Tree kangaroo molecular systematics based on partial cytochrome b sequences: are Matschie's tree kangaroo (Dendrolagus matschiei) and Goodfellow's tree kangaroo (D. goodfellowi buergersi) sister taxa?

2012 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. McGreevy ◽  
Lisa Dabek ◽  
Thomas P. Husband

New Guinea tree kangaroos (Dendrolagus spp.) are unique arboreal macropodid marsupials mainly listed as critically endangered or endangered. The molecular systematics of Dendrolagus has not been fully resolved and is critical for the accurate identification of species and their evolutionary relationships. Matschie’s tree kangaroo (D. matschiei) and Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo (D. goodfellowi buergersi) share numerous morphological, physiological, and behavioural traits. We analysed the partial mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b gene for D. matschiei (n = 67), D. g. buergersi (n = 8), D. goodfellowi unidentified ssp. (n = 8), golden-mantled tree kangaroo (D. g. pulcherrimus; n = 1), and two additional New Guinea Dendrolagus taxa to determine whether D. matschiei and D. g. buergersi are sister taxa. D. matschiei and D. g. buergersi were not placed as sister taxa in our phylogenetic analyses; however, we were unable to analyse a known sample from a D. g. goodfellowi. We found initial genetic evidence that D. matschiei and the Lowland tree kangaroo (D. spadix) are sister taxa – they may have diverged after the formation of the Huon Peninsula of Papua New Guinea. Our results also support the elevation of D. g. pulcherrimus to a full species. An improved understanding of Dendrolagus molecular systematics will contribute substantially to their conservation.

2009 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damian J. Milne ◽  
Felicity C. Jackling ◽  
Manpreet Sidhu ◽  
Belinda R. Appleton

Information based on the accurate identification of species is a vital component for achieving successful outcomes of biodiversity conservation and management. It is difficult to manage species that are poorly known or that are misidentified with other similar species. This is particularly problematic for rare and threatened species. Species that are listed under endangered species classification schemes need to be identified accurately and categorised correctly so that conservation efforts are appropriately allocated. In Australia, the emballonurid Saccolaimus saccolaimus is currently listed as ‘Critically Endangered’. On the basis of new observations and existing museum specimens, we used a combination of genetic (mitochondrial DNA sequence) and morphological (pelage characteristics, dig III : phalanx I length ratio, inter-upper canine distance) analyses to identify six new geographic records for S. saccolaimus, comprising ~100 individuals. Our analyses also suggested that there are likely to be more records in museum collections misidentified as S. flaviventris specimens. The external morphological similarities to S. flaviventris were addressed and genetic, morphological and echolocation analyses were used in an attempt to provide diagnostic characters that can be used to readily identify the two species in the field. We recommend genetic testing of all museum specimens of Australian Saccolaimus to clarify species’ distributions and provide data for reassessing the conservation status for both S. saccolaimus and S. flaviventris. Museum curators, taxonomists and wildlife managers need to be aware of potential species misidentifications, both in the field and laboratory. Misidentifications that result in misclassification of both threatened and non-threatened species can have significant implications.


ZooKeys ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 935 ◽  
pp. 25-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula C. RodrÍguez-Flores ◽  
Enrique Macpherson ◽  
Annie Machordom

Hendersonida parvirostrissp. nov. is described from Papua New Guinea. The new species can be distinguished from the only other species of the genus, H. granulata (Henderson, 1885), by the fewer spines on the dorsal carapace surface, the shape of the rostrum and supraocular spines, the antennal peduncles, and the length of the walking legs. Pairwise genetic distances estimated using the 16S rRNA and COI DNA gene fragments indicated high levels of sequence divergence between the new species and H. granulata. Phylogenetic analyses, however, recovered both species as sister species, supporting monophyly of the genus.


Virology ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 189 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nitin K. Saksena ◽  
Michael P. Sherman ◽  
Richard Yanagihara ◽  
Dipak K. Dube ◽  
Bernard J. Poiesz

2001 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 185 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Murphy

THE bare-rumped sheathtailed bat Saccolaimus saccolaimus is a poorly understood species that has a wide distribution covering parts of India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaya, Indonesia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Northern Australia (Bonaccorso 1998). First collected in Australia by De Vis near Cardwell, the current known distribution in Queensland (Qld) extends from Bowen to Cooktown with one isolated specimen collected near Coen on Cape York Peninsula (Hall 1995; Duncan et al. 1999). It has also been recorded in the Alligator River area in the Northern Territory (McKean et al. 1981). The conservation status of S. saccolaimus in Qld has recently been defined as ?Critically Endangered?, and the species has not been recorded anywhere in Australia for at least 18 years (Duncan et al. 1999; Menkhorst and Knight 2001). The likely reasons for the apparent decline are unclear, but may involve land-clearing and changed fire regimes in the coastal zone where it is thought to occur (Duncan et al. 1999). In contrast, Bonaccorso (1998) considers S. saccolaimus to be secure, albeit also poorly known in Papua New Guinea.


2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (12) ◽  
pp. 1393-1403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mannis van Oven ◽  
Silke Brauer ◽  
Ying Choi ◽  
Joe Ensing ◽  
Wulf Schiefenhövel ◽  
...  

Genetics ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 124 (3) ◽  
pp. 717-733 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Stoneking ◽  
L B Jorde ◽  
K Bhatia ◽  
A C Wilson

Abstract High resolution mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) restriction maps, consisting of an average of 370 sites per mtDNA map, were constructed for 119 people from 25 localities in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Comparison of these PNG restriction maps to published maps from Australian, Caucasian, Asian and African mtDNAs reveals that PNG has the lowest amount of mtDNA variation, and that PNG mtDNA lineages originated from Southeast Asia. The statistical significance of geographic structuring of populations with respect to mtDNA was assessed by comparing observed GST values to a distribution of GST values generated by random resampling of the data. These analyses show that there is significant structuring of mtDNA variation among worldwide populations, between highland and coastal PNG populations, and even between two highland PNG populations located approximately 200 km apart. However, coastal PNG populations are essentially panmictic, despite being spread over several hundred kilometers. Highland PNG populations also have more mtDNA variability and more mtDNA types represented per founding lineage than coastal PNG populations. All of these observations are consistent with a more ancient, restricted origin of highland PNG populations, internal isolation of highland PNG populations from one another and from coastal populations, and more recent and extensive population movements through coastal PNG. An apparent linguistic effect on PNG mtDNA variation disappeared when geography was taken into account. The high resolution technique for examining mtDNA variation, coupled with extensive geographic sampling within a single defined area, leads to an enhanced understanding of the influence of geography on mtDNA variation in human populations.


2003 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  

AbstractXenopus laevis (Daudin, 1802) has been the subject of numerous studies but is taxonomically poorly understood. Part of the Cytochrome b gene in mitochondrial DNA was sequenced from 50 individual Xenopus from three currently recognised species, taken from 28 localities in southern Africa, and from an outgroup of two West African X. epitropicalis. Phylogenetic analyses of these data reveal well-supported tree structure, demonstrating three clades within what is currently regarded as X. laevis : X. l. laevis from the Cape, X. l. petersii, and X. l. laevis from further north. This evidence agrees with other studies (on morphology, call and parasite data) which suggest that what is currently regarded as X. laevis encompasses more than one species. Workers using Xenopus collected away from the Cape of South Africa are not safe in assuming that they are using X. laevis.


Author(s):  
Alexander E. Fedosov ◽  
Peter Stahlschmidt ◽  
Nicolas Puillandre ◽  
Laetitia Aznar-Cormano ◽  
Philippe Bouchet

The small conoidean Hemilienardia ocellata is one of the easily recognizable Indo-Pacific “turrids”, primarily because of its remarkable eyespot colour pattern. Morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses revealed four species that share this “characteristic” colour pattern but demonstrate consistent differences in size and shell proportions. Three new species – Hemilienardia acinonyx sp. nov. from the Philippines, H. lynx sp. nov. from Papua New Guinea and H. pardus sp. nov. from the Society and Loyalty Islands – are described based on the results of phylogenetic analyses. Although the H. ocellata species complex clade falls in a monophyletic Hemilienardia, H. ocellata and H. acinonyx sp. nov. possess a radula with semi-enrolled or notably flattened triangular marginal teeth, a condition that diverges substantially from the standard radular morphology of Hemilienardia and other raphitomids.


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