Taxonomy of spatially disjunct alpine Teleiopsis albifemorella s. lat. (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) revealed by molecular data and morphology —how many species are there?

Zootaxa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3580 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER HUEMER ◽  
MARKO MUTANEN

The taxonomy of the European alpine species Teleiopsis albifemorella (Hofmann, 1867) s. lat. is revised. We sequenced mtDNA markers (COI barcode region) of 44 specimens resulting in a full barcode for 41 specimens. We also sequenced five nuclear markers (CAD, EF-1a, IDH, MDH and wingless) of 12 specimens. Molecular data of nuclear genes combined with weak morphological characters indicate two species: Teleiopsis albifemorella from the eastern Alps and the Dinaric mountains and Teleiopsis paulheberti sp. nov. from the southwestern Alps, the Apennines and the Pyrenees. The COI barcode region groups into seven genetic lineages from geographically coherent areas. Four major haplogroups are assigned to T. paulheberti sp. nov. whereas three major haplogroups support the eastern alpine Teleiopsis albifemorella.

Mammalia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Géraldine Veron ◽  
Steven M. Goodman

AbstractMembers of the genusEupleresare poorly known insectivorous carnivorans belonging to the family Eupleridae (order Carnivora), which are endemic to Madagascar. Recently, using morphological characters, the two previously recognized subspecies ofEupleres goudotiiwere raised to the species level, withE. goudotiioccurring in the humid forests of the island, largely in the east, andEupleres majorin northwestern dry deciduous forests. Using some of the few museum specimens and fresh tissue samples available for this genus, we assessed differences between these two forms based on the cytochromebgene. The results show that individuals identified asE.major, based on a combination of morphological characters and collection locality, do not form a monophyletic group, and the level of polymorphism within the genus is not in agreement with the recognition of two species. Additional molecular data, in particular from nuclear markers, are needed to verify these results.


Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 3088 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
EDWARD PFEILER ◽  
ALBERT M. VAN DER HEIDEN ◽  
RYAN S. RUBOYIANES ◽  
TOM WATTS

A new species of bonefish (Albuliformes: Albulidae: Albulinae) from the eastern Pacific Ocean, Albula gilberti, is described. Previously referred to as Albula sp. A, A. gilberti is distributed throughout the Gulf of California, Mexico to the coastal waters of California, USA. Presently, it can be distinguished from its closest relative, A. esuncula (= Albula sp. C) from the tropical eastern Pacific, solely by differences in mitochondrial DNA (cytochrome b) gene sequences. No diagnostic external morphological characters have yet been found that can reliably separate the two distinct genetic lineages although some differences in placement of pelvic-fin tip relative to vent may exist. Differences detected in counts of meristic characters should be tested in larger series of specimens, especially of A. esuncula. Available evidence also suggests that A. gilberti and A. esuncula show a parapatric distribution, with an area of sympatry in the southern Gulf of California. We also provide a description of adults of A. esuncula (the original description was based solely on two larvae), review the current nomenclature of the subfamily Albulinae, and discuss the role and justification of using molecular data for diagnosing cryptic species.


2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (No. 3) ◽  
pp. 73-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Horňáková ◽  
M. Závodná ◽  
M. Žáková ◽  
J. Kraic ◽  
F. Debre

The study of diversity in common bean was based on morphological and agronomical characteristics, differentiation of collected accessions by morphological and molecular markers, detection of genetic variation, and duplicates detection in bean landraces. The analysed 82 accessions of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) were collected in the Western andEastern Carpatien as landrace mixtures. Their seeds were segregated and pooled according to their characteristics; they were further multiplicated, and introduced into the collection. An extensive variation in plant and seed traits was discovered in thirty-three morphological and agronomical characteristics. Nevertheless, some of the accessions were identical in these characteristics. Cluster analysis grouped genotypes into two main branches, reflecting the growth type, seed size parameters, and thousand-seed weight. Molecular differentiation studies were performed by multilocus polymorphism detection in microsatellite and minisatellite DNA regions. Cluster analysis based on molecular data also grouped genotypes but no linkage to morphological traits was revealed. Bean accessions with very similar or identical morphological characters were clearly distinguished by DNA banding patterns. The presence of duplicates was excluded.  


Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Paill ◽  
Stephan Koblmüller ◽  
Thomas Friess ◽  
Barbara-Amina Gereben-Krenn ◽  
Christian Mairhuber ◽  
...  

The last ice age considerably influenced distribution patterns of extant species of plants and animals, with some of them now inhabiting disjunct areas in the subarctic/arctic and alpine regions. This arctic-alpine distribution is characteristic for many cold-adapted species with a limited dispersal ability and can be found in many invertebrate taxa, including ground beetles. The ground beetle Pterostichus adstrictus Eschscholtz, 1823 of the subgenus Bothriopterus was previously known to have a holarctic-circumpolar distribution, in Europe reaching its southern borders in Wales and southern Scandinavia. Here, we report the first findings of this species from the Austrian Ötztal Alps, representing also the southernmost edge of its currently known distribution, confirmed by the comparison of morphological characters to other Bothriopterus species and DNA barcoding data. Molecular data revealed a separation of the Austrian and Finish specimens with limited to no gene flow at all. Furthermore, we present the first data on habitat preference and seasonality of P. adstrictus in the Austrian Alps.


2021 ◽  
Vol 307 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pau Carnicero ◽  
Núria Garcia-Jacas ◽  
Llorenç Sáez ◽  
Theophanis Constantinidis ◽  
Mercè Galbany-Casals

AbstractThe eastern Mediterranean basin hosts a remarkably high plant diversity. Historical connections between currently isolated areas across the Aegean region and long-distance dispersal events have been invoked to explain current distribution patterns of species. According to most recent treatments, at least two Cymbalaria species occur in this area, Cymbalaria microcalyx and C. longipes. The former comprises several intraspecific taxa, treated at different ranks by different authors based on morphological data, evidencing the need of a taxonomic revision. Additionally, some populations of C. microcalyx show exclusive morphological characters that do not match any described taxon. Here, we aim to shed light on the systematics of eastern Mediterranean Cymbalaria and to propose a classification informed by various sources of evidence. We performed molecular phylogenetic analyses using ITS, 3’ETS, ndhF and rpl32-trnL sequences and estimated the ploidy level of some taxa performing relative genome size measures. Molecular data combined with morphology support the division of traditionally delimited C. microcalyx into C. acutiloba, C. microcalyx and C. minor, corresponding to well-delimited nrDNA lineages. Furthermore, we propose to combine C. microcalyx subsp. paradoxa at the species level. A group of specimens previously thought to belong to Cymbalaria microcalyx constitute a well-defined phylogenetic and morphological entity and are described here as a new species, Cymbalaria spetae. Cymbalaria longipes is non-monophyletic, but characterized by being glabrous and diploid, unlike other eastern species. The nrDNA data suggest at least two dispersals from the mainland to the Aegean Islands, potentially facilitated by marine regressions.


Author(s):  
Antonio Zurita ◽  
Cristina Cutillas

AbstractCtenophthalmus is considered the largest genus within the Order Siphonaptera. From a morphological point of view, only males of this genus can be identified at species and subspecies levels using morphological keys, whereas there are no morphological criteria in order to classify females at these taxonomical levels. Furthermore, the amount of available molecular and phylogenetic data for this genus is quite scarce so far. The main objective of this work was to assess the utility of the combination of nuclear and mitochondrial markers with respect to their ability to differentiate among different subspecies within the Ctenophthalmus genus. With this purpose, we carried out a comparative morphological and molecular study of three different subspecies (Ctenophthalmus baeticus arvernus, Ctenophthalmus nobilis dobyi, and Ctenophthalmus andorrensis catalaniensis) in order to clarify and discuss its taxonomic status. In addition, our study complemented the molecular data previously provided for Ctenophthalmus baeticus boisseauorum and Ctenophthalmus apertus allani subspecies. We sequenced five different molecular markers: EF1-α, ITS1, ITS2, cox1, and cytb. Our results confirmed that morphological data by themselves are not able to discriminate among Ctenophthalmus female taxa; however, the combination of the nuclear marker EF1-α together with mtDNA markers cytb and cox1 constituted a useful taxonomical and phylogenetic tool to solve this issue. Based on these results, we consider that the use of this molecular approach should be gradually used within Ctenophthalmus genus in order to complement its classical taxonomy and clarifying the complex taxonomy of other congeneric species of fleas.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 1180
Author(s):  
Rafał Wawrzyniak ◽  
Wiesław Wasiak ◽  
Beata Jasiewicz ◽  
Alina Bączkiewicz ◽  
Katarzyna Buczkowska

Aneura pinguis (L.) Dumort. is a representative of the simple thalloid liverworts, one of the three main types of liverwort gametophytes. According to classical taxonomy, A. pinguis represents one morphologically variable species; however, genetic data reveal that this species is a complex consisting of 10 cryptic species (named by letters from A to J), of which four are further subdivided into two or three evolutionary lineages. The objective of this work was to develop an efficient method for the characterisation of plant material using marker compounds. The volatile chemical constituents of cryptic species within the liverwort A. pinguis were analysed by GC-MS. The compounds were isolated from plant material using the HS-SPME technique. Of the 66 compounds examined, 40 were identified. Of these 40 compounds, nine were selected for use as marker compounds of individual cryptic species of A. pinguis. A guide was then developed that clarified how these markers could be used for the rapid identification of the genetic lineages of A. pinguis. Multivariate statistical analyses (principal component and cluster analysis) revealed that the chemical compounds in A. pinguis made it possible to distinguish individual cryptic species (including genetic lineages), with the exception of cryptic species G and H. The classification of samples based on the volatile compounds by cluster analysis reflected phylogenetic relationships between cryptic species and genetic lineages of A. pinguis revealed based on molecular data.


2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 151-179
Author(s):  
L. Lee Grismer ◽  
L. Wood Perry ◽  
Marta S. Grismer ◽  
Evan S.H. Quah ◽  
Myint Kyaw Thura ◽  
...  

The historical accuracy of building taxonomies is improved when they are based on phylogenetic inference (i.e., the resultant classifications are less apt to misrepresent evolutionary history). In fact, taxonomies inferred from statistically significant diagnostic morphological characters in the absence of phylogenetic considerations, can contain non-monophyletic lineages. This is especially true at the species level where small amounts of gene flow may not preclude the evolution of localized adaptions in different geographic areas while underpinning the paraphyletic nature of each population with respect to the other. We illustrate this point by examining genetic and morphological variation among three putatively allopatric populations of the granite-dwelling Bent-toed Gecko Cyrtodactylus aequalis from hilly regions in southeastern Myanmar. In the absence of molecular phylogenetic inference, a compelling argument for three morphologically diagnosable species could be marshaled. However, when basing the morphological analyses of geographic variation on a molecular phylogeny, there is a more compelling argument that only one species should be recognized. We are cognizant of the fact however, that when dealing with rare species or specimens for which no molecular data are possible, judicious morphological analyses are the only option—and the desired option given the current worldwide biodiversity crisis.


2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 467
Author(s):  
Mahran Zeity ◽  
Nagappa Srinivas ◽  
Chinnamade Channegowde Gowda

Study of morphological characters of Tetranychus macfarlanei Baker & Pritchard and Tetranychus malaysiensis Ehara revealed high similarity by comparing all the important characters in addition to the characters pointed out by Ehara to separate those two species. Molecular phylogeny of seven Indian populations of T. macfarlanei and one population of T. malaysiensis from Philippines along with few distantly related species of Tetranychus was attempted. High degree of similarity between these two species at mitochondrial COI gene (96%) as well as ITS2 (rDNA) (96–99%) region was evident. Based on both morphological features and molecular data, T. malaysiensis is proposed as a junior synonym of T. macfarlanei based on ICZN’s law of priority. Also more female characters are prompted in this study to distinctly discriminate T. macfarlanei from its most resembling species, Tetranychus ludeni Zacher. Tetranychus macfarlanei has emerged as a pest of several cultivated crop plants in India. 


Nematology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dmitry M. Miljutin ◽  
Maria A. Miljutina

Acantholaimusis a species-rich genus of deep-sea nematodes, often with dozens of species found at the same locality but each represented by single or few individuals. Species discrimination by morphological characters in this genus is therefore often difficult due to transitional forms that may be referred to several species because of lack of data on intraspecific variability. The aim of this study was to evaluate the intraspecific variability of morphological characters that are most often used inAcantholaimustaxonomy, in order to distinguish those which are most informative for species differentiation. A reverse taxonomic approach was applied for initial species discrimination. Two loci, one each from small and large subunits of rRNA, were sequenced for 59Acantholaimusspecimens from two deep-sea locations. Twenty-seven Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTU) were identified, of which 12 were represented by more than one individual. These were then analysed for intraspecific variability in morphological characters. Some of the examined characters showed high intraspecific variability; specifically: length of cephalic setae; distance from anterior end to amphid; shape of anterior setae; position and arrangement of cervical setae. In the absence of genetic data, these characters should be used with caution for differential diagnoses or species discrimination. Other characters were more conservative within the same MOTU: body proportions; length of outer labial setae; amphidial diam.; appearance of lateral field; general arrangement of cervical setae; and shape of tail. These characters may be successfully used for species discrimination in the absence of molecular data.


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