Eocene lantern fruits from Gondwanan Patagonia and the early origins of Solanaceae

Science ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 355 (6320) ◽  
pp. 71-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Wilf ◽  
Mónica R. Carvalho ◽  
María A. Gandolfo ◽  
N. Rubén Cúneo
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
New World ◽  
Early Eocene ◽  
Ancient History ◽  
Cultural Importance ◽  
Early Diversification ◽  
Molecular Divergence ◽  
Divergence Dates

The nightshade family Solanaceae holds exceptional economic and cultural importance. The early diversification of Solanaceae is thought to have occurred in South America during its separation from Gondwana, but the family’s sparse fossil record provides few insights. We report 52.2-million-year-old lantern fruits from terminal-Gondwanan Patagonia, featuring highly inflated, five-lobed calyces, as a newly identified species of the derived, diverse New World genus Physalis (e.g., groundcherries and tomatillos). The fossils are considerably older than corresponding molecular divergence dates and demonstrate an ancient history for the inflated calyx syndrome. The derived position of these early Eocene fossils shows that Solanaceae were well diversified long before final Gondwanan breakup.

scholarly journals Flying rocks and flying clocks: disparity in fossil and molecular dates for birds

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1788) ◽  
pp. 20140677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T. Ksepka ◽  
Jessica L. Ware ◽  
Kristin S. Lamm
Keyword(s):  
Analytical Methods ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Tree Of Life ◽  
Temporal Information ◽  
Molecular Dating ◽  
Critical Nodes ◽  
Molecular Divergence ◽  
Divergence Dates ◽  
Divergence Estimates ◽  
Age Estimates

Major disparities are recognized between molecular divergence dates and fossil ages for critical nodes in the Tree of Life, but broad patterns and underlying drivers remain elusive. We harvested 458 molecular age estimates for the stem and crown divergences of 67 avian clades to explore empirical patterns between these alternate sources of temporal information. These divergence estimates were, on average, over twice the age of the oldest fossil in these clades. Mitochondrial studies yielded older ages than nuclear studies for the vast majority of clades. Unexpectedly, disparity between molecular estimates and the fossil record was higher for divergences within major clades (crown divergences) than divergences between major clades (stem divergences). Comparisons of dates from studies classed by analytical methods revealed few significant differences. Because true divergence ages can never be known with certainty, our study does not answer the question of whether fossil gaps or molecular dating error account for a greater proportion of observed disparity. However, empirical patterns observed here suggest systemic overestimates for shallow nodes in existing molecular divergence dates for birds. We discuss underlying biases that may drive these patterns.

The micro- and megafossil record of Nothofagaceae from South America

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto R Pujana ◽  
Damián A Fernández ◽  
Carolina Panti ◽  
Nicolás Caviglia
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Surface Sediments ◽  
Sedimentary Rocks ◽  
Pollen Grains ◽  
Early Eocene ◽  
Reproductive Structures ◽  
The Family ◽  
Fossil Records ◽  
Cretaceous Fossils

Abstract We compiled the numerous fossil records (486) assigned to Nothofagaceae including pollen grains (from surface sediments and continental and oceanic borehole cores), leaves, woods and reproductive structures from South America. All the records are revised and the latest systematic treatments and ages of the bearing strata of each record are followed. When possible, we proposed a subgeneric affinity to each record based on updated bibliography. Fossils of three (Nothofagus, Fuscospora and Lophozonia) of the four subgenera are found in similar proportions through time since the Late Cretaceous. Fossils with reliable affinity with subgenus Brassospora were not found in South America. Most of the records are concentrated in the southern tip of South America (Patagonia Region) and nearby areas. After a significant presence of Nothofagaceae in the Cretaceous, the family declined in diversity and abundance in the Palaeocene and then increased from the Eocene to the Miocene. In the Miocene, the records reach their maximum diversity and abundance, and Nothofagaceae usually dominate the assemblages of pollen, leaves and woods from Patagonia. Pliocene Nothofagaceae records are virtually absent, probably because sedimentary rocks of that age are rare in Patagonia. The fossil record for Nothofagaceae varies according to environmental turnover; when tropical/subtropical floras were present in Patagonia in the Palaeocene–early Eocene, Nothofagaceae contracted southwards and when open steppes developed in the Miocene of east Patagonia, Nothofagaceae contracted westward.

scholarly journals Time-calibrated models support congruency between Cretaceous continental rifting and titanosaurian evolutionary history

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 20151047 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Gorscak ◽  
Patrick M. O‘Connor
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Recent Model ◽  
South American ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Divergence Dates ◽  
Globally Distributed ◽  
South American Origin

Recent model-based phylogenetic approaches have expanded upon the incorporation of extinct lineages and their respective temporal information for calibrating divergence date estimates. Here, model-based methods are explored to estimate divergence dates and ancestral ranges for titanosaurian sauropod dinosaurs, an extinct and globally distributed terrestrial clade that existed during the extensive Cretaceous supercontinental break-up. Our models estimate an Early Cretaceous (approx. 135 Ma) South American origin for Titanosauria. The estimated divergence dates are broadly congruent with Cretaceous geophysical models of supercontinental separation and subsequent continental isolation while obviating the invocation of continuous Late Cretaceous continental connections (e.g. ephemeral land bridges). Divergence dates for mid-Cretaceous African and South American sister lineages support semi-isolated subequatorial African faunas in concordance with the gradual northward separation between South America and Africa. Finally, Late Cretaceous Africa may have linked Laurasian lineages with their sister South American lineages, though the current Late Cretaceous African terrestrial fossil record remains meagre.

scholarly journals Amazonia as the Origin and Diversification Area of Didelphidae (Mammalia: Metatheria), and a Review of the Fossil Record of the Clade

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariela C. Castro ◽  
Murilo J. Dahur ◽  
Gabriel S. Ferreira
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
Parametric Models ◽  
Isthmus Of Panama ◽  
Biogeographic History ◽  
Early Diversification ◽  
Northern Portion ◽  
History Of ◽  
Environmental Events ◽  
Fossil Records

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.

The milliped family Platyrhacidae (Polydesmida: Leptodesmidea) in the West Indies: Proposal of Hoffmanorhacus n. gen.; description and illustrations of males of Proaspis aitia Loomis, 1941; redescription of Nannorrhacus luciae (Pocock, 1894); hypotheses on origins and affinities; and an updated New World familial distribution

Zootaxa ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 3626 (4) ◽  
pp. 477-498 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROWLAND M. SHELLEY ◽  
DANIELA MARTINEZ-TORRES
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
West Indies ◽  
New World ◽  
The West ◽  
Insular Populations

In the New World, the milliped family Platyrhacidae (Polydesmida) is known or projected for Central Americasouth of southeastern Nicaraguaand the northern ¼ of South America, with disjunct, insular populations on Hispaniola(Haiti), Guadeloupe(Basse-Terre), and St. Lucia. Male near-topotypes enable redescription of Proaspis aitia Loomis, 1941, possibly endemic to the western end of the southern Haitian peninsula. The tibiotarsus of its biramous gonopodal telopodite bends strongly laterad, and the medially directed solenomere arises at midlength proximal to the bend. With a uniramous telopodite, P. sahlii Jeekel, 1980, on Guadeloupe, is not congeneric, and Hoffmanorhacus, n. gen., is erected to accommodate it. Nannorrhacus luciae (Pocock, 1894), onSt. Lucia, is redescribed; also with a biramous telopodite, its tibiotarsus arises distad and diverges from the coaxial solenomere. The Antillean species do not comprise a clade and are only distantly related; rather than introductions, they plausibly reflect ancestral occurrences on the “proto-Antillean” terrain before it rifted from “proto-SouthAmerica” in the Cretaceous/Paleocene, with fragmentation isolating modern forms on their present islands. Existing platyrhacid tribes are formally elevated to subfamilies as this category was omitted from recent taxonomies. Without unequivocal evidence to the contrary, geographically anomalous species should initially be regarded as indigenous rather than anthropochoric.

scholarly journals Late Pleistocene echimyid rodents (Rodentia, Hystricognathi) from northern Brazil

2016 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 829-845 ◽  
Author(s):  
THAIS M.F. FERREIRA ◽  
ADRIANA ITATI OLIVARES ◽  
LEONARDO KERBER ◽  
RODRIGO P. DUTRA ◽  
LEONARDO S. AVILLA
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
South American ◽  
Squamate Reptiles ◽  
Northern Brazil ◽  
Northern South America ◽  
First Time

ABSTRACT Echimyidae (spiny rats, tree rats and the coypu) is the most diverse family of extant South American hystricognath rodents (caviomorphs). Today, they live in tropical forests (Amazonian, coastal and Andean forests), occasionally in more open xeric habitats in the Cerrado and Caatinga of northern South America, and open areas across the southern portion of the continent (Myocastor). The Quaternary fossil record of this family remains poorly studied. Here, we describe the fossil echimyids found in karst deposits from southern Tocantins, northern Brazil. The analyzed specimens are assigned to Thrichomys sp., Makalata cf. didelphoides and Proechimys sp. This is the first time that a fossil of Makalata is reported. The Pleistocene record of echimyids from this area is represented by fragmentary remains, which hinders their determination at specific levels. The data reported here contributes to the understanding of the ancient diversity of rodents of this region, evidenced until now in other groups, such as the artiodactyls, cingulates, carnivores, marsupials, and squamate reptiles.

scholarly journals Multiple incursion pathways for Helicoverpa armigera in Brazil show its genetic diversity spreading in a connected world

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas A. Arnemann ◽  
Stephen H. Roxburgh ◽  
Tom Walsh ◽  
Jerson V.C. Guedes ◽  
Karl H.J. Gordon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Gene Flow ◽  
South America ◽  
New World ◽  
Flow Patterns ◽  
South American ◽  
Southern Brazil ◽  
American Continent ◽  
Central Brazil ◽  
South American Continent

AbstractThe Old World cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera was first detected in Brazil with subsequent reports from Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia, and Uruguay. This pattern suggests that the H. armigera spread across the South American continent following incursions into northern/central Brazil, however, this hypothesis has not been tested. Here we compare northern and central Brazilian H. armigera mtDNA COI haplotypes with those from southern Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay. We infer spatial genetic and gene flow patterns of this dispersive pest in the agricultural landscape of South America. We show that the spatial distribution of H. armigera mtDNA haplotypes and its inferred gene flow patterns in the southwestern region of South America exhibited signatures inconsistent with a single incursion hypothesis. Simulations on spatial distribution patterns show that the detection of rare and/or the absence of dominant mtDNA haplotypes in southern H. armigera populations are inconsistent with genetic signatures observed in northern and central Brazil. Incursions of H. armigera into the New World are therefore likely to have involved independent events in northern/central Brazil, and southern Brazil/Uruguay-Argentina-Paraguay. This study demonstrates the significant biosecurity challenges facing the South American continent, and highlights alternate pathways for introductions of alien species into the New World.

scholarly journals Contribution to the Knowledge of the Genus Proceratium Roger (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Proceratiinae) in the New World

Sociobiology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 551
Author(s):  
Itanna Oliveira Fernandes ◽  
Jacques Hubert Charles Delabie ◽  
Fernando Castiblanco Fernández
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
South America ◽  
New Record ◽  
New World ◽  
Distribution Data ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
The World ◽  
High Resolution Images ◽  
South Of Brazil ◽  
First Time

The genus Proceratium Roger comprises rare ants that are irregularly distributed in tropical and temperate regions of the world. Despite this global distribution, these ants are rarely collected, likely due to their cryptobiotic lifestyle. In the New World, the genus comprises 22 known species distributed from Southern Canada to the South of Brazil, and in some Caribbean islands. The taxonomy of the genus Proceratium is here updated for South America. We describe P. amazonicum sp. nov, from Rondônia state and provide distribution data for P. brasiliense, P. convexipes, and P. silaceum. We also present, for the first time, high-resolution images of the P. colombicum type and P. ecuadoriense, and provide a new record of P. micrommatum from Peru, and comment about its morphological variation and distribution. A key for the workers of the P. micrommatum clade is also provided. The species we describe belongs to P. micrommatum clade and represents the second species recorded from Brazil after 60 years, since only P. brasiliense was known previously in the country.

scholarly journals Review of the Species of New World Erythroneurini (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Typhlocybinae)

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (1-6) ◽  
pp. 129-175
Author(s):  
Christopher H. Dietrich ◽  
Dmitry A. Dmitriev
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analysis ◽  
New Species ◽  
South America ◽  
New World ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Amazon Region ◽  
New Synonyms ◽  
Branch Support ◽  
North And South America ◽  
North And South

The 35 previously described species (including 4 junior synonyms) of the New World erythroneurine leafhopper genus Zyginama are reviewed and descriptions are provided for 43 new species, 2 from U.S.A., 26 from Mexico, 1 from Panama, and 14 from the Amazon region of South America. The following new synonyms are recognized: Z. aucta (McAtee) equals Erythroneura bilocularis Van Duzee, syn. n., and E. inclita Beamer, syn. n.; Z. nicholi (Beamer) equals E. canyonensis Beamer, syn. n., and E. ales Beamer, syn. n. Separate keys are provided for identification of males from North and South America, all known species are illustrated, and data on their distributions are summarized. Phylogenetic analysis of 40 morphological characters of the 71 species for which males are known yielded a reasonably well resolved estimate of relationships among the included species, but branch support was low overall.

scholarly journals Friedrich Dietrich v. Kurt Sprengel and their, largely American, plant-names

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-253
Author(s):  
David J. Mabberley
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South America ◽  
South Asia ◽  
New World ◽  
New Combinations ◽  
Nomina Nova ◽  
Plant Groups ◽  
Plant Names ◽  
Tropical America

The vexing literary relationship between Kurt Sprengel and Friedrich Dietrich appears to have led to some of Dietrich’s work being willfully disregarded and subsequently forgotten/extinguished/suppressed. Examination of Dietrich’s oeuvre leads to the rehabilitation of fifteen of his new combinations, making securer by up to 175 years, some names in current use for largely New World plants. To take into account Dietrich’s work as a whole, four new combinations and three nomina nova are proposed with the help of authorities in the germane plant groups: Caamembeca andina (A.W. Benn.) J.F.B. Pastore & Mabb. (Bolivia), Callicarpa ekmanii I.E. Méndez & Mabb. (Cuba), Clematis wangiana Mabb., (Madagascar), Coleataenia pulchra (F. Dietr.) Mabb. & LeBlond (USA), Packera dubia (Spreng.) Trock & Mabb. (USA), Piper samainianum Mabb. (Peru), Rostellularia vahliana (Schult.) Mabb. (south Asia), for which a lectotype is designated, with other adjustments of names in Besleria (B. formosa now B. amabilis, tropical America), Oxalis (O. eckloniana now O. biloba, South Africa), Passiflora (P. arborea now P. magnoliifolia, Colombia), Ribes (R. ruizii now R. sylvestre, Chile), and possibly Tocoyena (South America), while further work on Lupinus is called for.

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