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PLATE 8 in Revealing the specific status of Mellicta distans Higgins, 1955, stat. n. (Lepidoptera Nymphalidae) with morphological and molecular characters

PLATE 8. Structures of male genitalia (a—valva, b—aedeagus) of M. aurelia from different localities: 1—Moscow Region, Lukhovitsy Distr.; 2—Crimea, Chatyr–Dah; 3—Vinnitsa Region, Mohyliv–Podilskyi Distr.; 4—Republic of Bashkortostan, Uchaly Distr.; 5—Orenburg Region, Buzuluk; 6—Volgograd Region, Kamyshyn Distr.; 7—Chelyabinsk Region, Chebarkul; 8—Chelyabinsk Region, Arkaim; 9—Novosibirsk Region, Karasuk Distr. The red arrow points a down–curved caudal process of the valva. The blue arrow points a straight and is directed upwards vesica.

PLATE 11 in Revealing the specific status of Mellicta distans Higgins, 1955, stat. n. (Lepidoptera Nymphalidae) with morphological and molecular characters

PLATE 11. Female genitalia (without the anal papillae, copulatory bursa, and anterior and posterior apophyses) of M. aurelia from different localities: 1, 2—Crimea, Ai–Petri; 3—Vinnitsa Region, Mohyliv–Podilskyi Distr.; 4—Republic of Bashkortostan, Uchaly Distr.; 5—Novosibirsk Region, Karasuk Distr.; 6—Chelyabinsk Region, Chebarkul. The red arrow points a short postvaginal plate.

PLATE 4 in Revealing the specific status of Mellicta distans Higgins, 1955, stat. n. (Lepidoptera Nymphalidae) with morphological and molecular characters

PLATE 4. Photos of M. distans stat. n. from Tian–Shan: 1–16—E. edge of Terskei Alatau, the Bajankol river (1–4—males, upperside; 5–8—females, upperside; 9–12—males, underside; 13–16—females, underside); 17, 18—Holotype, male, the Tekkes river, Trustees Natural History Museum, used with permission. Photo A. Devyatkin.

PLATE 7 in Revealing the specific status of Mellicta distans Higgins, 1955, stat. n. (Lepidoptera Nymphalidae) with morphological and molecular characters

PLATE 7. Structures of male genitalia (a—valva, b—aedeagus) of M. distans stat. n. (1–6) and M. alatauica (7–9) from different localities: 1–6—Tian–Shan, the Bajankol river; 7—Dzhungarian Alatau, the Koksu river; 8, 9—Burchansarytau. The red arrow points to a down–curved caudal process of the valva. The blue arrow points a curved and directed downwards vesica.

FIGURE 6 in Revision of the diagnostic characters of two morphologically similar snook species Centropomus viridis and C. nigrescens (Carangiformes: Centropomidae)

FIGURE 6. Difference between the mean shape of Centropomus nigrescens (solid line) and that of C. viridis (dashed line) based on partial Procrustes distances. Arrows indicate the direction of the change.

FIGURE 5 in Revision of the diagnostic characters of two morphologically similar snook species Centropomus viridis and C. nigrescens (Carangiformes: Centropomidae)

FIGURE 5. Scatter plot showing scores on the first two principal components explaining 56.3% of the total variance. Two taxonomic groups are detected, indicating that shape variables obtained by PCA are significant discriminators. Centropomus nigrescens is represented by black circles and C. viridis by gray circles.

FIGURE 3. Phylogenetic relationships among the Centropomus 16S in Revision of the diagnostic characters of two morphologically similar snook species Centropomus viridis and C. nigrescens (Carangiformes: Centropomidae)

FIGURE 3. Phylogenetic relationships among the Centropomus 16S rRNA gene sequences found in the GenBank (March, 2020), only those sequences which overlap with the sequences from this study were selected. Relationships are based on the neighbor-joining method and the Tamura 3-parameter with a gamma distribution (shape parameter = 1). Node value support higher than 60% are shown.

FIGURE 4 in Revision of the diagnostic characters of two morphologically similar snook species Centropomus viridis and C. nigrescens (Carangiformes: Centropomidae)

FIGURE 4. Some morphological variants of the first dorsal fin of genetically identified Centropomus nigrescens (A-C) and C. viridis (D-F) specimens. A and D represent the typical shape accepted for each species (blunt-shaped fin in C. nigrescens and triangular-shaped fin in C. viridis).

FIGURE 1 in Revision of the diagnostic characters of two morphologically similar snook species Centropomus viridis and C. nigrescens (Carangiformes: Centropomidae)

FIGURE 1. The Tropical Eastern Pacific map shows the geographic distribution of Centropomus nigrescens (black line) and C. viridis (gray line). Sampling localities are shown on the insert. The figure was made based on Robertson & Allen (2015).

FIGURE 2 in Revision of the diagnostic characters of two morphologically similar snook species Centropomus viridis and C. nigrescens (Carangiformes: Centropomidae)

FIGURE 2. Representation of the generalized morphology of Centropomus, indicating ten landmarks (black circles) and one semi-landmark (gray circle) on the position of the anatomical structures compared in this study.

FIGURE 1 in A taxonomic review of the coastal genus Iotarphia Cameron (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae) with a description of new species based on morphological and molecular characters

FIGURE 1. Neighbor-joining (NJ) tree and single most parsimonious (PA) cladogram of the Iotarphia species with bootstrap values: (a) NJ tree based on partial COI and 28S gene sequences; (b) PA tree based on partial COI and 28S; (c) NJ tree based on partial COI; (d) NJ tree based on partial 28S. Scale bar indicates the expected number of substitutions per site.

FIGURE 4 in A taxonomic review of the coastal genus Iotarphia Cameron (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae) with a description of new species based on morphological and molecular characters

FIGURE 4. Iotarphia magna sp. n.: (a) antenna; (b) right elytron, dorsal view; (c) meso- and metaventrites, ventral view; (d) male abdominal tergite VIII, dorsal view; (e) male abdominal sternite VIII, ventral view; (f) female abdominal sternite VIII, ventral view; (g) median lobe, ventral view; (h) median lobe, lateral view; (i) spermatheca, scales = 0.1 mm.

FIGURE 5 in A taxonomic review of the coastal genus Iotarphia Cameron (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae) with a description of new species based on morphological and molecular characters

FIGURE 5. Iotarphia rufobrunnea: (a) meso- and metaventrites, ventral view; (b) female abdominal sternite VIII, ventral view; (c) spermatheca, scales = 0.1 mm.

FIGURE 2 in A taxonomic review of the coastal genus Iotarphia Cameron (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae) with a description of new species based on morphological and molecular characters

FIGURE 2. Habitus photography. (a) Iotarphia australis Cameron, 2.3 mm; (b) Iotarphia magna Song and Ahn, sp. n., 4.0 mm.

FIGURE 3 in A taxonomic review of the coastal genus Iotarphia Cameron (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae) with a description of new species based on morphological and molecular characters

FIGURE 3. Iotarphia australis: (a) antenna; (b) head, dorsal view; (c) meso- and metaventrites, ventral view; (d) male abdominal tergite VIII, dorsal view; (e) male abdominal sternite VIII, ventral view; (f) female abdominal sternite VIII, ventral view; (g) median lobe, ventral view; (h) median lobe, lateral view; (i) spermatheca, scales = 0.1 mm.

opencc-zeroDec 2013View details →

Data from: Integrating incomplete fossils by isolating conflictive signal in saturated and non-independent morphological characters

Morphological characters are indispensable in phylogenetic analyses for understanding the pattern, process, and tempo of evolution. If characters are independent and free of systematic errors, then combining as many different kinds of characters as are available will result in the best-supported phylogenetic hypotheses. But since morphological characters are subject to natural selection for function and arise from the expression of developmental pathways, they may not be independent, a situation that may amplify any underlying homoplasy. Here, we use new dental and multi-locus genetic data from bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) to quantify saturation and similarity in morphological characters and introduce two likelihood-based approaches to identify strongly conflicting characters and integrate morphological and molecular data. We implement these methods to analyze the phylogeny of incomplete Miocene fossils in the radiation of Phyllostomidae (New World Leaf-nosed Bats), perhaps the most ecologically diverse family of living mammals. Morphological characters produced trees incongruent with molecular phylogenies, were saturated, and showed rates of change higher than most molecular substitution rates. Dental characters encoded variation similar to that in other morphological characters, while molecular characters encoded highly dissimilar variation in comparison. Saturation and high rates of change indicate randomization of phylogenetic signal in the morphological data, and extensive similarity suggests characters are non-independent and errors are amplified. To integrate the morphological data into tree building while accounting for homoplasy, we used statistical molecular scaffolds and combined phylogenetic analyses excluding a small subset of strongly conflicting dental characters. The phylogenies revealed the Miocene nectar-feeding †Palynephyllum nests within the crown nectar-feeding South American subfamily Lonchophyllinae, while the Miocene genus †Notonycteris is sister to the extant carnivorous Vampyrum. These relationships imply new calibration points for timing of radiation of the ecologically diverse Phyllostomidae.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Serial homology and correlated characters in morphological phylogenetics: modeling the evolution of dental crests in placentals

Accurate modeling of the complexity of morphological evolution is crucial for morphological phylogenetics and for performing tests on a wide variety of evolutionary scenarios. In this context, morphological integration and the problem of correlated categorical characters represent a major challenge. In particular, the magnitude and implications of correlations among serially homologous structures such as teeth have been much debated but were never tested statistically within a broad phylogenetic context. Here, we present a large-scale empirical study analyzing the serial variation of cingular crests on successive molars (M1, M2 and M3) of 274 placental species in a phylogenetic context. Both likelihood analyses and analysis of phylogenetic co-distributions demonstrated highly correlated evolution in the entire sample and thus the non-independence of these serial features at a macroevolutionary scale. Likelihood analyses show that their serial variation should be better scored within a single composite character model with constrained paths for transitions enabling simultaneous changes on all three molars, which suggests a strong developmental or genetic integration. These results are congruent with current molecular and developmental knowledge related to dental morphological variation and call into question the frequent use of separate characters scored on serially homologous structures of the dentition in phylogenetic analyses. Overall, they provide long-overdue and clear empirical evidence that in-depth studies of patterns of integration constitute an essential step towards more realistic character construction and modeling. This approach is critical for more accurate morphological phylogenetics and, more generally, for testing macroevolutionary scenarios on groups of correlated characters.

opencc-zeroDec 2018View details →

Data from: Morphological and molecular diagnostic species characters of Staurozoa (Cnidaria) collected on the coast of Helgoland (German Bight, North Sea)

Scientific knowledge and records on staurozoans are limited probably because of their inconspicuous life habit and the small number of specialists for this taxon. To increase the awareness for Staurozoa, we identified morphological and molecular features of the three staurozoan species Haliclystus tenuis Kishinouye, 1910, Haliclystus auricula Clark, 1863, and Craterolophus convolvulus (Johnston, 1835) collected on the coast of the island Helgoland to evaluate their suitability as diagnostic characters. Useful macromorphological diagnostic features were the patterns of white spots of nematocysts and internal arm structures, whereas tentacle and gonad follicle numbers showed high intraspecific variations. Morphometric measurements on photographs of living specimens provided reliable data for interspecific comparisons. Comprehensive nematocyst analyses revealed interspecific shape differences of isorhizas and three types of rhopaloids, indicating that the staurozoan cnidome is more diverse than previously assumed. However, the taxonomic value of nematocyst analyses in Staurozoa remains unclear because comprehensive data is still lacking for most species. Comparative molecular genetic sequence analyses of mitochondrial 16S and COI and nuclear 18S ribosomal DNA identified the three species and confirmed their morphological identification. In comparison to published data, our analyses indicate similarities between H. auricula and Haliclystus antarcticus Pfeffer, 1889. Proteomic fingerprinting by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) differentiated all three species, suggesting that this technique could provide an alternative rapid identification method for staurozoans.

opencc-zeroNov 2019View details →

Data from: The association between morphological and ecological characters across a global passerine radiation

<ol> <li>Strong relationships between morphological and ecological characters are commonly predicted to reflect the association between form and function, with this hypothesis being well supported in restricted taxonomic and geographic contexts. Conversely, among broader sets of species, ecological variables have been shown to have limited power to explain morphological variation. </li> <li>To understand these apparent discrepancies, for a large and globally distributed passerine radiation we test (i) whether the character states of four ecological variables (foraging mode, diet, strata and habitat) have different morphological optima, (ii) whether ecological variables explain substantial variance in morphology, and (iii) whether ecological character states can be accurately predicted from morphology.</li> <li>We collected ten linear morphological measurements for 782 species of corvoid passerines, and assessed (i) the fit of models of continuous trait evolution with different morphological optima for each ecological character state, (ii) variation in morphological traits among ecological character states using phylogenetically corrected regressions, and (iii) the accuracy of morphological traits in predicting species-level membership of ecological character states using linear discriminant analysis (LDA).</li> <li>Models of morphological evolution with different ecological optima were well supported across numerous morphological axes, corresponding with significant differences in trait distributions among ecological character states. LDA also showed that membership of the ecological categories can be predicted with relatively high accuracy by morphology. In contrast to these findings, ecological variables explain limited amounts of variation in morphological traits.</li> <li>For a global radiation of passerine birds, we confirm that the generation of morphological variation is generally consistent with ecological selection pressures, but that ecological characters are of limited utility in explaining morphological differences among species. Although selection towards different optima means that membership of ecological character states tend to be well predicted by morphology, the overall morphospace of individual ecological character states tend to be broad, implying that morphology can evolve in multiple ways in response to similar selection pressures. Extensive variation in morphological adaptations among similar ecological strategies is likely to be a widespread phenomenon across the tree of life.</li> </ol>

Figure 7 in The bryozoan genus Conopeum (Electridae) in New Zealand, with description of a new species and discussion of the morphological and genetic characters of Conopeum seurati (Canu, 1928)

Figure 7. Conopeum ongleyi (Brown, 1952): (a), holotype, NHMUK D.36532, Petane, Hawke's Bay, Pleistocene; (b, c, e), NIWA 134507, White Rock Road, Wairarapa; D, NIWA 132867, White Rock Road, Wairarapa, New Zealand. (a–c), Autozooids showing granular cryptocyst, numerous small spine bases with a larger distolateral pair, and smooth proximal gymnocyst. D, Distal ends of three tilted autozooids, showing buttresses on transverse wall. E, Inner face of autozooid tilted laterally to show steeply sloping granular cryptocyst slightly overhanging lateral wall. Scalebars: (a–d), 200 μm; E, 100 μm.