Allometric analysis was performed on a total of 21 measurements of limb bones to evaluate ontogenetic changes. Ten measurements were allometric, correlating positively and negatively with body mass. Some of them, like the positive allometry of the tarsometatarsus length, the negative allometry of the distal region of the tibiotarsus and the proximal segment of the tarsometatarsus, seem to be associated with cursoriality. PF-02341066 research buy On the other hand, the positive allometric growth of the distal segment of the femur may be related to the large body size of these birds. “
“The lizard family Cordylidae is mainly endemic to southern
Africa and comprises 80 named taxa, placed in 10 genera. We mapped parity mode and the timing of gametogenesis in males and females on a genus-level phylogenetic tree for the family, derived from the literature. For those genera for which reproduction data
were not available, we investigated Selleck Quizartinib male reproductive activity for representative species using museum material. In addition, we constructed an area cladogram to recover ancestral ranges. Our parsimony analysis retrieved two equally parsimonious solutions for evolutionary transformations in parity mode and reproductive timing in the Cordylidae. Both solutions suggest that oviparity and spring gametogenesis in both males and females (synchronized breeding) is the basal condition in the family. The correlated evolution of viviparity and autumn breeding has been noted in many lizard clades, and we therefore prefer the solution suggesting (1) that the transformations from oviparity to viviparity and from spring to autumn gametogenesis occurred simultaneously in the most recent common ancestor of the Cordylinae, Immune system and (2) that a subsequent return
to spring spermatogenesis occurred in the most recent common ancestor of the Ouroborus-Karusasaurus-Namazonurus-Hemicordylus-Cordylus clade, a distinctly western clade. The evolution of viviparity and autumn spermatogenesis in the most recent common ancestor of the Cordylinae appears to have been correlated with the onset of cooler climates during the Oligocene while the return to spring spermatogenesis appears to be have been correlated with the aridification of the western parts of southern Africa during the early Miocene. “
“The genus Buthus is a medium diverse scorpion genus, with 35 species distributed from Portugal and Morocco ranging eastward to Yemen in the Arabic Peninsula. The bulk of the genus’ known species diversity occurs in the Western Mediterranean area. A recent molecular study started to elucidate the patterns of diversity of this genus in the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb. Since then, the taxonomy of the genus has changed substantially, with several new species having been described, and with the elevation of former subspecies to species-level.