Multi‐locus sequence data reveal a new species of coral reef goby (Teleostei: Gobiidae: Eviota), and evidence of Pliocene vicariance across the Coral Triangle

Here, multi‐locus sequence data are coupled with observations of live colouration to recognize a new species, Eviota punyit from the Coral Triangle, Indian Ocean and Red Sea. Relaxed molecular clock divergence time estimation indicates a Pliocene origin for the new species, and the current distribution of the new species and its sister species Eviota sebreei supports a scenario of vicariance across the Indo‐Pacific Barrier, followed by subsequent range expansion and overlap in the Coral Triangle. These results are consistent with the ‘centre of overlap’ hypothesis, which states that the increased diversity in the Coral Triangle is due in part to the overlapping ranges of Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean faunas. These findings are discussed in the context of other geminate pairs of coral reef fishes separated by the Indo‐Pacific Barrier.     

舟山群岛獐的分布

1999 年7 月至2000 年6 月采用访问和样线法对浙江舟山群岛25 个岛上的獐的分布进行调查。结果显示獐在该地区主要分布在北纬30°26′以南, 东经122°24′以西, 且集中在西南诸岛上。较大岛屿獐的分布比例较高, 10 km²以上的岛屿81.25 %有獐分布。并且其周围小岛獐的分布比例也较高。所调查的5 个距离舟山本岛3 km范围内的小岛均有獐分布。獐所分布的岛屿随着离大陆和本岛距离的增加而减少。獐主要栖息在山丘上, 但夜里常到农田觅食。21.47 %有人居住岛上有獐分布。对獐分布影响较大的因素是离本岛和大陆的距离及岛屿面积; 其次是人类活动, 主要是偷猎; 淡水水源影响不大; 分布与岛屿形状无关。獐可以在岛屿之间迁游, 从而影响分布。獐在舟山地区可能是原有分布的, 几次地质变化可能对其产生一定影响。     

Late Pleistocene lineage divergence among populations of Neolitsea sericea (Lauraceae) across a deep sea‐barrier in the Ryukyu Islands

Aim Our goals were: (1) to assess the population genetic structure and demographic divergence history of a bird‐dispersed tree, Neolitsea sericea, endemic to East Asian land‐bridge islands; and (2) to interpret the results in the light of controversies over the dating and configurations of land bridges through the Japanese Ryukyu Island Arc. Location Japan–Ryukyu–Taiwan Island Arc and Chinese/Korean offshore islands. Methods We applied 10 nuclear microsatellites (nSSRs) and one chloroplast (cp) DNA sequence marker (psbA–trnH intergenic spacer) to 31 populations (397 and 326 individuals, respectively) from throughout the species’ range to infer current patterns of genetic diversity and structure, and pollen‐to‐seed migration ratios (r). A coalescent‐based isolation‐with‐migration (IM) model was applied to the combined nSSR/cpDNA data set to estimate lineage divergence times and population demographic parameters. Results The geographic structure of nSSRs and the distribution of most cpDNA haplotypes revealed two distinct lineages located in areas north and south of the ‘Tokara Gap’, a narrow (c. 37 km wide) but deep (> 1000 m) sea‐strait between the northern and central Ryukyus. Based on the IM analyses, we (1) dated the divergence of these northern and southern lineages to c. 0.07 Ma (90% highest posterior density interval: 0.02–0.38 Ma); (2) estimated a slightly smaller effective population size for the northern compared to the southern lineage; and (3) recovered only trivial signals of post‐divergence gene flow between them. Main conclusions The estimated divergence time for northern and southern lineages is consistent with geological evidence for the existence of land connections in the Tokara region during cold stages of the latest Pleistocene; it is thus incompatible with an ‘ancient sea‐barrier hypothesis’ for the Ryukyu Arc, where we would have expected much older divergences related to the initial formation of the Tokara and Kerama tectonic straits during the Pliocene. Multiple factors are likely to have had a role in the divergence of N. sericea, including not only land‐bridge submergence, but also island configuration, and/or constraints on adaptation along a latitudinal temperature gradient.     

Climate change and larval transport in the ocean: fractional effects from physical and physiological factors

Changes in larval import, export, and self‐seeding will affect the resilience of coral reef ecosystems. Climate change will alter the ocean currents that transport larvae and also increase sea surface temperatures (SST), hastening development, and shortening larval durations. Here, we use transport simulations to estimate future larval connectivity due to: (1) physical transport of larvae from altered circulation alone, and (2) the combined effects of altered currents plus physiological response to warming. Virtual larvae from islands throughout Micronesia were moved according to present‐day and future ocean circulation models. The Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) spanning 2004–2012 represented present‐day currents. For future currents, we altered HYCOM using analysis from the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Earth System Model, version 1‐Biogeochemistry, Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 experiment. Based on the NCAR model, regional SST is estimated to rise 2.74 °C which corresponds to a ~17% decline in larval duration for some taxa. This reduction was the basis for a separate set of simulations. Results predict an increase in self‐seeding in 100 years such that 62–76% of islands experienced increased self‐seeding, there was an average domainwide increase of ~1–3% points in self‐seeding, and increases of up to 25% points for several individual islands. When changed currents alone were considered, approximately half (i.e., random) of all island pairs experienced decreased connectivity but when reduced PLD was added as an effect, ~65% of connections were weakened. Orientation of archipelagos relative to currents determined the directional bias in connectivity changes. There was no universal relationship between climate change and connectivity applicable to all taxa and settings. Islands that presently export large numbers of larvae but that also maintain or enhance this role into the future should be the focus of conservation measures that promote long‐term resilience of larval supply.     

Mark–recapture using tetracycline and genetics reveal record-high bear density

We used tetracycline biomarking, augmented with genetic methods to estimate the size of an American black bear (Ursus americanus) population on an island in Southeast Alaska. We marked 132 and 189 bears that consumed remote, tetracycline-laced baits in 2 different years, respectively, and observed 39 marks in 692 bone samples subsequently collected from hunters. We genetically analyzed hair samples from bait sites to determine the sex of marked bears, facilitating derivation of sex-specific population estimates. We obtained harvest samples from beyond the study area to correct for emigration. We estimated a density of 155 independent bears/100 km², which is equivalent to the highest recorded for this species. This high density appears to be maintained by abundant, accessible natural food. Our population estimate (approx. 1,000 bears) could be used as a baseline and to set hunting quotas. The refined biomarking method for abundance estimation is a useful alternative where physical captures or DNA-based estimates are precluded by cost or logistics. © 2011 The Wildlife Society.     

Endemism and evolution in the Coral Triangle: a call for clarity

In a recent paper (Bellwood & Meyer, Journal of Biogeography , 2009, 36 , 569–576), we critically evaluated the utility of marine endemics for marking the geographical origins of species. In reply, Briggs (2009) identified two issues that needed clarification: (1) whether endemics are assumed to mark the geographical origins of species or areas of exceptionally high rates of origination, and (2) whether our evaluation of the role of endemics disproves the centre of origin hypothesis. Of these two issues, the first can be clearly resolved by recourse to the original literature that explicitly states that it has been assumed that endemics do indeed mark the probable sites of origin of species. The second is equally clear: our evidence does not and can not disprove the centre of origin theory. We suggest, however, that the current data, and endemics in particular, provide limited support for centre of origin theories and that they are more consistent with some centre of accumulation theories. The Indo-Australian Archipelago (IAA; Coral Triangle) therefore appears to be an area where species persist, a centre of survival, regardless of the site of origin of species.     

The Hawaiian Menehune in myth and paleontology

The paleontological evidence forHomo floriensis on the island of Flores in Indonesia provides evidence for a small-bodied hominin proportionately equivalent to a Jamaican child of the current era. Evidence is presented that these hominins coexisted withHomo sapiens for some millennia on the island of Flores. The extensive mythology of the Hawaiian Menehune, or little people, may have its origin traced to this early coexistence on the island of Flores. Hominins such asHomo floriensis may represent sub-species ofHomo sapiens who have undergone endemic dwarfism owing to their formative heritage on isolated island locations.     

How Charles Darwin received Wallace's Ternate paper 15 days earlier than he claimed: a comment on van Wyhe and Rookmaaker (2012)

Van Wyhe and Rookmaaker (2012) postulate a set of events to support their claim that Wallace's ‘evolution’ letter, posted at Ternate in the Moluccas in the spring of 1858, arrived at Darwin's home on 18 June 1858. If their claim were to be proven, then evidence that Darwin probably received Wallace's letter 2 weeks earlier than he ever admitted would clearly be erroneous, and any charges that he plagiarized the ideas of Wallace from that letter would be shown to be wrong. Here, evidence against this interpretation is presented and it is argued that the letter did indeed arrive in the port of Southampton on 2 June 1858 and would have been at Darwin's home near London the following day. If this were true, then the 66 new pages of material on aspects of Divergence that Darwin entered into his ‘big’ species book in the weeks before admitting he had received the letter could be interpreted as an attempt to present Wallace's ideas as his own. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, 105 , 472–477.