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Friday, April 26th, 2024
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| 2:23a | [Herpetology • 2024] Cnemaspis persephone & C. sanctus • Two New nocturnal Species of South Asian Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) of the wynadensis clade from the southern Western Ghats, India
Abstract We describe two new medium-bodied, nocturnal species of South Asian Cnemaspis from the southern Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu, India in an integrative taxonomic framework. The two new species are phylogenetically and morphologically allied to the wynadensis clade and can be distinguished from other species of the wynadensis clade and each other by a combination of nonoverlapping morphological characters including body size, homogeneous dorsal pholidosis, the number of femoral pores and poreless scales separating these series, the number of ventral scales across the midbody and longitudinal scales from mental to cloaca, the number of dorsal granules around the body; and an uncorrected pairwise ND2 sequence divergence of 8.2–22.9 % (16S 4.2–12.2 %) from all other members in the clade. These are the first members of the wynadensis clade known from south of the Palghat Gap apart from C. bireticulata, a putative junior synonym of C. sisparensis that is likely to be distinct owing to morphological differences and geographic distance. Cnemaspis sanctus sp. nov. is from low coastal hills in Kanyakumari District at the southern tip of the Western Ghats and Cnemaspis persephone sp. nov. is from the Anaimalais, Anaimalai Tiger Reserve. Many more undescribed species of the wynadensis clade and South Asian Cnemaspis are likely to be found across the southern Western Ghats. Asia, biodiversity hotspot, dwarf geckos, integrative taxonomy, phylogeny, species complex, Squamata,  Akshay Khandekar, Tejas Thackeray, Ishan Agarwal. 2024. Two New nocturnal Species of South Asian Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) of the wynadensis clade from the southern Western Ghats, India. Zootaxa. 5443(3); 353-386. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5443.3.3 | ||||||
| 7:32a | [Botany • 2024] Lomandra reflexa (Asparagaceae: Lomandroideae) • A New Species from central Queensland, Australia
Summary Lomandra reflexa Jian Wang ter (Asparagaceae: Lomandroideae), a new species from central Queensland, Australia, is described, illustrated and compared to the morphologically related species L. filiformis and L. grayi. Notes on its distribution, habitat, phenology and affinities are provided. A conservation status of Least Concern is proposed. Key Words: Australia flora, endemic, Queensland flora, Sparsiflorae, taxonomy
Lomandra reflexa Jian Wang ter sp. nov. ETYMOLOGY. From the Latin reflexus (bent abruptly backwards at more than 90°), in reference to the axis of the fruiting inflorescence. This feature distinguishes the species from all others of the genus in Queensland. Jian Wang. 2024. Lomandra reflexa (Asparagaceae: Lomandroideae), A New Species from central Queensland, Australia. Kew Bulletin. DOI: 10.1007/s12225-024-10181-9 | ||||||
| 2:38p | [Arachnida • 2024] Troglotayosicus akaido • Phylogeny of the Troglomorphic Scorpion Genus Troglotayosicus (Scorpiones: Troglotayosicidae) with Description of A New Species from Colombia
Abstract The troglomorphic scorpion genus Troglotayosicus Lourenço, 1981, occurs in hypogean and epigean habitats in the Andean and Amazonian rainforests of Colombia and Ecuador. The phylogenetic relationships among the species of Troglotayosicus are currently unknown. In the present contribution, a new species, Troglotayosicus akaido, sp. nov., is described from specimens collected in the leaf litter of a primary rainforest in the Colombian Amazon, near the border with Peru, raising the number of species in the genus to seven. The new species represents the easternmost record of the genus and further extends its distribution into the Amazon. Its phylogenetic position was tested in an analysis of all species of the genus and two outgroup taxa, scored for 131 morphological characters (16 new and 115 legacy; 104 binary and 27 multistate) analyzed with maximum likelihood under the MK model. Troglotayosicus was recovered as monophyletic and composed of two main clades. The morphological survey revealed that the ventral macrosetae of the leg telotarsi of the type species, Troglotayosicus vachoni Lourenço, 1981, are simple, subspiniform macrosetae, irregularly distributed, but not arranged into clusters nor forming elongated clusters of setae/spinules, as previously suggested. A distribution map and key to the identification of the species of Troglotayosicus are provided. Further research, incorporating molecular data, is needed to understand the evolution and biogeographical history of this enigmatic scorpion genus.
Jairo A. Moreno-González, David A. Luna-Sarmiento and Lorenzo Prendini. 2024. Phylogeny of the Troglomorphic Scorpion Genus Troglotayosicus (Scorpiones: Troglotayosicidae) with Description of a New Species from Colombia. American Museum Novitates. (4011), 1-39. DOI: 10.1206/4011.1 |
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