- Award ID(s):
- 1947094
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10409448
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- PeerJ
- Volume:
- 10
- ISSN:
- 2167-8359
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- e14065
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
Sosa-Calvo, Jeffrey (Ed.)Abstract The genus Cryptopone Emery contains 25 species of litter and soil ants, 5 of which occur in the Americas. Cryptopone gilva (Roger) occurs in the southeastern United States and cloud forests of Mesoamerica, exhibiting an uncommon biogeographic disjunction observed most often in plants. We used phylogenomic data from ultraconserved elements (UCEs), as well as mitogenomes and legacy markers, to investigate phylogenetic relationships, species boundaries, and divergence dates among New World Cryptopone. Species delimitation was conducted using a standard approach and then tested using model-based molecular methods (SNAPP, BPP, SODA, and bPTP). We found that Cryptopone as currently constituted is polyphyletic, and that all the South American species belong to Wadeura Weber, a separate genus unrelated to Cryptopone. A single clade of true Cryptopone occurs in the Americas, restricted to North and Central America. This clade is composed of four species that originated ~4.2 million years ago. One species from the mountains of Guatemala is sister to the other three, favoring a vicariance hypothesis of diversification. The taxonomy of the New World Cryptopone and Wadeura is revised. Taxonomic changes are as follows: Wadeura Weber is resurrected, with new combinations W. guianensis Weber, W. holmgreni (Wheeler), and W. pauli (Fernandes & Delabie); C. guatemalensis (Forel) (rev. stat.) is raised to species and includes C. obsoleta (Menozzi) (syn. nov.). The following new species are described: Cryptopone gilvagrande, C. gilvatumida, and Wadeura holmgrenita. Cryptopone hartwigi Arnold is transferred to Fisheropone Schmidt and Shattuck (n. comb.). Cryptopone mirabilis (Mackay & Mackay 2010) is a junior synonym of Centromyrmex brachycola (Roger) (syn. nov.).more » « less
-
Abstract Amphisbaenians are a poorly understood clade of fossorial lizards. Because of their derived anatomy and relative scarcity, the systematics of the clade and its placement within squamates has long been controversial. Traditional approaches grouped species into four assemblages according to burrowing behavior and cranial morphology, resulting in the recognition of “shovel‐headed,” “round‐headed,” “keel‐headed,” and “spade‐headed” morphotypes. Recent phylogenetic analyses do not support the monophyly of the taxa that share those morphotypes. Detailed analyses of cranial osteology were previously accomplished using high‐resolution x‐ray computed tomography (HRXCT) for the “shovel‐headed”
Rhineura hatcherii (Rhineruidae) and the “spade‐headed”Diplometopon zarudnyi (Trogonophidae). A detailed description of the “round‐headed”Amphisbaena alba was previously completed based upon traditional “dry” skeletal specimens. Seven species of the “round‐headed”Blanus (Blanidae) were also analyzed using HRXCT. The goal of that project was a comparative analysis of all extant species ofBlanus rather than a detailed, bone‐by‐bone description of one species, but certainly is useful for comparison with another “round‐headed” taxon. The “round‐headed” morphotype is by far the most common among amphisbaenians and is much in need of further documentation. We use HRXCT imagery to provide additional data about the disparity in cranial morphology among amphisbaenians. Those data allow us to provide another detailed description of a “round‐headed” amphisbaenian, the poorly known southern African speciesZygaspis quadrifrons . HRXCT is ideal for this relatively rare and diminutive species. We are able to visualize and describe a detailed reconstruction of the entire skull as well as individual cranial elements. Comparisons with other species that were described in similar detail—D .zarudnyi ,Spathorhynchus fossorium ,R .hatcherii , andA .alba —and to a lesser degree withBlanus , reveal a complex mosaic of morphological features of the skull inZygaspis . Preliminary data suggest that intraspecific variation is present withinZ .quadrifrons , and interspecific variation among other species ofZygaspis may be sufficient for species‐level recognition based on cranial osteology. Our description is, therefore, also intended to serve as a baseline for comparative analysis of other specimens ofZ .quadrifrons and of other species within the genus. -
Abstract Aim Fossil data may be crucial to infer biogeographical history, especially in taxa with tropical trans‐Pacific distributions. Here, we use extinct and extant trochanteriid flattened spiders to test hypotheses that could explain its trans‐Pacific disjunct distribution, including a Boreotropical origin with a North Atlantic dispersal, an African origin with South Atlantic dispersal and an Eurasian origin with Bering Bridge route.
Location World‐wide.
Taxon Trochanteriidae,
Plator ‐Doliomalus ‐Vectius (PDV) clade.Methods MicroCT was used to collect morphological data from an undescribed Baltic amber fossil. These data were used with additional fossils and extant species in a total‐evidence, tip‐dated phylogenetic analysis. We tested different scenarios using constrained dispersal matrices in a Bayesian approach. An analysis with fossils pruned was also performed to explore how lack of fossil data might impact inferences of biogeographical process.
Results The phylogenetic analyses allowed us to place the new fossil in the genus
Plator . Analyses without fossils suggest an African origin with a dispersal to Asia from India and a South Atlantic dispersal to South America. When fossils are included, hypothesis‐testing rejects this scenario and equally supports a Boreotropical and an Afro‐European origin with a South Atlantic route and a dispersal to Asia from Europe.Main conclusions Biogeographical inferences of disjunctly distributed taxa should be interpreted with caution when fossils are not included. Although one alternative hypothesis was not completely rejected, results show that the Boreotropical hypothesis for the PDV clade could be a robust explanation for its actual distribution. This hypothesis is mostly overlooked in animal taxa and rigorous tests with other taxa with similar distributions may reveal that a Boreotropical origin is common. We discuss methodological approaches that could improve biogeographical tests using fossils as terminals.
-
Abstract Reconstructing a robust phylogenetic framework is key to understanding the ecology and evolution of many economically important taxa. The crambid moth genus
Ostrinia contains multiple agricultural pests, and its classification and phylogeny has remained controversial because of the paucity of characters and the lack of clear morphological boundaries for its species. To address these issues, we inferred a molecular phylogeny ofOstrinia using a phylogenomic dataset containing 498 loci and 115 197 nucleotide sites and examined whether traditional morphological characters corroborate our molecular results. Our results strongly support the monophyly of one of theOstrinia species groups but surprisingly do not support the monophyly of the other two. Based on the extensive morphological examination and broadly representative taxon sampling of the phylogenomic analyses, we propose a revised classification of the genus, defined by three species groups (Ostrinia nubilalis species group,Ostrinia obumbratalis species group, andOstrinia penitalis species group), which differs from the traditional classification of Mutuura & Munroe (1970). Morphological and molecular evidence reveal the presence of a new North American species,Ostrinia multispinosa Yangsp.n. , closely related toO .obumbratalis . Our analyses indicate that theOstrinia ancestral larval host preference was for dicots, and thatO .nubilalis (European corn borer) andOstrinia furnacalis (Asian corn borer) independently evolved a preference for feeding on monocots (i.e., maize). Males of a fewOstrinia species have enlarged, grooved midtibiae with brush organs that are known to attract females to increase mating success during courtship, which may represent a derived condition. Our study provides a strong evolutionary framework for this agriculturally important insect lineage. -
Abstract Caimaninae is one of the few crocodylian lineages that still has living representatives. Today, most of its six extant species are restricted to South and Central America. However, recent discoveries have revealed a more complex evolutionary history, with a fossil record richer than previously thought and a possible North American origin. Among the oldest caimanines is
Eocaiman cavernensis , from the Eocene of Patagonia, Argentina. It was described by George G. Simpson in the 1930s, representing the first caimanine reported for the Palaeogene. Since then,E. cavernensis has been ubiquitous in phylogenetic studies on the group, but a more detailed morphological description and revision of the taxon were lacking. Here, we present a reassessment ofE. cavernensis , based on first‐hand examination and micro‐computed tomography of the holotype, and reinterpret different aspects of its morphology. We explore the phylogenetic affinities ofE. cavernensis and other caimanines using parsimony and Bayesian inference approaches. Our results provide evidence for a monophyleticEocaiman genus within Caimaninae, even though some highly incomplete taxa (including the congenericEocaiman itaboraiensis ) represent significant sources of phylogenetic instability. We also foundCulebrasuchus mesoamericanus as sister to all other caimanines and the North American globidontans (i.e.Brachychampsa and closer relatives) outside Caimaninae. A time‐calibrated tree, obtained using a fossilized birth–death model, shows a possible Campanian origin for the group (76.97 ± 6.7 Ma), which is older than the age estimated using molecular data, and suggests that the earliest cladogenetic events of caimanines took place rapidly and across the K–Pg boundary.