Recent paleoanthropological discoveries reveal a diverse, potentially speciose human fossil record. Such extensive morphological diversity results from the action of divergent evolutionary forces on an evolving lineage. Here, we apply quantitative evolutionary theory to test whether random evolutionary processes alone can explain the morphological diversity seen among fossil australopith and ea...

Two new species of endophytic fungi were encountered during a diversity study of healthy tissues of chili pepper plants in Korea. The species were identified as Paecilomyces inflatus and Bionectria ochroleuca based on molecular and morphological analyses. Morphological descriptions of these endophytic isolates matched well with their molecular analysis. In the present study, detailed descriptio...

Data from 247 global software development teams were used to examine the impact of temporal dispersion and leadership roles on the relationship between nationality diversity and team performance. Nationality diversity was positively related to team performance when project leaders regularly coordinate and monitor team members’ activities, and acted as mentors and facilitator. However, when nati...

Biodiversity of soil fungi was explored in soils of the National Park of Urmia Lake. For this purpose, 46 soil samples were collected from 5–15 cm depth and isolation was made using soil dilution plate and Warcup soil plate methods. Fungal isolates were identified based on cultural and morphological criteria. The results obtained in this study revealed that there is a rich diversity among hypho...

Uncoupling between molecular and morphological evolution is common in many animal and plant lineages. This is especially frequent among groups living in ancient deep lakes, because these ecosystems promote rapid morphological diversification, and has already been demonstrated for Tanganyika cychlid fishes and Baikal amphipods. Ostracods are also very diverse in these ecosystems, with 107 candon...

While exceptional for an intense diversification of lineages, the evolutionary history of the order Rodentia comprises only a limited number of morphological morphotypes for the mandible. This situation could partly explain the intense debates about the taxonomic position of the latest described member of this clade, the Laotian rock rat Laonastes aenigmamus (Diatomyidae). This discovery has re...