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Monday, June 16th, 2025
| Time | Event | ||||||
| 2:12a | [PaleoBotany • 2025] Tarimochara miraclensis • Ordovician marine Charophyceae and insights into land plant derivations
Abstract The emergence of land plants was a pivotal development in Earth history. It has been postulated that the evolutionary transition from freshwater streptophyte algae to land plants, or the canalization of plant meiosis, was completed during the Middle Ordovician (~460 Ma). However, the absence of undisputed streptophyte algal fossils (for example, Charophyceae) earlier than the late Silurian (~425 Ma) has obscured this link between streptophyte algae and land plants. Here we describe a marine Charophyceae fossil, Tarimochara miraclensis gen. et sp. nov., from early and middle Katian (Late Ordovician, ~453–449 Ma) marine limestones in northwestern China. This discovery demonstrates that at least some species of Charophyceae inhabited shallow normal marine environments at that time. Moreover, these early Charophyceae show that some key morphological innovations associated with an evolutionary transition between streptophyte algae and land plants had occurred before the early Katian. This provides crucial evidence relevant to the origins of land plants.
Genus Tarimochara Liu, Wu & Riding gen. nov. Tarimochara miraclensis Liu, Wu & Riding sp. nov. Lijing Liu, Jian Han, Zhifei Zhang, Qing Tang, Ke Pang, Ruiyun Li, Yasheng Wu, Hong Hua, Bin Guo, Chunfang Cai and Robert Riding. 2025. Ordovician marine Charophyceae and insights into land plant derivations. Nature Plants. DOI: doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-02003-y [30 May 2025] x.com/NaturePlants/status/1928869309175992480 || http://rdcu.be/eoSkA | ||||||
| 5:30a | [Invertebrate • 2025] Breviturma securis • A New brittle star of the Genus Breviturma (Ophiuroidea: Ophiocomidae), with a new record from Taiwan
Abstract The genus Breviturma, a group of brittle stars inhabiting intertidal and shallow subtidal zones, includes eight recognized species distributed mainly across the Indo-West Pacific. This study describes a new species, Breviturma securis sp. nov., from Taiwan. The new species is distinguishable from its congeners through both morphological and molecular evidence, including disc granule density, arm spine sequences, and distinctive color patterns on the dorsal disc and dorsal arm plates. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA and COI genes support its unique status, revealing interspecific divergence distances of 18.27–26.66% between B. securis and other congeners in the Indo-West Pacific. Based on the distribution patterns of its congeners, B. securis is expected to be widely distributed in other regions of the Indo-West Pacific. A newly recorded species, Breviturma krohi (Stöhr, Boissin & Hoareau, 2013), from Taiwan is also reported. Keywords: Breviturma securis sp. nov., Breviturma krohi, East Asia, 16S rDNA, cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) 
Breviturma securis sp. nov. Etymology: The species name securis is derived from the Latin word meaning ‘axe’, referencing the axe-shaped dark patterns on the dorsal arm plates. The name is used as a noun in apposition. Kai Chang and Hsi-Te Shih. 2025. Description of A New brittle star of the Genus Breviturma (Ophiuroidea: Ophiocomidae), with a new record from Taiwan. European Journal of Taxonomy. 997(1); 28–50. DOI: doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2025.997.2919 | ||||||
| 10:37a | [PaleoMammalogy • 2025] Nujalikodon cassiopeiae • The Oldest definitive docodontan from central East Greenland sheds light on the Origin of the Clade
ABSTRACT The first mammaliaforms emerged in the Late Triassic, but their exact origins remain unclear due to the scarcity of fossils from this period. One of the earliest diverging mammaliaform groups, the order Docodonta, became unusually ecomorphologically diverse compared with other early mammals, and this may be connected to the possession of complex molar cusp morphology. The specimen described here, found in the Rhætelv Formation of the Kap Stewart Group (Rhaetian–Sinemurian) of central East Greenland, provides novel information on docodontan origins and evolution, as well as key biogeographic insights into early mammal dispersal. Nujalikodon cassiopeiae gen. et sp. nov. is the first mammaliaform found in the Rhætelv Formation, and is likely to be Early Jurassic (Hettangian) in age. Comprising an incomplete dentary with a single preserved molar, it was visualized using micro-computed tomography; the molar bears similarities to the putative early docodontan Delsatia, and docodontan Dobunnodon. Phylogenetic analysis places Nujalikodon cassiopeiae as a basal member of Docodonta or a close sister taxon, making it one of the oldest definitive docodontans and pushing the origin of the group back to at least the Early Jurassic. It provides insights into the development of docodontan dental complexity, a key factor in their ecological diversification during the Middle to Late Jurassic. Its presence in Greenland supports the hypothesis that docodontans originated in the region now comprising Europe and Greenland before dispersing across the rest of Laurasia. Keywords: mammal, molar complexity, Docodonta, Mesozoic, Rhætelv formation  Nujalikodon cassiopeiae gen. et sp. nov. Sofia Patrocínio, Elsa Panciroli, Filippo Maria Rotatori, Octavio Mateus, Jesper Milàn, Lars B. Clemmensen and Vicente D. Crespo. 2025. The Oldest definitive docodontan from central East Greenland sheds light on the Origin of the Clade. Papers in Palaeontology. DOI: doi.org/10.1002/spp2.70022 [13 June 2025] facebook.com/61551425206601/posts/12217 #mammaliaformes #docodon #docodonta #nujalikodon #nujalikodoncassiopeiae #paleoart #rhaetelvformation #greenland #latetriassic #scientificillustration #paleoillustration | ||||||
| 3:21p | [Herpetology • 2025] Boulenophrys yezhongensis • A New Species of the genus Boulenophrys (Anura: Megophryidae) from Guizhou, China
Abstract Based on morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses, a new species of the genus Boulenophrys is described from Yezhong Nature Reserve, Shuicheng County, Guizhou Province, China. Phylogenetic analyses based on the mitochondrial genes 16S rRNA and COI indicate that this new species represents an independent species-level lineage, closely related to B. fanjingmontis, B. qianbeiensis, B. sangzhiensis, and B. spinata. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following characteristics: (1) body size moderate (SVL 41.2–46.2 mm in adult males and 51.8–58.6 mm in adult females); (2) a single small horn-like tubercle at the edge of each upper eyelid; (3) vomerine teeth absent; (4) tongue not notched posteriorly; (5) tympanum distinctly visible, round; (6) toes with rudimentary webbing and narrow lateral fringes; (7) heels overlapping when thighs are positioned at right angles to the body; (8) tibiotarsal articulation reaching the level of the middle of the eye when the leg is stretched forward; (9) a single internal subgular vocal sac in males; (10) in breeding males, the nuptial pads have black nuptial spines on the bases of the first and second fingers. Key Words: Boulenophrys yezhongensis sp. nov., molecular phylogenetic analysis, morphology, taxonomy
Boulenophrys yezhongensis sp. nov. Diagnosis. Boulenophrys yezhongensis sp. nov. is assigned to the genus Boulenophrys based on molecular phylogenetic analyses and the following generic diagnostic characters: snout shield-like; projecting beyond the lower jaw; canthus rostralis distinct; chest glands small and round, closer to the axilla than to midventral line; femoral glands on rear part of thigh; vertical pupils; and the presence of subarticular tubercles at the base of each finger (Fei et al. 2016; Lyu et al. 2023). Boulenophrys yezhongensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following morphological characters: body size moderate (SVL 41.2–46.2 mm in adult males and 51.8–58.6 mm in adult females); a small horn-like tubercle at edge of each upper eyelid; vomerine teeth absent; tongue not notched posteriorly; tympanum distinctly visible, round; two metacarpal tubercles on hand; toes with rudimentary webbing and narrow lateral fringes; heels overlapping when thighs are positioned at right angles to the body; tibiotarsal articulation reaching the level to the middle of eye when leg stretched forward; a single internal subgular vocal sac in adult males; in breeding males, nuptial pads with black nuptial spines on the dorsal bases of the first and second fingers. Etymology. The specific epithet yezhongensis refers to the type locality of the species. We propose the common English name “Yezhong Horned Toad” and the Chinese name “Yě Zhōng Jiǎo Chán (野钟角蟾)” for this species.
Jing Liu, Chao-Bo Feng, Tuo Shen, Shi-Ze Li, Yanlin Cheng, Gang Wei, Bin Wang and Haijun Su. 2025. A New Species of the genus Boulenophrys (Anura, Megophryidae) from Guizhou, China. Herpetozoa. 38: 117-136. DOI: doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.38.e155430 |
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