Salamanders from the eastern Cordillera de Talamanca, Costa Rica, with descriptions of five new species (Plethodontidae: Bolitoglossa, Nototriton, and Oedipina) and natural history notes from recent expeditions

Zootaxa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3309 (1) ◽  
pp. 36 ◽  
Author(s):  
EDUARDO BOZA-OVIEDO ◽  
SEAN M. ROVITO ◽  
GERARDO CHAVES ◽  
ADRIÁN GARCÍA-RODRÍGUEZ ◽  
LUIS G. ARTAVIA ◽  
...  

We describe five new species of lungless salamanders (Plethodontidae) from high mountain habitats along the border betweenCosta Rica and Panama: Bolitoglossa splendida, Bolitoglossa aureogularis, Bolitoglossa kamuk, Nototriton matama, andOedipina nimaso. We also present phylogenetic hypotheses for the new taxa (with the exception of the Oedipina) and their rel-atives based on mitochondrial DNA sequence data. The new species were discovered on a series of expeditions to remote areas (primarily over 1000 m elevation) of the Cordillera de Talamanca, Costa Rica.

Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4766 (3) ◽  
pp. 472-484
Author(s):  
HANNAH E. SOM ◽  
L. LEE GRISMER ◽  
PERRY L. JR. WOOD ◽  
EVAN S. H. QUAH ◽  
RAFE M. BROWN ◽  
...  

Liopeltis is a genus of poorly known, infrequently sampled species of colubrid snakes in tropical Asia. We collected a specimen of Liopeltis from Pulau Tioman, Peninsular Malaysia, that superficially resembled L. philippina, a rare species that is endemic to the Palawan Pleistocene Aggregate Island Complex, western Philippines. We analyzed morphological and mitochondrial DNA sequence data from the Pulau Tioman specimen and found distinct differences to L. philippina and all other congeners. On the basis of these corroborated lines of evidence, the Pulau Tioman specimen is described as a new species, L. tiomanica sp. nov. The new species occurs in sympatry with L. tricolor on Pulau Tioman, and our description of L. tiomanica sp. nov. brings the number of endemic amphibians and reptiles on Pulau Tioman to 12. 


Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2747 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
MADHAVA MEEGASKUMBURA ◽  
KELUM MANAMENDRA-ARACHCHI

Two new species of Sri Lankan shrub frogs of the genus Pseudophilautus are described. These species are diagnosed from their congeners on the basis of morphology, morphometrics and mitochondrial DNA sequence data. Pseudophilautus schneideri, new species, is distinguished from all Sri Lankan Pseudophilautus by its small size (< 22.8 mm SVL), distinct tympanum and supratympanic fold, sharp canthal edges, granular throat, chest and belly, and absence or presence of a vomerine ridge. Pseudophilautus hankeni, new species, is distinguished by its diminutive size (< 21.9 mm SVL), distinct tympanum, rounded canthal edges, tuberculated outer edge of lower arm, tuberculated dermal fold on outer edge of foot, granular throat, chest and belly, and the absence of a vomerine ridge. Pseudophilautus schneideri inhabits shrubs in open areas of the low to mid-elevations of the island’s south-western ‘wet zone’ (rainfall > 2,000 mm•yr -1 ), including anthropogenic habitats, while P. hankeni is found on shrubs in the understorey of montane forests of the highest peaks (c. 1,200– 1,600 m elevation) of the Knuckles region. These descriptions bring the total number of valid species of Sri Lankan Pseudophilautus to 67, 48 of which are extant.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  

Sphagnum apopenneysii B.C. Tan, Ignatov, Ignatova, & B. Mishler is described as a species new to science. It was found submerged in a high mountain lake, at 2385 m elev. on Mt. Apo on Mindanao island in the Philippines. The new species is peculiar in its poor expression of leaf cell dimorphism. Cells in the upper half of the branch leaves are all identical, linear-vermicular, and all have chloroplasts and nuclei. In the mid-leaf, a moderate differentiation in shape appears with larger cells, approaching in shape to hyalocysts, yet still containing chlorophyll. Only near the base of the branch leaves is a pattern common to most Sphagnum species observed, including inflated hyalocysts with fibrils, albeit without any pores. Collections from deeper water have long lanceolate leaves, while plants from shallower water have stem leaves that are ovate-triangular, similar to those in many species of Sphagnum in section Cuspidata. Both nuclear and plastid DNA sequence data support the placement of this new moss in section Cuspidata.


Zootaxa ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 2390 (1) ◽  
pp. 49 ◽  
Author(s):  
LUKE J. WELTON ◽  
CAMERON D. SILER ◽  
ARVIN C. DIESMOS ◽  
RAFE M. BROWN

Using a combination of fixed morphological character differences, mitochondrial DNA sequence data, and an estimate of phylogeny as our guide, we describe a new species of bent-toed gekkonid lizard (Genus: Cyrtodactylus) from southwestern Mindanao Island, and northeastern portions of the Sulu Archipelago, southern Philippines. The new species resembles C. annulatus, but differs from this and all other congeners by characteristics of external morphology, color pattern, and body size. In addition, the new species is distinguished from congeners by marked genetic divergence and reciprocal monophyly of mitochondrial DNA sequences. The new species is common in pristine, low elevation gallery forests throughout Pasonanca Natural Park, Zamboanga Peninsula, southwestern Mindanao Island, and the northeastern portions of the Sulu Archipelago.


Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4881 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
FILIPA L. SAMPAIO ◽  
SURYA NARAYANAN ◽  
VIVEK PHILIP CYRIAC ◽  
GOVINDAPPA VENU ◽  
DAVID J. GOWER

A new species of the uropeltid (shieldtail snake) genus Rhinophis is described based on a type series of seven specimens from the Wayanad region of the Western Ghats of peninsular India. The holotype was collected before 1880 but had been misidentified as the phenotypically similar and parapatric (possibly partly sympatric) R. sanguineus. Rhinophis karinthandani sp. nov. is diagnosed by a combination of 15 dorsal scale rows at midbody, 4–8 pairs of subcaudal scales, colour pattern (uniformly dark above, whitish below with extensive dark mottling), and by its distinct mitochondrial DNA sequences (e.g. >7.6% uncorrected p-distance for nd4). Phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequence data indicates that the new species is most closely related to R. sanguineus among currently recognised species, with this pair most closely related to the partly sympatric R. melanoleucus. The new species description brings the number of currently recognised species in the genus to 24, six of which are endemic to India and 18 endemic to Sri Lanka. A new key to the identification of Indian species of Rhinophis is provided.


2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 751-764 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Mantič ◽  
Jan Ševčík

A new species of Keroplatidae (Diptera: Sciaroidea), Macrocera rohaceki sp. nov., is described from the island of Mallorca (Spain). A further remarkable species, Paleoplatyura johnsoni Johannsen, 1910, hitherto only known from the Nearctic Region, is recorded from Sicily (Italy). New records of Isoneuromyia czernyi (Strobl, 1909) and I. pseudochracea (Landrock, 1925) from Slovakia are provided, including figures of the male terminalia. Their relationships to the widely distributed European species, I. semirufa (Meigen, 1818), are reconstructed using three mitochondrial DNA markers (12S, COI, cytb). A key to the European species of Isoneuromyia Brunetti, 1912 is also provided.


1997 ◽  
Vol 75 (8) ◽  
pp. 1356-1362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Kennedy

Calathea hylaeanthoides Kennedy, Calathea retroflexa Kennedy, and Calathea incompta Kennedy are described as new. All three species are endemic to Costa Rica. Calathea hylaeanthoides and C. incompta are from the Osa Peninsula, while C. retroflexa is from midelevation on the Pacific slope of the Cordillera de Talamanca. Calathea hylaeanthoides belongs to Calathea section Breviscapus, C. retroflexa belongs to Calathea section Calathea, and C. incompta belongs to the "Ornata group" of Calathea. Key words: Marantaceae, Calathea, Costa Rica, endemism.


Parasitology ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 127 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. C. GRISARD ◽  
N. R. STURM ◽  
D. A. CAMPBELL

Trypanosomes isolated from South American bats include the human pathogen Trypanosoma cruzi. Other Trypanosoma spp. that have been found exclusively in bats are not well characterized at the DNA sequence level and we have therefore used the SL RNA gene to differentiate and characterize kinetoplastids isolated from bats in South America. A Trypanosoma sp. isolated from bats in southern Brazil was compared with the geographically diverse isolates T. cruzi marinkellei, T. vespertilionis, and T. dionisii. Analysis of the SL RNA gene repeats revealed size and sequence variability among these bat trypanosomes. We have developed hybridization probes to separate these bat isolates and have analysed the DNA sequence data to estimate their relatedness. A new species, Trypanosoma desterrensis sp. n., is proposed, for which a 5S rRNA gene was also found within the SL RNA repeat.


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