Phylogeny and biogeography of the Vitrinidae (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora)

The phylogeny of the Vitrinidae is reconstructed in a cladistic analysis based on characters of the genitalia, the copulation behaviour and the radula. The genera with an atrial stimulator turned out to be the earliest branches of the Vitrinidae, whereas the genera with a glandula amatoria form a monophyletic, taxonomically apomorphic group. The differences between the proposed phylogeny and previous hypotheses are discussed. The ancestral areas of the Vitrinidae and its sister group, the limacoid slugs Boettgerillidae–Limacidae–Agriolimacidae, are estimated using weighted ancestral area analysis. The Vitrinidae and the limacoid slugs might have originated by a vicariance event between Central Europe and the Near East. © 2002 The Linnean Society of London. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2002, 134 , 347–358.     

裸藻类植物的分支系统学研究

本文选取了裸藻类的33个属级分类单位,以及它们的35个性状,利用分支系统学的原理和方法,对性状的演化极性进行了分析,同时对性状间的极性关系进行了和谐性分析,使性状间极性关系处在较为合理的状态,然后建立了分支分析的数据矩阵。应用徐克学建立的“演化极端结合法”进行微机运算．得简约系数远小于1(o．2159)的分支谱系图。根据分支诺系图对裸藻类的系统发育关系进行了探讨,井与已有的关于裸藻类分类系统和演化假设进行了比较。在此基础上按照裸藻类的亲缘关系及单系原则,对裸藻类的分类等级进行了划分,初步提出了建立1门1纲5目的分类系统。按照在分支谱系中的演化地位,认为裸藻属的5个亚属,明显地都应是独立的属。同时对裸藻类的共生起源与演化的关系也进行了讨论。     

PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN THE COLONIAL VOLVOCALES (CHLOROPHYTA) INFERRED FROM CLADISTIC ANALYSIS BASED ON MORPHOLOGICAL DATA1

A cladistic analysis was used to deduce the phylogenetic relationships within the colonial Volvocales. Forty-one pairs of characters related to gross morphology and ultrastructure of vegetative colonies as well as asexual and sexual reproduction were analyzed based on parsimony, using the PAUP 3.0 computer program, for 25 species belonging to nine volvocacean and goniacean genera of the colonial Volvocales. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Dangeard was the outgroup. The strict consensus tree indicated the presence of two monophyletic groups, one composed of all the volvocacean species analyzed in this study and the other containing the goniacean species except for the four-celled species Gonium sociale (Dujardin) Warming. In addition, these two groups constitute a large monophyletic group, to which G. sociale is a sister group. A new combination Tetrabaena socialis (Dujardin) Nozaki et Itoh and a new family Tetrabaenaceae Nozaki et Itoh are thus proposed for G. sociale. In addition, the analysis suggests that the volvocacean genera Eudorina and Pleodorina are paraphyletic groups, respectively, and that the monotypic genus Yamagishiella has no autapomorphic characters and represents primitive features of the anisogamous and oogamous genera of the Volvocaceae. Phylogenetic relationships within the Volvocaceae and the Goniaceae, as well as the various modes of sexual reproduction exhibited by these organisms, are discussed on the basis of the analysis.     

rbcL sequences support exclusion ofRetzia,Desfontainia, andNicodemia from theGentianales

The taxonomic positions ofRetzia, Desfontainia, andNicodemia have been much discussed, and all three genera have been included inLoganiaceae (Gentianales). We have made a cladistic analysis ofrbcL gene sequences to determine the relationships of these taxa toGentianales. Four newrbcL sequences are presented; i.e., ofRetzia, Desfontainia, Diervilla (Caprifoliaceae), andEuthystachys (Stilbaceae). Our results show thatRetzia, Desfontainia, andNicodemia are not closely related toLoganiaceae or theGentianales. Retzia is most closely related toEuthystachys and is better included inStilbaceae. The positions ofDesfontainia andNicodemia are not settled, butDesfontainia shows affinity for theDipsacales s.l. andNicodemia for theLamiales s.l.     

The diversity and evolution of recruitment behaviour in ants,with a discussion of the usefulness of parsimony criteria in the reconstruction of evolutionary histories

Summary Three alternative hypotheses about the evolution of recruitment behaviour in ants, based on accounts in the literature, are compared by means of a cladistic analysis. The three hypotheses are the following:Hypothesis 1. Increasingly efficient recruitment behaviours exhibited by different ant species have been shaped by or are correlated with ant phylogeny.Hypothesis 2. Increasingly efficient recruitment behaviours represent necessary evolutionary steps independently followed during the evolution of different ant clades.Hypothesis 3. Differently efficient recruitment behaviours have been selected in a convergent way among different species by similar population/environmental constraints.In a first stage of the analysis, these hypotheses have been compared in terms of parsimony (i.e. in terms of tree length = TL) of alternative cladograms based on recruitment behaviour only. The analysis gave the following results: Hypothesis 1, TL = 4; Hypothesis 2, TL = 18; Hypothesis 3, TL = 11. At least in terms of parsimony, hence, Hypothesis 1 appears to be the best. This hypothesis, however, cannot be retained for its total lack of congruence with current views on ant phylogeny. Among the remaining two hypotheses, Hypothesis 3 is again much (ca. 40%) more parsimonious than Hypothesis 2, but the retention index for recruitment behaviour on the relative cladogram is 0.2 as compared with 0.7 for Hypothesis 2. Practically, this implies biologically very implausible behavioural evolution indicated by very improbable ancestors for the species included in the analysis. In the case of recruitment evolution the biological credibility of each hypothesis is inversely proportional to its parsimony.The three hypotheses on the evolution of recruitment behaviour are compared again taking into account the morphological and behavioural correlates of recruitment. The results confirm those obtained by simple cladistic analysis of behaviour alone, namely that an obligatory (i. e. neither reversible nor random) increase in recruitment efficiency has been repeatedly selected within different ant clades. Inclusion of the recruitment correlates allows, in addition, a more precise formulation of the implications of each hypothesis and a tentative test of two other alternatives deduced from the literature. Most papers dealing with recruitment assume this behaviour to be controlled by a single gland, while at least two experimental analyses show that more than one gland is likely to be involved as behavioural releaser. A cladistic approach allowed testing of the following two adaptational hypotheses: A) Synergic behavioural control by several glands, allowing shift of the dominant role from one gland to another. B) Single gland control, making improbable the replacement of one gland by another that performs the same function. The results of the analysis appear to favour alternative A slightly, though neither alternative results in implausible evolutionary paths.It is stressed that parsimony remains the sole decisional criterion when no other criteria are available but it can by no way be preferred to the slightest trace of biological common sense.     

运用分支系统学方法对逆珊瑚亚科的修订

运用分支系统学方法，考察有可能归入Ａｎｔｉｐｈｙｌｌｉｎａｅ亚科的各属。根据个体发育极向标准对选取的７个性状进行分析，这７个性状为：主隔壁的长短，主内沟的形状和大小，对隔壁的长短和加厚程度，侧隔壁的长度，一级隔壁的排列，一级隔壁从轴部退缩程度，轴部构造等。据以上各性状在每个属中的表现编制出性状极向数据矩阵，输入计算机运算，得到分支图。并得到以下结果：ＡｎｔｉｐｈｙｌｌｉｎａｅＩｌｉｎａ应包括下列１０属：ＡｃｔｉｎｏｐｈｒｅｎｔｉｓＩｖａｎｏｗｓｋｉ，１９６７；ＦａｌｓｉａｍｐｌｅｘｕｓＦｅｄｏｒｏｗｓｋｉ，１９８７；ＬｏｎｇｉｃｌａｖａＥａｓｔｏｎ，１９６２；ＬｙｔｖｏｌａｓｍａＳｏｓｈｋｉｎａ，１９２５：ＮｅｏｚａｐｈｒｅｎｌｉｓＧｒｏｖｅ，１９３５；ＭｏｎｏｐｈｙｌｌｕｍＦｏｍｉｃｈｅｖ，１９５３：ＦａｓｃｉｃｕｌｏｐｈｙｌｌｕｍＴｈｏｍｓｏｎ．１８８３：ＢｒａｄｙｐｈｙｌｌｕｍＧｒａｂａｕ．１９２８：ＲｏｔｉｐｈｙｌｌｕｍＨｕｄｓｏｎ，１９４２；ＣｌａｖｉｐｈｙｌｌｕｍＨｕｄｓｏｎ，１９４２。     

SYSTEMATIC ANALYSIS OF SPHAEROPLEA (CHLOROPHYCEAE)1

A systematic investigation of the genus Sphaeroplea was conducted using cladistic analyses of both structural and isozyme characters for the same set of taxa. The structural data were not able to fully resolve some of the taxa while the isozyme data did produce a tree in which all nodes were supported by data. The structural characters were relatively consistent with one another, whereas the isozyme characters were much less internally consistent. Results from independent, cladistic analyses of both data sets support the concept that among those Sphaeroplea species investigated, S. fragilis Buchheim et Hoffman had an early divergence. The two data sets differed primarily in that the structural data support monophyly of the genus Sphaeroplea and the isozyme data do not. The greater relative consistency of the structural data suggests better support for trees inferred from its analysis. Furthermore, searches for character congruence between the two data sets revealed isozyme data which support monophyly of the genus Sphaeroplea, but had been overwhelmed by conflicting isozyme characters.     

PHYLOGENY OF THE ULVOPHYCEAE (CHLOROPHYTA): CLADISTIC ANALYSIS OF NUCLEAR-ENCODED rRNA SEQUENCE DATA1

Cladistic analysis of nuclear-encoded rRNA sequence data provided us with the basis for some new hypotheses of relationships within the green algal class Ulvophyceae. The orders Ulotrichales and Ulvales are separated from the clade formed by the remaining orders of siphonous and siphonocladous Ulvophyceae (Caulerpales, Siphonocladales /Cladophorales [S/C] complex, and the Dasycladales), by the Chlorophyceae and Pleurastrophyceae. Our results suggest that the Ulvophyceae is not a monophyletic group. Examination of inter- and intra-ordinal relationships within the siphonous and siphonocladous ulvophycean algae revealed that Cladophora, Chaetomorpha, Anadyomene, Microdictyon, Cladophoropsis and Dictyosphaeria form a clade. Thus the hypothesis, based on ultrastructural features, that the Siphonocladales and Cladophorales are closely related is supported. Also, the Caulerpales is a monophyletic group with two lineages; Caulerpa, Halimeda, and Udotea comprise one, and Bryopsis and Codium comprise the other. The Dasycladales (Cymopolia and Batophora) also forms a clade, but this clade is not inferred to be the sister group to the S/C complex as has been proposed. Instead, it is either the sister taxon to the Caulerpales or basal to the Caulerpales and S/C clade The Trentepohliales is also included at the base of the siphonous and siphonocladous ulvophycean clade. The Pleurastrophyceae, which, like the Ulvophyceae, posses a counter-clockwise arrangement of flagellar basal bodies, are more closely related to the Chlorophyceae than to the Ulvophyceae based on rRNA sequences. Thus, the arrangement of basal bodies does not diagnose a monophyletic group. Previously reported hypotheses of phylogenetic relationships of ulvophycean algae were tested. In each case, additional evolutionary steps were required to obtain the proposed relationships. Relationships of ulvophycean algae to other classes of green algae are discussed.     

Relationship between species in the genus Rosa, section Pimpinellifoliae

The morphology of twelve species of Rosa is described and similarities between these species are assessed. Possible origins of the tetraploid species from diploid species are indicated on grounds of comparative morphology.
The wild origins of living and herbarium specimens are given in order to supplement published data on geographical distribution.
Meiosis in pollen mother cells, viability of pollen grains at anthesis and ability to set seed was studied in several F₁ hybrids: no indication of complete or even partial sterility was found. Reproductive isolation is therefore unlikely to be maintained by reduced fertility of interspecific hybrids.
Three species are reduced to synonymy with three other species, being retained as subspecific taxa. Two species are transferred from section Pimpinellifoliae to section Cinnamomeae.     

Skeletal adaptations and phylogeny of the oldest mole Eotalpa (Talpidae,Lipotyphla, Mammalia) from the UK Eocene: the beginning of fossoriality in moles

The oldest talpid, Eotalpa, was previously known only from isolated cheek teeth from the European late Middle Eocene to earliest Oligocene. Screenwashing of Late Eocene sediments of the Hampshire Basin, UK, has yielded cranial and postcranial elements: maxilla, dentary, ulna, metacarpals, distal tibia, astragalus, calcaneum, metatarsals and phalanges. In addition to M_1–2 myotodonty, typical talpid features are as follows: ulna with long medially curved olecranon and deep abductor fossa and astragalar body with lateral process. However, Eotalpa retains certain soricid‐like primitive states (M¹ preparacrista, P⁴ with prominent mesiolingual protocone lobe, strongly angled astragalar neck and calcaneum with no space for a cuboid medial process) not found in modern talpids. Eotalpa is more derived than the most primitive living talpid Uropsilus in having lost the M^1–2 talon shelf, developed a convex radial facet on the ulna, an incipient proximal olecranon crest, relatively shorter metapodials and depressed manual unguals. Its astragalus with medial trochlear ridge taller than the lateral one and massive medial plantar process is typical of the Lipotyphla. Eotalpa lacks synostosis of tibia and fibula, found in other Talpidae, Soricidae and Erinaceidae, suggesting that synostosis in these groups has been independently acquired. Cladistic analysis places Eotalpa as stem member of the Talpidae and shows that much homoplasy arose during the early evolution of the family. Ground dwelling in Eotalpa is indicated by the following: astragalus with a medially dipping head, curved in a single plane; calcaneum with distal peroneal process and strongly overlapping ectal and sustentacular facets; and matching sized ectal and sustentacular facets on calcaneum and astragalus. These features would have restricted ankle mobility. Ungual and metatarsal shape and ulnar structure suggest a primitive stage in fossorial evolution and argue against a semiaquatic precursor stage in talpid fossoriality. Shrew‐moles may represent a reversal to surface foraging rather than an intermediate stage in fossoriality.