Taxonomic revision of the ant genus Leptomyrmex Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

The ants of the genus Leptomyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), commonly called ‘spider ants’, are distinctive members of the ant subfamily Dolichoderinae and prominent residents of intact wet forest and sclerophyll habitats in eastern Australia, New Caledonia and New Guinea. This revision redresses pervasive taxonomic problems in this genus by using a combination of morphology and molecular data to define species boundaries and clarify nomenclature. Twenty-seven Leptomyrmex species are recognized and are informally split into two groups: the macro-Leptomyrmex (21 species), and its sister group, the micro-Leptomyrmex (six species). Nine subspecies are elevated to species status: L. cnemidatus Wheeler 1915, L. geniculatus Emery 1914, L. melanoticus Wheeler 1934, L. nigriceps Emery 1914, L. rothneyi Forel 1902, L. ruficeps Emery 1895, L. rufipes Emery 1895, L. rufithorax Forel 1915 and L. tibialis Emery 1895. Nineteen new synonymies are proposed (senior synonyms listed first): L. cnemidatus Wheeler 1915 = L. erythrocephalus venustus Wheeler 1934 = L. erythrocephalus brunneiceps Wheeler 1934; L. darlingtoni Wheeler 1934 = L. darlingtoni fascigaster Wheeler 1934 = L. darlingtoni jucundus Wheeler 1934; L. erythrocephalus (Fabricius 1775) = L. froggatti Forel 1910 =4 · Zootaxa 2688 © 2010 Magnolia PressL. erythrocephalus mandibularis Wheeler 1915 = L. erythrocephalus unctus Wheeler 1934 = L. erythrocephalus clarki Wheeler 1934; L. fragilis (F. Smith 1859) = L. fragilis femoratus Santschi 1932 = L. fragilis maculatus Stitz 1938 = L. wheeleri Donisthorpe 1948; L. melanoticus Wheeler 1934 = L. contractus Donisthorpe 1947; L. niger Emery 1900 = L. lugubris Wheeler 1934; L. rufipes Emery 1895 = L. quadricolor Wheeler 1934; L. rufithorax Forel 1915 = L. erythrocephalus basirufus Wheeler 1934; L. tibialis Emery 1895 = L. nigriventris hackeri Wheeler 1934; L. varians Emery 1895 = L. erythrocephalus decipiens Wheeler 1915 = L. varians angusticeps Santschi 1929; L. wiburdi Wheeler 1915 = L. wiburdi pictus Wheeler 1915. Tools for identification of the macro-Leptomyrmex species include a revised species-level key based on the worker caste, keys to males in Australia and New Guinea, full descriptions of workers, images of known workers, males and queens, and illustration of male genitalia. Phylogenetic relationships among the macroand micro- Leptomyrmex species are discussed, as is the status of a putative fossil relative.

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Stable phylogenetic patterns in scutigeromorph centipedes (Myriapoda : Chilopoda : Scutigeromorpha): dating the diversification of an ancient lineage of terrestrial arthropods

Invertebrate Systematics ◽

10.1071/is13019 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 27 (5) ◽

pp. 485 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Gonzalo Giribet ◽

Gregory D. Edgecombe

Keyword(s):

Southern Africa ◽

Pacific Islands ◽

New Caledonia ◽

Phylogenetic Analyses ◽

New Guinea ◽

Sister Group ◽

Molecular Data ◽

Common Belief ◽

Multiple Sequence ◽

Phylogenetic Structure

Although stable and well-supported relationships are in place for the three main clades (families) of Scutigeromorpha, the interrelationships of particular taxa within the most diverse family, Scutigeridae, are less clearly resolved. Novel molecular data for taxa from Mesoamerica, the Caribbean, southern Africa, New Guinea and previously unsampled parts of the Pacific are incorporated into phylogenetic analyses. Relationships across the tree are stable under variable analytical conditions, whether these are homology-based (multiple sequence alignment versus implied alignment; untrimmed versus trimmed datasets) or method-based (parsimony versus maximum likelihood). Hypervariable regions, contrary to common belief, add phylogenetic structure to the data, as measured by the increased support for many nodes when compared with the same alignments trimmed with Gblocks. Our analyses show that a Yule-3-rate model best explained the diversification of Scutigeromorpha during their 400 million years of history. More complete molecular data for the New Guinea genus Ballonema stabilise its position as sister group to Thereuoneminae. To reconcile scutigeromorph systematics with the phylogeny, the monotypic genus Madagassophora Verhoeff, 1936, is placed in synonymy with Scutigerina Silvestri, 1901 (n. syn.), its type species M. hova becoming Scutigerina hova (de Saussure & Zehntner, 1902) new comb. (from Scutigera), and Lassophora Verhoeff, 1905, is re-established for an Afro-Malagasy clade containing Lassophora nossibei (de Saussure & Zehntner, 1902) new comb. (from Scutigera) and a newly sequenced species from Mozambique that diverged at the base of the lineage to Thereuoneminae. The dated phylogeny of Scutigeromorpha is more consistent with ancient vicariant splits between Madagascar–southern Africa and Australia–New Caledonia than with younger dispersal scenarios, though some geologically young Pacific islands that harbour lineages dating to the Cretaceous demonstrate the potential for trans-oceanic dispersal.

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A new riparian Mantidactylus (Brygoomantis) frog from the Tsaratanana and Manongarivo Massifs in northern Madagascar

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.4486.4.10 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4486 (4) ◽

pp. 575 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

MIGUEL VENCES ◽

ANDREA HILDENBRAND ◽

KATHARINA M. WARMUTH ◽

FRANCO ANDREONE ◽

FRANK GLAW

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Nuclear Dna ◽

Taxonomic Revision ◽

Morphological Characters ◽

Molecular Data ◽

Test Case ◽

Nominal Species ◽

Type Specimens ◽

The Status ◽

Morphological Differences

The subgenus Brygoomantis in the Madagascar-endemic genus Mantidactylus contains 12 nominal species but is in urgent need of taxonomic revision as many additional, genetically divergent but undescribed candidate species have been identified. We here take a first step towards a better resolution of this group by describing a new species, Mantidactylus schulzi sp. nov., occurring at the Tsaratanana and Manongarivo Massifs, differentiated in genetic, bioacoustic and sometimes morphological characters from its closest relatives. We show that upon detailed study, most species in Brygoomantis can be delimited by concordant differentiation of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, and by bioacoustic and morphological differences. We flag this group of morphologically similar frogs as a test case where molecular data on historical type specimens by ancient DNA methods might be needed to reach a satisfying clarification of taxonomy and nomenclature. However, the status of the new species M. schulzi is not in doubt as it is morphologically distinct from most historical type specimens, and microendemic to a region in northern Madagascar from where no earlier names exist.

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When forms meet genes: revision of the scleractinian genera Micromussa and Homophyllia (Lobophylliidae) with a description of two new species and one new genus

Contributions to Zoology ◽

10.1163/18759866-08504002 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 85 (4) ◽

pp. 387-422 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Roberto Arrigoni ◽

Francesca Benzoni ◽

Danwei Huang ◽

Hironobu Fukami ◽

Chaolun Allen Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

New Genus ◽

Nuclear Dna ◽

New Caledonia ◽

Sequence Data ◽

Intergenic Spacer ◽

Taxonomic Revision ◽

Its Region ◽

Distinct Species ◽

Morphological Data ◽

Eastern Australia

The scleractinian family Lobophylliidae is undergoing a major taxonomic revision thanks to the combination of molecular and morphological data. In this study, we investigate the evolutionary relationships and the macro- and micromorphology of six nominal coral species belonging to two of the nine molecular clades of the Lobophylliidae, clades A and B, and of Symphyllia wilsoni, a lobophylliid species analyzed from a molecular point of view for the first time. Sequence data from mitochondrial DNA (COI and the intergenic spacer between COI and l-rRNA), and nuclear DNA (histone H3 and ITS region) are used to generate robust molecular phylogenies and a median-joining haplotype network. Molecular results are strongly in agreement with detailed observations of gross- and fine-scale morphology of skeletons, leading to the formal revision of the genera Micromussa and Homophyllia and the description of two newly discovered zooxanthellate shallow-water species, Micromussa pacifica sp. nov. Benzoni & Arrigoni and Micromussa indiana sp. nov. Benzoni & Arrigoni, and a new genus, Australophyllia gen. nov. Benzoni & Arrigoni. In particular, Acanthastrea lordhowensis and Montastraea multipunctata are moved into Micromussa, A. hillae is synonymized with A. bowerbanki and is transferred to Homophyllia, and a revised diagnosis for both genera is provided. Micromussa pacifica sp. nov. is described from the Gambier Islands with its distribution spanning New Caledonia and eastern Australia. Despite a superficial resemblance with Homophyllia australis, it has distinctive macroand micromorphological septal features. Micromussa indiana sp. nov., previously identified as M. amakusensis, is here described from the Gulf of Aden and the southern Red Sea as a distinct species that is genetically separated from M. amakusensis and is morphologically distinct from the latter due to its smaller corallite size and lower number of septa. Finally, molecular trees show that S. wilsoni is closely related, but molecularly separated from clades A and B, and, also based on a unique combination of corallite and sub-corallite characters, the species is moved into Australophyllia gen. nov. These findings confirm the need for using both genetic and morphological datasets for the ongoing taxonomic revision of scleractinian corals.

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Phylogeny and biogeography of the Australasian centipede Henicops (Chilopoda: Lithobiomorpha): A combined morphological and molecular approach

Insect Systematics & Evolution ◽

10.1163/187631206788838590 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 37 (3) ◽

pp. 241-256 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Donald Colgan ◽

Gregory Edgecombe ◽

Deirdre Sharkey

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Western Australia ◽

New Caledonia ◽

Sequence Data ◽

Morphological Characters ◽

Molecular Data ◽

28S Rrna ◽

Southeastern Australia ◽

Lord Howe Island ◽

Eastern Australia

AbstractThe lithobiomorph centipede Henicops is widely distributed in Australia and New Zealand, with five described species, as well as two species in New Caledonia and Lord Howe Island. Parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses of ca. 800 aligned bases of sequence data from 16S rRNA and 28S rRNA were conducted on a dataset including multiple individuals of Henicops species from populations sampled from different parts of species' geographic ranges, together with the allied henicopines Lamyctes and Easonobius. Morphological characters are included in parsimony analyses. Molecular and combined datasets unite species from eastern Australia and New Zealand to the exclusion of species from Western Australia, New Caledonia and Lord Howe Island. The molecular data favour these two geographic groupings as clades, whereas inclusion of morphology resolves New Caledonia, Lord Howe Island, southwest Western Australia and Queensland as successive sisters to southeastern Australia and New Zealand. The basal position of the Lord Howe Island species in the phylogeny favours a diversification of Australasian Henicops since the late Miocene unless the Lord Howe species originated in a biota that pre-dates the island. The molecular and combined data resolve the widespread morphospecies H. maculatus as paraphyletic, with its populations contributing to the geographic groupings New South Wales + New Zealand and Tasmania + Victoria.

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A Phylogenetic Analysis and Taxonomic Revision of Bartonia (Gentianaceae: Gentianeae), Based on Molecular and Morphological Evidence

Systematic Botany ◽

10.1600/036364409787602320 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 34 (1) ◽

pp. 162-172 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Katherine G. Mathews ◽

Niall Dunne ◽

Emily York ◽

Lena Struwe

Keyword(s):

Phylogenetic Analyses ◽

Strong Support ◽

Taxonomic Revision ◽

Sister Group ◽

Species Boundaries ◽

Morphological Evidence ◽

Phylogenetic Study ◽

Sister Group Relationship ◽

Internal Transcribed Spacer Region ◽

Test Species

A phylogenetic study and taxonomic revision of the four currently accepted species of Bartonia (Gentianaceae, subtribe Swertiinae) were conducted in order to test species boundaries and interspecific relationships. Species boundaries were examined based on measurements of key quantitative and qualitative morphological characters as given in the original descriptions. Phylogenetic analyses were performed using molecular data from the nuclear internal transcribed spacer region and chloroplast DNA (trnL intron through the trnL-F spacer), separately and combined using parsimony and Bayesian methodologies, incorporating outgroups from subtribes Swertiinae and Gentianinae. The morphological study revealed that characters of one species, B. texana, represent a subset of the morphological variation found within B. paniculata, but that B. paniculata, B. verna, and B. virginica could all be separated from one another. The molecular phylogenetic analyses all found B. texana to nest in a clade with the two recognized subspecies of B. paniculata (subsp. paniculata and subsp. iodandra), making the latter paraphyletic. Bartonia texana is here reduced to subspecific rank, as Bartonia paniculata subsp. texana. Also, the phylogenetic analyses showed strong support for a sister group relationship between B. verna and B. virginica, as opposed to between B. paniculata and B. virginica as has been previously suggested.

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NEW TAXA IN PAPHIA AND DIMORPHANTHERA (ERICACEAE) IN PAPUASIA AND THE PROBLEM OF GENERIC LIMITS IN VACCINIEAE

Edinburgh Journal of Botany ◽

10.1017/s0960428603000246 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 60 (3) ◽

pp. 267-298 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

P. F. STEVENS

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Papua New Guinea ◽

New Caledonia ◽

Current Knowledge ◽

New Guinea ◽

Morphological Data ◽

Sw Pacific ◽

The Status ◽

Three New Species ◽

Made In

New species of Ericaceae recently collected in Papua New Guinea necessitate a re-evaluation of the status of Agapetes subgenus Paphia section Paphia. The combination of molecular and morphological data confirms that Agapetes, currently a genus of about 100 species from Fiji, New Caledonia and Queensland to mainland SE Asia, and most diverse in the latter area, cannot be maintained in its current circumscription. Various taxonomic solutions that do justice to our current knowledge of the morphology and relationships of the two main parts of the genus are discussed. The reinstatement of Paphia does least violence nomenclaturally. All 23 taxa recognized in Paphia are listed, 14 new combinations of Agapetes from the New Guinea–SW Pacific area are made in Paphia, three new species are described (P. megaphylla, P. vulcanicola and P. woodsii), and an incompletely known taxon is characterized. A key to all taxa is presented. In Dimorphanthera, five new species are described (D. angiliensis, D. anomala, D. antennifera, D. cratericola and D. inopinata), three reduced to synonymy, one reduced to a variety and one variety recognized as a species (D. continua). A key to the 87 taxa currently recognized in the genus is presented.

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Stratigraphic development and petroleum prospectivity of northern Zealandia

10.26686/wgtn.17148905.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Zelia Dos Santos

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Papua New Guinea ◽

Source Rock ◽

New Caledonia ◽

New Guinea ◽

Source Rocks ◽

Reservoir Rock ◽

Seismic Unit ◽

Eastern Australia ◽

Basin Floor

<p>Northern Zealandia lies between Australia, New Zealandia, and New Caledonia. It has an area of 3,000,000 km2 and is made up of bathymetric rises and troughs with typical water depths of 1000 to 4000 m. I use 39,309 line km of seismic-reflection profiles tied to recent International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) drilling and three boreholes near the coast of New Zealand to investigate stratigraphic architecture and assess the petroleum prospectivity of northern Zealandia. Sparse sampling requires that stratigraphic and petroleum prospectivity inferences are drawn from better-known basins in New Zealand, Australia, New Caledonia, TimorLeste and Papua New Guinea. Five existing seismic-stratigraphic units are reviewed. Zealandia Seismic Unit U3 is sampled near New Zealand and may contain Jurassic Muhiriku Group coals. Elsewhere, Seismic Unit 3 may have oil-prone equivalents of the Jurassic Walloon Coal Measure in eastern Australia; or may contain Triassic-Jurassic marine source rocks, as found in offshore Bonaparte Basin, onshore Timor-Leste, and the Papuan Basin in Papua New Guinea. Seismic Unit U2b (Mid-Cretaceous) is syn-rift and may contain coal measures, as found in Taranaki-Aotea Basin and New Caledonia. Seismic Unit U2a (Late Cretaceous to Eocene) contains coaly source rocks in the southeastern part of the study area, and may also contain marine equivalent carbonaceous mudstone, as found at Site IODP U1509. Unit U2a is transgressive, with coaly source rocks and reservoir sandstones near its base, and clay, marl and chalk above that provides a regional seal. Seismic Unit U1b (Eocene-Oligocene) is mass-transport complexes and basin floor fans related to a brief phase of convergent deformation that created folds in the southern part of the study area and regionally uplifted ridges to create new sediment source areas. Basin floor fans may contain reservoir rock and Eocene folding created structural traps. Seismic Unit U1a is Oligocene and Neogene chalk, calcareous ooze, and marl that represents overburden. Mass accumulation rates (MAR) and climatic temperatures were high in the late Miocene and early Pliocene, resulting in peak thermal maturity and hydrocarbon expulsion at ~ 3 Ma. Approximately one-fifth of the region has adequate source rock maturity for petroleum expulsion at the base of Seismic Unit U2: Fairway Basin (FWAY), southern New Caledonia Trough (NCTS) and Reinga Basin (REIN). Plays may exist in either Seismic Unit U3 or U2, with many plausible reservoir-seal combinations, and several possible trapping mechanisms: unconformities, normal faults, folds, or stratigraphic pinch-out. The rest of the region could be prospective, but requires a source rock to exist within Seismic Unit U3, which is mostly unsampled and remains poorly understood.</p>

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The genealogy of geebungs: phylogenetic analysis of Persoonia (Proteaceae) and related genera in subfamily Persoonioideae

Australian Systematic Botany ◽

10.1071/sb16052 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 31 (2) ◽

pp. 166

Author(s):

Gareth D. Holmes ◽

Peter H. Weston ◽

Daniel J. Murphy ◽

Carolyn Connelly ◽

David J. Cantrill

Keyword(s):

Western Australia ◽

New Caledonia ◽

Plastid Dna ◽

Morphological Characters ◽

Molecular Data ◽

Morphological Data ◽

Rdna Its ◽

Eastern Australia ◽

Group Relationships ◽

Informal Groups

Proteaceae subfamily Persoonioideae, as presently circumscribed, consists of the monogeneric tribe Placospermeae (Placospermum) and the tribe Persoonieae. The latter comprises the diverse genus Persoonia and monospecific genera found in New Zealand (Toronia), New Caledonia (Garnieria) and south-western Western Australia (Acidonia). Persoonia has 101 species distributed across Australia and has been classified into 11 informal groups. Using data derived from plastid DNA (trnL–trnF region), nuclear rDNA (ITS) and morphological characters, we constructed a phylogeny of Persoonioideae and compared the results to the existing classification. Bayesian and parsimony analyses indicated that Persoonia, as currently defined, is non-monophyletic. The molecular data and combined molecular and morphological data place Toronia in a moderately well supported clade with the monophyletic Rufiflora group of Persoonia from Western Australia. This clade is sister to Acidonia, Garnieria and the remaining Persoonia species. Of the other informal groups in Persoonia, the Teretifolia, Quinquenervis, Laurina, Arborea, Graminea and Chapmaniana groups are supported as monophyletic. The Lanceolata group can be re-circumscribed to be monophyletic by the addition of P. elliptica R.Br. (Longifolia group) and the Dillwynioides group. Relationships within this large, geographically widespread clade are largely unresolved and low DNA-sequence variation within it suggests a recent radiation followed by isolation in south-western and eastern Australia. All endemic Tasmanian Persoonia (Gunnii group taxa) are unresolved at the second-most basal node of the Persoonieae. Our results suggest that the Rufiflora group should be treated as a new genus and that the infrageneric taxonomy of Persoonia requires minor amendment.

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Delimitation of the segmented trapdoor spider genus Luthela gen. nov., with comments on the genus Sinothela from northern China (Araneae, Mesothelae, Liphistiidae)

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.5091.1.5 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 5091 (1) ◽

pp. 131-154

Author(s):

XIN XU ◽

LI YU ◽

FENGXIANG LIU ◽

DAIQIN LI

Keyword(s):

Type Species ◽

New Genus ◽

Taxonomic Revision ◽

Northern China ◽

Morphological Characters ◽

Molecular Data ◽

Male And Female ◽

The North ◽

The Status ◽

Nomina Dubia

A new genus of the primitively segmented trapdoor spiders, which is endemic to the north of China, is described, Luthela gen. nov., and the status of Sinothela Haupt, 2003 and Sinothela sinensis (Bishop & Crosby, 1932) is discussed and both are treated as nomina dubia. The new genus Luthela gen. nov. is erected based on morphology and molecular data of the type species Luthela yiyuan sp. nov. A taxonomic revision of the new genus is given. Three Sinothela species are transferred to the new genus, L. luotianensis comb. nov. and L. schensiensis comb. nov. are redescribed using our newly collected specimens, include L. heyangensis comb. nov. as a junior synonym of L. schensiensis comb. nov., and describe six new species based on both male and female morphological characters: L. badong sp. nov., L. dengfeng sp. nov., L. handan sp. nov., L. taian sp. nov., L. yiyuan sp. nov., and L. yuncheng sp. nov.

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