Systematics of Eutropis rugifera (Stoliczka, 1870) (Squamata: Scincidae) including the redescription of the holotype

Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4272 (1) ◽  
pp. 103 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.A. THASUN AMARASINGHE ◽  
NIKOLAY A. POYARKOV JR. ◽  
PATRICK D. CAMPBELL ◽  
SANDY LEO ◽  
JATNA SUPRIATNA ◽  
...  

Eutropis rugifera has long been identified as a widespread species complex distributed in Nicobar, Peninsular Malaysia, Greater Sundaic Islands, Bali, Sulawesi and the Philippines. This skink was described by Stoliczka in 1870 from Nicobar Island based on a single specimen (holotype by monotypy). Later, Peters (1871), Bartlett (1895) and Werner (1896) described three more species which were morphologically similar to Euprepes percarinatus (from Java), Mabuia rubricollis (Borneo) and M. quinquecarinata (Sumatra) respectively, which are currently considered junior objective synonyms of Eutropis rugifera. We examined all the available synonym types and voucher specimens of Eutropis rugifera deposited at several museums. A morphological examination of the types of this species and mtDNA analysis (584 bp of 16S rRNA) of the samples from different biogeographic regions revealed that Eutropis rugifera from Nicobar Island, Bali Island, and Bawean Island are composed of a monophyletic species. However, the taxonomic status of the above population requires further clarification, and the population in Bawean Island may represent a cryptic species. Finally, we provide a complete redescription of E. rugifera based on its holotype.

Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2876 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
AURÉLIEN MIRALLES ◽  
JÖRN KÖHLER ◽  
FRANK GLAW ◽  
MIGUEL VENCES

The present paper constitutes a study on a taxonomically confusing group of closely related species belonging to the Malagasy skink genus Madascincus, currently encompassing the nominal species M. polleni, M. intermedius and M. stumpffi. Based on combined analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences (ND1 and RAG2 genes, respectively), and morphological examination, we provide evidence for the existence of at least four distinct evolutionary lineages within this complex: Madascincus stumpffi; Madascincus arenicola sp. nov. from northern Madagascar; and two cryptic species morphologically similar to the name-bearing types of M. polleni and M. intermedius. The two latter species, although genetically distinct, appear to be morphologically indistinguishable and their taxonomic status cannot be resolved until a better sampling will be available.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  

We describe a new species of lizard in the genus Eutropis Fitzinger 1843 from the southwestern tip of the Zamboanga Peninsula on the western part of Mindanao Island, Philippines. The new species is related to Eutropis rugifera, which is a secretive, forest-adapted skink that ranges widely outside the Philippines from the western extent of its distribution on Nicobar Island (the type locality) through southern Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, and the Mentawai islands, Borneo, Java, and as far east as Bali Island. The discovery of a new, morphologically distinct, and genetically highly divergent Sun Skink lineage in the low elevation forests of the Zamboanga Peninsula creates a puzzling disjunct geographic distribution (E. rugifera has not been reported from the Sulu Archipelago). The new species is estimated to have diverged ~10–16 mya from E. rugifera, from which it appears to have an extralimital and isolated distribution. Considering the dynamic geological history and ancient continental origin of the Zamboanga Peninsula, colonization by the new species may have been facilitated by pre-Pleistocene overseas long-distance dispersal, saltatory range expansion, and subsequent contraction/extinction in the Sulu Archipelago, and/or possibly paleotransport on the ancient crustal fragment of Zamboanga. The new species is known only from Zamboanga City’s primary surface water supply catchment at the lowest elevations inside the boundaries of Pasonanca Natural Park, despite the fact that there have been historical surveys of herpetological diversity at multiple sites to the northeast (Zamboanga, western Mindanao) and to the southwest (Sulu Archipelago). The new species, thus, may be limited to just the tip of the Zamboanga Peninsula, possibly rendering KEYWORDS: IUCN Red List, Palawan microcontinent block, Pasonanca Natural Park, Sulu Archipelago, Surface catchment watershed biodiversity


Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5039 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-55
Author(s):  
MAO-YING LEE ◽  
THOMAS A. MUNROE

Species of Symphurus (Pleuronectiformes: Cynoglossidae) are relatively small-sized tonguefishes occurring worldwide in tropical, subtropical, and warm-temperate seas. In the Indo-West Pacific Ocean, species of Symphurus inhabiting waters shallower than 200 m are rarely reported; only five have been described, S. microrhynchus (Weber, 1913), S. holothuriae Chabanaud, 1948, S. monostigmus Munroe, 2006, S. leucochilus Lee et al. 2014, and S. longirostris Lee et al. 2016. Examination of museum and recently collected specimens yielded over 100+ Symphurus captured in relatively shallow waters off Japan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. All of these specimens, except S. monostigmus (with 14 caudal-fin rays), were originally tentatively identified as S. microrhynchus because of shared similarities (small size, low meristic values, 12 caudal-fin rays, shared pigmentation traits). Detailed comparisons revealed that, although similar, specimens from allopatric locations have small differences in meristic, morphometric and pigmentation features. In previous literature, these small differences were thought to represent intraspecific variation among populations of a widespread species, S. microrhynchus. However, further study, including molecular data, has revealed that such minor differences among specimens from allopatric locations actually represent interspecific, and not population-level, variations. Where available, molecular differences among these allopatric populations, in contrast to the morphological features, were significantly different (9.0 to 26.3%), providing additional strong support for the hypothesis that more than one species is represented among fishes examined. Combined data from morphological and molecular characters, and species delimitation analysis, reveal that five, undescribed, cryptic species should be recognized: S. brachycephalus n. sp. from Vietnam, S. hongae n. sp. from Taiwan, S. leptosomus n. sp. from the Philippines, S. polylepis n. sp. from Papua New Guinea, and S. robustus n. sp. from Japan. Also, based on new information, the previous decision to place S. holothuriae Chabanaud in the synonymy of S. microrhynchus was determined to be premature. This species should be recognized as valid until additional specimens are captured and the taxonomic status of this nominal species re-evaluated. At least 10 species of Indo-West Pacific shallow-water Symphurus are now known. Eight are members of the Symphurus microrhynchus species complex with hypothesized closer relationship to each other than to the other two species of shallow-water tonguefishes. Included in this study are redescriptions of S. microrhynchus and S. holothuriae based on their holotypes, including an expanded number of morphological characters not previously used to diagnose these species; redescriptions are also provided for comparative purposes of three other shallow-water species; five new cryptic species are described; and lastly, detailed comparisons and an identification key to all 10 species of shallow-water Symphurus occurring in the Indo-West Pacific Ocean are provided. Two additional populations are also identified that likely represent other undescribed taxa belonging to the S. microrhynchus species complex. Adequate specimens are not available at this time to formally describe these nominal species. This study contributes further understanding about species diversity within Symphurus inhabiting shallow waters of the Indo-West Pacific Ocean. Several other nominal species of small-sized cynoglossid and soleid flatfishes are currently considered to have widespread distributions in the Indo-West Pacific. Many of these species also have junior synonyms available based on nominal species described from allopatric sites within their geographic ranges. How many of these presumed populations of widespread species will be resurrected from synonymy once additional specimens and their genetic information becomes available remains an interesting question for future study.  


Zootaxa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3328 (1) ◽  
pp. 20 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. MAXIMILIAN DEHLING

A number of populations of Leptolalax from Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia have been assigned to Leptolalax gracilis in thepast, rendering it a supposedly morphologically variable and widespread species. Whereas some of the Bornean populationshave since been described as distinct species, many lowland populations from Borneo and montane populations from Peninsu-lar Malaysia remain assigned to L. gracilis. Several distinct species appear to be hidden under this nominal taxon. In order toresolve the identity of L. gracilis and clarify the character states and their variation within the topotypic population, the speciesis redescribed based on examination of the holotype and recently collected topotypic material. Furthermore, the taxonomic sta-tus of two populations from Peninsular Malaysia (Gunung Benom, Gunung Tahan) that have been assigned to L. gracilis isreassessed. Reexamination of the corresponding vouchers revealed strong morphological differences between the two popula-tions and between each population and L. gracilis from Borneo. The population from Gunung Benom differs from all species ofthe genus and is apparently undescribed. The population from Gunung Tahan is represented only by two not fully metamor-phosed juveniles and cannot be assigned unambiguously to any of the described species of the genus. It is possibly another undescribed species but more specimens, especially adults, need to be collected.


Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4571 (2) ◽  
pp. 278
Author(s):  
HARSHIL PATEL ◽  
RAJU VYAS ◽  
BHAUTIK DUDHATRA

The colubrid snake genus Dendrelaphis comprises of 45 species (Uetz et al. 2018) of which eleven currently occurs in India (Aengals et al. 2018). A member of this genus, Dendrelaphis caudolineatus (Gray, 1834), was once considered a wide-ranging species in Southeast Asia, the Philippines and the Indo-Australian Archipelago, until Van Rooijen & Vogel (2012) resolved taxonomy of this species complex. Now its range is restricted from southern Thailand to Sundaland (Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Billiton and Borneo; presence doubtful in Java of Indonesia) (Van Rooijen & Vogel 2012). 


PalZ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manja Voss

Abstract Halitherium antillense Matthew, 1916 was established on a left mandibular fragment and two vertebrae from late Oligocene deposits of Puerto Rico. This species was only provisionally referred to the genus Halitherium and its taxonomic status and systematic affinities remained doubtful. In the course of the revision of the Halitherium-species complex and the meanwhile invalid generic name “Halitherium”, the holotype, and only known specimen, is re-investigated. A number of morphological characters usually diagnostic in sirenians are determined. However, the holotype material of “H.” antillense is not informative enough and, as such, neither can be assigned to any known species nor is it possible to define a taxon that can be clearly distinguished from other species. Unlike other, now revised species originally grouped under “Halitherium”, the establishment of a new taxonomic combination for “H.” antillense is not possible. As a nomenclatural consequence, the name “H.” antillense is only applicable to a single specimen, the holotype, and declared as a nomen dubium.


Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5051 (1) ◽  
pp. 346-386
Author(s):  
SÜPHAN KARAYTUĞ ◽  
SERDAR SAK ◽  
ALP ALPER ◽  
SERDAR SÖNMEZ

An attempt was made to test if Lourinia armata (Claus, 1866)—as it is currently diagnosed—represents a species complex. Detailed examination and comparisons of several specimens collected from different localities suggest that L. armata indeed represents a complex of four closely related morphospecies that can be differentiated from one another by only detailed observations. One of the four species is identified as Lourinia aff. armata and the other three species are described as new to science and named as Lourinia wellsi sp. nov., L. gocmeni sp. nov., and L. aldabraensis sp. nov. Detailed review of previous species records indicates that the genus Lourinia Wilson, 1924 is distributed worldwide. Ceyloniella nicobarica Sewell, 1940, originally described from Nicobar Island and previously considered a junior subjective synonym of L. armata is reinstated as Lourinia nicobarica (Sewell, 1940) comb. nov. on the basis of the unique paddle-shaped caudal ramus seta V. It is postulated that almost all of these records are unreliable in terms of representing true Lourinia aff. armata described herein. On the other hand, the comparative evaluation of the illustrations and descriptions in the published literature indicates the presence of several new species waiting to be discovered in the genus Lourinia.                 It has been determined that, according to updated modern keys, the recent inclusion of the monotypic genus Archeolourinia Corgosinho & Schizas, 2013 in the Louriniidae is not justified since Archeolourinia shermani Corgosinho & Schizas, 2013 does not belong to this family but should be assigned to the Canthocamptidae. On the other hand, it has been argued that the exact phylogenetic position of the Louriniidae still remains problematic since none of the diagnostic characters supports the monophyly of the family within the Oligoarthra. It has also been argued that the close relationship between Louriniidae and Canthocamptidae is supported since both families share the homologous sexual dimorphism (apophysis) on P3 endopod. The most important characteristic that can possibly be used to define Louriniidae is the reduction of maxilliped.  


Nematology ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 925-955 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natsumi Kanzaki ◽  
Robin M. Giblin-Davis ◽  
Yasmin J. Cardoza ◽  
Weimin Ye ◽  
Kenneth F. Raffa ◽  
...  

Abstract Two species of aphelench, Bursaphelenchus rufipennis n. sp. and Ektaphelenchus obtusus, were isolated from the 'nematangia', cocoon-like structures found at the base of the hind wings of Dendroctonus rufipennis. The nematangia contained adult females of E. obtusus and the dauer juveniles of B. rufipennis n. sp. Only B. rufipennis n. sp. could be cultured on Monilinia fructicola on LGPDA (lactic acid-treated, glycerol-supplemented, potato dextrose agar). The new species of Bursaphelenchus is described and figured and some additional morphological characters are ascribed to E. obtusus, E. josephi, E. sandiaensis, E. smaelus (= E. prolobos) and E. terebranus after examination of type and/or voucher specimens. Bursaphelenchus rufipennis n. sp. has an adult body length of ca 500-1000 μm, medium a ratios (ca 25-38 for females and ca 30-40 for males), b ratios of ca 8-13 (female) and 7-11 (male), c ratios of ca 15-22 (female and male), c′ ratios of ca 3-4 (female) and ca 2-3 (male), and is characterised by three incisures in the lateral field, mitten-shaped spicules and a conical female tail that curves ventrally and possesses a variable tail tip. The new species is morphologically closest to B. corneolus, B. curvicaudatus, B. gerberae, B. paracorneolus and B. talonus. Morphological examination of type and/or voucher specimens of five Ektaphelenchus species revealed coarse transverse body annulation and three pairs of male caudal papillae (except for the two species where males are not described). Clear typological differences were observed among these five Ektaphelenchus species in the structure of the lip region, presence/absence of stylet knobs and male spicule morphology. Although these characters have not been consistently documented in the past, they may be diagnostic for species in the genus. Molecular phylogenetic analysis based on SSU and D2/D3 LSU sequences revealed that B. rufipennis n. sp. was closest to B. paracorneolus and that E. obtusus was closest to species of Ektaphelenchoides and a Cryptaphelenchus sp.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 104-112
Author(s):  
Wahyu Widiyono

Dipterocarpaceae is known as a very important tree family both biologically and economically.  Its distribution around the world covers the areas of Peninsular Malaysia, the Philippines, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java, Sulawesi, Maluku to Papua.  Dipterocarpaceae family has a high economic value, such as producing wood, balsam, resin, charcoal, fat, fruit, bark, essential oil, and camphor. Its products have very important roles for domestic use and export needs. As  representatives of Dipterocarpaceae, the economic value of Shorea Roxb. ex Gaertner f, Dipterocarpus Gaertner f, and Dryobalanops Gaertner f will be discussed. Considering the very important role of Dipterocarpaceae, both biologically and economically, it is necessary to handle it sustainably, through the following actions such as conservation of genetic resources, seed physiology, seed handling, seedling ecology, root symbiosis and nutrition, pest and disease, management of natural forest, and plantation, and also non-timber forest product from Dipterocarpaceae. Dipterocarpaceae dikenal sebagai famili pohon yang sangat penting baik secara biologis maupun ekonomis. Penyebarannya di seluruh dunia meliputi wilayah Semenanjung Malaysia, Filipina, Sumatera, Kalimantan, Jawa, Sulawesi, Maluku hingga Papua. Famili Dipterocarpaceae memiliki nilai ekonomi yang tinggi, seperti menghasilkan kayu, balsam, damar, arang, lemak, buah, kulit kayu, minyak atsiri, dan kapur barus. Produk-produknya memiliki peran yang sangat penting untuk kebutuhan domestik dan ekspor. Sebagai perwakilan Dipterocarpace, nilai ekonomi Shorea Roxb. ex Gaertner f, Dipterocarpus Gaertner f, dan Dryobalanops Gaertner f akan dibahas. Mengingat peranan Dipterocarpaceae yang sangat penting, baik secara biologis maupun ekonomis, maka perlu dilakukan penanganan secara berkelanjutan, melalui tindakan-tindakan seperti konservasi sumber daya genetik, fisiologi benih, penanganan benih, ekologi semai, simbiosis dan nutrisi akar, hama dan penyakit, pengelolaan hutan alam, dan perkebunan, serta hasil hutan bukan kayu dari Dipterocarpaceae.  


Author(s):  
Udon Pongkawong ◽  
◽  
Jatupol Kampuansai ◽  
Rossarin Pollawatn ◽  
Arunothai Jampeetong ◽  
...  

Abstract “Dok Hin” is the Thai local name for Selaginella species that form rosettes. They commonly distributes in Siberia, Manchuria, southern China, Japan, the Philippines and Thailand. Morphology of Dok Hin is very resemble leading to misidentification. So, exactly number of species of Dok Hin in Thailand and their differences in morphological characteristics is not well understood. Thus, revision of morphological characters and phylogenetic confirmation of the taxonomic identification are needed. This study aims to examine morphological charateristics and phylogenetic patterns in eight populations of the Dok Hin in Northern Thailand. Morphology of Dok Hin from each populations was quantitatively examined using 15 vegetative and 6 reproductive characters meanwhile phylogenetic analyses was explored by DNA barcode ITS2. The results of the phylogenetic analysis revealed the existence of two species of Dok Hin, S. tamariscina and S. pulvinata. Selaginella tamariscina can be distinguished from S. pulvinata by its presence of a pseudotrunk above ground and ridges of dorsal leaves. On the other hand, the results of phylogenetic analysis indicated the differences among populations of S. pulvinata as well. Chiang Mai populations of S. pulvinata was characterized by peculiar set of characters long leaves and leaf apices look like caudate, while the rest of their populations have shorter leaves and leaf apices look like aristate. It indicates that S. pulvinata has genetic and phenotypic divergence among populations. However, additional studies of Dok Hin populations in other parts of Thailand and studies on different genetic markers are necessary to confirm the taxonomic status of S. pulvinata. Keywords: Dok Hin, Morphometric, Phylogeny, Pseudotrunk, Resurrection plant


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