scholarly journals New Material of Paleocene-Eocene Pellornis (Aves: Gruiformes) Clarifies the Pattern and Timing of the Extant Gruiform Radiation

Diversity ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace Musser ◽  
Daniel T. Ksepka ◽  
Daniel J. Field
Keyword(s):  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Divergence Time ◽  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
Postcranial Skeleton ◽  
Holotype Specimen ◽  
New Information ◽  
Mechanical Preparation ◽  
New Material ◽  
Early Radiation

Pellornis mikkelseni is an early gruiform from the latest Paleocene-earliest Eocene Fur Formation of Denmark. At approximately 54 million years old, it is among the earliest clear records of the Gruiformes. The holotype specimen, and only material thus far recognised, was originally considered to comprise a partial postcranial skeleton. However, additional mechanical preparation of the nodule containing the holotype revealed that the skeleton is nearly complete and includes a well-preserved skull. In addition to extracting new information from the holotype, we identify and describe two additional specimens of P. mikkelseni which reveal further morphological details of the skeleton. Together, these specimens show that P. mikkelseni possessed a schizorhinal skull and shared many features with the well-known Paleogene Messelornithidae (“Messel rails”). To reassess the phylogenetic position of P. mikkelseni, we modified an existing morphological dataset by adding 20 characters, four extant gruiform taxa, six extinct gruiform taxa, and novel scorings based on the holotype and referred specimens. Phylogenetic analyses recover a clade containing P. mikkelseni, Messelornis, Songzia and crown Ralloidea, supporting P. mikkelseni as a crown gruiform. The phylogenetic position of P. mikkelseni illustrates that some recent divergence time analyses have underestimated the age of crown Gruiformes. Our results suggest a Paleocene origin for this important clade, bolstering evidence for a rapid early radiation of Neoaves following the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.

scholarly journals Morphology and phylogenetic position of Spongiochrysis hawaiiensis gen. et sp. nov., the first known terrestrial member of the order Cladophorales (Ulvophyceae, Chlorophyta)

2006 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 913-922 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Rindi ◽  
Juan M. López-Bautista ◽  
Alison R. Sherwood ◽  
Michael D. Guiry
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
18S Rrna Gene ◽  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
Rrna Gene ◽  
Holotype Specimen ◽  
Green Algal ◽  
Golden Yellow ◽  
Terrestrial Habitats ◽  
Well Differentiated ◽  
Globular Cells

Spongiochrysis hawaiiensis gen. et sp. nov. is described from material collected at two sites on O'ahu, Hawaiian Islands. This alga produced golden-yellow crusts on the bark of Casuarina trees and consisted of globular cells with an axial stellate chloroplast. The only form of reproduction was a specialized type of autosporulation in which a budding-like division of the mother cell produced daughter cells of different sizes. Phylogenetic analyses of the 18S rRNA gene showed that Spongiochrysis hawaiiensis is a member of the freshwater clade of the Cladophorales/Siphonocladales lineage in the green algal class Ulvophyceae. On the basis of its unicellular habit and terrestrial habitat, this species is well differentiated from all other members of the same lineage and can be considered as the first known successful step of a member of the order Cladophorales into terrestrial habitats. The implications of the description of this species with regard to both green algal evolution and conservation of little-known tropical habitats are discussed. The holotype specimen of Spongiochrysis hawaiiensis is GALW015489 and isotype specimens have also been deposited in the BISH and BM herbaria.

Divergence time analyses suggest a Miocene origin of the narrow Amazonian endemic rheophytic Ceratolejeunea temnantha (Spruce) Reiner-Drehwald (Porellales, Lejeuneaceae)

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
ADRIEL M. SIERRA ◽  
JULIA BECHTELER ◽  
DOMINGOS CARDOSO ◽  
CHARLES E. ZARTMAN ◽  
JUAN CARLOS VILLARREAL
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Divergence Time ◽  
Original Description ◽  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Divergence Time Estimates ◽  
Potential Habitat ◽  
The North ◽  
Time Estimates ◽  
Rio Negro

The recent rediscovery of the rheophytic endemic Ceratolejeunea temnantha ~130 years after its original description, on the upper Rio Negro in the Brazilian Amazon, has enabled the assessment of its enigmatic phylogenetic position, estimates of its divergence time, and updates on its distribution and potential habitat threats. Phylogenetic analyses strongly supported its placement in the genus Ceratolejeunea in a geographically disparate clade including a Madagascar endemic C. saroltae and two Neotropical taxa, C. confusa and C. caducifolia. Divergence time estimates date the clade’s stem age to the late Miocene (8.92 [HPD: 12.39–6.04] Ma) offering further evidence that the evolution of rheophytes in northern South America is correlated with the expansion of cryptogams into novel ecological niches promoted by dramatic landscape changes during the Miocene. Major geomorphological and hydrological transformations contributing to such diversification are most likely the changing dynamics of the inundated mega lake system to the establishment of the Amazon River due to the Andean orogeny and the subsequent cessation of marine influences in the north-western portion of the Basin. Until recently, this rheophyte of seasonally inundated black-water forests was only known from its type collection from the Rio Negro near São Gabriel da Cachoeira (Brazil) as described by Richard Spruce in 1884. These new collections extend the distribution of this rare narrow endemic to the middle Rio Uaupés, a tributary of the upper Rio Negro near the Columbian border.

Saetaspongia sponges from the Cambrian (Stage 4) Balang Formation of Guizhou, China

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Chenchen Ling ◽  
Jin Peng ◽  
Hui Zhang ◽  
Yifan Wang ◽  
Yunbin Shao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
Crown Group ◽  
Critical Feature ◽  
Additional Specimen ◽  
Fossil Evidence ◽  
New Information ◽  
Class Level ◽  
Stage 4 ◽  
New Material

Abstract Saetaspongia so far cannot be confidently assigned to any class-level crown group. Clarifying its phylogenetic position requires new information provided by more detailed studies of previously described and/or new material. Some sponge fossils with the typical skeletal architecture of Saetaspongia have recently been recognized in the Cambrian (Stage 4) Balang Biota of Guizhou, China, including S. jianhensis new species and S. cf. S. densa. The new taxon is characterized by the following features: spicules are fine monaxons and are inclined to be loosely to densely arranged into plumose arrays; skeleton is composed primarily of one major plumose bundle, with an uncertain number (perhaps two) of small plumose arrays; and primary skeleton is occasionally interspersed with some irregularly oriented individual spicules. An additional specimen consisting of large monaxons, with plumose structures and overlying irregular coarse monaxons, closely fits the description and illustrations of previously described S. cf. S. densa. By combining information from previous studies and the present research, fossil evidence indicates that the plumose architecture is a critical feature diagnostic of Saetaspongia and that there are no hexactine-based spicules in this genus. The new material from the Balang Biota further supports the notion that Saetaspongia has a protomonaxonid rather than a hexactinellid affinity. Fossil evidence suggests that Saetaspongia had a wide biogeographic distribution during the early Cambrian and the stratigraphic distribution of this genus extends up to Stage 4. UUID: http://zoobank.org/e9ca5e4a-134c-4daa-9266-19085e32614f.

scholarly journals The Complete DNA Sequence of the Mitochondrial Genome of a “Living Fossil,” the Coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae)

Genetics ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 146 (3) ◽  
pp. 995-1010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael Zardoya ◽  
Axel Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Genome ◽  
Tandem Repeats ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Large Data ◽  
Molecular Data ◽  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Living Fossil ◽  
Latimeria Chalumnae ◽  
Relationship Of

The complete nucleotide sequence of the 16,407-bp mitochondrial genome of the coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) was determined. The coelacanth mitochondrial genome order is identical to the consensus vertebrate gene order which is also found in all ray-finned fishes, the lungfish, and most tetrapods. Base composition and codon usage also conform to typical vertebrate patterns. The entire mitochondrial genome was PCR-amplified with 24 sets of primers that are expected to amplify homologous regions in other related vertebrate species. Analyses of the control region of the coelacanth mitochondrial genome revealed the existence of four 22-bp tandem repeats close to its 3′ end. The phylogenetic analyses of a large data set combining genes coding for rRNAs, tRNA, and proteins (16,140 characters) confirmed the phylogenetic position of the coelacanth as a lobe-finned fish; it is more closely related to tetrapods than to ray-finned fishes. However, different phylogenetic methods applied to this largest available molecular data set were unable to resolve unambiguously the relationship of the coelacanth to the two other groups of extant lobe-finned fishes, the lungfishes and the tetrapods. Maximum parsimony favored a lungfish/coelacanth or a lungfish/tetrapod sistergroup relationship depending on which transversion:transition weighting is assumed. Neighbor-joining and maximum likelihood supported a lungfish/tetrapod sistergroup relationship.

scholarly journals Unexpected larger distribution of paleogene stem-rollers (AVES, CORACII): new evidence from the Eocene of Patagonia, Argentina

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico J. Degrange ◽  
Diego Pol ◽  
Pablo Puerta ◽  
Peter Wilf
Keyword(s):  
Hind Limb ◽  
Divergence Time ◽  
First Record ◽  
Morphological Data ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
Early Eocene ◽  
Important Data ◽  
New Material ◽  
Holarctic Region ◽  
New Evidence

AbstractHere we present the first record of a stem-Coracii outside the Holarctic region, found in the early Eocene of Patagonia at the Laguna del Hunco locality. Ueekenkcoracias tambussiae gen. et sp. nov. consists of an incomplete right hind limb that presents the following combination of characters, characteristic of Coracii: relatively short and stout tibiotarsus, poorly developed crista cnemialis cranialis, short and wide tarsometatarsus, with the tuberositas m. tibialis cranialis located medially on the shaft, and curved and stout ungual phalanges. Although the presence of a rounded and conspicuous foramen vasculare distale and the trochlea metatarsi II strongly deflected medially resemble Primobucconidae, a fossil group only found in the Eocene of Europe and North America, our phylogenetic analysis indicates the new taxon is the basalmost known Coracii. The unexpected presence of a stem-Coracii in the Eocene of South America indicates that this clade had a more widespread distribution than previously hypothesized, already extending into the Southern Hemisphere by the early Eocene. Ueekenkcoracias tambussiae represents new evidence of the increasing diversity of stem lineages of birds in the Eocene. The new material provides novel morphological data for understanding the evolutionary origin and radiation of rollers and important data for estimates of the divergence time of the group.

scholarly journals Resolving Phylogenetic Relationships within Passeriformes Based on Mitochondrial Genes and Inferring the Evolution of Their Mitogenomes in Terms of Duplications

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2824-2849 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paweł Mackiewicz ◽  
Adam Dawid Urantówka ◽  
Aleksandra Kroczak ◽  
Dorota Mackiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Mitochondrial Genes ◽  
The Other ◽  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
Evolutionary Relationships ◽  
Mitochondrial Genomes ◽  
Ancestral State ◽  
Phylogenetic Information ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Tree Topologies

Abstract Mitochondrial genes are placed on one molecule, which implies that they should carry consistent phylogenetic information. Following this advantage, we present a well-supported phylogeny based on mitochondrial genomes from almost 300 representatives of Passeriformes, the most numerous and differentiated Aves order. The analyses resolved the phylogenetic position of paraphyletic Basal and Transitional Oscines. Passerida occurred divided into two groups, one containing Paroidea and Sylvioidea, whereas the other, Passeroidea and Muscicapoidea. Analyses of mitogenomes showed four types of rearrangements including a duplicated control region (CR) with adjacent genes. Mapping the presence and absence of duplications onto the phylogenetic tree revealed that the duplication was the ancestral state for passerines and was maintained in early diverged lineages. Next, the duplication could be lost and occurred independently at least four times according to the most parsimonious scenario. In some lineages, two CR copies have been inherited from an ancient duplication and highly diverged, whereas in others, the second copy became similar to the first one due to concerted evolution. The second CR copies accumulated over twice as many substitutions as the first ones. However, the second CRs were not completely eliminated and were retained for a long time, which suggests that both regions can fulfill an important role in mitogenomes. Phylogenetic analyses based on CR sequences subjected to the complex evolution can produce tree topologies inconsistent with real evolutionary relationships between species. Passerines with two CRs showed a higher metabolic rate in relation to their body mass.

New information on the postcranial skeleton of the Thalassodrominae (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea, Tapejaridae)

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (8) ◽  
pp. 1139-1149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Buchmann ◽  
Taissa Rodrigues ◽  
Sabrina Polegario ◽  
Alexander W. A. Kellner
Keyword(s):  
Postcranial Skeleton ◽  
New Information

scholarly journals Nephromyces represents a diverse and novel lineage of the Apicomplexa that has retained apicoplasts

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio A Muñoz-Gómez ◽  
Keira Durnin ◽  
Laura Eme ◽  
Christopher Paight ◽  
Christopher E Lane ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Style ◽  
Metabolic Pathways ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
Biosynthetic Pathways ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sea Squirts ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Apicoplast Genome

Abstract A most interesting exception within the parasitic Apicomplexa is Nephromyces, an extracellular, probably mutualistic, endosymbiont found living inside molgulid ascidian tunicates (i.e., sea squirts). Even though Nephromyces is now known to be an apicomplexan, many other questions about its nature remain unanswered. To gain further insights into the biology and evolutionary history of this unusual apicomplexan, we aimed to (1) find the precise phylogenetic position of Nephromyces within the Apicomplexa, (2) search for the apicoplast genome of Nephromyces, and (3) infer the major metabolic pathways in the apicoplast of Nephromyces. To do this, we sequenced a metagenome and a metatranscriptome from the molgulid renal sac, the specialized habitat where Nephromyces thrives. Our phylogenetic analyses of conserved nucleus-encoded genes robustly suggest that Nephromyces is a novel lineage sister to the Hematozoa, which comprises both the Haemosporidia (e.g., Plasmodium) and the Piroplasmida (e.g., Babesia and Theileria). Furthermore, a survey of the renal sac metagenome revealed 13 small contigs that closely resemble the genomes of the non-photosynthetic reduced plastids, or apicoplasts, of other apicomplexans. We show that these apicoplast genomes correspond to a diverse set of most closely related but genetically divergent Nephromyces lineages that co-inhabit a single tunicate host. In addition, the apicoplast of Nephromyces appears to have retained all biosynthetic pathways inferred to have been ancestral to parasitic apicomplexans. Our results shed light on the evolutionary history of the only probably mutualistic apicomplexan known, Nephromyces, and provide context for a better understanding of its life style and intricate symbiosis.

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