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Tuesday, May 3rd, 2022
| Time | Event | ||||||||
| 9:10a | [Paleontology • 2022] Footprint on A Coprolite: A Rarity from the Eocene of Vietnam
Abstract A rare ichnological example of a crocodilian footprint on an Eocene crocodilian coprolite has been discovered. The enigmatic specimen, measuring 4 cm in length, was found among 100 coprolites at the Na Duong coal mine in Lang Son province, northern Vietnam. Almost all the discovered coprolites were ascribed to a potential crocodilian producer, suggesting the existence of an ancient lacustrine environment. Furthermore, neoichnological analyses of extant crocodilian footprints also corroborate the inference of a crocodilian as the producer of the footprint. We concluded that the 4-cm-long Na Duong fingerprints most likely belonged to a 2-m-long crocodilian whose IV or V finger of the right manus might have made the fingerprints. Since no other records of foot traces or trackways were identified during the fieldwork in the fall of 2018, the Na Duong fossil site should be investigated for further ichnofossil analysis. Keywords: Na Duong fossil, coprolites, compound ichnofossil, fingerprints, Eocene, crocodilian   Kazim Halaclar, Paul Rummy, Tao Deng and Truong Van Do. 2022. Footprint on A Coprolite: A Rarity from the Eocene of Vietnam. Palaeoworld. In Press. DOI: 10.1016/j.palwor.2022.01.010   | ||||||||
| 9:48a | [PaleoIchthyology • 2022] The Rapid Evolution of Lungfish Durophagy
Abstract Innovations relating to the consumption of hard prey are implicated in ecological shifts in marine ecosystems as early as the mid-Paleozoic. Lungfishes represent the first and longest-ranging lineage of durophagous vertebrates, but how and when the various feeding specializations of this group arose remain unclear. Two exceptionally preserved fossils of the Early Devonian lobe-finned fish Youngolepis reveal the origin of the specialized lungfish feeding mechanism. Youngolepis has a radically restructured palate, reorienting jaw muscles for optimal force transition, coupled with radiating entopterygoid tooth rows like those of lungfish toothplates. This triturating surface occurs in conjunction with marginal dentition and blunt coronoid fangs, suggesting a role in crushing rather than piercing prey. Bayesian tip-dating analyses incorporating these morphological data indicate that the complete suite of lungfish feeding specializations may have arisen in as little as 7 million years, representing one of the most striking episodes of innovation during the initial evolutionary radiations of bony fishes.
 Youngolepis praecursor Chang & Yu, 1981
Xindong Cui, Matt Friedman, Tuo Qiao, Yilun Yu and Min Zhu. 2022. The Rapid Evolution of Lungfish Durophagy. Nature Communications. 13: 2390. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30091-3 highlighting feeding innovations in Youngolepis, an Early Devonian stem lungfish from China (art: Brian Choo) @NatureComms @Friedman_Lab  | ||||||||
| 10:16a | [Entomology • 2019] Molecular Phylogeny of Ateleutinae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae): Systematics and Biogeography of A Widespread Parasitoid Wasp Lineage
Abstract The phylogeny of the ichneumonid parasitoid wasp subfamily Ateleutinae is investigated based on molecular data from five genes. A total of 36 species are included in the ingroup. Maximum likelihood analyses recovered a strongly supported monophyletic clade circumscribing the subfamily Ateleutinae. Five main clades were recovered in the subfamily, but relationships between these clades were mostly poorly supported. A new genus is identified and described: Duwalia Santos gen. nov. from Australia, which corresponds to the earliest known diverging lineage of Ateleutinae. Duwalia perula Santos sp. nov. is described and illustrated. The genus Ateleute is shown to be paraphyletic with respect to Tamaulipeca, but further studies with more intense sampling of the Neotropical fauna are needed in order to provide a comprehensive classification of the genera within this subfamily. Ateleute boitata Santos sp. nov., a morphologically aberrant species from South America, is described to highlight the morphological diversity in the genus. All Old World species of Ateleute are recovered in a single clade. Ateleute grossa is newly recorded as a parasitoid of Oiketicus kirbyi (Lepidoptera: Psychidae). Diagnoses and identification keys to the genera of Ateleutinae are provided. Keywords: Cryptinae, Psychidae, bagworm, parasite, Duwalia, Ateleute, Tamaulipeca 
DUWALIA SANTOS, GEN. NOV. Etymology: The genus name stems from the Australian aboriginal word ‘duwal’, meaning a short spear with two barbs, and also a name for a clan from the Dua moiety. The name is a reference to the short ovipositor of D. perula, with ridges on the dorsal valve. Duwalia is to be treated as a feminine noun. DUWALIA PERULA SANTOS, SP. NOV. Etymology: ‘Perula’ is a Medieval Latin form for ‘pearl’, apparently derived from ‘pernula’, diminutive of ‘perna’ (the brown mussel); in reference to the type locality, Pearl Beach, in Australia. The name is to be treated as a noun in apposition. Bernardo F. Santos, Mabel Alvarado, Ilari E. Sääksjärvi, Simon van Noort, Claire Villemant and Seán G. Brady. 2019. Molecular Phylogeny of Ateleutinae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae): Systematics and Biogeography of A Widespread Parasitoid Wasp Lineage. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 185(4); 1057–1078. DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zly072 Researchgate.net/publication/329370695_Molecular_phylogeny_of_Ateleutinae A new phylogeny of the #parasitoidwasp subfamily, Ateleutinae, reveals its oldest member, the newly described ???????????????????????????? ????????????????????????, defines relationships and highlights morphological diversity with new species. Article out now in our April issue! https://bit.ly/2v2feL2 | ||||||||
| 10:35a | [Herpetology • 2022] Leptophis dibernardoi • A New Species of Parrot-Snake of the Genus Leptophis Bell, 1825 (Serpentes, Colubridae) from the Semi-Arid Region of Brazil
Abstract We describe a new species of Leptophis from the Caatinga ecoregion encompassing the semi-arid region of Brazil. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rDNA sequences indicate that the new species is nested deep within the L. ahaetulla complex. The new species differs from all other congeners in the following unique character combination: two dorsolateral Light Emerald Green (142) to Robin's Egg Blue (161) stripes separated from each other by Pale Buff (1) to Smoke Gray (266) vertebral stripe (continuous to tail) present; loreal scale absent; maxillary teeth 21–24; ventrals 158–177; subcaudals 137–162; black spots on head absent; supracephalic plates of head not edged with black pigment; adult color pattern lacking dark oblique bands; keels absent on first dorsal scale rows; hemipenis unilobed, capitate, with undivided sulcus spermaticus. The new species is distinguished from L. ahaetulla ahaetulla by the Light Emerald Green (142) to Robin's Egg Blue (161) (in life) dorsolateral stripes separated from each other by a Pale Buff (1) to Smoke Gray (266) vertebral stripe (at least anteriorly), and by having white to Pale Sulphur Yellow (92) scales on the first (on anterior region of body) to fourth (midbody region) scale rows [vs. Light Grass Green (109) to Light Emerald Green (142) with Yellow Ocher (14), Cinnamon-Drab (50) or Sulphur Yellow (80) vertebral stripe; second to third—occasionally the fourth—scale rows Sulphur Yellow (80), at least anteriorly], wider snout (vs. narrow), postocular stripe wider (vs. narrow), basal region of hemipenis with 10–14 spines and first row of hemipenial body with 8–9 spines (vs. 18–22 in the basal region and 5–8 in the first row). The new species differs from L. a. liocercus, which is also distributed in the Northeast Region Brazil with a small overlap in distribution, by the dorsolateral stripes (vs. dorsum unstriped), and 18–22 spines in the fourth row of the hemipenial body (vs. 11–18). Recognition of the new species is also consistent with uncorrected pairwise distances between 16S rDNA sequences. KEYWORDS: Caatinga, color pattern, Hemipenial morphology, Leptophis ahaetulla species complex, molecular phylogeny  Leptophis dibernardoi Nelson Rufino de Albuquerque, Fernanda Martins dos Santos, Diva Maria Borges-Nojosa and Robson Waldemar Ávila. 2022. A New Species of Parrot-Snake of the Genus Leptophis Bell, 1825 (Serpentes, Colubridae) from the Semi-Arid Region of Brazil. South American Journal of Herpetology. 23 (2), 7-24. DOI: 10.2994/SAJH-D-19-00113.1 Pesquisadores descobrem nova espécie de cobra na Caatinga |
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