Swedish Museum of Natural History
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Whole genome shotgun phylogenomics resolve the diving beetle tree of life
No full textDiving beetles (Dytiscidae) are important generalist predators in freshwater ecosystems that have been around since the Jurassic. Previous phylogenetic studies have identified a largely stable set of monophyletic named groups (subfamilies, tribes and subtribes); however, backbone relationships among these have remained elusive. Here we use whole genome sequencing to reconstruct the phylogeny of Dytiscidae. We mine de novo assemblies and combine them with others available from transcriptome studies of Adephaga to compile a dataset of 149 taxa and 5364 orthologous genes. Species tree and concatenated maximum likelihood methods provide largely congruent results, resolving in agreement all but two inter-subfamily nodes. All 11 subfamilies are monophyletic, supporting previous results; possibly also all tribes, but Hydroporini is recovered as paraphyletic with weak support and monophyly of Dytiscini is method dependent. One large clade includes eight of 11 subfamilies (excluding Laccophilinae, Lancetinae and Coptotominae). Matinae is sister to Hydrodytinae + Hydroporinae, in contrast with previous studies that have hypothesized Matinae as sister to the remaining Dytiscidae. Copelatinae belong in a clade with Cybistrinae, Dytiscinae, Agabinae and Colymbetinae. Strongly confirmed sister group relationships of subfamilies include Cybistrinae + Dytiscinae, Agabinae + Colymbetinae, Lancetinae + Coptotominae and Hydrodytinae + Hydroporinae. Remaining problems include resolving with confidence the basal ingroup trichotomy and relationships between tribes in Hydroporinae. Resolution of tribes in Dytiscinae is affected by methodological inconsistencies. Platynectini, new tribe, is described and Hydrotrupini redefined within subfamily Agabinae. This study is a step forward towards completely resolving the backbone phylogeny of Dytiscidae, which we hope will stimulate further work on remaining challenges
Combining soft-bodied and three-dimensional fossils to reveal evolutionary modifications in early lingulellotretid brachiopods
No full textLiving lingulide brachiopods are traditionally recognised as representatives of evolutionary conservatism, showing little change in general-morphology from their Cambrian ancestors. However, less attention has been given to their anatomical and ontogenetic modifications since their initial appearance. Among these, lingulellotretids are unique, characterized by their typical elongate pedicle foramen and large pseudointerarea. This study describes exquisitely preserved soft-tissue and phosphatic shells of Lingulellotreta from Cambrian Series 2 deposits in China and Kazakhstan. Biomineralized novelties in Lingulellotreta, including elongate pseudointerarea forming a pouch-like visceral cavity and columnar shell architecture, probably were evolutionarily modified from the unmineralized tubular ancestor Yuganotheca during the Cambrian Explosion. Lingulellotretids, however, faced extinction in the Early Ordovician, exemplifying a short-lived evolutionary experiment with a tubular body form in early brachiopods. Since the early Cambrian, lingulide brachiopods have exhibited a long-term evolutionary trend marked by the reduction of pseudointerarea, reflecting a convergence toward a more efficient body plan that ultimately became dominant in later lineages. The intensification of skeletal defences and the increasing demands of filter feeding within benthic communities likely drove these evolutionary modifications and ecological adjustments, culminating in the development of the distinctive, persistent tongue-shaped body of linguloid brachiopods during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event
Cretaceous amber of Ecuador unveils new insights into South America’s Gondwanan forests
No full textAmber, a fossilised resin, became widespread during the Barremian ( ~ 122 Ma), marking the onset ofthe Cretaceous Resinous Interval (125–72 Ma). While common in the Northern Hemisphere, ambercontaining terrestrial arthropod inclusions had not previously been reported from the Mesozoic ofSouth America. Here, we report the major occurrence of such amber from the early Albian ( ~ 112 Ma)Hollín Formation in Ecuadorian Napo region. Discovered at the Genoveva quarry, the amber isassociated with coeval pollen and plant macrofossils deposited in fluvio-lacustrine environments.Geochemical analyses suggest araucariacean trees as the resin source, while palynological andmacrofloral data indicate moderately diverse forests and the earliest known angiosperm leafassemblage from north-western South America. Arthropods (hexapods and arachnids) representingat least six orders are well preserved. These findings provide direct evidence of a humid, resinousforest ecosystem and its arthropod fauna in equatorial Gondwana during the Cretaceous ResinousInterval.We acknowledge to the Instituto Nacional de Patrimonio Cultural, of the Republic of Ecuador Government, to give us the acceptance of the project Reconocimiento y prospección paleontológica en el Cretácico inferior de las canteras Genoveva, Pungarayacu y Río Misahuallí, Cantón Archidona, Provincia de Napo (Ecuador), research code N-113-JR-2022 and authorisation resolution DAAPPS-INPC-Z1/2-026-2022. X.D., D.P., and M.S. also thank the Secretary of Universities and Research (Government of Catalonia) for the project 2021SGR-349 Sedimentary Geology. DP thanks the program RYC2022-037026-I, funded by AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the FSE + . This work was financially supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades [research agreement PID2022-137316NB, funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF/EU, and research agreement PID2022-138986OB-I00 funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033], and by the Consejería de Industria, Turismo, Innovación, Transporte y Comercio of the Gobierno de Cantabria through the semipublic enterprise EL SOPLAO S.L. [research agreement #20963 with Universitat de Barcelona and research contract Ref. VAPC 20225428 to Instituto Geológico y Minero de España—Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, both 2022–2025], The Anders Foundation (1923 Fund), National Geographic Society, grant (EC-96755R-22) Discovering Early Cretaceous Floras from Northern South America, and the Negaunee Foundation. Synchrotron scanning was possible thanks to the Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron (DESY) in Hamburg project N. BAG-20210019. MMS-K thanks the DFG project 457837041 (SO 894/6-1). F.H. thanks the National Science Foundation grant DEB-2427396 (PurSUiT: New Discoveries of Early Cretaceous Floras from North-western Gondwana Reveal a Cradle of Plant Diversity), and the Negaunee Foundation.</p
An unexpected gills roommate from museum collections: description of a new species of Microcotyle Van Beneden & Hesse, 1863 (Mazocraeidea: Microcotylidae) from the ballan wrasse Labrus bergylta Ascanius (Teleostei, Labridae) off Sweden with novel data for Microcotyle donovani Van Beneden & Hesse, 1863
No full textNatural history museums serve as vital repositories of biodiversity, offering extensive parasitological datasets crucial for taxonomical and ecological studies, supporting the work of taxonomists for conservation efforts, and natural system integrity. The Swedish Museum of Natural History (Stockholm, Sweden) houses a significant collection of parasitic Platyhelminthes, including unstudied material collected by Theodor Odhner. Herein, we provide novel morphometrical and anatomical data for Microcotyle donovani Van Beneden & Hesse, 1863, type species of Microcotyle Van Beneden & Hesse, 1863 from the type-host Labrus bergylta off Sweden, Northeast Atlantic, and we describe M. odhnaturiks n. sp. from the gills of L. bergylta off Sweden, both found in T. Odhner’s collection. Microcotyle odhnaturiks n. sp. differed from Microcotyle spp. from Atlantic waters and labrid hosts by morphometrical (number and size of clamps, number of rows of testes) and anatomical characters (extension of the caeca, organization of the germarium). An anatomical comparison, particularly of the ovarian region, indicates significant differences between M. odhnaturiks n. sp., M. donovani, and other Microcotyle species, confirming the presence of two distinct Microcotyle species on L. bergylta. Microcotyle odhnaturiks n. sp. was differentiated from M. donovani by having a complex, inverted question mark–shaped germarium, caeca not confluent posteriorly, and by lacking conical expansions on rims of buccal suckers, among other features. The discovery raises the number of Microcotyle species parasitizing labrid fishes to four and marks the first Microcotyle species reported from Sweden and Scandinavian waters. We also discuss hosts and distribution of Microcotyle spp. in Atlantic waters.Systematics and integrative taxonomy of Monogenea parasitizing fishes of Swede
The emergence and diversification of dog morphology
No full textDogs exhibit an exceptional range of morphological diversity as a result of their long-term association with humans. Attempts to identify when dog morphological variation began to expand have been constrained by the limited number of Pleistocene specimens, the fragmentary nature of remains, and difficulties in distinguishing early dogs from wolves on the basis of skeletal morphology. In this study, we used three-dimensional geometric morphometrics to analyze the size and shape of 643 canid crania spanning the past 50,000 years. Our analyses show that a distinctive dog morphology first appeared at about 11,000 calibrated years before present, and substantial phenotypic diversity already existed in early Holocene dogs. Thus, this variation emerged many millennia before the intense humanmediated selection shaping modern dog breeds beginning in the 19th century
Satpuraphyllum furcatum—a new genus and species of Peltaspermales foliage from the mid-Permian Barakar Formation of India
No full textSatpuraphyllum furcatum gen. et sp. nov. is introduced to accommodate once- to twice-forked leaves with slender entire-margined segments containing a midrib that gives off very acute, freely dichotomizing, secondary veins. The leaves are amphistomatic, bearing incompletely monocyclic to amphicyclic stomata and diverse trichomes, papillae, and sparse multicellular low domal glands. These collective characters favour assignment to Peltaspermales and this is supported by co-preservation, in the same beds, of leaves with shield-shaped bracts bearing marginal seed scars. Satpuraphyllum furcatum is documented from the upper Barakar Formation (Kungurian) of central India and is the oldest known peltasperm from the core regions of Gondwana. Its presence in the Satpura Basin at that time signifies an early penetration of Peltaspermales into the Southern Hemisphere, possibly during the Artinskian–Kungurian Warming Event (initiating ca 287 Ma)
Book Review: In Search of Ancient Queensland (2nd Edition)
No full textIn Search of Ancient Queensland is a lavishly illustrated book that does a stellar job of summarizing and synthesizing the state's paleontological and geological heritage for the public
Skogbyite, Zr(Mg2Mn3+4)SiO12, a new zirconium mineral in the braunite group from Långban, Bergslagen, Sweden
No full textFluvial architectural style and stacking patterns in a high-accommodation coal-bearing succession: the upper Permian Newcastle Coal Measures, eastern Australia
No full textThe upper Permian Newcastle Coal Measures (NCM) host world-class coal resources in coastal New South Wales,Australia. They formed close to the foredeep axis of a developing retroarc foreland basin associated with theHunter-Bowen contractional event. In addition to the typical coal-bearing lithological suite of mudrocks, heteroliths, sandstones, and coals (with several beds of volcanic ash), the NCM preserve numerous, linear bodies of conglomerate up to 100 m thick and 20 km wide that are anomalous in the context of paralic coal-bearing successions worldwide. Four facies associations are recognized: A) linear bodies of conglomerate, gravelly sandstone and sandstone, interpreted as the deposits of major coastal plain channels, B) interbedded mudrocks and sandstones, interpreted as the product of coastal plain floodplains and floodbasins, C) coals and coaly mudrocks, interpreted as the product of coastal plain mires, and D) massive and bedded tuffs, interpreted as the product of pyroclastic falls and flows from nearby stratovolcanoes. Despite having formed on a coastal plain during a time of known sea-level changes, no depositional sequences can be recognized in the NCM, due to highrates of accommodation and sediment supply. The repeated co-occurrence of southward-trending major channel belts across the Newcastle coalfield is attributed to the area being located in the axial foredeep of the basin. A new palaeogeographic reconstruction is proposed in which the northern Sydney Basin, in the late Permian, extended further northwards across what is now the southern New England Orogen, and the north-south elongate basin was drained by continental scale, basin-axial river systems that carried significant volumes ofgravel.C. Mays was supported by the Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geoscience (Science Foundation Ireland), Grant number #13/RC/2092_P2 and by the Frontiers for the Future Programme (Science Foundation Ireland), Grant number #22/FFP-P/11448.</p