Animal genitalia are thought to evolve rapidly and divergently in response to sexual selection. Studies of genital evolution have focused largely on male genitalia. The paucity of work on female genital morphology is probably due to problems faced in quantifying shape variation, due to their composition and accessibility.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe pseudoscorpion genus Indohya Beier, 1974 is known to occur in three Gondwanan fragments around the Indian Oceansouthern India, Madagascar and north-western Australiasuggesting that the genus had evolved prior to the breakup of Gondwana and was present on each landmass as they rifted apart during the Mesozoic. The Australian fauna is the most diverse, with nine species previously described from Cape Range and the Kimberley region of north-western Australia. The present study documents the genus Indohya in Australia using a combination of morphology and DNA sequence data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe assembly of the Australian arid zone biota has long fascinated biogeographers. Covering over two-thirds of the continent, Australia's vast arid zone biome is home to a distinctive fauna and flora, including numerous lineages which have diversified since the Eocene. Tracing the origins and speciation history of these arid zone taxa has been an ongoing endeavour since the advent of molecular phylogenetics, and an increasing number of studies on invertebrate animals are beginning to complement a rich history of research on vertebrate and plant taxa.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe schizomid fauna of mainland Australia currently comprises 60 species within seven named genera, of which five are endemic to the continent: Attenuizomus Harvey, 2000, Brignolizomus Harvey, 2000, Draculoides Harvey, 1992, Julattenius Harvey, 1992, Notozomus Harvey, 2000. Most Australian schizomids have been described from eastern and northern Australia, but there is also a significant subterranean fauna that has been found in hypogean habitats in the semi-arid Pilbara region of Western Australia. The vast majority of these species can be assigned to the genus Draculoides and this study is the first in a proposed series to revise this highly diverse genus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHistorical population contraction and expansion events associated with Pleistocene climate change are important drivers of intraspecific population structure in Australian arid-zone species. We compared phylogeographic patterns among arid-adapted Dasyuridae ( and ) with close phylogenetic relationships and similar ecological roles to investigate the drivers of phylogeographic structuring and the importance of historical refugia. We generated haplotype networks for two mitochondrial (control region and cytochrome b) and one nuclear (omega-globin) gene from samples distributed across each species range.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe species of the millipede genus Antichiropus Attems, 1911 found in the Pilbara region of Western Australia are reviewed, and 33 new species are described. The new species are: A. anguinus Car, n.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe open-holed trapdoor spiders of the genus Teyl Main, 1975 from the Pilbara bioregion of Western Australia are investigated. A single endemic species from the southern Pilbara, T. heuretes sp.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe formation of the Australian arid zone, Australia's largest and youngest major biome, has been recognized as a major driver of rapid evolutionary radiations in terrestrial plants and animals. Here, we investigate the phylogenetic diversity and evolutionary history of subterranean short-tailed whip scorpions (Schizomida: Hubbardiidae), which are a significant faunal component of Western Australian hypogean ecosystems. We sequenced two mitochondrial (12S, COI) and three nuclear DNA markers (18S, 28S, ITS2) from ∼600 specimens, largely from the genera Draculoides and Paradraculoides, including 20 previously named species and an additional 56 newly identified operational taxonomic units (OTUs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aganippine shield-backed trapdoor spiders of the monophyletic -group of Ausserer are revised, and 15 new species are described from Western Australia and the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia: Rix & Harvey, , Rix & Harvey, , Rix & Harvey, , Rix & Harvey, , Rix & Harvey, , Rix & Harvey, , Rix & Harvey, , Rix & Harvey, , Rix & Harvey, , Rix & Harvey, , Rix & Harvey, , Rix & Harvey, , Rix & Harvey, , Rix & Harvey, , and Rix & Harvey, Two previously described species from south-western Western Australia, Main, 1952 and (O. P.-Cambridge, 1870), are re-illustrated and re-diagnosed, and complementary molecular data for 14 species and seven genes are analysed with Bayesian methods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe utility of restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (RADseq) to resolve fine-scale population structure was tested on an abundant and vagile fish species in a tropical river. Australia's most widespread freshwater fish, the "extreme disperser" Leiopotherapon unicolor was sampled from 6 locations in an unregulated system, the Daly River in Australia's Northern Territory. Despite an expectation of high connectivity based on life history knowledge of this species derived from arid zone habitats, L.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Australian lungfish is a unique living representative of an ancient dipnoan lineage, listed as 'vulnerable' to extinction under Australia's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Historical accounts indicate this species occurred naturally in two adjacent river systems in Australia, the Burnett and Mary. Current day populations in other rivers are thought to have arisen by translocation from these source populations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSouthern smelts (Retropinna spp.) in coastal rivers of Australia are facultatively diadromous, with populations potentially containing individuals with diadromous or wholly freshwater life histories. The presence of diadromous individuals is expected to reduce genetic structuring between river basins due to larval dispersal via the sea.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudies of connectivity of natural populations are often conducted at different timescales. Studies that focus on contemporary timescales ask questions about dispersal abilities and dispersal behavior of their study species. In contrast, studies conducted at historical timescales are usually more focused on evolutionary or biogeographic questions.
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