scholarly journals When size matters: the first comprehensive anatomical study of a species of “Condylocardiidae”, an extremely miniaturized bivalve

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e12108
Author(s):  
Flávio Dias Passos ◽  
Alan Rodrigo Batistão ◽  
Rüdiger Bieler
Keyword(s):  
Shell Length ◽  
Great Reduction ◽  
Anatomical Study ◽  
Reproductive Mode ◽  
South American ◽  
Blood Sinus ◽  
The Family ◽  
Molecular Studies ◽  
Widespread Phenomenon ◽  
Anatomical Information

‘Miniaturization’ is a widespread phenomenon among the Metazoa. In the molluscan class Bivalvia, records of miniaturization are numerous. Among the Archiheterodonta, Warrana besnardi (Klappenbach, 1963) has attracted attention for its tiny size, which does not exceed 1.5 mm in shell length, and because it belongs to a group with limited anatomical information and often-debated status, the “Condylocardiidae” (which recent molecular studies place deeply nested within the family Carditidae). All species of Warrana Laseron, 1953 are small-bodied, and so miniaturization presumably occurred from a large-bodied ancestor within the Carditidae sensu lato. South American W. besnardi is here studied in detail. Its small size and the enlargement of the anterodorsal region during growth, reflects (and likely led) to infaunal habit, living as a burrowing bivalve that passively feeds on deposit particles entering the pallial cavity anteriorly. Mantle glands, previously reported as a common feature of other archiheterodonts, are missing in W. besnardi, but spongiform tissue in the antero-ventral portion of the mantle lobes presumably represents a blood sinus that might compensate for the great reduction of the ctenidia. Lecithotrophy is reported, with yolky oocytes bearing a thick non-cellular capsule layer; brooding was not observed, and it is here hypothesized that the extreme miniaturization, with the great reduction of ctenidia, is responsible for a shift in the reproductive mode of condylocardiids, contrasting with the commonly reported ovoviviparity of the carditids.

Emergence of New Potential Insect Pests of Date Palm: Could Climate Change Be the Reason?

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 242-245
Author(s):  
Hamadttu A. F. El-Shafie
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Date Palm ◽  
Insect Pests ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Economic Damage ◽  
South American ◽  
Palm Fruit ◽  
The Family ◽  
American Palm ◽  
Sorghum Chafer

Four insect species were reported as new potential pests of date palm in recent years. They are sorghum chafer (Pachnoda interrupta), the rose chafer (Potosia opaca), the sericine chafer beetle (Maladera insanablis), and the South American palm borer (Pysandisia archon). The first three species belong to the order Coleoptera and the family Scarabaeidae, while the fourth species is a lepidopteran of the family Castniidae. The injury as well as the economic damage caused by the four species on date palm need to be quantified. Due to climate change and anthropogenic activities, the date palm pest complex is expected to change in the future. To the author's knowledge, this article provides the first report of sorghum chafer as a pest damaging date palm fruit.

Molecular phylogeny and divergence time estimates of Penaeid Shrimp Lineages (Decapoda: Penaeidae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2107 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
CAROLINA M VOLOCH ◽  
PABLO R FREIRE ◽  
CLAUDIA A M RUSSO
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Divergence Time ◽  
Penaeid Shrimp ◽  
Divergence Time Estimates ◽  
Time Estimates ◽  
Global Clock ◽  
Late Tertiary ◽  
The Family ◽  
Molecular Studies ◽  
Triassic Period

Fossil record of penaeids indicates that the family exists since the Triassic period, but extant genera appeared only recently in Tertiary strata. Molecular based divergence time estimates on the matter of penaeid radiation were never properly addressed, due to shortcomings of the global molecular clock assumptions. Here, we studied the diversification patterns of the family, uncovering, more specifically, a correlation between fossil and extant Penaeid fauna. For this, we have used a Bayesian framework that does not assume a global clock. Our results suggest that Penaeid genera originated between 20 million years ago and 43 million years ago, much earlier than expected by previous molecular studies. Altogether, these results promptly discard late Tertiary or even Quaternary hypotheses that presumed a major glaciations influence on the diversification patterns of the family.

scholarly journals Sixty Years with the Chrysobalanaceae

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ghillean T. Prance
Keyword(s):  
Economic Botany ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Molecular Evidence ◽  
New Techniques ◽  
Conservation Ecology ◽  
The Past ◽  
New Findings ◽  
The Family ◽  
Molecular Studies ◽  
Economic Use

AbstractA review is given of the studies of Ghillean Prance and associates on the Chrysobalanaceae over the past sixty years. This has focussed on defining the generic boundaries in the family and on monographic work with a worldwide approach to this pantropical family. The importance of field studies for work on monographs and Floras is emphasized. Monographs are still the basis for much work on conservation, ecology and economic botany and are needed as a foundation for molecular studies. The importance of being open to experimenting with new techniques and as a result being willing to change the taxonomy in accordance with new findings is demonstrated and emphasized. The twelve genera of the Chrysobalanaceae at the beginning of this career-long study have now increased to twenty-eight in order to present a much better monophyletic and evolutionary arrangement based on recent molecular evidence. In particular it was necessary to divide and rearrange the originally large genera Parinari and Licania into a number of smaller segregate genera. All known species were included in a worldwide monograph published in 2003. A brief review of the economic use for the family is given.

A new genus and species of groundwater isopod of the family Protojaniridae (Isopoda: Asellota: Gnathostenetroidoidea) from southern Chile

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4966 (5) ◽  
pp. 550-562
Author(s):  
JORGE PÉREZ-SCHULTHEISS ◽  
GEORGE D. F. WILSON
Keyword(s):  
New Genus ◽  
South American ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
Southern Chile ◽  
New Genus And Species ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Family ◽  
Apical Lobe ◽  
Antennal Scale ◽  
Freshwater Springs

A new asellotan isopod of the family Protojaniridae Fresi, Idato & Scipione, 1980 is described from freshwater springs in the Osorno province, Los Lagos region, southern Chile. Wiyufiloides osornoensis gen. & sp. n. is the third South American protojanirid species and the first known groundwater isopod in Chile. The new genus and species is principally characterized by the presence of a vestigial antennal scale, a strongly subchelate pereiopod I and the absence of an apical lobe on the protopod of pleopod II. The new taxon is described in detail and figures are given. 

scholarly journals The role of chromosomal fusion in the karyotypic evolution of the genus Ageneiosus (Siluriformes: Auchenipteridae)

2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Laridondo Lui ◽  
Daniel Rodrigues Blanco ◽  
Juliana de Fatima Martinez ◽  
Vladimir Pavan Margarido ◽  
Paulo Cesar Venere ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chromosome Pair ◽  
5S Rdna ◽  
Proximal Region ◽  
Terminal Region ◽  
Metacentric Chromosome ◽  
South American ◽  
Submetacentric Chromosome ◽  
Araguaia River ◽  
The Family ◽  
Preferential Location

Ageneiosus is the most widely distributed genus of the family Auchenipteridae among South American river basins. Although chromosome studies in the family are scarce, this genus has the largest number of analyzed species, with 2n = 54 to 56 chromosomes, differing from the rest of the family (2n = 58). This study aimed to analyze Ageneiosus inermis from the Araguaia River basin. The diploid number found was of 56 chromosomes. Heterochromatin was allocated in terminal region of most chromosomes, plus a pericentromeric heterochromatic block in pair 1, a pair distinguished by size in relation to other chromosomes pairs. AgNORs were detected in only one submetacentric chromosome pair, which was confirmed by FISH. 5S rDNA was present in only one metacentric chromosome pair. Hybridization with [TTAGGG]n sequence marked the telomeres of all chromosomes, in addition to an ITS in the proximal region of the short arm of pair 1. The repetitive [GATA]n sequence was dispersed, with preferential location in terminal region of the chromosomes. Ageneiosus has a genomic organization somewhat different when compared to other Auchenipteridae species. Evidences indicate that a chromosomal fusion originated the first metacentric chromosome pair in A. inermis, rearrangement which may be a basal event for the genus

Temporal partitioning of reproductive activity in a neotropical anuran community

2004 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brigitte Gottsberger ◽  
Edith Gruber
Keyword(s):  
Water Level ◽  
Rainy Season ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Reproductive Mode ◽  
Reproductive Activity ◽  
Active Species ◽  
South American ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Breeding Sites ◽  
Calling Activity

The phenology of calling activity and reproduction of a neotropical anuran community in French Guiana was studied during one rainy season. We investigated the correlation between calling activity, rainfall, temperature and water level in two ponds and recorded the occurrence of tadpoles of pond-breeding species. The study site contained 31 calling frog species, which were divided into groups according to reproductive mode. Increased rainfall was associated with increased reproductive activity in all groups, but temporal patterns in calling activity varied significantly between groups. Species with aquatic oviposition exhibited sporadic acoustic activity, aggregating into explosive breeding events following heavy rainfall. Species laying eggs in foam nests had the peak of calling activity at the start of the rainy season. Taxa with embryonic development on vegetation called mainly from middle to late wet season, being the only group which showed a significant correlation of calling with increasing water level. Dendrobatids with terrestrial oviposition and subsequent parental tadpole transportation were continuously active. Species with direct development or with non-feeding larvae were mainly active at the beginning of the rainy season. It is concluded that phenologies of calling activity in South American tropical anuran species are strongly influenced by abiotic factors like rainfall and availability of breeding sites. The temporal limitation of the rainy season forces species to adjust calling and reproductive activity according to their reproductive modes.

scholarly journals Leaf morphoanatomy of an endemic massaranduba from Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monick Lima Carvalho ◽  
Cláudia Elena Carneiro
Keyword(s):  
Stomatal Density ◽  
Vegetative State ◽  
Anatomical Study ◽  
Iucn Red List ◽  
Vascular Bundles ◽  
Leaf Architecture ◽  
Chapada Diamantina ◽  
Anatomical Features ◽  
The Family ◽  
Microscopy Techniques

Abstract: The Sapotaceae family is recognized for its economic importance, presenting food, medicinal and timber potential. Pouteria andarahiensis T.D.Penn., popularly known as "massaranduba", is endemic to Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil, and is currently classified on the IUCN red list as "endangered". Pouteria andarahiensis is little studied, highlighting this work as the first anatomical study for the species. Light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy techniques were used to perform anatomical studies. The species showed characters shared with the family (laticifers and malpiguiaceous trichomes), as well as diagnostic characters and associated with xeromorphy. The data obtained from the leaf architecture can assist in the identification of the species in a vegetative state, while the leaf surface provided unpublished data to the species, indicating the presence of a cuticle with complex ornamentation. Stand out as xeromorphic anatomical features, high stomatal density, high number of trichomes per area, sclerenchymatic columns in the mesophyll and a subepidermal sclerenchyma layer connecting the vascular bundles in the mesophyll.

A molecular phylogeny of the circum-Antarctic Opiliones family Neopilionidae

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gonzalo Giribet ◽  
Kate Sheridan ◽  
Caitlin M. Baker ◽  
Christina J. Painting ◽  
Gregory I. Holwell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
South America ◽  
Morphological Study ◽  
18S Rrna ◽  
New Caledonia ◽  
Sister Group ◽  
28S Rrna ◽  
South American ◽  
Australian Species ◽  
The Family

The Opiliones family Neopilionidae is restricted to the terranes of the former temperate Gondwana: South America, Africa, Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand. Despite decades of morphological study of this unique fauna, it has been difficult reconciling the classic species of the group (some described over a century ago) with recent cladistic morphological work and previous molecular work. Here we attempted to investigate the pattern and timing of diversification of Neopilionidae by sampling across the distribution range of the family and sequencing three markers commonly used in Sanger-based approaches (18S rRNA, 28S rRNA and cytochrome-c oxidase subunit I). We recovered a well-supported and stable clade including Ballarra (an Australian ballarrine) and the Enantiobuninae from South America, Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand, but excluding Vibone (a ballarrine from South Africa). We further found a division between West and East Gondwana, with the South American Thrasychirus/Thrasychiroides always being sister group to an Australian–Zealandian (i.e. Australia + New Zealand + New Caledonia) clade. Resolution of the Australian–Zealandian taxa was analysis-dependent, but some analyses found Martensopsalis, from New Caledonia, as the sister group to an Australian–New Zealand clade. Likewise, the species from New Zealand formed a clade in some analyses, but Mangatangi often came out as a separate lineage from the remaining species. However, the Australian taxa never constituted a monophyletic group, with Ballarra always segregating from the remaining Australian species, which in turn constituted 1–3 clades, depending on the analysis. Our results identify several generic inconsistencies, including the possibility of Thrasychiroides nested within Thrasychirus, Forsteropsalis being paraphyletic with respect to Pantopsalis, and multiple lineages of Megalopsalis in Australia. In addition, the New Zealand Megalopsalis need generic reassignment: Megalopsalis triascuta will require its own genus and M. turneri is here transferred to Forsteropsalis, as Forsteropsalis turneri (Marples, 1944), comb. nov.

Towards a Postpatriarchal Family

1998 ◽  
pp. 105-112
Author(s):  
Patricia S. Mann
Keyword(s):  
Political Responsibility ◽  
Human Relationships ◽  
Child Relationship ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Family ◽  
Widespread Phenomenon ◽  
Familial Relations ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Mother Child Relationship

Ours is a time of dramatic and confusing transformations in everyday life, many of them originating in the social enfranchisement of women that has occurred over the past twenty-five years. Sociologist Arlie Hochschild demonstrates a widespread phenomenon of work-family imbalance in our society, experienced by people in terms of a time bind, and a devaluation of familial relationships. As large numbers of women have moved into the workplace, familial relations of all sorts have been colonized by what Virginia Held critically refers to as the contractual paradigm. Even the mother/child relationship, representing for Held an alternative feminist paradigm of selfhood and agency, has been in large part "outsourced." I believe that an Arendtian conception of speech and action might enable us to assert anew the grounds for familial relations. If we require a new site upon which to address our human plurality and natality, the postpatriarchal family may provide that new site upon which individuals can freely act to recreate the fabric of human relationships. It would seem to be our moral and political responsibility as social philosophers today to speculatively contribute to the difficult yet imperative task of reconfiguring the family. In this paper, I attempt to articulate the basic assumptions from which such a reconfiguration must begin.

Systematics of reptile-associated scale mites of the genus Pterygosoma (Acariformes: Pterygosomatidae) derived from external morphology

Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4603 (3) ◽  
pp. 401
Author(s):  
MONIKA FAJFER
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
New Genus ◽  
Arabian Peninsula ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Mite Species ◽  
South American ◽  
The Family ◽  
Outgroup Species ◽  
Tree Lizards ◽  
Species Groups

The phylogeny of the mite genus Pterygosoma Peters, 1849 (Acariformes: Pterygosomatidae), permanent parasites of lizards of the families Agamidae, Gerrhosauridae and Liolaemidae (Reptilia: Squamata), was inferred with maximum parsimony, successive weighting and implied weighting approaches based on 182 characters of 48 ingroup and 12 outgroup species. All undertaken analyses questioned the monophyly of the genus. Based on this research, Pterygosoma includes 56 mite species associated with agamas from Africa and Asia (Sauria: Agamidae). Within the genus seven natural species groups were found: mutabilis, inermis, melanum, caucasica, fimbriata, singularis and foliosetis; 13 species of the genus were not assigned to any of the groups due to their unique morphological characters. For the ligare group of the subgenus Pterygosoma s. str. (7 species) associated with the South American tree lizards from the family Liolaemidae, a new genus, Neopterygosoma gen. nov., is established. The subgenus Gerrhosaurobia Lawrence, 1959 (3 species) associated with the African plated lizards of the family Gerrhosauridae is elevated to the genus rank. Diagnoses for the three genera are presented. Historical associations are reconstructed by fitting the obtained mite tree into the host topology on the family level. Results of coevolutionary analysis highlight the coincidence of both trees. The studies suggest that the ancestor of the genus Pterygosoma switched from the hosts of Gerrhosaurobia i.e. from the plated lizards (Gerrhosauridae) to the agamas (Agamidae), and the genus Pterygosoma has its biogeographic origin in North Africa, and colonized Asia via the Arabian Peninsula, which is congruent with the historical biogeography of its hosts.

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