A new Carboniferous edaphosaurid and the origin of herbivory in mammal forerunners.

Herbivory evolved independently in several tetrapod lineages during the Late Carboniferous and became more widespread throughout the Permian Period, eventually leading to the basic structure of modern terrestrial ecosystems. Here we report a new taxon of edaphosaurid synapsid based on two fossils recovered from the Moscovian-age cannel coal of Linton, Ohio, which we interpret as an omnivore-low-fibre herbivore. Melanedaphodon hovaneci gen.

A Cretaceous Chafer Beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) with Exaggerated Hind Legs-Insight from Comparative Functional Morphology into a Possible Spring Movement.

The phenomenon of exaggerated morphological structures has fascinated people for centuries. Beetles of the family Scarabaeidae show many very diverse exaggerated characters, for example, a variety of horns, enlarged mandibles or elongated antennal lamellae. Here, we report a new Mesozoic scarab, gen.

Hierarchies, classifications, cladograms and phylogeny.

Figure 18 of Hennig's Phylogenetic Systematics (University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL, 1966) shows a phylogenetic tree (a generative hierarchy) and what appear to be nested sets (an inclusive hierarchy) that he stated were two representations of the same pattern of relationships. This essay questions whether this is correct or not, explores the meanings of different hierarchical patterns, reviews various interpretations of Hennig's figure, and discusses the conceptual path from systematic evidence to phylogenetic explanation. The crux of the argument is that systematic hierarchies as we know them scientifically are nested sets that group theoretical entities based on patterns of synapomorphy.

Climate-influenced boreotropical survival and rampant introgressions explain the thriving of New World grapes in the north temperate zone.

The north temperate region was characterized by a warm climate and a rich thermophilic flora before the Eocene, but early diversifications of the temperate biome under global climate change and biome shift remain uncertain. Moreover, it is becoming clear that hybridization/introgression is an important driving force of speciation in plant diversity. Here, we applied analyses from biogeography and phylogenetic networks to account for both introgression and incomplete lineage sorting based on genomic data from the New World Vitis, a charismatic component of the temperate North American flora with known and suspected gene flow among species.

Two new species of (Insecta, Mecoptera, Nannochoristidae) from the late Middle Jurassic of China.

Two new species of Sukatsheva, 1985, and , are described and illustrated from the latest Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China. Based on fossil specimens with wings, these new species are established and assigned to by a combination of three forewing characters: Sc with three branches ending at C, the four-branched Rs (R to R) originating distad of M (vs. three-branched RS (R undivided) in all other fossil and extant nannochoristids), and M forking with four branches; and a hind wing character of Sc simple and short, terminating at C well before the pterostigma.

A new species of (Malvaceae, Malvoideae) from Guyana.

Dorr, is described and illustrated. It evidently is restricted to central Guyana, northeast of the Kanuku Mountains near the Rewa River, a tributary of the Rupununi River. The new species is most similar morphologically to Fryxell, which was described from Amazonas, Brazil.

, a new facultatively autogamous species of  sect.  (Caryophyllaceae) from the Hawaiian Islands.

In 2016 during a survey for potential fencing of the Ha'akoa unit on windward Mauna Kea, Hawai'i Island (Hawaiian Islands) a single plant of the genus was discovered. No species of the genus had ever been known to occur in this area, and only three species of were known previously from Hawai'i Island. Two are vining species and the third is a coastal subshrub.

Catalogue of primary types of Neotropical (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae).

comprises a diverse group of vespertilionid bats with worldwide distribution. Neotropical have an accentuated phenotypic conservatism, which makes species delimitation and identification difficult, hindering our understanding of the diversity, distribution, and phylogenetic relationships of taxa. To encourage new systematic reviews of the genus, a catalogue of the primary types and names is presented, current and in synonymy, for Neotropical .

Phylogenomics of Aralia sect. Aralia (Araliaceae): Signals of hybridization and insights into its species delimitations and intercontinental biogeography.

Genome-scale data have significantly increased the number of informative characters for phylogenetic analyses and recent studies have also revealed widespread phylogenomic discordance in many plant lineages. Aralia sect. Aralia is a small plant lineage (14 spp.

Subsect. (Compositae, Cardueae): A Case Study of Mountain-Driven Allopatric Speciation in the Mediterranean Peninsulas.

subsection has been thoroughly analyzed in previous studies using microsatellites in four centers of speciation: Anatolia, Greece, the Italian Peninsula and the Iberian Peninsula. Evidence suggests a correlation between taxon diversity and mountains. This group constituted a good case study for examining the mountain-geobiodiversity hypothesis (MGH), which explains the possible reasons for the many radiations occurring in mountains across the world.

Genomic Analyses Implicate the Amazon-Orinoco Plume as the Driver of Cryptic Speciation in a Swimming Crab.

The Amazon-Orinoco plume (AOP) is the world's largest freshwater and sediment discharge into the ocean. Previous studies limited to mtDNA suggest that the swimming crab Ordway, 1863 exists as two distinct genetic clusters separated by the AOP. However, questions concerning migration, diversification time, and species delimitation are unresolved.

A genome for illustrates features underlying its evolutionary success in dry savannas.

is the largest genus in Vitaceae and is mainly distributed in the tropics and subtropics. Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM), a photosynthetic adaptation to the occurrence of succulent leaves or stems, indicates that convergent evolution occurred in response to drought stress during species radiation. Here we provide the chromosomal level assembly of (an endemic species in Eastern Africa) and a genome-wide comparison with grape to understand genome divergence within an ancient eudicot family.

Integrated phylogenomic analyses unveil reticulate evolution in Parthenocissus (Vitaceae), highlighting speciation dynamics in the Himalayan-Hengduan Mountains.

Hybridization caused by frequent environmental changes can lead both to species diversification (speciation) and to speciation reversal (despeciation), but the latter has rarely been demonstrated. Parthenocissus, a genus with its trifoliolate lineage in the Himalayan-Hengduan Mountains (HHM) region showing perplexing phylogenetic relationships, provides an opportunity for investigating speciation dynamics based on integrated evidence. We investigated phylogenetic discordance and reticulate evolution in Parthenocissus based on rigorous analyses of plastome and transcriptome data.

The mitochondrial genomes of Crispatotrochus rubescens and Crispatotrochus rugosus (Hexacorallia; Scleractinia): new insights on the phylogeny of the family Caryophylliidae.

Background: Caryophylliidae is one of the most diverse scleractinian families, however it was recovered as polyphyletic in multiple molecular studies. Recently, the mitochondrial gene order was proposed as a character for a taxonomic revision of the family. Here we describe the first mitogenome of the caryophylliid genus Crispatotrochus, whose phylogenetic position remains uncertain.

The genome of sheds light on the biosynthesis, origin and evolution of the medicinally important diosgenin saponins.

Diosgenin saponins isolated from species such as exhibit a broad spectrum of pharmacological activities. Diosgenin, the aglycone of diosgenin saponins, is an important starting material for the production of steroidal drugs. However, how plants produce diosgenin saponins and the origin and evolution of the diosgenin saponin biosynthetic pathway remain a mystery.

A wide hybrid zone mediated by precipitation contributed to confused geographical structure of .

Confused geographical structure of a population and mitonuclear discordance are shaped by a combination of rapid changes in population demographics and shifts in ecology. In this study, we generated a time-calibrated phylogeny of , an endemic Xizang alpine toad occurring in mountain streams on the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau (QTP). Based on three mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genes, eight clades were assigned to three deeply divergent lineages.

Revision of the New World Plant Bug Genus Cyrtocapsus (Heteroptera: Miridae: Bryocorinae: Eccritotarsini), with New and Revised Synonymies, Lectotype Designations, and Descriptions of 12 New Species.

The New World eccritotarsine genus Cyrtocapsus Reuter (Miridae: Bryocorinae) is revised. Cyrtocapsus andinus Carvalho, 1954, n. syn.

Mammalian mycophagy: A global review of ecosystem interactions between mammals and fungi.

The consumption of fungi by animals is a significant trophic interaction in most terrestrial ecosystems, yet the role mammals play in these associations has been incompletely studied. In this review, we compile 1 154 references published over the last 146 years and provide the first comprehensive global review of mammal species known to eat fungi (508 species in 15 orders). We review experimental studies that found viable fungal inoculum in the scats of at least 40 mammal species, including spores from at least 58 mycorrhizal fungal species that remained viable after ingestion by mammals.

Early evolution of wing scales prior to the rise of moths and butterflies.

Although scales are a defining and conspicuous feature of moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera), their earliest evolution predates the group but is shrouded by a dearth of fossil evidence. Herein, we report two new species in mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber, representing lineages closely related to Lepidoptera: one represents the extinct Tarachoptera, with dense scales on the fore- and hindwings, while the other is an early lineage of caddisflies, with a hindwing covered by a single layer of angustifoliate scales. A novel phylogenetic analysis of 174 morphological characters and 73 extant and fossil representatives of Mecopterida demonstrates a monophyletic origin of scales in the common ancestor of Tarachoptera, Trichoptera, and Lepidoptera; that Tarachoptera are monophyletic but their scale morphology is plesiomorphic for the whole group; and that scales were lost early in caddisfly evolution before reappearing multiple times within the clade.

Geospatial data from a global survey of martian fan-shaped sedimentary landforms.

Data in this article are related to the research article "The global distribution and morphologic characteristics of fan-shaped sedimentary landforms on Mars". We used globally available image and topographic data to document the location of every fan-shaped sedimentary landform on the surface of Mars. We mapped fan outlines and associated drainage basins and collected a number of morphologic metrics.

Rearrangement and domestication as drivers of Rosaceae mitogenome plasticity.

Background: The mitochondrion is an important cellular component in plants and that functions in producing vital energy for the cell. However, the evolution and structure of mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) remain unclear in the Rosaceae family. In this study, we assembled 34 Rosaceae mitogenomes and characterized genome variation, rearrangement rate, and selection signal variation within these mitogenomes.

The ontogeny of asymmetry in echolocating whales.

Extreme asymmetry of the skull is one of the most distinctive traits that characterizes toothed whales (Odontoceti, Cetacea). The origin and function of cranial asymmetry are connected to the evolution of echolocation, the ability to use high-frequency sounds to navigate the surrounding environment. Although this novel phenotype must arise through changes in cranial development, the ontogeny of cetacean asymmetry has never been investigated.

Floral evolution and pollinator diversification in Hedychium: Revisiting Darwin's predictions using an integrative taxonomic approach.

Premise: Hedychium J. Koenig (Zingiberaceae) is endemic to the Indo-Malayan Realm and is known for its colorful and fragrant flowers. Historically, two different pollination syndromes characterize Hedychium: diurnal or bird pollination, and nocturnal or moth pollination.