A Hierarchical View of Vertebrate Systematics, with Emphasis on Turtles
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A Review of Southern Iraq Herpetofauna
Vol. 3 (1): 61-71, 2019 A Review of Southern Iraq Herpetofauna Nadir A. Salman Mazaya University College, Dhi Qar, Iraq *Corresponding author: [email protected] Abstract: The present review discussed the species diversity of herpetofauna in southern Iraq due to their scientific and national interests. The review includes a historical record for the herpetofaunal studies in Iraq since the earlier investigations of the 1920s and 1950s along with the more recent taxonomic trials in the following years. It appeared that, little is known about Iraqi herpetofauna, and no comprehensive checklist has been done for these species. So far, 96 species of reptiles and amphibians have been recorded from Iraq, but only a relatively small proportion of them occur in the southern marshes. The marshes act as key habitat for globally endangered species and as a potential for as yet unexplored amphibian and reptile diversity. Despite the lack of precise localities, the tree frog Hyla savignyi, the marsh frog Pelophylax ridibunda and the green toad Bufo viridis are found in the marshes. Common reptiles in the marshes include the Caspian terrapin (Clemmys caspia), the soft-shell turtle (Trionyx euphraticus), the Euphrates softshell turtle (Rafetus euphraticus), geckos of the genus Hemidactylus, two species of skinks (Trachylepis aurata and Mabuya vittata) and a variety of snakes of the genus Coluber, the spotted sand boa (Eryx jaculus), tessellated water snake (Natrix tessellata) and Gray's desert racer (Coluber ventromaculatus). More recently, a new record for the keeled gecko, Cyrtopodion scabrum and the saw-scaled viper (Echis carinatus sochureki) was reported. The IUCN Red List includes six terrestrial and six aquatic amphibian species. -
Preliminary Analysis of Correlated Evolution of Morphology and Ecological Diversification in Lacertid Lizards
Butll. Soc. Cat. Herp., 19 (2011) Preliminary analysis of correlated evolution of morphology and ecological diversification in lacertid lizards Fèlix Amat Orriols Àrea d'Herpetologia, Museu de Granollers-Ciències Naturals. Francesc Macià 51. 08402 Granollers. Catalonia. Spain. [email protected] Resum S'ha investigat la diversitat morfològica en 129 espècies de lacèrtids i la seva relació amb l'ecologia, per mitjà de mètodes comparatius, utilitzant set variables morfomètriques. La mida corporal és la variable més important, determinant un gradient entre espècies de petita i gran mida independentment evolucionades al llarg de la filogènia dels lacèrtids. Aquesta variable està forta i positivament correlacionada amb les altres, emmascarant els patrons de diversitat morfològica. Anàlisis multivariants en les variables ajustades a la mida corporal mostren una covariació negativa entre les mides relatives de la cua i les extremitats. Remarcablement, les espècies arborícoles i semiarborícoles (Takydromus i el clade africà equatorial) han aparegut dues vegades independentment durant l'evolució dels lacèrtids i es caracteritzen per cues extremadament llargues i extremitats anteriors relativament llargues en comparació a les posteriors. El llangardaix arborícola i planador Holaspis, amb la seva cua curta, constitueix l’única excepció. Un altre cas de convergència ha estat trobat en algunes espècies que es mouen dins de vegetació densa o herba (Tropidosaura, Lacerta agilis, Takydromus amurensis o Zootoca) que presenten cues llargues i extremitats curtes. Al contrari, les especies que viuen en deserts, estepes o matollars amb escassa vegetació aïllada dins grans espais oberts han desenvolupat extremitats posteriors llargues i anteriors curtes per tal d'assolir elevades velocitats i maniobrabilitat. Aquest és el cas especialment de Acanthodactylus i Eremias Abstract Morphologic diversity was studied in 129 species of lacertid lizards and their relationship with ecology by means of comparative analysis on seven linear morphometric measurements. -
Ecological Causes of Uneven Diversification and Richness in the Mammal Tree of Life
bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/504803; this version posted March 28, 2019. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. 1 Ecological causes of uneven diversification and richness in the mammal tree of life 2 Short title: Ecological causes of diversification in mammals 3 4 Nathan S. Upham1*, Jacob A. Esselstyn2, and Walter Jetz1* 5 6 Author affiliations: 1Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New 7 Haven, CT 06511 USA. 2Department of Biological Sciences and Museum of Natural Science, 8 Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 USA. 9 10 *Corresponding authors: 165 Prospect St., OML 122, New Haven, CT 06511 USA; 11 [email protected]; [email protected] 12 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/504803; this version posted March 28, 2019. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. 13 Abstract 14 The uneven distribution of species in the tree of life is rooted in unequal speciation and 15 extinction among groups. Yet the causes of differential diversification are little known despite 16 their relevance for sustaining biodiversity into the future. Here we investigate rates of species 17 diversification across extant Mammalia, a compelling system that includes our own closest 18 relatives. -
A New Xinjiangchelyid Turtle from the Middle Jurassic of Xinjiang, China and the Evolution of the Basipterygoid Process in Mesozoic Turtles Rabi Et Al
A new xinjiangchelyid turtle from the Middle Jurassic of Xinjiang, China and the evolution of the basipterygoid process in Mesozoic turtles Rabi et al. Rabi et al. BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013, 13:203 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/13/203 Rabi et al. BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013, 13:203 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/13/203 RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access A new xinjiangchelyid turtle from the Middle Jurassic of Xinjiang, China and the evolution of the basipterygoid process in Mesozoic turtles Márton Rabi1,2*, Chang-Fu Zhou3, Oliver Wings4, Sun Ge3 and Walter G Joyce1,5 Abstract Background: Most turtles from the Middle and Late Jurassic of Asia are referred to the newly defined clade Xinjiangchelyidae, a group of mostly shell-based, generalized, small to mid-sized aquatic froms that are widely considered to represent the stem lineage of Cryptodira. Xinjiangchelyids provide us with great insights into the plesiomorphic anatomy of crown-cryptodires, the most diverse group of living turtles, and they are particularly relevant for understanding the origin and early divergence of the primary clades of extant turtles. Results: Exceptionally complete new xinjiangchelyid material from the ?Qigu Formation of the Turpan Basin (Xinjiang Autonomous Province, China) provides new insights into the anatomy of this group and is assigned to Xinjiangchelys wusu n. sp. A phylogenetic analysis places Xinjiangchelys wusu n. sp. in a monophyletic polytomy with other xinjiangchelyids, including Xinjiangchelys junggarensis, X. radiplicatoides, X. levensis and X. latiens. However, the analysis supports the unorthodox, though tentative placement of xinjiangchelyids and sinemydids outside of crown-group Testudines. A particularly interesting new observation is that the skull of this xinjiangchelyid retains such primitive features as a reduced interpterygoid vacuity and basipterygoid processes. -
Mammalian Evolution May Not Be Strictly Bifurcating Open Access
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE Mammalian Evolution May not Be Strictly Bifurcating provided by PubMed Central Bjo¨rn M. Hallstro¨m1 and Axel Janke*,2 1Department of Cell and Organism Biology, Division of Evolutionary Molecular Systematics, University of Lund, Lund, Sweden 2LOEWE—Biodiversita¨t und Klima Forschungszentrum BiK-F, Frankfurt, Germany *Corresponding author: E-mail: [email protected]. Associate editor: Arndt von Haeseler Abstract The massive amount of genomic sequence data that is now available for analyzing evolutionary relationships among 31 placental mammals reduces the stochastic error in phylogenetic analyses to virtually zero. One would expect that this would make it possible to finally resolve controversial branches in the placental mammalian tree. We analyzed a 2,863,797 nucleotide- Research article long alignment (3,364 genes) from 31 placental mammals for reconstructing their evolution. Most placental mammalian relationships were resolved, and a consensus of their evolution is emerging. However, certain branches remain difficult or virtually impossible to resolve. These branches are characterized by short divergence times in the order of 1–4 million years. Computer simulations based on parameters from the real data show that as little as about 12,500 amino acid sites could be sufficient to confidently resolve short branches as old as about 90 million years ago (Ma). Thus, the amount of sequence data should no longer be a limiting factor in resolving the relationships among placental mammals. The timing of the early radiation of placental mammals coincides with a period of climate warming some 100–80 Ma and with continental fragmentation. -
Presence of the Jehol Biota Turtle Ordosemys Liaoxiensis in the Early Cretaceous Hengtongshan Formation of Southern Jilin Province, China
Foss. Rec., 22, 57–64, 2019 https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-22-57-2019 © Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Presence of the Jehol Biota turtle Ordosemys liaoxiensis in the Early Cretaceous Hengtongshan Formation of southern Jilin Province, China Chang-Fu Zhou1, Wen-Hao Wu2,3, and Márton Rabi4,5 1College of Earth Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, Shandong, China 2Key Laboratory for Evolution of Past Life and Environment in Northeast Asia, Ministry of Education, Changchun 130026, Jilin, China 3Research Center of Palaeontology and Stratigraphy, Jilin University, Changchun 130056, Jilin, China 4Central Natural Science Collections, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany 5Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany Correspondence: Chang-Fu Zhou ([email protected]) and Wen-Hao Wu ([email protected]) Received: 25 May 2019 – Revised: 15 August 2019 – Accepted: 19 August 2019 – Published: 12 September 2019 Abstract. Recently, a vertebrate assemblage of the Jehol ence of the Eosestheria (crustacean)–Ephemeropsis trisetalis Biota has been reported from the Early Cretaceous Heng- (mayfly insect)–Lycoptera (fish) community (T. Shao et al., tongshan Formation of Xingling Town, Meihekou City, Jilin 2017). Freshwater sinemydid turtles are among the most Province, China. It is dominated by the fishes Lycoptera and common tetrapod fossils of the Jehol Biota, which makes Sinamia and the sinemydid turtle Ordosemys. Here, we de- their biostratigraphic potential of interest (e.g., Ji, 1995; Tong scribe the turtle specimens and referral to Ordosemys liaox- et al., 2004; Zhou, 2010a, b; Zhou and Rabi, 2015; S. -
Literature Cited in Lizards Natural History Database
Literature Cited in Lizards Natural History database Abdala, C. S., A. S. Quinteros, and R. E. Espinoza. 2008. Two new species of Liolaemus (Iguania: Liolaemidae) from the puna of northwestern Argentina. Herpetologica 64:458-471. Abdala, C. S., D. Baldo, R. A. Juárez, and R. E. Espinoza. 2016. The first parthenogenetic pleurodont Iguanian: a new all-female Liolaemus (Squamata: Liolaemidae) from western Argentina. Copeia 104:487-497. Abdala, C. S., J. C. Acosta, M. R. Cabrera, H. J. Villaviciencio, and J. Marinero. 2009. A new Andean Liolaemus of the L. montanus series (Squamata: Iguania: Liolaemidae) from western Argentina. South American Journal of Herpetology 4:91-102. Abdala, C. S., J. L. Acosta, J. C. Acosta, B. B. Alvarez, F. Arias, L. J. Avila, . S. M. Zalba. 2012. Categorización del estado de conservación de las lagartijas y anfisbenas de la República Argentina. Cuadernos de Herpetologia 26 (Suppl. 1):215-248. Abell, A. J. 1999. Male-female spacing patterns in the lizard, Sceloporus virgatus. Amphibia-Reptilia 20:185-194. Abts, M. L. 1987. Environment and variation in life history traits of the Chuckwalla, Sauromalus obesus. Ecological Monographs 57:215-232. Achaval, F., and A. Olmos. 2003. Anfibios y reptiles del Uruguay. Montevideo, Uruguay: Facultad de Ciencias. Achaval, F., and A. Olmos. 2007. Anfibio y reptiles del Uruguay, 3rd edn. Montevideo, Uruguay: Serie Fauna 1. Ackermann, T. 2006. Schreibers Glatkopfleguan Leiocephalus schreibersii. Munich, Germany: Natur und Tier. Ackley, J. W., P. J. Muelleman, R. E. Carter, R. W. Henderson, and R. Powell. 2009. A rapid assessment of herpetofaunal diversity in variously altered habitats on Dominica. -
An Etymological Review of the Lizards of Iran: Families Lacertidae, Scincidae, Uromastycidae, Varanidae
International Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances 3(5): 322-329, 2011 ISSN: 2041-2908 © Maxwell Scientific Organization, 2011 Submitted: July 28, 2011 Accepted: September 25, 2011 Published: October 15, 2011 An Etymological Review of the Lizards of Iran: Families Lacertidae, Scincidae, Uromastycidae, Varanidae 1Peyman Mikaili and 2Jalal Shayegh 1Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran 2Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary, Shabestar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shabestar, Iran Abstract: The etymology of the reptiles, especially the lizards of Iran has not been completely presented in other published works. Iran is a very active geographic area for any animals, and more especially for lizards, due to its wide range deserts and ecology. We have attempted to ascertain, as much as possible, the construction of the Latin binomials of all Iranian lizard species. We believe that a review of these names is instructive, not only in codifying many aspects of the biology of the lizards, but in presenting a historical overview of collectors and taxonomic work in Iran and Middle East region. We have listed all recorded lizards of Iran according to the order of the scientific names in the book of Anderson, The Lizards of Iran. All lizard species and types have been grouped under their proper Families, and then they have been alphabetically ordered based on their scientific binominal nomenclature. We also examined numerous published works in addition to those included in the original papers presenting each binomial. Key words: Etymology, genera, iran, lizards, Middle East, species, taxonomy. INTRODUCTION comprising the fauna of Iran, including Field guide to the reptiles of Iran, (Vol. -
Comparative Bone Histology of the Turtle Shell (Carapace and Plastron)
Comparative bone histology of the turtle shell (carapace and plastron): implications for turtle systematics, functional morphology and turtle origins Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades (Dr. rer. nat.) der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Bonn Vorgelegt von Dipl. Geol. Torsten Michael Scheyer aus Mannheim-Neckarau Bonn, 2007 Angefertigt mit Genehmigung der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn 1 Referent: PD Dr. P. Martin Sander 2 Referent: Prof. Dr. Thomas Martin Tag der Promotion: 14. August 2007 Diese Dissertation ist 2007 auf dem Hochschulschriftenserver der ULB Bonn http://hss.ulb.uni-bonn.de/diss_online elektronisch publiziert. Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Januar 2007 Institut für Paläontologie Nussallee 8 53115 Bonn Dipl.-Geol. Torsten M. Scheyer Erklärung Hiermit erkläre ich an Eides statt, dass ich für meine Promotion keine anderen als die angegebenen Hilfsmittel benutzt habe, und dass die inhaltlich und wörtlich aus anderen Werken entnommenen Stellen und Zitate als solche gekennzeichnet sind. Torsten Scheyer Zusammenfassung—Die Knochenhistologie von Schildkrötenpanzern liefert wertvolle Ergebnisse zur Osteoderm- und Panzergenese, zur Rekonstruktion von fossilen Weichgeweben, zu phylogenetischen Hypothesen und zu funktionellen Aspekten des Schildkrötenpanzers, wobei Carapax und das Plastron generell ähnliche Ergebnisse zeigen. Neben intrinsischen, physiologischen Faktoren wird die -
Molecular Evolution and Phylogenetic Importance of a Gamete Recognition Gene Zan Reveals a Unique Contribution to Mammalian Speciation
Molecular evolution and phylogenetic importance of a gamete recognition gene Zan reveals a unique contribution to mammalian speciation. by Emma K. Roberts A Dissertation In Biological Sciences Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved Robert D. Bradley Chair of Committee Daniel M. Hardy Llewellyn D. Densmore Caleb D. Phillips David A. Ray Mark Sheridan Dean of the Graduate School May, 2020 Copyright 2020, Emma K. Roberts Texas Tech University, Emma K. Roberts, May 2020 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank numerous people for support, both personally and professionally, throughout the course of my degree. First, I thank Dr. Robert D. Bradley for his mentorship, knowledge, and guidance throughout my tenure in in PhD program. His ‘open door policy’ helped me flourish and grow as a scientist. In addition, I thank Dr. Daniel M. Hardy for providing continued support, knowledge, and exciting collaborative efforts. I would also like to thank the remaining members of my advisory committee, Drs. Llewellyn D. Densmore III, Caleb D. Phillips, and David A. Ray for their patience, guidance, and support. The above advisors each helped mold me into a biologist and I am incredibly gracious for this gift. Additionally, I would like to thank numerous mentors, friends and colleagues for their advice, discussions, experience, and friendship. For these reasons, among others, I thank Dr. Faisal Ali Anwarali Khan, Dr. Sergio Balaguera-Reina, Dr. Ashish Bashyal, Joanna Bateman, Karishma Bisht, Kayla Bounds, Sarah Candler, Dr. Juan P. Carrera-Estupiñán, Dr. Megan Keith, Christopher Dunn, Moamen Elmassry, Dr. -
Directional Asymmetry in Hindlimbs of Agamidae and Lacertidae (Reptilia: Lacertilia)
BwlogicalJoumal of& Linnean So&& (2000), 69: 461481. With 3 figures @ doi:10.1006/bij1.1999.0366, available online at http://www.idealibrary.com on lDrbL* Evolution and ecology of developmental processes and of the resulting morphology: directional asymmetry in hindlimbs of Agamidae and Lacertidae (Reptilia: Lacertilia) HERVE SELJGMA" Department of Evolution, systematics and Ecology, The Hebrew Univers-ig ofJmalem, 91 904Jmah, Israel Received 16 Febwv 1999; accepted for publication 27 March 1999 In this paper, the evolution and ecology of directional asymmetry (DA) during the de- velopmental trajectory (DT) is compared with that of its product, morphological DA (MDA). DT and MDA are calculated for two bilateral morphological scale characters of lizards, the number of subdigital lamellae beneath the fourth toe in 10 agamid and 28 lacertid taxa, and the number of rows of ventral scales in 12 lacertid taxa. MDA, the subtraction between left and right sides (classical measure of DA), is functional in adult animals. Results confirm the hypothesis that, in DT, the regression parameters a (constant) and b (regression slope) of counts on the right side with those on the left describe a developmental process. No phylogenetic or environmental effects were observed on a and b, but analyses considering both a and b together show non-random phyletic patterns. Independent analyses deduced the same ancestral DT in Agamidae and Lacertidae. In Lacertidae, distance between pairs of taxa in a+b (standardized values) correlates positively with the phylogenetic distance between taxa. Phyletic trends in MDA are indirect, and due to the link of MDA with a + b. The MDA of species is more dissimilar in sympatry than in allopatry. -
Evolution 1 Ecological Causes of Uneven Diversification and Richness
bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/504803; this version posted January 4, 2019. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. 1 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES: Evolution 2 Ecological causes of uneven diversification and richness in the mammal tree of life 3 Short title: Ecological causes of diversification in mammals 4 5 Nathan S. Upham1*, Jacob A. Esselstyn2, and Walter Jetz1* 6 7 Author affiliations: 1Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New 8 Haven, CT 06511 USA. 2Department of Biological Sciences and Museum of Natural Science, 9 Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 USA. 10 11 *Corresponding author: Nathan S. Upham; address: 165 Prospect St., OML 122, New Haven, CT 12 06511 USA; phone: 773-263-1533; email: [email protected]. bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/504803; this version posted January 4, 2019. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. 13 Abstract 14 The uneven distribution of species in the tree of life is rooted in unequal speciation and 15 extinction among groups. Yet the causes of differential diversification are little known despite 16 their relevance for sustaining biodiversity into the future. Here we investigate rates of species 17 diversification across extant Mammalia, a compelling system that includes our own closest 18 relatives.