scholarly journals Discovery of a new family of amphibians from northeast India with ancient links to Africa

2012 ◽  
Vol 279 (1737) ◽  
pp. 2396-2401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachunliu G. Kamei ◽  
Diego San Mauro ◽  
David J. Gower ◽  
Ines Van Bocxlaer ◽  
Emma Sherratt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Nuclear Dna ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Sister Group ◽  
Northeast India ◽  
Sister Group Relationship ◽  
New Family ◽  
Ancient Lineage ◽  
Molecular Phylogenetic ◽  
Threatened Habitats

The limbless, primarily soil-dwelling and tropical caecilian amphibians (Gymnophiona) comprise the least known order of tetrapods. On the basis of unprecedented extensive fieldwork, we report the discovery of a previously overlooked, ancient lineage and radiation of caecilians from threatened habitats in the underexplored states of northeast India. Molecular phylogenetic analyses of mitogenomic and nuclear DNA sequences, and comparative cranial anatomy indicate an unexpected sister-group relationship with the exclusively African family Herpelidae. Relaxed molecular clock analyses indicate that these lineages diverged in the Early Cretaceous, about 140 Ma. The discovery adds a major branch to the amphibian tree of life and sheds light on both the evolution and biogeography of caecilians and the biotic history of northeast India—an area generally interpreted as a gateway between biodiversity hotspots rather than a distinct biogeographic unit with its own ancient endemics. Because of its distinctive morphology, inferred age and phylogenetic relationships, we recognize the newly discovered caecilian radiation as a new family of modern amphibians.

Description of Tottonophyes enigmatica gen. nov., sp. nov. (Hydrozoa, Siphonophora, Calycophorae), with a reappraisal of the function and homology of nectophoral canals

Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4415 (3) ◽  
pp. 452 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. R. PUGH ◽  
C.W. DUNN ◽  
S.H.D. HADDOCK
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Sister Group ◽  
The Other ◽  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
Unique Combination ◽  
New Family ◽  
Molecular Phylogenetic ◽  
Distinct Morphology ◽  
A New Species

A new species of calycophoran siphonophore, Tottonophyes enigmatica gen. nov, sp. nov., is described. It has a unique combination of traits, some shared with prayomorphs (including two rounded nectophores) and some with clausophyid diphyomorphs (the nectophores are dissimilar, with one slightly larger and slightly to the anterior of the other, and both possess a somatocyst). Molecular phylogenetic analyses indicate that the new species is the sister group to all other diphyomorphs. A new family, Tottonophyidae, is established for it. Its phylogenetic position and distinct morphology help clarify diphyomorph evolution. The function and homology of the nectophoral canals and somatocyst is also re-examined and further clarification is given to their nomenclature.

scholarly journals A new species of the horned toad Megophrys Kuhl & Van Hasselt, 1822 (Anura, Megophryidae) from southwest China

ZooKeys ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 943 ◽  
pp. 119-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ning Xu ◽  
Shi-Ze Li ◽  
Jing Liu ◽  
Gang Wei ◽  
Bin Wang
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Nuclear Dna ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Dorsal Surface ◽  
The Body ◽  
Guizhou Province ◽  
Upper Eyelid ◽  
Molecular Phylogenetic ◽  
A New Species

A new species of the genus Megophrys is described from Guizhou Province, China. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA sequences all strongly supported the new species as an independent clade sister to M. minor and M. jiangi. The new species could be distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following characters: body size moderate (SVL 43.4–44.1 mm in males, and 44.8–49.8 mm in females; vomerine teeth absent; tongue not notched behind; a small horn-like tubercle at the edge of each upper eyelid; tympanum distinctly visible, rounded; two metacarpal tubercles on palm; relative finger lengths II < I < V < III; toes without webbing; heels overlapping when thighs are positioned at right angles to the body; tibiotarsal articulation reaching the level between tympanum and eye when leg stretched forward; in breeding males, an internal single subgular vocal sac in male, and the nuptial pads with black spines on dorsal surface of bases of the first two fingers.

Relationships of the New World cichlid genus Hypsophrys Agassiz 1859 (Teleostei: Cichlidae), with diagnoses for the genus and its species

Zootaxa ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 1523 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
PROSANTA CHAKRABARTY ◽  
JOHN S. SPARKS
Keyword(s):  
New World ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Sister Group ◽  
Sister Group Relationship ◽  
Senior Synonym ◽  
Molecular Phylogenetic ◽  
Relationship Of

Two monotypic Neotropical cichlid genera, Hypsophrys Agassiz 1859 and Neetroplus Günther 1867, are well known but poorly diagnosed. The possession of a single supraneural (versus two for most Middle American species), a strongly rounded snout with a small and slightly subterminal mouth (versus straight snout profiles with terminal mouth) provide morphological support for the sister-group relationship of Hypsophrys and Neetroplus recovered in recent molecular phylogenetic analyses. Based on these shared features Neetroplus is synonymized with Hypsophrys. In addition, the senior synonym Hypsophrys unimaculatus should no longer be improperly suppressed in favor of the more familiar, but junior, H. nicaraguensis.

Huriella flakusii (Teloschistaceae, lichenized Ascomycota), a new species from the Colca Canyon region in Peru

2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-47
Author(s):  
Karina Wilk
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Arid Region ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Sister Group ◽  
Sister Group Relationship ◽  
Southern Peru ◽  
A New Species

AbstractA new species, Huriella flakusii, is described from the arid region of the Colca Canyon in southern Peru, and is characterized by squamulose, orange thalli and abundant, crowded and aggregated, usually flexuous when compressed, reddish apothecia. The thalline cortex, proper margin and hypothecium are paraplectenchymatous. The ascospores are broadly ellipsoid, 10‒15 × 5.0‒9.5 µm, with rather thin septa, 2‒4 µm. Phylogenetic analyses of the DNA sequences of ITS, nuLSU and mrSSU rDNA markers revealed that the new species is nested within the Amundsenia-Squamulea subclade in the subfamily Xanthorioideae, and has a sister group relationship to Huriella loekoesiana from South Korea.

scholarly journals Descriptions of four new dextral land snails of the genus Camaena (Gastropoda, Eupulmonata, Camaenidae) from south China

ZooKeys ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 996 ◽  
pp. 37-58
Author(s):  
Pei Wang ◽  
Mei-Ling Hu ◽  
Jun-Hong Lin ◽  
Hai-Fang Yang ◽  
Xiao-Jing Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
South China ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Reproductive System ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Land Snails ◽  
Shell Morphology ◽  
Molecular Phylogenetic ◽  
Living Environments

In this study, four new dextral camaenid from China are reported, based on shell morphology, reproductive system anatomy, and molecular phylogenetic analyses: Camaena funingensis Zhou, Wang & Lin, sp. nov., Camaena gaolongensis Zhou, Wang & Lin, sp. nov., Camaena maguanensis Zhou, Wang & Hu, sp. nov., and Camaena yulinensis Zhou, Wang & Hu, sp. nov. Detailed descriptions of the morphological characteristics including shells and genitalia, DNA sequences, and living environments of the four new species are provided, with further comparisons with congeners.

Molecular phylogenetic position of Haplometroides intercaecalis (Digenea, Plagiorchiidae)

2018 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 522-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Isabel Müller ◽  
Drausio Honorio Morais ◽  
Reinaldo José da Silva
Keyword(s):  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Additional Data ◽  
Ribosomal Gene ◽  
Valid Species ◽  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
New Family ◽  
Molecular Phylogenetic ◽  
Morphological Differences

Abstract Three valid species of Haplometroides Odhner, 1910 parasitise snakes and amphisbaenians from South America. This study provides additional data on morphometric and molecular phylogenetic position inferred from the nuclear ribosomal gene 28S (partial). DNA sequences were isolated from Haplometroides intercaecalis Silva, Ferreira and Strüssmann, 2007 found in one specimen of Phalotris matogrossensis Lema, D’Agostini and Cappellari, 2005. Five digenean specimens were recovered from the esophagus of this snake, and four specimens were used for morphometrical studies and one specimen for molecular analysis. Phylogenetic analysis using maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods was conducted with sequences available for the order Plagiorchiida and its phylogenetic position places H. intercaecalis among the brachycoeliids Brachycoelium (Dujardin, 1845) Stiles and Hassall, 1898 and Parabrachycoelium Pérez-Ponce de León, Mendoza-Garfias, Razo-Mendivil and Parra-Olea, 2011, and the mesocoeliid Mesocoelium Odhner, 1910, not closely related to plagiorchids as expected. Due to morphological differences among these families, it may be necessary to create a new family to accommodate Haplometroides spp. However, more genera/taxa as well as other molecular markers should be added in future studies to confirm our results and resolve this matter. This is the first phylogenetic positioning of digeneans of the genus Haplometroides, contributing to the systematic analysis of the helminthological biodiversity of Neotropical snakes.

Leptolejeunea nigra (Lejeuneaceae), a new species with brownish black ocelli based upon morphology and DNA sequences

Phytotaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 427 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-42
Author(s):  
LEI SHU ◽  
RUI-LIANG ZHU
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Molecular Phylogeny ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Time Span ◽  
Molecular Dating ◽  
Molecular Phylogenetic ◽  
Brownish Black ◽  
A New Species

Based on molecular phylogenetic analyses and morphological characters, a new species from Bangladesh, northern Vietnam, and southwestern China, Leptolejeunea nigra, is described. It is mostly similar to L. balansae but remarkable for having brownish black ocelli in its leaf lobes. In the molecular phylogeny, the samples of L. nigra are not nested within any clade and form an independent lineage. In particular, the molecular dating suggested that the divergence of L. nigra happened in time span of the formation of the Himalayas.

scholarly journals Speciation in the genera Anthericum and Chlorophytum (Asparagaceae) in Ethiopia—a molecular phylogenetic approach

Phytotaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 297 (2) ◽  
pp. 139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Sletten Bjorå ◽  
MARTE ELDEN ◽  
INGER NORDAL ◽  
ANNE K. BRYSTING ◽  
TESFAYE AWAS ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Sister Group ◽  
Molecular Data ◽  
Group Relations ◽  
Variation Patterns ◽  
Molecular Phylogenetic ◽  
Lowland Area ◽  
A New Species ◽  
Scanning Electron

Sister group relations of Ethiopian species of Anthericum and Chlorophytum and variation patterns in the C. gallabatense and C. comosum complexes were studied using molecular phylogenetic analyses, morphometrics, and scanning electron microscopy of seed surfaces. Results indicate that molecular data largely support previous morphological conclusions, and that speciation has occurred in Ethiopia at least three times in Anthericum and repeatedly within different subclades of Chlorophytum. Areas particularly rich in endemic species are the lowland area around Bale Mountains in SE Ethiopia and in the Beninshangul Gumuz regional state in W Ethiopia near the border to Sudan. A new species, Chlorophytum mamillatum Elden & Nordal, is described, and the names C. tordense and C. tetraphyllum are re-instated.

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