An integrative approach to characterize Malagasy bats of the subfamily Vespertilioninae Gray, 1821, with the description of a new species of Hypsugo

Although important advances have been made in recent years in the taxonomy of different families and subfamilies of Malagasy bats, those belonging to the Vespertilioninae remain partially unresolved. Herein using a mitochondrial marker (cytochrome b) as the point of departure for 76 specimens of Malagasy vespers and appropriate African taxa, we diagnose the six taxa of this subfamily on the island by overlaying different morphological and bioacoustic characters on the clade structure of sequenced animals. The species include: endemic Neoromicia matroka, which is sister to African N. capensis; endemics N. malagasyensis and N. robertsi, which form sister species; a member of the genus Hypsugo, which is sister to African H. anchietae and described herein as new to science; Pipistrellus hesperidus for which Madagascar animals are genetically close but distinct from African populations of the same species; and endemic P. raceyi, which shows segregation of eastern (mesic) and western (dry) populations and its sister species relationships are unresolved. While the external and craniodental measurements, as well as bioacoustics variables, allow only partial differentiation of these six species of Vespertilioninae, molecular characters provide definitive separation of the taxa, as do male bacular morphology.Irene D. Pritzker Foundation associated with the Field Museum of Natural History African Training Fund; John D and Catherine T.MacArthur Foundation; Volkswagen Foundation; and the Centre de Recherche et de Veille sur les maladies émergentes dans l’Océan Indien (CRVOI) through the Fonds Européen de Développement Régional Programme Opérationnel de Coopération Territoriale Réunion, pathogènes associés à la faune sauvage ocean Indien #31189. SYNTHESYS project http://synthesys.info/, which is financed by European Community Research Infrastructure Action under the FP7 Integrating Activities Program.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1096-36422016-04-30hb2015Zoology and EntomologyMammal Research Institut

Description of a new species of the Miniopterus aelleni group (Chiroptera: Miniopteridae) from upland areas of central and northern Madagascar

Goodman, Steven M., Ramasindrazana, Beza, Naughton, Kate M., Appleton, Belinda (2015): Description of a new species of the Miniopterus aelleni group (Chiroptera: Miniopteridae) from upland areas of central and northern Madagascar. Zootaxa 3936 (4): 538-558, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3936.4.

Limited phylogeographic structure for five bathyal ophiuroids at continental scales

There have been comparatively few large-scale studies on spatial genetic structure of bathyal seafloor fauna, despite the importance of these data to the successful management of the world's oceans. We use a comparative analysis of mitochondrial DNA from five bathyal (200-3500 m) species of brittle-stars (Ophiuroidea) to assess phylogeographic structure along an extensive (8000 km) longitudinal gradient at temperate latitudes (28-56 degrees S) from south-west Australia (113 degrees E) to seamounts east of New Zealand (175 degrees W). We found no evidence of a genetic discontinuity between Australia and New Zealand, either across the temperate Tasman Sea or across the Southern Ocean between the South Tasman Rise and the Macquarie Ridge. However, there were latitudinal phylogeographical breaks between tropical, temperate and polar regions; longitudinal breaks across the eastern Indian Ocean; and a bathymetric break at approximately 1700 m. Although there was limited regional structure in the frequency of haplotype distributions within the major clades, and no clade appeared to be strictly panmictic, the regional structure in general was not concordant with a simple isolation-by-distance model. Demographic structure varied with three clades having a simplified haplotype network, low effective population sizes and no evidence of significant population expansion, and two clades having a high diversity of haplotypes, relatively high effective population sizes and signs of recent population expansion. These results are discussed with respect to putative dispersal strategies. We hypothesise that the 'brooding' species produce both brooded young and pelagic larvae, allowing for both the maintenance of local populations and long-distance dispersal. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

mtDNA distances between Malagasy taxa belonging to the genus <i>Miniopterus</i> based on Kimura distances [34].

<p>mtDNA distances between Malagasy taxa belonging to the genus <i>Miniopterus</i> based on Kimura distances <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0092440#pone.0092440-Kimura1" target="_blank">[34]</a>.</p

Number of cyt-<i>b</i> sequences by taxon and region included in the present study; with one exception all belong to the genus <i>Miniopterus</i>.

<p>Full details including Genbank numbers and literature references are included in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0092440#pone.0092440.s002" target="_blank">Table S1</a>.</p

Bayesian majority consensus tree based on cvt-<i>b</i> sequence data and according to a HKY + G nucleotide substitution model.

<p>The first number at each node represents bootstrap support according to the Maximum Likelihood analysis; the second represents Bayesian posterior probability. An asterisk (*) at a node indicates full support from both analyses, i.e. 100/1.00. Where clades contain more than a single individual, these have been collapsed into triangles. Colour coding refers to the origin of the species, as follows: Blue  =  Madagascar; Green  =  Africa; Brown  =  Europe; Red  =  Asia and Australasia. Large bold numbers beside lineages indicate the five primary lineages referred to in the text.</p

Summary of different size and life-history parameters of Malagasy (M) and Comorian (C) <i>Miniopterus</i> spp. [19], [52].

<p>Body size: based on mean forearm length (FA), and animals are designated as small-bodied (SB), medium-bodied (MB) and large-bodied (LB); Distribution: E  =  east, N  =  north, W =  west, S  =  south, C  =  central and for the Comoros the name of the island is presented; Habitat: lhf  =  lowland humid forest, mhf  =  montane humid forest, oh  =  open habitat (anthropogenic), ddf  =  dry deciduous forest, sbf  =  spiny bush forest.</p

BEAST molecular clock analysis of representative cvt-<i>b</i> sequences, incorporating a HKY + G nucleotide substitution model and a Yule model of speciation.

<p>Molecular evolutionary rates were calibrated at 2% per million years under a relaxed lognormal clock. Numbers at nodes refer to the age of the node in millions of years (my); the scale bar indicates branch length in my. Grey bars represent 95% highest posterior distributions around node age estimates. Assemblages Y and Z are indicated as noted in the text.</p

Data from: Dendrogramma is a siphonophore

Dendrogramma was the iconic deep-sea animal of 2014, voted among the top-ten new species described that year. The two species described are mushroom shaped animals, diploblastic, with an apparent gastrovascular system that extends from the base of the stalk to bifurcating canals that radiate through the flat disc. The authors could not assign the new genus to any known animal group with certainty, leading to numerous media reports that it belonged to an entirely new phylum. Here we use phylogenomic data from newly collected specimens to show that Dendrogramma is a cnidarian, specifically a benthic siphonophore in the family Rhodaliidae. Although an entire Dendrogramma colony has not been found, we hypothesise that the mushroom-like bodies are bracts, possibly used to aid buoyancy or as defensive appendages to protect feeding gastrozooids or gonads