Publications by authors named "Elizabeth Borda"
Article Synopsis
- * Many species in these environments lack genetic data, but recent molecular analyses reveal a high prevalence of undocumented species, suggesting significant gaps in current biodiversity assessments.
- * The study utilized molecular techniques, analyzing 376 COI and 154 16S rRNA sequences, uncovering cryptic species and misidentified taxa, which underscores the importance of genetic approaches for improving conservation efforts in these endangered habitats.
The impact of meteorological phenomena on ecosystem communities of karst subterranean estuaries (KSEs) remains unknown. KSEs are characterized by vertically stratified groundwater separated by a halocline and host endemic aquatic cave-adapted fauna (stygobionts). In October 2015, 8 days of heavy precipitation caused the first recorded mortality event in the KSE.
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- The Yucatán Peninsula has unique aquifer ecosystems with diverse anchialine shrimp species, particularly from the Typhlatya genus, with four endemic species, three of which are federally protected in Mexico.
- A comprehensive analysis combining molecular, morphological, and environmental data reveals significant species identity conflicts and newly identified genetic lineages among these shrimp.
- The findings highlight the evolutionary adaptations of these species to different salinity levels and stress the importance of using interdisciplinary methods to evaluate biodiversity in complex aquatic environments.
Indirect methods for conducting faunal inventories present great promise, and genomic inventories derived from environmental sources (eDNA) are improving. Invertebrate ingested DNA (iDNA) from terrestrial leeches in the family Haemadipsidae has shown potential for surveying vertebrates and biodiversity monitoring in protected areas. Here we present an initial, and critical, evaluation of the limitations and biases of current iDNA protocols for biodiversity monitoring using both standard and NGS barcoding approaches.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAphroditiformia represents one of the most successful radiations of annelids, and is therefore an interesting model to understand morphological and functional evolution. Previous phylogenetic analyses yielded most families as monophyletic but excluded anchialine and interstitial species while failing to recover relationships within Sigalionidae. Here we address these shortcomings through the analysis of four molecular markers and 87 morphological characters sampled across 127 species under the assumptions of parsimony and model-based methods.
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- The study investigates the biogeographical patterns of the stygobitic annelid Pelagomacellicephala iliffei in the unique environments of land-locked anchialine blue holes in the Bahamas.
- Using advanced genetic analysis, the researchers identified five distinct evolutionary entities of the species across various islands, highlighting that geographic isolation significantly influences their evolutionary history.
- Findings indicate that while gene flow occurs within the island of Eleuthera among blue holes, there is no evidence of species dispersal between different islands, with deep trenches acting as barriers to inter-island connectivity.
Article Synopsis
- Archinome rosacea, first identified in the mid-1980s at the Galapagos Rift, has been found in hydrothermal vents across various oceans, with a new species recently identified from the Pacific Antarctic Ridge.
- Molecular analyses revealed five distinct Archinome species, including three new species based solely on genetic evidence, which are found in different oceanic locations including the Pacific and Atlantic.
- The study emphasizes the biogeographic connections between hydrothermal vents and cold methane seeps, suggesting evolutionary links among populations from vents in the east Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans.
Over the last few decades, advances in molecular techniques have led to the detection of strong geographic population structure and cryptic speciation in many benthic marine taxa, even those with long-lived pelagic larval stages. Polychaete annelids, in particular, generally show a high degree of population divergence, especially in mitochondrial genes. Rarely have molecular studies confirmed the presence of 'cosmopolitan' species.
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- Pigs can develop strong preferences for certain flavors after associating them with positive outcomes, like protein consumption.
- In experiments, pigs trained with a specific flavor mixed with protein solutions consistently chose the flavored option over plain water or an unflavored protein solution.
- The preference for flavored protein was significant, especially when tested in different contexts, showing the effectiveness of flavor conditioning.
- Results indicate that flavor cues can enhance the attractiveness of protein products to piglets, influencing their consumption behavior.
A scourge of tropical and subtropical jungles, bloodfeeding terrestrial leeches of Haemadipsidae have long confused systematists and defied sensible biogeographic interpretation. The family Haemadipsidae usually includes problematic taxa that neither fit the typical IndoPacific distribution of the group, nor properly match diagnostic characters used to define the family. Historically, four additional families-Xerobdellidae, Diestecostomatidae Mesobdellidae and Nesophilaemonidae-have occasionally been recognized for New World and European representatives, though agreement on the composition of those families has not been consistent.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArhynchobdellida (Annelida: Oligochaeta: Hirudinida): phylogenetic relationships and evolution.
Mol Phylogenet Evol
January 2004
A remarkable diversity of life history strategies, geographic distributions, and morphological characters provide a rich substrate for investigating the evolutionary relationships of arhynchobdellid leeches. The phylogenetic relationships, using parsimony analysis, of the order Arhynchobdellida were investigated using nuclear 18S and 28S rDNA, mitochondrial 12S rDNA, and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I sequence data, as well as 24 morphological characters. Thirty-nine arhynchobdellid species were selected to represent the seven currently recognized families.
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