scholarly journals The Simaba guianensis complex in northers South America

1985 ◽  
Vol 15 (suppl 1-2) ◽  
pp. 71-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wm. Wayt Thomas

With additional data from specimens not studied by previous workers, the confusing Simaba guianensis compex was re-analized. Simaba polyphylla is recognized as a distinct species and two subspecies of S. guianensis are maintained. Simaba polyphylla, S. guianensis ssp. guianensis, and S. guianensis ssp. ecaudata are keyed, described, and illustrated and specimens examined are cited for each. Specimens of S. guianensis ssp. ecaudata show great morphological diversity but can be separeted into three groups. Further collecting may provide information that shows these groups to be worthy of separate taxonomic status.

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Billet ◽  
Lionel Hautier ◽  
Benoit de Thoisy ◽  
Frédéric Delsuc

BackgroundWith their Pan-American distribution, long-nosed armadillos (genusDasypus) constitute an understudied model for Neotropical biogeography. This genus currently comprises seven recognized species, the nine-banded armadillo (D. novemcinctus) having the widest distribution ranging from Northern Argentina to the South-Eastern US. With their broad diversity of habitats, nine-banded armadillos provide a useful model to explore the effects of climatic and biogeographic events on morphological diversity at a continental scale.MethodsBased on a sample of 136 skulls ofDasypusspp. belonging to six species, including 112 specimens identified asD. novemcinctus, we studied the diversity and pattern of variation of paranasal cavities, which were reconstructed virtually using µCT-scanning or observed through bone transparency.ResultsOur qualitative analyses of paranasal sinuses and recesses successfully retrieved a taxonomic differentiation between the traditional speciesD. kappleri,D. pilosusandD. novemcinctusbut failed to recover diagnostic features between the disputed and morphologically similarD. septemcinctusandD. hybridus. Most interestingly, the high variation detected in our large sample ofD. novemcinctusshowed a clear geographical patterning, with the recognition of three well-separated morphotypes: one ranging from North and Central America and parts of northern South America west of the Andes, one distributed across the Amazonian Basin and central South America, and one restricted to the Guiana Shield.DiscussionThe question as to whether these paranasal morphotypes may represent previously unrecognized species is to be evaluated through a thorough revision of theDasypusspecies complex integrating molecular and morphological data. Remarkably, our recognition of a distinct morphotype in the Guiana Shield area is congruent with the recent discovery of a divergent mitogenomic lineage in French Guiana. The inflation of the second medialmost pair of caudal frontal sinuses constitutes an unexpected morphological diagnostic feature for this potentially distinct species. Our results demonstrate the benefits of studying overlooked internal morphological structures in supposedly cryptic species revealed by molecular data. It also illustrates the under-exploited potential of the highly variable paranasal sinuses of armadillos for systematic studies.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 477 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-98
Author(s):  
RAMALINGAM KOTTAIMUTHU ◽  
MUTHURAMALINGAM JOTHI BASU ◽  
KULLAIYAN SATHIYADASH ◽  
VELUSWAMY KARTHIKEYAN

Cissus Linnaeus (1753: 117) is the most speciose genus in the family Vitaceae and notable for its pantropical intercontinental disjunct pattern (Liu et al. 2013). According to the recent estimate, the genus is known to have 291 accepted species (POWO 2020) and it is widely distributed in tropical regions of Africa, Asia, Australia, Central and South America and Mexico (Wen 2007). The main characters delimiting Cissus from other Vitaceae genera are the well-developed, thick and undivided floral disks, tetramerous flowers, one-seeded berries, and seeds with a long and linear chalaza (Wen 2007). In South America, Cissus is represented by 64 species (Lombardi 2000, 2007, Rodrigues et al. 2014). Amongst C. ulmifolia (Baker 1871: 213) Planchon (1887: 552) that is a later homonym of an Italian fossil taxon Cissus ulmifolia Massalongo (1858: 80). While checking the literature and relevant websites for the availability of any synonyms, we found that C. allenii Croat (1977: 358) and C. serrulatifolia Williams (1962: 375) are listed as heterotypic synonyms of C. ulmifolia in Tropicos (2020) following Nelson (2010). However, C. allenii was synonymized under C. serrulatifolia by most of the workers (Govaerts 1999, Lombardi 2007, Morales 2015, POWO 2020, Raz & Zamora 2020) but C. ulmifolia was treated as a distinct species. So in order to ascertain the taxonomic status, we critically studied the protologues and digital specimens including types of these three species, we found that the characters of C. allenii are well within the range of C. serrulatifolia but C. ulmifolia differs from them by its 4-sided, distinctly winged stem (vs. stem terete, not winged or wingless in C. serrulatifolia) and the fruits ovoid or ovoid–subglobose, smooth (vs. obovoid or subpyriform, lenticellate in C. serrulatifolia). Since no other validly published legitimate name is available for this species (Lombardi 2007, Mota de Oliveira & Jansen-Jacobs 2016, POWO 2020), therefore, the authors propose Cissus lombardiana as a replacement name.


Zootaxa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3402 (1) ◽  
pp. 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDRES PARADA ◽  
AGUSTINA OJEDA ◽  
Solana Tabeni ◽  
GUILLERMO D'ELÍA

Subterranean tuco-tucos of the genus Ctenomys are caviomorph rodents comprising a complex of over 50 nominal speciesfound in the southern half of South America. The validity of several nominal forms awaits a proper assessment. Thepopulation of Ctenomys from Ñacuñán Biosphere Reserve (Mendoza, Argentina) has been classically considered torepresent a distinct species and has been commonly referred as Ctenomys “eremofilus”. Based on molecular andcytogenetic analysis we assessed the taxonomic status of the Ctenomys population of Ñacuñán. Specimens analyzedshowed two very similar chromosome complements (2n=48 and 2n=50), the latter being widely distributed in populationsof C. mendocinus. Similarly, haplotypes recovered from Ñacuñán specimens are very similar and sister to those recoveredfrom specimens of C. mendocinus. Considering this evidence we conclude that the individuals of Ctenomys from Ñacuñán population should be assignable to C. mendocinus.


Author(s):  
Guillaume Billet ◽  
Lionel Hautier ◽  
Benoit de Thoisy ◽  
Frédéric Delsuc

Background. With their Pan-American distribution, long-nosed armadillos (genus Dasypus) constitute an understudied model for Neotropical biogeography. This genus currently comprises seven recognized species, the nine-banded armadillo (D. novemcinctus) having the widest distribution ranging from Northern Argentina to the South-Eastern US. With their broad diversity of habitats, nine-banded armadillos provide a useful model to explore the effects of climatic and biogeographic events on morphological diversity at a continental scale. Methods. Based on a sample of 136 skulls of Dasypus spp., including 112 specimens identified as D. novemcinctus, we studied the diversity and pattern of variation of internal paranasal cavities, which were reconstructed virtually using µCT-scanning or observed through bone transparency. Results. Our qualitative analyses of paranasal sinuses and recesses successfully retrieved a taxonomic differentiation between the traditional species D. kappleri, D. pilosus and D. novemcinctus but failed to recover diagnostic features between the disputed and morphologically similar D. septemcinctus and D. hybridus. Most interestingly, the high variation detected in our large sample of D. novemcinctus showed a clear geographical patterning, with the recognition of three well-separated morphotypes: one ranging from North and Central America and parts of northern South America west of the Andes, one distributed across the Amazonian Basin and central South America, and one restricted to the Guiana Shield. Discussion. The question as to whether these paranasal morphotypes may represent previously unrecognized species is to be evaluated through a thorough revision of the Dasypus species complex integrating molecular and morphological data. Remarkably, our recognition of a distinct morphotype in the Guiana Shield area is congruent with the recent discovery of a divergent mitogenomic lineage in French Guiana. The inflation of the second medialmost pair of caudal frontal sinuses constitutes an unexpected morphological diagnostic feature for this potentially distinct species. Our results demonstrate the benefits of studying overlooked internal morphological structures in supposedly cryptic species revealed by molecular data. It also illustrates the under-exploited potential of the highly variable paranasal sinuses of armadillos for systematic studies.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Billet ◽  
Lionel Hautier ◽  
Benoit de Thoisy ◽  
Frédéric Delsuc

Background. With their Pan-American distribution, long-nosed armadillos (genus Dasypus) constitute an understudied model for Neotropical biogeography. This genus currently comprises seven recognized species, the nine-banded armadillo (D. novemcinctus) having the widest distribution ranging from Northern Argentina to the South-Eastern US. With their broad diversity of habitats, nine-banded armadillos provide a useful model to explore the effects of climatic and biogeographic events on morphological diversity at a continental scale. Methods. Based on a sample of 136 skulls of Dasypus spp., including 112 specimens identified as D. novemcinctus, we studied the diversity and pattern of variation of internal paranasal cavities, which were reconstructed virtually using µCT-scanning or observed through bone transparency. Results. Our qualitative analyses of paranasal sinuses and recesses successfully retrieved a taxonomic differentiation between the traditional species D. kappleri, D. pilosus and D. novemcinctus but failed to recover diagnostic features between the disputed and morphologically similar D. septemcinctus and D. hybridus. Most interestingly, the high variation detected in our large sample of D. novemcinctus showed a clear geographical patterning, with the recognition of three well-separated morphotypes: one ranging from North and Central America and parts of northern South America west of the Andes, one distributed across the Amazonian Basin and central South America, and one restricted to the Guiana Shield. Discussion. The question as to whether these paranasal morphotypes may represent previously unrecognized species is to be evaluated through a thorough revision of the Dasypus species complex integrating molecular and morphological data. Remarkably, our recognition of a distinct morphotype in the Guiana Shield area is congruent with the recent discovery of a divergent mitogenomic lineage in French Guiana. The inflation of the second medialmost pair of caudal frontal sinuses constitutes an unexpected morphological diagnostic feature for this potentially distinct species. Our results demonstrate the benefits of studying overlooked internal morphological structures in supposedly cryptic species revealed by molecular data. It also illustrates the under-exploited potential of the highly variable paranasal sinuses of armadillos for systematic studies.


Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4576 (1) ◽  
pp. 109 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALEXANDRE PIRES MARCENIUK ◽  
RODRIGO ANTUNES CAIRES ◽  
LEONARDO MACHADO ◽  
NAJILA NOLIE CATARINE DANTAS CERQUEIRA ◽  
RAYLA ROBERTA M. DE S. SERRA ◽  
...  

The genus Orthopristis includes seven valid species, three from the western Atlantic and five from eastern Pacific, while the available identification guides and taxonomic keys incorrectly recognize Orthopristis ruber as the only valid species found on the Atlantic coast of South America. Efforts to expand the inventory of fish species from the northern coast of Brazil led to the identification of two distinct species of Orthopristis from Atlantic South America, based on the analysis of coloration patterns and meristic data, as well as DNA. In the present study, the limits of Orthopristis ruber are reviewed, while Orthopristis scapularis is recognized as a valid species for the northern and northeastern coasts of South America. Based on intermediate morphological characteristics and nuclear DNA markers, a hybrid zone was identified off the state of Espírito Santo, on the eastern Brazilian coast. Additionally, considerations are made on the diversity and biogeography of the coastal marine and estuarine fishes found on the Brazilian coast. 


1959 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doris Löve ◽  
Pierre Dansereau

The following paper is an evaluation of the taxonomic and ecological status of the genus Xanthium L. A review of its systematics demonstrates that many so-called "species" described on material from Europe actually have their origin in America, except one, X. strumarium s. str., which seems to have a Mediterranean–European center of dispersal. Another conclusion drawn is that Xanthium consists of only two distinct species: X. spinosum L. and X. strumarium L. The former is a relatively stable species, the latter an enormously variable one readily subdivided into a number of minor taxonomic entities.Ecologically, in eastern North America at least, Xanthium is primarily a beach plant, which prefers open habitats and succumbs to crowding. The seeds are most often dispersed by water and wind. It enters easily into ruderal habitats, but only as long as these are open and unshaded.The generalized short-day flowering response in this genus supports our hypothesis that Xanthium has a tropical–subtropical origin, and we feel that it has its center in Central and/or South America, whence it has spread over the continents north and southward.There is no evidence for any sterility barriers separating the entities of X. strumarium, but we feel that an intense inbreeding with an occasional outbreeding is responsible for the enormous variation, often resulting in small, local, but unstable taxa.


1988 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 399-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Shelley

A brief review is given of the taxonomic status, biology and medical importance, and distribution of the vectors of human onchocerciasis in Latin America. Key reference works are cited and distribution maps of each vector species in relation to the known onchocerciasis foci are given.


Author(s):  
Li Ding ◽  
Zening Chen ◽  
Chatmongkon Suwannapoom ◽  
Tan Van Nguyen ◽  
Nikolay A. Poyarkov ◽  
...  

An investigation of the taxonomic status of Pareas hamptoni (Hampton's Slug snake) based on morphological and molecular data revealed a new distinct species from the Golden Triangle region (comprising parts of southern China, and adjacent Laos and Thailand). The new species is shown to be a sister species to P. hamptoni but can be separated from the latter by having 3–5 dorsal scale rows at midbody slightly keeled (vs 5–9 scales strongly keeled); a lower number of ventrals, 170–188 (vs 185–195); and a lower number of subcaudals, 67–91 (vs 91–99). The new species is currently known from northwestern Thailand, northern Laos, and the southern part of Yunnan Province in China at elevations of 1,160–2,280 m a.s.l. We suggest that the new species to be considered of Least Concern (LC) in the IUCN‘s Red List categories. Problems of taxonomy and actual distribution of the P. hamptoni complex are briefly discussed; our results show P. hamptoni is now reliably known only from Myanmar and Vietnam, but its occurrence in Yunnan Province of China is likely.


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