The seedling characters of Chinese Calycanthaceae with a new species of Chimonanthus Lindl.

This paper deals with morphological characters in seedlings and adult plants of 5 species of Chinese Calycanthaceae. The germination of seeds, morphology of cotyledons, hypocotyl and primary leaves of these species are enumerated, for example, the Chimonanthus campanulatus, sp. nov. is characterized by half-hypogaeous and tetragonal cotyledons, whereas other species epigaeous; the cotyledons of Calycanthus chinensis is obtriangular, Chimonanthus praecox, Ch. salicifolius and Ch. nitens are reniform. On the morphological characters of these adult plants and geographical distribution of 4 species of Chimonanthus are keyed. In addition a new species, Chimonanthus campanulatus, is described and it represents a more primitive type of the genus.     

蜡梅科7树种的叶精油成分及其分类意义

本文用气相色谱法分析蜡梅科7种的叶精油成分和含量,结果检测出9种成分。不同的种类所含成分和含量都有差异。从整体来看,夏蜡梅属Calycanthus Linn,种类所含结构比较复杂成分的比例高于比较简单的成分,而蜡梅属Chimonanthus Lindl．种类的情况恰恰相反。这可能说明夏蜡梅属的系统发生比蜡梅属更古老。     

蜡梅科植物的分支分析

蜡梅科是一个仅有４属,１０种的小科,将蜡梅科的生物信息数字化,利用徐克学的和谐性分析程序,剔除了不合理的性状安排,判别关系含糊的性状极性,利用最大同步法,最小平行演化法及最大离散量分支分类法,对由性状再分析后获得的数值矩阵进行运算,推导分支图,明确各属之间的发生、发展和演化的关系。结果表明：椅子树亚科（Ｉｄｉｏｓｐｅｒｍｏｉｄｅａｅ）的椅子树属（Ｉｄｉｏｓｐｅｒｍｕｍ Ｂｌａｋｅ）在整个蜡梅科（Ｃ     

蜡梅科植物的叶表皮特征及其在分类上的意义

用扫描电镜和光学显微镜观察了蜡梅科3属5种植物成熟叶片远轴面的表皮特征,认为这些表皮细胞特征和气孔器特征在分类上有比较重要的意义。蜡梅属、夏蜡梅属和美国蜡梅属植物的叶表皮毛均为单细胞毛、非腺毛,上、下表皮细胞均为多边形,垂周壁呈深波状,气孔器均为平列型．这三个属的亲缘关系密切,应该归属于同一个大类群－蜡梅科。这为蜡梅属、夏蜡梅属、美国蜡梅属的分类提供了有用的性状特征。这三个属气孔器的演化趋势为：气孔器在保卫细胞的两极无"T"型加厚到有"T"型加厚,气孔器由单层外拱盖到双层外拱盖．     

广东省野生植物一新记录科——蜡梅科

报道了广东省野生植物一新记录科--蜡梅科(Calycanthaceae)、一新记录属--蜡梅属(Chimonanthus)及一新记录种--山蜡梅(Chimonanthus nitens Oliv.).标本存放于华南农业大学林学院树木标本室(CANT).     

The historical biogeography of the freshwater knifefishes using mitogenomic approaches: A Mesozoic origin of the Asian notopterids (Actinopterygii: Osteoglossomorpha)

The continental distributions of freshwater fishes in the family Notopteridae (Osteoglossomorpha) across Africa, India, and Southeast Asia constitute a long standing and enigmatic problem of freshwater biogeography. The migrational pathway of the Asian notopterids has been discussed in light of two competing schemes: the first posits recent transcontinental dispersal while the second relies on distributions being shaped by ancient vicariance associated with plate-tectonic events. In this study, we determined complete mitochondrial DNA sequences from 10 osteoglossomorph fishes to estimate phylogenetic relationships using partitioned Bayesian and maximum likelihood methods and divergence dates of the family Notopteridae with a partitioned Bayesian approach. We used six species representing the major lineages of the Notopteridae and seven species from the remaining osteoglossomorph families. Fourteen more-derived teleosts, nine basal actinopterygians, two coelacanths, and one shark were used as outgroups. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that the African and Asian notopterids formed a sister group to each other and that these notopterids were a sister to a clade comprising two African families (Mormyridae and Gymnarchidae). Estimated divergence time between the African and Asian notopterids dated back to the early Cretaceous when India–Madagascar separated from the African part of Gondwanaland. Thus, estimated time of divergence based on the molecular evidence is at odds with the recent dispersal model. It can be reconciled with the geological and paleontological evidence to support the vicariance model in which the Asian notopterids diverged from the African notopterids in Gondwanaland and migrated into Eurasia on the Indian subcontinent from the Cretaceous to the Tertiary. However, we could not exclude an alternative explanation that the African and Asian notopterids diverged in Pangea before its complete separation into Laurasia and Gondwanaland, to which these two lineages were later confined, respectively.     

Coevolution between a cockroach and its bacterial endosymbiont: a biogeographical perspective

Cryptocercus are subsocial, xylophagous cockroaches that live in temperate forests. Like other cockroaches, Cryptocercus harbour endosymbiotic bacteria in their fat bodies. Two species of Cryptocercus occur in the palaearctic, one each in eastern Russia and south-central China. In the USA, there are five species: one in the north-west and four in the south-east. Little is known about the relationship between the Eurasian and North American Cryptocercus or the causes of the disjunct distribution. Here, a molecular phylogeny for six out of the seven Cryptocercus species and their endosymbionts is inferred in an attempt to understand the evolution and biogeography of the genus. Our analysis showed that the North American Cryptocercus are monophyletic, suggesting that a single colonization event was followed by vicariance. There was complete concordance between the host and endosymbiont phylogenetic trees. Divergence estimates based on endosymbiont DNA sequences suggested that the palaearctic and nearctic Cryptocercus diverged 70-115 million years (Myr) ago and the eastern- and western-USA species diverged 53-88 Myr ago. These divergence estimates were correlated with biogeographical events, and a hypothesis is presented to explain the current distribution of Cryptocercus. Our findings suggest that Cryptocercus has had a long evolutionary history, dating back to the Jurassic.     

An extinct calycanthoid taxon, Jerseyanthus calycanthoides , from the Late Cretaceous of New Jersey

A new fossil genus and species, Jerseyanthus calycanthoides, is described from the Late Cretaceous (Turonian, ～90 MYBP) Raritan Formation of New Jersey. Flowers have cupulate receptacles bearing imbricately arranged tepals that subtend a series of recurved tepals near the cup margin. Recurved tepal subtends a "stamen-staminode" pair, that includes a laminar stamen with ramified connective extensions, and an outer staminode. Outer staminodes are geniculate and incurved, and in aggregate their inner extremities define a circular area above the carpels and carpellodes. Each "stamen-staminode" pair apparently subtends (is opposite to) an inner tepal. Pollen is rounded and disulculate, with tectate columellate wall structure. Carpels are located at the center of the receptacle and have elongate styles that extend to and beyond the opening defined by the staminodal organs. Carpels are surrounded by tomentose carpellodes. Carpels include one marginally ridged seed. While these fossils do not match exactly any living species in morphology, they share numerous characters with extant members of Calycanthaceae and can be unequivocally placed within that family. Affinities of Jerseyanthus and Virginianthus were evaluated by including them in a combined analysis for the Laurales. Jerseyanthus is placed within Calycanthaceae as a sister taxon to the modern genus Calycanthus.     

Biogeographical consequences of Cenozoic tectonic events within East Asian margins: a case study of Hynobius biogeography

Few studies have explored the role of Cenozoic tectonic evolution in shaping patterns and processes of extant animal distributions within East Asian margins. We select Hynobius salamanders (Amphibia: Hynobiidae) as a model to examine biogeographical consequences of Cenozoic tectonic events within East Asian margins. First, we use GenBank molecular data to reconstruct phylogenetic interrelationships of Hynobius by bayesian and maximum likelihood analyses. Second, we estimate the divergence time using the bayesian relaxed clock approach and infer dispersal/vicariance histories under the 'dispersal-extinction-cladogenesis' model. Finally, we test whether evolutionary history and biogeographical processes of Hynobius should coincide with the predictions of two major hypotheses (the 'vicariance'/'out of southwestern Japan' hypothesis). The resulting phylogeny confirmed Hynobius as a monophyletic group, which could be divided into nine major clades associated with six geographical areas. Our results show that: (1) the most recent common ancestor of Hynobius was distributed in southwestern Japan and Hokkaido Island, (2) a sister taxon relationship between Hynobius retardatus and all remaining species was the results of a vicariance event between Hokkaido Island and southwestern Japan in the Middle Eocene, (3) ancestral Hynobius in southwestern Japan dispersed into the Taiwan Island, central China, 'Korean Peninsula and northeastern China' as well as northeastern Honshu during the Late Eocene-Late Miocene. Our findings suggest that Cenozoic tectonic evolution plays an important role in shaping disjunctive distributions of extant Hynobius within East Asian margins.     

中国蜡梅上的瘿螨二新种(蜱螨亚纲,瘿螨总科)

记述寄生在蜡梅Chimonanthus praecox(Linn.)Link.(蜡梅科Calycanthaceae)叶子上的瘿螨2新种:蜡梅离子瘿螨Leipothrix chimonae sp.nov.和蜡梅双羽爪瘿螨Diptacus praecoxsp.nov.。模式标本保存在河北大学博物馆。蜡梅离子瘿螨,新种Leipothrix chimonae sp.nov.(图1～5)正模♀,副模:25♀♀,2♂♂,2009-06-01,陕西省岚皋县蜡烛村,海拔600m,谢满超采。寄主为蜡梅Chimonanthuspraecox(Linn.)Link.(蜡梅科Calycanthaceae)。新种与悬钩子离子瘿螨Leipothrix yipingae Shi,2000相似,但新种背盾板具背中线,雌生殖盖片基部具纵线,端部饰有斜线,羽状爪3支,而悬钩子离子瘿螨L.yipingae背盾板上无背中线,雌生殖盖片饰有短线和粒点,羽状爪4支。蜡梅双羽爪瘿螨,新种Diptacus praecox sp.nov.(图6～12)正模♀,副模:8♀♀,7♂♂,2009-06-01,陕西省岚皋县蜡烛村,海拔600m,谢满超采。寄主为蜡梅Chimonanthuspraecox(Linn.)Link.(蜡梅科Calycanthaceae)。新种与臭樱双羽爪瘿螨Diptacus maddenis Song,Xue etHong,2007相似,但新种足Ⅰ基节间具胸线,基节饰有线条和粒点,雌生殖器盖片上饰有1排纵肋,而臭樱双羽爪瘿螨D.maddenis足Ⅰ基节间无胸线,基节饰有粒点,雌生殖器盖片基部饰有粒点。     

Biogeography and ecological niche evolution in Diapensiaceae inferred from phylogenetic analysis

Diapensiaceae (Ericales) are a small family of about 15 species. Within this clade, two species are broadly distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, whereas the remaining species have a disjunct distribution between eastern North America and eastern Asia. To address patterns and processes of diversification in Diapensiaceae, we conducted biogeographic analyses and inferred shifts in the ecological niche across the phylogeny of the clade. Although Diapensiaceae have been the focus of multiple phylogenetic and biogeographic studies, previous studies have been taxonomically limited. This study has greatly improved the phylogenetic underpinning for Diapensiaceae with the most inclusive taxonomic sampling thus far, employing both nuclear and plastid gene sequence data for at least one sample per species in the family. Our estimates indicate that genera of Diapensiaceae variously diverged in the Eocene, Oligocene, and early to mid‐Miocene. The biogeographic analysis suggests that the probable ancestor of the Diapensiaceae crown clade originated in the Nearctic, with vicariance events contributing to the current distribution of the disjunct taxa. Ecological niche, when considered in a phylogenetic context, was observed to be clustered on the basis of biogeographic realm. In general, a greater ecological overlap was found at younger nodes and a greater niche divergence was found among distantly related species. Diversification in Diapensiaceae appears to have been shaped by both large‐scale biogeographic factors, such as vicariance, and divergence in an ecological niche among closely related species.     

TERTIARY SPECIATION MODELS IN AUSTRALIAN ANURANS: MOLECULAR DATA CHALLENGE PLEISTOCENE SCENARIO

Similarities between frogs in the faunas of southwestern and southeastern Australia have long been viewed as indicators of close genetic relationships and recent (Pleistocene) divergences. We studied albumin evolution in 16 east-west species pairs of frogs representing six genera to assess the validity of these conclusions. Analysis of albumin evolution in western species of Heleioporus and some species of Litoria suggested recent speciation in these genera, with the closest sister groups occurring in the western and not among the eastern fauna. All divergences measured between eastern and western cognate species point to a Tertiary separation extending from the late Miocene to the early Oligocene. Micro-complement fixation studies provide an independent estimation of both genetic relationships between species pairs and the time of divergence of each species pair, allowing the testing of models of speciation and vicariance biogeography in a way not possible with earlier methodologies.     

Strikingly variable divergence times inferred across an Amazonian butterfly 'suture zone'

'Suture zones' are areas where hybrid and contact zones of multiple taxa are clustered. Such zones have been regarded as strong evidence for allopatric divergence by proponents of the Pleistocene forest refugia theory, a vicariance hypothesis frequently used to explain diversification in the Amazon basin. A central prediction of the refugia and other vicariance theories is that the taxa should have a common history so that divergence times should be coincident among taxa. A suture zone for Ithomiinae butterflies near Tarapoto, NE Peru, was therefore studied to examine divergence times of taxa in contact across the zone. We sequenced 1619bp of the mitochondrial COI/COII region in 172 individuals of 31 species from across the suture zone. Inferred divergence times differed remarkably, with divergence between some pairs of widespread species (each of which may have two or more subspecies interacting in the zone, as in the genus Melinaea) being considerably less than that between hybridizing subspecies in other genera (for instance in Oleria). Our data therefore strongly refute a simple hypothesis of simultaneous vicariance and suggest that ongoing parapatric or other modes of differentiation in continuous forest may be important in driving diversification in Amazonia.     

Molecular phylogenetic analysis of Leibnitzia Cass. (Asteraceae: Mutisieae: Gerbera-complex), an Asian-North American disjunct genus

Leibnitzia comprises six species of perennial herbs that are adapted to high elevation conditions and is one of only two Asteraceae genera known to have an exclusively disjunct distribution spanning central to eastern Asia and North America. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of Leibnitzia and other Gerbera-complex members indicates that Leibnitzia is monophyletic, which is in contrast with our expectation that the American Leibnitzia species L. Lyrata and L. Occimadremis would be more closely related to another American member of the Gerbera-complex, namely Chaptalia. Ancestral area reconstructions show that the historical biogeography of the Gerbera-complex mirrors that of the entire Asteraceae, with early diverging lineages located in South America that were followed by transfers to Africa and Eurasia and, most recently, to North America. Intercontinental transfer of Leibnitzia appears to have been directed from Asia to North America. Independent calibrations of nuclear (ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer region) and chloroplast (trnL-rpl32 intron) DNA sequence data using relaxed clock methods and either mean rate or fossil-based priors unanimously support Miocene and younger divergence times for Gerbera-complex taxa. The ages are not consistent with most Gondwanan vicariance episodes and, thus, the global distribution of Gerbera-complex members must be explained in large part by long-distance dispersal. American species of Leibnitzia are estimated to have diverged from then- Asian ancestor during the Quaternary (ca. 2 mya) and either migrated overland to North America via Beringia and retreated southwards along high elevation corridors to their- present location in southwestern North America or were dispersed long distance.     

Crocodyliform biogeography during the Cretaceous: evidence of Gondwanan vicariance from biogeographical analysis

Explanations of the distributions of terrestrial vertebrates during the Mesozoic are currently vigorously contested and debated in palaeobiogeography. Recent studies focusing on dinosaurs yield conflicting hypotheses. Dispersal, coupled with regional extinction or vicariance driven by continental break-up, have been cited as the main causal factors behind dinosaur distributions in the Mesozoic. To expand the scope of the debate and test for vicariance within another terrestrial group, I herein apply a cladistic biogeographical method to a large sample of Cretaceous crocodyliform taxa. A time-slicing methodology is employed and a refinement made to account for the divergence times of the analysed clades. The results provide statistically significant evidence that Gondwana fragmentation affected crocodyliform diversification during the Mid-Late Cretaceous. Detection of a vicariant pattern within crocodyliforms is important as it helps corroborate vicariance hypotheses in other fossil and extant groups as well as furthers the move towards more taxonomically diverse approaches to palaeobiogeographical research.     

Nuclear and mitochondrial phylogeography of the Atlantic forest endemic Xiphorhynchus fuscus (Aves: Dendrocolaptidae): biogeography and systematics implications

We studied the intraspecific evolutionary history of the South American Atlantic forest endemic Xiphorhynchusfuscus (Aves: Dendrocolaptidae) to address questions such as: Was the diversification of this bird's populations associated to areas of avian endemism? Which models of speciation (i.e., refuges, river as barriers or geotectonism) explain the diversification within X. fuscus? Does the genetic data support subspecies as independent evolutionary units (species)? We used mitochondrial (n=34) and nuclear (n=68) DNA sequences of X. fuscus to study temporal and spatial relationships within and between populations. We described four main monophyletic lineages that diverged during the Pleistocene. The subspecies taxonomy did not match all the evolutionary lineages; subspecies atlanticus was the only one that represented a monophyletic and isolated lineage. The distribution of these lineages coincided with some areas of endemism for passerines, suggesting that those areas could be regions of biotic differentiation. The ancestor of X. fuscus diverged approximately 3 million years ago from Amazonian taxa and the phylogeographic pattern suggested that X. fuscus radiated from northeastern Brazil. Neither the riverine nor the geotectonic vicariance models are supported as the primary cause for diversification of geographic lineages, but rainforest contractions and expansions (ecological vicariance) can explain most of the spatial divergence observed in this species. Finally, analyses of gene flow and divergence time estimates suggest that the endangered subspecies atlanticus (from northeastern Brazil) can be considered a full species under the general lineage species concept.     

Species delimitation in the Hwamei Garrulax canorus

Due to the male's elaborate songs, the Hwamei Garrulax canorus is the most popular caged bird in the global Chinese community. Three allopatric Hwamei subspecies have been described: G. c. canorus in central and southern China and northern Indochina, G. c. owstoni from Hainan and G. c. taewanus from Taiwan. We sequenced the entire mitochondrial cytochrome b gene to reconstruct the molecular intraspecific phylogeny of the Hwamei. Molecular phylogenetic trees indicated that individuals of the three subspecies formed three monophyletic clades with high bootstrap support (> 95%). The basal clade was G. c. taewanus . According to a conventional molecular clock (2% divergence per million years), G. c. taewanus split from the other Hwamei taxa around 1.5 million years ago, and G. c. owstoni diverged from G. c. canorus around 0.6 million years ago. Considering the periodic connection between the Asian mainland and nearby continental islands during the glacial periods, habitat vicariance may have played a more important role than geographical vicariance in facilitating the differentiation of these taxa. Molecular diagnosability, population integrity, and concordance between the population ranges and the topology of the phylogenetic tree suggested that the Hwamei should be delimited into at least two full species: G. canorus and G. taewanus . Our work represents one of the first attempts to re-evaluate the intraspecific systematics for an eastern Asian bird species using molecular data.     

The Chimonanthus salicifolius genome provides insight into magnoliid evolution and flavonoid biosynthesis

Chimonanthus salicifolius, a member of the Calycanthaceae of magnoliids, is one of the most famous medicinal plants in Eastern China. Here, we report a chromosome‐level genome assembly of C. salicifolius, comprising 820.1 Mb of genomic sequence with a contig N50 of 2.3 Mb and containing 36 651 annotated protein‐coding genes. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that magnoliids were sister to the eudicots. Two rounds of ancient whole‐genome duplication were inferred in the C. salicifolious genome. One is shared by Calycanthaceae after its divergence with Lauraceae, and the other is in the ancestry of Magnoliales and Laurales. Notably, long genes with > 20 kb in length were much more prevalent in the magnoliid genomes compared with other angiosperms, which could be caused by the length expansion of introns inserted by transposon elements. Homologous genes within the flavonoid pathway for C. salicifolius were identified, and correlation of the gene expression and the contents of flavonoid metabolites revealed potential critical genes involved in flavonoids biosynthesis. This study not only provides an additional whole‐genome sequence from the magnoliids, but also opens the door to functional genomic research and molecular breeding of C. salicifolius.     

Timing the eastern Asian-eastern North American floristic disjunction: molecular clock corroborates paleontological estimates

Sequence data of the chloroplast gene rbcL were used to estimate the time of the well-known eastern Asian-eastern North American floristic disjunction. Sequence divergence of rbcL was examined for 22 species of 11 genera (Campsis, Caulophyllum, Cornus, Decumaria, Liriodendron, Menispermum, Mitchella, Pachysandra, Penthorum, Podophyllum, and Phryma) representing a diverse array of flowering plants occurring disjunctly in eastern Asia and eastern North America. Divergence times of putative disjunct species pairs were estimated from synonymous substitutions, using rbcL molecular clocks calibrated for Cornus. Relative rate tests were performed to assess rate constancy of rbcL evolution among lineages. Corrections of estimates of divergence times for each species pair were made based on rate differences of rbcL between Cornus and other species pairs. Results of these analyses indicate that the time of divergence of species pairs examined ranges from 12.56 +/- 4.30 million years to recent (<0.31 million years), with most within the last 10 million years (in the late Miocene and Pliocene). These results suggest that the isolation of most morphologically similar disjunct species in eastern Asia and eastern North America occurred during the global climatic cooling period that took place throughout the late Tertiary and Quaternary. This estimate is closely correlated with paleontological evidence and in agreement with the hypothesis that considers the eastern Asian-eastern North American floristic disjunction to be the result of the range restriction of a once more or less continuously distributed mixed mesophytic forest of the Northern Hemisphere that occurred during the late Tertiary and Quaternary. This implies that in most taxa the disjunction may have resulted from vicariance events. However, long-distance dispersal may explain the disjunct distribution of taxa with low divergence, such as Menispermum.