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Macrini TE, Hopwood J, Herbert CA, Weisbecker V. Development of the ethmoid in a wallaby and implications for the homology of turbinal elements in marsupials. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20220082. [PMID: 37183901 PMCID: PMC10184242 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2022] [Accepted: 11/04/2022] [Indexed: 05/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The homologies of the turbinals (scroll bones) of the ethmoid are not well understood, including the potential implication for understanding mammalian phylogeny. Here we examine the postnatal development of this anatomical system in a marsupial mammal because previous work has shown that the adult pattern of five endoturbinals (ethmoturbinals) and two ectoturbinals (frontoturbinals) is conserved. Furthermore, marsupial phylogeny is fairly well resolved and provides a solid evolutionary framework for examining turbinal homologies. In this study, we documented the development of the ethmoid of the tammar wallaby, Notamacropus eugenii, using histology and computed tomography imagery of a growth series of pouch young. The pattern of development of the turbinal elements in the wallaby was compared to that in didelphids, as described in previous work. We found that four ethmoturbinals initially develop, followed later in development by an interturbinal; these five elements then develop into the bony endoturbinals found in adults. These data support the idea that endoturbinal III, derived from an interturbinal, has a distinctive development pattern from the other endoturbinals. This is consistent with what is seen in the didelphid marsupials, Caluromys philander and Monodelphis domestica, suggesting this is a common developmental pattern for marsupials. This article is part of the theme issue 'The mammalian skull: development, structure and function'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas E. Macrini
- Department of Biological Sciences, St Mary's University, San Antonio, TX 78228, USA
| | - Jenna Hopwood
- Department of Biological Sciences, St Mary's University, San Antonio, TX 78228, USA
| | - Catherine A. Herbert
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Vera Weisbecker
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park, SA 5042, Australia
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2
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Beck RM, Voss RS, Jansa SA. Craniodental Morphology and Phylogeny of Marsupials. BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 2022. [DOI: 10.1206/0003-0090.457.1.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Robin M.D. Beck
- School of Science, Engineering and Environment University of Salford, U.K. School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences University of New South Wales, Australia Division of Vertebrate Zoology (Mammalogy) American Museum of Natural History
| | - Robert S. Voss
- Division of Vertebrate Zoology (Mammalogy) American Museum of Natural History
| | - Sharon A. Jansa
- Bell Museum and Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior University of Minnesota
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3
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Thornton LH, Dick TJM, Bennett MB, Clemente CJ. Understanding Australia’s unique hopping species: a comparative review of the musculoskeletal system and locomotor biomechanics in Macropodoidea. AUST J ZOOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1071/zo21048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Kangaroos and other macropodoids stand out among mammals for their unusual hopping locomotion and body shape. This review examines the scaling of hind- and forelimb bones, and the primary ankle extensor muscles and tendons. We find that the scaling of the musculoskeletal system is sensitive to the phylogenetic context. Tibia length increases with positive allometry among most macropodoids, but negative allometry in eastern grey kangaroos and isometry in red kangaroos. Femur length decreases with stronger negative allometry in eastern grey and red kangaroos than among other macropodoids. Muscle masses scale with negative allometry in western grey kangaroos and with isometry in red kangaroos, compared to positive allometry in other macropodoids. We further summarise the work on the hopping gait, energetics in macropodoids, and stresses in the musculoskeletal system in an evolutionary context, to determine what trade-offs may limit locomotor performance in macropodoids. When large kangaroos hop, they do not increase oxygen consumption with speed, unlike most mammals, including small hopping species. We conclude that there is not enough information to isolate the biomechanical factors that make large kangaroos so energy efficient. We identify key areas for further research to fill these gaps.
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Mitogenome of the extinct Desert 'rat-kangaroo' times the adaptation to aridity in macropodoids. Sci Rep 2022; 12:5829. [PMID: 35388060 PMCID: PMC8987032 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-09568-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2021] [Accepted: 03/25/2022] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
The evolution of Australia's distinctive marsupial fauna has long been linked to the onset of continent-wide aridity. However, how this profound climate change event affected the diversification of extant lineages is still hotly debated. Here, we assemble a DNA sequence dataset of Macropodoidea-the clade comprising kangaroos and their relatives-that incorporates a complete mitogenome for the Desert 'rat-kangaroo', Caloprymnus campestris. This enigmatic species went extinct nearly 90 years ago and is known from a handful of museum specimens. Caloprymnus is significant because it was the only macropodoid restricted to extreme desert environments, and therefore calibrates the group's specialisation for increasingly arid conditions. Our robustly supported phylogenies nest Caloprymnus amongst the bettongs Aepyprymnus and Bettongia. Dated ancestral range estimations further reveal that the Caloprymnus-Bettongia lineage originated in nascent xeric settings during the middle to late Miocene, ~ 12 million years ago (Ma), but subsequently radiated into fragmenting mesic habitats after the Pliocene to mid-Pleistocene. This timeframe parallels the ancestral divergences of kangaroos in woodlands and forests, but predates their adaptive dispersal into proliferating dry shrublands and grasslands from the late Miocene to mid-Pleistocene, after ~ 7 Ma. We thus demonstrate that protracted changes in both climate and vegetation likely staged the emergence of modern arid zone macropodoids.
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Nasrullah Q, Renfree M, Evans AR. From Embryo to Adult: The Complete Development and Unusual Replacement of the Dentition of the Tammar Wallaby (Macropus eugenii). J MAMM EVOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10914-021-09597-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Phillips MJ, Westerman M, Cascini M. The value of updating GenBank accessions for supermatrix phylogeny: The case of the New Guinean marsupial carnivore genus Myoictis. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2021; 166:107328. [PMID: 34666168 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Erroneous taxonomic attributions in GenBank accessions can mislead phylogenetic inference and appear to be widespread within genera. We investigate the influence of taxonomic misattributions for reconstructing the phylogeny of three-striped dasyures, which include four recognized Myoictis species (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae) that are distributed across New Guinea and nearby islands. Molecular phylogenetic studies that have focused on dasyurids consistently resolve the interrelationships of these small carnivores, grouping M. leucura with M. wavicus, and placing M. wallacei and M. melas as successively deeper divergences from these. Two recent marsupial and mammalian supermatrix phylogenies instead favour an alternative Myoictis topology that is discordant with each of these relationships. We add new nuclear and mitochondrial sequences and employ randomized accession resampling that shows the supermatrix topologies are an artefact of several outdated taxonomic attributions in GenBank. Updating these accessions brings agreement across Myoictis phylogenies with randomly resampled accessions. We encourage authors to update GenBank taxonomic attributions and we argue that an option is needed for flagging accessions that are not demonstrably incorrect, but that provide anomalous results. This would serve both as a caution for future supermatrix construction and to highlight accessions of potentially significant biological interest for further study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J Phillips
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, Queensland University of Technology, 2 George Street, Brisbane 4000, QLD, Australia.
| | - Michael Westerman
- Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution, La Trobe University, Melbourne 3086, VIC, Australia
| | - Manuela Cascini
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, Queensland University of Technology, 2 George Street, Brisbane 4000, QLD, Australia
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Jabłońska A, Navarro N, Laffont R, Wattier R, Pešić V, Zawal A, Vukić J, Grabowski M. An integrative approach challenges species hypotheses and provides hints for evolutionary history of two Mediterranean freshwater palaemonid shrimps (Decapoda: Caridea). THE EUROPEAN ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/24750263.2021.1953624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- A. Jabłońska
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Hydrobiology, University of Lodz, Łódź, Poland
| | - N. Navarro
- EPHE, PSL University, Paris, France
- Biogéosciences, UMR 6282, CNRS, University of Burgundy, Dijon, France
| | - R. Laffont
- Biogéosciences, UMR 6282, CNRS, University of Burgundy, Dijon, France
| | - R. Wattier
- Biogéosciences, UMR 6282, CNRS, University of Burgundy, Dijon, France
| | - V. Pešić
- Department of Biology, University of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro
| | - A. Zawal
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Limnology, Center of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland
| | - J. Vukić
- Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - M. Grabowski
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Hydrobiology, University of Lodz, Łódź, Poland
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Quintero-Galvis JF, Saenz-Agudelo P, Celis-Diez JL, Amico GC, Vazquez S, Shafer ABA, Nespolo RF. The biogeography of Dromiciops in southern South America: Middle Miocene transgressions, speciation and associations with Nothofagus. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2021; 163:107234. [PMID: 34146676 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2020] [Revised: 05/28/2021] [Accepted: 06/14/2021] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
The current distribution of the flora and fauna of southern South America is the result of drastic geological events that occurred during the last 20 million years, including marine transgressions, glaciations and active vulcanism. All these have been associated with fragmentation, isolation and subsequent expansion of the biota, south of 35°S, such as the temperate rainforest. This forest is mostly dominated by Nothofagus trees and is the habitat of the relict marsupial monito del monte, genus Dromiciops, sole survivor of the order Microbiotheria. Preliminary analyses using mtDNA proposed the existence of three main Dromiciops lineages, distributed latitudinally, whose divergence was initially attributed to recent Pleistocene glaciations. Using fossil-calibrated dating on nuclear and mitochondrial genes, here we reevaluate this hypothesis and report an older (Miocene) biogeographic history for the genus. We performed phylogenetic reconstructions using sequences from two mitochondrial DNA and four nuclear DNA genes in 159 specimens from 31 sites across Chile and Argentina. Our phylogenetic analysis resolved three main clades with discrete geographic distributions. The oldest and most differentiated clade corresponds to that of the northern distribution (35.2°S to 39.3°S), which should be considered a distinct species (D. bozinovici, sensu D'Elía et al. 2016). According to our estimations, this species shared a common ancestor with D. gliroides (southern clades) about ~13 million years ago. Divergence time estimates for the southern clades (39.6°S to 42.0°S) ranged from 9.57 to 6.5 Mya. A strong genetic structure was also detected within and between clades. Demographic analyses suggest population size stability for the northern clade (D. bozinovici), and recent demographic expansions for the central and southern clades. All together, our results suggest that the diversification of Dromiciops were initiated by the Middle Miocene transgression (MMT), the massive marine flooding that covered several lowlands of the western face of Los Andes between 37 and 48°S. The MMT resulted from an increase in global sea levels at the Miocene climatic optimum, which shaped the biogeographic origin of several species, including Nothofagus forests, the habitat of Dromiciops.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julian F Quintero-Galvis
- Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile; Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias mención Ecología y Evolución, Escuela de Graduados, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Chile
| | - Pablo Saenz-Agudelo
- Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile
| | - Juan L Celis-Diez
- Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso Escuela de Agronomía Quillota, Chile
| | - Guillermo C Amico
- INIBIOMA, CONICET-Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Bariloche, Argentina
| | - Soledad Vazquez
- INIBIOMA, CONICET-Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Bariloche, Argentina
| | - Aaron B A Shafer
- Department of Forensic Science & Environmental Life Sciences Graduate Program, Trent University, Peterborough, ON, Canada
| | - Roberto F Nespolo
- Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile; Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 6513677, Chile; Millenium Institute for Integrative Biology (iBio), Santiago, Chile.
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9
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Warburton NM, Prideaux GJ. The skeleton of Congruus kitcheneri, a semiarboreal kangaroo from the Pleistocene of southern Australia. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2021; 8:202216. [PMID: 33959368 PMCID: PMC8074921 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.202216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2020] [Accepted: 03/02/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The macropodine kangaroo, Wallabia kitcheneri, was first described in 1989 from a Pleistocene deposit within Mammoth Cave, southwestern Australia, on the basis of a few partial dentaries and maxilla fragments. Here, we recognize W. kitcheneri within the Pleistocene assemblages of the Thylacoleo Caves, south-central Australia, where it is represented by several cranial specimens and two near-complete skeletons, a probable male and female. We reallocate this species to the hitherto monotypic genus Congruus. Congruus kitcheneri differs from all other macropodid species by having a highly unusual pocket within the wall of the nasal cavity. It is distinguished from C. congruus by having a longer, narrower rostrum, a taller occiput and a deeper jugal. Congruus is closest to Protemnodon in overall cranial morphology but is smaller and less robust. In most postcranial attributes, Congruus also resembles Protemnodon, including general limb robustness and the atypical ratio of 14 thoracic to five lumbar vertebrae. It is distinguished by the high mobility of its glenohumeral joints, the development of muscle attachment sites for strong adduction and mobility of the forelimb, and large, robust manual and pedal digits with strongly recurved distal phalanges. These adaptations resemble those of tree-kangaroos more than ground-dwelling macropodines. We interpret this to imply that C. kitcheneri was semiarboreal, with a propensity to climb and move slowly through trees. This is the first evidence for the secondary adoption of a climbing habit within crown macropodines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie M. Warburton
- Centre for Climate-Impacted Terrestrial Ecosystems, Harry Butler Research Institute, Murdoch University, Australia
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Western Australian Museum, Kew Street, Welshpool, WA, Australia
| | - Gavin J. Prideaux
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, South Australia 5042, Australia
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10
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Stewart TJ, Louys J, Miszkiewicz JJ. Intra-skeletal vascular density in a bipedal hopping macropod with implications for analyses of rib histology. Anat Sci Int 2021; 96:386-399. [PMID: 33481185 DOI: 10.1007/s12565-020-00601-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2020] [Accepted: 12/30/2020] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Human ribs are thought to be less affected by mechanical strain at the microscopic level than limb bones, implying that rib remodelling better reflects bone physiological homeostasis. Here, we test the hypothesis that rib tissue will be well vascularized and thus enhance susceptibility to metabolic influence. An intra-skeletal comparison of bone vascular canal density was conducted using a macropod animal model adapted to bipedal habitual hopping. The right humerus, ulna, radius, femur, tibia, fibula, a mid-thoracic and upper-thoracic rib of an eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) were sectioned at the midshaft, from which histological sections were prepared. Bone vascularity from a maximum of 12 mm2 of sub-periosteal parallel-fibred and lamellar bone was recorded, resulting in a total of 2047 counted vessels. Vascular canal density data were corrected by cortical width, maximum length, and midshaft circumference robusticity indices computed for each bone. The fibula consistently had the highest vascular canal density, even when corrected for maximum length, cortical width and midshaft circumference robusticities. This was followed by the mid- and upper-thoracic ribs. Vascularity differences between bones were relatively consistent whether vascular canal density was controlled for by cortical width or midshaft circumference robusticities. Vascular canal density and robusticity indices were also positively and negatively correlated (p < 0.05). Results confirm that the ribs are well vascularized, which facilitates bone metabolic processes such as remodelling, but the fibula also appears to be a well vascularized bone. Future research investigating human bone metabolism will benefit from examining thoracic rib or fibula samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tahlia J Stewart
- Skeletal Biology and Forensic Anthropology Research Group, School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
| | - Julien Louys
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Justyna J Miszkiewicz
- Skeletal Biology and Forensic Anthropology Research Group, School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
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Viacava P, Blomberg SP, Sansalone G, Phillips MJ, Guillerme T, Cameron SF, Wilson RS, Weisbecker V. Skull shape of a widely distributed, endangered marsupial reveals little evidence of local adaptation between fragmented populations. Ecol Evol 2020; 10:9707-9720. [PMID: 33005341 PMCID: PMC7520215 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2020] [Revised: 06/15/2020] [Accepted: 06/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
The biogeographic distribution of diversity among populations of threatened mammalian species is generally investigated using population genetics. However, intraspecific phenotypic diversity is rarely assessed beyond taxonomy-focused linear measurements or qualitative descriptions. Here, we use a technique widely used in the evolutionary sciences-geometric morphometrics-to characterize shape diversity in the skull of an endangered marsupial, the northern quoll, across its 5,000 km distribution range along Northern Australia. Skull shape is a proxy for feeding, behavior, and phenotypic differentiation, allowing us to ask whether populations can be distinguished and whether patterns of variation indicate adaptability to changing environmental conditions. We analyzed skull shape in 101 individuals across four mainland populations and several islands. We assessed the contribution of population, size, sex, rainfall, temperature, and geography to skull shape variation using principal component analysis, Procrustes ANOVA, and variation partitioning analyses. The populations harbor similar amounts of broadly overlapping skull shape variation, with relatively low geographic effects. Size predicted skull shape best, coinciding with braincase size variation and differences in zygomatic arches. Size-adjusted differences in populations explained less variation with far smaller effect sizes, relating to changes in the insertion areas of masticatory muscles, as well as the upper muzzle and incisor region. Climatic and geographic variables contributed little. Strikingly, the vast majority of shape variation-76%-remained unexplained. Our results suggest a uniform intraspecific scope for shape variation, possibly due to allometric constraints or phenotypic plasticity beyond the relatively strong allometric effect. The lack of local adaptation indicates that cross-breeding between populations will not reduce local morphological skull (and probably general musculoskeletal) adaptation because none exists. However, the potential for heritable morphological variation (e.g., specialization to local diets) seems exceedingly limited. We conclude that 3D geometric morphometrics can provide a comprehensive, statistically rigorous phenomic contribution to genetic-based conservation studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pietro Viacava
- School of Biological Sciences The University of Queensland St. Lucia QLD Australia
| | - Simone P Blomberg
- School of Biological Sciences The University of Queensland St. Lucia QLD Australia
| | - Gabriele Sansalone
- Form, Evolution and Anatomy Research Laboratory, Zoology School of Environmental and Rural Sciences University of New England Armidale NSW Australia
| | - Matthew J Phillips
- Earth, Environmental and Biological Sciences School Queensland University of Technology Brisbane QLD Australia
| | - Thomas Guillerme
- School of Biological Sciences The University of Queensland St. Lucia QLD Australia
| | - Skye F Cameron
- School of Biological Sciences The University of Queensland St. Lucia QLD Australia
| | - Robbie S Wilson
- School of Biological Sciences The University of Queensland St. Lucia QLD Australia
| | - Vera Weisbecker
- College of Science and Engineering Flinders University Adelaide SA Australia
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