A new genus with two new species of Colombian harvestmen (Opiliones: Stygnidae: Stygninae) (American Museum novitates, no. 3991)

14 pages : color illustrations ; 26 cm.Fortia, gen. nov., a new genus of Stygnidae with two new Colombian species, is diagnosed and described. Two possibly sympatric species Fortia jedi, sp. nov., and Fortia sith, sp. nov. (both from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia), are described and illustrated. Relationships of the new genus are discussed

Field Guide for the Geology of Central Park and New York City

Teachers guide for geology of Central Park. Supplement to: Jaret, S. J., et. al. (2021). Geology of Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, USA: New geochemical insights. Geological Society of America bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1130/2020.0061(02

Descriptions of the mature larvae of three Australian ground-nesting bees (Hymenoptera: Colletidae: Diphaglossinae and Neopasiphaeinae) (American Museum novitates, no. 3989)

15 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 26 cm.Fully fed larvae of three Australian bee species formerly classified as Colletidae: Paracolletini are described and compared in light of recent phylogenetic studies. Two of these species, Leioproctus (Goniocolletes) wanni (Leijs and Hogendoorn) and Trichocolletes orientalis Batley and Houston, belong in the Neopasiphaeinae, while the third, Paracolletes crassipes Smith, belongs in Diphaglossinae: Paracolletini (sensu Almeida et al., 2019). We find that larval characters support the separation of Paracolletes from the neopasiphaeines, in particular the spoutlike salivary gland opening associated with cocoon spinning. In addition, we suggest that nest architecture of P. crassipes includes a feature that prevents flooding of open brood cells, a feature common to a number of other large ground-nesting bees

Spatial and temporal distribution of the island-dwelling Kogaionidae (Mammalia, Multituberculata) in the uppermost Cretaceous of Transylvania (Western Romania) (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 456)

109 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), maps ; 26 cm.The latest Cretaceous kogaionid multituberculates from Transylvania (western Romania) were part of an endemic European clade of mammals that underwent an insular radiation at the end of the Cretaceous and then survived the end-Cretaceous mass extinction that extinguished many groups of contemporary therians. Transylvanian kogaionids lived on what was an island during the latest Cretaceous—“Hațeg Island”—and their fossils are found in the uppermost Campanian to upper Maastrichtian deposits of the Hațeg, Rusca Montană, and southwestern Transylvanian basins. This fossil record has improved dramatically over the past several decades, in part resulting from our decade-long joint Romanian-American-Scottish fieldwork, and comprises one of the most impressive and complete archives of Mesozoic mammals, including not only jaws and teeth but several incomplete skulls and partial skeletons.We here review the fossil record of kogaionids from Transylvania. We report four new occurrences from the Hațeg Basin, update information on previously described ones, and use our database to reassess the chronostratigraphical and geographical distribution of kogaionids and their evolutionary patterns. Although it was previously suggested that large and small kogaionids had largely mutually exclusive spatial distributions, we recognize the cooccurrence of small and large taxa in various units, suggesting a sympatric distribution across their entire chronostratigraphic range. We also identify a novel pattern: small kogaionids appear somewhat earlier than their larger relatives in all well-sampled sedimentary successions, suggesting that kogaionid colonizations of Hațeg Island and component regions took place at small body size and that body size increased only later through local evolution. We find correlations between body size, preservation style, and sedimentary context, which give insight into kogaionid paleobiology and diversity. Larger kogaionids are represented more often by partial skulls and occasionally skeletons compared with small kogaionids, which are usually represented only by isolated teeth, regardless of provenance. Larger kogaionids currently have a higher recognized local taxic diversity than their smaller relatives. We hypothesize that this may be in part a consequence of preservational bias related to body size, as more complete specimens may be more easily diagnosed as distinct taxa than those that are represented by more fragmentary and/or incomplete fossils. If true, the taxic diversity of smaller kogaionids may currently be underestimated. Finally, we identify correspondence between sedimentary facies and preservation style. Red-colored fine-grained rocks, suggestive of well-drained, oxidized floodplain paleoenvironments, yield more complete specimens than drab, greenish or grayish sediments deposited in more poorly drained parts of the floodplain. This pattern may suggest habitat preferences for better-drained floodplain environments and a semifossorial lifestyle for some taxa. As the kogaionid fossil record improves, we can further test the hypotheses and patterns outlined above. The pace of new kogaionid discoveries by our team and others indicates that a more complete picture of kogaionid distribution, paleobiology, and evolution will emerge in the coming years, contributing to a more profound understanding of this peculiar group of island-dwelling Mesozoic mammals

An annotated checklist of Recent opossums (Mammalia: Didelphidae) (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 455)

74 pages ; 26 cm.Living opossums (Didelphidae) comprise 125 species in 18 genera and 4 subfamilies. This synopsis lists all the didelphid taxa (subfamilies, tribes, genera, subgenera, and species) currently recognised as valid, summarizes information about typification, synonyms, and geographic distributions, remarks noteworthy recent changes in usage, and comments on still outstanding problems. A concluding discussion rejects the notion that the almost twofold increase in opossum species from 1993 to the present is “taxonomic inflation” and considers the impact of new kinds of data and new methods of data analysis on species delimitation

The Drosophila funebris species group in North America (Diptera: Drosophilidae) (American Museum novitates, no. 3988)

25 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 26 cm.Although the global human commensal Drosophila funebris (Fabricius) is well known and is the type species of the genus Drosophila Fallén, the four native North American species of the funebris group have been poorly defined morphologically. D. macrospina limpiensis Patterson and Wheeler is newly recognized as a species distinct from D. macrospina, with diagnostic morphological characters provided. The subspecies D. macrospina ohioensis Stalker is synonymized under D. macrospina. Species native to the Palearctic and to the Nearctic are morphologically distinct, each probably a monophyletic group. Detailed descriptions and redescriptions are provided for both sexes of D. macrospina Stalker and Spencer, D. limpiensis Patterson and Wheeler, D. subfunebris Stalker and Spencer, and D. trispina Wheeler, the latter two being very rare species from southern California. Neotypes are designated for D. macrospina and D. subfunebris. A key to the five Nearctic species of the funebris group is provided

A new species of air-breathing catfish (Clariidae: Clarias) from Salonga National Park, Democratic Republic of the Congo (American Museum novitates, no. 3990)

20 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), color map ; 26 cmA new species of air-breathing catfish, Clarias monsembulai, is described from Congo River tributaries within and bordering the Salonga National Park (Democratic Republic of the Congo). The new taxon is recognized by its exceptionally long, white barbels, which lend a superficial resemblance to Clarias buthupogon, from which it differs in characters of the cleithrum and pigmentation patterning. We suggest placement of this species into the subgenus Clarioides but note the current dearth of morphological data to unite members of this group. We additionally discuss the validity of the subspecies Clarias angolensis macronema

New diminutive Eocene lizard reveals high K-Pg survivorship and taxonomic diversity of stem xenosaurs in North America (American Museum novitates, no. 3986)

36 pages : illustrations (some color), color map ; 26 cm.We describe a new diminutive early Eocene lizard, Blutwurstia oliviae, gen. et sp. nov., on the basis of associated cranial and postcranial remains from the Clarks Fork Basin of Wyoming. Results from phylogenetic analyses suggest that B. oliviae is on the stem of knob-scaled lizards (Xenosaurus), a relict extant clade of specialized, stenotopic crevice-dwellers from Mexico and Central America. Results further suggest that B. oliviae is basal to all other previously described pan-xenosaurs (members of Pan-Xenosaurus, the total clade of Xenosaurus) except species of Entomophontes, to which it is closely related. Given that B. oliviae and Entomophontes are known from a limited fossil record, with only one recovered element (the maxilla) in common, the level of support for this relationship is surprisingly high. We use a posteriori time-calibrated trees and ghost lineages (maximum parsimony) and divergence time estimates under the fossilized birth-death process (Bayesian inference) to infer patterns of extinction across the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary in Pan-Xenosaurus, including those consistent with pseudoextinction. Whereas the fossil record documents a single lineage in the latest Cretaceous, results from analyses using these analytical methods suggest that three or more species existed, with high survivorship across the K-Pg boundary. The surviving lineages were apparently present at proximal to intermediate distance from the Chicxulub impact site, thought to have a causal relationship with extinctions across the K-Pg boundary. The premaxilla and dorsal vertebrae of E. incrustatus and B. oliviae, respectively, independently suggest that each of these taxa had a depressed body form consistent with extant crevice-dwelling squamates, which may have played a role in the high survivorship of pan-xenosaur lineages across the K-Pg boundary

Cavioids, chinchilloids, and erethizontoids (Hystricognathi, Rodentia, Mammalia) of the early Miocene Pampa Castillo fauna, Chile (American Museum novitates, no. 3984)

46 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 26 cm.Caviomorph rodents became important components of South American faunas after their Eocene arrival from Africa. Here we describe the cavioid, chinchilloid, and erethizontoid caviomorphs of the early Miocene Pampa Castillo fauna of southern Chile. This fauna’s age and location make it key for resolving outstanding biostratigraphic questions concerning early Miocene Patagonian fossiliferous strata. Each of the four major caviomorph clades (“superfamilies”) is represented in the Pampa Castillo fauna, three whose members are detailed here: cavioids (3 genera; 3 species), chinchilloids (3 genera; 6 species), and erethizontoids (2 genera; 2 species). Abundantly represented taxa, e.g., Neoreomys australis, Perimys erutus, and Prolagostomus pusillus, corroborate previous work assigning the Pampa Castillo fauna to the Santacrucian South American Land Mammal “Age” (SALMA; inclusive of the “Pinturan”). Several taxa, including Eosteiromys, Perimys intermedius, and Perimys sp. nov.?, are also found in the lower and middle Pinturas Formation (lmPF) but not “core” Santacrucian faunas (from the Santa Cruz Formation [SCF] along the Río Santa Cruz and Atlantic coast), suggesting a distinctive resemblance between lmPF and Pampa Castillo rodents. Some authors consider the fauna from the lmPF to form the basis of a “Pinturan” SALMA or subage, considered to slightly predate core Santacrucian faunas, but which has yet to be formally recognized. The taxonomic composition of rodent fauna from Pampa Castillo, as well as relative abundance data, indicated a paleoenvironment intermediate between the closed forests of the lmPF and the mosaic of open and closed habitats of the core Santacrucian faunas from the SCF

Supplemental Material for 'Craniodental morphology and phylogeny of marsupials (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 457)'

Supplemental Material for 'Craniodental morphology and phylogeny of marsupials (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 457) - https://digitallibrary.amnh.org/handle/2246/729