus and P. condanarus) with uncorrelated p-distances ranging from 11.9 ± 0.9% to 15.8 ± 1.6% for the ND4 gene and from 10.2 ± 0.8% to 13.8 ± 1.1% for the Cytb gene. Given the genetic differences along with morphological differences, we describe the specimen from the Turpan Basin as Psammophis turpanensis sp. nov. We provide detailed morphological descriptions, and compare this specimen with five Asian sand snakes and the Afro-Asian Sand Snake, P. schokari. In addition, we provide brief comments on the biogeography of Psammophis in China. 


1875 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 50-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. D. Handyside

The position of this new species of Ganoid, under our commonly accepted classification, the author gave as follows:—After referring to the Polyodon folium of Laépède (the P. reticulata of Shaw, the Planirostra spatula of Owen), the paddle-fish or spoon-bill sturgeon of the Ohio and Mississippi and their tributaries, as a well-known species of the genus in question, Dr Handyside went on to state that the new species now to be described was first observed on a Chinese fishmonger's stall at Woosung, 12 miles from Shanghai, and had since been found in the Yang-tsze-Kiang, and, as was alleged, in the northern Japanese sea. He then sketched the history of the Polyodontidoæ family, and narrated the researches of Lacépède, Von Martens, Blakiston, Kaup, and Duméril.


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