Cranial anatomy of tadpoles of five species of Scinax (Hylidae, Hylinae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2787 (1) ◽  
pp. 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
LEANDRO ALCALDE ◽  
FLORENCIA VERA CANDIOTI ◽  
FRANCISCO KOLENC ◽  
CLAUDIO BORTEIRO ◽  
DIEGO BALDO
Keyword(s):  
Buccal Cavity ◽  
Morphological Data ◽  
Sister Taxon ◽  
Anatomical Features ◽  
Interspecific Relationships ◽  
Lower Jaw ◽  
Lateral Ridge ◽  
Source Of Information

We studied the oral apparatus, buccal cavity and musculoskeletal features in tadpoles of five species of the genus Scinax (S. acuminatus, S. uruguayus, S. aff. pinima, S. aromothyella, and S. berthae). Observed variation is mainly related to intrageneric grouping. Scinax acuminatus (S. ruber clade, sister taxon of S. rostratus group) has a distinctive combination of a mental gap in the margin of oral papillae, straight labial teeth with few or absent cusps, processus muscularis acute and posteriorly directed, and m. subarcualis rectus I with two slips. Scinax uruguayus and S. aff. pinima (S. uruguayus group) have keratinized sheets ventrolateral to the lower jaw sheath, well-developed infralabial and lateral ridge papillae, robust jaw cartilages, cornua trabeculae with short and widely divergent free portions, processus articularis short and wide, processus muscularis thin and directed anteriorly. Scinax aromothyella and S. berthae (S. catharinae group) have poorly developed, non-colored spurs behind the lower jaw sheath, long and thin processus articularis, wide and rounded processus muscularis, and tripartite cartilago suprarostralis. Anatomical features described are congruent with current phylogenetic arrangements based on molecular, chromosomal, and morphological data, and provide a source of information that can be useful to solve interspecific relationships within Scinax.

scholarly journals Evolutionary significance of the blastozoan Eumorphocystis and its pseudo-arms

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Guensburg ◽  
James Sprinkle ◽  
Rich Mooi ◽  
Bertrand Lefebvre
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analysis ◽  
Sister Taxon ◽  
Evolutionary Significance ◽  
Coelomic Cavity ◽  
Anatomical Features ◽  
New Findings ◽  
Solid Block ◽  
Cover Plates

Abstract Twelve specimens of Eumorphocystis Branson and Peck, 1940 provide the basis for new findings and a more informed assessment of whether this blastozoan (a group including eocrinoids, blastoids, diploporites, rhombiferans) constitutes the sister taxon to crinoids, as has been recently proposed. Both Eumorphocystis and earliest-known crinoid feeding appendages express longitudinal canals, a demonstrable trait exclusive to these taxa. However, the specimen series studied here shows that Eumorphocystis canals constrict proximally and travel within ambulacrals above the thecal cavity. This relationship is congruent with a documented blastozoan pattern but very unlike earliest crinoid topology. Earliest crinoid arm cavities lie fully beneath floor plates; these expand and merge directly with the main thecal coelomic cavity at thecal shoulders. Other associated anatomical features echo this contrasting comparison. Feeding appendages of Eumorphocystis lack two-tiered cover plates, podial basins/pores, and lateral arm plating, all features of earliest crinoid ‘true arms.’ Eumorphocystis feeding appendages are buttressed by solid block-like plates added during ontogeny at a generative zone below floor plates, a pattern with no known parallel among crinoids. Eumorphocystis feeding appendages express brachioles, erect extensions of floor plates, also unknown among crinoids. These several distinctions point to nonhomology of most feeding appendage anatomy, including longitudinal canals, removing Eumorphocystis and other blastozoans from exclusive relationship with crinoids. Eumorphocystis further differs from crinoids in that thecal plates express diplopores, respiratory structures not present among crinoids, but ubiquitous among certain groups of blastozoans. Phylogenetic analysis places Eumorphocystis as a crownward blastozoan, far removed from crinoids.

Palate and braincase ofWhatcheeria deltaeLombard & Bolt, 1995

2018 ◽  
Vol 109 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 177-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. BOLT ◽  
R. Eric LOMBARD
Keyword(s):  
Horizontal Plane ◽  
Unique Feature ◽  
Sister Taxon ◽  
Dental Occlusion ◽  
Posterior View ◽  
Maximum Width ◽  
Palatal Shelf ◽  
Meckel’S Cartilage ◽  
Lower Jaw ◽  
Early Tetrapods

ABSTRACTThe reconstructed palate ofWhatcheeria deltaeindicates a skull that was unusually narrow: at least 2.2 times longer than wide if the pterygoids are conservatively placed in the horizontal plane. This maximum width is narrower than any other early tetrapod reconstructed so far. Rotating the pterygoids to produce a vaulted palate would produce an even narrower skull. Primitive palatal features include very narrow interpterygoid vacuities and a vomer, palatine, and ectopterygoid with fang-sized replacement pairs. It is derived in that there is no anterior palatal fenestra and the premaxilla has a substantial palatal shelf – a combination of characters shared only with Proterogyrinus among early tetrapods. There is a possible septomaxilla in one specimen.Whatcheeriadiffers from and is more derived thanPederpes, its likely sister taxon, in that only the pterygoid is covered with denticles, the vomer, palatine, and ectopterygoid containing labyrinthine teeth only. Reconstructed dental occlusion indicates that the large choana apparently accommodated the large dentary fangs; this would be a unique feature among early tetrapods. The palatal ramus of the pterygoid is longer than the quadrate ramus, which does not have a descending flange. Like Meckel's cartilage in the lower jaw, the palatoquadrate is fully ossified in larger specimens, such that in a posterior view of the skull the pterygoid is mostly hidden from sight by the epipterygoid. The ossified neurocranium consists of the basiparasphenoid and basioccipital; no ossified sphenethmoid has been found. Remains of otic capsules are partial, crushed, and smeared, so no useful morphology is available. The stapes appears to be more columnar and less plate-like than in many other primitive, early tetrapods.

A new species of Paretroplus (Teleostei: Cichlidae: Etroplinae) from northeastern Madagascar, with a phylogeny and revised diagnosis for the P. damii clade

Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2768 (1) ◽  
pp. 55 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOHN S. SPARKS ◽  
ROBERT C. SCHELLY
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Anterior Margin ◽  
Pigmentation Pattern ◽  
Anatomical Features ◽  
The North ◽  
Lower Jaw ◽  
Posterior Field ◽  
Breeding Coloration ◽  
Masoala Peninsula ◽  
A New Species

Paretroplus loisellei, a new species of etropline cichlid from Madagascar, is described from the middle to lower reaches of the Mahanara River, located to the north of the Masoala Peninsula in northeastern Madagascar. The new species is recovered within the “Paretroplus damii clade” on the basis of several apomorphic anatomical features, including the presence of a triangular, black or dark gray, pectoral-axil patch, chest scales that are greatly reduced in size and highly embedded, and flank scales in which the posterior field is thin and unossified. The new species is distinguished from its sister taxon, P. damii, by a more or less horizontal profile extending from the anterior margin of the lower jaw to the ventroposterior margin of the suspensorium (vs. strongly rounded and convex), horizontally oriented oral jaws with fleshy lips (vs. oblique and thin), tricuspid symphyseal teeth in the upper jaw with distinct and sharp lateral cusps, a much darker overall pigmentation pattern, and distinctive bright golden breeding coloration (vs. brick red).

scholarly journals Phylogenetic relationships of the neon tetras Paracheirodon spp. (Characiformes: Characidae: Stethaprioninae), including comments on Petitella georgiae and Hemigrammus bleheri

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Senna Bittencourt ◽  
Valéria Nogueira Machado ◽  
Bruce Gavin Marshall ◽  
Tomas Hrbek ◽  
Izeni Pires Farias
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Relationships ◽  
Species Complex ◽  
Molecular Data ◽  
Morphological Data ◽  
Sister Taxon ◽  
Taxonomic History ◽  
Relationship Of

ABSTRACT Neon tetras (Paracheirodon spp.) are three colorful characid species with a complicated taxonomic history, and relationships among the species are poorly known. Molecular data resolved the relationships among the three neon tetras, and strongly supported monophyly of the genus and its sister taxon relationship to Brittanichthys. Additionally, the sister-taxon relationship of the rummy-nose tetras Hemigrammus bleheri and Petitella georgiae was strongly supported by molecular and morphological data. Therefore, we propose to transfer the rummy-nose tetras H. bleheri and H. rhodostomus to the genus Petitella. Furthermore, Petitella georgiae is likely to be a species complex comprised of at least two species.

"Same-same, but different": an unusual new species of the Limnonectes kuhlii Complex from West Sumatra (Anura: Dicroglossidae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2883 (1) ◽  
pp. 52 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID S. MCLEOD ◽  
STEPHANI J. HORNER ◽  
COLIN HUSTED ◽  
ANTHONY BARLEY ◽  
DJOKO ISKANDAR
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Sequence Data ◽  
Sequence Divergence ◽  
Sensu Stricto ◽  
Morphological Data ◽  
Sister Taxon ◽  
Dna Sequence Data ◽  
16S Gene ◽  
West Sumatra ◽  
A New Species

A new species in the dicroglossine genus Limnonectes from West Sumatra, Indonesia, is described. Analysis of DNA sequence data from the mitochondrial 12S and 16S gene regions places the species within the Limnonectes kuhlii Complex and demonstrates it to be the sister taxon of Limnonectes kuhlii sensu stricto from Java. Both molecular and morphological data support the recognition of this lineage as a new species. Notably, the presence of a spinule-covered mental plate distinguishes Limnonectes sisikdagu sp. nov. from all other members of the L. kuhlii Complex. Additionally, pair-wise sequence divergence greater than 10% separate the new species from its sister taxon, L. kuhlii from Java.

A new species of Lepidophyma (Squamata: Xantusiidae) from San Luis Potosí, México, with notes on its physiological ecology

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4949 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-130
Author(s):  
DIEGO M. ARENAS-MORENO ◽  
FRANCISCO J. MUÑOZ-NOLASCO ◽  
ADÁN BAUTISTA-DEL MORAL ◽  
LUIS A. RODRÍGUEZ-MIRANDA ◽  
SAÚL F. DOMÍNGUEZ-GUERRERO ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Water Loss ◽  
Taxonomic Status ◽  
Thermal Parameters ◽  
Morphological Data ◽  
Sister Taxon ◽  
Activity Period ◽  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
A New Species

In recent years, there has been an increase in the descriptions of members of the lizard genus Lepidophyma. Herein, we describe a new species of Lepidophyma from the Huasteca Potosina region of Mexico, previously confused with L. gaigeae, from which it differs in lacking parietal spot, among other characteristics. We inferred its phylogenetic position and provide information on its thermal and hydric physiology, as well as on some other aspects of natural history. Molecular and morphological data supported the independent taxonomic status of the new species, indicating its placement as the sister taxon of L. gaigeae and a wide morphological separation between these species. Lepidophyma lusca sp. nov. has a diurnal-crepuscular activity period and occurs at lower elevations than L. gaigeae. Also, the new species differ from its sister taxon in its physiology, as reflected by its tendency toward higher thermal parameters and water loss rates. With the description of L. lusca sp. nov., the number of species in the genus Lepidophyma rises to 21. 

scholarly journals A morphological review of tribes in Larentiinae (Lepidoptera: Geometridae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 3136 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAAN VIIDALEPP
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Communication ◽  
Male Genitalia ◽  
Morphological Traits ◽  
Morphological Data ◽  
New Combination ◽  
Sister Taxon ◽  
Communication Structures

Tribes of looper moths (Geometridae: Larentiinae) are reviewed. The tribe Dyspteridini Hulst is reinstated (previously synonymous with the Trichopterygini Warren). A new subtribe, Aplocerina, is separated from the Chesiadini Pierce, and the group Ortholithinae Pierce is dealt with as Scotopterygini Warren, the sister taxon to Xanthorhoini. Morphological traits for 22 of 23 larentiine tribes represented in the Holarctic fauna are listed and illustrated. A taxonomy of the subfamily Larentiinae is proposed and supported, using morphological data based on chemical communication structures and male genitalia. A new combination is presented: Melanthia mandshuricata (Bremer), transferred from Mesoleuca Hübner (Larentiini)

scholarly journals New lower jaw and teeth referred toMaxakalisaurus topai(Titanosauria: Aeolosaurini) and their implications for the phylogeny of titanosaurid sauropods

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco A.G. França ◽  
Júlio C. de A. Marsola ◽  
Douglas Riff ◽  
Annie S. Hsiou ◽  
Max C. Langer
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analysis ◽  
Minas Gerais ◽  
Body Plan ◽  
Morphological Data ◽  
Type Series ◽  
Lower Jaw

Sauropod dinosaurs compose a diversified, well known, and worldwide distributed clade, with a stereotyped body plan: deep trunk, elongated neck and tail, columnar limbs and very small skull. In Brazil, the group is represented by ten formally described Cretaceous species, mostly titanosaurs. This is the case ofMaxakalisaurus topai, known based on an incomplete and disarticulated skeleton, unearthed from deposits of the Adamantina Formation in Minas Gerais. Here, we report a partial right dentary, including five isolated teeth, collected from the same site as the type-series ofM. topaiand tentatively referred to that taxon. The bone is gently curved medially, the functional teeth are set on an anterolingual position, and two replacement teeth are seen per alveoli. New morphological data gathered from that specimen was employed to conduct a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of Titanosauria (with 42 taxa and 253 characters), based on previous studies. The Aeolosaurini clade was recovered, withGondwanatitanandAelosaurusas sister taxa, andMaxakalisaurus,Panamericansaurus, andRinconsaurusforming a basal polytomy.

scholarly journals Neurocranial anatomy of an enigmatic Early Devonian fish sheds light on early osteichthyan evolution

eLife ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice M Clement ◽  
Benedict King ◽  
Sam Giles ◽  
Brian Choo ◽  
Per E Ahlberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Sister Taxon ◽  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
Micro Ct ◽  
Bayesian Analyses ◽  
Early Devonian ◽  
Precise Position ◽  
Anatomical Features ◽  
Skull Roof ◽  
Ct Data

The skull of ‘Ligulalepis’ from the Early Devonian of Australia (AM-F101607) has significantly expanded our knowledge of early osteichthyan anatomy, but its phylogenetic position has remained uncertain. We herein describe a second skull of ‘Ligulalepis’ and present micro-CT data on both specimens to reveal novel anatomical features, including cranial endocasts. Several features previously considered to link ‘Ligulalepis’ with actinopterygians are now considered generalized osteichthyan characters or of uncertain polarity. The presence of a lateral cranial canal is shown to be variable in its development between specimens. Other notable new features include the presence of a pineal foramen, the some detail of skull roof sutures, the shape of the nasal capsules, a placoderm-like hypophysial vein, and a chondrichthyan-like labyrinth system. New phylogenetic analyses place ‘Ligulalepis’ as a stem osteichthyan, specifically as the sister taxon to ‘psarolepids’ plus crown osteichthyans. The precise position of ‘psarolepids’ differs between parsimony and Bayesian analyses.

scholarly journals Reevaluation of the largest published morphological data matrix for phylogenetic analysis of Paleozoic limbed vertebrates

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Marjanović ◽  
Michel Laurin
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analysis ◽  
Data Matrix ◽  
Morphological Data ◽  
Lower Jaw ◽  
12 Steps ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
One Step ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Character Complexes ◽  
The Many

The largest data matrix for phylogeny of early limbed vertebrates (Ruta M, Coates MI. 2007. J. Syst. Palaeont. 5:69–122) has supported controversial hypotheses; e.g., it has recovered Seymouriamorpha, Diadectomorpha and (in some trees) Caudata as paraphyletic and found the “temnospondyl hypothesis” on the origin of Lissamphibia (TH) to be one step more parsimonious than the “lepospondyl hypothesis” (LH). Scrutiny of the matrix reveals thousands of suboptimal scores (many clearly due to typographic and similar errors) as well as logically linked (redundant) characters, characters with only one described state, and even cases where taxa were scored after presumed relatives. Moreover, all characters – even obviously continuous ones – were unordered, effects of ontogeny were not sufficiently taken into account, and the authors mostly excluded data published after 2001, even their own. Our revised version – we document and justify all changes – yields much longer trees with a different topology, e.g. monophyletic Caudata, Diadectomorpha and (sometimes) Seymouriamorpha, Ichthyostega more rootward than Acanthostega, Anthracosauria more rootward than Temnospondyli, and the LH, which is 10 steps more parsimonious than the TH and 15 more than the “polyphyly hypothesis” (PH). Bootstrap values, though, are low, and few of the topologies are statistically distinguishable. For another set of analyses, we added 48 OTUs to the original 102. This destabilizes parts of the tree, e.g. the relationships of Anthracosauria and Temnospondyli. However, many of the added taxa have a fully resolved position or nearly so; this concerns the well-known Chroniosaurus (sister to a clade containing Solenodonsaurus, Seymouriamorpha, Diadectomorpha, Amniota and Amphibia), but also isolated lower-jaw material from the Devonian and Carboniferous. Despite the addition of Gerobatrachus, Micropholis and Tungussogyrinus and the extremely peramorphic salamander Chelotriton, the difference between LH and TH only shrinks to 9 steps, that between LH and PH to 13 steps. The “lepospondyl” Brachydectes is neither found as sister to Lissamphibia nor in the “microsaur” grade. Bootstrap values plummet, though, and all three hypotheses become statistically indistinguishable at p = 0.05. We then duplicated all analyses after coding all losses of bones as irreversible. Anthracosauria is then consistently placed more rootward than Temnospondyli; given the original taxon sample, the LH is 12 steps shorter than the “temnospondyl hypothesis” and 17 steps shorter than the PH, while the expanded taxon sample makes the LH 10 steps shorter than the TH and only 12 steps shorter than the PH. More robust results could likely be obtained by adding the many characters used in other analyses or discussed in the literature. We discuss phylogeny, approaches to coding, and certain character complexes, in particular the supposed middle ear of temnospondyls.

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