scholarly journals A molecular and morphological investigation of species boundaries and phylogenetic relationships in Australian free-tailed bats Mormopterus (Chiroptera : Molossidae)

2014 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 109 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. B. Reardon ◽  
N. L. McKenzie ◽  
S. J. B. Cooper ◽  
B. Appleton ◽  
S. Carthew ◽  
...  

The taxonomic uncertainty surrounding several prominent genera of Australian microbat has been a long-standing impediment to research and conservation efforts on these groups. The free-tail bat genus Mormopterus is perhaps the most significant example, with a long history of acknowledged species-level confusion. This study uses a combined molecular and morphological approach to conduct a comprehensive assessment of species and subgeneric boundaries, between-species phylogenetic affinities and within-species phylogeographic structure in Australian members of Mormopterus. Phylogenetic analyses based on 759 base pairs of the NADH Dehydrogenase subunit 2 mitochondrial gene were concordant with species boundaries delineated using an expanded allozyme dataset and by phallic morphology, and also revealed strong phylogeographic structure within two species. The levels of divergence evident in the molecular and morphological analyses led us to recognise three subgenera within Australia: Micronomus, Setirostris subgen. nov. and Ozimops subgen. nov. Within Ozimops we recognise seven Australian species, three of which are new, and none are conspecific with Indo-Papuan species. The family Molossidae now comprises eleven species across three subgenera in Australia, making it the continent’s second most speciose family of bats.

2010 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-465
Author(s):  
Wen Longying ◽  
Zhang Lixun ◽  
An Bei ◽  
Luo Huaxing ◽  
Liu Naifa ◽  
...  

AbstractWe have used phylogeographic methods to investigate the genetic structure and population history of the endangered Himalayan snowcock (Tetraogallus himalayensis) in northwestern China. The mitochondrial cytochrome b gene was sequenced of 102 individuals sampled throughout the distribution range. In total, we found 26 different haplotypes defined by 28 polymorphic sites. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that the samples were divided into two major haplogroups corresponding to one western and one eastern clade. The divergence time between these major clades was estimated to be approximately one million years. An analysis of molecular variance showed that 40% of the total genetic variability was found within local populations, 12% among populations within regional groups and 48% among groups. An analysis of the demographic history of the populations suggested that major expansions have occurred in the Himalayan snowcock populations and these correlate mainly with the first and the second largest glaciations during the Pleistocene. In addition, the data indicate that there was a population expansion of the Tianshan population during the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, approximately 2 million years ago.


2021 ◽  
Vol 71 ◽  
pp. 723-746
Author(s):  
L. Lee Grismer ◽  
Chatmongkon Suwannapoom ◽  
Parinya Pawangkhanant ◽  
Roman A. Nazarov ◽  
Platon V. Yushchenko ◽  
...  

The first integrative taxonomic analysis of the Cyrtodactylus brevipalmatus group of Southeast Asia recovered two newly discovered populations from the Tenasserim Mountains in Suan Phueng District, Ratchaburi Province, Thailand as a new species described here as C. rukhadeva sp. nov. Based on 1397 base pairs of the mitochondrial gene NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2), C. rukhadeva sp. nov. is the well-supported sister species to a clade containing three undescribed species, C. ngati, and C. cf. interdigitalis with a large uncorrected pairwise sequence divergence from other species in the brevipalmatus group ranging from 15.4–22.1%. Cyrtodactylus elok and C. brevipalmatus are recovered as poorly supported sister species and the well-supported sister lineage to the remainder of the brevipalmatus group. Cyrtodactylus rukhadeva sp. nov. is putatively diagnosable on the basis of a number of meristic characters and easily separated from the remaining species of the brevipalmatus group by a number of discrete morphological characters as well as its statistically significant wide separation in multivariate morphospace. The discovery of C. rukhadeva sp. nov. continues to underscore the unrealized herpetological diversity in the upland forests of the Tenasserim Mountains and that additional field work will undoubtedly result in the discovery of additional new species.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keerthic Aswin ◽  
Srinivasan Ramachandran ◽  
Vivek T Natarajan

AbstractEvolutionary history of coronaviruses holds the key to understand mutational behavior and prepare for possible future outbreaks. By performing comparative genome analysis of nidovirales that contain the family of coronaviruses, we traced the origin of proofreading, surprisingly to the eukaryotic antiviral component ZNFX1. This common recent ancestor contributes two zinc finger (ZnF) motifs that are unique to viral exonuclease, segregating them from DNA proof-readers. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that following acquisition, genomes of coronaviruses retained and further fine-tuned proofreading exonuclease, whereas related families harbor substitution of key residues in ZnF1 motif concomitant to a reduction in their genome sizes. Structural modelling followed by simulation suggests the role of ZnF in RNA binding. Key ZnF residues strongly coevolve with replicase, and the helicase involved in duplex RNA unwinding. Hence, fidelity of replication in coronaviruses is a result of convergent evolution, that enables maintenance of genome stability akin to cellular proofreading systems.


Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4949 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-288
Author(s):  
L. LEE GRISMER ◽  
PETER GEISSLER ◽  
THY NEANG ◽  
TIMO HARTMANN ◽  
PHILIPP WAGNER ◽  
...  

The integrated results of maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) analyses, principal component analyses (PCA), and a multiple factor analysis (MFA) recover a new, widely allopatric species of the Cyrtodactylus intermedius species group. Cyrtodactylus kulenensis sp. nov is endemic to the Phnom Kulen sandstone massif of the Phnom Kulen National Park, Siem Reap Province, in the lowlands of northwestern Cambodia. A phylogenetic analysis from a short read (275 base pairs) of the mitochondrial gene NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2) from C. kulenensis sp. nov. was aligned with 1449 base pairs from all other species in the intermedius group.  The analysis recovered C. kulenensis sp. nov. as the sister species to a lineage composed of populations from the widely separated hilly regions of Sa Keao and Sakaerat in eastern Thailand. Multivariate (PCA, DAPC, and MFA) and univariate analyses (ANOVA) using combinations of meristic (scale counts), mensural (morphometric), and categorical (color pattern and morphology) characters from 52 specimens encompassing all species of the intermedius group clearly demonstrate C. kulenensis sp. nov. is significantly different and discretely diagnosable from all other species in the intermedius group. This new discovery further highlights the herpetological diversity and high levels of range-restricted endemism in basin-habitat-island landscapes throughout Indochina and the continued need for field work in the landscapes that remain unsurveyed. 


2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald M. Clouse ◽  
Gonzalo Giribet

Opiliones (harvestmen) in the suborder Cyphophthalmi are not known to disperse across oceans and each family in the suborder is restricted to a clear biogeographic region. While undertaking a revisionary study of the South-east Asian family Stylocellidae, two collections of stylocellids from New Guinea were noted. This was a surprising find, since the island appears never to have had a land connection with Eurasia, where the rest of the family members are found. Here, 21 New Guinean specimens collected from the westernmost end of the island (Manokwari Province, Indonesia) are described and their relationships to other cyphophthalmids are analysed using molecular sequence data. The specimens represent three species, Stylocellus lydekkeri, sp. nov., S. novaguinea, sp. nov. and undescribed females of a probable third species, which are described and illustrated using scanning electron microscope and stereomicroscope photographs. Stylocellus novaguinea, sp. nov. is described from a single male and it was collected with a juvenile and the three females of the apparent third species. Molecular phylogenetic analyses indicate that the new species are indeed in the family Stylocellidae and they therefore reached western New Guinea by dispersing through Lydekker’s line – the easternmost limit of poor dispersers from Eurasia. The New Guinean species may indicate at least two episodes of oceanic dispersal by Cyphophthalmi, a phenomenon here described for the first time. Alternatively, the presence in New Guinea of poor dispersers from Eurasia may suggest novel hypotheses about the history of the island.


Genome ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 128-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li-Shang Dai ◽  
Sheng Li ◽  
Hui-min Yu ◽  
Guo-Qing Wei ◽  
Lei Wang ◽  
...  

In the present study, we sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Agrius convolvuli (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) and compared it with previously sequenced mitogenomes of lepidopteran species. The mitogenome was a circular molecule, 15 349 base pairs (bp) long, containing 37 genes. The order and orientation of genes in the A. convolvuli mitogenome were similar to those in sequenced mitogenomes of other lepidopterans. All 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs) were initiated by ATN codons, except for the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) gene, which seemed to be initiated by the codon CGA, as observed in other lepidopterans. Three of the 13 PCGs had the incomplete termination codon T, while the remainder terminated with TAA. Additionally, the codon distributions of the 13 PCGs revealed that Asn, Ile, Leu2, Lys, Phe, and Tyr were the most frequently used codon families. All transfer RNAs were folded into the expected cloverleaf structure except for tRNASer(AGN), which lacked a stable dihydrouridine arm. The length of the adenine (A) + thymine (T)-rich region was 331 bp. This region included the motif ATAGA followed by a 19-bp poly-T stretch and a microsatellite-like (TA)8 element next to the motif ATTTA. Phylogenetic analyses (maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods) showed that A. convolvuli belongs to the family Sphingidae.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kerry Walton

<p>Cominella maculosa and C. virgata are common rocky shore whelk species from New Zealand. This study used DNA sequences from the mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) to expand an earlier unpublished dataset and examine the phylogeographic structure of both species in the Cook Strait region, of C. maculosa in the Chatham Islands, and of C. virgata in the northern North Island. Both species are found to have a considerable degree of phylogeographic structure, concordant with that reported by an earlier study and for other species with direct development.  South Island sites sampled for C. maculosa had several private haplotypes and a high frequency haplotype that is shared with populations from the southern North Island. Together, these formed a ‘southern haplogroup’. Low diversity in ‘southern’ populations may reflect founder effects that would have occurred as part of a southward range expansion during the onset of the present interglacial period. The Chatham Islands samples had two haplotypes that formed a separate sub-group to the ‘southern haplogroup’, suggesting Chatham Islands populations are moderately isolated from those on mainland New Zealand but may have been founded from ‘southern’ populations relatively recently.  The high frequency haplotype present in South Island samples of C. virgata is absent in Wellington samples but widespread in those from the north-eastern North Island. South Island populations may have been founded from the Hauraki Gulf through human-mediated translocation events. Phylogenetic analyses with a focus on C. virgata were conducted using the mitochondrial genes CO1 and 16SrRNA, and the nuclear gene 18S rRNA, to expand an earlier published dataset. The purported northern subspecies C. virgata brookesi does not form a monophyletic lineage and voucher specimens fluidly intergrade with the nominal subspecies, with which it is synonymised. A lectotype is designated for Buccinum lineolatum Quoy & Gaimard, 1833, for which Cominella virgata is a replacement name. Potential causes of the disjunct distribution patterns of C. virgata and other mollusc taxa are discussed with particular reference to the formation and timing of marine straits through the Auckland Isthmus and Cook Strait.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kerry Walton

<p>Cominella maculosa and C. virgata are common rocky shore whelk species from New Zealand. This study used DNA sequences from the mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) to expand an earlier unpublished dataset and examine the phylogeographic structure of both species in the Cook Strait region, of C. maculosa in the Chatham Islands, and of C. virgata in the northern North Island. Both species are found to have a considerable degree of phylogeographic structure, concordant with that reported by an earlier study and for other species with direct development.  South Island sites sampled for C. maculosa had several private haplotypes and a high frequency haplotype that is shared with populations from the southern North Island. Together, these formed a ‘southern haplogroup’. Low diversity in ‘southern’ populations may reflect founder effects that would have occurred as part of a southward range expansion during the onset of the present interglacial period. The Chatham Islands samples had two haplotypes that formed a separate sub-group to the ‘southern haplogroup’, suggesting Chatham Islands populations are moderately isolated from those on mainland New Zealand but may have been founded from ‘southern’ populations relatively recently.  The high frequency haplotype present in South Island samples of C. virgata is absent in Wellington samples but widespread in those from the north-eastern North Island. South Island populations may have been founded from the Hauraki Gulf through human-mediated translocation events. Phylogenetic analyses with a focus on C. virgata were conducted using the mitochondrial genes CO1 and 16SrRNA, and the nuclear gene 18S rRNA, to expand an earlier published dataset. The purported northern subspecies C. virgata brookesi does not form a monophyletic lineage and voucher specimens fluidly intergrade with the nominal subspecies, with which it is synonymised. A lectotype is designated for Buccinum lineolatum Quoy & Gaimard, 1833, for which Cominella virgata is a replacement name. Potential causes of the disjunct distribution patterns of C. virgata and other mollusc taxa are discussed with particular reference to the formation and timing of marine straits through the Auckland Isthmus and Cook Strait.</p>


Zootaxa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3451 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
RICARDO BELMONTE-LOPES ◽  
GUSTAVO A. BRAVO ◽  
MARCOS R. BORNSCHEIN ◽  
GIOVANNI N. MAURÍCIO ◽  
MARCIO R. PIE ◽  
...  

Recent DNA-based phylogenetic analyses of the family Thamnophilidae have shown that the genus Myrmotherula is polyphyletic. Traditional plumage-based taxonomy has been misleading in terms of identifying independently evolving lineages within the complex. Here, we integrate a molecular phylogeny with morphometric information and ancestral reconstruction of syringeal character states of the Musculi vocales ventrales, to investigate the taxonomic position of M. gularis, a species for which phylogenetic affinities have long been uncertain. We show that M. gularis represents a long branch in the tribe Thamnophilini that is not closely related to any other member of the Myrmotherula complex. Its relationships within the tribe remain uncertain because of the lack of phylogenetic resolution at the base of the tribe. M. gularis shares a derived character state of the M. vocalis ventralis with Taraba, Hypoedaleus, and Mackenziaena, which supports a close relationship between M. gularis and the large antshrikes. M. gularis can be diagnosed from Myrmotherula and Epinecrophylla by this condition of its M. vocalis ventralis, and from Isleria by plumage and other morphological traits. The phylogenetic and morphological distinctiveness of M. gularis does not warrant merging it into any other genus. We propose that this species be placed in a monotypic genus, for which the available name Rhopias applies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 194 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerome Chave ◽  
Cynthia Sothers ◽  
Amaia Iribar ◽  
Uxue Suescun ◽  
Mark W Chase ◽  
...  

Abstract We studied the evolutionary history of Chrysobalanaceae with phylogenetic analyses of complete plastid genomes from 156 species to assess the tempo of diversification in the Neotropics and help to unravel the causes of Amazonian plant diversification. These plastid genomes had a mean length of 162 204 base pairs, and the nearly complete DNA sequence matrix, with reliable fossils, was used to estimate a phylogenetic tree. Chrysobalanaceae diversified from 38.9 Mya (95% highest posterior density, 95% HPD: 34.2–43.9 Mya). A single clade containing almost all Neotropical species arose after a single dispersal event from the Palaeotropics into the Amazonian biome c. 29.1 Mya (95% HPD: 25.5–32.6 Mya), with subsequent dispersals into other Neotropical biomes. All Neotropical genera diversified from 10 to 14 Mya, lending clear support to the role of Andean orogeny as a major cause of diversification in Chrysobalanaceae. In particular, the understory genus Hirtella diversified extremely rapidly, producing &gt; 100 species in the last 6 Myr (95% HPD: 4.9–7.4 Myr). Our study suggests that a large fraction of the Amazonian tree flora has been assembled in situ in the last 15 Myr.


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