Impatiens ramasubbuana, a new name for Impatiens palniensis Ramasubbu (Balsaminaceae)

Phytotaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 500 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-54
Author(s):  
RAMALINGAM KOTTAIMUTHU ◽  
PERUMAL MURUGAN ◽  
JOHN KENNEDY JOHN PRAVEEN KUMAR ◽  
MUTHURAMALINGAM JOTHI BASU

The genus Impatiens Linnaeus (1753: 937) contains a wealth of untapped treasures for gardeners and it is one of the mega diverse genera of angiosperms comprise about 1059 species (POWO 2020). According to the recent estimate, India is known to have 250 species and majority of them occur in Eastern Himalayas (Gogoi et al. 2018) and the Western Ghats (Bhaskar 2012). Tamil Nadu is one of the plant-rich states in the country and with 5674 angiosperm taxa, it ranks first among all the states in the country (Lakshminarasimhan et al. 2014).

Phytotaxa ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 263 (1) ◽  
pp. 79
Author(s):  
RAMALINGAM KOTTAIMUTHU

Ixora Linnaeus (1753: 110) is the third largest genus of the family Rubiaceae with more than 500 species distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of the world (Mouly et al. 2009). The genus Ixora is easily recognized by its articulate petioles, tetramerous flowers, bilobed stigma, uni-ovulate locules and seeds with a large adaxial hilar cavity (De Block 2008). In India, the genus is represented by 47 species (Barbhuiya et al. 2012; Murugan & Prabhu 2014; Karthigeyan & Arisdason 2015). Among of them, Ixora agasthyamalayana Sivadasan & Mohanan (1991: 313), I. beddomei Husain & Paul (1986: 87), I. gamblei Ramachandran & Nair (1988: 220), I. johnsonii Hooker (1897: 139), I. lawsonii Gamble (1920: 247), I. malabarica (Dennstedt 1818: 37) Mabberley (1977: 539), I. manantoddii Husain & Paul (1991: 16), I. mercaraica Husain & Paul (1986: 88), I. monticola Gamble (1920: 246) and I. sivarajiana Pradeep (1997: 315) are endemic to Western Ghats (Singh et al. 2015). During the verification of Ixora species from the Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, the author found that the name Ixora monticola Gamble (1920: 246) is an later illegitimate homonym of I. monticola (Hiern 1870: 177) Kuntze (1891: 287). Therefore, a new name, Ixora ravikumarii Kottaim., is proposed here as a replacement name for I. monticola Gamble.


2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Arun Kanagavel ◽  
Sethu Parvathy ◽  
Abhiijth P. Chundakatil ◽  
Neelesh Dahanukar ◽  
Benjamin Tapley

Distribution and habitat associations of the Critically Endangered frog Walkerana phrynoderma (Anura: Ranixalidae), with an assessment of potential threats, abundance, and morphology. Little is known about Walkerana phrynoderma, a frog endemic to the Anamalai Hills of the Western Ghats of India. Baseline information (i.e., distribution, threats, habitat characteristics, activity patterns, and relative abundance) is provided for this species, with the aim of improving our understanding of the status of the species in the wild. Visual-encounter, transect, and time-activity budget surveys were conducted in and around the Anamalai Hills of the Western Ghats. The frog skin was swabbed to determine the presence/absence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, and habitat and environmental characteristics were recorded at sites where W. phrynoderma was found. These data were compared with those of sites apparently lacking this species that had suitable habitat. Walkerana phrynoderma is restricted to evergreen forests between 1300 and 1700 m a.s.l. in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve and at Munnar; thus, its range was extended from the state of Tamil Nadu to the adjoining state of Kerala. Pesticide runoff and human disturbance are the most severe threats to the species; B. dendrobatidis was not detected. This nocturnal anuran prefers forest edges and is associated with well-shaded forest foors in cool areas near freshwater streams. Walkerana phrynoderma is rarely encountered whereas its congener, W. leptodactyla, is more common. The impact of anthropogenic disturbances, especially waste disposal and development of tourism infrastructure, should be evaluated. The land that is owned by the Forest Department peripheral to the protected areas could be designated as eco-sensitive sites to prevent changes in land use that could have an adverse effect on W. phrynoderma.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-62
Author(s):  
Abinaya G ◽  
Paulsamy S

Phytosociological study is the most essential in any community to know its structure and organization. The various qualitative characters obtained are used to determine the level of distribution, numerical strength and degree of dominance exhibited by the constituent species in the community. Thalictrum javanicum belongs to the family Ranunculaceae family, it is medium sized erect herb, found in the temperate Himalayas from Kasmir to Sikkim in Khasi hills, and Kodaikanal and Nilgiri hills of Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu, India. At global level, it is generally distributed in the hilly tracts of India, Srilanka, China and Java at the altitude of around 2400 m above msl. The present study was undertaken in Thottabetta , the Nilgiris by sampling using belt transects of 10x1000m size which further divided into 100 segments each which 10x10m size. The total number of species encountered in the study area is 45 which includes 5 grasses and 40 forbs. The quantitative ecological characters of the study species, T. javanicum is a detailed below: frequency 11%, abundance 3.82 individuals/m2, density 0.42 individuals/m2, basal cover 172.20/mm2/ m2, relative frequency 0.55% and relative density 0.08%, relative dominance 0.16%. Based on the ecological attributes it is determined that the species, T. javanicum is less perpetuated in the community studied. Hence, further studies on the determination of propagation strategies for population enhancement and conservationof wilds are suggested.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 231 (3) ◽  
pp. 300
Author(s):  
RAMALINGAM KOTTAIMUTHU ◽  
GUNADAYALAN GNANASEKARAN

During the taxonomic revision of the genus Osbeckia Linnaeus (1753: 345) from the Western Ghats, India, we came across few interesting specimens from the Manjolai hills in Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR), Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu. Critical studies with relevant literature revealed the identity of the collected specimens as Osbeckia tirunelvelica Manickam & Murugan (2001: 626). Unfortunately the name Osbeckia tirunelvelica was not validly published by Manickam & Murugan (2001), because, contrary to Art. 40 of ICN (McNeill et al. 2012), two collections were indicated as “type”. Therefore, the name Osbeckia tirunelvelica is validated here by indicating a single collection as the holotype.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 302 (2) ◽  
pp. 193 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. RAMASUBBU ◽  
C. DIVYA ◽  
N. SASI KALA ◽  
ANJANA SURENDRAN ◽  
A.K. SREEKALA

Impatiens megamalayana, a new species from Tamil Nadu, India is described and illustrated. This species is characterized by a ridged stem, ensiform and villous leaves, a wrinkled boat-shaped lower sepal with outwardly curved tip, ornamented seeds and strictly ovate pollen grains. This combination of characters makes determining the relationships of I. megamalayana difficult. The floral structure of I. megamalayana is closely allied to I. herbicola Hook.f. and I. inconspicua Benth. in Wall., the latter with three varieties, but it differs by several unique vegetative and floral features. Impatiens megamalayana is assessed as Critically Endangered in accordance with the IUCN guidelines. The habitat of the species is severely affected by landslides. As a result, effective strategies should be developed to protect I. megamalayana from exinction.


Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4571 (3) ◽  
pp. 383
Author(s):  
AKSHAY KHANDEKAR

A new species of the gekkonid genus Cnemaspis is described based on a series of nine specimens from near Sankari in Salem district, Tamil Nadu state, southern India. The new species is diagnosable by the following suite of characters: a small-sized Cnemaspis (adult snout to vent length less than 33 mm); heterogeneous dorsal pholidosis consisting of weakly keeled granular scales intermixed with large strongly keeled, conical tubercles, 9–11 rows of dorsal tubercles, 12–17 tubercles in paravertebral rows; spine-like scales absent on flank, 17–20 lamellae under digit IV of pes. Males with 4–6 femoral pores on each thigh, separated on either side by eight poreless scales from four precloacal pores; precloacal pores separated medially by a single poreless scale; two single dorsal ocelli on occiput and between forelimb insertions, two pairs of ocelli on either side just anterior and posterior to forelimb insertions. Cnemaspis agarwali sp. nov. is the fifth endemic species of Cnemaspis from peninsular India outside the Western Ghats and highlights the rich and unique diversity of this understudied region. 


Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4609 (1) ◽  
pp. 68
Author(s):  
AKSHAY KHANDEKAR ◽  
NIKHIL GAITONDE ◽  
ISHAN AGARWAL

We present a preliminary ND2 phylogeny of South Asian Cnemaspis, recovering a number of deeply divergent clades within Indian Cnemaspis, endemic to the southern and northern Western Ghats besides the Mysore Plateau and hills of Tamil Nadu. There are a number of unnamed lineages that are >5% divergent on ND2 across the phylogeny, including three from the gracilis clade on an elevation gradient (800–1400 m asl.) around Yercaud in the Shevaroy massif, Salem district, Tamil Nadu. We describe two of these as new species— Cnemaspis shevaroyensis sp. nov. and Cnemaspis thackerayi sp. nov. are both allied to Cnemaspis gracilis and can be diagnosed from all other Indian Cnemaspis by the absence of spine-like scales on flank, heterogeneous dorsal pholidosis, presence of femoral and precloacal pores, tail with enlarged, strongly keeled, conical tubercles forming whorls, a median row of enlarged and smooth sub-caudals. They differ from C. gracilis and each other in body size, the number of tubercles around midbody, the number of tubercles in paravertebral rows, the number of femoral and precloacal pores, the number of poreless scales in-between precloacal pores and between femoral and precloacal pores, and subtle colour pattern differences; besides uncorrected mitochondrial sequence divergence (7.9–16.6 %). We also provide a description of Cnemaspis yercaudensis from its type locality and an additional locality. The discovery of two endemic species and a third unnamed divergent lineage from an isolated massif in peninsular India outside the Western Ghats indicate that many other such understudied hill ranges may harbour high endemic biodiversity. 


Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4729 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-265
Author(s):  
ISHAN AGARWAL ◽  
AARON M BAUER ◽  
SAUNAK PAL ◽  
ACHYUTHAN N SRIKANTHAN ◽  
AKSHAY KHANDEKAR

Two new species of the gekkonid genus Hemiphyllodactylus are described from mountains of the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu, southern India. Hemiphyllodactylus nilgiriensis sp. nov. and H. peninsularis sp. nov. are > 5 % divergent in the mitochondrial ND2 gene from each other and members of the H. aurantiacus complex and differ from each other and members of the H. aurantiacus complex in several meristic characters and colouration. The description of these two new species takes the number of Indian Hemiphyllodactylus to six and the number of endemic geckos from Tamil Nadu to 15. 


Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4586 (1) ◽  
pp. 162
Author(s):  
M. VASANTH ◽  
C. SELVAKUMAR ◽  
K. A. SUBRAMANIAN ◽  
R. BABU ◽  
K. G. SIVARAMAKRISHNAN

A new species belonging to the subgenus Isonychia, of the genus Isonychia Eaton, 1871, is described based on larvae and imagoes collected from Moyar River, Nilgiri District, Tamil Nadu, India. The imagoes of I. moyarensis n. sp. can be distinguished from other described Oriental species of Isonychia (Isonychia) by the combination of characters: (i) forewing with rusty brown maculae in the costal, subcostal, and median areas; (ii) femur and tibia brown, fore leg pale, apices of tarsal segments brownish; (iii) males with distal angles of penes rounded, without serrations; (iv) second segment of gonostylus uniformly convex; and (v) sterna of tenth abdominal segment in female deeply cleft. Isonychia (Isonychia) moyarensis n. sp. can be distinguished in the larval stage from other known Oriental species by the following combination of characters: (i) abdominal terga II–IX with median dark brown maculae progressively larger with dark brown slanting streaks in lateral margins; (ii) trachea of abdominal gills I–VII unbranched; (iii) posterolateral projections on abdominal segments I–VII blunt and progressively longer than those of segments VIII–IX, sharp and distinct; and (iv) abdominal terga X pale yellow in anterior ⅓, and dark brown in the posterior ⅔. A key to the known larvae of Oriental species of Isonychia is also provided. 


Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4221 (4) ◽  
pp. 491
Author(s):  
R.R. RACHANA ◽  
R. VARATHARAJAN

Thrips laurencei sp.n. is described from specimens collected on flowers of Hydrangea macrophylla in Western Ghats range of Tamil Nadu, India. This new species shows sexual dimorphism in colour, with the females brownish yellow with brown shadings but the males uniformly yellow.  


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