Mainland Asia Research Articles

A Low-Producing Haplotype of Interleukin-6 Disrupting CTCF Binding Is Protective against Severe COVID-19.

ABSTRACTInterleukin6 (IL-6) is a key driver of hyperinflammation in COVID-19, and its level strongly correlates with disease progression. To investigate whether variability in COVID-19 severity partially results from differential IL-6 expression, functional single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of IL-6 were determined in Chinese COVID-19 patients with mild or severe illness. An Asian-common IL-6 haplotype defined by promoter SNP rs1800796 and intronic SNPs rs1524107 and rs2066992 correlated with COVID-19 severity. Homozygote carriers of C-T-T variant haplotype were at lower risk of developing severe symptoms (odds ratio, 0.256; 95% confidence interval, 0.088 to 0.739; P = 0.007). This protective haplotype was associated with lower levels of IL-6 and its antisense long noncoding RNA IL-6-AS1 by cis-expression quantitative trait loci analysis. The differences in expression resulted from the disturbance of stimulus-dependent bidirectional transcription of the IL-6/IL-6-AS1 locus by the polymorphisms. The protective rs2066992-T allele disrupted a conserved CTCF-binding locus at the enhancer elements of IL-6-AS1, which transcribed antisense to IL-6 and induces IL-6 expression in inflammatory responses. As a result, carriers of the protective allele had significantly reduced IL-6-AS1 expression and attenuated IL-6 induction in response to acute inflammatory stimuli and viral infection. Intriguingly, this low-producing variant that is endemic to present-day Asia was found in early humans who had inhabited mainland Asia since ∼40,000 years ago but not in other ancient humans, such as Neanderthals and Denisovans. The present study suggests that an individual's IL-6 genotype underlies COVID-19 outcome and may be used to guide IL-6 blockade therapy in Asian patients.

Upcycled aquaculture waste as textile ingredient for promoting circular economy

Fish farming (aquaculture) provides a stable source of nutritional protein, especially in Asia's coastline, distributed throughout the South China region of the mainland, southwestern Taiwan, and Southeast Asia, providing a continuous supply chain system. Novel textile material, from upcycling of fish scales, has been manufactured. The material constitutes of collagen peptide amino acid ingredients extracted from fish scales, which are used to create collagen modification polyester via a supramolecular method. The development of the collagen modification polyester, UMORFIL®T, can make a valuable contribution to the textile industry. After various experiments and characterizations, it was shown that the collagen modification polyester in this study contained a certain amount of collagen and retained the advantages of regular polyester. In addition, the characteristics of the original regular polyester were changed by the presence of collagen. The new properties included a natural champagne‑gold color, better hand-feel, and odor control, which make the material a premium and sustainable choice for functional textiles. This study creates a new direction for a circular economy product, collagen modification polyester, that can protect the ecology, reduce environmental pollution, protect planet soil, provide premium value for the textile industry, and raise the value of aquaculture.

Novel classification and biogeography ofLeptolejeunea(Lejeuneaceae, Marchantiophyta) with implications for the origin and evolution of the Asian evergreen broad‐leaved forests

AbstractAlthough recent molecular phylogenetic analyses have greatly improved our understanding of the classification of the large liverwort family Lejeuneaceae, the frequent incongruencies between morphology‐based taxonomy and molecular phylogeny have hindered our understanding of evolutionary diversification within the group. Here we focus onLeptolejeunea(Spruce) Steph., a pantropical epiphyllous genus in Lejeuneaceae with 40 species. Phylogenetic studies on the genus have been hampered by insufficient taxon sampling, leaving the deep phylogenetic relationships within this group unresolved. We present the most comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the genus to date with sampling of over 80% of species, including the enigmaticLeptolejeunea spinistipula(Mizut.) X.L.He endemic to Borneo. Based on data from three molecular markers with representatives ofLeptolejeuneaand its allies,Leptolejeuneaappeared to be monophyletic following the exclusion ofL. spinistipulaand its transfer toSoellaR.L.Zhu, L.Shu, Qiong He & Y.M.Wei. A total‐evidence approach was taken to resolve the backbone phylogeny ofLeptolejeuneaand a first infrageneric classification ofLeptolejeunea, including a new subgenus and three new sections, is proposed based on integrated molecular and morphological evidence. Reconstruction of the evolutionary history showed a wide ancestral area ofLeptolejeuneaduring the Paleogene that arose in mainland Asia, followed by an accelerated speciation rate. Across the biogeographical history ofLeptolejeunea, long‐distance dispersal had profound effects on population expansion. Our findings suggest that Australasia is a source of biodiversity of Asian evergreen broad‐leaved forests that have been established since the Oligocene and rose after the early Miocene.

Central Margins: Paradox and Transformation of Dichotomies in Two English Language Novels by Mauritian Lindsey Collen

The Indian Ocean region embodies the paradox of a marginalized crossroads. Its islands and coastal societies reflect the multiple influences of its position as a commercial center during colonization and accompanying slave trade. Yet its island nations, particularly their literature, are little known relative to their mainland Asian and African counterparts. Mauritius further reflects these ironies. Although Mauritius has attained a positive reputation for stability, growth, and tourist appeal, deep inequalities resulting from economic globalization persist, to the detriment of its citizens. Uninhabited until the arrival of the Dutch in the sixteenth century, its national identity is the most multicultural of the Indian Ocean islands. Despite its history as a British colony and the designation of English as the language of school instruction and government administration, English-language Mauritian literature remains scarce. A primary exception is the work of novelist Lindsey Collen. This paper examines Collen’s There Is a Tide and The Rape of Sita as examples that reveal margin and center as imagined divisions, created by patriarchal assumptions about power and humans’ relationship to the earth. Theories of hybridity and postcolonialism, as well as of feminism, eco-feminism, and ecocriticism, introduced to challenge these assumptions, have revealed both deeply intertwined concepts and continuing problems of cultural domination, despite efforts to counter legacies of colonial injustices. The reactive nature of many of these theories and the advocacy on which they are based ironically often reinforce the aforementioned dichotomies between center and margins. Collen’s novels deconstruct and transform these dichotomies by narrating the human condition across gender, class, nation, and time in ways that are difficult (if not impossible) to do through theoretical categorization.

Stingless bees in Miocene amber of southeastern China (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Among the many inclusions from the exceptionally rich fossiliferous amber of Zhangpu, China (Middle Miocene: Langhian), stingless bees (Apinae: Meliponini) are particularly common, analogous to the merely slightly older amber sites of Mexico and the Dominican Republic. While there is a large number of workers in Zhangpu amber, only two species are represented. The systematics and morphology of the tribe Meliponini is outlined, including a revision to terms of orientation and direction when discussing surfaces and features of appendages, all in order to better discuss the traits of the fossils as well as place them into a broader context in the global systematics of stingless bees. The two amber species are representative of two Old World genera of Meliponini: Tetragonula Moure and Austroplebeia Moure. While the former is widespread across southern Asia, Malesia, Papuasia, and Australia, the latter is today known only from New Guinea and Australia. Neither genus occurs in the environs of Zhangpu today. Tetragonula (Tetragonula) florilega Engel, new species, is a generally typical species of the subgenus although it intermingles traits otherwise found in two large species groups of non-Australian Tetragonula s.str. The species of Austroplebeia from Zhangpu is sufficiently distinct to place in a new subgenus, Anteplebeina Engel. Austroplebeia (Anteplebeina) fujianica Engel, new species, shares a long list of character states with Austroplebeia s.str., including the presence of yellow maculation on the face, mesoscutum, mesoscutellum, and metepisternum, found only in this clade among Asiatic Meliponini. Nonetheless, the species differs in the length of the malar space and various features of wing venation. Keys are provided to the genera in Zhangpu amber and the subgenera of both genera. The diversity of stingless bees in amber is discussed, as well as the presence of these two fossils in the Middle Miocene of mainland Asia in relation to prior divergence time estimates, phylogenetic relationships, as well as the paleogeography of the region and potential biogeographic hypotheses. The biological association of stingless bees with resins, particularly the collection of dipterocarp resins, is discussed as Zhangpu amber is a Class II resin likely produced by an extinct species of Dipterocarpaceae (Malvales). Also discussed are the ecological preferences of modern Tetragonula and Austroplebeia relative to the reconstructed paleoenvironment of the Zhangpu amber rainforest. Emendations to the classification of Meliponini are appended, with the following new taxa proposed: Atrichotrigona Engel, new subgenus of Axestotrigona Moure; Lispotrigona V.H. Gonzalez & Engel, new subgenus of Nannotrigona Cockerell; Asperplebeia Engel, new genus; Nanoplebeia Engel, new subgenus of Plebeia Schwarz; Aphaneuropsis Engel, Koilotrigona Engel, Necrotrigona Engel, Dichrotrigona Engel, Nostotrigona Engel, Ktinotrofia Engel, all new subgenera of Trigona Jurine; Chapadapis Engel, new subgenus of Schwarziana Moure. The following higher groups are also established: Hypotrigonina Engel, new sutribe; Heterotrigonitae Engel, new infratribe; Trigoniscitae Engel, new infratribe.

A nyctitheriid insectivore (Eulipotyphla, Mammalia) of Asian affinity from the early Eocene of India

ABSTRACT A new nyctitheriid (Indonyctia cambayensis gen. et sp. nov.) is described from an early Eocene (~55 Ma) marginal marine sequence (Cambay Shale) at Vastan Lignite Mine, Gujarat, western India. The new taxon is diagnosed by a unique combination of several characters including a single-rooted p2; a p4 with a tiny paraconid at the base but without a metaconid; weakly developed talonid basin; reduced p3 relative to p2 and p4; molar trigonid wider and much higher than talonid; hypoconulid nearly on midline; entoconid positioned anterolingual to hypoconulid; presence of precingulid and a larger and taller protoconid than metaconid. The Asian affinities of the Indian nyctitheriid are indicated by its structurally reduced, premolariform p4 with a weakly developed unicuspid talonid. In several respects, the Indian nyctitheriid is similar to Voltaia, a late Palaeocene taxon from Kazakhstan originally assigned to the Palaeoryctidae but later classified as a nyctitheriid. The presence of a nyctitheriid in the basal Eocene of India suggests a wider palaeogeographic distribution and complex dispersal of this Holarctic family. The Asian affinities of the Indian nyctitheriid suggest faunal exchanges between India and the Mainland Asia possibly via the Dras-Kohistan island arc around the Palaeocene-Eocene boundary (~56 Ma).

Insularity and Imperial Politics: Hadrian on the Greek Islands

Since its conquest by Rome in the 2nd century BCE, Roman notables were a constant presence in Greece. While various sites on the mainland served as battlegrounds for Roman civil wars during the 1st century BCE (e.g., Pharsalus, Actium, Philippi), the early imperial period was characterized by the use of various Greek islands as places of – often self-imposed – exile and/or isolation for such notables as M. Vipsanius Agrippa (Lesbos) and Tiberius (Rhodes). Other imperial Romans sojourned in the Aegean islands for different reasons. Augustus spent a winter on Samos after his victory at Actium, using it as a temporary powerbase for the refinement of his imperial plans, and he visited it and other islands again as emperor. While the first two Julio-Claudian emperors maintained close contacts with the Greek world, in the 2nd century CE Hadrian took this connection a step further and promoted Hellenism as a major part of his imperial policy. Naturally, the Greek islands played an important role in imperial politics during his reign, but only as components of the wider Hellenic world and not as isolated entities. Hadrian visited Rhodes and Paros to restore and venerate older Hellenic monuments – the Colossus and the tomb of the poet Archilochus respectively – and possibly Samothrace in order to be initiated into the Mysteries of the Great Gods. He also visited other islands in Greece, but his exact travel itinerary can only be speculative given our fragmentary literary and epigraphic evidence. In this paper, I focus on Hadrian’s presence on the Aegean islands and argue that during his reign they served mainly as sites that allowed for the implementation of his imperial plans by virtue of their easy access from the mainland Greek and Asian provinces. Accordingly, by promoting certain aspects of older Hellenic culture on specific islands, Hadrian conferred renewed prestige to these islands in the Roman Empire.

Diversification of mandarin citrus by hybrid speciation and apomixis

The origin and dispersal of cultivated and wild mandarin and related citrus are poorly understood. Here, comparative genome analysis of 69 new east Asian genomes and other mainland Asian citrus reveals a previously unrecognized wild sexual species native to the Ryukyu Islands: C. ryukyuensis sp. nov. The taxonomic complexity of east Asian mandarins then collapses to a satisfying simplicity, accounting for tachibana, shiikuwasha, and other traditional Ryukyuan mandarin types as homoploid hybrid species formed by combining C. ryukyuensis with various mainland mandarins. These hybrid species reproduce clonally by apomictic seed, a trait shared with oranges, grapefruits, lemons and many cultivated mandarins. We trace the origin of apomixis alleles in citrus to mangshanyeju wild mandarins, which played a central role in citrus domestication via adaptive wild introgression. Our results provide a coherent biogeographic framework for understanding the diversity and domestication of mandarin-type citrus through speciation, admixture, and rapid diffusion of apomictic reproduction.

Detecting vulnerability of humid tropical forests to multiple stressors

Detecting vulnerability of humid tropical forests to multiple stressors

Mitogenomes Reveal Two Major Influxes of Papuan Ancestry across Wallacea Following the Last Glacial Maximum and Austronesian Contact.

The tropical archipelago of Wallacea contains thousands of individual islands interspersed between mainland Asia and Near Oceania, and marks the location of a series of ancient oceanic voyages leading to the peopling of Sahul—i.e., the former continent that joined Australia and New Guinea at a time of lowered sea level—by 50,000 years ago. Despite the apparent deep antiquity of human presence in Wallacea, prior population history research in this region has been hampered by patchy archaeological and genetic records and is largely concentrated upon more recent history that follows the arrival of Austronesian seafarers ~3000–4000 years ago (3–4 ka). To shed light on the deeper history of Wallacea and its connections with New Guinea and Australia, we performed phylogeographic analyses on 656 whole mitogenomes from these three regions, including 186 new samples from eight Wallacean islands and three West Papuan populations. Our results point to a surprisingly dynamic population history in Wallacea, marked by two periods of extensive demographic change concentrated around the Last Glacial Maximum ~15 ka and post-Austronesian contact ~3 ka. These changes appear to have greatly diminished genetic signals informative about the original peopling of Sahul, and have important implications for our current understanding of the population history of the region.

Limited dispersal and in situ diversification drive the evolutionary history of Rasborinae fishes in Sundaland

AbstractAimSea‐level changes have long been put forward to explain the colonization of Southeast Asian islands by freshwater aquatic organisms. We examined the relative impact of Sundaland geology since the Oligocene and of Pleistocene Eustatic Fluctuations on the mitochondrial lineage diversification of a species‐rich subfamily of freshwater fishes widely distributed in Southeast Asia. We specifically tested if the expansion of exposed lands and increased island connectivity during Pleistocene low sea levels (the paleoriver hypothesis) induced bursts of diversification.LocationSundaland.TaxonRasborinae (Actinopterygii, Cypriniformes, Danionidae).MethodsWe aggregated 1,017 cytochrome oxidase I sequences and 79 mitogenomes to delineate Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTUs) and further reconstruct a time‐calibrated phylogeny of Rasborinae. Ancestral area estimations were conducted using both island and paleoriver partitioning to examine the impact of island connectivity during Pleistocene sea‐level changes on dispersal. Temporal trends of diversification are explored through statistical selection of best‐fit models.ResultsThe origin of Sundaland mitochondrial lineages is dated at c. 33 Ma and four major clades are identified, which diversified between c. 31 and 22 Ma. The Island of Borneo and North Sunda paleoriver are identified as the source of Sundaland Rasborinae. Geographical patterns of lineage divergence indicate that most divergence events occurred within islands and diversification under constant birth rate models are the most likely for all clades.ConclusionsThe geographical and historical context of diversification of mitochondrial lineages in Rasborinae provides little support for the paleoriver hypothesis. The onset of isolation of Borneo from mainland Asia triggered the initial diversification of the group (c. 31–22 Ma). The late colonization of Java and Sumatra occurred through several independent dispersal events, poorly explained by Pleistocene sea‐level changes and frequently followed by in situ diversification.

The Relationship Between the Chinese Stock Market, the US Stock Market, and Some Other Economic Indexes Under the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 outbreak has had a huge impact on all sectors of the world, especially the economy. Among all the economic indicators, the stock market indexes are particularly important, because the stock markets anticipate the future economic change and reflect investor confidence and thus may be the barometer of the overall economy. The Chinese and US stock markets are the most important stock markets. Because New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) have the greatest market cap worldwide. And Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) and Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE) can obviously show the conditions of economy in the mainland of China and East Asia. We collected the daily increase or decrease indexes of the U.S. and China stock markets to study their relationships and how they are affected by the pandemic. To study this problem, this paper uses three methods, including Local Similarity Analysis (LSA), Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and Markov chain. We calculate the correlation between the U.S. stock indexes and China stock indexes with LSA and analyze the possible factors which lead to these correlations. LASSO is used to find out other economic indexes which affect the U.S. and China stock markets and test whether these indexes can predict the trend of future markets. Lastly, Markov chains can be used to analyze the effects of the day to the next day transmission in stock markets. We find that there is a high correlation between the U.S. and the China stock using LSA, especially, from Jan.10 to Feb.10. We find that Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index (SSEC) and NASDAQ are correlated to the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index (S&P500) in the US market. S&P500, confirmed cases of COVID-2019 in China (Chinese cases), USD to CNY exchange rate are correlated to the SSEC in the Chinese market. Using these indexes, the future indexes of the U.S. stock market can be predicted at a PCC correlation, the highest is 0.44 and the lowest is 0.24 for the China market. LASSO shows that the U.S. market can be more accurately predicted by the indexes. The estimated Markov models of the two stock markets are pretty similar, i.e. the probability that the value of the U.S. stocks increases two days in a row is 13.40% and the Chinese market is 11.34%. To sum up, we find that the two stock markets are highly correlated under the Covid-19 pandemic despite from some differences.

The earliest Asian bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) address major gaps in bat evolution.

Bats dispersed widely after evolving the capacity for powered flight, and fossil bats are known from the early Eocene of most continents. Until now, however, bats have been conspicuously absent from the early Eocene of mainland Asia. Here, we report two teeth from the Junggar Basin of northern Xinjiang, China belonging to the first known early Eocene bats from Asia, representing arguably the most plesiomorphic bat molars currently recognized. These teeth combine certain bat synapomorphies with primitive traits found in other placental mammals, thereby potentially illuminating dental evolution among stem bats. The Junggar Basin teeth suggest that the dentition of the stem chiropteran family Onychonycteridae is surprisingly derived, although their postcranial anatomy is more primitive than that of any other Eocene bats. Additional comparisons with stem bat families Icaronycteridae and Archaeonycteridae fail to identify unambiguous synapomorphies for the latter taxa, raising the possibility that neither is monophyletic as currently recognized. The presence of highly plesiomorphic bats in the early Eocene of central Asia suggests that this region was an important locus for the earliest, transitional phases of bat evolution, as has been demonstrated for other placental mammal orders including Lagomorpha and Rodentia.

A new rhinoceros clade from the Pleistocene of Asia sheds light on mammal dispersals to the Philippines

AbstractRhinoceroses are among the most endangered mammalian species today. Their past diversity is well documented from the Eocene onward, although their evolutionary history is far from being fully understood. Here, we elucidate the systematic affinities of a Pleistocene rhinoceros species represented by a partial skeleton from 709 ± 68 kya archaeological deposits in Luzon Island, Philippines. We perform a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis, including all living species and a wide array of extinct rhinocerotid species. We confirm the early split between Elasmotheriinae and Rhinocerotinae at c. 35.5 Mya and constrain the divergence between recent Asian and African rhinoceroses at c. 24 Mya, with contrasting phenotypic evolutionary rates in Diceroti and Rhinoceroti. Dental features reveal the existence of an unsuspected Asian Pleistocene clade, referred to as Nesorhinus gen. nov.. It includes the rhinoceros from the Philippines and another extinct species from Taiwan, N. hayasakai. Nesorhinus is the sister-group to a cluster comprising Dicerorhinus and Rhinoceros. Our phylogenetic results strongly suggest an island-hopping dispersal for Nesorhinus, from the Asian mainland towards Luzon via Taiwan by the Late Miocene or later, and Pleistocene dispersals for representatives of Rhinoceros. Nesorhinus philippinensis would be the first perissodactyl species supporting the island-rule hypothesis, with decreased body weight and limb-bone robustness.

First description of the female of Coeliccia furcata Hämäläinen, 1986, with descriptive notes on males from Yunnan, China (Odonata: Zygoptera: Platycnemididae).

Coeliccia furcata Hämäläinen, 1986, an atypical species of Coeliccia Kirby, 1890 with bifurcated male cerci, had been known solely from the holotype male collected in Myanmar in 1938. In recent years the species has been rediscovered in Yunnan, China. The first description of the female is given, along with descriptive notes on the male and illustrations of both sexes, including fresh images of the holotype. Another of the unusual features of C. furcata is the extremely simple form of its penile organ, this is discussed and compared with other species from mainland Asia and Japan currently placed in Coeliccia and with a simple penile organ.

Extension and Self-Connection

If two self-connected individuals are connected, it follows in classical extensional mereotopology that the sum of those individuals is self-connected too. Since mainland Europe and mainland Asia, for example, are both self-connected and connected to each other, mainland Eurasia is also self-connected. In contrast, in non-extensional mereotopologies, two individuals may have more than one sum, in which case it does not follow from their being self-connected and connected that the sum of those individuals is self-connected too. Nevertheless, one would still expect it to follow that a sum of connected self-connected individuals is self-connected too. In this paper, we present some surprising countermodels which show that this conjecture is incorrect.

Waterfall Exploration in Banyumas Regency Based on Ecotourism Environmental Protection (EEP) Approach for Water Conservation

Serayu watershed, the largest watershed in Central Java Province of Indonesia, have various condition in the catchment area. Drawback of environmental services occurred in Banjarnegara, Wonosobo and Purbalingga regency due to intensive agriculture activities in the catchment area. However, suitable protected catchment area performed in Banyumas regency as part of Serayu watershed. Nature landscape and water quality (e.g., river and spring) are potential for tourism and domestic water resource. Nowadays, population growth and economical reason may threaten environmental services especially in catchment area. The research aim to identify waterfall potential as ecotourism development in Banyumas regency. Ecotourism Environmental Protection (EEP) approach already implemented in Asian mainland and appropriate tool for describing environmental protect measurement and its effect. EEP modified variables with Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) analysis were applied with focusing on water resource and conservation especially on waterfall ecotourism development. Identification of waterfall and survey of local communities, natural community, and government were conducted. We explore 109-waterfall in 17 districts of Banyumas regency with less than 20% manage by local or regional government. Third sector intervention (such local-or regional government and private sector) is indispensable for improving waterfall value as ecotourism attraction. In attractive waterfall destination, local people including local organisation receive economic benefit and might improve their welfare. Ecotourism of waterfall in Banyumas regency is promising strategy for water conservation in catchment area.

At a crossroads: The late Eocene flora of central Myanmar owes its composition to plate collision and tropical climate

Myanmar was shaped by the India-Asia collision, fusion of the Burma Terrane (BT) with Asia, and mountain building. Throughout this process new elevational gradients and habitats were formed, which affected the regional climate, but also forged new dispersal routes into Asia and India. In spite of its importance, the vegetation history of Myanmar is poorly known, and this hinders our understanding on the origins and evolution of SE Asian biodiversity. In this study we reconstruct the late Eocene flora in central Myanmar, based on samples from a sedimentary succession in Kalewa, and extend on the Sapotaceae fossil record with additional early Eocene–early Oligocene samples. We then study the morphology, botanical affinity, source ecology and biogeography of selected sporomorphs, and assess the Gondwanan and Laurasian components. Our results show that this late Eocene palynoflora is representative for evergreen forests, typical in a seasonal wet climate, with dryer vegetation away from the area of sedimentation. The abundance of Sapotaceae further suggests that this family became an important component of the SE Asian flora shortly after the India-Asia collision. We conclude that the late Eocene geographic position and Gondwanan origin of Myanmar facilitated floristic exchange between the Indian Plate, BT, mainland and SE Asia, making the BT a crossroads for plant dispersals between Gondwana and Laurasia. The shift from late Eocene seasonal evergreen to present-day moist deciduous forests was likely due to the northward drift of Myanmar, the subsequent two-stage uplift of the Indo-Burman Ranges and posterior Neogene global cooling and drying.

First freshwater gastropod preserved in amber suggests long-distance dispersal during the Cretaceous Period

AbstractBurmese amber continues to provide unique insights into the terrestrial biota inhabiting tropical equatorial forests during mid-Cretaceous time. In contrast to the large amount and great diversity of terrestrial species retrieved so far, aquatic biota constitute rare inclusions. Here we describe the first freshwater snail ever preserved in amber. The new speciesGalba primasp. nov. belongs in the family Lymnaeidae, today a diverse and near globally distributed family. Its inclusion in terrestrial amber is probably a result of the amphibious lifestyle typical of modern representatives of the genus. The finding of a freshwater snail on the Burma Terrane, back then an island situated at some 1500 km from mainland Asia, has implications for the dispersal mechanisms of Mesozoic lymnaeids. The Cenomanian species precedes the evolution of waterfowl, which are today considered a main vector for long-distance dispersal. In their absence, we discuss several hypotheses to explain the disjunct occurrence of the new species.

About Ancestors

ABSTRACT Though regularly studied as different academic domains, Asian and Oceanian studies are deeply intertwined not only through longstanding political, economic, immigrant – and colonial – ties, but by questions about common ancestry. From popular commercial DNA testing to historical studies in linguistics, folklore, archaeology, biological anthropology, and sophisticated genome sequencing, deep histories of Oceanian Islander peoples have long been tied to ‘origin’ traditions and reconstructions of lineages from the Asian mainland, notably through the Austronesian diaspora. From 19th-century linguistic theories and Lapita sites, to 20th-century ABO blood groupings and contemporary mitochondrial and Y-chromosome DNA assays, scholars have proposed at times conflicting interpretations of Oceania’s possible Asian human heritage. These analyses have themselves been consistently challenged by Indigenous genealogical traditions such as Māori whakapapa and Islander assertions of origins based on ancestral and localized narratives decolonized of Western scientific practices.