Size increase without genetic divergence in the Eurasian water shrew Neomys fodiens

When a population shows a marked morphological change, it is important to know whether that population is genetically distinct; if it is not, the novel trait could correspond to an adaptation that might be of great ecological interest. Here, we studied a subspecies of water shrew, Neomys fodiens niethammeri, which is found in a narrow strip of the northern Iberian Peninsula. This subspecies presents an abrupt increase in skull size when compared to the rest of the Eurasian population, which has led to the suggestion that it is actually a different species. Skulls obtained from owl pellets collected over the last 50 years allowed us to perform a morphometric analysis in addition to an extensive multilocus analysis based on short intron fragments successfully amplified from these degraded samples. Interestingly, no genetic divergence was detected using either mitochondrial or nuclear data. Additionally, an allele frequency analysis revealed no significant genetic differentiation. The absence of genetic divergence and differentiation revealed here indicate that the large form of N. fodiens does not correspond to a different species and instead represents an extreme case of size increase, of possible adaptive value, which deserves further investigation.

Ventral structure and ontogeny of the late Furongian (Cambrian) trilobite Guangxiaspis guangxiensis Zhou, 1977 and the diphyletic origin of the median suture

Articulated meraspid and holaspid exoskeletons of Guangxiaspis guangxiensis from the Guole Township, Jingxi County, Guangxi Province, China, are preserved in mudstone deposited during an obrution event. The species has a short dorsal pre-cranidial median suture that splits ventrally into a pair of posteriorly divergent connective sutures. The rostral plate of G. guangxiensis is thus triangular in outline, as in the co-occurrent Shergoldia laevigata, which also bore a conterminant hypostome. These two taxa appear to be closely related. The cephalic venter of Shergoldia laevigata has recently been interpreted to suggest a diphyletic origin of the median suture within the order Asaphida, but Guangxiaspis guangxiensis, Shergoldia laevigata and other tsinaniid trilobites display several characters reminiscent of members of the non-asaphide suborder Leiostegiina. These include swellings adjacent to the margins of the L1 glabellar lobe, the shape and furrows of the glabella, a semi-circular pygidium with a long and thin axis, and macrospinous first opisthopleurae of the holaspid pygidium. Based on these characters and on other new information on the early ontogeny of other tsinaniids, all these taxa likely belong within Leiostegiina. This suggests that the median suture arose independently in corynexochide and asaphide trilobites. The degree of convergence between S. laevigata and members of the derived asaphide family Asaphidae was remarkable. Guangxiaspis guangxiensis shows marked morphological change during both meraspid and holaspid ontogeny and might include more than a single morphotype.