Pub Date : 2025-08-18DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf089
Jingwen Mao, Ruiyan Zhang, Marc Eléaume, Yadong Zhou, Dongsheng Zhang, Shao’e Sun, Zhongli Sha, Chunsheng Wang
Zenometridae A.H. Clark, 1909 is a family of Comatulida that co-habits with corals or sponges in the deep-sea. It comprises five species attributed to three genera, characterized by a cavernous centrodorsal cavity, a complete basal circlet with a large central lumen, and a concave fulcral bowl of the cirrus sockets. This study reveals a high cryptic diversity of the family, with three new species (Sarametra varians sp. nov., Sarametra subtilis sp. nov., and Sarametra acuta sp. nov.), two undescribed species, and a novel clade from the Pacific Ocean. The new species demonstrate limited intra-specific COI genetic divergence (< 0.4%), yet showing a spectrum of morphological variations that used to be considered as intergeneric differences. A review of characters is carried out based on the new specimens and type specimens of the five known species. COI, 16S, and 28S genes are used for phylogenetic reconstruction, providing the first molecular phylogenetic tree of the family. Genera Psathyrometra and Sarametra are monophyletic with robust supports. A novel clade, Zenometridae gen. et sp. indet., is retrieved as sister to the Sarametra clade. The integration of molecular and morphological data has led to a revision of the generic diagnosis, offering a better understanding of the taxonomy and evolutionary relationships of the family.
{"title":"Description of three new species of Zenometridae (Echinodermata, Crinoidea, Comatulida), with new insights on species and genus delimitation","authors":"Jingwen Mao, Ruiyan Zhang, Marc Eléaume, Yadong Zhou, Dongsheng Zhang, Shao’e Sun, Zhongli Sha, Chunsheng Wang","doi":"10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf089","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf089","url":null,"abstract":"Zenometridae A.H. Clark, 1909 is a family of Comatulida that co-habits with corals or sponges in the deep-sea. It comprises five species attributed to three genera, characterized by a cavernous centrodorsal cavity, a complete basal circlet with a large central lumen, and a concave fulcral bowl of the cirrus sockets. This study reveals a high cryptic diversity of the family, with three new species (Sarametra varians sp. nov., Sarametra subtilis sp. nov., and Sarametra acuta sp. nov.), two undescribed species, and a novel clade from the Pacific Ocean. The new species demonstrate limited intra-specific COI genetic divergence (&lt; 0.4%), yet showing a spectrum of morphological variations that used to be considered as intergeneric differences. A review of characters is carried out based on the new specimens and type specimens of the five known species. COI, 16S, and 28S genes are used for phylogenetic reconstruction, providing the first molecular phylogenetic tree of the family. Genera Psathyrometra and Sarametra are monophyletic with robust supports. A novel clade, Zenometridae gen. et sp. indet., is retrieved as sister to the Sarametra clade. The integration of molecular and morphological data has led to a revision of the generic diagnosis, offering a better understanding of the taxonomy and evolutionary relationships of the family.","PeriodicalId":49333,"journal":{"name":"Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society","volume":"71 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144900496","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 : 2025-08-18DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf083
João L da Silva, Voltaire D P Neto, Christian F Kammerer, Julia L R de Souza, Bruno A Bulak, Marina B Soares, Tiago R Simões, Felipe L Pinheiro
Dicynodonts were a globally distributed group of herbivorous synapsids that first appeared during the middle Permian (Guadalupian) and survived the Permian–Triassic Mass Extinction, until their extinction in the Late Triassic. Their fossil record in South America is almost entirely concentrated in the Triassic, with only two described Permian species. One of these, Rastodon procurvidens, was found in the Rio do Rasto Formation in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and represents one of the best-preserved Permian therapsids from South America. The phylogenetic position of Rastodon within dicynodonts remains debated, with competing hypotheses leading to radically different conclusions regarding the early biogeography of dicynodonts. In this study, we present a detailed description of both the cranial and postcranial skeleton of the R. procurvidens holotype using microcomputed tomography. Phylogenetic analyses under both maximum parsimony and Bayesian criteria support the placement of Rastodon within the emydopoid clade Kingoriidae. These findings provide the first evidence of Emydopoidea and Kingoriidae in South America and underscore the limited knowledge of dicynodonts during the Guadalupian, particularly outside southern Africa. Furthermore, they suggest an earlier origin of Kingoriidae and the possibility that the group originated in west rather than east Gondwana.
双齿兽（Dicynodonts）是一种全球分布的草食性下孔类动物，最早出现于中二叠纪（瓜达鲁普期），并在二叠纪-三叠纪大灭绝中幸存下来，直到晚三叠世灭绝。它们在南美洲的化石记录几乎全部集中在三叠纪，只有两个被描述的二叠纪物种。其中一种是Rastodon procurvidens，发现于巴西南里约热内卢Grande do的里约热内卢0 do Rasto组，是南美洲保存最完好的二叠纪兽脚类之一。关于齿齿兽在双齿目动物中的系统发育位置仍然存在争议，关于双齿目动物的早期生物地理学，各种相互竞争的假设导致了截然不同的结论。在这项研究中，我们提出了一个详细的描述，这两个颅骨和颅骨后的骨架，用微型计算机断层扫描。在最大简约性和贝叶斯标准下的系统发育分析都支持将拉斯顿放在拟乳类分支金鸟科中。这些发现提供了南美洲emydopo总科和Kingoriidae的第一个证据，并强调了瓜达卢普时期（特别是非洲南部以外）对双齿兽的有限认识。此外，它们还表明，Kingoriidae的起源更早，并且该群体可能起源于冈瓦纳西部而不是东部。
{"title":"Osteology and ontogeny of the Permian dicynodont Rastodon procurvidens (Synapsida, Therapsida) based on micro-CT scanning and its phylogenetic and biogeographical implications","authors":"João L da Silva, Voltaire D P Neto, Christian F Kammerer, Julia L R de Souza, Bruno A Bulak, Marina B Soares, Tiago R Simões, Felipe L Pinheiro","doi":"10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf083","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf083","url":null,"abstract":"Dicynodonts were a globally distributed group of herbivorous synapsids that first appeared during the middle Permian (Guadalupian) and survived the Permian–Triassic Mass Extinction, until their extinction in the Late Triassic. Their fossil record in South America is almost entirely concentrated in the Triassic, with only two described Permian species. One of these, Rastodon procurvidens, was found in the Rio do Rasto Formation in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and represents one of the best-preserved Permian therapsids from South America. The phylogenetic position of Rastodon within dicynodonts remains debated, with competing hypotheses leading to radically different conclusions regarding the early biogeography of dicynodonts. In this study, we present a detailed description of both the cranial and postcranial skeleton of the R. procurvidens holotype using microcomputed tomography. Phylogenetic analyses under both maximum parsimony and Bayesian criteria support the placement of Rastodon within the emydopoid clade Kingoriidae. These findings provide the first evidence of Emydopoidea and Kingoriidae in South America and underscore the limited knowledge of dicynodonts during the Guadalupian, particularly outside southern Africa. Furthermore, they suggest an earlier origin of Kingoriidae and the possibility that the group originated in west rather than east Gondwana.","PeriodicalId":49333,"journal":{"name":"Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144900497","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 : 2025-08-18DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf057
Tatiana Korshunova, Karin Fletcher, Alexander Martynov
In this study, a global-encompassing, fine-scale differentiated taxonomy is consistently presented from the high level of a major nudibranch suborder, Aeolidacea, and then consequentially to lower levels of superfamilies, families, genera, and species to conjoin the underlying evolutionary pathways of aeolidacean nudibranchs and systematic representation to a maximal degree. The suborder Aeolidacea is reinstated and the superfamily system of Aeolidacea is reformed; 10 aeolidacean superfamilies are recognized encompassing 29 families in an all-family Synopsis, and the superfamily Embletonioidea is included in addition. Two new families, Chudidae fam. nov. and Hantazuidae fam. nov., are described, which show unique morphological and molecular patterns. Seven new species are described within various superfamilies, and five species are reinstated. The genus-level taxonomy of the family Coryphellidae is revisited, 11 genera are recognized, including nine reinstated and two new genera. We show that recent synonymization of all valid Coryphellidae genera into just a single genus was based on an erroneous phylogenetic analysis, the careless treatment of morphological characters, and established preconceptions. Uniting fine-scale morphological and molecular data, order-level nudibranch taxonomy is refined, order Nudibranchia is restricted, and order Doridida is reinstated. Within the order Nudibranchia, five suborders are recognized: Arminacea, restricted, reinstated; Tritoniacea, reinstated; Dendronotacea, restricted, reinstated; Janolacea, reinstated; and Aeolidacea, revised, reinstated.
{"title":"The endless forms are the most differentiated—how taxonomic pseudo-optimization masked natural diversity and evolution: the nudibranch case","authors":"Tatiana Korshunova, Karin Fletcher, Alexander Martynov","doi":"10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf057","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf057","url":null,"abstract":"In this study, a global-encompassing, fine-scale differentiated taxonomy is consistently presented from the high level of a major nudibranch suborder, Aeolidacea, and then consequentially to lower levels of superfamilies, families, genera, and species to conjoin the underlying evolutionary pathways of aeolidacean nudibranchs and systematic representation to a maximal degree. The suborder Aeolidacea is reinstated and the superfamily system of Aeolidacea is reformed; 10 aeolidacean superfamilies are recognized encompassing 29 families in an all-family Synopsis, and the superfamily Embletonioidea is included in addition. Two new families, Chudidae fam. nov. and Hantazuidae fam. nov., are described, which show unique morphological and molecular patterns. Seven new species are described within various superfamilies, and five species are reinstated. The genus-level taxonomy of the family Coryphellidae is revisited, 11 genera are recognized, including nine reinstated and two new genera. We show that recent synonymization of all valid Coryphellidae genera into just a single genus was based on an erroneous phylogenetic analysis, the careless treatment of morphological characters, and established preconceptions. Uniting fine-scale morphological and molecular data, order-level nudibranch taxonomy is refined, order Nudibranchia is restricted, and order Doridida is reinstated. Within the order Nudibranchia, five suborders are recognized: Arminacea, restricted, reinstated; Tritoniacea, reinstated; Dendronotacea, restricted, reinstated; Janolacea, reinstated; and Aeolidacea, revised, reinstated.","PeriodicalId":49333,"journal":{"name":"Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society","volume":"52 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144900502","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 : 2025-08-12DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf095
Conrad A Matthee, Nina Du Toit-Heunis, Sonja Matthee, Lance A Durden, Jessica E Light
Sucking lice (Psocodea: Anoplura) represent a species-rich parasite group that shares an intimate evolutionary relationship with their mammalian hosts. Two anopluran genera, Polyplax and Hoplopleura, primarily parasitize rodents and the taxonomy of these lice is mainly based on morphological characters with some inferences derived from host associations. To shed more light on the systematics and the evolutionary mechanisms that gave rise to Polyplax and Hoplopleura species diversity, data derived from the 16S rRNA, COI, 18S rRNA, and EF-1α genes were used to generate a phylogeny for 105 individuals representing ∼56 morphologically identified species. Concatenated data analyses found significant nodal support for five higher level monophyletic Clades among Hoplopleura and four higher level Clades and 15 subclades among Polyplax species. The monophyly of neither Polyplax nor Hoplopleura was supported and topological conflict among individual gene trees resulted in a non-tested hypothesis that ancestral hybridization and/or independent lineage sorting may have shaped the evolution of some Polyplax species. Several species complexes or cryptic divergences were detected specifically within the hoplopleurid species Hoplopleura acanthopus, Hoplopleura arizonensis, Hoplopleura hesperomydis, Hoplopleura oryzomydis, Hoplopleura pacifica, and Hoplopleura sciuricola, and the polyplacid species Polyplax arvicanthis, Polyplax auricularis, Polyplax biseriata, Polyplax myotomydis, Polyplax otomydis, Polyplax reclinata, and Polyplax spinulosa. Four morphological and genetically distinct taxa were sampled from Gerbillinae or Deomyinae and these probably represent new species. The taxonomy of Polyplax and Hoplopleura needs a thorough revision, and the species diversity of these lice can be attributed to an interplay between host associations, host switching and geographic locations of host species.
{"title":"Host associations, host switching, geographic location, and potential reticulate evolution shape the systematics of sucking lice (Psocodea: Anoplura) belonging to the genera Hoplopleura and Polyplax","authors":"Conrad A Matthee, Nina Du Toit-Heunis, Sonja Matthee, Lance A Durden, Jessica E Light","doi":"10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf095","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf095","url":null,"abstract":"Sucking lice (Psocodea: Anoplura) represent a species-rich parasite group that shares an intimate evolutionary relationship with their mammalian hosts. Two anopluran genera, Polyplax and Hoplopleura, primarily parasitize rodents and the taxonomy of these lice is mainly based on morphological characters with some inferences derived from host associations. To shed more light on the systematics and the evolutionary mechanisms that gave rise to Polyplax and Hoplopleura species diversity, data derived from the 16S rRNA, COI, 18S rRNA, and EF-1α genes were used to generate a phylogeny for 105 individuals representing ∼56 morphologically identified species. Concatenated data analyses found significant nodal support for five higher level monophyletic Clades among Hoplopleura and four higher level Clades and 15 subclades among Polyplax species. The monophyly of neither Polyplax nor Hoplopleura was supported and topological conflict among individual gene trees resulted in a non-tested hypothesis that ancestral hybridization and/or independent lineage sorting may have shaped the evolution of some Polyplax species. Several species complexes or cryptic divergences were detected specifically within the hoplopleurid species Hoplopleura acanthopus, Hoplopleura arizonensis, Hoplopleura hesperomydis, Hoplopleura oryzomydis, Hoplopleura pacifica, and Hoplopleura sciuricola, and the polyplacid species Polyplax arvicanthis, Polyplax auricularis, Polyplax biseriata, Polyplax myotomydis, Polyplax otomydis, Polyplax reclinata, and Polyplax spinulosa. Four morphological and genetically distinct taxa were sampled from Gerbillinae or Deomyinae and these probably represent new species. The taxonomy of Polyplax and Hoplopleura needs a thorough revision, and the species diversity of these lice can be attributed to an interplay between host associations, host switching and geographic locations of host species.","PeriodicalId":49333,"journal":{"name":"Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144850401","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 : 2025-08-12DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf078
Johanna von Seth, Petter Larsson, Malin Hasselgren, Nicolas Dussex, Liliana Farelo, Johan Wallén, Verena E Kutschera, Nina E Eide, Arild Landa, Anders Angerbjörn, Øystein Flagstad, José Melo-Ferreira, Karin Norén, Love Dalén
Demographic declines have important consequences for population viability, since they can lead to losses in genome diversity, as well as increased inbreeding and expression of deleterious mutations. Scandinavia was colonized by the Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) at the Pleistocene/Holocene transition, and the population has since been on the periphery of the global distribution. The Scandinavian population became even more fragmented in the early 1900s due to human persecution, and experienced an additional decline in the 1980s. We generated high-coverage genomes from pre-bottleneck, as well as modern Scandinavian and Russian specimens, and found that genome-wide diversity was lower and inbreeding higher in Scandinavia compared to the Siberian population, even prior to the historical bottleneck, most likely reflecting the long-term partial isolation and recent postglacial origin of the Scandinavian population. The southern subpopulation has the highest inbreeding levels, likely due to having been recently founded and highly isolated. Our results also show that although inbreeding increased substantially over the past century, the amount of total genetic load did not change. Overall, these findings illustrate the utility of a temporal approach to disentangle the genomic consequences of recent declines from ancient biogeographic processes.
{"title":"Temporal genomic change in the Scandinavian Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus)","authors":"Johanna von Seth, Petter Larsson, Malin Hasselgren, Nicolas Dussex, Liliana Farelo, Johan Wallén, Verena E Kutschera, Nina E Eide, Arild Landa, Anders Angerbjörn, Øystein Flagstad, José Melo-Ferreira, Karin Norén, Love Dalén","doi":"10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf078","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf078","url":null,"abstract":"Demographic declines have important consequences for population viability, since they can lead to losses in genome diversity, as well as increased inbreeding and expression of deleterious mutations. Scandinavia was colonized by the Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) at the Pleistocene/Holocene transition, and the population has since been on the periphery of the global distribution. The Scandinavian population became even more fragmented in the early 1900s due to human persecution, and experienced an additional decline in the 1980s. We generated high-coverage genomes from pre-bottleneck, as well as modern Scandinavian and Russian specimens, and found that genome-wide diversity was lower and inbreeding higher in Scandinavia compared to the Siberian population, even prior to the historical bottleneck, most likely reflecting the long-term partial isolation and recent postglacial origin of the Scandinavian population. The southern subpopulation has the highest inbreeding levels, likely due to having been recently founded and highly isolated. Our results also show that although inbreeding increased substantially over the past century, the amount of total genetic load did not change. Overall, these findings illustrate the utility of a temporal approach to disentangle the genomic consequences of recent declines from ancient biogeographic processes.","PeriodicalId":49333,"journal":{"name":"Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society","volume":"175 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144850435","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 : 2025-07-31DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf071
Katarzyna Koszela, Karen Bonilla Farinango, Dagmara Żyła
We describe a new genus of Paederinae rove beetles, Karillantu gen. nov., which occurs only in the Neotropics. The genus accommodates Lathrobium macrocephalum Sharp, 1876 as a type species Karillantu macrocephalus comb. nov., originally described more than 100 years ago. Intense surveys across museum collections allowed for describing eight new species: Karillantu amazonaensis sp. nov., Karillantu ecuadoriensis sp. nov., Karillantu lauretensis sp. nov., Karillantu napoensis sp. nov., Karillantu obidensis sp. nov., Karillantu paraensis sp. nov., Karillantu pastazaensis sp. nov., and Karillantu peruviensis sp. nov. We provide descriptions of the genus and species, a redescription of Karillantu macrocephalus comb. nov., an identification key, and a distribution map. To determine the sister-group relationships of Karillantu gen. nov., we conducted a phylogenetic analysis based on seven gene fragments, resulting in the largest Paederinae phylogeny up to date and a hypothesis about Karillantu gen. nov. placement. The analysis resolved the genus within the tribe Lathrobiini, nested in the informal clade of genera traditionally assigned to the subtribe Lathrobiina. We also provide information on the phylogenetic position of 17 newly sequenced taxa expanding our understanding of Paederinae relationships. The present research underscores the importance of museum collections in studying biodiversity of poorly-known groups, especially in the tropical regions.
{"title":"Out of the darkness - a new genus of Paederinae from the Neotropics (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) and its phylogenetic position","authors":"Katarzyna Koszela, Karen Bonilla Farinango, Dagmara Żyła","doi":"10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf071","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf071","url":null,"abstract":"We describe a new genus of Paederinae rove beetles, Karillantu gen. nov., which occurs only in the Neotropics. The genus accommodates Lathrobium macrocephalum Sharp, 1876 as a type species Karillantu macrocephalus comb. nov., originally described more than 100 years ago. Intense surveys across museum collections allowed for describing eight new species: Karillantu amazonaensis sp. nov., Karillantu ecuadoriensis sp. nov., Karillantu lauretensis sp. nov., Karillantu napoensis sp. nov., Karillantu obidensis sp. nov., Karillantu paraensis sp. nov., Karillantu pastazaensis sp. nov., and Karillantu peruviensis sp. nov. We provide descriptions of the genus and species, a redescription of Karillantu macrocephalus comb. nov., an identification key, and a distribution map. To determine the sister-group relationships of Karillantu gen. nov., we conducted a phylogenetic analysis based on seven gene fragments, resulting in the largest Paederinae phylogeny up to date and a hypothesis about Karillantu gen. nov. placement. The analysis resolved the genus within the tribe Lathrobiini, nested in the informal clade of genera traditionally assigned to the subtribe Lathrobiina. We also provide information on the phylogenetic position of 17 newly sequenced taxa expanding our understanding of Paederinae relationships. The present research underscores the importance of museum collections in studying biodiversity of poorly-known groups, especially in the tropical regions.","PeriodicalId":49333,"journal":{"name":"Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144747502","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 : 2025-07-24DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf008
Camille Bader, Rémy Gilardet, Nicolas Rinder, Victoria Herridge, John R Hutchinson, Alexandra Houssaye
One of the greatest challenges of terrestrial locomotion is resisting gravity. The morphological adaptive features of the limb long-bones of extant elephants, the heaviest living terrestrial animals, have previously been highlighted; however, their bone microanatomy remains largely unexplored. Here we investigate the microanatomy of the six limb long-bones in Elephas maximus and Loxodonta africana, using comparisons of virtual slices as well as robustness analyses, to understand how they were adapted to heavy weight-bearing. We find that the long bones of elephant limbs display a relatively thick cortex and a medullary area almost entirely filled with trabecular bone. This trabecular bone is highly anisotropic with trabecular orientations reflecting the mechanical load distribution along the limb. The respective functional roles of the bones are reflected in their microanatomy through variations of cortical thickness distribution and main orientation of the trabeculae. We find microanatomical adaptations to heavy weight support that are common to other heavy mammals. Despite these shared characteristics, the long bones of elephants are closer to those of sauropods due to their shared columnar posture, which allows a relaxation of morphofunctional constraints, and thus relatively less robust bones with a thinner cortex than would be expected in such massive animals.
{"title":"Long-bone microanatomy in elephants: microstructural insights into gigantic beasts","authors":"Camille Bader, Rémy Gilardet, Nicolas Rinder, Victoria Herridge, John R Hutchinson, Alexandra Houssaye","doi":"10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf008","url":null,"abstract":"One of the greatest challenges of terrestrial locomotion is resisting gravity. The morphological adaptive features of the limb long-bones of extant elephants, the heaviest living terrestrial animals, have previously been highlighted; however, their bone microanatomy remains largely unexplored. Here we investigate the microanatomy of the six limb long-bones in Elephas maximus and Loxodonta africana, using comparisons of virtual slices as well as robustness analyses, to understand how they were adapted to heavy weight-bearing. We find that the long bones of elephant limbs display a relatively thick cortex and a medullary area almost entirely filled with trabecular bone. This trabecular bone is highly anisotropic with trabecular orientations reflecting the mechanical load distribution along the limb. The respective functional roles of the bones are reflected in their microanatomy through variations of cortical thickness distribution and main orientation of the trabeculae. We find microanatomical adaptations to heavy weight support that are common to other heavy mammals. Despite these shared characteristics, the long bones of elephants are closer to those of sauropods due to their shared columnar posture, which allows a relaxation of morphofunctional constraints, and thus relatively less robust bones with a thinner cortex than would be expected in such massive animals.","PeriodicalId":49333,"journal":{"name":"Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144701880","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 : 2025-07-21DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf070
Roy Ebel, Chris Broeckhoven, Edward L Stanley, Till Ramm, J Scott Keogh
Skin and its derivatives form the boundary with the external environment for most animals. Despite the vital character of its function, some of its features remain poorly understood. This is particularly the case for osteoderms, which are bone plates in the skin that occur widely but inconsistently throughout the tetrapod tree of life. Elucidating their function and evolutionary history requires systematic approaches, but this is hampered by the lack of a consistent and comprehensive catalogue of osteoderm expression. Squamate reptiles (lizards and snakes) harbour the greatest diversity of osteoderms in terms of shape, distribution, and expression among living tetrapods, and thus represent an ideal study system. We conducted the first qualitative investigation of osteoderm expression in squamate reptiles. Based on 1339 micro-computed tomography samples and 584 mentions in the literature, we report here osteoderms in 46% of lizard genera, making them 85% more common than prior literature suggests. We found substantial discrepancies with prior literature in the Varanidae and the Lacertidae, where osteoderms are common or ubiquitous, respectively. In squamate reptiles as a whole, osteoderm prevalence amounts to 25%. Our findings provide the groundwork for future systematic investigations, thus potentially providing new insight into evolutionary trajectories and constraints that shaped present-day biodiversity.
{"title":"Dermal armour in lizards: osteoderms more common than presumed","authors":"Roy Ebel, Chris Broeckhoven, Edward L Stanley, Till Ramm, J Scott Keogh","doi":"10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf070","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf070","url":null,"abstract":"Skin and its derivatives form the boundary with the external environment for most animals. Despite the vital character of its function, some of its features remain poorly understood. This is particularly the case for osteoderms, which are bone plates in the skin that occur widely but inconsistently throughout the tetrapod tree of life. Elucidating their function and evolutionary history requires systematic approaches, but this is hampered by the lack of a consistent and comprehensive catalogue of osteoderm expression. Squamate reptiles (lizards and snakes) harbour the greatest diversity of osteoderms in terms of shape, distribution, and expression among living tetrapods, and thus represent an ideal study system. We conducted the first qualitative investigation of osteoderm expression in squamate reptiles. Based on 1339 micro-computed tomography samples and 584 mentions in the literature, we report here osteoderms in 46% of lizard genera, making them 85% more common than prior literature suggests. We found substantial discrepancies with prior literature in the Varanidae and the Lacertidae, where osteoderms are common or ubiquitous, respectively. In squamate reptiles as a whole, osteoderm prevalence amounts to 25%. Our findings provide the groundwork for future systematic investigations, thus potentially providing new insight into evolutionary trajectories and constraints that shaped present-day biodiversity.","PeriodicalId":49333,"journal":{"name":"Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society","volume":"115 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144677248","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 : 2025-07-10DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf060
Andrea Waeschenbach, Zichen Zhou, Thomas Schwaha, Beth Okamura, Dennis P Gordon, Timothy S Wood, Andrew N Ostrovsky, Jonathan A Todd, Sebastian H Decker, Mildred Johnson, Marwa Mohammed Al-Ghanem, Hans De Blauwe, Wayne K Florence, Rachael Graham, Andrea Hall, Hanna Hartikainen, Helen L Jenkins, Piotr Kukliński, Joanne S Porter, Abigail M Smith, Mary E Spencer Jones
Ctenostome bryozoans pose ongoing challenges for taxonomists and systematists, owing to their lack of character-rich mineralized skeletons. We present the largest (super)family-level phylogeny of Ctenostomatida to date. We resolved the three major clades (A–C) that were recognized previously. Clade A included endolithic taxa Penetrantiidae, Immergentiidae, and Terebripora ramosa, the latter two being sister taxa. Other taxa in this clade were Nolella, Arachnidium, Pottsiella, and Paludicella. Clade B was composed of Alcyonidioidea and Multiporata. The genus Alcyonidium was revealed as non-monophyletic, with the two recovered clades likely to be characterized by contrasting reproductive modes (brooding and zygote spawning). Members of the presumptive brooding clade had insertions of possible exogenous origin in their 18S and 28S ribosomal RNA genes, which might be the result of horizontal gene transfer. Clade C was sister to the Cheilostomatida and was composed of Vesicularioidea, Hislopioidea, Walkerioidea, and three clades of Victorellidae. Anguinella and Hypophorella were consistently sister taxa, but their position was unstable. Results are discussed in light of morphology, reproduction, and previous phylogenetic hypotheses. A revised classification is proposed. Timwoodiellina natans is transferred to Hislopia, Vesicularia spinosa to Amathia, and Monobryozoon ambulans to Alcyonidium. Members of the putative zygote-spawning Alcyonidium clade are transferred to Alcyonidioides in the family Alcyonidioididae.
{"title":"A genome-skimming phylogeny of ctenostome bryozoans","authors":"Andrea Waeschenbach, Zichen Zhou, Thomas Schwaha, Beth Okamura, Dennis P Gordon, Timothy S Wood, Andrew N Ostrovsky, Jonathan A Todd, Sebastian H Decker, Mildred Johnson, Marwa Mohammed Al-Ghanem, Hans De Blauwe, Wayne K Florence, Rachael Graham, Andrea Hall, Hanna Hartikainen, Helen L Jenkins, Piotr Kukliński, Joanne S Porter, Abigail M Smith, Mary E Spencer Jones","doi":"10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf060","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf060","url":null,"abstract":"Ctenostome bryozoans pose ongoing challenges for taxonomists and systematists, owing to their lack of character-rich mineralized skeletons. We present the largest (super)family-level phylogeny of Ctenostomatida to date. We resolved the three major clades (A–C) that were recognized previously. Clade A included endolithic taxa Penetrantiidae, Immergentiidae, and Terebripora ramosa, the latter two being sister taxa. Other taxa in this clade were Nolella, Arachnidium, Pottsiella, and Paludicella. Clade B was composed of Alcyonidioidea and Multiporata. The genus Alcyonidium was revealed as non-monophyletic, with the two recovered clades likely to be characterized by contrasting reproductive modes (brooding and zygote spawning). Members of the presumptive brooding clade had insertions of possible exogenous origin in their 18S and 28S ribosomal RNA genes, which might be the result of horizontal gene transfer. Clade C was sister to the Cheilostomatida and was composed of Vesicularioidea, Hislopioidea, Walkerioidea, and three clades of Victorellidae. Anguinella and Hypophorella were consistently sister taxa, but their position was unstable. Results are discussed in light of morphology, reproduction, and previous phylogenetic hypotheses. A revised classification is proposed. Timwoodiellina natans is transferred to Hislopia, Vesicularia spinosa to Amathia, and Monobryozoon ambulans to Alcyonidium. Members of the putative zygote-spawning Alcyonidium clade are transferred to Alcyonidioides in the family Alcyonidioididae.","PeriodicalId":49333,"journal":{"name":"Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144603161","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 : 2025-07-09DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf059
Alicja Anna Kaźmierkiewicz, Ahmad Mahmoudi, Boris Kryštufek, Miriam Belmaker, Danijela Popović, Barbara Bujalska, Anna Lemanik, Tatiana Strukova, Adam Nadachowski, Mateusz Baca
The Altai grey vole (Microtus obscurus) is a rodent species present in Western Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Near East. The taxonomic relationship of M. obscurus and its sister-species, Microtus arvalis, is a matter of ongoing debate and there is a lack of agreement regarding the date of their divergence. To further understand the evolutionary history of M. obscurus, we generated nuclear and mitochondrial data from five modern and 11 ancient specimens from Eastern Europe and the Near East. We reconstructed a tip-dated phylogeny using a 4.3-kilobase fragment of mitochondrial DNA. We estimated the time to the most recent common ancestor of M. arvalis and M. obscurus to be 130 thousand years ago (kya), correlating with the Eemian interglacial, a period characterized by the reduction of open habitats suitable for microtine species. In the Lesser Caucasus, we recorded a turnover of two lineages probably related to environmental changes at the end of the Pleistocene. Using three published and three newly generated nuclear genomes, we confirmed the general population structure and divergence times inferred from the mtDNA. We reconstructed the demographic history of the Altai grey vole, which revealed contrasting trajectories for the two main lineages.
{"title":"Evolutionary history of the Altai grey vole, Microtus obscurus (Rodentia: Cricetidae), reconstructed using modern and ancient genomes","authors":"Alicja Anna Kaźmierkiewicz, Ahmad Mahmoudi, Boris Kryštufek, Miriam Belmaker, Danijela Popović, Barbara Bujalska, Anna Lemanik, Tatiana Strukova, Adam Nadachowski, Mateusz Baca","doi":"10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf059","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf059","url":null,"abstract":"The Altai grey vole (Microtus obscurus) is a rodent species present in Western Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Near East. The taxonomic relationship of M. obscurus and its sister-species, Microtus arvalis, is a matter of ongoing debate and there is a lack of agreement regarding the date of their divergence. To further understand the evolutionary history of M. obscurus, we generated nuclear and mitochondrial data from five modern and 11 ancient specimens from Eastern Europe and the Near East. We reconstructed a tip-dated phylogeny using a 4.3-kilobase fragment of mitochondrial DNA. We estimated the time to the most recent common ancestor of M. arvalis and M. obscurus to be 130 thousand years ago (kya), correlating with the Eemian interglacial, a period characterized by the reduction of open habitats suitable for microtine species. In the Lesser Caucasus, we recorded a turnover of two lineages probably related to environmental changes at the end of the Pleistocene. Using three published and three newly generated nuclear genomes, we confirmed the general population structure and divergence times inferred from the mtDNA. We reconstructed the demographic history of the Altai grey vole, which revealed contrasting trajectories for the two main lineages.","PeriodicalId":49333,"journal":{"name":"Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144594124","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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