Adaptive Evolution of the Myo6 Gene in Old World Fruit Bats (Family: Pteropodidae)

PMCID: PMC3631194This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Brazilian montane rainforest expansion induced by Heinrich Stadial 1 event

The origin of modern disjunct plant distributions in the Brazilian Highlands with strong floristic affinities to distant montane rainforests of isolated mountaintops in the northeast and northern Amazonia and the Guyana Shield remains unknown. We tested the hypothesis that these unexplained biogeographical patterns reflect former ecosystem rearrangements sustained by widespread plant migrations possibly due to climatic patterns that are very dissimilar from present-day conditions. To address this issue, we mapped the presence of the montane arboreal taxa Araucaria, Podocarpus, Drimys, Hedyosmum, Ilex, Myrsine, Symplocos, and Weinmannia, and cool-adapted plants in the families Myrtaceae, Ericaceae, and Arecaceae (palms) in 29 palynological records during Heinrich Stadial 1 Event, encompassing a latitudinal range of 30°S to 0°S. In addition, Principal Component Analysis and Species Distribution Modelling were used to represent past and modern habitat suitability for Podocarpus and Araucaria. The data reveals two long-distance patterns of plant migration connecting south/southeast to northeastern Brazil and Amazonia with a third short route extending from one of them. Their paleofloristic compositions suggest a climatic scenario of abundant rainfall and relative lower continental surface temperatures, possibly intensified by the effects of polar air incursions forming cold fronts into the Brazilian Highlands. Although these taxa are sensitive to changes in temperature, the combined pollen and speleothems proxy data indicate that this montane rainforest expansion during Heinrich Stadial 1 Event was triggered mainly by a less seasonal rainfall regime from the subtropics to the equatorial region.This work was funded by FAPESP research grant 2015/50683-2 to P.E. De Oliveira, VULPES Project, Belmount Forum

Synopsis of the pelidnotine scarabs (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Rutelinae, Rutelini) and annotated catalog of the species and subspecies

The pelidnotine scarabs (Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae: Rutelini) are a speciose, paraphyletic assemblage of beetles that includes spectacular metallic species (“jewel scarabs”) as well as species that are ecologically important as herbivores, pollinators, and bioindicators. These beetles suffer from a complicated nomenclatural history, due primarily to 20th century taxonomic and nomenclatural errors. We review the taxonomic history of the pelidnotine scarabs, present a provisional key to genera with overviews of all genera, and synthesize a catalog of all taxa with synonyms, distributional data, type specimen information, and 107 images of exemplar species. As a result of our research, the pelidnotine leaf chafers (a paraphyletic group) include 27 (26 extant and 1 extinct) genera and 420 valid species and subspecies (419 extant and 1 extinct). Our research makes biodiversity research on this group tractable and accessible, thus setting the stage for future studies that address evolutionary and ecological trends. Based on our research, 1 new species is described, 1 new generic synonym and 12 new species synonyms are proposed, 11 new lectotypes and 1 new neotype are designated, many new or revised nomenclatural combinations, and many unavailable names are presented. The following taxonomic changes are made: New generic synonym: The genus Heteropelidnota Ohaus, 1912 is a new junior synonym of Pelidnota MacLeay, 1819. New species synonyms: Plusiotis adelaida pavonacea Casey, 1915 is a syn. n. of Chrysina adelaida (Hope, 1841); Odontognathus gounellei Ohaus, 1908 is a revised synonym of Pelidnota ebenina (Blanchard, 1842); Pelidnota francoisgenieri Moore & Jameson, 2013 is a syn. n. of Pelidnota punctata (Linnaeus, 1758); Pelidnota genieri Soula, 2009 is a syn. n. of Pelidnota punctata (Linnaeus, 1758); Pelidnota lutea (Olivier, 1758) is a revised synonym of Pelidnota punctata (Linnaeus, 1758); Pelidnota (Pelidnota) texensis Casey, 1915 is a revised synonym of Pelidnota punctata (Linnaeus, 1758); Pelidnota (Strigidia) zikani (Ohaus, 1922) is a revised synonym of Pelidnota tibialis tibialis Burmeister, 1844; Pelidnota ludovici Ohaus, 1905 is a syn. n. of Pelidnota burmeisteri tricolor Nonfried, 1894; Rutela fulvipennis Germar, 1824 is syn. n. of Pelidnota cuprea (Germar, 1824); Pelidnota pulchella blanda Burmeister, 1844 is a syn. n. of Pelidnota pulchella pulchella (Kirby, 1819); Pelidnota pulchella scapularis Burmeister, 1844 is a syn. n. of Pelidnota pulchella pulchella (Kirby, 1819); Pelidnota xanthogramma Perty, 1830 is a syn. n. of Pelidnota pulchella pulchella (Kirby, 1819). New or revised statuses: Pelidnota fabricelavalettei Soula, 2009, revised status, is considered a species; Pelidnota rioensis Soula, 2009, stat. n., is considered a species; Pelidnota semiaurata semiaurata Burmeister, 1844, stat. rev., is considered a subspecies. New or comb. rev. and revised status: Plusiotis guaymi Curoe, 2001 is formally transferred to the genus Chrysina (C. guaymi (Curoe, 2001), comb. n.); Plusiotis transvolcanica Morón & Nogueira, 2016 is transferred to the genus Chrysina (C. transvolcanica (Morón & Nogueira, 2016), comb. n.). Heteropelidnota kuhnti Ohaus, 1912 is transferred to the genus Pelidnota (P. kuhnti (Ohaus, 1912), comb. n.); Odontognathus riedeli Ohaus, 1905 is considered a subspecies of Pelidnota rubripennis Burmeister, 1844 (Pelidnota rubripennis riedeli (Ohaus, 1905), revised status and comb. rev.); Pelidnota (Strigidia) acutipennis (F. Bates, 1904) is transferred to the genus Sorocha (Sorocha acutipennis (F. Bates, 1904), comb. rev.); Pelidnota (Odontognathus) nadiae Martínez, 1978 is transferred to the genus Sorocha (Sorocha nadiae (Martínez, 1978), comb. rev.); Pelidnota (Ganonota) plicipennis Ohaus, 1934 is transferred to the genus Sorocha (Sorocha plicipennis (Ohaus, 1934), comb. rev.); Pelidnota similis Ohaus, 1908 is transferred to the genus Sorocha (Sorocha similis (Ohaus, 1908), comb. rev.); Pelidnota (Ganonota) yungana Ohaus, 1934 is transferred to Sorocha (Sorocha yungana (Ohaus, 1934), comb. rev.); Pelidnota malyi Soula, 2010: 58, revised status; Xenopelidnota anomala porioni Chalumeau, 1985, revised subspecies status. To stabilize the classification of the group, a neotype is designated for the following species: Pelidnota thiliezi Soula, 2009. Lectotypes are designated for the following names (given in their original combinations): Pelidnota brevicollis Casey, 1915, Pelidnota brevis Casey, 1915, Pelidnota debiliceps Casey, 1915, Pelidnota hudsonica Casey, 1915, Pelidnota oblonga Casey, 1915, Pelidnota pallidipes Casey, 1915, Pelidnota ponderella Casey, 1915, Pelidnota strenua Casey, 1915, Pelidnota tarsalis Casey, 1915, Pelidnota texensis Casey, 1915, and Scarabaeus punctatus Linnaeus, 1758. The following published infrasubspecific names are unavailable per ICZN Article 45.6.1: Pelidnota (Odontognathus) cuprea var. coerulea Ohaus, 1913; Pelidnota (Odontognathus) cuprea var. rufoviolacea Ohaus, 1913; Pelidnota (Odontognathus) cuprea var. nigrocoerulea Ohaus, 1913; Pelidnota pulchella var. fulvopunctata Ohaus, 1913; Pelidnota pulchella var. sellata Ohaus, 1913; Pelidnota pulchella var. reducta Ohaus, 1913; Pelidnota unicolor var. infuscata Ohaus, 1913. The following published species name is unavailable per ICZN Article 11.5: Neopatatra synonyma Moore & Jameson, 2013. The following published species name is unavailable per application of ICZN Article 16.1: Parhoplognathus rubripennis Soula, 2008. Synopsis of the pelidnotine scarabs (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Rutelinae, Rutelini) 3 The following published species name is unavailable per application of ICZN Article 16.4.1: Strigidia testaceovirens argentinica Soula, 2006, Pelidnota (Strigidia) testaceovirens argentinica (Soula, 2006), and Pelidnota testaceovirens argentinica (Soula, 2006). The following published species names are unavailable per application of ICZN Article 16.4.2: Homonyx digennaroi Soula, 2010; Homonyx lecourti Soula, 2010; Homonyx mulliei Soula, 2010; Homonyx simoensi Soula, 2010; Homonyx wagneri Soula, 2010; Homonyx zovii Demez & Soula, 2011; Pelidnota arnaudi Soula, 2009; Pelidnota brusteli Soula, 2010; Pelidnota chalcothorax septentrionalis Soula, 2009; Pelidnota degallieri Soula, 2010; Pelidnota lavalettei Soula, 2008; Pelidnota lavalettei Soula, 2009; Pelidnota dieteri Soula, 2011; Strigidia gracilis decaensi Soula, 2008, Pelidnota (Strigidia) gracilis decaensi (Soula, 2008), and Pelidnota gracilis decaensi (Soula, 2008); Pelidnota halleri Demez & Soula, 2011; Pelidnota injantepalominoi Demez & Soula, 2011; Pelidnota kucerai Soula, 2009; Pelidnota malyi Soula, 2010: 36-37; Pelidnota mezai Soula, 2009; Pelidnota polita darienensis Soula, 2009; Pelidnota polita orozcoi Soula, 2009; Pelidnota polita pittieri Soula, 2009; Pelidnota punctulata decolombia Soula, 2009; Pelidnota punctulata venezolana Soula, 2009; Pelidnota raingeardi Soula, 2009; Pelidnota schneideri Soula, 2010; Pelidnota simoensi Soula, 2009; Pelidnota unicolor subandina Soula, 2009; Sorocha carloti Demez & Soula, 2011; Sorocha castroi Soula, 2008; Sorocha fravali Soula, 2011; Sorocha jeanmaurettei Demez & Soula, 2011; Sorocha yelamosi Soula, 2011; Xenopelidnota bolivari Soula, 2009; Xenopelidnota pittieri pittieri Soula, 2009. Due to unavailability of the name Pseudogeniates cordobaensis Soula 2009, we describe the species as intentionally new (Pseudogeniates cordobaensis Moore, Jameson, Garner, Audibert, Smith, and Seidel, sp. n.)