scholarly journals Noteworthy record of the Ethiopian genet, Genetta abyssinica, (Carnivora, Viverridae) from Djibouti informs its phylogenetic position within Genetta

Mammalia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 83 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam W. Ferguson ◽  
Houssein R. Roble ◽  
Molly M. McDonough

AbstractThe molecular phylogeny of extant genets (Carnivora, Viverridae,Genetta) was generated using all species with the exception of the Ethiopian genetGenetta abyssinica. Herein, we provide the first molecular phylogenetic assessment ofG. abyssinicausing molecular sequence data from multiple mitochondrial genes generated from a recent record of this species from the Forêt du Day (the Day Forest) in Djibouti. This record represents the first verified museum specimen ofG. abyssinicacollected in over 60 years and the first specimen with a specific locality for the country of Djibouti. Multiple phylogenetic analyses revealed conflicting results as to the exact relationship ofG. abyssinicato otherGenettaspecies, providing statistical support for a sister relationship to all other extant genets for only a subset of mitochondrial analyses. Despite the inclusion of this species for the first time, phylogenetic relationships amongGenettaspecies remain unclear, with limited nodal support for many species. In addition to providing an alternative hypothesis of the phylogenetic relationships among extant genets, this recent record provides the first complete skeleton of this species to our knowledge and helps to shed light on the distribution and habitat use of this understudied African small carnivore.

2019 ◽  
Vol 190 (2) ◽  
pp. 397-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anny C Forero Mejia ◽  
Tina Molodtsova ◽  
Carina Östman ◽  
Giorgio Bavestrello ◽  
Greg W Rouse

Abstract We present an integrative study with molecular phylogenetic reconstructions and morphological assessment across the three Ceriantharia families: Arachnactidae, Botrucnidiferidae and Cerianthidae. The Arachnactidae specimens (Isarachnanthus spp.) form a well-supported clade, whereas Cerianthidae and Botrucnidiferidae are not recovered as monophyletic. Consequently, the validity of the suborder Spirularia is questioned. Cerianthus was recovered as polyphyletic and Ceriantheomorphe may prove to be a junior synonym of Cerianthus. The taxonomic position of Cerianthus cf. mortenseni is also discussed. All specimens identified on morphology as belonging to Pachycerianthus are recovered as a clade. Further revision of taxa within Ceriantharia is necessary. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on six mitochondrial or nuclear loci place Ceriantharia as sister to Hexacorallia s.s., but with no significant support relative to an alternative hypothesis that it is the sister taxon to Octocorallia. Further molecular sequence data and taxon sampling will be needed to resolve the position of Ceriantharia.


2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald M. Clouse ◽  
Gonzalo Giribet

Opiliones (harvestmen) in the suborder Cyphophthalmi are not known to disperse across oceans and each family in the suborder is restricted to a clear biogeographic region. While undertaking a revisionary study of the South-east Asian family Stylocellidae, two collections of stylocellids from New Guinea were noted. This was a surprising find, since the island appears never to have had a land connection with Eurasia, where the rest of the family members are found. Here, 21 New Guinean specimens collected from the westernmost end of the island (Manokwari Province, Indonesia) are described and their relationships to other cyphophthalmids are analysed using molecular sequence data. The specimens represent three species, Stylocellus lydekkeri, sp. nov., S. novaguinea, sp. nov. and undescribed females of a probable third species, which are described and illustrated using scanning electron microscope and stereomicroscope photographs. Stylocellus novaguinea, sp. nov. is described from a single male and it was collected with a juvenile and the three females of the apparent third species. Molecular phylogenetic analyses indicate that the new species are indeed in the family Stylocellidae and they therefore reached western New Guinea by dispersing through Lydekker’s line – the easternmost limit of poor dispersers from Eurasia. The New Guinean species may indicate at least two episodes of oceanic dispersal by Cyphophthalmi, a phenomenon here described for the first time. Alternatively, the presence in New Guinea of poor dispersers from Eurasia may suggest novel hypotheses about the history of the island.


2021 ◽  
Vol 307 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk C. Albach ◽  
Zoya M. Tsymbalyuk ◽  
Sergei L. Mosyakin

AbstractPollen morphology of six species belonging to genera Ellisiophyllum and Sibthorpia (Plantaginaceae tribe Sibthorpieae) was studied using light and scanning electron microscopy. The data were analyzed in the light of the first phylogenetic analysis including all but one species of the tribe using DNA sequence data from nuclear ribosomal (ITS) and plastid trnL-F region. Pollen grains in representatives of this tribe are 3-colpate, occasionally 3-porate, suboblate to prolate; mainly medium-sized, rarely small. One major pollen type (3-colpate) is recognized in the tribe. Within this pollen type, six subtypes are distinguished based on their exine sculpture, pollen grain size, length of the apertures, and exine thickness. The obtained results confirm that pollen characters are useful for species identification. Palynomorphological data are consistent with the results of the molecular phylogenetic analyses. All studies support a sister relationship of the widespread European Sibthorpia europaea with the widespread South American Sibthorpia repens and a sister relationship of two insular species, the Balearic Sibthorpia africana and the Madeiran Sibthorpia peregrina. Pollen grains in the tribe Sibthorpieae have both reticulate exine sculpture characteristic for representatives of the Russelieae–Cheloneae–Antirrhineae clades of Plantaginaceae, and also nanoechinate sculpture, which is typical for the Veroniceae and Plantagineae clades of that family. Also, in Sibthorpia repens, we observe a possible transition from the colpate type to the porate type typical for taxa of Plantago and Littorella.


Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2984 (1) ◽  
pp. 67 ◽  
Author(s):  
LEANDRO C. S. ASSIS ◽  
MARCELO R. DE CARVALHO ◽  
QUENTIN D. WHEELER

David Wake and colleagues provided a thought-provoking review of the concept of homoplasy through the integration, within a phylogenetic framework, of genetic and developmental data (Wake et al. 2011). According to them (p. 1032) “Molecular sequence data have greatly increased our ability to identify homoplastic traits.” This is made clear, for example, in their flow chart for homoplasy detection (Figure 2, p. 1034), wherein homoplasy is discovered through the mapping of “traits of interest” onto a phylogram, a practice common in the molecular phylogenetic paradigm. The “mapping” is usually of morphological characters that are employed to support the chosen (molecular) topology, but which, as a consequence, do not themselves contribute to the formation of those topologies (Assis & Carvalho 2010).


Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4811 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-63
Author(s):  
KATHRYN M. WEGLARZ ◽  
CHARLES R BARTLETT

The planthopper genus Chionomus Fennah, 1971 (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea: Delphacidae) currently includes three Neotropical species, removed from the polyphyletic genus Delphacodes Fieber, 1866. Morphological and molecular evidence further redefine Chionomus to include ten additional species (eight species removed from Delphacodes, two described as new, viz. Chionomus dolonus n. sp. and C. herkos n. sp.), with another four species synonymized. Phylogenetic analyses of morphological and molecular sequence data of the mitochondrial gene Cytochrome Oxidase I provide support for the monophyly of Chionomus. We use a mixed model Bayesian optimality criterion to define phylogenetic relationships among Chionomus and support paraphyly of the original definition of Chionomus (with respect to Delphacodes) and monophyly of the revised genus. 


2014 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 235 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Safaei Chaei Kar ◽  
F. Ghanavati ◽  
M. R. Naghavi ◽  
H. Amirabadi-zade ◽  
R. Rabiee

Onobrychis, comprising more than 130 species, is a genus of the family Fabaceae. At this time, the interspecies relationship of this biologically important genus is still a subject of great discussion and debate. To help resolve this disagreement, we used molecular phylogeny to analyse internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and trnL–trnF sequences of 76 species of Onobrychis. Bayesian interference, maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood analyses of nuclear ITS and plastid trnL–trnF DNA sequence data generated trees with strong posterior probability for two groups: Onobrychis subgen. Sisyrosema (including: Heliobrychis, Hymenobrychis, Afghanicae and Anthyllium sections) along with Laxiflorae section in Group I and Onobrychis subgen. Onobrychis (except Laxiflorae section) in the other (Group II). The Laxiflorae section roots back to the ancestral node for Sisyrosema subgen. O. viciifolia (cultivated species), which is closely associated with O. cyri var. cyri, suggesting that the latter may be a wild progenitor of O. viciifolia. The present study supported the paraphyly of subgenera Onobrychis and Sisyrosema. The study proposed the paraphyletic nature of the sections Onobrychis, Dendrobrychis, Heliobrychis and Hymenobrychis. Together with our molecular phylogenetic analyses we present a review of Onobrychis morphology and discuss and compare our results with those of earlier morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses.


Zootaxa ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 2537 (1) ◽  
pp. 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
DALE D. EDWARDS ◽  
MALCOLM F. VIDRINE ◽  
BRIAN R. ERNSTING

Water mites of the genus Unionicola Haldeman, 1842 are common symbionts of molluscs, living on the gills or mantle and foot of their hosts and using these tissues as sites of oviposition. Phylogenetic relationships among species that comprise the genus are poorly understood and what is known has been based on a limited number of morphological and life history characters or molecular sequence data using closely-related taxa. The present study uses sequence data from the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (cox1) gene (664 bp) to reconstruct evolutionary relationships among representative species of North American Unionicola from eight subgenera that occur in symbiotic association with freshwater mussels. Maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood analysis yielded trees with similar topologies, and most of the branches have moderate to high bootstrap support. The topologies of these gene trees are mostly congruent with a previously published morphologically-derived tree. Specifically, the gene trees support monophyly among mites from subgenera that occur in association with the gill tissues of host mussels. The molecular trees of Unionicola mites generated by this study must, however, be interpreted with caution, given that the analysis is based exclusively on Unionicola subgenera from North America. A more robust phylogeny of Unionicola mussel-mites will require the addition of molecular sequence data from taxa outside of North America.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-150
Author(s):  
Gaurang G. Gowande ◽  
Harshal S. Bhosale ◽  
Pushkar U. Phansalkar ◽  
Mandar Sawant ◽  
Zeeshan A. Mirza

The montane agamid species Pseudocalotes austeniana has had a complicated taxonomic history, as the species was initially described as a member of the genus Salea Gray, 1845. Later, the species was placed in a monotypic genus Mictopholis Smith, 1935, which was erected only to include this species; however, the species was later on transferred to the genus Pseudocalotes Fitzinger, 1843, owing to the morphological similarities, and lack of strong characters to diagnose the genus Mictopholis. Nonetheless, its precise phylogenetic and systematic position has remained unresolved due to the lack of molecular sequence data. During a herpetological expedition to Arunachal Pradesh, specimens of P. austeniana were collected from the hills near the type locality. The mitochondrial 16S rRNA, ND2 and ND4, and the nuclear RAG1 regions were subjected to molecular phylogenetics. Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference gene trees revealed that P. austeniana is a member of the subfamily Draconinae. The analyses showed that the genus Pseudocalotes is polyphyletic, and P. austeniana was embedded within the genus Japalura Gray, 1853 sensu stricto. We here, thus, propose to transfer the species P. austeniana to the genus Japlaura, as Japalura austenianacomb. nov. Biogeographic and evolutionary significance of the findings are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanapan Sukee ◽  
Ian Beveridge ◽  
Anson V. Koehler ◽  
Ross Hall ◽  
Robin B. Gasser ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The subfamily Phascolostrongylinae (Superfamily Strongyloidea) comprises nematodes that are parasitic in the gastrointestinal tracts of macropodid (Family Macropodidae) and vombatid (Family Vombatidae) marsupials. Currently, nine genera and 20 species have been attributed to the subfamily Phascolostrongylinae. Previous studies using sequence data sets for the internal transcribed spacers (ITS) of nuclear ribosomal DNA showed conflicting topologies between the Phascolostrongylinae and related subfamilies. Therefore, the aim of this study was to validate the phylogenetic relationships within the Phascolostrongylinae and its relationship with the families Chabertiidae and Strongylidae using mitochondrial amino acid sequences. Methods The sequences of all 12 mitochondrial protein-coding genes were obtained by next-generation sequencing of individual adult nematodes (n = 8) representing members of the Phascolostrongylinae. These sequences were conceptually translated and the phylogenetic relationships within the Phascolostrongylinae and its relationship with the families Chabertiidae and Strongylidae were inferred from aligned, concatenated amino acid sequence data sets. Results Within the Phascolostrongylinae, the wombat-specific genera grouped separately from the genera occurring in macropods. Two of the phascolostrongyline tribes were monophyletic, including Phascolostrongylinea and Hypodontinea, whereas the tribe Macropostrongyloidinea was paraphyletic. The tribe Phascolostrongylinea occurring in wombats was closely related to Oesophagostomum spp., also from the family Chabertiidae, which formed a sister relationship with the Phascolostrongylinae. Conclusion The current phylogenetic relationship within the subfamily Phascolostrongylinae supports findings from a previous study based on ITS sequence data. This study contributes also to the understanding of the phylogenetic position of the subfamily Phascolostrongylinae within the Chabertiidae. Future studies investigating the relationships between the Phascolostrongylinae and Cloacininae from macropodid marsupials may advance our knowledge of the phylogeny of strongyloid nematodes in marsupials. Graphical Abstract


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