The Elphick lab published further results from their ongoing studies on tidal marsh sparrows. Feathers collected as part of this study are deposited in the collection.

Reference: Borowske A.C., C. Gjerdrum & C.S. Elphick. 2017. Timing of migration and prebasic molt in tidal marsh sparrows with different breeding strategies: comparisons among sexes and species. Auk: Ornithological Advances 134:51–64. pdf

The abstract reads: Breeding strategies can shape the timing of other events and processes, including arrival on the breeding grounds, prebasic molt, and departure for fall migration. We studied these relationships in sympatric Saltmarsh Sparrows (Ammodramus caudacutus) and Seaside Sparrows (A. maritimus), 2 closely related species with notably different breeding strategies. On average, females of both species arrived on the breeding grounds later, initiated molt later, and departed from the breeding grounds later than did conspecific males. Furthermore, we found that female Saltmarsh Sparrows—which mate with multiple males and care for nests, eggs, and chicks alone—were last to arrive on the breeding grounds and last to initiate molt, had the shortest molt duration, and were last to depart for the nonbreeding grounds. Both species exhibited protandry, but Seaside Sparrows averaged earlier arrival on the breeding grounds than Saltmarsh Sparrows. Molt and departure timing also differed between the species, with Seaside Sparrows initiating molt and departing before same-sex Saltmarsh Sparrows. These observations support the hypotheses that breeding strategies can influence arrival timing and that reproductive investment can have carryover effects on molt and departure.

This past summer earnings from the collection endowment allowed us to offer internships to several undergraduates who acquired skills in specimen curation, databasing and communicating about their findings. See a brief description of their work here.

EEB5500 has once again a full enrollment of undergraduate and graduate students who will be introduced to the management of natural history collection. The course is led by Jane O’Donnell, Sue Hochgraf and Robert Capers, with participation of EEB faculty. Student learn among other thing how to mount insects and vascular plants and prepare vertebrates for preservation in our Biodiversity Research Collections.

The Goffinet lab  contributed to a phylogenomic reconstruction of the Sphagnopsida, and some of the vouchers are deposited in the CONN herbarium.

Shaw A.J., N. Devos, Y. Liu, C. J. Cox, B. Goffinet, K.I. Flatberg & B. Shaw. 2016. Organellar phylogenomics of an emerging model system: Sphagnum (peatmoss). Annals of Botany 118: 185–196.

The abstract reads:

Background and Aims: Sphagnum-dominated peatlands contain approx. 30 % of the terrestrial carbon pool in the form of partially decomposed plant material (peat), and, as a consequence, Sphagnum is currently a focus of studies on biogeochemistry and control of global climate. Sphagnum species differ in ecologically important traits that scale up to impact ecosystem function, and sequencing of the genome from selected Sphagnum species is currently underway. As an emerging model system, these resources for Sphagnum will facilitate linking nucleotide variation to plant functional traits, and through those traits to ecosystem processes. A solid phylogenetic framework for Sphagnum is crucial to comparative analyses of species-specific traits, but relationships among major clades within Sphagnum have been recalcitrant to resolution because the genus underwent a rapid radiation. Herein a well-supported hypothesis for phylogenetic relationships among major clades within Sphagnum based on organellar genome sequences (plastid, mitochondrial) is provided.

Methods: We obtained nucleotide sequences (273 753 nucleotides in total) from the two organellar genomes from 38 species (including three outgroups). Phylogenetic analyses were conducted using a variety of methods applied to nucleotide and amino acid sequences. The Sphagnum phylogeny was rooted with sequences from the related Sphagnopsida genera, Eosphagnum and Flatbergium.

Key Results: Phylogenetic analyses of the data converge on the following subgeneric relationships: (Rigida (((Subsecunda) (Cuspidata)) ((Sphagnum) (Acutifolia))). All relationships were strongly supported. Species in the two major clades (i.e. Subsecunda + Cuspidata and Sphagnum + Acutifolia), which include >90 % of all Sphagnum species, differ in ecological niches and these differences correlate with other functional traits that impact biogeochemical cycling. Mitochondrial intron presence/absence are variable among species and genera of the Sphagnopsida. Two new nomenclatural combinations are made, in the genera Eosphagnum and Flatbergium.

Conclusions: Newly resolved relationships now permit phylogenetic analyses of morphological, biochemical and ecological traits among Sphagnum species. The results clarify long-standing disagreements about subgeneric relationships and intrageneric classification.

Two studies citing plant specimens deposited in the CONN herbarium were published recently:

Connolly B.A. & I.L. Hale. 2016. Lepidium latifolium (Brassicaceae): Invasive perennial pepperweed observed in Rhode Island. Rhodora 118: 229–231.

Follow activities pertaining to the preservation of the Carl and Marian Rettenmeyer Army Ant Guests Collection on Facebook.

A new study from the parasitology lab (Dr. Caira): Marques, F. P. & J. N. Caira, J. N. 2016. Pararhinebothroides-neither the sister-taxon of Rhinebothroides nor a valid genus. The Journal of Parasitology 102: 249-259. pdf

The abstract reads: The genus Pararhinebothroides was established for a species of cestode (Parahinebothroides hobergi) found parasitizing the Tumbes round stingray, Urobatis tumbesensis (McEachran & Chirichigno), in the inshore Pacific waters in the Gulf of Guayaquil, Ecuador. Its apparent affinities with the freshwater endemic genus Rhinebothroides were considered evidence to support the long-standing, yet controversial, biogeographical hypothesis that freshwater stingrays of the family Potamotrygonidae derived from a Pacific marine ancestor during the Cretaceous Period before the uplifting of the Andes. Here, we re-evaluate the phylogenetic and taxonomic status of P. hobergi based on examination of the available type material and newly collected material from the type host near the type locality. The new material allowed the description of tegumental structures using scanning electron microscopy and the generation of a hypothesis for the phylogenetic position of the species based on molecular data for the first time. Morphological investigations revealed that P. hobergi shares all the diagnostic features of the most recent concept of Anthocephalum, including the previously overlooked presence of bothridial apical suckers. Phylogenetic analyses based on partial 28S rDNA (D1–D3) and complete 18S rDNA sequence data for 4 specimens of P. hobergi, 45 species of other rhinebothriideans, and 5 non-rhinebothriidean outgroup species provided unequivocal support for the transfer of P. hobergi to Anthocephalum. Since this is the type and only species of the genus, Pararhinebothroides is considered a junior synonym of Anthocephalum, and Anthocephalum hobergi n. comb. is redescribed. Furthermore, our results reveal Rhinebothroides and Anthocephalum to be only distantly related among the Rhinebothriidea. Not only do our results confirm reservations expressed earlier about the affinities of P. hobergi, but they also substantially challenge inferences drawn previously about the biogeographical history of potamotrygonid stingrays based on parasitological data.

Progress in our understanding of the relationships within the “potato-clade” are presented and co-authored by Dr. Gregory Anderson in: Tepe E.J., G.J. Anderson, D.M. Spooner & L. Bohs. 2016. Relationships among wild relatives of the tomato, potato, and pepino. Taxon 65: 262–276. (pdf)

Some of the specimens studied are deposited in the BRC herbarium.

The abstract reads: With ca. 200 species, the informally named Potato clade represents one of the larger subgroups of the estimated 1500 species of Solanum. Because its members include the potato (S. tuberosum), tomato (S. lycopersicum), and pepino (S. muricatum), it is the most economically important clade in the genus. These crop species and their close relatives have been the focus of intensive research, but relationships among major lineages of the Potato clade remain poorly understood. In this study, we use sequences from the nuclear ITS and waxy (GBSSI), and plastid trnT–trnF and trnS–trnG to estimate a phylogeny and further explore relationships within the Potato clade. With increased sampling over past studies, the Potato clade emerges as a strongly supported clade and comprises 12–13 subclades which, for the most part, correspond to traditionally recognized sections. Solanum sect. Regmandra is sister to the rest of the lineages of the Potato clade which are, in turn, organized into two major subclades: (1) sections Anarrhichomenum, Articulatum, Basarthrum, Etuberosum, Juglandifolia, Lycopersicoides, Lycopersicon, and Petota, and (2) sections Herpystichum and Pteroidea. As in all other studies including these groups, sections Etuberosum, Juglandifolia, Lycopersicoides, Lycopersicon, and Petota form a strongly supported clade. Solanum oxycoccoides, a high-elevation species endemic to north-central Peru, was tentatively assigned to several groups within Solanum based on morphological evidence, but instead the species represents an independent lineage within the Potato clade, sister to the first major subclade. A key to the sections of the Potato clade is provided.

Chris Martine, a Ph.D. student of Greg Anderson and currently a professor at Bucknell, described a new species in the genus Solanum:

Martine, C. T., J. Cantley, E. Frawley, A. Butler & I. Jordan-Thaden. 2016. New functionally dioecious bush tomato from northwestern Australia, Solanum ossicruentum, may utilize “trample burr” dispersal. PhytoKeys 63: 19–29.

Noteworthy is that naming the new species involved a group of 150 middle school students. Several of the specimens referred to his paper are deposited in the BRC herbarium. The paper is:

The abstract reads: A new Australian species of functionally dioecious bush tomato of Solanum subgenus Leptostemonum is described. Solanum ossicruentum Martine & J.Cantley, sp. nov., is thought to be allied with members of the problematic “Dioicum Complex” lineage, but differs in its short silvery indumentum, long calyx lobes, larger stature, and an unusual fruit morphology that may represent “trample burr” seed dispersal. The species occurs in a range extending from the eastern Kimberley in Western Australia to far northwestern Northern Territory and has been recognized for decades as a variant of S. dioicum W.Fitzg. Specimens of this species were previously referred to by D.E. Symon and others as Solanum dioicum ‘Tanami.’ Ex situ crossing studies and SEM images of inaperturate pollen grains produced in morphologically hermaphrodite flowers indicate that this taxon is functionally dioecious. The scientific name was chosen with the help of 150 seventh grade life science students from Pennsylvania, USA.