scholarly journals Light and shadows in the evolution of South European stenonoid horses

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 115-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Rita Palombo ◽  
Maria Teresa Alberdi
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Common Element ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Quaternary Period ◽  
Large Mammal ◽  
Faunal Assemblages ◽  
Key Species ◽  
History Of ◽  
Phylogenetic Hypotheses ◽  
South Europe

Abstract The appearance of monodactyl equids in Eurasia and their dispersal towards South Europe is a significant event that marks the beginning of the Quaternary period. During the Pleistocene, horses were a common element in most European large mammal faunal assemblages, providing important palaeoecological clues, but their taxonomy, nomenclature and phylogeny, as well as their actual biochronological significance have been widely debated by scholars. The evolutionary history of horses here regarded as “stenonoid” (Equus livenzovensis, Equus stenonis, Equus ex gr. E. senezensis, Equus altidens, Equus hydruntinus, the large-sized horses Equus major and Equus suessenbornensis, sometimes referred to as the so-called “Equus bressanus-Equus suessenbornensis group”), is one of the most intriguing. This study, mainly focusing on the South European representatives of this group, aims to highlight and discuss the major debated issues, re-examining the taxonomy of some Early and early Middle Pleistocene horses. Alternative phylogenetic hypotheses will also be discussed with the aim of providing new clues on the chronology and palaeoecology of some key species/samples.

Systematic evidence from gene duplication and regulation

1990 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 145
Author(s):  
DJ Colgan
Keyword(s):  
Gene Duplication ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Tandem Duplication ◽  
Fragment Length Polymorphism ◽  
Duplicate Genes ◽  
Polymorphism Analysis ◽  
Multiple Origins ◽  
The Family ◽  
History Of ◽  
Phylogenetic Hypotheses

This paper is a review of the use of information regarding the presence of duplicate genes and their regulation in systematics. The review concentrates on data derived from protein electrophoresis and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. The appearance of a duplication in a subset of a group of species implies that the members of the subset belong to the same clade. Suppression of the duplication may render this clade apparently paraphyletic, but may itself be informative of relations within the lineage through patterns of loss of expression in all, or some tissues, or through restrictions of the formation of functional heteropolymers in polymeric enzymes. Examples are given of studies which have used such information to establish phylogenetic hypotheses at the family level, to identify an auto- or allo-polyploid origin of polyploid species and to determine whether there have been single or multiple origins of such species. The likelihood of homoplasy in the patterns of appearance and regulation of duplicates depends on the molecular basis of the duplication. In particular, the contrast between the expected consequences of tandem duplication and the expression of pseudogenes emphasises the value of determining the mechanism of the original duplication. Many instances of sporadic gene duplication are now known, and polyploidisation is a common event in the evolutionary history of both plants and animals. So the opportunities to discover duplicationrelated characters will arise in many systematic studies. A program is presented to increase the chances that such useful information will be recognisable during the studies.

scholarly journals The use of paleoclimatic simulations to refine the environmental and chronological context of archaeological/paleontological sites

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Léa Terray ◽  
Masa Kageyama ◽  
Emmanuelle Stoetzel ◽  
Eslem Ben Arous ◽  
Raphaël Cornette ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Faunal Assemblages ◽  
Climatic Variations ◽  
Strong Potential ◽  
Isotopic Studies ◽  
History Of ◽  
Dating Method

Abstract. To reconstruct the paleoenvironmental and chronological context of archaeological/paleontological sites is a key step to understand the evolutionary history of past organisms. Commonly used method to infer paleoenvironments rely on varied proxies such as faunal assemblages and isotopes. However, those proxies often show some inconsistencies. Regarding estimated ages of stratigraphic layers, they can vary depending on the dating method used. In this paper, we tested the potential of paleoclimate simulations to address this issue and contribute to the description of the environmental and chronological context of archaeological/paleontological sites. We produced a set of paleoclimate simulations corresponding to the stratigraphy of a Late-Pleistocene Holocene site, El Harhoura 2 (Morocco), and compared the climatic sequence described by these simulations to environmental inferences made from isotopes and faunal assemblages. Our results showed that in the studied site combined US-ESR ages were much more congruent with paleoenvironmental inferences than OSL ages. In addition, climatic variations were found to be more consistent with isotopic studies than faunal assemblages, allowing us to discuss unresolved discrepancies to date. This study illustrates the strong potential of our approach to refine the paleoenvironmental and chronological context of archaeological and paleontological sites.

scholarly journals Diversification of African Tree Legumes in Miombo–Mopane Woodlands

Plants ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivete Maquia ◽  
Silvia Catarino ◽  
Ana R. Pena ◽  
Denise R.A. Brito ◽  
Natasha. S. Ribeiro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Conservation Areas ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Tree Legumes ◽  
Key Species ◽  
History Of

The southern African Miombo and Mopane ecoregions constitute a unique repository of plant diversity whose diversification and evolutionary history is still understudied. In this work, we assessed the diversity, distribution, and conservation status of Miombo and Mopane tree legumes within the Zambezian phytoregion. Data were retrieved from several plant and gene databases and phylogenetic analyses were performed based on genetic barcodes. Seventy-eight species (74 from Miombo and 23 from Mopane, 19 common to both ecoregions) have been scored. Species diversity was high within both ecoregions, but information about the actual conservation status is scarce and available only for ca. 15% of the species. Results of phylogenetic analyses were consistent with current legume classification but did not allow us to draw any conclusion regarding the evolutionary history of Miombo and Mopane tree legumes. Future studies are proposed to dissect the diversity and structure of key species in order to consolidate the network of conservation areas.

Plio-Pleistocene decline of African megaherbivores: No evidence for ancient hominin impacts

Science ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 362 (6417) ◽  
pp. 938-941 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Tyler Faith ◽  
John Rowan ◽  
Andrew Du ◽  
Paul L. Koch
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Large Mammal ◽  
Meat Eating ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
Mammal Communities ◽  
Herbivore Communities

It has long been proposed that pre-modern hominin impacts drove extinctions and shaped the evolutionary history of Africa’s exceptionally diverse large mammal communities, but this hypothesis has yet to be rigorously tested. We analyzed eastern African herbivore communities spanning the past 7 million years—encompassing the entirety of hominin evolutionary history—to test the hypothesis that top-down impacts of tool-bearing, meat-eating hominins contributed to the demise of megaherbivores prior to the emergence ofHomo sapiens. We document a steady, long-term decline of megaherbivores beginning ~4.6 million years ago, long before the appearance of hominin species capable of exerting top-down control of large mammal communities and predating evidence for hominin interactions with megaherbivore prey. Expansion of C4grasslands can account for the loss of megaherbivore diversity.

scholarly journals Middle Pleistocene genome calibrates a revised evolutionary history of extinct cave bears

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 1771-1779.e7
Author(s):  
Axel Barlow ◽  
Johanna L.A. Paijmans ◽  
Federica Alberti ◽  
Boris Gasparyan ◽  
Guy Bar-Oz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
History Of

Middle Pleistocene Cave Bear Genome Calibrates the Evolutionary History of Palaearctic Bears

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel Barlow ◽  
Johanna L. A. Paijmans ◽  
Federica Alberti ◽  
Boris Gasparyan ◽  
Guy Bar-Oz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Cave Bear ◽  
History Of

scholarly journals Early history of Neanderthals and Denisovans

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (37) ◽  
pp. 9859-9863 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan R. Rogers ◽  
Ryan J. Bohlender ◽  
Chad D. Huff
Keyword(s):  
Gene Flow ◽  
Dna Sequence ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Sequence Data ◽  
Early History ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Dna Sequence Data ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of

Extensive DNA sequence data have made it possible to reconstruct human evolutionary history in unprecedented detail. We introduce a method to study the past several hundred thousand years. Our results show that (i) the Neanderthal–Denisovan lineage declined to a small size just after separating from the modern lineage, (ii) Neanderthals and Denisovans separated soon thereafter, and (iii) the subsequent Neanderthal population was large and deeply subdivided. They also (iv) support previous estimates of gene flow from Neanderthals into modern Eurasians. These results suggest an archaic human diaspora early in the Middle Pleistocene.

scholarly journals Mass estimation of extinct taxa and phylogenetic hypotheses both influence analyses of character evolution in a large clade of birds (Telluraves)

2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1917) ◽  
pp. 20191745
Author(s):  
Nicholas M. A. Crouch ◽  
Roberta Mason-Gamer
Keyword(s):  
Model Selection ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Character Evolution ◽  
Additional Insight ◽  
History Of ◽  
Phylogenetic Hypotheses ◽  
Best Fit ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Individual Mass

Incorporating extinct taxa in phylogenetic comparative methods is rapidly becoming invaluable in studies of character evolution. An increasing number of studies have evaluated the effects of extinct taxa, and different numbers of extinct taxa, on model selection and parameter estimation. Body mass is a well-studied phenotype, but individual mass estimates may vary dramatically depending on the particular measurement used. Here, we perform an analysis of body mass evolution in a large clade of principally arboreal birds, incorporating 76 extinct species. We evaluate how different methods for estimating body mass of extinct taxa, and different phylogenetic hypotheses, affect our understanding of the rate and pattern of body mass evolution. Our results show that model selection can vary dramatically depending on the phenotypic and phylogenetic hypothesis used in the reconstruction. Even small changes in phenotype estimates can lead to different model selection and, as a result, affect the inferred evolutionary history. The best-fit models support an increase in the rate of evolution following the K–Pg boundary, with variation accumulating linearly through the Cenozoic. These results provide additional insight into the application of comparative models of evolution, as well as the evolutionary history of one of the most spectacular vertebrate radiations.

scholarly journals Paleohydrogeology of the Karstic System of Fuentetoba Spring (Soria, Spain): An Interdisciplinary Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7236
Author(s):  
Eugenio Sanz Pérez ◽  
Cristina Fonolla ◽  
Ignacio Menéndez Pidal ◽  
Pablo Rosas Rodriguez
Keyword(s):  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Quaternary Period ◽  
Unique Type ◽  
Aquifer System ◽  
Base Level ◽  
History Of ◽  
Interdisciplinary Study ◽  
Natural Recharge ◽  
Hydraulic Balance

As a preliminary phase in the conservation and sustainable management of a karst system in Fuentetoba, Soria, Spain, an interdisciplinary study was carried out to determine its hydrogeological evolution. The hydrogeological history of this aquifer system began during the late Miocene, where discharges were driven by paleo-emergences in the moor, and associated conduits were developed under phreatic (or vadose) conditions—for example, the upper syngenetic galleries in the main known karst cave (Majada del Cura cave). Later on, the nearby karstic massifs, a general flattening of the relief, occurred during the Quaternary Period, during which the karstic base level had been in decline. The aquifer flow was then derived and modified towards the Fuentetoba spring from the earliest stages through the galleries of the aforementioned cave. The observations made in this cave indicate the existence of a unique type of hydrogeological organization. The hypogean network is the result of the excavation of the same water flow that has been entrenching and abandoning the vadose regimen toward the free regimen. The dating of the tuffaceous buildings, associated with the emergences, indicates that since almost the Middle Pleistocene, flow lines have converged in the Fuentetoba spring, inducing a high grade of karstification in the saturated zone of the syncline basin. Moreover, a major drainage conduit was developed by dissolution. During the late Upper Pleistocene, an essential component of the groundwater flow had been derived towards the source of the Mazos River spring. Tufa and paleogour datings in caves indicate that the aquifer has undergone different climatic stages during the latest Quaternary and, therefore, different feeding and recharge processes. These tufas and paleogours are interrelated as well, as they are associated with the warm stages during the most recent Quaternary, according to the regional context, when there was less natural recharge. The simulation of the springs’ flow enabled an approximate quantification of the variation in the aquifer’s hydraulic balance during the different climatic stages. For example, during the last glaciation, the natural recharge was impacted by snowmelt and increased by 160%.

scholarly journals Relationships within Cladobranchia (Gastropoda: Nudibranchia) based on RNA-Seq data: an initial investigation

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (9) ◽  
pp. 150196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica A. Goodheart ◽  
Adam L. Bazinet ◽  
Allen G. Collins ◽  
Michael P. Cummings
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Evolutionary Relationships ◽  
Phylogenetic Hypothesis ◽  
Rna Seq ◽  
Initial Investigation ◽  
Sequence Read Archive ◽  
History Of ◽  
Phylogenetic Hypotheses ◽  
Transcript Assembly ◽  
Ncbi Sequence Read Archive

Cladobranchia (Gastropoda: Nudibranchia) is a diverse (approx. 1000 species) but understudied group of sea slug molluscs. In order to fully comprehend the diversity of nudibranchs and the evolution of character traits within Cladobranchia, a solid understanding of evolutionary relationships is necessary. To date, only two direct attempts have been made to understand the evolutionary relationships within Cladobranchia, neither of which resulted in well-supported phylogenetic hypotheses. In addition to these studies, several others have addressed some of the relationships within this clade while investigating the evolutionary history of more inclusive groups (Nudibranchia and Euthyneura). However, all of the resulting phylogenetic hypotheses contain conflicting topologies within Cladobranchia. In this study, we address some of these long-standing issues regarding the evolutionary history of Cladobranchia using RNA-Seq data (transcriptomes). We sequenced 16 transcriptomes and combined these with four transcriptomes from the NCBI Sequence Read Archive. Transcript assembly using Trinity and orthology determination using H a MS t R yielded 839 orthologous groups for analysis. These data provide a well-supported and almost fully resolved phylogenetic hypothesis for Cladobranchia. Our results support the monophyly of Cladobranchia and the sub-clade Aeolidida, but reject the monophyly of Dendronotida.

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