scholarly journals The beginning of the adaptive radiation of Theridomorpha (Rodentia) in Western Europe: morphological and phylogenetic analyses of early and middle Eocene taxa; implications for systematics

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. e2
Author(s):  
Monique Vianey-Liaud ◽  
Laurent Marivaux
Keyword(s):  
Adaptive Radiation ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses

scholarly journals Habitat Partitioning and Overlap by Large Lacertid Lizards in Southern Europe

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 155
Author(s):  
Daniel Escoriza ◽  
Félix Amat
Keyword(s):  
Related Species ◽  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Niche Partitioning ◽  
Probabilistic Methods ◽  
Climate Niche ◽  
Rich Diversity ◽  
Occupancy Patterns ◽  
Lacertid Lizards

South-western Europe has a rich diversity of lacertid lizards. In this study, we evaluated the occupancy patterns and niche segregation of five species of lacertids, focusing on large-bodied species (i.e., adults having >75 mm snout-vent length) that occur in south-western Europe (Italian to the Iberian Peninsula). We characterized the niches occupied by these species based on climate and vegetation cover properties. We expected some commonality among phylogenetically related species, but also patterns of habitat segregation mitigating competition between ecologically equivalent species. We used multivariate ordination and probabilistic methods to describe the occupancy patterns and evaluated niche evolution through phylogenetic analyses. Our results showed climate niche partitioning, but with a wide overlap in transitional zones, where segregation is maintained by species-specific responses to the vegetation cover. The analyses also showed that phylogenetically related species tend to share large parts of their habitat niches. The occurrence of independent evolutionary lineages contributed to the regional species richness favored by a long history of niche divergence.

scholarly journals New fossils of Sirenia from the Middle Eocene of Navarre (Western Pyrenees): the oldest West European sea cow record

2010 ◽  
Vol 147 (5) ◽  
pp. 665-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. ASTIBIA ◽  
N. BARDET ◽  
X. PEREDA-SUBERBIOLA ◽  
A. PAYROS ◽  
V. DE BUFFRÉNIL ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Histological Study ◽  
Regional Stage ◽  
Postcranial Remains ◽  
Sea Cow ◽  
Western Pyrenees ◽  
West European

AbstractPostcranial remains of Sirenia from the early Middle Eocene (late Lutetian) Urbasa-Andia Formation of Navarre (Western Pyrenees) are described. The material consists of two partial atlas vertebrae, one humerus and several dorsal ribs (from Arrasate, Urbasa plateau), and partial dorsal ribs (from Lezaun, Andia plateau). The morphology of the fossils is consistent with referral to Dugongidae, the only sirenian clade known so far in the Middle Eocene of Europe. Moreover, the histological study of the ribs shows that the pachyosteosclerosis of extant Sirenia was definitively present by the early Middle Eocene. The oldest sirenian remains reported to date in the Pyrenean Realm were assigned to the Biarritzian, a regional stage that is currently ascribed either to the middle or to the lower–middle Bartonian. Therefore, the sirenian remains of Lezaun, reliably dated as late Lutetian (SBZ16 zone) in age, are definitively the earliest sirenian fossils known in Western Europe and are among the oldest sea cow records of Europe.

scholarly journals A turiasaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Wealden Supergroup of the United Kingdom

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e6348
Author(s):  
Philip D. Mannion
Keyword(s):  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Middle Jurassic ◽  
Late Jurassic ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Neural Spine ◽  
Faunal Turnover ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk

The Jurassic/Cretaceous (J/K) boundary, 145 million years ago, has long been recognised as an extinction event or faunal turnover for sauropod dinosaurs, with many ‘basal’ lineages disappearing. However, recently, a number of ‘extinct’ groups have been recognised in the Early Cretaceous, including diplodocids in Gondwana, and non-titanosauriform macronarians in Laurasia. Turiasauria, a clade of non-neosauropod eusauropods, was originally thought to have been restricted to the Late Jurassic of western Europe. However, its distribution has recently been extended to the Late Jurassic of Tanzania (Tendaguria tanzaniensis), as well as to the Early Cretaceous of the USA (Mierasaurus bobyoungi and Moabosaurus utahensis), demonstrating the survival of another ‘basal’ clade across the J/K boundary. Teeth from the Middle Jurassic–Early Cretaceous of western Europe and North Africa have also tentatively been attributed to turiasaurs, whilst recent phylogenetic analyses recovered Late Jurassic taxa from Argentina and China as further members of Turiasauria. Here, an anterior dorsal centrum and neural arch (both NHMUK 1871) from the Early Cretaceous Wealden Supergroup of the UK are described for the first time. NHMUK 1871 shares several synapomorphies with Turiasauria, especially the turiasaurs Moabosaurus and Tendaguria, including: (1) a strongly dorsoventrally compressed centrum; (2) the retention of prominent epipophyses; and (3) an extremely low, non-bifid neural spine. NHMUK 1871 therefore represents the first postcranial evidence for Turiasauria from European deposits of Early Cretaceous age. Although turiasaurs show clear heterodont dentition, only broad, characteristically ‘heart’-shaped teeth can currently be attributed to Turiasauria with confidence. As such, several putative turiasaur occurrences based on isolated teeth from Europe, as well as the Middle Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of Africa, cannot be confidently referred to Turiasauria. Unequivocal evidence for turiasaurs is therefore restricted to the late Middle Jurassic–Early Cretaceous of western Europe, the Late Jurassic of Tanzania, and the late Early Cretaceous of the USA, although remains from elsewhere might ultimately demonstrate that the group had a near-global distribution.

scholarly journals European common frog (Rana temporaria) recolonised Switzerland from multiple glacial refugia in northern Italy via trans- and circum-Alpine routes

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Jansen van Rensburg ◽  
M Robin ◽  
B C Phillips ◽  
J Van Buskirk
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Rana Temporaria ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Glacial Refugia ◽  
Interesting Case ◽  
Northern Italy ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
European Alps ◽  
Frog Rana Temporaria ◽  
History Of

AbstractThe high mountain ranges of western Europe have had a profound effect on the recolonisation of Europe from glacial refugia. The Alps present a particularly interesting case, because they present an absolute barrier to dispersal to most lineages, obstructing recolonisation from multiple refugia in the Italian Alps. Here we investigate the effect of the European Alps on the the phylogeographic history of Rana temporaria across its range in Switzerland. Based on partial cytochrome b and COX1 sequences we find two mitochondrial lineages that occur roughly north and south of the alpine ridge bisecting Switzerland, with contact zones between them in the east and west. The northern haplogroup falls within the previously identified common western European haplogroup, while the southern haplogroup is unique to Switzerland. We find that the lineages diverged ~110 kya, approximately the onset of the last glacial maximum, indicative of origins in separate refugia. Phylogenetic analyses suggest that the lineages originate from two refugia in northern Italy, and colonised Switzerland via trans- and curcum-alpine routes. Our results show that the European Alps is a semi-permeable barrier to dispersal for R. temporaria, and have contributed to the complex recolonisation history of Switzerland.

New megapodagrionid damselflies (Odonata: Zygoptera) from the Paleogene of Europe

2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (6) ◽  
pp. 1173-1181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julián F. Petrulevičius ◽  
Torsten Wappler ◽  
Sonja Wedmann ◽  
Jes Rust ◽  
Andre Nel
Keyword(s):  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Color Preservation

Three fossil taxa of megapodagrionid damselflies are described and figured from the Paleogene localities in Europe on the basis of isolated wings. Eckfeldia superstes (Wappler, 2003) gen. nov. is described from the laminated mudstones of middle Eocene age from Eckfeld Maar, Germany. Furagrion jutlandicus (Henriksen, 1922) gen. nov. is recorded from the laminated claystones of lowermost Eocene age from the Ølst and Fur-Formation, Denmark, and an undetermined megapodagrionid damselfly is recognized from middle Eocene strata. Taphonomy and color preservation in the fossils are briefly considered. Characters used for phylogenetic analyses in extant and fossil Megapodagrionidae are discussed. The biogeographic and paleoecological implications of the new European fossils are briefly discussed.

scholarly journals Differing histories of Eocene angiosperm diversity in eastern North America and western Europe: dependence on paleogeography

1992 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 105-105
Author(s):  
Norman O. Frederiksen
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Environmental Heterogeneity ◽  
Gulf Coast ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Late Eocene ◽  
Middle Part ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Climatic Fluctuations ◽  
Angiosperm Pollen

Studies of Eocene angiosperm pollen floras in eastern North America (my work, especially in the eastern Gulf Coast) and western Europe (Boulter, Krutzsch) have shown significant differences in floral diversities between the two regions: in western Europe, maximum diversity was in the early Eocene and it decreased thereafter, in eastern North America, maximum diversity was in the middle part of the middle Eocene. The hypothesis presented here is that paleogeography was an important control on the diversity histories in the two regions: eastern North America was part of a large terrestrial landmass, whereas the terrestrial depositional basins of western Europe were on islands or peninsulas surrounded by the sea. Migrations between eastern and western North America were relatively easy, but migrations within what is now western Europe involved island-hopping, which explains distinct diachroneity of some angiosperm first appearances among different basins there. Western European basins were in contact with a large land mass during late Paleocene time but became isolated and smaller during the middle to late Eocene marine transgression. These changes resulted in decreased genetic exchange and increased probabilities of extinction due to (1) greater competition among species because of a reduced number of niches and (2) presence of small, isolated species populations, leading to local variations in extinctions, which probably explain the observed diachronism of taxon last appearances in different areas of Europe. Terrestrial climatic cooling in western Europe may be linked to decreasing contact between the NW European Tertiary Basin and the warm Tethys Seaway during the middle and late Eocene. In short, some combination of low environmental heterogeneity, geographic isolation, and long-term climatic deterioration probably caused the decrease in angiosperm diversity during the middle and late Eocene in western Europe.Several factors encouraged increasing or stable diversity in eastern North America but were far less effective in western Europe: (1) Eastern North America underwent greater climatic fluctuations during the Eocene (thus, immigration of taxa with different climatic preferences took place at different times), whereas the islands and peninsulas of western Europe had more uniform, maritime climates. (2) Evolution and immigration of r-selected taxa in eastern North America were favored by distinct dry seasons at certain times during the Eocene and by repeated marine transgressions and regressions that created opportunities for evolution and immigration of r-selected plants on and to freshly exposed coastal plain. In contrast, the predominantly maritime climates of western Europe in the early and middle Eocene favored K-selected plants, which had fewer possibilities for evolution and which had greater difficulty in migrating because island-hopping taxa are mainly r-selected. (3) “Arcto-Tertiary” taxa adapted to cooler climates lived and evolved in the uplands of the Appalachian Mountains, whereas western Europe was relatively flat in the Eocene –another example of its relative lack of environmental heterogeneity.

scholarly journals Diversity and Global Distribution of IncL/M Plasmids Enabling Horizontal Dissemination ofβ-Lactam Resistance Genes among the Enterobacteriaceae

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcin Adamczuk ◽  
Piotr Zaleski ◽  
Lukasz Dziewit ◽  
Renata Wolinowska ◽  
Marta Nieckarz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Resistance Genes ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Horizontal Transmission ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Clinical Strain ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Broad Host Range ◽  
Genes Encoding

Antibiotic resistance determinants are frequently associated with plasmids and other mobile genetic elements, which simplifies their horizontal transmission. Several groups of plasmids (including replicons of the IncL/M incompatibility group) were found to play an important role in the dissemination of resistance genes encodingβ-lactamases. The IncL/M plasmids are large, broad host range, and self-transmissible replicons. We have identified and characterized two novel members of this group: pARM26 (isolated from bacteria inhabiting activated sludge from a wastewater treatment plant) and pIGT15 (originating from a clinical strain ofEscherichia coli). This instigated a detailed comparative analysis of all available sequences of IncL/M plasmids encodingβ-lactamases. The core genome of these plasmids is comprised of 20 genes with conserved synteny. Phylogenetic analyses of these core genes allowed clustering of the plasmids into four separate groups, which reflect their antibiotic resistance profiles. Examination of the biogeography of the IncL/M plasmids revealed that they are most frequently found in bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae originating from the Mediterranean region and Western Europe and that they are able to persist in various ecological niches even in the absence of direct antibiotic selection pressure.

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