Geometric Morphometrics of Dentaries inMyotis: Species Identification and Its Implications for Conservation and the Fossil Record

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 184-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Jansky ◽  
Blaine W. Schubert ◽  
Steven C. Wallace
Keyword(s):  
Geometric Morphometrics ◽  
Species Identification ◽  
Fossil Record

scholarly journals Relevance of wing morphology in distinguishing and classifying genera and species of Stenogastrinae wasps

2011 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 191-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Baracchi ◽  
Leonardo Dapporto ◽  
Stefano Turillazzi
Keyword(s):  
Geometric Morphometrics ◽  
Species Identification ◽  
Reliable Method ◽  
Wing Morphology ◽  
Wing Vein ◽  
Statistical Assessment ◽  
Genus Level ◽  
Nesting Material ◽  
First Time

The phylogeny of the Stenogastrinae wasps is still under discussion and their systematic incomplete. In the present work we used geometric morphometrics, a technique based on a rigorous statistical assessment of shape, to compare the forewings of fifteen species of Stenogastrinae wasps belonging to four different genera to ascertain whether this approach may be used as a reliable method in the study of the taxonomy of the group. The results show that the wing vein junctions can be diagnostic for both genus and species identification. For the first time in this subfamily, we propose a phylogenetic classification of the species based on wing morphology that largely agrees with the cladistic data available at genus level and reflects the differences among species in terms of nesting material and architecture of their nest.

scholarly journals Slow and steady: the evolution of cranial disparity in fossil and recent turtles

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1843) ◽  
pp. 20161881 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Foth ◽  
Walter G. Joyce
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Geometric Morphometrics ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Habitat Destruction ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Diverse Group ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Global Patterns ◽  
A Minor

Turtles (Testudinata) are a diverse group of amniotes that have a rich fossil record that extends back to the Late Triassic, but little is known about global patterns of disparity through time. We here investigate the cranial disparity of 172 representatives of the turtle lineage and their ancestors grouped into 20 time bins ranging from the Late Triassic until the Recent using two-dimensional geometric morphometrics. Three evolutionary phases are apparent in all three anatomical views investigated. In the first phase, disparity increases gradually from the Late Triassic to the Palaeogene with only a minor perturbation at the K/T extinct event. Although global warming may have influenced this increase, we find the Mesozoic fragmentation of Pangaea to be a more plausible factor. Following its maximum, disparity decreases strongly towards the Miocene, only to recover partially towards the Recent. The marked collapse in disparity is likely a result of habitat destruction caused by global drying, combined with the homogenization of global turtle faunas that resulted from increased transcontinental dispersal in the Tertiary. The disparity minimum in the Miocene is likely an artefact of poor sampling.

scholarly journals Geometric morphometrics as a tool for three species identification of the firefly (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) in Thailand

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
SUCHADA SUMRUAYPHOL ◽  
Tanawat Chaiphongpachara
Keyword(s):  
Geometric Morphometrics ◽  
Species Identification ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
High Accuracy ◽  
Intermediate Hosts ◽  
Separate Species ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
External Characteristics ◽  
Trematode Parasites

Abstract. Chaiphongpachara T, Sumruayphol S. 2019. Geometric morphometrics as a tool for three species identification of the firefly (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) in Thailand. Biodiversitas 20: 2388-2395.  Firefly is an insect belonging to the Lampyridae family that is important to the ecosystem, generates income from tourism in the area and act as a biological control for snail, an intermediate hosts of trematode parasites. Some types of the firefly, it is difficult to distinguish the species using standard methods because of similarities in morphology while the external characteristics of specimens are damaged during collection, presenting an obstacle to species identification. This study used geometric morphometrics (GM) for identification of firefly species. Samples collection was conducted in the rainy season from August to October 2015 in three districts of Samut Songkham province, Thailand. A total of 200 and 157 fireflies from 3 genera and four species, including Luciola aquatilis Thancharoen, Pteroptyx valida Olivier, Pteroptyx malaccae Gorham and Pyrocoelia praetexta Olivier were used for landmark-based and outline-based GM analysis, respectively. The results showed that both types of GM analysis produced similar results, size variation between two firefly pairs was not statistically significant, including female L. aquatilis with male P. praetexta, and female P. valida with male P. valida. Both landmark-based and outline-based GM methods can distinguish the shape for each type of firefly with high accuracy, especially the outline-based GM method. This result was supported by reclassification scores. According to our findings, the GM can be used to separate species of firefly with high efficiency. Therefore, this GM method represents one way of overcoming difficulties with firefly identification and can support future studies of fireflies.

Geometric morphometrics to interpret the endophytic egg-laying behavior of Odonata (Insecta) from the Eocene of Patagonia, Argentina

2019 ◽  
Vol 93 (06) ◽  
pp. 1126-1136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugenia Romero-Lebrón ◽  
Raquel M. Gleiser ◽  
Julián F. Petrulevičius
Keyword(s):  
Geometric Morphometrics ◽  
Relative Position ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Oviposition Behavior ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Dimensional Structure ◽  
Early Eocene ◽  
Single Female ◽  
First Time

AbstractAlthough the order Odonata has a rich fossil record, many questions about its reproductive biology remain unanswered. There are two strategies of egg laying among odonates, exophytic and endophytic, the latter being one of the most revealing vestiges of plant–insect association in the fossil record. We assessed whether geometric morphometrics based on elliptical series of Fourier allow expression of variability of shape in traces of Odonata eggs within a leaf of Eucalyptus chubutensis (Berry) González (in part), González, 2009 (Myrtaceae) from Laguna del Hunco (Chubut, Argentina) (early Eocene) and whether this variability is consistent with the ichnotaxonomy of this material. We found that the largest variation corresponds to the compression of the shape while the remaining two components reflect variations in the apex position and its curvature, which changed according to the relative position of the traces in the leaf. There was no evidence that the hardness of the leaf would affect the shape of the egg trace. We postulate that these traces could have been produced by one single female: Variations in the pattern observable in the fossil of an originally three-dimensional structure are consistent with differences in the position of the eggs inserted by a single female who has flexed her abdomen to insert the eggs as she approaches the apex of the leaf (behavior observed also in extant dragonflies). For the first time, endophytic egg traces are analyzed with geometrical morphometrics, and this allows us to make inferences on the oviposition behavior of a female that lived around 52 million years ago.

scholarly journals Palaeoecological inferences for the fossil Australian snakes Yurlunggur and Wonambi (Serpentes, Madtsoiidae)

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 172012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Palci ◽  
Mark N. Hutchinson ◽  
Michael W. Caldwell ◽  
John D. Scanlon ◽  
Michael S. Y. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Geometric Morphometrics ◽  
Inner Ear ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Late Cenozoic ◽  
Ecological Preferences ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Ecological Differences

Madtsoiids are among the most basal snakes, with a fossil record dating back to the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian). Most representatives went extinct by the end of the Eocene, but some survived in Australia until the Late Cenozoic. Yurlunggur and Wonambi are two of these late forms, and also the best-known madtsoiids to date. A better understanding of the anatomy and palaeoecology of these taxa may shed light on the evolution and extinction of this poorly known group of snakes and on early snake evolution in general. A digital endocast of the inner ear of Yurlunggur was compared to those of 81 species of snakes and lizards with known ecological preferences using three-dimensional geometric morphometrics. The inner ear of Yurlunggur most closely resembles both that of certain semiaquatic snakes and that of some semifossorial snakes. Other cranial and postcranial features of this snake support the semifossorial interpretation. While the digital endocast of the inner ear of Wonambi is too incomplete to be included in a geometric morphometrics study, its preserved morphology is very different from that of Yurlunggur and suggests a more generalist ecology. Osteology, palaeoclimatic data and the palaeobiogeographic distribution of these two snakes are all consistent with these inferred ecological differences.

Species criteria in palaeontology and ichnology and the possibilities of using ichnofossils in geology

2021 ◽  
pp. 29-47
Author(s):  
Volodymyr Grytsenko
Keyword(s):  
Species Identification ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Sedimentary Rocks ◽  
Significant Part ◽  
Soft Body ◽  
Modern Age

Paleontology is a science between biology and geology thus paleontologists use both biological and geological approaches to solve different kinds of problems. One of the main issues for paleontologist is the use of species criteria and species identification. The fossil record shows evidence of evolution of separate phyla and the biosphere in general. A significant part of the biosphere is represented by soft-body animals. The marks of activities different animals have appeared in the fossil record at least from rocks of Ediacaran to modern age. They could be imprints of “sitting” or moving tracks (of invertebrates or vertebrates), evidence of birth (for instance, egg fragments), crawling traces of molluscs, etc. There are a plenty of issues regarding the identification of the nature of ichnofossils. Sometimes it is possible to identify animal species that left their traces or imprints. We observe ichnofossils on the surface and inside sedimentary rocks, but their identification is often impossible. Therefore, an artificial nomenclature is used for the naming of “species” of ichnofossils. Ichnofossils of different age and from various facial conditions are investigated on all continents. Ichnology as a relatively new branch of geology is developing due to the use of modern technological approaches.

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