Revisiting Panthera leo sinhaleyus: Morphological insights and evolutionary implications from the holotype specimen from Sri Lanka

Systematic revision and palaeobiogeography of Perisphinctes Waagen (Ammonoidea) from the Oxfordian of Kutch, India: Stratigraphic and evolutionary implications

Fecal hormone analysis has become a powerful noninvasive tool for the study of animal endocrine status and stress physiology (Graham and Brown 1997; Wasser et al. 1997a; Whitten et al. 1998; Goymann et al. 1999; Mostl et al. 1999; Foley et al. 2001; Creel et al. 2002; Lynch et al. 2002; Morrow et al. 2002). Variation in field and storage conditions makes it essential to know whether fecal steroid concentrations change with the method and duration of sample storage. Lyophilization (freeze-drying) with subsequent storage at or below 20 C is generally regarded as the most reliable method of long-term fecal hormone preservation (e.g., Wasser et al. 1988; Terio et al. 2002). However, lyophilizers are not widely available, and therefore investigators have turned to a variety of other fecal storage methods, including freezing at 20 C, preservation in ethanol, and/or drying the feces with silica, ovens, solar radiation, fires, or other drying methods (Wasser et al. 1988; Whitten et al. 1998; Foley et al. 2001; Tecot 2001). Yet, some of these preservation methods may result in significant changes in immunoreactive hormone concentrations, varying with the preservation method, species, and hormone. In this article, we report effects of several commonly used fecal preservation methods on immunoreactive glucocorticoid concentrations in feces of two species, African elephant (Loxodonta africana) and grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis), over a 2-yr period. Five different preservation methods were chosen for comparison: no preservative, oven-drying at 45 C, silicadrying, 90% ethanol, and lyophilization, each with subsequent storage either at room temperature or in a 20 C freezer. Con-

The discovery of some specimens of a new first instar larval type in blister beetles, collected in Iran on Anthophora bees, confirms the existence of repetitive and parallel trends in morphological specialization to phoresy in distinct lineages of Meloidae and in particular in the subfamily Meloinae. The new Iranian larva, herein described and illustrated, shows several characters and a peculiar phoretic strategy that closely parallel that of the Meloe subgenus Lampromeloe, with similar modifications of the fronto-clypeal setae into strong lanceolate spines used to pierce the intersegmental membranes of the bees. Both parallel and shared derived evolution of these characters seem possible. The coexistence in this larva of characters in both primitive and derived state is of particular interest in order to analyse the different rates and trends of evolution of phoretic adaptations. A morphological comparison (SEM) of this new meloine larva (incertae sedis), tentatively assignable to Meloe, with the M. (Lampromeloe) larvae is carried out in order to discuss the evolutionary implications of its placement in Lampromeloe, and the relative characters that would support it, vs other possible alternative scenarios.

Daphnia occidentalis, new species, a member of the subgenus Daphnia, is described from fresh-water pools in natural swamp vegetation in the Karri forest region of southwest Australia. It is established that the closest relative of this species is D. ambigua Scourfield, 1947, from North and South America. The D. ambigua-D. middendorffiana group of America was previously thought to have evolved relatively recently in the New World. The present results and an examination of the world distribution of all three species suggest that a Gondwanan, possibly Pangaean origin of the group is more likely. The genus Daphnia contains some forty species (or clonal complexes) worldwide, of which approximately two-thirds belong to the subgenus Daphnia (Brooks, 1957). However, only one species belonging to this subgenus, the endemic D. jollyi Petkovski, 1973, has ever been recorded from Australia (Petkovski, 1973). The present paper describes a new species, also of the subgenus Daphnia, from southwestern Australia. The new species is very closely related to D. ambigua from America, and the evolutionary and biogeographical implications of this are discussed. MATERIALS AND METHODS Specimens preserved in formalin and alcohol, obtained from two localities near Northcliffe in the southwest of Western Australia, were placed on a slide in Hoyer's medium and dissected, using fine needles with the aid of a binocular microscope. Slides set overnight to fix parts in position before placing a cover slip with a fresh drop of Hoyer's medium over the top of the specimens. Specimens were then examined at 100-400 x using a binocular compound microscope with phase contrast. Measurements were made using an eyepiece graticule and drawings were made with the aid of a camera lucida. Specimens for scanning electron microscopy were prepared from the samples preserved in alcohol by taking these through a graded series of acetone solutions (30-100% in 10% steps, 30 min each step, with 3 washes in 100%) before critical point drying. Specimens were mounted on stubs using double sided tape and immediately gold coated using a Polaron E5000 sputter coater before viewing on a Hitachi HHS-2R scanning electron microscope. The dissected specimens of type and paratype material were deposited in the Australian Museum, Sydney (reference numbers AMP34389-AMP34394). RESULTS