Afrotropical and Nearctic genera of Odonata in the French Oligocene: biogeographic and paleoclimatic implications (Insecta: Calopterygidae,Aeshnidae)

New species of the genera Sapho and Epiaeschna are recorded in the Oligocene of Aix- en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, France. Sapho legrandi n. sp. is the third fossil representative of this recent African genus and Epiaeschna pseudoheros n. sp. is the fifth fossil species of this recent North American genus. The fossil species Triaeschna gossi from the Eocene of England, Epacantha magnifica from the Late Oligocene of Kazakhstan, and Mediaeschna matutina from the Oligocene of China, are considered species of Epiaeschna and the three fossil genera Triaeschna Campion 1916, Mediaeschna Zhang 1989, and Epacantha Martynov 1929 are synonymized with Epiaeschna. The closely related genera Umma and Sapho inhabit warm humid forests of Western Africa. Their presence in two Oligocene deposits of France supports the hypothesis of a warm humid palaeoenvironment for Armissan (Aude, France), and Aix-en-Provence.     

A new terrestrial amphipod from tertiary amber deposits of Chiapas province,Southern Mexico

Transitroides morsei new genus, new species, is described from late Oligocene Early Miocene amber deposits of Chiapas Province from southern Mexico. This new taxon is the first known fossil member of the amphipod family Talitridae and superfamily Talitroidea. It appears intermediate between regional extant palustral (salt‐marsh) genera and fully terrestrial landhoppers of the genus Caribitroides. These beetle‐like crustaceans form a significant part of the forest‐floor leaf‐litter communities in some tropical parts of the globe. Extant terrestrial amphipods occur in south‐central Mexico and adjacent rain forest habitats in Central America and the Caribbean. Their occasional use of arboreal habitats in search for decaying organic matter, which serves as food, explains their occurrence in fossilized resin.     

A fossil osteoglossoid fish from Tanzania (E. Africa)

A new genus and species ( Singida jacksonoides ) and a new family (Singididae) of osteoglossoid fishes are described from the lacustrine deposits in Tanzania which have already yielded the primitive clupeomorph Palaeodenticeps. Singida differs from all Osteoglossomorpha in being toothless. Although it shows some affinity with the living Asiatic genus Scleropages , it also exhibits certain characters, particularly in the caudal skeleton, which are usually associated with the recent and fossil Hiodontoidei of North America. Singida shows little affinity with either of the living African genera of Osteoglossoidei. The age of the Singida deposits is unknown, but the fish fauna suggests a Palaeogene (? Oligocene) age.     

First Record of Fossil Ghost Pipefish (Solenostomidae,Gasterosteiformes) in Russia

A skeleton of a ghost pipefish (Solenostomidae) from the Pshekha Subformation of the Khadum Formation (Lower Oligocene) in the Republic of Adygea was discovered. This is the first fossil record of Solenostomidae in Russia; moreover, it is the only ghost pipefish found in the Oligocene. To date, only two fossil solenostomid genera and species from the Eocene of Monte Bolca (Italy) have been recorded. The only Recent genus of this family, Solenostomus Lacepède, 1903, contains four species. The new specimen is incompletely preserved; it lacks a fragment of the body and some fins, precluding the establishment of genus and species of this form. However, the unique geographical position and age of the new fossil expand our knowledge of the evolution and geographical range of the family Solenostomidae.     

A molecular phylogeny of the temperate Gondwanan family Pettalidae (Arachnida,Opiliones, Cyphophthalmi) and the limits of taxonomic sampling

We evaluate the phylogenetic and biogeographical relationships of the members of the family Pettalidae (Opiliones, Cyphophthalmi), a textbook example of an ancient temperate Gondwanan taxon, by means of DNA sequence data from four markers. Taxon sampling is optimized to cover more than 70% of the described species in the family, with 117 ingroup specimens included in the analyses. The data were submitted to diverse analytical treatments, including static and dynamic homology, untrimmed and trimmed alignments, and a variety of optimality criteria including parsimony and maximum‐likelihood (traditional search and Bayesian). All analyses found strong support for the monophyly of the family Pettalidae and of all its genera, with the exception of Speleosiro, which is nested within Purcellia. However, the relationships among genera are poorly resolved, with the exceptions of a first split between the South African genus Parapurcellia and the remaining species, and, less supported, a possible relationship between Chileogovea and the other South African genus Purcellia. The diversification of most genera is Mesozoic, and of the three New Zealand genera, two show evidence of constant diversification through time, contradicting scenarios of total submersion of New Zealand during the Oligocene drowning episode. The genera Karripurcellia from Western Australia and Neopurcellia from the Australian plate of New Zealand show a pattern typical of relicts, with ancient origin, depauperate extant diversity and recent diversification. The following taxonomic actions are taken: Milipurcellia Karaman, 2012 is synonymized with Karripurcellia Giribet, 2003 syn. nov. ; Speleosiro Lawrence, 1931 is synonymised with Purcellia Hansen & Sørensen, 1904 syn. nov . The following new combinations are proposed: Parapurcellia transvaalica (Lawrence, 1963) comb. nov. ; Purcellia argasiformis (Lawrence, 1931) comb. nov .     

Phylogeny of split‐footed lacewings (Neuroptera,Nymphidae), with descriptions of new Cretaceous fossil species from China

A phylogeny of the lacewing family Nymphidae based on morphology and DNA sequences is presented including representatives of all living genera and selected fossil genera. Widely distributed Jurassic and Cretaceous genera gave rise to recent taxa now restricted to Australasia. Two previously defined clades (i.e. Nymphinae and Myiodactylinae) were recovered and reflect the diverging adult and larval morphology of members of these two subfamilies. From Chinese Cretaceous deposits, a new genus (Spilonymphes gen. nov.) is described with one new species, as well as new species described in the genera Baissoleon Makarkin and Sialium Westwood.     

The ochotonids of Eurasia: Biochronology and taxonomic diversity

The ochotonid faunas of Eurasia and North America from the Oligocene to the present time are reviewed. The pika family (Ochotonidae Thomas 1897) belongs to the order Lagomorpha, which includes five families: Ochotonidae, Mimotonidae Li 1978, Leporidae Fischer 1817 (hares), Palaeolagidae Dice 1929, and Prolagidae Gureev 1960. The family Ochotonidae consists of two subfamilies: Sinolagomyinae Gureev, 1960 and Ochotoninae Thomas, 1897 and comprises a total of 17 genera. Originating in Central Asia at the beginning of the Late Oligocene, pikas flourished during the Late Oligocene. The highest taxonomic diversity of pikas can be found in the Miocene and Pliocene; towards the Pleistocene, the ochotonid fauna declined. Only one genus, Ochotona, remained extant by the end of the Pleistocene. The genus includes a total of 38 known extinct taxa and 28 extant species.     

A new genus and species of triggerfish from the Middle Eocene of the Northern Caucasus,the earliest member of the Balistidae (Tetraodontiformes)

Until now, the earliest known members of the triggerfish family Balistidae have been two genera from the Oligocene. Herein is described the new balistid Gornylistes prodigiosus gen. et sp. nov. from the uppermost Middle Eocene (Kuma Horizon) of the Northern Caucasus (Gorny Luch locality); it is as thoroughly modern in its bauplan as the taxa of balistids from the Oligocene and more recent periods, and far more advanced morphologically than the several stem taxa of the balistoid + ostracioid clade known from earlier in the Middle and Lower Eocene and from the Upper Paleocene.     

The timing of diversification within the most divergent parrot clade

The Strigopidae are an ancient parrot (Psittaciformes) family consisting of three extant species placed in two genera (Nestor, Strigops) and restricted to New Zealand. Their evolutionary history is clouded because the timing of divergence events within this family has variously been attributed to Pleistocene climate change or much earlier earth‐historic events. Here we examine new psittaciform DNA sequence data, and combine them with previously published sequences, to shed light on the poorly understood timing of diversification within the Strigopidae. Using calibrations indirectly derived from both psittaciform and non‐psittaciform fossils, our data indicate a Late Pliocene or Early Pleistocene (ca 1.2–3.6 mya) differentiation between the two Nestor species (kea and kaka), possibly in response to shifts in habitat distribution associated with sea level fluctuations. The unique, monotypic, nocturnal and flightless genus Strigops (kakapo) is shown to have diverged from the Nestor lineage probably ca 28–29 mya, coinciding with the potential Oligocene submergence of Zealandia when much of its landmass may have been fragmented into smaller islands, providing a setting for allopatric diversification.     

Phylogeny and taxonomic revision of all genera of Conopidae (Diptera) based on morphological data

All global genera of the fly family Conopidae are revised here. A cladistic analysis of 117 morphological characters recorded from 154 species, including representatives of 59 genera and subgenera, recovers a phylogenetic hypothesis for the family. This hypothesis is used as the basis of a new classification for the family. Both Sicini and Zodionini are removed from Myopinae and elevated to subfamilial status. A new tribe, Thecophorini, is proposed within Myopinae to accommodate Thecophora, Scatoccemyia, and Pseudoconops. Two genera, Pseudomyopa and Parazodion, are removed from Dalmanniinae and placed in Myopinae and Zodioninae, respectively. Conopinae is divided into 11 tribes, seven of which are newly described (Asiconopini, Caenoconopini, Gyroconopini, Microconopini, Neoconopini, and Siniconopini). Some examined species are transferred to different or new genera and subgenera. A new genus, Schedophysoconops gen. nov. , and subgenus Asiconops (Aegloconops) subgen. nov. within Conopinae are described. A review of character evolution and phylogeography is included in light of the new classification. A catalogue of all genus‐group names is included with new emendations noted.     

Reconstruction of phylogenetic relationships within Grapsidae (Crustacea: Brachyura) and comparison of trans-isthmian versus amphi-atlantic gene flow based on mtDNA

Following taxonomic revisions in recent years, the originally large family Grapsidae MacLeay, 1838 has become a relatively small and morphologically homogeneous family in terms of adult and larval morphology. Most available molecular studies including more than one genus of the family have also suggested monophyly of the corresponding taxa. However, no single phylogenetic study has ever included all constituent genera of the Grapsidae. In the current study, a molecular phylogeny based on sequences of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene from all eight grapsid genera and 34 species is presented and suggests that up to four genera are not monophyletic. This is mainly due to the polyphyletic nature of the genus Pachygrapsus which can be found in six different lineages of the phylogeny, suggesting that the genus currently does not represent a single evolutionary lineage and is in need of taxonomic revision. Amphi-atlantic and trans-isthmian species pairs or populations in four genera are compared and reveal relatively constant and pronounced divergences across the Panama Isthmus as opposed to moderate divergences across the Atlantic Ocean, thereby suggesting occurrence of gene flow across the Atlantic Ocean during the past three million years.     

Modern thrips families Thripidae and Phlaeothripidae in Early Cretaceous amber (Insecta: Thysanoptera)

Two specimens of Thysanoptera with forked sensilla on third and fourth antennal segments were described from the Lebanese Neocomian and the Spanish Albian ambers, and attributed to the new genus Tethysthrips n. gen. in the family Thripidae Stevens 1829. One specimen with a tubular tenth abdominal segment was also discovered in the Lebanese Neocomian amber, and attributed to the new genus Rohrthrips n. gen. belonging to the family Phlaeothripidae Uzel 1895. Thripidae and Phlaeothripidae are nowadays the most species-rich families of Thysanoptera. The present discoveries of Early Cretaceous fossils show how diversified these families and thrips already were at that time. Moreover, this tubuliferan Rohrthrips specimen has plesiomorphies no longer present in the recent genera, in particular on the wings. Therefore it brings new insight in the evolution of Tubulifera.     

Improved tribal delimitation of the subfamily Dictyopharinae and description of new genera and new species (Homoptera,Fulgoroidea, Dictyopharidae)

Ten new genera, five new subgenera, and five new species are described in the family Dictyopharidae. Three generic names are synonymized. A new name is proposed for the generic homonym. Dictyophara kazeruna Dlabola is transferred to the genus Callodictya Melichar. The genus Sinodictya Matsumura, with the type species Sinodictya tukana Matsumura, is redescribed. A new key to the tribes of the subfamily Dictyopharinae is given. The composition and characters of the tribes Taosini and Lappidini are revised. All the genera of the subfamily Dictyopharinae are listed according to their tribal position. New records are given for some interesting species.     

Keraladiaptomus rangareddyi a new genus and new species of Diaptominae (Copepoda,Calanoida, Diaptomidae) from a temporary pond in Mattam,Kerala State,India

Calanoid copepods, belonging to the new genus and species Keraladiaptomus rangareddyi, were collected from temporary ponds in Kerala State, India. The new genus belongs to the family Diaptomidae, subfamily Diaptominae. It is described in detail and its affinity to the related genera, Arctodiaptomus Kiefer, 1932 and Eodiaptomus Kiefer, 1932, discussed.     

INDIAN OCEAN NANOPLANKTON. I. RHABDOSPHAERACEAE (PRYMNESIOPHYCEAE) WITH A REVIEW OF EXTANT TAXA1

Family characteristics of the Rhabdosphaeraceae are revised to limit the genera to those having cyrtoliths; genera with placoliths are removed from the family. Rhabdoliths, cyrtoliths bearing a process in the central area, are present in all genera. Coccospheres having monomorphic coccoliths, all being rhabdoliths, form one group within the family, whereas genera with dimorphic coccoliths in the coccosphere comprise a second group. Cyrtoliths without processes in the latter group may be intermixed with rhabdoliths in some genera, whereas other genera have rhabdoliths located only in polar regions of the coccosphere. Two generic nomenclatural changes are proposed, Algirosphaera being the name applied to species previously placed in Anthosphaera, an invalid generic name, and Palusphaera is recognized as a valid monotypic genus, P. vandeli being the name applied to the species that has been named Rhabdosphaera longistylis in recent literature. A new combination is made, Rhabdosphaera xiphos (Deflandre et Fert) comb. nov., recognizing a species formerly known only in sediments as extant. Rhabdosphaera, Acanthoica and Algirosphaera are genera with dimorphic coccoliths in the coccospheres; Discosphaera, Palusphaera and Anacanthoica are genera having monomorphic coccoliths in the coccosphere.     

Simimys and origin of the cricetidae (Rodentia: Muroidea)

Simimys is a late Eocene and earliest Oligocene genus that shares dipodoid (zygoma) and muroid (dental) characters. The Oligocene record of dipodoid rodents includes Plesiosminthus from middle Oligocene deposits of Asia and late Oligocene deposits of Europe. The Oligocene record of muroid rodents includes at least two genera (Eucricetodon and (Cricetops)) from Asia, six genera (Eucricetodon, Pseudocricetodon, Melissiodon, Paracricetodon, Heterocricetodon and Adelomyorion)) from Europe, and three genera (Eumys, Scottimus and Nonomys)) from North America. The known record, as given above, suggests that Siminys is the earliest and most primitive genus with muroid affinities; it also implies that muroid rodents were derived from unknown Eocene dipodoid rodents.The Oligocene cricetid rodents display progressive expansion and inclination of the anterior plate of the zygoma. These changes in the zygoma probably reflect evolutionary stages in the development of a myomorphous zygoma from an hystricomorphous zygoma. Changes in the zygoma apparently took place at different rates and times in Asia. Europe, and North America; they probably reflect differenciation of Cricetodontinae in Palaearctica, and Eumyinae in Nearctica during the Oligocene.     

Two species of myxozoan parasites (Myxosporea: Bivalvulida), including a new genus,fromPatagonotothen sima (Richardson, 1845) (Pisces: Teleostei) in the southwest Atlantic

A new genus and species of myxozoan parasite,Renispora simae, is described from the gall-bladder of the nototheniid fishPatagonotothen sima (Richardson). Four of 12 fish caught in Stanley harbour in the Falkland Islands in May, 1993 were infected. The new genus is placed in the family Alatosporidae and differs from other genera in this family by the shape of the spore body and the shape and site of adhesion of the membranous extensions to the spore valves. To accommodate the new genus, we propose an amendment to the definition of the family Alatosporidae to include forms with reniform spores.Myxidium baueri Kovaleva & Gaevskaya, 1982 is reported fromP. sima for the first time. It was found in the gall-bladder of one of the same 12 fish caught in Stanley harbour.     

子囊菌亚门石耳科属级分类及拉诺属地位的研究

关于子囊菌亚门石耳科的属级分类问题地衣学家持有不同的观点。这些观点使属级分类出现了单属系统,二属系统,三属系统以及四属系统与五属系统。现在新二属系统,即石耳属一疱脐衣属系统已被越来越多的地衣学家和子囊菌学家所接受。但是,因为由Dodge (1968)描述的单种属拉诺属(Llanoa)的模式种与早已为人熟知的网脊石耳很相似,而近年来,这一单种属又被一些作者所接受、因此、我们不得不对该属模式种所依据的原始材料进行必要的复查。复查结果表明,拉诺属的模式种卖为网脊石耳的异名。因此,拉诺属也就成为石耳属的异名。此外,基于石耳科中三十五种地衣和五十二项特征的聚类分析结果也支持新的二属系统。