[Most Recent Entries] [Calendar View]
Wednesday, February 12th, 2025
| Time | Event | ||||||
| 2:03a | [Ichthyology • 2025] Branchiostegus sanae • A New Species of Deepwater Tilefish (Eupercaria: Branchiostegidae) from the South China Sea
Abstract A new species of deepwater tilefish, Branchiostegus sanae sp. nov., is described based on five specimens collected from the area between the Xisha Islands and Hainan Island, China. This species can be distinguished from congeners by its unique cheek marker and a combination of characteristics. Among the tilefish species known to be distributed in the South China Sea, this species is the only one with vertical stripes on the body. Based on the COI, CytB, and 12S sequences, a maximum-likelihood phylogenetic tree shows that the B. sanae sp. nov. forms a separate clade and is the sister group to the clade consisting of B. sawakinensis, B. albus, B. argentatus, B. biendong, B. japonicus, B. auratus, and B. okinawaensis. A key to the genus Branchiostegus is also compiled. Key words: Bottom fish, Hainan, Malacanthidae, phylogeny, taxonomy  Branchiostegus sanae sp. nov. New standard Chinese common name: 幽灵方头鱼 New English common name: Mononoke tilefish Diagnosis. The species can be distinguished from its congeners in having the following combination of characteristics: a unique white-red bar between the orbit and upper jaw; distal end of upper jaw vertical reaching or exceeding midpoint of orbit; yellow predorsal ridge with dark rim; dorsal fin membrane translucent greyish, with spines darker; dorsal fin spines grey and soft rays yellow; about 16 dark vertical stripes on each side; longest dorsal fin soft ray long, 20.6–22.7% in SL; no black spots on base of scales; and caudal fin nearly truncated, upper part pale orange mixed with yellow stripes, and lower part dark grey with inconspicuous yellow blotch near base. Etymology: The name sanae refers to the heroine’s name, San in Hayao Miyazaki’s film Princess Mononoke, who has similar red under-eye stripes to this species and symbolizes the ideas and appeals of harmonious coexistence between man and nature that we want to share (Miyazaki 1997). Common name: Both the Chinese and English common names of this species are derived from the title of the film and align with the common name used by Chinese fishermen, “鬼马头鱼” (Ghost horsehead fish), due to the unusual cheek patterns of this species.
Haochen Huang, Jingxuan Chen, Zhixin Ke and Chi Zhang. 2025. Branchiostegus sanae, A New Species of Deepwater Tilefish (Eupercaria, Branchiostegidae) from the South China Sea. ZooKeys 1227: 129-142. DOI: doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1227.130512  | ||||||
| 4:45p | [PaleoOrnithology • 2025] Baminornis zhenghensis • Earliest Short-tailed Bird from the Late Jurassic of China
Abstract Recent macroevolutionary studies predict a diversification of early birds during the Jurassic period, but the unquestionable Jurassic bird fossil record is limited to Archaeopteryx, which has also been referred to deinonychosaurian dinosaurs by some analyses. Although they have feathered wings, the known Jurassic birds are more similar to non-avialan theropods in having the ancestral long reptilian tail. This is in stark contrast to most Cretaceous and crownward taxa, which have a short tail that terminates in a compound bone called the pygostyle. Here we report on the oldest short-tailed avialan, Baminornis zhenghensis gen. et sp. nov., from the recently discovered Late Jurassic Zhenghe Fauna, which fills a noticeable spatio-temporal gap in the earliest branching avialan fossil record. B. zhenghensis exhibits a unique combination of derived ornithothoracine-like pectoral and pelvic girdles and plesiomorphic non-avialan maniraptoran hand, demonstrating mosaic evolution along stem avialan line. An avialan furcula collected from the same locality is referrable to ornithuromorphs on the basis of our morphometric and phylogenetic analyses. These newly discovered fossils demonstrate the early appearance of highly derived bird features, and together with an anchiornithine fossil from the same locality, they suggest an earlier origin of birds and a radiation of early birds in the Jurassic.  Baminornis zhenghensis gen. et sp. nov.   
Runsheng Chen, Min Wang, Liping Dong, Guowu Zhou, Xing Xu, Ke Deng, Liming Xu, Chi Zhang, Linchang Wang, Honggang Du, Ganmin Lin, Min Lin and Zhonghe Zhou. 2025. Earliest Short-tailed Bird from the Late Jurassic of China. Nature. 638, 441–448. DOI: doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08410-z  |
| << Previous Day |
2025/02/12 [Calendar] |
Next Day >> |