Pub Date : 2025-10-16DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf104
Lucy E Roberts, James M Mulqueeney, Yichen He, Marcela Randau, Daniel Whitmore, Anjali Goswami
Phenotypic integration has been shown to influence the degree and direction of organismal evolution in vertebrates. Comparatively fewer multivariate analyses of shape have been conducted in invertebrates, partly due to difficulties in identifying unambiguously homologous landmarks. We present the first landmark-free deterministic atlas analysis (DAA) of shape and integration between insect tagmata, characterizing intraspecific variation in the blowfly Calliphora vicina (Diptera: Calliphoridae). We recover sexual dimorphism in the shape of all three tagmata, even where differences are gradational or indistinguishable from visual inspection. Partial least square analysis reveals high integration between tagmata within females, but not males. In males, integration is low between the thorax and abdomen, and absent between the head and abdomen. This reflects independence in the mechanisms underlying shape variation, including the development of highly sexually dimorphic eye morphologies and of structures that house the genital apparatus. Furthermore, we find a relationship between within-segment integration and morphological variance suggesting within-tagma integration may be facilitating shape variation in C. vicina. These intraspecific insights highlight the potential for landmark-free studies investigating the influence of development on shape and integration between species and across clades. Moreover, these techniques may aid forensic entomology, where sex determination can assist with postmortem interval estimates.
{"title":"Landmark-free morphometrics reveals sexual dimorphism in shape and integration of tagmata in the forensically important blowfly Calliphora vicina","authors":"Lucy E Roberts, James M Mulqueeney, Yichen He, Marcela Randau, Daniel Whitmore, Anjali Goswami","doi":"10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf104","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf104","url":null,"abstract":"Phenotypic integration has been shown to influence the degree and direction of organismal evolution in vertebrates. Comparatively fewer multivariate analyses of shape have been conducted in invertebrates, partly due to difficulties in identifying unambiguously homologous landmarks. We present the first landmark-free deterministic atlas analysis (DAA) of shape and integration between insect tagmata, characterizing intraspecific variation in the blowfly Calliphora vicina (Diptera: Calliphoridae). We recover sexual dimorphism in the shape of all three tagmata, even where differences are gradational or indistinguishable from visual inspection. Partial least square analysis reveals high integration between tagmata within females, but not males. In males, integration is low between the thorax and abdomen, and absent between the head and abdomen. This reflects independence in the mechanisms underlying shape variation, including the development of highly sexually dimorphic eye morphologies and of structures that house the genital apparatus. Furthermore, we find a relationship between within-segment integration and morphological variance suggesting within-tagma integration may be facilitating shape variation in C. vicina. These intraspecific insights highlight the potential for landmark-free studies investigating the influence of development on shape and integration between species and across clades. Moreover, these techniques may aid forensic entomology, where sex determination can assist with postmortem interval estimates.","PeriodicalId":49333,"journal":{"name":"Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society","volume":"38 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145310742","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-16DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf132
Harald Letsch, Alexander Riedel
The phylogeny of ‘broad-nosed weevils’ is explored with a data set of mitochondrial genomes of 130 species, representing 32 tribes. Phylogenetic analyses recovered a subdivision of Entiminae Schoenherr, 1823 into a ‘northern clade’ of mostly Palaearctic, Indomalayan, and African taxa and a ‘southern clade’ of Australian, Oceanian, and South American groups. Biogeographical reconstructions infer the origin of Entiminae in the Late Cretaceous in the Holarctic and a range expansion of the ‘southern clade’ from North America to South America. A group of genera with a ‘leptopiine’ type of rostrum are polyphyletic and subdivided based on zoogeographical regions: the Palaearctic and Nearctic genera remain in Byrsopagini Lacordaire, 1863; the Neotropical genera are placed in Strangaliodini Lacordaire, 1863; and the Indoaustralian genera are placed in Pantopoeini Lacordaire, 1863 (stat. nov.), which are given priority over Prypnini Lacordaire, 1863; the following names are junior synonyms of Pantopoeini: Elytrurini Marshall, 1956, syn. nov., Eupholini Günther, 1943, syn. nov, Leptopiini Oke, 1951, syn. nov., and Polycatini Marshall, 1956, syn. nov. Isopterina Morimoto & Kojima, 2001 is excluded from Celeuthetini Lacordaire, 1863 and promoted as tribe Isopterini (stat. nov.). The Sitoninae Gistel, 1848 (stat. nov.) are elevated to subfamily rank. Rhyncholobus Gahan, 1900 is transferred to Episomini Lacordaire, 1863. The Celeuthetini are sister group of Pachyrhynchini Schoenherr, 1826.
{"title":"Classification and biogeography of the weevil subfamily Entiminae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) based on a comprehensive dated phylogeny","authors":"Harald Letsch, Alexander Riedel","doi":"10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf132","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf132","url":null,"abstract":"The phylogeny of ‘broad-nosed weevils’ is explored with a data set of mitochondrial genomes of 130 species, representing 32 tribes. Phylogenetic analyses recovered a subdivision of Entiminae Schoenherr, 1823 into a ‘northern clade’ of mostly Palaearctic, Indomalayan, and African taxa and a ‘southern clade’ of Australian, Oceanian, and South American groups. Biogeographical reconstructions infer the origin of Entiminae in the Late Cretaceous in the Holarctic and a range expansion of the ‘southern clade’ from North America to South America. A group of genera with a ‘leptopiine’ type of rostrum are polyphyletic and subdivided based on zoogeographical regions: the Palaearctic and Nearctic genera remain in Byrsopagini Lacordaire, 1863; the Neotropical genera are placed in Strangaliodini Lacordaire, 1863; and the Indoaustralian genera are placed in Pantopoeini Lacordaire, 1863 (stat. nov.), which are given priority over Prypnini Lacordaire, 1863; the following names are junior synonyms of Pantopoeini: Elytrurini Marshall, 1956, syn. nov., Eupholini Günther, 1943, syn. nov, Leptopiini Oke, 1951, syn. nov., and Polycatini Marshall, 1956, syn. nov. Isopterina Morimoto & Kojima, 2001 is excluded from Celeuthetini Lacordaire, 1863 and promoted as tribe Isopterini (stat. nov.). The Sitoninae Gistel, 1848 (stat. nov.) are elevated to subfamily rank. Rhyncholobus Gahan, 1900 is transferred to Episomini Lacordaire, 1863. The Celeuthetini are sister group of Pachyrhynchini Schoenherr, 1826.","PeriodicalId":49333,"journal":{"name":"Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145310775","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-16DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae120
Walter E Schargel, Cristian Hernández-Morales, Juan D Daza, Michael J Jowers, Andrés Camilo Montes-Correa, Mayke De Freitas, Kathryn A Sullivan, Tony Gamble, Aaron M Bauer, Gilson A Rivas
We describe a new species of miniaturized gecko (genus Pseudogonatodes) from the Peninsula de Paria in northeastern Venezuela. Externally, the new species resembles Pseudogonatodes furvus and Pseudogonatodes manessi, from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia and the Central Coastal Range in Venezuela, respectively; however, it differs from these species in terms of molecular genetic data (12S rRNA, 16S rRNA, and c-mos), osteological characters, and scale counts. The new species is unique in skull osteology, and we adopt the term ‘telescoped’ from the literature to describe the overlap of bones in the snout, in particular the premaxilla fully separating the nasal bones and contacting the frontal bone. The new species is also the only known species of Pseudogonatodes with fused parietal bones. Using molecular data, we present the first phylogeny of Pseudogonatodes, including six of the nine species in the genus. The new species is sister to P. manessi, which is consistent with biogeographical patterns in the mountainous areas of northern Venezuela. The phylogenetic results also indicate that Pseudogonatodes guianensis is non-monophyletic and raise the possibility of resurrecting the name Pseudogonatodes amazonicus. However, large sampling gaps in Amazonia prevent us from rigorously assessing species limits and proposing a taxonomic change.
{"title":"Morphology and molecular systematics support a new species of Pseudogonatodes (Squamata: Gekkota: Sphaerodactylidae) from Venezuela with a remarkable telescoped skull","authors":"Walter E Schargel, Cristian Hernández-Morales, Juan D Daza, Michael J Jowers, Andrés Camilo Montes-Correa, Mayke De Freitas, Kathryn A Sullivan, Tony Gamble, Aaron M Bauer, Gilson A Rivas","doi":"10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae120","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae120","url":null,"abstract":"We describe a new species of miniaturized gecko (genus Pseudogonatodes) from the Peninsula de Paria in northeastern Venezuela. Externally, the new species resembles Pseudogonatodes furvus and Pseudogonatodes manessi, from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia and the Central Coastal Range in Venezuela, respectively; however, it differs from these species in terms of molecular genetic data (12S rRNA, 16S rRNA, and c-mos), osteological characters, and scale counts. The new species is unique in skull osteology, and we adopt the term ‘telescoped’ from the literature to describe the overlap of bones in the snout, in particular the premaxilla fully separating the nasal bones and contacting the frontal bone. The new species is also the only known species of Pseudogonatodes with fused parietal bones. Using molecular data, we present the first phylogeny of Pseudogonatodes, including six of the nine species in the genus. The new species is sister to P. manessi, which is consistent with biogeographical patterns in the mountainous areas of northern Venezuela. The phylogenetic results also indicate that Pseudogonatodes guianensis is non-monophyletic and raise the possibility of resurrecting the name Pseudogonatodes amazonicus. However, large sampling gaps in Amazonia prevent us from rigorously assessing species limits and proposing a taxonomic change.","PeriodicalId":49333,"journal":{"name":"Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society","volume":"131 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145310793","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-16DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf131
Brooke Bessesen, Manuela González-Suárez, Guido Saborío-R, Edward A Myers, Balázs Buzás, Csaba Géczy, Arne R Rasmussen, Kate L Sanders, Sara Ruane, James H Nankivell
The yellow sea snake Hydrophis platurus xanthos is found only in Costa Rica’s South Pacific embayment of Golfo Dulce, confined to a <215-m-deep inner basin. This endemic population is geographically separated from the pelagic sea snake Hydrophis platurus platurus by >20 km and has distinctive morphological characters, suggesting potential phylogenetic divergence. Our study confirms morphological diagnosability of the Golfo Dulce population using coloration (predominantly yellow vs. dorsally black) and consistently small body size (<60 cm in total length). Several significant differences in cephalic and caudal scale counts are also documented. Seven preserved yellow specimens collected outside Golfo Dulce in the 1970s are morphologically consistent H. p. xanthos, suggesting that they originated from inside the gulf. Despite this, when we used reduced representation sequencing to examine single-nucleotide polymorphisms, targeted squamate conserved loci, and mined mitochondrial DNA, our molecular analyses provided no evidence that H. p. xanthos and H. p. platurus are separately evolving lineages. Indeed, we found near-complete lack of structure both within and between these populations. The absence of genetic differentiation, which suggests regular gene flow despite contrary morphological and biogeographical factors, creates an intriguing paradox. Recent separation and/or high selection pressure might be in effect.
{"title":"The Golfo Dulce yellow sea snake (Elapidae: Hydrophis platurus xanthos) from morphological and molecular perspectives","authors":"Brooke Bessesen, Manuela González-Suárez, Guido Saborío-R, Edward A Myers, Balázs Buzás, Csaba Géczy, Arne R Rasmussen, Kate L Sanders, Sara Ruane, James H Nankivell","doi":"10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf131","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf131","url":null,"abstract":"The yellow sea snake Hydrophis platurus xanthos is found only in Costa Rica’s South Pacific embayment of Golfo Dulce, confined to a &lt;215-m-deep inner basin. This endemic population is geographically separated from the pelagic sea snake Hydrophis platurus platurus by &gt;20 km and has distinctive morphological characters, suggesting potential phylogenetic divergence. Our study confirms morphological diagnosability of the Golfo Dulce population using coloration (predominantly yellow vs. dorsally black) and consistently small body size (&lt;60 cm in total length). Several significant differences in cephalic and caudal scale counts are also documented. Seven preserved yellow specimens collected outside Golfo Dulce in the 1970s are morphologically consistent H. p. xanthos, suggesting that they originated from inside the gulf. Despite this, when we used reduced representation sequencing to examine single-nucleotide polymorphisms, targeted squamate conserved loci, and mined mitochondrial DNA, our molecular analyses provided no evidence that H. p. xanthos and H. p. platurus are separately evolving lineages. Indeed, we found near-complete lack of structure both within and between these populations. The absence of genetic differentiation, which suggests regular gene flow despite contrary morphological and biogeographical factors, creates an intriguing paradox. Recent separation and/or high selection pressure might be in effect.","PeriodicalId":49333,"journal":{"name":"Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society","volume":"66 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145310774","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-15DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf129
Rafael Dantas Lima, Sergio D Bolívar-Leguizamón, Fernanda Bocalini, Rafael S Marcondes, Robb T Brumfield, Luís Fábio Silveira
The Variable Antshrike (Thamnophilus caerulescens) includes eight recognized subspecies across a broad range from Peru to eastern Brazil. Previous genetic studies suggested deep divergence among some populations, but limited geographic sampling hindered taxonomic resolution. We analysed plumage, morphology, vocalizations, and genome-wide genetic markers across the full range of T. caerulescens to assess geographic variation and population structure. We also conducted field playback experiments to test vocal differences as potential premating reproductive barriers. Our data reveal nine phenotypically distinct populations, including seven of the eight currently recognized taxa and two new taxa. Increased geographic sampling uncovered several hybrid zones, some spanning hundreds of kilometres. The geographically isolated T. c. cearensis showed substantial genetic and vocal differences from the remaining taxa, overlapping in acoustic trait space only with the distant T. c. melanchrous. In playback experiments, T. c. cearensis responded to its own and T. c. melanchrous songs but ignored others. These results suggest strong behavioural isolation and probable intrinsic postzygotic barriers between T. c. cearensis and other taxa, supporting its recognition as a separate species. In contrast, most other taxa exhibit only modest differentiation in traits linked to reproductive isolation and show weak barriers in contact zones.
变蚁鸟（Thamnophilus caerulescens）包括八个公认的亚种，分布在从秘鲁到巴西东部的广阔地区。以前的遗传研究表明，一些种群之间存在着深刻的分歧，但有限的地理采样阻碍了分类的解决。我们分析了全系列毛羽瓢虫的羽毛、形态、发声和全基因组遗传标记，以评估地理变异和种群结构。我们还进行了现场回放实验，以测试声音差异作为潜在的早熟繁殖障碍。我们的数据揭示了9个表型不同的种群，包括8个现有分类群中的7个和2个新分类群。增加的地理采样发现了几个混合区，有些跨越数百公里。地理上孤立的cearensis与其他类群表现出明显的遗传和声音差异，仅与遥远的t.c. melanchrous在声学特征空间上重叠。在回放实验中，T. c. cearensis对自己和T. c.忧郁的歌曲有反应，但忽略了其他歌曲。这些结果表明，ctc . cearensis与其他分类群之间存在强烈的行为隔离和可能的内在合子后屏障，支持其作为独立物种的认识。相比之下，大多数其他分类群在与生殖隔离相关的特征上只表现出适度的分化，在接触区表现出较弱的屏障。
{"title":"Geographic variation, population genetic structure, and taxonomy of the Variable Antshrike (Thamnophilus caerulescens)","authors":"Rafael Dantas Lima, Sergio D Bolívar-Leguizamón, Fernanda Bocalini, Rafael S Marcondes, Robb T Brumfield, Luís Fábio Silveira","doi":"10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf129","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf129","url":null,"abstract":"The Variable Antshrike (Thamnophilus caerulescens) includes eight recognized subspecies across a broad range from Peru to eastern Brazil. Previous genetic studies suggested deep divergence among some populations, but limited geographic sampling hindered taxonomic resolution. We analysed plumage, morphology, vocalizations, and genome-wide genetic markers across the full range of T. caerulescens to assess geographic variation and population structure. We also conducted field playback experiments to test vocal differences as potential premating reproductive barriers. Our data reveal nine phenotypically distinct populations, including seven of the eight currently recognized taxa and two new taxa. Increased geographic sampling uncovered several hybrid zones, some spanning hundreds of kilometres. The geographically isolated T. c. cearensis showed substantial genetic and vocal differences from the remaining taxa, overlapping in acoustic trait space only with the distant T. c. melanchrous. In playback experiments, T. c. cearensis responded to its own and T. c. melanchrous songs but ignored others. These results suggest strong behavioural isolation and probable intrinsic postzygotic barriers between T. c. cearensis and other taxa, supporting its recognition as a separate species. In contrast, most other taxa exhibit only modest differentiation in traits linked to reproductive isolation and show weak barriers in contact zones.","PeriodicalId":49333,"journal":{"name":"Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society","volume":"44 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145295620","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-11DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf103
Omar Domínguez-Castanedo, Ximena Luna-González, Liliana García-Calva, Tessy M Muñoz-Campos, Ana María Rosales-Torres
Amphibious fishes are characterized by their ability to emerge out of the water as a part of their normal life history. This enables them to occupy ecological niches unavailable to fully aquatic species. We used morphological, physiological, and behavioural analyses to investigate the amphibious capabilities of the annual killifish Millerichthys robustus, because voluntary emersions from water were frequently observed in the laboratory. We found that Millerichthys is capable of breathing atmospheric air for several days of emergence, maintaining similar or higher respiratory rates than in water. The interlamellar region of the gill tissue was remodelled in response to exposure to air, probably through hyperplasia and hypertrophy, to avoid dehydration and prevent the collapse of tissue of the gill epithelia. The reduction of water volume and intraspecific interactions trigger fish emersion. We identified and described specific behaviours that allow Millerichthys to emerge from water (caudal propulsion after intraspecific aggression, and launching during voluntary emersions) and move on land (side placement, tail-flip, squiggles, and lateral slides). We demonstrated that the hermaphrodite annual killifish M. robustus expresses a true amphibious capacity, so far unknown in any annual killifish. We discuss the adaptive potential of amphibious capacity during seasonal water loss in temporary pools of México.
{"title":"The amphibious capacity in an annual fish","authors":"Omar Domínguez-Castanedo, Ximena Luna-González, Liliana García-Calva, Tessy M Muñoz-Campos, Ana María Rosales-Torres","doi":"10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf103","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf103","url":null,"abstract":"Amphibious fishes are characterized by their ability to emerge out of the water as a part of their normal life history. This enables them to occupy ecological niches unavailable to fully aquatic species. We used morphological, physiological, and behavioural analyses to investigate the amphibious capabilities of the annual killifish Millerichthys robustus, because voluntary emersions from water were frequently observed in the laboratory. We found that Millerichthys is capable of breathing atmospheric air for several days of emergence, maintaining similar or higher respiratory rates than in water. The interlamellar region of the gill tissue was remodelled in response to exposure to air, probably through hyperplasia and hypertrophy, to avoid dehydration and prevent the collapse of tissue of the gill epithelia. The reduction of water volume and intraspecific interactions trigger fish emersion. We identified and described specific behaviours that allow Millerichthys to emerge from water (caudal propulsion after intraspecific aggression, and launching during voluntary emersions) and move on land (side placement, tail-flip, squiggles, and lateral slides). We demonstrated that the hermaphrodite annual killifish M. robustus expresses a true amphibious capacity, so far unknown in any annual killifish. We discuss the adaptive potential of amphibious capacity during seasonal water loss in temporary pools of México.","PeriodicalId":49333,"journal":{"name":"Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145261593","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-09DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf087
D Cary Woodruff, John R Horner, Mark B Goodwin, David C Evans
During the latest Cretaceous, western North America experienced several regressive and transgressive cycles of the Western Interior Seaway (WIS). Closely related, time-successive taxa of tyrannosaurids, ceratopsids, hadrosaurids, and pachycephalosaurids have been proposed to have evolved via anagenesis driven by habitat area fluctuations related to sea level change. Previous examinations into these anagenetic hypotheses have resulted in equivocal results. However, evolution related to this WIS hypothesis has yet to be tested for Pachycephalosauria. Originally, it was hypothesized that an undescribed taxon from the Two Medicine Formation constituted an anagenetic intermediate between the Campanian Stegoceras validum and the Maastrichtian Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensis. Here we describe this Two Medicine Formation pachycephalosaurid and test the proposed anagenetic lineage. This taxon is the first pachycephalosaurid from the Two Medicine Formation, and the massive frontoparietal dome indicates that it was the third largest North American pachycephalosaurid. Phylogenetic analyses recover this new taxon distant from both Stegoceras and Pachycephalosaurus; thus, refuting the hypothesis that this taxon constitutes any part of an ancestor–descent series between Stegoceras and Pachycephalosaurus. However, the new taxon not only increases understanding of pachycephalosaurid morphology and diversity, but shows that this clade contained relatively large body-sized taxa as early as the Middle Campanian.
{"title":"The first pachycephalosaurid from the Late Cretaceous Two Medicine Formation: effects of the Western Interior Seaway on North American pachycephalosaurid evolution","authors":"D Cary Woodruff, John R Horner, Mark B Goodwin, David C Evans","doi":"10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf087","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf087","url":null,"abstract":"During the latest Cretaceous, western North America experienced several regressive and transgressive cycles of the Western Interior Seaway (WIS). Closely related, time-successive taxa of tyrannosaurids, ceratopsids, hadrosaurids, and pachycephalosaurids have been proposed to have evolved via anagenesis driven by habitat area fluctuations related to sea level change. Previous examinations into these anagenetic hypotheses have resulted in equivocal results. However, evolution related to this WIS hypothesis has yet to be tested for Pachycephalosauria. Originally, it was hypothesized that an undescribed taxon from the Two Medicine Formation constituted an anagenetic intermediate between the Campanian Stegoceras validum and the Maastrichtian Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensis. Here we describe this Two Medicine Formation pachycephalosaurid and test the proposed anagenetic lineage. This taxon is the first pachycephalosaurid from the Two Medicine Formation, and the massive frontoparietal dome indicates that it was the third largest North American pachycephalosaurid. Phylogenetic analyses recover this new taxon distant from both Stegoceras and Pachycephalosaurus; thus, refuting the hypothesis that this taxon constitutes any part of an ancestor–descent series between Stegoceras and Pachycephalosaurus. However, the new taxon not only increases understanding of pachycephalosaurid morphology and diversity, but shows that this clade contained relatively large body-sized taxa as early as the Middle Campanian.","PeriodicalId":49333,"journal":{"name":"Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society","volume":"114 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145255052","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-09DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf111
Walter Peraza-Padilla, Roy Artavia-Carmona, Jefferson Aráuz-Badilla, Gracia Liébanas, Carolina Cantalapiedra-Navarrete, Rosana Salazar-García, Ana García-Velazquez, Juan E Palomares-Rius, Pablo Castillo, Antonio Archidona-Yuste
In this study, we determine the relevance of applying integrative taxonomic approaches for disentangling the underestimation and real nematode biodiversity of Discocriconemellinae (genera Xenocriconemella and Discocriconemella). Our work suggests a new methodology for studying the species boundaries of cryptic species complexes in soil nematodes, by partitioning the morphological variability into body size and body shape variation components. This methodology is applied to delimit species within cryptic species complexes, such as the Xenocriconemella macrodora complex (including Xenocriconemella tica sp. nov.) and a new species complex in the genus Discocriconemella (including two new species, Discocriconemella costaricense sp. nov. and the morphologically analogous Discocriconemella cryptocostaricense sp. nov.) found in a nematode survey carried out in natural forests in Costa Rica. This revealed that consistently, both X. macrodora and D. costaricense species complexes showed heterogeneity only in shape and not in size. Phylogenetic congruence of these species groups was well supported in the phylogenetic analyses of ribosomal and mitochondrial markers. The genus Xenocriconemella was almost the only one that formed a monophyletic lineage within Criconematidae in ribosomal and mitochondrial phylogenetic trees. However, the genus Discocriconemella, including the two new species, formed a paraphyletic distribution between clades of species of this genus with independent lineages, confirming previous studies.
{"title":"New insights into the phylogeny and morphometry of ring nematodes of the subfamily Discocriconemellinae (Nematoda: Criconematidae): Xenocriconemella and Discocriconemella","authors":"Walter Peraza-Padilla, Roy Artavia-Carmona, Jefferson Aráuz-Badilla, Gracia Liébanas, Carolina Cantalapiedra-Navarrete, Rosana Salazar-García, Ana García-Velazquez, Juan E Palomares-Rius, Pablo Castillo, Antonio Archidona-Yuste","doi":"10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf111","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf111","url":null,"abstract":"In this study, we determine the relevance of applying integrative taxonomic approaches for disentangling the underestimation and real nematode biodiversity of Discocriconemellinae (genera Xenocriconemella and Discocriconemella). Our work suggests a new methodology for studying the species boundaries of cryptic species complexes in soil nematodes, by partitioning the morphological variability into body size and body shape variation components. This methodology is applied to delimit species within cryptic species complexes, such as the Xenocriconemella macrodora complex (including Xenocriconemella tica sp. nov.) and a new species complex in the genus Discocriconemella (including two new species, Discocriconemella costaricense sp. nov. and the morphologically analogous Discocriconemella cryptocostaricense sp. nov.) found in a nematode survey carried out in natural forests in Costa Rica. This revealed that consistently, both X. macrodora and D. costaricense species complexes showed heterogeneity only in shape and not in size. Phylogenetic congruence of these species groups was well supported in the phylogenetic analyses of ribosomal and mitochondrial markers. The genus Xenocriconemella was almost the only one that formed a monophyletic lineage within Criconematidae in ribosomal and mitochondrial phylogenetic trees. However, the genus Discocriconemella, including the two new species, formed a paraphyletic distribution between clades of species of this genus with independent lineages, confirming previous studies.","PeriodicalId":49333,"journal":{"name":"Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society","volume":"90 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145255053","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-01DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf125
Changseob Lim, Ji Hyoun Kang, Yeon Jae Bae
Aphodiini Leach comprises approximately 2,200 species. This great diversity is thought to derive from their specialization in feeding on a wide variety of detritus, particularly mammal dung. Despite their diversity and ecological role as decomposers, the evolutionary processes and ecological traits in this group are still largely unknown. Therefore, the present study aims to reconstruct the first molecular phylogeny of the Aphodiinae group and to explore the evolutionary history of nesting behaviours within the coprophagous tribe Aphodiini, utilizing a comprehensive multi-gene dataset (COI, 16S, 28S, and 18S) with ecological data. Our analyses recovered the monophyly of the Aphodiinae group, while revealing paraphyly in Psammodiini, and polyphyly in Aphodiini and Eupariini. The phylogenetic position of Aphodiini suggests that this largely coprophagous lineage derived from broad detritivore lineages. Ancestral state reconstruction of nesting behaviour revealed that the stem group of Aphodiini was predominantly non-nesting, with other nesting behaviours evolving independently at the generic or species’ levels. Notably, larger-bodied taxa have evolved a paracoprid strategy that appears to confer advantages in both inter- and intraspecific resource competition at dung pats. In contrast, small body size does not associate with kleptocoprid behaviour, but this behaviour might be more variable depending on environmental conditions. Our results offer new insights into the evolutionary history of small dung beetles, particularly highlighting the body size-related convergent evolution of nesting behaviour in coprophagous Aphodiini.
{"title":"Molecular phylogeny and body size-related convergent evolution of nesting behaviour in small dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae)","authors":"Changseob Lim, Ji Hyoun Kang, Yeon Jae Bae","doi":"10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf125","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf125","url":null,"abstract":"Aphodiini Leach comprises approximately 2,200 species. This great diversity is thought to derive from their specialization in feeding on a wide variety of detritus, particularly mammal dung. Despite their diversity and ecological role as decomposers, the evolutionary processes and ecological traits in this group are still largely unknown. Therefore, the present study aims to reconstruct the first molecular phylogeny of the Aphodiinae group and to explore the evolutionary history of nesting behaviours within the coprophagous tribe Aphodiini, utilizing a comprehensive multi-gene dataset (COI, 16S, 28S, and 18S) with ecological data. Our analyses recovered the monophyly of the Aphodiinae group, while revealing paraphyly in Psammodiini, and polyphyly in Aphodiini and Eupariini. The phylogenetic position of Aphodiini suggests that this largely coprophagous lineage derived from broad detritivore lineages. Ancestral state reconstruction of nesting behaviour revealed that the stem group of Aphodiini was predominantly non-nesting, with other nesting behaviours evolving independently at the generic or species’ levels. Notably, larger-bodied taxa have evolved a paracoprid strategy that appears to confer advantages in both inter- and intraspecific resource competition at dung pats. In contrast, small body size does not associate with kleptocoprid behaviour, but this behaviour might be more variable depending on environmental conditions. Our results offer new insights into the evolutionary history of small dung beetles, particularly highlighting the body size-related convergent evolution of nesting behaviour in coprophagous Aphodiini.","PeriodicalId":49333,"journal":{"name":"Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145195187","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lake Fuxian, an ancient lake in Yunnan Province, Southwest China, harbours many endemic species, yet its biodiversity remains poorly characterized. Through comprehensive surveys of freshwater snails along its shores, we documented remarkable biodiversity within the subfamily Triculinae. In this study, we describe eight new species, including four new species of the genus Kunmingia and four new species representing a new genus, Farshore He, Chen, Xiang and Zhang gen. nov. Phylogenetic analyses of partial mitochondrial genes (COI and 16S ribosomal DNA) and nuclear markers (18S and 28S ribosomal DNA) provided robust genetic evidence supporting the distinctiveness of these newly described taxa. The time-calibrated phylogeny of the endemic freshwater snails shows that Kunmingia clade and Farshore clade diverged in the late Miocene, suggesting that the geological history of Lake Fuxian might be older than previously estimated. These findings highlight the importance of Lake Fuxian as a hotspot of freshwater snail diversity and a unique system for studying evolutionary processes in ancient lakes.
抚仙湖是中国西南部云南省的一个古湖泊，拥有许多特有物种，但其生物多样性特征尚不明确。通过对其沿岸淡水蜗牛的全面调查，我们记录了三螺亚科中显著的生物多样性。本文描述了8个新种，包括4个Kunmingia属新种和4个代表一个新属的新种。Farshore He, Chen， Xiang和Zhang gen. 11 .线粒体部分基因（COI和16S核糖体DNA）和核标记（18S和28S核糖体DNA）的系统发育分析为支持这些新分类群的特异性提供了强有力的遗传证据。地方化淡水蜗牛的系统发育经时间校正后表明，在中新世晚期，抚仙湖的Kunmingia枝和Farshore枝发生分化，表明抚仙湖的地质历史可能比之前估计的要早。这些发现突出了抚仙湖作为淡水蜗牛多样性研究热点和研究古湖泊进化过程的独特系统的重要性。
{"title":"Diversity in an ancient lake: taxonomic and phylogenetic insights from eight new freshwater snail species (Triculinae: Pomatiopsidae) of Lake Fuxian, Southwest China","authors":"Hui Chen, Le-Jia Zhang, Yue-Ming He, Hong-Quan Xiang, Yi-Zhi Lu, Chong-Ye Li, Yu-Tong Yao, Han Gao, Xiao-Chen Huang, Xiao-Ping Wu","doi":"10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf130","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf130","url":null,"abstract":"Lake Fuxian, an ancient lake in Yunnan Province, Southwest China, harbours many endemic species, yet its biodiversity remains poorly characterized. Through comprehensive surveys of freshwater snails along its shores, we documented remarkable biodiversity within the subfamily Triculinae. In this study, we describe eight new species, including four new species of the genus Kunmingia and four new species representing a new genus, Farshore He, Chen, Xiang and Zhang gen. nov. Phylogenetic analyses of partial mitochondrial genes (COI and 16S ribosomal DNA) and nuclear markers (18S and 28S ribosomal DNA) provided robust genetic evidence supporting the distinctiveness of these newly described taxa. The time-calibrated phylogeny of the endemic freshwater snails shows that Kunmingia clade and Farshore clade diverged in the late Miocene, suggesting that the geological history of Lake Fuxian might be older than previously estimated. These findings highlight the importance of Lake Fuxian as a hotspot of freshwater snail diversity and a unique system for studying evolutionary processes in ancient lakes.","PeriodicalId":49333,"journal":{"name":"Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145195186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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