Convergence to the tiniest detail: vocal sac structure in torrent-dwelling frogs

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agustín J Elias-Costa ◽  
Julián Faivovich
Keyword(s):  
Background Noise ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Visual Display ◽  
Character State ◽  
Visual Displays ◽  
State Reconstruction ◽  
Ancestral Character State ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ancestral Character State Reconstruction ◽  
Detection And Recognition

Abstract Cascades and fast-flowing streams impose severe restrictions on acoustic communication, with loud broadband background noise hampering signal detection and recognition. In this context, diverse behavioural features, such as ultrasound production and visual displays, have arisen in the evolutionary history of torrent-dwelling amphibians. The importance of the vocal sac in multimodal communication is being increasingly recognized, and recently a new vocal sac visual display has been discovered: unilateral inflation of paired vocal sacs. In the diurnal stream-breeding Hylodidae from the Atlantic forest, where it was first described, this behaviour is likely to be enabled by a unique anatomical configuration of the vocal sacs. To assess whether other taxa share this exceptional structure, we surveyed torrent-dwelling species with paired vocal sacs across the anuran tree of life and examined the vocal sac anatomy of exemplar species across 18 families. We found striking anatomical convergence among hylodids and species of the distantly related basal ranid genera Staurois, Huia, Meristogenys and Amolops. Ancestral character state reconstruction identified three new synapomorphies for Ranidae. Furthermore, we surveyed the vocal sac configuration of other anuran species that perform visual displays and report observations on what appears to be unilateral inflation of paired vocal sacs, in Staurois guttatus – an extremely rare behaviour in anurans.

scholarly journals Bipedalism in Mexican Albian lizard (Squamata) and the locomotion type in other Cretaceous lizards

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damián Villaseñor-Amador ◽  
José Alberto Cruz ◽  
Nut Xanat Suárez
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Lower Cretaceous ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Character State ◽  
State Reconstruction ◽  
Ancestral Character State ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
Ancestral Character State Reconstruction ◽  
Locomotion Type

Representative locomotion types in lizards include terrestrial, arboreal, grass swimmer, sand swimmer and bipedal. Few studies explain the locomotion habit of extinct lizards, and even less asses those of bipedal ones. Here, we use quantitative methods to infer the type of locomotion of two Albian Mexican lizards (Lower Cretaceous) and three Cretaceous lizards from Brazil, North America and Spain, assessing the similarities of the hindlimb-forelimb length ratio amongst extinct and extant species. Additionally, an ancestral character state reconstruction analysis was performed, to evaluate the evolution of lizard locomotion habits. The species Huehuecuetzpalli mixtecus was bipedal while Tijubina pontei was facultative bipedal, Hoyalacerta sanzi, Tepexisaurus tepexii and Polyglyphanodon sternbergi cannot be differentiated amongst terrestrial or arboreal with the approach used in this work. The ancestral character state reconstruction analysis showed a terrestrial ancestral locomotion type, with a basal character state of hindlimbs longer than forelimbs. Equal length between hind and forelimbs appear to be a derivate state that evolved multiple times in lizard evolutionary history.

scholarly journals The accessory neural arch: development, morphology, and systematic distribution

Zoomorphology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Thieme ◽  
Timo Moritz
Keyword(s):  
State Estimation ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Taxon Sampling ◽  
Character State ◽  
Neural Arch ◽  
Ancestral Character State ◽  
History Of ◽  
Similar Character ◽  
Morphology Development ◽  
State Estimations

AbstractThe accessory neural arch is an oddly distributed character present in several non-acanthomorph teleostean taxa. Its homology was often implied but never satisfyingly tested. In this study, we attended this pending problem. We analyzed the morphology, development, and systematic distribution of the accessory neural arch in teleosts. Using a comprehensive taxon sampling of cleared and stained specimens, we evaluated if the accessory neural arch fulfils existing homology criteria. We then combined these data with recent genetic phylogenies and ancestral character state estimation to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the accessory neural arch. While its gross morphology and development fit homology criteria, results from ancestral character state estimations suggest multiple independent evolutions within teleosts. Although the accessory neural arch cannot be homologous between several teleostean taxa, the concept of parallelism may explain the presence of such a similar character in a variety of non-acanthomorph teleostean taxa.

Mucron morphology in male entomopathogenic nematodes of the Steinernematidae (Nematoda)

Nematology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 769-779
Author(s):  
Zdeněk Mráček ◽  
Jiří Nermuť ◽  
Vladimír Půža
Keyword(s):  
Entomopathogenic Nematodes ◽  
Second Generation ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Character State ◽  
Taxonomic Significance ◽  
Phylogenetic Groups ◽  
State Reconstruction ◽  
Ancestral Character State ◽  
Variable Shape ◽  
Ancestral Character State Reconstruction

Summary The mucron in male steinernematid nematodes may be missing or present either in the first or second generation, or missing in both generations, with variable shape. However, for many species, the information on mucron morphology is incomplete and its taxonomic significance and distribution remain unclear. The present study assessed mucron morphology in males of 26 species using LM and SEM microscopy. For other species we summarised the published data. Furthermore, ancestral character state reconstruction analysis was performed to assess the distribution of mucron morphology within steinernematid phylogeny. In most species, papilla/spine-like or filamentous mucrons occur at least in the second generation. The species gathered in single phylogenetic groups have a similar mucron morphology. Generally, species with a prominent filamentous mucron belong to the ‘kraussei/feltiae’ and ‘carpocapsae’ groups, whereas mostly non-mucronated species occur in ‘glaseri’ and ‘riobrave’ groups. For future descriptions a precise mucron characterisation in both generations of the male is recommended.

Evolution of trichome morphology in Mimosa (Leguminosae-Mimosoideae)

Phytotaxa ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 119 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
JULIANA SANTOS-SILVA ◽  
ANA MARIA GOULART DE AZEVEDO TOZZI ◽  
MARCELO FRAGOMENI SIMON ◽  
NAZARETH GUEDES URQUIZA ◽  
MATÍAS MORALES
Keyword(s):  
Glandular Trichomes ◽  
Character State ◽  
Optimization Analysis ◽  
Ancestral Character State ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ancestral Character State Reconstruction ◽  
Species Groups ◽  
Trichome Types ◽  
Trichome Morphology ◽  
Insight Into

With more than 500 species, Mimosa L. is one of the largest genera of the Leguminosae. It exhibits considerable trichome diversity among species. Trichome types have been used as diagnostic characters, but some are not well known and have been poorly described in taxonomic works, causing some difficulties for species identification and description. The morphology of trichomes of 35 species was studied using scanning electron microscopy and light microscopy to define the types of trichomes precisely. An ancestral character state reconstruction using a densely-sampled phylogeny of the genus was performed in order to investigate the evolution of trichome types in Mimosa. Two basic types of trichomes can be distinguished: glandular and non-glandular. The glandular trichomes can be sessile or stalked. The non-glandular trichomes can be unbranched or branched. Unbranched trichomes are unicellular and conical or cylindrical, whereas branched trichomes are multicellular and verruciform, medusiform, plumose, barbellate, stellate, stellate-lepidote, or lepidote. Character optimization analysis suggests that glandular and branched trichomes are derived and evolved independently in different lineages within Mimosa. The ancestral condition in Mimosa was probably non-glandular and unbranched trichomes, which was retained from piptadenioid ancestors. Our study provides a first insight into the evolutionary history of trichome morphology in the genus. Despite high levels of homoplasy, trichome morphology offers a set of characters that can be used for differentiating species and species groups in combination with other characters. 

scholarly journals High-model abundance may permit the gradual evolution of Batesian mimicry: an experimental test

2009 ◽  
Vol 277 (1684) ◽  
pp. 1041-1048 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Kikuchi ◽  
David W. Pfennig
Keyword(s):  
Batesian Mimicry ◽  
Adaptive Landscape ◽  
Character State ◽  
Coral Snake ◽  
State Reconstruction ◽  
Ancestral Character State ◽  
Intermediate Phenotypes ◽  
Gradual Evolution ◽  
Ancestral Character State Reconstruction ◽  
Predation Rates

In Batesian mimicry, a harmless species (the ‘mimic’) resembles a dangerous species (the ‘model’) and is thus protected from predators. It is often assumed that the mimetic phenotype evolves from a cryptic phenotype, but it is unclear how a population can transition through intermediate phenotypes; such intermediates may receive neither the benefits of crypsis nor mimicry. Here, we ask if selection against intermediates weakens with increasing model abundance. We also ask if mimicry has evolved from cryptic phenotypes in a mimetic clade. We first present an ancestral character-state reconstruction showing that mimicry of a coral snake ( Micrurus fulvius ) by the scarlet kingsnake ( Lampropeltis elapsoides ) evolved from a cryptic phenotype. We then evaluate predation rates on intermediate phenotypes relative to cryptic and mimetic phenotypes under conditions of both high- and low-model abundances. Our results indicate that where coral snakes are rare, intermediate phenotypes are attacked more often than cryptic and mimetic phenotypes, indicating the presence of an adaptive valley. However, where coral snakes are abundant, intermediate phenotypes are not attacked more frequently, resulting in an adaptive landscape without a valley. Thus, high-model abundance may facilitate the evolution of Batesian mimicry.

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