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1. THE NEOTROPICAL SPECIES OF SMALL CARPENTER BEES OF THE SUBGENUS CERATINA (ZADONTOMERUS) ASHMEAD, 1899 (HYMENOPTERA: APIDAE)

   https://doi.org/10.11646/ZOOTAXA.5214.2.3  

   FLÓREZ-GÓMEZ, NATHALIA; AYALA, RICARDO; HINOJOSA-DÍAZ, ISMAEL; MORRONE, JUAN J. (December 2022, Zootaxa)

   The Neotropical species of the subgenus Ceratina (Zadontomerus) Ashmead are revised. We recognize seven new species, giving a total of 10 species for the region: Ceratina (Zadontomerus) capitosa Smith, C. (Z.) ignara Cresson, C. (Z.) nautlana Cockerell, C. (Z.) kopili new species, C. (Z.) basaltica new species, C. sapphira new species, C. (Z.) indigovirens new species, C. (Z.) rehanae new species, C. (Z.) raquelitae new species, and C. (Z.) tepetlana new species. We propose the following synonymies: C. abdominalis Smith, C. tehuacana Strand, and C. parignara Cockerell under C. (Z.) ignara; and C. bakeri Smith and C. nigriventris Friese under C. (Z.) nautlana. Also, we describe the previously unknown male of C. capitosa, and provide a key to the species, diagnoses, descriptions and illustrations of the new species. 

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2. Reappraising the evolutionary history of the largest known gecko, the presumably extinct Hoplodactylus delcourti, via high-throughput sequencing of archival DNA

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-35210-8  

   Heinicke, Matthew P.; Nielsen, Stuart V.; Bauer, Aaron M.; Kelly, Ryan; Geneva, Anthony J.; Daza, Juan D.; Keating, Shannon E.; Gamble, Tony (June 2023, Scientific Reports)

   Abstract Hoplodactylus delcourtiis a presumably extinct species of diplodactylid gecko known only from a single specimen of unknown provenance. It is by far the largest known gekkotan, approximately 50% longer than the next largest-known species. It has been considered a member of the New Zealand endemic genusHoplodactylusbased on external morphological features including shared toe pad structure. We obtained DNA from a bone sample of the only known specimen to generate high-throughput sequence data suitable for phylogenetic analysis of its evolutionary history. Complementary sequence data were obtained from a broad sample of diplodactylid geckos. Our results indicate that the species is not most closely related to extantHoplodactylusor any other New Zealand gecko. Instead, it is a member of a clade whose living species are endemic to New Caledonia. Phylogenetic comparative analyses indicate that the New Caledonian diplodactylid clade has evolved significantly more disparate body sizes than either the Australian or New Zealand clades. Toe pad structure has changed repeatedly across diplodactylids, including multiple times in the New Caledonia clade, partially explaining the convergence in form betweenH. delcourtiand New ZealandHoplodactylus. Based on the phylogenetic results, we placeH. delcourtiin a new genus. 

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3. The Cephalozygoptera, a new, extinct suborder of Odonata with new taxa from the early Eocene Okanagan Highlands, western North America

   https://doi.org/doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4934.1.1  

   Archibald, S. B. (February 2021, Zootaxa)

   Marinov, Milen (Ed.)

   We describe the Cephalozygoptera, a new, extinct suborder of Odonata, composed of the families Dysagrionidae and Sieblosiidae, previously assigned to the Zygoptera, and possibly the Whetwhetaksidae n. fam. The Cephalozygoptera is close to the Zygoptera, but differs most notably by distinctive head morphology. It includes 59 to 64 species in at least 19 genera and one genus-level parataxon. One species is known from the Early Cretaceous (Congqingia rhora Zhang), possibly three from the Paleocene, and the rest from the early Eocene through late Miocene. We describe new taxa from the Ypresian Okanagan Highlands of British Columbia, Canada and Washington, United States of America: 16 new species of Dysagrionidae of the existing genus Dysagrion (D. pruettae); the new genera Okanagrion (O. threadgillae, O. hobani, O. beardi, O. lochmum, O. angustum, O. dorrellae, O. liquetoalatum, O. worleyae, all new species); Okanopteryx (O. jeppesenorum, O. fraseri, O. macabeensis, all new species); Stenodiafanus (S. westersidei, new species); the new genus-level parataxon Dysagrionites (D. delinei new species, D. sp. A, D. sp. B, both new); and one new genus and species of the new family Whetwhetaksidae (Whetwhetaksa millerae). 

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4. Guitar Making: The Luthier’s Bench and the Factory

   French, Mark (January 2018, American lutherie)

   Lutherie is changing. Digital tools are transforming factories, and also opening new possibilities to individual shops. This brigs up new issues. Like, what if the normal accuracy gets so high that the instruments sound too similar to each other? Will it become desirable to build in a certain amount of random variation? 

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5. The Emerging Phylogenetic Perspective on the Evolution of Actinopterygian Fishes

   https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-122120-122554  

   Dornburg, Alex; Near, Thomas J. (November 2021, Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics)

   The emergence of a new phylogeny of ray-finned fishes at the turn of the twenty-first century marked a paradigm shift in understanding the evolutionary history of half of living vertebrates. We review how the new ray-finned fish phylogeny radically departs from classical expectations based on morphology. We focus on evolutionary relationships that span the backbone of ray-finned fish phylogeny, from the earliest divergences among teleosts and nonteleosts to the resolution of major lineages of Percomorpha. Throughout, we feature advances gained by the new phylogeny toward a broader understanding of ray-finned fish evolutionary history and the implications for topics that span from the genetics of human health to reconsidering the concept of living fossils. Additionally, we discuss conceptual challenges that involve reconciling taxonomic classification with phylogenetic relationships and propose an alternate higher-level classification for Percomorpha. Our review highlights remaining areas of phylogenetic uncertainty and opportunities for comparative investigations empowered by this new phylogenetic perspective on ray-finned fishes. 

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