Southern Yunnan Research Articles

Reciprocal regulation between rural settlement expansion and human-elephant conflict in China's wild elephant range

Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) and its socioeconomic impacts are a pressing global issue. Accurately quantifying HWCs and their interaction with residential development is crucial for rural revitalization and biodiversity conservation efforts. This study investigates the interplay between rural residential expansion (RRE) with human-elephant conflict (HEC) in southern Yunnan Province using high-accuracy yearly land use/land cover data and Asian elephant accident data. A piecewise regression along with several metrics, including expansion intensity and rate of rural residential land, and residential density, were employed to analyze the spatial-temporal change characteristics of RRE. Then, a geographical detector and a bivariate spatial autocorrelation model were used to reveal the driving mechanisms of RRE, with particular emphasis on the spatial relations between RRE and HECs. The results indicate that HECs had a significant negative impact on RRE, exhibiting higher expansion intensity and rate of rural residential land in non-HEC areas than in HEC areas. High spatiotemporal consistency between accelerated RRE and intensified HECs occurred from 2010 onwards, which aligns with the year when the trend of settlement area expansion changed. RRE activities and ensuing land use conversions led to increased occurrences of HECs, which negatively affected the RRE. Compared to HECs, topography and locational factors exhibited a secondary effect on RRE activities. The findings underscore reciprocal feedback mechanisms between RRE and HECs and the elevated risk of adverse interactions between humans and elephants within the range of China's wild elephants, providing theoretical support for coordinating conservation initiatives for Asian elephants with rural revitalization in the border areas of Southwest China.

Predicting the potential geographical distribution of Zingiber striolatum Diels (Zingiberaceae), a medicine food homology plant in China.

Zingiber striolatum Diels is a unique medicine food homology plant native to China. In recent years, due to severe habitat destruction, studying the impact of climate change on the distribution of wild resources is of great significance for the ecological conservation and artificial cultivation of Z. striolatum. This study collected 141 valid species distribution records, and 37 environmental variables, and projected two future climate scenarios (SSP126 and SSP585) for two periods (2050s and 2090s). By employing Pearson analysis, Maximum Entropy Model (MaxEnt), and Geographic Information System (ArcGIS), we predicted the potential suitable habitats for Z. striolatum under present and future climates, as well as identified the dominant environmental variables influencing its distribution. The results indicated that the MaxEnt model performed well (AUC > 0.9) with high accuracy and reliability. The dominant environmental factors included Precipitation of driest quarter (39.0 ~ 473.8mm), Precipitation of wettest quarter (593.2 ~ 1269.4mm), Temperature annual range (9.8 ~ 28.6℃), and Mean diurnal range (6.5 ~ 9.6℃). The highly suitable areas for Z. striolatum were mainly distributed in western and southern Yunnan, northern and western Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, and central Hainan. Under future climate change, the centroid of the total suitable area for Z. striolatum is projected to shift towards the southwest (Yungui Plateau) at higher elevations.

Research on Subsurface Electrical Structure Based on a Dense Geomagnetic Array in Southern Yunnan.

The electrical resistivity of subsurface rocks is one of the important sensitive parameters characterizing the internal physics of the Earth. Currently, research on subsurface electrical structures using geomagnetic sounding methods primarily focuses on two approaches: the first is based on observations from a few geomagnetic stations, which have low spatial resolution and cannot effectively describe the distribution of anomalies; the second is based on mobile geomagnetic observations, which have low temporal resolution and cannot promptly reflect anomalies. To address these issues, this study deployed a dense geomagnetic array for long-term observation in the southern segment of the Xiaojiang Fault Zone in the Yuxi area of southern Yunnan. This setup aims to promptly capture seismic magnetic anomalies, providing more data support and fundamental information for short-term earthquake prediction. Based on the long-term observation data from the dense array, the study of the subsurface electrical structure is carried out. The results indicate that during the observation period, which was seismically quiet, the regional subsurface electrical structure remained stable. A large-scale subsurface low-resistivity body was observed in the region, and the electrical structures at the two ends of the southern segment of the Xiaojiang Fault Zone were found to be completely different.

Phylogeography of horseshoe bat sarbecoviruses in Vietnam and neighbouring countries. Implications for the origins of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2.

Previous studies on horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus spp.) have described many coronaviruses related to SARS-CoV (SARSCoVr) in China and only a few coronaviruses related to SARS-CoV-2 (SARSCoV2r) in Yunnan (southern China), Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. Here, we report the results of several field missions carried out in 2017, 2021 and 2022 across Vietnam during which 1218 horseshoe bats were sampled from 19 locations. Sarbecoviruses were detected in 11% of faecal RNA extracts, with much more positives among Rhinolophus thomasi (46%). We assembled 38 Sarbecovirus genomes, including 32 SARSCoVr, four SARSCoV2r, and two recombinants of SARSCoVr and SARSCoV2r (RecSar), one showing a Spike protein very similar to SARS-CoV-2. We detected a bat co-infected with four coronaviruses, including two sarbecoviruses. Our analyses revealed that Sarbecovirus genomes evolve in Vietnam under strong geographical and host constraints. First, we found evidence for a deep separation between viruses from northern Vietnam and those from central and southern Vietnam. Second, we detected only SARSCoVr in Rhinolophus thomasi, both SARSCoVr and SARSCoV2r in Rhinolophus affinis, and only RecSar in Rhinolophus pusillus captured close to the border with China. Third, the bias in favour of Uracil in synonymous third codon positions of SARSCoVr extracted from R. thomasi showed a negative correlation with latitudes. Our results also provided support for an emergence of SARS-CoV in horseshoe bats from northern Yunnan and emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in horseshoe bats from northern Indochina subtropical forests (southern Yunnan, northern Laos and north-western Vietnam).

Ecological security assessment of Yunnan Province, China in the context of Production-Living-Ecological space division.

With the rapid development of population, society and economy, human activities have caused serious adverse impacts on the environment, ecosystems and landscape patterns over the long term. In order to address the series of impacts of human activities on the environment, territorial space and resource use, the study of Production-Living-Ecological Space (PLES) and ecological security have all become academic frontiers in the field of sustainable development. In this study, we applied multi-source data and GIS technology to construct an ecological security evaluation model based on the results of PLES delineation and the Pressure-State-Response (PSR)framework, and carried out the three-period PLES ecological security evaluation for 2000, 2010 and 2020 at the county and grid scales in Yunnan Province. The PLES pattern in Yunnan Province is dominated by ecological space, which accounts for 75%, followed by 23% of production space, with ecological space shrinking from 2000 to 2020. Ecological security in ecological space and living space shows an improving trend from 2000 to 2020. The ecological security of production space improved in 2010 compared to 2000 but then showed a decreasing trend in 2020. Ecological security in ecological space shows that north-western and southern Yunnan is safer than central Yunnan, while ecological security in living space is safer in central Yunnan, and ecological security in production space is better in southern Yunnan than in northern Yunnan. Comparison with related research results shows that the ecological security evaluation results of PLES in Yunnan Province in this study are scientific and reasonable. The ecological security evaluation model of PLES constructed in this study solves the problem of complex and incomplete ecological security evaluation indexes in the past, and the results of the study are more refined and precise, which provides new ideas for the study of regional ecological security.

A new species of the Amolops monticola group (Anura, Ranidae) from southern Yunnan, China

A new species of the Amolops monticola group is described from Yunnan Huanglianshan National Nature Reserve, southern Yunnan, China. Morphologically, the new species is characterized by a moderate body size (snout–vent length 38.3–40.8 mm in adult males and 62.3–63.1 mm in adult females), head being longer than wide, nostril to snout tip distance being slightly smaller than eye to nostril distance, the presence of pineal body, distinct tympanum, vomerine teeth being invisible in males and weak but visible in females, distinct dorsolateral folds, the absence of outer metatarsal tubercle, the presence of vocal sac and nuptial pad in adult males, dorsal surface of head and body being green with no or a few black dots, and the presence of a few large flat white tubercles on the posterior inferior flank. Genetically, the uncorrected genetic distance between the new species and other species of the A. monticola group ranged from 3.0% to 7.6% in 16S ribosomal RNA and from 7.2% to 17.1% in NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 gene sequences. Currently, the new species is known only from its type locality in Lvchun County, Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China.

Dryopteris microlepioides, a new synonym of Trichoneuron microlepioides (Dryopteridaceae)

When reviewing the species diversity of Dryopteridaceae from Vietnam, we noticed the name Dryopteris microlepioides Christensen (1934: 102) is taxonomically uncertain and to be treated (Hassler 1994–2024). Dryopteris microlepioides was described based on two collections from northern Vietnam and was thought to be a distinct species superficially resembling Microlepia speluncae (Linnaeus 1753: 1093) Moore (1857: 93) (Christensen 1934). Since its publication in 1934, this name had been neglected by authors who treated Dryopteris Adanson (1763: 20) for the fern flora or species diversity of Vietnam (e.g., Tardieu-Blot & Christensen 1938, 1941; Pham 1999; Phan 2010). At the first sight of the type specimens of D. microlepioides, the senior author (SYD) was aware of D. microlepioides representing the same taxon with Trichoneuron microlepioides Ching (1965: 119) described from southern Yunnan, China, because this taxon is morphologically unique by having the microlepioid frond habit (especially with copious pale hairs on both surfaces) and the dryopterioid sori (reniform, medial on abaxial surface of lamina) (Fig. 1). Phylogenetically, the sample of this species from northern Vietnam, which was identified as T. microlepioides by Liu et al. (2016), was resolved to be sister to Polystichopsis (Smith 1875: 217) Holttum (1947: 147) in Dryopteridaceae subfam. Polybotryoideae based on the analysis of three cpDNA sequences (rbcL, atpA, and atpB) (Liu et al. 2016). In recent years, we also collected this taxon in northern Vietnam (paratype locality of D. microlepioides) and southern Yunnan, China, and conducted phylogenetic analysis based on cpDNA genome (not presenting here). Our analysis resolved one sample from Vietnam (Dong 4598) and two collections from Yunnan (Dong 4801 and Zuo 5093) clustered together, identifying no any significant difference between them. The three samples in the phylogenetic tree formed a sister relationship in high supporting values with Polystichopsis as the result in Liu et al. (2016). This result provides further evidence supporting the same species of D. microlepioides Christensen (1934) with T. microlepioides Ching (1965).

The response of agricultural drought to meteorological drought modulated by air temperature

Due to climate change, there is an increasing occurrence of combined extreme events. The interaction between agricultural drought and meteorological drought may be significantly influenced by the temperature conditions. However, the specific process and the extent of air temperature’s impact on the dynamic remain unknown. To this end, the present study develops a copula-based coupling model to integrate agricultural drought, meteorological drought, and temperature state. This model is designed to investigate how temperature affects the agricultural drought response to meteorological drought, and to determine the transition threshold of temperature state on agricultural drought responding to meteorological drought from inhibition to promotion under diverse drought conditions. Furthermore, the proposed model is used to explore the spatial distribution characteristics of sensitivity and temperature thresholds in summer over mainland China. Finally, the geographical detector model is employed to investigate the primary factors influencing the spatial distribution of sensitivity and temperature thresholds. Results indicated that: (1) high temperatures have intensified the response of agricultural drought to meteorological drought in over 88% of mainland China, while in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region of the Inland River basin, this response is mitigated by glacier meltwater resulting from high temperatures; (2) the thresholds are lower in the Southeast River basin, the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the Pearl River basin, the southern Songliao River basin and the Haihe River basin, but higher in the Yellow River basin, the western Yangtze River basin, the southern Inland River basin and Yunnan Province; and (3) the land-atmosphere coupling is crucial in determining both sensitivity and threshold levels.

Patterns and processes underlying understory songbird communities in southern China

AbstractUnderstory bird communities, especially those comprising insectivores, are highly sensitive to forest loss and fragmentation. Currently, there is little knowledge regarding the large‐scale diversity patterns of understory bird communities, particularly in Eastern Asia. Consequently, we aimed to identify the distribution patterns of understory birds in southern China and the factors underlying these patterns. We analysed the diversity distribution patterns of taxonomic and functional α and β diversity for understory Passeriformes birds in southern China utilising cluster and ordination analyses. Subsequently, we analysed the effects of geographic distance, annual mean temperature, annual temperature range, annual mean precipitation, and annual precipitation range on diversity distribution patterns. In total, 9282 individuals belonging to 11 orders, 48 families, and 297 species were captured over 98,544 net hours, with Alcippeidae being the most abundant family in southern China. The understory bird communities of the 25 sites were categorised into six sub‐regions of the Oriental Realm (Indo‐Malayan Realm). The pattern in the distribution of taxonomic and functional β‐diversity of understory birds in southern China was consistent with zoogeographical regionalisation. Three distinct geographical groups were identified: Group 1 was located in the Min‐Guang Coast and Hainan sub‐regions; Group 2 was located in the East Hilly Plain, Southwest Mountains, and Western Mountains and Plateaus sub‐regions; and Group 3 was located in the Southern Yunnan Mountain subregion. The most critical factors related to the distribution patterns of β‐diversity were geographical distance, annual mean temperature, and annual temperature range. Our results showed that the understory bird communities of the Southwest Mountain, East Hilly Plain, and Western Mountains, and Plateaus sub‐regions were similar, as were those of the Min‐Guang Coast and Hainan sub‐regions. Our results underscore the joint roles of distance, temperature, and historical evolution in understory bird communities.

Underestimated species diversity within the Rhacophorus rhodopus and Rhacophorus bipunctatus complexes (Anura, Rhacophoridae), with a description of a new species from Hainan, China

Taxonomy and species boundaries within the Rhacophorus rhodopus and Rhacophorus bipunctatus complexes are very confusing. In this study, we attempt to delimit the species boundaries and test the currently accepted taxonomic assignments within these two complexes based on newly collected samples and previously published data across their distributions. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that the R. rhodopus and R. bipunctatus complexes consisted of six distinct clades (labeled A‒F) that diverged from each other by genetic distances (p-distance) ranging from 5.3% to 9.2% in 16S rRNA sequences, and accordingly analyses of species delimitation placed them into six species, of which three correspond to known species (R. rhodopus, R. bipunctatus, and R. napoensis) and three represent different cryptic species. Rhacophorus rhodopus (Clade C) is distributed in southern Yunnan, China, northern Laos, and northern and central Thailand; R. bipunctatus (Clade F) is distributed in northeastern India and western and northern Myanmar; and R. napoensis (Clade B) is distributed in Guangxi, China and northern Vietnam. Based on both molecular and morphological evidence, we described the clade consisting of samples from Hainan, China and central Vietnam (Clade A) as a new species, Rhacophorus qiongicasp. nov. There are two cryptic species requiring additional morphological studies: one only contains samples from Motuo, Xizang, China (Clade E), and the other is distributed in western Yunnan, China, central Myanmar, central Thailand, and Malaysia (Clade D). Additionally, our results supported the idea that some old GenBank sequences of R. reinwardtii need to be updated with the correct species name.

Analysis of the Cultural Application of Ethnic Minority Motifs in South Yunnan Region

Southern Yunnan is a place with rich and diverse ethnic cultures, and traditional patterns are an important cultural form with great value of use in the local context. Taking the patterns of ethnic minorities in southern Yunnan as the research object, this topic adopts the method of combining literature review and field survey to analyze the status of their use in cultural inheritance, artistic creation, and life practice, and discuss their significance and value in modern society, with a view to providing important theoretical and practical support for the inheritance and transmission of ethnic minority cultures, and the promotion of the development of local cultures.

Prediction of the Potential Distribution of Teinopalpus aureus Mell, 1923 (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae) in China Using Habitat Suitability Models

The Golden Kaiser-I-Hind (Teinopalpus aureus Mell, 1923) is the only butterfly among Class I national protected animals in China and is known as the national butterfly. In this study, by accurately predicting the suitable habitat in China under current and future climate scenarios, the potential distribution area of T. aureus was defined, providing a theoretical basis for conservation and management. Based on species distribution records, we utilized the Biomod2 platform to combine climate data from the BCC-CSM2-MR climate model, future shared socio-economic pathways, and altitude data. The potential distribution areas of T. aureus in the current (1970–2000s) and future SSP1_2.6 and SSP5_8.5 climate scenarios in China in 2041–2060 (2050s), 2061–2080 (2070s), and 2081–2100 (2090s) were predicted. The AUC and TSS values of the combined model based on five algorithms were greater than those of the single models, and the AUC value of the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.990, indicating that the model had high reliability and accuracy. The screening of environmental variables showed that the habitat area of T. aureus in China was mainly affected by annual precipitation, precipitation in the driest month, the lowest temperature in the coldest month, temperature seasonality, elevation, and other factors. Under the current circumstances, the habitat area of T. aureus was mainly located in southern China, including Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Zhejiang, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan, Taiwan, and other provinces. The suitable area is approximately 138.95 × 104 km2; among them, the highly suitable area of 34.43 × 104 km2 is a priority area in urgent need of protection. Under both SSP1_2.6 and SSP5_8.5, the population centroid tended to shift southward in the 2050s and 2070s, and began to migrate northeast in the 2090s. Temperature, rainfall, and altitude influenced the distribution of T. aureus. In the two climate scenarios, the habitat area of T. aureus declined to different degrees, and the reduction was most obvious in the SSP5_8.5 scenario; climate was the most likely environmental variable to cause a change in the geographical distribution. Climate change will significantly affect the evolution and potential distribution of T. aureus in China and will increase the risk of extinction. Accordingly, it is necessary to strengthen protection and to implement active and effective measures to reduce the negative impact of climate change on T. aureus.

游客与村民双重感知下的传统村落旅游发展研究

Rural tourism has gradually become an important support for rural development and revitalization. It can promote the comprehensive development of local rural revitalization, accelerate the implementation of rural revitalization strategies, and increase the economic income of farmers and activate the rural cultural environment. Based on a field survey of Zhengying Village in southern Yunnan, this study analyzes the current tourism development status of Zhengying Village from the perspectives of both villagers and tourists, and identifies a series of challenges that are not conducive to promoting the development of traditional village tourism. On this basis, in order to enhance the tourism experience of tourists, increase the income of villagers, and promote the development of local tourism industry, it is necessary for grassroots governments to coordinate tourism planning and design, cultural and tourism departments to innovate cultural and tourism promotion methods, village collectives to enhance cultural excavation capabilities, villagers to stimulate internal service motivation, highlight the characteristics of rural tourism, and promote the development and growth of local tourism industry.

Impact of ecological migration village construction on vector mosquito and mosquito-borne disease in the southern Yunnan Province, China

To evaluate the influence of ecological migration village construction on mosquito vector populations and mosquito-borne diseases in southern Yunnan Province. Two vicinal villages in Mengla County, the southern part of Yunnan Province, a native village, and a newly built village, were selected as study sites. Malaria and Japanese Encephalitis vector mosquito population divergence between the two villages were studied. Malaria and Japanese Encephalitis (JE) cases in the two villages were also compared. Anopheles minimus was the dominant population in houses in the newly built village, and An. jeyporiensis dominated the native village. Accordingly, there were nine malaria cases in the new village compared with zero cases in the native village. Culex tritaeniorhynchus, the chief JE vector in the study area, displayed no difference between the two villages; however, there was a higher density of the local secondary JE vector (Cx. pseudovishnui) in the native village than in the new one. The JE cases in the villages corresponded to zero. From the vector-borne disease perspective, our results suggest that local community should pay more attention to malaria and An. minimus during the construction of an ecological migration village in the new Chinese Western Developing Plan (CWDP) in southern Yunnan Province.

Fossil woods of Cryptocarya (Lauraceae) from the middle Miocene of Southwest China

The structure of lauraceous fossil woods from the middle Miocene deposits of the Dajie Formation of Ninger County, Yunnan Province, China has been studied. The occurrence of wide (> 7 seriate) rays in combination with the presence of scalariform perforation plates, the oil/mucilage cells in rays, axial parenchyma and among fibers as well as some other traits allow us to attribute the fossil woods to the extant genus Cryptocarya. We describe the woods as a new species C. latiradiata R. Zhang, T. Su & A. A. Oskolski sp. nov. (Lauraceae). This is an important improvement in the fossil record of Cryptocarya showing that this genus was widely ranged across southern China in the middle Miocene. The occurrence of the fossil woods of such termophyllous genus as Cryptocarya in the Dajie Formation suggests that this middle Miocene climate in southern Yunnan was frostless. This result is consistent with other evidence for the warm environment caused by complex topographic structures in this region since the middle Miocene linked to the successive uplift of the Tibetan Plateau and the Ailao Mountains. Particularly, it suggests that the Ailao Mountains in the middle Miocene were high enough to weaken the influence of the Asian Winter Monsoon on the territory of Yunnan.

Four new species of Dothideomycetes (Ascomycota) from Pará Rubber (Heveabrasiliensis) in Yunnan Province, China.

The tropical areas in southern and south-western Yunnan are rich in fungal diversity. Additionally, the diversity of seed flora in Yunnan Province is higher than in other regions in China and the abundant endemic species of woody plants provide favourable substrates for fungi. Rubber plantations in Yunnan Province are distributed over a large area, especially in Xishuangbanna. During a survey of rubber-associated fungi in Yunnan Province, China, dead rubber branches with fungal fruiting bodies were collected. Morphological characteristics and multigene phylogenetic analyses (ITS, LSU, SSU, rpb2 and tef1-α) revealed four distinct new species, described herein as Melomastiapuerensis, Nigrogranalincangensis, Pseudochaetosphaeronemalincangensis and Pseudochaetosphaeronemaxishuangbannaensis. Detailed descriptions, illustrations and phylogenetic trees are provided to show the taxonomic placements of these new species.

Geological and structural characteristics of the zengjiacun copper deposit in jinggu, southern yunnan: A comprehensive analysis of three-dimensional ore-controlling structures

The Zengjiacun copper deposit is situated in the northeastern part of the Minle copper deposit, located in Jinggu County, Yunnan Province. It is one of the typical deposits in southern Yunnan. In this paper, we employ the theory and method of ore field tectonics to elucidate the formation mechanism of ore bodies and their structural controls on hosting spaces. The regional geological structure exerts control over lithofacies paleogeography and magmatic activity within this area, directly influencing the formation and distribution of various endogenetic and exogenetic minerals such as Songjiapo, Nanwenghe, Wengkongba, and Dadutian. Under the combined influence of regional crustal uplift and nearly east-west compression stress during the Yanshanian period, strata within this region underwent folding and interlaminar sliding processes. Notably, due to differences in rigidity between limestone and sand mudstone lithologies, limestone formations became brittle and prone to fracturing. This resulted in the development of interlaminar fracture zones that provided pathways for tectonic hydrothermal fluids to migrate and accumulate, ultimately leading to the formation of a reformed copper deposit. Tectonic stress variations have led to increased complexity within strata and ore bodies present in the northern section where local closed folds have formed. However, the stratum and copper body in the south part are inclined to the East in a gentle wave shape due to relatively small tectonic stress. Overall, understanding these structural controls on mineralization is crucial for guiding exploration efforts both at depth as well as around periphery areas surrounding this deposit.

Genome assembly provides insights into the genome evolution of Baccaurea ramiflora Lour.

Baccaurea ramiflora Lour., an evergreen tree of the Baccaurea genus of the Phyllanthaceae family, is primarily distributed in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and southern China, including southern Yunnan Province. It is a wild or semi-cultivated tree species with ornamental, edible, and medicinal value, exhibiting significant development potential. In this study, we present the whole-genome sequencing of B. ramiflora, employing a combination of PacBio SMRT and Illumina HiSeq 2500 sequencing techniques. The assembled genome size was 975.8 Mb, with a contig N50 of 509.33 kb and the longest contig measuring 7.74 Mb. The genome comprises approximately 73.47% highly repetitive sequences, of which 52.1% are long terminal repeat–retrotransposon sequences. A total of 29,172 protein-coding genes were predicted, of which 25,980 (89.06%) have been annotated, Additionally, 3452 non-coding RNAs were identified. Comparative genomic analysis revealed a close relationship between B. ramiflora and the Euphorbiaceae family, with both being sister groups that diverged approximately 59.9 million years ago. During the evolutionary process, B. ramiflora exhibited positive selection in 278 candidate genes. Synonymous substitution rate and collinearity analysis demonstrated that B. ramiflora underwent a single ancient genome-wide triploidization event, without recent genome-wide duplication events. This high-quality B. ramiflora genome provides a valuable resource for basic research and tree improvement programs focusing on the Phyllanthaceae family.

A new species of Zhangixalus (Anura, Rhacophoridae) from Yunnan, China

We described herein Zhangixalus yunnanensissp. nov., a new treefrog species from central and western Yunnan, China, which had previously been confused with Z. nigropunctatus, based on morphological and molecular evidence. Our phylogenetic analyses revealed that the new species is sister to the clade of Z. nigropunctatus and Z. melanoleucus with strong support (100% and 73% for BI and ML, respectively). Our morphological analysis suggested that Z. yunnanensissp. nov. is distinctly different from all known congeners by the combination of the following morphological characters: black blotches on body flank and hind-limb, medium body size (SVL31.3–36.0 mm in males and 47.6–48.6 mm in females), head wider than long, iris yellowish-brown, dorsum uniformly green, vocal sac external, throat black, webbing greyish and fingers webbed one third and toes webbed half. Additionally, we revealed that the specimens ROM 38011 (Sa Pa, Vietnam) and VNMN 4099 (Son La, Vietnam) are neither Z. dorsoviridis nor Z. nigropunctatus, but probably represent one or two cryptic species of Zhangixalus pending further morphological and molecular data. Including the new species described herein, the genus Zhangixalus currently comprises 42 species, 30 of which are distributed in China with 11 species known from Yunnan. Amongst different zoogeographic regions in Yunnan, south-eastern Yunnan has the highest diversity of Zhangixalus, followed by western Yunnan and southern Yunnan. More studies are required to clarify the species diversity of this genus based on multiple lines of evidence (e.g. morphological and molecular data).

Isolation, characterization, and circulation sphere of a filovirus in fruit bats

Bats are associated with the circulation of most mammalian filoviruses (FiVs), with pathogenic ones frequently causing deadly hemorrhagic fevers in Africa. Divergent FiVs have been uncovered in Chinese bats, raising concerns about their threat to public health. Here, we describe a long-term surveillance to track bat FiVs at orchards, eventually resulting in the identification and isolation of a FiV, Dehong virus (DEHV), from Rousettus leschenaultii bats. DEHV has a typical filovirus-like morphology with a wide spectrum of cell tropism. Its entry into cells depends on the engagement of Niemann-Pick C1, and its replication is inhibited by remdesivir. DEHV has the largest genome size of filoviruses, with phylogenetic analysis placing it between the genera Dianlovirus and Orthomarburgvirus, suggesting its classification as the prototype of a new genus within the family Filoviridae. The continuous detection of viral RNA in the serological survey, together with the wide host distribution, has revealed that the region covering southern Yunnan, China, and bordering areas is a natural circulation sphere for bat FiVs. These emphasize the need for a better understanding of the pathogenicity and potential risk of FiVs in the region.