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Biodiversity knowledge is widely heterogeneous across the Earth's biomes. Some areas, due to their remoteness and difficult access, present large taxonomic knowledge gaps. Mostly located in the tropics, these areas have frequently experienced a fast development of anthropogenic activities during the last decades and are therefore of high conservation concerns. The biodiversity hotspots of Southeast Asia exemplify the stakes faced by tropical countries. While the hotspots of Sundaland (Java, Sumatra, Borneo) and Wallacea (Sulawesi, Moluccas) have long attracted the attention of biologists and conservationists alike, extensive parts of the Sahul area, in particular the island of New Guinea, have been much less explored biologically. Here, we describe the results of a DNA‐based inventory of aquatic and terrestrial vertebrate communities, which was the objective of a multidisciplinary expedition to the Bird's Head Peninsula (West Papua, Indonesia) conducted between 17 October and 20 November 2014. This expedition resulted in the assembly of 1005 vertebrate DNA barcodes. Based on the use of multiple species‐delimitation methods (GMYC, PTP, RESL, ABGD), 264 molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs) were delineated, among which 75 were unidentified and an additional 48 were considered cryptic. This study suggests that the diversity of vertebrates of the Bird's Head is severely underestimated and considerations on the evolutionary origin and taxonomic knowledge of these biotas are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lesser Sundas Region continues to be widely unexplored even in such relatively wellknown animal groups as birds (Aves). We report the results of an ornithological expedition from November through December 2015 to Timor, Alor and Rote islands along with some opportunistic observations made in that area between 2006 to 2015, providing details on numerous first records of bird species outside their previously known geographic or elevational ranges observed or otherwise recorded during this expedition. Our results underscore the fragmentary nature of our knowledge of the composition of the avifauna of the Lesser Sunda Islands, and demonstrate that there continues to be a large volume of significant new records and range extensions of birds on these islands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Javan Plover named Charadrius javanicus is taxonomically under controversy and phylogenetically unresolved yet. Through an analysis of DNA barcode, this study aims (1) to confirm whether Javan Plover is separated species named Charadrius javanicus or a subspecies of C. alexandrinus which named C. a. javanicus and (2) to determine a relationship within this genus. Totally 666 bp DNA sequences of COI barcode gene were analyzed. The results showed that a sequence divergence between Javan Plover and C. alexandrinus alexandrinus was only 1.2%, while sequence divergences between C.a.alexandrinus and others species, or between Javan Plover and others species were ranged from 9-12%. Neighbour-joining (NJ) and maximum-parsimony (MP) analyses showed that all individuals of both Javan Plover and Kenith Plover were clustered together, and supported by 99 % and 100 % of bootstrap value in NJ and MP, respectively. This study tends to support the previous findings that Javan Plover was not a separated species named C. javanicus, but it was as a subspecies of C. alexandrinus; named C. a. javanicus. There were two groups of Plover in this study; (C. leschenaultii and C. javanicus + C.a.alexandrinus), and (C.dubius and C. melodus + C. semipalmatus). DNA barcoding analysis can give certainty taxonomic status of the bird. Then, this study has implication as a basic data that can be used to provide and support the planning of Javan plover conservation programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]