Phenotypic variation in Heremites vittatus (Olivier, 1804) (Sauria: Scincidae) from Iran and Turkey

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5004 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-192
Author(s):  
NASRULLAH RASTEGAR-POUYANI ◽  
YUSUF KUMLUTAŞ ◽  
AZIZ AVCI ◽  
KAMIL CANDAN ◽  
CETIN ILGAZ ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Variation ◽  
Phenotypic Variation ◽  
Taxonomic Status ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Zagros Mountains ◽  
Iranian Populations

According to a large morphological dataset of specimens from Turkey to Iran and based on several morphological analyses, the Iranian populations of the skink Heremites vittatus are separated from other populations of this taxon in Turkey. The values of most of morphological characters were higher in the Turkish populations. Morphological variation among populations of H. vittatus (Olivier, 1804) from Turkey and the western slopes of the Zagros Mountains in Kermanshah province in Iran may be the result of different dispersal and vicariance events. Comparison the current study dataset with specimens from Egypt can definite the taxonomic status of Iranian and Turkish populations.

Morphological variation in the genus Juliomys (Rodentia: Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae) and taxonomic status of Juliomys anoblepas (Winge 1887) from the Quaternary of Southeast Brazil

Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4861 (3) ◽  
pp. 429-443
Author(s):  
CAROLINA PIRES ◽  
MARCELO WEKSLER ◽  
CIBELE R. BONVICINO
Keyword(s):  
Principal Component Analysis ◽  
Morphological Variation ◽  
Morphological Analysis ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Taxonomic Status ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
The Other ◽  
Anterior Portion ◽  
Living Species ◽  
Qualitative Characters

The region of Lagoa Santa, Minas Gerais, Brazil, is one of the most important karstic areas of the Brazilian Quaternary due to the faunistic diversity of living and extinct forms. Among them, some taxa remain poorly studied, as is the case of Calomys anoblepas Winge 1887. Despite the recent allocation of the taxon within Juliomys, its description and morphological analysis are condensed, based on comparative few specimens and on few informative characters. In this study, we investigate characters proposed to distinguish species of Juliomys, and reevaluate the taxonomic status of the fossil Juliomys anoblepas. We analyzed 80 cranio-dental morphological characters in 233 specimens represented by the four species currently recognized: J. pictipes (Osgood 1933), J. rimofrons Oliveira & Bonvicino 2002, J. ossitenuis Costa, Pavan, Leite & Fagundes 2007, and J. ximenezi Christoff, Vieira, Oliveira, Gonçalves, Valiati & Tomasi 2016. We also performed principal component analysis on eight craniodental measurements available for the J. anoblepas hypodigm. The review of morphological systems and the evaluation of the characters used in the literature revealed that there are no diagnostic characters in the anterior portion of the skull and in the molar series of Juliomys, being difficult to differentiate the fossil from the other living species. Only six qualitative characters were variable and applicable to the hypodigm of J. anoblepas. Characters are polymorphic, invariable, or the fossil is not sufficiently complete to determinate its states. The taxon could not be morphometrically differentiated from J. pictipes and J. ossitenuis. Based on the results presented herein, we consider J. anoblepas as a nomen dubium and restrict its name to the taxon’s hypodigm. 

Morphological variation, polymorphism, and Taxonomy of the Atractus torquatus complex (Serpentes: Dipsadidae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3407 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
PAULO PASSOS ◽  
ANA L. C. PRUDENTE
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Variation ◽  
Geographical Variation ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
Landscape Evolution ◽  
Taxonomic Status ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Colour Pattern ◽  
Guiana Shield ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative

The taxonomic status of Atractus torquatus is revised on the basis of concordance between quantitative and qualitativeanalyses of morphological characters (meristic, morphometric, colour pattern, and hemipenis) throughout its geographicaldistribution. We propose the synonymy of Atractus davidhardi, A. janethae, and A. lucilae based on wide overlap of mor-phological characters (qualitative and quantitative). Despite some differences in the frequency of the number of suprala-bials, infralabials and maxillary teeth among A. torquatus populations, we find that these characters exhibit a high levelof polymorphism and therefore cannot unambiguously diagnose Guiana Shield and Amazon Basin populations. Addition-ally, we discuss the polymorphism and geographical variation in A. torquatus and its appropriateness for hypotheses of landscape evolution in Amazonia.

Etudes sur les Acanthodactyles de Tunisie: VII - Les Acanthodactyles de l'Extrême-Sud tunisien

1985 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Ineich ◽  
Charles P. Blanc
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Variation ◽  
Sand Dunes ◽  
Taxonomic Status ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Multidimensional Analysis ◽  
Diagnostic Use ◽  
Southern Tunisia ◽  
White Spots ◽  
Habitat Difference ◽  
Field Stations

AbstractA multidimensional analysis of 34 characters of the colouring and scale pattern, providing 101 mathematical variables, applied to 77 Acanthodactylus collected in ten field stations in the Saharien Far-South of Tunisia, reveals a gradual and continuous morphological variation from populations of Acanthodactylus inornatus (with the back and sides of their body blackly reticulated and short legs) to populations with a A. longipes habitus (orange light body with small dorsal white spots, faint or nul black marks on their flanks and longer legs). Variation axis, approximately directed from North to South, also express an habitat difference between the populations dwelling on the reg nebkhas and sandy knolls in the beds and edges of the rivers (oueds) and those restricted to the high sand dunes of the Great Eastern Erg. The taxonomic status of the Acanthodactylus populations living in the Southern Tunisia should obviously be revised in relation with a high and mostly uncorrelated variability of the morphological characters of diagnostic use.

Biochemical Systematics, Biogeography and Evolutionary Rates in Species of the Mediterranean Genus Tyrrhenoleuctra (Plecoptera, Leuctridae)

2004 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
J. M. Tierno de Figueroa ◽  
◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
Evolutionary Rate ◽  
Taxonomic Status ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Genetic Distances ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Similar Distribution ◽  
Undescribed Species ◽  
Vicariance Event ◽  
Definition Of

AbstractThe western Mediterranean stonefly genus Tyrrhenoleuctra traditionally includes 3 species: T. minuta (Spain, North Africa, Balearic Islands), T. tangerina (Spain, North Africa), T. zavattarii (Corsica and Sardinia). Since the traditional morphological characters display great and overlapping variation, allozyme electrophoresis was used to clarify taxonomic and phylogenetic relationships within the genus and to discuss biogeographical implications. The results clearly discriminate at least four entities: the Corso-Sardinian unit, for which the name T. zavattarii can be used; the Balearic population, representing an undescribed species; at least two Iberian peninsular species. However, more data on topotypic populations are needed to define the taxonomic status of the Iberian species (including definition of the currently used names T. minuta and T. tangerina). The presence of Tyrrhenoleuctra in Sardinia and Corsica is likely due to an old vicariance event following separation of the Sardinia-Corsica microplate from the Iberian Peninsula. Calibration of the molecular clock (genetic distances vs. Corso-Sardinian plate split from Iberia) resulted in a very low evolutionary rate (0.008 D/my), lower than those found in taxonomically distant groups (including stoneflies) with similar distribution.

scholarly journals An assessment of the taxonomic validity of three species of marsupial frogs (Anura: Hemiphractidae: Gastrotheca) from the Yungas of Bolivia based on external morphology and cranial osteology

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5068 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-239
Author(s):  
CLAUDIA LANSAC ◽  
RODRIGO AGUAYO ◽  
IGNACIO DE LA RIVA
Keyword(s):  
Principal Component ◽  
Taxonomic Status ◽  
Ct Scanning ◽  
Developmental State ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Biological Entity ◽  
Nominal Species ◽  
Linear Discriminant ◽  
Morphological Studies ◽  
Cranial Osteology

The genus Gastrotheca (Anura: Hemiphractidae) is a group of marsupial frogs particularly diverse in Andean regions. Several taxonomic studies of this genus have been conducted in the humid cloud forests—or Yungas—of the Andean eastern slopes of central Bolivia (departments of Cochabamba and Santa Cruz). Yet, the distinction among three species that occur sympatrically in these forests, G. lauzuricae (proposed as a junior synonym of G. coeruleomaculatus in 2015), G. piperata, and G. splendens, remains unclear since the morphological characters that purportedly support their differentiation are variable and partly shared among them. We have carried out external morphological studies, including multivariate morphometric analyses, to assess how they support the taxonomic status of these three species. We also evaluated characters of the cranial osteology of a sample of six individuals using micro CT-scanning. Principal component and linear discriminant analyses resulted in a great overlap among the putative species. Cranial osteological comparisons did not reveal highly significant differences among them, but suggested that different degrees of hyperossification could be related to the developmental state of individuals. Our results indicate that most morphological and osteological reported differences between the three species likely represent intraspecific variation. Thus, we propose that the three nominal species belong to a single biological entity, for which the name Gastrotheca splendens (Schmidt, 1857) has priority. We also restrict the name Gastrotheca coeruleomaculatus (Werner, 1899) to externally similar congeneric populations from the Yungas forests of department of La Paz, but highlighting the need of a detailed evaluation of their taxonomic identity.  

scholarly journals Morphometry and Phylogeny of the Different Populations of Selaginella tamariscina (P. Beauv.) Spring and S. pulvinata (Hook. & Grev.) Maxim. in Northern Thailand

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Udon Pongkawong ◽  
◽  
Jatupol Kampuansai ◽  
Rossarin Pollawatn ◽  
Arunothai Jampeetong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analysis ◽  
Southern China ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Dna Barcode ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Taxonomic Status ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Northern Thailand ◽  
Selaginella Tamariscina

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

Taxonomic implications of morphological variation in three species of Trinomys (Rodentia: Echimyidae) from eastern Brazil

Zootaxa ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 3919 (1) ◽  
pp. 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
JERONYMO DALAPICOLLA ◽  
YURI L. R. LEITE
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Variation ◽  
Taxonomic Status ◽  
The State ◽  
Geographic Ranges ◽  
Espírito Santo ◽  
Eastern Brazil ◽  
North Bank ◽  
Taxonomic Implications ◽  
The Right ◽  
Espirito Santo

Trinomys is a genus of terrestrial spiny rats from the Atlantic Forest, and three species occur in the state of Espírito Santo, eastern Brazil: T. gratiosus, T. paratus, and T. setosus. The levels of morphological variation within and among these species are virtually unknown, and their geographic ranges have not been properly assessed. These three species are externally very similar, hampering their identification in surveys and ecological studies that are not based on voucher specimens. We evaluated 162 specimens of Trinomys spp. from eastern Brazil, especially from the state of Espírito Santo, and used data from skulls, skins, and bacula to examine morphological variation and its taxonomic implications. We found extensive morphological variation in the skins and skulls even when diagnostic characters were examined, such as the number of dental lophs and bones contributing to the postorbital process. We also found variation in bacular shape among and within species, including polymorphism among individuals from the same population. The geographic range of each species in Espírito Santo was well defined: T. setosus occurred on the left (north) bank of the Doce River, and the other two species, T. gratiosus and T. paratus, occurred on the right (south) bank of this river; however, T. gratiosus was found at altitudes above 500 m, whereas T. paratus occurred below 580 m. Despite difficulties in species identification, the results of morphological and morphometric analyses are compatible with the current classification of these three species. In addition, the level of morphological variation found in specimens identified as T. g. panema—including types—falls within the range of T. g. gratiosus, confirming the taxonomic status of the former as a junior synonym of the latter. 

Taxonomic status and morphological variation of Hydrodynastes bicinctus (Hermann, 1804) (Serpentes: Dipsadidae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4007 (1) ◽  
pp. 63 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROBERTA A. MURTA-FONSECA ◽  
FRANCISCO L. FRANCO ◽  
DANIEL SILVA FERNANDES
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Variation ◽  
Taxonomic Status

The status of the races of the graceful crag lizard, Pseudocordylus capensis, from South Africa

1992 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y.M. Herselman ◽  
J.H. Van Wyk ◽  
P. le F.N. Mouton
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Geographical Variation ◽  
Taxonomic Status ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Distribution Range ◽  
The Status ◽  
Formal Taxonomy ◽  
New Distribution

AbstractTo evaluate the taxonomic status of the races of the graceful crag lizard, Pseudocordylus capensis, geographical variation in 44 external morphological characters was determined, using 97 specimens from 31 localities. Two different epiphenotypes predominate in the northern and southwestern parts of the distribution range. These epiphenotypes are, however, connected by a continuum of variation. It is therefore suggested that the recognition of races be abandoned in the formal taxonomy. Several new distribution records for the species are provided.

Taxonomy, natural history, and conservation of the Great-billed Seed-Finch Sporophila maximiliani (Cabanis, 1851) (Thraupidae, Sporophilinae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4442 (4) ◽  
pp. 551 ◽  
Author(s):  
FLÁVIO KULAIF UBAID ◽  
LUÍS FABIO SILVEIRA ◽  
CESAR A. B. MEDOLAGO ◽  
THIAGO V. V. COSTA ◽  
MERCIVAL ROBERTO FRANCISCO ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
South America ◽  
Captive Breeding ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Taxonomic Status ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Morphometric Characters ◽  
History Of

Seed-finches are small-sized Neotropical granivorous birds characterized by extremely strong and thick beaks. Among these birds, the Great-billed Seed-Finch Sporophila maximiliani has been selectively and intensively trapped to the extent that has become one of the most endangered bird species in South America, yet its taxonomy remains complex and controversial. Two subspecies have been recognized: S. m. maximiliani (Cabanis, 1851), mainly from the Cerrado of central South America, and S. m. parkesi Olson (= Oryzoborus m. magnirostris), from northeastern South America. Originally, S. m. parkesi was diagnosed as being larger than the Large-billed Seed-Finch, S. c. crassirostris (Gmelin, 1789), but proper comparisons with S. m. maximiliani, which is larger than S. c. crassirostris, were never performed. Here we provide a review of the taxonomic and nomenclatural history of S. maximiliani, reevaluate the validity and taxonomic status of the subspecies based on morphological characters, and significantly revise its geographic distribution. Analyses based on plumage patterns and a Principal Component Analysis of morphometric characters indicated that S. m. parkesi is most appropriately treated as a synonym of the nominate taxon, which results in a monotypic S. maximiliani comprising two disjunct populations. Further, we conducted systematic searches for S. maximiliani in Brazil, in an attempt to obtain natural history information. After more than 6,000 hours of fieldwork in 45 areas of potential and historical occurrence, S. maximiliani was located only in two sites, in marshy environments called veredas, confirming the critical conservation status of this species, at least in Brazil. We discuss the conservation potential for, and the problems involved with, captive breeding of S. maximiliani for reintroduction into the wild. 

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