Submitted date: 10 January 2024 Accepted date: 21 May 2024 Published date: 30 May 2024 Pp. 9–15, pls. 6–7.
A FURTHER TAXONOMIC REASSESSMENT OF Cyrtodactylus madarensis SHARMA, 1980 (SQUAMATA: GEKKONIDAE) NOW IN THE GENUS Eublephairs Gray, 1827 (SQUAMATA: EUBLEPHARIADE)
Zeeshan A. Mirza* *Corresponding author. E-mail: snakeszeeshan@gmail.com
Abstract A recent phylogenetic study identified the population of Eublepharis Gray, 1827, from Rajasthan (India) as a distinct taxon from Eublepharis macularius (Blyth, 1854). A taxonomic reassessment of the population based on literature, existing museum material and molecular data allowed me to assign the name Eublepharis madarensis (Sharma, 1980) to this population. A redescription and rediagnosis of the species are presented based on museum material and images of uncollected individuals. A discussion on the assignment of the nomen ‘madarensis’ is presented. The species appears to be distributed along the Aravalli hills, and most records of the species lie outside of protected areas.
Key words : Eublepharidae, India, Sauria, synonymy, taxonomy
Abstract The montane agamid lizard Japalura austeniana (Annandale, 1908), is rare and is distributed across parts of the eastern Himalayas of India and China. Support from molecular and morphological data provide evidence for the existence of a species complex in the populations referred to as that binomen, and we here describe a morphologically cryptic allied new species. Evidence from molecular data suggests the presence of additional undescribed species across the distribution of that species complex. Elevation might be the restricting factor for gene flow explaining most of the diversification of that montane species complex across the Himalayas.
Key words : Agamidae, biodiversity hotspot, biogeography, conservation, Himalayas, systematics
The Western Ghats of India is known across the world as a biodiversity hotspot due to its rich plant and animal diversity. Orchids are most abundant in this humid tropical and subtropical region. India has 1331 orchid species distributed over 186 genera, of which 400 are endemic. Many orchid species have been reported from Mulshi (alt. 600–1,131 m a.s.l.) which falls in the Northern Western Ghats of Maharashtra. Recently, Jalal & Jayanthi (2018, 2019) recorded 32 genera and 107 species of orchids from the northern Western Ghats. The vegetation is diverse from moist to dry deciduous forests with some semi evergreen elements and open grasslands.
Strobilanthes Blume consists of approximately 350 species, chiefly distributed in the tropical and sub-tropical parts of Asia but extending to the Pacific islands. Approximately 150 species of Strobilanthes are reported from India and, among them, around 70 species are restricted to South India. In the course of a floristic survey in the Megamalai Hills of Tamilnadu in 2016–2017, we collected a remarkable specimen of Strobilanthes, which was characterized by having viscous uninterrupted spikes with a subventricose corolla. Since it has spicate inflorescences, 5-partite calyces, two fertile stamens, and densely hygroscopic-pubescent seeds, the material belongs to the S. kunthiana group. After a critical examination of relevant literature and herbarium materials it was found that the specimen matches the type of S. humilis, hence our collections are the first verified collection after its type collections in 1836.
Meliolaceae fungul species are biotrophic on the leaves and stems of plants and most species do not cause severe damage to the host plant. The genus Prataprajella Hosag. currently contains three species: P. turpiniicola (Hosag.) Hosag. 1992; P. subacuminata (W. Yamam.) B. Song & Y.X. Hu 1999; and P. rubi Hosag., C.K. Biju & T.K. Abraham 2005. I found an unknown fungal species infecting the leaves of Memecylon edule (Melastomataceae). Microscopic examination of the black mildew on the leaves revealed that it is a hitherto undescribed species. Hence, based on the host specificity and other morphological features, here I describe and illustrate a fourth species collected from Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary of Kozhikode District, Kerala, India.
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