The westernmost tarsier: A new genus and species from the Miocene of Pakistan

As the closest living sister group of anthropoids, tarsiers (Family Tarsiidae) are an important group in primate evolution. However, their fossil record is poor: only four species have been described, two from the Eocene of China and two from the Miocene of Thailand. All are from outside the range of the living species, which occur only on islands off Southeast Asia. Here, we describe a new fossil tarsier from Pakistan, a significant range extension. This record consists of two lower molars, an upper molar, and a lower premolar found in the Miocene Manchar Formation (∼18–16 Ma [millions of years ago]) of Sindh Province, southern Pakistan. The Pakistani tarsier is morphologically distinct from all living and fossil tarsiers, but most similar to the middle Miocene Thai species Tarsius thailandicus. Though living tarsiers have traditionally been classified in a single genus, a recent revision proposed a division into three genera, which is strongly supported by molecular data. The Pakistani species is not referable to any of these genera, and we create for it and T. thailandicus a new tarsiid genus. This discovery broadens our understanding of the geographic range and morphological diversity of Miocene tarsiers and helps to put the living tarsiers into their evolutionary context.     

Descriptions and phylogenetic relationships of a new genus and two new species of Oligo‐Miocene cormorants (Aves: Phalacrocoracidae) from Australia

Tertiary cormorant fossils (Aves: Phalacrocoracidae) from Late Oligocene deposits in Australia are described. They derive from the Late Oligocene – Early Miocene (26–24 Mya) Etadunna and Namba Formations in the Lake Eyre and Lake Frome Basins, South Australia, respectively. A new genus, Nambashag gen. nov. , with two new species ( Nambashag billerooensis sp. nov. , 30 specimens; Nambashag microglaucus sp. nov. , 14 specimens), has been established. Phylogenetic analyses based on 113 morphological and two integumentary characters indicated that Nambashag is the sister taxon to the Early Miocene Nectornis miocaenus of Europe and all extant phalacrocoracids. As Nambashag, Nectornis, and extant phalacrocoracids constitute a strongly supported clade sister to Anhinga species, the fossil taxa have been referred to Phalacrocoracidae. Sulids and Fregata were successive sister taxa to the Phalacrocoracoidea, i.e. phalacrocoracids + Anhinga. As phalacrocoracids lived in both Europe and Australia during the Late Oligocene and no older phalacrocoracid taxa are known, the biogeographical origin of cormorants remains unanswered. The phylogenetic relationships of extant taxa were not wholly resolved, but contrary to previous morphological analyses, considerable concordance was found with relationships recovered by recent molecular analyses. Microcarbo is sister to all other extant phalacrocoracids, and all Leucocarbo species form a well‐supported clade. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 163 , 277–314.     

A new species of Anisopappus (Asteraceae, Inuleae) and its phylogenetic relationships within the genus

A new species of the genus Anisopappus (Asteraceae, Inuleae) from Angola, A. fruticosus , is described. The principal differences with respect to A. chinensis are discussed, and phylogenetic relationships with the other species of the genus are investigated by means of a cladistic analysis using morphological characters.     

A new species of Anthracotheriidae, Merycopotamus medioximus nov. sp. from the Late Miocene of the Potwar Plateau, Pakistan

New anthracotheriid remains, discovered by the H-GSP in well-dated localities from the Potwar plateau in the North of Pakistan, between 10.4 and 8.6 Ma, are described and attributed to Merycopotamus medioximus nov. sp. This new species displays an intermediate morphology between the older M. pusillus and the more recent M. dissimilis. These results permit to emend the Merycopotamus diagnosis. To cite this article: F. Lihoreau et al., C. R. Palevol 3 (2004).

Résumé

Une nouvelle espèce d'Anthracotheriidae, Merycopotamus medioximus nov. sp. du Miocène récent du plateau du Potwar, Pakistan. Des restes d'Anthracotheriidae, découverts par le H-GSP dans des localités bien datées du plateau du Potwar, au Nord du Pakistan, entre 10,4 et 8,6 Ma, sont décrits et attribués à Merycopotamus medioximus nov. sp. Cette nouvelle espèce possède une morphologie intermédiaire entre M. pusillus, espèce plus ancienne, et M. dissimilis, plus récente. Ces résultats permettent en outre d'émender la diagnose du genre Merycopotamus. Pour citer cet article : F. Lihoreau et al., C. R. Palevol 3 (2004).     

A new species of Megacerini (Cervidae, Artiodactyla) from the Late Miocene of Taralyk-Cher, Tuva (Russia), and remarks on the relationships of the group

A new species of a megacerine deer, Praesinomegaceros venustus, from the Taralyk-Cher locality in the Tuva region on the south of Eastern Siberia, Russia, is described. P. venustus nov. sp., the oldest known megacerine, occurred in Asia in the Late Turolian, about 7 Ma. The early history of megacerines is discussed. The existence of the phyletic lineage Cervavitus-Praesinomegaceros-Sinomegaceros in Asia is confirmed.     

A new suiform (Artiodactyla,Mammalia) from the Early Miocene of East Africa

Fossils of an unnamed large suiform have been recovered from two Early Miocene localities in East Africa. The material is distinct from other species of the suborder, including the anthracothere Brachyodus aequatorialis, which is of similar size. The upper molars of the new form are bunodont, quadricuspidate (with a tiny paraconule), and have no buccal styles (parastyle, mesostyle, metastyle) and the enamel is thin and lightly wrinkled to smooth, which contrasts strongly with upper molars of Brachyodus which are pentacuspidate, selenodont, have pervasively wrinkled enamel and well-developed parastyle, mesostyle and metastyle. A new genus and species is erected for this suiform, which is most likely an anthracothere.     

A new species ofFontanesia (Oleaceae) from China and taxonomic revision of the genus

Fontanesia longicarpa K.-J. Kim is newly described from China. This distinctive species is known only from the Zhejiang province and differs from other species in the genus by the size and shape of its fruit. As currently circumscribed, the genus now consists of three taxa;F. longicarpa, F. philliraeoides Labill. var.philliraeoides andF. philliraeoides var.fortunei (Carr.) Koehne. A revisionary study of the genus is provided, including a key and pertinent synonymy.     

Middle Miocene elasmotheriine Rhinocerotidae from China and Mongolia: taxonomic revision and phylogenetic relationships

Eight elasmotheriine rhinocerotid species have been described from the Middle Miocene of China and Mongolia. In this paper a revised taxonomy is presented based on direct observation and comparison of the available material. A phylogenetic analysis based on 282 morphological characters has led to the reappraisal of Procoelodonta Matthew, 1931, Caementodon Heissig, 1972 and Huaqingtherium Huang & Yan, 1983. The genus Procoelodonta is split into three subgenera: P.  ( Procoelodonta ) Matthew, 1931, P.  ( Begertherium ) Beliaeva, 1971, and P.  ( Pasalarhinus subg. n). The genus Caementodon is split into two subgenera: C.  ( Caementodon ) Heissig, 1972 and C.  ( Beliajevina ) Heissig, 1974. Four species are assumed to have occurred in the Middle Miocene within the area studied: Procoelodonta ( Procoelodonta ) mongoliense (Osborn, 1924), ' P. ' ( Begertherium ) borissiaki (Beliaeva, 1971), ' Caementodon ' ( Beliajevina ) fangxianense (Yan, 1979) and Huaqingtherium lintungense (Zhai, 1978) (=' Caementodon tongxinensis ' Guan, 1988 =' Huaqingtherium qiui ' Guan, 1993 =' Hispanotherium tungurense ' Cerdeño, 1996). Shennongtherium hypsodontus Huang & Yan, 1983 is removed from the Elasmotheriina, owing to dental characters which suggest that it is a teleoceratine. The distribution of the main characters later seen in Elasmotherium is briefly discussed. The persistence and diversity of the Elasmotheriina throughout the Middle Miocene help explain how minute brachyodont animals gave rise to the mammoth-sized hypsodont Elasmotherium.     

Descriptions and phylogenetic relationships of two new genera and four new species of Oligo‐Miocene waterfowl (Aves: Anatidae) from Australia

The Tertiary anatid fossils (Aves: Anatidae) from Oligocene and Miocene deposits in Australia are described. Most fossils derive from the Late Oligocene – Early Miocene (26–24 Mya) Etadunna and Namba Formations, respectively, in the Lake Eyre and Lake Frome Basins of South Australia. The local faunas from these two formations contain the same suite of anatid species. Two new genera, the oxyurine Pinpanetta, with three new species (Pi. tedfordi, 18 specimens; Pi. vickersrichae, 15 specimens; Pi. fromensis, 20 specimens), and the tadornine Australotadorna, for a large new species known from eight specimens, are established. Three anatid bones from the Waite Formation (c. 8 Mya) at Alcoota, Northern Territory reveal the presence of a tadornine that is neither Australotadorna nor an extant Tadorna species, and an indeterminate duck about the size of Malacorhynchus. Phylogenetic analyses establish Pinpanetta as a basal member of an oxyurine (stiff‐tailed duck) radiation. Oxyurines are found to include the Recent Stictonetta and Malacorhynchus as basal members, along with the fossil taxa Mionetta, Manuherikia, and Dunstanetta, and the traditionally included Recent Oxyura, Biziura, Thalassornis, and Nomonyx. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 156 , 411–454.     

Paraimene tuberculata,a new genus and species of Isopoda (Sphaermomatidae) from Karachi,Pakistan

A new genus,Paraimene is established for a new Isopod species from the intertidal zone of Karachi Coast (Pakistan).Paraimene tuberculata sp. nov. is described and illustrated together with notes on the habitat of the species.     

A new species of Ituglanis representing the southernmost record of the genus,with comments on phylogenetic relationships (Teleostei: Siluriformes: Trichomycteridae)

Ituglanis australis new species, is described from tributaries of the Laguna dos Patos and Río Uruguay, in Brazil and Uruguay. This represents the southernmost record of the genus and the first occurrence of a species of Ituglanis in those systems. It is distinguished from all its congeners, except Ituglanis parahybae and Ituglanis cahyensis, by its body pigmentation with three well‐defined dark brown stripes running along each flank. Ituglanis australis differs from I. parahybae and I. cahyensis in the pectoral‐ and pelvic‐fin ray counts, the pattern of the cephalic laterosensory system and the number of dorsal‐fin basal radials. The new species, as well as several other examined congeners, has the levator internus IV muscle attached to the dorsal face of the posttemporo‐supracleithrum; a condition that corroborates the inclusion of Ituglanis into a large trichomycterine clade that also includes Bullockia, Hatcheria, Scleronema and several species of Trichomycterus. Previous proposals of the affinities within Ituglanis are reviewed and, despite some advances, the phylogenetic relationships among species of the genus remain largely unknown.     

Chimaera compacta,a new species from southern Indian Ocean,and an estimate of phylogenetic relationships within the genus Chimaera (Chondrichthyes: Chimaeridae)

Ichthyological Research - Chimaera compacta sp. nov., a new species of shortnose chimaera (Holocephali: Chimaeriformes: Chimaeridae), is described from a single specimen collected at 595–655...     

Two new species of the chrysomelid genus Trichomimastra Weise, 1922 (Coleoptera,Chrysomelidae) from Pakistan

Two new species of the genus Trichomimastra Weise, 1922 from Pakistan, T. pakistanica sp. n. and T. kaganica sp. n., are described; a key to the species of this genus from the Himalayas and neighboring areas (Pakistan, Afghanistan) is proposed.     

A new genus and new species of Philippine stick insects (Insecta: Phasmatodea) and phylogenetic considerations

Based on characters of both sexes, a new genus and species of the basal euphasmatodean lineage Aschiphasmatidae is described and figured from the Philippines. Dallaiphasma eximius gen. et sp. n. displays interesting features for the group, including: a cone-shaped vertex, which is notably raised above the pronotum; the tibial area apicalis represented by a depressed membranous posterior lateral region, and a strongly sclerotized central apical region; the euplantulae consisting of smooth-type attachment pads; the pretarsal claws pectination reduced to minute denticulations; and the well-differentiated boundary between the metanotum and the first abdominal tergum. The phylogenetic information content of the new findings is discussed. Furthermore, as a result of this study, the Aschiphasmatidae are newly recorded from Mindoro island, and now include five genera and six species of the Philippines.