New Guinea Species Research Articles

The ecology of Araucaria species in New Guinea. II. Pattern in the distribution of young and mature individuals and light requirements of seedlings.

Abstract Conventional pattern analysis and segregation analysis were used to investigate the hypothesis that young and mature individuals of Araucaria hunsteinii were not usually found growing in close association whilst the distribution of young and mature individuals of A. cunninghamii was essentially random. It was considered that this pattern reflected a difference in regeneration strategy between the two species, A. hunsteinii being a gap regenerator and A. cunninghamii a shade‐tolerant species. A seedling growth‐experiment using three different shade treatments and four temperature treatments tested this hypothesis further. Results show that A. hunsteinii is more dependent on high light intensity than A. cunninghamii for the production of biomass. A. cunninghamii produces more biomass than A. hunsteinii under all treatment conditions.

The ecology of Araucaria species in New Guinea. I. Ordination studies of forest types and environments

Abstract Previous studies of the ecology and regeneration strategies of Araucaria cunninghamii and A. hunsteinii in New Guinea rainforests have treated these species as ecologically identical and disagree concerning their ability to maintain a stable population size in forest communities dominated by angiosperms. Vegetation data from a number of 0.5 ha forest sites in New Guinea are analysed in order to characterize forest types and their environmental regimes in the altitudinal zone from 700 to 1500 m a.s.l. Particular attention is paid to forests containing Araucaria species. Nodal component analysis identifies a number of distinct forest types or ‘series’, each dominated by a different species. Continuity analysis displays the location of sites and species in non‐linear ordination space. Subsequent regression of environmental data on the position of sites in ordination space shows that forest types are separated along gradients related to altitude and rainfall on the one hand, and soil nutrient concentrations on the other. A. cunninghamii is generally found in wetter and less nutrient‐rich sites than A. hunsteinii. The analysis of species presence data, as opposed to quantitative data, shows that whilst forest types are easily differentiated according to their dominant species, changes in floristic composition are subtle along the altitudinal and other gradients recognized.

Distribution and diversity of the Frullaniaceae, Hepaticae, with special reference to species in New Guinea and New Caledonia

Distribution and diversity of the Frullaniaceae, Hepaticae, with special reference to species in New Guinea and New Caledonia

A Revision of Xanthomyrtus (Myrtaceae)

Xanthomyrtus was described by Diels (1922) with thirteen species in New Guinea, one in Sabah and one in New Caledonia. In addition Myrtus metrosideros Bailey, from northern Queensland, was suggested by Diels as possibly belonging to Xanthomyrtus. Diels distinguished Xanthomyrtus from Myrtus and related genera by the 4-merous flowers with thick triangular calyx lobes, the yellow, clawed petals, the few (I-2-)-seriate stamens and the 3-flowered dichasia with sessile flowers. Diels described eight new species of Xanthomyrtus, the remaining species were transferred by him from Eugenia or Myrtus; three of these were described by Ridley (1916) from West New Guinea, three described by Gibbs (1917) from the Arfak Mountains and one based on Myrtusflavida Stapf from Borneo. Diels (1924) later added one more species from New Guinea and cited further collections. However, in some of the species that he transferred to Xanthomyrtus the original collections had not been seen by him and were only known to him by the descriptions or by collections matched with descriptions. Many species were known only from a single or a few specimens and Diels (1922) cited only 24 collections. Merrill (1926) transferred Eugenia aurea Elmer and E. diplicosifolia C. B. Robinson, both from the Philippines, to Xanthomyrtus and later (1928) transferred two further Bornean species, Myrtus taxifolia Ridl. and M. moultonii Merr. Guillaumin (i939) recognized two species in New Caledonia, X. hienghenensis Guillaumin, with one variety, and X. sarasinii (Guillaumin) Guillaumin, including X. pergracilis Diels as a synonym of the latter. Merrill and Perry (1942) reviewed the species of Xanthomyrtus in New Guinea and described seven new species. Unfortunately many of the species previously recognized by Diels were known to them only through descriptions and specimens matched with the descriptions; several of the species described by them were incompletely known and they cite only 37 collections. Myrtus metrosideros, which tentatively was included in Xanthomyrtus by Diels (1922), is based on a leaf collection from northern Queensland. However, further collections matched with the type belong to Myrtus sect. Austromyrtus and no collections of Xanthomyrtus have been seen from Australia, although the genus may be expected to occur there. Xanthomyrtus pergracilis has been examined and is a species of Eugenia sens. str., and only a single species, X. hienghenensis, is recognized from New Caledonia; this species appears to be closely related to species in New Guinea.

POLLEN MORPHOLOGY OF SCHEFFLERA (ARALIACEAE)

Pollen of 48 species of Schefflera was studied by light and scanning electron microscopy. Eight pollen types are distinguished on the basis of sexine sculpturing and structure, apertural shape, and shape and size of the grains. These pollen types correlate well with other data such as the number of carpels, the condition of corolla, infloresence types, and geographical distribution of each species. To determine the evolutionary status of sexine structure, an association between sexine characters and the number of carpels was sought. Assuming polymery of floral parts to be a primitive condition in Araliaceae, the undifferentiated sexine, which occurs in the multicarpellate species, also appears to be primitive. Other unspecialized features include short grains, and non‐sculptured, imperforate tectum. Several species in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands belong to this putative ancestral pollen type, from which other types may have been derived.

Pollen Morphology of Schefflera (Araliaceae)

Pollen of 48 species of Schefflera was studied by light and scanning electron microscopy. Eight pollen types are distinguished on the basis of sexine sculpturing and structure, apertural shape, and shape and size of the grains. These pollen types correlate well with other data such as the number of carpels, the condition of corolla, infloresence types, and geographical distribution of each species. To determine the evolutionary status of sexine structure, an association between sexine characters and the number of carpels was sought. Assuming polymery of floral parts to be a primitive condition in Araliaceae, the undifferentiated sexine, which occurs in the multicarpellate species, also appears to be primitive. Other unspecialized features include short grains, and non-sculptured, imperforate tectum. Several species in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands belong to this putative ancestral pollen type, from which other types may have been derived.

A New Species of Myrtella (Myrtaceae) from Australia and a Synopsis of the Genus

When Endlicher (1834) described Fenzlia with two species in Australia he acknowledged the earlier use of the name Fenzlia by Bentham for a genus in the Polemoniaceae, but he pointed out that Fenzlia Benth. (1833) was considered to be a synonym of Gilia Ruiz & Pav. Since then, Fenzlia Endl. has been incorrectly retained as a distinct genus in the Myrteae (Bentham, I866; Bentham & Hooker, 1867; Niedenzu, 1893) with four species described from Australia, and must be rejected. It does not appear necessary to conserve Fenzlia Endl. over Fenzlia Benth. since an alternative name is already available. Myrtella was described by Mueller (1877) based on two species in New Guinea which were said to differ from Fenzlia Endl. by the 3-locular ovary and smaller leaves and flowers; in Fenzlia Endl. the ovary is I-locular and the leaves are usually broad. Burret (1941) included Myrtella in Fenzlia as a section, together with Saffordiella Merrill (1914), a synonym of Myrtella based on Leptospermum bennigsenianum Volk. from Micronesia. As defined by Burret, Myrtella and Fenzlia are congeneric; they both possess fruits with bony endocarp in which the seeds are embedded. The number of locules can now be seen to be variable and does not provide generic distinction. The four species of Fenzlia are therefore transferred to Myrtella and the name Fenzlia is retained as a section. In addition, material of one new species has been collected in Arnhem Land. This is distinguished from the other four included in sect. Fenzlia by the cordate leaves and larger flowers, as well as differing in distribution and habitat. F. obtusa Endl. is found in Queensland as far south as Broad Sound and extends northwards to the Cape York Peninsula and the Wassi Kussa river in Papua New Guinea and chiefly occurs on coastal sand dunes and on the edges of mangroves. F. retusa Endl. is found both in the Cape York Peninsula and the Gulf of Carpentaria region, chiefly at low altitudes on sandy or lateritic soils in eucalypt woodlands. F. microphylla (Benth.) Domin occurs in Northern Queensland on sandstone-based soils in the Great Dividing Range and resembles Myrtella beccarii F. Muell. in possessing narrow leaves. The fourth species, F. phebalioides W. V. Fitzg., described from the Synnot Range in Western Australia has not been seen; however, in the description it clearly differs from M. cordata by the smaller leaves and flowers and by the globular, glabrous fruit.

Fossil and subfossil fruit bats from the mountains of New Guinea

Examination of man-made deposits of fossil bones spanning more than 10,000 years in the New Guinea highlands revealed extensive accumulation of the remains of fruit bats. Of three species represented in the deposit, one is described as belonging to a new genus and species, a second is Dobsonia moluccensis and the third is Rousettus stresemanni. The last two are compared with modern examples of these two species in New Guinea and comments are made on the relative proportions of the three species through the deposit.

Behavioral Observations on African Army Ants of the Genus Aenictus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Behavioral Observations on African Army Ants of the Genus Aenictus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

EVOLUTION OF THE GENUS CHRYSOCOCCYX

SummaryModern geological ideas on ocean‐floor spreading are briefly reviewed. Pangea began to break up at the end of the Trias, but Africa, Antarctica and Australia remained together or close to each other till the end of the Cretaceous. The position of western New Guinea at the start of the Miocene could have been approximately where Arnhem Land is now, and at the start of the Pliocene somewhat north of the present‐day Aru Islands. Its size until the end of the Pliocene was much smaller than it is today.Friedmann's proposal for the evolutionary spread of Chrysococcyx therefore demands that the whole process occurred since about the start of the Pliocene. There may not have been enough time in these seven million years for the evolutionary dispersal of a genus of parasitic cuckoos halfway round the world. His proposal also regards C. osculans as an awkward throw‐back, and leaves a gap between species in New Guinea and southeastern Asia that is not bridged by intermediates.If a stock of cuckoos had been in Gondwanaland before it broke up, that stock could have given rise to the genus Cacomantis and the forerunners of C. osculans. The lineage of osculans would have quickly given rise to a lineage of glossy cuckoos that then divided into two branches. One could have penetrated Africa, south of where Madagascar then was, produced the species klaas, cupreus, caprius and flavigularis (an aberrant end‐product), and much later, after Madagascar had drifted south from India (having been separate from Africa since the Cretaceous), colonised Asia where maculatus and xanthorhynchus would have differentiated. The other line could have differentiated, perhaps more slowly, in Australia into basalts, lucidus, ruficollis and malayanut (minutillus). When Australia had drifted near enough to the Malay Archipelago and as New Guinea grew, ruficollis and minutillus could have moved forward to colonise the islands, where minutillus would have produced the many races oimalayanus and meyerii differentiated as an aberrant end‐product.This proposal overcomes some of the objections to Friedmann's theory because it arranges events to accord better with geological developments and avoids the evolutionary discontinuities of his proposal. The migratory habits of the cuckoos, thought by Friedmann to be significant, are discounted as evidence for evolutionary history. The parasitic habits are re‐interpreted. Better data are presented for the parasitic behaviour of basalis and lucidus; they suggest that both species are sophisticated and probably host‐specific parasites. Jensen & Jensen (1969) have already given evidence that some African glossy cuckoos are highly host‐specific. There seems to be a trend of decreasing parasitic sophistication in Australian species, correlated with the possible age of the species. In Africa parasitism seems to be far in advance of that in Australia, probably because the opportunities for parasitism are far better in Africa. These trends and differences in parasitic behaviour are compatible with an evolutionary spread from Gondwanaland.The crucial question is whether the stock of Cacomantis and Chrysococcyx could have existed before the break‐up of Gondwanaland, i.e. before the early Eocene. The present fossil record suggests that this is unlikely, but the paucity of fossils and the difficulties of palaeoclimates do not seem to be insuperable and it is suggested that a southern origin for these cuckoos should be considered seriously.

Book Review

The fauna of New Guinea in general is a fascinating one, not only because of its diversity and endemism, but by virtue of its importance in our understanding of zoogeography and evolution. This is particularly true of the Siphonaptera, and since the fleas of New Guinea have been relatively little known, this excellent opus is especially valuable. The review deals with all the relevant Siphonaptera reported or available to the author, namely 4 families, 22 genera (7 new to science), 58 species and subspecies (26 new species and 3 new subspecies), and includes a key to the genera, keys to the New Guinean species of 9 of these genera (the remainder being known only from a single species in New Guinea), illustrations of the major diagnostic features of the new taxa and for described forms not adequately figured heretofore, a host-parasite list, a chapter on zoogeography, a table showing distribution, and 41 bibliographic references.

Studies in the Cunoniaceae. I. The genera Ceratopetalum, Gillbeea, Aistopetalum, and Calycomis

This first series of studies in the Cunoniaceae offers revisions of the genera Ceratopetalum Sm., Gillbeea F. Muell., Aistopetalum Schltr., and Calycomis D. Don. Full synonymy, bibliography, descriptions, and critical notes are given for the genera and species, and keys to the species are included. The genus Cemtopetalum comprises five species in eastern Australia and New Guinea. C. tetrapterum Mattf., described from New Guinea, is reduced in synonymy under C. succirubrum C. T. White, previously known only from northeastern Queensland. The genus Gillbeea comprises two species, one in north-eastern Queensland and one in New Guinea. The genus Aistopetalum comprises two species in New Guinea; one species is widespread in the northern parts of the island, the other is known only from the type collection. A. tetramerum Kan. et Hat. is reduced in synonymy under A. viticoides. The genus Calycomis is monotypic; its only species, C. australis (A. Cunn.) Hoogl. comb. nov. (Weinmannia australis A. Cunn.) is found in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales and is currently known as Acrophyllum verticillatum or A. venosum.

THE GENUS CAREX IN MALAYSIA

This is a fully descriptive account of the 108 species of Carex known to occur in Malaysia. They are arranged in three subgenera: Subgenus Indocarex Baill. (43 species), Subgenus Carex (Eucarex Coss. et Germ.) (57 species), and Subgenus Vignea (P. Beauv.) Nees (8 species). These are in turn divided into 33 sections. The classi- fication of these Malaysian Carices differs radically from past systems (cf. that of Kiikenthal, Engl. Pflanzenreich, 1909) and is based on the phylogenetic views of the author. Following the descriptions are citations of all the specimens seen by the author, and a few not seen but which have mainly been determined' by Kiikenthal. The majority of the specimens Came from Bogor (Buitenzorg) (about 1500 sheets) and Leiden (about 600, including important historical specimens). About half of the species are restricted (endemic) to one or another of the 'island areas' into which Malaysia can be conveniently divided: 18 species in New Guinea, 10 in the Philippines, 5 in Borneo and in Sumatra, 4 in the Malay Peninsula, 3 in Java and in Celebes, 2 in the Moluccas, and 1 in the Lesser Sunda Islands. The remaining 58 species have a slightly to much wider distribution, the chief connection being with India, and, to a slightly less extent, Japan and China. Keys are provided to the species as a whole, to the subgenera, the sections, and to the species in each section. The introductory part of the work explains, among other things, the classi- fication, the relative taxonomic value of characters in the descriptions, distribution, and sources of the material,.

The Australian Monotremes

WITH reference to the existence of Tachyglossus (olim Echidna) in North Australia, and the recent discovery of one (or possibly two) species in New Guinea, the following account, which I lighted on a few evenings ago, when looking over an old volume of the field, seems to be of sufficient interest to warrant its transfer to the pages of NATURE. The account in question occurs in an article “A Week at Plain Creek, Queensland”, by Mr. E. B. Kennedy, which appeared in the issue of that journal for September 20, 1873. It runs as follows:—“. . . Whilst so engaged we heard our dogs making a tremendous noise, high up the bank in the scrub, and upon going to ascertain the cause found them scratching, yelling, and pulling at a porcupine which was half imbedded in a hole; we were at least ten minutes digging him out with sharp-pointed sticks, such was his tenacity in holding on and burrowing. The quills were not nearly so long as the Cape of Good Hope species (of course a true Hystrix), and he differed from that quadruped in having a sort of beak instead of a regular jaw.” It is to be regretted that Mr. Kennedy did not preserve his specimen, which was ultimately cooked and eaten! I should have mentioned that Plain Creek lies in 21 lat. S., so that this is certainly the northernmost locality on the Australian continent, where we have certain knowledge that the Echidna occurs. As we now know that many North Australian species of birds range also into southern New Guinea, it would hardly be surprising if the Tachyglossus of the Fly River and south New Guinea were nothing more than the well-known Tachyglossus hystrix. It is to be hoped that this point may soon be solved by the arrival, of specimens from both localities.