Abstract Species of camel spiders in the family Eremobatidae are an important component of arthropod communities in arid ecosystems throughout North America. Recently, research demonstrated that the evolutionary history and biogeography of the family are poorly understood. Herein we explore the biogeographic history of this group of arachnids using genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data, morphology, and distribution modelling to study the eremobatid genus Eremocosta , which contains exceptionally large species distributed throughout North American deserts. Relationships among sampled species were resolved with strong support and they appear to have diversified within distinct desert regions along an east-to-west progression beginning in the Chihuahuan Desert. The unexpected phylogenetic position of some samples suggests that the genus may contain additional, morphologically cryptic species. Geometric morphometric analyses reveal a largely conserved cheliceral morphology among Eremocosta spp. Phylogeographic analyses indicate that the distribution of E. titania was substantially reduced during the last glacial maximum and the species only recently colonized much of the Mojave Desert. Results from this study underscore the power of genome-wide data for unlocking the genetic potential of museum specimens, which is especially promising for organisms like camel spiders that are notoriously difficult to collect.
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Ultraconserved elements support the elevation of a new avian family, Eurocephalidae, the white-crowned shrikes
Abstract In this study, we infer genus-level relationships within shrikes (Laniidae), crows (Corvidae), and their allies using ultraconserved elements (UCEs). We confirm previous results of the Crested Shrikejay (Platylophus galericulatus) as comprising its own taxonomic family and find strong support for its sister relationship to laniid shrikes. We also find strong support that the African-endemic genus Eurocephalus, which comprises two allopatric species (E. ruppelli and E. anguitimens), are not “true-shrikes”. We propose elevating the white-crowned shrikes to their own family, Eurocephalidae.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2112467
- PAR ID:
- 10420513
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Ornithology
- ISSN:
- 0004-8038
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Objective This study investigated how new mothers' perceptions of maternal grandmothers' gatekeeping behaviors and perceptions of fathers' parenting competence are associated with maternal gatekeeping behaviors.
Background In the development of coparenting relationships at the transition to parenthood, the roles of extended family members, although important, have received little research attention. Grandmothers' gatekeeping may serve as a reference for maternal gatekeeping behaviors, but its role depends on mothers' own perceptions of fathers' parenting competence.
Method Mothers from 172 dual‐earner, different‐gender couples reported their own mothers' gatekeeping behaviors and their own perceptions of fathers' parenting competence at 3 months postpartum. Maternal gatekeeping behaviors toward fathers were reported by mothers at both 3 and 9 months postpartum.
Results When mothers perceived that maternal grandmothers engaged in higher levels of gatekeeping behaviors, mothers engaged in more gate‐opening behaviors but only when mothers perceived fathers as highly competent. There were no significant associations between mothers' perceptions of grandmothers' gatekeeping and maternal gate‐closing behaviors.
Conclusion Adult mothers, who likely have developed their own sets of ideas about parenting, are still susceptible to support and criticism from their own mothers.
Implications Practitioners would do well to encourage expectant and new parents to consider the role of extended family in the development of their coparenting relationships and to develop plans for support‐seeking, boundary management, and negotiation of conflicts. To help reduce maternal gate‐closing and enhance maternal gate‐opening behaviors, practitioners could support fathers' development of parenting skills and help mothers develop awareness of fathers' skills.
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Eunotia is the largest and most diverse genus within the family Eunotiaceae, a primarily freshwater group of diatoms often found in dilute, acidic and humic-stained environments. Species in this genus are characterized by being asymmetric along their apical axis, symmetric about the transapical axis, and with a simple and reduced raphe system situated largely on the mantle and restricted to the apical ends of the valve. In addition, Eunotia taxa have one or more rimoportula per valve, usually close to the apex. Because of their reduced raphe system, coupled with the presence of rimoportulae, Eunotia and its relatives are often viewed as the oldest lineage of raphe-bearing diatoms. To date, the oldest remains of Eunotia species have been reported from the early to middle Eocene, including from the Giraffe Pipe locality, an ancient Eocene fossil site located in northern Canada near the Arctic Circle. Rocks from this site contain a large and diverse assemblage of Eunotia taxa. The purpose of this study is to begin to characterize this assemblage with descriptions of three new species, Eunotia giraffensis sp. nov., E. petasum sp. nov. and E. pseudonaegelii sp. nov. The new species, representing the longest specimens found at the Giraffe Pipe locality, each possess characteristics common to Eunotia making them easily assigned to this genus. Because the Eunotia lineage was well established by the early part of the Eocene, it is likely to be significantly older.more » « less
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The genus Calliophis is the most basal branch of the family Elapidae and several species in it have developed highly elongated venom glands. Recent research has shown that C. bivirgatus has evolved a seemingly unique toxin (calliotoxin) that produces spastic paralysis in their prey by acting on the voltage-gated sodium (NaV) channels. We assembled a transcriptome from C. bivirgatus to investigate the molecular characteristics of these toxins and the venom as a whole. We find strong confirmation that this genus produces the classic elapid eight-cysteine three-finger toxins, that δδ-elapitoxins (toxins that resemble calliotoxin) are responsible for a substantial portion of the venom composition, and that these toxins form a distinct clade within a larger, more diverse clade of C. bivirgatus three-finger toxins. This broader clade of C. bivirgatus toxins also contains the previously named maticotoxins and is somewhat closely related to cytotoxins from other elapids. However, the toxins from this clade that have been characterized are not themselves cytotoxic. No other toxins show clear relationships to toxins of known function from other species.more » « less
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A new genus,
Ottia , and family, Ottiaceae, are proposed within the Acrochaetiales to accommodate the uniseriate red algal endophyte of batrachspermalean taxa previously namedBalbiania meiospora . Prior to this study,Balbiania investiens was transferred to its own family and order (Balbianiales) based on comparativeDNA sequence data and a distinctive reproductive morphology. However, the second species described in this genus,B. meiospora , continued to be treated as a species ofAudouinella (A. meiospora ) pending further investigation. Phylogenetic analyses of sequence data confirmed only a distant relationship between the two endophytes, and a closer alliance ofB. meiospora to Acrochaetiales. The data also showed thatOttia meiospora was the deepest diverging lineage in the Acrochaetiales, sister to all of the currently recognized genera and families. In this study, we review the classification of what we now callO. meiospora – reported from Australia, New Zealand and Brazil – based on sequence and morphological data. Morphological observations provided little clarity around the reproductive morphology or the life cycle of this endophyte ofNothocladus s. lat. found commonly in mainland Australia but, to date, less so in New Zealand.
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithology/ukad025
