scholarly journals Multiproxy evidence highlights a complex evolutionary legacy of maize in South America

Science ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 362 (6420) ◽  
pp. 1309-1313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Logan Kistler ◽  
S. Yoshi Maezumi ◽  
Jonas Gregorio de Souza ◽  
Natalia A. S. Przelomska ◽  
Flaviane Malaquias Costa ◽  
...  

Domesticated maize evolved from wild teosinte under human influences in Mexico beginning around 9000 years before the present (yr B.P.), traversed Central America by ~7500 yr B.P., and spread into South America by ~6500 yr B.P. Landrace and archaeological maize genomes from South America suggest that the ancestral population to South American maize was brought out of the domestication center in Mexico and became isolated from the wild teosinte gene pool before traits of domesticated maize were fixed. Deeply structured lineages then evolved within South America out of this partially domesticated progenitor population. Genomic, linguistic, archaeological, and paleoecological data suggest that the southwestern Amazon was a secondary improvement center for partially domesticated maize. Multiple waves of human-mediated dispersal are responsible for the diversity and biogeography of modern South American maize.

Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4568 (2) ◽  
pp. 394
Author(s):  
DIEGO DUTRA SILVEIRA ◽  
ALINE BARCELLOS ◽  
ALEXANDER KNYSHOV

Hoplonannus McAtee & Maloch, 1925 comprises three species described from Central America. Females of all these species are known only from brachypterous specimens. This paper describes the first South American species of the genus, Hoplonannus australis sp. nov. The new species differs from its congeners, in females, by the submacroptery, presence of ocelli and a basal bulge in the seventh sternite; in males, it differs by the presence of a process in the eighth tergite and the right paramere bifurcate apically, with branches subparallel. These traits entail a new diagnosis for the genus. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (52) ◽  
pp. 33124-33129
Author(s):  
Logan Kistler ◽  
Heather B. Thakar ◽  
Amber M. VanDerwarker ◽  
Alejandra Domic ◽  
Anders Bergström ◽  
...  

Maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) domestication began in southwestern Mexico ∼9,000 calendar years before present (cal. BP) and humans dispersed this important grain to South America by at least 7,000 cal. BP as a partial domesticate. South America served as a secondary improvement center where the domestication syndrome became fixed and new lineages emerged in parallel with similar processes in Mesoamerica. Later, Indigenous cultivators carried a second major wave of maize southward from Mesoamerica, but it has been unclear until now whether the deeply divergent maize lineages underwent any subsequent gene flow between these regions. Here we report ancient maize genomes (2,300–1,900 cal. BP) from El Gigante rock shelter, Honduras, that are closely related to ancient and modern maize from South America. Our findings suggest that the second wave of maize brought into South America hybridized with long-established landraces from the first wave, and that some of the resulting newly admixed lineages were then reintroduced to Central America. Direct radiocarbon dates and cob morphological data from the rock shelter suggest that more productive maize varieties developed between 4,300 and 2,500 cal. BP. We hypothesize that the influx of maize from South America into Central America may have been an important source of genetic diversity as maize was becoming a staple grain in Central and Mesoamerica.


Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4891 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-112
Author(s):  
FRANK E. KURCZEWSKI ◽  
RICK C. WEST ◽  
CECILIA WAICHERT ◽  
KELLY C. KISSANE ◽  
DARRELL UBICK ◽  
...  

New and unusual host records for 133 species and subspecies of Pompilidae predominantly from the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America are presented in modified taxonomic order. First-time species host records are given for Calopompilus Ashmead, Pepsis Fabricius, Hemipepsis Dahlbom, Priocnessus Banks, Entypus Dahlbom, Pompilocalus Roig-Alsina, Sphictostethus Kohl, Auplopus Spinola, Ageniella Banks, Eragenia Banks, Aporus Spinola, Poecilopompilus Ashmead, Tachypompilus Ashmead, Anoplius Dufour, Priochilus (Fabricius) and Notocyphus Smith. New host spider families are introduced for Calopompilus, Pepsis, Hemipepsis, Priocnessus, Entypus, Cryptocheilus Panzer, Priocnemis Schiødte, Auplopus, Ageniella, Eragenia, Aporus, Tachypompilus, Anoplius, Priochilus and Notocyphus. Eight host spider families are reported from the Western Hemisphere for the first time: Halonoproctidae (Notocyphus dorsalis dorsalis Cresson); Dipluridae (Pepsis pretiosa Dahlbom, P. montezuma Smith, P. infuscate Spinola, P. atripennis Fabricius, P. martini Vardy, Priocnessus vancei Waichert and Pitts); Nemesiidae (Pepsis pallidolimbata Lucas, P. viridis Lepeletier, P. spp., Pompilocalus hirticeps (Guérin), Sphictostethus gravesii (Haliday), S. striatulus Roig-Alsina, Priocnemis oregona Banks); Barychelidae (Eragenia sp.); Paratropididae (Pepsis stella Montet); Trechaleidae (Hemipepsis toussainti (Banks), Entypus unifasciatus cressoni (Banks), Tachypompilus ferrugineus (Say), Tachypompilus unicolor cerinus Evans, Priochilus gloriosum (Cresson); Desidae (Ageniella accepta (Cresson), Sphictostethus isodontus Roig-Alsina) and Selenopidae (Priochilus scrupulum (Fox), Tachypompilus erubescens (Taschenberg) or xanthopterus (Rohwer)). The first known host records for the rare South American pompilid genera Chirodamus (Lycosidae: Lycosa sp.) and Herbstellus (Nemesiidae: Diplothelopsis cf bonariensis Mello-Leitão) are presented. 


Zootaxa ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 1915 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
GUILLERMO SALGADO-MALDONADO

This study is a compilation of current knowledge of the taxonomic composition and distribution of the helminth parasites of freshwater fish in Central America. A list of 111 adult helminth species up to day reported from 17 freshwater fish families from Central America was compiled. The data show a helminth parasite fauna in freshwater fish that is typical to the region. One hundred and two of the known helminth species are endemic to the area, 32 of which can be derived from South American genera. Nematodes were the most abundant group, followed by monogeneans and trematodes. None of the 29 helminth families recorded to date is exclusive to Central America, while 16 of the 65 recorded genera have been only recorded from this area. Twenty three of these genera are South American lineages. The data suggest that helminth parasites of freshwater fish from Central America constitute a recent fauna derived mainly from South America but not found there.


Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2916 (1) ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
MARGARITA M. LÓPEZ-GARCÍA ◽  
DIANA M. Méndez-Rojas ◽  
JOSÉ LUÍS NAVARRETE-HEREDIA

The genus Megarthrus Curtis 1829 with about 139 species described around the world, is the largest of the subfamily Proteininae (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) (Cuccodoro 2011). Megarthrus is distributed worldwide (Cuccodoro 1999) but it is apparently more diverse in the Holartic region (Navarrete-Heredia et al. 2002). However, the South American fauna is underestimated because many of the collected specimens are not yet described (Cuccodoro 2011). Newton et al. (2005) cited the genus as probable in Colombia because some species are known from Central America and northern South America, but until now, no species has been published from Colombia. Therefore, M. andinus sp. nov. represents the first record of the genus and subfamily for this country.


Check List ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rogério Silvestre ◽  
Tiago Henrique Auko ◽  
Vander Carbonari

The genus Epipompilus occurs throughout the Neotropical region, United States, Australia and New Zealand. South American members of this genus appear to have evolved separately from the others Pompilidae for a considerably time. E. aztecus was initially recorded only for Mexico and Central America. Our record expands the distribution of E. aztecus to South America, bringing new perspectives to the biogeography of spider wasps.


Paleobiology ◽  
1979 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 126-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry G. Marshall

A model for the paleobiogeographic history of South American cricetine rodents is proposed based on new and/or recently published fossil, geological, paleobotanical and radioisotope data. Cricetine rodents of the tribe Sigmodontini evolved in North America before 7.0 Myr BP. They got to South America by waif dispersal across the Bolivar Trough marine barrier from Central America during a world wide drop in sea level (the “Messinian Low”) between 7.0 and 5.0 Myr BP. The basal stock was probably a sylvan (forest) form, from which evolved pastoral (grazing) forms in the savanna-grassland area of Venezuela, Colombia and the Guianas. The pastoral forms in the northern savanna-grassland area were restricted there until about 3.5 Myr BP. At that time there occurred the first glaciation in South America and consonant with glacial advance was a retraction of forest habitats and an expansion of savanna-grassland habitats. At that time the pastoral forms were able to disperse southward through a savanna-grassland corridor along the eastern foothills of the Andes and spread throughout the previously disjunct savanna-grasslands of Bolivia and Argentina. Cricetines are first recorded as fossil in the Monte Hermoso Fm. of Argentina which is about 3.5 Myr BP in age. The Panamanian land bridge came into existence about 3.0 Myr BP as indicated by the beginning of a major interchange of terrestrial faunas between the Americas, which was well underway by 2.7 Myr BP.


Author(s):  
Corinne Maufrais ◽  
Luciana de Oliveira ◽  
Rafael W Bastos ◽  
Frédérique Moyrand ◽  
Flavia C G Reis ◽  
...  

Abstract The genomes of a large number of Cryptococcus neoformans isolates have been sequenced and analyzed in recent years. These genomes have been used to understand the global population structure of this opportunistic pathogen. However, only a small number of South American isolates have been considered in these studies, and the population structure of C. neoformans in this part of the world remains elusive. Here, we analyzed the genomic sequences of 53 Brazilian Cryptococcus isolates and deciphered the C. neoformans population structure in this country. Our data reveal an African-like structure that suggested repeated intercontinental transports from Africa to South America. We also identified a mutator phenotype in one VNBII Brazilian isolate, exemplifying how fast-evolving isolates can shape the Cryptococcus population structure. Finally, phenotypic analyses revealed wide diversity but not lineage specificity in the expression of classical virulence traits within the set of isolates.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Héctor Mora-Páez ◽  
Franck Audemard

For several years, under the framework of national and international projects, the number of GNSS geodetic stations has been increasing in countries located in the area comprised by the Caribbean, northwestern South America and Central America. Data from these geodetic stations have made it possible not only to meet the needs for geospatial information in each of the countries, but also to get a better understanding about the geodynamic interaction of the Caribbean, South American, Nazca and Cocos plates, as well as tectonic blocks wedged in between these plates. This article presents a brief description of the tectonic framework, the existing geodetic networks and the results obtained using data from some stations in the study area.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. ec03042
Author(s):  
Rafaela Arbex ◽  
Ricardo Bassini-Silva ◽  
Matheus Huang-Bastos ◽  
Ron Ochoa ◽  
Cal Welbourn ◽  
...  

The genus Quadraseta Brennan, 1970 (Trombiculidae) is distributed in South American, with a few records from Central America. The larvae (chiggers) are primarily mammal parasites, with one species from birds. Examination of unidentified material at US National Insect and Mite Collection revealed five species to this genus: Q. brasiliensis Goff & Gettinger, 1989, Q. falconensis Goff & Brennan, 1977, Q. flochi (Brennan & Jones, 1960), Q. mackenziei (Yunker & Brennan 1964), and Q. mirandae Goff & Brennan, 1977. This study resulted in new South American localities and host records for these species.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document