Corallite wall and septal microstructure in scleractinian reef corals: Comparison of molecular clades within the family Faviidae

Recent molecular phylogenies conflict with traditional scleractinian classification at ranks ranging from suborder to genus, challenging morphologists to discover new characters that better agree with molecular data. Such characters are essential for including fossils in analyses and tracing evolutionary patterns through geologic time. We examine the skeletal morphology of 36 species belonging to the traditional families Faviidae, Merulinidae, Pectiniidae, and Trachyphylliidae (3 Atlantic, 14 Indo‐Pacific, 2 cosmopolitan genera) at the macromorphological, micromorphological, and microstructural levels. Molecular analyses indicate that the families are not monophyletic groups, but consist of six family‐level clades, four of which are examined [clade XV = Diploastrea heliopora; clade XVI = Montastraea cavernosa; clade XVII (“Pacific faviids”) = Pacific faviids (part) + merulinids (part) + pectiniids (part) + M. annularis complex; clade XXI (“Atlantic faviids”) = Atlantic faviids (part) + Atlantic mussids]. Comparisons among molecular clades indicate that micromorphological and microstructural characters (singly and in combination) are clade diagnostic, but with two exceptions, macromorphologic characters are not. The septal teeth of “Atlantic faviids” are paddle‐shaped (strong secondary calcification axes) or blocky, whereas the septal teeth of “Pacific faviids” are spine‐shaped or multidirectional. Corallite walls in “Atlantic faviids” are usually septothecal, with occasional trabeculothecal elements; whereas corallite walls in “Pacific faviids” are usually trabeculothecal or parathecal or they contain abortive septa. Exceptions include subclades of “Pacific faviids” consisting of a) Caulastraea and Oulophyllia (strong secondary axes) and b) Cyphastrea (septothecal walls). Diploastrea has a diagnostic synapticulothecal wall and thick triangular teeth; Montastraea cavernosa is also distinct, possessing both “Pacific faviid” (abortive septa) and “Atlantic faviid” (paddle‐shaped teeth) attributes. The development of secondary axes is similar in traditional Atlantic faviids and mussids, supporting molecular results placing them in the same clade. Subclades of “Pacific faviids” reveal differences in wall structure and the arrangement and distinctiveness of centers of rapid accretion. J. Morphol. 272:66–88, 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

The phylogeny of aglaspidid arthropods and the internal relationships within Artiopoda

The phylogenetic position of aglaspidids, a problematic group of Lower Palaeozoic arthropods of undetermined affinities, is re‐examined in the context of the major Cambrian and Ordovician lamellipedian arthropod groups. A cladistic analysis of ten genera of aglaspidids sensu stricto, six aglaspidid‐like arthropods and 42 Palaeozoic arthropod taxa indicates that Xenopoda, Cheloniellida, Aglaspidida sensu lato and Trilobitomorpha form a clade (Artiopoda Hou and Bergström, 1997 ) nested within the mandibulate stem‐lineage, thus discarding previous interpretations of these taxa as part 'of the chelicerate stem‐group (Arachnomorpha Heider, 1913 ). The results confirm an aglaspidid identity for several recently described arthropods, including Quasimodaspis brentsae, Tremaglaspis unite, Chlupacaris dubia, Australaglaspis stonyensis and an unnamed Ordovician Chinese arthropod. The problematic Bohemian arthropod Kodymirus vagans was recovered as sister taxon to Beckwithia typa, and both form a small clade that falls outside Aglaspidida sensu stricto, thus discarding eurypterid affinities for the former. The analysis does not support the phylogenetic position of Kwanyinaspis maotianshanensis at the base of Conciliterga as proposed in recent studies, but rather occupies a basal position within Aglaspidida sensu lato. The results indicate a close association of aglaspidid arthropods with xenopods (i.e. Emeraldella and Sidneyia) and cheloniellids (e.g. Cheloniellon, Duslia); the new clade “Vicissicaudata” is proposed to encompass these arthropods, which are characterized by a differentiated posterior region. The phylogenetic position of aglaspidid arthropods makes them good outgroup candidates for analysing the internal relationships within the groups that form Trilobitomorpha. This work provides a much clearer picture of the phylogenetic relationships among Lower Palaeozoic lamellipedians.     

Phylogenetic placement of the Tasmanian spider Acrobleps hygrophilus (Araneae, Anapidae) with comments on the evolution of the capture web in Araneoidea

This paper studies the family‐level phylogenetic placement of the conflicting Tasmanian spider genus Acrobleps using both morphological and behavioral data. We also provide a formal taxonomic revision of Acrobleps, including information on its web architecture and natural history, as well as detailed morphological information for A. hygrophilus, its only species. Acrobleps hygrophilus lacks the typical mysmenid features. Furthermore A. hygrophilus does have all typical and diagnostic characteristics of Anapidae, except for the labral spur. We also discuss two noteworthy morphological features of Acrobleps: the pore bearing depressions of the carapace and the granulated cuticle of the spinnerets. Variation in the latter feature might provide a useful phylogenetic character. Based on the results of cladistic analyses we propose the transfer of Acrobleps from the Mysmenidae to its original placement within the Anapidae. We also propose a new lineage, informally labeled as the “clawless female clade”, which includes synaphrids, cyatholipids and “symphytognathoids.” The secondary absence of the female palpal claw provides support for the “clawless female clade.” We discuss the evolution of the orb web within anapids and other symphytognathoids based on the results of our cladistic analyses. The identical bi‐dimensional webs of the anapid Elanapis and of symphytognathids have evolved independently. Finally, we comment on the implications of one of our analyses regarding araneoid web evolution. We conclude that the taxon sample included in the previous orbicularian data matrix (modified and used in this study) is adequate to test the phylogenetic placement of Acrobleps in Anapidae but insufficient to significantly assess web evolution within Araneoidea. © The Willi Hennig Society 2007.     

Comic woman,victim woman: Pushing gender and genre boundaries in popular Hindi Cinema

“Women's film” in Hollywood is associated both with the genre of melodrama, the “weepie”, and with female spectatorship. In the Indian context of popular Hindi cinema, first, genre analysis itself is a questionable line of inquiry since several genres, the melodrama, musical, gangster, or mystery, combine in a single film, known locally as the masala (spicy) film; and second, films are scarcely divided by a gendered viewership. Yet I identify “women's films” as a distinct category in Hindi cinema, emerging around the ‘70s. These women's films typically center on female protagonists, dramatize their victimization and vindication; by the ‘80s under a range of influences these films mutated into rape‐revenge narratives.

However, another strain emerged within the ‘70s’ “women's film,” which drew on cinema's rich visual iconographic tradition of the sight gag, promulgating the comedic/tomboy heroine figure. It favored laughing and mocking patriarchal structures rather than surrendering to them in tears. Focusing on Ramesh Sippy's Sita aur Gita [1972] emblematic of this trend I explore theoretical concerns about associating genres with gender. In keeping with recent poststructuralist theories about gender and media ‘consumption I show how the film destabilized clear‐cut gender identification and stood for a promising trend that was sadly undercut. Thus, while genre might still be a useful analytical tool for Hindi cinema, defining women's film as female‐centered narratives is a viable category as long as we appreciate the instability in gendered viewer identification.     

A new extant family of primitive moths from Kangaroo Island,Australia, and its significance for understanding early Lepidoptera evolution

We report the first discovery since the 1970s of a new extant family (Aenigmatineidae fam.n. ) of homoneurous moths, based on the small Aenigmatinea glatzella sp.n . from Kangaroo Island off southern Australia. It exhibits a combination of extraordinary anatomical characters, and, unlike most homoneurous moths, its larva is a conifer‐feeder (stem mining in Callitris, Cupressaceae). While the adult's mouthparts are strongly regressed, evidence from other morphological characters and from a Bayesian analysis of 25 genetic loci convincingly places the taxon among Glossata (‘tongue moths’). An unexpected tongue moth clade including Acanthopteroctetidae and Neopseustidae, suggested with low support in recent molecular analyses, remarkably becomes strongly supported when Aenigmatinea is included in the molecular analysis; the new taxon becomes subordinated in that clade (as sister group to Neopseustidae) and the clade itself appears as the sister group of all Heteroneura, representing the vast majority of all Lepidoptera. Including Aenigmatinea into the analysis thereby strengthens the surprising indication of non‐monophyly of Myoglossata, and the new phylogeny requires an additional number of ad hoc assumptions of convergence/character reversals in early Lepidoptera evolution. This published work has been registered in ZooBank, http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:44393B52‐1889‐431A‐AB08‐6BBCF8F946B8 .     

The deep divergences of neornithine birds: a phylogenetic analysis of morphological characters

Consensus is elusive regarding the phylogenetic relationships among neornithine (crown clade) birds. The ongoing debate over their deep divergences is despite recent increases in available molecular sequence data and the publication of several larger morphological data sets. In the present study, the phylogenetic relationships among 43 neornithine higher taxa are addressed using a data set of 148 osteological and soft tissue characters, which is one of the largest to date. The Mesozoic non‐neornithine birds Apsaravis, Hesperornis, and Ichthyornis are used as outgroup taxa for this analysis. Thus, for the first time, a broad array of morphological characters (including both cranial and postcranial characters) are analyzed for an ingroup densely sampling Neornithes, with crown clade outgroups used to polarize these characters. The strict consensus cladogram of two most parsimonious trees resultant from 1000 replicate heuristic searches (random stepwise addition, tree‐bisection‐reconnection) recovered several previously identified clades; the at‐one‐time contentious clades Galloanseres (waterfowl, fowl, and allies) and Palaeognathae were supported. Most notably, our analysis recovered monophyly of Neoaves, i.e., all neognathous birds to the exclusion of the Galloanseres, although this clade was weakly supported. The recently proposed sister taxon relationship between Steatornithidae (oilbird) and Trogonidae (trogons) was recovered. The traditional taxon “Falconiformes” (Cathartidae, Sagittariidae, Accipitridae, and Falconidae) was not found to be monophyletic, as Strigiformes (owls) are placed as the sister taxon of (Falconidae + Accipitridae). Monophyly of the traditional “Gruiformes” (cranes and allies) and ”Ciconiiformes” (storks and allies) was also not recovered. The primary analysis resulted in support for a sister group relationship between Gaviidae (loons) and Podicipedidae (grebes)—foot‐propelled diving birds that share many features of the pelvis and hind limb. Exclusion of Gaviidae and reanalysis of the data set, however, recovered the sister group relationship between Phoenicopteridae (flamingos) and grebes recently proposed from molecular sequence data.     

Giant taxon‐character matrices: quality of character constructions remains critical regardless of size

Giant morphological data matrices are increasingly common in cladistic analyses of vertebrate phylogeny, reporting numbers of characters never seen or expected before. However, the concern for size is usually not followed by an equivalent, if any, concern for character construction/selection criteria. Therefore, the question of whether quantity parallels quality for such influential works remains open. Here, we provide the largest compilation known to us of character construction methods and criteria, as derived from previous studies, and from our own de novo conceptualizations. Problematic character constructions inhibit the capacity of phylogenetic analyses to recover meaningful homology hypotheses and thus accurate clade structures. Upon a revision of two of the currently largest morphological datasets used to test squamate phylogeny, more than one‐third of the almost 1000 characters analysed were classified within at least one of our categories of “types” of characters that should be avoided in cladistic investigations. These characters were removed or recoded, and the data matrices re‐analysed, resulting in substantial changes in the sister group relationships for squamates, as compared to the original studies. Our results urge caution against certain types of character choices and constructions, also providing a methodological basis upon which problematic characters might be avoided.     

Cladistic analysis of molecular and morphological data

Considerable progress has been made recently in phylogenetic reconstruction in a number of groups of organisms. This progress coincides with two major advances in systematics: new sources have been found for potentially informative characters (i. e., molecular data) and (more importantly) new approaches have been developed for extracting historical information from old or new characters (i. e., Hennigian phylogenetic systematics or cladistics). The basic assumptions of cladistics (the existence and splitting of lineages marked by discrete, heritable, and independent characters, transformation of which occurs at a rate slower than divergence of lineages) are discussed and defended. Molecular characters are potentially greater in quantity than (and usually independent of) more traditional morphological characters, yet their great simplicity (i. e., fewer potential character states; problems with determining homology), and difficulty of sufficient sampling (particularly from fossils) can lead to special difficulties. Expectations of the phylogenetic behavior of different types of data are investigated from a theoretical standpoint, based primarily on variation in the central parameter λ (branch length in terms of expected number of character changes per segment of a tree), which also leads to possibilities for character and character state weighting. Also considered are prospects for representing diverse yet clearly monophyletic clades in larger-scale cladistic analyses, e. g., the exemplar method vs. “compartmentalization” (a new approach involving substituting an inferred “archetype” for a large clade accepted as monophyletic based on previous analyses). It is concluded that parsimony is to be preferred for synthetic, “total evidence” analyses because it appears to be a robust method, is applicable to all types of data, and has an explicit and interpretable evolutionary basis. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Phylogeny of the superfamily Gelechioidea (Lepidoptera: Ditrysia): an exemplar approach

Phylogenetic relationships within the megadiverse lepidopteran superfamily Gelechioidea have been poorly understood and consequently the family level classification has been problematic. An analysis of phylogeny using 193 characters, including 241 informative character states, derived from larval, pupal and adult morphology and larval ecology, was performed to resolve the phylogeny of the Gelechioidea. 143 species representing the diversity of the putative Gelechioidea were included, supplemented with 13 species representing 11 other Ditrysian families. The monophyly of the Gelechioidea was supported, although only with homoplastic characters. The putative position of the Gelechioidea as the sister group of the Apoditrysia was not supported, since the Gelechioidea was nested within this clade. The Gelechioidea was divided into two main lineages: (1) the gelechiid lineage constituting Deoclonidae, Syringopainae, a re‐composed Coleophoridae (including Coelopoetinae and Batrachedrinae as paraphyletic with Stathmopodinae, and Coleophorinae nested within it), Momphidae, Pterolonchidae, Scythrididae, Cosmopterigidae, and Gelechiidae, and (2) the oecophorid lineage constituting the “autostichid” family assemblage (including taxa formerly assigned to Autostichinae, Holcopogoninae, Symmocinae, Glyphidoceridae and Lecithoceridae), Xyloryctidae s.l. (including a paraphyletic Xyloryctidae of authors, some oecophorids of authors, Deuterogoniinae and Blastobasinae), Oecophoridae s.s., Amphisbatidae s.s., Carcinidae, Stenomati[n/d]ae, Chimabachidae and Elachistidae (including Depressariinae s.s., Telechrysis, Ethmiinae, Hypertrophinae s.l., miscellaneous “amphisbatids”sensu authors, Aeolanthinae, Parametriotinae, Agonoxeninae and Elachistinae). Detritivory/fungivory may have evolved only twice within Gelechioidea, though the evolution of larval food substrate use frequently reverses. To avoid an unnecessary further proliferation of names, it is recommended that no further family group names are introduced within the Gelechioidea, unless based on a rigorous analysis of inter‐relationships.     

An interview with Henri Cartier‐Bresson

Henri Cartier‐Bresson (born Paris, 1908) is arguably the best‐known photographer of the Twentieth Century. He, along with Robert Capa and David Seymour, pioneered the medium of photo‐reportage using the 35mm camera. Cartier‐Bresson's theory of photography requires that the photographer be as inconspicuous as possible in order to capture the subject more‐or‐less unawares in a series of “decisive moments”. His idea that the camera is an “extension of the eye”, used to evoke a certain “truth”, is reminiscent of the Soviet filmmaker Dziga Vertov's theory of kinoki, the cine‐eye. In 1947 Cartier‐Bresson helped found the famed Magnum agency in Paris, with a view to freeing creative photographers from the exploitation of agents. Although he rarely grants an interview, recently Cartier‐Bresson gave the following interview to the French journalist Michel Guerrin.¹     

A biogeographic–ecological approach to disentangle reticulate evolution in the Triatoma phyllosoma species group (Heteroptera: Triatominae), vectors of Chagas disease

Introgression and incomplete lineage sorting (ILS) are two of the main sources of gene‐tree incongruence; both can confound the assessment of phylogenetic relationships among closely related species. The Triatoma phyllosoma species group is a clade of partially co‐distributed and cross‐fertile Chagas disease vectors. Despite previous efforts, the phylogeny of this group remains unresolved, largely because of substantial gene‐tree incongruence. Here, we sequentially address introgression and ILS to provide a robust phylogenetic hypothesis for the T. phyllosoma species group. To identify likely instances of introgression prior to molecular scrutiny, we assessed biogeographic data and information on fertility of inter‐specific crosses. We first derived a few explicit hybridization hypotheses by considering the degree of spatial overlap within each species pair. Then, we assessed the plausibility of these hypotheses in the light of each species pair's cross‐fertility. Using this contextual information, we evaluated mito‐nuclear (cyt b, ITS‐2) gene‐tree incongruence and found evidence suggesting introgression within two species pairs. Finally, we modeled ILS using a Bayesian multispecies coalescent approach and either (a) a “complete” dataset with all the specimens in our sample, or (b) a “filtered” dataset without putatively introgressed specimens. The “filtered tree” had higher posterior‐probability support, as well as more plausible topology and divergence times, than the “complete tree.” Detecting and filtering out introgression and modeling ILS allowed us to derive an improved phylogenetic hypothesis for the T. phyllosoma species group. Our results illustrate how biogeographic and ecological‐reproductive contextual information can help clarify the systematics and evolution of recently diverged taxa prone to introgression and ILS.     

The credibility of movement‐writing

The author first defended the credibility of movement‐writing in Chapter 2, Section 3, of a B.Litt.¹ thesis entitled Social Anthropology and [the] Dance, [Oxford, U.K., 1972]. Seven theoretical criteria from Nelson Goodman's Languages of Art [1969] were used to illustrate to examiners who knew nothing about movement‐writing in any form that Laban's system was not merely a mnemonic device. The guts of the chapter are revived in the following essay because of long‐standing, still‐existing confusion about the relations between movement‐writing and research and between “notation” and “writing” with regard to human movement studies.     

Morphological data indicates two major clades of the subtribe Gorteriinae (Asteraceae-Arctotideae)

The phylogeny of subtribe Gorteriinae (Asteraceae‐Arctotideae) is investigated by means of cladistic analysis of morphological characters. Two sister groups are formed, namely a Gorteria clade also containing Hirpicium and Gazania, and a Berkheya clade, which also contains Cullumia, Cuspidia, Didelta and Heterorhachis. The Gorteria clade has strong jackknife support and is diagnosed by four morphological characters (leaves with longitudinally striate hairs, fringed anther apical appendages, pollen of the “Gazania‐type”, and subulate‐ensiform, ascending style sweeping hairs) that are unique within the Asteraceae. The Berkheya clade is moderately supported and diagnosed by two characters without contradiction (spiny leaves, and mamillate, large style sweeping hairs). Hirpicium and Berkheya are paraphyletic, with the other, morphologically more homogeneous genera (Gorteria, and Gazania, Cullumia, Cuspidia, Didelta and Heterorhachis, respectively) nested within them. There is some evidence for a radiation of species of the summer rainfall area of South Africa and tropical Africa and the corresponding species are nested within a grade confined to the Cape Floristic Region. © The Willi Hennig Society 2006.     

Three New Freshwater Cochliopodium Species (Himatismenida,Amoebozoa) from the Southeastern United States

Cochliopodium is a lens‐shaped genus of Amoebozoa characterized by a flexible layer of microscopic dorsal scales. Recent taxonomic and molecular studies reported cryptic diversity in this group and suggested that the often‐used scale morphology is not a reliable character for species delineation in the genus. Here, we described three freshwater Cochliopodium spp. from the southeastern United States based on morphological, immunocytochemistry (ICC), and molecular data. A maximum‐likelihood phylogenetic analysis and pairwise comparison of COI sequences of Cochliopodium species showed that each of these monoclonal cultures were genetically distinct from each other and any described species with molecular data. Two of the new isolates, “crystal UK‐YT2” (Cochliopodium crystalli n. sp.) and “crystal‐like UK‐YT3” (C. jaguari n. sp.), formed a clade with C. larifeili, which all share a prominent microtubule organizing center (MTOC) and have cubical‐shaped crystals. The “Marrs Spring UK‐YT4” isolate, C. marrii n. sp., was 100% identical to “Cochliopodium sp. SG‐2014 KJ569724 .” These sequences formed a clade with C. actinophorum and C. arabianum. While the new isolates can be separated morphologically, most of the taxonomic features used in the group show plasticity; therefore, Cochliopodium species can only be reliably identified with the help of molecular data.     

Skeleto‐musculature of the mandible and its function in podocopid ostracodes exemplified by Loxoconcha pulchra (Cytheroidea: Loxoconchidae) and Fabaeformiscandona tyrolensis (Cypridoidea: Candonidae)

A new anatomical interpretation of the skeleto‐musculature of the mandible in podocopid ostracodes is proposed based on ultrastructural observations of Loxoconcha pulchra Ishizaki, 1968 and Fabaeformiscandona tyrolensis (Löffler, 1963). Attachment cells with their numerous microfibers anchor the sclerotized lamella cuticle (chitinous rod) to the outer lamella cuticle via intracuticular fibers. A pan‐shaped structure develops at the attachment area in the outer lamella cuticle and is responsible for the mandibular scar. The sclerotized lamella cuticle is continuous with the dorsal apex of the mandibular coxa, which touches the fulcral point directly without intermediate epidermis. The calcification of the fulcral point starts immediately after ecdysis and this rapid calcification suggests that the fulcral point must play a significant role in functional morphology of podocopid ostracodes. After 3D‐reconstruction of the set of mandibular extrinsic muscles in a podocopid ostracode, we suggest that the fulcral point is a key character for carapace opening by transmitting the force from the mandibular coxa to the valve and at the same time functions as the stable fulcrum for mandibular movement during mastication. J. Morphol. 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Convergence and parallelism: is a new life ahead of old concepts?

In comparative biology, character observations initially separate similar and dissimilar characters. Only similar characters are considered for phylogeny reconstruction; their homology is attested in a two‐step process, firstly a priori of phylogeny reconstruction by accurate similarity statements, and secondly a posteriori of phylogeny analysis by congruence with other characters. Any pattern of non‐homology is then a homoplasy, commonly, but vaguely, associated with “convergence”. In this logical scheme, there is no way to analyze characters which look similar, but cannot meet usual criteria for homology statements, i.e., false similarity detected a priori of phylogenetic analysis, even though such characters may represent evolutionarily significant patterns of character transformations. Because phylogenies are not only patterns of taxa relationships but also references for evolutionary studies, we propose to redefine the traditional concepts of parallelism and convergence to associate patterns of non‐homology with explicit theoretical contexts: homoplasy is restricted to non‐similarity detected a posteriori of phylogeny analysis and related to parallelism; non‐similarity detected a priori of phylogenetic analysis and necessarily described by different characters would then correspond to a convergence event s. str. We propose to characterize these characters as heterologous (heterology). Heterology and homoplasy correspond to different non‐similarity patterns and processes; they are also associated with different patterns of taxa relationships: homoplasy can occur only in non‐sister group taxa; no such limit exists for heterology. The usefulness of these terms and concepts is illustrated with patterns of acoustic evolution in ensiferan insects. © The Willi Hennig Society 2005.     

Phylogeny of Maculinea blues (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) based on morphological and ecological characters: evolution of parasitic myrmecophily

A phylogeny of blue butterflies of the genus Maculinea and related genera (Lycaenidae) is proposed, based on 91 morphological and ecological characters. The resulting tree shows that: (1) Phengaris is a derived group nested within Maculinea; (2) the Maculinea‐Phengaris clade is probably nested within Glaucopsyche; (3) there are three well supported groups within the Maculinea‐Phengaris clade: (alcon group ((teleius group) (arion‐Phengaris group))). Some species (M. alcon, M. arionides) appear to be non‐monophyletic and require reclassification. The two alternative strategies of parasitic myrmecophily in the Maculinea‐Phengaris clade, viz., “predatory” and “cuckoo”, seem to be derived characters of the alcon group, and of the teleius and arion‐Phengaris groups, respectively. The common ancestor of Maculinea used dorsal nectary organ secretions for ant attraction, while this trait was reduced in the ancestor of the alcon group and in M. nausithous (of the teleius group). The three recent Maculinea lineages utilize taxonomically diverse host plants, the asterid families Gentianaceae (alcon and arion‐Phengaris groups), Lamiaceae (arion‐Phengaris group), Campanulaceae (arion‐Phengaris group), and the rosid family Rosaceae (teleius group).     

DNA sequencing,anatomy, and calcification patterns support a monophyletic,subarctic, carbonate reef‐forming Clathromorphum (Hapalidiaceae,Corallinales, Rhodophyta)

For the first time, morpho‐anatomical characters that were congruent with DNA sequence data were used to characterize several genera in Hapalidiaceae—the major eco‐engineers of Subarctic carbonate ecosystems. DNA sequencing of three genes (SSU, rbcL, ribulose‐1, 5‐bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase large subunit gene and psbA, photosystem II D1 protein gene), along with patterns of cell division, cell elongation, and calcification supported a monophyletic Clathromorphum. Two characters were diagnostic for this genus: (i) cell division, elongation, and primary calcification occurred only in intercalary meristematic cells and in a narrow vertical band (1–2 μm wide) resulting in a “meristem split” and (ii) a secondary calcification of interfilament crystals was also produced. Neopolyporolithon was resurrected for N. reclinatum, the generitype, and Clathromorphum loculosum was transferred to this genus. Like Clathromorphum, cell division, elongation, and calcification occurred only in intercalary meristematic cells, but in a wider vertical band (over 10–20 μm), and a “meristem split” was absent. Callilithophytum gen. nov. was proposed to accommodate Clathromorphum parcum, the obligate epiphyte of the northeast Pacific endemic geniculate coralline, Calliarthron. Diagnostic for this genus were epithallial cells terminating all cell filaments (no dorsi‐ventrality was present), and a distinct “foot” was embedded in the host. Leptophytum, based on its generitype, L. laeve, was shown to be a distinct genus more closely related to Clathromorphum than to Phymatolithon. All names of treated species were applied unequivocally by linking partial rbcL sequences from holotype, isotype, or epitype specimens with field‐collected material. Variation in rbcL and psbA sequences suggested that multiple species may be passing under each currently recognized species of Clathromorphum and Neopolyporolithon.     

Scorpion higher phylogeny and classification, taxonomic anarchy, and standards for peer review in online publishing

Soleglad and Fet's (2003a) attempt to reconstruct the phylogeny of Recent (including extant) scorpions, the revised classification derived from it, and recent emendations, mostly published in their self‐edited online journal, Euscorpius, are deficient. Separate analyses of three independent matrices (morphology, 16S rDNA, 18S rDNA) were presented. In the morphological matrix, 52 binary and 10 tristate trichobothrial characters were replaced with one character comprising six ordered states representing trichobothrial “types”. The remaining matrix of 105 characters was further reduced to 33 “fundamental” characters (20% of the morphological dataset), the analysis of which appears to be the basis for the revised classification presented. The taxon sample for the morphological analysis included 14 supraspecific terminal taxa representing genera, the monophyly of only 7 (12.5%) of which has been confirmed. A composite terminal, assembled from the fragments of fossils that may not be confamilial let alone monophyletic, was created for the Palaeopisthacanthidae, employed as the primary outgroup for the analysis. Other important outgroup taxa, notably eurypterids, xiphosurans and other arachnids, were omitted entirely. The morphological characters presented contained numerous unjustifiable assumptions of character polarity and phylogenetic relationship. An approach to character coding, deliberately adopted to reduce “homoplasy”, biased the analysis towards a preconceived result. Structurally and topographically similar features in different taxa were explicitly assigned separate (often autapomorphic) states according to presumed phylogenetic relationships among the taxa in which they were observed. Putative “reversals” were coded as separate characters or states. Character transformation was forced by ordering, additive coding or Sankoff optimization through allegedly intermediate states for which there is no empirical evidence. Many characters were defined in a manner that demonstrates either a lack of understanding of, or disregard for, established methods and standards of morphological character coding. Some states display overlapping variation whereas others subsume variation that is not structurally or topographically similar. Polymorphic “states” were created for terminals with interspecific variation and unknown “states” for terminals that should have been scored unknown. Many characters were not evaluated for particular terminal taxa, but merely scored inapplicable although the structures and, consequently, the characters in question are present and therefore applicable to them. In view of the significant theoretical and empirical problems with the approach to cladistics taken by Soleglad and Fet, we find no justification for accepting either the results of their analyses or the revised classification derived from them. Pending the outcome of a rigorous phylogenetic analysis, published according to acceptable standards of scholarship in a peer‐reviewed journal, we revert to the suprageneric classification of Scorpiones reflected by the most recent peer‐reviewed, published treatments and reject all changes to the classification proposed by Soleglad, Fet and colleagues since 2001. We argue that an analysis and revised classification of the kind presented in various papers by these authors could not survive the peer‐review process of a mainstream scientific journal. The poor scholarship exemplified by these and other papers published in Euscorpius emphasize the importance of quality control associated with the emergent infrastructure of online publishing. A centralized register of taxa may be the only solution for ensuring quality control in the taxonomy of the future. © The Willi Hennig Society 2005.