Geometric morphometric analysis of different species of Cyprideis deriving from the Early Pleistocene record of Greece.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ypermachia Dimitriou ◽  
Penelope Papadopoulou ◽  
Maria Kolendrianou ◽  
Maria Tsoni ◽  
George Iliopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Endemic Species ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Geometric Morphometric ◽  
Representative Species ◽  
Lower Pleistocene ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Outline Analysis ◽  
Geometric Morphometric Analysis ◽  
The Right ◽  
Of Greece

<p>The genus Cyprideis is one of the most widespread ostracod representative of the Pleistocene brackish palaeoenvironments. Especially <em>Cyprideis torosa </em>is often found in great numbers and even in monospecific taphocoenoses and for this reason its study is very useful for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions.  The identification of different species of Cyprideis is often complicated and needs careful morphology inspection. This becomes even more difficult in the case of endemic species which present significant similarities with each other.  In this work, we have studied and analyzed several  Cyprideis species (<em>C.torosa, C. frydaci, C.dictyoti, C. pannonica, C. elisabeta, C. seminulum, C. heterostigma</em>) deriving from brackish palaeoenvironments of a Lower Pleistocene marl sequence in Sousaki Basin (Northeastern Corinth Graben, Greece). More specifically size measurements and geometric morphometrics (lateral valve outline of both right and left valves as well as females and males) were used in order to attest the similarities and dissimilarities between the different species and draw conclusions about their origin.  According to the valve outline and the multivariate analysis a close relationship between the valve shape of all Cyprideis species can be noticed. <em>C. torosa</em> is commonly grouped with <em>C. pannonica</em> except in the male right valve where the two species show some differences.  The endemic species <em>C. frydaci</em> and <em>C. dictyoti</em> can be identified by the differences in the right valve of the male and female respectively.  The other species could not be substantially differentiated using just the outline analysis which possibly denotes their common genetic origin.  The valve outline has proved to be a very useful character for recognizing the different species especially when the two valves of both females and males are considered. More analyses of representative species of Miocene and Pliocene Cyprideis are needed in order to establish their phylogenetic relationships and draw conclusions about their common ancestor.</p>

Cut marks and raw material exploitation in the lower pleistocene site of Bell's Korongo (BK, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania): A geometric morphometric analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 526 ◽  
pp. 155-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lloyd A. Courtenay ◽  
José Yravedra ◽  
Julia Aramendi ◽  
Miguel Ángel Maté-González ◽  
David M. Martín-Perea ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Morphometric Analysis ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Olduvai Gorge ◽  
Geometric Morphometric ◽  
Cut Marks ◽  
Lower Pleistocene ◽  
Geometric Morphometric Analysis

scholarly journals Padrões morfológicos na venação alar de espécies de Tetragona Lepeletier & Serville, 1828 do grupo clavipes (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini)

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. ec03032
Author(s):  
Isamara S. dos Santos ◽  
David S. Nogueira ◽  
Ivan De Castro ◽  
Juliana S. G. Teixeira ◽  
Geusa S. de Freitas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Morphometric Analysis ◽  
Discriminant Function Analysis ◽  
Stingless Bees ◽  
Function Analysis ◽  
Variation Analysis ◽  
Geometric Morphometric ◽  
Canonical Variation ◽  
Geometric Morphometric Analysis ◽  
The Right ◽  
Taxonomic Studies

Tetragona Lepeletier & Serville, 1828 (Hymenoptera: Apidae) is a genus of stingless bees widely distributed in Brazil. It has 15 species distributed in the Neotropics, from Mexico to Uruguay, nine of which are found in Brazil. However, Tetragona elongata (Lepeletier & Serville, 1828), a species known only from the Southeast region and which had been synonymized with Tetragona clavipes (Fabricius, 1804), was revalidated without any justification. The aim of this study was to test whether the morphometrics analysis of the wings is efficient in the diagnosis of the species of this genus, in addition to testing the validity of the revalidation mentioned above. This technique was applied by accessing the right forewings of 660 workers of T. clavipes, T. elongata e T. quadrangula (Lepeletier, 1836), from five Brazilian collections. For the geometric morphometric analysis, 12 landmarks were selected. The software MorphoJ version 1.6 was used to do Discriminant Function analysis (1000 replications) and Canonical Variation Analysis (CVA). Between T. clavipes and T. elongata, there was a 100% variance between species (canonical variation analysis), suggesting that it may be an indication of speciation. Even though T. elongata has been revalidated, it still has overlapped with T. clavipes, which indicates to be the same species. Taxonomic studies are needed to synonymize them.

Analysis of the differences between Syntormon pallipes and S. pseudospicatus (Diptera: Dolichopodidae): morphological and molecular data

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 305-316
Author(s):  
M.A. Chursina ◽  
I.Ya. Grichanov
Keyword(s):  
Dna Analysis ◽  
Distinct Species ◽  
Molecular Data ◽  
Wing Shape ◽  
Morphological Data ◽  
12S Rrna ◽  
Separate Species ◽  
Geometric Morphometric ◽  
Geometric Morphometric Analysis ◽  
Morphological And Molecular Data

The recent catalogues of the family Dolichopodidae considered Syntormon pallipes (Fabricius, 1794) and S. pseudospicatus Strobl, 1899 as separate species. In this study, we used three approaches to estimate the significance of differences between the two species: molecular analysis (COI and 12S rRNA sequences), analysis of leg colour characters and geometric morphometric analysis of wing shape. The morphological data confirmed the absence of significant differences between S. pallipes and S. pseudospicatus found in the DNA analysis. Significant differences in the wing shape of two species have not been revealed. Hence, according to our data, there is no reason to consider S. pseudospicatus as a distinct species.

scholarly journals A Giant Ostrich from the Lower Pleistocene Nihewan Formation of North China, with a Review of the Fossil Ostriches of China

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 47
Author(s):  
Eric Buffetaut ◽  
Delphine Angst
Keyword(s):  
Geographical Distribution ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
North China ◽  
Hebei Province ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Wide Geographical Distribution ◽  
Lower Pleistocene ◽  
The Crimea

A large incomplete ostrich femur from the Lower Pleistocene of North China, kept at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris), is described. It was found by Father Emile Licent in 1925 in the Nihewan Formation (dated at about 1.8 Ma) of Hebei Province. On the basis of the minimum circumference of the shaft, a mass of 300 kg, twice that of a modern ostrich, was obtained. The bone is remarkably robust, more so than the femur of the more recent, Late Pleistocene, Struthio anderssoni from China, and resembles in that regard Pachystruthio Kretzoi, 1954, a genus known from the Lower Pleistocene of Hungary, Georgia and the Crimea, to which the Nihewan specimen is referred, as Pachystruthio indet. This find testifies to the wide geographical distribution of very massive ostriches in the Early Pleistocene of Eurasia. The giant ostrich from Nihewan was contemporaneous with the early hominins who inhabited that region in the Early Pleistocene.

The Causes of Greek Decline

1944 ◽  
Vol 64 ◽  
pp. 10-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. W. Walbank
Keyword(s):  
Economic Life ◽  
Ancient History ◽  
Special Significance ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
The Right ◽  
Of Greece

In one of the most popular anthology passages in Latin, Servius Sulpicius, writing to console Cicero for his daughter's death, describes how, as he reached Greek waters, sailing from Asia, he began to look about him at the ruins of Greece. ‘Behind me was Aegina, in front of me Megara, on the right the Piraeus, on the left Corinth, cities which had once been prosperous, but now lay shattered ruins before my sight.’ Oppidum cadavera he goes on to call them—corpses of cities! The picture, it will probably be objected, is overdrawn; certainly the ruin of Greece was, by Cicero's time, already a rhetorical commonplace, to be echoed by Horace, Ovid and Seneca in turn. But it was based upon an essential truth. The Saronic Gulf, once the centre of the world, was now, for all that Greece meant, a dead lake lapping about the foundations of dead cities. In that tragic decay—which was not confined to mainland Greece—we are confronted with one of the most urgent problems of ancient history, and one with a special significance for our generation, who were already living in an age of economic, political and spiritual upheaval, even before the bombs began to turn our own cities into shattered ruins.This, then, is my reason for reopening a subject on which there is scope for such diverse opinion: adeo maxima quaeque ambigua sunt. If any further justification is required, then I will only add that the recent publication of Professor Michael Rostovtzeff's classic study of the social and economic life of the Hellenistic Age is at once an invitation and a challenge.

Systems Biology Technologies Enable Personalized Traditional Chinese Medicine: A Systematic Review

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (06) ◽  
pp. 1109-1122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xijun Wang ◽  
Aihua Zhang ◽  
Hui Sun ◽  
Ping Wang
Keyword(s):  
Systems Biology ◽  
Chinese Medicine ◽  
Traditional Chinese Medicine ◽  
Disease Diagnosis ◽  
Modern Medicine ◽  
Therapeutic Approaches ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
The Right ◽  
Personalize Medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), an alternative medicine, focuses on the treatment of human disease via the integrity of the close relationship between body and syndrome analysis. It remains a form of primary care in most Asian countries and its characteristics showcase the great advantages of personalized medicine. Although this approach to disease diagnosis, prognosis and treatment has served the medical establishment well for thousands of years, it has serious shortcomings in the era of modern medicine that stem from its reliance on reductionist principles of experimentation and analysis. In this way, systems biology offers the potential to personalize medicine, facilitating the provision of the right care to the right patient at the right time. We expect that systems biology will have a major impact on future personalized therapeutic approaches which herald the future of medicine. Here we summarize current trends and critically review the potential limitations and future prospects of such treatments. Some characteristic examples are presented to highlight the application of this groundbreaking platform to personalized TCM as well as some of the necessary milestones for moving systems biology of a state-of-the-art nature into mainstream health care.

Comparative analysis of shape variation in the cone scales of Larix dahurica and L. cajanderi (Pinaceae)

2021 ◽  
pp. 47-67
Author(s):  
Valentina P. Vetrova ◽  
◽  
Alexey P. Barchenkov ◽  
Nadezhda V. Sinelnikova ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Discriminant Analysis ◽  
Geometric Morphometrics ◽  
Baikal Region ◽  
Canonical Discriminant Analysis ◽  
Shape Variation ◽  
Geometric Morphometric ◽  
The North ◽  
Larch Species ◽  
Geometric Morphometric Analysis ◽  
Cone Scale

Geometric morphometric analysis of shape variation in the cone scales of two closely related larch species, Larix dahurica Laws. (=Larix gmelinii (Rupr.) Rupr) and L. cajanderi Mayr, was carried out. The data on the taxonomy and distribution of L. dahurica and L. cajanderi are contradictory. The taxonomic status of L. cajanderi has been confirmed by the genetic and morphological studies performed in Russia and based on considerable evidence, but the species has not been recognized internationally, being considered as a synonym of Larix gmelinii var. gmelinii. In the systematics of larch, morphological characters of the generative organs are mainly used as diagnostic markers, among the most important being the shape variation of the cone scales. The aim of this study was to test geometric morphometrics as a tool for analyzing differentiation of L. dahurica and L. cajanderi in the shape of their cone scales. Characterization of shape variations in cone scales using geometric morphometric methods consists in digitizing points along an outline of scales followed by analysis of partial warps, describing individual differences in coordinates of the outline points. We studied the populations of L. dahurica from Evenkia and the Trans-Baikal region and six L. cajanderi populations from Yakutia and Magadan Oblast. In each population, we analyzed samples of 100-150 cones collected from 20-30 trees. Scales taken from the middle part of the cones were scanned using an Epson Perfection V500 Photo. On the scanned images, outline points were placed with a TPSDig program (Rolf, 2010), using angular algorithm (Oreshkova et al., 2015). The data were processed and analyzed using Integrated Morphometrics Programs (IMP) software (http://www.canisius.edu/~sheets/ morphsoft.html, Sheets, 2001), following the guidelines on geometric morphometrics in biology (Pavlinov, Mikeshina, 2002; Zelditch et al., 2004). Initial coordinates of the scale landmarks were aligned with the mean structure for L. dahurica and L. cajanderi cone scales using Procrustes superimposition in the CoordGen6 program. PCA based on covariances of partial warp scores was applied to reveal directions of variation in the shape of the cone scales. The relative deformations of the cone scales (PCA scores) were used as shape variables for statistical comparisons of these two larch species with canonical discriminant analysis. Morphotypes of the cone scales were distinguished in L. dahurica populations by pairwise comparison of samples from trees in the TwoGroup6h program using Bootstrap resampling-based Goodall’s F-test (Sheets, 2001). Samples from the trees in which the cone scales differed significantly (p < 0.01) were considered to belong to different morphotypes. Morphotypes distinguished in L. dahurica populations were compared with the morphotypes that we had previously determined in L. cajanderi populations. The composition and the frequency of occurrence of morphotypes were used to determine phenotypic distances between populations (Zhivotovskii, 1991). Multidimensional scaling matrix of the phenotypic distances was applied for ordination of larch populations. In this research, we revealed differentiation of L. dahurica and L. cajanderi using geometric morphometric analysis of the shape variation of cone scales. The results of PCA of partial warp scores exposed four principal components, which account for 90% of total explained variance in the shape of the cone scales in the two larch species. Graphical representations of these shape transformations in the vector form characterized directions of shape variability in scales corresponding to the maximum and minimum values of four principal components (See Fig. 2). PCA-ordination of the larch populations revealed some difference in the shape variation of the cone scales in L. dahurica and L. cajanderi (See Fig. 3). The results of canonical discriminant analysis of relative deformations of scales showed differentiation of the populations of the two larch species (See Fig. 4). Eleven morphotypes were identified in L. dahurica cones from Evenkia and nine morphotypes in the Ingoda population, three of the morphotypes being common for both populations (See Fig. 5). The shape of L. dahurica cone scales varied from spatulate to oval and their apical margins from weakly sinuate to distinctly sinuate. The Trans-Baikal population was dominated by scales with obtuse (truncate) and rounded apexes. The obtained morphotypes were compared with 25 cone scale morphotypes previously distinguished in the Yakut and the Magadan L. cajanderi populations (See Fig. 3). Four similar morphotypes of cone scales were revealed in the North-Yeniseisk population of L. dahurica and the Yakut populations of L. cajanderi. The differences between them in the populations of the two larch species were nonsignificant (p > 0.01). All morphotypes of cone scales from the Ingoda population of L. dahurica differed significantly from L. cajanderi cone scale morphotypes. The results of multidimensional scaling phenotypic distance matrix calculated based on the similarity of morphotypes of L. dahurica and L. cajanderi populations were consistent with the results of their differentiation based on relative deformations of scales obtained using canonical discriminant analysis (See Fig. 4 and Fig. 7). In spite of the differences in the shape of the cone scales between the North-Yeniseisk and the Trans-Baikal populations of L. dahurica, they both differed from L. cajanderi populations. Thus, phenotypic analysis confirmed differentiation of these two larch species. Despite the similarities between a number of morphotypes, the Yakut L. cajanderi populations were differentiated from L. dahurica populations. Significant differences were noted between intraspecific groups: between L. cajanderi populations from Okhotsk-Kolyma Upland and Yakutia and between L. dahurica populations from Evenkia and the Trans-Baikal region (See Fig. 4). The similarities between species and intraspecific differences may be attributed to the ongoing processes of hybridization and species formation in the region where the ranges of the larches overlap with the ranges of L. czekanowskii Szafer and L. dahurica×L. cajanderi hybrids. Geometric morphometrics can be used as an effective tool for analyzing differentiation of L. dahurica and L. cajanderi in the shape of their cone scales.

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