Numerical taxonomy of Juniperus thurifera, J. excelsa and J. foetidissima (Cupressaceae) based on morphological characters

Juniperus excelsa and J. thurifera are considered to originate from the same ancestor. As a result of occurring in geographically isolated refuges – J. excelsa in SE Europe and SW Asia and J. thurifera in SW Europe and NW Africa – their divergence could have taken place at the end of the Tertiary, with the climate cooling. Juniperus foetidissima occurs in SE Europe and SW Asia in territories shared with J. excelsa and is similar to and sometimes misidentified with it. The occurrence of the latter two species over the same area suggests they should be more similar to each other than to the geographically distant J. thurifera . Four populations of J. excelsa ssp. excelsa , four of J. thurifera and two of Juniperus foetidissima were examined on the basis of features of 10 cones and 10 shoots of 18–36 specimens each. Results of discrimination analysis, Mahalanobis distances and cluster analysis showed great similarity to J. excelsa and J. thurifera , while J. foetidissima was more distant. The results support the hypothesis of a common ancestor of J. excelsa and J. thurifera , but suggest another origin of J. foetidissima .  © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2007, 155 , 483–495.     

J. Deprat,l’Eubée (Grèce) et les fossiles introuvables

In Evia (Greece), limestones attributed to the lower Cretaceous by J. Deprat are in fact of Triassic to Upper Jurassic age. These erroneous attributions are based on the allegedly presence of Barremian and Albian fossils and on the supposed progressive passage of these limestones to the Cenomanian ones. Generally, except for the upper Cretaceous rich in Rudists and known since older works, a big part of the stratigraphical attributions of J. Deprat in Median Evia are erroneous.     

Taxonomic revision of Joyeuxilepis Spassky, 1947 (Cestoda: Amabiliidae): redescriptions of J. acanthorhyncha (Wedl, 1855) and J. fuhrmanni (Solomon, 1932), a key and a new generic diagnosis

Systematic Parasitology - Two species of Joyeuxilepis Spassky, 1947 with 14 rostellar hooks are redescribed: J.&;nbsp;acanthorhyncha (Wedl, 1855) on the basis of specimens from Tachybaptus...     

Corrigendum to: Kopec, G., J. Allwood,J. Cullen and D. Ralph. 2016. A general nonlinear least squares data reconciliation and estimation method for material flow analysis. Journal of Industrial Ecology 20(5): 1038–1049

Table 2 displays a list of the variables, data points with data quality, and reconciled solution for the MFA in figure 1. Row 3, column 4 Data points (quality) should read 15 (60) | 19 (90) rather than 15 (60) | 18 (90).     

Craniological differentiation between European wildcats (Felis silvestris silvestris), African wildcats (F. s. lybica) and Asian wildcats (F. s. ornata): implications for their evolution and conservation

Intraspecific diversification of the wildcat (Felis silvestris), including the European wildcat (F. s. silvestris), the Asian wildcat (F. s. ornata) and the African wildcat (F. s. lybica), was examined based on 39 cranial morphology variables. The samples of free‐ranging cats originated from Britain, Europe, Central Asia and southern Africa, consisting of both nominal wildcat specimens (referred to henceforth as ‘wildcats’) and nominal non‐wildcat specimens (‘non‐wildcats’) based on museum labels. The skull morphology of ‘wildcats’ from Britain and Europe is clearly different from that of ‘wildcats’ of Central Asia and southern Africa. The latter are characterized especially by their proportionately larger cheek teeth. On the basis of principal component, discriminant function and canonical variate analyses, the skull morphology of British ‘non‐wildcats’ is less distinct than is that of British ‘wildcats’ from the skull morphologies of ‘wildcats’ of Central Asia and southern Africa. On the other hand, the skull morphology of southern African ‘non‐wildcats’ is as distinct from those of ‘wildcats’ of Britain and Europe as is that of southern African ‘wildcats’. We suggest that the evolution of the modern wildcat probably consisted of at least three different distribution expansions punctuated by two differentiation events: the exodus from Europe during the late Pleistocene, coinciding with the emergence of the steppe wildcat lineage (phenotype of Asian–African wildcat), followed by its rapid range expansion in the Old World. The second differentiation event was the emergence of the domestic cat followed by its subsequent colonization of the entire world with human assistance. Considering the recent evolutionary history of, and morphological divergence in, the wildcat, preventing hybridization between the European wildcat and the domestic cat is a high conservation priority. © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2004, 83 , 47–63.     

J. Deprat,l’Eubée,la Corse et la Sardaigne. À propos de l’article de C. Guernet « J. Deprat,l’Eubée (Grèce) et les fossiles introuvables »

In a recent publication, C. Guernet picks up again the accusations of fraud against J. Deprat, who, in the early 20th century, had suffered such attacks to the point to be removed from the Geological Society of France. At the end of the same century, one among us (M D.D.) reexamined this affair, and drew the conclusion that J. Deprat was innocent, after which the Geological Society of France reinstated him posthumously. The new accusations issued by Guernet are about Deprat's work in Euboea, as well as Corsica and Sardinia. Our own work rather disagrees and shows that, here again, Deprat is innocent. At this occasion, we present or remind new elements about those regions’ geology.     

TAXONOMIC REVISIONS OF MORPHOLOGICALLY SIMILAR SPECIES FROM TWO EUGLENOID GENERA: EUGLENA (E. GRANULATA AND E. VELATA) AND EUGLENARIA (EU. ANABAENA,EU. CAUDATA,AND EU. CLAVATA)1

The establishment of epitypes (together with the emended diagnoses) for three species of Euglenaria Karnkowska, E. W. Linton et Kwiatowski [Eu. anabaena (Mainx) Karnkowska et E. W. Linton; Eu. caudata (Hübner) Karnkowska et E. W. Linton; and Eu. clavata (Skuja) Karnkowska et E. W. Linton] and two species of Euglena Ehrenberg [E. granulata (Klebs) Schmitz and E. velata Klebs] was achieved due to literature studies, verification of morphological diagnostic features (cell size, cell shape, number of chloroplasts, the presence of mucocysts), as well as molecular characters (SSU rDNA). Now all these species are easy to identify and distinguish, despite their high morphological similarity, that is, spindle‐shaped (or cylindrically spindle‐shaped) cells and parietal, lobed chloroplasts with a single pyrenoid, accompanied by bilateral paramylon caps located on both sides of the chloroplast. E. granulata is the only species in this group that has spherical mucocysts. E. velata is distinguished by the largest cells (90–150 μm) and has the highest number of chloroplasts (>30). Eu. anabaena has the fewest chloroplasts (usually 3–6), and its cells are always (whether the organism is swimming or not) spindle‐shaped or cylindrically spindle‐shaped, in contrast to the cells of Eu. clavata, which are club‐shaped (clavate) while swimming and only after stopping change to resemble the shape of a spindle or a cylindrical spindle; Eu. clavata has numerous chloroplasts (15–20). Eu. caudata is characterized by asymmetrical spindle‐shaped (fusiform) cells, that is, with an elongated rear section and a shorter front section; the number of chloroplasts normally ranges from 7 to 15.     

The gynostemium of Bulbophyllum ecornutum (J. J. Smith) J. J. Smith (Orchidaceae)

RASMUSSEN, F. N., 1985. The gynostemium of Bulbophyllum ecornutum (J. J. Smith) J.J. Smith (Orchidaceae) . Stages in the development of the gynostemium of Bulbophyllum ecornutum demonstrate that the pollinium stalk is a hamulus in this and in a closely related species, B. gibbolabium . A hamulus arises by apical growth and reflexion of the median carpel. Hamuli have recently been discovered in several orchid genera, and a transverse fold of the rostellar apex is already known from a large group of orchids. The closely related B. cornutum has a quite different gynostemium structure.     

Ligulate Desmarestia (Desmarestiales,Phaeophyceae) revisited: D. japonica sp. nov. and D. dudresnayi differ from D. ligulata

The phylogeny of ligulate and sulfuric‐acid containing species of Desmarestia, occurring worldwide from polar to temperate regions, was revised using a multigenic and polyphasic approach. Sequence data, gametophyte characteristics, and sporophyte morphology support reducing a total of 16 taxa to four different species. (1) D. herbacea, containing broad‐bladed and highly branched forms, has dioecious gametophytes. The three other species have monoecious gametophytes: (2) D. ligulata which is profusely branched and, except for one subspecies, narrow‐bladed, (3) Japanese ligulate Desmarestia, here described as D. japonica sp. nov., which is morphologically similar to D. ligulata but genetically distant from all other ligulate taxa. This species may have conserved the morphology of original ligulate Desmarestia. (4) D. dudresnayi, including unbranched or little branched broad‐bladed taxa. A figure of the holotype of D. dudresnayi, which was lost for decades, was relocated. The taxonomy is complemented by a comparison of internal transcribed spacer and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1) as potential barcode loci, with cox1 offering good resolution, reflecting species delimitations within the genus Desmarestia.     

Ankistromeces mariae n. g., n. sp. (Digenea: Sanguinicolidae) from Meuschenia freycineti (Monacanthidae) off Tasmania

Ankistromeces mariae n. g., n. sp. is described from Meuschenia freycineti (Monacanthidae), the six-spined leatherjacket, from off northern Tasmania. The new genus differs from the 21 other sanguinicolid genera in the combination of the anteriorly intercaecal and posteriorly post-caecal single testis, the presence of a cirrus-sac, the absence of an auxiliary external seminal vesicle, separate genital pores, the typically post-ovarian uterus and the H-shaped intestine. A. mariae is the first sanguinicolid to be reported from a monacanthid fish.     

Using otolith shape and morphometry to identify four Alburnus species (A. chalcoides,A. escherichii,A. mossulensis and A. tarichi) in Turkish inland waters

Asteriscus otolith shapes as well as their morphometry and shape contours were investigated in order to identify four allopatric Alburnus species: A. chalcoides (Güldenstädt, 1772) (Ordu), A. escherichii Steindachner, 1897 (Eski?ehir), A. mossulensis Heckel, 1843 (Tunceli), and A. tarichi (Güldenstädt, 1814) (Van) in Turkish inland waters. These were compared using the shape indices (form factor, roundness, circularity, ellipticity, rectangularity and aspect ratio), and the morphological characters [otolith weight (OWE), otolith length (OL), otolith width (OW), otolith perimeter (OP), and otolith area (OA)]. The overall canonical discriminant analysis (CDA) classification score was 93.8%, with the lowest score for A. escherichii (82.5%) and the highest for A. chalcoides (100%). The otolith shapes, morphology and shape contours of all sampled fish were a clear species differentiator, thereby demonstrating that the otolith shape is species‐specific. The current study presents for the first time comprehensive variation information on interspecific left‐right asteriscus otoliths in males and females of each Alburnus species: A. chalcoides from Ordu, A. escherichii from Eski?ehir, A. mossulensis from Tunceli and A. tarichi from Van, based on a total of 307 individuals. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images, shape contours and other otolith characters vary within the same genus; these differences should be investigated not only in other freshwater fish species or genera but also in the same species living in different habitats. In addition, further investigation is required not only with respect to the morphometry, biometry, shape, geometry, and shape contours of the otoliths, but also regarding the genetic methods for robust identification of various sympatric and allopatric fish populations.     

Two new species in the Chaetoceros socialis complex (Bacillariophyta): C. sporotruncatus and C. dichatoensis,and characterization of its relatives,C. radicans and C. cinctus

The diatom genus Chaetoceros is one of the most abundant and diverse phytoplankton in marine and brackish waters worldwide. Within this genus, Chaetoceros socialis has been cited as one of the most common species. However, recent studies from different geographic areas have shown the presence of pseudo‐cryptic diversity within the C. socialis complex. Members of this complex are characterized by curved chains (primary colonies) aggregating into globular clusters, where one of the four setae of each cell curves toward the center of the cluster and the other three orient outwards. New light and electron microscopy observations as well as molecular data on marine planktonic diatoms from the coastal waters off Chile revealed the presence of two new species, Chaetoceros sporotruncatus sp. nov. and C. dichatoensis. sp. nov. belonging to the C. socialis complex. The two new species are similar to other members of the complex (i.e., C. socialis and C. gelidus) in the primary and secondary structure of the colony, the orientation pattern of the setae, and the valve ultrastructure. The only morphological characters that can be used to differentiate the species of this complex are aspects related to resting spore morphology. The two newly described species are closely related to each other and form a sister clade to C. gelidus in molecular phylogenies. We also provide a phylogenetic status along with the morphological characterization of C. radicans and C. cintus, which are genetically related to the C. socialis complex.     

Length–weight relationship of three Cynoglossus species (C. puncticeps,C. lingua and C. lida) from Chilika lagoon,India

The present study provides length–weight relationship (LWR) of three fish species, Cynoglossus puncticeps (Richardson, 1846), Cynoglossus lingua Hamilton, 1822 and Cynoglossus lida (Bleeker, 1851) of family Cynoglossidae from Chilika lagoon (19°28′–19°54′N; 85°05′–85°38′E), India. A total of 147 specimens were sampled during March, July and October of 2017 from screen barrier nets (mesh 14 mm to 26 mm) locally called khonda jal operated by local fishermen. The estimated b values derived from the data sets as follows: 3.12 for C. puncticeps, 3.09 for C. lida, and 2.88 for C. lingua.