[PaleoMammalogy • 2017] Xibalbaonyx oviceps • A New Megalonychid Ground Sloth (Folivora, Xenarthra) from the Late Pleistocene of the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, and Its Paleobiogeographic Significance ---ScRaBBlE

Xibalbaonyx oviceps 

Stinnesbeck, Frey, Olguín, Stinnesbeck, Zell, Mallison, González, Núñez, Morlet, Mata, Sanvicente, Hering & Sandoval, 2017.

 DOI: 10.1007/s12542-017-0349-5 

Abstract

Here we describe a new genus and species of giant ground sloth, Xibalbaonyx oviceps (Megalonychidae, Xenarthra), from the drowned cave system of the northeastern Yucatán Peninsula. The specimen is Late Pleistocene in age and was discovered in the Zapote sinkhole (cenote) near Puerto Morelos in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. Xibalbaonyx oviceps differs significantly from all hitherto known Megalonychidae including those from the Greater Antilles and South America. The new taxon suggests a local Caribbean radiation of ground sloths during the Late Pleistocene, which is consistent with the dispersal of the group along a Mexican corridor.

Keywords: Ground sloths, Pleistocene, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico 

Systematic palaeontology

Superorder Xenarthra Cope, 1889

Order Pilosa Flower, 1883

Superfamily Megatherioidea Gray, 1821

Family Megalonychidae Gervais, 1855

Diagnosis of the family. Xibalbaonyx oviceps is identified as a member of Megalonychidae based on the following features: dorsal contour of skull evenly convex in lateral view. The glenoid fossa is mediolaterally widened, its posterior surface smooth and the fossa is well separated from the porus acusticus. The lateral plate of the entotympanic is thin with a medial expansion and weak participation in the floor of the tympanic cavity. The paroccipital process is well developed (Patterson et al. 1992; Gaudin 1995, 2004; McDonald et al. 2013b).

Fig. 4: Xibalbaonyx oviceps (Za2014-01) skull in lateral view (left side). 

Fig. 3: Xibalbaonyx oviceps in situ within the Zapote cenote; Skull and mandible (Za2014-01, -05)

Xibalbaonyx oviceps gen. et sp. nov.

Etymology. For the genus: Xibalbá = Maya for “underground” or “place of fear,” dedicated to the cave divers who dive into the “underworld,” the cenotes, and collect the fossils under risky conditions, but also in honor of the Yucatán Peninsula, which is also called the Maya region; “őνυξ” (onyx) = Greek for “claw” or “finger nail;” for the species: oviceps from ovum = Latin for “egg” and caput = “head,” “egghead,” referring to the regularly domed skull roof of the specimen.

Stratigraphic and geographic distribution. The Cenote Zapote 16 Q 0486971 UTM 2305968, Ruta de los Cenotes Puerto Morelos Quintana Roo, Mexico. Late Pleistocene and/or Early Holocene (9.305 ± 35 14C bp, 10.647–10.305 cal bp).

.....

 Conclusions: 

The well-preserved skull and mandible of a ground sloth discovered in the Zapote cenote Cave near Puerto Morelos on the northeastern Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico is here described as a new genus and species of Megalonychidae. The individual, here named Xibalbaonyx oviceps, has a dental formula of 5/4 including a greatly enlarged caniniform tooth of triangular cross-section. This caniniform is separated by a long diastema from the molariform tooth rows in both the lower and upper jaw. The molariform teeth show oval, rounded rectangular to reniform (McDonald et al. 2013b) occlusal shapes with transverse crests. All teeth except for the upper caniniforms, show striations and apicobasal sulci that may be expressed as shallow grooves or deep sulci. The ascending process of the jugal is longer than the descending and middle process of the jugal. The pterygoids are inflated. The glenoid fossa is transversally widened. The skull is elongated and narrow, with a nasional impression on the nasals. The temporal lines are widely separated and do not form a sagittal crest. The skull is narrow and gracile compared that of other Megalonychidae of similar size, such as Megalonyx or Ahytherium. The Zapote ground sloth was a subadult individual, based on the degree of suture fusion in the skull, faint temporal lines and the condition of the occlusion faces of the molariforms. To present knowledge Xibalbaonyx appears to have been endemic on the Yucatán Peninsula, suggesting a local microevolution on this karst desert during the Late Pleistocene.

Sarah R. Stinnesbeck, Eberhard Frey, Jerónimo Avíles Olguín, Wolfgang Stinnesbeck, Patrick Zell, Heinrich Mallison, Arturo González González, Eugenio Aceves Núñez, Adriana Velázquez Morlet, Alejandro Terrazas Mata, Martha Benavente Sanvicente, Fabio Hering and Carmen Rojas Sandoval. 2017. Xibalbaonyx oviceps, A New Megalonychid Ground Sloth (Folivora, Xenarthra) from the Late Pleistocene of the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, and Its Paleobiogeographic Significance. PalZ [Paläontologische Zeitschrift]. 91(2); 245–271.   DOI: 10.1007/s12542-017-0349-5

ResearchGate.net/publication/317185046_Xibalbaonyx_oviceps_a_new_megalonychid_ground_sloth_Folivora_Xenarthra_from_the_Late_Pleistocene_of_the_Yucatan_Peninsula_Mexico_and_its_paleobiogeographic_significance

Ancient species of giant sloth discovered in Mexico  ctv.news/M8rqjqN

Tízezer éve élt óriáslajhár maradványaira bukkantak Mexikóban http://www.origo.hu/tudomany/20170817-archeologia-tizezer-eve-elt-oriaslajhar-maradvanyaira-bukkantak-mexikoban.html

Kurzfassung: Die Unterwasserhöhlen auf der nordöstlichen Halbinsel Yukatan zeigen eine artenreiche Ansammlung von Großsäugern aus dem späten Pleistozän und frühen Holozän. Hier beschreiben wir die neue Gattung und Art eines Riesenfaultiers, Xibalbaonyx oviceps (Megalonychidae, Xenarthra), aus der Zapote Doline (Cenote) in der Nähe von Puerto Morelos im mexikanischen Bundesstaat Quintana Roo. Das Exemplar unterscheidet sich signifikant von allen bisher dokumentierten Megalonychidae einschließlich derjenigen von den Großen Antillen und aus Südamerika. Das neue Taxon deutet auf eine lokale karibische Radiation von Bodenfaultieren währen des Spätpleistozäns hin, die mit der Ausbreitung der Gruppe entlang des mexikanischen Korridors übereinstimmt.

Schlüsselwörter: Bodenfaultiere Pleistozän Yukatan Halbinsel Mexiko 

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روابط التحميل والمشاهدة، الروابط المباشرة للتحميل

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شاهد هذا الفيديو القصير لطريقة التحميل البسيطة

منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات

كيف تحصل على مدونة جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات من هنا

شاهد قناة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بألاف المواضيع والمشاركات على اليوتيوب لمزيد من الشرح من هنا

رابط مدونة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات في أي وقت حــــتى لو تم حذفها من هنا
شاهد صفحة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بألاف المواضيع والمشاركات على الفيس بوك لمزيد من الشرح من هنا

تعرف على ترتيب مواضيع منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات (حتى لا تختلط عليك الامور) من هنا

ملاحظة هامة: كل عمليات تنزيل، رفع، وتعديل المواضيع الجاهزة تتم بطريقة آلية، ونعتذر عن اي موضوع مخالف او مخل بالحياء مرفوع بالمدونات الجاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات، ولكم ان تقوموا بحذف هذه المواضيع والمشاركات والطريقة بسيطة وسهلة. ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــسلامـ.

[PaleoOrnithology • 2017] Late Pleistocene Songbirds of Liang Bua (Flores, Indonesia); The First Fossil Passerine Fauna Described from Wallacea ---ScRaBBlE

Figure 3: Late Pleistocene passerines from Liang Bua.
 (A) Left tarsometatarsus of Philemon sp. (LB-Av-740), (B) left tarsometatarsus of P. buceroides (NMNH 347688); (C) right femur of Philemon sp.(LB-Av-795), (D) right femur of P. buceroides (NMNH 347688); (E) right tibiotarsus of cf. Philemon (LB-Av-857), (F) right tibiotarsus of P. buceroides (NMNH 347688), (G) left tibiotarsus (LB-Av-726) of cf. Philemon, (H) right tibiotarsus (LB-Av-775) cf. Philemon;
(I) right humerus of Rhipidura sp. (LB-Av-762), (J) right humerus of R. albicollis (NMNH 620568);
 (K) distal fragment of right humerus of Corvus cf. macrorhynchos (LB-Av-856), (L) right humerus of C. macrorhynchos (NMNH 641775); (M) right scapula of Corvus cf. macrorhynchos (LB-Av-766), (N) right scapula of C. macrorhynchos (NMNH 641775).

 (scale bars 1 cm) DOI: 10.7717/peerj.3676

Abstract

Background

Passerines (Aves: Passeriformes) dominate modern terrestrial bird communities yet their fossil record is limited. Liang Bua is a large cave on the Indonesian island of Flores that preserves Late Pleistocene–Holocene deposits (∼190 ka to present day). Birds are the most diverse faunal group at Liang Bua and are present throughout the stratigraphic sequence.

Methods

We examined avian remains from the Late Pleistocene deposits of Sector XII, a 2 × 2 m area excavated to about 8.5 m depth. Although postcranial passerine remains are typically challenging to identify, we found several humeral characters particularly useful in discriminating between groups, and identified 89 skeletal elements of passerines.

Results

At least eight species from eight families are represented, including the Large-billed Crow (Corvus cf. macrorhynchos), the Australasian Bushlark (Mirafra javanica), a friarbird (Philemon sp.), and the Pechora Pipit (Anthus cf. gustavi).

Discussion

These remains constitute the first sample of fossil passerines described in Wallacea. Two of the taxa no longer occur on Flores today; a large sturnid (cf. Acridotheres) and a grassbird (Megalurus sp.). Palaeoecologically, the songbird assemblage suggests open grassland and tall forests, which is consistent with conditions inferred from the non-passerine fauna at the site. Corvus cf. macrorhynchos, found in the Homo floresiensis-bearing layers, was likely part of a scavenging guild that fed on carcasses of Stegodon florensis insularis alongside vultures (Trigonoceps sp.), giant storks (Leptoptilos robustus), komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis), and probably H. floresiensis as well.

Hanneke J.M. Meijer​, Rokus Awe Due​, Thomas Sutikna, Wahyu Saptomo, Jatmiko, Sri Wasisto, Matthew W. Tocheri and Gerald Mayr. 2017. Late Pleistocene Songbirds of Liang Bua (Flores, Indonesia); The First Fossil Passerine Fauna Described from Wallacea.
 PeerJ. 5: e3676.  DOI: 10.7717/peerj.3676

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روابط التحميل والمشاهدة، الروابط المباشرة للتحميل

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شاهد هذا الفيديو القصير لطريقة التحميل البسيطة

منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات

كيف تحصل على مدونة جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات من هنا

شاهد قناة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بألاف المواضيع والمشاركات على اليوتيوب لمزيد من الشرح من هنا

رابط مدونة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات في أي وقت حــــتى لو تم حذفها من هنا
شاهد صفحة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بألاف المواضيع والمشاركات على الفيس بوك لمزيد من الشرح من هنا

تعرف على ترتيب مواضيع منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات (حتى لا تختلط عليك الامور) من هنا

ملاحظة هامة: كل عمليات تنزيل، رفع، وتعديل المواضيع الجاهزة تتم بطريقة آلية، ونعتذر عن اي موضوع مخالف او مخل بالحياء مرفوع بالمدونات الجاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات، ولكم ان تقوموا بحذف هذه المواضيع والمشاركات والطريقة بسيطة وسهلة. ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــسلامـ.

[Mammalogy • 2018] Ethiopian Highlands as A Cradle of the African Fossorial Root-rats (Genus Tachyoryctes), the Genetic Evidence ---ScRaBBlE

Šumbera, Krásová, Lavrenchenko, et al., 2018.

  DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.04.003 

 Highlights

• Six major genetic clades do not correspond to the expected two or 13 root-rat species.

• Ethiopian, and not Kenyan, highlands are the cradle of the genus diversity.

• Root-rat history was shaped by climatic oscillations and complex geomorphology.

• The giant root-rat is an internal lineage of the genus modified for life in the Afroalpine.

• Root-rats and mole-rats represent different specialisations for the subterranean niche.

Abstract

Root-rats of the genus Tachyoryctes (Spalacidae) are subterranean herbivores occupying open humid habitats in the highlands of Eastern Africa. There is strong disagreement about species diversity of the genus, because some authors accept two species, while others more than ten. Species with relatively high surface activity, the giant root-rat Tachyoryctes macrocephalus, which is by far largest member of the genus, and the more fossorial African root-rat Tachyoryctes splendens, which eventually has been divided up to 12-13 species, represent two major morphological forms within the genus. In our study, we carried out a multilocus analysis of root-rats’ genetic diversity based on samples from 41 localities representing most of Tachyoryctes geographic distribution. Using two mitochondrial and three nuclear genes, we found six main genetic clades possibly representing separate species. These clades were organised into three basal groups whose branching is not well resolved, probably due to fast radiation in the late Pliocene and early Pleistocene. Climatic changes in that time, i.e. fast and repeated changes between extremely dry and humid conditions, which both limited root-rat dispersal, probably stimulated their initial genetic diversification. Contrary to expectation based on the largest root-rat diversity in Kenya (up to eight species by some authors), we found the highest diversity in the Ethiopian highlands, because all but one putative species occur there. All individuals outside of Ethiopia belong to a single recently diverged and expanded clade. This species should bear the name T. annectens (Thomas, 1891), and all other names of taxa described from outside of Ethiopia should be considered its junior synonyms. However, to solve taxonomic issues, future detailed morphological analyses should be conducted on all main clades together with genetic analysis of material from areas of their supposed contact. One of the most interesting findings of the study is the internal position of T. macrocephalus in T. splendens sensu lato. This demonstrates the intriguing phenomenon of accelerated morphological evolution of rodents occupying the Afroalpine zone in Ethiopia. Finally, we discuss how the distribution of Tachyoryctes is influenced by competition with another group of subterranean herbivores on the continent, the African mole-rats. We assume that both groups do not compete directly as previously expected, but specialisation to different subterranean niches is the main factor responsible for their spatial segregation.

Keywords: Tachyoryctes; fossorial rodent; Eastern Africa; Plio-Pleistocene climatic changes; Great Rift Valley; multi-species coalescent

 Conclusion: 

Contrary to the expectation that root-rats have their highest species diversity in the Kenyan highlands, our results convincingly demonstrated that the Ethiopian mountains are the centre of genus diversity and the cradle of the whole group. The evolution of extant root-rats took place in the Pleistocene and was affected mainly by the interplay between climate changes and the complex geomorphology, with the presence of high mountain massifs, in Ethiopia. Root-rat genetic structure in Ethiopia suggests several cryptic species that should be explored in future taxonomic work, because it is clear that current taxonomy does not reflect the evolutionary history of the genus at all. Probably all taxa described from outside Ethiopia are descendants of a single relatively recent “out-of-Ethiopia” dispersal event and should be considered as conspecific. The fact that the largest and morphologically most deviating species, T. macrocephalus, is not a sister but an internal lineage of “splendens” is further evidence of a fast morphological evolution in response to strong selection in the Afroalpine environment in Ethiopia. We may expect that more thorough genetic surveys of unique Afroalpine taxa will reveal more such findings not only in mammals, but also in other groups of vertebrates. Finally, ecological, behavioural and physiological studies could reveal how the distribution of root-rats is influenced by competition with the African mole-rats, another group of African rodents with subterranean habits.

Radim Šumbera, Jarmila Krásová, Leonid A. Lavrenchenko, Sewnet Mengistu, Afework Bekele, Ondřej Mikula and Josef Bryja. 2018. Ethiopian Highlands as A Cradle of the African Fossorial Root-rats (Genus Tachyoryctes), the Genetic Evidence. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. In Press.   DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.04.003

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روابط التحميل والمشاهدة، الروابط المباشرة للتحميل

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شاهد هذا الفيديو القصير لطريقة التحميل البسيطة

منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات

كيف تحصل على مدونة جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات من هنا

شاهد قناة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بألاف المواضيع والمشاركات على اليوتيوب لمزيد من الشرح من هنا

رابط مدونة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات في أي وقت حــــتى لو تم حذفها من هنا
شاهد صفحة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بألاف المواضيع والمشاركات على الفيس بوك لمزيد من الشرح من هنا

تعرف على ترتيب مواضيع منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات (حتى لا تختلط عليك الامور) من هنا

ملاحظة هامة: كل عمليات تنزيل، رفع، وتعديل المواضيع الجاهزة تتم بطريقة آلية، ونعتذر عن اي موضوع مخالف او مخل بالحياء مرفوع بالمدونات الجاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات، ولكم ان تقوموا بحذف هذه المواضيع والمشاركات والطريقة بسيطة وسهلة. ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــسلامـ.

[Ornithology • 2018] Comprehensive Molecular Phylogeny of Barn Owls and Relatives (Family: Tytonidae), and Their Six Major Pleistocene Radiations ---ScRaBBlE

in Uva, Päckert, Cibois, et al., 2018. 

DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.03.013 

Highlights

• Tytonidae originated in the Oligocene (ca. 28 mya) of Australasia.

• Tytonidae underwent six trans-continental radiations in the Pleistocene.

• Split of Tyto alba into three species (T. alba, T. furcata, T. javanica) is supported.

• T. rosenbergii and T. nigrobrunnea are subspecies of T. javanica; T. sororcula and T. manusi are subspecies of T. novaehollandiae.

• Grass owls and sooty owls are a single species each (T. capensis and T. tenebricosa).

Abstract

The owl family Tytonidae comprises two genera: Phodilus, limited to the forests of central Africa and South-East Asia, and the ubiquitous Tyto. The genus Tyto is majorly represented by the cosmopolitan Common Barn Owl group, with more than 30 subspecies worldwide. Discrete differences in body size and plumage colouration have led to the classification of this family into many species and subspecies, but the taxonomic status and phylogenetic relationships between taxa remain unclear, and in some groups controversial. Although several previous studies attempted to resolve this problem, they have been limited in their taxonomic and geographical coverage, or have relied on restricted molecular evidence and low sample sizes. Based on the most comprehensive sampling to date (16 out of 17 Tyto species, and one out of three Phodilus species), a multi-locus approach using seven mitochondrial and two nuclear markers, and taking advantage of field data and museum collections available worldwide, our main questions in this study were: (1) what are the phylogenetic relationships and classification status of the whole family; (2) when and where did the most important speciation events occur? We confirm that the Common Barn Owl, Tyto alba is divided into three main evolutionary units: the American Barn Owl, T. furcata; the Western Barn Owl, T. alba; and the Eastern Barn Owl, T. javanica, and suggest a Late Miocene (ca. 6 mya) Australasian and African origin of the group. Our results are supported by fossil age information, given that the most recent common ancestor between the Tytonidae genera Phodilus and Tyto was probably from the Oligocene (ca. 28 mya) of Australasia. We finally reveal six major Pleistocene radiations of Tyto, all resulting in wide-range distributions.

Keywords: Bird, Strigiformes, Molecular phylogenetics, Taxonomical classifications

  Vera Uva, Martin Päckert, Alice Cibois, Luca Fumagalli and Alexandre Roulin. 2018. Comprehensive Molecular Phylogeny of Barn Owls and Relatives (Family: Tytonidae), and Their Six Major Pleistocene Radiations. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.  125; 127-137.  DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.03.013

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روابط التحميل والمشاهدة، الروابط المباشرة للتحميل

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من هنا

شاهد هذا الفيديو القصير لطريقة التحميل البسيطة

منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات

كيف تحصل على مدونة جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات من هنا

شاهد قناة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بألاف المواضيع والمشاركات على اليوتيوب لمزيد من الشرح من هنا

رابط مدونة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات في أي وقت حــــتى لو تم حذفها من هنا
شاهد صفحة منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بألاف المواضيع والمشاركات على الفيس بوك لمزيد من الشرح من هنا

تعرف على ترتيب مواضيع منتدى مدونات بلوجر جاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات (حتى لا تختلط عليك الامور) من هنا

ملاحظة هامة: كل عمليات تنزيل، رفع، وتعديل المواضيع الجاهزة تتم بطريقة آلية، ونعتذر عن اي موضوع مخالف او مخل بالحياء مرفوع بالمدونات الجاهزة بآلاف المواضيع والمشاركات، ولكم ان تقوموا بحذف هذه المواضيع والمشاركات والطريقة بسيطة وسهلة. ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــسلامـ.