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Chnoospora is one of the genera in Scytosiphonaceae with many taxonomic changes, comprising only two currently taxonomically accepted species. Chnoospora minima, its type species, has the widest distribution range and is characterized by a simple morphology with cylindrical or flattened thalli and dichotomous branching. On the Mexican coasts, its distribution is disjunct, being recorded on both the Pacific and Atlantic sides. In the present study we aim to characterize morphologically and molecularly the Mexican populations of C. minima. Our results revealed two phylogenetically independent groups, corresponding with different species with sympatric distribution in the tropical Mexican Pacific, C. minima and C. ramosissima sp. nov. Chnoospora ramosissima has the typical morphology of the genus, however, it is distinct in having relatively constant length of the branching segments, that are gradually reducing towards the apical portions, giving the thallus a profusely branched appearance; in addition, cellular measurements also differ between them. In contrast, C. minima, presented five different morphotypes on the Mexican coasts, however, all of them were different from C. ramosissima by having a central branching segment longer than the rest, subsequently reducing towards the apical portions, giving the thallus the appearance of being elongated and little branched. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A glacial relict, a remnant of a cold‐adapted species or population from a postglacial retreat, is essential for understanding the formation processes of present‐day vegetation. Although past distributions have been reconstructed for several woody species in Japan, few studies have focused on the cold‐adapted woody species that survive in the Japanese Archipelago. Betula costata Trautv., a species considered a glacial relict, is a common canopy tree in the cool‐cold temperate forests in Northeast Asia. However, B. costata is rare and has a disjunct distribution in the Japanese Archipelago, and the reasons for its rarity and disjunction in Japan remain poorly understood. Therefore, we investigated the distribution of B. costata in Northeast Asia since the last glacial maximum (LGM; between ca. 27,000 and 19,000 years ago) using species distribution models (SDMs). We tested the working hypothesis that B. costata was once abundant in the Japanese Archipelago during the LGM. However, postglacial climate warming caused it to become a disjunct and relict. Two types of SDMs, Maxnet and Random Forest, predicted suitable habitats for the species with three time periods: The LGM, mid‐Holocene, and present. The resulting maps of suitable habitats during the LGM showed extensive distribution across continental Asia and the Japanese Archipelago. By the mid‐Holocene and the present, suitable habitats expanded northward in continental Asia but retreated in the Japanese Archipelago due to increases in the minimum coldest quarter temperature and precipitation. These simulation results support the hypothesis that the Japanese population of B. costata is a glacial relict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a new record of Dinochloa malayana S.Dransf. (Poaceae, Bambusoideae) from Sumatra, Indonesia, specifically in Sumpur Kudus, Sijunjung, West Sumatra. This discovery expands the known western range of Dinochloa Buse in Malesia. On the mainland of Sumatra, this genus, represented by D. glabrescens Widjaja, was previously only reported from Lampung in the south. Dinochloa was once thought to have a disjunct distribution in western Malesia, limited to the Malay Peninsula and southern Sumatra. Our new data confirm the continuous distribution of Dinochloa throughout western Malesia.

A comparative morphological study was carried out to evaluate the taxonomic significance of seed and seedling traits of Bentinckia condapanna and B. nicobarica (Arecaceae), the threatened endemic palm species. Both species are unique and have specific requirements for seedling recruitment. An effort was made to cultivate these species ex situ at the Botanical Survey of India's National Orchidarium and Experimental Garden (NOEG) in Yercaud, Tamil Nadu, and Dhanikhari Experimental Garden cum Arboretum (DEGCA), in Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The seeds and seedlings of the two species differ in the beak and ridges on the seed, endosperm colour and the shape of the eophyll. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asplenium is one of the most species‐rich genera of ferns. While ubiquitous polyploidy and hybridization events, as well as vast distribution ranges, contribute to its remarkable diversity, these facts also lead to extreme classification difficulties. The A. exiguum complex is a natural morphological assemblage of taxa sharing part or all ancestral genomes due to polyploidy and hybridization. Consisting of 4 to 13 taxa mainly distributed in the Sino‐Himalayan region, taxonomic issues of this complex have been debatable for a long time. Here, we collected 49 samples representing the majority of the recognized taxa and reconstructed phylogenetic trees using two plastid loci (rbcL, rpl32‐trnP) and three nuclear loci (pgiC, SQD1, nrDNA). Evidence from ploidy, macro‐ and micromorphology, geographical pattern, and ecological niche was also integrated to illuminate the species boundaries and evolutionary history within the complex. According to our investigation, six taxa, including two diploid species (A. barkamense, A. lushanense), three tetraploid species (A. exiguum, A. glenniei, A. nesii), and one triploid nothospecies (A. ×mickelii), are accepted. Asplenium barkamense, which used to be treated as a synonym of A. nesii in Flora of China, is an independent species and the common diploid progenitor of autotetraploid A. nesii and allotetraploid A. glenniei. Moreover, A. glenniei (= A. yunnanense), widespread in the subtropical and temperate regions of East Asia and occasionally seen in the southwestern United States, Mexico, and northern Guatemala of North America, is an allotetraploid originated from A. barkamense and A. lushanense, whereas A. exiguum, known with a narrow distribution in tropical Asia, is a putative autotetraploid offspring of A. lushanense. Therefore, A. glenniei is restored as an independent species from A. exiguum. Asplenium ×mickelii is supported as a sterile hybrid of A. lushanense and A. glenniei. In addition, our study suggests that the majority of speciation events in the complex probably took place in the Hengduan Mountains, where complicated orogenic activities and climatic oscillations facilitate geographic isolation and polyploid establishment. The two tetraploids, A. nesii and A. glenniei, adapted to distinct climate conditions and colonized wider ranges compared to their parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pleradenophora membranifolia (Müll. Arg.) Esser & A.L. Melo (Euphorbiaceae) was previously only known from central South America (Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru). Our new botanical collections from the seasonal dry forests in Garachiné, Darién Province, Panama increase the distribution of this species to Central America and include the first record of this genus for the country. We also provide photographs of field and herbarium specimens, an occurrence map, a description, and comments on the morphology and taxonomy of P. membranifolia.

Theligonum japonica Okubo et Makino is a perennial herb that belongs to the family Rubiaceae. It is distributed in scattered patches from Akita to Kumamoto Prefectures in Japan. It is known to grow in moist forests, but few studies have revealed what environmental preferences are responsible for its disjunct distribution. This study conducted distribution surveys, meteorological observations on Sado Island, and cultivation tests to clarify the environmental conditions under which this species grows. The study area on Sado Island was divided into approximately 1 km square meshes, and 381 meshes were surveyed. We found T. japonica within 102 meshes. The result of classification tree analysis showed that T. japonica grows mostly in meshes with shorter daylight hours in summer and lower precipitation in summer influence. Meteorological observations showed that air humidity was high throughout the summer, and fog was observed more frequently at most observation sites. Cultivation tests showed vigorous rooting under conditions of higher air humidity. It is suggested that the population of T. japonica requires core areas where the air humidity is kept high by fog and that this species spreads to the surrounding area through vegetative propagation. In the Japanese archipelago, there are few places where aerial humidity is kept higher by fog in summer; therefore, T. japon-ica is likely distributed disjunctly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biotic exchanges between Taiwan and Mainland China have shaped the biodiversity and ecosystems of both regions. Exchanges from Mainland China to Taiwan have received more attention, mainly studied in terrestrial vertebrates, while the reverse direction and invertebrates have largely been overlooked. Here, we explore the dispersal events between these two regions based on the moths of three species groups of Obeidia, including Taiwan taxa and its relatives from mainland. We conducted mixed methods and analysis, including reconstructing a phylogenetic tree, estimating associated divergence times and inferring ancestral areas and source regions, to explore the phylogeographical structure and genetic pattern of three groups based on eight genes. Our results revealed a structure of three clades and every clade included at least one Taiwanese taxa and its closest relatives of mainland of China, and also served Taiwan as an important source region of two mainland taxa. Our study revealed various origin pattern and dispersal models on the basis of three species groups of Obeidia. Bi‐directional biotic exchange via a land bridge were found: four Taiwanese taxa originated from mainland, and two of them migrated back to mainland. Both eastern Himalayas and south China are important origin areas for Taiwan biota, and the dominant source region may need multiple insect cases to confirm. Our study also provided evidences for disjunct distribution from the perspective of insecta molecular phylogeny. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Dermanura gnoma (Handley, 1987) is a phyllostomid bat that occurs in South America. In Brazil, most of the records are concentrated in the Amazon Forest, with sparse data from Cerrado and Atlantic Forest. This study presents the first record of D. gnoma for Alagoas state, and for the Pernambuco Endemism Center (PEC), the most threatened region of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, characterized by its high rate of endemism, habitat loss, and fragmentation. The species was surveyed at Murici Ecological Station and its identification was supported by morphological and molecular data. We provide the first COI and CYTB gene sequences for this species in the entire Atlantic Forest. Phylogenetic analyses reveal that the generated sequences were recovered in the same clade as the published sequences of D. gnoma from the Amazonian Forest, corroborating the disjunct distribution pattern between Amazonia and PEC, as already reported for other vertebrate taxa. Also, this record increases the number of bat species to 71 for the PEC and extends the geographic distribution of D. gnoma by 758 kilometers to the northeast of its range.

The geophilid centipede Endogeophilus alberti sp. nov. is described and illustrated based on a single specimen collected from Provence, southern France. It is very similar to E. ichnusae Bonato, Zapparoli, Drago & Minelli, 2016, which is known only from three specimens from south-western Sardinia, and was the only species in the genus Endogeophilus Bonato, Zapparoli, Drago & Minelli, 2016. Both species share a remarkably narrow body, very short setae, and an unusually high number of legs, which are relatively stout. All these traits are rare among geophilids and suggest an endogeic life style. Despite of the very few specimens available for comparison and the difficulties to distinguish inter-specific differences from intra-specific variation, the two species differ at least in the shape of the pretarsi of the second maxillae and the shape of the forcipules. A revised diagnosis of the genus Endogeophilus is also provided, with an identification key to all genera of Geophilidae s.l. recorded so far in Europe, based on selected characters to evaluate without anatomical dissection and illustrated with original pictures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The doryline ant genus Eburopone Borowiec, 2016 currently contains only one valid species, E. wroughtoni (Forel, 1910) from southern Africa, with a considerable number of undescribed species awaiting formal description in the Afrotropical and Malagasy regions. In the present paper, Eburopone easoana sp. nov. is described based on workers and dealate queens from a colony series collected in an evergreen forest on the Dak Lak Plateau of Vietnam (Ea So Nature Reserve, Dak Lak Province). The worker of the new species is morphologically clearly distinguished from E. wroughtoni by the combination of following characteristics: i) frontal line distinct, extending a little beyond mid-length of cranium; ii) anterior (frontoclypeal) margins of torulo-posttorular complex not forming conspicuous lobes protruding over anterior clypeal margin in full-face view; iii) mandibles when closed in full-face view forming only a little space between anterior clypeal margin and mandibles; iv) promesonotal suture faint and inconspicuous; v) abdominal segment III in dorsal view distinctly wider than long, with lateral margins only feebly convex. This represents the first discovery of the genus Eburopone in the Oriental realm, revealing the disjunct distribution of the genus. A partial sequence of the mitochondrial COI gene (658 bp) is provided as a DNA barcode for the new species. A worker-based key to the doryline genera of the Oriental realm is also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Premise of research. Burseraceae is represented by a large number of fossils from the Cenozoic sedimentary succession and has a disjunct distribution today in the southern part of North America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. However, the family has a poor fossil record in deep time, making hypotheses concerning its origin and dispersal difficult to evaluate. Here, we report the occurrence of reproductive organs (fruit and flower) attributable to modern Burseraceae from the probable latest Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) to earliest Danian (early Paleocene) sediments of the Mandla Lobe of the Deccan Intertrappean beds of Madhya Pradesh, Central India. Methodology. X-ray micro–computed tomography was used to observe three-dimensional structures. The reconstruction software takes the 2D projection images acquired by the X-ray detector and generates a 3D image represented by gray values distributed in a volumetric space. The present fruit and flower fossils are identified through morphological comparison with another fossil and extant Burseraceae. Pivotal results. The fossil pyrene corresponds in morphology with that of Burseraceae (particularly some genera of Protieae and Bursereae), while the fossil flower, with the pentamerous organization of sepals and petals and ovary and 10 stamens arranged in two whorls around a prominent intrastaminal nectary disk, is particularly similar to Protium. The fossil fruit is here described as a new species of the fossil genus Bursericarpum Reid et Chandler as Bursericarpum indicum Kumar, Manchester et Khan sp. nov. and the fossil flower as Debursera indica Kumar, Manchester, Judd et Khan sp. nov. Conclusions. The present discoveries represent the oldest reliable fossil records of Burseraceae supporting its Gondwanan origin. These fossils also provide important information for tracing possible migration pathways of Burseraceae from India to Europe after the docking of the Indian subcontinent with Eurasia during the early Eocene (55 ± 10 Ma), supporting an "out-of-India" dispersal hypothesis. Based on earlier and present records we suggest that the family might have reached Europe from India and then colonized North America (during the Eocene) in areas where it is now regionally extinct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glaciers are inhabited by various cryophilic organisms ranging from single celled to multicellular, like Tardigrada (water bears). Owing to their scattered distribution, glaciers represent extremely fragmented habitats, and it remains unclear how their inhabitants survive and disperse among such isolated patches. This study investigates the biogeography of the tardigrade genus Cryoconicus, whose distribution, population stability, and interregional connectivity are examined by screening the collections from ~ 60 glaciers worldwide and by a phylogeographic analysis. We found that two Cryoconicus species occur at low densities on two Arctic glaciers in Svalbard, far from their previously reported Antarctic and Central Asian ranges. Screening of worldwide databases and DNA metabarcoding indicated that these species are absent or rare in the intermediate areas, suggesting large disjunctions in their ranges. In particular, the genetic data and multiyear resampling showed that Cryoconicus kaczmareki established a stable population on the Ebba Glacier (Svalbard), which has been isolated from its Asian core range since before the last glacial maximum. Our findings suggest that glacial invertebrates may possess wide yet largely disjunctive ranges. Interpolar- or intercontinental-scale movements of cryophilic meiofauna may occur, but migration connectivity is not sufficient to mitigate the differentiation of the local population. Revealed biogeographic patterns further demonstrate that inhabitants of extreme environments may establish isolated and highly fragmented populations that persist long term, even if at very low densities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate relicts are of particular importance in evolutionary biology because of the strategies they may adopt for long-term survival despite climatic oscillations. However, because their current distribution is usually restricted and fragmented, many climatic relicts are at risk of extinction. Daphnimorpha (Thymelaeaceae) is a genus endemic to Japan that comprises two species (D. capitellata and D. kudoi) with a disjunct distribution in southern Japan. These two shrub species are endemic to a single mountain range. In this study, we conducted population genetic analyses using genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms obtained from multiplexed inter-simple sequence repeats genotyping by sequencing to reveal the phylogeographic history and obtain conservation implications for the two species. The results showed that these two species may have been isolated since the Tertiary period, supporting their status as climate relicts. In addition, D. kudoi showed clear genetic differentiation between the two mountains where it occurred (Mt. Nagata and Mt. Kuromi), with a decline in the effective population sizes inferred during the last glacial period. In contrast, D. capitellata showed no clear intraspecific genetic structure, and its effective population size was relatively stable. These differences could result in contrasting light tolerance between species. For conservation, we recommend managing these species as three evolutionarily significant units (ESUs): D. capitellata, D. kudoi population on Mt. Nagata, and D. kudoi population on Mt. Kuromi. Considering the limited gene flow among subpopulations and small population census, all ESUs require conservation attention to maintain or increase their effective population sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tribe Hydrangeeae displays a unique, distinctive disjunct distribution encompassing East Asia, North America and Hawaii. Despite its complex trait variations and polyphyletic nature, comprehensive phylogenomic and biogeographical studies on this tribe have been lacking. To address this gap, we sequenced and characterized 28 plastomes of Hydrangeeae. Our study highlights the highly conserved nature of Hydrangeaceae chloroplast (cp) genomes in terms of gene content and arrangement. Notably, synapomorphic characteristics of tandem repeats in the conserved domain of accD were observed in the Macrophyllae, Chinenses, and Dichroa sections within the Hydrangeeae tribe. Additionally, we found lower expression of accD in these sections using structure prediction and quantitative real-time PCR analysis. Phylogenomic analyses revealed the subdivision of the Hydrangeeae tribe into two clades with robust support values. Consistent with polyphyletic relationships, sect. Broussaisia was identified as the basal group in the tribe Hydrangeeae. Our study also provides insights into the phylogenetic relationships of Hydrangea petiolaris in the Jeju and Ulleung Island populations, suggesting the need for further studies with more samples and molecular data. Divergence time estimation and biogeographical analyses suggested that the common ancestors of the tribe Hydrangeeae likely originated from North America and East Asia during the Paleocene period via the Bering Land Bridge, potentially facilitating migration within the tribe between these regions. In conclusion, this study enhances our understanding of the evolutionary history and biogeography of the tribe Hydrangeeae, shedding light on the dispersal patterns and origins of this intriguing plant group with its unique disjunct distribution.

Clarifying generic circumscriptions in Oleaceae improves its complicated infrafamilial classification. Focusing on the small and disjunctly distributed subtribe Schreberinae, we use phylogenomic data from plastid and nuclear DNA from an extensive sampling to assess its phylogenetic patterns and biogeographic history. Results show paraphyly in the subtribe, with Comoranthus nested in Schrebera , leading us to synonymize these genera. Schrebera s.l. occurs in four major regions of the world, but its centre of origin remains uncertain, with three possible ancestral ranges identified. However, the diversification of this genus is estimated to have started in the Early Oligocene (c. 34 Mya), and its current distribution pattern is best explained by dispersal between landmasses rather than continental vicariance. Madagascar is the centre of diversity of Schrebera s.l. , where ten endemic species, of which five are new, were recovered from analyses of morphological, molecular and ecoclimatic data. Therefore, a taxonomic treatment of the species from Madagascar and the Comoro Islands is presented. As currently circumscribed, Schrebera s.l. , and thus the monogeneric subtribe, includes 16 species (one in South America, two in Southeast Asia, three in Africa, of which one is shared with Madagascar, and 11 in Madagascar and the Comoro Islands). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demonstrating the process of transregional biogeography and mechanisms underlying evolutionary radiations is crucial to understanding biological evolution. Here, we use Hydrangeeae (Hydrangeaceae), a tribe with a unique disjunct distribution and complex trait variations, using a solid phylogenetic framework, to investigate how geographical and climatic factors interact with functional traits to trigger plant evolutionary radiations. We constructed the first highly supported and dated phylogenetic framework using 79 protein-coding genes obtained from 81 plastomes, representing 63 species and all major clades, and found that most extant species originated from asynchronous diversification of two lineages undergoing repeated expansion and retraction, at middle and high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere between East Asia and North America, during the Eocene to Pleistocene (driven by geologic and climatic dynamics). In accordance with these drivers, interactions of flora between central-eastern China and Japan occurred frequently after the Late Tertiary. We found that resource limitation and range fragmentation probably accelerated the diversification of Hydrangeeae, which supports the resource-use hypothesis. Our study sheds light on the evolutionary radiation and assembly of flora within East Asia, and the East Asian–North American disjunction, through integration of phylogenomic and biogeographic data with functional trait and ecological data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Plant-feeding gall mites of the superfamily Eriophyoidea are serious pests in agriculture because they are capable of transmitting viruses and causing growth abnormalities in plants. Evolutionary archaic gall mites are associated with ancient conifer hosts, while more derived forms inhabit flowering plants. In this study, we investigate the morphology and phylogeny of a new species of the subfamily Nothopodinae, Nothopoda todeica n. sp., collected in South Africa from a fern, Todea barbara. This fern has an ancient distribution in Africa and Australasia and belongs to the Gondwanan royal fern family Osmundaceae. We show that the new species is not in a basal position in Nothopodinae. It is very similar and closely related to other members of Nothopoda, associated with derived groups of Asian flowering plants. This contradicts the expectation that the ancient host plant (fern) should be associated with a primitive mite. We also obtained a complete sequence of the mitochondrial DNA of N. todeica n. sp. And demonstrated that it has the same, but differently ordered, mitochondrial genes that were previously found in other eriophyoid mites. Our study contributes to the problem of the history of symbiotic relations of eriophyoid mites with plants, and provides new data that are important for better understanding their evolution. Eriophyoidea is a group of phytoparasitic mites with poorly resolved phylogeny. Previous studies inferred Eriophyidae s.l. as the largest molecular clade of Eriophyoidea, and Nothopodinae as the basal divergence of Eriophyidae s.l. We investigate the morphology and molecular phylogeny of Nothopoda todeica n. sp. (Nothopodinae, Nothopodini), associated with a disjunct Afro-Australasian fern Todea barbara (Osmundaceae) from South Africa. Our analyses (1) determine new erroneous sequences (KF782375, KF782475, KF782586) wrongly assigned to Nothopodinae instead of Phyllocoptinae, (2) confirm the basal position of Nothopodinae in Eriophyoidea s.l., (3) question the monophyly of the Colopodacini and Nothopodini tribes, and (4) show the nested position of African fern-associated Nothopoda within a clade dominated by Asian nothopodines from angiosperms, which implies (a) a secondary association of nothopodines with ferns and (b) no relation between geography (continents) and the phylogenetic relationships of Nothopodinae species. Finally, we obtained a first complete mitochondrial genome for Nothopodinae and revealed a new gene order in the mitogenome of N. todeica n. sp., notably deviating from those in other investigated eriophyoids. Our results contribute to resolving the phylogeny of Eriophyoidea and provide an example of an integrative study of a new taxon belonging to an economically important group of acariform mites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waldsteinia is a small plant genus inhabiting the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. According to the latest revisions, Waldsteinia is included in Geum. We have obtained a phylogenetic reconstruction based on the nuclear (ITS) and plastid (trnL-trnF) DNA to understand the phylogenetic structure of Waldsteinia and its relationships with other taxa of Geum s.l. Phylogenetic analysis based on the joint ITS + trnL-trnF dataset demonstrated Waldsteinia monophyly. The phylogenetic relationships of Waldsteinia species were better explained by their geographical distribution than their morphology. Hence, Euro-Siberian, Northeast Asian, and North American phylogeographic groups were distinguished, with East Asia having been suggested as the place of Waldsteinia origin. Considering the incongruence in W. geoides (a type species) position on the plastid and nuclear DNA trees, together with the discrepancy between the species morphology and its location on the plastid DNA tree, a hybrid origin was suggested for this species. Despite the fact that the position of W. maximowicziana is still not fully resolved, we support the point of view that claims it should be separated from the W. ternata aggregate (traditionally including W. trifolia, W. ternata s.str., and W. maximowicziana) and considered a separate species. The American W. doniana, W. fragarioides, and W. lobata belong to a single maternal lineage, but the observed genetic differences are too small to serve as a convincing argument for species segregation, so their relationships still remain unresolved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Phylogenomics have been widely used to resolve ambiguous and controversial evolutionary relationships among plant species and genera, and the identification of unique indels in plastomes may even help to understand the evolution of some plant families. Menispermum L. (Menispermaceae) consists of three species, M. dauricum DC., M. canadense L., and M. mexicanum Rose, which are disjuncly distributed among East Asia, Eastern North America and Mexico. Taxonomists continue to debate whether M. mexicanum is a distinct species, a variety of M. dauricum, or simply a synonym of M. canadense. To date, no molecular systematics studies have included this doubtful species in phylogenetic analyses. Methods: In this study, we examined phylogenomics and phylogeography of Menispermum across its entire range using 29 whole plastomes of Menispermaceae and 18 ITS1&ITS2 sequences of Menispermeae. We reconstructed interspecific relationships of Menispermum and explored plastome evolution in Menispermaceae, revealing several genomic hotspot regions for the family. Results and discussion: Phylogenetic and network analyses based on whole plastome and ITS1&ITS2 sequences show that Menispermum clusters into two clades with high support values, Clade A (M. dauricum) and Clade B (M. canadense + M. mexicanum). However, M. mexicanum is nested within M. canadense and, as a result, we support that M. mexicanum is a synonym of M. canadense. We also identified important molecular variations in the plastomes of Menispermaceae. Several indels and consequently premature terminations of genes occur in Menispermaceae. A total of 54 regions were identified as the most highly variable plastome regions, with nucleotide diversity (Pi) values > 0.05, including two coding genes (matK, ycf1), four introns (trnK intron, rpl16 intron, rps16 intron, ndhA intron), and 48 intergenic spacer (IGS) regions. Of these, four informative hotspot regions (trnH-psbA, ndhF-rpl32, trnK-rps16, and trnP-psaJ) should be especially useful for future studies of phylogeny, phylogeography and conservation genetics of Menispermaceae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fritillaria Tourn. ex L. is a genus of Liliaceae including a little more than 150 species occurring in the temperate Holarctic. Fritillaria sonnikovae Shaulo & Erst is the most recently described Siberian species in the genus. In the affinity section of the F. sonnikovae diagnosis, only F. dagana Turcz. and F. roylei Hook. are mentioned. Our study is an original attempt to shed light on the F. sonnikovae origin and its evolutionary relationships with other Fritillaria using nuclear (ITS) and plastid (matK + rps16 + trnH-psbA) DNA markers. Our results showed that F. sonnikovae together with F. dagana and F. maximowiczii Freyn belongs to the North Asian lineage of the Liliorhiza subgenus and produced no evidence supporting relationship between F. sonnikovae and F. roylei. Monophyly of Fritillaria sonnikovae was not reliably confirmed in our study since its close affinity with F. maximowiczii was demonstrated by phylogenetic analysis and morphology. Fritillaria dagana was shown to be a sister to the F. maximowiczii + F. sonnikovae group. Most authors of the present study suggest considering F. sonnikovae as a synonym for F. maximowiczii. In this view, F. sonnikovae may be considered a narrow endemic and one of the light-perianth morphs of F. maximowiczii, which has emerged in the Western Sayan and remained there as a tertiary relict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fifteen species of the crustose lichen genus Rinodina are confirmed in New Brunswick, Canada. We report four corticolous species, Rinodina pachysperma, Rinodina populicola, Rinodina septentrionalis, and Rinodina tenuis, and the saxicolous Rinodina tephraspis in the province for the first time. A previous report of Rinodina granuligera is based on a specimen that we have re-identified as Rinodina cinereovirens. We note distinguishing characteristics, habitats, substrata, relative abundance, and biogeographic relationships of each species and provide an identification key and distribution maps. The most frequently occupied phorophytes (tree substrata) are Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum), Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis), and Eastern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis). Some species are closely associated with particular habitats, phorophytes, or both. For example, we found R. pachysperma only in floodplain forests dominated by Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum), and R. tenuis only on Eastern White Cedar in wet cedar-dominated stands. In contrast, we recorded Rinodina freyi on numerous phorophyte species in a relatively wide range of habitats. Other than Eastern White Cedar and Balsam Fir (Abies balsamea), conifers are rarely colonized by Rinodina species in New Brunswick. Most Rinodina species are probably not currently of conservation concern in the province. However, R. cinereovirens is known from only two collections, one dating from 1902. The other, from 2007, was on Black Ash (Fraxinus nigra) in a swamp forest next to an active peat-mining operation. The expected devastation of ash species by the invasive Emerald Ash-borer (Agrilus planipennis) is a further threat to this occurrence and to any lichens for which ash may be an important phorophyte. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Asian land snail species Bensonella plicidens (Benson, 1849) is enigmatic due to its extremely disjunct distribution. That is, it has been reported from the Himalaya, in Eastern China and Japan, and one subspecies was described from Taiwan. This distribution type has not been reported in any other land snails. It is also notable that some specimens identified as B. plicidens have 'normal' plica-like apertural barriers, while others have hook-like projections in the middle of the interrupted barriers, and the hooks point to the outside of the aperture. We examined several Bensonella samples and arrived at the following conclusions: (1) Bensonella plicidens has normal plica-like apertural barriers without hooks, and the Himalayan species with hook-like barriers is a new species, Bensonella hooki Páll-Gergely sp. nov.; (2) the species with hooked barriers recorded from Japan, Taiwan and eastern China differs from both Himalayan species (i.e. Bensonella plicidens and B. hooki sp. nov.), and the name Bensonella lakainguta Hwang, 2014 is available for it; (3) hooked apertural barriers have evolved repeatedly in the Hypselostomatidae and therefore cannot be used as a distinguishing character for the genus Bensonella. Bifidaria (Bensonella) landourensis Pilsbry, 1915 and Boysidia (Bensonella) qingliangfengensis F. Fang, J. Wang and Y. Chen, 2015 are junior synonyms of B. plicidens and B. lakainguta, respectively. Since the type species of Paraboysidia Pilsbry, 1917 and Bensonella Pilsbry and Vanatta, 1900 are very similar in all important shell characters, we consider the former to be a junior synonym of the latter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The resin bee Anthidiellum troodicum (Mavromoustakis, 1949) was originally described from Cyprus as a subspecies of the West Mediterranean Anthidiellum breviusculum (Pérez, 1890). Although the distinctiveness of these two taxa at the species level was recognised by Andreas Müller in 1996, this finding has not found its way into the literature. Examination of new material confirms the distinct taxonomic identity of these two species, with A. troodicum being widely distributed in the eastern and A. breviusculum in the western Mediterranean, with no geographic overlap. Additionally, the geographically separated population in North Africa was found to be a distinct species, described here as A. africanum Kasparek sp. nov. While phenotypic characteristics would place it close to A. troodicum, a phylogenetic tree inferred from the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene fragment (658 bp DNA barcodes) indicates that it is closer to A. breviusculum. The clades representing these three taxa are well supported in a bootstrap analysis, with maximum likelihood values between 87 and 100%. The average genetic distance between A. africanum sp. nov. and A. breviusculum is low (at 2.4%), while it is higher between A. troodicum and A. africanum (at 4.7%) and between A. troodicum and A. breviusculum (at 6.2%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Riccia L. is the largest genus of complex thalloid liverworts with over 250 species currently accepted. Riccia boumanii Dirkse, Losada & M.Stech (Ricciaceae) has been considered to be endemic to the Canary Islands, Spain. Morphological evidence and molecular-phylogenetic analyses based on sequences of nuclear ribosomal ITS2, plastid rbcL, and plastid trnL-F confirm that this species occurs in Gansu and Sichuan, China. Riccia boumanii represents the first species of section Pilifer Volk of the genus in Asia. The low values of p-distances (0% for trnL-F-region, and 1.6% for ITS2-region) reveal that R. boumanii bears a low level of divergence. Micrographs, a distribution map and descriptions based on the Chinese plants are provided. The range extension of Riccia boumanii suggests that more taxa of Riccia may have a wider distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclopes didactylus , the smallest of all anteaters, inhabits Amazonian and Atlantic forests with an apparently disjunct distribution. Yet, phylogeography reveals historical connections through the forests of the Northeast Region of Brazil. Its populations in this region are classified by the Red List of Threatened Species as Data Deficient and with a trend towards decline. However, Northeast Brazil has a large sampling gap, and the potential distribution of this species has yet to be evaluated. We investigated the potential distribution of C. didactylus to evaluate the hypothesis of a disjunct distribution between Amazonian and Atlantic forests and estimate the amount of protected area in its predicted distribution. We generated a Maxent distribution model using occurrence records, according to the new taxonomic revision of Cyclopes , and selected current bioclimatic variables to evaluate the continuity of the predicted distribution of the species in Northeast Brazil. We also performed past projections to assess historical connections and overlapped maps of protected areas onto their current distribution. Although its distribution is probably disjunct, at least one as-yet-unknown population may be present in the forests of Northeast Brazil, an area poorly protected. The results are useful for targeting field efforts in this under-sampled region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eranthis Salisb. (Ranunculaceae) is a herbaceous plant genus, including few species disjunctively distributed throughout the temperate zone from Southeastern Europe to Eastern Asia. Until recently, only Eranthis sibirica DC. was known in South Siberia, being considered endemic and tertiary relict. Not long ago, Eranthis tanhoensis Erst was also described in Siberia. We report here a reconstruction of the phylogenetic relationships between the Siberian Eranthis species based on nuclear (ITS) and plastid (trnL + trnL-trnF + trnH-psbA) DNA. The phylogeographic structure of Siberian Eranthis is distinguished by the presence of the two "eastern" and "western" supergroups, which most likely formed as a result of disjunction caused by active mountain uplifts during the late Neogene–early Quaternary and subsequent progressive Pleistocene cooling. The eastern supergroup combines lineage I, containing populations from the eastern Khamar-Daban Ridge, the Eastern Sayan Mountains, and the Tannu-Ola Ridge, and lineage II containing western Khamar-Daban populations. The western supergroup includes only lineage III, containing Western Sayan populations. Our data clearly show that E. tanhoensis is nested in the E. sibirica clade, thereby indicating that its description as a separate species is unjustified, as it compromises the monophyletic status of E. sibirica. Therefore, we suggest here to consider E. tanhoensis as a synonym of E. sibirica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psammophis indochinensis Smith, 1943 was reported in the eastern Java and Bali of Indonesia despite its primary geographic range being in the Indochina region. We confirm its presence in Bali based on a newly collected specimen and provide morphological and genetic data. The specimen was found in a lowland, urban areas near open grassland habitat, which confirms the distribution of P. indochinensis along the northern coast of Bali. We note some character aberrations in the supralabials compared to Thailand specimens, suggesting an extended character. The basal clade position of P. indochinensis raises the possibility of an intercontinental dispersal scenario of this African-origin snake.

The delineation of species and their evolutionary relationships informs our understanding of biogeography and how regional faunas are assembled. The peripheral geography and local environment of reefs in the subtropical South Pacific likely promotes the allopatric and adaptive divergence of taxa colonising from the tropics; however, the fauna of this region has been relatively understudied. Here, we address the taxonomic and evolutionary relationships among Chrysiptera taxa of the subtropical South Pacific. We use meristic counts, morphometrics and genetic markers to characterise the similarities and differences among four taxa restricted to the South Pacific region that have strikingly different colouration: C. notialis, a taxon restricted to eastern Australia, New Caledonia, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island; C. galba, found in the Cook Islands, southern French Polynesia and Pitcairn Islands; and the two disjunct populations of C. rapanui, found in the eastern Pacific around Rapa Nui (Isla de Pascua or Easter Island) and Motu Motiro Hiva (Salas y Gómez) and in the South-western Pacific around Rangitāhua (Kermadec Islands). Our morphometric analysis confirmed that these four taxa, including the two disjunct populations of C. rapanui, are morphologically distinct. However, our genetic analysis revealed that only C. rapanui from Rapa Nui was genetically differentiated, whereas C. rapanui of Rangitāhua, C. galba and C. notialis all shared a common haplotype. Furthermore, none of the taxa could be consistently differentiated based on individual meristic features. Our study reconciles a formerly perplexing and disjunct distribution for C. rapanui, to reveal that C. rapanui is an endemic of Rapa Nui and that the Chrysiptera of French Polynesia, Rangitāhua, and the South-western Pacific have only a very recent history of divergence. Our analyses suggest these subtropical taxa have diverged from a predominantly tropical Chrysiptera genus in morphological features important in determining colonisation success, locomotion and feeding ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Rokel River (RR) basin is one of the most neglected ichthyofaunal basins, despite the potential for undetected diversity and high levels of endemism. Data on the molecular phylogeny of freshwater fish from this river are rare. Morphological features alone are inadequate for precise species identification. Here, a phylogenetic analysis performed based on the mtDNA Cytb gene for eleven cyprinid fish from the RR basin recovered eleven distinct lineages. The same was also observed for two of our species delineation analyses, of which four are identical to six morphospecies, one is of taxonomic uncertainty, and the rest are currently unrecognized. The disjunct distribution found here in some cyprinid species from the RR basin and their sister species suggests that this river had a past complex historical inter-basin connection exchange with the nearby river basins of the Zaire and lower Guinean ecoregions. The unrecognized diversity observed from cyprinid species of this area may have significant implications for the conservation of biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background The distribution of genetic diversity and the underlying processes are important for conservation planning but are unknown for most species and have not been well studied in many regions. In East Asia, the Sichuan Basin and surrounding mountains constitute an understudied region that exhibits a “ring” of high species richness overlapping the eastern edge of the global biodiversity hotspot Mountains of Southwest China. We examine the distributional history and genetic diversification of the Emei mustache toad Leptobrachium boringii, a typical “ring” element characterized by disjunct ranges in the mountains, by integrating time-calibrated gene tree, genetic variability, individual-level clustering, inference of population splitting and mixing from allele frequencies, and paleoclimatic suitability modeling. Results The results reveal extensive range dynamics, including secondary contact after long-term isolation via westward dispersal accompanied by variability loss. They allow the proposal of a model that combines recurrent contractions caused by Quaternary climatic changes and some failed expansions under suitable conditions for explaining the shared disjunct distribution pattern. Providing exceptional low-elevation habitats in the hotspot area, the eastern edge harbors both long-term refugial and young immigrant populations. This finding and a synthesis of evidence from other taxa demonstrate that a certain contributor to biodiversity, one that preserves and receives low-elevation elements of the east in this case, can be significant for only a particular part of a hotspot. By clarifying the low variability of these refugial populations, we show that discordant mitochondrial estimates of diversity can be obtained for populations that experienced admixture, which would have unlikely left proportional immigrant alleles for each locus. Conclusions Dispersal after long-term isolation can explain much of the spatial distribution of genetic diversity in this species, while secondary contact and long-term persistence do not guarantee a large variation. The model for the formation of disjunct ranges may apply to many other taxa isolated in the mountains surrounding the Sichuan Basin. Furthermore, this study provides insights into the heterogeneous nature of hotspots and discordant variability obtained from genome-wide and mitochondrial data.

Ellobium chinense is a red-listed snail species of the family Ellobiidae with a geographic distribution from Vietnam and south coast of China to South Korea and mainland Japan. This species is restricted to specialized habitats in a narrow upper-intertidal to lower-supratidal zone of salt marshes and thus particularly sensitive to environmental degradation through land reclamation and other human activities. Here, we first report the genetic diversity and population structure of E. chinense in Japan to evaluate the connectivity and conservation value of its local populations. Specimens were collected from seven localities (Tsu, Okayama, Yamaguchi, Usa, Imari, Saga and Izumi) that cover the species' present distribution in the country. Analyses of 612-bp sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene showed high genetic diversity within populations and a reasonable level of connectivity among populations. However, significant genetic differentiation was detected among distant geographic regions in Japan and South Korea, due potentially to the disjunct distribution of habitable salt marshes and a short pelagic larval period of the species. The population of the Ise-Mikawa Bay area, representing the eastern limit of the current distribution range, showed the highest level of genetic differentiation and deserve particular conservation efforts to avoid local extinction, which occurred in Tokyo Bay area in the last century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Contributii Botanice is the property of Contributii Botanice and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The first Queensland records of Acrodipsas decima Miller and Lane are recorded from between the Chillagoe and Almaden areas, west of Mareeba in northern Queensland. This population is located approximately 1500 km east of the single previously known location in the Northern Territory. Some noticeable adult differences, coupled with such a remarkably disjunct distribution justifies a new subspecies described here as Acrodipsas decima mira subsp. n. This new subspecies is compared with the nominotypical subspecies from the Northern Territory, in conjunction with discussion on its distribution, biology and behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acaena (Rosaceae) is the most complex and ecologically variable genus in Sanguisorbinae. Although it has been the subject of several taxonomic treatments, the largest phylogenetic analysis to date only sampled a small fraction of the total global diversity (five to seven out of 45 to 50 species). This study included most of the species to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships of Acaena and biogeographic patterns in Sanguisorbinae. Phylogenetic analyses of non-coding nuclear (ITS region) and chloroplast (trnL-F) DNA sequence markers using maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses suggested that Acaena is a paraphyletic group with species of Margyricarpus and Tetraglochin nested within it. We identified strong support for eight subclades that are geographically or taxonomically structured. Nevertheless, the species-level relationships within subclades are still uncertain, which may be due to rapid diversification and lack of informative characters in the markers used. Sanguisorbinae, a primarily Southern Hemisphere clade, exhibits a classic Gondwana disjunct distribution. This current distribution is explained primarily by eight long-distance dispersal events. Our results suggested that Sanguisorbinae split into Cliffortia and Acaena around 13.6 mya. While Cliffortia diversified in southern South Africa, Acaena experienced several migration events in the Southern Hemisphere. Our estimation of the ancestral range suggested that Acaena likely originated in South Africa, followed by migration and subsequent diversification into southern South America. From there, the genus migrated to New Zealand, throughout the Andes, and to tropical areas in Central America, reaching as far north as California. Chile and New Zealand are the main sources of propagules for dispersal as well as the greatest diversity for the genus. The evolutionary relationships of species in Acaena combine a history of rapid diversifications, long-distance dispersals, and genetic variation within some taxa. Further research should be undertaken to clarify the infraspecific classification of A. magellanica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subgenus Pezocrosita Jacobson, 1901, genus Chrysolina Motschulsky, 1860, currently includes 38 species, being divided into 7 species-groups. Among them, the Chrysolina (sahlbergiana) group remains the least studied, although it comprises the type species of the subgenus. The latter, Chrysolina sahlbergiana (Jacobson, 1901a), is shown to encompass 2 subspecies: Ch. sahlbergiana sahlbergiana and Ch. sahlbergiana jacobsoni (Lopatin, 1970). An amended description of Chrysolina hyperboreica Mikhailov, 2002, a local species endemic to the northern Ural Mountains within Sverdlovsk Province and previously known only from the male holotype, is given based on new material. A new species, Ch. korgonicasp. n., is described from western Altai. A key is given to all the four species of the group. The relict character of the Chrysolina (sahlbergiana) group is discussed based on disjunct distributions of its species and their associations with the former tundra-steppe communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wide‐range geographically discontinuous distributions have long intrigued scientists. We explore the role of ecology, geology, and dispersal in the formation of these large‐scale disjunctions, using the angiosperm tribe Putorieae (Rubiaceae) as a case study. From DNA sequences of nuclear ITS and six plastid markers, we inferred a phylogeny with 65% of all known Putorieae species. Divergence times, ancestral ranges, and diversification rate shifts were then estimated using Bayesian inference. We further explored species climatic tolerances and performed ancestral niche reconstruction to discriminate among alternative speciation modes, including geographical and ecological vicariance, and ecogeographical, ecological, and dispersal‐mediated speciation. As a result, we identified seven major clades in Putorieae, some of which exhibit striking geographical disjunctions, matching the Rand Flora pattern, with sister species in the Canary Islands and eastern and southern Africa. Initial diversification within the tribe occurred in the early Miocene, coincident with a period of climate warming; however, most clades diverged within the last 10 Myr. Aridification and high extinction rates, coupled with ecological vicariance, explain the oldest disjunctions. Adaptation to new environmental conditions, after allopatry, is observed in several clades. Dispersal, either long‐distance or via corridors made available by mountain uplift, is behind the most recent disjunctions. Some of these events were followed by ecological speciation and rapid diversification, with species becoming adapted to xeric or increasingly colder continental climates. We show that an integrative approach may help discriminate among speciation modes invoked to explain disjunctions at macroevolutionary time scales, even when extinction has erased the signature of past events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:Hydrangea section Cornidia consists of 26 currently accepted species and a yet undefined number of new species and erroneously synonymized taxa. This clade consists of (sub)tropical lianas occurring from northern Mexico to southern Chile and Argentina, and one species from Southeast Asia. Currently, no molecular phylogenetic hypothesis is available that includes more than a few species of this section. Hence, a resolved and well-sampled molecular phylogenetic hypothesis may help to enforce taxonomic decisions. In this study, we present a phylogenetic framework based on sequences from two low copy nuclear genes from a comprehensive taxon sampling of H. section Cornidia and a selection of outgroups. Our phylogenetic reconstructions prove the non-monophyly of the traditionally recognized subsections Monosegia and Polysegia and their corresponding series, Speciosae and Aphananthae, and Synstyleae and Chorystyleae, respectively. Three morphologically defined species were recovered with high support as monophyletic, namely, Hydrangea panamensis, Hydrangea serratifolia, and Hydrangea tarapotensis. However, statistical support for some shallow nodes did not allow to refute, with high support, the monophyly of several of the herein recognized species for which more than one individual could be analyzed. Based on the obtained phylogenetic framework, we reconstructed the evolution of selected reproductive characters. Hydrangea section Cornidia is the only genus section for which dioecism has been extensively documented. Our character reconstruction of sexual dimorphism shows that dioecism is the ancestral state in this section and that this was reversed to monoecy in Hydrangea seemannii and Hydrangea integrifolia. Character reconstruction for the enlarged marginal flowers recovered their presence as the ancestral character state in H. section Cornidia, although at least three internal lineages independently lost them; thus, losses were reconstructed to be more likely than gain. With respect to the flower color, more species exhibit white than red flowers, and white is reconstructed as the ancestral state. Cornidia also shows an unusual disjunct geographic distribution between Asia and Central Mesoamerica—South America, as it is not present in the USA and Canada. The origin of Cornidia is reconstructed to be the New World with higher probability, and the presence of one species in Asia is likely due to long-distance dispersal.

Clystopsenella Kieffer, 1911 is one of four extant genera included in the family Scolebythidae. This wasp family is the smallest within Chrysidoidea with six extant species described so far. To date, there are only two described species in the genus Clystopsenella—the extant Clystopsenella longiventris Kieffer, 1911 and the fossil C. mirabilis Engel, 2015, from Miocene Dominican amber. The extant species is found throughout the neotropics and has been recorded from Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia, Panama and Belize. Besides this, Clystopsenella had already been recorded in the Australian fauna, indicating that the genus is not strictly Neotropical. In the present work, Clystopsenella australianasp. nov. is described based on the single specimen ever recorded, which was collected over 100 years ago in Bribie Island, Queensland. The presence of Clystopsenella in Australia adds to the intricate scenario of disjunct distributions within the family and agrees with the restriction of Scolebythidae to warm areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Northeast Indian biodiversity has long been considered to have a stronger affinity to Southeast Asian rather than Peninsular Indian fauna, however, few molecular phylogenetic studies have explored this hypothesis. In Asia, the polyphyletic gekkonid genus Cnemaspis sensu lato is comprised of two distantly related groups; one primarily from South Asia with some members in Southeast Asia, and the other exclusively from Southeast Asia. Cnemaspis assamensis is a systematically obscure and geographically isolated species (>1400 km from its nearest congeners) from the Brahmaputra River Valley in Northeast India. We provide the first molecular phylogenetic assessment of this species based on a partial ND2 gene fragment. Cnemaspis assamensis is determined to be a deeply divergent (Oligocene) member of the South Asian radiation and is sister to the podihuna clade which is endemic to Sri Lanka. The biogeographic implications of this find are discussed and this is suspected to represent a rare example of true disjunction between the wet zones of Northeast India and southern India/Sri Lanka. These results further emphasise the importance of Northeast India as a refuge for unique ancient faunal lineages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clarifying the influences of paleoclimate changes on the disjunct distribution formation of plants allows a historical and mechanical understanding of current vegetation and biodiversity. This study investigated the influences of paleoclimate changes on the present disjunct distribution formation of Pinus koraiensis (Korean pine) using species distribution modeling. A species distribution model (SDM) was built using maximum entropy principle algorithms (MaxEnt), data from 152 occurrences of the species, and four bioclimatic variables at 2.5 arcminute (approximately 5 km) spatial resolution. The simulation revealed the excellent fit of the MaxEnt model performance, with an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.922 and continuous Boyce index (BCI) value of 0.925 with fivefold cross-validation. The most important climatic factor was the minimum temperature of the coldest month. Suitable habitats for the species ranged between − 30.1 and − 4.1 °C. Projected suitable habitats under the Last Glacial Maximum (approximately 22,000 years ago [ka BP]: LGM) period showed wide distributions in eastern China, the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, and the Japanese Archipelago. After the mid-Holocene (approximately 6 ka BP), the suitable habitats expanded northwards in continental regions and retreated from both north and southwest of Japan. This eventually formed disjunct suitable habitats in central Japan. An increase in temperature after the LGM period caused the migration of P. koraiensis toward new, suitable habitats in continental Northeast Asia, while species in the Japanese Archipelago retreated, forming the present disjunct distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hydrangea section Cornidia consists of 26 currently accepted species and a yet undefined number of new species and erroneously synonymized taxa. This clade consists of (sub)tropical lianas occurring from northern Mexico to southern Chile and Argentina, and one species from Southeast Asia. Currently, no molecular phylogenetic hypothesis is available that includes more than a few species of this section. Hence, a resolved and well-sampled molecular phylogenetic hypothesis may help to enforce taxonomic decisions. In this study, we present a phylogenetic framework based on sequences from two low copy nuclear genes from a comprehensive taxon sampling of H. section Cornidia and a selection of outgroups. Our phylogenetic reconstructions prove the non-monophyly of the traditionally recognized subsections Monosegia and Polysegia and their corresponding series, Speciosae and Aphananthae , and Synstyleae and Chorystyleae , respectively. Three morphologically defined species were recovered with high support as monophyletic, namely, Hydrangea panamensis, Hydrangea serratifolia , and Hydrangea tarapotensis. However, statistical support for some shallow nodes did not allow to refute, with high support, the monophyly of several of the herein recognized species for which more than one individual could be analyzed. Based on the obtained phylogenetic framework, we reconstructed the evolution of selected reproductive characters. Hydrangea section Cornidia is the only genus section for which dioecism has been extensively documented. Our character reconstruction of sexual dimorphism shows that dioecism is the ancestral state in this section and that this was reversed to monoecy in Hydrangea seemannii and Hydrangea integrifolia. Character reconstruction for the enlarged marginal flowers recovered their presence as the ancestral character state in H. section Cornidia , although at least three internal lineages independently lost them; thus, losses were reconstructed to be more likely than gain. With respect to the flower color, more species exhibit white than red flowers, and white is reconstructed as the ancestral state. Cornidia also shows an unusual disjunct geographic distribution between Asia and Central Mesoamerica—South America, as it is not present in the USA and Canada. The origin of Cornidia is reconstructed to be the New World with higher probability, and the presence of one species in Asia is likely due to long-distance dispersal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characterizing genetic diversity and structure of populations is essential for the effective conservation of threatened species. Orchis patens sensu lato is a narrowly distributed tetraploid species with a disjunct distribution (i.e., Northern Italy, North Africa and the Canary Islands), which is facing a severe decline. In this study, we evaluated levels of genetic diversity and population structuring using 12 new nuclear microsatellite markers. Our analyses of genetic differentiation based on multiple approaches (Structure analysis, PCA analysis, and F-statistics using the ploidy-independent Rho-index) showed that gene flow is low across the range of O. patens s.l., particularly in the Canary Islands. Clear differences in allele frequencies between Italy, Algeria and the Canary Islands underlie the genetic differentiation retrieved. Our study provides support for the recognition of O. canariensis as a sister species to O. patens and the separation of the Italian populations as a new subspecies of O. patens. Despite the high heterozygosity values found in all populations (ranging from 0.4 to 0.7), compatible with the tetraploid status of the species, small population sizes and reduced gene flow will be likely detrimental for the different populations in the long term, and we recommend immediate conservation actions to counteract further fragmentation and population decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Annales de la Société Entomologique de France: International Journal of Entomology is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Predicting distributions of rare species: the case of the false coral snake Rhinobothryum bovallii (Serpentes: Colubridae). Typically, the lack of enough high-quality occurrence data makes it diffcult to defne the geographic distribution of rare species. However, species distribution models provide a powerful tool for biodiversity management, including efforts to predict the distributions of rare species. Herein, new and historical data are used to model the distribution of the False Tree Coral snake, Rhinobothryum bovallii. The prediction map reveals a disjunct distribution for this species, from the Central American Isthmus to the northwestern portion of South America, with the species occupying lowlands and premontane forests below about 1500 m elevation. We identifed 491,516 km2 of suitable habitat for R. bovallii (minimum training presence threshold of 0.424) and 59,353 km2 of core habitat, with concentrations in three relatively isolated core areas (10-percentile training presence threshold of 0.396), as follow: (1) a “northern core” along the Pacifc and Caribbean coasts of Panama; (2) a “central core” in the Middle Magdalena Valley in Colombia; and (3) a “southern core” in the Ecuadorian Chocó. The occurrence of this species has a strong positive association with low precipitation seasonality, high precipitation in the warmest quarter, and low variability in annual temperature. Xeric and semiarid areas are unsuitable for this species and may pose environmental barriers limiting its distributional range. These results may lead to the discovery of additional populations of R. bovallii, identify priority survey areas, and by determining the extent of its natural habitat promote effective conservation strategies.

The Hepatica section Angulosa consists of mainly tetraploid (2n = 28) species that are distributed disjunctly throughout Eurasia. Karyological evidence proves the hybrid origin of the polyploid species of this section. Hepatica transsilvanica is a member of this species group with a conspicuous distribution restricted to the Eastern Carpathians. Based on genome size and cytotypes, the paternal parent of H. transsilvanica is described to be the only diploid species in section Angulosa, H. falconeri. The maternal species is hypothesized to be H. nobilis, a European species with entirely lobed leaves and a wider distribution area. Although the hybrid origin of H. transsilvanica is well documented by karyological evidence, the time of hybridization has never been studied. By using sequences of both the nuclear and plastid genome, we reconstructed the phylogenetic relationships and divergence times of H. transsilvanica and its parental species. The identity of the parental species is corroborated by discordant gene tree topologies of the nrITS and plastid sequences. Moreover, both gene copies of the parental species could be identified with the low-copy nuclear gene, MLH1. Divergence dating analysis using Bayesian phylogenetic methods strongly supported the long-term survival of H. transsilvanica in the Southeastern Carpathians, as the most recent common ancestor of the hybrid and parent species existed not later than the beginning of the Pleistocene, ca. 3 million years ago. These results not only highlight the biogeographic importance of the Southeastern Carpathians in the Quaternary glaciation periods, but also emphasize that Tertiary lineages could have survived in a Central European cryptic refugium.

The taxonomic status of Andersen’s Roundleaf Bat Hipposideros pomona (Chiroptera: Hipposideridae) and its relationship with the taxa assigned to it has been confusing. Knud Andersen described H. pomona (based on specimens from southern India) and H. gentilis (based on specimens from Myanmar) in 1918. Subsequently, the latter taxon was included under the former as a subspecies. Owing to disjunct distribution, it was speculated that these two taxa are distinct. Discovery of the type material and additional vouchers of both taxa in the National Collection of Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata allowed detailed comparison. Based on the morphological, craniodental and bacular characters, we establish the distinctness of these taxa. A redescription of H. pomona Andersen, 1918 is provided.