The oviparous olm: analysis & refutation of claims for viviparity in the Cave salamander Proteus anguinus (Amphibia: Proteidae)
Publication date: Available online 28 May 2019Source: Zoologischer AnzeigerAuthor(s): Daniel G. BlackburnAbstractAccounts in the zoological literature commonly state that the European cave-dwelling “olm,” Proteus anguinus, can reproduce “facultatively” -- switching between oviparity and viviparity according to environmental circumstances. This paper evaluates the widespread allegations of viviparity in this salamander species, tracing their origins to ambiguous reports from more than a century ago. The sole basis for detailed claims for “facultative viviparity” lies with an unreliable (and potentially fraudulen...
Source: A Journal of Comparative Zoology - May 29, 2019 Category: Zoology Source Type: research
The influence of habitat on olfactory organ structure in selected species of salamanders (Salamandridae, Caudata)
Publication date: Available online 28 May 2019Source: Zoologischer AnzeigerAuthor(s): Józef J. Różański, Krystyna D. ŻuwałaAbstractMorphological observations (LM, TEM, SEM) of olfactory organs were conducted on three representatives of the family Salamandridae which differ in post-metamorphic habitat: the terrestrial fire salamander Salamandra salamandra, the semiaquatic alpine newt Ichthyosaura alpestris and the semiaquatic Himalayan newt Tylototriton verrucosus which exhibit increasing specialization towards life in water. We demonstrated variability in proportional size and shape of the main olfactory chamber (MOC...
Source: A Journal of Comparative Zoology - May 29, 2019 Category: Zoology Source Type: research
Partitioning of morphospace in larval and adult reed frogs (Anura: Hyperoliidae: Hyperolius) of the Central African Albertine Rift
Publication date: Available online 8 May 2019Source: Zoologischer AnzeigerAuthor(s): J.Maximilian Dehling, Ulrich SinschAbstractReed frogs of the genus Hyperolius inhabit a wide range of habitats from open savannah to montane forests in Sub-Saharan Africa with frequently sympatric population exploiting the same localities at tadpole and adult stage. Niche partitioning with respect to morphological traits related to diet and locomotion is expected to shape local Hyperolius communities. In a case study on Albertine Rift Hyperolius in Rwanda and Burundi, we analysed the partitioning of larval and adult morphospace (three-dime...
Source: A Journal of Comparative Zoology - May 9, 2019 Category: Zoology Source Type: research
Microanatomy of the female reproductive system of the viviparous freshwater whipray Fluvitrygon signifer (Elasmobranchii: Myliobatiformes: Dasyatidae). I. The ovary
Publication date: Available online 30 April 2019Source: Zoologischer AnzeigerAuthor(s): Nittaya Somsap, Nopparat Srakaew, Kannika ChatchavalvanichAbstractThe microanatomy of the Fluvitrygon signifer ovary was investigated. The females had a single left ovary containing various stages of germ cells and follicles. Both immature and mature female ovaries contained oogonia initially observable in the germinal epithelium as solitary cells or oogonial nests. Herein, three developmental pathways for the oogonia to become primary oocytes are proposed. (1) The single oogonia developed into individual primary oocytes and, in associa...
Source: A Journal of Comparative Zoology - April 30, 2019 Category: Zoology Source Type: research
Phylogenetic analysis supports the monophyly of the South American mayfly genus Brasilocaenis Puthz, 1975 (Insecta: Ephemeroptera: Caenidae)
Publication date: Available online 15 April 2019Source: Zoologischer AnzeigerAuthor(s): lucas R.C. Lima, Carlos Molineri, Leandro M. Vieira, Ulisses Pinheiro, Frederico F. SallesAbstractBrasilocaenis Puthz, 1975 is a South American genus of Caenidae (Ephemeroptera). Except for their very distinct male genitalia, the species of this genus are morphologically similar to South American species of Caenis. We analysed the phylogenetic relationships among Brasilocaenis and related genera using morphological characters of both nymphs and adults and cladistic methods. This first phylogenetic analysis of Brasilocaenis was based on ...
Source: A Journal of Comparative Zoology - April 16, 2019 Category: Zoology Source Type: research
Editorial Board
Publication date: March 2019Source: Zoologischer Anzeiger, Volume 279Author(s): (Source: A Journal of Comparative Zoology)
Source: A Journal of Comparative Zoology - April 11, 2019 Category: Zoology Source Type: research
Disentangling wing shape evolution in the African mayfly, Teloganodidae (Ephemeroptera)
Publication date: May 2019Source: Zoologischer Anzeiger, Volume 280Author(s): Lyndall L. Pereira-da-Conceicoa, Hugo A. Benítez, Helen M. Barber-JamesAbstractWings are one of the most important structures in the evolution of insects and winged insects are widely accepted as being monophyletic. In Ephemeroptera, wing structure and shape is important for interpreting taxonomic relationships. Morphological variation in wing shape of 14 distinct operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of South African Teloganodidae mayfly was examined using landmark-based geometric morphometric methods and molecular phylogenetics to determine evolu...
Source: A Journal of Comparative Zoology - March 30, 2019 Category: Zoology Source Type: research
Morphological variation and sexual dimorphism in two sympatric dipsadine snakes from Southern Brazil
Publication date: Available online 28 March 2019Source: Zoologischer AnzeigerAuthor(s): Luiza Loebens, Carla Deonisia Hendges, Selma Maria Almeida-Santos, Sonia Zanini CechinAbstractSnakes have high morphological variation, including between sexes. Most of these variations are evidenced only by linear measurements, which are generally restricted to size traits. Using traditional and geometric morphometrics methods we analyze how body size attributes and head size and shape varies between sexes and species of two sympatric Tachymenini snakes, Thamnodynastes strigatus and Tomodon dorsatum. We took body size measurements from...
Source: A Journal of Comparative Zoology - March 30, 2019 Category: Zoology Source Type: research
Corrigendum to: “Waves of dispersal in island-hopping Chondrina species (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Chondrinidae)” [Zool. Anz. 249 (2010) 71–79]
Publication date: Available online 27 March 2019Source: Zoologischer AnzeigerAuthor(s): Eder Somoza Valdeolmillos, Bas Kokshoorn, Edmund Gittenberger, Benjamín Gómez-MolinerAbstractMt DNA CO1 sequences published in Kokshoorn et al., (2010) had some errors when uploaded into GenBank. As a result, many haplotypes have an incorrect GenBank accession number and do not correspond to the species that is indicated. The present corrigendum provides the correct combination of data: taxon name, specimen and GenBank accession code, to avoid the propagation of errors. A short note concerning the nomenclature of Chondrina bigorriens...
Source: A Journal of Comparative Zoology - March 28, 2019 Category: Zoology Source Type: research
New family and genus for Dendrilla-like sponges with characters of Verongiida. Part I Redescription of Dendrilla lacunosa Hentschel 1912, diagnosis of the new family Ernstillidae and Ernstilla n. g
Publication date: Available online 19 March 2019Source: Zoologischer AnzeigerAuthor(s): Jean Vacelet, Dirk Erpenbeck, Cristina Diaz, Hermann Ehrlich, Jane FromontAbstractMorphological and molecular characters have identified a new family and genus of Verongiida in the Porifera: Demospongiae. The taxa are based on a new study of Dendrilla lacunosa Hentschel, 1912, a species that, using integrative taxonomy, has been found to belong to Verongimorpha instead of Keratosa. The species suite of characters require the erection of a new genus, Ernstilla n. gen. with affinities to Ianthellidae. However, the dendritic skeleton, abse...
Source: A Journal of Comparative Zoology - March 21, 2019 Category: Zoology Source Type: research
New family and genus of a Dendrilla-like sponge with characters of Verongiida. Part II. Discovery of chitin in the skeleton of Ernstilla lacunosa
This study is the first example of the impact of the reporting of chitin on the systematics of sponges. (Source: A Journal of Comparative Zoology)
Source: A Journal of Comparative Zoology - March 13, 2019 Category: Zoology Source Type: research
Disentangling wing shape evolution in African mayfly, Teloganodidae (Ephemeroptera)
Publication date: Available online 5 March 2019Source: Zoologischer AnzeigerAuthor(s): Lyndall L. Pereira-da-Conceicoa, Hugo A. Benítez, Helen M. Barber-JamesAbstractWings are one of the most important structures in the evolution of insects and winged insects are widely accepted as being monophyletic. In Ephemeroptera, wing structure and shape is important for interpreting taxonomic relationships. Morphological variation in wing shape of 14 species of Teloganodidae mayfly was examined using landmark-based geometric morphometric methods and molecular phylogenetics to determine evolutionary shape change and allometry. Fore ...
Source: A Journal of Comparative Zoology - March 5, 2019 Category: Zoology Source Type: research
Phylogenetic relationships among Scirtothrips species and related genera (Thysanoptera, Thripidae) based on morphology
Publication date: Available online 27 February 2019Source: Zoologischer AnzeigerAuthor(s): Shimeng Zhang, Laurence A. Mound, Jinian FengAbstractScirtothrips, one of the largest genera of Thripinae, includes several species that are important pests for agricultural and horticultural plants. Scirtothrips genus-group comprises 11 genera, but phylogenetic relationships among these are unclear, as are the interspecific relationships within Scirtothrips. We used 61 morphological characters to study the morphological variation and phylogenetic relationships among the members of this genus-group. Phylogenetic analysis supported th...
Source: A Journal of Comparative Zoology - February 28, 2019 Category: Zoology Source Type: research
Comparative morphology and redescription of five species of Theages Walker (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae, Arctiini, Ctenuchina), with new distribution records and a new combination for the genus
Publication date: Available online 26 February 2019Source: Zoologischer AnzeigerAuthor(s): Elias c. Araujo, lívia r. Pinheiro, Marcelo DuarteAbstractA comparative morphological study of the genus Theages Walker was performed. Five species, T. decorum (Schaus), T. griseatum (Rothschild), T. hoffmanni Travassos, T. pinasi Grados, and T. occultus Grados, were redescribed and the female morphology of some of them was described for the first time. A new combination was proposed for T. darantasium (Druce), comb. nov. All species were illustrated (habitus and male and female genitalia), and their distribution records were update...
Source: A Journal of Comparative Zoology - February 27, 2019 Category: Zoology Source Type: research
Sexual size dimorphism, allometry and fecundity in a lineage of South American viviparous lizards (Liolaemidae: Phymaturus)
Publication date: Available online 21 February 2019Source: Zoologischer AnzeigerAuthor(s): Soledad Valdecantos, Fernando Lobo, M. Gabriela Perotti, Débora L. Moreno Azócar, Félix B. CruzAbstractIn living organisms with sexual reproduction, the presence of sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is common. The main explanations for this phenomenon are based on sexual selection or the fecundity advantage hypothesis (natural selection). Here, we tested Rensch’s rule in species of the viviparous lizard genus Phymaturus; additionally, we tested if there is a pattern of sexual size dimorphism or if it depends upon other morphological ...
Source: A Journal of Comparative Zoology - February 22, 2019 Category: Zoology Source Type: research
