scholarly journals Genus Apodemus in the Pleistocene of Central Europe: when did the extant taxa appear?

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 460-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markéta Knitlová ◽  
Ivan Horáček
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Taxonomic Status ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Morphometric Characteristics ◽  
Variation Pattern ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
Late Middle Pleistocene

Abstract The extant species of the genus Apodemus represent the most common small mammals of Central Europe. Unfortunately, their phylogenetic past is only poorly known. With the aid of detailed biometric analyses we tried to identify the first appearance of the phenotypic patterns characterizing the extant populations. We examined dental material of Apodemus from 53 community samples from the territory of the Czech Republic and Slovakia dated from the early Villanyian (MN 16/17) to the late Middle Pleistocene (Q 3) with particular respect to their correspondence with the morphometric characteristics of the extant species. While the Toringian (Q 3) interglacial samples invariably include forms identical with the extant taxa A. flavicollis, A. sylvaticus and supposedly A. uralensis (including the items corresponding to A. maastrichtiensis), the samples of Early Pleistocene age (MN 17 – Q 2) exhibited clear differences in the variation pattern which results in questioning the possibility of their co-identification with the respective extant species. In most instances they varied within the limits in resembling A. sylvaticus but exceeded its variation ranges in some non-metric characters. Regarding serious doubts on real taxonomic status of other named fossil species we propose to denote these Plio-Pleistocene sylvaticus-like phenotypes provisionally with the prior name A. atavus Heller, 1936.

Cetopirus complanatus (Cirripedia: Coronulidae) from the late Middle Pleistocene human settlement of Pinnacle Point 13B (Mossel Bay, South Africa)

Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4237 (2) ◽  
pp. 393 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALBERTO COLLARETA ◽  
CURTIS W. MAREAN ◽  
ANTONIETA JERARDINO ◽  
MARK BOSSELAERS
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Marine Invertebrates ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Human Consumption ◽  
Right Whale ◽  
Pinnacle Point ◽  
History Of ◽  
Late Middle Pleistocene

The late Middle Pleistocene cave site of Pinnacle Point 13B (PP13B, South Africa) has provided the archaeologically oldest evidences yet known of human consumption of marine resources. Among the marine invertebrates recognised at PP13B, an isolated whale barnacle compartment was tentatively determined as Coronula diadema and regarded as indirect evidence of human consumption of a baleen whale (likely Megaptera novaeangliae). In this paper we redetermine this coronulid specimen as Cetopirus complanatus. This record significantly extends the fossil history of C. complanatus back by about 150 ky, thus partially bridging the occurrence of Cetopirus fragilis in the early Pleistocene to the latest Quaternary record of C. complanatus. Since C. complanatus is currently known as a highly specific phoront of right whales (Eubalaena spp.), we propose that the late Middle Pleistocene human groups that inhabited PP13B fed on a stranded southern right whale. Therefore, the whale barnacle from PP13B suggests the persistence of a southern right whale population off South Africa during the predominantly glacial MIS 6, thus evoking the continuity of cetacean migrations and antitropical distribution during that global cold phase. Interestingly, the most ancient evidence of humans feeding on a whale involves Eubalaena, historically the most exploited cetacean genus, and currently still seriously threatened with extinction due to human impact. 

Phytolith analysis in leaves of extant and fossil populations of Nothofagus subgenus Lophozonia

1995 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 1055 ◽  
Author(s):  
SS Whang ◽  
RS Hill
Keyword(s):  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Phylogenetic Distance ◽  
Deciduous Species ◽  
Evergreen Species ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Phytolith Analysis ◽  
Phylogenetic Studies ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
Taphonomic Processes

The phytolith morphology of leaves of all six extant species, one fossil species and a fossil population of an extant species of Nothofagus subgenus Lophozonia was examined to determine the utility of phytolith morphology for phylogenetic studies. One extant species of subgenus Fuscospora (N. gunnii (Hook.f.) Oerst.) was included to allow a comparison between subgenera. Phytolith morphology and frequency in subgenus Lophozonia is quite similar among the extant evergreen species, and clearly distinguishes the evergreen from the deciduous species rather than reflecting subgeneric differences. However, the deciduous species are not particularly similar to one another, which may be due to their phylogenetic distance by comparison to the closely related evergreen species. The Early-Middle Pleistocene population of Nothofagus cunninghamii (Hook.f.) Oerst. had well preserved phytoliths, which in morphology and relative abundance were consistent with the extant species. However, the leaves of the Oligocene population of N. tasmanica R.S. Hill had poorly preserved phytoliths, which were relatively sparse and lacking in diversity. This is probably at least partly a result of taphonomic processes, but may also reflect phylogenetic differences.

scholarly journals Myotis Gerhardstorchi Sp. N. and Comments on the European Fossil Record of Myotis Frater Group (Mammalia, Chiroptera)

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 315-342
Author(s):  
Ivan Horáček ◽  
Eva Trávníčková
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Molecular Phylogenetics ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Late Cenozoic ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
European Species ◽  
Fossil Material ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
History Of ◽  
A New Species

Abstract A new species, Myotis gerhardstorchi sp. n., supposedly close to M. sicarius and M. frater group, is described from MN 15 site Beremend 26 (Hungary). M. frater group, now restricted to vicariant ranges in E Asia, Siberia and Central Asia, is further reported from three Pliocene and two Early Pleistocene mass bat assemblages from the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. The odontological diagnosis of the group is presented, together with comparisons of the fossil material with extant species of the group, and W Palearctic taxa of the genus, both fossil and Recent. Molecular phylogenetics reveals that the above-mentioned Asiatic taxa, together with the European species M. daubentonii and M. bechsteinii, the index fossil of the W Palearctic Late Cenozoic bat communities, compose a distinct phylogenetic entity called Myotis Clade III. Here we argue that the history of Clade III in the W Palearctics was contributed also by clades close to its stem line, and those related to the Asiatic forms that later disappeared from that region. Finally, a list of taxa, both fossil and Recent, composing the Myotis Clade III is provided.

scholarly journals Independent water vole (Mimomys savini, Arvicola: Rodentia, Mammalia) lineages in Italy and Central Europe

2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-83
Author(s):  
Federico Masini ◽  
Lutz C. Maul ◽  
Laura Abbazzi ◽  
Daria Petruso ◽  
Andrea Savorelli
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Regional Differences ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Wide Distribution ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Water Vole ◽  
Evolutionary Trend ◽  
Evolutionary Pattern ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
Late Middle Pleistocene

Water voles are important key fossils of the Quaternary. Given their wide distribution, regional differences were expected to exist in different areas. Early hints on possible independent evolutionary trends of water voles in Italy came from palaeontology and specifically from the comparison of enamel differentiation (SDQ value) of the first lower molars between specimens from Italy and Germany. The data available at that time indicated that in the early Middle Pleistocene there were only minor enamel differences between first lower molars of water voles from these two geographical regions, whereas from the late Middle Pleistocene onwards, two lineages were clearly distinguished. Examination of mitochondrial DNA of extant Arvicola populations from across Europe by Wust-Saucy led to a similar conclusion that Arvicola populations from the Italian Peninsula had undergone independent evolution during the last 0.2 million years. The inclusion of new fossil and extant Arvicola samples from Italy and Central Europe, together with the examination of additional morphological parameters of the occlusal surface (so-called van der Meulen indexes), have provided further support for the proposed evolutionary pattern. The combined analysis of length, SDQ and A/L index reveal a certain degree of intercorrelation and indicate an essentially continuous evolutionary trend. However, variations are discernible, related to the age and geographical origins of the samples, and become more clearly seen at least since the beginning of the Late Pleistocene. Italian samples have a characteristic tendency to grow larger, elongate the anteroconid, and have less derived SDQ. This corroborates the suggestion that Italian water voles underwent an evolutionary history distinct from that of their Central European counterparts. The differences in morphology may be related to a combination of etho-/ecological (aquatic or terrestrial habits) and palaeobiogeographical factors.

scholarly journals Sarcophagodes duodecima sp. nov., a new small araphid fossil diatom (Bacillariophyceae) from Lower to Middle Pleistocene sediments of Japan

Phytotaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 505 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-96
Author(s):  
TOMONORI NAYA ◽  
KIYOHIDE MIZUNO
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Central Area ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Morphological Observation ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Habitat Differences ◽  
Western Japan ◽  
Electron Microscopes ◽  
Scanning Electron Microscopes

A new fossil diatom species, Sarcophagodes duodecima, is described from the Lower to Middle Pleistocene Karato Formation of Himeshima Island, western Japan, based on detailed morphological observation of valves using light and scanning electron microscopes. This new species is characterized by a smaller valve length range, a wide lanceolate central area, shorter striae on the valve face, and longer striae on the mantle than other members of the genus. The new species was also found in the Lower Pleistocene Bushi Formation, central Japan, suggesting that S. duodecima sp. nov. was widely distributed in Japan during Early Pleistocene time. The species composition in the sample chosen as type suggests that the new fossil species occupied a brackish-water habitat. Differences in morphological features from closely related taxa are discussed.

scholarly journals Changes in Paleovegetation and Paleoclimate in China Since the Late Middle Pleistocene: A Case Study of the Dajiuhu Basin

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4848
Author(s):  
Liwei Wu ◽  
Xinling Li ◽  
Qinghai Xu ◽  
Manyue Li ◽  
Qiufeng Zheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Grain Size ◽  
Asian Monsoon ◽  
East Asian Monsoon ◽  
Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Central China ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Pollen Record ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Late Middle Pleistocene

The East Asian monsoon system is an important part of global atmospheric circulation; however, records of the East Asian monsoon from different regions exhibit different evolutionary rhythms. Here, we show a high-resolution record of grain size and pollen data from a lacustrine sediment core of Dajiuhu Lake in Shennongjia, Hubei Province, China, in order to reconstruct the paleovegetation and paleoeclimate evolution of the Dajiuhu Basin since the late Middle Pleistocene (~237.9 ka to the present). The results show that grain size and pollen record of the core DJH-2 are consistent with the δ18O record of stalagmites from Sanbao Cave in the same area, which is closely related to the changes of insolation at the precessional (~20-kyr) scale in the Northern Hemisphere. This is different from the records of the Asian summer monsoon recorded in the Loess Plateau of North China, which exhibited dominant 100-kyr change cyclicities. We suggest that the difference between paleoclimatic records from North and South China is closely related to the east–west-oriented mountain ranges of the Qinling Mountains in central China that blocked weakened East Asia summer monsoons across the mountains during glacial periods.

Three new cribrimorph bryozoans (order Cheilostomatida) from the early Miocene of Argentina, with a discussion on spinocystal shield morphologies

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Juan López-Gappa ◽  
Leandro M. Pérez ◽  
Ana C.S. Almeida ◽  
Débora Iturra ◽  
Dennis P. Gordon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Type Species ◽  
Systematic Position ◽  
Early Miocene ◽  
Morphological Data ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
The Family ◽  
Subjective Synonym

Abstract Bryozoans with calcified frontal shields formed by the fusion of costae, collectively constituting a spinocyst, are traditionally assigned to the family Cribrilinidae. Today, this family is regarded as nonmonophyletic. In the Argentine Cenozoic, cribrilinids were until recently represented by only two fossil species from the Paleocene of Patagonia. This study describes the first fossil representatives of Jolietina and Parafigularia: J. victoria n. sp. and P. pigafettai n. sp., respectively. A fossil species of Figularia, F. elcanoi n. sp., is also described. The material comes from the early Miocene of the Monte León and Chenque formations (Patagonia, Argentina). For comparison, we also provide redescriptions of the remaining extant species of Jolietina: J. latimarginata (Busk, 1884) and J. pulchra Canu and Bassler, 1928a. The systematic position of some species previously assigned to Figularia is here discussed. Costafigularia n. gen. is erected, with Figularia pulcherrima Tilbrook, Hayward, and Gordon, 2001 as type species. Two species previously assigned to Figularia are here transferred to Costafigularia, resulting in C. jucunda n. comb. and C. tahitiensis n. comb. One species of Figularia is reassigned to Vitrimurella, resulting in V. ampla n. comb. The family Vitrimurellidae is here reassigned to the superfamily Cribrilinoidea. The subgenus Juxtacribrilina is elevated to genus rank. Inferusia is regarded as a subjective synonym of Parafigularia. Parafigularia darwini Moyano, 2011 is synonymized with I. taylori Kuklinski and Barnes, 2009, resulting in Parafigularia taylori n. comb. Morphological data suggest that these genera comprise different lineages, and a discussion on the disparities among cribrilinid (sensu lato) spinocysts is provided. UUID: http://zoobank.org/215957d3-064b-47e2-9090-d0309f6c9cd8

A new species of Lonchodryinus (Hymenoptera, Dryinidae) from Upper Eocene Baltic amber

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5020 (2) ◽  
pp. 328-336
Author(s):  
MASSIMO OLMI ◽  
DMITRY V. VASILENKO ◽  
LEONARDO CAPRADOSSI ◽  
EVGENY E. PERKOVSKY ◽  
ADALGISA GUGLIELMINO
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Fore Wing ◽  
Baltic Amber ◽  
Upper Eocene ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
A New Species

Lonchodryinus groehni sp. nov. (Hymenoptera: Chrysidoidea: Dryinidae) is described from Baltic amber. The new species is close to L. balticus Olmi & Guglielmino, 2012, but it can be distinguished for the different OPL/POL ratio and 2r-rs&Rs vein of the fore wing. A key to the fossil species of Lonchodryinus and a comparison with the extant species L. ruficornis (Dalman, 1818) are presented.  

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