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Complete mitochondrial genome sequences of two extinct moas clarify ratite evolution

TLDR
This first molecular view of the break-up of Gondwana provides a new temporal framework for speciation events within other Gondwanan biota and can be used to evaluate competing biogeographical hypotheses.
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Prevalence and differential host‐specificity of two avian blood parasite genera in the Australo‐Papuan region

TLDR
The host distribution and host‐specificity of these parasites in birds from two relatively understudied and isolated locations are examined and suggest that lineages of Plasmodium are more likely to form evolutionarily–stable associations with novel hosts.
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Multiple Geographic Origins of Commensalism and Complex Dispersal History of Black Rats

TLDR
Three of the four phylogenetic lineage units within R. rattus show clear genetic signatures of major population expansion in prehistoric times, and the distribution of particular haplogroups mirrors archaeologically and historically documented patterns of human dispersal and trade.
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Fifty thousand years of Arctic vegetation and megafaunal diet

TLDR
The authors' analyses indicate that both graminoids and forbs would have featured in megafaunal diets, and question the predominance of a Late Quaternary graminoid-dominated Arctic mammoth steppe.
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Reconstructing an island radiation using ancient and recent DNA: the extinct and living day geckos (Phelsuma) of the Mascarene islands.

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Late-Quaternary biogeographic scenarios for the brown bear (Ursus arctos), a wild mammal model species

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Novel Psychrobacter species from Antarctic ornithogenic soils.

TLDR
The genus Psychrobacter is the predominant genus in ornithogenic soils in Antarctica and is diverse, which reflects the ubiquitous distribution of the genus in both marine and terrestrial environments.
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A New Dolphin Species, the Burrunan Dolphin Tursiops australis sp. nov., Endemic to Southern Australian Coastal Waters

TLDR
It is demonstrated that the syntype material of T. maugeanus comprises two different species, one of which is the historical ‘southern form of Tursiops’ most similar to T. truncatus, and the other is representative of the new species and requires formal classification.
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Molecular phylogeny, biogeography, and habitat preference evolution of marsupials.

TLDR
A pattern of mesic-adapted lineages evolving to use more arid and open habitats, which is broadly consistent with regional climate and environmental change is found, however, contrary to the general trend, several lineages subsequently appear to have reverted from drier to more mesic habitats.
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Indo-European and Asian origins for Chilean and Pacific chickens revealed by mtDNA

TLDR
Modeling of the potential marine carbon contribution to the Chilean archaeological specimen casts further doubt on claims for pre-Columbian chickens, and definitive proof will require further analyses of ancient DNA sequences and radiocarbon and stable isotope data from archaeological excavations within both Chile and Polynesia.
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