Low genetic diversity in tepui summit vertebrates

Abstract

What can we learn from the microbial communities on cheese? Very little is known about how microbes behave in the context of a community. Since studies have recently demonstrated that microbial communities living in and on the human body greatly impact our health, the importance of understanding how microbial communities function and how we can manipulate them is now widely recognized. By studying microbial communities that we already know how to manipulate, like those on cheese, we may readily find answers to questions about which forces are most important in determining succession of species within a microbial community, how species cooperate or compete within a community, and how whole communities respond to perturbations, like invasion by pathogenic species. The adaptation of cheese communities into a laboratory model system can help to delineate the principles that govern microbial communities. Why will cheese be such a good model system for studying microbial communities? A good model system must be simple, easily cultivated in the lab, and reproducible. The rind communities that form a biofilm on the surface of an aged cheese exhibit all of these properties. Because cheese communities have relatively few members, linking species to function will be experimentally practical. Since these communities grow on cheese, a defined substrate, their natural habitat is easily reproduced, and member species may be isolated in the lab. This will make it possible to reconstruct whole communities and observe their development. The simplicity, culturability, and reproducibility of cheese microbial communities will provide a unique, experimentally practical system that will help us understand how microbes live together. Where can I find out more?

The use of bioacoustics in anuran taxonomy: theory, terminology, methods and recommendations for best practice

“…Most of this formerly undescribed species diversity is to some extent cryptic, adults of different evolutionary lineages being similar in external characters and thus very difficult to distinguish from each other by morphology alone. Furthermore, other integrative taxonomic studies revealed considerable genetic variation in what today is considered a single species (e.g., Gehara et al 2014), or extreme morphological and chromatic polymorphism among individuals which are almost identical genetically (e.g., Köhler et al 2010;Kok et al 2012). Although these recent findings constitute a great progress in knowledge and understanding of species diversity and evolution, they potentially put in doubt published call descriptions (as well as descriptions of tadpoles, life history, etc.)…”

Amended diagnosis and redescription of Pristimantis marmoratus (Boulenger, 1900) (Amphibia: Craugastoridae), with a description of its advertisement call and notes on its breeding ecology and phylogenetic relationships

“…In fact, Duellman's (1997) report of P. pulvinatus in La Escalera, is based on both P. pulvinatus and P. marmoratus (KU18105 was not examined by us, but is reidentified here as P. marmoratus based on molecular data); Hedges et al (2008) provided a sequence of P. pulvinatus from La Escalera, Venezuela, based on a misidentified specimen of P. marmoratus (KU18105, see above) and a sequence of P. marmoratus from Guyana based on a misidentified specimen of P. saltissimus; Kok & Kalamandeen's (2008) report of P. inguinalis from Kaieteur National Park, Guyana, is exclusively based on specimens of P. marmoratus (these authors have been confused by the extreme similarity of the calls of these species and by the yellowish wash on the groin in P. marmoratus); Pyron & Wiens (2011) inferred the phylogenetic position of P. marmoratus KOK P.JR. et al, Redescription of Pristimantis marmoratus based on two misidentified specimens, one being P. saltissimus and the other one being the P. sp 1 of Fouquet et al (2013); Kok et al (2012) provided a sequence of P. cf. marmoratus from French Guiana based on a misidentified juvenile specimen of P. inguinalis; Cole et al (2013, plate 17 E) provided a photograph of P. marmoratus from Guyana that corresponds to P. saltissimus, and a photograph of P. saltissimus from Guyana (plate 17 F) that corresponds to P. marmoratus.…”

“…Available phylogenetic analyses using samples from misidentified specimens are thus unreliable for that taxon (e.g., Hedges et al 2008;Pyron & Wiens 2011;Canedo & Haddad 2012;Kok et al 2012;Padial et al 2014;Mendoza et al 2015;see below).…”

Two new charismatic Pristimantis species (Anura: Craugastoridae) from the tepuis of the "Lost World" (Pantepui region, South America)

“…Nonetheless, Steyermark (1982), followed by Kok et al (2012) and Kok (2013), expanded the original definition of Pantepui to include the intervening Pantepui lowlands (200-400 m asl) and uplands (400 -ca. 1200 m asl), which better reflects the biogeography and the past and current biotic interactions in the area (Kok 2013).…”