The extinct diprotodontoids were large bodied, browsing herbivorous marsupials most closely related to, among living marsupials, wombats. Referred to two families, Diprotodontidae and Palorchestidae, diprotodontoids are geographically and temporally widespread vombatimorphian taxa in Australian and New Guinean Cenozoic deposits. The most diverse diprotodontoid fauna recorded from any single region in Australia comes from Oligo-Miocene limestone deposits of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland. In this thesis a new diprotodontoid genus and five new species are described from Riversleigh, as well as additional material from Riversleigh for the palorchestids Propalorchestes novaculacephalus and Pr. ponticulus and diprotodontids Nimbadon lavarackorum, Neohelos tirarensis, Neohelos stirtoni and Ngapakaldia bonythoni. A new vombatomorphian family, Maradidae, known from a single species at Riversleigh, is recognised as the sister-group of a vombatid-diprotodontoid clade. New abundant, exceptionally well-preserved cranial material of the zygomaturine Nimbadon lavarackorum enables characterisation of intraspecific variation and ontogenetic development. The results of these analyses have been used to discriminate species boundaries throughout this work. Consequently: Nimbadon whitelawi is now considered a junior synonym of Ni. lavarackorum; Nimbadon scottorrorum is a junior synonym of Neohelos tirarensis; and Bematherium angulum is a synonym of Ngapakaldia bonythoni. The new Riversleigh diprotodontoids clarify phylogenetic relationships within and between diprotodontoid families. The monophyly of both Palorchestidae and Diprotodontidae is strongly supported as is their union in the superfamily Diprotodontoidea. Monophyly of the Zygomaturinae and Diprotodontinae is not supported, primarily due to the unstable position of Alkwertatherium webbi as well as the high degree of homoplasy in cranial morphology of the more derived members of each subfamily. Overall phylogenetic and distribution patterns for diprotodontoids is generally consistent with current interpretations of Riversleigh's stratigraphy. Five diprotodontoid species allow direct biocorrelation with other Australian Tertiary mammal faunas. Riversleigh's basal System A deposits correlate with late Oligocene deposits of the Etadunna Formation of South Australia. Riversleigh's low-mid System C deposits correlate with the middle Miocene Bullock Creek Local Fauna of the Northern Territory. Riversleigh's high System C Jaw Junction and Encore Local Faunas contain diprotodontoid taxa antecedent to diprotodontoids of the late Miocene Alcoota Local Fauna of the Northern Territory.

Cistopus sp. is a medium to large octopod and it is common in the fish markets of Taiwan. The diagnostic character of the genus Cistopus is the possession of eight mucous pouches in the web between the base of each arm. However, researches on this special structure were absent. This study is to describe the morphological characters of Cistopus sp. from Taiwanese waters and to examine the mucous pouch histologically. The mitochondrial COI gene sequences are used as a tool to analyze the phylogenetic relationships between Cistopus and other genera of the family Octopodidae. Based on the results of this study, the Cistopus of Taiwanese waters is different from the genuine C. indicus and the Cistopus of the Andaman Sea. Cistopus sp. is widely distributed from coastal Asia to India at least and presents sexual dimorphism in the openings of the mucous pouches. The inner wall of the mucous pouches is composed of columnar epithelial cells, and the mucus is secreted from the epithelial cells. The substance secreted from the inner wall is acid mucopolysaccharides. According to the phylogenetic analysis of the octopods COI DNA sequences, Cistopus is grouped with other members of subfamily Octopodinae to form a monophyletic group.

The Mexican tussilaginioid group consists of 13 diverse genera of sunflowers (Asteraceae: Senecioneae) distributed from the USA to Panama, with most species occurring in montane regions from Central Mexico to Guatemala. Presently, 140 species in 13 genera are recognized with many of these species considered to be endemic to threatened pine-oak forest or cloud forest ecosystems. Sixty-two species within the study group were included in a combined phylogenetic analysis of two regions of the nuclear ribosomal repeat, the internal and external transcribed spacers. Fifty-two of these taxa were analyzed in a phylogenetic framework for the first time. The results from the combined nrDNA analysis (62 species in 12 genera in the combined analysis) strongly support the monophyly of the Mexican tussilaginioid group, however, the topology and hypothesis testing using constraint models indicate that the genera Pittocaulon, Psacaliopsis, and Roldana are not monophyletic. Telanthophora s.s. is monophyletic, although this genus is nested within Roldana s.s. Endemism is abundant among the clade with over half of the species restricted to relatively small geographic areas. Moreover, most members of the group (ca. 120 species, or 87%) are present in montane regions under immense pressure from human land use practices at or above 1500 meters in Mexico and Guatemala. Two of the genera from my study group, Pippenalia and Psacaliopsis were taxonomically assessed based on their morphological characters and the nrDNA results. A single species, Psacaliopsis purpusii, remains in the genus, while Pippenalia delphinifolia, Psacaliopsis macdonaldii, and P. pudica are transferred to Psacalium. Funstonia gen. nov. is here erected a new genus encompassing a single species with two varieties. Chloroplast genomes of Arnoglossum atriplicifolium, Roldana aschenborniana, R. barba-johannis, and Telanthophora grandifolia were sequenced with next generation sequencing in order to identify regions of variation and to compare the assemblies produced via de novo and reference-based methods. The reference-based assemblies were more complete than the de novo assemblies, and therefore the former sequences were utilized for phylogenetic analyses. / text

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The extinct diprotodontoids were large bodied, browsing herbivorous marsupials most closely related to, among living marsupials, wombats. Referred to two families, Diprotodontidae and Palorchestidae, diprotodontoids are geographically and temporally widespread vombatimorphian taxa in Australian and New Guinean Cenozoic deposits. The most diverse diprotodontoid fauna recorded from any single region in Australia comes from Oligo-Miocene limestone deposits of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland. In this thesis a new diprotodontoid genus and five new species are described from Riversleigh, as well as additional material from Riversleigh for the palorchestids Propalorchestes novaculacephalus and Pr. ponticulus and diprotodontids Nimbadon lavarackorum, Neohelos tirarensis, Neohelos stirtoni and Ngapakaldia bonythoni. A new vombatomorphian family, Maradidae, known from a single species at Riversleigh, is recognised as the sister-group of a vombatid-diprotodontoid clade. New abundant, exceptionally well-preserved cranial material of the zygomaturine Nimbadon lavarackorum enables characterisation of intraspecific variation and ontogenetic development. The results of these analyses have been used to discriminate species boundaries throughout this work. Consequently: Nimbadon whitelawi is now considered a junior synonym of Ni. lavarackorum; Nimbadon scottorrorum is a junior synonym of Neohelos tirarensis; and Bematherium angulum is a synonym of Ngapakaldia bonythoni. The new Riversleigh diprotodontoids clarify phylogenetic relationships within and between diprotodontoid families. The monophyly of both Palorchestidae and Diprotodontidae is strongly supported as is their union in the superfamily Diprotodontoidea. Monophyly of the Zygomaturinae and Diprotodontinae is not supported, primarily due to the unstable position of Alkwertatherium webbi as well as the high degree of homoplasy in cranial morphology of the more derived members of each subfamily. Overall phylogenetic and distribution patterns for diprotodontoids is generally consistent with current interpretations of Riversleigh's stratigraphy. Five diprotodontoid species allow direct biocorrelation with other Australian Tertiary mammal faunas. Riversleigh's basal System A deposits correlate with late Oligocene deposits of the Etadunna Formation of South Australia. Riversleigh's low-mid System C deposits correlate with the middle Miocene Bullock Creek Local Fauna of the Northern Territory. Riversleigh's high System C Jaw Junction and Encore Local Faunas contain diprotodontoid taxa antecedent to diprotodontoids of the late Miocene Alcoota Local Fauna of the Northern Territory.

Anguispira is a group of common land snails found primarily in eastern North America. There are currently thirteen species recognized within Anguispira. A considerable amount of morphological variation is seen within and among these species, which has lead to much taxonomic confusion within the group. Additionally, because Anguispira species descriptions are based almost exclusively on shell shape and color characteristics, identifying specimens to species is often problematic. In an attempt to delimit species and clarify relationships within Anguispira, regions of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (cox1), 16S ribosomal RNA (rrnL), and cytochrome b (cob) genes were sequenced from ninety-three individuals representing eleven putative Anguispira species. Variation in shell morphology was also investigated using multivariate analyses of variance. Molecular analyses revealed two currently recognized species (A. alternata and A. cumberlandiana) to be polyphyletic. Evidence also suggested that A. columba, previously synonymized with A. mordax, should be recognized as A. columba and no longer remain synonymized. In addition, several individuals belonging to four strongly supported lineages (which are currently questionable/unidentified) could result in new species.

Abiotic and top down control hypotheses do not adequately explain the fine scale distribution patterns of shrub and tree Colophospermum mopane (Caesalpinioideae). Genetic distinctiveness between growth forms is investigated as an alternative hypothesis. Tree and shrub C. mopane from the riparian and inland savanna zones were sampled at four sites in the northern Kruger National Park. Molecular DNA sequences were obtained for four plastid and one nuclear region, and the inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) technique used to fingerprint individuals. Very low levels of sequence divergence were observed. The ISSR technique revealed no genetic structure between plants when grouped by growth form or by habitat in an analysis of molecular variance (AMOV A). Soil profile and xylem pressure potential data also did not explain the distribution of growth forms. A principle component analysis and a discriminant analysis of five leaf and branching characters identified a significant difference in the shape of shrub and tree C. mopane leaves. It is concluded that the C. mopane growth forms are not genetically distinct and that their fine scale distributions may be due to top down controls such as large mammals and fire.

The effectiveness of the structural defences of Acacias vary within and between species as a result of differences in thorn type (hooks versus spines) and branching architecture. This study aims to develop methods for quantifying the effectiveness of defences, thereby allowing for comparisons between individuals and localities. Measurements of a range of thorn and branching parameters of eight Acacia species were used to calculate three indices (stripping, biting and branching) describing different components of Acacia structural defences. These were combined to form an overall defence index that was tested against the results of three feeding simulation tests as well as actual animal feeding rates obtained from trials using nyala held in bomas. The stripping, biting and branching indices were shown to provide a good measure of the different components of a structural defence, although the scaling of their contribution to an overall defence index is complicated by variation in the suite of browsers and the resources available at a locality. The indices developed in this study provide a useful tool for assessing the role of large mammal herbivory in different environments when attempting to understand variation in the life history strategies of Acacias.