Redescripción y nueva combinación de Euryurus flavocarinatus Daday, 1889, y nuevo nombre para el homónimo Euryurus flavocarinatus Silvestri, 1899 (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Aphelidesmidae)

The Mexican millipede Euryurus flavocarinatus Daday, 1889, has remained as incertae sedis for over a century. Examination of the holotype shows that the species belongs to Amplinus, a genus of the large polydesmidan family Aphelidesmidae. Here, we present a full redescription of the holotype of Amplinus flavocarinatus (Daday, 1889) comb. nov. On the other hand, Euryurus flavocarinatus Silvestri, 1899 (currently included in the genus Pycnotropis) is a junior primary homonym of E. flavocarinatus Daday, 1889 and, to solve this issue, the name Pycnotropis silvestrii Recuero & Aguado-Aranda new name is proposed to replace Silvestri’s name.El milpiés mexicano Euryurus flavocarinatus Daday, 1889, ha permanecido como incertae sedis por más de un siglo. El examen del holotipo demuestra que la especie pertenece al género Amplinus dentro de la amplia familia Aphelidesmidae, orden Polydesmida. En el presente trabajo presentamos una redescripción completa del holotipo de Amplinus flavocarinatus (Daday, 1889) comb. nov. Por otro lado, Euryurus flavocarinatus Silvestri, 1899 (actualmente cosiderada dentro del género Pycnotropis) es un homónimo primario más reciente de E. flavocarinatus Daday, 1889, por lo que proponemos el nombre Pycnotropis silvestrii Recuero & Aguado- Aranda nom. nov. para sustituir el nombre de Silvestri y resolver la homonimia

Los polixénidos (Diplopoda, Penicillata, Polyxenida) de la península Ibérica, Baleares y Canarias con nuevos registros y datos sobre su distribución

Polyxenida, commonly known as bristly or pincushion millipedes, is a small order of millipedes, usually found in dead wood, under bark on dead logs and living trees and scrubs, in soil, leaf litter and under rocks. Given their small size and elusive nature, they have been frequently overlooked, and available information of most species is very limited. Their distribution and diversity in most regions of the Iberian Peninsula, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands are still largely unknown. Here we compile both published and new records for Polyxenida species in these three geographical areas. We also present pictures of living specimens of several species. In the studied regions there are representatives of three families, 5 genera and at least 10 species. In the family Synxenidae, only one species, Phryssonotus platycephalus (Lucas, 1846), occurs on in the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands. The Polyxenidae is more diverse: Polyxenus lagurus (Linnaeus, 1758) is widespread in the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, where there could be yet another species of Polyxenus Latreille, 1804; in the Canary Islands there is a possibly introduced widespread species, P. fasciculatus Say, 1821, and one endemic, P. oromii Nguyen Duy-Jacquemin, 1996; the genus Macroxenus Brolemann, 1917 is represented by M. rubromarginatus (Lucas, 1846) in the Iberian Peninsula and M. enghoffi Nguyen Duy-Jacquemin, 1996, probably another endemic species, in the Canary Islands. Finally, in the family Lophoproctidae we find Lophoproctus jeanneli (Brolemann, 1910) both on the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands; L. lucidus (Chalande, 1888), reported here for the first time from the Iberian Peninsula and El Hierro Island; L. pagesi Condè, 1981, endemic to caves in Mallorca, with a closely related form, L. cf. pagesi also from caves in Portugal; Lophoproctinus inferus inferus (Silvestri, 1903), with a few records from Mallorca, and L. i. maurus Marquet & Condè, 1950, known from the Canary Islands. Our new records, as well as those from the citizen science initiative iNaturalist, notably expand the known distribution ranges of several Polyxenida species in the Iberian Peninsula. Many species show very fragmented distribution patterns, with isolated records in different geographical areas. Further study including more intensive sampling and molecular data will help to understand the true nature of such patterns.Polyxenida es un orden pequeño de milpiés que usualmente se encuentran en el suelo, madera muerta, bajo cortezas de troncos muertos o de árboles y arbustos vivos, en hojarasca y debajo de rocas. Dado su pequeño tamaño y su naturaleza elusiva, se han estudiado poco, de modo que el conocimiento sobre la distribución, diversidad, biología e historia natural de las especies ibéricas, baleares y canarias es muy limitado. En este trabajo recopilamos todos los registros publicados y proporcionamos nuevas citas para las áreas mencionadas. También incluimos fotos en vivo de varias especies ibéricas previamente no fotografiadas. En las regiones de estudio se encuentran representantes de 3 familias, 5 géneros y al menos 10 especies. La familia Synxenidae incluye un solo representante, Phryssonotus platycephalus (Lucas, 1846), en la península Ibérica y en las islas Baleares. La diversidad es más alta para Polyxenidae, con una especie de amplia distribución, Polyxenus lagurus (Linnaeus, 1758), en Iberia y también Baleares, en donde podría haber otra especie del género no descrita; en las Canarias está presente otra especie de amplia distribución, P. fasciculatus Say, 1821, y el endemismo P. oromii  Nguyen Duy-Jacquemin, 1996; el género Macroxenus Brolemann, 1917 está representado por M. rubromarginatus (Lucas, 1846) en Iberia, y M. enghoffi  Nguyen Duy-Jacquemin, 1996, posiblemente endémica de las Canarias. Finalmente, en la familia Lophoproctidae, Lophoproctus jeanneli (Brolemann, 1910) se encuentra tanto en la península como en Baleares; L. lucidus (Chalande, 1888) es registrado por primera vez en la península ibérica y en la isla del Hierro; L. pagesi Condè, 1981 es endémico de cuevas de Mallorca, con una forma relacionada en cuevas de Portugal, L. cf. pagesi; Lophoproctinus inferus inferus (Silvestri, 1903) está presente con unos pocos registros en Mallorca y L. i. maurus Marquet & Condè, 1950 se encuentra en las Canarias. Nuestros nuevos registros junto con registros procedentes de iniciativas de ciencia ciudadana (iNaturalist), expanden notablemente el área de distribución conocida de varias especies de Polyxenida en la península Ibérica. Muchas de estas especies presentan patrones de distribución fragmentados, con registros aislados en diferentes áreas geográficas. Un estudio más intenso incluyendo muestreo exhaustivo y datos moleculares ayudará a entender mejor la naturaleza real de estos patrones de distribución

Estudio de patrones de diversidad intraespecífica en anfibios (Amphibia: anura, caudata) a través de métodos filogeográficos

Tesis inédita de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Departamento de Zoología y Antropología Física, leída el 04/02/2011.Depto. de Genética, Fisiología y MicrobiologíaFac. de Ciencias BiológicasTRUEProQuestpu

Estudio de patrones de diversidad intraespecífica en anfibios (Amphibia: anura, caudata) a través de métodos filogeográficos

Tesis inédita de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Departamento de Zoología y Antropología Física, leída el 04/02/2011.Depto. de Genética, Fisiología y MicrobiologíaFac. de Ciencias BiológicasTRUEProQuestpu

How complex is the Bufo bufo species group?

Species delineation remains one of the most challenging tasks in the study of biodiversity, mostly owing to the application of different species concepts, which results in contrasting taxonomic arrangements. This has important practical consequences, since species are basic units in fields like ecology and conservation biology. We here review molecular genetic evidence relevant to the systematics of toads in the Bufo bufo species group (Anura, Bufonidae). Two studies recently published in this journal (Recuero et al., MPE 62: 71-86 and García-Porta et al., MPE 63: 113-130) addressed this issue but reached opposing conclusions on the taxonomy of the group (four versus two species). In particular, allozyme data in the latter paper were interpreted as evidence for hybridization across species (between B. bufo-B. spinosus and B. bufo-B. verrucosissimus). We tested claims for hybridization through re-analysis of allozyme data for individuals instead of populations, to be able to distinguish between sympatry with and without admixture, and found no evidence of hybridization across taxa. We propose alternative explanations for the observed patterns that García-Porta et al. (2012) failed to consider. In the absence of unequivocal evidence for hybridization and introgression, we reject the proposal to downgrade Bufo spinosus and Bufo verrucosissimus to the subspecies level.IMS is a "Ramón y Cajal" postdoctoral fellow supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and the Universidad de Castilla la Mancha. Partial funds for this work were provided by grants CGL2008-04271-C02-01/BOS and CGL2011-28300 (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, FEDER) and PPII10-0097-4200 (Junta de Comunidades de Castilla la Mancha) to IMS.Peer Reviewe

Multilocus species tree analyses resolve the radiation of the widespread Bufo bufo species group (Anura, Bufonidae)

et al.New analytical methods are improving our ability to reconstruct robust species trees from multilocus datasets, despite difficulties in phylogenetic reconstruction associated with recent, rapid divergence, incomplete lineage sorting and/or introgression. In this study, we applied these methods to resolve the radiation of toads in the Bufo bufo (Anura, Bufonidae) species group, ranging from the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa to Siberia, based on sequences from two mitochondrial and four nuclear DNA regions (3490. base. pairs). We obtained a fully-resolved topology, with the recently described Bufo eichwaldi from the Talysh Mountains in south Azerbaijan and Iran as the sister taxon to a clade including: (1) north African, Iberian, and most French populations, referred herein to Bufo spinosus based on the implied inclusion of populations from its type locality and (2) a second clade, sister to B. spinosus, including two sister subclades: one with all samples of Bufo verrucosissimus from the Caucasus and another one with samples of B. bufo from northern France to Russia, including the Apennine and Balkan peninsulas and most of Anatolia. Coalescent-based estimations of time to most recent common ancestors for each species and selected subclades allowed historical reconstruction of the diversification of the species group in the context of Mediterranean paleogeography and indicated a long evolutionary history in this region. Finally, we used our data to delimit the ranges of the four species, particularly the more widespread and historically confused B. spinosus and B. bufo, and identify potential contact zones, some of which show striking parallels with other co-distributed species.IMS is a “Ramón y Cajal” postdoctoral fellow supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and the Universidad de Castilla la Mancha. The Synthesis Project (http://www.synthesys.info/) of the European Union partially supported this study (Ref.: HU-TAF-181). Partial funds were also provided by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Ref.: CGL2008-04271-C02-01/ BOS) and Junta de Comunidades de Castilla la Mancha (Ref.: PPII10-0097-4200) to IMS, Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA K77841) to JV and Ministry of Education and Science of Republic of Serbia (Grant No. 173025) to JCI.Peer Reviewe

A new North American region colonized by the Australian millipede Akamptogonus novarae (Humbert & DeSaussure, 1869) (Polydesmida, Paradoxosomatidae), with a key for the known Paradoxosomatidae species from North and Central America and the Caribbean Islands

Introduced species represent one of the most concerning factors in conservation biology, as they may become a threat for native biodiversity and ecosystems' equilibrium. Human activity has become a strong dispersal force for organisms of any kind, either by actively releasing alien species or by passively transporting colonizers into new geographical areas. Although introductions of species have been occurring for thousands of years, their frequency has increased accordingly with the higher intensity of modern worldwide commercial and non-commercial movements (Hulme 2009). In the majority of cases, introduced species fail to thrive in the new environments and in fact just a small part eventually become invasive and thus a threat for native biota. However, it is important to keep track on introductions, as often we do not fully understand the processes controlling biological invasions, and even small changes in biotic or abiotic factors can turn already established alien species into invasive (Mack et al. 2000).Peer Reviewe

Complementing the Pleistocene biogeography of European amphibians: Testimony from a southern Atlantic species

To reconstruct the historical biogeography of Hyla molleri, a tree frog endemic to the Eurosiberian and Mediterranean bioclimatic zones in the Iberian Peninsula. Location: Iberian Peninsul

Species assignment in the pelophylax ridibundus x P. perezi hybridogenetic complex based on 16 newly characterised microsatellite markers

Pelophylax perezi is an Iberian green waterfrog with high tolerance to habitat alteration that at times shows local population growth and demographic expansion, even where other species decline. However, pond destruction, invasive predators and hybridisation with other European waterfrog species (P. ridibundus) threaten many of its populations across its range. Hybrids of P. perezi and P. ridibundus (P. kl. grafi) can breed successfully with the former parental species after discarding the whole P. perezi genome in the germinal line, thus representing a sexual parasite for P. perezi. However, little is known about the extent of the contact zone of this hybridogenetic complex. Due to the morphological similarity of the three taxa, molecular tools are needed to delineate their respective ranges. Here we characterise a set of 16 microsatellite markers specifically developed for P. perezi. These markers showed moderate to high polymorphism (2–17 alleles/locus) in two populations from central Spain (n=20 and n=23), allowing individual identification of frogs. Seven of these markers cross-amplified in individuals of P. ridibundus from southern France (3–8 alleles/locus). These markers were used to genotype samples along a transect from southern France to eastern Spain, encompassing both pure and hybrid individuals. Sample assignment to each taxon was based on the new microsatellite loci and compared with nuclear and mitochondrial sequence data. Our results show that these markers are useful to distinguish P. ridibundus, P. pereziand the hybrid form P. kl. grafi from each other, even when sample sizes are low. The newly characterised markers will also be useful in demographic and phylogeographic studies in P. perezi and are thus a valuable tool for evolutionary and conservation oriented researchThis research was funded by grants CGL2008-04271-C02- 01/BOS, and CGL2011-28300 (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación- MICINN), Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad- MEC, Spain, and FEDER). G. Sánchez-Montes is funded by a predoctoral grant provided by the Asociación de Amigos de la Universidad de Navarra. E. Recuero is supported by a DGAPA-UNAM postdoctoral fellowship. J. Gutiérrez-Rodríguez is supported by the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas of Spain (CSIC) and the European Social Fund (ESF) (JAE-pre PhD fellowship). IMS was funded by the project ‘Biodiversity, Ecology and Global Change’, co-financed by North Portugal Regional Operational Programme 2007/2013 (ON.2–O Novo Norte), under the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and is currently supported by funding from the Spanish Severo Ochoa Program (SEV- 2012-0262).Peer reviewe

Geology-based and ecological processes of divergence between and within species of wingless darkling beetles

Aim: Discerning the relative role of geographical and ecological factors in promoting diversification is central to our understanding of the origin and maintenance of biodiversity. We explore the roles of geology and ecological tolerance in the diversification of a group of wingless beetles with low dispersal potential. Location: Western Mediterranean (Iberian Peninsula and North Africa). Taxon: Darkling beetles (Tenebrionidae: Misolampus). Methods: We sequenced nine gene fragments from the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes in all extant Misolampus species to reconstruct their phylogeny, evaluate species boundaries and potential contact zones and estimate divergence times. We modelled species distributions for different time periods to infer ecological preferences and assess the effects of climatic changes since the last interglacial. We used a time-stratified process-based biogeographical model to estimate ancestral areas of origin and the evolution of geographical ranges. Results: The palaeoclimatic model projections show contractions of favourable areas during the last interglacial period and mid-Holocene, and wide stretches of suitable areas during the last glacial maximum. Analyses of ancestral bioclimatic preferences reveal ecological adaptations in isolated lineages within three species. The phylogeny of Misolampus is strongly supported and unveils deep divergences within the six species. Two well-supported clades were recovered, one distributed in North Africa-Balearic Islands and another in the Iberian Peninsula. The divergence between the North African and Iberian clades occurred during the early Miocene. Biogeographical analyses infer an ancestral range including the Iberian, Betic and Rifean Plates, with subsequent splits followed by dispersal events. Main conclusions: Our results favour a dual role of vicariance and dispersal in driving the historical biogeography and diversification of Misolampus since the early Miocene. We also found evidence for incipient speciation events, underscoring the role of tectonic events and adaptation to local climatic conditions in the diversification of the group.Visit of PMP to the Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (ISEM) was supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Spain (MICINN-FEDER) through contract BES-2016-077777. This study was supported by the Spanish government (MINECO/MIUC/AEI) and the European Fund for Regional Development (FEDER) under grants CGL2015-66571-P (collecting and Museum visits) and PID2019-110243GB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 (Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Spain) (molecular analyses) to MGP. Support of the publication fee was granted by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI)