The role of Anatolia in the origin of the Caucasus biodiversity hotspot illustrated by land snails in the genus Oxychilus.

Several taxa that are distributed in the Caucasus and/or the adjacent Pontic Mountains also have representatives in the East Mediterranean region. These disjunctions could have been caused by long-distance dispersal or be the result of extinctions in Central Anatolia caused by the aridification of the Anatolian Plateau during the Pliocene. We studied the Longiphallus-Hiramia group of Oxychilus as an example showing such distribution patterns.

Molecular phylogeny and trait evolution of Madeiran land snails: radiation of the Geomitrini (Stylommatophora: Helicoidea: Geomitridae).

The Geomitrini is the most species-rich group of land snails in the Madeiran Archipelago. The phylogeny of the group is reconstructed based on mitochondrial and nuclear genetic markers. The timing of diversification, the colonisation history of the islands of the Madeiran Archipelago and the evolution of characters of the dart apparatus are studied.

Global distribution and host range of the endoparasitic mite genus Locustacarus (Acari: Podapolipidae) with description of a new species from Iran parasitizing grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae).

Mites (Acari) represent important parasites for a diverse range of hosts. Within the Acari, the Prostigmata represent a diverse suborder of the order Trombidiformes with about 20 000 species, including parasitic forms on both vertebrates and invertebrates. Within the Prostigmata, the genus Locustacarus (Heterostigmata: Podapolipidae) is particularly known as an intratracheal parasite of bumblebees and grasshoppers.

sect. : new boundaries, extended biogeography and unexpected diversity unravelled by transatlantic studies.

As currently delineated, sect. is a polyphyletic assembly within subg. , encompassing glutinous and pigmented taxa.

() in western North America.

Understanding diversity in the genus in western North America has been obscured by morphological variability, widespread use of species epithets typified by specimens from Europe and eastern North America, misunderstood phylogenetic relationships, and species complexes. We collected extensively and used genetic and morphological data to establish the occurrence of ten species in western North America. We generated ITS sequences from five type collections and from vouchered representative collections to clarify our understanding of existing species concepts.

A little frog leaps a long way: compounded colonizations of the Indian Subcontinent discovered in the tiny Oriental frog genus (Amphibia: Microhylidae).

Frogs of the genus include some of the world's smallest amphibians and represent the largest radiation of Asian microhylids, currently encompassing 50 species, distributed across the Oriental biogeographic region. The genus remains one of the taxonomically most challenging groups of Asian frogs and was found to be paraphyletic with respect to large-sized fossorial . In this study we present a time-calibrated phylogeny for frogs in the genus , and discuss taxonomy, historical biogeography, and morphological evolution of these frogs.

Annotated nomenclator of extant and fossil taxa of the Paludomidae (Caenogastropoda, Cerithioidea).

This nomenclator provides bibliographic details on all names in the family-, genus-, and species-group of the the family Paludomidae. All nomenclaturally available names are discussed including junior homonyms and objective junior synonyms as well as unavailable names such as nomina nuda, infrasubspecific names and, to some extent, also incorrect subsequent spellings. In the family-group a total of 28 names are included in the nomenclator, of which 21 are available and seven unavailable names.

Hidden diversity uncovered in Hygrophorus sect. Aurei (Hygrophoraceae), including the Mediterranean H. meridionalis and the North American H. boyeri, spp. nov.

For many years, the binomial Hygrophorus hypothejus was widely applied to collections from various geographical regions in different continents, assuming a circum-boreal and circum-mediterranean distribution for this species. This hypothesis, however, had never been put to the test. To assess the diversity and species-limits within this complex of yellow-coloured waxcaps, a phylogenetic, morphological and taxonomical investigation into Hygrophorus sect.

The evolution and diversification of the red oaks of the California Floristic Province (Quercus section Lobatae, series Agrifoliae).

Premise Of The Study: The California Floristic Province (CA-FP) is a unique and diverse region of floral endemism, yet the timing and nature of divergence and diversification of many lineages remain underexplored. We seek to elucidate the evolutionary history of the red oaks of the CA-FP, the Agrifoliae.

Methods: We collected PstI-associated RAD-seq data as well as morphometrics from individuals of the four species across their ranges, including varieties and hybrids.

Structural Morphology of Molars in Large Mammalian Herbivores: Enamel Content Varies between Tooth Positions.

The distribution of dental tissues in mammalian herbivores can be very different from taxon to taxon. While grazers tend to have more elaborated and complexly folded enamel ridges, browsers have less complex enamel ridges which can even be so far reduced that they are completely lost. The gradient in relative enamel content and complexity of structures has so far not been addressed within a single species.

Multiple origins of subsociality in crab spiders (Thomisidae).

Determining factors that facilitate the transition from a solitary to a social lifestyle is a major challenge in evolutionary biology, especially in taxa that are usually aggressive towards conspecifics. Most spiders live solitarily and few species are known to be social. Nevertheless, sociality has evolved multiple times across several families and nearly all studied social lineages have originated from a periodically social (subsocial) ancestor.