Comparing eDNA and Transect Methods for Aquatic Biodiversity Assessment in Lakes and Ponds.

Biodiversity monitoring increasingly relies on molecular methods such as eDNA metabarcoding. However, sound applications have so far been only established for a limited number of taxonomic groups. More information on the strengths and weaknesses of eDNA methods, especially for poorly covered groups, is essential for practical applications to achieve the highest possible reliability.

A master in disguise? The rediscovery of Misumena bicolor Simon, 1875 (Araneae: Thomisidae).

Misumena bicolor Simon, 1875, an enigmatic species known only from the male holotype collected on Corsica (France), has remained elusive since its initial description. In this study, we report new occurrences of M. bicolor from Sardinia (Italy) and Bavaria (Germany) based on male material, considerably expanding its known distribution.

Description of a new Psalmopoeus Pocock, 1895 species (Araneae, Theraphosidae, Psalmopoeinae) from the Chocó region of Ecuador.

A new species of Theraphosidae, genus Psalmopoeus Pocock, 1895 is described from the Chocó region of Ecuador, Psalmopoeus pristirana n. sp. (male and female).

Seven new species of the enigmatic spider genus Paratropis Simon, 1889 (Mygalomorphae, Paratropididae) from Ecuador.

Seven new species of the enigmatic spider family Paratropididae are described from Ecuador. All new species belong to the genus Paratropis: P. carcosita sp.

Catalogue of Palaearctic Sericinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)-revised and updated fourth edition.

The current fourth edition of the Catalogue of Palaearctic Sericinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) summarizes new progress in the taxonomy of this group, which is now comprised of 1518 valid species group names in the Palaearctic Region (i.e., species and subspecies names).

The Field Automatic Insect Recognition-Device-A Non-Lethal Semi-Automatic Malaise Trap for Insect Biodiversity Monitoring: Proof of Concept.

Field monitoring plays a crucial role in understanding insect dynamics within ecosystems. It facilitates pest distribution assessment, control measure evaluation, and prediction of pest outbreaks. Additionally, it provides important information on bioindicators with which the state of biodiversity and ecological integrity in specific habitats and ecosystems can be accurately assessed.

The evolutionary path of the epithelial sodium channel δ-subunit in Cetartiodactyla points to a role in sodium sensing.

The epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) plays a key role in osmoregulation in tetrapod vertebrates and is a candidate receptor for salt taste sensation. There are four ENaC subunits (α, β, γ, δ) which form αβγ- or δβγ ENaCs. While αβγ-ENaC is a 'maintenance protein' controlling sodium and potassium homeostasis, δβγ-ENaC might represent a 'stress protein' monitoring high sodium concentrations.

Ecological, genetic and geographical divergence explain differences in colouration among sunbird species (Nectariniidae).

How extravagant ornamental traits evolve is a key question in evolutionary biology. Bird plumages are among the most elaborate ornaments, displaying almost all colours of the rainbow. Why and how birds evolved to be so colourful remains an open question with multiple and sometimes competing hypotheses.

Evolving circuitries in plant signaling cascades.

Land plants are astounding processors of information; due to their sessile nature, they adjust the molecular programs that define their development and physiology in accordance with the environment in which they dwell. Transduction of the external input to the respective internal programs hinges to a large degree on molecular signaling cascades, many of which have deep evolutionary origins in the ancestors of land plants and its closest relatives, streptophyte algae. In this Review, we discuss the evolutionary history of the defining factors of streptophyte signaling cascades, circuitries that not only operate in extant land plants and streptophyte algae, but that also likely operated in their extinct algal ancestors hundreds of millions of years ago.

Machine learning can be as good as maximum likelihood when reconstructing phylogenetic trees and determining the best evolutionary model on four taxon alignments.

Phylogenetic tree reconstruction with molecular data is important in many fields of life science research. The gold standard in this discipline is the phylogenetic tree reconstruction based on the Maximum Likelihood method. In this study, we present neural networks to predict the best model of sequence evolution and the correct topology for four sequence alignments of nucleotide or amino acid sequence data.

Prey size reflected in tooth wear: a comparison of two wolf populations from Sweden and Alaska.

Ingesta leaves distinct patterns on mammalian teeth during mastication. However, an unresolved challenge is how to include intraspecific variability into dietary reconstruction and the biomechanical aspects of chewing. Two extant populations of the grey wolf (), one from Alaska and one from Sweden, were analysed with consideration to intraspecific dietary variability related to prey size depending on geographical origin, sex and individual age as well as tooth function.

Evolutionary assembly of the plant terrestrialization toolkit from protein domains.

Land plants (embryophytes) came about in a momentous evolutionary singularity: plant terrestrialization. This event marks not only the conquest of land by plants but also the massive radiation of embryophytes into a diverse array of novel forms and functions. The unique suite of traits present in the earliest land plants is thought to have been ushered in by a burst in genomic novelty.

Early Diversification of Membrane Intrinsic Proteins (MIPs) in Eukaryotes.

Membrane intrinsic proteins (MIPs), including aquaporins (AQPs) and aquaglyceroporins (GLPs), form an ancient family of transporters for water and small solutes across biological membranes. The evolutionary history and functions of MIPs have been extensively studied in vertebrates and land plants, but their widespread presence across the eukaryotic tree of life suggests both a more complex evolutionary history and a broader set of functions than previously thought. That said, the early evolution of MIPs remains obscure.

Discriminating woody species assemblages from National Forest Inventory data based on phylogeny in Georgia.

Classifications of forest vegetation types and characterization of related species assemblages are important analytical tools for mapping and diversity monitoring of forest communities. The discrimination of forest communities is often based on β-diversity, which can be quantified via numerous indices to derive compositional dissimilarity between samples. This study aims to evaluate the applicability of unsupervised classification for National Forest Inventory data from Georgia by comparing two cluster hierarchies.

Phylogenomics recovers multiple origins of portable case making in caddisflies (Insecta: Trichoptera), nature's underwater architects.

Caddisflies (Trichoptera) are among the most diverse groups of freshwater animals with more than 16 000 described species. They play a fundamental role in freshwater ecology and environmental engineering in streams, rivers and lakes. Because of this, they are frequently used as indicator organisms in biomonitoring programmes.

Description of a Remarkable New Skate Species of Malm, 1877 (Rajiformes, Rajidae) from the Southwestern Indian Ocean: Introducing 3D Modeling as an Innovative Tool for the Visualization of Clasper Characters.

A remarkable new deep-water skate, n. sp., is described based on eight specimens caught during different expeditions to the southern Madagascar Ridge in the southwestern Indian Ocean.

Path for recovery: an ecological overview of the Jambato Harlequin Toad (Bufonidae: ) in its last known locality, Angamarca Valley, Ecuador.

The Jambato Harlequin toad (), a formerly abundant species in the Andes of Ecuador, faced a dramatic population decline in the 1980s, with its last recorded sighting in 1988. The species was considered Extinct by the IUCN until 2016, when a fortuitous discovery of one Jambato by a local boy reignited hope. In this study, we present findings from an investigation conducted in the Angamarca parish, focusing on distribution, abundance, habitat preferences, ecology, disease susceptibility, and dietary habits of the species.

Species delimitation 4.0: integrative taxonomy meets artificial intelligence.

Although species are central units for biological research, recent findings in genomics are raising awareness that what we call species can be ill-founded entities due to solely morphology-based, regional species descriptions. This particularly applies to groups characterized by intricate evolutionary processes such as hybridization, polyploidy, or asexuality. Here, challenges of current integrative taxonomy (genetics/genomics + morphology + ecology, etc.

Phylogeny and evolution of streptophyte algae.

The Streptophyta emerged about a billion years ago. Nowadays, this branch of the green lineage is most famous for one of its clades, the land plants (Embryophyta). Although Embryophyta make up the major share of species numbers in Streptophyta, there is a diversity of probably >5000 species of streptophyte algae that form a paraphyletic grade next to land plants.