scholarly journals Gynostemium morphology and floral biology of Thottea duchartrei Sivar., A.Babu & Balach. (Aristolochiaceae), an endemic species from Western Ghats, India

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
K S Sayoojia ◽  
A K Sreekala ◽  
P N Shaiju
Keyword(s):  
Endemic Species ◽  
Western Ghats ◽  
Floral Biology ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Indian Species ◽  
Functional Identity ◽  
Floral Structure ◽  
Biological Studies ◽  
Taxonomic Marker ◽  
The Western Ghats

Gynostemium is a putative floral structure formed by the fusion of the male and female reproductive parts (stamens and carpels) through a process during its development called synorganization. Most of the Indian species of Thottea Rottb. have a prominent gynostemium in their floral architecture, with varying degrees of adnation and complexity. Even though the gynostemium is a significant taxonomic marker for the inter-specific systematics in Thottea, the scepticism and arguments on deciphering its morphology and functional parameters, including the existence of staminodes, makes it imperative to be examined in detail. The present study is the first attempt in this line which aims to explore the morphological characters of gynostemium and reproductive biology of Thottea duchartrei Sivar., A.Babu and Balach., an endemic species in the Western Ghats. Stereo zoom microscopy, SEM and reproductive biological studies were conducted providing special emphasis to the gynostemium. Detailed analysis revealed the structural and functional diversity of gynostemium with regard to its components. The study also helped to recognize the columnar outgrowths on the gynostemium as staminodes. In total, the present study helps to solve the confusions regarding the functional identity of the gynostemium T. duchartrei with regard to its morphology.

Rediscovery, extended enumeration and conservation assessment of Henckelia lyrata (Gesneriaceae) in Western Ghats, India

Phytotaxa ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 284 (2) ◽  
pp. 147
Author(s):  
M.P. GEETHAKUMARY ◽  
S. DEEPU ◽  
A.G. PANDURANGAN ◽  
E.S. SANTHOSH KUMAR
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Western Ghats ◽  
South India ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Indian Species ◽  
Conservation Assessment ◽  
South Indian ◽  
Southern Thailand ◽  
The Western Ghats

The generic name Henckelia Sprengel (1817: 402) was proposed in honor of Leo F. V. Henckel von Donnersmark (1785–1861), a German administrator and passionate botanist. However, even though the genus had priority over Didymocarpus Wallich (1819: 378), in view of its wider usage the latter name was conserved (Vitek et al. 2000). Henckelia Sprengel (1817: 402) was resurrected from synonymy of Didymocarpus by Weber & Burtt (1997), separating them by an array of morphological characters, to give a more natural taxonomic unit. The genus Henckelia has about 180 species distributed from south India and Sri Lanka over Sumatra, southern Thailand, Malaya Peninsula, Borneo to the Philippines, Sulawesi and New Guinea. It accommodates most of the south Indian species formerly placed in Didymocarpus (Middleton et al. 2013). At present, 30 species are known to occur in India, of which 13 are endemic to the Western Ghats (Janeesha & Nampy 2015).

Revision of the scolopendrid centipede Digitipes Attems, 1930, from India (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha): reconciling molecular and morphological estimates of species diversity

Zootaxa ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 3626 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAHNAVI JOSHI ◽  
GREGORY D. EDGECOMBE
Keyword(s):  
Western Ghats ◽  
Molecular Phylogenetics ◽  
Sister Group ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Molecular Data ◽  
Indian Species ◽  
Ecological Data ◽  
Peninsular India ◽  
Putative Species ◽  
The Western Ghats

Recent work on molecular phylogenetics of Scolopendridae from the Western Ghats, Peninsular India, has suggested the presence of six cryptic species of the otostigmine Digitipes Attems, 1930, together with three species described in previous taxonomic work by Jangi and Dass (1984). Digitipes is the correct generic attribution for a monophyletic group of Indian species, these being united with three species from tropical Africa (including the type) that share a distomedial process on the ultimate leg femur of males that is otherwise unknown in Otostigminae. Second maxillary characters previously used in the diagnosis of Digitipes are dismissed because Indian species do not possess the putatively diagnostic character states. Two new species from the Western Ghats that correspond to groupings identified based on monophyly, sequence diver-gence and coalescent analysis using molecular data are diagnosed based on distinct morphological characters. They are D. jangii and D. periyarensis n. spp. Three species named by Jangi and Dass (Digitipes barnabasi, D. coonoorensis and D. indicus) are revised based on new collections; D. indicus is a junior subjective synonym of Arthrorhabdus jonesii Ver-hoeff, 1938, the combination becoming Digitipes jonesii (Verhoeff, 1938) n. comb. The presence of Arthrorhabdus in In-dia is accordingly refuted. Three putative species delimited by molecular and ecological data remain cryptic from the perspective of diagnostic morphological characters and are presently retained in D. barnabasi, D. jangii and D. jonesii. A molecularly-delimited species that resolved as sister group to a well-supported clade of Indian Digitipes is identified as Otostigmus ruficeps Pocock, 1890, originally described from a single specimen and revised herein. One Indian species originally assigned to Digitipes, D. gravelyi, deviates from confidently-assigned Digitipes with respect to several charac-ters and is reassigned to Otostigmus, as O. gravelyi (Jangi and Dass, 1984) n. comb.

scholarly journals Notes on the extended distribution of Humboldtia bourdillonii (Fabales: Fabaceae), an Endangered tree legume in the Western Ghats, India

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 14886-14890
Author(s):  
Anoop P. Balan ◽  
A. J. Robi ◽  
S. V. Predeep
Keyword(s):  
Endemic Species ◽  
Western Ghats ◽  
Type Locality ◽  
Tree Legume ◽  
Endangered Tree ◽  
Conservation Measures ◽  
Tiger Reserve ◽  
Kerala State ◽  
Periyar Tiger Reserve ◽  
The Western Ghats

Humboldtia bourdillonii is an Endangered tree legume; considered endemic to its type locality in the Periyar Tiger Reserve in Idukki District of Kerala State.  A new population of this highly threatened endemic species is located in the Vagamon Hills of Kottayam District which is about 70km away from its original locality.  The newly located population is drastically affected by the severe floods and landslides that occurred in Kerala state during August 2018.  Urgent conservation measures are needed to protect the population from further loss.  

scholarly journals Two new species of Euphaea Selys, 1840 (Odonata: Zygoptera: Euphaeidae) from northern Western Ghats, India

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 18200-18214
Author(s):  
Shriram Dinkar Bhakare ◽  
Vinayan P. Nair ◽  
Pratima Ashok Pawar ◽  
Sunil Hanmant Bhoite ◽  
Kalesh Sadasivan
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Western Ghats ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Black Hair ◽  
Two New Species ◽  
Apical Half ◽  
Brownish Black ◽  
Distal Border ◽  
The Western Ghats ◽  
Male Genital

Two new species of the damselfly genus Euphaea Selys, 1840 (Odonata: Euphaeidae) are described from the Western Ghats of Satara District, Maharashtra, distinguished by their distinct morphology and coloration. E. thosegharensis Sadasivan & Bhakare sp. nov. is similar to E. cardinalis (Fraser, 1924), but is distinguished by the extensor and flexor surface of all femora black while all femora bright red in E. cardinalis; apical fourth of Hw black while apical half of Hw black in E. cardinalis; genae reddish-orange, black in E. cardinalis; a tuft of sparse stub black hair on either side of tergite of S9 while both S8 and S9 with tufts of long ventral hairs in E. cardinalis.  Male genital vesicle matt black, with distal border rounded angles, while vesicle black and hexagonal in shape with rounded angles in E. cardinalis and S9 twice the length of S10, while S9 and S10 of equal length in E. cardinalis. E. pseudodispar Sadasivan & Bhakare sp. nov., is very close to E. dispar (Rambur, 1842), but is differentiated easily by the absence of yellow patch on legs as in E. dispar; only apical fifth of Hw black; genae being yellowish-white, while black in E. dispar; male genital vesicle brownish-black & rhomboid-shaped and with no transverse rugosities while black with distal border rounded and with fine transverse rugosities in E. dispar; penis with single seta on each side while E. dispar has three pairs; sternite of S9 very prominently extending ventrally like a beak in comparison with E. dispar.  We have identified additional morphological characters useful in taxonomy of Euphaea of the Western Ghats for example, tufts of ventral hairs on terminal abdominal segments genital vesicle, penile structure of males and sternite of S9 in the males, and vulvar scales of females.  A taxonomic key to all known species of genus Euphaea of the Western Ghats is also provided.

Impatiens megamalayana, a new species of Impatiens from the Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu, India

Phytotaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 302 (2) ◽  
pp. 193 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. RAMASUBBU ◽  
C. DIVYA ◽  
N. SASI KALA ◽  
ANJANA SURENDRAN ◽  
A.K. SREEKALA
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Western Ghats ◽  
Tamil Nadu ◽  
Pollen Grains ◽  
Critically Endangered ◽  
Floral Structure ◽  
Effective Strategies ◽  
The Western Ghats ◽  
A New Species

Impatiens megamalayana, a new species from Tamil Nadu, India is described and illustrated. This species is characterized by a ridged stem, ensiform and villous leaves, a wrinkled boat-shaped lower sepal with outwardly curved tip, ornamented seeds and strictly ovate pollen grains. This combination of characters makes determining the relationships of I. megamalayana difficult. The floral structure of I. megamalayana is closely allied to I. herbicola Hook.f. and I. inconspicua Benth. in Wall., the latter with three varieties, but it differs by several unique vegetative and floral features. Impatiens megamalayana is assessed as Critically Endangered in accordance with the IUCN guidelines. The habitat of the species is severely affected by landslides. As a result, effective strategies should be developed to protect I. megamalayana from exinction.

A new species of rock-dwelling Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Tamil Nadu, southern India

Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4571 (3) ◽  
pp. 383
Author(s):  
AKSHAY KHANDEKAR
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Endemic Species ◽  
Western Ghats ◽  
Tamil Nadu ◽  
Southern India ◽  
Peninsular India ◽  
Tamil Nadu State ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Western Ghats ◽  
A New Species

A new species of the gekkonid genus Cnemaspis is described based on a series of nine specimens from near Sankari in Salem district, Tamil Nadu state, southern India. The new species is diagnosable by the following suite of characters: a small-sized Cnemaspis (adult snout to vent length less than 33 mm); heterogeneous dorsal pholidosis consisting of weakly keeled granular scales intermixed with large strongly keeled, conical tubercles, 9–11 rows of dorsal tubercles, 12–17 tubercles in paravertebral rows; spine-like scales absent on flank, 17–20 lamellae under digit IV of pes. Males with 4–6 femoral pores on each thigh, separated on either side by eight poreless scales from four precloacal pores; precloacal pores separated medially by a single poreless scale; two single dorsal ocelli on occiput and between forelimb insertions, two pairs of ocelli on either side just anterior and posterior to forelimb insertions. Cnemaspis agarwali sp. nov. is the fifth endemic species of Cnemaspis from peninsular India outside the Western Ghats and highlights the rich and unique diversity of this understudied region. 

Description of two new species of Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Western Ghats of Kerala, India

Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4459 (1) ◽  
pp. 85 ◽  
Author(s):  
VIVEK PHILIP CYRIAC ◽  
ALEX JOHNY ◽  
P. K. UMESH ◽  
MUHAMED JAFER PALOT
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Western Ghats ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Mountain Ranges ◽  
Two New Species ◽  
Southern Western Ghats ◽  
High Elevation Forests ◽  
The Western Ghats

Two new species of geckos of the genus Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 are described from the southern Western Ghats of Kerala. Both species are medium to large sized Cnemaspis and can be differentiated from all other Indian congeners by a suite of distinct morphological characters. Both species are found in the high elevation forests of the two major massifs—       Anaimalai Hills and Agasthyamalai Hills and are presently known to have very restricted distributional ranges. The discovery of these novel species highlights the understudied diversity of reptiles in the high mountain ranges of the Western Ghats. 

Two new species of Simulium (Gomphostilbia) (Diptera: Simuliidae) from South India

Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4742 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-72
Author(s):  
SANKARAPPAN ANBALAGAN ◽  
SURULIYANDI VIJAYAN ◽  
CHELLAPANDIAN BALACHANDRAN ◽  
BERCHMANS THIYONILA ◽  
AATHMANATHAN SURYA
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Western Ghats ◽  
South India ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Species Group ◽  
Coi Gene ◽  
Morphological Classification ◽  
Western Ghats Of India ◽  
Two New Species ◽  
The Western Ghats

Two new black fly species, Simulium (Gomphostilbia) dinakarani sp. nov. and Simulium (Gomphostilbia) krishnani sp. nov. are described based on reared adult, pupal and larval specimens collected from the Western Ghats of India. These two new species are placed in the Simulium batoense species-group of the subgenus Gomphostilbia Enderlein. The morphological characters of two new species are compared with other related species of batoense species-group in India. The COI gene has successfully differentiated these two new species from its allies, S. (G.) panagudiense and S. (G.) takaokai of the batoense species group and the phylogenetic analysis by using COI gene sequences supporting its morphological classification. 

scholarly journals Karyotypic Variations in Three Indian Species of the Genus Rana (Anura: Ranidae) from the Western Ghats, India

CYTOLOGIA ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Hareesh Joshy ◽  
Mitsuru Kuramoto ◽  
K .S. Sreepada ◽  
M. Abdul Rahiman
Keyword(s):  
Western Ghats ◽  
Indian Species ◽  
The Western Ghats

Revisiting the taxonomy of Ophiorrhiza codyensis and lectotypification of O. pykarensis (Rubiaceae), two endemic taxa of the Western Ghats

Phytotaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 452 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-179
Author(s):  
VADAKKOOT SANKARAN HAREESH ◽  
SIDHABHAVAN NANJAN PREETHAMOL ◽  
MAMIYIL SABU ◽  
JOHN ERNEST THOPPIL
Keyword(s):  
Endemic Species ◽  
Western Ghats ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Type Locality ◽  
The Western Ghats

Taxonomic identity and occurrence of Ophiorrhiza codyensis (Rubiaceae), a little known endemic species from the Western Ghats is discussed along with its rediscovery after a gap of 106 years outside from its type locality. Detailed description of the species is provided with colour photographs, ecology and conservation status. In addition, a lectotype is designated for O. pykarensis, another endemic species of the Western Ghats. A new occurrence of O. trichocarpon in the Western Ghats is also discussed.

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