Who’s your daddy? On the identity and distribution of the paternal hybrid ancestor of the parthenogenetic gecko Lepidodactylus lugubris (Reptilia: Squamata: Gekkonidae)

The widespread parthenogenetic gecko Lepidodactylus lugubris is comprised of several clonal lineages, at least one of which has been known for some time to have originated from hybridization between its maternal ancestor, Lepidodactylus moestus, and a putatively undescribed paternal ancestor previously known only from remote islands in the Central Pacific. By integrating new genetic sequences from multiple studies on Lepidodactylus and incorporating new genetic sequences from previously sampled populations, we recovered a phylogenetic tree that shows a close genetic similarity between the generally hypothesized paternal hybrid ancestor and a recently described species from Maluku (Indonesia), Lepidodactylus pantai. Our results suggest that the paternal hybrid ancestor of at least one parthenogenetic clone of L. lugubris is conspecific with L. pantai and that the range of this species extends to Palau, the Caroline Islands, the Kei Islands, Wagabu, and potentially other small islands near New Guinea. Deeper genetic structure in the western (Palau, Maluku) versus eastern (eastern Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia) part of this species’ range suggests that the western populations likely dispersed via natural colonization, whereas the eastern populations may be the result of human-mediated dispersal. The potential taxonomic affinities and biogeographic history should be confirmed with further morphological and genetic analyses, including research on L. woodfordi from its type locality, which would have nomenclatural priority if found to be conspecific with L. pantai. We recommend referring to the wide-ranging sexual species as Lepidodactylus pantai until such a comparison can be made.

Writing Women’s Lives and Mapping Indigenous Spaces

This chapter centers on Jesuit knowledge production about the Pacific as an expression of missionary masculinity. It also explores the transformation of missionary encounters in media disseminating the Jesuit missions to readers, cognoscenti, and patrons of the Society of Jesus. The chapter discusses Lives (hagiographies) of indigenous women as exemplified by several vitae of Catarina de San Juan; cartography on the mission frontier as exemplified by Jesuit maps of (today’s) Caroline Islands in Oceania; and serial publications of missionary letters targeting the broader European Republic of Letters as exemplified by the serial missionary publication Der Neue Welt-Bott. These media of knowledge productions served to stabilize and assert the masculine self of their Jesuit authors at the expense of the feminine and the indigenous as well as to feed colonial ambitions.

Origin of the Caroline mantle plume and its interaction with the Caroline basin

<p>The Caroline Rise has played an important role in the tectonic frame of the western Pacific, however, the nature and origin of the Caroline Rise has long been unclear. The boundary between the Pacific plate and the Caroline plate has long been unclear, thus, it unclear which plate is underneath the Caroline Rise. In this study, we confirmed that the Caroline Rise represents an oceanic plateau formed as a large igneous province based on seafloor sampling. In this study, we have age-dated and analyzed the whole-rock major and trace elements and Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf isotopes of the basalt samples from the Caroline Plateau. The basalt samples are classified into two groups, the alkali group and the tholeiite group. The results of age-dating indicate older ages for the tholeiite group than the alkali group. The tholeiite group basalts are apparently older than the Caroline Islands and are close to the basalts of Ontong Java Plateau in trace element compositions. We suggest that the tholeiite group basalts represent the main stage volcanism and the alkali group basalts represent the late stage volcanism of the Caroline Plateau. The alkali group basalts show trace element and isotope compositions similar to those of the Caroline Islands to the east. The tholeiitie group basalts have involved significant amount of depleted asthenosphere components, which suggests interactions of the Caroline plume with the Caroline basin spreading center. The MORB-like depleted geochemical nature of the Caroline tholeiite group basalts indicates formation of the Caroline Plateau under the young and thin Caroline plate lithosphere. Our results of age and geochemistry of the Caroline Plateau/Seamount system could be explained by the activities of the Caroline hotspot. This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (91858206, 41876040).</p>

Airborne LiDAR Reveals a Vast Archaeological Landscape at the Nan Madol World Heritage Site

An airborne LiDAR survey of the Nan Madol World Heritage Site and adjacent Temwen Island revealed a complex, irrigated cultivation system, the first found in the Central and Eastern Caroline Islands. This informs the goals of the sustainable conservation project, funded by the U.S. Department of State Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, that inspired the survey, and expands understanding of Nan Madol and its place in the network of Pacific island interaction and trade. Fieldwork verified the presence, across Temwen, of low, wet, cultivable areas, many of which are connected by water channels or separated by earthen berms. The berms themselves may also have been cultivated. In complexity, labor investment, and organization, the system is comparable to Nan Madol itself, the largest archaeological site in Micronesia, with structures on about 100 artificial islets built of stone and coral on a reef flat. Constructed over a millennium, Nan Madol was the seat of the Saudeleur Dynasty, which persisted from about 1200 to 1600 CE. The cultivation system appears to have been able to provide ample food for consumption, feasting, and redistribution or trade. If the landscape alteration described here proves to date to the time of the Saudeleur Dynasty, it will offer many avenues of research into the economic basis of Nan Madol’s regional dominance.