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Phylogenetic affinities and taxonomic composition of the Oligocene Diomedeoididae, and the basal divergences among extant Procellariiformes (Aves)
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The Palaeogene Diomedeoididae are amongst the earliest representatives of procellariiform birds (albatrosses, tubenoses, and allies). Although several fossils of these birds have been reported in the past, many details of their osteology remained unknown. Here we describe a comprehensive collection of diomedeoidid fossils from the Rupelian stratotype in Belgium, which was found more than 100 years ago. The material includes all major limb elements as well as other cranial and postcranial bones, and allows the recognition of previously unknown features of phylogenetic significance. Based on these new osteological data, diomedeoidids were for the first time subjected to a phylogenetic analysis, which resulted in a position outside a clade including Hydrobatidae (northern storm-petrels), Pelecanoididae (diving-petrels), and Procellariidae (fulmars, petrels, shearwaters, and allies), either as the sister taxon of Diomedeidae (albatrosses) or as that of all crown group Procellariiformes. The latter placement is better supported by the osteological evidence, and diomedeoidids lack several apomorphies of crown group Procellariiformes. Previously unrecognized derived features are reported that support a monophyletic Hydrobatidae, thus contradicting recent proposals that Oceanitinae (southern storm-petrels) are the earliest diverging crown group Procellariiformes. The new fossils also have a bearing on the convoluted taxonomy of diomedeoidids, and Diomedeoides Fischer, 1985 is synonymized with Rupelornis van Beneden, 1871. Diomedeoides lipsiensis (Fischer, 1983) is synonymous with Rupelornis definitus (van Beneden, 1871), a species that exhibits a large size range.
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Phylogenetic analyses of endemic ostracods from ancient lakes – examples from Lake Tanganyika and Lake Baikal
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Phylogenetic analysis of the Baikalodrilus species flock (Annelida: Clitellata: Naididae), an endemic genus to Lake Baikal (Russia)
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Lake Baikal is populated by an endemic genus of oligochaetes (Baikalodrilus), which currently comprises 24 morphospecies. The genus can be considered as a ‘species flock’. However, the validity of many species is questionable: the great similarity in their description and the lack of unequivocal diagnostic characters often lead species identification to an impasse. In order to clarify the systematics of this genus, we analysed two nuclear and two mitochondrial DNA markers of 40 Baikalodrilus specimens. DNA and morphological approaches are mostly congruent in suggesting ten candidate species, although two additional species are suspected. A reassessment of the taxonomic value of the morphological characteristics of Baikalodrilus suggests that there are few that can be used as distinctive, specific criteria in the genus. The association between candidate and nominal species remains problematic, except for three species identified prior to molecular analyses. Baikalodrilus trituberculum sp. nov. is described. Phylogenetic inferences suggests that the earliest split in Baikalodrilus and the time of divergence of most lineages corresponding to species are consistent with the hypothesis of a general rearrangement of the Baikal fauna, following major environmental changes due to a general cooling in the Early Pleistocene.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2019
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Phylogenetic investigation of the Baikalodrilus species flock (Clitellata, Naididae) endemic to Lake Baikal, Siberia
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RBINS Staff Publications 2017
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Phylogenetic position of Olbitherium (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) based on new material from the early Eocene Wutu Formation
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The genus Olbitherium was originally described in 2004 from the early Eocene of the Wutu Formation in China as a ‘perissodactyl-like’ archaic ungulate. Described material of Olbitherium consists of partial dentaries with lower cheek teeth, isolated upper molars, and an isolated upper premolar. Subsequent collaborative fieldwork by Belgian and Chinese researchers discovered new material including a partial skull, the anterior portion of the dentary, and associated postcrania. In their general form, the skull and postcrania are similar to those of early perissodactyls. The new material provides a more complete picture of the upper dentition, and the anterior dentary demonstrates the presence of three lower incisors and a large canine, both ancestral features for perissodactyls. A phylogenetic analysis was conducted to test the affinities of Olbitherium, using a matrix of 321 characters and 72 taxa of placental mammals emphasizing perissodactyls and other ungulates. The results produced four shortest trees of 1981 steps. In all four trees, Olbitherium is the sister-taxon to all perissodactyls except Ghazijhippus. In contrast, when scoring was restricted to the originally described material, the results produced 16 shortest trees of 1970 steps, and Olbitherium nests well within Perissodactyla as sister-taxon to a clade including Lambdotherium and the brontotheriids Eotitanops and Palaeosyops. The new material not only supports the identification of Olbitherium as a perissodactyl, but it also suggests that it is significant for understanding the ancestral perissodactyl morphotype. Funding Sources U.S. National Science Foundation (DEB1456826), Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (2009DFA32210), and Belgian Science Policy Office (BL/36/C54).
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
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Phylogenetic reconstructions of ostracodes - a molecular approach. In: Park L.E. & Smith A.J. (Eds.) Bridging the gap: trends in the ostracode biological and geological sciences
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Phylogenetic reconstructions of ostracods – a molecular approach. In: PARK, L.E. & A.J. SMITH (Eds.), Bridging the gap: trends in the ostracode biological and geological sciences
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Phylogenetic relationships of Gomphocythere (Crustacea, Ostracoda) in Lake Tanganyika, East Africa
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Phylogenetics and Integrative Taxonomy of African Water Snakes (Squamata: Colubridae: Grayia)
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Grayia is a genus of relatively large (1.5 – 2.5 m) aquatic Afrotropical snakes that is currently comprised of four species. Recent molecular phylogenies recovered Grayia in its own distinct subfamily (Grayiinae), which was strongly supported as the sister group to Colubrinae. Because tropical African snakes are generally understudied, the relationships within Grayia are poorly known. Due to morphological conservatism, identification is often difficult and previous studies involving Grayia included misidentified specimens in other genera. The goal of this study is to build a phylogenetic tree that can be used to understand the relationships and taxonomy of Grayia via an integrative taxonomic approach that combines molecular and morphological data. One nuclear (BDNF) and four mitochondrial genes (COI, cyt b, 16S and ND4) were used to construct a phylogenetic tree with Maximum likelihood methods; outgroups included the genera Calamaria, Sibynophis and Masticophis. Preliminary trees suggest G. ornata and G. smithii are sister taxa, whereas G. caesar (originally described as the sole member of the genus Xenurophis) is sister to G. tholloni. At least two divergent lineages of G. ornata suggest cryptic species are likely present in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Republic of Congo.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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Phylogenomic Characterization of Lopma Virus and Praja Virus, Two Novel Rodent-Borne Arteriviruses
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021 OA
