The evolution of language: a comparative review

For many years the evolution of language has been seen as a disreputable topic, mired in fanciful "just so stories" about language origins. However, in the last decade a new synthesis of modern linguistics, cognitive neuroscience and neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory has begun to make important contributions to our understanding of the biology and evolution of language. I review some of this recent progress, focusing on the value of the comparative method, which uses data from animal species to draw inferences about language evolution. Discussing speech first, I show how data concerning a wide variety of species, from monkeys to birds, can increase our understanding of the anatomical and neural mechanisms underlying human spoken language, and how bird and whale song provide insights into the ultimate evolutionary function of language. I discuss the ‘‘descended larynx’ ’ of humans, a peculiar adaptation for speech that has received much attention in the past, which despite earlier claims is not uniquely human. Then I will turn to the neural mechanisms underlying spoken language, pointing out the difficulties animals apparently experience in perceiving hierarchical structure in sounds, and stressing the importance of vocal imitation in the evolution of a spoken language. Turning to ultimate function, I suggest that communication among kin (especially between parents and offspring) played a crucial but neglected role in driving language evolution. Finally, I briefly discuss phylogeny, discussing hypotheses that offer plausible routes to human language from a non-linguistic chimp-like ancestor. I conclude that comparative data from living animals will be key to developing a richer, more interdisciplinary understanding of our most distinctively human trait: language

Phylogenomic analysis of a 55.1 kb 19-gene dataset resolves a monophyletic Fusarium that includes the Fusarium solani Species Complex

Scientific communication is facilitated by a data-driven, scientifically sound taxonomy that considers the end-user¿s needs and established successful practice. In 2013, the Fusarium community voiced near unanimous support for a concept of Fusarium that represented a clade comprising all agriculturally and clinically important Fusarium species, including the F. solani species complex (FSSC). Subsequently, this concept was challenged in 2015 by one research group who proposed dividing the genus Fusarium into seven genera, including the FSSC described as members of the genus Neocosmospora, with subsequent justification in 2018 based on claims that the 2013 concept of Fusarium is polyphyletic. Here, we test this claim and provide a phylogeny based on exonic nucleotide sequences of 19 orthologous protein-coding genes that strongly support the monophyly of Fusarium including the FSSC. We reassert the practical and scientific argument in support of a genus Fusarium that includes the FSSC and several other basal lineages, consistent with the longstanding use of this name among plant pathologists, medical mycologists, quarantine officials, regulatory agencies, students, and researchers with a stake in its taxonomy. In recognition of this monophyly, 40 species described as genus Neocosmospora were recombined in genus Fusarium, and nine others were renamed Fusarium. Here the global Fusarium community voices strong support for the inclusion of the FSSC in Fusarium, as it remains the best scientific, nomenclatural, and practical taxonomic option availabl

Infection of wheat seed by Pyrenophora triticirepentis

The seed infection process of Pyrenophora tritici-repentis, incitant of tan spot of wheat, was investigated, as were several influencing factors. Following inoculation of the wheat spike, P. tritici-repentis gained access to the seed by first colonizing the glume, lemma, or d after inoculation, and palea. Seed infection was first observed 3 infection incidence increased with time and with inoculum concentration. Wheat seeds were susceptible to infection by this fungus throughout most of their development, although inoculation at the milk stage resulted in the highest percentage of infected seeds. Susceptibility to foliar infection by P. tritici-repentis was not a good predictor of susceptibility to seed infection in four wheat cultivars tested in a glasshouse experiment, except perhaps in 'BR 8', which was significantly less susceptible than the other cultivars at early and late stages of seed development. In a field experiment, wheat seed infection by P. tritici-repentis occurred primarily after the early dough stage and was positively correlated with tan spot severity on the flag leaf shortly after anthesis

PYrenophora triticirepentis as a component of the fungal flora of winter wheat seed in New York

The occurrence of P. tritici-repentis among the fungal flora of soft white winter wheat seed in New York, USA, was assessed during 1990-91. The fungus was recovered from 54% of the seed lots in 1990 and from 36% of the seed lots in 1991, infecting an av. of 2.1 and 0.6% of the seeds, respectively. Seed infection by fungal pathogens was generally low in 1991. Alternaria spp. were the fungi most commonly associated with soft white winter wheat seed in both years. Stagonospora [Leptosphaeria] nodorum, Epicoccum nigrum and various Fusarium spp. were also prevalent, particularly in 1990. Mycelium of P. tritici-repentis was detected by culturing and light microscopy in all layers of the pericarp of the wheat seed, but not in the seed coat or the embryo. Surface infestation of the seed by conidia and conidiophores was minimal