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Sunday, November 10th, 2024
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| 2:59a | [Botany • 2024] Telipogon minutus (Orchidaceae: Cymbidieae: Oncidiinae) • A New Species from Bolivia
Abstract Telipogon minutus, from the Carrasco National Park in the Bolivian Yungas, is proposed as a new species. Plants of T. minutus, which reach up to 4 cm in height, are the smallest known Bolivian Telipogon. The new species is characterized by its oblong to ovate labellum, which is weakly sub-auriculate and retuse at the base, with a semi-circular stigma, a column with two lateral lobes and a mammillary protuberance at the apex, and two tufts of setae with trifurcate apices. A description, figures, and a distributional map of the new taxon are provided, along with a discussion of the differences between the new species and morphologically similar Telipogon species. Keywords: Andes, Bolivian Yungas, miniature Telipogon, Orchidaceae, taxonomy
Telipogon minutus M.Zárate & C.Martel, sp. nov. Diagnosis: Similar to Telipogon huancavelicanus Collantes & C.Martel, but differing by its obovate petals (vs. oblanceolate petals), the oblong-ovate labellum (vs. sub-pandurate), the base of the labellum sub-auriculate and retuse (vs. base with two well defined, diver-gent auricles), the semicircular stigma (vs. rectangular) the anterior border of the stigma swollen into a mammillary dome (vs. without a mammillary dome), only two tufts of setae emerging from lateral lobes of the column (vs. three tufts of setae), and the setae trifurcate at the apex (vs. irregularly branched at the apex). Etymology: From the Latin minutus, meaning “very small,” referring to the small size of the plants. Telipogon minutus is the smallest species among the Bolivian Telipogon. Modesto Zárate and Carlos Martel. 2024. A New Species Telipogon (Oncidiinae) from Bolivia. LANKESTERIANA. 24(3); 233–237. DOI: doi.org/10.15517/lank.v24i3.62111  | ||||||
| 2:59a | [PaleoMammalogy • 2024] Southernmost Record of Megadolodus (Litopterna: Proterotheriidae: Megadolodinae) from the late Middle Miocene of Fitzcarrald, Peruvian Amazonia, and mesowear analysis of diet in megadolodine litopterns
ABSTRACT Megadolodinae is a clade of tropical bunodont litopterns that includes three previously recognized species from Miocene fossil sites from northern South America. Here, we report an additional occurrence of Megadolodus molariformis from the Middle Miocene exposures at the Fitzcarrald arch (Peruvian Amazonia), based on dental material, which represents the southernmost record of the clade. This discovery further increases the faunal similarity between Fitzcarrald and the coeval La Venta fauna of Colombia. Given the convergent evolution of the bunodont dentition of megadolodines with suoids (Old World pigs and New World peccaries), we tested the hypothesis of frugivory in megadolodines with a mesowear angle approach using modern pigs and peccaries. These analyses differentiate the diet of modern suoids and suggest that megadolodines had a more abrasive diet than most of these taxa, except for the grazing warthogs. The dentition of megadolodines shows similar levels of abrasion to modern babirusas, thereby suggesting that the latter may represent an appropriate modern analog. Class MAMMALIA Linnaeus, 1758 Infraclass PLACENTALIA Owen, 1837 Order LITOPTERNA Ameghino, 1889 Family PROTEROTHERIIDAE Ameghino, 1887 Subfamily MEGADOLODINAE Cifelli & Villarroel, 1997 Genus MEGADOLODUS McKenna, 1956 MEGADOLODUS MOLARIFORMIS McKenna, 1956
CONCLUSION: We describe a bunodont upper molar from the late Middle Miocene Fitzcarrald Local Fauna of Peruvian Amazonia as belonging to the proterotheriid megadolodine Megadolodus molariformis (Fig. 4). This record further increases the faunal similarity between Fitzcarrald and other Middle Miocene faunas from Western Amazonia, including La Venta (Colombia) and TAR-31 (Tarapoto area, Peru). This similarity increases the confidence in assignment of the fauna of the Fitzcarrald arch to the Laventan stage. ... Oscar E. Wilson, Juan D. Carrillo, Rodolfo Salas-Gismondi, Pierre-Olivier Antoine, Aldo Benites-Palomino ,Fabien L. Condamine, Laurent Marivaux, François Pujos, Andrea Sánchez-Meseguer and Juha Saarinen. 2024. Southernmost Record of Megadolodus (Litopterna, Proterotheriidae, Megadolodinae) from the late Middle Miocene of Fitzcarrald, Peruvian Amazonia, and mesowear analysis of diet in megadolodine litopterns. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. e2413103. DOI: doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2024.2413103 | ||||||
| 2:59a | [Paleontology • 2024] The Marine Conservation Deposits of Monte San Giorgio (Switzerland & Italy): the Prototype of Triassic Black Shale Lagerstätten
Abstract Marine conservation deposits (‘Konservat-Lagerstätten’) are characterized by their mode of fossil preservation, faunal composition and sedimentary facies. Here, we review these characteristics with respect to the famous conservation deposit of the Besano Formation (formerly Grenzbitumenzone; including the Anisian–Ladinian boundary), and the successively younger fossil-bearing units Cava inferiore, Cava superiore, Cassina beds and the Kalkschieferzone of Monte San Giorgio (Switzerland and Italy). We compare these units to a selection of important black shale-type Lagerstätten of the global Phanerozoic plus the Ediacaran in order to detect commonalities in their facies, genesis, and fossil content using principal component and hierarchical cluster analyses. Further, we put the Monte San Giorgio type Fossillagerstätten into the context of other comparable Triassic deposits worldwide based on their fossil content. The results of the principal component and cluster analyses allow a subdivision of the 45 analysed Lagerstätten into four groups, for which we suggest the use of the corresponding pioneering localities: Burgess type for the early Palaeozoic black shales, Monte San Giorgio type for the Triassic black shales, Holzmaden type for the pyrite-rich black shales and Solnhofen type for platy limestones. Keywords: Konservat-Lagerstätten, Taphonomy, Marine reptiles, Exceptional preservation
Conclusions: The conservation deposits of Anisian and Ladinian age of Monte San Giorgio, comprising the Besano Formation, Cava inferiore, Cava superiore, Cassina Beds, and the Kalkschieferzone, represent some of the first black shale conservation deposits of Triassic age that were thoroughly studied. Now, after a century of excavations and more than a century of research, these deposits begin to enjoy global scientific recognition (e.g., Etter, 2002a; Rieppel, 2019), and continue to produce valuable new information about the palaeobiology and evolution of Triassic vertebrates today. With this paper, we want to highlight the key role of the conservation deposits of Monte San Giorgio: comparable to the pioneer role of the Burgess Shale for the Cambrian Lagerstätten or Solnhofen for the Mesozoic platy limestones, we highlight the pioneer role of the Besano Formation in particular as the prototype for Triassic Lagerstätten. Our simple comparison of 45 Fossillagerstätten worldwide employing principal component and hierarchical cluster analyses of 32 traits based on the ... Christian Klug, Stephan N. F. Spiekman, Dylan Bastiaans, Beat Scheffold and Torsten M. Scheyer. 2024. The Marine Conservation Deposits of Monte San Giorgio (Switzerland, Italy): the Prototype of Triassic Black Shale Lagerstätten. Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. 143, 11. DOI: doi.org/10.1186/s13358-024-00308-7  | ||||||
| 8:22a | [Botany • 2024] Begonia laxiflora (Begoniaceae, sect. Platycentrum) • A New Species from Central Vietnam
Abstract Begonia laxiflora is described as a new species endemic to Vietnam from granite boulder habitats in the Dakrong district. It is most similar to B. abbreviata in its creeping habit, broadly ovate leaves, persistent bracts, and the number of tepals in both staminate and pistillate flowers. The new species is different in its inflorescence having internodes much longer than the bracts (vs. internodes are hidden by the bracts), the outer tepals glabrous in both staminate and pistillate flowers (vs. sparsely scabrescent on the abaxial surface), ovary covered with minutely glandular trichomes (vs. hirsute) and the wings of the capsule distally pointed (vs. rounded). Central Truong Son, Dakrong Nature Reserve, endemism, Quang Tri province, plant diversity, plant taxonomy, Eudicots  Begonia laxiflora sp. nov.  Van Thanh Bui, Khang Sinh Nguyen, Manh Tuan Le, Duc Trong Nghiem, Sy Hung Uong, Quang Trung Truong, Anh Tu Le and Che Wei Lin. 2024. Begonia laxiflora (Begoniaceae), A New Species in sect. Petermannia from Central Vietnam. Phytotaxa. 671(1); 98-104. DOI: doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.671.1.6  | ||||||
| 8:38a | [Paleontology • 2024] Douglassarachne acanthopoda • A remarkable Spiny Arachnid (Arachnida: Pantetrapulmonata) from the Pennsylvanian Mazon Creek Lagerstätte, Illinois
Abstract A new genus and species of arachnid (Chelicerata: Arachnida), Douglassarachne acanthopoda n. gen. n. sp., is described from the late Carboniferous (Moscovian) Coal Measures of the Mazon Creek Lagerstätte, Illinois, USA. This is a unique animal with distinctive large spines on the legs. It has a subovate body, a segmented opisthosoma, and a terminal anal tubercle. The legs are robust and appear to have been similar in construction throughout the limb series, with heavy spination of the preserved proximal podomeres. The mouthparts and coxo-sternal region are equivocal. The preserved character combination does not permit easy referral to any known arachnid order, living or extinct, thus the new fossil in placed as Arachnida/Pantetrapulmonata incertae sedis. It contributes to an emerging pattern of disparate body plans among late Carboniferous arachnids, ranging from anatomically modern members of living orders through to extinct taxa, such as the present fossil, whose phylogenetic position remains unresolved.
Systematic paleontology Class Arachnida Lamarck, Reference Lamarck, 1801 Pantetrapulmonata incertae sedis Genus Douglassarachne new genus Type species: Douglassarachne acanthopoda new species, by monotypy. The genus is named for the Douglass family who kindly donated the specimen to the Field Museum for study. Douglassarachne acanthopoda new species Diagnosis: Relatively large arachnid (body length >15 mm) with median dorsal ocular tubercle on carapace, abdominal tergites, anal tubercle, legs bearing many long, curved macrospines. Etymology: From the Greek αγκάθι, a thorn or prickle, and πόδι, leg, with reference to the very spiny legs of this animal. Paul A. Selden and Jason A. Dunlop. 2024. A remarkable Spiny Arachnid from the Pennsylvanian Mazon Creek Lagerstätte, Illinois. Journal of Paleontology. DOI: doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2024.13 Non-technical Summary: The forests of the late Carboniferous period (about 300–320 million years ago) harbored a great variety of arachnids. In addition to the familiar spiders, harvestmen, and scorpions, there were other, stranger kinds of spider-like animals. Here, we describe a large spider-like arachnid with very spiny legs (presumably to deter predators), from the world-famous Mazon Creek fossil localities of Illinois, USA.  | ||||||
| 8:54a | [Paleontology • 2024] Akrophyllas gen. nov. • Elongate Ediacaran fronds from the Flinders Ranges, South Australia
Abstract Decimeter-scale, elongate, fossil fronds from the Ediacara Range in South Australia were formally described as Rangea longa Glaessner and Wade, 1966, but the disparate nature of documented specimens has hindered their inclusion in global syntheses and has resulted in these fossils being assigned to at least five different genera in two different clades since their discovery. Detailed study of the type material from the Ediacara Range and the few specimens subsequently collected elsewhere in the Flinders Ranges reaffirms that these specimens represent a single species, with the apparent morphological variation between specimens entirely taphonomic and reflecting the obverse and reverse surfaces of these fronds coupled with the orientation of the frond axis and petaloids at different angles relative to the sea bottom on which they were preserved. The preserved architecture of these fronds constitutes three orders of branching microstructure that are strictly orthogonal to immediately higher and lower orders. This implies affinities with the arboreomorphs, but representing a new frond genus herein named Akrophyllas. Akrophyllas n. gen. differs from all other Ediacaran fronds in exhibiting a stalk that is visible only on one side of the frond and is internal to the other side where the first-order branches instead meet at a zigzag axial trace. Akrophyllas n. gen. was attached to a bulbous holdfast on the sea bottom, and evidence for current scours that formed in the lee of the fronds and for a strong current alignment of felled fronds with depositional overlap of adjacent fronds imply an upright, epibenthic lifestyle for Akrophyllas longa new combination.
Systematic paleontology Clade Arboreomorpha Genus Akrophyllas new genus Type species: Rangea longa Glaessner and Wade, 1966 Diagnosis: New. Elongate, gently tapering, bifoliate petalodium attached to a discoid to spheroidal holdfast via a short stem or a naked stalk. Petalodium architecture consisting of three orders of strictly orthogonal branching, with mm-scale, second-order rectangular branches at right angles to the first-order branches and submillimetric third-order rectangular branches at right ... Etymology: Akros meaning “at the top” in Greek, in reference to its unusual preservation on the tops of sandstone beds. Phyllas meaning “leaf” in Greek, in reference to the overall lanceolate to linear, leaf-like shape of its petalodium. In combination with its original species name “longa”, it is the “long leaf at the top”. Remarks: This material previously has been referred to at least five different genera in two different major groupings of Ediacaran fronds. Its architecture indicates that it is an arboreomorph whose construction differs from all previously described fronds.
Kelsey F. Grimes, Guy M. Narbonne, James G. Gehling, Peter W. Trusler and T. Alexander Dececchi. 2024. Elongate Ediacaran fronds from the Flinders Ranges, South Australia. Journal of Paleontology. 98(2); 249 - 265. DOI: doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2023.45 | ||||||
| 2:57p | [Botany • 2024] Etlingera lacerata (Zingiberaceae: Alpinieae) • A New ginger Species discovered in Mindanao Island, Philippines
Abstract During our continued expeditions in Mindanao Island of southern Philippines, a new species, Etlingera lacerata Naive, was discovered and is herein described and illustrated. Resembling Etlingera amomoides closely, it is easily distinguished by its turbinate spike with a tapering tip and a red labellum adorned with occasional white spots along the lacerate margin. This study includes a comprehensive species description, colored photographs, phenology, habitat details, geographical information, and a provisional conservation assessment for this new endemic Etlingera species. With this discovery, the total of known Etlingera species in the Philippines rises to 18, with 12 of them being endemic to the archipelago. Keywords: Alpinioideae, Biodiversity, endangered, Surigao del Norte, Zamboanga Peninsula 
Etlingera lacerata Naive sp. nov. Diagnosis. This new species is closely similar to the Bornean endemic species, Etlingera amomoides A.D.Poulsen & Mood but can be easily recognized in having these following characters: absence of raised stilt roots (vs. presence of raised stilt roots in E. amomoides), narrowly oblanceolate leaf lamina with attenuate apex (vs. strap-shaped leaf lamina with narrowly acute apex in E. amomoides), turbinate spike with tapering apex (vs. flattened ovoid spike with truncate apex in E. amomoides), narrowly obovate fertile bracts with acuminate apex (vs. elliptic fertile bracts with acute apex), obovate to narrowly obovate corolla lobes (vs. elliptic to spatulate corolla lobes in E. amomoides), red labellum white central band in the throat and occasional white spots in the margin and plicately lacerate (vs. red with central yellow and entire margin in E. amomoides), glabrous style (vs. with scattered hairs in upper part of style in E. amomoides), and apically pubescent ovary (vs. glabrous ovary in E. amomoides). Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the lacerate labellum of this newly discovered endemic species. Mark Arcebal K. Naive, Jeco Jed J. Ruales, Darlo Novo M. Beltran, Eddie P. Mondejar and Ralph Rj E. Rozano. 2024. Etlingera lacerata (Alpinieae, Zingiberaceae), A New ginger Species discovered in Mindanao Island, Philippines. Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity. In Press. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.japb.2024.09.009 Researchgate.net/publication/385048128_Etlingera_lacerata_a_new_species_discovered_in_Mindanao_Ph | ||||||
| 6:01p | [Botany • 2024] Leucheria peteroana (Asteraceae: Nassauvieae) • A New Species of Leucheria endemic to the Andes of Central Chile, and insights into the Systematics of Nassauviae
Abstract A new species, Leucheria peteroana sp. nov., endemic to a restricted area of the Andes of Central Chile, is here described. Using newly sequenced nDNA and cpDNA data, the phylogenetic affinities of Leucheria and closely related taxa within Nassauvieae are revisited. This new species shows a unique set of characters that clearly distinguish it from other species of Leucheria. Phylogenetic analyses place this perennial species close to annual species found in the pre-Andean environments of Central Chile. A detailed description, distribution map, insights about its habitat, conservation status, and photographs are provided. Key words: Andes, Asteraceae, Laguna Teno, Leucheria, Maule, Nassauvieae, taxonomy
Leucheria peteroana Lavandero, sp. nov. Diagnosis: Leucheria peteroana is most similar to Leucheria runcinata but differs by its simple aboveground stems (vs. branching stems), solely glandular indumentum (vs. lanose and glandular), lack of any type of scent (vs. strongly pungent or fetid odour), completely white corollas on the adaxial side (vs. lilac to blue), pink-purplish anther apical appendages (vs. blue), pink style branches (vs. white styles), and pappus pectines of 250–520 µm long (vs. 130–160 µm) (Figs 5, 6). Leucheria peteroana also differs from Leucheria apiifolia by its larger height (vs. plants not taller than 30 cm.), two types of glandular trichomes in the vegetative part (vs. only one type of glandular trichome), lack of any type of scent (vs. soft and lemony odour), completely white corollas on the adaxial side (vs. pale gold corollas), outer lip completely extended at full anthesis (vs. outer lip revolute), and pink-purplish anther apical appendages (vs. beige to dark brown) (Fig. 7). Etymology: The specific epithet refers to the active volcanic complex Planchón-Peteroa. The Andean Lake where the species occurs lies at the foot of this volcano. Nicolás Lavandero, Fernanda Pérez and Nicolás Pinilla. 2024. Leucheria peteroana (Nassauvieae, Asteraceae), A New Species of Leucheria endemic to the Andes of Central Chile, and insights into the Systematics of Nassauviae. PhytoKeys. 248: 315-337. DOI: doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.248.133202 | ||||||
| 6:10p | [Paleontology • 2024] Huaxiazhoulong shouwen • A New ankylosaurid Dinosaur (Ankylosauria: Ankylosauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Jiangxi Province, southern China
ABSTRACT Huaxiazhoulong shouwen gen. et sp. nov. is a new ankylosaurid recovered from the Upper Cretaceous Tangbian Formation of Jiangxi Province, southern China. Huaxiazhoulong shouwen can be diagnosed on the basis of three autapomorphies (the middle shaft and distal end of the ischium are expanded; the ratio of width of distal end to minimum shaft width is greater than 3 in humerus, the maximum length of femur to humerus length ratio is about 1.45) and a unique combination of characters (the centra of anterior caudal vertebrae in anterior view is heart-shaped; the dorsal surface of scapula is straight; the scapulocoracoid has a large medial brace; the humeral head and deltopectoral crest are separated by a distinct notch anteriorly). The phylogenetic analysis shows that Huaxiazhoulong shouwen is an early member of Ankylosauridae. KEYWORDS: Ankylosauria, Upper Cretaceous, Tangbian Formation, Jiangxi Province, Huaxiazhoulong shouwen Huaxiazhoulong shouwen gen. et sp. nov. Ziheng Zhu, Jie Wu, Yue You, Yingli Jia, Chujiao Chen, Xi Yao, Wenjie Zheng and Xing Xu. 2024. A New ankylosaurid Dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Jiangxi Province, southern China. Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. DOI: doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2024.2417208 |
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