New species of Lepidodactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from New Guinea and adjacent islands

Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4651 (2) ◽  
pp. 305-329
Author(s):  
FRED KRAUS
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Habitat Loss ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Small Islands ◽  
Large Island ◽  
Habitat Conversion ◽  
Conservation Concern

I describe five new species of Lepidodactylus from New Guinea or adjacent islands that are members of Brown & Parker’s (1977) phenetic Groups I and II and belong to the clades identified as the L. orientalis, L. pumilus, and L. novaeguineae groups of Oliver et al. (2018a). One of the new species is restricted to an isolated mountain range on New Guinea; the remainder inhabit offshore islands ranging from 3–250 km from New Guinea. These species are distinguished from their congeners primarily by unique combinations of toe lamellar numbers and shape, numbers and distribution of enlarged precloacal/femoral scales and pores, toe webbing, toe width, and color pattern. These clades are ancient, and the ancestor of one of them has been on the East Papuan Composite Terrane for at least 28 MY, highlighting the long-term importance of that former large island in generating regional biodiversity. At least one, and probably three, of the new species are inhabitants of forest interiors; one occupies disturbed coastal areas; and the habitat of the last is currently unsurmisable. All of the new species likely have restricted geographic distributions, with four of them being limited to one or a few small islands. As a result of their small ranges, rapid habitat conversion in the ranges of some of these species, and the threat of further habitat loss in the others, most of these species are of conservation concern although it is uncertain if any of them is under immediate threat. 

scholarly journals A new species of Vespula, and first record of Vespa crabro L. (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) from Guatemala, Central America

Zootaxa ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 2629 (1) ◽  
pp. 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER J. LANDOLT ◽  
JOSÉ MONZÓN SIERRA ◽  
THOMAS R. UNRUH ◽  
RICHARD S. ZACK
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Central America ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
First Record ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Species Group ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Vespa Crabro ◽  
Vespula Vulgaris ◽  
A New Species

Vespula akrei Landolt sp. nov. is described from Guatemala. The first record of Vespa crabro L. in Guatemala is given, and Vespula inexspectata Eck from Mexico is re-described. We place Vespula akrei sp. nov. in the Vespula vulgaris (L.) species group (= Paravespula Bluthgen) based on morphology, color pattern, and DNA sequences from two mitochrondrial genes. It is presently known only from the Sierra de las Minas mountain range in southeastern Guatemala.

scholarly journals Conus hughmorrisoni, a new species of cone snail from New Ireland, Papua New Guinea (Gastropoda: Conidae)

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Lorenz ◽  
Nicolas Puillandre
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Genetic Distances ◽  
Coi Gene ◽  
Cone Snail ◽  
Biodiversity Survey ◽  
Mitochondrial Coi ◽  
A New Species

Based on newly collected material from the Kavieng Lagoon Biodiversity Survey, we describe a new species of cone snail, Conus hughmorrisoni sp. nov., from the vicinity of Kavieng, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. It closely resembles the New Caledonian C. exiguus and the Philippine C. hanshassi, but differs from these species by having more numerous shoulder tubercles, by the shell’s sculpturing and details of the color pattern. We also sequenced a fragment of the mitochondrial COI gene of five specimens collected alive. All possessed very similar sequences (genetic distances < 0.3%), different from all the COI sequences of cone snails available in GenBank (genetic distances > 10%).

Eremias papenfussi sp. nov., a new lacertid lizard (Sauria: Lacertidae) from Tehran Province, Iran

Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 3114 (1) ◽  
pp. 57 ◽  
Author(s):  
OMID MOZAFFARI ◽  
FARAHAM AHMADZADEH ◽  
JAMES F. PARHAM
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Rocky Mountain ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Northern Iran ◽  
Lacertid Lizard ◽  
Alborz Mountain ◽  
Tehran Province ◽  
A New Species

We describe a new species of Eremias lacertid from the Alborz Mountain range in northern Iran (Tehran Province). Eremias papenfussi n. sp. is part of the Eremias subgenus (or morphotype) by virtue of lacking lateral fringes on the fourth toe and color pattern. It can be further differentiated from previously described species assigned to this morphotype by the absence of distinctly keeled upper caudal scales, gular scales that do not extend to the second inframaxiallary scales, color pattern, and scale counts. Eremias papenfussi is found on rocky mountain slopes of the Alborz where it is presumed to have a much broader distribution than demonstrated by the available specimens. Of the 15 species of Eremias known from Iran, E. papenfussi is the fifth species known to inhabit rocky mountain slopes along with E. strauchi, E. lalezharica, E. montanus and E. novo.

Revision of the subgenus Niphetoscapha Heller of Gymnopholus Heller (Coleoptera, Curculionoidea, Entiminae, Eupholini) and a new species with epizoic symbiosis from West New Guinea

Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4254 (3) ◽  
pp. 339
Author(s):  
ALEXANDER RIEDEL ◽  
AGUST KILMASKOSSU
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Type Species ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
A New Species

The subgenus Niphetoscapha Heller 1914 of Gymnopholus Heller 1901 is revised. It is characterized by the morphology of the elytral apex and the asymmetrical tip of the penis. Vestigial wings and a fused elytral suture indicate flightlessness. Gymnopholus (Niphetoscapha) inexspectatus sp. n. is described as new, exhibiting a distinct epizoic symbiosis with algae otherwise known from the subgenus Symbiopholus Gressitt 1966. The four species of Niphetoscapha inhabit the central mountain range of West New Guinea: Gymnopholus audax Gressitt 1966, G. inexspectatus sp. n., G. nitidus Gressitt & Sedlacek 1967, and G. wichmanni (Heller, 1914). A lectotype is designated for the type-species, G. wichmanni. All species are described, a key is provided, and their distribution is mapped. A large gap separating the areas with records of Niphetoscapha and Symbiopholus is noted for Central New Guinea. The phylogenetic concept of Gymnopholus and its subgenera is briefly discussed. 

scholarly journals Beyond pattern to process: current themes and future directions for the conservation of woodland birds through restoration plantings

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna J. Belder ◽  
Jennifer C. Pierson ◽  
Karen Ikin ◽  
David B. Lindenmayer
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Loss ◽  
Resource Availability ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Knowledge Gaps ◽  
Woodland Birds ◽  
Conservation Concern

Habitat loss as a result of land conversion for agriculture is a leading cause of global biodiversity loss and altered ecosystem processes. Restoration plantings are an increasingly common strategy to address habitat loss in fragmented agricultural landscapes. However, the capacity of restoration plantings to support reproducing populations of native plants and animals is rarely measured or monitored. This review focuses on avifaunal response to revegetation in Australian temperate woodlands, one of the world’s most heavily altered biomes. Woodland birds are a species assemblage of conservation concern, but only limited research to date has gone beyond pattern data and occupancy trends to examine whether they persist and breed in restoration plantings. Moreover, habitat quality and resource availability, including food, nesting sites and adequate protection from predation, remain largely unquantified. Several studies have found that some bird species, including species of conservation concern, will preferentially occupy restoration plantings relative to remnant woodland patches. However, detailed empirical research to verify long-term population growth, colonisation and extinction dynamics is lacking. If restoration plantings are preferentially occupied but fail to provide sufficient quality habitat for woodland birds to form breeding populations, they may act as ecological traps, exacerbating population declines. Monitoring breeding success and site fidelity are under-utilised pathways to understanding which, if any, bird species are being supported by restoration plantings in the long term. There has been limited research on these topics internationally, and almost none in Australian temperate woodland systems. Key knowledge gaps centre on provision of food resources, formation of optimal foraging patterns, nest-predation levels and the prevalence of primary predators, the role of brood parasitism, and the effects of patch size and isolation on resource availability and population dynamics in a restoration context. To ensure that restoration plantings benefit woodland birds and are cost-effective as conservation strategies, the knowledge gaps identified by this review should be investigated as priorities in future research.

New Species of Blindsnakes (Squamata: Gerrhopilidae) from the offshore islands of Papua New Guinea

Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4299 (1) ◽  
pp. 75 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRED KRAUS
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Eye Development ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Museum Collections ◽  
Additional Specimen

I describe four new species of blindsnake of the genus Gerrhopilus from islands off the southeastern tip of New Guinea and from New Ireland to the northeast. All have ventral keels on the rostral scale, and most have previously been assigned in their respective museum collections to the species G. depressiceps. Examination of available specimens shows G. depressiceps to be a composite of species, and I emend the diagnosis of that species based on the holotype and one additional specimen from northeastern New Guinea. The species described as new here differ from G. depressiceps and from each other in a series of features, including shape of the snout, shape of the rostral scale, numbers of mid-dorsal scale rows, reduction patterns in longitudinal scale rows, body mass, degree of eye development, and color pattern. The new species all inhabit islands remote from the known range of G. depressiceps on New Guinea and have likely been separated from that species for millions of years. 

Descriptions of two new species of Cyrtodactylus Gray 1827 (Squamata : Gekkonidae) endemic to southern Vietnam

Zootaxa ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 1715 (1) ◽  
pp. 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
NGO VAN TRI ◽  
AARON M. BAUER
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
New Taxa ◽  
Nature Reserve ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Southern Vietnam ◽  
Two New Species ◽  
Voucher Specimens

Two new species of the gekkonid lizard genus Cyrtodactylus Gray, 1827 are described on the basis of voucher specimens collected in isolated mountains separated from the Truong Son Mountain Range, southern Vietnam. Both species were collected from shallow caves, as have been many of the recently described Cyrtodactylus from across Southeast Asia. Both species, C. takouensis sp. nov. from Ta Kou Nature Reserve, Binh Thuan Province and C. huynhi sp. nov. from Chua Chan Mountain, Dong Nai Province, are characterized by a small number of enlarged femoral scales separated from the precloacal scales by a large diastema. They may be distinguished from one another and from all other congeners by differences in rows of tubercles and ventral scales, subcaudal scalation and dorsal color pattern. These new taxa bring the number of currently recognized Cyrtodactylus species in Vietnam to twelve.

Ten new species of Oreophryne (Anura, Microhylidae) from Papua New Guinea

Zootaxa ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4195 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRED KRAUS
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Advertisement Call ◽  
Type I ◽  
Additional Species ◽  
Call Type ◽  
Species Groups ◽  
Three New Species

Oreophryne presently represents the second-most-diverse genus of microhylid frogs, with 57 named species, most occurring on New Guinea and its satellite islands. Nonetheless, a diversity of species remains to be described. Using morphological, color-pattern, and advertisement-call data, I describe ten new species of Oreophryne from the Papuan Peninsula of New Guinea and adjacent islands, which together form the East Papuan Composite Terrane. All but two of these species can be placed into two species groups based on call type. I refer to these species groups as the O. anser group and the O. equus group, both being based on species described herein. Members of the O. anser group produce calls reminiscent of a goose honk, whereas members of the O. equus group produce calls reminiscent of a horse’s whinny. Description of three new species in the O. anser group requires me to first rediagnose O. loriae, which has previously been interpreted as including the frogs named herein as O. anser sp. nov. The honk call type has not previously been reported within Oreophryne, and the whinny call may be novel as well, although it is possibly derived from other New Guinean species having calls consisting of a slower series of peeps. Based on their unique call types, I hypothesize that both species groups are monophyletic. If true, each would appear endemic to the East Papuan Composite Terrane. Only five additional species of Oreophryne are known from this region that do not belong to one or the other of these two species groups; hence, these newly identified species groups represent the majority of diversity in Oreophryne from the Papuan Peninsula and its satellite islands. 

A new species of Myloplus Gill (Characiformes, Serrasalmidae) from the Tumucumaque Mountain Range, Brazil and French Guiana, with comments on M. rubripinnis

Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4403 (1) ◽  
pp. 111 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARCELO C. ANDRADE ◽  
MICHEL JÉGU ◽  
CECILE S. GAMA
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Lateral Line ◽  
French Guiana ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Type Specimens ◽  
Dorsal Fin ◽  
Fin Rays ◽  
A New Species

A new species of Myloplus Gill is described from Eastern Tumucumaque Mountain Range, drainages of the Oyapock and Araguari rivers between Brazil and French Guiana. The new species is diagnosed by having comparatively large scales on the flanks, resulting in lower counts when compared with congeners, i.e., 59 to 70 total perforated scales on lateral line, 31 to 35 longitudinal scales above lateral line, 24 to 29 longitudinal scales below lateral line, and 22 to 26 circumpeduncular scale rows. The new species most closely resembles Myloplus rubripinnis by sharing with this species a general rounded shape, a similar color pattern, and a high number of rays, i.e., 23 to 25 branched dorsal-fin rays and 35 to 38 branched anal-fin rays in the new species (vs. 24 to 25 and 32 to 40, respectively, in M. rubripinnis). After reviewing the available type-specimens of all Myloplus species, M. rubripinnis is re-diagnosed as having higher counts of branched dorsal-fin rays and anal-fin rays combined to tiny scales on flanks, i.e., 85 to 89 total perforated scales on lateral line, 38 to 45 longitudinal scales above lateral line, 33 to 42 longitudinal scales below lateral line, and 30 to 39 circumpeduncular scale rows. 

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