Total-evidence phylogeny and evolutionary morphology of New World pitvipers (Serpentes: Viperidae: Crotalinae).

Crotalines (pitvipers) in the Americas are distributed from southern Canada to southern Argentina, and are represented by 13 genera and 163 species that constitute a monophyletic group. Their phylogenetic relationships have been assessed mostly based on DNA sequences, while morphological data have scarcely been used for phylogenetic inquiry. We present a total-evidence phylogeny of New World pitvipers, the most taxon/character comprehensive phylogeny to date. Our analysis includes all genera, morphological data from external morphology, cranial osteology and hemipenial morphology, and DNA sequences from mitochondrial and nuclear genes. We performed analyses with parsimony as an optimality criterion, using different schemes for character weighting. We evaluated the contribution of the different sources of characters to the phylogeny through analyses of reduced datasets and calculation of weighted homoplasy and retention indexes. We performed a morphological character analysis to identify synapomorphies for the main clades. In terms of biogeography, our results support a single colonization event of the Americas by pitvipers, and a cladogenetic event into a Neotropical clade and a North American/Neotropical clade. The results also shed light on the previously unstable position of some taxa, although they could not sufficiently resolve the position of Bothrops lojanus, which may lead to the paraphyly of either Bothrops or Bothrocophias. The morphological character analyses demonstrated that an important phylogenetic signal is contained in characters related to head scalation, the jaws and the dorsum of the skull, and allowed us to detect morphological convergences in external morphology associated with arboreality.

Towards the Automation of Infrared Thermography Inspections for Industrial Maintenance Applications.

The maintenance of industrial equipment extends its useful life, improves its efficiency, reduces the number of failures, and increases the safety of its use. This study proposes a methodology to develop a predictive maintenance tool based on infrared thermographic measures capable of anticipating failures in industrial equipment. The thermal response of selected equipment in normal operation and in controlled induced anomalous operation was analyzed. The characterization of these situations enabled the development of a machine learning system capable of predicting malfunctions. Different options within the available conventional machine learning techniques were analyzed, assessed, and finally selected for electronic equipment maintenance activities. This study provides advances towards the robust application of machine learning combined with infrared thermography and augmented reality for maintenance applications of industrial equipment. The predictive maintenance system finally selected enables automatic quick hand-held thermal inspections using 3D object detection and a pose estimation algorithm, making predictions with an accuracy of 94% at an inference time of 0.006 s.

Total evidence and sensitivity phylogenetic analyses of egg-brooding frogs (Anura: Hemiphractidae).

We study the phylogenetic relationships of egg-brooding frogs, a group of 118 neotropical species, unique among anurans by having embryos with large bell-shaped gills and females carrying their eggs on the dorsum, exposed or inside a pouch. We assembled a total evidence dataset of published and newly generated data containing 51 phenotypic characters and DNA sequences of 20 loci for 143 hemiphractids and 127 outgroup terminals. We performed six analytical strategies combining different optimality criteria (parsimony and maximum likelihood), alignment methods (tree- and similarity-alignment), and three different indel coding schemes (fifth character state, unknown nucleotide, and presence/absence characters matrix). Furthermore, we analyzed a subset of the total evidence dataset to evaluate the impact of phenotypic characters on hemiphractid phylogenetic relationships. Our main results include: (i) monophyly of Hemiphractidae and its six genera for all our analyses, novel relationships among hemiphractid genera, and non-monophyly of Hemiphractinae according to our preferred phylogenetic hypothesis; (ii) non-monophyly of current supraspecific taxonomies of Gastrotheca, an updated taxonomy is provided; (iii) previous differences among studies were mainly caused by differences in analytical factors, not by differences in character/taxon sampling; (iv) optimality criteria, alignment method, and indel coding caused differences among optimal topologies, in that order of degree; (v) in most cases, parsimony analyses are more sensitive to the addition of phenotypic data than maximum likelihood analyses; (vi) adding phenotypic data resulted in an increase of shared clades for most analyses.

Phylogeny, diversity and biogeography of Neotropical sipo snakes (Serpentes: Colubrinae: Chironius).

Neotropical sipo snakes (Chironius) are large diurnal snakes with a long tail and big eyes that differ from other Neotropical snakes in having 10 or 12 dorsal scale rows at midbody. The 22 currently recognized species occur from Central America south to Uruguay and northeastern Argentina. Based on the largest geographical sampling to date including ∼90% of all species, we analyzed one nuclear and three mitochondrial genes using phylogenetic methods to (1) test the monophyly of Chironius and some of its widely distributed species; (2) identify lineages that could represent undescribed species; and (3) reconstruct ancestral distributions. Our best hypothesis placed C. grandisquamis (Chocoan Rainforest) + C. challenger (Pantepui) as sister to all other species. Based on phylogeny and geographic distribution, we identified 14 subclades as putative species within Chironius fuscus, C. multiventris (including C. foveatus and C. laurenti), C. monticola, and C. exoletus. Under current taxonomy, these species show nearly twice as much genetic diversity as other species of Chironius for ND4. Biogeographical analyses using BioGeoBEARS suggest that current distribution patterns of Chironius species across South America resulted from multiple range expansions. The MRCA of the clade C. challenger + C. grandisquamis was most likely distributed over the Pantepui region, the Andes, and the Chocoan Rainforest, whereas the remaining lineages probably evolved from an Amazonian ancestor.

Mimetic Divergence and the Speciation Continuum in the Mimic Poison Frog Ranitomeya imitator.

While divergent ecological adaptation can drive speciation, understanding the factors that facilitate or constrain this process remains a major goal in speciation research. Here, we study two mimetic transition zones in the poison frog Ranitomeya imitator, a species that has undergone a Müllerian mimetic radiation to establish four morphs in Peru. We find that mimetic morphs are strongly phenotypically differentiated, producing geographic clines with varying widths. However, distinct morphs show little neutral genetic divergence, and landscape genetic analyses implicate isolation by distance as the primary determinant of among-population genetic differentiation. Mate choice experiments suggest random mating at the transition zones, although certain allopatric populations show a preference for their own morph. We present evidence that this preference may be mediated by color pattern specifically. These results contrast with an earlier study of a third transition zone, in which a mimetic shift was associated with reproductive isolation. Overall, our results suggest that the three known mimetic transition zones in R. imitator reflect a speciation continuum, which we have characterized at the geographic, phenotypic, behavioral, and genetic levels. We discuss possible explanations for variable progress toward speciation, suggesting that multifarious selection on both mimetic color pattern and body size may be responsible for generating reproductive isolation.

Phylogeny and biogeography of the most diverse clade of South American gymnophthalmid lizards (Squamata, Gymnophthalmidae, Cercosaurinae).

Nearly 50% of the diversity of the speciose Neotropical lizard clade Gymnophthalmidae is nested within the subclade Cercosaurinae. The taxonomy of Cercosaurinae lizards has been historically confusing because many diagnostic characters of those clades traditionally ranked as genera do not represent true diagnostic apomorphies. Even though molecular phylogenies of several 'genera' have been presented in the last few years, some of them remain poorly sampled (e.g., Anadia, Echinosaura, Potamites, Riama). In this paper we present a more comprehensive phylogeny of Cercosaurinae lizards with emphasis on Andean taxa from Ecuador and Peru, as well as a time-calibrated phylogeny with reconstruction of ancestral areas. Our analysis includes 52% of all recognized species of Cercosaurinae (67 species) and 1914 characters including three mitochondrial and one nuclear gene. We find that Anadia, Echinosaura, Euspondylus, Potamites, Proctoporus, and Riama are not monophyletic: the Tepuian Anadia mcdiarmidi is not sister to Andean species of Anadia; Echinosaura sulcarostrum is not included in the same clade formed by other species of Echinosaura and their more recent common ancestor; Teuchocercus is nested within Echinosaura; species of Euspondylus included in this study are nested within Proctoporus; Riama laudahnae is included in Proctoporus; and Potamites is paraphyletic and split in two separate clades, one of which we name Gelanesaurus, also a new genus-group name. Within Potamites, P. ecpleopus is paraphyletic, and P. strangulatus strangulatus and P. strangulatus trachodus are recognized as two distinct species. We also identify three unnamed clades (i.e., not nested within any of the recognized 'genera') from Andean populations in Ecuador and Peru. The estimated age of the clade Cercosaurinae (∼60Ma) corresponds to the early stages of the northern Andes. Even though the distribution of the most recent common ancestor of Cercosaurinae remains equivocal, our analysis shows that these lizards colonized and radiated along the northern Andes before reaching the central Andes in Peru. Finally, we present phylogenetic definitions for some of the recovered clades to promote a clear and precise classification of Cercosaurinae lizards.

Phylogeny of Neotropical Cercosaura (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) lizards.

Among Neotropical lizards, the geographically widespread gymnophthalmid Cercosaura as currently defined includes lowland and highland taxa from Panama to Argentina, with some species occurring in the northern Andes. In this study we analyze three mitochondrial (12S, 16S, ND4) and one nuclear (c-mos) gene using Bayesian methods to clarify the phylogenetic relationships among most species of Cercosaura based on a well-supported phylogenetic hypothesis that also includes a large sample of other taxa within Cercosaurini. The phylogenetic tree obtained in this paper shows that Cercosaura as currently defined is not monophyletic. Two species from the northern Andes (C. dicra and C. vertebralis) are nested within Pholidobolus, which has been formerly recognized as a major radiation along the Andes of Ecuador and Colombia. Therefore, Cercosaura has probably not diversified in the northern Andes, although the phylogenetic position of C. hypnoides from the Andes of Colombia remains unknown. Tree topology and genetic distances support both recognition of C. ocellata bassleri as a distinct species, C. bassleri, and recognition of C. argula and C. oshaughnessyi as two different species. In the interest of promoting clarity and precision regarding the names of clades of gymnophthalmid lizards, we propose a phylogenetic definition of Cercosaura.

Three new endemic species of Epictia Gray, 1845 (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae) from the dry forest of northwestern Peru.

Three new blind snake species of the genus Epictia are described based on material collected in the Peruvian Regions Amazonas, Cajamarca and La Libertad. All three species are well differentiated from all congeners based on characteristics of their morphology and coloration. They share 10 scale rows around the middle of the tail and possess two supralabials with the anterior one in broad contact with the supraocular. Epictia septemlineata sp. nov. has 16 subcaudal scales, 257 mid-dorsal scale rows, a yellowish-white rostral, and a black terminal spine. Epictia vanwallachi sp. nov. exhibits 16 subcaudals, 188 mid-dorsal scale rows, a grayish-brown rostral, and a yellow terminal spine. Epictia antoniogarciai sp. nov. features 14-18 subcaudals, 195-208 mid-dorsal scale rows, a bright yellow or yellowish-white rostral, and the terminal spine and terminal portion of the tail yellow. All three species were collected in the interandean dry forest valleys of the Marañón River and its tributaries. This region is an area of endemism and warrants further attention from systematic and conservation biologists.

Alkaloid defenses of co-mimics in a putative Müllerian mimetic radiation.

BACKGROUND: Polytypism in aposematic species is unlikely according to theory, but commonly seen in nature. Ranitomeya imitator is a poison frog species exhibiting polytypic mimicry of three congeneric model species (R. fantastica, R. summersi, and two morphs of R. variabilis) across four allopatric populations (a "mimetic radiation"). In order to investigate chemical defenses in this system, a key prediction of Müllerian mimicry, we analyzed the alkaloids of both models and mimics from four allopatric populations. RESULTS: In this study we demonstrate distinct differences in alkaloid profiles between co-mimetic species within allopatric populations. We further demonstrate that R. imitator has a greater number of distinct alkaloid types than the model species and more total alkaloids in all but one population. CONCLUSIONS: Given that R. imitator is the more abundant species in these populations, R. imitator is likely driving the majority of predator-learned avoidance in these complexes. The success of Ranitomeya imitator as a putative advergent mimic may be a direct result of differences in alkaloid sequestration. Furthermore, we propose that automimicry within co-mimetic species is an important avenue of research.

Infrared thermography for temperature measurement and non-destructive testing.

The intensity of the infrared radiation emitted by objects is mainly a function of their temperature. In infrared thermography, this feature is used for multiple purposes: as a health indicator in medical applications, as a sign of malfunction in mechanical and electrical maintenance or as an indicator of heat loss in buildings. This paper presents a review of infrared thermography especially focused on two applications: temperature measurement and non-destructive testing, two of the main fields where infrared thermography-based sensors are used. A general introduction to infrared thermography and the common procedures for temperature measurement and non-destructive testing are presented. Furthermore, developments in these fields and recent advances are reviewed.

Cryptic species diversity in marsupial frogs (Anura: Hemiphractidae: Gastrotheca) in the Andes of northern Peru.

Molecular phylogenetic analysis revealed the existence of two undescribed species of the hemiphractid genus Gastrotheca in the Andes in northern Peru. Both species are similar morphologically to Gastrotheca dysprosita and G. monticola, but they differ from these species and from one another in subtleties of coloration and minor variances in size and proportions. Gastrotheca aguaruna sp. nov. (6˚10'50"S, 77˚37'01"W, 2480 m) is from humid forested areas in the northern part of the Cordillera Central, whereas G. aratia sp. nov. (6˚14'00"S, 78˚51'24"W, 2560 m ) is known from the northern part of the Cordillera Occidental.

A new species of spiny-tailed iguanid lizard (Iguania: Stenocercus) from northwestern Peru.

We describe a new species of Stenocercus from the interandean valley of Río Chotano on the Amazonian slope of the northern portion of the Cordillera Occidental of Peru (Cajamarca Region), at elevations of between 1997 and 2318 m. Stenocercus arndti sp. nov. differs from other Stenocercus, except from S. bolivarensis, S. carrioni, S. chlorostictus, S. crassicaudatus, S. empetrus, S. eunetopsis, S. simonsii, and S. torquatus, in having granular scales on the posterior surface of the thighs, two caudal whorls per autotomic segment, mucronate caudal scales, and distinct longitudinal row of enlarged vertebral scales. However, Stenocercus arndti sp. nov. is easily distinguished from these species in having a bold black transversal band at midbody that extends ventrolaterally in adult males.

A new species of arboreal iguanid lizard, genus Stenocercus (Squamata: Iguania), from central Peru.

We describe a new species of Stenocercus from an interandean valley of the upper Río Huallaga on the Amazonian slope of central Peru (Región Huánuco), at an elevation of 1700-1900 m. The new species differs from other Stenocercus, except S. boettgeri, S. haenschi, S. humeralis, and S. varius, by the combination of the following characters: presence of granular scales on the posterior surface of the thighs, enlarged vertebrals, three caudal whorls per autotomic segment, a medially complete antegular fold, non-spinose caudals, and by males lacking a black transverse band on the ventral surface of the neck. However, the new Stenocercus differs from these, with the exception of S. humeralis, by having more scales around the midbody (104-107, =105.66) than S. boettgeri (79-104, Mean= 88.61), S. haenschi (57-64, Mean=60.50), and S. varius (74-88, Mean=82.35); and from S. humeralis by having the scales in the frontonasal region nearly equal in size to the scales in the occipitoparietal region, while in S. humeralis the scales on the frontonasal region are twice or three times longer than the scales on the occipitoparietal region.

Two new endemic species of Ameiva (Squamata: Teiidae) from the dry forest of northwestern Peru and additional information on Ameiva concolor Ruthven, 1924.

We describe two new species of Ameiva Meyer, 1795 from the dry forest of the Northern Peruvian Andes. The new species Ameiva nodam sp. nov. and Ameiva aggerecusans sp. nov. share a divided frontal plate and are differentiated from each other and from their congeners based on genetic (12S and 16S rRNA genes) and morphological characteristics. A. nodam sp. nov. has dilated postbrachials, a maximum known snout-vent length of 101 mm, 10 longitudinal rows of ventral plates, 86-113 midbody granules, 25-35 lamellae under the fourth toe, and a color pattern with 5 longitudinal yellow stripes on the dorsum. Ameiva aggerecusans sp. nov. has not or only hardly dilated postbrachials, a maximum known snout-vent length of 99.3 mm, 10-12 longitudinal rows of ventral plates, 73-92 midbody granules, 31-39 lamellae under the fourth toe, and the females and juveniles of the species normally exhibit a cream-colored vertebral stripe on a dark dorsum ground color. We provide information on the intraspecific variation and distribution of A. concolor. Furthermore, we provide information on the environmental niches of the taxa and test for niche conservatism. 

Olfactory deficits and cognitive dysfunction in Parkinson's disease.

BACKGROUND: Olfactory deficits and executive dysfunction have been reported in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the association between these deficits has not been thoroughly examined. METHODS: We studied 44 PD subjects and 17 age-matched controls. In PD subjects, symptoms were assessed with the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale and the Hoehn and Yahr scale. Cognition in both groups was assessed by a neuropsychological battery. Olfactory identification and sensitivity was evaluated with the Sniffin' Sticks® test and olfactory detection threshold, respectively. RESULTS: PD subjects showed significant deficits in olfactory function and working memory, executive function, speed of information processing, visuospatial skills and phonological verbal fluency tests when compared with the control group. Moreover, there was a significant correlation between olfactory sensory deficits and executive dysfunction. In PD patients with up to 12 months of motor symptoms, results were equivalent. CONCLUSION: Our preliminary results suggest a significant association between olfactory deficits and impairments of executive functions in PD.

Four new species of polychromatic spiny-tailed iguanian lizards, genus Stenocercus (Iguania: Tropiduridae), from Peru.

The tropical Andes Mountains exhibit high levels of endemism and spatial turnover in the distribution of species. The lizard genus Stenocercus Dumril Bibron, 1837, contains 76 species and most of them occur in the tropical Andes, reaching elevations up to 4,000 m. We describe four new species of Stenocercus based on the examination of newly collected material from the Amazonian slopes of the Peruvian Andes. Stenocercus asenlignus sp. nov. inhabits the premontane forest of northern and central Peru, departments of Amazonas, San Martn and Hunuco, at elevations between 1,500 and 2,036 m, in the basins of the Mayo, Huayabamba, and Huallaga rivers. Stenocercus leybachi sp. nov. inhabits the premontane forest of the upper Huallaga River, Hunuco department in central Peru, at elevations between 824 and 1,270 m. Stenocercus qalaywasi sp. nov. was collected in a small village at the headwaters of the Mantaro River, Junn department in central Peru, at an elevation of 2,587 m. Finally, S. nigrocaudatus sp. nov. inhabits the montane forest from extreme northern Peru, Cajamarca department, at elevations of 1,700 and 1,892 m. These species are characterized by having granular scales on the posterior surface of the thighs, relatively short tail, caudals spinose, two caudal whorls per autotomic segment, and the ability to change coloration from green to brown or gray; they differ from other species of Stenocercus in scutellation features and color pattern.

Fiber Bragg Gratings, IT techniques and strain gauge validation for strain calculation on aged metal specimens.

This paper studies the feasibility of calculating strains in aged F114 steel specimens with Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors and infrared thermography (IT) techniques. Two specimens have been conditioned under extreme temperature and relative humidity conditions making comparative tests of stress before and after aging using different adhesives. Moreover, a comparison has been made with IT techniques and conventional methods for calculating stresses in F114 steel. Implementation of Structural Health Monitoring techniques on real aircraft during their life cycle requires a study of the behaviour of FBG sensors and their wiring under real conditions, before using them for a long time. To simulate aging, specimens were stored in a climate chamber at 70 °C and 90% RH for 60 days. This study is framed within the Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) and Non Destructuve Evaluation (NDE) research lines, integrated into the avionics area maintained by the Aeronautical Technologies Centre (CTA) and the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU).

[Autonomic disturbances in Parkinson disease]. / Trastornos autonómicos en enfermedad de Parkinson.

The current concept of Parkinson disease comprises a group of non-motor symptoms. Among these, dysautonomia is a common problem that deteriorates the quality of life of patients. In this article we review the most common dysautonomic manifestations that are observed in cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, urinary, genital and skin systems. Their possible role as risk factors, premotor symptoms and their implications in the pathogenesis of Parkinson disease are discussed. A general approach to the main syndromes, based in the available evidence and in our experience is also presented.

Automatic ladybird beetle detection using deep-learning models.

Fast and accurate taxonomic identification of invasive trans-located ladybird beetle species is essential to prevent significant impacts on biological communities, ecosystem functions, and agricultural business economics. Therefore, in this work we propose a two-step automatic detector for ladybird beetles in random environment images as the first stage towards an automated classification system. First, an image processing module composed of a saliency map representation, simple linear iterative clustering superpixels segmentation, and active contour methods allowed us to generate bounding boxes with possible ladybird beetles locations within an image. Subsequently, a deep convolutional neural network-based classifier selects only the bounding boxes with ladybird beetles as the final output. This method was validated on a 2, 300 ladybird beetle image data set from Ecuador and Colombia obtained from the iNaturalist project. The proposed approach achieved an accuracy score of 92% and an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.977 for the bounding box generation and classification tasks. These successful results enable the proposed detector as a valuable tool for helping specialists in the ladybird beetle detection problem.

Applied science facilitates the large-scale expansion of protected areas in an Amazonian hot spot.

Meeting international commitments to protect 17% of terrestrial ecosystems worldwide will require >3 million square kilometers of new protected areas and strategies to create those areas in a way that respects local communities and land use. In 2000-2016, biological and social scientists worked to increase the protected proportion of Peru's largest department via 14 interdisciplinary inventories covering >9 million hectares of this megadiverse corner of the Amazon basin. In each landscape, the strategy was the same: convene diverse partners, identify biological and sociocultural assets, document residents' use of natural resources, and tailor the findings to the needs of decision-makers. Nine of the 14 landscapes have since been protected (5.7 million hectares of new protected areas), contributing to a quadrupling of conservation coverage in Loreto (from 6 to 23%). We outline the methods and enabling conditions most crucial for successfully applying similar campaigns elsewhere on Earth.