Relationship of Phenetic Family of Apocynaceae Based on Morphological and Anatomical Characters

Background: Biodiversity in Indonesia is so diverse, including in Apocynaceae plants that is why it is important to study the kinship relationship to find out the kinship of Apocynaceae. The purpose of this study was to determine phenetic kinship through morphological and anatomical evidence from four members of the Apocynaceae family. Methods: The method used in this research is descriptive qualitative and quantitative method. The samples in this study were four species of Apocynaceae family members, including Adenium obesum, Plumeria rubra, Catharanthus roseus, and Allamanda cathartica. The indicators used were the morphological traits of stems, leaves, and flowers and the anatomical trait of stomata. Results: The result showed that the phenetic kinship of the four species of the Apocynaceae family member namely Alamanda cathartica had a distant kinship relationship with the other species with a similarity value of 31%. Conclusions: Thus, the familial relationship between species in the Apocynaceae family in terms of morphological and anatomical characters that have a close relationship with Plumeria rubra and Adenium obesum with a similarity value of 44% and the most distant Alamanda cathartica with a similarity value of 31%.

Morpho-anatomy of the cypselae of native species of Mutisieae (Asteraceae) from Mexico

The aims of this study were to describe and illustrate cypselae of 15 Mexican species of Mutisieae from observations using optical and scanning electron microscopy. The cypselae are heteromorphic with pilose, sericeous or glandular indumentum. The primary sculpture of the surface has two microstructural patterns: reticulate and plicate. The secondary sculpture is striate in 13 taxa, but in two species, Chaptalia estribensis and C. mexicana, differences were found in the secondary sculpture of the external and internal cypselae. The most distinctive anatomical trait is in the epicarp, which has rectangular or square-shaped cells that have a convex periclinal wall in most species of Chaptalia. The mesocarp has vascular bundles with fibers in all species of Chaptalia, but fibers are absent in Adenocaulon, Gerbera and Leibnitzia. In addition, the cells of the mesocarp inner layer have either thick walls or only an anticlinal wall in nine species of Chaptalia. The micromorphological characteristics of the primary or secondary sculpture of the surface, the type of trichomes and the variation they present have taxonomical value for recognizing closely-related taxa, whereas anatomical traits of the mesocarp distinguish Adenocaulon, Gerbera and Leibnitzia from most Chaptalia species.

Placing the forgotten: on the positions of Euenchytraeus and Chamaedrilus in an updated enchytraeid phylogeny (Clitellata : Enchytraeidae)

The phylogeny of Enchytraeidae was re-estimated to establish the relationships of the now resurrected Chamaedrilus and Euenchytraeus and to confirm their status as separate taxa. The former Cognettia (Enchytraeidae) was recently revised and split into its two senior synonyms, Chamaedrilus and Euenchytraeus, with the majority of the species transferred to Chamaedrilus. Euenchytraeus was re-established for three species sharing a unique anatomical trait, but has never before been represented in any phylogenetic study. We included representatives from 21 (of 33) valid enchytraeid genera and used three mitochondrial and four nuclear genes. The dataset (4164 base pairs) was analysed using multi-species coalescent (MSC) and maximum likelihood (ML) methods. Chamaedrilus (represented by eight species) and Euenchytraeus (represented by Eu. clarae) were found in a clade together with the monotypic Stercutus. Chamaedrilus was found to be monophyletic with maximum support in both analyses. The ML tree supported Euenchytraeus and Chamaedrilus as sister groups, whereas the MSC tree placed Euenchytraeus together with Stercutus, both with low support. A Bayes factor test weakly supported Euenchytraeus and Chamaedrilus as sister groups over Euenchytraeus+Stercutus. Possible morphological synapomorphies for these genera are discussed, and we conclude that Chamaedrilus and Euenchytraeus are closely related, but their status as separate genera is justified.

The Tell-Tale Hand

The second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D), an inconspicuous, but sexually differentiated anatomical trait (men present lower 2D:4D than women), has received intense research interest recently. Fairly strong evidence points to 2D:4D as a biomarker for the organizational (permanent) effects of prenatal testosterone on the brain and behavior. 2D:4D has been shown to be a correlate of a wealth of sex-dependent, hormonally influenced traits and phenotypes, which reach into the domains of behavior, fertility, health, physique, sexuality, and sports and also deeply into differential psychology (ability, cognition, and personality). This study investigated whether individual differences in 2D:4D are related to individual differences in attractiveness, sex typicality, and other attributes ascribed to palm images by raters. For both sexes, more sex-atypical trait expressions (i.e., higher 2D:4D in male, but lower 2D:4D in female palm specimens) were related to higher aggregate ratings of attractiveness, healthiness, sexiness, imagined handshake pleasantness, and imagined person dominance, albeit only the last association achieved formal statistical significance with two-tailed testing. These findings suggest that 2D:4D might be a correlate of perceived dominance and possibly also of other attributes. Digit ratio associations with sex-typicality ratings (sex-of-hand judgments and perceived palm masculinity and femininity) were inconsistent and mostly of smaller size. Finger lengths (2D and 4D) were generally more strongly and consistently related to palm attributes than 2D:4D was. Implications of the findings, study limitations, and directions for future research are considered.