Phylogeny and taxonomy of Phylloporia (Hymenochaetales): new species and a worldwide key to the genus

Species of Phylloporia (Hymenochaetales, Basidiomycota) are polypores with tiny, yellowish and thick-walled basidiospores and are highly divergent in morphology. The monophyly of 35 cosmopolitan isolates of Phylloporia was strongly supported based on analysis of the nLSU rDNA gene but with exclusion of P. resupinata. Among the 19 lineages recognized in the nLSU rDNA phylogeny five new species from China, Phylloporia crataegi, P. fontanesiae, P. gutta, P. nandinae and P. oreophila, were revealed and these species are introduced with additional morphological evidence. A diagnostic key to all 23 thus far accepted species in Phylloporia is provided.     

New and interesting species of Hymenochaetaceae from the Brazilian Amazonia

Coltricia globispora sp. nov. is described as new based on specimens collected in the Parque Natural Municipal de Porto Velho, in the state of Rondônia, Brazilian Amazonia. It is characterized by small pores (7–8 per mm), monomitic hyphal system, and globose, smooth and guttulate basidiospores (5.5–6.6 (?7) μm). Phellinus griseoporus has been found for the first time in Brazil, and Cyclomyces iodinus, P. merrillii, P. membranaceus and P. umbrinellus in the Brazilian Amazonia. Coltricia cinnamomea, P. calcitratus and Phylloporia chrysites are new occurrences to the state Rondônia, while C. hamata and Phylloporia spathulata to the state of Pará. The knowledge about Hymenochaetaceae in the Brazilian Amazonia is briefly discussed, and a key to the neotropical species of Coltricia is provided.     

Evolutionary changes in craniomandibular shape in the great cats (Neofelis Griffith and Panthera Oken)

Evolutionary shape changes in skull and mandibular anatomy was analysed in 223 specimens of pantherine felids (Neofelis nebulosa, Panthera leo, Panthera onca, Panthera pardus, Panthera tigris, Panthera uncia) compared to a small‐felid outgroup, consisting of 86 specimens of nine different species, using digital surface morphometry on 25 (skull) and 17 (mandible) landmarks. Shape evolution in the pantherine species is complex and nonlinear, and involves both large‐scale and small‐scale shape changes. Shape changes frequently differ among the ingroup species, but the four large Panthera species (leo, onca, pardus, tigris) bear some resemblance to each other. The leopard and jaguar bear the closest resemblance to each other, and several shape changes are common to the lion and tiger, but have probably evolved convergently as a result of large size. The lion has undergone the largest and most numerous shape changes from a small‐felid outgroup. Certain shape changes in the skull and, in some respects, the mandible of the clouded leopard bear resemblance to those in the four large Panthera species. The snow leopard is often regarded as the most primitive of the extant Panthera, and skull and mandibular shape changes often diverge markedly from those observed in the other five ingroup taxa; its overall skull shape is rather similar to the small‐felid outgroup. This indicates that the shape changes in the clouded leopard are convergent with those of the four large Panthera species. Landmark integration showed no significant correlation with molecular phylogeny, chiefly owing to the snow leopard being placed among the four large Panthera species. A traditional phylogenetic topology with the snow leopard as the basal‐most species of Panthera yielded a weak but nonsignificant phylogenetic signal. © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2008, 95 , 766–778.     

Mandibular Shape, Ontogeny and Dental Development in Bonobos (Pan paniscus) and Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

The postnatal ontogenetic patterns and processes that underlie species differences in African ape adult mandibular morphology are not well understood and there is ongoing debate about whether African ape faces and mandibles develop via divergent or parallel trajectories of shape change. Using three-dimensional (3D) morphometric data, we first tested when in postnatal development differences in mandibular shape are initially evident between sister species Pan troglodytes and P. paniscus. Next, we tested whether each species has a distinct and non-parallel trajectory of mandibular development. Mandibles sampled across a broad developmental range of wildshot bonobos (n = 44) and chimpanzees (n = 59) were radiographed and aged from their dental development. We then collected 3D landmark surface data from all the mandibles. A geometric morphometric analysis of size-corrected 3D data found that bonobos and chimpanzees had parallel and linear ontogenetic trajectories of mandibular shape change. In contrast, mandibular shape was statistically different between P. paniscus and P. troglodytes as early as infancy, suggesting that species shape differences are already established near or before birth. A linear and stable trajectory of shape change suggests that mandibular ontogeny in these apes is unimpacted by non-linear variation in tooth developmental timing.     

Three new species of Carnoya Gilson, 1898 (Nematoda: Rhigonematidae) from Papua New Guinea

Summary Three new species of Carnoya Gilson, 1898 are described and illustrated from two species of rhinocricid millipedes from Papua New Guinea. C. fimbriata n.sp., C. perbella n.sp. and C. strobilina n.sp. are easily distinguished from the other described species of Carnoya by the exceptionally long tail. They are distinguished from one another by differences in spine configuration, head shape, vulval position and lateral ala shape in the females and by the presence or absence of a spine collar, the lateral ala shape and the copulatory papillae arrangement in the males. Scanning electron micrographs of the females of all three species are provided. ac]19840913     

Two new species of Ulota (Orthotrichaceae,Bryopsida) with multicellular spores,from the Hengduan Mountains,Southwestern China

Abstract

Two new species, Ulota yunnanensis and Ulota gigantospora, are described from Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces, China. Both have multicellular spores, a relatively uncommon character in the genus. Differences between the species include growth form and habit, leaf areolation, capsule shape, peristome structure and ornamentation, operculum shape and colour, as well as vaginula and calyptra hairiness. These characters and those discriminating the new species from other ones with similar spore type are discussed and illustrated.     

Liaoxia Cao et S.Q. Wu (Gnetales): ephedroids from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation in Liaoning, northeastern China

Gnetalean compression-impression fossils are described from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation, Liaoning Province, north-eastern China, and assigned to six species of Liaoxia Cao et S.Q. Wu. The fossils have opposite-decussate phyllotaxis and cones comprising 2–12 pairs of bracts. Ovulate cones have seeds typically in a distal position. The species differ from each other and from previously described fossils in the absence or presence of leaves, shape of cones and seeds, and shape and position of cone bracts. The species of Liaoxia are probably close relatives of extant species of Ephedra L., but diagnostic reproductive details that could confirm this hypothesis are not preserved. The restricted information in the fossils and the poorly understood morphological diversity of extant Ephedra, prevent assignment of the fossils to any particular subgroup of Ephedra, as well as an explicit exclusion of them from the extant genus.     

A new species, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Orphnus drumonti</Emphasis> sp. n. (Coleoptera,Scarabaeidae), from the Democratic Republic of Congo

Three new scarab-beetle species are described. Aphodius moronensis sp. n. (northern Mongolia) and A. kozlovi sp. n (eastern Tibet) with modified spurs on fore tibiae in males are placed in the falcispinis group of the subgenus Agolius but are similar to the grafi group of the subgenus Chilothorax in the shape of parameres and elytral pattern. The new species differ from A. falcispinis in the shape of the spur; A. moronensis sp. n. also differs in the shape of the body and parameres. Orphnus transvaalensis sp. n. is the second apterous Orphnus species found in Southern Africa. It differs from the closely related O. harrisoni in the shape of parameres, position of the hornlike clypeal process, and in a smaller body size.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Phylloporia minutipora and P. radiata</Emphasis> spp. nov. (Hymenochaetales,Basidiomycota) from China and a key to worldwide species of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phylloporia</Emphasis>

Phylloporia is a monophyletic genus within the Hymenochaetaceae as recovered by nuclear large subunit ribosomal DNA (nLSU) sequences. According to the summarization of 38 species accepted in this genus, Phylloporia is characterized by an absence of setae and the presence of abundant thick-walled, colored and tiny basidiospores, although its other morphological characters are highly diverse. Nine herbarium specimens from China, fitting the morphological concept of Phylloporia, were morphologically and phylogenetically studied in detail. The phylogeny inferred from nLSU sequences shows that the nine specimens formed three terminal lineages within the Phylloporia clade. Two lineages being composed of four specimens from Hainan and three from Guizhou were newly described as Phylloporia minutipora and P. radiata, respectively. In Phylloporia, P. minutipora is distinct by a combination of annual, sessile and imbricate basidiocarps, distinctly concentrically sulcate pileal surface with obtuse margin, angular pores of 12–15 per mm, duplex context separated by a black zone, a dimitic hyphal system, and broadly ellipsoid basidiospores of 2.5–3?×?2–2.5 μm, while P. radiata is distinct by a combination of annual, sessile and imbricate basidiocarps, faintly sulcate and radially striate pileal surface, sharp pileal margin, angular pores of 8–10 per mm, duplex context separated by a black zone, a monomitic hyphal system, and broadly ellipsoid basidiospores of 2.5–3.5?×?2–2.5 μm. The third lineage, comprising two specimens from Hainan, was morphologically determined as Phylloporia pulla. This species was recently combined to Phylloporia based on only morphological characters, and the current study for the first time generated its molecular sequences for phylogenetic reference. A key to all 40 species of Phylloporia is provided.     

Morphological differences between the Teleosts Couesius plumbeus (Lake chub) and Rhinichthys cataractae (Longnose dace) and their hybrids from Alberta

Marked external and osteological differences exist between the related cyprinids Couesius plumbeus and Rhinichthys cataractae. C. plumbeus differs from R. cataractae in several external features, such as eye size and mouth shape, any one of which permits identification of individuals. C. plumbeus has postcleithral and nasal bones while R. cataractae does not. Many differences in bone shape also exist. Natural hybrids between the two species from Upper and Lower Kananaskis reservoirs, southwestern Alberta, are intermediate in the average of their external and osteological characters. Some characters in the hybrids, however, are so variable that they fall within the range of both parental species. An individual hybrid may resemble one parental species in one diagnostic character and the other parental species in another. The largest individuals known of the three forms from the Kananaskis system are hybrids.     

Otolith shape analysis for three <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sicyopterus</Emphasis> (Teleostei: Gobioidei: Sicydiinae) species from New Caledonia and Vanuatu

Otolith shape analysis has been used in a number of studies as an inexpensive and powerful method for categorising fish in individual stocks. Elliptical Fourier analysis was used on three different amphidromous Sicyopterus species. Sicyopterus lagocephalus is a widespread species while the other two have a limited distribution area, Sicyopterus aiensis being endemic to Vanuatu, and Sicyopterus sarasini to New Caledonia. Both endemics live in sympatry with the widespread species. The otolith shape of all fish sampled was a clear species differentiator, thereby demonstrating that otolith shape is species-specific. At an intraspecific level there are different river populations within samples from Vanuatu, indicating a western group and an eastern “central” group.These results are congruent both for the endemic species, S. aiensis and for the cosmopolitan species. Finally, we found that, for S. lagocephalus, the cosmopolitan species, New Caledonian samples are close to western Vanuatu samples, the latter two being well differentiated from the eastern “central” Vanuatu samples. The explanation for these results may lay either in the influence of environmental factors on the otolith shape, or in the influence of common early life history thus reflecting genetic factors, or a combination of both.     

Quantitative Genetics and Evolution of Head Shape in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Plethodon</Emphasis> Salamanders

The evolution of morphological diversity via selection requires that morphological traits display significant heritable genetic variation. In Plethodon salamanders, considerable evidence suggests that head shape evolves in response to selection from interspecific competition, yet the genetic underpinnings of head shape have not been quantitatively examined. Here I used geometric morphometrics and quantitative genetics to assess heritable patterns of head shape variation from hatchling salamanders in two Plethodon species (P. cinereus and P. nettingi). Head shape differed significantly between species and among clutches within species, suggesting that a sizeable proportion of head shape variation was the result of clutch effects. Further, using a full-sib animal model and restricted maximum likelihood (REML), I identified large values of maximal additive heritability for all study localities ($ h_{\max }^{2} > 0.65 $ h_{\max }^{2} > 0.65 ), revealing that Plethodon exhibit considerable heritable genetic variation for head shape. Comparisons of the components of heritable shape variation showed that the magnitude of shape heritability (h_max² h_{\max }^{2} ) did not differ among localities or species. Therefore, the potential microevolutionary shape change displayed by the two species would be similar if they were exposed to comparable selective forces. However, the direction of maximal shape heritability in morphospace differed between P. cinereus and P. nettingi, indicating that potential evolutionary shape change along these heritability trajectories would diverge between the two species. This finding implies that distinct head shapes could evolve in the two species, even if subjected to the same selection pressure. When combined with previous knowledge of patterns of head shape variation among species and ecological selection on head shape, these findings suggest that microevolutionary and macroevolutionary trends of morphological diversification in Plethodon may be explained as a result of the interaction between ecological selection and underlying patterns of genetic covariance for this multi-dimensional trait.     

Mychophilus palmatus, a new species (Copepoda: Cyclopoida: Ascidicolidae) associated with the compound ascidian Botryllus leachi Savigny, with remarks on congeneric species and related genera

Presently two species of the genus Mychophilus Hesse, 1865 are known: Mychophilus roseus Hesse, 1865 and Mychophilus fallax Stock, 1967. A hitherto unknown species is described herein as Microphilus palmatus n. sp. The new species is characterized by its urosome much exceeding the cephalosome-metasome in length, the ornamentation of the labrum, the shape of the palp of the first maxilla, the ornamentation of the legs 1–4 and shape of the caudal rami. These and other features of the genus Mychophilus are compared with those from other related genera of the family Ascidicolidae Thorell, 1859.     

Apodopsyllus gabesensis n. sp.: a new species of Paramesochridae (Copepoda: Harpacticoida) from the Gulf of Gabès (south-eastern Tunisia)

Several specimens belonging to a new species of Apodopsyllus were collected during a study on the diversity of meiobenthic communities in the Gulf of Gabès, a Mediterranean shallow-water bay at the south-eastern coast of Tunisia in July 2005. The new species Apodopsyllus gabesensis n. sp. shares the characteristics of the genus such as the lack of endopods from P2 to P4 and the soft and slightly cuticularized body. Apodopsyllus gabesensis n. sp. belongs to the few known species of Apodopsyllus that are described to have comparably distinct patterns of dorsal and lateral cuticular plates and pores. Besides a typical combination of characters that clearly distinguishes the new species from its congeners, the new species shows the following unique single characters: female P5 with a hitherto unknown combination of shape of the exopodal part and shape and setation of the baseoendopodal lobe with two small stout spines; male P6 with a particular shape, and a distinct armature of the exopodal spines in P2–P4 in the male that are pinnate with very short spinules contrary to the female where spines are smooth. The genus Apodopsyllus contains 26 species with the inclusion of the new species.     

Variation of wing shape in the Drosophila virilis species group (Diptera: Drosophilidae)

Wing shape variation was analysed with geometric morphometric methods in 17 laboratory strains, representing 11 closely related species (including two subspecies) of the Drosophila virilis group: D. virilis, D. lummei, D. novamexicana, D. americana americana, D. americana texana, D. montana, D. lacicola, D. flavomontana, D. borealis, D. littoralis, D. ezoana and D. kanekoi. Overall shape estimated using Procrustes coordinates of 14 landmarks was highly variable among strains and very similar in females and males. The landmarks in the distal part of the wing showed higher variation across strains than those in the proximal part. Procrustes distances between species were not consistent with phylogenetic distances previously suggested for the virilis group. Moreover, Procrustes distances between strains within species and within two major phylads (virilis and montana) were comparable with those between species and between phylads, respectively. The most different from other members of the group was the endemic D. kanekoi species, currently viewed as separate subphylad within the montana phylad. Allometric effects were found to be partly responsible for shape differences between the strains. Three most significant shape transformations were considered using the relative warp analysis and the strains were ordinated in accordance with transformation values. The pattern of relative warp scores could be easily interpreted only for the third warp explaining about 13% of shape variation. It separated the largest species, D. montana, D. ezoana and D. kanekoi, from other ones and was mainly associated with shape changes in the proximal region of the wing. The results of the present work suggest that wing shape in the virilis species group is not related to the speciation process. The observed proximal‐distal contrasts and allometric effects are in agreement with data of other studies, in which wing shape variation was analysed within Drosophila species.     

Manihot gratiosa and M. lourdesii spp. nov. (Manihoteae,Euphorbiaceae) from the Brazilian Cerrado

During a botanic expedition in 2013 to study the taxonomy of the genus Manihot in the Cerrado biome, numerous specimens were collected in the Chapada dos Veadeiros region, in central Brazil. After careful analyses, two new species of this genus were discovered. Manihot gratiosa and M. lourdesii are herein described and illustrated. Both species can be distinguished from morphologically similar species by a combination of characters such as shape and overlapping of leaf lobes, indumentum, type and aspect of inflorescence, integrity of pistillate sepals, as well as shape, integrity, and size of bracts of both male and female flowers.     

A Bryophyte flora of Cornwall. II. Sphagna

Abstract

The taxonomy of Anomobryum julaceum and allied species with axillary bulbils in Europe and Asia is reviewed. A. concinnatum is regarded as a distinct species, occurring in W. and C. Europe, SW., N. and C. Asia and N. America. A. bavaricum has often been confused with A. concinnatum, but differs in its more numerous, small, reddish bulbils and in leaf shape; it is known only from the European Alps. The Asian A. nitidum also has numerous small reddish bulbils but it differs from A. bavaricum in leaf shape and bulbil form. A lectotype is designated for A. nitidum, of which A. gemmigerum and other nominal taxa are regarded as synonyms. Information is presented on geographical ranges and habitats of the four valid species.     

Comparative study on the gametophyte morphology and development of three paramo species of Jamesonia (Pteridaceae,Polypodiopsida)

The sexual phase of three species of Jamesonia (J. imbricata, J. rotundifolia and J. scammaniae) has been studied, from spore germination to gametangia formation, with special attention to the morphological development of prothalli. This is the first work to deal with gametophytes of species in this genus. All three species have trilete, tetrahedrical spores that germinate following the Vittaria type. The developmental pattern of J. imbricata and J. rotundifolia is intermediate between the Adiantum and Ceratopteris types, as the initial mitotic activity is assumed by an obconical apical cell, substituted later by a lateral meristem. In J. scammaniae, no apical cell or lateral meristem is formed, so the prothalli remain ameristic throughout the developmental process. Adult gametophytes are naked and variable in shape, in the same species ranging from typical cordate prothalli to irregularly lobed forms. Gametangia of normal shape and size was observed in both J. imbricata and J. rotundifolia, but not in J. scammaniae. Apogamy could be expected to occur in the genus, a phenomenon to be examined in the future. Comparisons are made with known species of related genera and results are discussed from an ecological perspective in the paramo environment.     

A new species of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pseudomaseus</Emphasis> (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Pterostichini) from Greece

A new species of carabid beetles, Pterostichus hejkali sp. n. is described from Northwest Greece (type locality: Epirus District, Ioannina Prefecture, Ioannina Lake environs). Diagnostic characters include distinctive shape of the median lobe of aedeagus, of right paramere and of sexual modification on last visible sternum in males as well as shape of pronotum and size of body. Members of the new species are most similar to P. minor. A key to the identification of the Balkan taxa of Pseudomaseus is presented.