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Hard ticks in Burmese amber with Australasian affinities. Parasitology 2023; 150:157-171. [PMID: 36341553 PMCID: PMC10090639 DOI: 10.1017/s0031182022001585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Three examples of metastriate hard ticks (Ixodida: Ixodidae) with apparent affinities to modern Australasian genera are described from the mid-Cretaceous (ca. 100 Ma) Burmese amber of Myanmar. Two nymphs of Bothriocroton muelleri sp. nov. represent the oldest (and only) fossil record of this genus, living members of which are restricted to Australia and predominantly feed on monitor lizards, snakes and echidnas. A female of Archaeocroton kaufmani sp. nov. shares its basis capitulum shape with the tuatara tick Archaeocroton sphenodonti (Dumbleton, 1943), the only extant member of this genus and an endemic species for New Zealand. The presence of 2 Australasian genera in Burmese amber is consistent with a previous record of an Ixodes Latreille, 1795 tick from this deposit which resembles Australian members of this genus. They further support an emerging hypothesis that fauna of the amber forest, which may have been on an island at the time of deposition, was at least partly Gondwanan in origin. A revised evolutionary tree for Ixodida is presented compiling data from several new Burmese amber ticks described in the last few years.
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Chitimia-Dobler L, Mans BJ, Handschuh S, Dunlop JA. A remarkable assemblage of ticks from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. Parasitology 2022; 149:1-36. [PMID: 35241194 PMCID: PMC10090602 DOI: 10.1017/s0031182022000269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2021] [Revised: 02/25/2022] [Accepted: 02/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Four fossil ticks (Arachnida: Parasitiformes: Ixodida) are described from mid-Cretaceous (ca. 100 Ma) Burmese amber of Myanmar. Ixodes antiquorum sp. nov. (Ixodidae) is the first Mesozoic record of Ixodes and the oldest representative of the most species-rich extant tick genus. Its affinities appear to lie with modern Australian forms, consistent with the hypothesis that Burmese amber hosted Gondwanan faunal elements. Even more remarkable is Khimaira fossus gen. et sp. nov. which combines a body resembling that of a soft tick (Argasidae) with a basis capitulum more like that of a hard tick (Ixodidae). We refer it to Khimairidae fam. nov. as a possible transitional form between the two main families of ticks alive today. Another member of the extinct Deinocrotonidae is described as Deinocroton copia sp. nov., while the first described adult female for Cornupalpatum burmanicum is associated with a dinosaur feather barb.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ben J. Mans
- Epidemiology, Parasites and Vectors, Agricultural Research Council-Onderstepoort Veterinary Research, Onderstepoort, South Africa
- The Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
- Department of Life and Consumer Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Stephan Handschuh
- VetCore Facility for Research, Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien, Veterinärplatz 1, A-1210Vienna, Austria
| | - Jason A. Dunlop
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstrasse 43, D-10115Berlin, Germany
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Bakkes DK, Ropiquet A, Chitimia-Dobler L, Matloa DE, Apanaskevich DA, Horak IG, Mans BJ, Matthee CA. Adaptive radiation and speciation in Rhipicephalus ticks: A medley of novel hosts, nested predator-prey food webs, off-host periods and dispersal along temperature variation gradients. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2021; 162:107178. [PMID: 33892098 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2020] [Revised: 03/18/2021] [Accepted: 04/13/2021] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Rhipicephalus are a species-diverse genus of ticks, mainly distributed in the Afrotropics with some species in the Palearctic and Oriental regions. Current taxonomic consensus comprise nine informal species groups/lineages based on immature morphology. This work integrates biogeographic, ecological and molecular lines of evidence to better understand Rhipicephalus evolution. Phylogenetic analysis based on four genes (12S, 16S, 28S-D2 and COI) recovered five distinct clades with nine descendant clades that are generally congruent with current taxonomy, with some exceptions. Historical biogeography is inferred from molecular divergence times, ancestral distribution areas, host-use and climate niches of four phylogenetically significant bioclimatic variables (isothermality, annual, seasonal and diurnal temperature range). Novel hosts enabled host-linked dispersal events into new environments, and ticks exploited new hosts through nested predator-prey connections in food webs. Diversification was further induced by climate niche partitioning along gradients in temperature range during off-host periods. Ancestral climate niche estimates corroborated dispersal events by indicating hypothetical ancestors moved into environments with different annual and seasonal temperature ranges along latitudinal gradients. Host size for immature and adult life stages was important for dispersal and subsequent diversification rates. Clades that utilise large, mobile hosts (ungulates and carnivores) early in development have wider geographic ranges but slower diversification rates, and those utilising small, less mobile hosts (rodents, lagomorphs and afroinsectivores) early in development have smaller ranges but higher diversification rates. These findings suggest diversification is driven by a complex set of factors linked to both host-associations (host size, ranges and mobility) and climate niche partitioning along annual and seasonal temperature range gradients that vary with latitude. Moreover, competitive interactions can reinforce these processes and drive speciation. Off-host periods facilitate adaptive radiation by enabling host switches along nested predator-prey connections in food webs, but at the cost of environmental exposure that partitions niches among dispersing progenitors, disrupting geneflow and driving diversification. As such, the evolution and ecological niches of Rhipicephalus are characterised by trade-offs between on- and off-host periods, and these trade-offs interact with nested predator-prey connections in food webs, host-use at different life stages, as well as gradients in annual and seasonal temperature ranges to drive adaptive radiation and speciation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deon K Bakkes
- Gertrud Theiler Tick Museum - Epidemiology, Parasites and Vectors, Agricultural Research Council - Onderstepoort Veterinary Research, Pretoria 0110, South Africa; Evolutionary Genomics Group, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa.
| | - Anne Ropiquet
- Evolutionary Genomics Group, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa; Middlesex University, Department of Natural Sciences- Faculty of Science and Technology, London NW4 4BT, United Kingdom
| | | | - Dikeledi E Matloa
- Gertrud Theiler Tick Museum - Epidemiology, Parasites and Vectors, Agricultural Research Council - Onderstepoort Veterinary Research, Pretoria 0110, South Africa
| | - Dmitry A Apanaskevich
- United States National Tick Collection, the James H. Oliver, Jr. Institute for Coastal Plain Science, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 30460-8042, USA; Biology Department, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 30460, USA; Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg 199034, Russia
| | - Ivan G Horak
- Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Ben J Mans
- Gertrud Theiler Tick Museum - Epidemiology, Parasites and Vectors, Agricultural Research Council - Onderstepoort Veterinary Research, Pretoria 0110, South Africa; Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa; Department of Life and Consumer Sciences, University of South Africa, South Africa
| | - Conrad A Matthee
- Evolutionary Genomics Group, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa
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Hillary VE, Ceasar SA. Genome engineering in insects for the control of vector borne diseases. PROGRESS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE 2021; 179:197-223. [PMID: 33785177 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pmbts.2020.12.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Insects cause many vector-borne infectious diseases and have become a major threat to human health. Although many control measures are undertaken, some insects are resistant to it, exacerbated by environmental changes which is a major challenge for control measures. Genetic studies by targeting the genomes of insects may offer an alternative strategy. Developments with novel genome engineering technologies have stretched our ability to target and modify any genomic sequence in Eukaryotes including insects. Genome engineering tools such as zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), and most recently discovered, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) systems hold the potential to control the vector-borne diseases. In this chapter, we review the vector control strategy undertaken by employing three major genome engineering tools (ZFNs, TALENs, and CRISPR/Cas9) and discuss the future prospects of this system to control insect vectors. Finally, we also discuss the CRISPR-based gene drive system and its concerns due to ecological impacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Edwin Hillary
- Division of Biotechnology, Entomology Research Institute, Loyola College, University of Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - S Antony Ceasar
- Division of Biotechnology, Entomology Research Institute, Loyola College, University of Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India; Division of Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Department of Biosciences, Rajagiri College of Social Sciences, Kalamassery, Kochi, India.
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Ondruš J, Hubatka F, Kulich P, Odehnalová N, Harabiš V, Hesko B, Sychra O, Široký P, Turánek J, Novobilský A. A novel approach to imaging engorged ticks: Micro-CT scanning of Ixodes ricinus fed on blood enriched with gold nanoparticles. Ticks Tick Borne Dis 2020; 12:101559. [PMID: 33137638 DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101559] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2020] [Revised: 09/02/2020] [Accepted: 09/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) is an exceptional imaging modality which is limited in visualizing soft biological tissues that need pre-examination contrasting steps, which can cause serious deformation to sizeable specimens like engorged ticks. The aim of this study was to develop a new technique to bypass these limitations and allow the imaging of fed ticks in their natural state. To accomplish this, adult Ixodes ricinus females were allowed to engorge in vitro on blood supplemented with PEGylated gold nanoparticles (PEG-AuNPs). In total, 73/120 females divided into 6 groups engorged on blood enriched with 0.07-2.16 mg PEG-AuNPs per ml of blood. No toxic effect was observed for any of the tested groups compared to the control group, in which 12/20 females engorged on clear blood. The ticks were scanned on a Bruker micro-CT SkyScan 1276. The mean radiodensity of the examined ticks exceeded 0 Hounsfield Units only in the case of the two groups with the highest concentration. The best contrast was observed in ticks engorged on blood with the highest tested concentration of 2.16 mg/mL PEG-AuNPs. In these ticks, the midgut and rectal sac were clearly visible. Also, the midgut lumen volume was computed from segmented image data. The reduction in midgut volume was documented during the egg development process. According to this pilot study, micro-CT of ticks engorged on blood supplemented with contrasting agents in vitro may reveal additional information regarding the engorged ticks' anatomy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaroslav Ondruš
- CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackého tř. 1946/1, 612 42, Brno, Czech Republic; Department of Biology and Wildlife Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackého tř. 1946/1, 612 42, Brno, Czech Republic; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Veterinary Research Institute, Hudcova 296/70, 621 00, Brno, Czech Republic.
| | - František Hubatka
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Veterinary Research Institute, Hudcova 296/70, 621 00, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Pavel Kulich
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Veterinary Research Institute, Hudcova 296/70, 621 00, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Nikola Odehnalová
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Veterinary Research Institute, Hudcova 296/70, 621 00, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Vratislav Harabiš
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication, Brno University of Technology, 616 00, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Branislav Hesko
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication, Brno University of Technology, 616 00, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Oldřich Sychra
- Department of Biology and Wildlife Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackého tř. 1946/1, 612 42, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Pavel Široký
- CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackého tř. 1946/1, 612 42, Brno, Czech Republic; Department of Biology and Wildlife Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Palackého tř. 1946/1, 612 42, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Jaroslav Turánek
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Veterinary Research Institute, Hudcova 296/70, 621 00, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Adam Novobilský
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Veterinary Research Institute, Hudcova 296/70, 621 00, Brno, Czech Republic
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Hipsley CA, Aguilar R, Black JR, Hocknull SA. High-throughput microCT scanning of small specimens: preparation, packing, parameters and post-processing. Sci Rep 2020; 10:13863. [PMID: 32807929 PMCID: PMC7431592 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-70970-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2020] [Accepted: 08/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
High-resolution X-ray microcomputed tomography, or microCT (μCT), enables the digital imaging of whole objects in three dimensions. The power of μCT to visualize internal features without disarticulation makes it particularly valuable for the study of museum collections, which house millions of physical specimens documenting the spatio-temporal patterns of life. Despite the potential for comparative analyses, most μCT studies include limited numbers of museum specimens, due to the challenges of digitizing numerous individuals within a project scope. Here we describe a method for high-throughput μCT scanning of hundreds of small (< 2 cm) specimens in a single container, followed by individual labelling and archival storage. We also explore the effects of various packing materials and multiple specimens per capsule to minimize sample movement that can degrade image quality, and hence μCT investment. We demonstrate this protocol on vertebrate fossils from Queensland Museum, Australia, as part of an effort to track community responses to climate change over evolutionary time. This system can be easily modified for other types of wet and dry material amenable to X-ray attenuation, including geological, botanical and zoological samples, providing greater access to large-scale phenotypic data and adding value to global collections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christy A Hipsley
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, BioSciences 4, Building 147, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia. .,Museums Victoria, GPO Box 666, Melbourne, VIC, 3001, Australia.
| | - Rocio Aguilar
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, BioSciences 4, Building 147, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia.,Museums Victoria, GPO Box 666, Melbourne, VIC, 3001, Australia.,School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Jay R Black
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Scott A Hocknull
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, BioSciences 4, Building 147, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia.,Queensland Museum, Geosciences, 122 Gerler Rd., Hendra, QLD, 4011, Australia
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Abstract
Improved understanding of tick phylogeny has allowed testing of some biogeographical patterns. On the basis of both literature data and a meta-analysis of available sequence data, there is strong support for a Gondwanan origin of Ixodidae, and probably Ixodida. A particularly strong pattern is observed for the genus Amblyomma, which appears to have originated in Antarctica/southern South America, with subsequent dispersal to Australia. The endemic Australian lineages of Ixodidae (no other continent has such a pattern) appear to result from separate dispersal events, probably from Antarctica. Minimum ages for a number of divergences are determined as part of an updated temporal framework for tick evolution. Alternative hypotheses for tick evolution, such as a very old Pangean group, a Northern hemisphere origin, or an Australian origin, fit less well with observed phylogeographic patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorenza Beati
- Institute for Coastal Plain Science and US National Tick Collection, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia 30460, USA;
| | - Hans Klompen
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology and Museum of Biological Diversity, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43212, USA
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Abstract
AbstractThe first fossil potentially assignable to the extant hard tick genus Haemaphysalis CL Koch (1844) (Ixodida: Ixodidae) is described from the Late Cretaceous (ca. 99 Ma) Burmese amber of Myanmar. Haemaphysalis (Alloceraea) cretacea sp. nov. is the oldest and only fossil representative of this genus; living members of which predominantly feed on mammals. Their typical hosts are known since at least the Jurassic and the discovery of a mid-Cretaceous parasite, which might have fed on mammals raises again the question of to what extent ticks are coupled to their (modern) host groups. An inferred Triassic split of Argasidae (soft ticks) into the bird-preferring Argasinae and mammal-preferring Ornithodorinae dates to about the time when dinosaurs (later including birds) and mammaliaforms as potential hosts were emerging. Ixodidae may have split into Prostriata and Metastriata shortly after the end-Permian mass extinction, an event which fundamentally altered the terrestrial vertebrate fauna. Prostriata (the genus Ixodes) prefer birds and mammals today, and some may have used groups like cynodonts in the Triassic. Basal metastriate ticks (e.g. Amblyomma) prefer reptiles, but derived metastriates (including Haemaphysalis) again prefer mammals. Here, we may be looking at a younger (Cretaceous?) shift associated with more recent mammalian radiations.
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The Babesia divergens Asia Lineage Is Maintained through Enzootic Cycles between Ixodes persulcatus and Sika Deer in Hokkaido, Japan. Appl Environ Microbiol 2018; 84:AEM.02491-17. [PMID: 29374041 DOI: 10.1128/aem.02491-17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2017] [Accepted: 01/24/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Parasites of the Babesiadivergens Asia lineage, which are closely related to B. divergens in Europe and Babesia sp. strain MO1 in the United States, were recently reported in sika deer (Cervus nippon) in eastern Japan. To identify the tick vector(s) for this parasite, we conducted a field survey in Hokkaido, Japan, where the infection rate in sika deer is the highest in the country. A specific PCR system which detects and discriminates between lineages within B. divergens and between those lineages and Babesia venatorum showed that Ixodes persulcatus (11/822), but not sympatric Ixodes ovatus (0/595) or Haemaphysalis sp. (0/163) ticks, carried B. divergens Asia lineage. Genomic DNA was archived from salivary glands of partially engorged I. persulcatus females and three isolates of B. divergens Asia lineage were newly described. The 18S rRNA gene sequence of the isolates formed the Asia lineage cluster with those previously described in sika deer isolates. One salivary gland also contained parasites of Babesia microti U.S. lineage, which were subsequently isolated in a hamster in vivoB. venatorum (strain Etb5) was also detected in one I. persulcatus tick. The 18S rRNA sequence of Etb5 was 99.7% identical to that of B. venatorum (AY046575) and was phylogenetically positioned in a taxon composed of B. venatorum isolates from Europe, China, and Russia. The geographical distribution of I. persulcatus is consistent with that of B. divergens in sika deer in Japan. These results suggest that I. persulcatus is a principal vector for B. divergens in Japan and Eurasia, where I. persulcatus is predominantly distributed.IMPORTANCE The Babesiadivergens Asia lineage of parasites closely related to B. divergens in Europe and Babesia sp. MO1 in the United States was recently reported in Cervus nippon in eastern Japan. In this study, specific PCR for the Asia lineage identified 11 positives in 822 host-seeking Ixodes persulcatus ticks, a principal vector for many tick-borne disease agents. Gene sequences of three isolates obtained from DNA in salivary glands of female ticks were identical to each other and to those in C. nippon We also demonstrate the coinfection of B. divergens Asia lineage with Babesia microti U.S. lineage in a tick salivary gland and, furthermore, isolated the latter in a hamster. These results suggest that I. persulcatus is the principal vector for B. divergens as well as for B. microti, and both parasites may be occasionally cotransmitted by I. persulcatus This report will be important for public health, since infection may occur through transfusion.
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Abstract
SUMMARYAmblyomma birmitum sp. nov. is formally described as a new record from 99 Ma old Burmese amber from Myanmar. This confirms the presence of the extant hard tick genus Amblyomma C.L. Koch, 1844 (Ixodida: Ixodidae) in the Late Cretaceous. This discovery is placed in its wider context and some reports of fossil hard ticks, such as a Hyalomma C.L. Koch, 1844 in Eocene Baltic amber, are misidentifications. The genus Amblyomma belongs to the clade Metastriata, a group which probably also accommodates two extinct genera, Cornupalpatum Poinar and Brown, 2003 and Compluriscutata Poinar and Buckley, 2008, also found in Burmese amber. All three fossils are thus only a little younger than published molecular divergence time estimates (ca. 124 ± 17 Ma) for the Metastriata lineage. Amblyomma has a largely Gondwanan distribution today. However, in some biogeographical scenarios, e.g. the Samafrica model, its predicted radiation time postdates the dissolution of the original Gondwana supercontinent raising questions about how its current distribution pattern was achieved.
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