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Has taxonomic vandalism gone too far? A case study, the rise of the pay-to-publish model and the pitfalls of Morchella systematics
No full textThe genus Morchella has gone through turbulent taxonomic treatments. Although significant progress in Morchella systematics has been achieved in the past decade, several problems remain unresolved and taxonomy in the genus is still in flux. In late 2019, a paper published in the open-access journal Scientific Reports raised serious concerns about the taxonomic stability of the genus, but also about the future of academic publishing. The paper, entitled “High diversity of Morchella and a novel lineage of the esculenta clade from the north Qinling Mountains revealed by GCPSR-based study” by Phanpadith and colleagues, suffered from gross methodological errors, included false results and artifactual phylogenies, had misapplied citations throughout, and proposed a new species name invalidly. Although the paper was eventually retracted by Scientific Reports in 2021, the fact that such an overtly flawed and scientifically unsound paper was published in a high-ranked Q1 journal raises alarming questions about quality controls and safekeeping procedures in scholarly publishing. Using this paper as a case study, we provide a critical review on the pitfalls of Morchella systematics followed by a series of recommendations for the delimitation of species, description of taxa, and ultimately for a sustainable taxonomy in Morchella. Problems and loopholes in the academic publishing system are also identified and discussed, and additional quality controls in the pre- and post-publication stages are proposed
An integrative insight into the synsacral canal of fossil and extant Antarctic penguins
No full textThe lumbosacral-canal system in birds most likely operates as a sense organ involved in the control of balanced walking and perching, but our knowledge of it is superficial. Penguins constitute interesting objects for the study of this system due to their upright walking, but only the Humboldt penguin, Spheniscus humboldti, and some incomplete fossil penguin synsacra have been studied in this respect. Here, we give an integrative comparative insight into the synsacral canal of extant Emperor penguin, Aptenodytes forsteri, Adelie penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae, and Eocene giant Anthropornis and/or Palaeeudyptes Antarctic penguins, using computed tomography imaging and associated data-extraction methodologies, complemented by analytical approaches ranging from geometric morphometrics to modularity, curvature, and wavelet analyses. We document that the variability in the number of synsacro-lumbar vertebrae is evolutionarily conserved, and all studied synsacra possess osteological correlates of the lumbosacral-canal system. We also found that Eocene and extant Antarctic penguins were separable on the basis of the main direction of the shape-related (size-independent) variability within said system, and A. forsteri was unique in the entire studied set in terms of the relative cranial shift of this compound structure. Moreover, we suggest that the evolutionary processes, shaping both the terrestrial posture and gait, were responsible, in extant penguins, for the increased simplicity and stability of the synsacral canal cross-sectional periodic patterns, as well as pave the way for the lumbosacral-canal system modularity characterized by reduced atomization/complexity.We thank the Argentinean Antarctic Institute (IAA-DNA) and the Argentinean Air Force for logistical support; and the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat (SPFS) for logistical support.</p
Lowering R3m Symmetry in Mg-Fe-Tourmalines: The Crystal Structures of Triclinic Schorl and Oxy-Dravite, and the Mineral luinaite-(OH) Discredited
No full textSowerby’s Beaked Whales (Mesoplodon bidens) in the Skagerrak and Adjacent Waters: Historical Records and Recent Post-Mortem Findings
No full textAn interactive key to the European genera of Campopleginae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) and 20 new species for Sweden
No full textDarwin wasps of the subfamily Campopleginae are among the most poorly studied insect groups, which is to a large part due to inadequate identification tools. The currently 835 European species are classified into 42 genera, some of a somewhat unclear delimitation, and are very hard to identify using the incomplete, scattered and often poorly illustrated literature. We here assess different character systems for genus identification and provide an interactive, dynamic online key to the European genera. We apply this key to identify 3,500 specimens of the Swedish Malaise Trap Project to genus level. We then chose ten comparatively small genera for species-level identification, reporting a total of 37 species, 20 of which are new records for Sweden. The large number of species only found in a single trap location indicates that a lot remains to be discovered, even in an otherwise well-known fauna such as Sweden’s.Klämbaksteklar (underfamilj Campopleginae i familjen Ichneumonidae) tillhör några av de minst kända insektsgrupperna i Sverige. Denna avsaknad på kunskap beror till stor del på bristfälliga identiferingsnycklar. De 835 europeiska arterna är fördelade på 42 släkten och artsavgränsningen för många arter är oklar, vilket gör dem mycket svåra att artbestämma med hjälp av den litteratur som finns att tillgå. Vi har granskat olika karaktärsystem för släktesidentifiering och presenterar här en interaktiv, dynamisk nätbaserad nyckel till de europeiska släktena. Vi använder nyckeln för att identifiera 3,500 exemplar insamlade i Svenska Malaisefälleprojektet till släktesnivå. Individer från tio relativt små släkten har sedan identiferas till artnivå och vi rapporterar här 37 arter, av vilka 20 är nya fynd för landet. I materialet finns ett stort antal arter som enbart hittats på en enda lokal, vilket tyder på att mycket återstår att upptäcka, även i den annars så välkända Svenska faunan.Diadegma parasitoid wasps in Sweden (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae): unravelling the unknown\u202
A new genus of chemosymbiotic vesicomyid bivalves from the Oligocene of western North America
No full textWe describe a new genus of the chemosymbiotic bivalve family Vesicomyidae, Squiresica, for two Oligocene species, previously assigned to Archivesica, from western North America. Squiresica is characterized by a small and weakly inflated shell, a small to nearly absent pallial sinus, an Archivesica-like hinge dentition, with an indistinct to well incised lunular incision. Two species are assigned to this new genus: the type species, S. knapptonensis from western Washington State, USA, and S. marincovichi from Oligocene strata of Alaska, USA. Squiresica knapptonensis had previously been described from the upper Oligocene of the Lincoln Creek Formation; further specimens are here reported from a newly discovered seep deposit in the lower Oligocene part of the Lincoln Creek Formation.We thank Green Diamond Resources for continuing to allow access tolocalities on their land, and Mark Golliet (Green Diamond, Shelton,Washington office) for facilitating this access. We are grateful for Columbia Land Trust for allowing access to the Knappton localities. Financial support was provided by Vetenskapsrådet (Swedish ResearchCouncil) through grant 2016-03920 to SK.</p
Quantifying adaptive divergence of the snowfinches in a common landscape
No full textAimSpecies living in a shared environment face similar selective pressures and often evolve adaptive divergence to avoid competition. Quantifying phenotypic divergence and its genetic parallelism among sympatric species is important for understanding of ecologically moderated biodiversity. Here, we integrate ecologic, phenotypic and genomic datasets to study to what extent three sympatrically snowfinches (Montifringilla adamsi, Pyrgilauda ruficollis and Onychostruthus taczanowskii) differ in their adaptations in order to co-exist in a shared environment.LocationQinghai–Tibetan Plateau.MethodsWe used principal component analysis to summarize and compare environmental and phenotypic divergence. We compared phenotypes relevant to body and beak sizes (n = 68) because they are indicators of niche and food segregation, thus critical for establishing co-existence of sympatric birds. We used comparative genomics (n = 33) to identify genetic loci that are highly divergent between species as well as loci unique for each of species. Using vector analyses, we integrated correlation and permutation to quantify parallelism between phenotypic and genetic divergences.ResultsWe found that body and beak sizes are significantly different among three snowfinches. The phenotypic differentiations are greater in species that share similar ecological conditions than in those that do not. We showed that genes related to developmental process are over-represented within highly divergent genomic regions and unique genetic loci of each species. We found that the extent of phenotypic divergence between snowfinch pairs is more strongly correlated with the magnitude of divergence in developmental genes than in the whole genome.Main conclusionsAdaptive divergence of sympatric snowfinches is highly constrained on developmental genes. As this genetic divergence is strongly correlated with divergence of the traits related to segregation in niche and food resources, this correlation reflects either causal effects or indirect consequences of ecological mediated changes. Our study provides novel insights into the mechanisms underlying evolutionary versatility and ecological success among sympatric species
The range of palaeobotanical studies in Sweden and future opportunities for research
No full textAlthough its geology is dominated by pre-Cambrian crystalline rocks, Sweden’s palaeobotanical research output is substantial. Over 150 years of dedicated research has yielded several hundred papers on Sweden’s palaeobotanical and palynological heritage spanning much of the geological column. Studies have targeted all categories of plant and protist remains from Proterozoic microfossils to Quaternary woods, and marine microplankton to animal-plant interactions, and fossil microbes of the deep biosphere. Sweden is particularly renowned for its research on Proterozoic–Cambrian carbonaceous microfossils, Triassic-Jurassic floras, Santonian–Campanian (Late Cretaceous) charcoalified, mummified, adpression and permineralized angiosperms and gymnosperms, and Quaternary high-latitude spore-pollen records. Although a vast body of work has been carried out on these floras, there is great potential for further work on all these assemblages with regard to fossil plant systematics, biostratigraphy, biogeography, plant-animal-fungal interactions, and palaeoclimate/palaeoenvironmental research
Are morphological characteristics of Parrotia (Hamamelidaceae) pollen species diagnostic?
No full textParrotia persica is one of the most notable endemic relict tree species growing in the Hyrcanian forest at the southern Caspian Sea. The recent discovery of sibling species Parrotia subaequalis, occurring in the temperate forests of south-eastern China, offers the opportunity to compare their morphology and ecological preferences and to dig deeper into the paleophytogeographic history of the genus from a perspective. Since pollen morphology of these species would be essential to unravel the origin and evolution of these Arcto-Tertiary species, the present study aimed to investigate whether it is possible to segregate pollen from these two species. Therefore, a detailed combined light- and scanning electron microscopy-based pollen-analysis of each taxon was conducted, the pollen was described, measured, and compared using statistical approaches and principal component analyses to establish unbiased results. The correlation-based principal component analysis achieved for each species shows an overall good superposition of pollen grains measured in equatorial and polar views in the first principal plane, revealing that the P. persica pollen is morphometrically as homogeneous as that of P. subaequalis. Then, the significant difference, mainly driven by lumen density, has been highlighted between the two species. Ultimately, the cross-validation of the resulting two-species linear discriminants classifier shows that based upon this reference dataset, (sub)fossil pollen grain can now be confidently assigned to either of the two species with an 85.8% correct-assignment rate. This opens new doors in the affiliation of fossil Parrotia pollen and suggests that previous pollen records need to be revised