Scientists' warning to humanity on illegal or unsustainable wildlife trade

Illegal or unsustainable wildlife trade is growing at a global level, threatening the traded species and coexisting biota, and promoting the spread of invasive species. From the loss of ecosystem services to diseases transmitted from wildlife to humans, or connections with major organized crime networks and disruption of local to global economies, its ramifications are pervading our daily lives and perniciously affecting our well-being. Here we build on the manifesto 'World Scientists' Warning to Humanity, issued by the Alliance of World Scientists. As a group of researchers deeply concerned about the consequences of illegal or unsustainable wildlife trade, we review and highlight how these can negatively impact species, ecosystems, and society. We appeal for urgent action to close key knowledge gaps and regulate wildlife trade more stringently.Peer reviewe

Scientists' warning to humanity on illegal or unsustainable wildlife trade

Illegal or unsustainable wildlife trade is growing at a global level, threatening the traded species and coexisting biota, and promoting the spread of invasive species. From the loss of ecosystem services to diseases transmitted from wildlife to humans, or connections with major organized crime networks and disruption of local to global economies, its ramifications are pervading our daily lives and perniciously affecting our well-being. Here we build on the manifesto ‘World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity, issued by the Alliance of World Scientists. As a group of researchers deeply concerned about the consequences of illegal or unsustainable wildlife trade, we review and highlight how these can negatively impact species, ecosystems, and society. We appeal for urgent action to close key knowledge gaps and regulate wildlife trade more stringently.</p

Challenges and perspectives on tackling illegal or unsustainable wildlife trade

Illegal or unsustainable wildlife trade (IUWT) currently presents one of the most high-profile conservation challenges. There is no “one-size-fits-all” strategy, and a variety of disciplines and actors are needed for any counteractive approach to work effectively. Here, we detail common challenges faced when tackling IUWT, and we describe some available tools and technologies to curb and track IUWT (e.g. bans, quotas, protected areas, certification, captive-breeding and propagation, education and awareness). We discuss gaps to be filled in regulation, enforcement, engagement and knowledge about wildlife trade, and propose practical solutions to regulate and curb IUWT, paving the road for immediate action

THE UTILITY OF MOLECULAR MARKERS FROM NON-LETHAL DNA SAMPLES OF THE CITES II PROTECTED “TARANTULA” BRACHYPELMA VAGANS (ARANEAE, THERAPHOSIDAE)

Volume: 35Start Page: 278End Page: 29

Description of a new species of Eucynorta (Opiliones, Cosmetidae) from Cortés, Honduras

Damron, Brittany N., Pinto-Da-Rocha, Ricardo, Longhorn, Stuart J. (2018): Description of a new species of Eucynorta (Opiliones, Cosmetidae) from Cortés, Honduras. Zootaxa 4450 (1): 125-134, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4450.1.

A congruent solution to arthropod phylogeny: phylogenomics, microRNAs and morphology support monophyletic Mandibulata

While a unique origin of the euarthropods is well established, relationships between the four euarthropod classes—chelicerates, myriapods, crustaceans and hexapods—are less clear. Unsolved questions include the position of myriapods, the monophyletic origin of chelicerates, and the validity of the close relationship of euarthropods to tardigrades and onychophorans. Morphology predicts that myriapods, insects and crustaceans form a monophyletic group, the Mandibulata, which has been contradicted by many molecular studies that support an alternative Myriochelata hypothesis (Myriapoda plus Chelicerata). Because of the conflicting insights from published molecular datasets, evidence from nuclear-coding genes needs corroboration from independent data to define the relationships among major nodes in the euarthropod tree. Here, we address this issue by analysing two independent molecular datasets: a phylogenomic dataset of 198 protein-coding genes including new sequences for myriapods, and novel microRNA complements sampled from all major arthropod lineages. Our phylogenomic analyses strongly support Mandibulata, and show that Myriochelata is a tree-reconstruction artefact caused by saturation and long-branch attraction. The analysis of the microRNA dataset corroborates the Mandibulata, showing that the microRNAs miR-965 and miR-282 are present and expressed in all mandibulate species sampled, but not in the chelicerates. Mandibulata is further supported by the phylogenetic analysis of a comprehensive morphological dataset covering living and fossil arthropods, and including recently proposed, putative apomorphies of Myriochelata. Our phylogenomic analyses also provide strong support for the inclusion of pycnogonids in a monophyletic Chelicerata, a paraphyletic Cycloneuralia, and a common origin of Arthropoda (tardigrades, onychophorans and arthropods), suggesting that previous phylogenies grouping tardigrades and nematodes may also have been subject to tree-reconstruction artefacts

MicroRNAs and phylogenomics resolve the relationships of Tardigrada and suggest that velvet worms are the sister group of Arthropoda

Morphological data traditionally group Tardigrada (water bears), Onychophora (velvet worms), and Arthropoda (e.g., spiders, insects, and their allies) into a monophyletic group of invertebrates with walking appendages known as the Panarthropoda. However, molecular data generally do not support the inclusion of tardigrades within the Panarthropoda, but instead place them closer to Nematoda (roundworms). Here we present results from the analyses of two independent genomic datasets, expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and microRNAs (miRNAs), which congruently resolve the phylogenetic relationships of Tardigrada. Our EST analyses, based on 49,023 amino acid sites from 255 proteins, significantly support a monophyletic Panarthropoda including Tardigrada and suggest a sister group relationship between Arthropoda and Onychophora. Using careful experimental manipulations—comparisons of model fit, signal dissection, and taxonomic pruning—we show that support for a Tardigrada + Nematoda group derives from the phylogenetic artifact of long-branch attraction. Our small RNA libraries fully support our EST results; no miRNAs were found to link Tardigrada and Nematoda, whereas all panarthropods were found to share one unique miRNA (miR-276). In addition, Onychophora and Arthropoda were found to share a second miRNA (miR-305). Our study confirms the monophyly of the legged ecdysozoans, shows that past support for a Tardigrada + Nematoda group was due to long-branch attraction, and suggests that the velvet worms are the sister group to the arthropods

Re-evaluating conservation priorities of New World tarantulas (Araneae: Theraphosidae) in a molecular framework indicates non-monophyly of the genera, <i>Aphonopelma</i> and <i>Brachypelma</i>

<p>We present a mtDNA gene tree of tarantula spiders (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Theraphosidae) based on the mitochondrial <i>16S-tRNA (leu)-ND1</i> gene region as a promising initial molecular hypothesis to clarify the taxonomy of the largest subfamily, Theraphosinae. Many species of this New World subfamily are traded widely as exotic pets, yet few scientific studies on them exist, and the robustness of many supposed taxonomic groupings is debatable. Yet the validity of taxon names and knowledge of their distinctiveness is vital for trade regulation, most notably for the Neotropical genus <i>Brachypelma</i> Simon 1891, which is listed under CITES (Appendix II, see online supplemental material, which is available from the article's Taylor & Francis Online page at <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14772000.2017.1346719" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1080/14772000.2017.1346719</a>). The use of molecular markers for tarantula taxonomy has been limited until recently, with most previous studies relying on morphological methods. Our findings, from newly collected molecular data, have several nomenclatural implications, suggesting a need for a rigorous overhaul of Theraphosinae classification at multiple hierarchical levels. Here, we take steps toward a revised classification, favouring division of Theraphosinae into three tribes: the Theraphosini trib. nov., the Hapalopini trib. nov., and the Grammostolini trib. nov. We also make conservation recommendations for two non-monophyletic genera. Firstly, we recover <i>Aphonopelma</i> Pocock 1901 as polyphyletic, finding that the large radiation into the USA and Mexico is taxonomically distinct from at least three other lineages distributed throughout Central America, one of which includes the type species of the genus. Secondly, and importantly for conservation, we find diphyly in the CITES listed genus <i>Brachypelma</i> Simon 1891, where our data strongly favour a division into two distinct smaller genera. We consider only the lineage with endemics in the Pacific coastal zone of Mexico to be of conservation concern. Finally, we also make suggestions on the future direction of revisionary research for the Theraphosidae as a whole.</p> <p><a href="http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:B37F7795-3F92-4334-A0C7-65C8026EE1FB" target="_blank">http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:B37F7795-3F92-4334-A0C7-65C8026EE1FB</a></p