Species Diversity of Non-Volant Small Mammals Between Lowland and Highland of Gunung Serapi, Kubah National Park, Sarawak

The study of non-volant small mammals was conducted at Kubah National Park (KNP), Sarawak for eight days between November 2018 until February 2019. The objective of this study was to determine the species diversity of non-volant small mammals at the highland (>750 – 805 m a.s.l.) and lowland (<200 m a.s.l.) at KNP. The elevation of Gunung Serapi is 911 m a.s.l. but the highest accessible area is at 805 m a.s.l. The distance between two sampling sites is approximately 4.5 km. Humidity and temperature measurement were also recorded at both sites. A total of 50 cage traps were set up at the highland and 50 cage traps at the lowland. The baits that were used in this study were oil palm and banana. A total of 26 individuals from 11 species, eight genera and four families were captured. However, there is no significant difference in species diversity between low and high elevations because the elevation of KNP was not high enough to distinguish species that are highland or lowland specialist.

Hygrophorus aurantiosquamosus (Hygrophoraceae, Agaricales), a new species of Hygrophorus section Chrysodontes from western China

In China, the European species, Hygrophorus chrysodon, is widely reported in western and northeastern provinces. After carefully comparing H. chrysodon from China and Europe, we found that the European and Chinese materials were different lineages in molecular trees, and there were also obvious differences in morphology between the two lineages. The evidence from morphology and phylogeny indicated that the presence of H. chrysodon in China is doubtful and that the Chinese material represents an undescribed species. Thus, H. aurantiosquamosus is proposed as a new species. This new taxon is characterized by its yellowish white pileus covered with golden yellow squamules, a stipe concolorous with the pileus and covered with yellow floccules, a distinct pileipellis composed of narrow hyphae with inflated terminal elements of various shapes (clavate, cylindrical, lacrymoid to subglobose), and elongate to subcylindrical basidiospores measuring 9.5–12 × 4–5.5 μm. The new species occurs in Picea forests at high elevations of western China, such as Qinghai, Sichuan, and Tibet provinces.

Image Mosaicking and Localization Using a Camera Mounted on a Hanging-Type Wall Climbing Robot

Owing to the revision of Japanese building law in 2008, the demand for wall inspections has been increasing. Currently, wall inspections are performed by workers using hammering devices; this involves dangerous work at high elevations. Therefore, we developed an inspection system using NOBORIN®, a hanging-type wall climbing robot. In this paper, we introduce the robot and its hammering inspection system, and propose a method for image mosaicking and localization using images captured from an equipped camera. The estimated values are used to correct the elevation motion(s) of the robot.

The genomic basis of high-elevation adaptation in wild house mice (Mus musculus domesticus) from South America

Understanding the genetic basis of environmental adaptation in natural populations is a central goal in evolutionary biology. The conditions at high elevation, particularly the low oxygen available in the ambient air, impose a significant and chronic environmental challenge to metabolically active animals with lowland ancestry. To understand the process of adaptation to these novel conditions and to assess the repeatability of evolution over short timescales, we examined the signature of selection from complete exome sequences of house mice (Mus musculus domesticus) sampled across two elevational transects in the Andes of South America. Using phylogenetic analysis, we show that house mice colonized high elevations independently in Ecuador and Bolivia. Overall, we found distinct responses to selection in each transect and largely non-overlapping sets of candidate genes, consistent with the complex nature of traits that underlie adaptation to low oxygen availability (hypoxia) in other species. Nonetheless, we also identified a small subset of the genome that appears to be under parallel selection at the gene and SNP levels. In particular, three genes (Col22a1, Fgf14, and srGAP1) bore strong signatures of selection in both transects. Finally, we observed several patterns that were common to both transects, including an excess of derived alleles at high elevation, and a number of hypoxia-associated genes exhibiting a threshold effect, with a large allele frequency change only at the highest elevations. This threshold effect suggests that selection pressures may increase disproportionately at high elevations in mammals, consistent with observations of some high-elevation diseases in humans.

A fantastic new species of secretive forest frog discovered from forest fragments near Andasibe, Madagascar

We describe a fantastic new species of forest frog (Mantellidae: Gephyromantis: subgenus: Laurentomantis) from moderately high elevations in the vicinity of Andasibe, Madagascar. This region has been surveyed extensively and has a remarkably high anuran diversity with many undocumented species still being discovered. Surprisingly, by exploring areas around Andasibe that lacked biodiversity surveys, we discovered a spectacular and clearly morphologically distinct species, previously unknown to science, Gephyromantis marokorokosp. nov., documented for the first time in 2015. The new species is well characterised by a very rugose and granular dorsum, dark brown skin with bright red mottling, sparse light orange to white spots on the ventre, vibrant red eyes and femoral glands present only in males that consist of eight medium-sized granules. Bioacoustically, the new species has a quiet advertisement call that differs from related species by having a moderate call duration, 2–4 strongly pulsed notes and a slow note repetition rate. Furthermore, it has substantial differentiation in mitochondrial DNA, with pairwise distances of 7–9% to all other related species in sequences of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA marker. Additional evidence is given through a combined four mitochondrial markers and four nuclear exons concatenated species tree, strongly supporting G. striatus as the sister species of the new species in both analyses. The discovery of this new species highlights the need for continued inventory work in high elevation rainforests of Madagascar, even in relatively well-studied regions.

Repeated genetic adaptation to high altitude in two tropical butterflies

Repeated evolution can provide insight into the mechanisms that facilitate adaptation to novel or changing environments. Here we study adaptation to high altitude in two divergent tropical butterflies, H. erato and H. melpomene, which have repeatedly and independently adapted to high elevations on either side of the Andean mountains. We sequenced 518 whole genomes from elevational transects and found many regions under selection at high altitude, with repeated genetic differentiation across multiple replicates, including allopatric comparisons. In contrast, there is little ‘molecular parallelism’ between H. erato and H. melpomene. With a further 85 whole genomes of five close relatives, we find that a large proportion divergent regions have arisen from standing variation and putative adaptive introgression from high-altitude specialist species. Taken together our study supports a key role of standing genetic variation and gene flow from pre-adapted species in promoting parallel genetic local adaptation to the environment.

Substantial spatial variation in glacial erosion rates in the Dronning Maud Land Mountains, East Antarctica

The coast-parallel Dronning Maud Land (DML) mountains represent a key nucleation site for the protracted glaciation of Antarctica. Their evolution is therefore of special interest for understanding the formation and development of the Antarctic ice sheet. Extensive glacial erosion has clearly altered the landscape over the past 34 Myr. Yet, the total erosion still remains to be properly constrained. Here, we investigate the power of low-temperature thermochronology in quantifying glacial erosion in-situ. Our data document the differential erosion along the DML escarpment, with up to c. 1.5 and 2.4 km of erosion in western and central DML, respectively. Substantial erosion at the escarpment foothills, and limited erosion at high elevations and close to drainage divides, is consistent with an escarpment retreat model. Such differential erosion suggests major alterations of the landscape during 34 Myr of glaciation and should be implemented in future ice sheet models.

Comparison of Ostracoda (Crustacea) species composition between lakes and streams at high elevations in Turkey

Ostracods are one of the most suitable organisms because of their ecological and morphological preferences for habitat types to study the diversity between streams and lakes. Here, 24 streams and 16 lakes were sampled in 2019 to evaluate the species compositions between streams and lakes. Environmental heterogeneity in the sense of the physico-chemical variables was found among the habitats. 24 of the 29 species with 923 individuals were found in the lakes when 13 species with 898 individuals were found in the streams. Eight species were common in both habitat types. Species contributing about 70.81% to the significant differences in the species composition between the habitats showed cosmopolitan characteristics. Species variation among the replicates of lakes were higher than streams. Results indicated that the species composition was probably associated to dissolved oxygen in lakes, while electrical conductivity in streams. Relationship amid elevational range and ostracod species richness was negative in lakes when there was no clear relationship in the streams. Overall, results suggested that determination of influential regional factors in different aquatic bodies can provide important contributions to the estimation of which habitat types can be chosen by species, and the using of species as bioindicators.