Oldest, smallest and phylogenetically most basal pelagornithid, from the early Paleocene of New Zealand, sheds light on the evolutionary history of the largest flying birds

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald Mayr ◽  
Vanesa L. De Pietri ◽  
Leigh Love ◽  
Al Mannering ◽  
Richard Paul Scofield
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Early Paleocene ◽  
History Of

A new endemic family of New Zealand passerine birds: adding heat to a biodiversity hotspot

2007 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Driskell ◽  
Les Christidis ◽  
B. J. Gill ◽  
Walter E. Boles ◽  
F. Keith Barker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Divergence Time ◽  
Biodiversity Hotspot ◽  
Passerine Birds ◽  
New Family ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
History Of ◽  
Anthornis Melanura ◽  
Notiomystis Cincta

The results of phylogenetic analysis of two molecular datasets sampling all three endemic New Zealand ‘honeyeaters’ (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae, Anthornis melanura and Notiomystis cincta) are reported. The undisputed relatedness of the first two species to other honeyeaters (Meliphagidae), and a close relationship between them, are demonstrated. However, our results confirm that Notiomystis is not a honeyeater, but is instead most closely related to the Callaeidae (New Zealand wattlebirds) represented by Philesturnus carunculatus in our study. An estimated divergence time for Notiomystis and Philesturnus of 33.8 mya (Oligocene) suggests a very long evolutionary history of this clade in New Zealand. As a taxonomic interpretation of these data we place Notiomystis in a new family of its own which takes the name Notiomystidae. We expect this new phylogenetic and taxonomic information to assist policy decisions for the conservation of this rare bird.

Rautangaroa, a new genus of feather star (Echinodermata, Crinoidea) from the Oligocene of New Zealand

2018 ◽  
Vol 92 (5) ◽  
pp. 872-882 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomasz K. Baumiller ◽  
R. Ewan Fordyce
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
New Genus ◽  
Intact Specimen ◽  
History Of ◽  
Recovered Material ◽  
Feather Star ◽  
Established Genus

AbstractWe describe a nearly complete, and thus extremely rare, feather star (Crinoidea, Comatulida) from Oligocene strata of North Otago/South Canterbury, New Zealand. A detailed analysis of this specimen, as well as newly recovered material and previously described fragmentary remains from nearby contemporaneous sedimentary units, in addition to relevant historical specimens, lead us to conclude that it cannot be placed in any currently established genus. A new genus,Rautangaroa,is proposed to accommodate it.This intact specimen ofRautangaroa aotearoa(Eagle, 2007), provides rare data on the morphology of arms and cirri. It represents the first example of arm autotomy and regeneration in a fossil feather star and thus has bearing on the importance of predation to the evolutionary history of this group.UUID:http://zoobank.org/c050dafd-93ba-4334-b11b-59209aabb588

New cyriacotheriid pantodonts (Mammalia, Pantodonta) from the Paleocene of Alberta, Canada, and the relationships of Cyriacotheriidae

2010 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig S. Scott
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analysis ◽  
New Species ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
New Genus ◽  
The Family ◽  
Two New Species ◽  
Unusual Combination ◽  
Early Paleocene ◽  
History Of

Cyriacotheriidae are a family of unusual small-bodied pantodonts known from the Paleocene of the Western Interior of North America. Cyriacotheriids possess a suite of dental characters similar to that of pantodonts (e.g., molar dilambdodonty, lingual molar hypoconulids), as well as several divergent features (e.g., molarized premolars, strong molar conules) that have been interpreted as “dermopteran-like.” the unusual combination of pantodont and dermopteran-like characters, combined with a limited fossil record, has made attempts at understanding the broader relationships of Cyriacotheriidae difficult. This paper reports on a new genus and two new species of cyriacotheriids from the Paleocene of Alberta, Canada, with both species significantly older than those of the only previously described cyriacotheriid, Cyriacotherium. Collectively, the dentitions of these new taxa exhibit derived characters seen in Cyriacotherium (e.g., robust molar conules, strong molar dilambdodonty) in addition to a number of plesiomorphies seen in more basal pantodonts (e.g., conspicuous molar entoconids, deep premolar ectoflexus) and, importantly, posterior premolars that are weakly molariform and non-dilambdodont. A phylogenetic analysis of the new cyriacotheriid, basal pantodonts, dermopterans, and dermopteran-like eutherians resulted in Cyriacotheriidae nesting within a monophyletic Pantodonta. the results strengthen previous hypotheses regarding the pantodont affinities of the family, and suggest that the dermopteran-like features seen in the more derived Cyriacotherium were acquired convergently. Although the discovery of new cyriacotheriids sheds light on the evolutionary history of the family, it cannot resolve the ongoing questions of pantodont origins; nonetheless, their discovery in strata of early Paleocene age indicates that significant parts of the evolutionary history of Cyriacotheriidae, and North American pantodonts more generally, have yet to be discovered.

scholarly journals Ancient crested penguin constrains timing of recruitment into seabird hotspot

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1932) ◽  
pp. 20201497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel B. Thomas ◽  
Alan J. D. Tennyson ◽  
R. Paul Scofield ◽  
Tracy A. Heath ◽  
Walker Pett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Ancestral Area ◽  
Total Group ◽  
Late Neogene ◽  
History Of ◽  
Dietary Shifts ◽  
A New Species

New Zealand is a globally significant hotspot for seabird diversity, but the sparse fossil record for most seabird lineages has impeded our understanding of how and when this hotspot developed. Here, we describe multiple exceptionally well-preserved specimens of a new species of penguin from tightly dated (3.36–3.06 Ma) Pliocene deposits in New Zealand. Bayesian and parsimony analyses place Eudyptes atatu sp. nov. as the sister species to all extant and recently extinct members of the crested penguin genus Eudyptes . The new species has a markedly more slender upper beak and mandible compared with other Eudyptes penguins. Our combined evidence approach reveals that deep bills evolved in both crested and stiff-tailed penguins ( Pygoscelis ) during the Pliocene. That deep bills arose so late in the greater than 60 million year evolutionary history of penguins suggests that dietary shifts may have occurred as wind-driven Pliocene upwelling radically restructured southern ocean ecosystems. Ancestral area reconstructions using BioGeoBEARS identify New Zealand as the most likely ancestral area for total-group penguins, crown penguins and crested penguins. Our analyses provide a timeframe for recruitment of crown penguins into the New Zealand avifauna, indicating this process began in the late Neogene and was completed via multiple waves of colonizing lineages.

scholarly journals A broadly resolved molecular phylogeny of New Zealand cheilostome bryozoans as a framework for hypotheses of morphological evolution

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
RJS Orr ◽  
E Di Martino ◽  
DP Gordon ◽  
MH Ramsfjell ◽  
HL Mello ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Marine Invertebrates ◽  
Morphological Evolution ◽  
Geographic Region ◽  
Diversification Rates ◽  
Taxonomic Level ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cheilostome Bryozoans

AbstractLarger molecular phylogenies based on ever more genes are becoming commonplace with the advent of cheaper and more streamlined sequencing and bioinformatics pipelines. However, many groups of inconspicuous but no less evolutionarily or ecologically important marine invertebrates are still neglected in the quest for understanding species- and higher-level phylogenetic relationships. Here, we alleviate this issue by presenting the molecular sequences of 165 cheilostome bryozoan species from New Zealand waters. New Zealand is our geographic region of choice as its cheilostome fauna is taxonomically, functionally and ecologically diverse, and better characterized than many other such faunas in the world. Using this most taxonomically broadly-sampled and statistically-supported cheilostome phylogeny comprising 214 species, when including previously published sequences, we tested several existing systematic hypotheses based solely on morphological observations. We find that lower taxonomic level hypotheses (species and genera) are robust while our inferred trees did not reflect current higher-level systematics (family and above), illustrating a general need for the rethinking of current hypotheses. To illustrate the utility of our new phylogeny, we reconstruct the evolutionary history of frontal shields (i.e., a calcified bodywall layer in ascus-bearing cheilostomes) and asked if its presence has any bearing on the diversification rates of cheilostomes.

Consensus between genes and stones in the biogeographic and evolutionary history of Central America

2013 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania Anaid Gutiérrez-García ◽  
Ella Vázquez-Domínguez
Keyword(s):  
Central America ◽  
Tectonic Evolution ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Genetic Studies ◽  
Isthmus Of Panama ◽  
Genetic Patterns ◽  
Early Paleocene ◽  
History Of ◽  
Multiple Refugia

AbstractResults from genetic and geologic studies can be combined to elucidate some general patterns of the biogeographic and evolutionary history of Central America (CA) and of its biota. Based on an ample review of geologic, biogeographic and genetic studies, our aim was to examine how common genetic patterns can be linked with geologic processes. Considering information about geologic and tectonic evolution of CA, we subdivided the region into four tectonic blocks: Maya, Chortis, Chorotega and Chocó. Species exchange between North/South America and CA encompasses three events: a first migration during the Late Cretaceous–Early Paleocene, a second through a terrestrial corridor preceding the formation of the Isthmus of Panama (IP), and the third involving a major dispersion through the IP. Such events caused similar genetic differentiation patterns and left a signature on the diversification of extant taxa, which we propose as three evolutionary groups: 1) Mayan, characterized by marked genetic structure and divergence, multiple refugia and formation of cryptic species; 2) Mid-CA, defined by high differentiation at the population level and between highland and lowlands, associated with intense volcanic activity; 3) Panamian, distinguished by migration from north to south and vice versa via de IP, with markedly high species divergence and speciation.

scholarly journals The Evolutionary History of New Zealand Deschampsia Is Marked by Long-Distance Dispersal, Endemism, and Hybridization

Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1001
Author(s):  
Zhiqing Xue ◽  
Josef Greimler ◽  
Ovidiu Paun ◽  
Kerry Ford ◽  
Michael H. J. Barfuss ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Dna Analysis ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Plastid Dna ◽  
Last Common Ancestor ◽  
Long Distance Dispersal ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Test Species ◽  
History Of

The contrasting evolutionary histories of endemic versus related cosmopolitan species provide avenues to understand the spatial drivers and limitations of biodiversity. Here, we investigated the evolutionary history of three New Zealand endemic Deschampsia species, and how they are related to cosmopolitan D. cespitosa. We used RADseq to test species delimitations, infer a dated species tree, and investigate gene flow patterns between the New Zealand endemics and the D. cespitosa populations of New Zealand, Australia and Korea. Whole plastid DNA analysis was performed on a larger worldwide sampling. Morphometrics of selected characters were applied to New Zealand sampling. Our RADseq review of over 55 Mbp showed the endemics as genetically well-defined from each other. Their last common ancestor with D. cespitosa lived during the last ten MY. The New Zealand D. cespitosa appears in a clade with Australian and Korean samples. Whole plastid DNA analysis revealed the endemics as members of a southern hemisphere clade, excluding the extant D. cespitosa of New Zealand. Both data provided strong evidence for hybridization between D. cespitosa and D. chapmanii. Our findings provide evidence for at least two migration events of the genus Deschampsia to New Zealand and hybridization between D. cespitosa and endemic taxa.

scholarly journals Hiding in the swamp: new capillariid nematode parasitizing New Zealand brown mudfish

2017 ◽  
Vol 92 (3) ◽  
pp. 379-386
Author(s):  
F. Jorge ◽  
R.S.A. White ◽  
R.A. Paterson
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Fish Community ◽  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
Fish Parasite ◽  
Swim Bladder ◽  
Parasite Diversity ◽  
Different Types ◽  
History Of ◽  
Host Parasite

AbstractThe extent of New Zealand's freshwater fish-parasite diversity has yet to be fully revealed, with host–parasite relationships still to be described from nearly half the known fish community. While advances in the number of fish species examined and parasite taxa described are being made, some parasite groups, such as nematodes, remain poorly understood. In the present study we combined morphological and molecular analyses to characterize a capillariid nematode found infecting the swim bladder of the brown mudfish Neochanna apoda, an endemic New Zealand fish from peat-swamp-forests. Morphologically, the studied nematodes are distinct from other Capillariinae taxa by the features of the male posterior end, namely the shape of the bursa lobes, and shape of spicule distal end. Male specimens were classified into three different types according to differences in the shape of the bursa lobes at the posterior end, but only one was successfully characterized molecularly. Molecular analysis indicated that the studied capillariid is distinct from other genera. However, inferences about the phylogenetic position of the capillariid reported here will remain uncertain, due to the limited number of Capillariinae taxa characterized molecularly. The discovery of this new capillariid, which atypically infects the swim bladder of its host, which itself inhabits a very unique ecosystem, underlines the very interesting evolutionary history of this parasite, which for now will remain unresolved.

New pantolestids (Mammalia, Eutheria) from the late Paleocene (late middle Tiffanian) Roche Percée local fauna, southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada

2014 ◽  
Vol 88 (6) ◽  
pp. 1199-1211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian D. Rankin
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Evolutionary Relationship ◽  
Western Canada ◽  
Unique Combination ◽  
Local Fauna ◽  
Late Paleocene ◽  
Early Paleocene ◽  
History Of ◽  
Early Late ◽  
High Diversity

The Pantolestidae are an extinct family of mammals known principally from the early Paleocene to late Oligocene (from approximately 64 to 30 million years ago) of North America and Europe. Although never particularly abundant, pantolestids are relatively well represented in the Eocene and Oligocene, with several taxa known from exceptionally well-preserved skulls and postcranial material. The early evolutionary history of the group, however, similar to that of many contemporaneous mammals, remains comparatively poorly known. The current study reports on several previously undescribed pantolestids from the early late Paleocene (late middle Tiffanian, Ti4) Roche Percée local fauna, Ravenscrag Formation, of southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada.Aatotomus placochtonn. gen. n. sp. resembles the enigmatic pantolestidPaleotomusin having sectorial premolars with well-developed crests and tall, sharp molar trigonids, but differs principally in possessing narrow molar talonids.Besseocetor krausein. sp. shares numerous similarities withB. thomsoniandB. septentrionalisbut differs in being considerably smaller and less robust.Palaeosinopa reclusumn. sp., the oldest species ofPalaeosinopayet discovered, reveals a unique combination of primitive and derived pantolestid features, and supports previous suggestions of a close evolutionary relationship betweenPalaeosinopaandBessoecetor. The new taxa document an unusually high diversity of pantolestids in the Tiffanian of western Canada and provide important new knowledge to the evolutionary history of this group during the Paleocene.

Evolutionary significance of long-distance dispersal and hybridisation in the New Zealand endemic genus Hoheria (Malvaceae)

2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven J. Wagstaff ◽  
Brian P. J. Molloy ◽  
Jennifer A. Tate
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Evolutionary Significance ◽  
Long Distance Dispersal ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Endemic Genus ◽  
Its Phylogeny ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
History Of

Parsimony and SplitsTree analyses of ITS and 5′ trnK/matK sequence data were used to assess the extent of hybridisation and its evolutionary significance in the New Zealand endemic genus Hoheria A.Cunn. The seven species of Hoheria form a monophyletic group along with the New Zealand endemic genus Plagianthus J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. and the Australian endemics Asterotrichion Klotzsch. and Gynatrix Alef. This strongly supported clade is sister to a clade of Australian species of Lawrencia Hook. The inferred evolutionary history of Hoheria suggests that the extant species are derived from a common ancestor that arrived in New Zealand by long-distance dispersal. There was little divergence among the species of Hoheria in either their ITS or trnK/matK sequences. Two known Hoheria hybrids exhibited overlapping heteromorphic nucleotides at virtually all of the variable positions. Approximately 40% of the other Hoheria accessions in our study retain similar heteromorphic sites. These polymorphisms were shared among the deepest branches in the ITS phylogeny, which potentially suggests that hybridisation has occurred throughout the evolutionary history of Hoheria. The phylogenetic structure of the ITS phylogeny completely collapsed in the strict consensus tree, and there was significant conflict between the biparentally inherited ITS phylogeny and the maternally inherited trnK/matK phylogeny. However, the removal of known and suspected hybrids resulted in parsimony trees that were more resolved. SplitsTree analyses revealed incompatible signals in the data, but recovered well supported groups that diverged from a central boxy network. Although the species of Hoheria are isolated by their ecological preferences or geographical distributions, interspecific hybrids are common in urban areas where the species are often planted.

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