Author Archives: LS

JEZ Special Issue on Turtle Origins and Evolution, freely available

Dear colleagues:

The new Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B: Molecular and Developmental Evolution 324(3): 169–314 is a Special Issue on Turtle Origins and Evolution that I have edited.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jez.b.v324.3/issuetoc

This issue is inspired by a symposium that was held at the 10th International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology, and many participants from that symposium have contributed papers here. All articles are “Freely Available” for the next three months.

Sincerely,
Jacqueline

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The dawn of chelonian research: Turtles between comparative anatomy and embryology in the 19th century (pages 169–180)
Kate MacCord, Guido Caniglia, Jacqueline E. Moustakas-Verho and Ann C. Burke
DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22587
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jez.b.22587/abstract

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The origin of turtles: A paleontological perspective (pages 181–193)
Walter G. Joyce
DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22609
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jez.b.22609/abstract

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The evolutionary origin of the turtle shell and its dependence on the axial arrest of the embryonic rib cage (pages 194–207)
Tatsuya Hirasawa, Juan Pascual-Anaya, Naoki Kamezaki, Mari Taniguchi, Kanako Mine and Shigeru Kuratani
DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22579
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jez.b.22579/abstract

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Emerging from the rib: Resolving the turtle controversies (pages 208–220)
Ritva Rice, Paul Riccio, Scott F. Gilbert and Judith Cebra-Thomas
DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22600
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jez.b.22600/abstract

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The integumental appendages of the turtle shell: An evo-devo perspective (pages 221–229)
Jacqueline E. Moustakas-Verho and Gennadii O. Cherepanov
DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22619
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jez.b.22619/abstract

***
Modeling neck mobility in fossil turtles (pages 230–243)
Ingmar Werneburg, Juliane K. Hinz, Michaela Gumpenberger, Virginie Volpato, Nikolay Natchev and Walter G. Joyce
DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22557
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jez.b.22557/abstract

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On the homology of the shoulder girdle in turtles (pages 244–254)
Hiroshi Nagashima, Fumiaki Sugahara, Masaki Takechi, Noboru Sato and Shigeru Kuratani
DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22584
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jez.b.22584/abstract

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A comparative examination of odontogenic gene expression in both toothed and toothless amniotes (pages 255–269)
Alexis J. Lainoff, Jacqueline E. Moustakas-Verho, Diane Hu, Aki Kallonen, Ralph S. Marcucio and Leslea J. Hlusko
DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22594
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jez.b.22594/abstract

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Do turtles follow the rules? Latitudinal gradients in species richness, body size, and geographic range area of the world’s turtles (pages 270–294)
Kenneth D. Angielczyk, Robert W. Burroughs and Chris. R. Feldman
DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22602
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jez.b.22602/abstract

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Loggerhead sea turtle environmental sex determination: Implications of moisture and temperature for climate change based predictions for species survival (pages 295–314)
Jeanette Wyneken and Alexandra Lolavar
DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22620
Wiley has published a version of this article without corrections following review, and we are currently waiting for them to publish the finished article as an erratum.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jez.b.22620/abstract

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Sexual dimorphism in Stegosaurus!

Saitta ET (2015) Evidence for Sexual Dimorphism in the Plated Dinosaur Stegosaurus mjosi (Ornithischia, Stegosauria) from the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic) of Western USA. PLoS ONE 10(4): e0123503. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0123503

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0123503

Conclusive evidence for sexual dimorphism in non-avian dinosaurs has been elusive. Here it is shown that dimorphism in the shape of the dermal plates of Stegosaurus mjosi (Upper Jurassic, western USA) does not result from non-sex-related individual, interspecific, or ontogenetic variation and is most likely a sexually dimorphic feature. One morph possessed wide, oval plates 45% larger in surface area than the tall, narrow plates of the other morph. Intermediate morphologies are lacking as principal component analysis supports marked size- and shape-based dimorphism. In contrast, many non-sex-related individual variations are expected to show intermediate morphologies. Taphonomy of a new quarry in Montana (JRDI 5ES Quarry) shows that at least five individuals were buried in a single horizon and were not brought together by water or scavenger transportation. This new site demonstrates co-existence, and possibly suggests sociality, between two morphs that only show dimorphism in their plates. Without evidence for niche partitioning, it is unlikely that the two morphs represent different species. Histology of the new specimens in combination with studies on previous specimens indicates that both morphs occur in fully-grown individuals. Therefore, the dimorphism is not a result of ontogenetic change. Furthermore, the two morphs of plates do not simply come from different positions on the back of a single individual. Plates from all positions on the body can be classified as one of the two morphs, and previously discovered, isolated specimens possess only one morph of plates. Based on the seemingly display-oriented morphology of plates, female mate choice was likely the driving evolutionary mechanism rather than male-male competition. Dinosaur ornamentation possibly served similar functions to the ornamentation of modern species. Comparisons to ornamentation involved in sexual selection of extant species, such as the horns of bovids, may be appropriate in predicting the function of some dinosaur ornamentation.

But wait, there’s more!
—
Jacqueline

Purgatorius and Darwin’s finches

Oldest known euarchontan tarsals and affinities of Paleocene Purgatorius to Primates

Stephen G. B. Chester, Jonathan I. Bloch, Doug M. Boyer, and William A. Clemens

http://www.pnas.org/content/112/5/1487

Purgatorius has been considered a plausible ancestor for primates since it was discovered, but this fossil mammal has been known only from teeth and jaw fragments. We attribute to Purgatorius the first (to our knowledge) nondental remains (ankle bones) which were discovered in the same ∼65-million-year-old deposits as dentitions of this putative primate. This attribution is based mainly on size and unique anatomical specializations known among living euarchontan mammals (primates, treeshrews, colugos) and fossil plesiadapiforms. Results of phylogenetic analyses that incorporate new data from these fossils support Purgatorius as the geologically oldest known primate. These recently discovered tarsals have specialized features for mobility and provide the oldest fossil evidence that suggests arboreality played a key role in earliest primate evolution.

Evolution of Darwin’s finches and their beaks revealed by genome sequencing

Sangeet Lamichhaney, Jonas Berglund, Markus Sällman Almén, Khurram Maqbool, Manfred Grabherr, Alvaro Martinez-Barrio,    Marta Promerová, Carl-Johan Rubin, Chao Wang, Neda Zamani, B. Rosemary Grant, Peter R. Grant, Matthew T. Webster    & Leif Andersson

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature14181.html

Darwin’s finches, inhabiting the Galápagos archipelago and Cocos Island, constitute an iconic model for studies of speciation and adaptive evolution. Here we report the results of whole-genome re-sequencing of 120 individuals representing all of the Darwin’s finch species and two close relatives. Phylogenetic analysis reveals important discrepancies with the phenotype-based taxonomy. We find extensive evidence for interspecific gene flow throughout the radiation. Hybridization has given rise to species of mixed ancestry. A 240 kilobase haplotype encompassing the ALX1 gene that encodes a transcription factor affecting craniofacial development is strongly associated with beak shape diversity across Darwin’s finch species as well as within the medium ground finch (Geospiza fortis), a species that has undergone rapid evolution of beak shape in response to environmental changes. The ALX1 haplotype has contributed to diversification of beak shapes among the Darwin’s finches and, thereby, to an expanded utilization of food resources.

– Jackie

New Late Jurassic docodontan

New Late Jurassic docodontan fossil (with skull) published in Science.

Evolutionary development in basal mammaliaforms as revealed by a docodontan

Zhe-Xi Luo1,*, Qing-Jin Meng2,*, Qiang Ji3, Di Liu2, Yu-Guang
Zhang2, April I. Neander1

A new Late Jurassic docodontan shows specializations for a
subterranean lifestyle. It is similar to extant subterranean golden
moles in having reduced digit segments as compared to the ancestral
phalangeal pattern of mammaliaforms and extant mammals. The reduction
of digit segments can occur in mammals by fusion of the proximal and
intermediate phalangeal precursors, a developmental process for which
a gene and signaling network have been characterized in mouse and
human. Docodontans show a positional shift of thoracolumbar ribs, a
developmental variation that is controlled by Hox9 and Myf5 genes in
extant mammals. We argue that these morphogenetic mechanisms of modern
mammals were operating before the rise of modern mammals, driving the
morphological disparity in the earliest mammaliaform diversification.

BR,
Nicolas

*********************************

Hi,

Actually not just one, but two new docodonts were published side by side.

One subterrestrial, which you are referring and one scansorial…

Luo, Z.-X., Meng, Q.-J., Ji, Q., Liu, D., Zhang, Y.-G. & Neander, A. I., 2015: Evolutionary development in basal mammaliaforms as revealed by a docodontan.
–Science: Vol. 347, #6223, pp. 760-764 [doi: 10.1126/science.1260880] http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1260880

Meng, Q.-J., Ji, Q., Zhang, Y.-G., Liu, D., Grossnickle, D. M. & Luo, Z.-X., 2015: An arboreal docodont from the Jurassic and mammaliaform ecological diversification.
–Science: Vol. 347, #6223, pp. 764-768 [doi: 10.1126/science.1260879] http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1260879

Cheers!

–Mikko H.

The oldest known fur seal

The oldest known fur seal
Robert W. Boessenecker , Morgan Churchill
http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/11/2/20140835
http://www.otago.ac.nz/news/news/otago086763.html

The poorly known fossil record of fur seals and sea lions (Otariidae) does not reflect their current diversity and widespread abundance. This limited fossil record contrasts with the more complete fossil records of other pinnipeds such as walruses (Odobenidae). The oldest known otariids appear 5–6 Ma after the earliest odobenids, and the remarkably derived craniodental morphology of otariids offers few clues to their early evolutionary history and phylogenetic affinities among pinnipeds. We report a new otariid, Eotaria crypta, from the lower middle Miocene ‘Topanga’ Formation (15–17.1 Ma) of southern California, represented by a partial mandible with well-preserved dentition. Eotaria crypta is geochronologically intermediate between ‘enaliarctine’ stem pinnipedimorphs (16.6–27 Ma) and previously described otariid fossils (7.3–12.5 Ma), as well as morphologically intermediate by retaining an M2 and a reduced M1 metaconid cusp and lacking P2–4 metaconid cusps. Eotaria crypta eliminates the otariid ghost lineage and confirms that otariids evolved from an ‘enaliarctine’-like ancestor.

—
Jacqueline

Department seminar on THURSDAY 22.1. at 12.15

Hi all,

The departmental seminar this week will be held on THURSDAY at 12.15. The seminar is given by Dr. Stephan Harrison from the College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, UK.

Dr. Harrison‘s main research interests lie in geomorphological responses to climate change. He has worked for twelve field seasons on the glaciers of Patagonia studying their fluctuation histories over the last 15,000 years and the geomorphological impact of recent glacier retreat on valley-side slopes.

THURSDAY, 22.1.2015

Time: 12.15

Location: D112 Physicum, Kumpula Campus

Title: GLACIAL LAKE OUTBURST FLOODS AND CLIMATE CHANGE

All are welcome

Anu

Department seminar Friday 16.1. / Dr Nick Matzke

Dear all,

This Friday (16.1.) the departmental seminar is given by Dr Nick Matzke from NIMBioS (http://www.nimbios.org/personnel/pd_Matzke).

Friday, 16.1.2015

Time: 14.15

Location: D112 Physicum, Kumpula Campus (NB: new lecture hall)

Title: MODEL SELECTION IN HISTORICAL BIOGEOGRAPHY: WHEN IS FOUNDER-EVENT SPECIATION IMPORTANT?

SUMMARY:

New Biogeography Model: Founder-event speciation, where a rare jump dispersal event founds a new genetically isolated lineage, has long been considered crucial by many historical biogeographers, but its importance is disputed within the vicariance school. Probabilistic modeling of geographic range evolution creates the potential to test different biogeographical models against data using standard statistical model choice procedures, as long as multiple models are available. I re-implement the Dispersal-Extinction-Cladogenesis (DEC) model of LAGRANGE in the R package BioGeoBEARS, and modify it to create a new model, DEC+J, which adds founder-event speciation, the importance of which is governed by a new free parameter, j. Both models are shown to be special cases of the “claSSE” model.

Further applications: Probabilistic modeling in biogeography opens up many possible research applications, including biogeographical stochastic mapping, biogeographical dating, and inclusion of phylogenetic information in species distribution modeling (SDM).

All are welcome

Anu

First departmental seminar next year Friday 9.1.

Hi all,

The departmental seminar series continues next year.  I would like to remind you that the seminar is intended for all members of the department, from students to professors and any other interested party. We will continue to meet on Fridays starting at 14.15 in room D104 of Physicum.

The first departmental seminar of 2015 will be given by Associate professor Riinna Rinnan from University of Copenhagen:

TWO DECADES OF EXPERIMENTAL MANIPULATIONS OF THE ARCTIC TUNDRA – FROM VEGETATION CHANGES TO VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS

Friday, 9.1. at 14.15 in D104, Physicum, Kumpula campus. All are welcome!

Anu

on behalf of David and Tuuli

Aquilops americanus

A Ceratopsian Dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Western North America, and the Biogeography of Neoceratopsia
Farke AA, Maxwell WD, Cifelli RL, Wedel MJ
PLoS ONE 9(12): e112055
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0112055

And here’s a bit more about the ‘the tiny plant eater, Aquilops americanus, that suggests horned dinosaurs originated in Asia’.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/dec/10/skull-oldest-horned-dinosaur-north-america-found


– Jacqueline  & Laura

Departmental seminar this week – Tang Hui

Dear all,

This Friday (5.12) the departmental seminar is given by Dr. Tang Hui from the Division of Geology. This will also be Hui’s farewell talk as he was appointed as a postdoc researcher to Oslo University and will move to Norway in the beginning of next year.

***

Tang Hui: MOUNTAIN UPLIFT AND THE ASIAN MONSOON: A NEW MODELING PERSPECTIVE – The uplift and growth of the Tibetan Plateau and the surrounding mountains have long been recognized as an important player for the Asian monsoon evolution in the geological periods. But how the Asian monsoon responds to these tectonic changes remains controversial. In the seminar, I will introduce some recent climate modeling studies on the effects of different regional mountains on the Asian monsoon system, and discuss how these modeled effects could be applied to the geological periods.

Friday, 5.12. at 14.15 in D104, Physicum, Kumpula campus

All are welcome

Anu