THE BIOGEOGRAPHY OF CANADIAN GRYLLOPTERA AND ORTHOPTERA

1989 ◽  
Vol 121 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 389-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.R. Vickery

AbstractThe saltatorial orthopteroid insects did not originate in North America. Five avenues of entry were utilized in migration from other parts of the world. These were: (1) ancestral forms migrated to this region in Pangaean times when all continents formed a single land mass; (2) later in time, taxa migrated from Europe when Eurasia and North America were still joined, or later via an Atlantic land bridge; (3) ancestral forms migrated northward from the Neotropical region before the separation of the two continents or, much later, when the two continents became rejoined; (4) later arriving taxa entered North America during the Pleistocene via a Beringian land bridge; (5) some species are very recent immigrants, either because of the activities of man or by migration into Canadian territory from the south.The fossil record is very incomplete. It indicates past climatic conditions, but is of limited assistance concerning extant taxa.Pleistocene glaciation had a profound effect upon the distribution of extant species. Many species were forced to move southward to escape the advancing ice. Some species probably were eliminated. It is clear that most of the extant species have migrated northward since the recession of the Wisconsin glacier.

Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4656 (3) ◽  
pp. 475-486
Author(s):  
GIOVANNE M. CIDADE ◽  
DANIEL FORTIER ◽  
ASCANIO DANIEL RINCÓN ◽  
ANNIE SCHMALTZ HSIOU

The crocodylomorph fauna of the Cenozoic of South America is one of the richest and most diverse in the world. The most diverse group within that fauna is Alligatoroidea, with nearly all of its species belonging to the Caimaninae clade. Many of the fossil alligatoroid species from the Cenozoic of South America were proposed based on very incomplete remains, and as a result their validity requires revision. Two such species are Balanerodus logimus Langston, 1965, from the middle Miocene of Colombia and Peru, and Caiman venezuelensis Fortier & Rincón, 2012, from the Pliocene-Pleistocene of Venezuela. This study has performed a thorough review of the taxonomic status of these two alligatoroid species, concluding that B. logimus is a nomen dubium and that Ca. venezuelensis is a junior synonym of the extant species Ca. crocodilus. This review offers a significantly more accurate scenario for alligatoroid diversity in the Cenozoic of South America in different epochs such as the Miocene and Pleistocene. Additionally, the record of Ca. crocodilus from the Pleistocene of Venezuela is the first fossil record that can be assigned to this species. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Kole F. Adelalu ◽  
Xu Zhang ◽  
Xiaojian Qu ◽  
Jacob B. Landis ◽  
Jun Shen ◽  
...  

Investigating the biogeographical disjunction of East Asian and North American flora is key to understanding the formation and dynamics of biodiversity in the Northern Hemisphere. The small Cupressaceae genus Thuja, comprising five species, exhibits a typical disjunct distribution in East Asia and North America. Owing to obscure relationships, the biogeographical history of the genus remains controversial. Here, complete plastomes were employed to investigate the plastome evolution, phylogenetic relationships, and biogeographic history of Thuja. All plastomes of Thuja share the same gene content arranged in the same order. The loss of an IR was evident in all Thuja plastomes, and the B-arrangement as previously recognized was detected. Phylogenomic analyses resolved two sister pairs, T. standishii-T. koraiensis and T. occidentalis-T. sutchuenensis, with T. plicata sister to T. occidentalis-T. sutchuenensis. Molecular dating and biogeographic results suggest the diversification of Thuja occurred in the Middle Miocene, and the ancestral area of extant species was located in northern East Asia. Incorporating the fossil record, we inferred that Thuja likely originated from the high-latitude areas of North America in the Paleocene with a second diversification center in northern East Asia. The current geographical distribution of Thuja was likely shaped by dispersal events attributed to the Bering Land Bridge in the Miocene and subsequent vicariance events accompanying climate cooling. The potential effect of extinction may have profound influence on the biogeographical history of Thuja.


Author(s):  
Robert O. Gjerdingen

There are over four hundred genres of popular music known in North America, and many more if one includes the favourite musics of recent immigrants. Which of these should be singled out and taught to children? There is no good answer to that question. Classical European music is a good alternative, one that has a rich history and is known, at least a little, all over the world. But instead of teaching children just to reproduce what is written on a page of music, why don’t we teach them to make classical music—to improvise and compose it. The rediscovery of the lessons from the old conservatories shows us how improvisation and composition can be taught to ordinary children, leading to extraordinary results.


1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (12) ◽  
pp. 3130-3133 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Thanikaimoni

The polarity of character states of pollen, leaf, endocarp, seed, perianth, androecium, and gynoecium within the Menispermaceae is established on the basis of maximum correlation of characters. Instances of parallel evolution are explained. The origin and spread of the different genera, which manifest the various combinations of character states, are analysed in the light of the position of the continents during the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods. Menispermaceae seem to have originated in the lowlands of Africa during the Cretaceous when South America, Africa, Madagascar, and India were close to one another. Consequent to the continental drift each land mass might have carried with it some elements of the primitive Menispermaceae which must have eventually given rise to the neoendemics. The Sino–Japanese spread of this family seems to have been post-Himalayan. "Malesia" appears to be a secondary centre of diversification of taxa derived from India. Cissampelos, Cocculus, and Stephania seem to have originated in India and entered Africa during the Miocene. The Eocene endocarps of North America show affinity with those of the London Clay, which in turn were probably derived from the African stock. Among the extant species of North America only Calycocarpum lyonii seems to be the relic of the North American Tertiary flora and the rest appear to have been derived from east Asia.


2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (6) ◽  
pp. 1161-1172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Ryan Getty ◽  
James Whitey Hagadorn

Based on a thorough examination of field and museum Climactichnites specimens, two species of this trace are recognized, each representing a unique behavioral variant produced by a soft-bodied animal in Late Cambrian intertidal environments. C. wilsoni represents surface-produced trails, whereas C. youngi is re-erected for burrows produced below the surface. Burrowing behavior is supported by: 1) the presence of C. youngi within, rather than on, the surface of beds; 2) the orientation of some burrows inclined to bedding; and 3) the occasional presence of distinct burrow fills. Burrows can also be distinguished morphologically from surface traces by the absence of lateral ridges and the presence of fine, mm-scale striations or grooves superimposed on the transverse bars and furrows. Burrowing behavior for the Climactichnites trailmaker was previously unknown and thus represents a new, although not entirely unexpected, behavior for this mollusk or mollusk-like animal. The body impression of the sedentary animal is removed to Musculopodus sedentarius n. igen. and isp. In the future, Musculopodus may be expanded to include the resting traces of other soft-bodied animals known from the fossil record. Currently, Climactichnites is known only from very shallow to emergent strata of North America; reports of this fossil in other parts of the world are misidentified trails produced by other animals.


2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce H. Tiffney ◽  
Steven R. Manchester ◽  
Peter W. Fritsch

AbstractWe describe two new species of Symplocos (Symplocaceae) from the early Miocene Brandon Lignite Flora of Vermont, USA. The endocarps of Symplocos laevigata (Lesq.) comb. nov. are most similar in morphology and anatomy to those of the extant species S. tinctoria of southeastern North America and S. wikstroemiifolia of eastern Asia, both of S. sect. Hopea, and to those of several species of S. sect. Lodhra, endemic to eastern Asia; they are also somewhat similar to those of S. minutula of the Tertiary of Europe. The endocarps of Symplocos hitchcockii sp. nov. are most similar in morphology and anatomy to those of living members of S. sect. Lodhra, and are also somewhat similar to fossil S. incurva of the Tertiary of Europe. This report extends the fossil record of Symplocos endocarps to eastern North America and underscores the mixed mesophytic to subtropical nature of the Brandon flora.


PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Friðgeir Grímsson ◽  
Guido W. Grimm ◽  
Reinhard Zetter

Background The Saururaceae, a very small family of Piperales comprising only six species in four genera, have a relatively scanty fossil record outside of Europe. The phylogenetic relationships of the four genera to each other are resolved, with the type genus Saururus occurring in both eastern North America and East Asia. No extant species occurs in western Eurasia. The most exceptional find so far has been an inflorescence with in-situ pollen, Saururus tuckerae S.Y.Sm. & Stockey from Eocene of North America with strong affinities to extant species of Saururus. Recent dated trees suggest, however, an Eocene or younger crown age for the family. Methods Dispersed fossil pollen grains from the Campanian (82–81 Ma) of North America are compared to dispersed pollen grains from the Eocene strata containing S. tuckerae, the Miocene of Europe, and extant members of the family using combined LM and SEM imaging. Results The unambiguous fossil record of the Saururaceae is pushed back into the Campanian (82–81 Ma). Comparison with re-investigated pollen from the Eocene of North America, the Miocene of Europe, and modern species of the family shows that pollen morphology in Saururaceae is highly conservative, and remained largely unchanged for the last 80 million years. Discussion Campanian pollen of Saururaceae precludes young (Eocene or younger) estimates for the Saururaceae root and crown age, but is in-line with maximum age scenarios. Saururus-type pollen appear to represent the primitive pollen morphology of the family. Often overlooked because of its small size, dispersed Saururaceae pollen may provide a unique opportunity to map the geographic history of a small but old group of Piperales, and should be searched for in Paleogene and Cretaceous sediment samples.


1988 ◽  
Vol 120 (S144) ◽  
pp. 25-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
George W. Byers

AbstractMecoptera of the Nearctic Region are, in general, more like those of the eastern Palaearctic than of any other faunal region. But the fossil record shows that our major extant genera have been in the northern continents since Early Cenozoic. Panorpidae and Panorpodidae probably entered North America by way of Beringia in the Eocene or Oligocene. Nearctic Bittacidae probably came from the Neotropical Region, but a few exhibit peculiar affinities with some eastern Asiatic species, suggesting migration out of the Nearctic into the Palaearctic. Boreidae appear to have been of North American origin but are now Holarctic; they are unknown as fossils. The Meropeidae were probably widespread in mid–Mesozoic but now are found only in eastern North America and western Australia.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Parker

Abstract The parasitic weed C. campestris is native to North America but has been introduced around the world and become a weed in many countries. It is by far the most important of the dodders, perhaps because of its wide host range. This ensures that there is a wide range of crop seeds that may be contaminated, and in which it may be introduced to new areas over both short and long distances. Once introduced it is almost certain that there will be suitable host plants on which it can thrive and be damaging, whether they are crops or wild species. Vegetative spread can be very rapid - up to 5 m in 2 months. It also has a wide tolerance of climatic conditions from warm temperate to sub-tropical and tropical.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kole F. Adelalu ◽  
Xu Zhang ◽  
Xiaojian Qu ◽  
Jacob B. Landis ◽  
Yanxia Sun ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Investigating the biogeographical disjunction of East Asia and North America flora is the key to understanding the formation and dynamic biodiversity in the Northern Hemisphere. The small Cupressaceae genus Thuja, comprising five species, exhibits a typical disjunct distribution in East Asia and North America. Owing to the obscure relationships, the biogeographical history of the genus remains controversial. Here, complete plastomes were employed to investigate the plastome evolution, phylogenetic relationships and biogeographic history of Thuja. Results: All plastomes of Thuja share the same gene contents arranged in the same order. The loss of an IR was evident in all Thuja plastomes, and the B-arrangement as previously recognized was detected. Phylogenomic analyses resolved two sister pairs, T. standishii-T. koraiensis and T. occidentalis-T. sutchuenensis, with T. plicata sister to T. occidentails-T. sutchuenensis. Molecular dating and biogeographic result suggest the diversification of Thuja occurred in the Middle Miocene, and the ancestral area of extant species was located in northern East Asia. Incorporating the fossil record, we inferred that Thuja likely originated from the high-latitude areas of North America in the Paleocene with a second diversification center in northern East Asia. Conclusions: The dispersal events attributed to the Bering Land Bridge in the Miocene and subsequent vicariance events accompanying climate cooling may have shaped the current geographic distributions of Thuja. Given most lineages of gymnosperm, including Thuja, have encountered massive extinction resulted from climatic oscillations, we here advocate that the potential effect of extinction should be re-evaluated in exploring the evolutionary history of gymnosperms.


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