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Highlights • The Tertiary relict status of the European Nymphaea lotus is revisited. • No genetic distance can be observed between the Egyptian and European populations. • The sister species of N. lotus s.str. has diverged after the Tertiary. • These results clearly refute the Tertiary relict status of N. lotus var. thermalis. Abstract Nymphaea lotus L. is a tropical and subtropical species of waterlilies with an African distribution. A conspicuous satellite occurrence can be found in Europe in a thermal spring in NW Romania. This population (treated as var. thermalis (DC.) Tuzson) received much attention as a potential Tertiary relict in the flora of Europe, although its relict vs. planted nature has been part of great debate among scholars during the last 200 years. We revisit this question by using molecular phylogenetic methods to estimate the timing of divergence of this species, and put this population into a phylogeographic context by comparing it to samples coming from the whole area of the species. By using sequences of the nuclear and the plastid genome, we reconstructed the phylogeographic relationships within N. lotus with a haplotype network building approach, that identified a genetically distant lineage in western Africa, which we relate to N. zenkeri Gilg, the sister species of N. lotus. All the populations of N. lotus s.str. displayed genetic distance between each other except for the Egyptian and Romanian populations. On our dated phylogeny of the subgenus Lotus the separation between N. lotus and its sister species was found to be younger than the end of the Tertiary (1.26 Mya). These results clearly refute the Tertiary relict status of the European population of N. lotus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dietary composition of the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) inhabiting an artificial wetland system, used for aquaculture, was studied over a two-year period in north-eastern Hungary using spraint analyses. Samples were collected on monthly basis along a standard line transect. The main component of the diet was fish, followed by amphibians, birds, insects, mammals, molluscs and reptiles. Except for mammals, we did not find any significant seasonal variation in the composition of prey. Birds were mostly preferred in the first period of the study years, while mammals were dominant in the second one. Most insects were preyed upon in spring, similar to the case of amphibians. Otters did not show any seasonal variation in their trophic niche, most likely due to stable food resource, and the niche breadth was similar between wetland units. The preference for various fish species varied significantly by weight category between fishponds. However, independent of weight and pond categories, pike (Esox lucius) was consistently preferred, similar to carp species (Carassius sp.) of smaller body mass. Further, we investigated the ratio of economically important fish species against hibernating species by analysing spraints from winter months. We found that, the ratio of economically important species was high; suggesting an optimisation of subsidies for fish-farming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genus Elatine contains ca 25 species, all of which are small, herbaceous annuals distributed in ephemeral waters on both hemispheres. However, due to a high degree of morphological variability (as a consequence of their amphibious life-style), the taxonomy of this genus remains controversial. Thus, to fill this gap in knowledge, we present a detailed molecular phylogenetic study of this genus based on nuclear (rITS) and plastid ( accD-psaI , psbJ-petA , ycf6-psbM-trnD ) sequences using 27 samples from 13 species. On the basis of this phylogenetic analysis, we provide a solid phylogenetic background for the modern taxonomy of the European members of the genus. Traditionally accepted sections of this tree (i.e.,  Crypta and Elatinella ) were found to be monophyletic; only E. borchoni -found to be a basal member of the genus-has to be excluded from the latter lineage to achieve monophyly. A number of taxonomic conclusions can also be drawn: E. hexandra , a high-ploid species, is most likely a stabilised hybrid between the main sections; E. campylosperma merits full species status based on both molecular and morphological evidence; E. gussonei is a more widespread and genetically diverse species with two main lineages; and the presence of the Asian E. ambigua in the European flora is questionable. The main lineages recovered in this analysis are also supported by a number of synapomorphic morphological characters as well as uniform chromosome counts. Based on all the evidence presented here, two new subsections within Elatinella are described: subsection Hydropipera consisting of the temperate species of the section, and subsection Macropodae including the Mediterranean species of the section., Competing Interests: The authors declare there are no competing interests.