A new fossil mantis shrimp and the convergent evolution of a lobster-like morphotype

Eumalacostracan crustaceans all have a more or less stereotypic body organisation in the sense of tagmosis. Originally, this included a head with six segments (ocular segment plus five appendage-bearing segments), a thorax region with eight segments, and a pleon with six segments. Interestingly, despite these restrictions in variability in terms of tagmosis, the morphological diversity within Eumalacostraca is rather high. A group providing representative examples that are commonly known is Decapoda. Decapodan crustaceans include shrimp-like forms, lobster-like forms and crab-like forms. The stem species of Eucarida, the group including Decapoda and Euphausiacea, presumably possessed a rather shrimp-like morphology, quite similar to the stem species of Eumalacostraca. Also two other lineages within Eumalacostraca, namely Hoplocarida (with the mantis shrimps as modern representatives) and Neocarida (with the sister groups Thermosbaenacea and Peracarida) evolved from the shrimp-like body organisation to include a lobster-like one. In this study, we demonstrate that the stepwise evolution towards a lobster morphotype occurred to a certain extent in similar order in these three lineages, Hoplocarida, Eucarida and Peracarida, leading to similar types of derived body organisation. This evolutionary reconstruction is based not only on observations of modern fauna, but especially on exceptionally preserved Mesozoic fossils, including the description of a new species of mantis shrimps bridging the morphological gap between the more ancestral-appearing Carboniferous forms and the more modern-appearing Jurassic forms. With this, Mesozoic eumalacostracans represent an important (if not unique) ‘experimental set-up’ for research on factors leading to convergent evolution, the understanding of which is still one of the puzzling challenges of modern evolutionary theory.

A systematic revision of the scale mite genus Pterygosoma Peters, 1849 (Acariformes: Pterygosomatidae)

A systematic revision of the scale mites of the genus Pterygosoma (Acariformes: Pterygosomatidae) associated with agamas (Reptilia: Agamidae) was carried out based on type-material and numerous samples collected all over the world. For the natural species groups established in Fajfer (2019) diagnoses are presented. All Pterygosoma species are re-diagnosed or redescribed with simultaneous re-examination of host-parasite associations. Several taxonomic changes are implemented in the course of re-examination of the type series: seven subspecies of the genus Pterygosoma are elevated to species rank (with their former stem species in parentheses): P. aculeatum Lawrence, 1936 (agamae), P. angolae Jack, 1962 (melanum), P. capensis Jack, 1962 (melanum), P. longipalpae Lawrence, 1936 (melanum), P. orbicularis Jack, 1962 (spinosa) and P. pseudorbicularis Jack, 1962 (bibronii), P. problematica Jack, 1962 (fimbriata); four species are synonymized: Pterygosoma expansum Bertrand, Finkelman and Paperna, 2000 is synonymized with P. adramitana Jack, 1961 and consequently P. gladiator Bertrand, Finkelman and Paperna, 2000 with P. neumanni (Berlese, 1910), P. rhipidostichata Bertrand, Finkelman and Paperna, 2000 with P. mutabilis Jack, 1961 and P. livingstonei Bertrand and Modry, 2004 with P. circularis Jack, 1962; new hosts and distribution records are given for Pterygosoma neumanni (Berlese, 1910), P. bibronii Jack, 1962, P. longipalpae Lawrence, 1936, P. gracilipalpis and P. sinaita Jack, 1961. The protonymphs of Pterygosoma engai Fajfer, 2013, P. indare Fajfer, 2013, P. longipalpae Lawrence, 1936, and the deutonymph of P. transvaalense Lawrence, 1936 are described for the first time. A revision of leg chaetotaxy models i.e. coxae-trochanters I−IV and tarsi I−IV proposed by Jack (1964) is conducted and new species groups for Pterygosoma species are proposed. A key to all Pterygosoma species is provided. A full list of Pterygosoma species with their corrected host associations and distribution data is compiled.

Etnobotani: tumbuhan ritual keagamaan hindu-bali

Pulau Bali dikenal sebagai pulau seribu pura dengan mayoritas penduduk beragama Hindu menggunakan tumbuhan dalam kegiatan ritual keagamaan Hindu-Bali. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui macam-macam tumbuhan ritual keagamaan Hindu-Bali. Penelitian ini terkait etnobotani yang dilaksanakan pada bulan April tahun 2018 pada tiga lokasi yaitu kebun raya Bali, taman wisata alam Danau Buyan, dan Pura Ulun Danu Beratan, Kabupaten Tabanan dan Buleleng, Bali. Data dikumpulkan melalui teknik wawancara, observasi, dan studi pustaka. Narasumber ditentukan dengan teknik purposive sampling dan simple random sampling. Analisis data dilakukan melalui deskriptif kualitatif. Hasil penelitian ditemukan terdapat 101 spesies tumbuhan yang digunakan dalam ritual keagamaan Hindu-Bali. Bagian umbi 11 spesies, bagian batang 10 spesies, bagian biji 5 spesies, bagian daun 29 spesies, bagian bunga 17 spesies, bagian buah 9 spesies, dan bagian kulit batang 20 spesies. Mayarakat Hindu-Bali mempercayai bahwa suatu warna melambangkan dewa, yaitu kuning melambangkan Mahadewa, hitam melambangkan Dewa Wisnu, putih melambangkan Dewa Shiwa, dan merah melambangkan dewa Brahma.Kata kunci: Etnobotani, Hindu-Bali, tumbuhan ritual Etnobotani: hindu-bali religious ritual plant. Bali Island is known as the Thousand Pura Island with a Hindu population used in Hindu-Balinese religious ritual activities. The study of botany relating to the culture of society is called Ethnobotany. Types of Hindu-Balinese religious rituals. The study was conducted in April 2018 at three locations in the Bali Botanic Garden, Danau Buyan Nature Park, and Ulun Danu Beratan Temple, Tabanan and Buleleng regency, Bali Province. Data collected through interview techniques, observation, and literature study. The informants were determined by purposive sampling and simple random sampling techniques. Data analysis was performed through descriptive qualitative. The results found 101 species of plants used in Hindu-Balinese religious rituals. Tuber parts 11 species, 10 stem species, 20 bark species, 29 leaf species, 17 flower species, 9 fruit species, and 5 species seeds. Hindu-Balinese people believe that one of the colors symbolizes deity, namely yellow symbolizes Mahadeva, black symbolizes Lord Vishnu, white symbolizes Lord Shiva, and red symbolizes the Brahma.Keywords: Ethnobotany, Hindu Bali, ritual plants

Evolutionary history of water voles revisited: confronting a new phylogenetic model from molecular data with the fossil record

Recent water voles (genus Arvicola) display a prominent morphological diversity with a strong ecotypical background but with unclear taxonomic associations. We provide a novel synthetic view on the evolutionary history and the current taxonomic richness in the genus. Our molecular reconstruction, based on a 1143-bp-long sequence of cytochrome b and a 926-bp interphotoreceptor retinoid binding protein (irbp) confirmed the monophyly of four species (amphibius, sapidus, monticola and italicus) recognized thus far, and retrieved a new deeply divergent lineage from West Iran. Genetic divergence of the Iranian lineage (>9.0%) is inside the range of interspecies distances, exceeding the interspecies divergences between the remaining Arvicola species (range, 4.3–8.7%). The oldest name available for the Iranian phylogroup is Arvicola persicus de Filippi, 1865, with the type locality in Soltaniyeh, Iran. The molecular clock suggests the divergence of A. persicus in the Early Pleistocene (2.545 Ma), and the current radiation of the remaining species between 1.535 Ma (Arvicola sapidus) and 0.671 Ma. While A. sapidus possibly evolved from Arvicola jacobaeus, a fossil ancestor to A. persicus is unknown. The aquatic life-style of Mimomys savini, a direct ancestor to some fossil Arvicola, is retained in recent stem species A. sapidus and A. persicus, while a major shift toward fossorial morphotype characterizes the terminal lineages (amphibius, italicus and monticola). We suggest that habitat-dependent morphological plasticity and positive enamel differentiation in Arvicola amphibius widened its ecological niche that might trigger a range expansion across c. 12 million km2, making it one of the largest among arvicolines.

Feeding innovations in a nested phylogeny of Neotropical passerines

Several studies on cognition, molecular phylogenetics and taxonomic diversity independently suggest that Darwin's finches are part of a larger clade of speciose, flexible birds, the family Thraupidae , a member of the New World nine-primaried oscine superfamily Emberizoidea . Here, we first present a new, previously unpublished, dataset of feeding innovations covering the Neotropical region and compare the stem clades of Darwin's finches to other neotropical clades at the levels of the subfamily, family and superfamily/order. Both in terms of raw frequency as well as rates corrected for research effort and phylogeny, the family Thraupidae and superfamily Emberizoidea show high levels of innovation, supporting the idea that adaptive radiations are favoured when the ancestral stem species were flexible. Second, we discuss examples of innovation and problem-solving in two opportunistic and tame Emberizoid species, the Barbados bullfinch Loxigilla barbadensis and the Carib grackle Quiscalus lugubris fortirostris in Barbados. We review studies on these two species and argue that a comparison of L. barbadensis with its closest, but very shy and conservative local relative, the black-faced grassquit Tiaris bicolor , might provide key insights into the evolutionary divergence of cognition.

Less is more stable: arguing for few names in turtle’s taxonomy

Background. Beyond the International Codes of Zoological (ICZN) and Botanical Nomenclature and the PhyloCode, there is an alternative taxonomic system for phylogenetic systematics proposed. This phylogenetic nomenclature suggests the elimination of suprageneric names and the use of negative indexes instead of it. This system of nomenclature has a basic principle to identify clades: the presence of nominal heterobathmy, which is analogous to Hennig's "heterobathmy of characters", but applied to taxa names. Here I argue for an extensive use of heterobathmy as basic criteria to determinate “good” nodes to identify higher level taxa names. Methods. I used a previews published dataset (doi:10.5061/dryad.f2h6r) and ran several searches for Most Parsimonious Trees (MPT) using different search algorithms and assumptions in TNT. After that, I compared the results of different searches, mapped the characters transformations, and calculate the Bremer supports. The results were then compared with the current taxonomy proposed for Pelomedusoides, with emphasis on Bothremydidae. Results. The remarkable divergences with the current taxonomy of Bothremydidae are: (1) Kurmademydini and Bothremydini need to be redefined; (2) Cearachelyini and Galianemys lack diagnostic characters and, therefore, are not monophyletic; and (3) Bothremydidae do not possess common diagnostic characters in all MPT, thus, lacks a well supported heterobathmy with its sister-group, Podocnemidinura (=Pan-Podocnemididae). Moreover, the Infrafamily Bothremydodda has Bremer support of 3. However, given that all bothremydids are extinct, it is impossible to define a panstem clade based on a crown group. The result is an unstable nomenclature with more names than necessary. Discussion. The use of heterobathmy is a center point in Hennig's argumentation for phylogenetic reconstruction. Indeed, it implies the zero length collapsing rule applied to cladistic reconstruction (which is the TNT default option). Nonetheless, ambiguous characters or several equal MPT can imply on phylogenetic reconstructions that lack a consistent heterobathmy (i.e.: a common diagnostic character in the ancestor eidophoront of a given node in all MPT; as is the case of Bothremydidae). A possible solution is to use the suffix “formes” to designate extinct lineages with stem-species when some nodes are not well supported in a given phylogeny. In the example presented here, it would consist on naming ICZN’s Bothremydodda as “Bothremydidae” (sensu stricto) and ICZN’s Bothremydidae (sensu lato, i.e.: including stem-Bothremydidae) as “Bothremydidiformes” and avoid naming each node of the consensus tree unless it has high Bremer support. By taking into account this delimitation criterion, we can propose a more stable and clean taxonomy.

Less is more stable: arguing for few names in turtle’s taxonomy

Background. Beyond the International Codes of Zoological (ICZN) and Botanical Nomenclature and the PhyloCode, there is an alternative taxonomic system for phylogenetic systematics proposed. This phylogenetic nomenclature suggests the elimination of suprageneric names and the use of negative indexes instead of it. This system of nomenclature has a basic principle to identify clades: the presence of nominal heterobathmy, which is analogous to Hennig's "heterobathmy of characters", but applied to taxa names. Here I argue for an extensive use of heterobathmy as basic criteria to determinate “good” nodes to identify higher level taxa names. Methods. I used a previews published dataset (doi:10.5061/dryad.f2h6r) and ran several searches for Most Parsimonious Trees (MPT) using different search algorithms and assumptions in TNT. After that, I compared the results of different searches, mapped the characters transformations, and calculate the Bremer supports. The results were then compared with the current taxonomy proposed for Pelomedusoides, with emphasis on Bothremydidae. Results. The remarkable divergences with the current taxonomy of Bothremydidae are: (1) Kurmademydini and Bothremydini need to be redefined; (2) Cearachelyini and Galianemys lack diagnostic characters and, therefore, are not monophyletic; and (3) Bothremydidae do not possess common diagnostic characters in all MPT, thus, lacks a well supported heterobathmy with its sister-group, Podocnemidinura (=Pan-Podocnemididae). Moreover, the Infrafamily Bothremydodda has Bremer support of 3. However, given that all bothremydids are extinct, it is impossible to define a panstem clade based on a crown group. The result is an unstable nomenclature with more names than necessary. Discussion. The use of heterobathmy is a center point in Hennig's argumentation for phylogenetic reconstruction. Indeed, it implies the zero length collapsing rule applied to cladistic reconstruction (which is the TNT default option). Nonetheless, ambiguous characters or several equal MPT can imply on phylogenetic reconstructions that lack a consistent heterobathmy (i.e.: a common diagnostic character in the ancestor eidophoront of a given node in all MPT; as is the case of Bothremydidae). A possible solution is to use the suffix “formes” to designate extinct lineages with stem-species when some nodes are not well supported in a given phylogeny. In the example presented here, it would consist on naming ICZN’s Bothremydodda as “Bothremydidae” (sensu stricto) and ICZN’s Bothremydidae (sensu lato, i.e.: including stem-Bothremydidae) as “Bothremydidiformes” and avoid naming each node of the consensus tree unless it has high Bremer support. By taking into account this delimitation criterion, we can propose a more stable and clean taxonomy.

Systematics and biogeography of the genus Besdolus Ricker, 1952 (Plecoptera, Perlodidae): molecules do not match morphology

The Central-Southern European genus Besdolus was reinstated and revised by Zwick and Weinzierl (1995), and includes five species: B. imhoffi (Pictet), B. ventralis (Pictet), B. bicolor (Navás), B. ravizzarum Zwick & Weinzierl, and B. illyricus Kovács & Zwick. Overall, these species are rarely collected and have apparent relictual distributions. From the ecological point of view, B. bicolor, B. ravizzarum and B. illyricus seem to be more orophilic whereas B. imhoffi and B. ventralis are associated to lowland rivers. These species are sensitive to the environmental perturbations and are endangered taxa, threatened with extinction. Species identifications are difficult using available morphological characters. We sequenced a fragment of the mitochondrial gene COI to better understand the systematics and biogeography of this genus and to evaluate the molecular intra- and interspecific distances. Specific boundaries, species relationships, degree of isolation and molecular similarity are also presented. The molecular data do not fully support the validity of the five species. Molecular distances between B. bicolor and B. ventralis and between B. imhoffi and B. illyricus are similar to what has been previously reported for conspecific stonefly taxa. In this study, the results of the molecular approach are not congruent with the traditional morphological arrangement. Biogeographically, we hypothesize that a Central European stem species dispersing westward and southward diverged into two lineages, then differentiated on the three European main peninsulas.