The morphology and relationships of Thuja polaris sp.nov. (Cupressaceae) from the early Tertiary, Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (6) ◽  
pp. 1903-1915 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. E. McIver ◽  
J. F. Basinger
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Ellesmere Island ◽  
Central China ◽  
Thuja Plicata ◽  
Natural Group ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Early Tertiary ◽  
Seed Cone ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
Northwestern North America

Fossil foliage and seed cones of Thuja (Cupressaceae) have been discovered in early Tertiary (Paleocene) sediments of the Eureka Sound Group on Ellesmere Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Vegetative remains of the fossil species, Thuja polaris sp.nov., bear alternately branched, moderately divided, flattened, and pinnatelike sprays with scale-like, decussate leaves. Seed cones are oblong, bearing 8 – 9 pairs of thin, probably leathery cone scales with distinct, reflexed umbos. Fossil cones and foliage resemble closely those of extant Thuja plicata. However, fossil seed cones have twice as many pairs of scales as do extant species of Thuja. A review of the fossil record indicates that most Thuja-like vegetative remains which have been reported from Cretaceous and Tertiary deposits in the Northern Hemisphere are best assigned to form taxa and not to extant genera. Reproductive material from four Tertiary localities can be assigned to Thuja on the basis of seed cone structure. The evolutionary history of the genus, based on fossil and extant seed cone morphology, appears to include a reduction in the number of cone scales. Extant species form a closely related, natural group and, with the exception of T. sutchuenensis, may have arisen from an ancestor similar to T. polaris. Although Thuja was widespread in the Northern Hemisphere during much of the Tertiary, the genus is now confined to northeastern and northwestern North America, and to Japan, Korea, and central China.

Mesocyparis borealis gen. et sp. nov.: fossil Cupressaceae from the early Tertiary of Saskatchewan, Canada

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (11) ◽  
pp. 2338-2351 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. E. McIver ◽  
J. F. Basinger
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Branching Pattern ◽  
Natural Group ◽  
Classification Schemes ◽  
Cone Structure ◽  
Reproductive Morphology ◽  
Extant Genus ◽  
Early Tertiary ◽  
Seed Cone ◽  
First Time

Fossil cedar foliage of the Cupressinocladus interruptus type, with associated seeds and cones, is locally abundant in Paleocene deposits of the Ravenscrag Formation, southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada. Vegetative remains of this type occur frequently in early Tertiary plant assemblages throughout the northern hemisphere, indicating that this now extinct cedar was once widespread. For the first time this cedar can be described on the basis of both vegetative and reproductive morphology. Foliage is frond-like with a characteristic opposite branching pattern. Seed cones are globose and woody and bear four equal and decussate scales with prominent umbos. Seeds bear large, equal, semicircular wings. The fossil cedar appears most closely related to extant Cupressaceae such as Thuja, Chamaecyparis, and Heyderia. Foliage closely resembles that of Thuja, while cones are most similar to those of Chamaecyparis. The fossil differs sufficiently in foliage and seed cone structure to preclude assignment to an extant genus and is here assigned to Mesocyparis borealis gen. et sp. nov. Similarities among such extant genera as Thuja, Chamaecyparis, Heyderia, and Thujopsis and the fossil Mesocyparis borealis suggest that all may belong to a single natural group. Furthermore, this group may be more closely related to the southern hemispheric genera Libocedrus, Papuacedrus, and Austrocedrus than present classification schemes imply. Our examination of the Cupressaceae indicates that a revision of present systems of classification is required to accommodate evidence from both extant and extinct cedars.

Three new cribrimorph bryozoans (order Cheilostomatida) from the early Miocene of Argentina, with a discussion on spinocystal shield morphologies

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Juan López-Gappa ◽  
Leandro M. Pérez ◽  
Ana C.S. Almeida ◽  
Débora Iturra ◽  
Dennis P. Gordon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Type Species ◽  
Systematic Position ◽  
Early Miocene ◽  
Morphological Data ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
The Family ◽  
Subjective Synonym

Abstract Bryozoans with calcified frontal shields formed by the fusion of costae, collectively constituting a spinocyst, are traditionally assigned to the family Cribrilinidae. Today, this family is regarded as nonmonophyletic. In the Argentine Cenozoic, cribrilinids were until recently represented by only two fossil species from the Paleocene of Patagonia. This study describes the first fossil representatives of Jolietina and Parafigularia: J. victoria n. sp. and P. pigafettai n. sp., respectively. A fossil species of Figularia, F. elcanoi n. sp., is also described. The material comes from the early Miocene of the Monte León and Chenque formations (Patagonia, Argentina). For comparison, we also provide redescriptions of the remaining extant species of Jolietina: J. latimarginata (Busk, 1884) and J. pulchra Canu and Bassler, 1928a. The systematic position of some species previously assigned to Figularia is here discussed. Costafigularia n. gen. is erected, with Figularia pulcherrima Tilbrook, Hayward, and Gordon, 2001 as type species. Two species previously assigned to Figularia are here transferred to Costafigularia, resulting in C. jucunda n. comb. and C. tahitiensis n. comb. One species of Figularia is reassigned to Vitrimurella, resulting in V. ampla n. comb. The family Vitrimurellidae is here reassigned to the superfamily Cribrilinoidea. The subgenus Juxtacribrilina is elevated to genus rank. Inferusia is regarded as a subjective synonym of Parafigularia. Parafigularia darwini Moyano, 2011 is synonymized with I. taylori Kuklinski and Barnes, 2009, resulting in Parafigularia taylori n. comb. Morphological data suggest that these genera comprise different lineages, and a discussion on the disparities among cribrilinid (sensu lato) spinocysts is provided. UUID: http://zoobank.org/215957d3-064b-47e2-9090-d0309f6c9cd8

A new species of Lonchodryinus (Hymenoptera, Dryinidae) from Upper Eocene Baltic amber

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5020 (2) ◽  
pp. 328-336
Author(s):  
MASSIMO OLMI ◽  
DMITRY V. VASILENKO ◽  
LEONARDO CAPRADOSSI ◽  
EVGENY E. PERKOVSKY ◽  
ADALGISA GUGLIELMINO
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Fore Wing ◽  
Baltic Amber ◽  
Upper Eocene ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
A New Species

Lonchodryinus groehni sp. nov. (Hymenoptera: Chrysidoidea: Dryinidae) is described from Baltic amber. The new species is close to L. balticus Olmi & Guglielmino, 2012, but it can be distinguished for the different OPL/POL ratio and 2r-rs&Rs vein of the fore wing. A key to the fossil species of Lonchodryinus and a comparison with the extant species L. ruficornis (Dalman, 1818) are presented.  

Morphological revision of Siphonophora hui (Myriapoda: Diplopoda: Siphonophoridae) from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
YI-TONG SU ◽  
CHEN-YANG CAI ◽  
DI-YING HUANG
Keyword(s):  
Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Laser Scanning Microscopy ◽  
Confocal Laser Scanning ◽  
Scanning Microscopy ◽  
Confocal Laser ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Burmese Amber ◽  
Extant Species

Siphonophora hui Jiang et al., 2019, known from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber, is the first formally described fossil species of the extant myriapod family Siphonophoridae. Here we re-study this species using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) on the basis of three new specimens from the same deposit. A comparison between the fossil and extant species of Siphonophora is given and several new morphological details are discussed.

A second fossil species of the enigmatic rove beetle genus Charhyphus in Eocene Baltic amber, with implications on the morphology of the female genitalia (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Phloeocharinae)

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Shûhei YAMAMOTO ◽  
Alexey V. SHAVRIN ◽  
Kristaps KAIRIŠS
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Body Part ◽  
The Body ◽  
Baltic Amber ◽  
Micro Computed Tomography ◽  
Single Male ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Rove Beetles ◽  
Rove Beetle ◽  
Extant Species

ABSTRACT Phloeocharinae is a small and likely non-monophyletic subfamily of rove beetles. The enigmatic genus Charhyphus Sharp, 1887 has long been placed in Phloeocharinae, whereas recent studies have found it to be phylogenetically very distant from the core members of this subfamily, suggesting the possibility that it actually deserves its own separate subfamily status. So far, the sole definitive fossil record for Charhyphus is known based on a single male from Eocene Baltic amber as represented by †Charhyphus balticus Shavrin, 2020. Here, we describe and illustrate another new Charhyphus species, †Charhyphus serratus sp. nov. Yamamoto & Shavrin, from Baltic amber based on a well-preserved female fossil. Considering the general proportions of the body and the head, this new species is most similar to †C. balticus. The new species differs from all known species by the development of strong serration of the lateral edges of the pronotum and features of the shape of the apical margin of the mesoventrite. By using X-ray micro-computed tomography, we succeeded in visualising not only the general habitus but also each individual body part, recovering a previously undocumented sclerite on the female internal genital segments in the genus. Morphological features of extinct and extant species of Charhyphus are briefly discussed. Figures of all extant Charhyphus species and a key for the genus are also provided. Our study is important for considering possible higher palaeodiversity, more common occurrence, and palaeobiogeography of Charhyphus.

Cinnamomum phoebe, a new name for the extant C. elongatum (Lauraceae)

Phytotaxa ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 243 (2) ◽  
pp. 190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Borisovitch Doweld
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Fossil Plant ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
New Name ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
Plant Names

The International Fossil Plant Names Index (IFPNI, 2014 onwards) lists some fossil plant species names which have precedence over homonymic extant species names. A few cases of the homonymy between extant and fossil species were recently resolved (Turner 2014, Doweld 2015a, 2015b, 2015c, 2015d).

scholarly journals Highly Resolved Phylogenetic Relationships within Order Acipenseriformes According to Novel Nuclear Markers

Genes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dehuai Luo ◽  
Yanping Li ◽  
Qingyuan Zhao ◽  
Lianpeng Zhao ◽  
Arne Ludwig ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Relationships ◽  
Single Copy ◽  
Species Trees ◽  
Degenerate Primers ◽  
Nuclear Markers ◽  
Gene Markers ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Living Fossil ◽  
Molecular Clock Model ◽  
Extant Species

Order Acipenseriformes contains 27 extant species distributed across the northern hemisphere, including so-called “living fossil” species of garfish and sturgeons. Previous studies have focused on their mitochondrial genetics and have rarely used nuclear genetic data, leaving questions as to their phylogenetic relationships. This study aimed to utilize a bioinformatics approach to screen for candidate single-copy nuclear genes, using transcriptomic data from sturgeon species and genomic data from the spotted gar, Lepisosteus oculatus. We utilized nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and degenerate primers to identify nuclear protein-coding (NPC) gene markers to determine phylogenetic relationships among the Acipenseriformes. We identified 193 nuclear single-copy genes, selected from 1850 candidate genes with at least one exon larger than 700 bp. Forty-three of these genes were used for primer design and development of 30 NPC markers, which were sequenced for at least 14 Acipenseriformes species. Twenty-seven NPC markers were found completely in 16 species. Gene trees according to Bayesian inference (BI) and maximum likelihood (ML) were calculated based on the 30 NPC markers (20,946 bp total). Both gene and species trees produced very similar topologies. A molecular clock model estimated the divergence time between sturgeon and paddlefish at 204.1 Mya, approximately 10% later than previous estimates based on cytochrome b data (184.4 Mya). The successful development and application of NPC markers provides a new perspective and insight for the phylogenetic relationships of Acipenseriformes. Furthermore, the newly developed nuclear markers may be useful in further studies on the conservation, evolution, and genomic biology of this group.

scholarly journals Two Eocene species of Culiseta (Diptera: Culicidae) from the Kishenehn Formation in Montana

Zootaxa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3530 (1) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
RALPH E. HARBACH ◽  
DALE GREENWALT
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Baltic Amber ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Extant Species

Culiseta kishenehn, sp. n. and Cs. lemniscata, sp. n. (Diptera: Culicidae: Culisetini) are described from compression fos-sils from the 46 million year old Kishenehn shale deposits in Montana, USA. The new species appear to share featureswith extant species of subgenera Climacura and Culicella, respectively. The antiquity of Culiseta is examined and previ-ously described Eocene fossil species are discussed. Eoaedes gen. n. and Aetheapnomyia gen. n. are established for Aedes damzeni Podėnas and Ae. hoffeinsorum Szadziewski, two Eocene fossil species in Baltic amber.

scholarly journals Astroniumxylon, Schinopsixylon, and Parametopioxylon n. gen. fossil woods from upper Cenozoic of Argentina: taxonomic revision, new taxon and new records

2019 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-201
Author(s):  
M. Jimena Franco ◽  
Eliana Moya ◽  
Mariana Brea ◽  
Camila Martínez Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Taxonomic Revision ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
Late Cenozoic ◽  
Humid Climate ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
Upper Cenozoic ◽  
Diagnostic Key ◽  
And Cluster Analysis ◽  
Northeastern Argentina

AbstractThis paper presents new descriptions of Anacardiaceae fossil woods from the Ituzaingó Formation (late Cenozoic) at the Toma Vieja, Curtiembre, and Arroyo El Espinillo localities, Argentina. We describe eight silicified woods assigned to four different species in three genera, one of which, Parametopioxylon crystalliferum n. gen. n. sp., is new. Similarities between these three genera and the six Anacardiaceae species previously recorded from the late Cenozoic in northeastern Argentina are investigated using multivariate analysis techniques (correspondence and cluster analysis). Our study is based on 33 characters scored for 17 fossil specimens (10 Astroniumxylon Brea, Aceñolaza, and Zucol 2001; five Schinopsixylon Lutz, 1979; and two Parametopioxylon n. gen.) and four extant species (Astronium balansae Engl., Astronium urundeuva Engl., Schinopsis balansae Engl., and Metopium sp.). Our main goal is to determine the wood anatomical features useful for distinguishing among these species. Results of the multivariate analyses support the previous classification where Schinopsixylon is distinguished from Astroniumxylon by having exclusively paratracheal axial parenchyma, ≥30% multiseriate rays, and multiseriate rays that are ≥5 cells wide and commonly 301–400 μm in height. Additionally, we propose that Schinopsixylon heckii Lutz, 1979 is synonymous with S. herbstii Lutz, 1979. A diagnostic key for the fossil species studied is given. Wood anatomy of Anacardiaceae fossil woods from Argentina (late Cenozoic) suggests a warm, dry to semi-humid climate for this region, supporting previous studies.

A new Symphoromyia in the Middle Eocene Baltic amber (Diptera: Rhagionidae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4820 (2) ◽  
pp. 373-378
Author(s):  
VALERIE NGO-MULLER ◽  
ANDRE NEL
Keyword(s):  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Baltic Amber ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Extant Species

Symphoromyia clerci sp. nov. is described from the Eocene Baltic amber. Even if it has nearly all the characters of the extant species of Symphoromyia subgenus Symphoromyia, it differs from these flies in the short scape, as long as the pedicel (at least twice as long in extant taxa). This fossil is twice as large as those that were previously described from the same amber. These taxa need to be revised to verify their generic attribution. Symphoromyia clerci sp. nov. is the second fossil species attributable to this genus on the basis of ‘modern’ characters. The extant Symphoromyia are frequently hematophagous on mammals, suggesting a similar biology for the Eocene representatives of this genus.

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