The fossil record and macroevolutionary history of the beetles

Coleoptera (beetles) is the most species-rich metazoan order, with approximately 380 000 species. To understand how they came to be such a diverse group, we compile a database of global fossil beetle occurrences to study their macroevolutionary history. Our database includes 5553 beetle occurrences from 221 fossil localities. Amber and lacustrine deposits preserve most of the beetle diversity and abundance. All four extant suborders are found in the fossil record, with 69% of all beetle families and 63% of extant beetle families preserved. Considerable focus has been placed on beetle diversification overall, however, for much of their evolutionary history it is the clade Polyphaga that is most responsible for their taxonomic richness. Polyphaga had an increase in diversification rate in the Early Cretaceous, but instead of being due to the radiation of the angiosperms, this was probably due to the first occurrences of beetle-bearing amber deposits in the record. Perhaps, most significant is that polyphagan beetles had a family-level extinction rate of zero for most of their evolutionary history, including across the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary. Therefore, focusing on the factors that have inhibited beetle extinction, as opposed to solely studying mechanisms that may promote speciation, should be examined as important determinants of their great diversity today.     

遗传密码子研究进展

作为生命信息的基本遗传单位,基因组遗传密码的破译对于人们加深对生命本质的认识具有重要的理论价值和现实意义。目前,遗传密码子的研究重心已由遗传密码子的破译及反常密码子的发现转入到遗传密码子的起源与进化及扩张等研究。遗传密码子的起源与进化是当今基因组学研究的热点命题之一,相关的学说、假设层出不穷,但尚未取得实质性突破。另一方面,无义密码子的再定义及遗传密码的扩张等研究却极大的丰富和发展了遗传密码子的科学内涵,推动了生命科学研究的发展。文章综述了遗传密码子的多态性、起源与进化、无义密码子的再定义及遗传密码的扩张等方面的研究进展,并就其应用价值作了评述,期待为其在基因组学、医学等相关领域的应用研究提供参考。     

基于叶绿体全基因组的云南樱花品种‘红霞''的种系分析

云南樱花品种‘红霞’(Cerasus‘Hongxia’)广泛种植于滇中地区，3月开花，半重瓣至重瓣，粉红色，观赏价值较高。‘红霞’曾被认为是红花高盆樱(C.cerasoides var.rubea)的园艺品种，而其分子标记结果却聚在钟花樱(C.campanulata)种系，可见‘红霞’的种系归属存疑，对今后的育种及栽培极为不利。为探索‘红霞’的种系问题，该研究以‘红霞’的叶片DNA为材料，应用Illumina软件对叶绿体基因组特征进行测序，通过SPAdes 3.13.0、Gapcloser 1.12和CPGAVAS2 2.0软件进行组装、注释，之后使用MISA和Geneious 10.0软件对叶绿体基因组特征进行分析，并使用RAxML 8.0软件构建Cerasus分支系统发育树，分析‘红霞’在樱属植物的系统关系。结果表明：(1)‘红霞’的叶绿体全基因组长度为157 832 bp,鸟嘌呤(Guanine)、胞嘧啶(Cytosine)含量为36.73%,包含一对反向重复(inverted repeat sequence, IR, 26 381 bp)区，由小单拷贝(short single...     

A STUDY ON MINDARUS KOCH IN CHINA WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES AND NEW SUBSPECIES (HOMOPTERA: MIN-DARIDAE)*

Abstract This paper deals with the genus Mindam Koch from China. The phylogeny of the genus is discussed. M. keteleerifoliae is regarded as the most advanced species, M. obliquus and M. piceasuc-tus are more advanced than M. abietinus, M. japonicus and M. victoria. The origin centre of the genus may be in Europe and the differentiation centre of the genus may be in Hengduan Mountains Region of China. Geological distribution of the genus shows island-shaped pattern. Five species from China was described in this paper, including one new species, M. piceasuctus Zhang and Qiao, one new subspecies, M. abietinus triprimesensori Zhang and Qiao and one newly recorded species, M. abietinus abietinus Koch 1856. A key to the Chinese species of Mindarus is given. The specimens of five species from China are deposited in the Institute of Zoology, Academia Sinica.     

A short history of nuclear activation analysis

The major developments in the field of nuclear activation analysis, from 1936 to 1989, are discussed. The developments are grouped into five consecutive time periods. The impact of various scientists on the development of the field in the first 35 years is also discussed.     

A TEST FOR COPE'S RULE

Cope's Rule refers to the tendency of body size to increase along an evolutionary lineage. This rule is commonly tested by comparing size differences in pairs of taxa, one of which is assumed to be ancestral to the other. It has recently been pointed out that this approach fails to account for the unknown number of speciation events separating each pair. Here, a test that does account for this degree of separation is described and applied to some published data for dinosaurs. A by-product of the analysis is an estimate of the origination rate of dinosaur species.     

Macroevolution and climate change influence phylogenetic community assembly of North American hoofed mammals

Animal richness, community composition, and phylogenetic community structure (PCS) vary across the modern landscape. Animal communities vary from phylogenetically clustered (i.e. higher relatedness amongst co‐occurring species than is expected by chance) to phylogenetically even (i.e. co‐occurring taxa are more distantly related than expected by chance), which is explained by abiotic or climatic filtering and competitive exclusion, respectively. Under this model, the contribution of historical origination and extinction events to modern animal PCS remains relatively unknown. Because origination and extinction determine the make‐up of the terrestrial community, the study of historical changes in animal PCS is tantamount to understanding formation of modern communities. In the present study, we test the effects of macroevolution and climate changes on ‘hoofed mammals’ (i.e. perissodactyl and artiodactyl) PCS from the late Cenozoic of North America because they experience large, phylogenetically dispersed extinctions of browsing species and phylogenetically dispersed originations of grazing species associated with the evolution of grassland ecosystems during the late Miocene. We show that the loss of numerically dominant nonhypsodont (putatively browsing and mixed feeding) clades and phylogenetically dispersed origination of less speciose clades following the mid Miocene climatic optimum led to an increase in phylogenetic evenness at the regional scale that is well explained by global climate changes. Phylogenetic evenness and a reduced richness during the late Cenozoic may have facilitated reduced niche overlap among co‐occurring hoofed mammal species as global climates cooled. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015, 114 , 485–494.     

Geographical distribution and extinction risk: lessons from Triassic–Jurassic marine benthic organisms

Aim To evaluate the influence of geographical distribution on the extinction risk of benthic marine invertebrates using data from the fossil record, both during times of background extinction and across a mass‐extinction episode. Total geographical range is contrasted with proxies of global abundance to assess the relationships between the two essential components of geographical distribution and extinction risk. Location A global occurrence data base of fossil benthic macro‐organisms from the Triassic and Jurassic periods was used for this study. Methods Geographical distributions and biodiversity dynamics were assessed for each genus (all taxa) or species (bivalves) based on a sample‐standardized data set and palaeogeographical reconstructions. Geographical ranges were measured by the maximum great circle distance of a taxon within a stratigraphic interval. Global abundance was assessed by the number of localities at which a taxon was recorded. Widespread and rare taxa were separated using median and percentile values of the frequency distributions of occurrences. Results The frequency distribution of geographical ranges is very similar to that for modern taxa. Although no significant correlation could be established between local abundance and geographical range, proxies of global abundance are strongly correlated with geographical range. Taxon longevities are correlated with both mean geographical range and mean global abundance, but range size appears to be more critical than abundance in determining extinction risk. These results are valid when geographical distribution is treated as a trait of taxa and when assessed for individual geological stages. Main conclusions Geographical distribution is a key predictor of extinction risk of Triassic and Jurassic benthic marine invertebrates. An important exception is in the end‐Triassic mass extinction, which equally affected geographically restricted and widespread genera, as well as common and rare genera. This suggests that global diversity crises may curtail the role of geographical distribution in determining extinction risk.     

古新统/始新统界线与特提斯大有孔虫生物带

21世纪初,古新统/始新统界线(简称P/E界线)被国际地层委员会正式定义为古新世-始新世极热事件(简称PETM)期间碳同位素负漂的开始。然而,P/E界线在特提斯大有孔虫生物带(简称SBZ)中的具体位置却一直争论不休。本文回顾了国内外学者近二十年来对P/E界线的研究成果,认为P/E界线应该位于SBZ5的内部,而非SBZ4和SBZ5的界线处。在P/E界线处,大有孔虫没有发生明显的组分上的变化。而在P/E界线后的5—12万年内,大有孔虫发生了一次绝灭。这个绝灭事件被称为大有孔虫的绝灭和新生(简称LFEO)。大有孔虫的绝灭和新生不同于传统上认为的大有孔虫更替事件(简称LFT)。前者可能是由PETM后期强烈的陆地风化剥蚀引起海水富营养化后所造成的一次灾变事件,而后者代表了大有孔虫在长期稳定的浅海环境中形成的演化上的成功。通过回顾P/E界线的研究历史,笔者认为绝大部分地层剖面在P/E界线处的不连续性/不完整性是产生这些争议的主要原因。