New family of myrmecophilic spiders.

24 pages : illustrations (some color), maps (some color) ; 26 cm.The new genus and species Myrmecicultor chihuahuensis Ramírez, Grismado, and Ubick is described and proposed as the type of the new family, Myrmecicultoridae Ramírez, Grismado, and Ubick. The species is ecribellate, with entelegyne genitalia, two tarsal claws, without claw tufts, and the males have a retrolateral palpal tibial apophysis. Some morphological characters suggest a possible relationship with Zodariidae or Prodidomidae, but the phylogenetic analysis of six markers from the mitochondrial (12S rDNA, 16S rDNA, cytochrome oxidase subunit I) and nuclear (histone H3, 18S rDNA, 28S rDNA) genomes indicate that M. chihuahuensis is a separate lineage emerging near the base of the Dionycha and the Oval Calamistrum clade. The same result is obtained when the molecular data are combined with a dataset of morphological characters. Specimens of M. chihuahuensis were found associated with three species of harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex rugosus, Novomessor albisetosis, and Novomessor cockerelli, and were collected in pitfall traps when the ants are most active. The known distribution spans the Big Bend region of Texas (Presidio, Brewster, and Hudspeth counties), to Coahuila (Cuatro Ciénegas) and Aguascalientes (Tepezalá), Mexico

Phylogenomics Reveals Ancient Gene Tree Discordance in the Amphibian Tree of Life

The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Society of Systematic Biologists. Molecular phylogenies have yielded strong support for many parts of the amphibian Tree of Life, but poor support for the resolution of deeper nodes, including relationships among families and orders. To clarify these relationships, we provide a phylogenomic perspective on amphibian relationships by developing a taxon-specific Anchored Hybrid Enrichment protocol targeting hundreds of conserved exons which are effective across the class. After obtaining data from 220 loci for 286 species (representing 94% of the families and 44% of the genera), we estimate a phylogeny for extant amphibians and identify gene tree-species tree conflict across the deepest branches of the amphibian phylogeny. We perform locus-by-locus genealogical interrogation of alternative topological hypotheses for amphibian monophyly, focusing on interordinal relationships. We find that phylogenetic signal deep in the amphibian phylogeny varies greatly across loci in a manner that is consistent with incomplete lineage sorting in the ancestral lineage of extant amphibians. Our results overwhelmingly support amphibian monophyly and a sister relationship between frogs and salamanders, consistent with the Batrachia hypothesis. Species tree analyses converge on a small set of topological hypotheses for the relationships among extant amphibian families. These results clarify several contentious portions of the amphibian Tree of Life, which in conjunction with a set of vetted fossil calibrations, support a surprisingly younger timescale for crown and ordinal amphibian diversification than previously reported. More broadly, our study provides insight into the sources, magnitudes, and heterogeneity of support across loci in phylogenomic data sets.[AIC; Amphibia; Batrachia; Phylogeny; gene tree-species tree discordance; genomics; information theory.].This work was supported by grants from a graduate student research award from the Society of Systematic Biologists and the University of Kentucky G.F. Ribble Endowment (to P.M.H.), by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES/BEX 2806/09-6 to P.L.V.P.), and by the National Science Foundation (DEB-0949532 and DEB-1355000 to D.W.W., DEB-1120516 to E.M.L., IIP-1313554 to A.R.L. and E.M.L, DEB-1355071 to J.M.B., DEB-1441719 to R.A.P., DEB-1311442 to P.L.V.P., DEB-1354506 to R.C.T., DEB-1021247 to E.P. and C.J.R., DEB-1021299 to K.M. Kjer, and DEB-1257610, DEB-0641023, DEB-0423286, and DEB-9984496 to C.J.R.), and the Australian Research Council (DP120104146 to J.S.K. and S.C.D.). S.R.R. thanks SENESCYT (Arca de Noé Initiative; SRR and O. Torres-Carvajal principal investigators) for funding for tissue collection. J.L. was supported by the Systematics Association and the Linnean Society Systematics Research Fund. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (DGE-3048109801 to P.M.H.) and by the National Science Foundation-supported National Center for Supercomputing Applications Blue Waters Graduate Research Fellowship Program (under Grant No. 0725070, subaward 15836, to P.M.H.). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation

Phylogenomics Reveals Ancient Gene Tree Discordance in the Amphibian Tree of Life

Molecular phylogenies have yielded strong support for many parts of the amphibian Tree of Life, but poor support for the resolution of deeper nodes, including relationships among families and orders. To clarify these relationships, we provide a phylogenomic perspective on amphibian relationships by developing a taxon-specific Anchored Hybrid Enrichment protocol targeting hundreds of conserved exons which are effective across the class. After obtaining data from 220 loci for 286 species (representing 94% of the families and 44% of the genera), we estimate a phylogeny for extant amphibians and identify gene tree–species tree conflict across the deepest branches of the amphibian phylogeny. We perform locus-by-locus genealogical interrogation of alternative topological hypotheses for amphibian monophyly, focusing on interordinal relationships. We find that phylogenetic signal deep in the amphibian phylogeny varies greatly across loci in a manner that is consistent with incomplete lineage sorting in the ancestral lineage of extant amphibians. Our results overwhelmingly support amphibian monophyly and a sister relationship between frogs and salamanders, consistent with the Batrachia hypothesis. Species tree analyses converge on a small set of topological hypotheses for the relationships among extant amphibian families. These results clarify several contentious portions of the amphibian Tree of Life, which in conjunction with a set of vetted fossil calibrations, support a surprisingly younger timescale for crown and ordinal amphibian diversification than previously reported. More broadly, our study provides insight into the sources, magnitudes, and heterogeneity of support across loci in phylogenomic data sets

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

Myrmecicultoridae, a new family of myrmecophilic spiders from the Chihuahuan Desert (Araneae, Entelegynae) /

no. 393

Data from: Natatanuran frogs used the Indian Plate to step-stone disperse and radiate across the Indian Ocean

No description availabl

Soil biota in a megadiverse country: Current knowledge and future research directions in South Africa

Soils are integral to agricultural productivity, biodiversity, and the maintenance of ecosystem services. However, soil ecosystem research depends on foundational biological knowledge that is often missing. In this review, we present a comprehensive, cross-taxa overview of the soil biota of South Africa. We discuss the literature and sampling methods used to assess soil biota, the available taxonomic expertise and main collections within South Africa, the availability of identification guides and online resources, and the status and distribution of described species. We include species lists for all South African soil biota and, for groups with sufficient distribution records, species richness maps. Despite South Africa being only 0.8% of the earth’s terrestrial area, it contains nearly 1.8% of the world’s described soil species (mean per taxon 3.64%, range 0.17–15%; n = 36 groups), with nematodes and earthworms showing a remarkable (6.4 and 7.7%) proportion of globally described diversity. Endemism is high for most groups, ranging from 33–92%. However, major knowledge gaps exist for most soil biota groups. While sampling has been relatively comprehensive in some areas for a few groups (particularly those with direct socioeconomic impacts), the Nama-Karoo, Northern Cape and Eastern Cape are poorly sampled. Natural soils in biodiversity hotspots, such as the Fynbos Biome, are also understudied. We argue that a more integrative approach to acquiring foundational knowledge in soil biodiversity is needed if applied soil research is to be effective in ensuring sustainable soil health. Considerable investment will be required to bring our understanding of the soil biodiversity in this megadiverse region to a level where the Millennium Development Goals can be reached