The origin of the legumes is a complex paleopolyploid phylogenomic tangle closely associated with the cretaceous-paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction event

This is the final version. Available from Oxford University Press via the DOI in this record. The consequences of the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary (KPB) mass extinction for the evolution of plant diversity remain poorly understood, even though evolutionary turnover of plant lineages at the KPB is central to understanding assembly of the Cenozoic biota. The apparent concentration of whole genome duplication (WGD) events around the KPB may have played a role in survival and subsequent diversification of plant lineages. To gain new insights into the origins of Cenozoic biodiversity, we examine the origin and early evolution of the globally diverse legume family (Leguminosae or Fabaceae). Legumes are ecologically (co-)dominant across many vegetation types, and the fossil record suggests that they rose to such prominence after the KPB in parallel with several well-studied animal clades including Placentalia and Neoaves. Furthermore, multiple WGD events are hypothesized to have occurred early in legume evolution. Using a recently inferred phylogenomic framework, we investigate the placement of WGDs during early legume evolution using gene tree reconciliation methods, gene count data and phylogenetic supernetwork reconstruction. Using 20 fossil calibrations we estimate a revised timeline of legume evolution based on 36 nuclear genes selected as informative and evolving in an approximately clock-like fashion. To establish the timing of WGDs we also date duplication nodes in gene trees. Results suggest either a pan-legume WGD event on the stem lineage of the family, or an allopolyploid event involving (some of) the earliest lineages within the crown group, with additional nested WGDs subtending subfamilies Papilionoideae and Detarioideae. Gene tree reconciliation methods that do not account for allopolyploidy may be misleading in inferring an earlier WGD event at the time of divergence of the two parental lineages of the polyploid, suggesting that the allopolyploid scenario is more likely. We show that the crown age of the legumes dates to the Maastrichtian or early Paleocene and that, apart from the Detarioideae WGD, paleopolyploidy occurred close to the KPB. We conclude that the early evolution of the legumes followed a complex history, in which multiple auto- and/or allopolyploidy events coincided with rapid diversification and in association with the mass extinction event at the KPB, ultimately underpinning the evolutionary success of the Leguminosae in the Cenozoic.Swiss National Science FoundationUniversity of ZurichNatural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of CanadaNational Environment Research CouncilFonds de la Recherche Scientifique of Belgiu

Taxonomy and nomenclature in palaeopalynology: basic principles, current challenges and future perspectives

Effective communication of taxonomic concepts is crucial to meaningful application in all biological sciences, and thus the development and following of best practices in taxonomy and the formulation of clear and practical rules of nomenclature underpin a wide range of scientific studies. The International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi and plants (the Code), currently the Shenzhen Code of 2018, provides these rules. Although early versions of the Code were designed mainly with extant plants in mind, the Code has been increasingly used for fossil plants and, in recent decades, for organic-walled microfossils, the study of which is called palaeopalynology, or simply palynology. However, rules embodied in the Code do not fully reflect the needs and practices of this discipline; and taxonomic practices between fossil applications, especially in palynology, have tended to diverge from practices for extant plants. Differences in these rules and practices present specific challenges. We therefore review the Shenzhen Code as it applies to palynology, clarifying procedures and recommending approaches based on best practices, for example, in the designation and use of nomenclatural types. The application of nomenclatural types leads to taxonomic stability and precise communication, and lost or degraded types are therefore problematic because they remove the basis for understanding a taxon. Such problems are addressed using examples from the older European literature in which type specimens are missing or degraded. A review of the three most important conventions for presenting palynological taxonomic information, synonymies, diagnoses/descriptions and illustrations, concludes with recommendations of best practices. Palynology continues to play an important role in biostratigraphy, palaeoenvironmental analyses, and evolutionary studies, and is contributing increasingly to our understanding of past climates and ocean systems. To contribute with full potential to such applied studies, consistent communication of taxonomic concepts, founded upon clear rules of nomenclature, is essential

Systematics Agenda 2020: The Mission Evolves

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Licens

The Victorian Newsletter (Spring 1972)

The Victorian Newsletter is edited for the English X Group of the Modern Language Association by William E. Buckler, New York University, Washington Square, New York, N.Y. 10003Mrs. Gamp as the Great Mother: A Dickensian Use of the Archetype / Veronica M. S. Kennedy -- Rossetti's Changing Style: The Revisions of "My Sister's Sleep" / Herbert Sussman -- The Sketch of the Three Masks in Romola / W. J. Sullivan -- Tory-Radicalism and "The Two Nations" in Disraeli's Sybil / Patrick Brantlinger -- Two Notes on Religion in David Copperfield / E. Pearlman -- In Memoriam and The Excursion: A Matter of Comparison / Stuart F. C. Niermeier -- Past or Future Mindscapes: Pictures in Jane Eyre / M. B. McLaughlin -- The Midsummer Eves of Shakespeare and Christina Rossetti / Warren Herendeen -- A Victorian "Modest Proposal" / Charles T. Dougherty -- Recent Publications: A Selected List / Arthur F. Minerof -- English X New

Validation of Caesalpinia Subgenus Mezoneuron (Desf.) Vidal and New Combinations in Caesalpinia for Two Species of Mezoneuron from Africa

Volume: 77Start Page: 854End Page: 85

Data from: Phylogeny of the Detarioid Genera Cynometra and Maniltoa (Leguminosae)

The genus Cynometra (Leguminosae, Detarioideae) is a large, pantropical group of woody plants ranging in size from 5-50 meters. While many recent advances have been made in higher level legume systematics, many large genera still require more study to test their monophyly. Further, its relationship to the much smaller Pacific genus Maniltoa is unclear. Here we present the first broadly-sampled phylogeny of Cynometra and Maniltoa, based on molecular data from three chloroplast loci: matK, the trnL intron and the trnL intergenic spacer. Our analyses indicate that Cynometra is not monophyletic as currently circumscribed, as several researchers had previously suspected. We recover two strongly supported clades of Cynometra sensu lato; one that is most closely related to a clade consisting of the genera Dicymbe and Polystemonanthus and is composed of exclusively African taxa and another clade that is pantropical and is nested in a larger clade with the Scorodolphoeus group and the genera Normandiodendron, Neochevalierodendron, and Zenkerella. Futhermore, the genus Maniltoa is nested within the pantropical Cynometra clade and is also non-monophyletic. The two clades are each supported by several morphological characters that can be used to distinguish between them (e.g. inflorescence structure, pedicel articulation, fruit dehiscence). These results will be used to modify the classification by moving the relevant African taxa to a new genus and placing Maniltoa in synonymy with Cynometra

cyno_trnL_intron10Jan2017

cyno_trnL_intron10Jan201