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Monday, November 19th, 2018
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| 10:02a | [Mammalogy • 2018] Mammals of Korea: A Review of Their Taxonomy, Distribution and Conservation Status
Abstract The Korean Peninsula and its associated Pacific islands have a distinctive, yet poorly studied mammalian fauna. Korea was a land of invasions and wars for many centuries. The loss of large mammals per unit area that has occurred in Korea may have been greater than in any other country. The peninsula has a depauperate rodent community. The forests are mostly harvested, replaced by intensive agriculture. Unfortunately, the dissemination of information about the mammals of Korea and their taxonomy has been limited because most publications were written in Japanese or Korean. We provide an updated checklist of all the species of Korean mammals, including a review of their taxonomy, distribution, and conservation status based on information extracted from international museum collections, local survey databases (Wildlife Survey and National Nature-Environmental Survey, South Korea) and a literature review. We identify 84 species of terrestrial mammals and 43 species of marine mammals that occur, or once occurred, in Korea. Due to previous, erroneous identifications, we delisted three soricids, two vespertilionids, one phocid, one sciurid and one murid. In total, we confirm the presence in Korea of 127 species of mammals distributed in eight Orders and 32 Families. We provide dichotomous keys for the identification of all the Korean species of mammals together with updated distribution maps. Keywords: Checklist, Conservation status, Distribution map, Identification Key, Korean mammals
Yeong-Seok Jo, John T. Baccus and John L. Koprowski. 2018. Mammals of Korea: A Review of Their Taxonomy, Distribution and Conservation Status. Zootaxa. 4522(1); 1–216. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4522.1.1  | ||||||
| 10:22a | [Botany • 2018] Five New Species of Syzygium (Myrtaceae) from Indochina and Thailand: Syzygium honbaense, S. phamhoangii, S. yersinii, S. phoukhaokhouayense & S. scabrum
Abstract Five new species of Syzygium (Myrtaceae), Syzygium honbaense, S. phamhoangii and S. yersinii from Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam, S. phoukhaokhouayense from Phou Khao Khouay National Protected Area, Vientiane Province, Laos, and S. scabrum from Bung Khla, Phu Wua Wildlife Sanctuary, Buengkan Province, Thailand, are described and illustrated. Photographs, vernacular names and preliminary conservation assessments are provided for them. Keywords: Flora, Laos, Myrtales, new species, Thailand, taxonomy, Vietnam, Eudicots Syzygium honbaense Tagane, V.S.Dang & Yahara, sp. nov. TYPE:— VIETNAM. Khanh Hoa Province, Mt. Hon Ba, ... Syzygium honbaense is distinct from all the other Syzygium species in the region by having terminal inflorescences with 3 to 5 reddish flowers, ca. 1.1 cm long hypanthium and relatively smaller leaves, to 7.2 × 2.7 cm Distribution:—Vietnam (so far only known from the type locality, Mt. Hon Ba). Habitat and Ecology:—Hill evergreen forest, at ca. 1200 m elevation. Etymology:— The new species is named after the type locality, Hon Ba Nature Reserve in Khanh Hoa Province of Vietnam. Vernacular name:— Trâm hòn bà. Note:— Among the Syzygium species having relatively large (hypanthium > 1 cm in diam.) and reddish to purplish flowers in Indochina, S. honbaense is easily distinguished from the other species by a combination of its smallest leaves ((1.7–)2.6–7.2 cm long vs. longer than (6–)12 cm) and terminal inflorescences. Syzygium phamhoangii Tagane, V.S.Dang & Yahara, sp. nov. TYPE:—VIETNAM. Khanh Hoa Province, Mt. Hon Ba, ... Syzygium phamhoangii is similar to Syzygium balsameum (Wight 1841: 16) Walpers (1843: 179) in the shape of leaves and axillary inflorescences but distinguished by its obtuse to slightly cordate leaf base (vs. cuneate to long attenuate), shorter petioles ((1–)2–4 mm long vs. 4–15 mm long), larger hypanthium (3.5–4 mm long vs. 2.5–3.5 mm long) and more ovules per locule in ovary (12–16 ovules vs. 3–8 ovules). Distribution:—Vietnam (so far only known from the type locality, Mt. Hon Ba). Habitat and Ecology:—Hill evergreen forest, at ca. 920 m elevation. Etymology:— The specific epithet is chosen in honor of the excellent Vietnamese botanist Prof. Dr. Phạm Hoàng Hộ, who significantly contributed to the study of the flora of Vietnam. Vernacular name:— Trâm phạm hoàng hộ. Syzygium yersinii Tagane, V.S.Dang & Yahara, sp. nov. TYPE:— VIETNAM. Khanh Hoa Province, Mt. Hon Ba, ... Syzygium yersinii is similar to S. chantaranothaianum Soh & Parnell (2012: 558) in ovate-oblong leaf shape, very short petioles and terminal inflorescences but differs in having larger and thicker leaves (thickly coriaceous in S. yersinii vs. subcoriaceous in S. chantaranothaianum), reticulate tertiary vein (vs. scalariform) and larger flowers (hypanthium 1.8 cm long vs. 0.8–1 cm long). Distribution:— Vietnam (so far only known from the type locality, Mt. Hon Ba). Habitat and Ecology:— Hill evergreen forest, at 890–920 m elevation. Etymology:— This species is named after Dr. Alexandre Emile Jean Yersin (1863–1943), a Swiss-French, for his contributions to the exploration of the Hon Ba mountain. Vernacular name:—Trâm yersin. Note:— Lee et al. (2014: 398) identified this species as Syzygium formosum (Wallich 1831: 108) Mason (1851: 554) but S. yersinii is easily distinguished from S. formosum by its opposite leaves (vs. usually whorled in S. formosum) and terminal inflorescences (vs. in the axils of fallen leaves). The leaf texture and venation when dry is very similar to S. grande (Wight 1841: 17) Walpers (1843: 180), but differs from S. grande in its small habit (4 m tall vs. usually more than 20 m tall), subsessile leaves (vs. petiolate in S. grande) and more or less slightly cordate leaf base (vs. cuneate).
Syzygium phoukhaokhouayense Soulad., Tagane & Yahara, sp. nov. TYPE:—LAOS. Vientiane Province, Thoulakhom district, Ban Pa Paek, Phou Khao Khouay National Protected Area, ... Syzygium phoukhaokhouayense is similar to S. syzygioides (Miquel 1855: 431) Merrill & Perry (1938: 109) but differs in having coriaceous leaves (vs. chartaceous to subcoriaceous in S. syzygioides), longer petiole (7–12 mm long vs. 3–5 mm long), larger and reddish-purple hypanthium (4.1–4.5 mm long vs. ca. 3 mm long, greenish), longer styles (ca. 5 mm long vs. ca. 8.3 mm long) and fewer ovules per locule in ovary (4–5 per locule in S. phoukhaokhouayense vs. 10–14 per locule in S. syzygioides). Also, it is apparently similar to S. lineatum (De Candolle 1828: 287) Merrill & Perry (1938: 109) but easily distinguished by having more secondary veins (28–32 pairs in S. phoukhaokhouayense vs. 16–20 pairs in S. lineatum) and single intramarginal veins (vs. 2). Distribution:—Laos (so far only known from Phou Khao Khouay National Protected Area). Habitat and Ecology:—Open pine forest, at 905 m elevation. Etymology:— The species epithet refers to the geographical location of the find, Phou Khao Khouay National Protected Area. Vernacular name:— ຫວ້າພູ (Wa Phou). Note:— The matK sequence of S. phoukhaokhouayense is identical with S. syzygioides (783/783 bp for GenBank accession no. AB924771 and AB925281, 780 bp for AB924710 and AB924734, 768/768 bp for AB924947). However, S. phoukhaokhouayense is easily distinguished from S. syzygioides by the diagnostic characters mentioned above, such as the differences in leaf thickness, length of petiole and style, and colour of hypanthium.
Syzygium scabrum Tagane, Soulad. & Yahara, sp. nov. TYPE:—THAILAND. Buengkan Province, Bung Khla, Phu Wua Wildlife Sanctuary, ... Syzygium scabrum is similar to S. vestitum Merrill & Perry (1938: 110) in having reddish brown hairs on twigs, leaves and hypanthium, but differs in having more or less cordate leaf base (vs. broadly cuneate to rounded in S. vestitum), scabrid on both sides of leaf surfaces (vs. glabrous except on veins on abaxial side, never scabrid on adaxial side), more secondary veins (16–30 pairs vs. 10–16 pair) and longer styles (8–15.5 mm long vs. 6 mm long). Distribution:— Laos (Vientiane Province: Phou Khao Khouay National Protected Area), Thailand (Nakhon Phanom Province: Phu Langka National Park, Buengkan Province: Phu Wua Wildlife Sanctuary). Habitat and Ecology:—In hill evergreen forest, at altitudes of 690–770 m in Laos, and in dry evergreen forest at an altitude of 150 m in Thailand. Etymology:—The species epithet refer to its nature of roughened (scabrid) surfaces of twigs and leaves caused by dense hairs. Vernacular name:— หว้าขน (Wa Khon) (Thailand); ຫວ້າຂົນ (Wa Khon) (Laos). Note 1:—This species has been confused with S. vestitum (type: Mt. Bana, Vietnam, J. & M.S. Clemens 3296, K, image!) by Souladeth & Meesawat (2012), Chantaranothai (2014), and Soh & Parnell (2015), but it is clearly distinguished from S. vestitum by the above diagnostic characters. Syzygium vestitum is restricted to northern to central Vietnam and southern China (southeast Yunnan) (Hô 2003, Chen & Craven 2007, from our field observations in SE Asia). The sequence of matK region of S. scabrum (GenBank accession no. LC381853) differs 7 bp of the total 760 bp from the S. vestitum (LC381852: Tagane et al. V2522 (FU!) from Bach Ma National Park, Central Vietnam, ca. 25 km apart from the type locality of S. vestitum), supporting the separation of the two species.   Shuichiro Tagane, Van-Son Dang, Phetlasy Souladeth, Hidetoshi Nagamasu, Hironori Toyama, Akiyo Naiki, Kengo Fuse, Hop Tran , Cheng -Jui Yang, Amornrat Prajaksood and Tetsukazu Yahara. 2018. Five New Species of Syzygium (Myrtaceae) from Indochina and Thailand. Phytotaxa. 375(4); 247–260. DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.375.4.1   | ||||||
| 10:28a | [Herpetology • 2018] Cryptic Diversity within the Megophrys major Species Group (Megophryidae) of the Asian Horned Frogs: Phylogenetic Perspectives and A Taxonomic Revision of South Asian Taxa, with Descriptions of Four New Species
Abstract The Megophrys major species group (MMSG) is composed of typically medium to large sized frogs. Within the genus, it is the most geographically widespread clade ranging from the western Himalayas to southern Indochina. In this study, we examined in detail the extent of cryptic diversity within the MMSG-Indian populations based on molecular data (up to ten genes) using multigene concatenation and coalescent-based phylogenetic techniques, species delimitation analyses and extensive morphological data. Molecular evidence suggests a high level of hidden cryptic diversity within the MMSG, particularly within the M. major species complex (MMC), highlighting overlapping distributions, a case of potential mitochondrial transfer between two species, and tree topology discordance between phylogenetic methods and mitochondrial and nuclear data sets. Most analyses indicated distinct eastern and western clades in the MMC, and that the western clade may further divide into a northern and a southern subclade. A detailed taxonomic review of Indian members of the Megophrys major species group is provided. Previously undocumented complex nomenclatural issues involving known species are highlighted and resolved. Megophrys monticola is taxonomically redefined for the first time as a valid species since its synonymy with M. parva in 1893. The taxonomic status of two recently described species, Xenophrys katabhako and X. sanu are discussed in light of increased molecular and morphological sampling, and are synonymised with M. monticola. Megophrys monticola and M. robusta are redescribed based on their original type specimens and recently collected material. Megophrys major is neotypified and M. robusta lectotypified to remove prevailing nomenclatural instability. Four new large sized Indian MMC species are formally described from the Northeast Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland, and Myanmar. All South Asian MMSG species are morphologically diagnosed from known congeners in the group. The geographic distributions of all taxa discussed are significantly redefined based on the revised taxonomy and extensive literature review. Morphological and molecular evidence suggests that Megophrys major sensu stricto might be endemic to Northeast India; M. glandulosa is formally removed from the Indian and Bhutan species checklists. Numerous misidentifications in literature are highlighted and corrected. In order to reduce future misidentifications of species reported from surrounding regions, high definition images of the holotypes of three Chinese species, M. glandulosa, M. medogensis and M. zhangi are provided for the first time, and a detailed description of Myanmar specimens of M. glandulosa is also given. This study provides the principle foundation for further research into the taxonomic status of the remaining, currently undescribed MMC taxa from Southeast Asia. Keywords: Reptilia, nomenclature, molecular systematics, integrative taxonomy, morphology, conservation, natural history   Stephen Mahony, Rachunliu G. Kamei, Emma C. Teeling and S. D. Biju. 2018. Cryptic Diversity within the Megophrys major Species Group (Amphibia: Megophryidae) of the Asian Horned Frogs: Phylogenetic Perspectives and A Taxonomic Revision of South Asian Taxa, with Descriptions of Four New Species. Zootaxa. 4523(1); 1–96. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4523.1.1   Deuti K, Grosjean S, Nicolas V, Vasudevan K and Ohler A. 2017. Nomenclatural puzzle in early Xenophrys nomina (Anura, Megophryidae) solved with description of two new species from India (Darjeeling hills and Sikkim). Alytes. 34:20-48. alytes-journal.org/xenophrys-new-species-i |
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