Comparative Chloroplast Genome Analyses of the Winter-Blooming Eastern Asian Endemic Genus Chimonanthus (Calycanthaceae) With Implications For Its Phylogeny and Diversification

Chimonanthus of Calycanthaceae is a small endemic genus in China, with unusual winter-blooming sweet flowers widely cultivated for ornamentals and medicinal uses. The evolution of Chimonanthus plastomes and its phylogenetic relationships remain unresolved due to limited availability of genetic resources. Here, we report fully assembled and annotated chloroplast genomes of five Chimonanthus species. The chloroplast genomes of the genus (size range 153,010 – 153,299 bp) reveal high similarities in gene content, gene order, GC content, codon usage, amino acid frequency, simple sequence repeats, oligonucleotide repeats, synonymous and non-synonymous substitutions, and transition and transversion substitutions. Signatures of positive selection are detected in atpF and rpoB genes in C. campanulatus. The correlations among substitutions, InDels, and oligonucleotide repeats reveal weak to strong correlations in distantly related species at the intergeneric levels, and very weak to weak correlations among closely related Chimonanthus species. Chloroplast genomes are used to reconstruct a well-resolved phylogenetic tree, which supports the monophyly of Chimonanthus. Within Chimonanthus, C. praecox and C. campanulatus form one clade, while C. grammatus, C. salicifolius, C. zhejiangensis, and C. nitens constitute another clade. Chimonanthus nitens appears paraphyletic and is closely related to C. salicifolius and C. zhejiangensis, suggesting the need to reevaluate the species delimitation of C. nitens. Chimonanthus and Calycanthus diverged in mid-Oligocene; the radiation of extant Chimonanthus species was dated to the mid-Miocene, while C. grammatus diverged from other Chimonanthus species in the late Miocene. C. salicifolius, C. nitens(a), and C. zhejiangensis are inferred to have diverged in the Pleistocene of the Quaternary period, suggesting recent speciation of a relict lineage in the subtropical forest regions in eastern China. This study provides important insights into the chloroplast genome features and evolutionary history of Chimonanthus and family Calycanthaceae.

Integrative taxonomic revision of the New Caledonian endemic genus Taophila Heller (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Eumolpinae)

There are 96 endemic species of Eumolpinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) described from New Caledonia, but some estimates propose that the actual number could be at least twice this figure. Not surprisingly, when a particular species assemblage has been revised, the number of species in that group increases significantly. Here, we revise the New Caledonian endemic genus Taophila Heller, 1916, the best studied in this fauna and currently known to include eleven species, one in the subgenus Jolivetiana Gómez-Zurita & Cardoso, 2014, and ten in the nominal subgenus. The analysis of morphological differences in a large sample of Taophila and the validation of the resulting species hypotheses in an integrative fashion based on a phylogenetic analysis of partial mtDNA sequences (cox1 and rrnS) resulted in the addition of eleven more taxa. Taxonomic splits mainly reinterpreted the previous observation of mtDNA paraphyly affecting T. subsericea Heller, 1916, shown to represent a complex of species mostly distinguishable by diagnostic differences among females. The new species described are: T. bituberculata n. sp., T. carinata n. sp., T. dapportoi n. sp., T. davincii n. sp., T. draco n. sp., T. goa n. sp., T. hackae n. sp., T. samuelsoni n. sp., T. sideralis n. sp., T. taaluny n. sp. and T. wanati n. sp. These additions and the synonymy T. subsericea Heller = Stethotes mandjeliae Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2010 n. syn., bring to 21 the total number of species in Taophila. Moreover, we also found the first evidence of mtDNA introgression between species of New Caledonian Eumolpinae, resulting from putative recent hybridization of T. subsericea and T. dapportoi where these species coexist. We describe a model incorporating the mtDNA genealogy of T. subsericea about the conditions that may have favored the secondary geographic encounter required for the hybridization of these species.

Clarifying the nomenclatural history of Tovomitopsis, a Brazilian endemic genus of Clusiaceae

Tovomitopsis Planch. & Triana is a Brazilian Atlantic Forest endemic genus composed of two species: T. paniculata (Spreng.) Planch. & Triana and T. saldanhae Engl. An investigation was conducted to clarify the nomenclatural history of Tovomitopsis. We report the results of this investigation, provide an updated description of the genus, and propose lectotypes for T. paniculata and its synonyms: Tovomita foliosa C.Presl and Tovomita paniculata Cambess. We also propose lectotypes for T. saldanhae and for the new synonym Clusia angustifolia Engl.

Nematoda Parasit Pada Bunomys spp. di Pegunungan Mekongga, Sulawesi Tenggara

Study on the nematode parasite species of Bunomys spp. from Mekongga Mountain, Southeast Sulawesi was conducted on deposited specimens in Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense, Zoology Division, Research Center of Biology-LIPI. Bunomys is endemic genus murine rodent in Sulawesi. This study aims to determine the types of nematodes in endemic Muridae rodent, the results of which can help the government in developing disease management plans. The nematodes identified in this study were Subulura andersoni (host: B. andrewsi), Syphacia rifaii (host: B. chrysocomus), Cyclodostomum purvisi (host: B. penitus), Heterakis spumosa (host: B. chrysocomus). Except for Sy. muris, all of the recorded nematodes have worldwide distribution. Morphology and taxonomy of nematodes will be discussed in this paper

Three new species of Piptolepis (Vernonieae, Asteraceae) from the Diamantina Plateau, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract— Piptolepis is an endemic genus of the Brazilian Central Plateau. It comprises 13 species, almost all of them microendemic and poorly collected. They are shrubs, subshrubs, or treelets, with leaves displayed in a typical pad-like sheath, the heads are solitary or organized in a pseudoglomerule, or rarely a syncephalium (second-order inflorescence), with weakly imbricate phyllaries. As a preliminary result of an ongoing taxonomic revision of Piptolepis, we hereby report three new species. P. corymbosa is similar to P. leptospermoides, while P. pilosa resembles P. ericoides, and Piptolepis procumbens is similar to P. campestris. These new species are described and illustrated, their taxonomic affinities are discussed, and the informal conservation status for each is assessed.

A new species of Brachyorrhos from Seram, Indonesia and notes on fangless homalopsids (Squamata, Serpentes)

Homalopsid snakes are monophyletic and contain two major subclades: a fangless clade and rear-fanged clade. They are distributed in South Asia, Australasia, and the Western Pacific. The fangless clade is restricted to the eastern Indonesian Archipelago and the island of Sumatra and is poorly known in terms of its natural history. Molecular data support the eastern Indonesian fangless endemic genus Brachyorrhos as the sister to the rear-fang clade. Here we recognize the identity of the Brachyorrhos population from the island of Morotai as B. wallacei and describe a new species of dwarf Brachyorrhos from the island of Seram, Malukus, Indonesia. The new species can be distinguished from all congeners by a lower number of ventral scales, the presence of a preocular scale and a loreal scale, as well as its exceptionally diminutive size. The new species is a candidate for the smallest alethinophidian snake. The three fangless genera, Brachyorrhos, Calamophis, and Karnsophis, have been suggested to form a clade of homalopsid snakes restricted to the Indonesian Archipelago, and we discuss their biogeography. KEYWORDS: biogeography, Calamophis, Homalopsidae, Karnsophis, small snakes