Taxonomic revision of some Central Paratethyan Middle Miocene brachiopod species described by Matyasovszky in 1880 (Terebratulida; Megathyrididae; Terebratulidae)

The diversity of glyptodonts has been historically overestimated in part because many taxa have been described based on portions of different regions of the carapace, isolated osteoderms and materials from juvenile specimens. Although juvenile glyptodonts specimens are relatively frequent in the fossil record, they have not been considered in many studies. In the present study we report and describe juvenile glyptodonts specimens from the fossiliferous locality Cerro Zeballos belonging to the Collón Curá Formation (Middle Miocene). The specimens were assigned to Paraeucinepeltus cf. raposeirasi, and they were differentiated into an early juvenile stage and a late juvenile stage. The identification and description of juvenile glyptodonts specimens provides information about ontogenetic variations in osteoderms, cranial and postcranial skeleton of glyptodonts. This improves the recognition of genera and species of glyptodonts and avoids the inappropriate creation of new taxa. ZooBank LSID: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:B644CEC7-E27B-444C-B14A-345C9DE99DD3

HE, YY., CONG, PY., LIU, Y., EDGECOMBE, GD., HOU, XG., May 2017. Telson morphology of Leanchoiliidae (Arthropoda: Megacheira) highlighted by a new Leanchoilia from the Cambrian Chengjiang biota. Alcheringa 41, 581–589. ISSN 0311-5518.Despite being a dominant group in both the Burgess Shale and the Chengjiang biota, diversity of the family Leanchoiliidae mostly consists of monotypic genera, with one genus, Leanchoilia, however, being represented by multiple species from several Cambrian Konservat-Lagerstätten. Here we distinguish a new species of this genus from hundreds of specimens formerly assigned to the Chengjiang species Leanchoilia illecebrosa, and establish its affinity within Leanchoilia by morphology of the telson (distally pointed and fringed with spines), a widely used diagnostic character at the generic level in Leanchoiliidae. The new species, Leanchoilia obesa sp. nov., is distinguished from other species of Leanchoilia by an oval outline of the dorsal exoskeleton and a telson with a long basal region and long spines. The new species is also distinguishable from other species of Leanchoilia by sharing some distinct characters of other leanchoiliid genera such as the wide body shape of Oestokerkus and Yawunik, and tiny serrations on the spinose projection of the great appendages of Yawunik. The mosaic combination of characters at the generic and specific levels prompted a re-evaluation of telson morphology as a diagnostic character in Leanchoiliidae. A new descriptive model of the leanchoiliid telson is based on the development of Leanchoilia obesa, inferred by comparing larval, juvenile and adult specimens. The result reveals that the leanchoiliid telson is a complex morphological unit and a source of diagnostic characters at both the generic and specific levels.Yu-Yang He [heyuyang850604@126.com], Pei-Yun Cong [cong@ynu.edu.cn], Yu Liu [zac.liu@126.com], Xian-Guang Hou* [xghou@ynu.edu.cn] Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, PR China; Pei-Yun Cong [p.cong@nhm.ac.uk], Gregory D. Edgecombe [g.edgecombe@nhm.ac.uk] Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK.

A juvenile eurysternid turtle (Testudines: Eurysternidae) from the upper Kimmeridgian (Upper Jurassic) of Nusplingen (SW Germany)

Brachiopod shell spiral deviations (SSD): Implications for trace element proxies

The Đurđevac Sands constitute a wide area of extraordinary small-scale dune relief in the Podravina (northeastern Croatia), along the central part of the southern Drava river valley. They are thought to have been formed by reworking of fluvial material due to strong northern winds. Their significance is evident from the geometry of the dunes (shape, orientation, thickness), and the presence of intra- and post-formational alteration (pedogenesis). In addition, the elevated heavy mineral content puts the sands in the position of potential ore deposit.The objective of this study is to explore this aeolian archive in an attempt to extract relevant palaeo-environmental information and to compare it with similar landscapes across Europe. The lithology (grain-size) and intra-formational alteration (palaeosoils) as well as geochemical signatures are investigated from outcrops in an abandoned sand pit to define phases of sand movement and landscape stability. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of quartz, and historical archives are used to develop a geochronological framework. The heavy and light mineral fractions of the sands are used to determine their composition, provenance and detailed sedimentological context at the time of deposition. A digital elevation model of the region is used to gain insight into the geometry of the dunes, while geo-electric soundings and mechanical coring are applied to investigate the vertical and lateral variations in sand lithology and thickness, as well as intraformational soils.At first sight, the dune landscape seems to have a chaotic nature, showing an irregular alignment of smaller parabolic, linear and domal shaped dunes. Although, larger structures may also be classified as complex long-walled transgressive dunes or compound en-echelon parabolic dunes. The thickness of the dune sand can clearly be traced on geo-electrical profiles, where the dry dune sand appears to generate a different signal than the underlying water-saturated fluvial material. Furthermore, the results show that phases of sand movement occurred before and after the Bølling-Allerød (B-A) interstadial, as well as during the early Holocene and up to the 19th century. Phases of stability are witnessed by the presence of slightly altered parent material (presence of organic carbon, slightly finer grain size, and decalcified) and are dated to the B-A interstadial, and several episodes in the Holocene. The heavy mineral content is dominated by garnet, while muscovite is strikingly more present in the Holocene sediments. This may be due to either a change in source material (new Holocene Drava river sediment) and/or changing aeolian dynamics. Overall, these new findings obtained from the Đurđevac Sands area correlate rather well with other regions in the Pannonian Basin as well as the North European Plain, especially in terms of the timing of events.

Neogene (Siwalik-aged) deposits from India and Pakistan have yielded many vertebrate fossils, of which most were named during the 19th century, including numerous geoemydid turtles. In contrast to many other faunal components from the Siwaliks, geoemydids have not undergone taxonomic revision for more than a century and most fossils have therefore been believed to correspond to recent taxa. In this study, we conduct a taxonomic revision of all previously described geoemydid material from the Siwalik-age. We propose that all specimens of ‘Clemmys’ from the Siwaliks of Punjab, Pakistan should be identified as Melanochelys sivalensis comb. nov.; that Melanochelys tricarinata var. sivalensis represents a valid species, for which we propose the replacement name Melanochelys tapani to avoid homonymy; that specimens originally identified as Batagur cautleyi and Pangshura flaviventer cannot be identified beyond the generic level; and that many fragmentary palatochelydians cannot be identified to any particular species or genus due to the lack of preserved diagnostic osteological characters. With a few exceptions, the Siwalik fauna mostly corresponds in its distribution to that of the recent fauna, indicating a certain amount of geographic stasis. However, as the stratigraphic provenance of most material is poor, it is not possible to discern meaningful temporal patterns.

The Mesotheriinae records in the late Neogene of Argentina are mostly grouped in two genera: Typotheriopsis and Pseudotypotherium. Both taxa were poorly diagnosed and/or based on juvenile specimens. Traditionally, the dental feature considered to distinguish them is the presence of a lingual groove in the last upper premolar. Other features were mostly dismissed or considered non-informative at a generic level. Based on this, we reanalyzed dental features in Typotheriopsis and Pseudotypotherium samples to evaluate their relevance in a taxonomic framework. This study brings new qualitative and quantitative tools to appraise diagnostic features present in fossil fragments and isolated dental mesotheriine pieces.

This investigation has been carried out in order to estimate the extent to which osteological differences normally used as a basis for generic distinction among certain anurans may be explained on the basis of heterochronous changes in bone formation. Representative species of fourteen Australian genera of the family Leptodactylidae were compared, and an osteological survey was carried out on alizarin transparencies of sexually mature and juvenile specimens. As a basis for description, a little known and somewhat neotenic Western Australian anuran, Glauertia russelli Loveridge, was selected.Bone, as a tissue, is a useful index of heterochronous change. It gives a clear indication of the extent to which the developmental processes leading to its formation have proceeded. It often provides a reliable guide to the degree of general development attained by the time an animal reaches sexual maturity.The study of heterochrony indicates the evolutionary importance of this phenomenon in the establishment of certain species and genera. Skeletal distinctions among the Australian Leptodactylidae are readily explained, even at the generic level, in terms of such time‐axis or heterochronous changes. These, through shortening or lengthening the time of development of particular bones, or by altering the speed of their ossification, lead to differences of phylogenetic significance. The fact that not only individual variations but also specific and generic distinctions may arise in this way in certain groups of animals has an important bearing on problems of their distribution.

Broad-nosed weevils in the subfamily Entiminae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) are highly diverse, not only in terms of number of species, but also in their sizes, forms and colours. There are eight tribes, 50 genera and 224 entimine species recorded from Colombia: seven genera and 142 species are considered endemic and only a handful of species, which are recognised as pests ofCitrusor potatoes, are broadly known. The large diversity of this subfamily in the country is only superficially known and even though genus level identifications are generally achievable, species identification remains quite challenging, due in part to limited access to broadly-scattered basic information. Summaries of available information and bibliographic resources for each of the tribes represented in Colombia are offered, along with a checklist of the species of Entiminae recorded from the country, obtained from literature and a pictorial key for tribal recognition. New combinations are proposed for eight species of the genusLanteriusAlonso-Zarazaga & Lyal. Information on the distribution of entimine species in Colombia is compiled for the first time, including complete references to each original description and available taxonomic revisions. About a third of the species of Entiminae remain as recorded from the country without specific locality information. In addition, genus level distributional maps are presented, generated from data obtained from four Colombian entomological collections. Lastly, some challenges for entimine identification in Colombia, which likely extend throughout the Neotropical region, are briefly discussed. This contribution aims, in part, to facilitate and promote entimine research in northern South America.

Monodoreae (Annonaceae) is a tribe composed of 11 genera and 90 species restricted to the tropical African rain forests. All the genera are taxonomically well circumscribed except the species rich genera Uvariodendron and Uvariopsis which lack a recent taxonomic revision. Here, we used a robust phylogenomic approach, including all the 90 currently accepted species, with several specimens per species, and based on more than 300 Annonaceae-specific nuclear genes, to infer the phylogenetic tree of the Monodoreae and test the limits between the genera and species. We recover all the genera as monophyletic, except the genus Uvariopsis for which the species Uvariopsistripetala falls outside this clade. We thus reinstate the monotypic genus Dennettia for its single species Dennettiatripetala. We also erect a new tribe, Ophrypetaleae trib. nov., to accommodate the genera Ophrypetalum and Sanrafaelia, as we recover them excluded from the Monodoreae tribe with good support. Below the genus level, the genera Isolona, Monodora, Uvariastrum, Uvariodendron and Uvariopsis show weakly supported nodes and phylogenetic conflicts, suggesting that population level processes of evolution might occur in these clades. Our results also support, at the molecular level, the description of several new species of Uvariodendron and Uvariopsis, as well as several new synonymies. Finally, we present a taxonomic revision of the genera Dennettia, Uvariodendron and Uvariopsis, which contain one, 18 and 17 species respectively. We provide a key to the 11 genera of the Monodoraeae and describe four new species to science: Uvariodendronkimbozaense Dagallier & Couvreur, sp. nov., Uvariodendronmossambicense Robson ex Dagallier & Couvreur, sp. nov., Uvariodendronpilosicarpum Dagallier & Couvreur, sp. nov. and Uvariopsisoligocarpa Dagallier & Couvreur, sp. nov., and provide provisional descriptions of three putatively new species. We also present lectotypifications and nomenclatural changes implying synonymies and new combinations (Uvariodendroncitriodorum (Le Thomas) Dagallier & Couvreur, comb. et stat. nov., Uvariodendronfuscumvar.magnificum (Verdc.) Dagallier & Couvreur, comb. et stat. nov., Uvariopsiscongensisvar.angustifolia Dagallier & Couvreur, var. nov., Uvariopsisguineensisvar.globiflora (Keay) Dagallier & Couvreur, comb. et stat. nov., and Uvariopsissolheidiivar.letestui (Pellegr.) Dagallier & Couvreur, comb. et stat. nov.).

Genome-based taxonomic classification of the closest-to-Comamonadaceae group supports a new family Sphaerotilaceae fam. nov. and taxonomic revisions

Many features of global diversity compilations have proven robust to continued sampling and taxonomic revision. Inherent biases in the stratigraphic record may nevertheless substantially affect estimates of global taxonomic diversity. Here we focus on short-term (epoch-level) changes in apparent diversity. We use a simple estimate of the amount of marine sedimentary rock available for sampling: the number of formations in the stratigraphic Lexicon of the United States Geological Survey. We find this to be positively correlated with two independent estimates of rock availability: global outcrop area derived from the Paleogeographic Atlas Project (University of Chicago) database, and percent continental flooding. Epoch-to-epoch changes in the number of formations are positively correlated with changes in sampled Phanerozoic marine diversity at the genus level. We agree with previous workers in finding evidence of a diversity-area effect that is substantially weaker than the effect of the amount of preserved sedimentary rock. Once the mutual correlation among change in formation numbers, in diversity, and in area flooded is taken into consideration, there is relatively little residual correlation between change in diversity and in the extent of continental flooding. These results suggest that much of the observed short-term variation in marine diversity may be an artifact of variation in the amount of rock available for study. Preliminary results suggest the same possibility for terrestrial data.Like the comparison between change in number of formations and change in sampled diversity, which addresses short-term variation in apparent diversity, the comparison between absolute values of these quantities, which relates to longer-term patterns, also shows a positive correlation. Moreover, there is no clear temporal trend in the residuals of the regression of sampled diversity on number of formations. This raises the possibility that taxonomic diversity may not have increased substantially since the early Paleozoic. Because of limitations in our data, however, this question must remain open.

Polyphasic identification of cyanobacterial isolates from Australia

Taxonomic revisions, monographs and floras are the most important, and often the only source of data for assessing the extinction risk of plants, with recent revisions contributing to more accurate assessments. The recently completed Red List of South African plants involved an overview of the taxonomic literature pertaining to the South African flora, providing an opportunity to identify critical gaps in taxonomic coverage. In this study we identified taxonomic research priorities for effective conservation of South African plants. Priorities were identified at genus level, according to time since last revision, level of endemism, collecting effort, proportion of taxa included in revisions, and specimen identification confidence. Although the results indicate that 62% of the flora has been recently revised, revisionary taxonomic output has declined drastically, particularly in the past 10 years. This decline is a result of a decrease in revisionary productivity per taxonomist and not a result of a decline in the number of working taxonomists. The family Aizoaceae is the top priority for taxonomic research with 55% of taxa in need of revision, followed by Hyacinthaceae with 34% of taxa not yet revised. Ericaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Rutaceae, Malvaceae, Asteraceae and Acanthaceae are also priorities with over 30% of taxa last revised before 1970. We recommend the reinstatement of the Flora of Southern Africa project in an online format in order to centralise South Africa’s existing taxonomic information and reinvigorate revisionary taxonomic study. This project will allow South Africa to fulfil its commitments to the Convention on Biodiversity by achieving Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation.

The family Scenedesmaceae is a taxonomically complicated group due to its simple morphology, high phenotypic plasticity, and the presence of cryptic taxa. Over the years several taxonomic revisions, based on molecular data, affected the family. Here, we describe a new scenedesmacean species from Antarctica, Chodatodesmus australis, based on phylogenetic analyses of data from nuclear (ITS2 spacer, 18S rDNA), and plastid (rbcL, tufA) markers. Morphological (LM and SEM) and ultrastructural (TEM) observations, carried out both on the holotype of C.australis and on the generitype of Chodatodesmus, allow us to emend the original generic description of this genus. Our molecular and phylogenetic data also reveal the existence of a new monotypic genus, Flechtneria, inside the family Scenedesmaceae and lead to the taxonomic reassignment of some microalgal strains available in International Culture Collections to new taxa. Of the considered genomic regions, the tufA gene was the easiest to amplify and sequence and it showed the highest phylogenetic signal, even if the number of sequences already available for this marker in the public databases was considerably lower than for the other chosen loci. The rbcL gene also provided good phylogenetic signal, but its amplification and sequencing were generally more problematic. The nuclear markers gave lower phylogenetic signals, but the 18S rDNA allowed distinction at the genus level and the ITS2 spacer had the advantage that secondary structures could be considered in the analyses. The use of more than one molecular locus is suggested to obtain reliable results in the characterization of scenedesmacean strains.