Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History

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The Bulletin, published continuously since 1881, consists of longer monographic volumes in the field of natural sciences relating to zoology, paleontology, and geology. Current numbers are published at irregular intervals. The Bulletin was originally a place to publish short papers, while longer works appeared in the Memoirs. However, in the 1920s, the Memoirs ceased and the Bulletin series began publishing longer papers. A new series, the Novitates, published short papers describing new forms.

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  • ItemOpen Access
    The bee fauna of Eocene Fushun amber (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 469)
    (American Museum of Natural History., 2024-10-23) Engel, Michael S.; Xie, Jiaying, 2001-
    The now inaccessible amber deposits of the Fushun coalfield (Guchengzi Formation; Ypresian) represent the only diverse record of Paleogene arthropods from northeastern Asia. Among the wealth of inclusions recovered from the mines before they were closed and filled, only five specimens of bees were discovered. Meager as they are, these samples provide an important paleogeographical point of reference for piecing together the fauna of forest-dwelling bees during and after the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum. Three species in two genera are recorded, one species representing a new extinct genus and tribe of Megachilinae related to Glyptapini, Ctenoplectrellini (here including Aspidosmia Brauns), and perhaps Dioxyini, and the other two species comprising a new genus of the eusocial corbiculate tribe Melikertini (Apinae). The early-diverging tribes of Megachilinae—Glyptapini, Ctenoplectrellini, and the new tribe, all possessing a distinct metatibial scopa—are briefly reviewed. Glyptosmia Engel, n. gen., with Glyptosmia hemiaspis Engel, n. sp., is the sole member of Glyptosmiini Engel, n. tribe. Although it somewhat resembles species of the genus Ctenoplectrella Cockerell (from Baltic, Bitterfeld, Oise, and Rovno ambers), Glyptosmia also shares distinctive traits of Glyptapini (areolate propodeum) and even the cleptoparasitic Dioxyini (tuberculate metanotum). The tribe can be distinguished by the bare compound eyes, dense mesosomal punctation, tuberculate metanotum, areolate propodeum, flattened mesoscutellum with a sinuate apical margin, and characteristically thickened metatibial spurs, among other characters. Two species of the corbiculate bee tribe Melikertini are described, both of the genus Thyreomelikertes Engel, n. gen. Thyreomelikertes lacks the facial protuberances found in genera such as Aethemelikertes Engel, Haidomelikertes Engel, Amelikertotes Engel, or Succinapis Engel and is superficially similar to Melissites Engel or Mochlomelikertes Engel, Breitkreuz, and Ohl, with its long, flattened, and trapezoidal mesoscutellum somewhat reminiscent of the latter genus. The genus is also noteworthy for the putatively plesiomorphic retention of relatively developed grooves on the outer surface of the mandible and dense mesosomal pubescence. The two included species, Thyreomelikertes electrosinicus, n. sp., and T. kongi, n. sp., can be distinguished by size and the development of setae on the meso- and metatibiae. All the individuals are morphologically workers, and so, like all other melikertines, Thyreomelikertes was social and, based on the phylogenetic position of the tribe, presumably lived in anchored eusocial colonies. By contrast, G. hemiaspis was likely a free-living solitary species. The species from Fushun amber are described, figured, and compared with other species of Cenozoic and living bees. The mandibular structure of Thyreomelikertes is unique among Melikertini and permits a fuller description of the diversity of structural homologies across corbiculate bee mandibles.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Revised evolutionary and taxonomic synthesis for parrots (Order: Psittaciformes) guided by phylogenomic analysis (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 468)
    (American Museum of Natural History., 2024-06-28) Smith, Brian Tilston.; Thom, Gregory.; Joseph, Leo.
    Parrots (Order: Psittaciformes) are a diverse clade that is easily distinguishable from other birds. Despite the clear characters that define Psittaciformes (hooked bills, zygodactylous feet, and plumage that is often predominantly green or red), relative morphological uniformity among parrots has made taxonomic classification a fraught endeavor for over a century. Parrot systematics were propelled forward when DNA sequencing data shed insights into higher- and species-level relationships. However, despite these significant advances, major gaps in taxon sampling and uncertainty in relationships remained due to inferring phylogenetic relationships with short fragments of DNA. Recent work using genome-wide molecular markers with nearly complete parrot species-level sampling has brought clarity to many of the remaining outstanding questions on taxonomic relationships. Here, we build on this work by including four additional species to present a taxonomic revision of Psittaciformes better aligned with its evolutionary tree. We infer maximum likelihood and time-calibrated phylogenies for parrots, present accounts for 106 genera, compare how our findings relate to previous work, and highlight future areas of research. The family-group nomenclature we propose reflects deep evolutionary divergences with diagnosable synapomorphies that are commensurate across comparable ranks in psittaciform clades. We erect three new family-group names at the rank of tribe (Brotogerini Smith, Thom, and Joseph, 2024; Neophemini Schodde, Mason, Smith, Thom, and Joseph, 2024; Bolbopsittacini Smith, Thom, and Joseph, 2024). We elevate one tribe to subfamily rank for the cacatuid genus Probosciger and we restrict usage of the recently introduced tribe Touitini to its type genus Touit. At shallower taxonomic scales, recognition of more rather than fewer genera addresses issues of paraphyly or high discordance in morphological and genomic characters at those levels. We support many reinstatements of older generic names advocated in recent decades, and we further reinstate five valid, available generic names not widely used in recent literature if at all (Licmetis, Gymnopsittacus, Clarkona, Suavipsitta, Cardeos). We advocate the retention of Vini Lesson, 1833, over Coriphilus Wagler, 1832, based on preliminary examination showing substantially more frequent usage of the former. We redraw generic limits in some other cases (e.g., Bolborhynchus parrotlets and allies) and this includes recognizing fewer genera than recently proposed for the Psittacula sensu lato ringneck parakeets. Our revised classification of parrots addresses many longstanding taxonomic questions including those that have arisen through the acquisition of genetic data. It provides context for the temporal origins of psittaciform clades and the taxonomic and phenotypic diversification throughout their evolutionary history. We hope that it will be a benchmark guiding further taxonomic study as well as for downstream analyses in many other fields.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Remarkable diversity of beetles (Coleoptera) in the Late Triassic (Norian) “Solite deposit” of Virginia and North Carolina (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 467)
    (American Museum of Natural History., 2024-05-31) Criscione-Vastano, Julia.; Grimaldi, David A.
    Known from over 50 Triassic localities worldwide, beetles were a significant component of the early Mesozoic paleofauna. Beetle fossils are particularly diverse in the Late Triassic (Norian) Cow Branch and Walnut Cove formations (Solite deposit) of Virginia and North Carolina, with 100 distinct morphotypes sorted from approximately 1000 specimens. The diversity of the Solite Coleoptera is documented, the 100 beetle morphotypes are informally described, and comparisons are made with other beetle communities through geologic time. In comparison with modern beetle communities, the Solite fauna shares two remarkable similarities. First, the distribution of Solite beetle body sizes matches that of some modern beetle communities, with the majority of specimens in both groups measuring between 2 and 4 mm in length. Second, the vast majority of the 100 Solite morphotypes (84%) are known from only a single specimen. This pattern somewhat follows the species abundance distribution of modern animal communities, in which a community is comprised of only a few common species and many rare species. In contrast, the Solite beetle fauna differs markedly from those of other Triassic and Early Jurassic deposits, both in the composition of higher taxa present, as well as in the lack of shared taxa between sites. The uniqueness of the Solite taxa, including the remarkable diversity, demonstrate the importance of the Solite Konservat-Lagerstätte in understanding the evolutionary history of Order Coleoptera.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Mammalian diversity and Matses ethnomammalogy in Amazonian Peru. Part 5, Rodents. (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 466)
    (American Museum of Natural History., 2024-04-18) Voss, Robert S.; Fleck, David W. (David William), 1969-; Giarla, Thomas C.
    In this report, the fifth and last of our monographic series on mammalian diversity and ethnomammalogy in the Yavarí-Ucayali interfluvial region of northeastern Peru, we document the local occurrence of 40 species of rodents, including 5 sciurids, 17 cricetids, 1 caviid, 1 cuniculid, 2 dasyproctids, 1 dinomyid, 2 erethizontids, and 11 echimyids. The following substantive taxonomic results, among others, are reported: (1) We discuss current issues of sciurid classification and treat all New World tree squirrels (Sciurini), except North American Tamiasciurus, as members of the genus Sciurus; the proposed subgeneric classification is monophyletic, and it conserves longstanding binomial usage for most species. (2) We describe a new species of squirrel, Sciurus (Hadrosciurus) pachecoi, which had previously been identified as a distinct lineage by molecular analyses. (3) We discuss the nominal taxa currently synonymized with S. (H.) pyrrhinus and comment on the application of names to phenotypes and mitochondrial haplogroups. (4) The currently accepted type locality of S. (H.) spadiceus (Cuiabá) cannot be correct; instead, documentary evidence suggests that the holotype must have been collected near Santarém. (5) Sciurus flaviventer appears to be the only valid species of Microsciurus (sensu lato) that occurs in the Amazonian lowlands; Amazonian records of taxa previously reported in the literature as M. sabanillae and M. "species 2" appear to be based on erroneous geographic coordinates and unexplained genotype/ phenotype discordance, respectively. (6) We discuss and illustrate the diagnostic morphological characters of Nectomys apicalis and N. rattus, which have broadly overlapping distributions in northern Peru. (7) We analyze cytochrome b sequence data from 143 specimens of Oecomys from western Amazonia and summarize evidence for multiple unnamed lineages; of these, three from the Yavarí-Ucayali interfluve are described as new species. (8) We question the recognition of O. tapajinus as a species distinct from O. roberti due to the lack of unambiguously diagnostic characters and the doubtful identity of the holotype of tapajinus. (9) We confirm sympatry between two species of Scolomys and provide revised diagnostic criteria for S. melanops and S. ucayalensis. (10) We report the only specimen of Dinomys branickii accompanied by definite locality data from Loreto department. (11) Proechimys quadruplicatus and P. steerei, closely related species previously thought to occur on opposite banks of the Peruvian Amazon, are both present in the Yavarí-Ucayali interfluve; diagnostic characters are tabulated for the six species of Proechimys now known to occur in our region. Despite intensive and methodologically complementary faunal-sampling efforts, our rodent inventory is probably incomplete; at least four additional species could be expected to occur in our region based on geographic range data. If all four do occur there, then our inventory is about 90% complete. Documented sympatric species richness at intensively sampled sites in our region is substantially less than the regional total, but because of methodological omissions, no site is believed to have been completely inventoried for rodents. In the absence of known barriers to mammalian dispersal within the Yavarí-Ucayali interfluve, however, local (sympatric) species richness is probably constrained only by habitat availability. Matses knowledge of rodents is richly detailed for primary game species (Cuniculus paca and Dasyprocta fuliginosa) but is less detailed for less culturally important subsets of the fauna. As previously documented for other mammals (e.g., primates, xenarthrans, and ungulates), important game species are known by multiple names (including synonyms and hyponyms), whereas less culturally important but still salient species (e.g., squirrels) have single names, and many inconspicuous (e.g., small, nocturnal, and morphologically indistinguishable) species do not have unique identifiers. With the rodents treated in this report, the mammalian fauna of the Yavarí-Ucayali interfluve is now known to include at least 201 species, but >20 additional species (mostly bats) could still be expected in the region based on geographic range data. Despite the probable incompleteness of our inventory, the Yavarí-Ucayali interfluve is the only part of western Amazonia with an extensively documented mammal fauna. Therefore, the completion of this monographic series provides nomic resource for urgently needed mammalogical research in this ecologically intact but increasingly vulnerable region.
  • ItemOpen Access
    The Trachylepis (Squamata: Scincidae) of Angola : an integrative taxonomic review with the description of seven new species (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 465)
    (American Museum of Natural History., 2024-02-20) Ceríaco, Luis M. P.; Marques, Mariana P.; Parrinha, Diogo.; Tiutenko, Arthur.; Weinell, Jeffrey L.; Butler, Brett O.; Bauer, Aaron M.
    The genus Trachylepis is currently represented by 21 species in Angola, most of them part of nomenclaturally and taxonomically challenging species complexes. In this study we present an integrative taxonomic revision of the genus in Angola and describe seven new species: Trachylepis attenboroughi, sp. nov., Trachylepis bouri, sp. nov., Trachylepis hilariae, sp. nov., Trachylepis ovahelelo, sp. nov., Trachylepis suzanae, sp. nov., Trachylepis vunongue, sp. nov., and Trachylepis wilsoni, sp. nov. As result of our taxonomic revisions, 25 valid Trachylepis species are now confirmed from Angola. A phylogenetic analysis using a combination of mitochondrial (16S, ND2) and nuclear (RAG1) markers, as well as morphological data, supports the recognition of the new species. In addition, data support the revalidation of Trachylepis albopunctata (Bocage, 1867), Trachylepis notabilis (Peters, 1879), and Trachylepis ansorgii (Boulenger, 1907). We also provide a redefinition of Euprepes anchietae Bocage, 1866, which we synonymize with Trachylepis maculilabris (Gray, 1845). Given that the type material for Trachylepis albopunctata, T. angolensis, and T. anchietae has been lost or destroyed, we designate neotypes for the purpose of nomenclatural stability. The description of the new species and the revision and revalidation of previously described Angolan species contribute to a better understanding of the taxonomy and biogeography of the genus, as well as to the general biogeographic patterns and evolution of the Angolan fauna.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Jormungandr walhallaensis : a new mosasaurine (Squamata: Mosasauroidea) from the Pierre Shale Formation (Pembina Member: Middle Campanian) of North Dakota (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 464)
    (American Museum of Natural History., 2023-10-30) Zietlow, Amelia R.; Boyd, Clint A.; Van Vranken, Nathan E.
    Mosasaurs are large, carnivorous aquatic lizards with a global distribution that lived during the Late Cretaceous. After 200 years of scientific study, new mosasaur species are still being discovered as new localities are explored and specimens collected long ago are reevaluated using modern standards of species delimitation. Even so, the phylogenetic positions of many key taxa are unresolved and therefore our understanding of mosasaur macroevolution is muddled. Here, we describe a new genus and species of mosasaurine mosasaur comprising a partial skull and skeleton from the Pembina Member of the Pierre Shale Formation in Cavalier County, North Dakota. The lower bound on the age of the specimen is 80.04 ±0.11 Ma, provided by the underlying bentonite bed. Its skull and jaws are nearly complete, and the postcranial skeleton preserves seven cervical vertebrae with three hypapophyseal peduncles, 11 ribs, and five anterior dorsal vertebrae. The new specimen was scored into a modified version of an existing phylogenetic matrix of Mosasauroidea and was recovered in a polytomy with Clidastes; however, given that its morphology is significantly different from that of Clidastes, we refer it to a new genus and species, Jormungandr walhallaensis. Notably, this new taxon shares a mosaic of features seen in both basal (e.g., Clidastes; high dental counts) and derived (e.g., Mosasaurus; subrectangular quadrate) mosasaurines, in addition to possessing its own unique suite of autapomorphies. Given that it possesses morphology intermediate between Clidastes and Plotosaurini, we suspect that future analyses of mosasaur phylogeny, following the addition of new characters and taxa, will recover Jormungandr as transitional between them. Its occurrence increases the known diversity of mosasaurs from the Pembina Member and is the earliest mosasaur to possess autapomorphies of Plotosaurini. Finally, we also analyzed the matrix using different outgroups to test their effect on tree topology and resolution, and found that including multiple nonmosasauroid anguimorphs increased resolution, but not support, of mosasaurid ingroup relationships.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Cranial and postcranial morphology of the insectivoran-grade mammals Hsiangolestes and Naranius (Mammalia, Eutheria) : with analyses of their phylogenetic relationships (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 463)
    (American Museum of Natural History., 2023-06-26) Ting, Suyin; Wang , Xiaoming (Paleontologist); Meng, Jin (Paleontologist)
    Early Cenozoic “insectivorans” possess some of the most primitive morphologies among eutherian mammals. Studies of these archaic mammals offer insights into the early diversifications of basal eutherians. Despite such importance, early fossil “insectivorans” from Asia are poorly known due to a scarcity of fossil remains, which often consist only of fragmentary jaws and teeth. Discoveries of remarkably well-preserved fossil “insectivorans”, including complete skulls and articulated postcranial skeletons, from the early Eocene Hengyang Basin in south-central Hunan Province, China, offer a rare opportunity to thoroughly study two taxa belonging to different families. Fine-grained red beds from Hengyang Basin preserve extraordinary fossils with morphological structures rarely seen elsewhere. Thin sections of a skull of Hsiangolestes youngi Zheng and Huang, 1984, for example, reveal the extremely delicate nasal and maxillary turbinates, which, as far as we are aware, are the first known from fossils of this age. We thus take this opportunity to document in detail the cranial and dental morphology, as well as postcranial skeletons, of the Hengyang “insectivorans”. In this monograph, we describe several complete skulls and serial sections of a skull, as well as many partial skulls, mandibles, and postcranial skeletons of Hsiangolestes youngi, an Asian early Eocene insectivoran-grade mammal. We also report a new species of Naranius Russell and Dashzeveg, 1986—N. hengdongensis—an Asian early Eocene cimolestid and describe its well-preserved skulls and mandibles. Hsiangolestes is endemic to Asia. It is currently known only from the earliest Eocene Lingcha Formation, Hengyang Basin, Hunan Province, China. Naranius closely resembles Cimolestes Marsh, 1889, the type genus of the family Cimolestidae. It is mainly distributed in Asia and known from the earliest Eocene deposits in the Bumban Member of the Naran Bulak Formation, Nemegt Basin, of Mongolia, and the Lingcha Formation, Hengyang Basin, Hunan Province, China. The only record of Naranius reported outside of Asia is N. americanus from the early Wasatchian Red Hot Local Fauna, Mississippi, United States. Using PAUP and TNT search algorithms, we place these Hengyang taxa within phylogenetic context of other fossil “insectivorans” from the Mesozoic and early Cenozoic of Asia together with some well-known Holarctic taxa. A phylogenetic analysis of 290 cranial and dental characters from 36 fossil and modern insectivoran-grade taxa is presented, focusing on new materials of Hsiangolestes youngi and Naranius hengdongensis. Based on the results of our phylogenetic analyses, we propose that (1) Hsiangolestes, Prosarcodon, Sarcodon, and Sinosinopa, form a monophyletic group, for which we propose the family name Sarcodontidae; (2) the family Cimolestidae should be restricted to Naranius and Cimolestes, which are sister taxa; (3) the systematic position of Naranius americanus is uncertain; and (4) the family Micropternodontidae should be restricted to Micropternodus and its allies in North America.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Transverse canal foramen and pericarotid venous network in Metatheria and other mammals (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 462)
    (American Museum of Natural History., 2023-06-21) MacPhee, R. D. E.; Gaillard, Charlène; Forasiepi, Analía M.; Sulser, R. Benjamin
    Although few nondental features of the osteocranium consistently discriminate marsupials from placentals, the transverse canal foramen (TCF) has been repeatedly offered as a potential synapomorphy of crown-group Marsupialia and their closest allies. To explore this contention appropriately, the TCF needs to be evaluated in relation to the morphofunctional complex of which it is a part, something never previously undertaken in a systematic fashion. This complex, here defined as the pericarotid venous network (PCVN), is assessed using osteological, histological, and ontogenetic information. Although the TCF is usually thought of as a marsupial attribute, some living placentals also express it. What do these clades actually share in regard to this feature, and how do they differ? Our leading hypothesis is that the chief components of the PCVN begin development in the same way in both Marsupialia and Placentalia, but they follow different ontogenetic trajectories in terms of persistence, size, and connections with other elements of the cephalic venous vasculature. Similarities include shared presence of specific emissary and emissarylike veins in the mesocranial region that connect part of the endocranial dural vasculature (cavernous sinus or CS) to the systemic circulation (external and internal jugular veins plus the cerebrospinal venous system). In marsupials the principal pericarotid vessels are the transverse canal vein (TCV) and internal carotid vein (ICV). These veins almost always attain relatively large size during marsupial ontogeny. By contrast, in most placentals their apparent homologs (among others, emissary vein of the sphenoidal foramen and internal carotid venous plexus) evidently slow down or terminate their growth relatively early, and for this reason they play only a proportionally minor role in cephalic drainage in later life. In both clades, these vessels (informally grouped with others in the same region as pericarotid mesocranial distributaries, or PMDs) play a variable role in draining the CS in conjunction with the much larger petrosal sinuses. A pneumatic space within the basisphenoid—called the sphenoid sinus in placentals, transverse basisphenoid sinus (TBS) in marsupials—communicates with PCVN vasculature and should be considered an integral part of the network. The TBS contains red marrow tissues that are active centers of extramedullary hematopoiesis in young stages of some species, although how widespread this function may be in marsupial clades is not yet known. Previous explorations of the marsupial PCVN have been largely limited to determining whether, in any given taxon, a continuous passageway linking the right and left TCFs could be demonstrated running through the basisphenoid (“intramural” condition). It has long been known that a number of species apparently lack this particular passageway, and that the TCFs instead open into the braincase (“endocranial” condition). Puzzlingly, some species appear to have both passageways, others one or the other, and a few none at all, thus inviting questions about their equivalency and the circumstances under which the CS is actually drained by the TCV. Morphologically, these uncertainties can be resolved by viewing the full TCV as a tripartite entity, consisting of a trunk and rostral and caudal branches. The trunk, or the part that leaves the TCF for the external jugular system, receives the rostral and caudal branches, if both are present, within the body of the basisphenoid. The rostral or intramural branch has little or no direct communication with the endocranium in most investigated species. By contrast, the caudal or endocranial branch is an ordinary emissarium, in that it connects a part of the endocranial system of dural veins with the extracranial circulation. Determining branch routing alone does not adequately capture the scale of morphological variety and function encountered in marsupial PCVN organization. We distinguish five patterns of association between TCVs and other PCVN components. These patterns, based on both histological and osteological criteria, are defined as follows: (1) Simple: only rostral passageway present, caudal passageway absent or reduced to a thread; rostral branch veins form midline confluence within TBS in advance of hypophysis; minimal interaction with CS and its distributaries; rostral and caudal portions of TBS discontinuous. (2) Complex: mostly as in (1), except both rostral and caudal branches present and functional; caudal branches communicate with CS/ICV and do not form a confluence; TBS more extensive. (3) Compound: mostly as in (2), except TBS greatly expanded, incorporating most of rostral branch canals, which are correspondingly short. (4) Hybrid: differs from others in that only the pathways for enlarged caudal branches are significant; they originate from the CS/ICV caudal to the position of the hypophysis; rostral branches absent or highly reduced. (5) Indeterminate: transverse foramina, canals, and branches absent or unidentifiable as such, presumably due to vascular involution early in ontogeny. In light of TCV composition, the trunk of the TCV can be considered a mixed-origin vein, maximally receiving both a quasisystemic or emissarylike vessel (rostral branch) that does not originate from endocranial dural vessels, and a true emissarial vessel (caudal branch) that does. Some extant geomyoid rodents and strepsirrhine primates exhibit enlarged venous structures in the mesocranial region; these are briefly surveyed for comparative purposes, but resemblances to conditions in marsupials are superficial and unmistakably interpretable as convergences. Members of the extinct marsupial sister group Sparassodonta sometimes lack detectable TCFs, as do other non-marsupial metatherians in the fossil record. Evidence for the transverse canal and other PCVN components in other therians is briefly outlined. In summary, the development of mesocranial vasculature as outlined in this paper is hypothesized to be basal for therians, but Marsupialia and Placentalia radically differ in the end expression of PMDs in the adult stage. In prenatal stages of both clades, initial differentiation of these distributaries is presumably similar, but, compared to marsupials, in almost all placental groups these vessels are retained in an undeveloped or neotenic state. By contrast, enhanced expression of the TCV trunk and its branches seems to be a genuine novelty characterizing Marsupialia, although one probably present in some other metatherian groups. Accordingly, the transverse foramen, canal, and related features are probably best regarded as an innovation occurring in the marsupial stem, not a synapomorphy of the crown group as previously suggested by some authors.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Systematic revision of Thomasomys cinereus (Rodentia: Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae) from northern Peru and southern Ecuador, with descriptions of three new species (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 461)
    (American Museum of Natural History., 2023-06-21) Pacheco Torres, Víctor R. (Víctor Rául); Ruelas, Dennisse
    Thomasomys cinereus is the type species of Thomasomys, type genus of the sigmodontine tribe Thomasomyini. As currently recognized, Thomasomys includes 48 species, all of which are endemic to humid montane or premontane forests in the tropical Andes. Although it has been suggested that T. cinereus is a species complex, this hypothesis has yet to be critically evaluated. Herein we provide a revision of the species based on a qualitative assessment of external, craniodental, and soft morphological traits; morphometric analyses; a phylogenetic analysis based on cytochrome b gene sequences; species delimitation methods; and first-hand examination of type material. Our analyses of genetic data recovered four distinct clades within T. cinereus, one corresponding to T. cinereus sensu stricto (restricted to the montane forests delimited by the Río Marañón, Río Huancabamba, and Río Tablachaca in Cajamarca department, Peru) and three new species: Thomasomys lojapiuranus, sp. nov., from the montane forests of Piura department, Peru, and Loja province, Ecuador; T. shallqukucha, sp. nov., restricted to the Kañaris montane forests in the Peruvian department of Lambayeque; and T. pagaibambensis, sp. nov., restricted to the montane forests of Pagaibamba in Cajamarca department, Peru. These species can be distinguished by several discrete morphological traits of the skull, dentition, mandible, stomach, palatal rugae, and glans penis. Genetic distances among these taxa range from 5.06%–7.65% at the cytochrome b locus, and delimitation analyses based on cytochrome b sequence data support their recognition as distinct species. Our results suggest the existence of previously unsuspected dispersal barriers in the Andes of northern Peru, and they confirm that the Río Marañón is a formidable barrier that limits the distribution of species of Thomasomys as well as other sigmodontine rodents.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Generic revisions of the Scopaeina and the Sphaeronina (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae: Lathrobiini) (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 460)
    (American Museum of Natural History., 2023-06-21) Herman, Lee H.
    The generic classifications of the paederine subtribes Scopaeina Mulsant and Rey, 1878, and Sphaeronina Casey, 1905, are revised. Sphaeronina, revised status, is resurrected from synonymy. Keys to the included genera of both subtribes are included. Newly discovered characters in both subtribes are discussed and illustrated. The Scopaeina now includes Scopaeus, Hyperscopaeus, Micranops, Orus, and Trisunius. The account for each genus includes its diagnostic characters, a description, summary of the general distribution, and list of the included species and specimens examined. Scopaeus Erichson, 1839, has a revised definition and is now restricted to species that have not only a constricted neck and a trichobothrium adjacent to and at about the middorsal margin of the eye, but also a metathoracic/mesofemoral stridulum comprised of a lateral, metaventral file and mesofemoral plectral ridges, slender, apically acute, metakatepisternal processes, and a middorsally fused median lobe of the aedeagus. The stridulum, redefined herein as a file and plectrum that when rubbed together produce stridulation in insects. The metaventral file and mesofemoral plectral ridges of Scopaeus, is, heretofore, unknown in the Staphylinidae or perhaps, even the Coleoptera. Variations of the stridulum and metakatepisternal processes are illustrated and described for each species group. Five genus-group names in the Western Hemisphere, Scopaeomerus Sharp, 1886, and Euscopaeus Sharp, 1886, are new synonyms of Scopaeus; Scopaeodera Casey, 1886, Scopaeoma Casey, 1905, and Scopaeopsis Casey, 1905, are revised status junior synonyms of Scopaeus. The species in those generic groups are now included in species groups of Scopaeus. Hyperscopaeus Coiffait, 1984, new status, is elevated to genus from subgeneric status in Scopaeus. Trisunius Assing, 2011, new subtribal assignment, is moved from the Medonina to the Scopaeina. Typhloscopaeus Jarrige, 1951, incertae sedis, formerly a subgenus of Scopaeus, is of unknown placement, but the species and generic names are retained in Scopaeus awaiting study of the type. Orus cervicula Casey, 1905, revised combination, is returned to Orus from Scopaeus. Orus femoralis (Sharp, 1887), new combination, is transferred from Scopaeus. There are now three named species of Orus with narrow necks. Scopaeus chiriquensis (Sharp, 1886), S. guatemalensis (Sharp, 1886), S. obscurus (Sharp, 1886), and S. palmatus (Sharp, 1886), new combinations, are transferred to Scopaeus from Scopaeomerus. Medon mexicanus (Bernhauer, 1910), new combination, is transferred to Medon from Scopaeomerus. Scopaeus crassitarsis (Sharp, 1886), S. gracilicornis (Sharp, 1886), S. impar (Bierig, 1935), new combinations, are transferred to Scopaeus from Euscopaeus.The following names are transferred from Scopaeus to Hyperscopaeus as new combinations: Hyperscopaeus admixtus (Fagel, 1973), H. albertvillensis (Fagel, 1973), H. allardianus (Fagel, 1973), H. andrewesi (Cameron, 1931), H. angolanus (Fagel, 1973), H. bamaniaensis (Fagel, 1973), H. borneensis (Cameron, 1941), H. bredoanus (Fagel, 1973), H. calidus (Bernhauer, 1932), H. confusoides (Fagel, 1973), H. confusus (Fagel, 1973), H. consimilis (Fagel, 1973), H. convexiceps (Bernhauer, 1932), H. corpulentus (Fagel, 1973), H. decelleanus (Fagel, 1973), H. dolosus (Fagel, 1973), H. endrodyanus (Fagel, 1973), H. errans (Fagel, 1973), H. erraticus (Fagel, 1973), H. fageli (Levasseur, 1981), H. fallaciosus (Fagel, 1973), H. filicornis (Fagel, 1973), H. flavidulus (Fagel, 1973), H. flavocastaneus (Lea, 1923), H. fluviatilis (Fagel, 1973), H. fossiceps (Eppelsheim, 1885), H. fuliginosus (Fagel, 1973), H. fulvescens (Motschulsky, 1858), H. fusculus (Motschulsky, 1858), H. gigantulus (Bernhauer, 1929), H. girardianus (Fagel, 1973), H. hova (Fauvel, 1905), H. hulstaertianus (Fagel, 1973), H. intermixtus (Fagel, 1973), H. kaszabianus (Fagel, 1973), H. katanganus (Fagel, 1973), H. kivuanus (Fagel, 1973), H. lamtoensis (Fagel, 1973), H. leleupianus (Fagel, 1973), H. leopoldvillensis (Fagel, 1973), H. lescuyeri (Delaunay, Coache, and Rainon, 2019), H. levasseuri (Lundgren, 1982), H. longiusculus (Fagel, 1973), H. machadoanus (Fagel, 1973), H. major (Eppelsheim, 1885), H. methneri (Bernhauer, 1932), H. minutulus (Fagel, 1973), H. mulongoensis (Fagel, 1973), H. nitidiceps (Fagel, 1973), H. nitidicollis (Fagel, 1973), H. opacicollis (Bernhauer, 1942), H. overlaetianus (Fagel, 1973), H. parvicornis (Fauvel, 1900), H. procerus (Kraatz, 1859), H. pruinosulus (Eppelsheim, 1885), H. pseudomethneri (Fagel, 1973), H. puberulus (Kraatz, 1859), H. reduncus (Fagel, 1973), H. ripicola (Fagel, 1973), H. rubricollis (Fagel, 1973), H. rubrotestaceus (Kraatz, 1859), H. ruguliceps (Fagel, 1973), H. ruziziensis (Fagel, 1973), H. semifuscus (Kraatz, 1859), H. senegalensis (Fagel, 1973), H. seydeli (Cameron, 1952), H. simillimus (Fagel, 1973), H. simulator (Fagel, 1973), H. spathiferus (Coiffait, 1970), H. spinosophallatus (Frisch, 2012), H. subconfusus (Fagel, 1973), H. subprocerus (Coiffait, 1978), H. surdus (Fagel, 1973), H. suspectus (Fauvel, 1907), H. tchapembanus (Fagel, 1973), H. thoracicus (Motschulsky, 1858), H. tristis (Bernhauer, 1929), H. vagans (Fagel, 1973, and H. voltae (Fagel, 1973). Sphaeronina, revised status, is resurrected from synonymy and now includes Sphaeronum Sharp, 1876, Tripectenopus Lea, 1918, Typhloleleupius Fagel, 1964, and Coecoscopaeus Coiffait, 1982; the last three genera are new assignments to the subtribe. Sphaeronina is redefined by the presence of a hypopharyngeal peg, an enlarged protibial concavity with combs, a ventral denticle on the left mandible, and a groove on the outer edge of the mandibles; additional possible diagnostic characters are discussed. Sphaeronum, Tripectenopus, Typhloleleupius, and Coecoscopaeus are redescribed; the genera are found, respectively, in the American tropical and subtropical regions, Australia, southern Africa and perhaps Madagascar, and Tunisia. Few African and Australian were available for study. Scopaeodracus Scheerpeltz, 1935, is a new synonym of Tripectenopus. Tripectenopus handschini (Scheerpeltz, 1935), new combination, is transferred from Scopaeodracus; Tripectenopus australiae (Fauvel, 1878), T. microps (Lea, 1923), T. pectinatrix (Lea, 1923), and T. torrensensis (Blackburn, 1891), new combinations, are transferred from Domene.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Comparative anatomy of the insect tracheal system, part 1. Introduction, apterygotes, Paleoptera, Polyneoptera (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 459)
    (American Museum of Natural History., 2023-03-10) Herhold, Hollister W.; Davis, Steven R., 1983-; DeGrey, Samuel P.; Grimaldi, David A.
    A broad comparative study of insect respiratory morphology is presented. Tracheae, epidermal invaginations extending into the body in branching networks of tubes, supply tissues with direct access to air for gas exchange. While previous tracheal studies focused on a handful of taxa and lacked in consistency, here a unified system of tracheal nomenclature is established using visualizations from micro-CT scanning of representatives from apterygotes, Paleoptera, and Polyneoptera, totaling 29 species, 29 genera, and 26 families in 13 insect orders. Three-dimensional visualizations of named tracheal branches establish robust assessments of homology and provide a framework for further studies across class Insecta. Patterns in respiratory architecture are presented along with a discussion of future investigations into phylogenetic and physiological questions.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Revision of the Nearctic species of the genus Amiota Loew (Diptera: Drosophilidae) (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 458)
    (American Museum of Natural History., 2022-09-15) Jones, Lance Eric; Grimaldi, David A.
    Thorough biotic inventories are still needed even in families with paradigm organisms like Drosophilidae, including well-studied areas such as North America. This work presents a taxonomic revision of the species of the genus Amiota Loew in North America and the Nearctic portion of Mexico. Amiota steganoptera Malloch is currently excluded from the Nearctic and Amiota setigera Malloch is synonymized under Amiota humeralis Loew. Specimens of Amiota subtusradiata Duda were not encountered during this study along with its synonym Amiota quadrata Takada and Toda; however, based on previous descriptions we include A. subtusradiata in the Nearctic fauna. All other previously described species from the Nearctic are redescribed. Thirty-six species are described as new: Amiota amputata, A. antitormentum, A. avipes, A. biacuminis, A. brayi, A. byersi, A. cervites, A. cruciatum, A. didens, A. durangoensis, A. elsaltoensis, A. floridiensis, A. forceps, A. fulvitibia, A. hyalou, A. imperator, A. incurva, A. laevifurca, A. latilabrum, A. mcalpinei, A. multiplex, A. nanonigrescens, A. occidentalis, A. onyx, A. oviraptor, A. pseudominor, A. raripennis, A. sinaloensis, A. subnebojsa, A. tessae, A. texas, A. tibialis, A. tormentum, A. uniacuminis, A. wheeleri, and A. zaliskoi. This increases the total species known in the Nearctic from 13 to 49. All species in the Nearctic are illustrated, adult diagnostic features are discussed, and distributions are provided. A cladogram based on parsimony analysis of 46 morphological characters established species groups in the genus. Most of the Nearctic species were accommodated into 10 species groups. Three species groups were previously erected for species in China and Europe. Seven species groups are newly established: the avipes, cervites, hsui, mariae, nebojsa, nigrescens, and subtusradiata groups.Diversity in Amiota appears to be partially dependent on elevation and latitude in the Nearctic, with high diversity found in southern Ontario, the Appalachians, the Ozarks, mountain forests of Arizona and New Mexico, and the Sierra Madre of central Mexico. The taxonomic history of the Nearctic species is reviewed, and various aspects of their biology is presented. Males of species in the A. mariae species group are polymorphic for mirror-image, asymmetric genitalia, called chiral variants. Besides morphology, larval saproxyly, adult lachryphagy, and biogeography are reviewed. Challenges to the study of Amiota and future prospects are discussed.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Craniodental morphology and phylogeny of marsupials (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 457)
    (American Museum of Natural History., 2022-06-28) Beck, Robin M. D.; Voss, Robert S.; Jansa, Sharon A.
    The current literature on marsupial phylogenetics includes numerous studies based on analyses of morphological data with limited sampling of Recent and fossil taxa, and many studies based on analyses of molecular data with dense sampling of Recent taxa, but few studies have combined both data types. Another dichotomy in the marsupial phylogenetic literature is between studies focused on New World taxa and those focused on Sahulian taxa. To date, there has been no attempt to assess the phylogenetic relationships of the global marsupial fauna based on combined analyses of morphology and molecular sequences for a dense sampling of Recent and fossil taxa. For this report, we compiled morphological and molecular data from an unprecedented number of Recent and fossil marsupials. Our morphological data consist of 180 craniodental characters that we scored for 97 terminals representing every currently recognized Recent genus, 42 additional ingroup (crown-clade marsupial) terminals represented by well-preserved fossils, and 5 outgroups (nonmarsupial metatherians).Our molecular data comprise 24.5 kb of DNA sequences from whole-mitochondrial genomes and six nuclear loci (APOB, BRCA1, GHR, RAG1, RBP3 and VWF) for 97 marsupial terminals (the same Recent taxa scored for craniodental morphology) and several placental and monotreme outgroups. The results of separate and combined analyses of these data using a wide range of phylogenetic methods support many currently accepted hypotheses of ingroup (marsupial) relationships, but they also underscore the difficulty of placing fossils with key missing data (e.g., †Evolestes), and the unique difficulty of placing others that exhibit mosaics of plesiomorphic and autapomorphic traits (e.g., †Yalkaparidon). Unique contributions of our study are (1) critical discussions and illustrations of marsupial craniodental morphology including features never previously coded for phylogenetic analysis; (2) critical assessments of relative support for many suprageneric clades; (3) estimates of divergence times derived from tip-and-node dating based on uniquely taxon-dense analyses; and (4) a revised, higher-order classification of marsupials accompanied by lists of supporting craniodental synapomorphies. Far from the last word on these topics, this report lays the foundation for future research that may be enabled by the discovery of new fossil taxa, better-preserved material of previously described taxa, novel morphological characters (e.g., from the postcranium), and improved methods of phylogenetic analysis.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Spatial and temporal distribution of the island-dwelling Kogaionidae (Mammalia, Multituberculata) in the uppermost Cretaceous of Transylvania (Western Romania) (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 456)
    (American Museum of Natural History., 2022-06-14) Csiki-Sava, Zoltán; Vremir, Mátyás; Meng, Jin (Paleontologist); Vasile, Ștefan; Brusatte, Stephen; Norell, Mark
    The latest Cretaceous kogaionid multituberculates from Transylvania (western Romania) were part of an endemic European clade of mammals that underwent an insular radiation at the end of the Cretaceous and then survived the end-Cretaceous mass extinction that extinguished many groups of contemporary therians. Transylvanian kogaionids lived on what was an island during the latest Cretaceous—“Hațeg Island”—and their fossils are found in the uppermost Campanian to upper Maastrichtian deposits of the Hațeg, Rusca Montană, and southwestern Transylvanian basins. This fossil record has improved dramatically over the past several decades, in part resulting from our decade-long joint Romanian-American-Scottish fieldwork, and comprises one of the most impressive and complete archives of Mesozoic mammals, including not only jaws and teeth but several incomplete skulls and partial skeletons.We here review the fossil record of kogaionids from Transylvania. We report four new occurrences from the Hațeg Basin, update information on previously described ones, and use our database to reassess the chronostratigraphical and geographical distribution of kogaionids and their evolutionary patterns. Although it was previously suggested that large and small kogaionids had largely mutually exclusive spatial distributions, we recognize the cooccurrence of small and large taxa in various units, suggesting a sympatric distribution across their entire chronostratigraphic range. We also identify a novel pattern: small kogaionids appear somewhat earlier than their larger relatives in all well-sampled sedimentary successions, suggesting that kogaionid colonizations of Hațeg Island and component regions took place at small body size and that body size increased only later through local evolution. We find correlations between body size, preservation style, and sedimentary context, which give insight into kogaionid paleobiology and diversity. Larger kogaionids are represented more often by partial skulls and occasionally skeletons compared with small kogaionids, which are usually represented only by isolated teeth, regardless of provenance. Larger kogaionids currently have a higher recognized local taxic diversity than their smaller relatives. We hypothesize that this may be in part a consequence of preservational bias related to body size, as more complete specimens may be more easily diagnosed as distinct taxa than those that are represented by more fragmentary and/or incomplete fossils. If true, the taxic diversity of smaller kogaionids may currently be underestimated. Finally, we identify correspondence between sedimentary facies and preservation style. Red-colored fine-grained rocks, suggestive of well-drained, oxidized floodplain paleoenvironments, yield more complete specimens than drab, greenish or grayish sediments deposited in more poorly drained parts of the floodplain. This pattern may suggest habitat preferences for better-drained floodplain environments and a semifossorial lifestyle for some taxa. As the kogaionid fossil record improves, we can further test the hypotheses and patterns outlined above. The pace of new kogaionid discoveries by our team and others indicates that a more complete picture of kogaionid distribution, paleobiology, and evolution will emerge in the coming years, contributing to a more profound understanding of this peculiar group of island-dwelling Mesozoic mammals.
  • ItemOpen Access
    An annotated checklist of Recent opossums (Mammalia: Didelphidae) (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 455)
    (American Museum of Natural History., 2022-04-04) Voss, Robert S.
    Living opossums (Didelphidae) comprise 125 species in 18 genera and 4 subfamilies. This synopsis lists all the didelphid taxa (subfamilies, tribes, genera, subgenera, and species) currently recognised as valid, summarizes information about typification, synonyms, and geographic distributions, remarks noteworthy recent changes in usage, and comments on still outstanding problems. A concluding discussion rejects the notion that the almost twofold increase in opossum species from 1993 to the present is “taxonomic inflation” and considers the impact of new kinds of data and new methods of data analysis on species delimitation.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Fourteen new, endemic species of shrew (genus Crocidura) from Sulawesi reveal a spectacular island radiation (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 454)
    (American Museum of Natural History., 2021-12-15) Esselstyn, Jacob A.; Setiawan Achmadi, Anang; Handika, Heru; Swanson, Mark T.; Giarla, Thomas C.; Rowe, Kevin C.
    After nearly a decade of field inventories in which we preserved voucher specimens of the small terrestrial mammals of Sulawesi, we combined qualitative and quantitative analyses of morphological traits with molecular phylogenetics to better understand the diversity of shrews (Soricidae: Crocidura) on the island. We examined the morphology of 1368 specimens and obtained extensive molecular data from many of them, including mitochondrial DNA sequences from 851 specimens, up to five nuclear exons from 657 specimens, and thousands of ultraconserved elements from 90 specimens. By iteratively testing species limits using distinct character datasets and appropriate taxon sampling, we found clear, mostly consistent evidence for the existence of 21 species of shrews on Sulawesi, only seven of which were previously recognized. We divide these 21 species into five morphogroups, provide emended diagnoses of the seven previously named species, and describe 14 new species. The Long-Tailed Group contains Crocidura caudipilosa, C. elongata, C. microelongata, new species, and C. quasielongata, new species; the Rhoditis Group contains C. rhoditis, C. pseudorhoditis, new species, C. australis, new species, and C. pallida, new species; the Small-Bodied Group contains C. lea, C. levicula, C. baletei, new species, C. mediocris, new species, C. parva, new species, and C. tenebrosa, new species; the Thick-Tailed Group contains C. brevicauda, new species and C. caudicrassa, new species; and the Ordinary Group contains C. musseri, C. nigripes, C. normalis, new species, C. ordinaria, new species, and C. solita, new species. Documenting these endemic species reveals a local radiation (20 of the 21 species are members of an endemic clade) in which elevational gradients played a prominent role in either promoting speciation, or at a minimum, fostering the cooccurrence of phenotypically similar species. As now understood, the species-level diversity of Crocidura on Sulawesi is nearly three times the known diversity of any other insular shrew fauna. This study highlights the fact that if we wish to understand the true extent of biodiversity on Earth, large-scale, vouchered organismal inventories followed up with thorough examinations of genetic, morphological, and geographic traits are sorely needed in montane tropical regions, even for purportedly well-studied groups such as mammals.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Systematics of the relictual Asian scorpion family Pseudochactidae Gromov, 1998, with a review of cavernicolous, troglobitic, and troglomorphic scorpions (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 453)
    (American Museum of Natural History., 2021-09-30) Prendini, Lorenzo; Ehrenthal, Valentin L.; Loria, Stephanie F.
    The first integrative systematic revision of the relictual Asian scorpion family Pseudochactidae Gromov, 1998, making use of an unprecedented collection of material acquired during several expeditions to most of the type localities, is presented. The subfamilies, genera and species of Pseudochactidae are revised based on a phylogenetic analysis of 140 morphological characters and 8608 nucleotide base pairs of concatenated DNA sequence from two nuclear and three mitochondrial gene loci, and a multivariate statistical analysis of 22 ratios and 8 counts for 60 specimens. Three subfamilies, four genera and six species are recognized in the family. Troglokhammouaninae, subfam. nov., is created to restore the monophyly of the nominotypical subfamily Pseudochactinae Gromov, 1998. Aemngvantom, gen. nov., is created to accommodate Aemngvantom lao (Lourenço, 2012), comb. nov., and Aemngvantom thamnongpaseuam gen. et sp. nov. Four new synonyms are presented: Troglokhammouanus louisanneorum Lourenço, 2017 = Troglokhammouanus steineri Lourenço, 2007, syn. nov.; Vietbocap thienduongensis Lourenço and Pham, 2012 = Vietbocap canhi Lourenço and Pham, 2010, syn. nov.; Vietbocap aurantiacus Lourenço et al., 2018 = V. canhi, syn. nov.; Vietbocap quinquemilia Lourenço et al., 2018 = V. canhi, syn. nov. Revised diagnoses of the subfamilies, genera and species, with comparative images, a key and distribution maps are provided, along with a summary of available data on ecology and conservation status, where applicable. Among the Southeast Asian pseudochactids, all of which appear to be obligately cavernicolous, the three species of Vietbocapinae Lourenço, 2012, are highly troglomorphic whereas the sole species of Troglokhammouaninae is barely so. Applying recently revised definitions of the Schiner-Racovitza system for the classification of subterranean organisms, only Vietbocapinae can be considered troglobitic. The global diversity of cavernicolous, troglomorphic and troglobitic scorpions is similarly revisited and a key to ecological classification of cavernicolous and troglomorphic scorpions presented. The world totals of troglomorphic vs. troglobitic scorpions are currently 58 vs. 28 species, in 29 vs. 17 genera and 15 vs. 13 families, respectively.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Systematic revision of the arboreal Neotropical “thorellii” clade of Centruroides Marx, 1890, bark scorpions (Buthidae C.L. Koch, 1837) with descriptions of six new species (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 452)
    (American Museum of Natural History., 2021-09-16) Goodman, Aaron M.; Prendini, Lorenzo; Francke, Oscar F.; Esposito, Lauren A.
    The arboreal Neotropical “thorellii” clade of Centruroides Marx, 1890, bark scorpions (Buthidae C.L. Koch, 1837) is revised, using a novel approach to species delimitation. A phylogenetic analysis, based on 112 morphological characters and 1078 aligned DNA nucleotides from the mitochondrial Cytochrome c Oxidase Subunit I (COI) gene, provided the framework for placing singletons from geographically disparate localities (and often with suboptimal preservation) using COI minibarcodes, thereby enlarging the taxon sample for diagnosis and delimitation of morphological species. Six new species are described, tripling the known diversity in the clade to nine: Centruroides berstoni, sp. nov.; Centruroides catemacoensis, sp. nov.; Centruroides chanae, sp. nov.; Centruroides cuauhmapan, sp. nov.; Centruroides hamadryas, sp. nov.; Centruroides yucatanensis, sp. nov. Revised diagnoses are presented for Centruroides hoffmanni Armas, 1996, Centruroides rileyi Sissom, 1995, and Centruroides schmidti Sissom, 1995. Comparative images, a key and distribution maps for all species of the clade are provided, along with a summary of available data for their ecology.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Mammalian diversity and Matses ethnomammalogy in Amazonian Peru. Part 4, Bats (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 451)
    (American Museum of Natural History., 2021-08-27) Velazco, Paúl M.; Voss, Robert S.; Fleck, David W. (David William), 1969-; Simmons, Nancy B.
    In this report, the fourth of our monographic series on mammalian diversity and Matses ethnomammalogyin the Yavarí-Ucayali interfluvial region of northeastern Peru, we document the occurrence of 98 species of bats, including 11 emballonurids, 2 noctilionids, 66 phyllostomids, 1 furipterid, 4 thyropterids, 7 vespertilionids, and 7 molossids. New species based on specimens collected in this region (Peropteryx pallidoptera, Micronycteris matses, Hsunycteris dashe, Sturnira giannae, and Thyropterawynneae) have already been described elsewhere, but noteworthy distributional and taxonomicresults newly reported here include the first specimen of Diclidurus isabella from Peru and the diagnosis of Glossophaga bakeri as a species distinct from G. commissarisi. Lists of examined voucher specimens, identification criteria, essential taxonomic references, and summaries of natural history observations are provided for all species. Original natural history information reported herein includes numerous observations of roosting behavior obtained by indigenous Matses collaborators. We assess the Yavarí-Ucayali bat inventory for completeness and conclude that more species remain to be discovered in the region, where as many as 116 species might be expected. Most of the “missing” species (those expected based on geographic criteria but not actually observed) are aerial insectivores, a guild that is notoriously difficult to sample by mistnetting. Of the 98 species in the observed regional fauna, only 71 are known to occur sympatrically at Jenaro Herrera, by far the best-sampled locality between the Yavarí and Ucayali rivers. Faunal comparisons with extralimital inventories (e.g., from Brazil, Ecuador, and French Guiana) suggest that frugivorous bats are substantially more speciose in western Amazonia than in eastern Amazonia, a result that is consistent with previous suggestions of an east-to-west gradient in the trophic structure of Amazonian mammal faunas. As previously reported, the Matses have only a single name for “bat,” but they recognize the existence of many unnamed local species, which they distinguish on the basis of morphology and behavior. However, by contrast with the well-documented accuracy of Matses observations about primates and other game species, recorded Matses monologs about bat natural history contain numerous factual errors and ambiguities. Linguistic underdifferentiation of bat diversity and inaccurate natural history knowledge are both explained by cultural inattention to small, inedible, and inoffensive nocturnal fauna.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Systematic revision of the sand scorpions, genus Buthacus Birula, 1908 (Buthidae C.L. Koch, 1837) of the Levant, with redescription of Buthacus arenicola (Simon, 1885) from Algeria and Tunisia (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 450)
    (American Museum of Natural History., 2021-04-27) Cain, Shlomo; Gefen, Eran; Prendini, Lorenzo
    Scorpions of the genus Buthacus Birula, 1908 (Buthidae C.L. Koch, 1837), commonly known as "sand scorpions," are widespread in the sandy deserts of the Palearctic, from West Africa to India. Although many new species of Buthacus were described in recent years, no modern revision exists for the genus and the limits of many infrageneric taxa remain unclear. The present contribution addresses the species of Buthacus recorded from the Levant, defined here as the region of the Middle East including Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt). Prior to this study, five species and subspecies, including several synonyms, were recognized from the region. Based on extensive new collections, a reassessment of the morphology (including multivariate statistical analysis), and a phylogenetic analysis of morphological and DNA sequence data, published elsewhere, seven species of Buthacus are now recognized from the Levant, raising the number of species in the genus to 30. Three new species are described: Buthacus amitaii, sp. nov., endemic to Israel; Buthacus arava, sp. nov., endemic to Israel and Jordan; and Buthacus levyi, sp. nov., endemic to Egypt, Israel, and perhaps Libya. Buthacus arenicola (Simon, 1885) is redescribed and restricted to northeastern Algeria and central Tunisia, and Buthacus leptochelys (Ehrenberg, 1829) redescribed and restricted to Egypt, Sudan, and perhaps Libya. Buthacus armasi Lourenço, 2013, stat. rev., from southern Algeria, and Buthacus spatzi (Birula, 1911), stat. rev., from southern Tunisia and western Libya, are revalidated, and Buthacus fuscata Pallary, 1929, stat. nov. et stat. rev., from southern Algeria, revalidated and elevated to the rank of species. Buthacus nitzani Levy et al., 1973, stat. nov., currently restricted to Israel but probably present in the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt), is elevated to the rank of species. Buthacus tadmorensis (Simon, 1892), stat. rev., recorded from Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and Turkey, and Buthacus yotvatensis Levy et al., 1973, stat. rev., endemic to Israel and Jordan, are redescribed and revalidated. Three new synonyms are presented: Androctonus (Leiurus) macrocentrus Ehrenberg, 1828 = Buthacus leptochelys (Ehrenberg, 1829), syn. nov.; Buthus pietschmanni Penther, 1912 = Buthacus tadmorensis (Simon, 1892), syn. nov.; Buthacus granosus Borelli, 1929 = Buthacus leptochelys (Ehrenberg, 1829), syn. nov. Buthacus arenicola and the seven species of Buthacus occurring in the Levant are diagnosed and illustrated to modern standards, with updated distribution maps. A list of the currently recognized species of Buthacus, and a key to identification of the species occurring in the Levant are also presented.