Category Archives: Systematics

by | July 31, 2019 · 11:50 pm

New Species: July 2019

by Piter Kehoma Boll

Here is a list of species described this month. It certainly does not include all described species. You can see the list of Journals used in the survey of new species here.

Bacteria

SARs

Primulina cerina is a new flowering plant from China. Credits to Li et al. (2019).*
Tashiroea villosa is another new flowering plant from China. Credits to Zhou et al. (2019).*

Plants

Guatteria aliciae is a new flowering plant from Panama. Credits to Maas et al. (2019).*
Rhaptopetalum rabiense is a new flowering plant from Gabon. Credits to Kenfack & Nguema (2019).*

Fungi

Dicephalospora yunnanica is a new fungus from China. Credits to Zheng & Zhuang (2019).*
Amanita ahmadii is a new mushroom from Pakistan. Credits to Jabeen et al. (2019).

Poriferans

Rotiferans

Flatworms

Annelids

Mollusks

Sinochloritis lii is a new species of snail from China. Credits to Wu et al. (2019).*

Kinorhynchs

Nematodes

Tardigrades

Arachnids

Hyleoglomeris roukouqu is a new millipede from China. Credits to Liu & Winne (2019).*

Myriapods

Sarothrogammarus yiiruae is a new amphipod from China. Credits to Zheng et al. (2019).*
Hyalella puna is a new amphipod from Argentina. Credits to Peralta & Miranda (2019).*

Crustaceans

Geosesarma mirum is a new semi-terrestrial crab from Taiwan. Credits to Shy & Ng (2019).*
Macrobrachium laevis is a new shrimp from China. Credits to Zheng et al. (2019).*

Hexapods

Paranthrenella helvola is a new species of moth from Taiwan. Credits to Liang & Hsu (2019).*
Scolopsis lacrima is a new fish from New Caledonia. Credits to Nakamura et al. (2019).*

Actinopterygians

Cirrhilabrus wakanda is a new fish from Tanzania. Credits to Tea et al. (2019).*
Nidirana yaoica is a new frog from China. Credits to Lyu et al. (2019).*

Amphibians

Cnemaspis tarutaoensis is a new gecko from Thailand. Credits to Ampai et al. (2019).*

Reptiles

Mammals

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by | June 30, 2019 · 11:00 am

New Species: June 2019

by Piter Kehoma Boll

Here is a list of species described this month. It certainly does not include all described species. You can see the list of Journals used in the survey of new species here.

Bacteria

Dysosmobacter welbionis is a new bacterium isolated from human feces. Credits to Le Roy et al. (2019).*

Archaeans

SARs

Solanum plastisexum is a new bush tomato from Australia. Credits to McDonnell et al. (2019).*
Impatiens jenjittikuliae is a new flowering plant from Thailand. Credits to Ruchisansakun & Suksathan (2019).*

Plants

Oreocharis odontopetala is a new flowering plant from China. Credits to Fu e al. (2019).*
Dysosma villosa is another new flowering plant from China. Credits to Wang et al. (2019).*

Fungi

Octospora conidophora is a new ascomycete from South Africa. Credits to Sochorová et al. (2019).*
Amanita bweyeyensis is a new mushroom from Africa. Credits to Fraiture et al. (2019).*
Cacaoporus tenebrosus is a new mushroom from Thailand. Credits to Vadthanarat et al. (2019).*
Erythrophylloporus paucicarpus is another new mushroom from Thailand. Credits to Vadthanarat et al. (2019).*

Poriferans

Cnidarians

Flatworms

Acanthobothrium vidali is a new tapeworm found in the intestine of the giant electric ray in Mexico. Credits to Zaragoza-Tapia et al. (2019). *

Rotiferans

Bryozoans

Brachiopods

Mollusks

Annelids

Kinorhynchs

Nematodes

Arachnids

Female (left) and male (right) of Platythomisus xiandao, a new spider from China. Credits to Lin et al. (2019).

Myriapods

Cristimenes brucei is a new shrimp from Korea. Credits to Park et al. (2019).*

Crustaceans

Rhabdoblatta ecarinata is a new cockroach from China. Credits to Yang et al. (2019).*

Hexapods

Lochmaea tsoui is a new beetle from Taiwan. Credits to Lee (2019).*
Hyphantrophaga calixtomoragai is a new fly from Costa Rica. Credits to Fleming et al. (2019).*

Chondrichthyans

Actinopterygians

Gracixalus yunnanensis is a new frog from China. Credits to Yu et al. (2019).*

Amphibians

Megophrys nankunensis (male on the left, female on the right) is another new frog from China. Credits to Wang et al. (2019).
Female (left) and male (right) of Pristimantis andinogigas, a new frog from Ecuador. Credits to Yánez-Muñoz et al. (2019).*
Micryletta aishani is a new frog from India. Credits to Das et al. (2019).*

Reptiles

Mammals

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by | June 1, 2019 · 2:09 am

New Species: May 2019

by Piter Kehoma Boll

Here is a list of species described this month. It certainly does not include all described species. You can see the list of Journals used in the survey of new species here.

Bacteria

Hacrobes

SARs

Plants

Mitrephora monocarpa is a new flowering plant from Thailand. Credits to Saunders & Chalermglin (2019).*
Fordiophyton jinpingense is a new flowering plant from China. Credits to Dai et al. (2019).*

Excavates

Lepraria cryptovouauxii is a new lichen from Bolivia. Credits to Guzow-Krzemińska et al. (2019).*

Fungi

Leifia brevispora is a new basidiomycete fungus from China. Credits to Liu et al. (2019).*
Phylloporus rimosus (top) and P. quercophilus (bottom), two new mushroom species from China. Credits to Montoya et al. (2019).*

Sponges

Flatworms

Rotiferans

Bryozoans

Entoproctans

Nemerteans

Okenia problematica is a new sea slug from the Mediterranean. Credits to Pola et al. (2019).*

Mollusks

Laocaia simovi is a new semislug from Vietnam. Credits to Dedov et al. (2019).*

Annelids

Nematodes

Tardigrades

Arachnids

Agorioides cherubino is a new ant-mimicking spider from Papua New Guinea. Credits to Maddison & Szűts (2019).*

Myriapods

Bestiolina sarae is a new copepod from the Pacific waters of Colombia. Credits to Dorado-Roncancio et al. (2019).*

Crustaceans

Hexapods

Bolbochromus setosifrons is a new beetle from the Philippines. Credits to Li et al. (2019).*
Philoplitis trifoveatus is a new parasitoid wasp from India. Credits to Ranjith et al. (2019).*
Lactura nalli is a new moth from the US. Credits to Matson et al. (2019).*

Echinoderms

Chondrichthyans

Actinopterygians

Amphibians

Limnonectes savan is a new frog from Southeast Asia. Credits to Phimmachak et al. (2019).*

Reptiles

Elaphe urartica is a new snake from Eastern Europe. Credits to Jablonski et al. (2019).*
Stenocercus canastra is a new lizard from Brazil. Credits to Avila-Pires et al. (2019).*

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by | April 30, 2019 · 3:24 pm

New Species: April 2019

by Piter Kehoma Boll

Here is a list of species described this month. It certainly does not include all described species. You can see the list of Journals used in the survey of new species here.

Bacteria

Archaeans

SARs

Plants

Nasa angeldiazioides is a new flowering plant from Peru. Credits to Henning et al. (2019).*

Excavates

Rossbeevera griseobrunnea is a new basidiomycete from China. Credits to Hosen et al. (2019).

Fungi

Dermea chinensis is a new ascomycete from China. Credits to Jiang & Tian (2019).*

Sponges

Cnidarians

Flatworms

Microstomum schultei is a new flatworm from Italy. Credits to Atherton & Jondelius (2019).*

Rotiferans

Aethozooides uraniae is a new bryozoan from the Mediterranean. Credits to Schwaha et al. (2019).*

Bryozoans

Amblyosyllis ovei is a new polychaete from the Gulf of Mexico. Credits to Aguado et al. (2019).*

Annelids

Madrella amphora (a-d) and Janolus tricellarioides (e-h) are two new sea slugs from New Guinea and the Philippines, respectively. Credits to Pola et al. (2019).*

Mollusks

Kinorhynchs

Arpocelinus itecrii is a new nematode from Costa Rica. Credits to Peña-Santiago & Varela-Benavides (2019).

Nematodes

Tardigrades

Phintelloides brunne (A-D) and Phintelloides flavoviri (E,F) are new jumping spiders from South Asia. Credits to Kanesharatnam & Benjamin (2019).*

Chelicerates

Cryptocorypha enghoffi is a new millipede from Thailand. Credits to Likhitrakarn et al. (2019).

Myriapods

Vinaphilus unicus is a new centipede from Southeast Asia. Credits to Tran et al. (2019).

Crustaceans

The beetle genus Hexanchorus was increased in four species from Ecuador. Credits to Linský et al. (2019).*

Hexapods

Chondrichthyans

Prognathodes geminus is a new butterflyfish from Palau. Credits to Copus et al. (2019).*

Actinopterygians

Noblella thiuni is a new frog from Peru. Credits to Catenazzi & Ttito (2019).*

Amphibians

Reptiles

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by | March 31, 2019 · 10:48 pm

New Species: March 2019

by Piter Kehoma Boll

Here is a list of species described this month. It certainly does not include all described species. You can see the list of Journals used in the survey of new species here.

Bacteria

Archaeans

SARs

Liparis napoensis is a new orchid from China. Credits to Li et al. (2019).*

Plants

Microchiritia hairulii is a new flowering plant from Malaysia. Credits to Rahman (2019).*
Neoboletus antillanus is a new mushroom from the Dominican Republic. Credits to Gelardi et al. (2019).*

Excavates

Fungi

Biatora alnetorum is a new lichen from North America. Credits to Ekman & Tønsberg (2019).*

Sponges

Cnidarians

Flatworms

Rotifers

Annelids

Mollusks

Nematodes

Chelicerates

Arrup akiyoshiensis is a new centipede from Japan. Credits to Tsukamoto et al. (2019)*

Myriapods

Antheromorpha nguyeni is a new millepede from Vietnam. Credits to Likhitrakarn et al. (2019).*

Crustaceans

Hexapods

Echinoderms

Tunicates

Ray-finned fishes

Amphibians

Austrobatrachus kurichiyana, a new frog from India. Credits to Vijayakumar et al. (2019).*

Reptiles and Birds

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by | March 25, 2019 · 1:10 am

Hagfish: Another Phylogenetic Headache

by Piter Kehoma Boll

Years ago, I wrote a post about the problematic Acoelomorpha and their controversial position among bilaterian animals. Now I am going to talk about another headache: hagfish.

Hagfish are primitive chordates that make up the class Myxini. They are marine animals that live at the bottom of the sea and feed mainly on polychaete worms that they pull out of the substrate. However, they are also scavengers and have a peculiar behavior in which they perforate the body of dead fish and enter it, eating the dead animal from inside out.

Specimen of the Pacific hagfish Eptatretus stoutii. Photo by Jeanette Bham.*

Morphologically, hagfish are characterized by the presence of a cartilaginous skull, like vertebrates, but lack a vertebral column, keeping the notochord, the dorsal cartilage-like structure of chordates, during their whole lives. Due to this lack of vertebrae, the hagfish were classified outside of the vertebrates, but united to them due to the presence of the skull. Thus, Myxini was seen as the sister-group of Vertebrata and both together formed the clade Craniata.

Among the vertebrates, most extant groups have a jaw that evolved from modified gill arches, making up the clade Gnathostomata. The only animals with a vertebral column that lack jaws are the lampreys (Petromyzontiformes) and, although this lack of jaws is shared with hagfish, it is not usually seen as a synapomorphy uniting these groups. In hagfish, the jawless mouth have lateral keratin plates with tooth-like structures that act somewhat like the true jaws of Gnathostomata, but working from the sides and not from above and below. In lampreys, on the other hand, the mouth is circular and have keratin tooth-like structures arranged circularly.

General organization of the head of hagfish, lampreys and jawed vertebrates, with special attention to the mouths. Extracted from Oisi et al. (2012).

There are a lot of morphological features that unite lampreys to vertebrates and separate them from hagfish, the main one being the already mentioned vertebrate column. Likewise, lampreys and jawed vertebrates have dorsal fins while hagfish lack them. Lampreys also have lensed eyes in common with jawed vertebrates, while hagfish have simple eyesposts without lenses or even associated muscles.

Some of the traits shared between hagfish and lampreys, just as the lack of jaws, are usually seen as a primitive state that changed in jawed vertebrates, or have clearly evolved independently. For example, both hagfish and lampreys have only a single nostril, while jawed vertebrates have two, but this is likely a primitive character. Adult hagfish and lampreys have also a single gonad, but this appears in hagfish by an atrophy of the left gonad, so that only the right one develops, while in lampreys the left and right gonads fuse into a single organ.

Specimens of the least brook lamprey Lampetra aepyptera. Photo by Jerry Reynolds.*

Therefore, morphologically, it seems logical to consider hagfish as a sister group of vertebrates, which include lampreys and jawed vertebrates. It is also important to mention that there are more groups of jawless vertebrates that are currently extinct, such as the class Osteostraci, one of several fossil groups traditionally called ostracoderms. Although lacking a jaw as well, these vertebrates had paired fins just like jawed vertebrates. Thus, the phylogenetic organization of these major groups based on morphology would be as shown in the figure below:

The craniate hypothesis, where hagfish are a sister-group to vertebrates.

However, in the last decades, the use of molecular phylogenetics has challenged this view by grouping hagfish and lampreys into a monophyletic clade that is sister-group of jawed vertebrates. But how could this be possible? Such a relationship would imply that the primitive state of hagfish is the result of secondary loss.

The cyclostome hypothesis. Hagfish are a sister-group to lampreys.

Evidence from fossils could help clarify this issue, but most fossils that have been associated with hagfish have not good enough morphological characters preserved to assess their correct phylogenetic position. Recently, however, a well preserved hagfish fossil from the Cretaceous helped to elucidate part of the hagfish phylogeny. The divergence between lampreys and hagfish, considering previous knowledge, was usually put around the early Cambrian period, just after the beginning of the divergence of most animal phyla, but with data of the new fossil, it is pushed to a more recent point in time, around the Early Silurian, more than 130 million years after. This new fossil, named Tethymyxine tapirostrum, clearly lacks a skeleton or dorsal fins as seen in lampreys and jawed vertebrates, but has several characters shared with extant hagfish.

Fossil of Tethymyxine tapirostrum found in Lebanon. Extracted from Miyashita et al. (2019).

At least two synapomorphies can be found uniting hagfish and lampreys and separating them from jawed vertebrates. The first one are the teeth, which in these two groups are composed of keratin plates. The second one is the organization of the myomeres, the series of muscles arranged along the body of chordates in a somewhat segmented fashion, that in both hagfish and lampreys begin right around the eyes.

Considering the evidence from molecular data, the new fossil that makes it likely that hagfish and lampreys diverged more recently if they form a monophyletic group, and the likely true synapomorphies uniting these two jawless vertebrate groups, it seems that hagfish and lampreys are indeed sister-groups, forming a clade called Cyclostomata and sister-group of the jawed vertebrates Gnathostomata. If this is really the case, then the apparently more primitive features of hagfish are in fact the result of secondary losses and its ancestor likely had a more vertebrate look, with a vertebral column, dorsal fins and lensed eyes.

But let’s keep watching. Things may change again in the future as new data become available.

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References:

Miyashita T, Coates MI, Farrar R, Larson P, Manning PL, Wogelius RA, Edwards NP, Anné J, Bergmann U, Palmer AR, Currie PJ (2019) Hagfish from the Cretaceous Tethys Sea and a reconciliation of the morphological–molecular conflict in early vertebrate phylogeny. PNAS 116(6): 2146–2151. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1814794116

Oisi Y, Ota KG, Kuraku S, Fujimoto S, Kuratani S (2012) Craniofacial development of hagfishes and the evolution of vertebrates. Nature 493: 175–180. doi: 10.1038/nature11794

Wikipedia. Cyclostomata. Available at <
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclostomata >. Access on March 25, 2019;

Wikipedia. Hagfish. Available at <
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagfish >. Access on March 25, 2019.

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by | March 2, 2019 · 9:28 pm

New Species: February 2019

by Piter Kehoma Boll

Here is a list of species described this month. It certainly does not include all described species. You can see the list of Journals used in the survey of new species here.

Bacteria

Archaea

SARs

Senyuia granitica is a new flowering plant from Malaysia. Credits to Kiew & Lau, 2019.*

Plants

Amoebozoans

Tuber pulchrosporum is a new truffle from the Balkans. Credits to Polemis et al., 2019.*

Fungi

Tremella cheejenii (A), T. erythrina (B) and T. salmonea (C) are three new basidiomycetes from China. Credits to Zhao et al., 2019.*

Choanoflagellates

Sponges

Neopetrosia sigmafera is a new sponge from the Caribbean. Credits to Vicente et al., 2019.*

Cnidarians

Flatworms

Acanthocephalans

Vermatus biperforatus is a new sessile gastropod with an unusual two-hole shell dome covering the shell opening. Credits to Bieler et al., 2019.*

Mollusks

Annelids

Kinorhynchs

Nematodes

Arachnids

Myriapods

Solinca aulix is a new crab from Ecuador and Peru. Credits to Colavite et al., 2019.*

Crustaceans

Coecobrya sirindhornae, a new cave springtail from Thailand. Credits to Jantarit et al., 2019.*

Hexapods

Oxynoemacheilus cemali, a new fish from Turkey. Credits to Turan et al., 2019.

Ray-finned fishes

Phrynobactrachus bibita is a new frog from Ethiopia. Credits to Goutte et al. 2019.*

Amphibians

Pelodiscus variegatus is a new turtle from Indochina. Credits to Farkas et al., 2019.*

Reptiles

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by | January 5, 2019 · 8:00 am

The history of Systematics: Brisson’s system

by Piter Kehoma Boll

Previously, we saw that Linnaeus classified animals into 6 classes: Mammalia, Aves, Amphibia, Pisces, Insecta and Vermes and retained that system in future editions of Systema Naturae. At the same time that Linnaeus was publishing the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, which is the first work to use binomial nomenclature for animals, Brisson, a French zoologist, was creating his own system of classification.

Brisson decided to classify animals into 9 classes: Quadrupeda, Cetacea, Aves, Reptilia, Pisces cartilaginosi, Pisces proprie dicti, Insecta, Crustacea and Vermes. He describes the characters of animals in each class in his work “Regnum animale in classes IX. Distributum sive synopsis methodica”.

Class 1. Quadrupeda: hairy body, at least in some areas, and four feet.

Class 2. Cetacea: naked and elongate body, fleshy fins, horizontally flat tail.

Class 3. Aves: body covered by feathers, corneous bill, two wings, two feet.

Class 4. Reptilia: either naked body and four feet or scaly body and either four or no feet, and breathing through lungs.

Class 5. Pisces cartilaginei: cartilaginous fins and breathing through openings to naked gills.

Class 6. Pisces proprie dicti: fins consisted of little bones and breathing with gills covered by a movable and partially ossified cover.

Class 7. Crustacea: head equipped with antennae, and eight or more feet.

Class 8. Insecta: before last metamorphosis, with several stigmata or breathing organs; after last metamorphisis, head equipped with antennae, and six feet.

Class 9. Vermes: the body, or at least part of it, retractile, without antennae, feet or stigmata.

In this same work, he describes in detail the first two classes. The class Aves is described in a separate work, “Ornithologia, sive, synopsis methodica sistens avium divisionem in ordines, sectiones, genera, species, ipsarumque varietates”, but the remaining classes are never presented, so I will have to deal with those three only.

Class 1. Quadrupeda

This class is composed by all mammals known at the time, except for the cetaceans, which were in the following class, Cetacea. Brisson divided quadrupeds into 18 orders, but did not gave them names, only described them based on the number of teeth and types of nails. Linnaeus used dentition as the main character to classify mammals, but did it using different criteria.

Class 2. Cetacea

This class was composed by the cetaceans and was divided into 4 orders, each with a single genus. The orders were based on the (apparent) distribution of teeth.

In the following image you can see the classification of both Quadrupeda and Cetacea and their comparison to Linnaeus’ 1767 system.

Comparison of Linnaeus’ and Brisson’s systems for mammals. Asterisks indicate genera that are still valid today and were created by the respective authors. A † indicate a genus that is no longer valid.

Some curiosities when we compare mammals in both systems:

1. Linnaeus’ genus Trichechus included manatees and walruses. Brisson classified walruses into a separate genus, Odobenus, but included manatees in the genus Phoca, together with seals and sea lions!

2. Linnaeus included weasels and otters in the genus Mustela and civets in the genus Viverra. Brisson, on the other hand, put civets in the genus  Mustela, together with weasels, but put otters in a separate genus, Lutra.

3. While Linnaeus put hyaenas with dogs in the genus Canis and badgers with bears in the genus Ursus, Brisson had separate genera for hyaenas and badgers, named Hyaena and Meles.

4. Brisson put mice and rats in the genus Mus, dormice in the genus Glis and South-American short-tailed rodents, such as cavies and pacas, in the genus Cuniculus. Linnaeus had them all in Mus.

5. Brisson separated giraffes in their own genus, Giraffa, while Linnaeus classified them in the genus Cervus with deer.

Class 3. Aves

Brisson’s classification of birds was very different from that of Linnaeus. There were many more orders and genera. In fact, some genera used by Linnaeus in 1767 were created by Brisson. See below how complex the relationship of one system to the other is:

Comparison of Linnaeus’ and Brisson’s classification of birds. See the huge difference between both systems. Asterisks indicate genera that are still valid today and were created by the respective authors. A † indicate a genus that is no longer valid.

Unfortunately, Brisson never published his classification of other animals, so we must move on to the next authors in the following posts.

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References:

Brisson M-J (1762). Regnum animale in classes IX. Distributum, sive, Synopsis methodica. Lugduni Batavorum apud Theodorum, Haak. 316 pp.

Brisson M-J (1763a). Ornithologia, sive, synopsis methodica sistens avium divisionem in ordines, sectiones, genera, species, ipsarumque varietates. Apud Theodorum Haak, Lugduni Batavorum : 534 pp.

Brisson M-J (1763b). Ornithologia, sive, Synopsis methodica sistens avium divisionem in ordines, sectiones, genera, species, ipsarumque varietates. Apud Theodorum Haak, Lugduni Batavorum : 542 pp.

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by | August 27, 2018 · 6:52 pm

The history of Systematics: Systema Naturae from 1758 to 1767-1770

by Piter Kehoma Boll

In a series of previous posts, I detailed the classification of living beings by Linnaeus in his work Systema Naturae as presented in its 10th edition, published in 1758. Here, I will present it in a summarized way and show changes that happened from the 10th edition to the 13th edition published in two parts, one 9 years later in 1767, dealing with animals, and one 12 years later, in 1770, dealing with plants.

Animals

Linnaeus classified animals in 6 classes: Mammalia, Aves, Amphibia, Pisces, Insecta and Vermes.

1. Mammalia included mammals and in 1758 they were classified in 8 orders: Primates, Bruta, Ferae, Bestiae, Glires, Pecora, Belluae, Cete (see details here).

Linnaeus_Mammalia
Linnaeus’ classification of Mammals in 1758 and 1767

In 1767 the order Bestiae no longer exists. Armadillos (Dasypus) were transfered to Bruta, pigs (Sus) to Belluae and the remaining genera to Ferae. Additionally, rhinoceroses (Rhinoceros) were transfered from Glires to Belluae and one bat species was transferred from the genus Vespertilio in Primates to a new genus, Noctilio, in Glires.

2. Aves included birds and in 1758 they were classified in 6 orders: Accipitrae, Picae, Anseres, Grallae, Gallinae, Passeres (see details here).

Linnaeus_Aves
Linnaeus’ classification of birds in 1758 and 1767

In 1767, five new genera are seen in Picae: Buphaga, the oxpeckers, Trogon, the trogons, and Oriolus, the orioles (previously in the genus Coracias), Bucco, the puffbirds and Todus, the todies. One new genus appears in Anseres, Plotus, the darters. The order Grallae receives the new genera Palamedea, the seriemas and screamers, Parra, the jacanas, and Cancroma, the boat-billed heron. The order Gallinae is increased with the new genera Didus, the dodo (which was previously a member of the genus Struthio in the order Grallae), and Numida, the guineafowl (previously in the genus Phasianus). And, finally, the order Passeres received the new genera Pipra for the manakins (previously in Parus), Ampelis, the waxwings and cotings (previously in the genus Lanius in the order Accipitrae), Tanagra, the tanagers (previously in Fringilla) and Muscicapa, the flycatchers (previously in the genera Corvus and Motacilla).

It is also interesting to notice a change in the name of the order Accipitrae to Accipitres, and the genus Jynx is here written Yunx.

3. Amphibia included reptiles, amphibians and some fish and had 3 orders: Reptiles, Serpentes and Nantes (see details here).

Linnaeus_Amphibia
Linnaeus’ classification of Amphibians in 1758 and 1767

The orders Reptiles and Serpentes remained the same. The order Nantes, which in 1758 included mainly cartilaginous fishes, in 1767 included a lot of genera that were previously classified in the class Pisces, especially in the order Branchiostegi (see below).

4. Pisces included most fish and had 5 orders: Apodes, Jugulares, Thoracici, Abdominales and Branchiostegi (see details here).

Linnaeus_Pisces
Linnaeus’ classification of fishes in 1758 and 1767

The genus Ophidion was transfered from the order Jugulares to Apodes and appears spelled Ophidium. The order Thoracici received the additional genus Cepola (red bandfishes) and the order Abdominales was increased with the genera Amia (the bowfin), Teuthis and Elops (the ladyfish), as well as the genus Mormyrus, previosly in the order Branchiostegi, which ceased to exist.

5. Insecta included arthropods and had 7 orders: Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, Neuroptera, Hymenoptera, Diptera, Aptera (see details here).

Linnaeus_Insecta
Linnaeus’ classification of Insects in 1758 and 1767

The order Coleoptera received the new genera Lucanus (stag beetles, previously in Scarabaeus), Byrrhus (pill beetles), Gyrinus (whirligig beetles), Bruchus (pea weevils), Ptinus (spider beetles), Hispa, Lampyris (glowworms). The genera Blatta and Gryllus were transfered to Hemiptera and mantises were removed from Gryllus and received their own genus, Mantis. Additionally, the lantern flies were removed from the genus Cicada and transferred to Fulgora. In the order Neuroptera, antlions were removed from the genus Hemerobius and transferred to a new genus Myrmeleon. In the order Hymenoptera, the cuckoo wasps were transferred from the genus Sphex to a new genus Chrysis.

6. Vermes included several worms, molluscs, echinoderms, cnidarians and hagfishes. There were 5 orders: Intestina, Mollusca, Testacea, Lithophyta and Zoophyta (see details here).

Linnaeus_Vermes
Linnaeus’ classification of worms in 1758 and 1767

From 1758 to 1767, the genus Furia, of a fictional species, was transferred from Intestina to Zoophyta, and the genus Teredo (shipworms) was transferred from Intestina to Testacea. A new genus, Sipunculus, was added to Intestina to include the peanut worms. In the order Mollusca, we find now the new genera Ascidia (sea squirts), Aplysia (sea hares), Terebella (some polychaetes, previously in Nereis) and Clio (some sea slugs). The genus Priapus, containing sea anemones, is now called Actinia. The order Testacea received the new genera Mactra (trough shells, previously in Cardium) and Sabella (fanworm, previously in Serpula). The order Lithophyta received the new genus Cellepora (for bryozoans). In the order Zoophyta we find the new genera Flustra (for bryozoans previously in Eschara), Vorticella (for ciliates previously in Hydra) and Chaos (for amoebas, previously in Volvox). An additional genus is seen in Zoophyta: Spongia (sponges), transferred from Algae, back in the plant kingdom

Plants

Plants had a much more complicated system than animals. There were the plants with regular flowers classified in classes and orders according to the number of male and female sexual organs, respectively (as you can read in detail in parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 of plants in Systema Naturae). Little has changed that except for some genera, as you can see in the table below.

Linnaeus_regular
Linnaeus classification of plants with regular hermaphrodite flowers in 1758 and 1770. See the image in higher resolution here.

The same is true for species in the classes Didynamia and Tetradynamia, which have flowers with stamens of different sizes. Little has changed in their classification.

Linnaeus_Dynamia
Linnaeus’ classification of plants with flowers having stamens of two different sizes in 1758 and 1770.

Regarding the three classes characterized by flowers with clustered stamens, we can see two new orders in the class Monadelphia.

Linnaeus_Adelphia
Linnaeus’ classification of plants having flowers with clustered stamens in 1758 and 1770.

In the class Syngenesia we can notice that the order Polygamia Superflua ceases to exist, with most of its species being transferred to Polygamia Aequalis, and a new order, Polygamia Segregata, is now present. In the class Gynandria a new order, Dodecandria, is created. See those two classes in more detail here.

Linnaeus_SynGyn
Linnaeus’ classification of plants with stamens fused to each other or to the carpels in 1758 and 1770.

In the three classes of plants with male and female organs occurring in separate flowers, I think the most interesting novelty is that the genus Chara, which in 1758 was classified as a genus of algae, is now among the flowering plants in the class Monoecia, order Monandria.

Linnaeus_Oecia
Linnaeus’ classification of plants having male and female organs in different flowers in 1758 and 1770.

Finally, among the Cryptogams, the “plants without flowers”, little has changed except for the transfer of Chara to the flowering plants and Spongia to the animal kingdom.

Linnaeus_Cryptogamia
Linnaeus classification of Cryptogams in 1758 and 1770

While Linnaeus continued to develop his own system, other classifications were being proposed. We’ll start to take a look at them in the next chapters.

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References:

Linnaeus, C. (1758) Systema Naturae per regna tria Naturae…

Linnaeus, C; (1967) Systema Naturae per regna tria Naturae….

Linnaeus, C. (1770) Systema Naturae per regna tria Naturae…

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by | August 25, 2018 · 8:00 am

The history of Systematics: Plants in Systema Naturae, 1758 (Part 9)

by Piter Kehoma Boll 

The last part of the series is finally here! See also parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. The only class that remains to be introduced is Cryptogamia, the plants without flowers.

24. Cryptogamia (“hidden marriages”)

“Marriage is celebrated privately”, i.e., sexual organs are not clearly visible.

24.1 Filices (ferns): Equisetum (horsetails), Onoclea (sensitive fern), Ophioglossum (adder’s-tongue ferns), Osmunda (royal ferns), Acrostichum (leather ferns), Polypodium (polypodies), Hemionitis (hemionitises), Asplenium (spleenworts), Blechnum (hard ferns), Lonchitis (lonchitises), Pteris (brakes), Adiantum (walking ferns), Trichomanes (britstle ferns and lace ferns), Marsilea (water clovers), Pilularia (pillworts), Isoetes (quillworts).

1758Linnaeus_cryptogamia_filices

Linnaeus’ order Filices included (from left to right, top to bottom) the common horsetail (Equisetum arvense), the sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis), the common adder’s tongue (Ophioglossum vulgatum), common royal fern (Osmunda regalis), golden leather-fern (Acrostichum aureum), Chinese brake (Pteris vittata), western hard fern (Blechnum occidentale), black spleenwort (Asplenium adiantum-nigrum), common polypody (Polypodium vulgare), Venus-hair fern (Adiantum capillus-veneris), lace fern (Trichomanes chinensis, now Sphenomeris chinensis), European water clover (Marsilea quadrifolia), common pillwort (Pilularia globulifera), and lake quillwort (Isoetes lacustris). Credits to Rob Hille (horsetail), Kurt Stueber (royal fern), Krzysztof Ziarnek (hard fern), Forest & Kim Starr (spleenwort, lace fern), H. Zell (polypody), Tato Grasso (Venus-hair fern), Daria Inozemtseva (quillwort), Wikimedia users JMK (brake), Keisotyo (water clover) and Kembangraps (pillwort), flickr user peganum (sensitive fern).

24.2 Musci (mosses): Lycopodium (club mosses), Porella (scaleworts), Sphagnum (sphagnums), Phascum (phascum mosses), Fontinalis (fountain mosses), Buxbaumia (bug mosses), Splachnum (dung mosses), Polytrichum (haircap mosses), Mnium (calcareous mosses), Bryum (common mosses), Hypnum (flat mosses).

1758Linnaeus_cryptogamia_musci

Among the species in the order Musci there were (from left to right, top to bottom) the common club moss (Lycopodium clavatum), pinnate scalewort (Porella pinnata), prairie sphagnum (Sphagnum palustre), common fountain moss (Fontinalis antipyretica), common bug moss (Buxbaumia aphylla), Alpine haircap (Polytrichum alpinum), horn calcareous moss (Mnium hornum), silver moss (Bryum argenteum), cypress moss (Hypnum cupressiforme). Credits to Christian Fischer (club moss), Rafael Medina (scalewort), Bern Haynold (sphagnum), Hermann Schachner (haircap, silver moss), Bernard Dupont (calcareous moss), and Wikimedia users AnRo0002 (fountain moss) and Aconcagua (cypress moss).

24.3 Algae (algae): Jungermannia (leafy liverworts), Targionia (targionias), Marchantia (thallose liverwort), Blasia (blasia), Riccia (crystalworts), Anthoceros (hornworts), Lichen (lichens), Chara (stoneworts), Tremella (several jelly-like organisms), Fucus (brown and red algae), Ulva (sea lettuces and lavers), Conferva (several filamentous algae), Byssus (several crusty and wooly organisms), Spongia (sponges).

1758Linnaeus_cryptogamia_algae

The diverse order Algae included (from left to right, top to bottom) the forest leafy liverwort (Jungermannia nemorea, now Scapania nemorea), common targionia (Targionia hypophylla), green tongue liverwort (Marchantia polymorpha), blasia (Blasia pusilla), floating crystalwort (Riccia fluitans), smooth horwort (Anthoceros laevis, now Phaeoceros laevis), map lichen (Lichen geographicus, now Rhizocarpon geographicum), common stonewort (Chara vulgaris), witch’s jelly (Tremella nostoc, now Nostoc commune), serrated wrack (Fucus serratus), common sea lettuce (Ulva lactuca), rock weed (Conferva rupestris, now Cladophora rupestris), golden wool (Byssus aurea, now Trentepohlia aurea), bath sponge (Spongia officinalis). Credits to Bernd Haynold (leafy liverwort, blasia), Luis Fernández García (targionia), Denis Barthel (green tongue), Christian Fischer (crystalwort), Fritz Geller-Grimm (lichen), Lairich Rig (witch’s jelly), Kristian Peters (sea lettuce), Bioimages (rock wed), JK Johnson (golden wool), Guido Picchetti (sponge) and Wikimedia users Oliver s. (hornwort), Mnolf (stonewort) and Citron (wrack).

24.4 Fungi (fungi): Agaricus (gilled mushrooms), Boletus (pore-bearing mushrooms), Hydnum (toothed mushrooms), Phallus (phallic mushrooms), Clathrus (finger-shaped fungi), Elvela (saddle-like mushrooms), Peziza (cup-shaped mushrooms), Clavaria (club-shaped mushrooms), Lycoperdon (ball-shaped mushrooms), Mucor (molds).

1758Linnaeus_cryptogamia_fungi

The order Fungi contained (from left to right, top to bottom) the field mushroom (Agaricus campestris), common red shelf-mushroom (Boletus sanguineus, now Pycnoporus sanguineus), sweet tooth (Hydnum repandum), common stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus), carnival candy slime-mold (Clathrus denudatus, now Arcyria denudata), vinegar cup (Peziza acetabulum, now Helvella acetabulum), sweet club-mushroom (Clavaria pistillaris, now Clavariadelphus pistillaris), grassland puffball (Lycoperdon cervinum, now Lycoperdon lividum), common pin-mold (Mucor mucedo). Credits to Nathan Wilson (field mushroom), Instituto Últimos Refúgios (shelf mushroom), H. Krisp (sweet tooth, vinegar cup), Jörg Hempel (stinkhorn), Bea Leiderman (slime mold), Francisco J. Díez Martín (club mushroom), Michel Beeckman (puffball) and James Lindsey (pin mold).

Here we can see that Linnaeus’ mess reached its limit. There are even animals classified as plants, as you can see sponges appearing as algae. Actually, the order Algae included species belonging to almost every currently recognized kingdom, from bacteria to animals, fungi, plants and heterokonts. The other orders are considerably more uniform.

We finished Linnaeus’ System! Yay!

I will make an additional post with a summary and then we can move on to changes that happened in following systems. See you there!

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Reference:

Linnaeus, C. (1758) Systema Naturae per regna tria Naturae…

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