Taxonomic Foundation Research Articles

Checklist of marine macroalgae in two contiguous Marine Protected Areas in the south-western Atlantic.

The Costa das Algas Environmental Protection Area (EPA) and the Santa Cruz Wildlife Refuge (WR), located in the Espírito Santo Continental Shelf, Brazil, are outstanding marine protected areas due to their high biodiversity, particularly of macroalgae. Together, these two relatively small protected areas (1,150 and 177 km2, respectively) harbour about a quarter of all macroalgal species recorded in Brazil.The checklist presented herein updates the algal flora of these two protected areas with data obtained until 2019. Two hundred and sixty-five macroalgal taxa were recorded, most of which with vouchers. Checklists based on the collections of each protected area were published on: "Catálogo de Plantas das Unidades de Conservação do Brasil" (https://catalogo-ucs-brasil.jbrj.gov.br/). Besides specimens collected between 2018 and 2019, the algal flora presented herein includes previous records from different Brazilian herbaria (e.g., SP, SPF, ALCB). Herbaria records may include species that do not occur in intertidal reefs (e.g., Laminaria). Overall, 249 macroalgal taxa and one marine angiosperm were recorded in the Costa das Algas EPA (87 new records) and 136 macroalgal taxa and one marine angiosperm in the Santa Cruz WR (46 new records). All taxa are native to Brazil and nine are endemic to Brazil. Our results provide a taxonomic foundation to support management, long-term monitoring and conservation in these protected areas.

Molecular and morphological examinations show diversity in the genus Amphidromus (Camaenidae: Stylommatophora) in Bangladesh

Establishing a robust taxonomic foundation is crucial for biodiversity conservation. Bangladesh harbours potentially unique biodiversity that remains inadequately explored. Concurrently, its biodiversity faces substantial pressure owing to environmental changes; thus, an urgent assessment of its current status is required. In this study, we focused on the understudied land snails of Bangladesh, the genus Amphidromus. Utilizing 45 samples collected from 13 sites during a 2018–2022 survey, as well as museum specimens and literature sources, we conducted molecular phylogenetic analyses and the haplotype network of the mitochondrial 16S ribosomal RNA, cytochrome c oxidase subunit I and nuclear internal transcribed spacer 1, examined shell shapes using elliptical Fourier features, and evaluated shell size and band patterns. Based on the molecular and morphological examinations, we identified five Amphidromus species in Bangladesh, including two potentially undescribed species, each recorded at a single site in the Chittagong Division. The dominant species, A. globonevilli, is widely distributed in central and eastern Bangladesh, revealing a geographically structured mitochondrial DNA diversity. Furthermore, in the museum specimens, we confirmed the occurrence of A. sinensis vicaria and A. sylheticus, the latter being newly discovered in Bangladesh. These two species may be limited to the eastern part of Bangladesh and represent low-density species. Although the taxonomic relationship of these species with A. globonevilli remains unclear and further studies with molecular data are warranted, our findings provide the basis for further understanding and conservation of biodiversity in Bangladesh.

Resolution of the long-standing controversy over the type species of the genus Pseudotypotherium (Notoungulata, Typotheria, Mesotheriidae)

Mesotheres (Notoungulata: Typotheria) are among the most common mammals found in upper Miocene to Pliocene deposits of central Argentina, including the classic type Monte Hermoso locality, which defines the Montehermosan South American Land Mammal “Age”. Nevertheless, the correct name for the mesothere species from this site has been shrouded in uncertainty for well over a century due to questions of taxonomic priority, specimen provenance, and ontogenetic changes in dental formula. Since the mesotheres from Monte Hermoso were named, three distinct species have been formally considered as the type species of the genus: (1) Pseudotypotherium bravardi; (2) “Pseudotypotherium” maendrum; and (3) Pseudotypotherium exiguum. However, none of these species is a nominal species of the Pseudotypotherium genus; all three were originally referred to Typotherium. Article 67.2 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN, 1999) indicates that only species considered as nominal species are eligible to set the type; in the case of Pseudotypotherium, these include: P. pulchrum, P. carlesi, P. hystatum, and P. carhuense. We conclude that Pseudotypotherium pulchrumF. Ameghino, 1904 (holotype MACN A 10299, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”, Ameghino Collection), is the type species of the mesotheriid notoungulate genus from Monte Hermoso. According to Article 68.2, F. Ameghino fixed the type by original designation in 1904 when he described P. pulchrum and included “n. g., n. sp.”. Two of the other species previously considered species P. (= T.) bravardi and P. (= T.) exiguum are invalid as type species according to Article 70.2, since their designations overlooked the previous type fixation. The third species (M. (= T.) maendrum) represents a different mesothere genus (Mesotherium) that only occurs in younger (Pleistocene) deposits. Our analysis puts an end to a historical debate that has been ongoing for more than a century regarding the identity of this well-represented late Miocene–Pliocene mesotheriine genus (Pseudotypotherium). This study provides a solid taxonomic foundation for future studies on intraspecific and ontogenetic variation of Pseudotypotherium pulchrum.

Integrating Taxonomic Names and Concepts from Paper and Digital Sources for a New Flora of Alaska

The taxonomic foundation of a new regional flora or monograph is the reconciliation of pre-existing names and taxonomic concepts (i.e., variation in usage of those names). This reconciliation is traditionally done manually, but the availability of taxonomic resources online and of text manipulation software means that some of the work can now be automated, speeding up the development of new taxonomic products. As a contribution to developing a new Flora of Alaska (floraofalaska.org), we have digitized the main pre-existing flora (Hultén 1968) and combined it with key online taxonomic name sources (Panarctic Flora, Flora of North America, International Plant Names Index - IPNI, Tropicos, Kew’s World Checklist of Selected Plant Families), to build a canonical list of names anchored to external Globally Unique Identifiers (GUIDs) (e.g., IPNI URLs). We developed taxonomically-aware fuzzy-matching software (matchnames, Webb 2020) to identify cognates in different lists. The taxa for which there are variations between different sources in accepted names and synonyms are then flagged for review by taxonomic experts. However, even though names may be consistent across previous monographs and floras, the taxonomic concept (or circumscription) of a name may differ among authors, meaning that the way an accepted name in the flora is applied may be unfamiliar to the users of previous floras. We therefore have begun to manually align taxonomic concepts across five existing floras: Panarctic Flora, Flora of North America, Cody’s Flora of the Yukon (Cody 2000), Welsh’s Flora (Welsh 1974) and Hultén’s Flora (Hultén 1968), analysing usage and recording the Region Connection Calculus (RCC-5) relationships between taxonomic concepts common to each source. So far, we have mapped taxa in 13 genera, containing 557 taxonomic concepts and 482 taxonomic concept relationships. To facilitate this alignment process we developed software (tcm, Webb 2021) to record publications, names, taxonomic concepts and relationships, and to visualize the taxonomic concept relationships as graphs. These relationship graphs have proved to be accessible and valuable in discussing the frequently complex shifts in circumscription with the taxonomic experts who have reviewed the work. The taxonomic concept data are being integrated into the larger dataset to permit users of the new flora to instantly see both the chain of synonymy and concept map for any name. We have also worked with the developer of the Arctos Collection Management Solution (a database used for the majority of Alaskan collections) on new data tables for storage and display of taxonomic concept data. In this presentation, we will describe some of the ideas and workflows that may be of value to others working to connect across taxonomic resources.

Low Sampling Effort and High Genetic Isolation Contribute to Underdocumented Diversity in Philippine Fig Wasps

One of the unique attributes of tropical forests is the diversity of fig-fig wasp interactions. In the Philippines, there is a good estimate of the number of fig species, but none for the pollinating fig wasps. According to our review of the literature, there are only 10 described species of Ceratosolen in the Philippines, eight of which are endemic to the country (80% endemicity) out of a global count of 72 species worldwide. However, most historical collections were only from Luzon island. In this study, because of an increased sampling effort across 10 islands – coupled with morphological comparisons with described species and analysis of genomic data – we identified 29 as yet undescribed Ceratosolen species (which represents an increase of nearly 300% for the Philippine fig wasp fauna). This shows that the major factors contributing to under-documented diversity in Philippine Ceratosolen are low sampling effort and high genetic isolation between lineages. More importantly, this is probably not limited to fig wasps and we suspect underestimated diversity in most Philippine faunal lineages. Building a strong taxonomic foundation is key to the establishment of good conservation practices. It is time to start investing in Philippine biodiversity research before we lose our natural treasures.

The Culex Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) of French Guiana: A Comprehensive Review With the Description of Three New Species.

The taxonomically intricate genus Culex Linnaeus includes numerous known vector species of parasites and viruses to humans. The aim of this article is to comprehensively review the Culex species which occur in French Guiana to provide a stronger taxonomic foundation for future studies on this genus in South America. The occurrence of Culex species was investigated in light of current taxonomic knowledge through an extensive examination of voucher specimens deposited in the entomological collections of four French depositories and additional specimens recently collected at various localities in French Guiana. Based on this review, 104 Culex species classified in eight subgenera are confirmed to occur in French Guiana. Compared to the most recent checklist, 18 species are added, and 10 species excluded, resulting in a total number of 242 valid mosquito species known to occur in French Guiana. Three nominal species are synonymized, three others are newly described, and a last one is transferred to another informal infrasubgeneric group. Overall, this review also highlights the limits of the use of only bibliographic data when dealing with taxonomically complex groups of insects.

Mapping Asia Plants: Historical outline and review of sources on floristic diversity in North Asia (Asian Russia)

North Asia – the Asian part of Russia – is a vast territory that occupies 1/3 of Asia, or about 13 100 000 sq. km. Floristic exploration of North Asia was bolstered in the first half of the 18th century when the emperor Peter I the Great founded the Academy of Sciences (currently, the Russian Academy of Sciences). The first complete flora of the Russian Empire was published in the middle of the 19th century by C.F. von Ledebour, and a wealth of North Asian floristic data had accumulated by the beginning of the 20th century. Under the guidance of the Botanical Institute in Leningrad (St. Petersburg), the “Flora of the USSR” (1944–1964) was initiated to consolidate this vast body of floristic knowledge. Following this Flora, two modern interregional compendia (“Vascular Plants of the Soviet Far East” and “Flora of Siberia”) were published in the 1980s and 1990s, which serve as the taxonomic foundation for the newest regional floras and checklists of the last twenty years. According to our statistics, which are expansive but not comprehensive, there are at least 300 books devoted to the flora of different regions of North Asia. The newest “Checklist of the Flora of Asian Russia” published in 2012 listed 6961 species and subspecies of vascular plants. Here, we provide a short review of the main references on vascular flora within all 27 administrative regions of North Asia.

Redescription of the New Zealand harvestman Nuncia obesa obesa (Opiliones: Laniatores: Triaenonychidae) and implications for the supposed transcontinental distribution of Nuncia

Harvestmen genera with transcontinental distributions are rare but represent very interesting models for evolutionary and biogeographical studies. However, before attempting to understand such distributions, it is crucial to have a good taxonomic foundation of the focal taxa. One of the most disjunct harvestmen genera is NunciaLoman, 1902 (Triaenonychidae), which has been recorded from New Zealand and South America, but the alpha taxonomy is in need of improvement, mainly with respect to the detailed characterization of male genitalic morphology. The taxonomic and systematic revision of Nuncia remains an important and intriguing issue, and the redescription of Nuncia obesa (Simon, 1899) is a necessary starting point for the taxonomic revision of the genus. Herein we redescribe and illustrate N. obesa based on the reexamination of the syntypes of Nuncia sperataLoman, 1902 (type species of Nuncia) and the holotype of Triaenonyx obesusSimon, 1899 (senior synonym of Nuncia sperata). We also confirm the synonymy of both species.

Type designations for sap beetles in the subfamily Carpophilinae Erichson (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) housed in the Natural History Museum, London.

The subfamily Carpophilinae, in particular the genus Carpophilus Stephens, represents one of the most speciose lineages within Nitidulidae. The subfamily was first recognized by Erichson (1843) in a much broader sense, including what is now the Cillaeinae. According to Kirejtshuk (2008), there are seven genera and 13 subgenera within Carpophilinae. To date, however, no comprehensive tribal or generic phylogenetic reconstructions have been published for the subfamily. This work constitutes a preliminary stage of a larger project that will address the subfamily in a rigorous taxonomic and systematic framework. A stable taxonomic foundation for Carpophilus species and other Carpophilinae taxa is needed to ensure the validity of future work in the subfamily. Herein we designate lectotypes and paralectotypes and confirm holotypes for 14 species of carpophiline sap beetles following ICZN (1999) articles 73.1 and 74.1.

A toponymic investigation of South African gated communities

ABSTRACTResearch into place names has evolved to beyond the encyclopaedic rendition of their etymological and taxonomic foundations. Toponymy was criticized as atheoretical, apolitical and uncritical until the toponymic turn in the latter half of the 1980s and early 1990s. In South Africa, this change can arguably be traced to the mid-1980s with Pirie’s insightful treatment of the torturous process of the naming of Soweto. It was until the early 2000s before geographers again took South African toponymy in their sights. This study, focussing on the toponymy of gated communities in non-metropolitan Western Cape, adds to that growing corpus of knowledge by seeking to understand the message that their naming imprints on the urbanscape. The study employs Bourdieu’s notion of symbolic capital to illustrate how the naming of gated communities adds to their exclusionary qualities by creating an illusionary residential territory. Private developers use the symbolic capital of naming to market developments thereby creating economic capital. Using a database of gated-community names collected in a previous study it is shown that developments rely heavily on environmental names and names that display elements of community, heritage and links to European locales. The naming conventions point to names symbolizing notions of status and prestige. Interviews with respondents involved in the naming and government officials who consider the names submitted to them point to a situation where there is very little statutory guidance and control over the naming of gated communities. Questions arise as to who contributes to naming in the post-apartheid urbanscape.

Characterising the invertebrate megafaunal assemblages of a deep-sea (200–3000 m) frontier region for oil and gas exploration: the Great Australian Bight, Australia

The first systematic benthic survey in the deep sea (200–3000 m) of Australia’s Great Australian Bight (GAB) was undertaken in 2015 to characterise the invertebrate megafauna, and to inform the selection of indicators and metrics for ecological monitoring ahead of oil and gas exploration. The survey yielded more than 629 species of invertebrate megafauna; of the 376 species with distributional data, 92 (25%) were undescribed and 77 were new records for Australian waters. The families and genera present were all known to occur in the deep sea and many species had been previously recorded in Australia and worldwide; faunal composition was broadly typical for temperate deep-sea regions. The highest diversities (>80 putative species, or Operational Taxonomic Units, OTUs) were recorded within the higher taxa Demospongiae, Decapoda, Gastropoda and Echinodermata. Multispecies analyses showed clear changes in the assemblage structure with depth; sponges and echinoderms dominated the overall biomass and density, with the former being more prominent in shallower depths. The assemblage structure is consistent with the GAB being a single provincial-scale bioregion, with no longitudinal pattern in assemblage, biomass or density distribution. Approximately 70% of species that could be assigned biogeographic data were previously recorded from Australia, with less than half (146 species, 39%) previously known from the GAB. Only two described species, the crab Choniognathus granulosus and barnacle Arcoscalpellum inum, appear restricted to the GAB; it would be premature to assign any undescribed species as having endemic status. The clear eastwards biogeographic affinity of the GAB fauna is influenced by the relatively high deep-sea sampling effort to the east off southeastern Australia and New Zealand. Our survey of invertebrate megafauna at baseline (unperturbed) sites provides the basis to evaluate indicators and metrics using a reference-site monitoring approach. A robust (consistent species-level) taxonomic foundation will enable a variety of assemblage-level (composite) metrics (e.g. richness, diversity, distinctness) to be derived, and this is possible across several major taxa including Porifera, Cnidaria, Mollusca, Echinodermata and Crustacea. Species-level data also permit structural and functional changes (including recovery) to be assessed in response to disturbance. Where reference sites should be established can only be determined once the exploration phase of industry development is further advanced because the spatial scales of potential impact are highly activity-specific. However, our data show the high importance of depth to selecting monitoring sites because invertebrate megafaunal assemblage composition (turnover), diversity, and abundance are all highly correlated with depth. Conversely, latitude is not important because the central GAB is a single biogeographic province.

Catalogue of Life Plus: innovating the CoL systems as a foundation for a clearinghouse for names and taxonomy

In 2015, the global biodiversity information initiatives Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL), Barcode of Life Data systems (BoLD), Catalogue of Life (CoL), Encyclopedia of Life (EOL), and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) took the first step to work on the idea for building a single shared authoritative nomenclature and taxonomic foundation that could be used as a backbone to order and connect biodiversity data across various domains. At present, the Catalogue of Life is being used by BHL, BoLD, EOL, and GBIF, but each extend the CoL with additional data to meet the specific backbone services required. The goal of the CoL+ project is to innovate the CoL systems by developing a new information technology infrastructure that includes both the current Catalogue of Life and a provisional Catalogue of Life (replacing the current GBIF backbone taxonomy), separates scientific names and taxonomic concepts with associated unique identifiers, and provides some (infrastructural) support for taxonomic and nomenclatural content authorities to finish their work. The project’s specific objectives are to establish a clearinghouse covering scientific names across all life; provide a single taxonomic view grounded in the consensus classification of the Catalogue of Life along with candidate taxonomic sources, show differences between sources, and provide an avenue for feedback to content authorities while allowing the broader community to contribute, and establish a partnership and governance, allowing a continuing commitment after the project’s end for a clearinghouse infrastructure and its associated components, including a roadmap for future developments of the infrastructure. establish a clearinghouse covering scientific names across all life; provide a single taxonomic view grounded in the consensus classification of the Catalogue of Life along with candidate taxonomic sources, show differences between sources, and provide an avenue for feedback to content authorities while allowing the broader community to contribute, and establish a partnership and governance, allowing a continuing commitment after the project’s end for a clearinghouse infrastructure and its associated components, including a roadmap for future developments of the infrastructure. As result of the project we expect to have a shared information space for names and taxonomy between the Catalogue of Life, nomenclator content authorities (e.g. IPNI, ZooBank) and several global biodiversity information initiatives.

A taxonomic foundation for evidence-based research on employee performance management

ABSTRACTThis study presents a taxonomic foundation for research on employee performance management practices based on a comprehensive review of the literature (198 articles and book chapters). The taxonomy consists of 50 practices organized within seven topic categories, including an evaluation of the amount of research evidence supporting each practice. This taxonomic foundation facilitates the aggregation, integration, interpretation, and explanation of performance management research based on a role-theoretic perspective derived from the behavioural approach to strategic human resource management. The proposed direct-linkage path model shows how this taxonomic foundation ties performance management practices to behaviours and results. We build on this Practice – Behaviour – Results (PBR) critical path model with moderators and mediators based on cognitive and social factors identified in the extensive previous research. This PBR model provides a foundation for orderly and structured growth for future research that will enhance the connection between research and improved organizational practices in performance management, as well as a guide to best practices in performance management.

Arachnids in Bitterfeld amber: A unique fauna of fossils from the heart of Europe or simply old friends?

Bitterfeld amber, sometimes referred to as Saxon or Saxonian amber, is a potentially significant but poorly known source of arthropod data for the Palaeogene of northern Europe. An important aspect is a long-standing controversy about the age of this amber: namely whether it is equivalent to, and perhaps merely a southerly extension of, the better-known Baltic amber, or whether it is a unique and geological younger deposit sampling a different fauna. Here, we briefly review the Bitterfeld arachnids with particular emphasis on how these data could be used to elucidate the age of this deposit. Five arachnid orders have been recorded from Bitterfeld amber: spiders (Araneae), acariform mites (Acariformes), parasitiform mites (Parasitiformes), harvestmen (Opiliones) and pseudoscorpions (Pseudoscorpiones). This is a lower diversity than Baltic amber, where scorpions (Scorpiones) and camel spiders (Solifugae) have also been recorded. Spiders are the most comprehensively studied group, with more than 75 described species. Other groups such as pseudoscorpions and mites appear to be very diverse, but are virtually undescribed. Morphological overlap is apparent in the arachnid fauna and 40 species are currently shared between Baltic and Bitterfeld amber whilst 50 species are unique to the Bitterfeld deposit. At the family level overlap is even higher, but in all groups Baltic amber appears more diverse than Bitterfeld. This overlap may be interpreted as evidence for temporal conspecifity of the Baltic and Bitterfeld ambers, albeit with the Bitterfeld and Baltic ambers possibly representing independent localities within a larger Eocene European amber area which also included the Rovno amber from the Ukraine. However, caution should be exercised because the taxonomic foundation for such assumptions is far from comprehensive, most of the material remains to be studied in detail using modern techniques of morphological reconstruction. There are further issues with date estimates because some arachnid groups show extraordinary morphological stasis over time, even at species level, which may bias the analyses available. Here, we review the available knowledge on Bitterfeld arachnids and discuss how a detailed assessment of this fauna, and other arthropod taxa, could be generated. Several natural history museums – including Hamburg and Berlin – as well as private collectors host major assemblages of Bitterfeld fossils which may help to clarify the debate about the age and provenance of the material, and the extent to which (morpho)-species were maintained both over geographical distances and potentially geological time.

An illustrated catalogue of Rudolf Sturany's type specimens in the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Austria (NHMW): deep-sea Eastern Mediterranean molluscs.

The “Pola” expeditions were the first to explore the deep Eastern Mediterranean Sea in the 1890s. They remained the most intense surveys in that area for a century and constitute today a fundamental baseline to assess change in the basin, whose fauna is still inadequately described. Solid taxonomic foundations for the study of deep-sea organisms are needed and we here contribute by revising the name-bearing types of mollusc species introduced by Rudolf Sturany on the basis of the “Pola” material from the Eastern Mediterranean Sea stored in the Natural History Museum in Vienna. Sturany introduced 15 names (Marginella occulta var. minor Sturany, 1896 shall not be considered as the introduction of a new name). He described and established two manuscript names by Monterosato: Jujubinus igneus and Pseudomurex ruderatus. The genus Isorropodon was also introduced together with its type species I. perplexum. For each name, we list the available type material, provide the original description and a translation into English and illustrate the specimens in colour and with SEM imaging.

Biogeography of Sri Lankan bryophytes: the present status

Bryophytes (liverworts, mosses and hornworts) are the closest living relatives of the first group of plants that successfully colonized land. This small but well-established group of plants is unique among other land plants in having a dominant gametophyte phase in their life cycle and a single unbranched sporophyte that depends on the dominant gametophyte plant. Bryophytes occur throughout the world in all continents, occupying an assortment of habitats, especially in moist shady places. Many species have broad geographic ranges that may span two or more continents. Dispersal of bryophytes is brought about by spores, vegetative propagules or by unspecialized fragments of the gametophyte. The bryophyte flora of Sri Lanka remains relatively poorly researched. According to checklists available, the Island harbours 560 mosses, 327 liverworts and five hornworts. Most of the collecting has been in the southern half of the country, especially in the Central Highlands. Exact locality details are missing for most of these specimens. There is no documentation for moss or liverwort Flora of Sri Lanka. Lack of a thorough taxonomic foundation is a major impediment to study the biogeography of Sri Lankan bryophytes. O’Shea (2003) presented a summary of current knowledge of biogeography of Sri Lankan mosses. According to his statistical analysis based on existing records Sri Lankan mosses show strong relationships with India, Indochina, and Malaysia but a much lower affinity with Africa. Here we conducted a similar study for liverworts and hornworts using Kroeber’s percentage of similarity, which suggests that Sri Lankan liverworts and hornworts show a considerable similarity with those of Java, Malaysia, Thailand, and India. However, more and wider systematic field explorations and taxonomic studies are needed to understand the biogeography of Sri Lankan bryophytes. To address this, field explorations and phylogenetic studies are being carried out, and the results will contribute to elucidate the biogeographic affinities of Sri Lanka’s bryophyte flora.

The development of Sri Lankan biogeography in the colonial period

Studies of the patterns and processes of biogeography necessarily contingent on a robust taxonomic foundation which, in turn, depends on a thorough exploration of the biota of the concerned regions. The formal exploration of the flora and fauna of Sri Lanka commenced in the second half of the 17th century, during the Dutch colonial period. The earliest cabinet of Sri Lankan plants was acquired by Paul Hermann between 1672 and 1679. This resulted in three floras of Sri Lanka being published in a span of three decades: Hermann (1717), Johannes Burman (1737) and Carl Linnaeus (1747). The publication of near-complete ‘floras’ of India and Sri Lanka at the end of the 19th century paved the way for Henry Trimen to seek to explain the geographic affinities of the Sri Lankan angiosperms, noting the disjunct distributions of several plant groups between Sri Lanka and southern India on one hand, and Sri Lanka and Indomalaya on the other. This allowed John Christopher Willis to undertake further investigations of the distributions of the Sri Lankan flora, especially within the island. Willis was the first botanist to observe the high incidence of microendemism in the island, leading to his since-discredited theory of Age and Area, which argued that taxa with smaller distributions must be of more recent evolutionary origin. In contrast to the development of the floral inventory centred on the Herbarium in the Royal Botanic Garden, Peradeniya, the faunal inventory lacked an institutional foundation. Most species were described by foreign zoologists, often based on specimens that lacked precise locality data. Zoogeographical studies have thus lagged phytogeographic analyses, and also been bedevilled by taxonomic uncertainties. Nevertheless, in his pioneering global zoogeography, Alfred Russel Wallace (1877) considered Sri Lanka, together with South India, as a distinct sub-region of his Oriental Region, thereby recognizing the distinction of the biota of this sub-region from that of the rest of India. Wallace, however, invoked numerous land-bridges to explain faunal disjunctions. Meanwhile, D.N. Wadia’s work on the orogeny of the subcontinent helped explain historical biotic connectivity. His identification of the plains of erosion in Sri Lanka laid the ground for the future biogeographic characterization of the island. By the time of Independence in the mid-20th century, a stable picture of the external relationships of the island’s biota had emerged: close and evidently recent links to the southern Western Ghats of India; older links to Indomalaya, evidently severed by the Gangetic ‘Chatterjee Partition’ and the subsequent desiccation of much of the Indian peninsula; and a handful of possible ‘Gondwanan’ links to Madagascar. However, the large number of biotic disjunctions between Sri Lanka and regions further afield remained to be explained. Dispersal appears to be the most likely scenario for most of these. Despite the accumulation of vast amounts of geospatial data by the end of the colonial period, a quantitative characterization of the distribution of the flora yet remains a desideratum. For the distribution of animals within the island, only the most rudimentary information existed at the time of Independence, and accretion to this pool of data has been modest even in the 70 years since.

The Name of Cannabis: A Short Guide for Nonbotanists.

The genus Cannabis (Family Cannabaceae) is probably indigenous to wet habitats of Asiatic continent. The long coexistence between mankind and Cannabis led to an early domestication of the plant, which soon showed an amazing spectrum of possible utilizations, as a source of textile fibers, as well as narcotic and psychoactive compounds. Nowadays, the specie(s) belonging to the genus Cannabis are represented by myriads of cultivated varieties, often with unstable taxonomic foundations. The nomenclature of Cannabis has been the object of numerous nomenclatural treatments. Linnaeus in Species Plantarum (1753) described a single species of hemp, Cannabis sativa, whereas Lamarck (1785) proposed two species of Cannabis: C. sativa, the species largely cultivated in Western Continent, and Cannabis indica, a wild species growing in India and neighboring countries. The dilemma about the existence of the species C. indica considered distinct from C. sativa continues up to present days. Due to their prevalent economic interest, the nomenclatural treatment is particularly important as far as it concerns the cultivated varieties of Cannabis. In this context, we propose to avoid the distinction between sativa and indica, suggesting a bimodal approach: when a cultivar has been correctly established. It could be advisable to apply a nomenclature system based on the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP): it is not necessary to use the species epithets, sativa or indica, and a combination of the genus name and a cultivar epithet in any language and bounded by single quotation marks define an exclusive name for each Cannabis cultivar. In contrast, Cannabis varieties named with vernacular names by medical patients and recreational users, and lacking an adequate description as required by ICNCP, should be named as Cannabis strain, followed by their popularized name and without single quotation marks, having in mind that their names have no taxonomical validity.

A Phylogenetically Based Infrageneric Classification of the Parasitic Plant Genus <I>Cuscuta</I> (Dodders, Convolvulaceae)

Cuscuta (dodders, Convolvulaceae) is one of the largest and most economically important lineages of parasitic plants. The genus has a sub-cosmopolitan distribution with more than 75% of the species diversifying in the New World. The last monograph, published by Truman George Yuncker in 1932, provided a solid species-level taxonomic foundation. However, as revealed by recent phylogenetic studies, its infrageneric classification has been in great need of a taxonomic reappraisal, mainly because the morphological characters used in the previous classifications have been greatly affected by convergent evolution. Several recent phylogenetic and character evolution studies with broad sampling, as well as species-level revisions, have illustrated the deficiencies of previous classifications and provided an explicit and robust phylogenetic framework. Here we propose a new phylogenetic classification that places all 194 currently accepted species of Cuscuta into four subgenera and 18 sections. Sections have a strong morphological and biogeographical predictive value and include from one to 31 species. Thirteen section names are new or applied for the first time at the sectional rank: Babylonicae (Yunck.) M. A. Garcia, Subulatae (Engelm.) Costea & Stefanovic, Obtusilobae (Engelm.) Costea & Stefanovic, Prismaticae (Yunck.) Costea & Stefanovic, Ceratophorae (Yunck.) Costea & Stefanovic, Umbellatae (Yunck.) Costea & Stefanovic, Gracillimae Costea & Stefanovic, Californicae (Yunck.) Costea & Stefanovic, Indecorae (Yunck.) Costea & Stefanovic, Oxycarpae (Engelm. ex Yunck.) Costea & Stefanovic, Racemosae (Yunck.) Costea & Stefanovic, Partitae Costea & Stefanovic, and Denticulatae (Yunck.) Costea & Stefanovic. An identification key to sections is included together with an overview of morphology, geographical distribution, taxonomic notes, and lists of included species.

The taxonomic foundation, species circumscription and continental endemisms of Singerocybe: evidence from morphological and molecular data

The genus Singerocybe (Tricholomataceae, Agaricales, Basidiomycota) has been the subject of controversy since its proposal in 1988. Its taxonomic foundation, species circumscription and geographical distribution have not yet been examined with molecular sequence data. In this study phylogenetic analyses on this group of fungi were conducted based on collections from Europe, eastern Asia, southern Asia, North America and Australia, with four nuclear markers, ITS, nrLSU, tef1-α and rpb2. Molecular phylogenetic analyses, together with morphological observations, strongly support Singerocybe as a monophyletic group and identify the vesicles in the pileal and stipe cuticle as a synapomorphy of this genus. Seven species are recognized in the genus, including one new species and four new combinations. Clitocybe trogioides and Clitocybe trogioides var. odorifera are synonyms of Singerocybe humilis and Singerocybe alboinfundibuliformis respectively. Most of these species are geographically restricted in their distributions. Furthermore our study expands the distribution range of Singerocybe from the North Temperate Zone to Australia (Tasmania) and tropical southern Asia.