Zoologica Scripta

Pečnerová, Patrícia; Martínková, Natália

doi: 10.1111/j.1463-6409.2011.00528.xpmid: N/A

Pečnerová, P. & Martínková, N. (2012). Evolutionary history of tree squirrels (Rodentia, Sciurini) based on multilocus phylogeny reconstruction. —Zoologica Scripta, 41, 211–219. Tree squirrels of the tribe Sciurini represent a group with unresolved phylogenetic relationships in gene trees. We used partial sequences of mitochondrial genes for 12S rRNA, 16S rRNA, cytochrome b and d‐loop, and nuclear irbp, c‐myc exon 2 and 3 and rag1 genes to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships within the tribe, maximizing the number of analysed species. Bayesian inference analysis of the concatenated sequences revealed common trends that were similar to those retrieved with supertree reconstruction. We confirmed congruence between phylogeny and zoogeography. The first group that diverged from a common ancestor was genus Tamiasciurus, followed by Palaearctic Sciurus and Indomalayan Rheithrosciurus macrotis. Nearctic and Neotropical Sciurus species formed a monophyletic group that included Microsciurus and Syntheosciurus. Neotropical Sciurini were monophyletic with a putative exception of Syntheosciurus brochus that was included in a polychotomy with Nearctic Sciurus in supertree analyses. Our data indicate that Sciurini tree squirrels originated in the northern hemisphere and ancestors of contemporary taxa attained their current distribution through overland colonization from the nearest continent rather than through trans‐Pacific dispersal.

Fritz, Uwe; Alcalde, Leandro; Vargas‐Ramírez, Mario; Goode, Eric V.; Fabius‐Turoblin, David Uri; Praschag, Peter

doi: 10.1111/j.1463-6409.2012.00533.xpmid: N/A

Fritz, U., Alcalde, L., Vargas‐Ramírez, M., Goode, E.V., Fabius‐Turoblin, D.U. & Praschag, P. (2012). Northern genetic richness and southern purity, but just one species in the Chelonoidis chilensis complex. —Zoologica Scripta, 41, 220–232. The Chelonoidis chilensis complex, the sister group of the famous Galápagos tortoises, is a widely distributed group of South American land tortoises, ranging from the dry Chaco of Bolivia, Paraguay and northern Argentina to northern Patagonia. Within this complex, up to three distinct species have been recognized. Using sequence data of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and length polymorphisms of 10 microsatellite loci, we investigate genetic differentiation among all three nominal species. We find only negligible differentiation, with decreasing genetic diversity from north to south. We conclude that only one species, Chelonoidis chilensis (Gray, 1870), is valid, with C. donosobarrosi (Freiberg, 1973) and C. petersi (Freiberg, 1973) as its junior synonyms. Morphological variation within C. chilensis sensu lato is in accord with the observation that size variation in chelonians follows Bergmann’s rule, with body size increasing with latitude. The observed phylogeographic differentiation inverses the well‐known pattern of southern genetic richness and northern purity from the northern hemisphere, resulting from dispersal from glacial refugia. This implies that in higher latitudes of both hemispheres genetic diversity may decrease with increasing distance from the refugium. For C. chilensis sensu lato, it seems likely that long‐distance dispersal via rafting on the Desaguadero River led to the foundation of the southernmost populations in northern Patagonia during the Holocene.

Tang, Qiong‐Ying; Liu, Si‐Qing; Yu, Dan; Liu, Huan‐Zhang; Danley, Patrick D.

doi: 10.1111/j.1463-6409.2011.00530.xpmid: N/A

Tang, Q.‐Y., Liu, S.‐Q., Yu, D., Liu, H.‐Z. & Danley, P.D. (2012) Mitochondrial capture and incomplete lineage sorting in the diversification of balitorine loaches (Cypriniformes, Balitoridae) revealed by mitochondrial and nuclear genes. —Zoologica Scripta, 41, 233–247. Understanding the diversification of species is a central goal of evolutionary biological studies. One powerful tool to investigate the speciation process is molecular systematics. Here, we use molecular methods to investigate the evolution of balitorine loaches belonging to two genera, Lepturichthys and Jinshaia. Both genera contain only two species (Lepturichthys fimbriata, Lepturichthys dolichopterus and Jinshaia sinensis and Jinshaia abbreviata), all of which are endemic to China. These species share many morphological and ecological characters and exhibit overlapping distributions in the Upper Yangtze River. In this study, we used two mitochondrial genes (Cytb and COI) and one nuclear gene (RAG1) to investigate the phylogenetic relationships within and between these two genera. Phylogenetic analyses and network construction based on mitochondrial and nuclear genes consistently supported the monophyly of Jinshaia. In contrast, the mitochondrial and nuclear genes yielded conflicting results in Lepturichthys. The phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial sequences identify two distinct Lepturichthys lineages, Lepturichthys A and Lepturichthys B. Lepturichthys A includes most of L. fimbriata individuals from the Upper Yangtze River and is the sister group to all Jinshaia species. Lepturichthys B consists of the remaining L. fimbriata individuals from the Upper and Middle Yangtze River, and all L. dolichopterus individuals from the Minjiang River in Southeastern China. However, the analysis of the nuclear sequence indicates that the genus Lepturichthys is monophyletic and is only distantly related to Jinshaia. This incongruence suggests that introgressive hybridization might have occurred between L. fimbriata (Lepturichthys A) and Jinshaia species. As a result of this hybridization event, L. fimbriata captured the mitochondrial genome of the sympatric Jinshaia species. This capture event appears to have occurred at least 1.74 million years ago. Additionally, L. fimbriata appears to be paraphyletic; the nuclear data indicated that L. dolichopterus forms a monophyletic clade nested within L. fimbriata. Because L. dolichopterus and L. fimbriata are allopatric and hybridization may not be possible, we suggest that the observed paraphyly of L. fimbriata is a product of incomplete lineage sorting. In addition, the reciprocal monophyly of J. sinensis and J. abbreviata could not be resolved. This may be the result of interspecific hybridization as these species occur sympatrically. However, incomplete lineage sorting may have caused the observed topology of the Jinshaia species. The data presented here illustrate the complex evolutionary history of the balitorine loach species: intergeneric hybridization and interspecific hybridization have likely occurred in this lineage. In addition, possible incomplete lineage sorting may further obscure the evolutionary history of this group. The complex relationships of the balitorine loaches provide a rich evolutionary system to study the creation of sympatric and sister species.

Bauer, Franziska; Stübner, Andreas; Neinhuis, Christoph; Nuss, Matthias

doi: 10.1111/j.1463-6409.2012.00532.xpmid: N/A

Bauer, F., Stübner, A., Neinhuis, C. & Nuss, M. (2012). Molecular phylogeny, larval case architecture, host–plant associations and classification of European Coleophoridae (Lepidoptera). —Zoologica Scripta, 41, 248–265. Several attempts based on adult morphology have aimed at classifying the megadiverse Coleophoridae, either by defining species groups or by splitting the large genus Coleophora into many smaller genera. A previous cladistic analysis focussing on larvae suggests monophyly of some case type groups as well as host–plant associations with a preference for certain plant tissues and growth forms. Here, a first molecular phylogeny for Coleophoridae is presented to test these partly contradicting hypotheses. Bayesian statistics is applied to different partitioning strategies of a COI + wingless data set (1815 bp) for 105 European species, revealing eight monophyletic species groups. A broader defined Coleophora with internal groups is better supported than the division into many genera. GoniodomaZeller, 1849 syn. rev. and Metriotes Herrich‐Schäffer, 1853 syn. n. are nested within Coleophora Hübner, 1822. Seven species are transferred to Coleophora: C. auroguttella (Zeller, 1849) comb. rev., C. limoniella Stainton, 1884 comb. rev., C. millierella (Ragonot, 1882) comb. n., C. nemesi (Căpuşe, 1970) comb. n., C. sinica (Li & Zheng, 2002) comb. n. (from Goniodoma) as well as C. jaeckhi (Baldizzone, 1985) comb. n. and C. lutarea (Haworth, 1828) comb. n. (from Metriotes). None of the formerly suggested case types is synapomorphic for any of the recovered clades. In contrast, cases built from glossy silk that turns black or dark brown is synapomorphic for the vibicella group. Some clades have radiated on certain plant taxa along with a specialisation in specific tissues, for example, the clade containing the saturatella (leaf miners) and frischella (seed miners) groups is associated with Fabaceae, the albella group (seed miners) with Caryophyllales and the serpylletorum group (leaf miners) with Lamiaceae. Calculating an index of host specificity for all studied species confirms significant differences between seed and leaf feeders on herbaceous plants, but not between leaf feeders on herbaceous and woody plants.

Piffaretti, Joséphine; Vanlerberghe‐Masutti, Flavie; Tayeh, Ashraf; Clamens, Anne‐Laure; D’Acier, Armelle Cœur ; Jousselin, Emmanuelle

doi: 10.1111/j.1463-6409.2012.00531.xpmid: N/A

Piffaretti, J., Vanlerberghe‐Masutti, F., Tayeh, A., Clamens, A.‐L., Cœur d’Acier, A. & Jousselin E. (2012). Molecular phylogeny reveals the existence of two sibling species in the aphid pest Brachycaudus helichrysi (Hemiptera: Aphididae). —Zoologica Scripta, 41, 266–280. Brachycaudus helichrysi is a worldwide polyphagous aphid pest that seriously damages its primary hosts (Prunus spp.) and the various cultivated plants among its secondary hosts (e.g. sunflower). A recent study of the Brachycaudus genus suggested that this species might encompass two differentiated lineages. We tested this hypothesis, by carrying out a phylogenetic study of this aphid pest based on worldwide sampling and the evaluation of mitochondrial, nuclear and Buchnera aphidicola DNA markers. We show that this species is actually an amalgamation of two sibling taxa, B. helichrysi H1 and B. helichrysi H2, that seem to have overlapping geographic ranges and herbaceous host plant preferences. These two taxa displayed levels of genetic divergence as great as those generally found between sister species in the Brachycaudus genus, suggesting that they actually correspond to two distinct species. Our phylogenetic reconstructions revealed a degree of incongruence between the topologies obtained with the aphid gene data set and with data for a DNA marker from its primary endosymbiont. We identified possible reasons for this observation and discuss the ecological and genotypic data suggesting that B. helichrysi H1 and B. helichrysi H2 have different life cycles.

Kim, Sanghee; Park, Mi‐Hyun; Jung, Jae‐Ho; Ahn, Dong‐Ha; Sultana, Tahera; Kim, Sejoo; Park, Joong‐Ki; Choi, Han‐Gu; Min, Gi‐Sik

doi: 10.1111/j.1463-6409.2012.00534.xpmid: N/A

Kim, S., Park, M.‐H., Jung, J.‐H., Ahn, D.‐H., Sultana, T., Kim, S., Park, J.‐K., Choi, H.‐G. & Min, G.‐S. (2012). The mitochondrial genomes of Cambaroides similis and Procambarus clarkii (Decapoda: Astacidea: Cambaridae): the phylogenetic implications for Reptantia. —Zoologica Scripta, 41, 281–292. We determined the complete mitochondrial (mt) genome sequences of two northern hemisphere freshwater crayfish species, Cambaroides similis and Procambarus clarkii (Decapoda: Astacidea: Cambaridae). These species have an identical gene order with typical metazoan mt genome compositions. However, their gene arrangement was very distinctive compared with the pan‐crustacean ground pattern because of the presence of a long inverted block, which included 19 coding genes and a control region (CR). Because the CR was inverted, their nucleotide frequencies showed a reversed strand‐specific bias compared with the other decapods. Based on a comparative analysis of mt genome arrangements between southern and northern hemisphere crayfish and their putative close marine relative (Homarus americanus, a true clawed lobster), we postulated that the ancestor of freshwater crayfish had a typical pan‐crustacean mtDNA gene order, similar to its marine relatives. Based on this assumption, we traced the most parsimonious gene rearrangement scenario of the northern hemisphere crayfish. In a phylogenetic study on the infraordinal relationships in reptan decapods, the lineage Lineata (Thalassinidea (Brachyura, Anomura)) was well supported, while the infraorder positions of Achelata and Astacidea remained unidentified.

Ashelby, Christopher W.; Page, Timothy J.; De Grave, Sammy; Hughes, Jane M.; Johnson, Magnus L.

doi: 10.1111/j.1463-6409.2012.00535.xpmid: N/A

Ashelby, C.W., Page, T.J., De Grave, S., Hughes, J.M. & Johnson, M.L. (2012) Regional scale speciation reveals multiple invasions of freshwater in Palaemoninae (Decapoda). —Zoologica Scripta, 41, 293–306. The generic level, systematic relationship in Palaemoninae was inferred from analyses based on the mitochondrial 16S rDNA and nuclear Histone (H3) genes, primarily focussed on the genera Palaemon and Palaemonetes, as previous morphological and molecular studies indicated potential paraphyly in some genera. Palaemonetes, Exopalaemon, Coutierella and certain Palaemon recover as a strongly supported monophyletic clade, but with the exception of Palaemon concinnus, P. pandaliformis and P. gracilis. Within this clade, six major clades are identified with geographic relationships appearing stronger than generic relationships. The data strongly suggest that Palaemon, Palaemonetes, Exopalaemon and Coutierella are synonymous and that the morphological characters currently used to define these genera require re‐evaluation. Freshwater species are not closely related to each other, but instead group with geographically close marine species, suggesting multiple invasions of freshwater by physiologically plastic ancestors rather than a single colonisation event with subsequent speciation.

Borda, Elizabeth; Kudenov, Jerry D.; Bienhold, Christina; Rouse, Greg W.

doi: 10.1111/j.1463-6409.2012.00529.xpmid: N/A

Borda, E., Kudenov, J.D., Bienhold, C. & Rouse, G.W. (2012). Towards a revised Amphinomidae (Annelida, Amphinomida): description and affinities of a new genus and species from the Nile Deep‐sea Fan, Mediterranean Sea. —Zoologica Scripta, 41, 307–325. The discovery of a new amphinomid species from wood falls deployed near cold seeps (1694 m) at the Nile Deep‐sea Fan (Mediterranean Sea) highlights the need to revise Amphinomidae to better characterize amphinomid diversity. The phylogenetic affinities of the new amphinomid and 12 other species from nine Amphinomida genera were inferred using data from two nuclear (18S rDNA and 28S rDNA) and two mitochondrial (COI and 16S rDNA) genes. The phylogenetic analyses indicated a close relationship of the new species with other amphinomids associated with temporary pelagic substrata, including Amphinome sensu stricto (emended herein) and Hipponoa. The new species belongs to a distinct lineage and we, here, erect a new genus to accommodate it. Cryptonome gen. n. is the second amphinomid genus established for species from chemosynthetic environments. Cryptonome conclava sp. n. is distinguished morphologically from all previously described rectilinear Amphinomidae by lacking notochaetal hooks, having a reduced caruncle, modified neurochaetae and branchiae on nearly all segments. Taxonomic issues regarding amphinomid species presently assigned to Amphinome and the erroneous placement of related xylophylic taxa in Eurythoe are also outlined. We emend and restrict the five known oceanic flotsam species with stalked heart‐shaped caruncles to Amphinome sensu stricto. An additional 15 species previously assigned to Amphinome may belong to other genera (e.g. Linopherus) and are here tentatively considered incertae sedis. Finally, Eurythoe turcica and Eurythoe parvecarunculata are transferred to Cryptonome gen. n. as new combinations. A revised key to a subset of rectilinear amphinomid genera (relevant to this study) is presented.