Miocene mammalian faunas from Wushan,China and their evolutionary,biochronological, and biogeographic significances

We report Miocene mammalian faunas from three nearby localities: Kangping, Nanyu, and Yangping, in the Wushan Subbasin, Gansu Province, China. From the Kangping locality, we identified four species, Platybelodon grangeri, Hispanotherium wushanense n. sp., Kubanochoerus sp., and Turcocerus cf. kekemaidengensis, which indicate that this fauna can be correlated with MN7/8. From the Nanyu locality, we identified Platybelodon aff. tongxinensis, which, together with the previously reported specimens of Gomphotherium wimani and Micromeryx cf. flourensianus, enables us to correlate this fauna with MN6. The Yangping locality is found to be early Miocene in age based on the presence of cf. Gomphotherium sp. This occurrence is the earliest record of proboscideans in China, and thus represents the “Proboscidean Datum Event”. Evolutionary trends of Platybelodon and Hispanotherium are figured and discussed. The possibility of a geographic boundary associated with the eastern and western differentiation of species of Turcocerus and bunodont listriodonts in China is also evaluated. This boundary was consistent with the major division of the eastern and western mammalian faunas of the middle Miocene in China. The localities in Inner Mongolia suggest a large area with transitional habitats.     

The Iberian record of the puma-like cat Puma pardoides (Owen, 1846) (Carnivora,Felidae)

Fossil puma-like cats (Puma pardoides) are recorded from several Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene Eurasian localities, but the interpretation of the phylogenetic relationships between them and the extant puma (Puma concolor) remains controversial. In the past, extinct puma-like cats have been classified into several genera and species, and a close relationship with both pumas (Puma concolor) and snow leopards (Uncia uncia) has been suggested. Here, we describe the fossil remains of puma-like cats from the Iberian Peninsula. These remains (from the localities of La Puebla de Valverde, Cueva Victoria and Vallparadís) cover the whole known chronological distribution of this species in Eurasia. Although there are dentognathic similarities with U. uncia, the Iberian remains of P. pardoides most closely resemble the extant P. concolor. It is concluded that P. pardoides is closely related to living pumas, which supports a likely Eurasian origin of the puma lineage.     

Trichoderma eijii and T. pseudolacteum, two new species from Japan

Trichoderma eijii and T. pseudolacteum, are described here as new species from Japan. These species were isolated from decaying wood in the Tomakomai Experimental Forest in Hokkaido Prefecture and from bedlogs on shiitake mushroom (Lentinula edodes) farms, respectively. The species were characterized using a combined approach that included cultural studies, holomorph morphology, and phylogenetic analyses of internal transcribed spacer and protein coding gene sequences (RNA polymerase subunit II, translation elongation factor 1-α, endochitinase, and actin). The results of phylogenetic analyses of these gene sequences indicate that T. eijii belongs to the Hamatum clade and is closely related to Hypocrea pezizoides, H. flaviconidia, and H. atroviridis/T. atroviride, from which it differs mainly in part-ascospore size and anamorphic characteristics. Trichoderma pseudolacteum, which was previously recognized as H. lactea sensu Doi, is morphologically distinct from H. lactea (= Hypocrea citrina) and is strongly supported as a separate lineage based on our phylogenetic analyses.     

A new elasmotheriine (Mammalia,Rhinocerotidae) from the Early Miocene of Spain

A new species of Hispanotherium from the Early Miocene of Spain is named. Its phylogenetic relationships within Elasmotheriina are discussed owing to a cladistic analysis. H. grimmi Heissig, 1974 and H. beonense Antoine, 1997 are consequently integrated in the genus Hispanotherium, together with the type species H. matritense and the new species, which differs from other ones by several dental and postcranial features. The westward dispersal of the Elasmotheriina from Asia toward Western Europe during the Early Miocene is hypothesized. To cite this article: P.-O. Antoine et al., C. R. Palevol 1 (2002) 19–26.     

European Lampreys: New Insights on Postglacial Colonization,Gene Flow and Speciation

Ice ages are known to be the most dominant palaeoclimatic feature occurring on Earth, producing severe climatic oscillations and consequently shaping the distribution and the population structure of several species. Lampreys constitute excellent models to study the colonization of freshwater systems, as they commonly appear in pairs of closely related species of anadromous versus freshwater resident adults, thus having the ability to colonize new habitats, through the anadromous species, and establish freshwater resident derivates. We used 10 microsatellite loci to investigate the spatial structure, patterns of gene flow and migration routes of Lampetra populations in Europe. We sampled 11 populations including the migratory L. fluviatilis and four resident species, L. planeri, L. alavariensis, L. auremensis and L. lusitanica, the last three endemic to the Iberian Peninsula. In this southern glacial refugium almost all sampled populations represent a distinct genetic cluster, showing high levels of allopatric differentiation, reflecting long periods of isolation. As result of their more recent common ancestor, populations from northern Europe are less divergent among them, they are represented by fewer genetic clusters, and there is evidence of strong recent gene flow among populations. These previously glaciated areas from northern Europe may have been colonized from lampreys expanding out of the Iberian refugia. The pair L. fluviatilis/L. planeri is apparently at different stages of speciation in different locations, showing evidences of high reproductive isolation in the southern refugium, and low differentiation in the north.     

Uncovering Cryptic Parasitoid Diversity in Horismenus (Chalcidoidea,Eulophidae)

Horismenus parasitoids are an abundant and understudied group of eulophid wasps found mainly in the New World. Recent surveys based on morphological analyses in Costa Rica have quadrupled the number of named taxa, with more than 400 species described so far. This recent revision suggests that there is still a vast number of unknown species to be identified. As Horismenus wasps have been widely described as parasitoids of insect pests associated with crop plants, it is of high importance to properly establish the extant diversity of the genus, in order to provide biological control practitioners with an exhaustive catalog of putative control agents. In this study, we first collected Horismenus wasps from wild Phaseolus bean seeds in Central Mexico and Arizona to assess the genetic relatedness of three morphologically distinct species with overlapping host and geographical ranges. Sequence data from two nuclear and two mitochondrial gene regions uncovered three cryptic species within each of the three focal species (i.e., H. missouriensis, H. depressus and H. butcheri). The monophyly of each cryptic group is statistically supported (except in two of them represented by one single tip in which monophyly cannot be tested). The phylogenetic reconstruction is discussed with respect to differences between gene regions as well as likely reasons for the differences in variability between species.     

A new dugong species (Sirenia,Dugongidae) from the Eocene of Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula)

A new stem dugongid species, Prototherium ausetanum sp. nov. (Dugongidae, Halitheriinae), is described based on a cranium from the middle Eocene of Mas Vilageliu (Tona, NE Iberian Peninsula). The new species displays a combination of features that enables its distinction from other halitheriines, including Prototherium veronense (type species of the genus), Prototherium? intermedium (which likely belongs to a different genus), and Prototherium? montserratense (here considered a nomen dubium), as well as Eotheroides spp. In overall morphology (e.g., dolichocephaly) the new species more closely resembles species previously included in Prototherium. However, a cladistic analysis based on craniodental features recovers the new species as the sister taxon of Eotheroides aegyptiacum (type species of this genus), further constituting a polytomy with P. veronense, Eotheroides lambondrano and the remaining Halitheriinae. Our analysis further indicates that P.? intermedium is more derived than other species of Prototherium, but it does not conclusively resolve the phylogenetic relationships between the included species of Prototherium and Eotheroides. A deeper taxonomic revision of these two genera would be required in order to better resolve the phylogeny of early dugongids.     

Revision and new data on the Coniacian ammonite genus Hemitissotia in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal)

The types of the species of the Coniacian ammonite genus Hemitissotia Peron, 1897, identified in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal), which are currently held in the Wiedmann (Universität Tübingen, Germany) and Choffat (Instituto Geológico e Mineiro, Portugal) collections, have been revised and refigured. New specimens of the taxa Hemitissotia ceadouroensis Choffat, 1898, Hemitissotia celtiberica Wiedmann, 1975b, Hemitissotia turzoi Karrenberg, 1935, Hemitissotia dullai (Karrenberg 1935) and Hemitissotia lenticeratiformis Wiedmann in Wiedmann and Kauffman, 1978 have also been presented. As results, H. celtiberica has been considered as a junior synonym of H. ceadouroensis, and the lectotype of this species and the neotypes of H. turzoi and H. dullai have been designated and figured. Additionally, the geographical and stratigraphical distributions of all of these species have been determined with precision, and several phylogenetic relationships between them have been identified, revealing morphologies that become progressively smaller and more depressed and ornamented (hydrodynamically less efficient), interpreted as an adaptative response to sea-level changes.     

New species and records of Heteroconium (anamorphic fungi) from southern China

Four anamorphic fungal species of Heteroconium were collected from tropical and subtropical forests in southern China. Among them, Heteroconium tsoongiodendronis sp. nov. and Heteroconium fici sp. nov. are described from specimens collected on dead branches of Tsoongiodendron odorum and Ficus gibbosa, respectively. Two species of Heteroconium, H. decorosum and H. ponapense, are recorded for the first time in China. A key to Heteroconium and related genera is also provided.     

Pædomorphic patterns of the Cambrian genus Alueva (Trilobita, Ellipsocephalidae) from the Iberian Chains (NE Spain)

Three hundred protaspid and meraspid specimens of the trilobite species Alueva undulata Sdzuy, 1961 from the uppermost Bilbilian limestones of the Valdemiedes Formation (Iberian Chains, NE Spain) have been released by the action of acid. A pædomorphocline is proposed embracing the different species of Alueva, based on the comparison of the ontogenic patterns of the species Alueva undulata Sdzuy, 1961, and the adult morphologies of Alueva moratrix (Sdzuy, 1958). This analysis suggests that the species Alueva? hastata (Sdzuy, 1958) is not related to the pædomorphocline, and provides an approach for evaluating the phylogenetic relationships between the species A. undulata and A. moratrix, which occur across the Lower-Middle Cambrian transition in the Iberian Chains, directly linked with the Valdemiedes event.     

First identification of Decennatherium Crusafont, 1952 (Mammalia,Ruminantia, Pecora) in the Siwaliks of Pakistan

Previously undescribed remains of a new large giraffid have been identified from the late Miocene Siwaliks Hills of the Potwar Plateau in Pakistan. This taxon is very intimately related to the late Miocene giraffid genus Decennatherium, previously only certainly identified in the Iberian Peninsula, and with some possible remains assigned to Decennatherium crusafonti from Aliäbäd (Iran). The new material collected in the Siwaliks Hills shows a high morphological similarity with the Spanish remains of the genus, especially the early Vallesian Decennatherium pachecoi. Two previously undescribed ossicone fragments from the same area are also described and identified as cf. Decennatherium. These findings represent the easternmost occurrence of the genus Decennatherium and show a late Miocene migration of the genus throughout the Iberian Peninsula and Southern Asia.     

New Pseudaelurus and Styriofelis remains (Carnivora: Felidae) from the Middle Miocene of Abocador de Can Mata (Vallès-Penedès Basin)

New remains of felid jaws and teeth are described from several localities of the local stratigraphic series of Abocador de Can Mata (ca. 11.9 to 11.6 Ma, Middle Miocene; Vallès-Penedès Basin, Catalonia, Spain). Three different taxa are identified: Styriofelis turnauensis, Pseudaelurus romieviensis and Pseudaelurus quadridentatus. The described remains of P. romieviensis enable extending considerably the chronological range of this species in the Iberian Peninsula, in agreement with its record in the rest of Europe. Moreover, it is shown for the first time that P. romieviensis may possess a p2. The presence of this tooth therefore does not constitue a valid diagnostic feature to distinguish P. romieviensis from P. quadridentatus.     

Water-energy dynamics,habitat heterogeneity,history, and broad-scale patterns of mammal diversity

Numerous hypotheses on diversity patterns are often presented as if they were mutually exclusive. However, because of multicollinearity, correlational analyses are not able to distinguish the causal effects of different factors on these patterns. For this reason, we examine the interrelationships among current climate, habitat heterogeneity and evolutionary history by partitioning the variation in both total and non-volant mammal species richness in the Iberian Peninsula. Thus, it is possible to determine the variation accounted for by each one of these three components that is not shared by the others, and the respective overlaps. More specifically, we hypothesize that (H₁) in warm temperate zones, a small increase in the available energy has strong negative effects on mammal richness if water availability is limiting; (H₂) there are functional relationships between woody plant species richness (WOOD) and the richness of mammal species; (H₃) there is a signal of evolutionary history in contemporary patterns of species richness, and (H₄) mammal richness and the historical variable mean root distance (MRD) respond to the same driving forces. Additionally, we also test for spatial autocorrelation. We found a sharp nonlinear decrease in mammal richness with increasing energy and a monotonic increase with increasing water availability. Moreover, an interaction term between these two climate factors appeared to be statistically significant, so H₁ could not be rejected. WOOD remained significant after partialling out both current climate and MRD at the family level (MRDf), supporting H₂. The relationship between mammal diversity and MRD averaged by species richness was found to be spurious, but there appeared a significant historical signal using MRDf (this supports H₃). The overlaps among these factors are consistent with H₄ and suggest that water-energy dynamics have probably been active drivers throughout evolutionary history with habitat heterogeneity, and biotic interactions playing an important role.     

New materials of Dinocrocuta (Percrocutidae, Carnivora) from Lantian, Shaanxi Province, China, and remarks on Chinese Late Miocene biochronology

New materials from the middle part of the Bahe formation are described as Dinocrocuta gigantea. Review of the species reveals that it is derived in the evolutionary lineage of Dinocrocuta, and biochronologically later than Vallesian records from Turkey. The only possibly related Vallesian species from China is Crocuta gigantea xizangensis from Biru, Tibet, which may prove to be conspecific with D. senyureki. Based on the mammalian faunal sequence from Lantian, and with reference to Red Clay paleomagnetic data, the duration of D. gigantea in China should be later late Miocene, rather than the previously postulated early late Miocene (Vallesian equivalent) age.     

New light into the hormogastrid riddle: morphological and molecular description of Hormogaster joseantonioi sp. n. (Annelida,Clitellata, Hormogastridae)

The earthworm family Hormogastridae shows a remarkable disjunction in its distribution in the Iberian Peninsula, with the Hormogaster elisae species complex isolated from the rest of the species. Hormogaster joseantonioi sp. n., a new species found in the intermediate area between the main ranges (in Teruel, Aragón), was described following the integrative approach, as it is suitable for earthworms due to their highly homoplasic morphology. The phylogenetic analysis of the molecular markers placed the new species as a sister taxon to H. elisae, thus showing the colonizing lineage of Central Iberian Peninsula could have originated near the H. joseantonioi sp. n. current range. External morphological characters revealed some degree of overlap with previously described species, but internal characters presented configurations/states unknown from other members of the family. These traits make the new species a key piece to understand the evolution of Hormogastridae.     

Comparative pollen morphology of the Iberian species of Pulicaria (Asteraceae, Inuleae, Inulinae) and its taxonomic significance

To better understand the taxonomy of Pulicaria, the pollen wall architecture of the six Iberian species were investigated using light (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The exine structure of Pulicaria odora was also investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Statistical analysis was performed to distinguish taxonomically significant morphometric information from all the measured parameters of pollen grains. It was found that the exine sculpture characters, with special importance paid to the spines, were the most useful of all characters to define Pulicaria pollen types and separate the species. Three pollen types distinguishable through the spines morphology and the inter-spinular sculpture are described: P. microcephala pollen type (incl. P. microcephala), P. vulgaris pollen type (incl. P. vulgaris), and P. dysenterica pollen type (incl. P. dysenterica, P. odora, P. paludosa and P. sicula). A dichotomous key to these Pulicaria pollen types is proposed. The distribution of P. dysenterica, P. odora, P. paludosa and P. sicula in more than one leaf node in the classification tree reveals that the pollen grains of these species are difficult to segregate. Therefore, the construction of a satisfactory dichotomous key to the P. dysenterica pollen type species is not feasible. Yet, the different spines apex morphology between P. microcephala and P. paludosa and the existence of significant differences in five of the eight studied quantitative pollen characters of these two taxa, supports the opinion that the Berlengas Islands endemic P. microcephala should be accepted as a separate species. In addition, the differences among the spines morphology of P. vulgaris, P. microcephala, and the other four Iberian (and European) species, strengthen the conclusion that the section Pulicaria is non-monophyletic.     

The Model Organism Hermissenda crassicornis (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia) Is a Species Complex

Hermissenda crassicornis is a model organism used in various fields of research including neurology, ecology, pharmacology, and toxicology. In order to investigate the systematics of this species and the presence of cryptic species in H. crassicornis, we conducted a comprehensive molecular and morphological analysis of this species covering its entire range across the North Pacific Ocean. We determined that H. crassicornis constitutes a species complex of three distinct species. The name Hermissensa crassicornis is retained for the northeast Pacific species, occurring from Alaska to Northern California. The name H. opalescens is reinstated for a species occurring from the Sea of Cortez to Northern California. Finally, the name H. emurai is maintained for the northwestern species, found in Japan and in the Russian Far East. These three species have consistent morphological and color pattern differences that can be used for identification in the field.     

Iberian Odonata distribution: data of the BOS Arthropod Collection (University of Oviedo,Spain)

Odonata are represented from the Iberian Peninsula by 79 species. However, there exists a significant gap in accessible knowledge about these species,especially regarding their distribution. This data paper describes the specimen-based Odonata data of the Arthropod Collection of the Department of Biología de Organismos y Sistemas (BOS), University of Oviedo, Spain. The specimens were mainly collected from the Iberian Peninsula (98.63% of the data records), especially the northern region. The earliest specimen deposited in the collection dates back to 1950, while the 1980’s and 2000’s are the best-represented time periods. Between 1950 and 2009, 16, 604 Odonata specimens were deposited and are documented in the dataset. Approximately 20% of the specimens belong to the families Coenagrionidae and Calopterygidae. Specimens include the holotype and paratypes of the Iberian subspecies Calopteryx haemorrhoidalis asturica Ocharan, 1983 and Sympetrum vulgatum ibericum Ocharan, 1985. The complete dataset is also provided in Darwin Core Archive format.