Advances in the floral structural characterization of the major subclades of Malpighiales, one of the largest orders of flowering plants

Background and Aims Malpighiales are one of the largest angiosperm orders and have undergone radical systematic restructuring based on molecular phylogenetic studies. The clade has been recalcitrant to molecular phylogenetic reconstruction, but has become much more resolved at the suprafamilial level. It now contains so many newly identified clades that there is an urgent need for comparative studies to understand their structure, biology and evolution. This is especially true because the order contains a disproportionally large diversity of rain forest species and includes numerous agriculturally important plants. This study is a first broad systematic step in this endeavour. It focuses on a comparative structural overview of the flowers across all recently identified suprafamilial clades of Malpighiales, and points towards areas that desperately need attention. Methods The phylogenetic comparative analysis of floral structure for the order is based on our previously published studies on four suprafamilial clades of Malpighiales, including also four related rosid orders (Celastrales, Crossosomatales, Cucurbitales, Oxalidales). In addition, the results are compiled from a survey of over 3000 publications on macrosystematics, floral structure and embryology across all orders of the core eudicots. Key Results Most new suprafamilial clades within Malpighiales are well supported by floral structural features. Inner morphological structures of the gynoecium (i.e. stigmatic lobes, inner shape of the locules, placentation, presence of obturators) and ovules (i.e. structure of the nucellus, thickness of the integuments, presence of vascular bundles in the integuments, presence of an endothelium in the inner integument) appear to be especially suitable for characterizing suprafamilial clades within Malpighiales. Conclusions Although the current phylogenetic reconstruction of Malpighiales is much improved compared with earlier versions, it is incomplete, and further focused phylogenetic and morphological studies are needed. Once all major subclades of Malpighiales are elucidated, more in-depth studies on promising structural features can be conducted. In addition, once the phylogenetic tree of Malpighiales, including closely related orders, is more fully resolved, character optimization studies will be possible to reconstruct evolution of structural and biological features within the orde

Stable isotope evidence of meat eating and hunting specialization in adult male chimpanzees

Observations of hunting and meat eating in our closest living relatives, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), suggest that among primates, regular inclusion of meat in the diet is not a characteristic unique to Homo. Wild chimpanzees are known to consume vertebrate meat, but its actual dietary contribution is, depending on the study population, often either unknown or minimal. Constraints on continual direct observation throughout the entire hunting season mean that behavioral observations are limited in their ability to accurately quantify meat consumption. Here we present direct stable isotope evidence supporting behavioral observations of frequent meat eating among wild adult male chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire. Meat eating among some of the male chimpanzees is significant enough to result in a marked isotope signal detectable on a short-term basis in their hair keratin and long-term in their bone collagen. Although both adult males and females and juveniles derive their dietary protein largely from daily fruit and seasonal nut consumption, our data indicate that some adult males also derive a large amount of dietary protein from hunted meat. Our results reinforce behavioral observations of male-dominated hunting and meat eating in adult Taï chimpanzees, suggesting that sex differences in food acquisition and consumption may have persisted throughout hominin evolution, rather than being a recent development in the human lineage

Studies on the flora of the Guianas

Description de #Schistostemon sylvaticum Sabatier, espèce nouvelle de Guyane française. Description des fruits, jusqu'ici inconnus d'#Humiriastrum obovatum (Benth.) Cuatr.; #Humiriastrum subcrenatum (Benth.) Cuatr. et #Schistostemon dichotomum (Urban) Cuatr. (Résumé d'auteur

Mudanças ocorridas na população de quatro espécies arbóreas da família Humiriaceae em consequência da exploração florestal de impacto reduzido, no Município de Paragominas, PA.

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Estrutura populacional de espécies de interesse florestal não-madeireiro no Sudeste do Pará, Brasil.

O trabalho descreve a estrutura populacional de cinco espécies com potencial para a exploração sustentável de produtos florestais não-madeireiros na região Sudeste do estado do Pará, Brasil. As espécies, naturalmente comuns na região foram: castanha-do-pará ( Bertholletia excelsa Bonpl. - Lecythidaceae), andiroba ( Carapa guianensis Aubl. - Meliaceae), copaíba ( Copaifera sp. - Fabaceae), uxi ( Endopleura uchi [Huber] Cuatrec. - Humiriaceae) e cupuaçu ( Theobroma grandiflorum [Willd. ex Spreng.] K. Schum. - Sterculiaceae). As cinco espécies foram estudadas em 17 parcelas de um hectare (20m x 500m) num assentamento agroextrativista no município de Nova Ipixuna. No inventário foram encontrados 1.512 indivíduos em 109 morfoespécies com DAP?25cm onde se calculou a densidade, área basal e o volume estimado. Castanha-do-pará, andiroba e cupuaçu mostraram altas densidades (2,53±1,37; 2,76±2,17 e 2,12±1,90 indivíduos/ha ± um desvio padrão, respectivamente) o que sugere seu manejo para a exploração sustentável de produtos florestais não-madeireiros. Uxi e copaíba apresentaram baixas densidades (0,41±1,06 e 0,29±0,59 indivíduos/ha, respectivamente), o que não permite sugerir uma forma de manejo economicamente viável. Quanto à distribuição diamétrica, apenas andiroba apresentou uma distribuição em forma de J-reverso

First steps towards a floral structural characterization of the major rosid subclades

A survey of our own comparative studies on several larger clades of rosids and over 1400 original publications on rosid flowers shows that floral structural features support to various degrees the supraordinal relationships in rosids proposed by molecular phylogenetic studies. However, as many apparent relationships are not yet well resolved, the structural support also remains tentative. Some of the features that turned out to be of interest in the present study had not previously been considered in earlier supraordinal studies. The strongest floral structural support is for malvids (Brassicales, Malvales, Sapindales), which reflects the strong support of phylogenetic analyses. Somewhat less structurally supported are the COM (Celastrales, Oxalidales, Malpighiales) and the nitrogen-fixing (Cucurbitales, Fagales, Fabales, Rosales) clades of fabids, which are both also only weakly supported in phylogenetic analyses. The sister pairs, Cucurbitales plus Fagales, and Malvales plus Sapindales, are structurally only weakly supported, and for the entire fabids there is no clear support by the present floral structural data. However, an additional grouping, the COM clade plus malvids, shares some interesting features but does not appear as a clade in phylogenetic analyses. Thus it appears that the deepest split within eurosids-that between fabids and malvids - in molecular phylogenetic analyses (however weakly supported) is not matched by the present structural data. Features of ovules including thickness of integuments, thickness of nucellus, and degree of ovular curvature, appear to be especially interesting for higher level relationships and should be further explored. Although features of interest are not necessarily stable at the level of a large clade, they do show a considerable concentration in particular clades and are rare or lacking in others. This may be viewed as a special trend for this feature to evolve in this group or to be conserved as a synapomorphy (or a combination of both