Search results for "Evolutionary radiation"
showing 4 items of 4 documents
New Lower Devonian Polygnathids (Conodonta) from the Spanish Central Pyrenees, with comments on the early radiation of the group
2014
The comprehensive study of six Pragian-lower Emsian (Lower Devonian) sections from the Spanish Central Pyrenees has yielded a rich assemblage of conodont faunas, highlighting an important succession of Polygnathus species. Among them, the presence of the biostratigraphical markers P. pireneae , P. kitabicus, P. excavatus excavatus and P. exc. 114 stands out. This conodont succession allows the identification of the Pragian/Emsian boundary and the early Emsian zones and subzones: the kitabicus Zone and the Lower and Middle excavatus subzones. It is also remarkable the presence of three new polygnathid species: P. aragonensis n. sp., P. carlsi n. sp. and P. ramoni n. sp. Additionally, P. pan…
Revision of the tropical African genus Tetraconcha (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae) with the description of ten new species.
2017
Only five species of the genus Tetraconcha Karsch, 1890 have been previously known; they inhabit tropical forests of central and western Africa. Generally, specimens belonging to this genus are scarcely represented in museum collections, probably due to the difficulty in finding them, but also for the fragility of their body and legs. During some recent expeditions in the Central African Republic and Ivory Coast it was possible to put together an abundant amount of specimens. This allowed the present author to revise the genus and to find valid characters to distinguish different species. On the whole, ten new species were discovered and the total number now amounts to fifteen species. Inte…
Evolution, ecology and systematics of Soldanella (Primulaceae) in the southern Apennines (Italy)
2015
Background The populations of Soldanella (Primulaceae) of the southern Apennines (Italy) are unique within the genus for their distribution and ecology. Their highly fragmented distribution range, with three main metapopulations on some of the highest mountains (Gelbison, Sila and Aspromonte massifs) of the area, poses intriguing questions about their evolutionary history and biogeography, and about the possibility of local endemisms. Aims and methods In order to clarify the phylogeny and biogeography of the three metapopulations of Soldanella in the southern Apennines, attributed to S. calabrella to date, and to identify possible local endemisms, a comparative approach based on the study o…
Leaps and bounds: geographical and ecological distance constrained the colonisation of the Afrotemperate by Erica.
2018
Abstract Background The coincidence of long distance dispersal (LDD) and biome shift is assumed to be the result of a multifaceted interplay between geographical distance and ecological suitability of source and sink areas. Here, we test the influence of these factors on the dispersal history of the flowering plant genus Erica (Ericaceae) across the Afrotemperate. We quantify similarity of Erica climate niches per biogeographic area using direct observations of species, and test various colonisation scenarios while estimating ancestral areas for the Erica clade using parametric biogeographic model testing. Results We infer that the overall dispersal history of Erica across the Afrotemperate…