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1. Phylogenomics of paleoendemic lampshade spiders (Araneae, Hypochilidae, Hypochilus), with the description of a new species from montane California

   https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1086.77190  

   Ciaccio, Erik ; Debray, Andrew ; Hedin, Marshal ( February 2022 , ZooKeys)

   Hypochilus is a relictual lineage of Nearctic spiders distributed disjunctly across the United States in three montane regions (California, southern Rocky Mountains, southern Appalachia). Phylogenetic resolution of species relationships in Hypochilus has been challenging, and conserved morphology coupled with extreme genetic divergence has led to uncertain species limits in some complexes. Here, Hypochilus interspecies relationships have been reconstructed and cryptic speciation more critically evaluated using a combination of ultraconserved elements, mitochondrial CO1 by-catch, and morphology. Phylogenomic data strongly support the monophyly of regional clades and support a ((California, Appalachia), southern Rocky Mountains) topology. In Appalachia, five species are resolved as four lineages ( H. thorelli Marx, 1888 and H. coylei Platnick, 1987 are clearly sister taxa), but the interrelationships of these four lineages remain unresolved. The Appalachian species H. pococki Platnick, 1987 is recovered as monophyletic but is highly genetically structured at the nuclear level. While algorithmic analyses of nuclear data indicate many species (e.g., all H. pococki populations as species), male morphology instead reveals striking stasis. Within the California clade, nuclear and mitochondrial lineages of H. petrunkevitchi Gertsch, 1958 correspond directly to drainage basins of the southern Sierra Nevada, with H. bernardino Catley, 1994 nested within H. petrunkevitchi andmore »sister to the southernmost basin populations. Combining nuclear, mitochondrial, geographical, and morphological evidence a new species from the Tule River and Cedar Creek drainages is described, Hypochilus xomote sp. nov. We also emphasize the conservation issues that face several microendemic, habitat-specialized species in this remarkable genus.« less
2. Taxonomy in the phylogenomic era: species boundaries and phylogenetic relationships among North American ants of the Crematogaster scutellaris group (Formicidae: Hymenoptera)

   https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab047  

   Ward, Philip S. ; Blaimer, Bonnie B. ( March 2022 , Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society)

   We investigate the species-level taxonomy and evolutionary history of Nearctic ants in the Crematogaster scutellaris group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), drawing on evidence from morphology and UCE (ultraconserved element) phylogenomics. The New World species in this group form a well-supported clade that originated in the Late Miocene (~7.3 Mya) and subsequently diverged into three major lineages: the C. coarctata clade (south-western Nearctic), the C. opaca clade (south-western Nearctic and northern Neotropics) and the C. lineolata clade (eastern Nearctic and Caribbean, with four isolated south-west endemics). We hypothesize trans-Beringian dispersal into the New World, west-to-east movement within North America and restriction of mesophilic species to the east with increasing aridification of the west. The ancestral nesting behaviour of these ants is inferred to be ground-dwelling, and this is still the predominant condition in the arid west, whereas most species in the eastern United States are arboreal. We resurrect from synonymy nine species and describe three new species: C. detecta sp. nov. (from Nevada), C. parapilosa sp. nov. (Florida) and C. vetusta sp. nov. (Arizona). We provide a worker-based key to the 34 species of Crematogaster occurring in America north of Mexico, but emphasize that there are still ongoing taxonomic issues that needmore »to be resolved.

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3. A new ancient lineage of frog (Anura: Nyctibatrachidae: Astrobatrachinae subfam. nov.) endemic to the Western Ghats of Peninsular India

   https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6457  

   Vijayakumar, Seenapuram Palaniswamy ; Pyron, Robert Alexander ; Dinesh, K. P. ; Torsekar, Varun R. ; Srikanthan, Achyuthan N. ; Swamy, Priyanka ; Stanley, Edward L. ; Blackburn, David C. ; Shanker, Kartik ( January 2019 , PeerJ)

   The Western Ghats (WG) is an escarpment on the west coast of Peninsular India, housing one of the richest assemblages of frogs in the world, with three endemic families. Here, we report the discovery of a new ancient lineage from a high-elevation massif in the Wayanad Plateau of the southern WG. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that the lineage belongs to Natatanura and clusters with Nyctibatrachidae, a family endemic to the WG/Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot. Based on geographic distribution, unique morphological traits, deep genetic divergence, and phylogenetic position that distinguishes the lineage from the two nyctibatrachid subfamilies Nyctibatrachinae Blommers-Schlösser, 1993 and Lankanectinae Dubois & Ohler, 2001, we erect a new subfamily Astrobatrachinae subfam. nov. (endemic to the WG, Peninsular India), and describe a new genus Astrobatrachus gen. nov. and species, Astrobatrachus kurichiyana sp. nov. The discovery of this species adds to the list of deeply divergent and monotypic or depauperate lineages with narrow geographic ranges in the southern massifs of the WG. The southern regions of the WG have long been considered geographic and climatic refugia, and this new relict lineage underscores their evolutionary significance. The small range of this species exclusively outside protected areas highlights the significance of reserve forest tractsmore »in the WG in housing evolutionary novelty. This reinforces the need for intensive sampling to uncover new lineages and advance our understanding of the historical biogeography of this ancient landmass.« less

4. Two new species of Cyrtodactylus Gray, 1827 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from a karstic archipelago in the Salween Basin of southern Myanmar (Burma)

   https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4718.2.1  

   GRISMER, L. LEE ; WOOD, PERRY L. ; QUAH, EVAN S. ; GRISMER, MARTA S. ; THURA, MYINT KYAW ; OAKS, JAMIE R. ; LIN, AUNG ( January 2020 , Zootaxa)

   An integrative taxonomic analysis of the 10 species of the Cyrtodactylus sinyineensis group based on squamation, color pattern, and the mitochondrial gene NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2) and its flanking tRNA regions, recovered the newly discovered populations from Datt Kyaik and Taung Wine Hills in Kayin State as the new species Cyrtodactylus dattkyaikensis sp. nov. and C. taungwineensis sp. nov. The Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic estimates supported C. dattkyaikensis sp. nov. as the sister species of C. bayinnyiensis and C. taungwineensis sp. nov. as the sister species of C. sinyineensis. Each new species is differentially diagnosable from all other C. sinyineensis group species based on their morphological placement in multivariate space and several statistically significant mean differences is meristic squamation and color pattern data. The C. sinyineensis group ranges across an archipelago of karstic habitat-islands in the Salween Basin of southern Myanmar. The discovery of these new species continues to underscore the unprecedented high degree of diversity and site-specific endemism in this relatively small region and the urgent need for the conservation of its karstic terranes.
5. Unveiling mesophotic diversity in Hawai‘i: two new species in the genera Halopeltis and Leptofauchea (Rhodymeniales, Rhodophyta)

   https://doi.org/10.4490/algae.2022.37.10.31  

   Alvarado, Erika A. ; Cabrera, Feresa P. ; Paiano, Monica O. ; Fumo, James T. ; Spalding, Heather L. ; Smith, Celia M. ; Leonard, Jason C. ; Lopes Jr., Keolohilani H. ; Kosaki, Randall K. ; Sherwood, Alison R. ( December 2022 , Algae)

   Two genera of the Rhodymeniales, Halopeltis and Leptofauchea, are here reported for the first time from the Hawaiian Islands and represent the deepest records for both genera. Molecular phylogenetic analyses of cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI), rbcL, and large subunit ribosomal DNA (LSU) sequences for Hawaiian specimens of Leptofauchea revealed one well-supported clade of Hawaiian specimens and three additional lineages. One of these clades is described here as Leptofauchea huawelau sp. nov., and is thus far known only from mesophotic depths at Penguin Bank in the Main Hawaiian Islands. L. huawelau sp. nov. is up to 21 cm, and is the largest known species. An additional lineage identified in the LSU and rbcL analyses corresponds to the recently described L. lucida from Western Australia, and is a new record for Hawai‘i. Hawaiian Halopeltis formed a well-supported clade along with H. adnata from Korea, the recently described H. tanakae from mesophotic depths in Japan, and H. willisii from North Carolina, and is here described as Halopeltis nuahilihilia sp. nov. H. nuahilihilia sp. nov. has a distinctive morphology of narrow vegetative axes that harbor constrictions along their length. The current distribution of H. nuahilihilia includes mesophotic depths around W. Maui, W. Moloka‘i,more »and the island of Hawai‘i in the Main Hawaiian Islands. Few reproductive characters were observed because of the small number of specimens available; however, both species are distinct based on phylogeny and morphology. These descriptions further emphasize the Hawaiian mesophotic zone as a location harboring many undescribed species of marine macroalgae.« less