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Tuesday, April 24th, 2018
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| 1:43a | [Botany • 2018] Kindia gangan • A New Cliff-dwelling Genus (Pavetteae, Rubiaceae) with Chemically Profiled Colleter Exudate from Mt Gangan, Republic of Guinea
Abstract A new genus Kindia (Pavetteae, Rubiaceae) is described with a single species, Kindia gangan, based on collections made in 2016 during botanical exploration of Mt Gangan, Kindia, Republic of Guinea in West Africa. The Mt Gangan area is known for its many endemic species including the only native non-neotropical Bromeliaceae Pitcairnia feliciana. Kindia is the fourth endemic vascular plant genus to be described from Guinea. Based on chloroplast sequence data, the genus is part of Clade II of tribe Pavetteae. In this clade, it is sister to Leptactina sensu lato (including Coleactina and Dictyandra). K. gangan is distinguished from Leptactina s.l. by the combination of the following characters: its epilithic habit; several-flowered axillary inflorescences; distinct calyx tube as long as the lobes; a infundibular-campanulate corolla tube with narrow proximal section widening abruptly to the broad distal section; presence of a dense hair band near base of the corolla tube; anthers and style deeply included, reaching about mid-height of the corolla tube; anthers lacking connective appendages and with sub-basal insertion; pollen type 1; pollen presenter (style head) winged and glabrous (smooth and usually hairy in Leptactina); orange colleters producing a vivid red exudate, which encircle the hypanthium, and occur inside the calyx and stipules. Kindia is a subshrub that appears restricted to bare, vertical rock faces of sandstone. Fruit dispersal and pollination by bats is postulated. Here, it is assessed as Endangered EN D1 using the 2012 IUCN standard. High resolution LC-MS/MS analysis revealed over 40 triterpenoid compounds in the colleter exudate, including those assigned to the cycloartane class. Triterpenoids are of interest for their diverse chemical structures, varied biological activities, and potential therapeutic value. Taxonomic Treatment Kindia Cheek, gen nov. Type: Kindia gangan Cheek Diagnosis: differs from Leptactina s.l. in a corolla tube with a slender proximal part and an abruptly much wider, longer distal part (not more or less cylindrical, or gradually widening); a glabrous, winged pollen-presenter (not hairy, non-winged); an epilithic habit (not terrestrial, growing in soil); a conspicuous opaque red colleter exudate (not translucent and colourless or slightly yellow); and type 1 pollen (not type 2) (De Block & Robbrecht, 1998).
Local names and uses: None are known. The local communities in the area when interviewed in November 2017, stated that they had no uses nor names for the plant (D Molmou & T Doré, pers. obs., 2017). Etymology: The genus is named for the town and prefecture of Kindia, Guinea’s fourth city, and the species is named for Mt Gangan to its north, which holds the only known location for the species. Both names are derived as nouns in apposition. Distribution République de Guinée, Kindia Prefecture, northeastern boundary of Mt Gangan area, west of Kindia-Telimélé Rd (Fig. 5). Ecology: The area of the Mt Gangan complex in which we found plants of Kindia consists of two parallel ranges of small sandstone table mountains separated by a narrow N–S valley that appears to be a geological fault. Bedding of the sandstone is horizontal. Uneven erosion on some slopes has resulted in the formation of frequent rock ledges, overhangs and caves. In contrast, other flanks of the mountains are sheer cliffs extending 100 m or more high and wide. It is on the cliff areas at 230–540 m a.s.l that K. gangan occurs as the only plant species present, usually as scattered individuals in colonies of (1–3–)7–15 plants, on the bare expanses of rock that are shaded for part of the day due to the orientation of the cliffs or to overhangs or due to a partial screen of trees in front of the rockfaces. Pitcairnia feliciana (Bromeliaceae), in contrast is found in fully exposed sites where there is, due to the rock bedding, a horizontal sill in which to root. These two species can grow within metres of each other if their cliff microhabitats occur in proximity. The rock formations create a variety of other microhabitats, including vertical fissures, caves, shaded, seasonally wet ledges, and are inhabited by sparse small trees, shrubs, subshrubs, perennial and annual herbs, many of which are narrow endemic rock specialists. We speculate that the seed of this species might be bat-dispersed because of the greenish yellow-white colour of the berries (less attractive to birds than fruits which are e.g., red or black) and the position of the plants high on cliff faces, where nothing but winged creatures could reach them, apart from those few plants at the base of the cliffs. However, fruit dispersal is not always effected since we found numerous old dried intact fruits holding live seeds on the plants at the type locality in February 2016. It is possible that the robust, large white flowers are pollinated by a small species of bat since in June and September we saw signs of damage to the inner surface of the corolla inconsistent with visits by small insects. The damage takes the form of brown spots on the inner surface of the corolla tube. Freshly opened flowers do not have these spots, nor do all flowers, only those few which show slight damage. The very broad, short corolla is not consistent with pollination by sphingid moths (which prefer long, slender-tubed flowers), but this cannot be ruled out. Conclusions: Kindia, an endangered subshrub, restricted to bare, vertical rock faces of sandstone is described and placed in Clade II of tribe Pavetteae as sister to Leptactina s.l. based on chloroplast sequence data. The only known species, K. gangan, is distinguished from the species of Leptactina s.l. by a combination of characters: an epilithic habit; several-flowered axillary inflorescences; distinct calyx tube as long as the lobes; a infundibular-campanulate corolla tube with narrow proximal section widening abruptly to the distal section; presence of a dense hair band near base of the corolla tube; anthers and style deeply included, reaching about mid-height of the corolla tube; anthers lacking connective appendages and with sub-basal insertion; pollen type 1; pollen presenter winged and glabrous; orange colleters, which encircle the calyx-hypanthium, occur at base and inside the calyx and stipules and produce vivid red exudate. High resolution LC-MS/MS analysis revealed over 40 triterpenoid compounds in the colleter exudate, including those assigned to the cycloartane class. Triterpenoids are of interest for their diverse chemical structures, varied biological activities, and potential therapeutic value. Martin Cheek, Sékou Magassouba, Melanie-Jayne R. Howes, Tokpa Doré, Saïdou Doumbouya, Denise Molmou, Aurélie Grall, Charlotte Couch and Isabel Larridon. 2018. Kindia (Pavetteae, Rubiaceae), A New Cliff-dwelling Genus with Chemically Profiled Colleter Exudate from Mt Gangan, Republic of Guinea. PeerJ. 6:e4666. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4666  | ||||||||||
| 9:36a | [Botany • 2018] the All-spice Genus Pimenta (Myrtaceae) from Hispaniola • One New Species, Pimenta berciliae, Two New Combinations and Taxonomic Notes
Abstract One new species and two new combinations are here published as taxonomic updates on the all-spice genus Pimenta (Myrtaceae) for the flora of Hispaniola, Greater Antilles. Pimenta berciliae is a small tree, the type of which was found in the vicinity of the National Botanical Gardens in Santo Domingo. Natural populations of this species are restricted to a small area in Samaná and Cordillera Septentrional, and the preliminary assessment of its conservation status indicates an endangered species. Additionally, Eugenia yumana and Eugenia samanensis are here formally transferred to Pimenta after molecular and morphological analyses demonstrate that they belong to this latter genus. Two new combinations, Pimenta yumana and Pimenta samanensis are here provided. These three additions to the flora of Pimenta in Hispaniola increase the known diversity of the genus on the island and are important to better understand the diversity of the all-spice genus in the region. Keywords: Caribbean, Eugenia, Myrteae, Eudicots  Thais N.C. Vasconcelos, Eve J. Lucas and Brigido Peguero. 2018. One New Species, Two New Combinations and Taxonomic Notes on the All-spice Genus Pimenta (Myrtaceae) from Hispaniola. Phytotaxa. 348(1); 32–40. DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.348.1.4 | ||||||||||
| 2:30p | [Herpetology • 2018] Vietnamophryne gen. nov. • A New Genus and Three New Species of Miniaturized Microhylid Frogs from Indochina (Anura: Microhylidae: Asterophryinae)
Abstract We report on the discovery of a new genus of microhylid subfamily Asterophryinae from northern and eastern Indochina, containing three new species. Vietnamophryne Gen. nov. are secretive miniaturized frogs (SVL<21 mm) with a mostly semi-fossorial lifestyle. To assess phylogenetic relationships, we studied 12S rRNA-16S rRNA mtDNA fragments with a final alignment of 2?591 bp for 53 microhylid species. External morphology characters and osteological characteristics analyzed using micro-CT scanning were used for describing the new genus. Results of phylogenetic analyses assigned the new genus into the mainly Australasian subfamily Asterophryinae as a sister taxon to the genus Siamophryne from southern Indochina. The three specimens collected from Gia Lai Province in central Vietnam, Cao Bang Province in northern Vietnam, and Chiang Rai Province in northern Thailand proved to be separate species, different both in morphology and genetics (genetic divergence 3.1%≤P≤5.1%). Our work provides further evidence for the “out of Indo-Eurasia” scenario for Asterophryinae, indicating that the initial cladogenesis and differentiation of this group of frogs occurred in the Indochina Peninsula. To date, each of the three new species of Vietnamophryne Gen. nov. is known only from a single specimen; thus, their distribution, life history, and conservation status require further study. Keywords: Vietnamophryne Gen. nov., Vietnamophryne inexpectata sp. nov., Vietnamophryne orlovi sp. nov., Vietnamophryne occidentalis sp. nov., Siamophryne, Gastrophrynoides, mtDNA, micro-CT scanning, Vietnam, Thailand, Herpetofauna, Amphibia, Biogeography, Taxonomy, Indochina
Amphibia Linnaeus, 1758 Anura Fischer von Waldheim, 1813 Microhylidae Günther, 1858 Asterophryinae Günther, 1858
Vietnamophryne Gen. nov. Type species: Vietnamophryne inexpectata sp. nov. Other included species: Vietnamophryne orlovi sp. nov.; Vietnamophryne occidentalis sp. nov. Etymology: The generic nomen Vietnamophryne is derived from “Vietnam”, the name of the country where the representatives of this genus were first recorded and where two of the three known species of the genus occur; and Greek noun “phryne” (Φρύνη; feminine gender), meaning “toad” in English; this root is often used in generic names in Asterophryinae frogs. Gender of the new genus is feminine. Suggested common names: We suggest the name “Indochinese Dwarf Frogs” as a common name of the new genus in English, “Nhái Lùn” as a common name of the new genus in Vietnamese, and “Eung Tham Khaera, อึ่งถ้ำแคระ” as a common name of the new genus in Thai. Vietnamophryne inexpectata sp. nov Etymology: The specific name “inexpectata” is a Latin adjective in the nominative singular meaning “unexpected”; referring to the surprising discovery of this frog species in 2016, which belongs to the mainly Australasian subfamily Asterophryinae; until recently (Suwannapoom et al., 2018) members of Asterophryinae were not recorded from mainland Southeast Asia or eastern Indochina. Suggested common names. We recommend the following common names for the new species: “Tay Nguyen Dwarf Frog” (English) and “Nhái Lùn Tây Nguyên” (Vietnamese). Vietnamophryne orlovi sp. nov. Etymology: The specific name “orlovi” is a Latinized patronymic in genitive singular; the name of the new species is given in honor of Dr. Nikolai L. Orlov (ZISP, St. Petersburg, Russia) for recognition of his outstanding contribution to the knowledge of herpetofauna of Indochina. Suggested common names: We recommend the following common names for the new species: “Orlov’s Dwarf Frog” (English) and “Nhái Lùn Ðông Bac” (Vietnamese).
Vietnamophryne occidentalis sp. nov. Etymology: The specific name “occidentalis” is a Latin adjective in the nominative singular meaning “western”; referring to the type locality of the new species in western Indochina (Chiang Rai Province of Thailand) – to date, the westernmost area where members of the subfamily Asterophryinae are recorded. Suggested common names: We recommend the following common names for the new species: “Chiang Rai Dwarf Frog” (English) and “Eung Tham Khaera Chiang Rai, อึ่งถ้ำแคระเชียงราย” (Thai). Nikolay A. Poyarkov, Jr., Chatmongkon Suwannapoom, Parinya Pawangkhanant, Akrachai Aksornneam, Tang Van Duong, Dmitriy V. Korost and Jing Che. 2018. A New Genus and Three New Species of Miniaturized Microhylid Frogs from Indochina (Amphibia: Anura: Microhylidae: Asterophryinae). Zoological Research. DOI: 10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2018.019  |
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