@article {1389, title = {Burmese (Myanmar) amber checklist and bibliography 2018}, journal = {Palaeoentomology}, volume = {2}, year = {2019}, month = {28/02/2019}, pages = {22{\textendash}84}, abstract = {

A list of all known taxa described or recorded from Burmese amber from the published literature up to the end of 2018 is given, along with a comprehensive bibliography. The history of the study of inclusions is summarised, and demonstrates that the number of species has risen exponentially over the past two decades. The first three species were named in 1916 and by the end of 1920 a total of 42 species had been named by T.D.A. Cockerell. Only three more species were named by 1999 though by the end of 2018 the total had risen to an incredible 1,192 species, of which over half were named in the past three years. Some 320 species were named in 2018, the highest number described from one type of amber in any one year in the entire history of amber studies.

}, keywords = {Arachnids, Burmese amber, Cretaceous, fungi, insects, invertebrates, Myanmar, plants, protists, vertebrates}, issn = {2624-2826}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.11646/palaeoentomology.2.1.5}, url = {https://www.mapress.com/pe/article/view/palaeoentomology.2.1.5}, author = {Ross, Andrew J.} } @article {1370, title = {The Wynberg Cave System, the most important site for cave fauna in South Africa at risk}, journal = {Subterranean Biology}, volume = {36}, year = {2020}, month = {16/11/2020}, pages = {73-81}, abstract = {

The Wynberg Cave System, located on the Cape Peninsula, represents one of the most significant sites of cave fauna in southern Africa. However, the continuous increase in cave visitation is severely impacting the system as evidenced by graffiti, the trampling and destruction of cave habitats and even a reduction in the sizes of bat colonies. In October 2019, the Wynberg Cave System was visited by a group of scientist, who discovered unregistered troglomorphic species. This, subsequently increased the number of troglobites occurring in the system to 19, which likely means that this system has the potential to become the first hotspot of subterranean biodiversity in Africa. Protecting the Wynberg Cave System is therefore of great importance. Here, we propose short and long-term strategies that include educating local communities on the importance of conserving caves and installing gated entrances.

}, keywords = {Cave protection, Invertebrates conservation, Subterranean biodiversity}, issn = {1768-1448, 1314-2615}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3897/subtbiol.36.60162}, url = {https://subtbiol.pensoft.net/article/60162/}, author = {Lopes Ferreira, Rodrigo and Giribet, Gonzalo and Du Preez, Gerhard and Ventouras, Oresti and Janion, Charlene and Souza Silva, Marconi} } @article {427, title = {Diversity and evolution of the P450 family in arthropods}, journal = {Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology}, volume = {127}, year = {2020}, month = {22/10/2020}, pages = {1-22}, abstract = {

The P450 family (CYP genes) of arthropods encodes diverse enzymes involved in the metabolism of foreign compounds and in essential endocrine or ecophysiological functions. The P450 sequences (CYPome) from 40 arthropod species were manually curated, including 31 complete CYPomes, and a maximum likelihood phylogeny of nearly 3000 sequences is presented. Arthropod CYPomes are assembled from members of six CYP clans of variable size, the CYP2, CYP3, CYP4 and mitochondrial clans, as well as the CYP20 and CYP16 clans that are not found in Neoptera. CYPome sizes vary from two dozen genes in some parasitic species to over 200 in species as diverse as collembolans or ticks. CYPomes are comprised of few CYP families with many genes and many CYP families with few genes, and this distribution is the result of dynamic birth and death processes. Lineage-specific expansions or blooms are found throughout the phylogeny and often result in genomic clusters that appear to form a reservoir of catalytic diversity maintained as heritable units. Among the many P450s with physiological functions, six CYP families are involved in ecdysteroid metabolism. However, five so-called Halloween genes are not universally represented and do not constitute the unique pathway of ecdysteroid biosynthesis. The diversity of arthropod CYPomes has only partially been uncovered to date and many P450s with physiological functions regulating the synthesis and degradation of endogenous signal molecules (including ecdysteroids) and semiochemicals (including pheromones and defense chemicals) remain to be discovered. Sequence diversity of arthropod P450s is extreme, and P450 sequences lacking the universally conserved Cys ligand to the heme have evolved several times. A better understanding of P450 evolution is needed to discern the relative contributions of stochastic processes and adaptive processes in shaping the size and diversity of CYPomes.

}, keywords = {Detoxification, Ecdysteroid metabolism, Gene clusters, Orthologous groups, P450 Evolution}, issn = {0965-1748}, doi = {10.1016/j.ibmb.2020.103490}, url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S096517482030179X}, author = {Dermauw, Wannes and Van Leeuwen, Thomas and Feyereisen, Ren{\'e}} } @article {419, title = {Four myriapod relatives {\textendash} but who are sisters? No end to debates on relationships among the four major myriapod subgroups}, journal = {BMC Evolutionary Biology}, volume = {20}, year = {2020}, month = {04/11/2020}, pages = {1-15}, abstract = {

Background: Phylogenetic relationships among the myriapod subgroups Chilopoda, Diplopoda, Symphyla and Pauropoda are still not robustly resolved. The first phylogenomic study covering all subgroups resolved phylogenetic relationships congruently to morphological evidence but is in conflict with most previously published phylogenetic trees based on diverse molecular data. Outgroup choice and long-branch attraction effects were stated as possible explanations for these incongruencies. In this study, we addressed these issues by extending the myriapod and outgroup taxon sampling using transcriptome data.

Results: We generated new transcriptome data of 42 panarthropod species, including all four myriapod subgroups and additional outgroup taxa. Our taxon sampling was complemented by published transcriptome and genome data resulting in a supermatrix covering 59 species. We compiled two data sets, the first with a full coverage of genes per species (292 single-copy protein-coding genes), the second with a less stringent coverage (988 genes). We inferred phylogenetic relationships among myriapods using different data types, tree inference, and quartet computation approaches. Our results unambiguously support monophyletic Mandibulata and Myriapoda. Our analyses clearly showed that there is strong signal for a single unrooted topology, but a sensitivity of the position of the internal root on the choice of outgroups. However, we observe strong evidence for a clade Pauropoda+Symphyla, as well as for a clade Chilopoda+Diplopoda.

Conclusions: Our best quartet topology is incongruent with current morphological phylogenies which were supported in another phylogenomic study. AU tests and quartet mapping reject the quartet topology congruent to trees inferred with morphological characters. Moreover, quartet mapping shows that confounding signal present in the data set is sufficient to explain the weak signal for the quartet topology derived from morphological characters. Although outgroup choice affects results, our study could narrow possible trees to derivatives of a single quartet topology. For highly disputed relationships, we propose to apply a series of tests (AU and quartet mapping), since results of such tests allow to narrow down possible relationships and to rule out confounding signal.

}, keywords = {Arthropod phylogeny, conflict, Confounding signal, Internal rooting, Phylogenetics, phylogenomics, Quartet topology, RNA-Seq, Transcriptomes}, issn = {1471-2148}, doi = {10.1186/s12862-020-01699-0}, url = {https://bmcevolbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12862-020-01699-0}, author = {Szucsich, Nikolaus U. and Bartel, Daniela and Blanke, Alexander and B{\"o}hm, Alexander and Donath, Alexander and Fukui, Makiko and Grove, Simon and Liu, Shanlin and Macek, Oliver and Machida, Ryuichiro and Misof, Bernhard and Nakagaki, Yasutaka and Podsiadlowski, Lars and Sekiya, Kaoru and Tomizuka, Shigekazu and Von Reumont, Bj{\"o}rn M. and Waterhouse, Robert M. and Walzl, Manfred and Meng, Guanliang and Zhou, Xin and Pass, G{\"u}nther and Meusemann, Karen} } @article {285, title = {Conservation of terrestrial invertebrates: a review of IUCN and regional Red Lists for Myriapoda}, journal = {ZooKeys}, volume = {930}, year = {2020}, month = {28/04/2020}, pages = {221-229}, abstract = {

Red Listing of Threatened species is recognized as the most objective approach for evaluating extinction risk of living organisms which can be applied at global or national scales. Invertebrates account for nearly 97\% of all animals on the planet but are insufficiently represented in the IUCN Red Lists at both scales. To analyze the occurrence of species present in regional Red Lists, accounts of 48 different countries and regions all over the world were consulted and all data about myriapods (Myriapoda) ever assessed in Red Lists at any level assembled. Myriapod species assessments were found in eleven regional Red Lists; however, no overlap between the species included in the global IUCN Red List and the regional ones was established. This means that myriapod species considered threatened at regional level may not be eligible for international funding specific for protection of native threatened species (more than US$ 25 million were available in the last decade) as most financial instruments tend to support only threatened species included in the IUCN Red List. As the lack of financial resources may limit protection for species in risk of extinction, it is urgent to increase the possibilities of getting financial support for implementation of measures for their protection. A Red List of all Myriapoda species recorded in Red Lists at national or local (596) and global (210) scales totaling 806 species is presented. This list shows for the first time an overview of the current conservation status of Myriapoda species. Here, the urgent need of establishing a Myriapoda Specialist Group in the Species Survival Commission of IUCN is also stressed.

}, keywords = {Arthropoda, Chilopoda, Diplopoda, extinction, national red lists, Pauropoda, risk assessment, Symphyla, threatened species}, issn = {1313-2989}, doi = {10.3897/zookeys.930.48943}, url = {https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/48943/}, author = {Karam-Gemael, Manoela and Decker, Peter and Stoev, Pavel and Marques, Marinez I. and Chagas Jr, Amazonas} }