The Bothriolepis Dupret, Vincent; Byrne, Hannah M; Castro, Nélia ...
PloS one,
02/2023, Volume:
18, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Material of the antiarch placoderm Bothriolepis from the middle Givetian of the Valentia Slate Formation in Iveragh Peninsula, Ireland, is described and attributed to a new species, B. dairbhrensis ...sp. nov. A revision of the genus Bothriolepis is proposed, and its taxonomic content and previous phylogenetic analyses are reviewed, as well as the validity of morphologic characteristics considered important for the establishment of the genus, such as the shape of the preorbital recess of the neurocranium. A series of computerised phylogenetic analyses was performed, which reveals that our new species is the sister taxon to the Frasnian Scottish form B. gigantea. New phylogenetic and biogeographic analyses of the genus Bothriolepis together with comparisons between faunal assemblages reveal a first northward dispersal wave from Gondwana to Euramerica at the latest in the mid Givetian. Other Euramerican species of Bothriolepis seem to belong to later dispersal waves from Gondwana, non-excluding southward waves from Euramerica. Questions remain open such as the taxonomic validity and stratigraphic constraints for the most ancient forms of Bothriolepis in China, and around the highly speciose nature of the genus.
Material of the antiarch placoderm Bothriolepis from the middle Givetian of the Valentia Slate Formation in Iveragh Peninsula, Ireland, is described and attributed to a new species, B. dairbhrensis ...sp. nov. A revision of the genus Bothriolepis is proposed, and its taxonomic content and previous phylogenetic analyses are reviewed, as well as the validity of morphologic characteristics considered important for the establishment of the genus, such as the shape of the preorbital recess of the neurocranium. A series of computerised phylogenetic analyses was performed, which reveals that our new species is the sister taxon to the Frasnian Scottish form B. gigantea. New phylogenetic and biogeographic analyses of the genus Bothriolepis together with comparisons between faunal assemblages reveal a first northward dispersal wave from Gondwana to Euramerica at the latest in the mid Givetian. Other Euramerican species of Bothriolepis seem to belong to later dispersal waves from Gondwana, non-excluding southward waves from Euramerica. Questions remain open such as the taxonomic validity and stratigraphic constraints for the most ancient forms of Bothriolepis in China, and around the highly speciose nature of the genus.
Cirrhigaleus comprises a small genus of rare barbel-bearing dogfish sharks with distributions in limited regions of all oceans. Generic validity and taxonomic status of some species are upon ...controversies by morphological and molecular evidence that often suggest reallocation of Cirrhigaleus species into the genus Squalus. Particularly, the roughskin spurdog C. asper exhibits intermediary morphological characteristics within Squalidae that requires clarification. In the present study, a phylogenetic approach was undertaken to test the correct generic placement of C. asper using novel and revised morphological characters. We performed maximum parsimony analysis of 51 morphological characters of the internal (e.g., neurocranium, clasper cartilages, pectoral and pelvic girdles) and external anatomy applied to 13 terminal taxa. Cirrhigaleus represents a valid genus and it is supported by eight synapomorphies: high number of monospondylous vertebrae; medial nasal lobe supported by fleshy core and innervated by the buccopharyngeal branch of the facial nerve; neurocranium with greatest width across nasal capsules; one facet and one condyle in the puboischiadic bar for articulating with the basipterygium; two intermediate segments between the basipterygium of the pelvic fin and the axial cartilage of the claspers; five terminal clasper cartilages; and posterior medial process of the puboischiadic bar absent. Cirrhigaleus asper is sister-species to a small clade comprising C. barbifer and C. australis which is supported by one synapomorphy, presence of conspicuous cusplets in the dermal denticles. Cirrhigaleus barbifer, C. asper and C. australis are redescribed herein and the neotype of C. barbifer is designated. A key to Cirrhigaleus species is also given and the inner relationships within Squalus is tentatively discussed.
A new species of holothuroid, Pseudothyone labradorensis sp. nov. (order Dendrochirotida and family Sclerodactylidae), was discovered off the coast of Labrador (eastern Canada) at a depth of 740-969 ...m. Two specimens were described based on morphological and genetic parameters. Distinctive characters included pinkish body colour, presence of tube feet on a 'tail', supporting rod-shaped ossicles in the tube feet, and rod-shaped ossicles in the tentacles. To investigate its phylogenetic relationships, partial sequences of COI were obtained for the new species as well as for the type species P. raphanus and another North Atlantic species P. serrifera. According to the phylogenetic analysis, P. labradorensis sp. nov. appeared in a well-supported clade with P. raphanus and P. serrifera . Molecular data also suggest polyphyly of the genus, showing the Northeast Pacific species Pseudothyone belli recovered outside of the clade containing the type species. Pseudothyone labradorensis sp. nov. is the first species of the genus from the Northwest Atlantic. A key to the North Atlantic Pseudothyone is provided.
A new species of Cryptopygus Willem, 1901 associated with hermit crabs living on seashores of Quintana Roo State, Mexico, is described and illustrated. It is blind, with 9-11 postlabial setae, unguis ...with a pair of lateral teeth, empodial appendix lanceolate and almost as long as unguis, tenaculum with 4 + 4 teeth and 3-4 setae on corpus, manubrium with 11-14 pairs of manubrial setae on anterior surface and 17-18 pairs on posterior surface, and mucro bidentate. An updated key for the identification of 29 American species of Cryptopygus complex is included.
A new feather mite species, Mycterialges boycianae sp. nov. (Xolalgidae), was identified from the Oriental Stork, Ciconia boyciana Swinhoe, 1873, in Korea. Males of M. boycianae sp. nov. are ...distinguished from Mycterialges mesomorphus Gaud & Atyeo, 1981, in having a single triangular prodorsal shield, sinuous margins of the opisthosoma located between setae e2 and h2 on the hysteronotal shield, an oval-shaped epiandrum without posterior extensions, a shorter tibia + tarsus IV than femoragenu IV, and an absent ambulacral disc of leg IV. Females differ in having a prodorsal shield with a posterior margin that is blunt-angular, and a concave posterior margin of the hysteronotal shield with posterior extensions. This study presents the first record of the feather mite genus Mycterialges in birds of the genus Ciconia (Ciconiidae). Additionally, we determined the phylogenetic relationship among Ingrassiinae using the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit (COI).
In this paper we update the knowledge on the species of Serica McLeay, 1819 (sensu lato) occurring in Yunnan, Sichuan, and Shaanxi provinces, China. Three new species are described: Serica allonanhua ...Liu, Ahrens, Li & Su, sp. nov. , S. breviantennalis Liu, Ahrens, Li & Su, sp. nov. , and S. fengensis Liu, Ahrens, Li & Su, sp. nov. The key to the species groups and species is updated. The habitus and male genitalia of the new species are illustrated, and a map showing their distribution is provided. New distributional data are given for four species.
Why do living things and physical phenomena take the form they do? D'Arcy Thompson's classic On Growth and Form looks at the way things grow and the shapes they take. Analysing biological processes ...in their mathematical and physical aspects, this historic work, first published in 1917, has also become renowned for the sheer poetry of its descriptions. A great scientist sensitive to the fascinations and beauty of the natural world tells of jumping fleas and slipper limpets; of buds and seeds; of bees' cells and rain drops; of the potter's thumb and the spider's web; of a film of soap and a bubble of oil; of a splash of a pebble in a pond.
The systematics of the potamid freshwater crab Cryptopotamon anacoluthon (Kemp, 1918) is clarified, and its generic position in Sinolapotamon Tai & Sung, 1975, is confirmed based on morphological ...comparisons, geographical information and phylogenetic analyses. A new species of Sinolapotamon , Sinolapotamon cirratum sp. nov. is described from the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China. Sinolapotamon cirratum sp. nov. is distinguished from its congeners by the combination of characters of its carapace, third maxilliped, anterolateral margin, and unique male first gonopod. Phylogenetic analyses based on partial COX1, 16S rRNA and 28S rRNA genes also support the species as new.
Two specimens representing the first known adults of Lestidiops indopacificus (Ege, 1953) are reported and described from Taiwan, and the validity and generic assignment of this species are ...confirmed. The origin of the pelvic fin directly below the dorsal-fin base shows that L. indopacificus belongs to the L. mirabilis species complex. It can be separated from its congeners by the position of the nostrils above the posterior end of the maxilla, the light body color with unevenly distributed melanophores in adults, and a distinct combination of meristic values and other morphological characteristics. New geographic records are reported for the two other current members of this species complex, L. mirabilis (Ege, 1933) and L. extremus (Ege, 1953). The diagnostic features that separate these three very similar species are discussed.
