Monthly Archives: May 2017

Is CF Industries (CF) Poised for a Beat in Q1 Earnings? – Yahoo Finance

Posted: May 2, 2017 at 11:08 pm

CF Industries CF is set to release first-quarter 2017 results after the closing bell on May 3.

Last quarter, the fertilizer maker delivered a negative earnings surprise of 550%. Its sales, fell 22% year over year on reduced selling prices across all segments, and missed estimates.

CF Industries missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters while beating in one with an average negative surprise of 115.76%. Lets see how things are shaping up for this announcement.

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise | CF Industries Holdings, Inc. Quote

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model shows that CF Industries has the right combination of two key ingredients to beat earnings. This is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen.

Zacks ESP: The Earnings ESP for CF Industries is +55.56%. This is because the Most Accurate Estimate is pegged at 14 cents, while the Zacks Consensus Estimate is 9 cents. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before theyre reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: CF Industries Zacks Rank #3 increases the predictive power of its ESP.

Note that Sell-rated stocks (#4 or 5) should never be considered going into an earnings announcement, especially when the company is witnessing negative estimate revisions.

Factors to Consider

CF Industries expects nitrogen demand in North America to be relatively unchanged on a year-over-year basis in 2017. The company envisions 89.5 million acres of corn to be planted and less than 50 million acres of wheat to be planted in the U.S. this year. In Canada, reduced grain planting is expected to be more than offset by higher canola plantings. As such, the company sees total nitrogen fertilizer demand in North America to be roughly 16 million nutrient tons for 2017.

CF Industries also anticipates nitrogen prices to improve in North America during the first half of 2017. However, an uncertain pricing environment is expected during the second half as additional nitrogen capacity comes online globally including a considerable increase in North America.

CF Industries is well placed to gain from its efforts to expand production capacity. CF Industries, in late 2016, completed its capacity expansion projects across Louisiana and Lowa. The company, in Dec 2016, announced the successful start of new ammonia and urea plants at Port Neal, IA, and nitrogen complex. The company believes the capacity expansion will help in growth and increase cash generation capability.

Low natural gas prices have also been an advantage for CF Industries. The companys nitrogen business is enjoying the benefit of abundant natural gas supply, driven by an increase in production of North American shale gas.

CF Industries shares rallied around 8.3% in the past six months, outperforming the Zacks categorized Fertilizers industrys roughly 7.6% gain.

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However, the company faces significant pricing pressure. High supply in the global nitrogen market due to capacity additions are hurting prices. The company sees an uncertain pricing environment during second-half 2017 as additional nitrogen capacity comes online globally. The company is also exposed to challenging agriculture market fundamentals.

Stocks to Consider

Here are some companies in the basic materials space that you may want to consider as our model shows they have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter:

The Chemours Company CC has an Earnings ESP of +4.1% and sports a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Westlake Chemical Corporation WLK has an Earnings ESP of +1.25% and carries a Zacks Rank #3.

Franco-Nevada Corporation FNV has an Earnings ESP of +10% and flaunts a Zacks Rank #3.

Sell These Stocks. Now.

Just released, today's 220 Zacks Rank #5 Strong Sells demand urgent attention. If any are lurking in your portfolio or Watch List, they should be removed immediately. These are sinister companies because many appear to be sound investments. However, from 1988 through 2016, stocks from our Strong Sell list have actually performed 6X worse than the S&P 500.

See today's Zacks "Strong Sells" absolutely free >>.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Chemours Company (The) (CC): Free Stock Analysis Report Westlake Chemical Corporation (WLK): Free Stock Analysis Report CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (CF): Free Stock Analysis Report Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research

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Is CF Industries (CF) Poised for a Beat in Q1 Earnings? - Yahoo Finance

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Real Madrid CF do not have mental edge over Atletico Madrid: Zinedine Zidane – Hindustan Times

Posted: at 11:08 pm

Real Madrid C.F. are the only team who have stopped Atletico Madrid adding a UEFAChampions League triumph to their achievements under Diego Simeone. For the fourth year running, the Sindedine Zidane-coached side block their path to European glory.

Real Madrid C.F. do not have a psychological advantage over UEFA Champions League semifinal opponents Atletico Madrid despite beating them in two finals in three years, coach Zinedine Zidane said on Monday.

As well as victories in Lisbon (2014) and Milan (2016), Real knocked Atletico out of the competition in the 2015 quarter-finals. Atletico have never lifted European club footballs most prestigious trophy while Real have won it a record 11 times.

Zidane, however, thinks the past will be irrelevant when the teams meet on Tuesday in the first leg at the Bernabeu.

It means nothing that weve beaten them in this competition, he told reporters on Monday.

Im not thinking about Cardiff (the venue for the final) either. We have to win tomorrows game. We have prepared well and we are ready.

Everyone is pumped up and were ready for the run-in. I wish the game would start now.

The Frenchman confirmed that defender Raphael Varane is fit to play after recovering from a hamstring problem, but Pepe and Gareth Bale will miss the game due to injury.

Isco is likely to start in place of Wales forward Bale after being rested for the 2-1 win over Valencia on Saturday.

IMPORTANT GOAL

The midfielder recalled Sergio Ramoss stoppage-time goal against Atletico in Lisbon that levelled the score and forced the 2014 final into extra time with Real winnning 4-1.

It still makes my hairs stand up, Isco told the club website (www.realmadrid.com). It was a really important goal, when he scored it I knew we wouldnt lose. It came at a key moment and I felt like Id also scored the goal.

Isco also remembered the penalty shootout against Atletico in Milan last year which Real won 5-3.

Its the most stressful moment in my entire career, he said. In those moments I was in my own world, I only remember that when Cristiano (Ronaldo) scored the winning goal we ran to embrace him and its a moment that Ill never forget.

Atletico coach Diego Simeone said his team must give everything they can to reach the final, fighting like fans.

We will try to compete in this game with the desire that any Atletico Madrid fan has, Simeone told a news conference.

Zidanes work is spectacular, hes taken his team to a very good level. They will try to do us harm from the start by pressing a lot from the beginning. Rojiblancos captain Gabi added: We have to control our emotions. It makes me excited to (play to) be in another final, we all want to reach this final but we have to control our emotions to have a perfect game and try and beat Madrid.

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Real Madrid CF do not have mental edge over Atletico Madrid: Zinedine Zidane - Hindustan Times

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Auburn’s ‘gnat’: Tigers CF Jonah Todd putting in All-SEC season – Montgomery Advertiser

Posted: at 11:08 pm

Auburn head coach Butch Thompson after series win at Mississippi State. Matthew Stevens

AUBURN Who better to have when you need a physical, emotional and psychological lift than a leadoff hitter?

Jonah Todds at-bats continue to spark an Auburn offense at the top of the order with what he does in the box score and scoreboard along with what isnt necessarily noticed or counted in a stat sheet.

In any season that didnt involve the presence of Mississippi State star hitter Brent Rooker, Todd would be in line for a lot of single-season awards including a batting title (currently second at .396), on-base percentage (second at .485) and hits (third with 67).

Auburn outfielder Jonah Todd was named Southeastern Conference Player of the Week Monday.(Photo: Dakota Sumpter/Auburn Athletics)

The Southeastern Conference began to recognize Todds impact to a resurgent Auburn program by naming the leagues player of the week Monday after he hit .571 (8-for-14) last week and helped lead the Tigers to a series win at Mississippi State. Todd reached base eight times in the doubleheader sweep and had a career-high four RBIs in the 17-8 win in the opener of the Saturday twin bill.

Hes got four of the five big-league tools, and hell still show you a little lightning power ever now and then, Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. He really possesses four of the five all-around tools except for current, consistent, present power right now, but he can navigate an at-bat as good as anybody in our program, and has shown that consistently all year.

If Rooker, who is leading the SEC with a .413 batting average,wasn't in the picture then Todd could've been the first Auburn player to lead the conference in hitting since former first round pick Gabe Gross took home the SEC batting title with a .430 batting average. Todd still has the chance to hit .400 in a single season for only the 14th time in school history.

In his first season at Auburn, Todds are similar to his final season of junior college action last season, which is a unique element as most hitters find the transition of facing higher quality pitchers to be a bit overwhelming at first.

Hes just got a feel to hit, Thompson said. I dont think hes trying ever to get big and hit a home run, which just makes him the repeat the ability of trying to get hits. I just think hes got great strike zone awareness.

Todd is another example of a recruiting find from Marian (Ala.) Military Academy after he signed relief pitcher Luis Pollorena to Mississippi State in 2011. Pollorena, a left-handed reliever and mid-week starter would have 117 strikeouts in 169 innings along with 17 wins on the mound.

Todd, a 6-foot and 180-pound outfielder, was seen more of a glove specialist after being named the Defensive Player of the Year in his junior college conference and was seen as a valuable piece who would be replacing one of the most talented centerfielder in school history in Anfernee Grier.

He catches everything, Auburn shortstop Luke Jarvis said. If the ball goes up anywhere near center field, we all think okayJonahis there. Hes been unbelievable.

The one thing Todd has proven to be able to do is be an annoyance to opposing pitchers starting with the opening at-bat of a game. Todds job is not only to get on base but exhaust the pitcher of all his possible weapons so the rest of his Auburn teammates can see what theyve got coming to them eventually.

Its huge setting the tone, Jarvis said. Even in the first SEC series where were facing (Florida starting pitcher Alex) Faedo and hes got a 13-pitch at-bat. Thats the guy you want at the top of the order and leading us because hes not afraid of anything. Jonah goes up there like its no big deal and fights off his good stuff in the first inning. It definitely gives everybody else confidence that Jonah is doing it for us so we can all do it too.

Auburn 1B Dylan Ingram after 5-3 win at Mississippi State. Matthew Stevens

Thompson, who was a left-handed pitcher in college, has one quality in recruiting a hitter even in 2017: Would Butch Thompson want to pitch against that prospect? Jonah Todd has established the obvious answer of no for the Tigers head coach.

Hes a gnat, Thompson said. Hes a guy that I hated throwing to, because I just knew it could be a long at-bat, and I wanted him so bad to hit at the first pitch.

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Auburn's 'gnat': Tigers CF Jonah Todd putting in All-SEC season - Montgomery Advertiser

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Attacks On ‘Political Correctness’ Have Gone Too Far – Honolulu Civil Beat

Posted: at 11:07 pm

Its time to ease up on knee-jerk criticism of so-called political correctness.

A university official, or student, who isnt willing to hear out any and all nuts and extremists is now dismissed as an anti-First Amendment snowflake, too sensitive to be subjected to a screed and then to rebut it, in a time-honored homage to free speech.

Yes, college students have sometimes obviously! been too quick to drown out speakers with, to their ears, offensive views. There are many thoughtful writers and pundits on both the far right and far left appropriate for a campus audience. But now the pendulum has swung way too far in the other direction.

Ive published, over the decades, several magazines that accepted freelance submissions. More often than not we said, Sorry, not for us.

These rejections were not acts of censorship. They were not anti-free speech. We simply felt the would-be contributors did not enhance the values or tone our publications embraced.

The rejected authors were free to find another publication or the internet or stand on a crate on public land, Hyde Park-style, and shout their message to passers-by. Their free-speech rights were alive and well.

Similarly, if I were a university president I would guard access to my institutions facilities the same way I guarded the pages of my magazines.

Milo Yiannapoulos, a former Breitbart senior editor, caused a riot at Berkeley because of his extremist views. Then he was discovered on a video laughing off pedophilia in the Catholic church and saying sex with boys as young as 13 could be a good thing. Telling him today he isnt welcome on my campus? A no-brainer.

Same with Holocaust deniers. And psychics, faith healers and the Klan. Let them hire a hall from people whose mission is amusement rather than learning. If the mission of an institution of learning is to educate, it makes no sense to provide platforms for those who advance ignorance.

And Ann Coulter? Her shtick is to offend, with her familiar little toolbox of hateful clichs. Let her or her fans book the amusement hall along with the faith healers, et al.

But what about political scientist Charles Murray, who was shouted down at Middlebury College? Most would say thats a tougher call.

Heres essential information about Murray: Hes an author who has used racist pseudoscience to argue that black and Latino communities are genetically inferior. Affirmative action and welfare programs, he has argued, will never help these groups. Because they are innately lesser.

Now, if I were a university president, why would I expect my black and Latino students, in a supposed free and open debate, to feel forced to make a case for their own self-worth, for their own intelligence? It would be demeaning, even cruel.

So be tough and say no, university officials, and let all your students get on with their education.

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Attacks On 'Political Correctness' Have Gone Too Far - Honolulu Civil Beat

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Milo Yiannopoulos to launch Milo Inc., ‘dedicated to the destruction of political correctness’ – Los Angeles Times

Posted: at 11:07 pm

Milo Yiannopoulos is launching a media empire for the next generation of the alt-right starring one Milo Yiannopolous, who still has no love for feminism or political correctness.

The notorious provocateur was publicly taken down a few pegs earlier this year: He was uninvited from CPAC, had his book deal canceled and resigned from Breitbart News in disgrace. Prior to that, a Yiannopoulos speech at UC Berkeley was canceled after people rioted in protest. Last summer, he was kicked off Twitter.

Now, however, the professional troll is back with Milo Inc., a new business venture featuring himself as the main attraction, and he's trying to reach young people on the Internet.

"The thing about me is that I have access to a talent pipeline that no one else even knows about, he bragged to Vanity Fair. All the funniest, smartest, most interesting young YouTubers and all the rest of them who hate feminism, who hate political correctness. This generation thats coming up, its about 13, 14, 15, now have very different politics than most other generations. They love us.

"They love me, he said, and Im going to be actively hunting around for the next Milo."

Milo Inc. will get off the ground with $12 million in funding from investors he declined to name. His goal, according to his self-published press release: "Making the lives of journalists, professors, politicians, feminists, Black Lives Matter activists, and other professional victims a living hell."

Milo Inc.'s first stop? Berkeley, where he'll organize "Free Speech Week" and give out the Mario Savio Award for Free Speech, named after a civil-rights activist who was a founder of the Free Speech Movement in the college town in the 60s. (Son Daniel Savio is not amused.)

"This isn't some vanity nameplate on a personal blog," the press release reads. "This is a fully tooled-up talent factory and management company dedicated to the destruction of political correctness and the progressive left."

The plans are to hire 30 people to work out of an office in Miami, and the goal is to ultimately expand to new talent, presumably drawn from the aforementioned YouTube pipeline. A launch party will be livestreamed Friday.

Itll celebrate "Cinco de Milo."

Follow me on Twitter @jessica_roy.

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Milo Yiannopoulos to launch Milo Inc., 'dedicated to the destruction of political correctness' - Los Angeles Times

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Richard Dreyfuss slams Berkeley, laments ‘nightmarish’ political … – Washington Times

Posted: at 11:07 pm

Oscar-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss, the same man who once called President Trump a dangerous pig and his celebrity supporters whores, found some common ground with Fox News host Tucker Carlson Friday night on university political correctness and the importance of free speech.

The 69-year-old Jaws star cited the recent canceling of conservative author Ann Coulters speech at the University of California, Berkeley, as an intrusion into freedom of speech.

I am totally, incontrovertibly on your side about this, the actor told Mr. Carlson, who hosted Ms. Coulter on his show a day earlier. I think that any intrusion into freedom of speech is an intrusion into freedom of speech. And when [Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks] said, this is a school, not a battlefield, I said, no, it is a battlefield of ideas and we must have dissonant, dissenting opinions on campuses and I think its political correctness taken to a nightmarish point of view.

Mr. Dreyfuss went on to say that he is not a partisan ideologue, but a constitutionalist, who believes that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights must be central and the parties must be peripheral.

Civics has not been taught in the American public school system since 1970, and that means that everyone in Congress never studied the Constitution and the Bill of Rights as you and I might have, he said. And that is a critical flaw because its why we were admired and respected for so long, it gives us our national identity, it tells the world who we are and why we are who we are, and without a frame that gives us values that stand behind the Bill of Rights, were just floating in the air and our sectors of society are not connected.

People come from all over the world or are born into this nation without the values that we have here, he continued. Thats why they came here, to get them. And what are they? You can put them in opportunity, rise by merit, mobility and freedom. Thats what we sell. And if you dont want that, youve chosen the wrong place. And you dont get a pass by being born here, you have to learn it. Even the Ten Commandments are not known at birth. You must learn them. And we must learn our values and if we dont, we are fatally, fatally wounding ourselves. We will not have any way to really combat the ideas behind ISIS because we wont know our own.

Mr. Carlson, who is famous for conducting heated debates on his show, didnt have much to add to Mr. Dreyfuss argument.

Typically I interrupt our guests and I expected to debate you, but I agree with every single word of that and I just want to say thank you very much for coming, the conservative host said. Cause I think its important.

Mr. Dreyfuss urged Fox viewers to visit his website, TheDreyfussInitiative.org, and sign the preamble to the Constitution as a show of support for bringing civics back into American public education.

If every parent and teacher and school superintendent and public political commentator signed the preamble as a gesture of support for the demand to bring civics back to the grades below high school graduation, Ill call a civics strike and we will get the attention of all the people that deserve to pay attention, the actor said.

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Eugenics was once favored tool of progressives to remove ‘bad genes’ from society – Genetic Literacy Project

Posted: at 11:07 pm

Most people close their eyes to unpleasantness in their past. Political movements do the same thing on a grander scale. Nowhere is this truer than in the willful blindness of twenty-first-century progressives to their early twentieth-century counterparts embrace of eugenics.

If you have spent any time in the conservative or pro-life movements, it is not news to you that the leading lights of progressive opinion a century ago openly embraced eugenics. Eugenics, the theory that social policies must be enacted to cull the bad genes from society, was popular among progressives across the developed world, including the United States

After seeing the end result of such ideas in the Holocaust, progressives naturally sought to bury their connection to this genocidal concept, and succeeded in doing so, at least when they can discredit conservatives who persist in mentioning it.

It is easy to see why a progressive would be ashamed to have this as a part of his intellectual heritage, but it is harder to understand why progressives have been permitted to sweep it under the rug so completely that even their own adherents have forgotten it. This was not a fringe theory. It was taught without controversy in colleges and high schools across the country, and a consensus of scientists attested to its validity.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post:Refusing To Believe Early Progressives Loved Eugenics Will Not Erase The Horrible Truth

For more background on the Genetic Literacy Project, read GLP on Wikipedia

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Eugenics was once favored tool of progressives to remove 'bad genes' from society - Genetic Literacy Project

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Bill Nye, The Misuse Of Science Guy: Why Science Doesn’t Answer … – Forbes

Posted: at 11:07 pm


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Bill Nye, The Misuse Of Science Guy: Why Science Doesn't Answer ... - Forbes

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Database Virtualization (Cloning) for SQL Server DBAs and Developers – SQL Server Pro

Posted: at 11:06 pm

The trend toward virtualized computing resources shows no signs of abating. Compute, memory, storage, and operating systems are commonly available on-demand. Code is accessed via Git or other repositories, and can be deployed to automated build and test environments in seconds. Developers are free to work without worrying about infrastructure, except when it comes to working with databases.

Relational databases are large and can take hours to copy or move and provisioning environments for Dev and Test is a challenge. Surveys indicate most organizations update SQL Server environments for Dev and Test only twice monthly (or less). DBAs are under increasing pressure to retool to deliver frequent, on-demand production data environments.

Fortunately, solutions from Red Gate and Windocks have recently been launched that deliver simple to use and affordable support for SQL Server cloning. In this article well look at the technology and benefits of cloning, and the solutions from Red Gate and Windocks. Full disclosure, I am a principal at Windocks.

Deliver Production Databases for Dev and Test with Database Clones

Database cloning is a best practice, and arguably the only practical method, for delivery of large data environments for development and test. With cloning a production terabyte class environment can be delivered to each developer or tester, and environments can be refreshed daily.

Both Red Gate and Windocks clones are based on Windows virtual disks. Cloning begins with a backup or snapshot that is restored to a Virtual Hard Disk (VHD), creating a full byte copy of the database environment. This parent image becomes a read-only source that is cloned by creation of differencing disks. Differencing disks include pointers to the parent image for read access to the source data, but also store any changes made. Importantly, clones are created in seconds, and require a small increment in storage. Once a Terabyte class environment is available in a parent image, clones can be created and delivered to SQL Server instances in seconds, with each using only 40 MB of storage!

Red Gate SQL Clone

Red Gate SQL Clone is a client/server architecture with a web UI to manage the creation of parent images, and delivers mountable clones to SQL Server instances. SQL Clone server runs on Windows Server 2008r2, 2012, or 2016, and supports Virtual Machines and Windocks containers.

Image by Red Gate. SQL Clone provides users and administrators with a simple web interface to create parent images and clones.

Image by Red Gate.

Windocks 2.0

Windocks is a port of Dockers open source to Windows, supporting all editions of Windows 8 and 10, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2016, and all editions of SQL Server 2008 onward.

Containers are named SQL Server instances that are created in seconds, with integrated support for database cloning. Teams work on isolated containers on a shared server, and typically reduce the number of VMs used by up to 10:1. Containers support multi-tier environments, and are used to delivery of SQL Server environments or environments that include .NET + SQL Server. DBAs and developers can choose between using standard Docker client software or a web interface to create the parent image and associated containers. A single click on SQL image delivers a running SQL Server container with the cloned database in seconds.

Two Good Solutions for SQL Server DBAs and Developers

Red Gates SQL Clone is a good solution for anyone that needs support for large SQL Server databases. SQL Clone supports Windows Server 2008r2, Server 2012, and Server 2016, and delivers clones to both containers and VM based SQL instances. SQL Clone is available for 5 named users starting at $6,995.

Windocks 2.0 delivers containers with integrated SQL Server database cloning, starting at $99/month for support of 10 simultaneous containers with clones. Windocks cloning supports Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise editions, as well as Windows Server 2012 r2 and Server 2016. Windocks delivers integrated container + clone management, with clones and mount points cleaned up whenever a container is removed.

Windocks cloning is included in a free Community Edition that is available for download here.

For more information on SQL Clone, click here.

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Database Virtualization (Cloning) for SQL Server DBAs and Developers - SQL Server Pro

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Evolution: On mosaics and melting-pots – Phys.Org

Posted: at 11:06 pm

May 2, 2017 Two cichlid species (Orthochromis sp.) size each other up. Ancient hybridization events involving riverine and lacustrine cichlids may have given rise to species now endemic to Lake Tanganyika. Credit: U. Schliewen

Genetic studies of cichlid fishes suggest that interspecies hybrids played a prominent role in their evolution. Analysis of a unique fossil cichlid from the Upper Miocene of East Africa now provides further support for this idea.

The cichlids constitute one of the most diverse families of freshwater fishes in tropical habitats. Its members have adapted to the demands of a wide range of ecological niches, and many have developed highly specialized feeding habits. Contemporary representatives of the family therefore provide an ideal model system for evolutionary biologists who seek to understand the mechanisms that underlie the process of species diversification. Unfortunately, fossil specimens that could help to trace earlier phases of cichlid evolution are quite rare, and most are poorly preserved and/or fragmentary. Now scientists around Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich paleontologist Professor Bettina Reichenbacher have described a new fossil cichlid discovered in Upper Miocene strata in East Africa, which provides new insights into the evolutionary history of the group. Moreover, the results are consistent with molecular genetic data relating to the ongoing diversification of the family in the Great Lakes region of East Africa, which have indicated that hybridization between members of related species or even genera has played a major role in cichlid speciation. The work also sheds light on the environmental conditions that prevailed in the Rift Valley of East Africa in the Upper Miocene period, 9-10 million years ago. The new findings appear in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

The authors assign the fossil to a newly defined genus and species (Tugenchromis pickfordi). In light of the scarcity of well-preserved cichlid fossils, the phylogenetic placement of the new specimen is dependent on comparisons with modern members of the familyand given the enormous diversity of the latter, this is by no means an easy task. However, in cooperation with Dr. Ulrich Schliewen (Zoological State Collections, Munich), Reichenbacher and her team have assembled a unique database on the morphology of present-day cichlids, in which all the lineages found in Lake Tanganyika are represented. This dataset is based on the painstaking analysis of X-ray photographs of the skeletons of 763 individuals belonging to 227 modern cichlid species. "This unique resource has made it possible for the first time to place a new fossil species securely within the phylogeny of African cichlids. Indeed, our analysis shows it to be a member of the most ancient cichlid lineage that contributed to the so-called East African Radiation, a spectacular burst of diversification that has given rise to a huge variety of species," Reichenbacher explains.

The new fossil displays a striking "mosaic-like" set of characters, combining traits that are typical for three distinct cichlid groups found in Lake Tanganyika today. "This combination of characters is particularly interesting, because molecular geneticists have shown that many of the cichlid species in Lake Tanganyika possess 'mosaic' genomesmade up of genetic material derived from non-related species. The mosaic of characters displayed by the fossil specimen is a reflection of the morphological consequences of such interspecies hybridization," says Dr. Melanie Altner, first author of the study.

The basin now occupied by Lake Tanganyika came into being at least 5.5 million years ago, and it has been assumed that the species radiation that gave rise to the striking diversity of cichlids in the lake was triggered by its formation. However, new models based on molecular genetic analyses of these cichlid species suggest that an radiationdriven in part by interspecies hybridization - was already underway in the rivers and lakes that drained into the Proto-Lake Tanganyika. "In fish, it is not uncommon for such hybrids, which display characters derived from both parental species, to be fertile and capable of producing fertile progeny," says Schliewen. During the Miocene and Pliocene periods, the climate of East Africa became more arid, and many feeder streams dried up. As a result, many cichlid species that had originated in riverine systems were isolated in Lake Tanganyika basin itself, which thus became a 'melting pot' for subsequent episodes of speciation to which these immigrant species contributed. "Our fossil supports the hypothesis that hybridizations played a more prominent role in cichlid speciation than was once thought - and that diversification of the cichlids now endemic to the lake did not begin in the lake itself," Reichenbacher says.

The new fossil also elucidates aspects of the environment in which Lake Tanganyika formed. It was discovered by Reichenbacher and her coworkers in Kenya's Tugen Hills, in the eastern arm of the East African Rift Valley, but Lake Tanganyikain which its closest relatives now liveis located in the Valley's western branch. The fossil therefore provides further evidence for a previously postulated hydrological connection between the eastern and western arms of the Rift Valley, which was subsequently severed as rifting progressed.

Explore further: Fish cooperate for selfish reasons

More information: Melanie Altner et al, , gen. et sp. nov., from the upper Miocenea stem-group cichlid of the 'East African Radiation', Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology (2017). DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2017.1297819

Why do animals help raise offspring that aren't their own? A new study by an international team of researchers from Sweden, Canada and the UK shows that fish cooperate to raise another fish's offspring to reduce their own ...

A University of Wyoming researcher is part of an international team that has discovered how more than 700 species of fish have evolved in East Africa's Lake Victoria region over the past 150,000 years.

The question of what conditions were like in the Rift Valley of East Africa 12 million years ago (Mya) has been the subject of intense debate. Now new research just published by a team led by LMU paleontologist Professor ...

In an effort to understand the molecular basis of adaptation in vertebrates, researchers sequenced the genomes and transcriptomes of five species of African cichlid fishes. A research team led by scientists at the Broad Institute ...

(Phys.org)A small team of researchers with members from the U.S. and Switzerland has found an example of a fish that did not always benefit in the end from an evolutionary change. In their paper published in the journal ...

Africa's Lake Malawi is home to hundreds of species of cichlids, the freshwater fish whose broad array of colors make them popular denizens of household aquariums. A new study shows how dramatic environmental changes during ...

Researchers from Italy and Portugal describe yet another new sauropod species from 150 million years ago, from Wyoming, USA

Scientists have re-examined an overlooked museum fossil and discovered that it is the earliest member of the titanosauriform family of dinosaurs.

When it comes to sharing new research findings with the world, Twitter has emerged as a key tool for scientists - and for the journals where they publish their findings.

After some serious number crunching, a UBC researcher has come up with a mathematical model for a viable time machine.

Researchers have developed a new method to retrieve hominin DNA from cave sedimentseven in the absence of skeletal remains.

An examination of millions of scientific papers and patents reveals works that land in the top 5 percent of the most cited research draw upon a mix of old and new knowledgesignificant in a day and age when the number of ...

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Evolution: On mosaics and melting-pots - Phys.Org

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