A new taxon with stenokolealean affinities, Brabantophyton runcariense gen. et sp. nov., is described from seven pyrite permineralized axes collected from the mid Givetian to earliest Frasnian (late Middle to earliest Upper Devonian) locality of Ronquières (Belgium). The specimens include stems and lateral organs. The stems are characterized by a protostele dissected into three primary ribs, each of them dividing into two secondary ribs. The protostele shows a central protoxylem strand and numerous strands distributed along the midplanes of the ribs. The vascular supply to lateral organ is composed of two pairs of traces, produced at the same time by the two ribs issued from a single primary rib of the protostele. Within each pair, the shape and the size of the traces are unequal: one is T-shaped and the other is oval to reniform. The T-shaped traces of each pair face each other. The inner cortex of the lateral organs is parenchymatous and the outer cortex is sparganum-like. The specimens of Brabantophyton runcariense show many similarities with the stenokolealean genus Crossia virginiana Beck and Stein, but the vascular supply of lateral organs of the latter consists of a more symmetrical and distinctively simpler pair of traces. Brabantophyton represents the first report of the Stenokoleales in southeastern Laurussia. The characteristics of the Brabantophyton protostele compare better with the anatomy of the radiatopses, and, within the latter, particularly with basal seed plants.
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DNA BARCODING OF FIRE ANTS AND THIEF ANTS (GENUS SOLENOPSIS) OF THE ECUADORIAN ANDES AS A TOOL FOR BIODIVERSITY RESEARCH SONET, G. (1), Nagy, Z. T. (1), Jacquemin, J. (2), Wauters, N. (2), Delsinne, T. (2), Leponce, M. (2) (1) Joint Experimental Molecular Unit, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels & Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium (2) Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences & Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium Lightning Talk, Barcoding Insects 2, Napier 208, Friday, 15:00 to 15:07 Poster Location: B25 Members of the genus Solenopsis are among the most abundant ants in tropical rainforests. They are represented by more than 200 described species worldwide and some are dreadful invasive species. The identification to the species level is hampered by a dearth of diagnostic morphological characters and represents a serious limitative step in biodiversity inventories and in the study of invasive species. We set up and validated a DNA barcoding procedure to identify ants of the genus Solenopsis collected in the Podocarpus National Park of the Ecuadorian Andes. Complete specimens were used for DNA extraction and subsequently preserved as vouchers to allow further morphological analysis. More than 14 new molecular operational taxonomic units were identified by the standard DNA barcode fragment. In some cases specimens from a single morpho-species occurring at different altitudes could be distinguished. This study resulted in an appropriate laboratory protocol and a reference library useful to identify ants of the genus Solenopsis in the Ecuadorian Andes.
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