scholarly journals Oligocene divergence of frogmouth birds (Podargidae) across Wallace's Line

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 20200040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul M. Oliver ◽  
Holly Heiniger ◽  
Andrew F. Hugall ◽  
Leo Joseph ◽  
Kieren J. Mitchell

Wallace's Line demarcates the transition between the differentiated regional faunas of Asia and Australia. However, while patterns of biotic differentiation across these two continental landmasses and the intervening island groups (Wallacea) have been extensively studied, patterns of long-term dispersal and diversification across this region are less well understood. Frogmouths (Aves: Podargidae) are a relictual family of large nocturnal birds represented by three extant genera occurring, respectively, in Asia, ‘Sahul’ (Australia and New Guinea) and the Solomon Islands, thus spanning Wallace's Line. We used new mitochondrial genomes from each of the extant frogmouth genera to estimate the timeline of frogmouth evolution and dispersal across Wallace's Line. Our results suggest that the three genera diverged and dispersed during the mid-Cenozoic between approximately 30 and 40 Mya. These divergences are among the oldest inferred for any trans-Wallacean vertebrate lineage. In addition, our results reveal that the monotypic Solomons frogmouth ( Rigidipenna inexpectata ) is one of the most phylogenetically divergent endemic bird lineages in the southwest Pacific. We suggest that the contemporary distribution of exceptionally deep divergences among extant frogmouth lineages may be explained by colonization of, and subsequent long-term persistence on, island arcs in the southwest Pacific during the Oligocene. These island arcs may have provided a pathway for biotic dispersal out of both Asia and Australia that preceded the formation of extensive emergent landmasses in Wallacea by at least 10 million years.

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 482
Author(s):  
Alice Michie ◽  
John S. Mackenzie ◽  
David W. Smith ◽  
Allison Imrie

Ross River virus (RRV) is the most medically significant mosquito-borne virus of Australia, in terms of human morbidity. RRV cases, characterised by febrile illness and potentially persistent arthralgia, have been reported from all Australian states and territories. RRV was the cause of a large-scale epidemic of multiple Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs) from 1979 to 1980, involving at least 50,000 cases. Historical evidence of RRV seropositivity beyond Australia, in populations of Papua New Guinea (PNG), Indonesia and the Solomon Islands, has been documented. We describe the genomic characterisation and timescale analysis of the first isolate of RRV to be sampled from PNG to date. Our analysis indicates that RRV has evolved locally within PNG, independent of Australian lineages, over an approximate 40 year period. The mean time to most recent common ancestor (tMRCA) of the unique PNG clade coincides with the initiation of the PICTs epidemic in mid-1979. This may indicate that an ancestral variant of the PNG clade was seeded into the region during the epidemic, a period of high RRV transmission. Further epidemiological and molecular-based surveillance is required in PNG to better understand the molecular epidemiology of RRV in the general Australasian region.


1996 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 1041 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Baehr

On the basis of morphological characters of adults, the odacanthine genus Casnoidea Castelnau is reviewed and a key to the species is provided. Of the 17 species, seven are described as new: Casnoidea celebensis, sp. nov., from Sulawesi, C. ceylonica, sp. nov., from Sri Lanka, C. leytensis, sp. nov., from Leyte (Philippines), C. australica, sp. nov., and C. storeyi, sp. nov., both from northern Australia, C. malickyi, sp. nov., from northern Thailand and C. brandti, sp, nov., from Bougainville (Solomon Islands). The first five species are closely related to the widespread Oriental species C. interstitialis (Schmidt-Göbel), C. malickyi is related to the Oriental species C. nigrofasciata (Schmidt-Göbel), and C. brandti is closely related to the Papuan C. gestroi (Maindron). An Australian record of the Oriental species C. indica (Thunberg) indicates an accidental introduction. For the Australian species C. puncticollis and C. thouzeti new records show more extensive ranges than known previously. C. thouzeti (Castelnau) is also a new record from New Guinea. For C. foersteri (Bouchard) a new subgenus Procasnoidea, subgen. nov., is erected because of certain aberrant and presumably plesiomorphic external and genitalic characters present in this species. On the basis of the cladistic method as proposed by Hennig, a phylogenetic and biogeographic analysis shows that Casnoidea is a young, highly evolved genus that probably originated in the so-called 'Sundaland'. Apart from some rather primitive species or dibasic species-groups (C. gestroi-group, C. puncticollis, C. indica, C. thouzeti) the subgenus Casnoidea s. str. is divided into two more diverse species groups, namely the nigrofasciata-group with C. nigrofasciata, C. bakeri, C. bhamoensis and C. malickyi, and the interstitialis-group with C. interstitialis, C. ishiii, C. celebensis, C. ceylonica, C. leytensis, C. storeyi and C. australica. Both groups combine closely related species that apparently have been derived from the same stocks with the widespread C. nigrofasciata and C. interstitialis, respectively, and the species have mostly rather restricted ranges at or beyond the margins of the range of the wide-ranging species. Phylogenetical and chorological evidence reveals that several evolutionary events occurred within the genus and that Wallace's line was probably crossed six times independently in easterly direction by the gestroi-, puncticollis-, indica and thouzeti-stocks and within the nigrofasciata- and interstitialis-groups. The Papuan and Australian subregions have been colonised by different stocks and the shared species may have colonised New Guinea rather recently from the south. For Australia at least three independent immigrations of Casnoidea species from the Oriental region are postulated, namely by the thouzeti-, puncticollis- and australica-storeyi-lineages.


2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1871) ◽  
pp. 20171760 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul M. Oliver ◽  
Rafe M. Brown ◽  
Fred Kraus ◽  
Eric Rittmeyer ◽  
Scott L. Travers ◽  
...  

Regions with complex geological histories often have diverse and highly endemic biotas, yet inferring the ecological and historical processes shaping this relationship remains challenging. Here, in the context of the taxon cycle model of insular community assembly, we investigate patterns of lineage diversity and habitat usage in a newly characterized vertebrate radiation centred upon the world's most geologically complex insular region: island arcs spanning from the Philippines to Fiji. On island arcs taxa are ecologically widespread, and provide evidence to support one key prediction of the taxon cycle, specifically that interior habitats (lowland rainforests, montane habitats) are home to a greater number of older or relictual lineages than are peripheral habitats (coastal and open forests). On continental fringes, however, the clade shows a disjunct distribution away from lowland rainforest, occurring in coastal, open or montane habitats. These results are consistent with a role for biotic interactions in shaping disjunct distributions (a central tenant of the taxon cycle), but we find this pattern most strongly on continental fringes not islands. Our results also suggest that peripheral habitats on islands, and especially island arcs, may be important for persistence and diversification, not just dispersal and colonization. Finally, new phylogenetic evidence for subaerial island archipelagos (with an associated biota) east of present-day Wallace's Line since the Oligocene has important implications for understanding long-term biotic interchange and assembly across Asia and Australia.


Author(s):  

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Rice grassy stunt tenuivirus Viruses: Tenuivirus. Hosts: Rice (Oryza sativa). Information is given on the geographical distribution in ASIA, Bangladesh, Brunei, Darussalam, China, India, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Indonesia, Java, Nusa, Tenggara, Sulawesi, Sumatra, Japan, Kyushu, Korea Republic, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, OCEANIA, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands.


Author(s):  

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Dysdercus sidae Montr. (D. insular is Stål) (Hemipt., Pyrrhocoridae). Host Plants: Cotton, kapok, Hibiscus spp. Information is given on the geographical distribution in AUSTRALASIA AND PACIFIC ISLANDS, Australia, Fiji, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia, New Hebrides, Niue, Papua & New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Wallis Islands, Irian Jaya.


Author(s):  
H. Y. M. Leung

Abstract A description is provided for Cercospora mikaniicola. Information is included on the disease caused by the organism, its transmission, geographical distribution, and hosts. HOSTS: Mikania cordata, Mikania micrantha (Asteraceae). DISEASE: Leaf spot and stem canker. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: Bangladesh, Brazil, Cuba, Colombia, Fiji, Guadalcanal, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Malaysia, Niue, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Puerto Rico, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, USA (Florida), Vanuatu. TRANSMISSION: Conidia are presumably air-dispersed but there are no detailed studies.


Author(s):  
A. Sivanesan

Abstract A description is provided for Cochliobolus eragrostidis. Information is included on the disease caused by the organism, its transmission, geographical distribution, and hosts. HOSTS: Acacia, Agave, Allium, Alysicarpus, Amorphophallus, Anacardium, Arachis, Areca, Billbergia, Calamus, Callitris, Calotropis, Camellia, Cananga, Capsicum, Citrullus, Citrus, Clerodendron, Cocos, Coffea, Colocasia, Cymbopogon, Dendrobium, Digitaria, Dioscorea, Dracaena, Durio, Elaeis, Eragrostis, Eucalyptus, Euphorbia, Furcraea, Gladiolus, Glycine, Gossypium, Heliconia, Hevea, Hystrix, Ipomoea, Kaempferia, Lycopersicon, Mangifera, Manihot, Mystroxylon, Musa, Neyraudia, Oldenlandia, Opuntia, Oryza, Panicum, Pennisetum, Pentas, Phalaenopsis, Phaseolus, Pinus, Polygala, Pueraria, Raphia, Raphanus, Rhodomyrtus, Rhoeo, Rottboellia, Saccharum, Sesamum, Sorghum, Spinacia, Sporobolus, Stylosanthes, Theobroma, Thrasya, Tradescantia, Trichosanthes, Triplochiton, Triticum, Vanda, Vigna, Zea, Zingiber and soil. DISEASE: Leaf spots. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: Australia, Bangladesh, Belize, Brazil, Brunei, Burma, Colombia, Cuba, Fiji, Ghana, Guinea, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Puerto Rico, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Trinidad, USA, Zambia, Zaire. TRANSMISSION: By wind-borne conidia.


Itinerario ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 24 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 173-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Aldrich

At the end of the Second World War, the islands of Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia were all under foreign control. The Netherlands retained West New Guinea even while control of the rest of the Dutch East Indies slipped away, while on the other side of the South Pacific, Chile held Easter Island. Pitcairn, the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, Fiji and the Solomon Islands comprised Britain's Oceanic empire, in addition to informal overlordship of Tonga. France claimed New Caledonia, the French Establishments in Oceania (soon renamed French Polynesia) and Wallis and Futuna. The New Hebrides remained an Anglo-French condominium; Britain, Australia and New Zealand jointly administered Nauru. The United States' territories included older possessions – the Hawaiian islands, American Samoa and Guam – and the former Japanese colonies of the Northern Marianas, Mar-shall Islands and Caroline Islands administered as a United Nations trust territory. Australia controlled Papua and New Guinea (PNG), as well as islands in the Torres Strait and Norfolk Island; New Zealand had Western Samoa, the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau. No island group in Oceania, other than New Zealand, was independent.


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