New and interesting species of Agaricomycetes from Panama

Panama forms part of the Central American biodiversity hotspot, one of the most important biodiversity hotspots in the world. While plants are relatively well studied in Panama, the documentation of fungal diversity is still in a pioneer phase. In this publication, four species of Agaricomycetes recently collected in Panama are described as new to science, two in Agaricales, namely Gliophorus roseus and Humidicutis roseorubra, a lichenised species in Cantharellales, called Multiclavula caput-serpentis, and a species in Gomphales, called Gloeocantharellus salmonicolor. These species are described and illustrated. Their phylogenetic affinities are discussed based on morphological characters and molecular phylogenies. Further six species of Agaricales, which have not been reported from Panama before, are presented as new records for the country, along with data on their morphology, ecology and taxonomy.

New holozoans with cellular resolution from the early Ediacaran Weng'an Biota, Southwest China

The embryo-like fossils from the early Ediacaran Weng'an Biota (Southwest China, 609 million years ago), widely interpreted as members of holozoans, potentially provide insights to understanding the early evolution of development of metazoans and the rise of the animal kingdom. However, the biodiversity of the embryo-like fossil assemblage is largely underestimated, and its more precise phylogenetic affinities within the holozoan tree are still under debate. Here we describe a new species of embryo-like fossil Ostiosphaera rara n. gen. n. sp. from the Ediacaran Weng'an Biota. These three-dimensional, phosphatized specimens exhibit a spherical morphology, an ornamented thick envelope with a circular opening and a membrane-bounded, multicellular inner body. In terms of biological characteristics, Ostiosphaera rara show similarities to a number of extant and fossil analogues including testate amoebae, unicellular green algae, cellular slime mold Fonticuida and co-occurring Weng'an embryo-like fossils. Although the phylogenetic affinity of Ostiosphaera rara is difficult to constrain very precisely based on the available evidence, it is reasonable to follow the holozoan interpretation for them, since that they share the same grade complexity with the co-occurring embryo-like fossils such as Megasphaera and Helicoforamina in terms of the combination of biological features. It is worth mentioning that the new holozoans resemble asexual reproductive gemmules of fossil and living demosponges in size, morphology, circular opening, and cellular anatomy. If the similarity between them reflects biological affinity rather than convergent evolution, this discovery would force us to rethink the evolutionary history of Precambrian sponges.Thematic collection: This article is part of the Advances in the Cambrian Explosion collection available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/advances-cambrian-explosion

Espeletia ocetana (Millerieae, Asteraceae), a New Tall Caulirosula from Colombia

Abstract— A new species, Espeletia ocetana (Asteraceae), from about 3500 m a. s. l. in Páramo de Ocetá, Mongua, Boyacá department, Colombia, is described and illustrated. The new species exhibits a caulescent rosette habit (0.7‐1.8 m tall), sessile leaves, elliptic leaf laminae with greyish indumentum, robust bracteate thyrsoid capitulescences spreading laterally from rosette, each holding 16‐37(‐69) capitula, external phyllaries 14.2‐31.1 mm long, and ray florets 13.9‐21.3 mm long arranged in 2.0‐2.9 series. It is markedly different from the majority of other members of the genus, and only slightly similar to E. jaramilloi, from which it can be easily distinguished by its taller stems, wider leaves with a smaller length/width ratio, and longer sheaths. Furthermore, E. ocetana has capitula with ray florets arranged in fewer series, and with longer phyllaries, ray corollas, ray corolla limbs, ray styles, ray style branches, disc florets, and disc styles. In addition, E. ocetana is distributed allopatrically in regard to E. jaramilloi, and differs as well in its ecological preference for humid to very humid shrubby páramos. Espeletia ocetana is rather abundant in its type locality, which is a relatively well-conserved páramo located within the limits of Parque Natural Regional Siscunsí-Ocetá. However, it is absent from road margins, abandoned agriculture fields, and other areas impacted by human activities. Further studies will be necessary to know appropriately the extent of the geographic distribution of E. ocetana, its ecological requirements and its phylogenetic affinities with other species.

The phylogenetic affinities and morphological peculiarities of the bird-like dinosaur Borogovia gracilicrus from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia

Borogovia gracilicrus is a small-bodied theropod dinosaur from the Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) Nemegt Formation of southern Mongolia. The taxon is based on a single fragmentary specimen preserving only the distal part of the hindlimbs. The morphology of Borogovia shows a peculiar combination of features, some of which are traditionally considered troodontid synapomorphies and others which are unusual for Troodontidae but are shared with other maniraptoran clades. In particular, the second toe of B. gracilicrus differs from other troodontids in lacking some of the features which contribute to the specialized ‘sickle-clawed’ second toe, here termed the ‘falciphoran condition’, shared with dromaeosaurids and some other paravians, such as the strongly compressed and falciform ungual. Phylogeny reconstructions intended to explore the affinities of Borogovia consistently support its referral within a subclade of troodontids including all Late Cretaceous taxa. The placement of Borogovia is not significantly affected by its unusual combinations of hindlimb features or by the homoplasy of the elements forming the falciphoran condition. Borogovia is supported as a valid taxon and is distinct from the other Nemegt troodontids, Tochisaurus and Zanabazar. The lack of a falciform ungual, and the distinctive morphology of the second toe in B. gracilicrus are interpreted as a derived specialization among Troodontidae and not as retention of the plesiomorphic condition of non-paravian theropods.

First Glimpse at the Diverse Aquaporins of Amphipod Crustaceans

The importance of aquaporins (AQPs) in the transport of water and solutes through cell membranes is well recognized despite being relatively new. To date, despite their abundance, diversity, and presence in disparate environments, amphipods have only been mentioned in studies about the AQPs of other animals and have never been further investigated. In this work, we aimed to recover from public data available AQPs of these crustaceans and reconstruct phylogenetic affinities. We first performed BLAST searches with several queries of diverse taxa against different NCBI databases. Then, we selected the clades of AQPs retrieving the amphipod superfamily Gammaroidea as monophyletic and ran phylogenetic analyses to assess their performances. Our results show how most of the AQPs of amphipods are similar to those of other crustaceans, despite the Prip-like displayed different paralogs, and report for the first time a putative Aqp8-like for arthropods. We also found that the candidate genes of Prip-like, Bib-like, Aqp12-like, and Glp-like help solve deeper relationships in phylogenies of amphipods while leaving uncertainties in shallower parts. With our findings, we hope to increase attention to the study of amphipods as models for AQP functioning and evolution.

Zhengica cornuta gen. nov., sp. nov., a new genus and species of Pentatomidae from East Asia (Hemiptera: Heteroptera)

Zhengica cornuta gen. nov., sp. nov. (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomidae: Pentatominae: Pentatomini) from Shanxi, China, is described, illustrated, and its phylogenetic affinities are discussed. The genus is recognized as a generalized member of the clade of Pentatoma Olivier, 1789 and related genera, its phylogenetically closest relative is probably Cervicoris Hsiao & Cheng, 1977.

Contribution to the knowledge of the genus Takobia Novikova & Kluge, 1987 (Ephemeroptera, Baetidae) in Central Asia

Based on the original type material, the nymphal stage of the mayfly Takobia maxillare is redescribed; in parallel, a lectotype is designated. Takobia maxillare is the type species of the genus Takobia, and an accurate and complete knowledge of its morphology is crucial to the delimitation of this problematic genus and clarification of its phylogenetic affinities. Ambiguous characters, previously reported for this species in the literature are clarified. Furthermore, two new species in the same genus are described, namely Takobia sinusopalpatasp. nov. and Takobia shughnonicasp. nov. based on the morphology of nymphs from Central Asia, supplemented with COI sequences. Implications for the systematics of Takobia and related taxa are discussed and the need for an extensive phylogenetic study of this group is stressed.

Description of the larva of Argia cuprea (Hagen, 1861) with notes on its phylogenetic affinities (Odonata: Coenagrionidae)

The larva of Argia cuprea (Hagen, 1861) is described and figured. It falls into the group of Argia larvae with prominent ligula and one palpal seta, but it differs from its closest relatives by a combination of features such as male gonapophyses reaching posterior ventral margin of S10; dorsal and ventral margin of paraproct with long, abundant, white, delicate setae on distal 0.40; tip of paraproct 20% its total length; lateral surface of paraproct with abundant spiniform setae restricted to the triangular, yellowish-brown, slightly sclerotized area along the inflated area. It appears closely related to A. oenea Hagen in Selys, 1865 and A. orichalcea Hagen in Selys, 1865 larvae.

Amanita sect. Phalloideae: Two Interesting Non-Lethal Species from West Africa

The members of Amanita sect. Phalloideae (Fr.) Quél. are responsible of a lot of fatalities worldwide. However, a limited number of species in this section were described as non-lethal because of the lack of deadly toxins. Sequences of species belonging to the section from tropical Africa, America, Asia, Australia, and Europe were involved in this study. Sequences of five genes (ITS, nrLSU, RPB2 , TEF1-α , β-tubulin ) were used to elucidate the phylogenetic affinities among the species. The results indicated that the section has three subclades, one lethal subclade (subclade I) and two non-lethal subclades (subclade II and subclade III). Moreover, two non-lethal species from tropical Africa, namely A. ballerinoides and A. bulbulosa were newly described based on both morphology and molecular approaches. Phylogenetically, they cluster in the same subclade (subclade III) with other known non-lethal amanitas, including A. ballerina, A. chuformis, A. franzii, A. levistriata, and A. pseudogemmata . Neither amatoxins nor phallotoxins were detected in A. ballerinoides and A. bulbulosa by LC-HRMS, which agree with their placements in the non-lethal subclade III within A. sect. Phalloideae . Finally, a key to the West African species of Amanita sect. Phalloideae is provided.

Revision of the genus Niphta (Diptera, Thaumaleidae) Theischinger of South America, with descriptions of nine new species and a new immature morphotype

The Niphta Theischinger fauna of South America is revised to include 11 species, nine of which are described as new to science (N. acus Pivar, sp. nov., N. bifurcata Pivar & Moulton, sp. nov., N. bispinosa Pivar & Sinclair, sp. nov., N. brunnea Pivar, sp. nov., N. courtneyi Pivar, sp. nov., N. daniellae Pivar, sp. nov., N. downesi Pivar, sp. nov., N. eurydactyla Pivar, sp. nov., N. mapuche Pivar, sp. nov.). The genus Niphta is redefined, both previously described Chilean species are redescribed, N. halteralis (Edwards) and N. nudipennis (Edwards), and females are described or redescribed where possible. The first descriptions of the immature stages of South American Niphta are provided, which represent a new larval morphotype in Thaumaleidae, as larvae and pupae possess ventral adhesive structures. Furthermore, these larvae were collected from vegetation rather than rocky substrates. Illustrations and micrographs are provided for all species, and scanning electron microscopy images are included for select immatures. A key to species, distribution maps, and discussions regarding phylogenetic affinities and habitat are also included.