A new elasmothere genus and species from the middle Miocene of Tongxin, Ningxia, China, and its phylogenetic relationship

The elasmotheres were well diversified and widespread throughout the Neogene in Eurasia and East Africa. Here we report a new elasmothere genus and species, Tongxinotherium latirhinum gen. et sp. nov., from the Zhang’enbao Formation (middle Miocene) of Tongxin, Ningxia, China. The new genus is characterized by a broad and thick nasal bone, the ‘U’-shaped nasal notch located at the level of P3, the anterior margin of the orbit situated at the level of M2, subhypsodont teeth covered and filled by plentiful cement, slightly developed enamel foldings, expanded protocone with anterior and posterior constrictions, the middle valley and posterior valley closed on the premolars, protoloph separated from the ectoloph on P2, and buccal and lingual cingula present on premolars, but absent on molars. A phylogenetic analysis reveals that Tongxinotherium latirhinum gen. et sp. nov. is more derived than the early elasmotheres, and more primitive than Iranotherium and Ningxiatherium, bridging a morphological and stratigraphical gap between them. The discovery of new material improves the morphological characteristics of the early elasmotheres’ horns and increases the diversity of the middle Miocene elasmotheres. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:7DF2F57F-38DD-4FBF-B3DF-57AADD510131</p

Israeli Oncocyclus irises: Phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history

Oncocyclus is a large group of bearded irises with poorly known phylogeny and evolutionary history. In Israel, Iris sect. Oncocyclus comprises eight species belonging to three aggregates. We used a combination of approaches to resolve the phylogenetic relationships of these species and indicate the evolutionary forces responsible for their origin. We sequenced the whole chloroplast genomes of species and integrated a phylogenetic tree with results of genetic (AFLP) divergence, degree of reproductive isolation, and species distribution modeling. Our findings suggest that quantitative and even qualitative morphological characters, such as flower color, are unreliable diagnostic traits for Oncocyclus taxonomy; that some recognized species comprise more than one species; and that group evolution did not involve the origin of distinct flower aggregates. A lack of pre-zygotic reproductive isolation agrees with the very low variability of the Oncocyclus plastome, suggesting that Israeli Oncocyclus species are very young. Homoploid hybridization followed or preceded by long periods of geographic isolation, and local selection likely contributed to speciation in Oncocyclus. In the group evolutionary history, importance of homoploid hybridization and local selection differed among species, but limited gene flow played a crucial role for all species. </p

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of <i>Begonia ferox</i>, an endangered species in China

Begonia ferox C.I Peng & Yan Liu (2013) was rated as endangered according to Red List of Chinese Plants. In this study, we report the complete chloroplast genome of B. ferox. The chloroplast genome is 169,114 bp in length as the circular, with the GC content of 35.5%, composed by a large single-copy (LSC) region of 75,887 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 18,105 bp, and two inverted repeat regions (IRs) of 37,561 bp in each. The genome comprises 174 encoded genes in total, including 114 protein-coding genes, eight ribosomal RNA genes, and 52 transfer RNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that B. ferox is genetically closest to B. gulongshanensis.</p

Each feature after Prophet decomposition.

Each feature after Prophet decomposition.</p

Schematic diagram of the GRU structure.

Schematic diagram of the GRU structure.</p

PlightGBM prediction results.

PlightGBM prediction results.</p

Comparison of all optimal model results.

Comparison of all optimal model results.</p

The MAPE of the noise experiment on all methods.

The MAPE of the noise experiment on all methods.</p

CT reconstruction images of the inlaid mandibular cheek teeth.

<p>(A) NWU1440.1; (B) NWU1439; (C) NWU1433; (D) NWU1430; (E) NWU1436; (F) NWU1444; (G) NWU1445.</p

Assessment of dental ontogeny in late Miocene hipparionines from the Lamagou fauna of Fugu, Shaanxi Province, China

<div><p>A collection of 28 hipparionine skull and mandible fossils with a dated age of approximately 7.4 Ma from Fugu, Shaanxi, northwestern China (belonging to <i>Hipparion chiai</i> and <i>Hipparion</i> cf. <i>coelophyes</i>) shows an age distribution in a successive development sequence. By observing the dentitions in these fossil materials, knowledge of dental ontogeny has been gained, such as the opening time of the posterior wall of post-fossettes, the displacement of the plis hypostyle, the morphologic changes of the protocone and hypocone, etc. Additionally, 4 isolated maxillary cheek teeth and 2 mandibular cheek teeth were cut into slices in the traditional manner for authentication. These discoveries indicate that both of the hipparionine species in the Lamagou fauna are <i>Hipparion</i> cf. <i>chiai</i> exactly and offer further insight into the morphologic changes that occur during dental wear in hipparionines, which may greatly promote the morphological and taxonomic study of hipparionine species.</p></div