scholarly journals On the systematics and the phylogenetic position of the poorly known, montane dragon-lizard species Pseudocalotes austeniana (Annandale, 1908) (Squamata, Agamidae, Draconinae)

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-150
Author(s):  
Gaurang G. Gowande ◽  
Harshal S. Bhosale ◽  
Pushkar U. Phansalkar ◽  
Mandar Sawant ◽  
Zeeshan A. Mirza

The montane agamid species Pseudocalotes austeniana has had a complicated taxonomic history, as the species was initially described as a member of the genus Salea Gray, 1845. Later, the species was placed in a monotypic genus Mictopholis Smith, 1935, which was erected only to include this species; however, the species was later on transferred to the genus Pseudocalotes Fitzinger, 1843, owing to the morphological similarities, and lack of strong characters to diagnose the genus Mictopholis. Nonetheless, its precise phylogenetic and systematic position has remained unresolved due to the lack of molecular sequence data. During a herpetological expedition to Arunachal Pradesh, specimens of P. austeniana were collected from the hills near the type locality. The mitochondrial 16S rRNA, ND2 and ND4, and the nuclear RAG1 regions were subjected to molecular phylogenetics. Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference gene trees revealed that P. austeniana is a member of the subfamily Draconinae. The analyses showed that the genus Pseudocalotes is polyphyletic, and P. austeniana was embedded within the genus Japalura Gray, 1853 sensu stricto. We here, thus, propose to transfer the species P. austeniana to the genus Japlaura, as Japalura austenianacomb. nov. Biogeographic and evolutionary significance of the findings are discussed.

Mammalia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 83 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam W. Ferguson ◽  
Houssein R. Roble ◽  
Molly M. McDonough

AbstractThe molecular phylogeny of extant genets (Carnivora, Viverridae,Genetta) was generated using all species with the exception of the Ethiopian genetGenetta abyssinica. Herein, we provide the first molecular phylogenetic assessment ofG. abyssinicausing molecular sequence data from multiple mitochondrial genes generated from a recent record of this species from the Forêt du Day (the Day Forest) in Djibouti. This record represents the first verified museum specimen ofG. abyssinicacollected in over 60 years and the first specimen with a specific locality for the country of Djibouti. Multiple phylogenetic analyses revealed conflicting results as to the exact relationship ofG. abyssinicato otherGenettaspecies, providing statistical support for a sister relationship to all other extant genets for only a subset of mitochondrial analyses. Despite the inclusion of this species for the first time, phylogenetic relationships amongGenettaspecies remain unclear, with limited nodal support for many species. In addition to providing an alternative hypothesis of the phylogenetic relationships among extant genets, this recent record provides the first complete skeleton of this species to our knowledge and helps to shed light on the distribution and habitat use of this understudied African small carnivore.


Zootaxa ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 2537 (1) ◽  
pp. 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
DALE D. EDWARDS ◽  
MALCOLM F. VIDRINE ◽  
BRIAN R. ERNSTING

Water mites of the genus Unionicola Haldeman, 1842 are common symbionts of molluscs, living on the gills or mantle and foot of their hosts and using these tissues as sites of oviposition. Phylogenetic relationships among species that comprise the genus are poorly understood and what is known has been based on a limited number of morphological and life history characters or molecular sequence data using closely-related taxa. The present study uses sequence data from the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (cox1) gene (664 bp) to reconstruct evolutionary relationships among representative species of North American Unionicola from eight subgenera that occur in symbiotic association with freshwater mussels. Maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood analysis yielded trees with similar topologies, and most of the branches have moderate to high bootstrap support. The topologies of these gene trees are mostly congruent with a previously published morphologically-derived tree. Specifically, the gene trees support monophyly among mites from subgenera that occur in association with the gill tissues of host mussels. The molecular trees of Unionicola mites generated by this study must, however, be interpreted with caution, given that the analysis is based exclusively on Unionicola subgenera from North America. A more robust phylogeny of Unionicola mussel-mites will require the addition of molecular sequence data from taxa outside of North America.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunbin Huang ◽  
Mingyi Tian ◽  
Arnaud Faille

Coleoptera is one of the most successful groups among the subterranean fauna. Within Carabidae, 25 tribes have been reported in subterranean habitats, including the first representative of the tribe Patrobini, just described from Southern China. Amongst them, Trechini is the most diverse and cave-specialized group, and the numerous lineages of this group which have diversified underground make it an excellent model for the study of evolutionary mechanisms. In China, 152 species within 52 genera of Trechini have been described so far. In order to unveil the relationships and origin of this remarkable biodiversity and to understand the evolutionary success of this group, we infer the first phylogeny of the group by using molecular sequence data from four genes (two mitochondrial markers: cox1 and 16S; plus two nuclear: 18S and 28S). We found that the Chinese cave Trechini do not form a monophyletic clade and we identified three main independent subterranean clades. To define the systematic position of the main clades on a worldwide scale, we gathered other Trechini sequence data from different lineages and part of the world. The preliminary results will be presented in this talk.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Moore ◽  
James Robertson ◽  
Peter Nagel ◽  
Andrea Di Giulio

Endemic to the Palaeotropic and southern Palaearctic regions, ant nest beetles (Carabidae: Paussus) are specialized predators that depend on ants for their survival. This obligate relationship has driven extreme morphological adaptations that obscured our understanding of Paussus species relationships and subgeneric clades for centuries. Molecular phylogenetics has revealed patterns of relationship with high levels of convergence, and as a general rule, areas of endemism are better predictors of monophyly than overall morphology. For example, the species rich fauna of Madagascar is the product of one dispersal event from Africa approximately 2.6 million years ago, after which Malagasy ant nest beetles undertook one of the fastest species radiations ever documented within animals. With their center of diversity in sub-Saharan Africa, the Paussus fauna of the Mediterranean is relatively depauperate with only seven species described from north of the Sahara. Pre-molecular subgeneric classifications, which were based on overall morphology, suggest that these seven species represent five species group lineages. Here, we use molecular sequence data from five genes and a taxon-sampling strategy aimed at investigating the biogeographic origins of five Mediterranean species. We find that the present-day Mediterranean fauna, unlike that of Madagascar, is the result of five separate dispersal events, four from the Afrotropical Region and one from the Indomalayan Region. Implications of associated host ant shifts are also explored.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 204 (4) ◽  
pp. 265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thiago Jose de Carvalho Andre ◽  
CHELSEA SPECHT ◽  
SHAYLA SALZMAN ◽  
CLARISSE PALMA-SILVA ◽  
TÂNIA WENDT

While most species within the genus Chamaecostus (Costaceae) are well defined, the broad geographic range and long list of synonyms associated with Chamaecostus subsessilis led us to believe there may be some cryptic species within the complex. We thus investigate the phylogenetic relationships of species in the Chamaecostus lineage and specifically test the monophyly and diversity of the Chamaecostus subsessilis species complex from a population perspective by analyzing molecular sequence data and leaf morphometrics. We interpret evolutionary trends across the entire genus based on a molecular character-based phylogenetic hypothesis that includes all currently described species of Chamaecostus. Our results show that while Chamaecostus is strongly monophyletic, C. cuspidatus is found to be sister to a clade of some but not all samples of C. subsessilis, making it necessary to acknowledge more than one species in the C. subsessilis complex. Herbarium specimens of the C. subsessilis complex could be assigned based on geographic proximity to one of the major three clades recovered in the phylogenetic analysis. Leaf morphometric measurements were performed on each of these lineages and traits were tested to detect differences among phylogenetic lineages. We conclude by proposing the recognition of a new combination, Chamaecostus acaulis, which we describe.


Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4642 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAMES WILDER ORR ◽  
INGRID SPIES ◽  
DUANE E. STEVENSON ◽  
GARY C. LONGO ◽  
YOSHIAKI KAI ◽  
...  

Phylogenetic relationships of snailfishes of the family Liparidae were analyzed on the basis of two sets of molecular sequence data: one from the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit one gene (COI) and another from restriction-site associated genome-wide sequences (RADseq). The analysis of COI sequence data from at least 122 species of 18 genera from the Pacific, Atlantic, and Southern oceans resulted in a moderately well-resolved phylogeny among the major clades, albeit with significant polytomy among central clades. Nectoliparis was the sister of all other members of the family, followed by Liparis. Liparis, Careproctus, and Paraliparis were paraphyletic. Liparis was recovered in two closely related clades, with L. fucensis sister of all other liparids except Nectoliparis, and both Careproctus and Paraliparis were each recovered among at least three widely separated clades. The RADseq analysis of 26 species of 11 genera from the eastern North Pacific strongly confirmed the overall results of the COI analysis, with the exception of the paraphyly of Liparis due to the absence of L. fucensis. Our results show that the pelvic disc has been independently lost multiple times and the pectoral-fin girdle has been independently reduced in multiple lineages. 


2002 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
NOBUKO ARISUE ◽  
TETSUO HASHIMOTO ◽  
HISAO YOSHIKAWA ◽  
YOSHIfflRO NAKAMURA ◽  
GEN NAKAMURA ◽  
...  

Zootaxa ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 2665 (1) ◽  
pp. 51 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELENA K. KUPRIYANOVA ◽  
EIJIROH NISHI

A collection of Serpulidae (Annelida, Polychaeta) from the Patton-Murray Seamounts, Gulf of Alaska, USA contained three species Apomatus voightae n. sp., Bathyvermilia eliasoni n. comb., and Hyalopomatus biformis (Hartman, 1960). Apomatus voightae n. sp. differed from all other Apomatus spp. and from all known serpulid species by very unusual flat and ribbon-like branchial radioles as well by details of chaetal structure. Vermiliopsis eliasoni Zibrowius (1970) previously known from Atlantic and Mediterranean, was transferred to the genus Bathyvermilia Zibrowius, 1973. Hyalopomatus biformis is a deep-sea species distributed in the north-eastern Pacific from Alaska to California, USA. All serpulids were described in detail and their chaetal structure elucidated with the help of scanning electron microscopy. Molecular sequence data (18S rDNA) were aligned to a recently published serpulid data set and maximum parsimony analysis was performed to examine the phylogenetic position of the species and confirm their identification. Hyalopomatus biformis formed a sister group with Laminatubus alvini, Apomatus voightae n. sp. formed a sister group with Apomatus globifer, and Bathyvermilia eliasoni formed a weakly supported polytomy with Chitinopoma serrula, Protula tubularia and Apomatus spp. We briefly discussed biogeographic affinities of the serpulids from the PattonMurray Seamounts in the light of seamount ecology and biogeography.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 176 (1) ◽  
pp. 219 ◽  
Author(s):  
ASHA J. DISSANAYAKE ◽  
RUVISHIKA S. JAYAWARDENA ◽  
SARANYAPHAT BOONMEE ◽  
KASUN M. THAMBUGALA ◽  
QING TIAN ◽  
...  

The family Myriangiaceae is relatively poorly known amongst the Dothideomycetes and includes genera which are saprobic, epiphytic and parasitic on the bark, leaves and branches of various plants. The family has not undergone any recent revision, however, molecular data has shown it to be a well-resolved family closely linked to Elsinoaceae in Myriangiales. Both morphological and molecular characters indicate that Elsinoaceae differs from Myriangiaceae. In Elsinoaceae, small numbers of asci form in locules in light coloured pseudostromata, which form typical scab-like blemishes on leaf or fruit surfaces. The coelomycetous, “Sphaceloma”-like asexual state of Elsinoaceae, form more frequently than the sexual state; conidiogenesis is phialidic and conidia are 1-celled and hyaline. In Myriangiaceae, locules with single asci are scattered in a superficial, coriaceous to sub-carbonaceous, black ascostromata and do not form scab-like blemishes. No asexual state is known. In this study, we revisit the family Myriangiaceae, and accept ten genera, providing descriptions and discussion on the generic types of Anhellia, Ascostratum, Butleria, Dictyocyclus, Diplotheca, Eurytheca, Hemimyriangium, Micularia, Myriangium and Zukaliopsis. The genera of Myriangiaceae are compared and contrasted. Myriangium duriaei is the type species of the family, while Diplotheca is similar and may possibly be congeneric. The placement of Anhellia in Myriangiaceae is supported by morphological and molecular data. Because of similarities with Myriangium, Ascostratum (A. insigne), Butleria (B. inaghatahani), Dictyocyclus (D. hydrangea), Eurytheca (E. trinitensis), Hemimyriangium (H. betulae), Micularia (M. merremiae) and Zukaliopsis (Z. amazonica) are placed in Myriangiaceae. Molecular sequence data from fresh collections is required to confirm the relationships and placement of the genera in this family.


Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4238 (1) ◽  
pp. 58 ◽  
Author(s):  
ATSUSHI MOCHIZUKI ◽  
CHARLES S. HENRY ◽  
PETER DUELLI

The small lacewing genus Apertochrysa comprises species from Africa, Asia and Australia. All lack a tignum, but otherwise resemble distantly related genera. We show that Apertochrysa does not form a monophyletic clade, based on analyses of molecular sequence data and morphological traits such as the presence and shape of the male gonapsis, wing venation, and larval setae. Apertochrysa kichijoi forms a clade with Eremochrysa, Suarius and Chrysemosa, whereas A. albolineatoides belongs to a clade that includes Cunctochrysa. Apertochrysa albolineatoides should become a new combination as Cunctochrysa albolineatoides, while A. kichijoi will have to be transferred to a new genus. The Australian A. edwardsi, the African A. eurydera and the type species of the genus Apertochrysa, A. umbrosa, join the large Pseudomallada group. Relationships of A. umbrosa are less certain, because for it we could amplify only one of the three nuclear genes used in the overall analysis. However, in all morphological traits tested, that species strongly resembles A. edwardsi and A. eurydera and thus is very likely just another exceptional Pseudomallada lacking a tignum. The fate of the genus name Apertochrysa depends on additional molecular and morphological analyses of A. umbrosa. 


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