Martínez-Melo A., E. De Luna y B. E. Buitrón-Sánchez. 2017

Morfometría de los equinodeos de la Familia Cassidulidae (Echinoidea: Cassiduloida).
Revista de Biologia Tropical 65 (suplemento): s233-s243.

http://www.filogenetica.org/deluna_pdfs/17%20Martinez-echinoidea.pdf

Abstract: Morphometrics of echinoids in the Family Cassidulidae (Echinoidea: Cassiduloida). Cassidulidae is the type family of the order Cassiduloida, and contains five genera whose morphology has complicated their taxonomic study: Australanthus, Cassidulus, Eurhodia, Paralampas, and Rhyncholampas. Many authors have applied traditional morphometric analysis (mainly length, width, and height) with varying success. We present the first approach with geometric morphometrics (three outlines: aboral, left, and posterior). Principal component analyses on aligned semi-landmarks detect shape deformations among the five genera. For future studies, we recommend larger samples, and the inclusion of size and other characters such as the ambulacra and peristome. Rev. Biol. Trop. 65(Suppl. 1): S233-S243.

Key words: Geometric Morphometrics; Taxonomy; semi-landmarks; Principal Component Analysis.

RESUMEN: Cassidulidae es la familia tipo del orden Cassiduloida y contiene cinco géneros cuya morfología ha complicado su estudio taxonómico: Australanthus, Cassidulus, Eurhodia, Paralampas, y Rhyncholampas. Varios autores han aplicado análisis morfométricos tradicionales (principalmente largo, ancho y alto) con éxito variable. Nosotros presentamos el primer enfoque con morfometría geométrica (tres contornos: aboral, izquierdo, y posterior). Los análisis de componentes principales de las coordenadas alineadas de semimarcas detectan deformaciones entre los cinco géneros. Para estudios futuros, nosotros recomendamos muestras más grandes, y la inclusión de la talla y caracteres cualitativos como el ambulacro y el peristomo.

Palabras clave: Morfometría geométrica; Taxonomía; semimarcas; Análisis de Componentes Principales.

Bowman, JL y 110 autores [70º E. De Luna]. 2017

Insights into land plant evolution garnered from the Marchantia polymorpha genome. CELL 171 (2): 287-304.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2017.09.030

PDF: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867417311248?via%3Dihub#

Abstract. The evolution of land flora transformed the terrestrial environment. Land plants evolved from an ancestral charophycean alga from which they inherited developmental, biochemical, and cell biological attributes. Additional biochemical and physiological adaptations to land, and a life cycle with an alternation between multicellular haploid and diploid generations that facilitated efficient dispersal of desiccation tolerant spores, evolved in the ancestral land plant. We analyzed the genome of the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha, a member of a basal land plant lineage. Relative to charophycean algae, land plant genomes are characterized by genes encoding novel biochemical pathways, new phytohormone signaling pathways (notably auxin), expanded repertoires of signaling pathways, and increased diversity in some transcription factor families. Compared with other sequenced land plants, M. polymorpha exhibits low genetic redundancy in most regulatory pathways, with this portion of its genome resembling that predicted for the ancestral land plant.

Key words: Marchantia polymorpha, land plant evolution, auxin, sex chromosome, charophycean algae.

Ramirez-Ortega JM, A. Estrada-Torres y E. De Luna. 2017

A comparative SEM study of morphological characters in Cribraria. MYCOTAXON 132 (2): 391-419.

https://doi.org/10.5248/132.391

Abstract—Cribraria spp. were examined by SEM to determine detailed morphological features of the spore, nodes, and calyculus and to identify and describe the characters and character states for each microstructure examined. The character states defined include six for spore ornamentation (warted, crested, spiny, subreticulate, banded-reticulate, grooved-reticulate), three for node types (rounded, enlarged, irregular), and four for the upper calyculus margin (ribbed, irregular, toothed, entire). Our SEM studies show that interpretations of spore ornamentation character states based solely on LM may be incorrect and that SEM observations are crucial for discovering new characters and interpreting taxonomic morphological features.

Key words—Cribrariaceae, morphology, myxomycetes, plasmodial granules, slime molds.

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/mtax/mt/2017/00000132/00000002/art00018

Plate 8. Cribraria purpurea. a. Peridial net; b. Nodes flattened without free ends; c. Spores with
surface ornamentation composed of crests; d. Spores and plasmodic granules. Cribraria rubiginosa.
e. Flattened node with spores and plasmodic granules; f. Inner surface details of calyculus; g. Spore
details of surface ornamentation showing warts and a reticulum groove crossing the spore; h. Spore
seen in angular view. Scale bars: a =100 μm; b = 20 μm; c, d = 2 μm; e, f = 10 μm; g, h = 1 μm.

Ospina S. y E. De Luna. 2017

Phylogenetic analysis of landmark data and the evolution of cranial shape and diets in species of Myotis (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae). ZOOMORPHOLOGY 136(2): 251-265.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00435-017-0345-z 

LMstats.run >This script calculates s, m, and g for CI and RI for only one configuration.

Abstract

Species in genus Myotis exhibit a pattern of cranial variation associated with insectivorous, facultative piscivorous, and truly piscivorous diets, which has not been studied in a phylogenetic context. Variation in landmark configurations of five cranial structures in 22 Myotis species was analyzed with phylogenetic methods to infer evolution of shape. Our goals were to detect changes in cranial morphology and to correlate these with concerted changes among diets. A reference phylogeny was estimated using a combined data matrix with previously available Cyt-b and RAG2 sequences and our five configurations of landmarks. We included the insectivorous Kerivoula papillosa Temminck, 1840, Noctilio leporinus Linnaeus, 1758 (piscivorous), and N. albiventris Desmarest, 1818 (insectivorous) as out-groups. The optimization of five landmark configurations on the combined phylogeny shows no evidence of convergent shape changes among species with similar piscivorous diets. Our findings document that facultative piscivory does not imply the same particular morphotype. In four cranial features, there is small shape change between estimated ancestral shapes and seven observed descendant shapes for the piscivorous species. Only the mandible shows major changes from insectivorous ancestors to facultative piscivorous or piscivorous Myotis.

Keywords

Piscivory Geometric morphometrics Myotis Phylogenetic morphometrics 

Fig. 3 Concerted change in shape, diet, and trawling in the combined phylogeny of Myotis (as in Fig. 2). Colors of branches and taxon names indicate similar diets; facultatively, piscivorous bats are marked in grey, piscivorous species in black dotted line and bold, insectivorous species in black. The foraging strategy is indicated with a label after taxon name, A aerial-hawking, T trawling, and OG overgleaning. At nodes 47, 40, 28, 48, and 35, the landmark configuration is the estimated ancestral shape of the process area (character 3). Double headed arrows show tendency of change. Arrows point to landmark displacements in character 3 interpreted as homoplasy in facultatively piscivorous species. Concerted changes between shape and diet are marked with five half filled circles on branches. In all landmark configurations, deformation vectors at each point indicate displacements from the ancestral configurations to each of the descendant configurations, as optimized with spatial parsimony with TNT.

Rochmann, D y E. De Luna. 2017

Prototyping the complex biological form of the beetle Deltochilum lobipes via 2D geometric morphometrics landmarks and descriptive geometry for 3D printing. Computer-Aided Design and Applications 14: 107-116.
   http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/16864360.2016.1199761

ABSTRACT. In this paper, we present research carried out in the Morphometric Laboratory, Institute of Ecology, in Xalapa, Veracruz, México, which consisted of creating a new method that links geometric morphometrics techniques and descriptive geometry. In our new method a collection of five photographs was used to tag each morphological point called “Landmarks” that defines the numerical values of the coordinates “x” and “y” in a Cartesian space to generate through the coordinates “x,” “y” and “z” the geometry of the biological form of a beetle, across surfaces, meshes and solids. In this research we worked with the beetle Deltochilum Lobipes that belong to the Scarabaeidae family. We made two prototypes in 3D printed, from the 2D coordinates of morphological points which were obtained through the tpsDig2 program. This research documents evidence that supports the hypothesis of our project: “the quantitative descriptor of shape and size in 2D, contribute in the modeling of complex geometric structures in 3D”.