Progress in the discovery of extant and fossil bryozoans

2020 ◽  
Vol 635 ◽  
pp. 71-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Pagès-Escolà ◽  
PE Bock ◽  
DP Gordon ◽  
S Wilson ◽  
C Linares ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Marine Invertebrates ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
The Past ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
Relative Productivity ◽  
Species Descriptions

The number of species that exist on Earth has been an intriguing question in ecology and evolution. For marine species, previous works have analysed trends in the discovery of extant species, without comparison to the fossil record. Here, we compared the rate of description between extant and fossil species of the same group of marine invertebrates, Bryozoa. There are nearly 3 times as many described fossil species as there are extant species. This indicates that current biodiversity represents only a small proportion of Earth’s past biodiversity, at least for Bryozoa. Despite these differences, our results showed similar trends in the description of new species between extant and fossil groups. There has been an increase in taxonomic effort during the past century, characterized by an increase in the number of taxonomists, but no change in their relative productivity (i.e. similar proportions of authors described most species). The 20th century had the most species described per author, reflecting increased effort in exploration and technological developments. Despite this progress, future projections in the discovery of bryozoan species predict that around 10 and 20% more fossil and extant species than named species, respectively, will be discovered by 2100, representing 2430 and 1350 more fossil and extant species, respectively. This highlights the continued need for both new species descriptions and taxonomic revisions, as well as ecological and biogeographical research, to better understand the biodiversity of Bryozoa.

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.  

The tale of the headless turtle

Zootaxa ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4200 (2) ◽  
pp. 327 ◽  
Author(s):  
PEDRO S. R. ROMANO
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Lower Cretaceous ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Diagnostic Features ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
The Past ◽  
Early Paleocene ◽  
Phylogenetic Hypotheses ◽  
A New Species

Pelomedusoides is the most diverse clade of side-necked turtles and there is an extensive fossil record (de Broin, 1988; Lapparent de Broin, 2000; Gaffney et al., 2006, 2011) that dates back at least to the Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) (Romano et al., 2014). Its large fossil record evidences a greater diversity in the past, particularly at the end of the Mesozoic, and exhibits a good sampling of species that are represented by skull material (Gaffney et al., 2006, 2011). As a consequence, the most complete and recent phylogenetic hypotheses for this clade (e.g. Romano et al., 2014; Cadena, 2015) are based on matrices comprising a great amount of cranial characters derived largely from Gaffney et al. (2006, 2011). In addition, it is well established that shell characters show a lot of phenotypic plasticity, even in the fossil species (Romano, 2008; Gaffney et al., 2006, 2011). In most cases it consequently is not justified to rely on “diagnostic features” of poorly informative shell-only material for describing a new species. Because of that, most authors remark new morphotypes in the literature when such aberrant specimens are recovered, but do not make any nomenclatural act by proposing a new yet poorly supported species (e.g. Romano et al., 2013; Ferreira & Langer, 2013; Menegazzo et al., 2015). Unfortunately, such a supposedly new bothremydid turtle (Pleurodira: Bothremydidae) from the Early Paleocene of Brazil was recently described based on poorly diagnostic remains (Carvalho et al., 2016; hereafter CGB, for the authors initials) and a correction of this unfounded nomenclatural act is required. In addition I present some comments on shell only material from Brazil in order to guide splitter-taxonomists to stop describing poorly preserved fossil specimens as new species. 

A second fossil species of the enigmatic rove beetle genus Charhyphus in Eocene Baltic amber, with implications on the morphology of the female genitalia (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Phloeocharinae)

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Shûhei YAMAMOTO ◽  
Alexey V. SHAVRIN ◽  
Kristaps KAIRIŠS
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Body Part ◽  
The Body ◽  
Baltic Amber ◽  
Micro Computed Tomography ◽  
Single Male ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Rove Beetles ◽  
Rove Beetle ◽  
Extant Species

ABSTRACT Phloeocharinae is a small and likely non-monophyletic subfamily of rove beetles. The enigmatic genus Charhyphus Sharp, 1887 has long been placed in Phloeocharinae, whereas recent studies have found it to be phylogenetically very distant from the core members of this subfamily, suggesting the possibility that it actually deserves its own separate subfamily status. So far, the sole definitive fossil record for Charhyphus is known based on a single male from Eocene Baltic amber as represented by †Charhyphus balticus Shavrin, 2020. Here, we describe and illustrate another new Charhyphus species, †Charhyphus serratus sp. nov. Yamamoto & Shavrin, from Baltic amber based on a well-preserved female fossil. Considering the general proportions of the body and the head, this new species is most similar to †C. balticus. The new species differs from all known species by the development of strong serration of the lateral edges of the pronotum and features of the shape of the apical margin of the mesoventrite. By using X-ray micro-computed tomography, we succeeded in visualising not only the general habitus but also each individual body part, recovering a previously undocumented sclerite on the female internal genital segments in the genus. Morphological features of extinct and extant species of Charhyphus are briefly discussed. Figures of all extant Charhyphus species and a key for the genus are also provided. Our study is important for considering possible higher palaeodiversity, more common occurrence, and palaeobiogeography of Charhyphus.

scholarly journals Two Eocene species of Culiseta (Diptera: Culicidae) from the Kishenehn Formation in Montana

Zootaxa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3530 (1) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
RALPH E. HARBACH ◽  
DALE GREENWALT
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Baltic Amber ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Extant Species

Culiseta kishenehn, sp. n. and Cs. lemniscata, sp. n. (Diptera: Culicidae: Culisetini) are described from compression fos-sils from the 46 million year old Kishenehn shale deposits in Montana, USA. The new species appear to share featureswith extant species of subgenera Climacura and Culicella, respectively. The antiquity of Culiseta is examined and previ-ously described Eocene fossil species are discussed. Eoaedes gen. n. and Aetheapnomyia gen. n. are established for Aedes damzeni Podėnas and Ae. hoffeinsorum Szadziewski, two Eocene fossil species in Baltic amber.

scholarly journals The Pleistocene-Holocene aquatic molluscs as indicators of the past ecosystem changes in Transbaikalia (Eastern Siberia, Russia)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga K. Klishko ◽  
Evgeniy V. Kovychev ◽  
Maxim V. Vinarski ◽  
Arthur E. Bogan ◽  
Georgiy. A. Jurgenson
Keyword(s):  
Regional Climate ◽  
Far East ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Drill Hole ◽  
Historical Change ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Eastern Siberia ◽  
Alluvial Deposits ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
The Past

ABSTRACTData on historical change of the Transbaikalian malacofauna in the Neopleistocene and Holocene is presented. Fossil shells from archeological excavations of the ancient settlements dating from the Neolithic period to Medieval and also from a drill hole of the Neopleistocene alluvial deposits were collected. In total nine species of bivalve molluscs from the families Margaritiferidae, Unionidae, Limnocardiidae, Glycymerididae, including one marine species, and two gastropod species from families Viviparidae and Planorbidae were identified. The time of the existence of each fossil species was determined by radiocarbon dating. It was found that the species ranged in age from more 50,000 and 2,080–1,210 years ago. Five species inhabited the Transbaikal region and are locally extirpated in the present. Their disjunctive ranges in the past included southern Europe and Western and Eastern Siberia to Transbaikalia and in the east to Far East and Primorye of Russia. The time of existence and extirpation of the thermophilic species of genera Adacna, Planorbis, Lanceolaria and Amuropaludina corresponds to cycles of the warming and cooling in Pleistocene and Holocene according to regional climate chronological scales. It was possible to separate these species as indicators of paleoclimate. Change of the species composition of the malacofauna of region connected with natural cycles of climatochrons in the Pleistocene and Holocene is the appearance of the climatogenic succession. In the course of this succession the disappearance of the stenothermal species occurred on a regional level and decreasing their global ranges.

scholarly journals A fossil species of the primitive mymarid genus Borneomymar (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) in Eocene Baltic amber

2013 ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael S. Engel ◽  
Ryan C. McKellar ◽  
John T. Huber
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Baltic Amber ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Extant Species

A new fossil species of fairyfly (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Mymaridae) is described and figured from a well-preserved female in middle Eocene (Lutetian) Baltic amber as Borneomymar pankowskiorum Engel, McKellar, & Huber, new species.  This species represents the fourth genus from Baltic amber whose extant species now occur only in southeastern Asia, Australia and Madagascar.

New species of Compsocidae (Insecta, Psocodea) from Cretaceous Burmese amber

Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4320 (3) ◽  
pp. 597 ◽  
Author(s):  
PAVEL SROKA ◽  
ANDRÉ NEL
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Burmese Amber ◽  
Diagnostic Characters ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Family ◽  
First Time

A new fossil species of the family Compsocidae, namely Burmacompsocus coniugans sp. nov. is described from Late Cretaceous Burmese amber. Diagnostic characters separating the new species from the previously known representatives of the genus are discussed. Details of mouthparts and genitalia are described for the genus for the first time. The discovery of the new species supports the hypothesis of higher Compsocidae diversity existing in the past compared with the present. 

First South American record of the rare ichneumonoid subfamily Masoninae van Achterberg (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea: Ichneumonidae) with description of a new species from Brazil

Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4664 (4) ◽  
pp. 587-593 ◽  
Author(s):  
DONALD L.J. QUICKE ◽  
JÚLIO CEZAR MÁRIO CHAUL ◽  
BUNTIKA A. BUTCHER
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
South America ◽  
South American ◽  
Undescribed Species ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Cosmopolitan Distribution ◽  
Dominican Amber ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
A New Species

Masona popeye Quicke & Chaul sp. n. is described from Brazil, and differentiated from other species of the genus. Described extant species of Masona are known from Australia and south eastern U.S.A. (Georgia and Florida including the Key Islands). Two undescribed species are known from Tanzania and Cambodia. The new species is therefore the first representative of the subfamily Masoninae van Achterberg from South America, demonstrating the completely cosmopolitan distribution of this very poorly known group. The new species most closely resembles a fossil species, M. pyriceps van Achterberg, 2001, from Dominican amber with which it shares the plesiomorphic presence of a scutellum. 

The genus Benthofascis (Gastropoda: Conoidea): A revision with descriptions of new species

Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2796 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. K. TUCKER ◽  
M. J. TENORIO ◽  
P. STAHLSCHMIDT
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Type Species ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
Three New Species ◽  
Geologic Record ◽  
First Time

The conoidean gastropod genus Benthofascis Iredale, 1936 is examined. This genus of Conorbidae has extant species. Three previously described species from the Recent including the type species B. biconica (Hedley), B. sarcinula (Hedley), and B. lozoueti Sysoev & Bouchet are reviewed. Three new species from the Recent, B. conorbioides sp. nov., B. pseudobiconica sp. nov., and B. angularis sp. nov. are described from Australia. One of these (B. angularis) is the first Benthofascis species described from Western Australia. Two fossil species originally described as Conorbis from the Miocene and Oligocene of Australia (C. atractoides Tate and C. otwayensis Long, respectively) are for the first time assigned to Benthofascis, thus extending the geologic record of the genus to the Oligocene.

The first fossilized comb-clawed beetle of the genus Asiomira Dubrovina, 1973 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Alleculinae) from Baltic Amber and notes on the distribution of extant species of the genus

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5082 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-184
Author(s):  
MAXIM V. NABOZHENKO ◽  
ANDRIS BUKEJS
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Baltic Amber ◽  
Mountain Areas ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Similar Shape ◽  
Modern Distribution ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
A New Species ◽  
Coleoptera Tenebrionidae

A new species of comb-clawed beetles of the genus Asiomira Dubrovina, 1973 (A. dubrovinae sp. n.) is described from the Eocene Baltic amber. This newly descovered fossil species displays typical generic characters and is the most similar to the extant Asiomira ophtalmica (Seidlitz, 1896). Both species share a similar shape of the pronotum and the flattened posterior angles of the pronotal disc. Asiomira dubrovinae sp. n. can be distinguished from A. ophtalmica by the smaller body size (4.8 mm in contrast to 6–8.12 mm), more serrate antennomeres, and finer and sparser pronotal punctation. Extant species of the genus are distributed in the arid landscapes of Central Asia with the highest diversity occurring in Tajikistan. Therefore the discovery of a new fossil species from Eocene Baltic amber suggests that Asiomira could have a wider range, and the modern distribution of this group is the result of a later secondary expansion of the ancestral representatives that survived in mid-mountain areas with arboreal and shrub vegetation. Relevant corrections to the distribution of extant species, Asiomira ophtalmica (Seidlitz, 1896) and Asiomira firjusana (Dubrovina, 1973), are given.  

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