Shaq cracked a couple of jokes after getting his college degree at LSU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species delimitation in Cystoderma and Cystodermella was evaluated based on ITS and LSU rDNA sequences as well as morphological data. Two species of Cystoderma are synonymised with C. carcharias and three species with C. jasonis, distinguishing the synonymised taxa as varieties of these accepted species. Analyses of partial LSU rDNA sequences revealed Cystoderma and Cystodermella as distinct monophyletic genera, with Ripartitella representing a well-supported sister group of the latter. Phaeolepiota aurea represents either an unsupported sister group or member of Cystoderma in the phylogenies based on LSU and ITS sequences rDNA data, respectively. The tribe Cystodermateae sensu Singer did not appear monophyletic according to analyses of LSU sequences. On the basis of these data, the phylogenetic relationships among most of the analyzed genera could not be resolved unequivocally.

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This article employs the Bradley-Terry method of paired comparisons, previously used by Beard and Caudill (2007), to examine the 2007 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) football season. We find that the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) did get it right: Ohio State University (OSU) number one and Louisiana State University (LSU) number two. Our method also indicates that LSU played a much more difficult schedule than OSU and that the Southeastern Conference (SEC) is the strongest conference in the US.

Phylogenetic analyses based on ITS-LSU rDNA sequences dataset indicate that Leucopaxillus, as currently defined, is a highly polyphyletic genus. The new genera Giacomia, Notholepista and Pseudoclitopilus are introduced to accommodate Leucopaxillus mirabilis, L. subzonalis and L. rhodoleucus, respectively. Leucopaxillus subg. Aspropaxillus also seems to represent an independent evolutionary line in the /tricholomatoid clade, for which we suggest resurrecting the genus Aspropaxillus. Furthermore, the morphologically allied genus Porpoloma is also polyphyletic.

Tapeworms of the family Gryporhynchidae are endoparasites of fish-eating birds distributed worldwide. Currently the family contains 16 genera classified on the basis of the morphology of the rostellar apparatus, rostellar hooks and strobilar anatomy. However, the phylogenetic relationships among the genera are still unknown. In this study, sequences of the near complete 18S (SSU) and 28S (LSU) from rDNA of 13 species of gryporhynchids (adult specimens) representing eight genera (Cyclustera, Dendrouterina, Glossocercus, Gryporhynchidae gen. sp., Neovalipora, Paradilepis, Parvitaenia, Valipora) and one species of metacestode from fish (Neovalipora) were generated. Additionally, sequences of metacestodes of the genera Amirthalingamia, Neogryporhynchus, Paradilepis, Parvitaenia and Valipora from Africa recently added to the GenBank database were analysed. Phylogenetic relationships were inferred using maximum-likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference of each (SSU and LSU) dataset. The phylogenetic analyses indicated that the family Gryporhynchidae is a well-supported monophyletic group within the Cyclophyllidea. The trees inferred with SSU and LSU datasets had similar topologies and suggested that the genera Glossocercus (two species sequenced) and Paradilepis (four spp.) are monophyletic. In contrast, Dendrouterina, Parvitaenia and Valipora are paraphyletic, suggesting that the species composition of these genera should be critically reviewed. Interestingly, species of the genera that use the same groups of definitive hosts such as herons (Ardeidae), cormorants (Phalacrocoracidae) and ibis (Threskiornithidae) are together in the phylogenetic tree, even though they differ markedly from each other in some morphological characters, especially shape and size of rostellar hooks.