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Tuesday, February 6th, 2018
| Time | Event | ||||||
| 2:04a | [Botany • 2018] Phylogeny, Historical Biogeography, and Diversification of Angiosperm Order Ericales suggest Ancient Neotropical and East Asian Connections
Highlights • A supermatrix phylogeny of the angiosperm order Ericales is proposed. • Holoparasitic Mitrastemonaceae is sister to Lecythidaceae. • Crown Ericales originated during the Albiuan and rapidly radiated thereafter. • Ericales originated in the Neotropics and Indo-Malaysia. • Diversification analyses suggest 70 shifts in speciation rate. Abstract Inferring interfamilial relationships within the eudicot order Ericales has remained one of the more recalcitrant problems in angiosperm phylogenetics, likely due to a rapid, ancient radiation. As a result, no comprehensive time-calibrated tree or biogeographical analysis of the order has been published. Here, we elucidate phylogenetic relationships within the order and then conduct time-dependent biogeographical and diversification analyses by using a taxon and locus-rich supermatrix approach on one third of the extant species diversity calibrated with 23 macrofossils and two secondary calibration points. Our results corroborate previous studies and also suggest several new but poorly supported relationships. Newly suggested relationships are: (1) holoparasitic Mitrastemonaceae is sister to Lecythidaceae, (2) the clade formed by Mitrastemonaceae + Lecythidaceae is sister to Ericales excluding balsaminoids, (3) Theaceae is sister to the styracoids + sarracenioids + ericoids, and (4) subfamilial relationships with Ericaceae suggest that Arbutoideae is sister to Monotropoideae and Pyroloideae is sister to all subfamilies excluding Arbutoideae, Enkianthoideae, and Monotropoideae. Our results indicate Ericales began to diversify 110 Mya, within Indo-Malaysia and the Neotropics, with exchange between the two areas and expansion out of Indo-Malaysia becoming an important area in shaping the extant diversity of many families. Rapid cladogenesis occurred along the backbone of the order between 104-106 Mya. Jump dispersal is important within the order in the last 30 My, but vicariance is the most important cladogenetic driver of disjunctions at deeper levels of the phylogeny. We detect between 69 and 81 shifts in speciation rate throughout the order, the vast majority of which occurred within the last 30 My. We propose that range shifting may be responsible for older shifts in speciation rate, but more recent shifts may be better explained by morphological innovation. Keywords: Ericales; Ericaceae; Theaceae; supermatrix; vicariance; long distance dispersal Jeffrey P. Rose, Thomas J. Kleist, Stefan D. Löfstrand, Bryan T. Drew, Jürg Schönenberger and Kenneth J. Sytsma. 2018. Phylogeny, Historical Biogeography, and Diversification of Angiosperm Order Ericales suggest Ancient Neotropical and East Asian Connections. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. In Press. DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.01.014  | ||||||
| 9:24a | [PaleoIchthyology • 2018] Candelarhynchus padillai • A New Cretaceous Dercetid Fish (Neoteleostei: Aulopiformes) from the Turonian of Colombia
Abstract The extinct neoteleost family Dercetidae includes elongate, long-jawed marine fishes that are known from the Late Cretaceous to Paleocene in deposits from the Levant, Europe, North Africa, England, Mexico and Brazil. The fossil record of the family in South America is very sparse and previously was restricted to outcrops in Brazil. Herein we describe a new dercetid fish from the Turonian of Colombia, †Candelarhynchus padillai gen. et sp. nov. A single articulated specimen is preserved in part and counterpart; the posterior part of the fish is missing. The specimen differs from other dercetid species by the following unique combination of morphological features: lack of scutes on the flanks of the body, presence of a single pair of transverse processes associated with the abdominal vertebrae, roofed posttemporal fossa, single row of small conical teeth on the dentary and maxilla, toothless premaxilla ornamented with pronounced longitudinal striations and protruding forward far beyond the anterior end of the dentary, and relatively large pectoral fins positioned high on the body. When included in a phylogenetic analysis of †Enchodontoidei, †C. padillai gen. et sp. nov. falls within a monophyletic family Dercetidae and is placed as sister taxon to the Late Cretaceous dercetid †Hastichthys from Israel, indicating faunal connections between the Eastern and Western Tethys. The new taxon provides novel insights into the distribution of dercetid fishes in the Western Tethys region during the early Late Cretaceous. Keywords: Dercetidae, Enchodontoidei, Teleostei, San Rafael Formation, South America, palaeobiogeography     Oksana Vernygora, Alison M. Murray, Javier Luque, Mary Luz Parra Ruge & María Euridice Paramo Fonseca. 2018. A New Cretaceous Dercetid Fish (Neoteleostei: Aulopiformes) from the Turonian of Colombia. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. DOI: 10.1080/14772019.2017.1391884 ResearchGate.net/publication/321048665_Atwitter.com/JournalSystPal/status/930475 Ten-year-old boy helps paleontologists discover ancient fish species /phy.so/436700390 via @physorg_com 10-Year-Old Discovers Rare 'Lizard Fish' Fossil on.natgeo.com/2EC3rXH via @NatGeo   | ||||||
| 10:10a | [Herpetology • 2018] Resurrection and Re-description of Plethodontohyla laevis (Boettger, 1913) and transfer of Rhombophryne alluaudi (Mocquard, 1901) to the Genus Plethodontohyla (Microhylidae, Cophylinae)
Abstract The systematics of the cophyline microhylid frog genera Plethodontohyla and Rhombophryne have long been intertwined, and their relationships have only recently started to become clear. While Rhombophryne has received a lot of recent taxonomic attention, Plethodontohyla has been largely neglected. Our study is a showcase of just how complex the taxonomic situation between these two genera is, and the care that must be taken to resolve taxonomic conundrums where old material, multiple genus transitions, and misattribution of new material obfuscate the picture. We assessed the identity of the historic names Dyscophus alluaudi (currently in the genus Rhombophryne), Phrynocara laeve and Plethodontohyla laevis tsianovohensis (both synonyms of Rhombophryne alluaudi) based on an integrative taxonomic approach harnessing genetics, external morphology, osteological data obtained via micro-Computed Tomography (micro-CT) and bioacoustics. We show that (1) the holotype of Dyscophus alluaudi is a member of the genus Plethodontohyla; (2) the Rhombophryne specimens from central Madagascar currently assigned to Rhombophryne alluaudi have no affinity with that species, and are instead an undescribed species; and (3) Phrynocara laeve and Dyscophus alluaudi are not synonymous, but represent closely related species, whereas Plethodontohyla laevis tsianovohensis is tentatively confirmed as synonym of D. alluaudi. We resurrect and re-describe Plethodontohyla laevis, and re-allocate and re-describe Plethodontohyla alluaudi on the basis of new and historic material. Key Words: Amphibia, Anura, Phrynocara laeve, Plethodontohyla alluaudi, Madagascar, Integrative taxonomy 
Adriana Bellati, Mark D. Scherz, Steven Megson, Sam Hyde Roberts, Franco Andreone, Gonçalo M. Rosa, Jean Noël, Jasmin E. Randrianirina, Mauro Fasola, Frank Glaw and Angelica Crottini. 2018. Resurrection and Re-description of Plethodontohyla laevis (Boettger, 1913) and transfer of Rhombophryne alluaudi (Mocquard, 1901) to the Genus Plethodontohyla (Amphibia, Microhylidae, Cophylinae). Zoosystematics and Evolution. 94(1); 109-135. DOI: 10.3897/zse.94.14698  |
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