High risk of the fall armyworm invading Japan and the Korean Peninsula via overseas migration

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith), is an invasive pest species in the Old World. This species is originally native to the Americas. Since 2016, S. frugiperda has spread widely and rapidly throughout Africa, the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia and, most recently, to southern China. By May 2019, S. frugiperda had appeared in 13 provinces in southern China and will spread further into northern China. It is highly likely that S. frugiperda will enter Japan and Korea via overseas migrations as have many other migratory pests. To evaluate the risk of S. frugiperda invasion in Japan and the Korean Peninsula, we modelled the rate of expansion and future potential migratory range of the insect by a trajectory analytical approach using the flight behaviour of S. frugiperda and meteorological data of the past five years (2014–2018). If S. frugiperda can fly for up to 36 continuous hours over water, then our results predict migration from southern and eastern China into Japan and Korea. Most likely, Japan would be invaded from Fujian and Zhejiang in 1 June–15 July, and Kyushu, Shikoku and southwestern Honshu could face the highest risk of S. frugiperda invasion. Korea would most likely be reached by S. frugiperda from northern Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui and Shandong in 1 June–15 July and later. Our results indicated a very high risk that S. frugiperda would annually invade Japan and the Korean Peninsula and cause a possible significant decrease in agricultural productivity.     

河南项城贾庄和后高老家遗址炭化植物遗存揭示的仰韶时期的原始农业

豫东地区是史前中原文化系统、海岱文化系统等的中介地带,由于这里地处黄泛区且人口密集,史前遗址或被掩埋在地下数米深处,或位于岗地、堌堆之上,后期破坏严重,目前缺乏相关植物考古资料,对史前农业发展的认识并不清晰。本研究对河南项城市贾庄和后高老家遗址开展浮选,获取了仰韶时代中期的炭化植物遗存,其中炭化植物种子主要包括粟、黍、水稻三种农作物和狗尾草属、马唐属、稗属、黍亚科等野生植物,可食用野生植物的核壳来自菱属、芡实、柿属、栎属、桃属等。农作物及典型田间伴生杂草遗存的量化结果显示,两处遗址仰韶时代中期的农作物结构以粟、黍为主,水稻的比重很低,具备黄淮地区稻粟兼作农业的地域性和时代特征。多种可食用野生植物遗存显示了植物性食物资源的多样性。各类植物遗存的绝对数量和出土概率表明,农业在生业经济中占据主体地位,采集野生植物仍然是先民获取植物性食物资源的重要方式。贾庄和后高老家遗址炭化植物遗存分析结果为了解豫东地区仰韶时代原始农业发展状况提供了重要资料,对探索中华文明早期阶段的农业发展状况及其与文明演进的关系有重要意义。     

紫萼藓科植物一新种--曹氏紫萼藓北大核心CSCD

描述了新疆天山山脉紫萼藓科(Grimmiaceae)紫萼藓属(Grimmia)一新种——曹氏紫萼藓(Grimmia caotongiana D.P.Zhao,S.Mamtimin&S.He)。该新种与无齿紫萼藓(Grimmia anodon Bruch&Schimp.)最为相似,不同之处在于新种茎叶和雌苞叶均无白色毛尖,叶中部边缘背卷;近中肋细胞通常无色透明,且细胞壁比边缘细胞明显加厚。该研究对新种——曹氏紫萼藓进行了详细的特征描述,并提供了植物体形态显微解剖彩色照片以及相近种的分类学讨论。     

Ancient DNA reveals the maternal genetic history of East Asian domestic pigs

Zoo-archaeological and genetic evidence suggest that pigs were domesticated independently in Central China and Eastern Anatolia along with the development of agricultural communities and civilizations. However, the genetic history of domestic pigs, especially in China, has not been fully explored. In this study, we generate 42 complete mitochondrial DNA sequences from ～7500- to 2750-year-old individuals from the Yellow River basin. Our results show that the maternal genetic continuity of East Asian domestic pigs dates back to at least the Early to Middle Neolithic. In contrast, the Near Eastern ancestry in European domestic pigs saw a near-complete genomic replacement by the European wild boar. The majority of East Asian domestic pigs share close haplotypes, and the most recent common ancestor of most branches dates back to less than 20,000 years before present, inferred using new substitution rates of whole mitogenomes or combined protein-coding regions. Two major population expansion events of East Asian domestic pigs coincided with changes in climate, widespread adoption of introduced crops, and the development of agrarian societies. These findings add to our understanding of the maternal genetic composition and help to complete the picture of domestic pig evolutionary history in East Asia.     

Late marine isotope stage 3 palaeoclimate for East Asia: A data–model comparison

Climate prediction under impact of anthropological greenhouse-gas emission is impossible to validate, but it can be inferred from past climate and modeling. In East Asia, a general warm–wet period at late Marine Isotope Stage 3, ca. 30–40 ky BP has been identified based upon extensive geological records; this provides an arid/humid reference for possible future warming caused by human activities. Based upon syntheses of geological evidence and the AGCM + SSiB modeling, this paper presents climate simulations focused on 35 ky BP, using forcing of insolation, glaciation and land surface conditions for East Asia. Results of the simulation can be compared with geological records and show that (1) the climate patterns of 35 ky BP were warm–wet conditions in northern China, but with warm–dry conditions in southern China compared to today; (2) mean annual temperatures were higher in most mid-low latitude areas, mainly contributed to by increased winter temperatures, suggesting that insolation has generated significant climate effects through the coupling in atmospheric circulation with land surface patterns; (3) Quaternary ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere played an important role in temperature decrease at the mid-high-latitudes, and also enhanced the south–north temperature gradients, which in turn, increased moisture transport from low to high latitudes and increased monsoonal precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau; and (4) Vegetation changes in East Asia resulted from an increased temperature in the low latitudes, extended rain-belt northwards into China, and an enlarged area of increased precipitation inland.     

Vertebral morphology of Nacholapithecus kerioi based on KNM-BG 35250

This paper describes the morphology of the vertebral remains of the KNM-BG 35250 Nacholapithecus kerioi individual from the Middle Miocene of Kenya. Cervical vertebrae are generally large relative to presumed body mass, suggesting a heavy head with large jaws and well-developed neck muscles. The atlas retains the lateral and posterior bridges over the vertebral artery. The axis has a robust dens and a large angle formed by superior articular surfaces. The thoracic vertebral specimens include the diaphragmatic vertebra and one post-diaphragmatic vertebra. The thoracic vertebral bodies are much smaller that those of male Papio cynocephalus, whereas many of the dorsal elements are large and robust, exceeding those of male P. cynocephalus. Lumbar vertebral bodies are small relative to body mass, craniocaudally moderately long, and have a median ventral keel. The transverse process is craniocaudally long and arises from the widest part of the body cranially and the pedicle above the inferior vertebral notch caudally. Anapophyses are present in one of the preserved lumbar vertebrae. The postzygapophyses are thick dorsoventrally. These lumbar features are broadly shared with Proconsul. However, the base of the spinous process is longer and more caudally positioned in N. kerioi compared to Proconsul, and is more similar to the condition in Pongo. They are not dorsally (or moderately caudally) directed as is seen in P. nyanzae, Pan, and most other extant primates. A caudally directed spinous process does not permit a broad range of spinal dorsiflexion. The presumed stiff back in N. kerioi suggests a different locomotor repertoire than in Proconsul. Morotopithecus bishopi, although not possessing the same features, exhibits another morphological suite of characters for lumbar stiffness. Diverse functional adaptations of the lumbar spine were present in African hominoids during the Early to Middle Miocene.     

Origin and expansion of haplogroup H, the dominant human mitochondrial DNA lineage in West Eurasia: the Near Eastern and Caucasian perspective

More than a third of the European pool of human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is fragmented into a number of subclades of haplogroup (hg) H, the most frequent hg throughout western Eurasia. Although there has been considerable recent progress in studying mitochondrial genome variation in Europe at the complete sequence resolution, little data of comparable resolution is so far available for regions like the Caucasus and the Near and Middle East-areas where most of European genetic lineages, including hg H, have likely emerged. This gap in our knowledge causes a serious hindrance for progress in understanding the demographic prehistory of Europe and western Eurasia in general. Here we describe the phylogeography of hg H in the populations of the Near East and the Caucasus. We have analyzed 545 samples of hg H at high resolution, including 15 novel complete mtDNA sequences. As in Europe, most of the present-day Near Eastern-Caucasus area variants of hg H started to expand after the last glacial maximum (LGM) and presumably before the Holocene. Yet importantly, several hg H subclades in Near East and Southern Caucasus region coalesce to the pre-LGM period. Furthermore, irrespective of their common origin, significant differences between the distribution of hg H sub-hgs in Europe and in the Near East and South Caucasus imply limited post-LGM maternal gene flow between these regions. In a contrast, the North Caucasus mitochondrial gene pool has received an influx of hg H variants, arriving from the Ponto-Caspian/East European area.     

Biogeographic patterns of the East African coastal forest vertebrate fauna

The archipelago-like coastal forest of East Africa is one of the highest priority ecosystems for biodiversity conservation worldwide. Here we investigate patterns of species richness and biogeographic distribution among birds, mammals and reptiles of these forests, using distribution data obtained from recently published reviews and information collated by the WWF Eastern Africa Coastal Forest Ecoregion Programme. Birds and mammals species were divided into forest specialists and generalists, and forest specialist reptiles into ‘coastal’ and ‘forest’ endemics. The species richness of birds and generalist mammals increased with area, and is probably a result of area-dependent extinction. Only in birds, however, species richness increased with decreasing isolation, suggesting possible isolation-dependent colonization. Forest diversity, associated to altitudinal range, is important for specialist birds and mammals, whose species richness increased with wider altitudinal range. The number of relict coastal endemic and forest endemic reptiles was higher in forests with wider altitudinal ranges and on relatively higher altitude, respectively. Such forests have probably provided a suitable (and perhaps stable) environment for these species through time, thus increasing their persistence. Parsimony analysis of distributions (PAD) and cluster analyses showed geographical distance and general ecological similarity among forests as a determinant factor in bird distribution patterns, with compositional similarity decreasing with increasing inter-forest distance. Compositional similarity patterns of mammals among the forests did not show a strong geographical correspondence or a significant correlation with inter-forest distance, and those of reptiles were not resolved, with very low similarity levels among forest faunas. Our results suggest that the relative importance (and causal relationship) of forest attributes affecting the distribution of the East African coastal forest vertebrate fauna varies depending on life history traits such as dispersal ability and forest specialization. The groupings in PAD are partly congruent with some of the previous classifications of areas of endemism for this region, supporting the ‘naturalness’ of these regions.     

Mediterranean populations of the lesser white-toothed shrew (Crocidura suaveolens group): an unexpected puzzle of Pleistocene survivors and prehistoric introductions

An earlier study revealed the strong phylogeographical structure of the lesser white-toothed shrew (Crocidura suaveolens group) within the northern Palaearctic. Here, we aim to reconstruct the colonization history of Mediterranean islands and to clarify the biogeography and phylogeographical relationships of the poorly documented Middle East region with the northern Palaearctic. We performed analyses on 998-bp-long haplotypes of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene of 143 samples collected around the Mediterranean basin, including islands and the Middle East. The analyses suggest that the Cypriot shrew belongs to the rare group of relict insular Pleistocene mammal taxa that have survived to the present day. In contrast, the Cretan, Corsican and Menorcan populations were independently introduced from the Middle East during the Holocene. The phylogeographical structure of this temperate Palaearctic species within the Middle East appears to be complex and rich in diversity, probably reflecting fragmentation of the area by numerous mountain chains. Four deeply divergent clades of the C. suaveolens group occur in the area, meaning that a hypothetical contact zone remains to be located in central western Iran.     

Childhood malnutrition and growth in a rural area of Western Kenya

An anthropometric survey was carried out on 1,383 school students aged 5-17 years in Suba district (a rural area of western Kenya). Body size and proportion were computed from height, weight, sitting height, arm circumference, and skinfolds. The aim of the study was to evaluate patterns of growth and nutritional status of the Luo population by assessment of the prevalence and trends of malnutrition among children and adolescents. Very few age-groups show significant sex differences for height, body weight, and arm muscle area. However, there are several differences in skinfold thicknesses and arm circumference, always with higher mean values in girls. Analysis of the nutritional status (weight-for-age, height-for-age, and BMI-for-age) shows significant differences among the age-groups in both sexes. Boys present lower Z-scores than girls and there are higher percentages of malnourished subjects (stunted and underweight) among the males. The Luo data were compared with those of other African populations. Their body dimensions, nutritional status, and growth are similar to those of the other sub-Saharan samples. In conclusion, the Luo children are generally undernourished at the older ages: adolescents (11-16 years of age) show the most severe undernutrition and the highest percentages of undernourished subjects. In addition to the higher risk of undernutrition in teenagers, an emerging problem of over-nutrition is evident among the younger age-groups, with a higher prevalence in females. These findings are discussed in light of sexual dimorphism in sensitivity to adverse environmental conditions.