Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research

Cover caption: The cover image shows an adult specimen of Euscorpius cf. lagostae, one of the newly discovered cryptic lineages within Euscorpius hadzii species complex which is found at several localities in southern Dalmatia. The phylogenetic analyses revealed two deeply divergent lineages (E. hadzii groups 1 and 2) within E. hadzii s.l., and within the strictly Mediterranean, thermophilic, epigean E. hadzii 1 group (Eh1), two sublineages, Eh1a and Eh1b. The latter corresponds to the population of E. hadzii from Lastovo island (formerly Euscorpius carpaticus lagostae), which is in the present study elevated to species level as Euscorpius lagostae Di Caporiacco, 1950, stat. nov. The high genetic distances in the mitochondrial COI gene found between E. lagostae and Euscorpius cf. lagostae (p-distances up to 5.4 %) imply that latter lineage represents yet another species. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research, Volume 59, Issue 8, Pages 1824–1849, Martina Podnar, Irena Grbac, Nikola Tvrtković, Christoph Hörweg, Elisabeth Haring: DOI: 10.1111/jzs.12562. Photo credit: Nikola Tvrtković, Graphics credit: Denis Lešić

Makalata comprises medium-sized arboreal echimyid rodents with orange to reddish nose. Two species are recognized: M. didelphoides and M. macrura. We identified 14 clades representing potential species using genetic data. Four lineages in the Guiana Shield were shown to be morphological cryptic species. The name M. didelphoides cannot be applied to any specimen without a genetic approach and sequencing of holotypes. The results reinforce the importance of integrative approach to obtain a more accurate picture of the taxonomic diversity of this genus.

In this study, molecular genetic analyses based on three molecular markers were performed to confirm the position of Aulopyge within Cyprinidae, obtain data on its evolutionary history, and describe its population genetic structure and diversity. Phylogenetic reconstruction based on cytb sequences corroborated the independent position of this species and its placement within the Barbinae subfamily (Fig. A). The evolutionary history of A. huegelii began already in the middle Oligocene, around 28 million years ago (Fig. B).

The genus Hypostomus is structured into 10 phylogenetic groups with shallow divergence and overlapping area of occurrence of most groups in various hydrogeographic ecoregions. Five of these groups occur within the Northeastern Mata Atlântica (NMA) and São Francisco (SF) plus two new clades suggested here, one being exclusive to SF and the other occurring within these two ecoregions. This study shows that only two phylogenetic groups occur in both ecoregions and highlights the occurrence of possible species complexes as well as the presence of putative new lineages restricted to this area of interest.

Molecular species delimitation of the nudibranch genus Doto is performed using a combination of analyses on two genetic markers and morphological studies including radular ultrastructure. We discovered problems in D. fragilis, which consists of 1–3 species depending on analysis. Further, the species D. hystrix is found nested within D. fragilis. Analysis of food preferences of the species involved in the study contradicts the notion of strict monophagy within Doto.

A new species pair from the Piray Guazú river from the Crenicichla mandelburgeri species complex has evolved a parallel morphological and ecological dichotomy to another species pair from the same species complex (Crenicichla ypo, Crenicichla yjhui) and also to species in the unrelated Crenicichla missioneira species complex (C. missioneira, Crenicichla celidochilus). Based on mitochondrial DNA phylogeny and ddRAD analyses of the nuclear genome we review mitonuclear discordance and biogeography during the evolution of the whole C. mandelburgeri species complex.

The multimammate mice (genus Mastomys) comprise very abundant and intensively studied rodents, widespread across sub-Saharan Africa. We used an extensive dataset of nearly 2700 individual cytochrome b sequences, complete mitogenomes, and hundreds of nuclear loci, to describe genetic variability of all currently recognized species and to reconstruct their evolutionary history. The first split separating Mastomys angolensis from remaining taxa occurred in mid-Pliocene, but the most intensive radiation occurred in mid-Pleistocene and was likely driven by the intensification of climate oscillations.

There are two currently recognized species of magpie-jays of the genus Calocitta (Corvidae) distributed throughout the MDF: the monotypic Black-throated Magpie-jay (C. colliei) and the polytypic White-throated Magpie-jay (C. formosa). These two species have sometimes been considered conspecific and have been reported to hybridize in sympatric areas, where birds with intermediate plumage characters are recorded. Using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers from individuals of the two species, we analyze the phylogeographic structure and the genetic diversity within Calocitta under an Isolation with Migration (IM) model. The results showed strong genetic structure, in which the two currently recognized species and some of the C. formosa subspecies grouped into four well-supported and reciprocally monophyletic clades. IM analyses suggested divergence dates for the split between C. colliei and C. formosa that were congruent with geological factors, as well as with the deep divergence of the three lineages within C. formosa. These factors likely led to a dynamic demographic history in all lineages.

Eupithecia conterminata is a geometrid species widespread in North European countries and restricted to mountainous regions in the rest of the continent, for which five mtDNA lineages are found in Europe. To assess their taxonomic status, we combined morphological traits and molecular data. We recognized two valid species, E. conterminata, in northern countries and Eupithecia manniaria sp. rev., in the rest of the continent. Their mitochondrial diversity appears to be coherent with biogeographical histories of their food plants.

Icosiella neglecta is a nematode parasite of Ranidae frogs. This study reports this parasite from water frogs of the genus Pelophylax in Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia. Despite the substantial genetic variability in a mitochondrial COI gene, we found only weak population-genetic structure across the study area. We assume that the population-genetic structure of I. neglecta might be linked to the evolutionary history and dispersal of its dipteran vectors.

We use phylotranscriptomics and deep Sanger sequencing to better understand the relationships and divergence times within Ricinulei (hooded tick spiders) and to have a better idea about their species ranges by using species delimitation analyses. Phylogenetic inference supported the monophyly of the three recognized genera, Ricinoides in Africa, Pseudocellus in North America, and Cryptocellus in Mesoamerica and South America and their initial diversification during the Late Cretaceous. Additionally, we formalize the only Ricinulei species from the Lesser Antilles as Cryptocellus tobagoensis Giribet & Benavides sp. nov.

Systematics and species boundaries of the elapid snake genus Sinomicrurus were investigated using mitochondrial and nuclear markers. We utilized a Bayesian framework, reinforced by comparative morpho-anatomical analyses leveraging comprehensive geographic representation, to diagnose and delimit species. Our morphometric evaluations contrasted classical discriminant function analyses and random forest, a tree-based supervised machine learning technique. We conclude that previous taxonomic schemes often confounded between species-level and population-level variation, and we update the taxonomy by recognizing a total of nine species within Sinomicrurus.