scholarly journals An integrative systematic revision and biogeography ofRhynchocalamussnakes (Reptilia, Colubridae) with a description of a new species from Israel

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin Tamar ◽  
Jiří Šmíd ◽  
Bayram Göçmen ◽  
Shai Meiri ◽  
Salvador Carranza

BackgroundThe colubrid snakes of the genusRhynchocalamusare seldom studied and knowledge of their ecology and life history is scarce. Three species ofRhynchocalamusare currently recognized,R. satunini(from Turkey eastwards to Iran),R. arabicus(Yemen and Oman), andR. melanocephalus(from the Sinai Peninsula northwards to Turkey). All are slender, secretive, mainly nocturnal and rare fossorial snakes. This comprehensive study is the first to sample all knownRhynchocalamusspecies in order to review the intra-generic phylogenetic relationships and historical biogeography of the genus.MethodsWe revised the systematics ofRhynchocalamususing an integrative approach and evaluated its phylogeography. The phylogenetic position within the Colubridae and the phylogenetic relationships within the genus were inferred using 29 individuals belonging to the three known species, with additional sampling of two other closely-related genera,MuhtarophisandLytorhynchus. We analysed three mitochondrial (12S,16S, cytb) and one nuclear (c-mos) gene fragments. Phylogenetic trees were reconstructed using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference methods; the latter method also used to provide the first time-calibrated molecular phylogeny of the genus. We generated a nuclear network and carried out a topology test and species delimitation analysis. Morphological comparisons were used to differentiate among species and to describe a new species from Israel. The studied material was comprised of 108 alcohol-preserved specimens, 15 photographs, and data from the literature for the examination of 17 mensural, 14 meristic, and two categorical characters.ResultsThe molecular results supportRhynchocalamusas monophyletic, and as having split from its sister genusLytorhynchusduring the Late Oligocene. The three recognized species ofRhynchocalamuscomprise four independently evolving groups. The molecular results reveal that the genus began to diverge during the Middle Miocene. We revealed that the best-studied species,R. melanocephalus,is paraphyletic. A population, formally ascribed to this species, from the Negev Mountain area in southern Israel is phylogenetically closer toR. arabicusfrom Oman than to the northern populations of the species from Israel, Syria and Turkey. Herein we describe this population as a new species:Rhynchocalamus dayanaesp. nov.DiscussionWe identify four species withinRhynchocalamus:R. satunini, R. arabicus, R. melanocephalus, andR. dayanaesp. nov., the latter, to the best of our knowledge, is endemic to southern Israel. The onset ofRhynchocalamusdiversification is very old and estimated to have occurred during the Middle Miocene, possibly originating in the Levant region. Radiation probably resulted from vicariance and dispersal events caused by continuous geological instability, sea-level fluctuations and climatic changes within the Levant region.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-33
Author(s):  
Marcelo Kovačić ◽  
Radek Šanda ◽  
Katarína Čekovská ◽  
Tereza Soukupová ◽  
Jasna Vukić

Abstract The gobies (Gobiidae) are the most diverse fish family in the Mediterranean Sea. Nevertheless, knowledge on their diversity, taxonomy, and phylogenetic relationships is still inadequate. The phylogenetic analyses reveal two genetically highly distinct clades among specimens identified as Zebrus zebrus. A new species, Zebrus pallaoroi sp. nov., is described based on an integrative approach. The neotype of Zebrus zebrus is designated. Genetic data confirm a pronounced level of divergence between Z. pallaoroi and Z. zebrus, with the mean genetic distance on cytochrome b being 18.1% and 1.07% on rhodopsin. Phylogenetic relationships within the Gobius-lineage were estimated on both markers. Morphologically, Z. pallaoroi is distinguished from the only congener Z. zebrus by having a snout longer than its eye, posterior nostril about 4/5–9/10 of the anterior nostril, eye diameter 4.3−4.7 in head length, ventrolateral head ridges transversally connected on the anterior side by a short transversal ridge, anterior membrane midline depth about 2/3 of the spinous ray, head canal pore α diameter about half of the distance between pore ρ and ρ1, suborbital sensory papillae row 5i going downwards to or near the level of row d, the distance between row 5i and row d absent or much smaller than the length of row 5i, and the body with ten to eleven vertical dark brown bands. Zebrus pallaoroi was recorded from the southern Adriatic, northern Ionian, and northern and western Aegean Seas, and is a cryptobenthic fish from very shallow waters.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui-Xia Chen ◽  
Xiao-Hong Gu ◽  
Xue-Feng Ni ◽  
Liang Li

Abstract Background Nematodes of the family Cosmocercidae (Ascaridomorpha: Cosmocercoidea) are mainly parasitic in the digestive tract of various amphibians and reptiles worldwide. However, our knowledge of the molecular phylogeny of the Cosmocercidae is still far from comprehensive. The phylogenetic relationships between Cosmocercidae and the other two families, Atractidae and Kathlaniidae, in the superfamily Cosmocercoidea are still under debate. Moreover, the systematic position of some genera within Cosmocercidae remains unclear. Methods Nematodes collected from Polypedates megacephalus (Hallowell) (Anura: Rhacophoridae) were identified using morphological (light and scanning electron microscopy) and molecular methods [sequencing the small ribosomal DNA (18S), internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS-1), large ribosomal DNA (28S) and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) target regions]. Phylogenetic analyses of cosmocercoid nematodes using 18S + 28S sequence data were performed to clarify the phylogenetic relationships of the Cosmocercidae, Atractidae and Kathlaniidae in the Cosmocercoidea and the systematic position of the genus Aplectana in Cosmocercidae. Results Morphological and genetic evidence supported the hypothesis that the nematode specimens collected from P. megacephalus represent a new species of Aplectana (Cosmocercoidea: Cosmocercidae). Our phylogenetic results revealed that the Cosmocercidae is a monophyletic group, but not the basal group in Cosmocercoidea as in the traditional classification. The Kathlaniidae is a paraphyletic group because the subfamily Cruziinae within Kathlaniidae (including only the genus Cruzia) formed a seperate lineage. Phylogenetic analyses also showed that the genus Aplectana has a closer relationship to the genus Cosmocerca in Cosmocercidae. Conclusions Our phylogenetic results suggested that the subfamily Cruziinae should be moved from the hitherto-defined family Kathlaniidae and elevated as a separate family, and the genus Cosmocerca is closely related to the genus Aplectana in the family Cosmocercidae. The present study provided a basic molecular phylogenetic framework for the superfamily Cosmocercoidea based on 18S + 28S sequence data for the first time to our knowledge. Moreover, a new species, A. xishuangbannaensis n. sp., was described using integrative approach. Graphical abstract


2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 111 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Rajchenberg ◽  
S. P. Gorjón ◽  
M. B. Pildain

The aim of the present study was to characterise species of Antrodia s.l. from Patagonia, Argentina, and to determine their phylogenetic relationships by using morphological and cultural features as well as mating systems and ITS sequences. Phylogenetic trees generated from maximum-parsimony, neighbour-joining and Bayesian-inference analyses showed that the Argentinean collections were distributed inside the following three main clades: (1) ‘Antrodia clade’, with Antrodia ramentacea (Berk. & Broome) Donk as a sole representative; (2) ‘Amyloporia clade’, including Amyloporia nothofaginea Rajchenb. & Gorjón sp. nov. and A. stratosa (J.E.Wright & J.R.Deschamps) Rajchenb., Gorjón & Pildain comb. nov.; and (3) ‘Fibroporia clade’, with Fibroporia vaillantii (DC.) Parmasto and F. gossypium (Speg.) Parmasto. ‘Amyloporia’ and ‘Antrodia clades’ did not have strong molecular support; however, they were well defined with a polyphasic approach when other features such as the number of spore nuclei, mating systems and nuclear behaviour were added. Antrodia includes homothallic to bipolar species, with uni- or binucleate spores and normal nuclear behaviour. Amyloporia includes bipolar to tetrapolar species, with uninucleate spores and heterocytic nuclear behaviour. Fibroporia has strong molecular support and includes tetrapolar species, with uninucleate spores and normal nuclear behaviour. Amyloporia nothofaginea is described as a new species and two new combinations in Amyloporia are proposed. A key to the Antrodia s.l. species present in Patagonia is included.


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Britzke ◽  
Waldo P. Troy ◽  
Claudio Oliveira ◽  
Ricardo C. Benine

ABSTRACT A new species of Moenkhausia is described from tributaries of the upper rio Sepotuba, Paraguay basin, Brazil. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of characters, including an inconspicuous oval-shaped vertically elongated humeral blotch, extending horizontally from third through five lateral-line scales, and vertically from third row above lateral line to first row below it, followed by a diffuse field of dark chromatophores in the flank, combined with a well-defined dark line at the base of the anal fin. Furthermore, the phylogenetic position of the new species is presented based on molecular data, showing a close relationship among species of Moenkhausia and Hemigrammus that have a well-defined dark line at the base of the anal fin. Until this moment, this species is only known from in the upper rio Sepotuba basin.


2014 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jolanta Muszer

Abstract A new species of micromorphic articulate brachiopod (Rhynchonellida) Lambdarina jugowiensis sp. nov., from the upper Visean (Sokolec Beds) of central Sudetes, SW Poland, is described. The studied specimens are calcified, what makes them unique in respect of their state of preservation. The material is represented by a full range of growth stages; from brephic to gerontic. Based on its morphological features and the palaeogeographical distribution of all its known species, two main evolutionary lines are proposed for the genus; the Australian and the European ones. Lambdarina was widely distributed in the equatorial-tropical waters of marginal seas of the Palaeotethys Ocean, mostly during Mississippian time.


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