Phylogenetic systematics of the land snail Basedowena from the Australian arid zone: taxonomic revision with description of new taxa (Stylommatophora : Camaenidae)

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Criscione ◽  
Frank Köhler

The land snail Basedowena Iredale, 1937 currently comprises eight species that inhabit mountain ranges in the central Australian arid zone. By studying the variation in shell and genital anatomy and the differentiation in the mitochondrial markers 16S and COI, we revise the taxonomy of this camaenid and describe new taxa. We demonstrate that the current morphology-based classification has been misled by homoplasy mainly in shell shape. In fact, Basedowena as herein revised contains species with vastly different shells, which have so far been assigned to different genera. By contrast, these species have the same general genital anatomy in common and form a clade in the mitochondrial phylogeny. Based on these findings, we transfer Pleuroxia bethana, P. hinsbyi, P. elfina, P. oligopleura, P. polypleura, P. radiata, Montanomelon angatjana and Minimelon colmani to Basedowena. While Pleuroxia and Montanomelon are maintained as distinct genera, although with fewer species, the monotypic Minimelon becomes a junior synonym of Basedowena. We identify and describe three new Basedowena species (B. bicolor, sp. nov., B. holoserica, sp. nov., B. siparium, sp. nov.). A fourth new species differs substantially from all other arid zone camaenids and is hence placed in a new genus, Xeromelon, gen. nov. The revised delineation of Basedowena renders it now the most widespread camaenid genus in Australia. It is distributed throughout the Australian arid zone from Western Australia, via the Northern Territory and South Australia into New South Wales.

Zootaxa ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2277 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARK J. SISTROM ◽  
MARK N. HUTCHINSON ◽  
RHONDA G. HUTCHINSON ◽  
STEPHEN C. DONNELLAN

We provide the first phylogenetic hypothesis for the Australian species of the gekkonid genus Gehyra, based on 1044bp of the mitochondrial ND2 gene. Species representing the Asian, Melanesian and Australian radiations are resolved as separate clades, indicating relative isolation and independence of each of these evolutionary lines. Within the Australian radiation, the arid zone species form a monophyletic subgroup distinct from the remaining species found in tropical and warm mesic habitats. Extensive chromosome variation and highly variable external morphology have made species recognition difficult within Gehyra, exacerbated by the likely presence of numerous undescribed cryptic species. Three species of Gehyra are currently recognized in the southeastern inland of Australia, G. variegata, G. montium and G. purpurascens. We re-describe a fourth species, G. lazelli, to include those populations long referred to informally as the 2n=44 chromosome ‘race’ of Gehyra variegata. Gehyra lazelli widely overlaps the distribution of G. variegata in South Australia and the southern inland of New South Wales, with no suggestion of intergradation in morphology, mitochondrial DNA, allozyme variation or karyotype.


Zootaxa ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2048 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
LARS HENDRICH ◽  
CHRIS H. S. WATTS

The present paper treats with the enigmatic Australian predaceous water beetle genus Carabhydrus Watts, 1978 (Dytiscidae, Hydroporinae, Hydroporini) which—except C. stephanieae Watts, Hancock & Leys, 2007—is distributed in forest streams and rivers along the Great Dividing Range of the East Coast and the mountain ranges of SE Australia and Tasmania. The largest species of the genus, Carabhydrus innae sp.n. from southern Victoria and New South Wales, and the smallest, C. storeyi sp.n. from north-eastern Queensland, C. janmillerae sp.n. from south-eastern and C. turaki sp.n. from north-eastern New South Wales are described as new. All species, except C. mubboonus Larson & Storey, 1994, C. niger Watts, 1978 and C. andreas Zwick, 1981, are very rarely collected and mainly known from a few specimens from their type localities. The adults of most species can be found under pebbles and stones and among roots at the edge of running waters, only C. stephanieae has been described from ground water. A key to the ten described species of Carabhydrus is presented, and their distribution and habitats are briefly illustrated.


Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4832 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-75
Author(s):  
SVATOPLUK BÍLÝ ◽  
MARK HANLON

Taxonomic revision of the genus Bubastes Laporte & Gory, 1836. Thirteen new species are described: Bubastes barkeri sp. nov. (New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria), B. deserta sp. nov. (South Australia), B. dichroa sp. nov. (Western Australia), B. flavocaerulea sp. nov. (New South Wales, Queensland), B. hasenpuschi sp. nov. (Queensland), B. iridiventris sp. nov. (Western Australia), B. iris sp. nov. (Western Australia), B. macmillani sp. nov. (Western Australia), B. magnifica sp. nov. (Queensland, New South Wales), B. michaelpowelli sp. nov. (Western Australia), B. pilbarensis sp. nov. (Western Australia), B. remota sp. nov. (Northern Territory) and B. viridiaurea sp. nov. (Western Australia). The following seventeen new synonyms are proposed: Bubastes thomsoni Obenberger, 1928, syn. nov. = B. australasiae Obenberger, 1922, B. olivina Obenberger, 1920, syn. nov. = Neraldus bostrychoides Théry 1910, B. boisduvali Obenberger, 1941, syn. nov. = B. erbeni Obenberger, 1941, B. borealis Obenberger, 1941, syn. nov. = B. globicollis Thomson, 1879, B. laticollis Blackburn, 1888, syn. nov. = B. globicollis Thomson, 1879, B. simillima Obenberger, 1922, syn. nov. = B. globicollis Thomson, 1879, B. obscura Obenberger, 1922, syn. nov. = B. inconsistans Thomson, 1879, B. septentrionalis Obenberger, 1941, syn. nov. = B. inconsistans Thomson, 1879, B. viridicupraea Obenberger, 1922, syn. nov. = B. inconsistans Thomson, 1879, B. blackburni Obenberger, 1941, syn. nov. = B. kirbyi Obenberger, 1928, B. chapmani Obenberger, 1941, syn. nov. = B. kirbyi Obenberger, 1928, B. aenea Obenberger, 1922, syn. nov. = B. niveiventris Obenberger, 1922, B. saundersi Obenberger, 1928, syn. nov. = B. odewahni Obenberger, 1928, B. occidentalis Blackburn, 1891, syn. nov. = B. sphaenoida Laporte & Gory, 1836, B. persplendens Obenberger, 1920, syn. nov. = B. sphaenoida Laporte & Gory, 1836, B. splendens Blackburn, 1891, syn. nov. = B. sphaenoida Laporte & Gory, 1836 and B. strandi Obenberger, 1920, syn. nov. = B. suturalis Carter, 1915. Neotype is designated and redescribed for Bubastes cylindrica W. J. Macleay, 1888 and lectotypes are designated for Bubastes thomsoni Obenberger, 1928 and B. leai Carter, 1924. Morphological characters of the genus are presented and all species are illustrated (incl. historical types) and a key is provided for all species of the genus. 


1995 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 585 ◽  
Author(s):  
BJ Conn

A systematic study of Logania R.Br, section Logania (Loganiaceae) is presented. This section consists of 21 species in Australia, occurring from Western Australia (as far north as North Cape, but mostly in the south-western regions of the State), southern-central and south-eastem South Australia, and eastern mainland Australia (from southern Queensland, throughout New South Wales and Victoria). Logania depressa, an imperfectly known and possibly extinct species from New Zealand, also appears to belong in this section. Logania archeri, L. litoralis, L. nanophylla, L. perryana, L. saxatilis and L. scabrella are described as new. A taxon within Logania albiflora s. lat. is here informally described as Logania sp. aff. albiflora because its taxonomic status is uncertain. Logania crassifolia R.Br. var. minor J. Black is here raised to specific status as Logania minor (J. Black) B. J. Conn. The status and taxonomic position of Logania imbricata, endemic to New Caledonia, are briefly discussed. Keys, descriptions, synonymy, illustrations and distribution maps are provided for all taxa in this section.


2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith E. A. Leggett ◽  
Thanuri Welaratne ◽  
Michael Letnic ◽  
Steven McLeod ◽  
Terence Dawson

We report the rediscovery of the rare and endangered native rodent, the plains mouse (Pseudomys australis) in New South Wales (NSW). Two plains mice were trapped in the far west of the state at Fowlers Gap Arid Zone Research Station and another in the NSW section of the Strzelecki Desert. Until these captures, the plains mouse was thought to have been extinct in NSW. Subfossil records indicate that these observations are within the pre-European settlement range of the species. It is uncertain whether these captures represent a range expansion from known populations in northern South Australia or reflect a local refuge population. Ensuring the conservation of P. australis in NSW requires further study to determine its distribution and the factors influencing its abundance.


2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-298
Author(s):  
Peter Congdon

Constitutional systems of Westminster heritage are increasingly moving towards fixed-term parliaments to, amongst other things, prevent the Premier or Prime Minister opportunistically calling a ‘snap election’. Amongst the Australian states, qualified fixed-term parliaments currently exist in New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria. Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia have also deliberated over whether to establish similar fixed-term parliaments. However, manner and form provisions in those states' constitutions entrench the Parliament's duration, Governor's Office and dissolution power. In Western Australia and Queensland, unlike Tasmania, such provisions are doubly entrenched. This article considers whether these entrenching provisions present legal obstacles to constitutional amendments establishing fixed-term parliaments in those two states. This involves examining whether laws fixing parliamentary terms fall within section 6 of the Australia Acts 1986 (Cth) & (UK). The article concludes by examining recent amendments to the Electoral Act 1907 (WA) designed to enable fixed election dates in Western Australia without requiring a successful referendum.


1957 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Blackburn

The diet of surface-swimming Australian barracouta was studied from over 10,000 stomachs. The principal prey organisms in Bass Strait are the euphausiid Nyctiphanes australis Sars, the anchovy Engraulis australis (White), and young barracouta, in that order; and in eastern Tasmania Nyctiphanes, Engraulis, and the sprat Clupea bassensis McCulloch, in that order. The pilchard Sardinops neopilchardus (Steindachner) is not an important item of the diet in these regions although it is so in New South Wales, South Australia, and Western Australia. The jack mackerel Trachurus declivis Jenyns is a significant item in eastern Tasmania and New South Wales but not in Bass Strait. These and other features of the fish diet of the barracouta reflect actual availability of the various small fish species in the waters. Barracouta eat Nyctiphanes by herding them into dense masses (or finding them already concentrated) and swallowing them. The movements of the anchovy make it unavailable to Bass Strait and eastern Tasmanian barracouta for much of the summer and autumn period, when the barracouta are thus dependent upon Nyctiphanes for the bulk of their food. A close positive relationship between the availability of barracouta and Nyctiphanes might therefore be expected at those seasons. There is evidence of such a relationship between mean availability (catch per boat-month) of barracouta and mean percentage of barracouta stomachs containing Nyctiphanes, at those seasons, from year to year. For southern Victorian coastal waters both show a downward trend from 1948-49 to 1950-51 and then an upward trend to 1953-54; for eastern Tasmania both show a downward trend (for autumn only) from 1949-50 through 1952-53. The records of catch per boat-month furnish independent evidence that the main variations in this index were effects of availability (population distribution or behaviour) rather than abundance (population size), at least for southern Victoria. It is therefore considered that when scarcity of barracouta occurs in summer and autumn in the coastal fishing areas it may be due to scarcity of Nyctiphanes, forcing the fish to go offshore for this food which is known to be available there. This would take the fish out of range of the fishermen.


Author(s):  

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Mycosphaerella linicola Naumov. Hosts: Flax (Linum usitatissimum) and other (Linum) spp. Information is given on the geographical distribution in Argentina, Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul, Bulgaria, Canada, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Russia (European), Russian Far East, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, UK, Scotland, USA, Arizona, California, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, Ukraine, Uruguay, Yugoslavia (former).


Author(s):  

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Monilochaetes infuscans Halsted ex Harter. Hosts: Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas). Information is given on the geographical distribution in Africa, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Asia, China, Israel, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Australasia & Oceania, Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Hawaii, New Zealand, US Trust Terr., Europe, Portugal, Azores, North America, USA, South America, Argentina, Brazil.


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