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Future monitoring of chemical exposure and effects in humans, wildlife and the environment - from a One Health perspective
No full textConfirmation that Antevsia zeilleri microsporangiate organs associated with latest Triassic Lepidopteris ottonis (Peltaspermales) leaves produced Cycadopites-Monosulcites-Chasmatosporites- and Ricciisporites-type monosulcate pollen
No full textIn reply to the commentary by N. Zavialova (Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 322, 105,065), we provide additional data and illustrations reaffirming that the Triassic peltaspermalean ‘seed-fern’ Lepidopteris ottonis produced the abnormal pollen Ricciisporites tuberculatus, solving a long-standing mystery in palaeobotany. The microsporangiate organ Antevsia zeilleri linked to Lepidopteris ottonis foliage produced polymorphic pollen ranging from smooth-walled monads that would normally be attributed to Cycadopites, Monosulcites and Chasmatosporites to strongly ornamented Ricciisporites tuberculatus-type grains occurring in permanent tetrads. Multiple microscopy techniques reveal that these in situ and associated dispersed pollen are represented by a complete continuum inexine ornamentation. Moreover, scanning electron microscopy and ultrastructural analyses reveal variation in the wall architecture between these pollen types that can be explained by aberrant developmental pathways within the pollen sac. Finally, the occurrence of Ricciisporites tuberculatus in at least 15 Antevsia zeilleri sacs and their co-occurrence with smooth-walled monosulcate pollen in an additional five pollen sacs, in the absence ofany other palynomorphs, plant detritus or mineral matter, demonstrates their co-production by the parent plant and excludes the possibility of taphonomic mixing.Funding is acknowledged from the Knut & Alice Wallenbergs stiftelse KAW 2020.0145 (V. Vajda), Swedish Research Council VR grants 2019-4061 (V. Vajda), 2022-03920 (S. McLoughlin), 2019-04524 and 2023-03330 (S.M. Slater), The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences GS2021-0018 (S.M. Slater) and Formas (Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development) 2023-00984 (S.M. Slater).</p
Lanthanum anomalies provide constraints on macrofaunal predation at methane seeps
No full textThe feeding habits and predation behaviour of organisms can exert significant control on the dynamics of local food webs. Yet, little is known about the effects of predation on the material and trophic transfer dynamics in chemosynthesis-based ecosystems. Here, we investigated the rare earth element (REE) composition of soft tissues and hardparts for thiotrophy-dependent vesicomyid clams (Archivesica marissinica), aerobic methanotrophy-dependent bathymodiolin mussels (Gigantidas haimaensis), in addition to turrid gastropods (Phymorhynchus buccinoides) and parasitic scale worms (Branchipolynoe pettiboneae) from the Haima seeps of the South China Sea; the latter two species are predators feeding on mussels. Our goal was to determine if the specific, microbially-derived, light REE enrichment characteristics of seep mussels can be transferred to the biomass of their predators. The vesicomyid clams were found to exhibit light REE patterns similar to that of seawater. In contrast, the bathymodiolin mussels, turrid gastropods, and scale worms revealed pronounced lanthanum (La) enrichment, agreeing with substantial transfer of La within the local food web. The observed enrichment of La in seep dwelling predators represents an independent method for monitoring the dynamics within seep ecosystems and potentially for assessing faunal interactions in ancient chemosynthesis-based ecosystems. We thank the crew of R/V Haiyang-06 as well as the operation team of Haima ROV for their professional assistance throughout the cruises. This study was partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants: 42106059 and 42225603), Shanghai Sailing Program (Grant: 21YF1416800) and Chenguang Program of Shanghai Education Development Foundation and Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (Grant: 22CGA58).</p
Genomic insights into the evolutionary and demographic histories of the extinct Hoopoe Starling (Fregilupus varius)
No full textThe Hoopoe Starling Fregilupus varius is an extinct species of the Sturnidae that was endemic to Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean. The species rapidly disappeared in the middle of the 19th century, primarily because of overexploitation by humans. We generated an approximately 11× coverage genome to reconstruct the demographic history of the Hoopoe Starling and compared these results with the demographic histories of other starlings and myna species. Our analyses confirmed the close affinities of the Hoopoe Starling with the genera Sturnia, Leucopsar and Sturnornis, and revealed that it went through a strong population bottleneck during its evolutionary history, but that its effective population size was not particularly low when compared with other extinct or critically endangered species of birds
Morphological disparity and evolutionary patterns of Cambrian hyoliths
No full textHyolitha represent one of the major constituentsof the Cambrian Evolutionary Fauna, first appearing in the Terreneuvian and rapidly diversifying soon after. Recent work has both enriched the hyolith fossil record and expanded our understanding of their biology, but studies documenting the evolutionary trajectory of Cambrian hyoliths remain scarce. Here we present the first study of changes in morphological disparity in Cambrian hyoliths over time with the aim of characterizing the evolutionary trajectory of hyoliths throughout their primary period of diversification. Our results show that hyoliths occupied distinct regions of morphospace at different times during the Cambrian, with an expansion in morphospace occupation associated with the increase in hyolith diversity in the early Cambrian. Both the Sinsk Event and multiple abiotic factors led to a decline in hyolith diversity in the Miaolingian, and morphological disparity also contracts in association with this reduction in diversity.This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2023YFF0803601), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants 42202010 to FL, 42072003 to TPT), the Project funded by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2022M712567, 2023T160525 to FL), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to the Early Life Institute (XDB26000000), and the Overseas Expertise Introduction Centre for Discipline Innovation (111 Center: D17013). This work was also funded by the Swedish Research Council (VR2016-04610 to CBS, VR2017-05183 and VR2021-04295 to TPT). ZFZ acknowledges the Department of Science and Technology of Shaanxi Province (2022TD-11) for continuous support for his laboratory and field work.</p
Optimisation of static passive acoustic monitoring of harbour porpoises in the Kattegat Sea
No full textLong-term monitoring of species is necessary for estimating trends in abundance and distribution, andassessing impacts of human activities and conservation actions. As the monitoring needs often exceedavailable resources, optimisation of monitoring effort is important. As part of the Swedish nationalmonitoring programme of harbour porpoises, echolocation activity has been measured at 14 stationslocated in five Natura 2000 sites in the Kattegat Sea over four years (2019–2023). We aimed to evaluatewhether monitoring effort could be reduced while still providing the power to detect a 30% decline overthree generations (equivalent to an annual decline of 1.6%) with 80% power and 20% significance, i.e.similar to OSPAR’s threshold for abundance of cetacean assessment units. Stations were divided intofour groups (3–5 stations/group) based on their spatial distribution and the level and variation in the ratioof the weekly buzz-positive minutes (BPM) to detection-positive minutes (DPM). The BPM metrics wereassumed to indicate differences in habitat use. For each station, daily DPM was modelled as a functionof the Julian day and year to create annual indices. For each group, the trend of the annual indices andassociated power was calculated using a log-linear model over the four years. Finally, the power todetect a trend over time using 1–3 stations per group was estimated, assuming three levels of variance.The variance levels chosen were similar to the lowest, mean and highest variance observed for the 14stations over the four monitoring years. For all four groups of stations, a significant trend was estimatedto be detected within 12 years. The power analysis showed that decreasing the number of stations withina group from 3 to 2 delays the time to reach 80% power by approximately 1 year, while decreasing it from2 to 1 delays it by approximately 2 years. Alternating stations within a group has negligible impact on thepower. Depending on the assumed level of variance, a significant trend could be detected using 2 stationsper group within 6 (σ=0.05), 12 (σ=0.15), or 18 years (σ=0.30). The results indicate that monitoring effortcan be moved to other areas, while still providing sufficient power to allow declines in detections to bedetected within 12 years. Further, they demonstrate that clear objectives and evaluation of the effortneeded are crucial for optimisation among areas, populations or species when resources are limited
Revision of Sagenopteris (Caytoniales): a major lineage of the Mesozoic seed plants
No full textSagenopteris is the most common fossil organ attributed to Caytoniales and is represented by compound leaves having several (usually four) lanceolate leaflets in pseudo-palmate arrangement. Since Presl's description of Sagenopteris in 1838, at least 82 species have been identified worldwide. However, most were established on a few isolated leaflets without sufficient details for confident segregation from other forms. After a global evaluation of the character states, nomenclature and taxonomic validity of all described Sagenopteris species, only five can be retained as nomenclaturally valid and morphologically distinct: Sagenopteris acuminata (lectotype species), S. colpodes, S. hallei, S. phillipsii and S. pualensis. Comprehensive assessment of Sagenopteris foliage based on historical studies and institutional collections shows a high degree of morphological plasticity within individual leaf populations. Multivariate plots of key leaf characters show broad morphotypes within populations that, if selectively sampled, might readily result in the recognition of multiple fossil-species. Cuticular features are more stable for species-level differentiation. Temporo-spatial analysis of Sagenopteris suggests it originated in the European (palaeo-subtropical) region by the Anisian (Middle Triassic) and underwent significant range expansion during the Late Triassic. Surviving the end-Triassic mass extinction, Sagenopteris quickly became one of the dominant gymnosperms in the aftermath of the biotic crisis, reaching its peak abundance during the Early and Middle Jurassic. This taxon began to decline in floristic importance from the Late Jurassic to Late Cretaceous. The youngest occurrences of Sagenopteris, globally, are from Cenomanian–Campanian assemblages of middle to high northern latitudes. No examples are known from the Cenozoic.This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 42330208, 42072009), and the Scientific Research Foundation for High-level Talents of Anhui University of Science and Technology (grant number Z9D4240045). SM is funded by grants from the Swedish Research Council (VR grant numbers 2018-04527 and 2022-03920). AJ received support from the SYNTHESYS Project HU-TAFF 5578, financed by the European Community Research Infrastructure Action under the FP7 ‘Capacities’ Program. The case study of Hungarian Sagenopteris populations by MB and PK was financed by statutory funds of the W. Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, and MB was also supported by statutory funds of the Hungarian Natural History Museum. </p
The Sawfly Genus Phymatoceriola (Hymenoptera:Tenthredinidae) in Northeast Asia
No full text Generic characters of the East Palaearctic sawfly genus Phymatoceriola Sato, 1928 are detailed. A key to Phymatoceriola species is given. Supplementary descriptions are given for three Northeast Asian species, P. nipponensis Togashi, 1984 from Japan (Honshu), P. suigenensis Sato, 1928 from Korea and Russia (Irkutsk, Khabarovsk), and P. ussuriensis Malaise, 1964 from Japan (Honshu) and Russia (Primorsky). The males of P. nipponensis and P. suigenensis and the female and larva of P. ussuriensis are described for the first time. Phymatoceriola ussuriensis is recorded from Japan for the first time, and its host plant is Polygonatum odoratum (Mill.) Druce var. pluriflorum (Miq.) Ohwi (Asparagaceae). This is the first host plant record for this genus. ZooBank LSID: https://zoobank.org/References/21800E6B-DF3E-4259-80A4-7331822CD7C