[Most Recent Entries] [Calendar View]
Saturday, November 25th, 2023
| Time | Event | ||||||
| 8:04a | [Ichthyology • 2023] Amblyceps crassioris • A New sisoroid Catfish (Siluriformes: Amblycipitidae) from Odisha, India
Abstract Amblyceps crassioris, a new species of amblycipitid catfish, is described from the Mahanadi River basin in Odisha, India. The new species can be distinguished from its congeners in having a combination of the following characters: a deeply forked caudal fin, centrally projecting hooks on proximal lepidotrichia of median caudal-fin rays absent, jaws equal in length, lateral line absent, body depth at anus 15.1%–19.5% standard length (SL), caudal peduncle depth 13.0%–18.3% SL, adipose-fin base length 21.1%–27.1% SL, eye diameter 7.35%–14.1% head length and 38 total vertebrae. Keywords: biogeography, cryptic diversity, Eastern Ghats, Mahanadi River, Sisoroidea 
Amblyceps crassioris, a new species
Balaji Vijayakrishnan and Praveenraj Jayasimhan. 2023. Amblyceps crassioris, A New sisoroid Catfish from Odisha, India (Siluriformes: Amblycipitidae). Journal of Fish Biology. DOI: 10.1111/jfb.15599 | ||||||
| 3:14p | [PaleoEntomology • 2022] Archaboilus musicus • High Acoustic Diversity and Behavioral Complexity of Katydids in the Mesozoic Soundscape
Significance: Extinct animals usually had complex acoustic behavior, but fossils reveal little of these details. Here, we report the earliest insect ears and sound-producing system found in Mesozoic katydids. These katydids evolved unexpectedly high acoustic diversity. Our analysis shows that katydids are the earliest known animals to have evolved complex acoustic communication, acoustic niche partitioning, and high-frequency musical calls. Our results not only suggest that acoustic communication might have been an important driver for the early radiation of katydids but also support the hypothesis of the acoustic coevolution of mammals and katydids. These findings unveil acoustic behavioral complexity and evolutionary adaption amongst Mesozoic katydids and contribute to understanding the evolution of Mesozoic soundscape thus far mostly inaccessible from the paleontological record. Abstract Acoustic communication has played a key role in the evolution of a wide variety of vertebrates and insects. However, the reconstruction of ancient acoustic signals is challenging due to the extreme rarity of fossilized organs. Here, we report the earliest tympanal ears and sound-producing system (stridulatory apparatus) found in exceptionally preserved Mesozoic katydids. We present a database of the stridulatory apparatus and wing morphology of Mesozoic katydids and further calculate their probable singing frequencies and analyze the evolution of their acoustic communication. Our suite of analyses demonstrates that katydids evolved complex acoustic communication including mating signals, intermale communication, and directional hearing, at least by the Middle Jurassic. Additionally, katydids evolved a high diversity of singing frequencies including high-frequency musical calls, accompanied by acoustic niche partitioning at least by the Late Triassic, suggesting that acoustic communication might have been an important driver in the early radiation of these insects. The Early—Middle Jurassic katydid transition from Haglidae- to Prophalangopsidae-dominated faunas coincided with the diversification of derived mammalian clades and improvement of hearing in early mammals, supporting the hypothesis of the acoustic coevolution of mammals and katydids. Our findings not only highlight the ecological significance of insects in the Mesozoic soundscape but also contribute to our understanding of how acoustic communication has influenced animal evolution.  
Chunpeng Xu, Bo Wang, Torsten Wappler, Jun Chen, Dmitry Kopylov, Yan Fang, Edmund A. Jarzembowski, Haichun Zhang and Michael S. Engel. 2022. High Acoustic Diversity and Behavioral Complexity of Katydids in the Mesozoic Soundscape. PNAS. 119 (51) e2210601119 phys.org/news/2022-12-fossil-katydids-i | ||||||
| 3:15p | [Herpetology • 2023] Nanorana laojunshanensis • A New Species of Nanorana (Anura: Dicroglossidae) from Northwestern Yunnan, China, with Comments on the Taxonomy of Nanorana arunachalensis and Allopaa
Abstract The genus Nanorana contains three subgenera, namely Nanorana, Paa, and Chaparana, and currently, there are four species known to science in Nanorana (Nanorana). In this study, we describe a new species belonging to the subgenus Nanorana from northwestern Yunnan, China. Phylogenetically, the new species, Nanorana laojunshanensis sp. nov., is the sister to the clade of N. pleskei and N. ventripunctata. Morphologically, the new species can be distinguished from known congeners by the combination of following characters: present tympanum, equal fingers I and II, small body size, yellow ventral surface of limbs, distinct vomerine teeth, indistinct subarticular tubercles, head width greater than head length, slender supratympanic fold, absent dorsolateral fold, nuptial spines present on fingers I and II in adult males, absent vocal sac, and paired brown spines on the chest. Moreover, we suggest moving the genus Allopaa into Nanorana (Chaparana) and consider that N. arunachalensis is neither an Odorrana species nor a member of the subfamily Dicroglossinae (therefore Nanorana), but probably represents a distinct genus closely related to Ingerana or belongs to Ingerana, pending more data. Additionally, we consider that Nanorana minica deserves the rank of an independent subgenus, and we suggest assigning N. arnoldi, N. blanfordii, N. ercepeae, N. polunini, N. rarica, N. rostandi, N. vicina, N. xuelinensis, and N. zhaoermii into the subgenus Paa and placing N. kangxianensis, N. phrynoides, and N. sichuanensis in the subgenus Chaparana. Keywords: Nanorana; Paa; Chaparana; Allopaa; northwestern Yunnan
Nanorana (Nanorana) laojunshanensis sp. nov. Diagnosis: The new species was assigned to Nanorana (Nanorana) using the following morphological characters: oval tongue, shallowly notched posterior; blunt finger and toe tips; absent webbing between fingers, absent supernumerary tubercle; developed webbing between toes; paired patches of spine on chest [Fei, et al., 2009]. The new species can be distinguished from other members of Nanorana by having a combination of the following characters: (1) present tympanum; (2) small body size; (3) distinct vomerine teeth; (4) indistinct subarticular tubercles; (5) head width greater than head length; (6) slender supratympanic fold; (7) finger I equal to finger II; (8) absence of dark blotches on ventral surface and yolk-yellow ventral surface of limbs; (9) absent dorsolateral fold; (10) nuptial spines present only on fingers I and II in adult males; (11) absent vocal sac; and (12) paired brown spines on chest. ... Etymology: The specific epithet is named after the type locality, Mt. Laojun, Lijiang, Yunnan, China. We suggested “laojunshan slow frog” for the common English name and “老君山倭蛙 (Lǎo Jūn Shān Wō Wā)” for the common Chinese name. Minipaa subgen. nov. Type species: Nanorana minica (Dubois, 1975) Included species: Nanorana minica (Dubois, 1975). Distribution: Nepal, India, Bhutan. Etymology: From the Latin mini, “small”, and from the generic name Paa, Dubois, 1975 (from the Tamang name paa, “frog”), in which this species was originally placed. This name refers to the small body size of this taxon. Shangjing Tang, Shuo Liu and Guohua Yu. 2023. A New Species of Nanorana (Anura: Dicroglossidae) from Northwestern Yunnan, China, with Comments on the Taxonomy of Nanorana arunachalensis and Allopaa. Animals. 13(21), 3427. DOI: 10.3390/ani13213427 Simple Summary: Currently, the genus Nanorana contains thirty-two species, and four of them belong to the subgenus Nanorana, namely N. bangdaensis, N. parkeri, N. pleskei, and N. ventripunctata. In this study, on the basis of molecular and morphological evidence, we described a new species of Nanorana (Nanorana) from northwestern Yunnan, China, where only one member (N. ventripunctata) of Nanorana (Nanorana) has been reported. Additionally, the taxonomic status of Nanorana arunachalensis and Allopaa hazarensis were discussed, and subgeneric allocations of Nanorana species were suggested. The findings in this study bring the number of Nanorana species to 33 and improve our understanding on the taxonomy of genus Nanorana and the species diversity of Nanorana (Nanorana), an alpine group widely distributed in the southern and southeastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. | ||||||
| 6:32p | [Crustacea • 2023] Limnopilos miromekong • A New Species of Furry Crown Crab, Limnopilos Chuang & Ng, 1991 (Brachyura: Hymenosomatidae) from Tonle Sap, Cambodia
Abstract A new species of the wholly freshwater hymenosomatid crab genus Limnopilos Chuang & Ng, 1991, is described from Tonle Sap River in the lower Mekong drainage, Cambodia. This is the fourth species known, and the second one from Indochina. The type species, of Limnopilos, L. naiyanetri Chuang & Ng, 1991, was from the Chao Phraya drainage to the west in central Thailand. The new species is characterized by the presence of a rostrum, relatively shorter ambulatory legs and a different structure of the male first gonopod. Limnopilos sumatranus Naruse & Ng, 2007, is also recorded from southern Peninsular Malaysia for the first time. Keywords: Taxonomy; new species; Hymenosomatoidea; freshwater crab; Mekong River; Indochina;   Peter K. L. Ng and Samol Chhuoy. 2023. A New Species of Furry Crown Crab, Limnopilos Chuang & Ng, 1991 (Brachyura, Hymenosomatidae) from Tonle Sap, Cambodia. Crustaceana. 96(9): 885–895. DOI: 10.1163/15685403-bja10313  Résumé: Une nouvelle espèce du genre de crabe Hymenosomatidae, Limnopilos Chuang & Ng, 1991, entièrement d’eau douce, est décrit du fleuve Tonlé Sap dans le bassin versant du Mékong inférieur, au Cambodge. C’est la quatrième espèce connue, et la seconde d’Asie du Sud-Est. L’espèce-type du genre Limnopilos, L. naiyanetri Chuang & Ng, 1991, était connue du bassin versant du Chao Phraya à l’ouest dans le centre de la Thaïlande. La nouvelle espèce est caractérisée par la présence d’un rostre, de pattes ambulatoires relativement plus courtes et une structure différente du premier gonopode mâle. Limnopilos sumatranus Naruse & Ng, 2007, est aussi signalé pour la première fois dans le sud de la Malaisie péninsulaire. |
| << Previous Day |
2023/11/25 [Calendar] |
Next Day >> |