scholarly journals Phylogeny and Phylogeography ofMyrmica rubraComplex (Myrmicinae) in the Japanese Alps

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shouhei Ueda ◽  
Taito Nozawa ◽  
Tetsuya Matsuzuki ◽  
Ryo-ichi Seki ◽  
Shinya Shimamoto ◽  
...  

We investigated the genetic diversification of the mountain ant,Myrmica kotokui, in the Japanese Alps by using molecular phylogenetic analyses.Myrmica kotokuiis widely distributed in Japan, and in the central Japanese Alps it is found only between elevations of approximately 1000 to 2000 m. We hypothesized that genetically distinct clades of this ant species might inhabit different mountain ranges in central Japan. To test this hypothesis, we reconstructed a molecular phylogeny using the DNA sequences of the mitochondrialcytochrome oxidase Igene and the nuclearlong-wavelength rhodopsingene ofM. kotokuispecimens collected from six mountain ranges in the Japanese Alps. The phylogeny showed four highly differentiated clades. However, the correspondence between the clades and morphological species was a little confusing. Two clades were composed only ofM. kotokuispecimens, whereas the other two clades were composed of multispecies, suggesting the possibility of multispecies composition of putativeM. kotokui. The distribution pattern of these clades did not support our hypothesis of geographical differentiation, because two were distributed across all ranges, and a third was distributed in five of the six ranges. On the other hand, we found a pattern in the altitudinal distribution of the clades: one clade was distributed only at higher elevations, and the others were distributed at lower elevations. Thus, the ant clades do not show geographical segregation by mountain range, but they do show altitudinal differences.

Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4254 (1) ◽  
pp. 91 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROBERTO D. IBÁÑEZ ◽  
EDGARDO J. GRIFFITH ◽  
KAREN R. LIPS ◽  
ANDREW J. CRAWFORD

We conducted a molecular assessment of Colostethus-like frogs along an elevational gradient in the Serranía de Pirre, above Santa Cruz de Cana, eastern Panama, aiming to establish their species identity and to determine the altitudinal distribution of C. latinasus. Our findings confirm the view of C. latinasus as an endemic species restricted to the highlands of this mountain range, i.e., 1350–1475 m.a.s.l., considered to be type locality of this species. We described the advertisement call of C. latinasus that consists of a series of 4–18 single, short and relatively loud “peep”-like notes given in rapid succession, and its spectral and temporal features were compared with calls of congeneric species. For the first time, DNA sequences from C. latinasus were obtained, since previously reported sequences were based on misidentified specimens. This is particularly important because C. latinasus is the type species of Colostethus, a genus considered paraphyletic according to recent phylogenetic analyses based on molecular data. 


PhytoKeys ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 148 ◽  
pp. 51-70
Author(s):  
Takuro Ito ◽  
Chih-Chieh Yu ◽  
Masatsugu Yokota ◽  
Goro Kokubugata

We re-examined the taxonomic status of plants treated as Sedum formosanum (Crassulaceae) from Miyako-jima Island of the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, using morphological comparison and molecular phylogenetic analyses with related species. In morphology, plants from Miyako-jima Island bore a close resemblance to the other plants of S. formosanum, but differed in being perennial, polycarpic, and having lateral axillary branches. Molecular analyses based on ITS of nrDNA and six regions of cpDNA sequencing indicated that the Miyako-jima plants formed a distinct subclade. This subclade was part of a polytomy with three other subclades comprising nine taxa endemic to Taiwan and S. formosanum from other areas, including the type locality. Therefore, we propose and describe the Miyako-jima plants as a new subspecies, Sedum formosanum subsp. miyakojimense.


ZooKeys ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 996 ◽  
pp. 37-58
Author(s):  
Pei Wang ◽  
Mei-Ling Hu ◽  
Jun-Hong Lin ◽  
Hai-Fang Yang ◽  
Xiao-Jing Li ◽  
...  

In this study, four new dextral camaenid from China are reported, based on shell morphology, reproductive system anatomy, and molecular phylogenetic analyses: Camaena funingensis Zhou, Wang & Lin, sp. nov., Camaena gaolongensis Zhou, Wang & Lin, sp. nov., Camaena maguanensis Zhou, Wang & Hu, sp. nov., and Camaena yulinensis Zhou, Wang & Hu, sp. nov. Detailed descriptions of the morphological characteristics including shells and genitalia, DNA sequences, and living environments of the four new species are provided, with further comparisons with congeners.


2012 ◽  
Vol 279 (1737) ◽  
pp. 2396-2401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachunliu G. Kamei ◽  
Diego San Mauro ◽  
David J. Gower ◽  
Ines Van Bocxlaer ◽  
Emma Sherratt ◽  
...  

The limbless, primarily soil-dwelling and tropical caecilian amphibians (Gymnophiona) comprise the least known order of tetrapods. On the basis of unprecedented extensive fieldwork, we report the discovery of a previously overlooked, ancient lineage and radiation of caecilians from threatened habitats in the underexplored states of northeast India. Molecular phylogenetic analyses of mitogenomic and nuclear DNA sequences, and comparative cranial anatomy indicate an unexpected sister-group relationship with the exclusively African family Herpelidae. Relaxed molecular clock analyses indicate that these lineages diverged in the Early Cretaceous, about 140 Ma. The discovery adds a major branch to the amphibian tree of life and sheds light on both the evolution and biogeography of caecilians and the biotic history of northeast India—an area generally interpreted as a gateway between biodiversity hotspots rather than a distinct biogeographic unit with its own ancient endemics. Because of its distinctive morphology, inferred age and phylogenetic relationships, we recognize the newly discovered caecilian radiation as a new family of modern amphibians.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 427 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-42
Author(s):  
LEI SHU ◽  
RUI-LIANG ZHU

Based on molecular phylogenetic analyses and morphological characters, a new species from Bangladesh, northern Vietnam, and southwestern China, Leptolejeunea nigra, is described. It is mostly similar to L. balansae but remarkable for having brownish black ocelli in its leaf lobes. In the molecular phylogeny, the samples of L. nigra are not nested within any clade and form an independent lineage. In particular, the molecular dating suggested that the divergence of L. nigra happened in time span of the formation of the Himalayas.


Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4683 (4) ◽  
pp. 531-551
Author(s):  
DARRYL L. FELDER ◽  
RAFAEL LEMAITRE ◽  
CATHERINE CRAIG

Coloration, gene-sequence data (H3, 12s, 16s), and subtle features in morphology support the description of two new species, both formerly regarded to represent accepted variants of Phimochirus holthuisi s.l. While color in life consistently separates these species from P. holthuisi s.s. and from each other, morphological distinctions are subtle and less than absolute in small specimens, being based on ventral spine counts of walking leg dactyls and relative development of the superior crest on the major chela. Molecular phylogenetic analyses clearly support the separation of sister clades, representing two new species, from P. holthuisi s.s. as well as other congeners available for analysis. Both of the new species are presently known to occur widely throughout the northern Gulf of Mexico, though one occurs more commonly in the northeastern and southeastern Gulf, and may range as far south as Suriname. The other has been taken primarily in the northwestern Gulf, and is not known from outside Gulf waters. While both of the new species appear restricted to relatively deep subtidal waters of the continental shelf, Phimochirus holthuisi s.s. is instead more commonly found in shallow nearshore tropical waters on or near coral reefs. Previous literature reports of P. holthuisi usually represent, at least in part, one or both of these two new species. 


2002 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 361-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vest Pedersen

AbstractThe phylogenetics of 40 taxa of European bumblebees were analysed based on PCR amplified and direct sequenced DNA from one region of the mitochondrial gene Cytochrome Oxidase I (1046 bp) and for 26 taxa from two regions in the nuclear gene Elongation Factor 1α (1056 bp). The sequences were aligned to the corresponding sequences in the honey bee. Phylogenetic analyses based on parsimony, as well as maximum likelihood, indicate that the bumblebees can be separated into several well-supported clades. Most of the terminal clades correspond very well with the clades known from former phylogenetic analyses based on morphology and recognized as the subgenera: Mendacibombus, Confusibombus, Psithyrus, Thoracobombus, Megabombus, Rhodobombus, Kallobombus, Alpinobombus, Subterraneobombus, Alpigenobombus, Pyrobombus, Bombus and Melanobombus. All the cuckoo bumblebees form a well-supported clade, the subgenus Psithyrus, within the true bumblebees. All the analyses place Kallobombus as the most basal taxon in contradiction to former analyses. The other deeper nodes of the phylogenetic trees, which are weakly supported, deviate significantly from former published trees - especially the trees based on mtCO-I. Presumably, the reasons are that multiple hits and the strong bias of the bases A and T blur the relationships in the deepest part of the trees. Analyses of the region in mtCO-I show a very strong A+T bias (A+T= 75%), which also indicate preferences in the use of codons with A or T in third positions. In closely related entities, there is only a weak transversion bias (A+T). In the studied regions in EF 1-α, no nucleotide bias is observed. The observed differences in bases between the investigated taxa are relatively small and the gene is too conserved to solve all the questions that the analyses of the deeper nodes using mtCO-I raise.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 305 (1) ◽  
pp. 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
LI-HONG HAN ◽  
BART BUYCK ◽  
NOUROU S. YOROU ◽  
ROY E. HALLING ◽  
ZHU L. YANG

A new species of Afroboletus, namely A. sequestratus, is described from Zambia. Evidence from molecular phylogenetic analyses using sequences rpb1, rpb2 and tef1α and morphological comparison support its placement in Afroboletus and it is distinct from the other related members of this genus in Africa. It is the first species with sequestrate basidiomata in the genus. A morphological description is augmented with line drawings and SEM images for the species.


Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4415 (3) ◽  
pp. 452 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. R. PUGH ◽  
C.W. DUNN ◽  
S.H.D. HADDOCK

A new species of calycophoran siphonophore, Tottonophyes enigmatica gen. nov, sp. nov., is described. It has a unique combination of traits, some shared with prayomorphs (including two rounded nectophores) and some with clausophyid diphyomorphs (the nectophores are dissimilar, with one slightly larger and slightly to the anterior of the other, and both possess a somatocyst). Molecular phylogenetic analyses indicate that the new species is the sister group to all other diphyomorphs. A new family, Tottonophyidae, is established for it. Its phylogenetic position and distinct morphology help clarify diphyomorph evolution. The function and homology of the nectophoral canals and somatocyst is also re-examined and further clarification is given to their nomenclature.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Topik Hidayat ◽  
Adi Pancoro

<p>Early information<br />resulted from molecular phylogenetic studies of many important<br />ornamental crops is often less attention to many<br />growers and farmers. Phylogenetics is one of the most preferable<br />method in systematics to reconstruct evolutionary<br />relationships of groups of biological organisms in order to<br />understand their biodiversities. This has been revolutionized<br />by DNA sequences data. In this method, a group of organisms<br />that shares many identical characteristics are considered<br />to be closely related; deriving from a common<br />ancestor and is assumed to have similar genetic patterns<br />and biochemical properties. By these basic principles,<br />molecular phylogenetics plays important roles in revealing a<br />basic knowledge on pattern of relationships to which<br />genetic resources can be improved. Over the past decade,<br />botanists have done several thousand phylogenetic analyses<br />based on molecular data of economically and horticulturally<br />important crops. Orchids are the best example for this.<br />There is no doubt that most orchid plants had played roles in<br />horticulture and hybridization. At present, many infrageneric<br />and intergeneric hybrids are available commercially. Successful<br />hybridization can be achieved if two or more individual<br />plants understudy are closely related in respect to their<br />genetics and evolution.</p>


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