The classification of the Proterosuchia

The earliest archosaurs (Upper Permian and Lower Trias) have been classified in many different ways. All classifications introduced during the period 1945-67 are compared and then themselves classified and evaluated.
The typical characters of these archosaurs are listed. Most of them may be placed in a single suborder, the Proterosuchia, which is divided into two families, the Proterosuchidae and the Erythrosuchidae. The composition of each family is considered. Lists of genera in each family are given and of those generic names which should be regarded as nomina dubia. The placing of several genera in the synonymy of Erythrosuchus is rejected. The possible conspecificity of Chasmatosaurus vanhoepeni and C. alexanderi is considered.
A simplified scheme for the evolution of the Proterosuchia is drawn up.     

Phylogeny, evolutionary history and taxonomy of the Mustelidae based on sequences of the cytochrome b gene and a complex repetitive flanking region

The Mustelidae is a diverse family of carnivores which includes weasels, polecats, mink, tayra, martens, otters, badgers and, according to some authors, skunks. Evolutionary relationships within the family are under debate at a number of different taxonomic levels, and incongruencies between molecular and morphological results are important. We analysed a total of 241 cytochrome b (cyt b) gene sequences and 33 sequences of a complex repetitive flanking region from 33 different species to compile an extensive molecular phylogeny for the Mustelidae. We analysed these sequences and constructed phylogenetic trees using Bayesian and neighbor‐joining methods that are evaluated to propose changes to the taxonomy of the family. The peripheral position of skunks in phylogenetic trees based on both loci suggests that they should be considered a separate family, Mephitidae. The subfamily Melinae is the basal group within the Mustelidae and trees based on the cyt b gene suggest that the American badger, Taxidea taxus, should be considered a separate monotypic subfamily, Taxidiinae. Otters classified within the genera Lutra, Amblonyx and Aonyx are grouped within the same clade in cyt b and combined partial cyt b and flanking region trees and show reduced levels of inter specific divergence, suggesting that they could be classified together under a single genus, Lutra. The Bayesian tree based on combined data from both loci supports the idea that subfamily Mustelinae is paraphyletic, as otters (subfamily Lutrinae) are included in this subfamily. Low levels of genetic divergence among European polecat, Mustela putorius, steppe polecat, Mustela eversmannii, and European mink, Mustela lutreola, suggest that these species could be considered subspecies within a single species, Mustela putorius. Our results are consistent with a rapid diversification of mustelid lineages in six different radiation episodes identified since the Early Eocene, the oldest events being the separation of subfamilies and the split of marten (Martes, Gulo) and weasel (Mustela) lineages in the Early Middle Miocene. The separation of New World from Old World lineages and the split of the remaining genera are estimated to have occurred in Late Miocene. The most recent events have been the differentiation of species within genera and this probably occurred in four radiation episodes at the end of Late Miocene, Early Pliocene, Late Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs.     

Comparative study on ovarian structures in scorpaenids: possible evolutional process of reproductive mode

The reproductive modes of the Scorpaenidae are extremely varied: oviparity, viviparity, and even spawning of internally fertilized eggs or embryos (zygoparity or embryoparity), as in Helicolenus, are known. The ovarian structure of this family is divided into two types by the arrangement of the stroma and the ovarian cavity. One type is the ovary in which the lamella-like stroma develops from the ovarian hilus located on the dorsal side and where the ovarian cavity is located on the ventral side of ovary, classified as “cystovarian type II-1” by Takano (1989). In the other type, the stroma in the ovary develops radially around the blood circulatory system that traverses the center of the ovary, and then the ovarian cavity surrounds all the ovary, classified as “cystovarian type II-3” by Takano (1989). In the present analysis, previous reports about ovarian structure and the relationship to the reproductive mode of scorpaenids were described, and the ovarian structure of eight genera of Scorpaenidae was examined. The ovary of cystovarian type II-1 is seen only in viviparous genera and is not seen in oviparous genera. However, the cystovarian type II-1 is a general structure in other families of Scorpaeniformes, and this structure could be considered a primitive type of ovary rather than that acquired by the process of evolution from oviparity to viviparity. The ovary of cystovarian type II-3 is seen in all six oviparous genera and the one zygoparous genus examined. The ovary of this type is not found in any other family of teleosts, so it could be a structure originally divided in Scorpaenidae. In the genera having the cystovarian type II-3 ovary, there is a common feature of spawning: a floating egg mass encompassed by the gelatinous material. We postulate that the evolution of reproductive mode in the scorpaenid fishes is as follows: Sebastes and Sebastiscus have a primitive ovary in which viviparity has developed, whereas the genera that spawn a floating egg mass evolved the ovarian structure from primitive type to cystovarian type II-3, and further zygoparity, such as in Helicolenus, evolved from them.     

Stephanosporaceae — eine neue Familie derBasidiomycetes mit aphyllophoralen und gastroiden Fruchtkörpern

The new familyStephanosporaceae (Basidiomycetes, Fungi) is proposed. As far as known, the range of the family covers aphyllophoroid (Lindtneria) and gastroid genera (Stephanospora) which are characterized by strongly sculptured and coloured spores. From the micro- and ultrastructural point of viewLindtneria andStephanospora are practically undistinguishable. Therefore, the two genera are considered to be closely related, despite their striking differences concerning the macromorphology of their carpophores.

     

SCHMITZIA EVANESCENS SP. NOV. (RHODOPHYTA,GIGARTINALES) A NEW SPECIES OF CALOSIPHONIACEAE FROM THE NORTHEASTERN NEW ZEALAND COAST1

A new red alga, Schmitzia evanescens sp. nov. (Gigartinales), is described from the northeastern coast of North I., New Zealand. Gametophytes are diminutive, delicate, mucilaginous spring annuals which grow subtidally on cobble substrata. The uniaxial construction and carposporophyte development place this new taxon in the Calosiphoniaceae, a family of only two genera, Calosiphonia H. M. Crouan et P. L. Crouan and Schmitzia P. C. Silva. This is the first report of this family in New Zealand. The new species has vegetative features of both these genera, but is assigned to Schmitzia on the basis of its unusual carposporophyte development in which the gonimoblast initial arises directly from the connecting filament at some distance from the undifferentiated intercalary auxiliary cell. Because recent investigators of other red algal genera with a similar carposporophyte development have questioned the validity of site of gonimoblast initiation as a generic criterion it is suggested that the separation of Schmitzia and Calosiphonia should be re-evaluated. These and several other genera in the Gymnophlaeaceae, Pseudoanemoniaceae, Dumontiaceae and Gloiosiphoniaceae, can be considered, on morphological and reproductive grounds, to be relatively simple and therefore perhaps primitive members of the Rhodophyta.     

山西蟒河国家级自然保护区猕猴食源植物区系特征

于2012~2013年,以样带法、样方法和无样地法相结合,分4次对蟒河国家级自然保护区猕猴栖息地食源植物种类进行了实地调查,并分析了其区系特征。研究发现:(1)蟒河保护区猕猴栖息地内有维管植物659种,隶属102科374属,其中54科126属261种为猕猴的食源植物,占猕猴栖息地植物科、属、种总数的52.94%、33.69%和39.61%;蔷薇科是食源植物中包含种类最多的科,有16属39种,其次为豆科,含11属23种。(2)蟒河保护区内猕猴食源植物区系特征为:食源植物所在科有6个分布型和2个变型,所在属有13个分布型和6个变型;在属的分布类型中,温带性质分布类型的属占优势,有75个,占总属数的66.96%,其中北温带分布类型的属46个,占总属数的41.07%;热带性质分布类型的属有24个,地中海区、中亚、东亚和中国特有分布成分的属共有13个,分别占总属数的21.43%和11.61%,说明蟒河保护区内猕猴食源植物区系为暖温带性质。     

PTEROCARYOID FRUITS (JUGLANDACEAE) IN THE PALEOGENE OF NORTH AMERICA AND THEIR EVOLUTIONARY AND BIOGEOGRAPHIC SIGNIFICANCE

The Juglandaceae (walnut family) has an excellent fossil record of various organs extending back to the earliest Tertiary. Several genera which today are restricted to isolated geographic regions were widespread in the Northern Hemisphere during the Tertiary. This paper focuses upon the fossil record of the Pterocarya alliance of the subfamily Juglandoideae, tribe Juglandeae. The Pterocarya alliance includes only two modern genera, Pterocarya (five species) and Cyclocarya (one species), both restricted to Eurasia. Paleogene sediments of the Rocky Mountain Region have yielded three genera and four species referable to the Pterocarya alliance: Cyclocarya (two species), Pterocarya, and a new genus, Polyptera. Although three of the four Paleogene species described here are attributed to present day genera, each represents an extinct form, which cannot be accommodated by any single living species. These fossils, reviewed with other published reports, indicate that the Pterocarya alliance, like the Engelhardia alliance of the same family, was more diverse and much more widespread geographically in the Tertiary than it is today.     

POLLINATION DROP IN RELATION TO CONE MORPHOLOGY IN PODOCARPACEAE: A NOVEL REPRODUCTIVE MECHANISM

Observation of ovulate cones at the time of pollination in the southern coniferous family Podocarpaceae demonstrates a distinctive method of pollen capture, involving an extended pollination drop. Ovules in all genera of the family are orthotropous and single within the axil of each fertile bract. In Microstrobus and Phyllocladus ovules are erect (i.e., the micropyle directed away from the cone axis) and are not associated with an ovule-supporting structure (epimatium). Pollen in these two genera must land directly on the pollination drop in the way usual for gymnosperms, as observed in Phyllocladus. In all other genera, the ovule is inverted (i.e., the micropyle is directed toward the cone axis) and supported by a specialized ovule-supporting structure (epimatium). In Saxegothaea there is no pollination drop and gametes are delivered to the ovule by pollen tube growth. Pollination drops were observed in seven of the remaining genera. In these genera the drop extends over the adjacent bract surface or cone axis and can retain pollen that has arrived prior to drop secretion (“pollen scavenging”). The pollen floats upward into the micropylar cavity. The configuration of the cone in other genera in which a pollination drop has not yet been observed directly suggests that pollen scavenging is general within the family and may increase pollination efficiency by extending pollination in space and time. Increased pollination efficiency may relate to the reduction of ovule number in each cone, often to one in many genera, a derived condition. A biological perspective suggests that animal dispersal of large seeds may be the ultimate adaptive driving force that has generated the need for greater pollination efficiency.     

The morphology and systematic position of Prionotylus Fieber and Centroplax Horvath (Heteroptera: Coreidae)

An account is given of several aspects of the morphology of the genera Prionotylus Fieber and Centroplax Horváth. The systematic position of these genera within the family Coreidae and the generic assignment of Prionotylus meridianus Villiers are considered.     

Phylogenetic classification of the family Heteroderidae (Nematoda: Tylenchida)

Summary The family Heteroderidae is revised. On the basis of shared, derived characters sister groups are established and arranged in a phylogenetic tree. A hypothetical, primitive ancestor for the family is defined. The genus Verutus has a large equatorial vulval slit and is considered to be the most primitive form. The genus Meloidodera developed by a reduction in vulval size. Genera which developed later exhibit a subterminally located vulval slit and progressively lost the annulation of the female cuticle. In this process four evolutionary lines emerge: (i) a posterior shift of the vulva and the formation of more or less distinct vulval lips gave rise to the genera Zelandodera and Cryphodera; (ii) changes in the lip configuration of the second-stage juvenile gave rise to the genera Hylonema, Afrodera n.g., Heterodera and Bidera; (iii) changes in the composition of the female cuticle resulted in the genera Thecavermiculatus, Atalodera, Sherodera, Sarisodera and Bellodera n.g. and; (iv) a reduction in vulval slit size led to the development of the genera Dolichodera, Globodera, Cactodera and Punctodera. The genera Ephippiodera and Rhizonema are synonymized with Bidera and Sarisodera respectively. Verutus and Meloidodera are recognized as subfamilies Verutinae and Meloidoderinae and the genera in the four evolutionary lines are recognized as subfamilies Cryphoderinae, Heteroderinae, Ataloderinae and Punctoderinae respectively.Two new genera, Afrodera and Bellodera, are erected for species originally described in Sarisodera and Cryphodera. Both new genera are characterized by a depressed vulval slit and the anus located on the dorsal side of the vulval cone. Differences in lip configuration of the infective juvenile and a postulated difference in female cuticle justifies their placement in different subfamilies. The lip configuration of the infective juveniles in the subfamilies Verutinae, Meloidoderinae, Cryphoderinae, Ataloderinae and Punctoderinae remains basically unchanged. The possible development of this character in the subfamily Heteroderinae is discussed and illustrated. The family Heteroderidae, its six subfamilies and 17 genera are defined or redefined, and for each of the genera the nominal species and their synonyms are listed. New synonyms introduced are: Heterodera rumicis and H. scleranthi of H. trifolii, H. ustinova of Bidera avenae and H. mali of Globodera chaubattia. Cactodera acnidae (Schuster & Brezina, 1979) n. comb. and Dolichodera andinus (Golden, Franco, Jatala & Astogaza, 1983) n. comb. are transferred from Heterodera and Thecavermiculatus respectively. Keys are provided for all taxa for which no suitable keys are available in the literature. Species inquirendae are listed. ac]19840606     

Systematics of Amaryllidaceae based on cladistic analysis of plastid sequence data

Cladistic analyses of plastid DNA sequences rbcL and trnL-F are presented separately and combined for 48 genera of Amaryllidaceae and 29 genera of related asparagalean families. The combined analysis is the most highly resolved of the three and provides good support for the monophyly of Amaryllidaceae and indicates Agapanthaceae as its sister family. Alliaceae are in turn sister to the Amaryllidaceae/Agapanthaceae clade. The origins of the family appear to be western Gondwanaland (Africa), and infrafamilial relationships are resolved along biogeographic lines. Tribe Amaryllideae, primarily South African, is sister to the rest of Amaryllidaceae; this tribe is supported by numerous morphological synapomorphies as well. The remaining two African tribes of the family, Haemantheae and Cyrtantheae, are well supported, but their position relative to the Australasian Calostemmateae and a large clade comprising the Eurasian and American genera, is not yet clear. The Eurasian and American elements of the family are each monophyletic sister clades. Internal resolution of the Eurasian clade only partially supports currently accepted tribal concepts, and few conclusions can be drawn on the relationships of the genera based on these data. A monophyletic Lycorideae (Central and East Asian) is weakly supported. Galanthus and Leucojum (Galantheae pro parte) are supported as sister genera by the bootstrap. The American clade shows a higher degree of internal resolution. Hippeastreae (minus Griffinia and Worsleya) are well supported, and Zephyranthinae are resolved as a distinct subtribe. An Andean clade marked by a chromosome number of 2n = 46 (and derivatives thereof) is resolved with weak support. The plastid DNA phylogenies are discussed in the context of biogeography and character evolution in the family.     

Phylogenetic relationships between Juncaceae and Cyperaceae: insights from rbcL sequence data

Among the commelinid monocots, phylogenetic relationships involving Juncaceae and Cyperaceae have been difficult to resolve because of parallel and convergent evolution of morphological features. Using comparative sequencing of the chloroplast gene rbcL, hypotheses of relationships between these two families were tested. Sequences from 13 taxa were obtained for this study and analyzed using parsimony with 15 previously published sequences. Results of this analysis suggest that two genera of Juncaceae, Oxychloë and Prionium, are not closely related to the other genera of this family. Further, Cyperaceae appear to be more closely related to Juncaceae than to Poaceae, with which Cyperaceae are sometimes classified. In fact, Cyperaceae appear to be derived from within Juncaceae. The progenitor-derivative relationship of Juncaceae and Cyperaceae suggested by this study reveals an additional example of paraphyletic families which presents a series of taxonomic dilemmas.     

Re-thinking the classification of corticioid fungi

Corticioid fungi are basidiomycetes with effused basidiomata, a smooth, merulioid or hydnoid hymenophore, and holobasidia. These fungi used to be classified as a single family, Corticiaceae, but molecular phylogenetic analyses have shown that corticioid fungi are distributed among all major clades within Agaricomycetes. There is a relative consensus concerning the higher order classification of basidiomycetes down to order. This paper presents a phylogenetic classification for corticioid fungi at the family level. Fifty putative families were identified from published phylogenies and preliminary analyses of unpublished sequence data. A dataset with 178 terminal taxa was compiled and subjected to phylogenetic analyses using MP and Bayesian inference. From the analyses, 41 strongly supported and three unsupported clades were identified. These clades are treated as families in a Linnean hierarchical classification and each family is briefly described. Three additional families not covered by the phylogenetic analyses are also included in the classification. All accepted corticioid genera are either referred to one of the families or listed as incertae sedis.     

陕西府谷古鳄类一新属

本文详细记述了陕西府谷下三叠统上部二马营组底部的一古鳄类化石.据其骨骼形态特征拟订为古鳄亚目(Proterosuchia)、引鳄科(Erythrosuchidae)的一新属种:石拐古城鳄(Guchengosuchus shiguaiensis gen. et sp. nov.),同引鳄科内已知属的对比,表明新属古城鳄与武氏鳄 Vjushkovia 的关系最为接近.     

A new taxonomy of the family Teloschistaceae

The lichen family Teloschistaceae is one of the larger families of lichenized fungi. Currently it includes one very large heterogenous genus, Caloplaca, with some 1000 or more species with a vast variation in morphology, anatomy and chemistry. The rest of the family is split into 10–15 smaller genera, each with 20 or fewer species. There is no modern classification of the family based on molecular data. Here we attempt a first phylogenetic evaluation of a large part of the family, including a total of 337 species. Of these, 162 were used in a combined phylogenetic analysis of the ribosomal RNA sequence markers nrITS, nrLSU and mrSSU, using Bayesian inference. We also analysed all species using nrITS data, split into four different analyses. As a result we propose a new classification of the family, where a total of 39 genera are recognized, of which 31 are newly described or resurrected. The new genera are: Athallia, Austroplaca, Bryoplaca, Calogaya, Cerothallia, Flavoplaca, Gondwania, Haloplaca, Orientophila, Pachypeltis, Parvoplaca, Rufoplaca, Shackletonia, Scutaria, Sirenophila, Solitaria, Squamulea, Stellarangia, Teloschistopsis, Usnochroma, Variospora, Villophora and Wetmoreana. Resurrected genera are Blastenia, Dufourea, Follmannia, Gyalolechia, Leproplaca, Polycauliona, Pyrenodesmia and Xanthocarpia. The species Orientophila subscopularis is described as new. A third subfamily, Teloschistoideae, is proposed to accommodate the genus Teloschistes and related genera, parallel to the two previously recognized subfamilies Xanthorioideae and Caloplacoideae. We also show the large plasticity in both morphological and anatomical characters between closely related species within genera, indicating the low value of these as evolutionary markers. The secondary chemistry is a better marker in some parts of the family. We recognize a large number of geographically delimited clades with clear centres of evolution, but often showing large variation in morphology and anatomy.     

Antennal sensory structures in Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera) and their phylogenetic implications

Antennae of representatives of most genera and subgenera of Nepticulidae have been examined in detail with SEM. Flagellar segments are highly uniform and possess each 1–3 s. trichodea, 1–3 long s. chaetica type I, 12 short s. chaetica type II and 0–2 s. coeloconica of a simpified type without “picket fence”. The dominating structure is a pair of s. vesiculoclada, a unique sensillum type, believed to be a synapomorphy for the Nepticulidae. A pair is present on alt flagellomeres in male antennae but not on all flagellomeres of females in two subgenera of Ectoedemia. Principally each s. vesiculocladum is five-branched, with the branches joined tightly to the flagellar cuticle, but reduction of the branches occurs in several genera, in particular in Ectoedemia. This sensillum can be classified as a single-walled wp sensillum, and thus a chemoreceptor. The s. vesiculocladum is considered to be a homologue of the ascoid sensilla in the Opostegidae. The presence of these special setae is considered as an additional synapomorphy for both families. A review of previous Literature on lepidopteran sensilla is presented and the present data are compared and discussed. In the Nepticulidae the s. vesiculocladum is assumed to be the major pheromone detector in contrast to the s. trichodea of most other Lepidoptera.     

Eocene handfishes from Monte Bolca,with description of a new genus and species,and a phylogeny of the family Brachionichthyidae (Teleostei: Lophiiformes)

The family Brachionichthyidae, commonly known as the handfishes, is a small group of lophiiform fishes, the living species of which are restricted in distribution mostly to shallow temperate and subtropical waters of Tasmania and southern and eastern Australia. Despite their narrow present‐day distribution, and the extreme rarity of lophiiforms in the fossil record, handfishes are well represented in the Eocene of Monte Bolca, Italy. A revision of the known fossil material shows the presence of two fossil species in two monotypic genera, ?Histionotophorus and ? Orrichthys gen. nov. Diagnoses of the family Brachionichthyidae, the two fossil genera, as well as two recognized extant genera Brachionichthys and Sympterichthys are provided. An osteological analysis of ?Histionotophorus bassani revealed many new features as well as reinterpretations of some previously described skeletal parts. A phylogenetic analysis of brachionichthyid genera and representatives of the antennarioid families Antennariidae, Tetrabrachiidae, and Lophichthyidae, using 36 morphological characters, strongly supported monophyly of brachionichthyids and antennarioids, the former taxon representing the sister group of the other families of the latter. Within the Brachionichthyidae, the two extant genera Brachionichthys and Sympterichthys form a species pair, as do the extinct genera ?Histionotophorus and ? Orrichthys gen. nov. Biogeographical considerations suggest that the present geographical range of handfishes can be considered a residual distribution of a temporally and spatially dynamic range shift. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 160 , 621–647.     

Studies on Hepadcae: XVI. The morphology and systematic of the suborder Pleuroziinae

Abstract

The phylogenetic position of the family Pleuroziaceae (Hepaticae), consisting of only the two genera Pleurozia Dumort. and Eopleurozia Schust., is reevaluated on the basis of the discovery that the fundamental architecture of the gametophyte in this family bad been misinterpreted. With study of Pleurozia caledonica it was found that previous accounts erroneously considered the family to have incubous leaves, with a ventra1lobule (water-sac); thus the gametophyte was considered comparable to that of the suborders Radulinae Schust. and Porellinae SchusL However, the antical and postical faces of the plant had been confused; the leaves are succubously inserted and each has a dorsal, generally inflated lobule. The leaves are therefore not comparable to those of the Radulinae and Porellinae and appear to have been derived from an organization of the Jungermanniine type. Intercalary branching from the leafaxils, commonly found in Jungermanniinae, but never in the Radulinae or Porellinae, confirms this judgement.