Vertebrate Zoology最新文献

{"title":"The Angolan bushveld lizards, genus Heliobolus Fitzinger, 1843 (Squamata: Lacertidae): Integrative taxonomy and the description of two new species","authors":"M. P. Marques, L. Ceríaco, M. Heinicke, Rachal M. Chehouri, W. Conradie, K. Tolley, A. Bauer","doi":"10.3897/vz.72.e85269","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e85269","url":null,"abstract":"The genus Heliobolus comprises four recognized species, all endemic to sub-Saharan Africa. Of these, only Heliobolus lugubris occurs in southern Africa, its distribution extending from Angola in the west to Mozambique in the east and reaching as far south as parts of northern South Africa. Like many of the reptile species that occur in southern Africa, Heliobolus lugubris is poorly studied, and preliminary investigation suggested that it may contain cryptic diversity. The present work focusses on the Angolan population of H. lugubris and uses an integrative taxonomic approach based on morphological, coloration and DNA sequence data. The results indicate that some of the current and historical specimens of H. lugubris from Angola do not correspond to the nominotypical form, and that differences between specimens suggest the presence of two additional species, described here as Heliobolus bivarisp. nov. from the southernmost xeric/desertic regions and plateau of Namibe Province, southwestern Angola and H. crawfordisp. nov. from the Serra da Neve inselberg north through the sub-desert coastal regions of northern Namibe, Benguela, and Kwanza Sul provinces. Nominotypical Heliobolus lugubris is confirmed to occur in Cuando Cubango Province, southeastern Angola.","PeriodicalId":51290,"journal":{"name":"Vertebrate Zoology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45364097","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A new species of Cyrtodactylus (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) from the southern Western Ghats of India","authors":"S. Narayanan, Sandeep Das, Amirtha Balan, Roshin Tom, Nitin Divakar, Rajkumar Kp, P. Hopeland, V. Deepak","doi":"10.3897/vz.72.e89660","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e89660","url":null,"abstract":"A new species of Cyrtodactylus is described from the southern Western Ghats of India. It is distinguished from all species of the ­Cyrtodactylus collegalensis species complex in colour pattern and resembles the Srilankan endemic C. yakhuna in overall colouration. Phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial ND2 DNA sequences indicates that the new species is most closely related to species in the C. collegalensis complex and differs from them by an uncorrected pairwise genetic distance of 10.5–12.9%.","PeriodicalId":51290,"journal":{"name":"Vertebrate Zoology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2022-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45447515","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Lizards (Reptilia: Squamata) from the Caatinga, northeastern Brazil: Detailed and updated overview","authors":"Lucas Rafael Uchôa, F. Delfim, D. O. Mesquita, G. Colli, A. A. Garda, T. Guedes","doi":"10.3897/vz.72.e78828","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e78828","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Abstract\u0000 \u0000 The Caatinga is the largest seasonal dry tropical forest in South America and it has been historically neglected in terms of its biodiversity. Regarding lizards, different studies led to the current knowledge of diversity and endemism in Caatinga, but detailed syntheses are scarce in the literature. We present the most detailed and up-to-date synthesis of knowledge about Caatinga lizards by providing a detailed (i) list of species; (ii) taxonomic richness patterns; (iii) knowledge gaps and spatial biases; and (iv) detailed distribution maps of all species that contain at least one occurrence record within Caatinga limits. We created a distribution database using occurrences of lizards in Caatinga based on scientific collections, field collection, and literature. We produce up-to-date distribution maps, calculate the Extent of Occurrence and provide the environmental and bioclimatic profile for each species recorded. We draw taxonomic richness and sampling gap maps. Our database has 20,538 records of occurrence of lizards of the Caatinga. We recorded 93 lizard species (13 families), 52.7% of which are endemic. Forthy-four percent of the species present restricted distributions. We identified that 53% of the Caatinga area (or 70% of the municipalities) has no record of occurrence of lizards. The data presented are an important step towards synthesizing in detail the accumulated knowledge about Caatinga lizards and is crucial for accurate strategies for the conservation planning. It directs actions to advance our knowledge on Caatinga lizards: to concentrate inventories in sample void areas; continuous update of the species occurrence database, advance in the generation of autoecology data for species.","PeriodicalId":51290,"journal":{"name":"Vertebrate Zoology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2022-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46901153","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Developmental osteology of Ictalurus punctatus and Noturus gyrinus (Siluriformes: Ictaluridae) with a discussion of siluriform bone homologies","authors":"Kole M. Kubicek","doi":"10.3897/vz.72.e85144","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e85144","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract\u0000 \u0000 The skeleton of Siluriformes is characterized by several autapomorphies, including secondary absence, extreme modification, and purported fusion of several ossifications. Although well documented in adults, information on skeletal development in catfishes is relatively sparse and typically focused on particular regions of the skeleton (e.g., Weberian apparatus). To further our understanding of the siluriform skeleton, I document the development of the entire skeleton in two ictalurid species, Ictalurus punctatus (channel catfish) and Noturus gyrinus (tadpole madtom) from five days pre-hatch to adult. I reexamine the homologies of bones previously hypothesized to represent compound elements in catfishes as well as an additional element only known to occur in some ictalurids. Development of the skeleton is complete in I. punctatus at 22.4 mm SL and almost complete in N. gyrinus (except dorsal- and anal-fin distal radials) at 14.1 mm SL. No signs of ontogenetic fusion were observed in any of the purported compound elements. Previous hypotheses of the homology of these elements and of additional ossifications are reviewed in light of developmental information obtained herein. No dermal parietal component is present at any stage in the so-called parieto-supraoccipital. The bone is the supraoccipital which ossifies from two lateral centers of ossification which later fuse, rather than from a median center. The ‘posttemporo-supracleithrum’ originates from a single center of ossification and represents the supracleithrum. The posttemporal is present in ictalurids and many other catfishes as a canal-bearing bone between the supracleithrum and the pterotic, a bone sometimes identified as the extrascapular. The extrascapular is missing in catfishes. Ictalurids have an additional dermal bone above the posttemporal, which is either an independently ossifying fragment of the posttemporal or a neoformation restricted to some members of this family. The single chondral bone of the pectoral girdle originates from a single center of ossification that represents the coracoid. The scapula is missing in catfishes. Dorsal-fin distal radial 2 is absent in catfishes and the foramen of dorsal-fin spine 2 is formed from modifications to the base of the fin-ray itself. Unlike loricarioid catfishes, the urohyal of ictalurids originates solely as an ossification of the sternohyoideus tendons. The anteriormost infraorbital element ossifies from a single center of ossification around the infraorbital sensory canal and represents the lacrimal. The antorbital is missing in catfishes. Finally, skeletal development of I. punctatus is compared to that available for other otophysans, including the cypriniforms Danio rerio and Enteromius holotaenia and the characiform Salminus brasiliensis.","PeriodicalId":51290,"journal":{"name":"Vertebrate Zoology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2022-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48327158","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Discovery of rare lecture notes from 1866 provides exceptional insights into the conceptualization and visualization of paleontology by Ernst Haeckel","authors":"I. Werneburg, U. Hossfeld, G. Levit","doi":"10.3897/vz.72.e84983","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e84983","url":null,"abstract":"Here we report on a recently discovered student script of a lecture on paleontology given by Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919). The script dates to the summer semester of 1866, comprises 63 pages, and provides an overview of fossil invertebrate and mainly fossil vertebrate taxonomy and anatomy. It can be assumed that Russian student Nikolai Nikolajevitch Miklucho-Maclay (1846–1888), who later became a famous ethnologist, did not follow up on the lecture, but took the content directly from the lecture and from the blackboard in his notes. Hence, the drawings by Miklucho allow direct insight into Haeckel’s visualization of paleontology in the 1860s. We place the transcript in the historical context of understanding paleontology in the second half of the 19th century and address the break between zoology and embryology on the one hand and paleontology on the other, which is typical for Germany, partly persisting to this date. For that, we illustrate Haeckel’s integration of paleontology as part of a holistic triad, with fossil research gradually taking a back seat to zoology and embryology over the decades.","PeriodicalId":51290,"journal":{"name":"Vertebrate Zoology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2022-07-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44781155","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Osteology of the caecilian Gegeneophis carnosus (Beddome, 1870) (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Grandisoniidae) from the Western Ghats of peninsular India","authors":"Shamna Rajan Palakkool, D. Gower, Ramachandran Kotharambath","doi":"10.3897/vz.72.e79911","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e79911","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Abstract\u0000 \u0000 The osteology of the poorly known grandisoniid caecilian Gegeneophis carnosus is described for the first time by applying high-resolution X-ray micro-computed tomography to some recently collected material. The ossified skeleton comprises a stegokrotaphic skull, lower jaw, and vertebral column. The braincase, composed of the sphenethmoid and os basale, is covered by eight other cranial elements viz. nasopremaxilla, frontal, parietal, squamosal, pterygoquadrate, maxillopalatine, vomer, and stapes. The eye is covered by the maxillopalatine, and an (open) orbit is absent. The sphenethmoid is not exposed and lacks a solum nasi or a ventral flange. The olfactory chamber lacks an olfactory eminence. Slight asymmetries were observed in the structure and/or size of the left and right frontals and parietals and in the number and size of some foramina. Except for pterygoquadrate and stapes, all bones are pierced by foramina for nerves and/or blood vessels. The lower jaw shows a typical caecilian pattern with dentigerous pseudodentary and edentulous pseudoangular. Numbers of vertebrae range from 123–130 (mean 126). The vertebrae are somewhat heterogenous, varying in size and proportions along the column. Comparisons are made with other caecilians, especially other grandisoniids. Aspects of the cranial osteology of Gegeneophis, such as the closed orbit, subterminal mouth, and stegokrotaphy are possible adaptations to dedicated fossoriality, but functional, behavioural, and field ecological data are not yet available to test this.","PeriodicalId":51290,"journal":{"name":"Vertebrate Zoology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2022-07-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45700664","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A new species of toothless, short dorsal-fin Schindleria (Gobiiformes: Gobiidae) from the Red Sea (Egypt)","authors":"H. Ahnelt, Vanessa Robitzch, M. A. El-Regal","doi":"10.3897/vz.72.e79401","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e79401","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Abstract\u0000 \u0000 We describe a new, tiny species of Schindleria from a reef lagoon in the Red Sea off the coast of Hurghada, Egypt. Schindleria edentata, new species, belongs to the short dorsal-fin type of Schindleria, with the dorsal and anal fins of about equal length. Schindleria edentata is characterized by an elongated but relatively deep body (body depth at anal-fin origin 10.8% of SL and at 4th anal-fin ray 10.9 % of SL); a short dorsal fin originating just slightly anterior to the anal fin (predorsal-fin length 60.9% of SL, pre-anal fin length 64.8% of SL); a stubby head with a steep frontal profile, a short snout (i.e., 23.1% of head length), and large eye (i.e., 27.7% of the head’s length); a long pectoral radial plate (length 7.6% of SL); four dorsal and four ventral procurrent caudal-fin rays increasing in length posteriorly; last procurrent ray simple without additional spine and, although the longest, not distinctly elongate; 15 dorsal-fin rays; 13 anal-fin rays; the base of the first anal-fin ray positioned below the base of the third dorsal-fin ray; upper and lower jaws toothless; in vivo with translucent body; eye black; swim bladder capped by a melanophore blotch; no pigmentation externally on body after preservation.","PeriodicalId":51290,"journal":{"name":"Vertebrate Zoology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2022-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42143730","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Citizen Science, taxonomy and grass snakes: iNaturalist helps to clarify variation of coloration and pattern in Natrix natrix subspecies","authors":"U. Fritz, F. Ihlow","doi":"10.3897/vz.72.e87426","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e87426","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Abstract\u0000 \u0000 We used a dataset of georeferenced photos of 5,751 grass snakes from iNaturalist to evaluate subspecific variation of Natrix natrix in coloration and pattern. Our results provide evidence that all four genetically delineated subspecies differ morphologically, although unstriped individuals of N. n. vulgaris are difficult to tell apart from the nominotypical subspecies. The iNaturalist dataset shows that the frequency of dark body coloration increases from south to north and from west to east. This trend is both concordant with taxonomic variation (the easternmost subspecies, N. n. scutata, being the darkest taxon) and variation within the same subspecies (in N. n. natrix and N. n. scutata more northern populations harbor more dark or melanistic individuals than more southern populations). Although available characters were limited to coloration and pattern traits, our study suggests that photo material from iNaturalist and similar platforms can be a valuable data source for studies on morphological variation. However, investigations using such databases can only supplement, but not replace, studies using museum material because only then measureable, meristic and genetic characters will be accessible.","PeriodicalId":51290,"journal":{"name":"Vertebrate Zoology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2022-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49202100","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The missing anatomy of the living coelacanth, Latimeria chalumnae (Smith, 1939)","authors":"P. Johnston","doi":"10.3897/vz.72.e84274","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e84274","url":null,"abstract":"Anatomical features that have not been previously described in Latimeria were sought in histological section series, tissue-stained microCT scans, MRI scans, and synchrotron scan series. The spiracular organ, ultimobranchial endocrine gland, and m. cucullaris were identified in the expected locations. In addition, a muscle arising on the medial side of the pectoral girdle is identified and compared with a muscle in a similar location that attaches to the cranial rib in lungfish; these are proposed as homologues of the tetrapod m. omohyoideus.\u0000 These findings are placed in evolutionary context by comparison with selected other groups of fish, lungfish and tetrapods. The position of Latimeria as a key taxon in the fish-to-tetrapod transition is emphasised by these findings, and the findings have potential to inform research on cranial structure in extinct taxa.","PeriodicalId":51290,"journal":{"name":"Vertebrate Zoology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2022-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43852577","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Taxonomic clarifications on the floating frogs (Anura: Dicroglossidae: Occidozyga sensu lato) in southeastern China","authors":"Zhi-Tong Lyu, Jian Wang, Zhao-Chi Zeng, L. Luo, Yanwu Zhang, Chungang Guo, Jin-Long Ren, Shuo Qi, Yunming Mo, YING-YONG Wang","doi":"10.3897/vz.72.e80019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.72.e80019","url":null,"abstract":"The recognition for the floating frogs’ genus Occidozyga is in controversy for decades, and the species diversity of these frogs has recently been considered to be underestimated. In southeastern China, two floating frog species are currently recorded, namely Occidozyga lima and Occidozyga martensii. However, their current taxonomic statuses are unresolved after a series of recent taxonomic revisions. In this work, we perform morphological examinations and phylogenetic analyses on these two recorded floating frogs from southeastern China, to clarify their current taxonomic placements. The population previously recorded as Occidozyga lima should be re-assigned to the nomenclature Occidozyga obscura comb. nov., and the population previously recorded as Occidozyga martensii should be an undescribed species which is erected as Occidozyga lingnanica sp. nov. in this work.","PeriodicalId":51290,"journal":{"name":"Vertebrate Zoology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2022-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45585583","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}