Identification of a remnant population of the black-flanked rock-wallaby (Petrogale lateralis lateralis) in Kalbarri National Park, Western Australia, and implications for its management

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 196 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Pearson ◽  
Linda E. Neaves ◽  
Mike Paxman ◽  
Anthony Desmond ◽  
Juanita Renwick ◽  
...  

Black-flanked rock-wallabies (Petrogale lateralis lateralis) were thought to be locally extinct in Kalbarri National Park, Western Australia, until 2015 when a pair were photographed in the Murchison River gorge. Subsequent searches failed to locate any other populations and, in combination with previous surveys, suggest that these animals were the sole survivors of a formerly abundant population. Efforts to capture the rock-wallabies to obtain tissue samples and ascertain their genetic affinities were unsuccessful. However, fresh faecal material was collected and a ~600-bp fragment of DNA sequence data was obtained from a mitochondrial DNA gene. The Kalbarri rock-wallabies were found to be genetically distinct from all other sampled populations of P. l. lateralis. They were genetically most similar to rock-wallabies in the Calvert Range, 950km to the north-east in the Little Sandy Desert. Nearer populations in Cape Range (600km north) and the Western Australian Wheatbelt (500km south-east) were less closely related. Following evaluation of a variety of factors, including population size, genetics, demography, ecology, environment and logistics, a decision was made to supplement the Kalbarri National Park population with females sourced from the Western Australian Wheatbelt. In May 2016 three females were released at the same site as the Kalbarri pair to try to ensure the survival of the population whilst still preserving unique Kalbarri alleles.

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian R. H. Telford ◽  
Kanchana Pruesapan ◽  
Peter C. van Welzen ◽  
Jeremy J. Bruhl

Synostemon trachyspermus (F.Muell.) I.Telford & Pruesapan (Phyllanthaceae, Phyllantheae) is shown, by morphological studies and phylogenetic analysis using nrITS DNA sequence data, to be a heterogeneous species assemblage of four species. Phyllanthus rhytidospermus F.Muell. ex Müll.Arg., with a new combination provided as Synostemon rhytidospermus (F.Muell. ex Müll.Arg.) I.Telford & Pruesapan, and Sauropus hubbardii Airy Shaw, with a new combination as Synostemon hubbardii (Airy Shaw) I.Telford & Pruesapan, are re-instated as species. Phyllanthus arnhemicus S.Moore is lectotypified and placed in synonomy under Synostemon lissocarpus (S.Moore) I.Telford & Pruesapan, which is the new combination provided for Phyllanthus lissocarpus S.Moore (syn. Sauropus lissocarpus (S.Moore) Airy Shaw). Synostemon umbrosus I.Telford & J.J.Bruhl, a rare endemic from the Kimberley, Western Australia, is named as new. The newly described S. hamersleyensis I.Telford & Naaykens, endemic to the Pilbara, Western Australia, and the north-eastern Queensland endemic Sauropus aphyllus J.T.Hunter & J.J.Bruhl are shown to be closely related; the new combination Synostemon aphyllus (J.T.Hunter & J.J.Bruhl) I.Telford & Pruesapan is provided for the latter. Sauropus sp. A of Flora of the Kimberley Region, previously included within S. trachyspermus sens.lat., shows a more distant relationship and is named as Synostemon judithae I.Telford & J.J.Bruhl. Notes on distribution, habitat, phenology, conservation status, photomicrographs of seeds and a key to identification of the species are provided.


2009 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 580-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony R. Magee ◽  
Ben-Erik van Wyk ◽  
Patricia M. Tilney ◽  
Stephen R. Downie

Generic circumscriptions and phylogenetic relationships of the Cape genera Capnophyllum, Dasispermum, and Sonderina are explored through parsimony and Bayesian inference analyses of nrDNA ITS and cpDNA rps16 intron sequences, morphology, and combined molecular and morphological data. The relationship of these genera with the North African genera Krubera and Stoibrax is also assessed. Analyses of both molecular data sets place Capnophyllum, Dasispermum, Sonderina, and the only southern African species of Stoibrax (S. capense) within the newly recognized Lefebvrea clade of tribe Tordylieae. Capnophyllum is strongly supported as monophyletic and is distantly related to Krubera. The monotypic genus Dasispermum and Stoibrax capense are embedded within a paraphyletic Sonderina. This complex is distantly related to the North African species of Stoibrax in tribe Apieae, in which the type species, Stoibrax dichotomum, occurs. Consequently, Dasispermum is expanded to include both Sonderina and Stoibrax capense. New combinations are formalized for Dasispermum capense, D. hispidum, D. humile, and D. tenue. An undescribed species from the Tanqua Karoo in South Africa is also closely related to Capnophyllum and the Dasispermum–Sonderina complex. The genus Scaraboides is described herein to accommodate the new species, S. manningii. This monotypic genus shares the dorsally compressed fruit and involute marginal wings with Capnophyllum, but is easily distinguished by its erect branching habit, green leaves, scabrous umbels, and fruit with indistinct median and lateral ribs, additional solitary vittae in each marginal wing, and parallel, closely spaced commissural vittae. Despite the marked fruit similarities with Capnophyllum, analyses of DNA sequence data place Scaraboides closer to the Dasispermum–Sonderina complex, with which it shares the erect habit, green (nonglaucous) leaves, and scabrous umbels.


2000 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 93 ◽  
Author(s):  
KN Armstrong ◽  
SD Anstee

This paper summarises the roost habitat and distribution of the ghost bat, Macroderma gigas (Dobson, 1880), in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, with particular emphasis on natural habitats. The preferred habitat of M. gigas in the Hamersley Ranges appears to be caves beneath bluffs of low rounded hills composed of Marra Mamba geology. Habitats were also found in the larger hills of Brockman Iron Formation in the Hamersley Range, and other formations beneath bluffs composed of Gorge Creek Group geology to the north east. Granite rockpiles are also used in the eastern Pilbara. A summary of Pilbara records from numerous sources is presented, including anecdotal accounts and other new records. This includes a newly discovered maternity site from the Hamersley Ranges, only the third reported from natural cave formations in the region. Threats to M. gigas in the region are highlighted and include disturbances associated with mining and entanglement in barbed wire fences.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 374 (3) ◽  
pp. 185 ◽  
Author(s):  
FABIÁN A. MICHELANGELI ◽  
RENATO GOLDENBERG

We describe six new species of Melastomataceae from the Yanachaga-Chemillén National Park and surrounding areas from the Department of Pasco, Province of Oxapampa in Central Peru. Macrocentrum andinum is the first species of the genus described from the Andes, found along creeks at 400–500 m elev. and characterized by its anysophyllous leaves, pubescent stems and four-merous flowers. Meriania rubriflora is found in forests above 2200 m elev. and it is characterized by stem nodes with stipular flaps, leaves with an acute base and four merous, deep red flowers. Miconia palcazuana is found along rivers and streams at 300–400 m on the eastern flank of the park, and it can be distinguished by its flowers with pink anthers with glands on the connective and narrowly oblanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate leaves. Miconia yanachagaensis grows in the dwarf-sclerophyllous forests at the top of ridges and grasslands over 2800 m elev. and it is characterized by its long dendritic-pedicellate trichomes on the abaxial leaf surface, the stems flattened to terete and the presence of a conspicuous annular nodal line. Triolena rojasae is found growing on rocks along the Palcazú River and its tributaries, and it is characterized by its lanceolate-crenate leaves. Triolena vasquezii grows on the northern end of the Huancabamba canyon and the North East portion of the park and can be distinguished by its pustulate leaves with purple abaxial surface and anthers with two ventral appendages. We also present the first report of the genus Wurdastom for Peru.


Author(s):  
Hugh M Morrison ◽  
Lisa A Kirkendale ◽  
Nerida G Wilson

ABSTRACT Tudivasum Rosenberg & Petit, 1987 is a morphologically distinct gastropod genus of low diversity. All but one species are known from Australia and they occur from the intertidal zone down to hundreds of metres on the continental shelf. These carnivorous gastropods are thought to have intracapsular development. The six currently recognized extant species are reviewed here and their geographical ranges clarified. Two new species, Tudivasum chaneyi n. sp. and T. ashmorense n. sp., are described from Ashmore Reef, Western Australia, and are characterized by differences in protoconch colour and shell sculpture. The third new species, T. westrale n. sp., is described from the mid-west coast of Western Australia, where it has long been misidentified as T. spinosum (H. Adams & A. Adams, 1864). We generated a molecular phylogeny based on mitochondrial DNA sequence data to test morphological species concepts and reconstruct relationships among four of the described species. High levels of divergence within one of the new species could indicate an additional cryptic species.


Zootaxa ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 3616 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
HELEN K. LARSON ◽  
RALPH FOSTER ◽  
WILLIAM F. HUMPHREYS ◽  
MARK I. STEVENS

A new species of the eyeless eleotrid genus Milyeringa is described from wells sunk on Barrow Island, Western Australia. Milyeringa justitia n. sp. is the third species of the genus to be named. Morphological data and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) DNA sequence data from a wide sample of localities at which the genus occurs was used to evaluate relationships and species limits. Milyeringa veritas is redescribed, and M. brooksi is synonymised with M. veritas. The unique form and ecology of these fishes, plus the threats to their survival, warrants immediate and continuing attention in management.


Author(s):  
Sylwia Szporak ◽  
Dorota Mirosław-Świątek ◽  
Jarosław Chormański

The flood extent in the lower Biebrza basin calculated by the 1D flow model for different land use scenarios The flood extent in the lower Biebrza basin calculated by the 1D flow model for different land use scenarios. An application of an steady 1D flow model for determination of a flood extent in the natural river valley is discussed in this paper. The Pasche method was used to calculate the total Darcy-Weisbach friction factor for each cross section according to the type of vegetation and flow interaction between the main channel and vegetated areas. In this approach friction caused by interaction between the main channel and vegetated areas are taken into account. The model was applied to the Biebrza Valley, fairly undisturbed river-marginal peatland, located in the north-east of Poland. Actual land use carried out in the National Park was analyzed to determine the influence of changes in the vegetation structure on the flood extent in the river valley. The obtained results show variation of a flooded area in relation to the vegetation of the floodplain.


2001 ◽  
Vol 79 (12) ◽  
pp. 1465-1476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Han-Gu Choi ◽  
Myung-Sook Kim ◽  
Michael D Guiry ◽  
Gary W Saunders

The aim of this study was to reassess monophyly of the genus Polysiphonia and determine the phylogenetic affinities of its component lineages among related red algae belonging to the Rhodomelaceae. Our "total evidence" approach, combining 28 anatomical characters and small-subunit ribosomal DNA sequence data for 25 ceramialean algae including 14 species of Polysiphonia sensu lato (including two species of the recently described genus Neosiphonia) and nine related Rhodomelaceae, indicates that Polysiphonia sensu lato consists of three strongly supported clades, Polysiphonia group, Neosiphonia group, and a "multipericentral" group, and a single taxon lineage consisting of Womersleyella setacea. The type species of the genus, Polysiphonia urceolata (= Polysiphonia stricta) from the north Atlantic, formed a distinct clade with Polysiphonia morrowii and Polysiphonia pacifica from the northwest and northeast Pacific, respectively. The Neosiphonia group included Neosiphonia japonica and Neosiphonia savatieri from the northwest Pacific, as originally proposed, Polysiphonia harveyi from the north Atlantic, which shares diagnostic features with this genus, and the anomalous Polysiphonia elongata and Polysiphonia virgata from the north Atlantic and South Africa, respectively. Boergeseniella and Vertebrata from the north Atlantic and Enelittosiphonia from the northwest Pacific associated solidly with the multipericentral Polysiphonia fucoides and Polysiphonia nigra from the north Atlantic. The implications for the taxonomy of Polysiphonia sensu lato and related genera within the Rhodomelaceae are discussed.Key words: Neosiphonia, nuclear small-subunit rDNA, phylogeny, Polysiphonia, Rhodomelaceae, Rhodophyta, systematics.


Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4869 (4) ◽  
pp. 562-586
Author(s):  
JAMES J. SHELLEY ◽  
AURÉLIEN DELAVAL ◽  
MATTHEW C. LE FEUVRE ◽  
TIM DEMPSTER ◽  
TARMO A. RAADIK ◽  
...  

The systematics of the genus Hannia Vari 1978, endemic to freshwater habitats of remote north-western Australia, is revised in light of recent collections in the region and a molecular study of the group that identified an undescribed candidate species. A new freshwater fish species (Hannia wintoni sp. nov) is described based on analysis of multiple nuclear genetic markers (53 allozyme loci), mitochondrial DNA sequence data (601 bp cytochrome b) and morphology (examination of a suite of 66 morphometric and meristic characters). Head profile, postorbital length, maximum length, preopercular spines and pectoral-fin rays are characters that best distinguish H. wintoni sp. nov from its only congener, H. greewayi. While the existing description of H. greenwayi is robust and accurate, we present a number of additional characters that enhance to the original description, based on type and fresh material. Information on the known distribution, habitats and conservation status of the two species is summarised. The new species is a narrow-range endemic. 


Author(s):  
Iván Enrique Caycedo

Systematic and ecological remarks are presented on 14 species of shallow water holothurians of the northern coast of Colombia. The material was collected from Islas del Rosario off the coast southwest of Cartagena (10° 08' 39" Lat. N 75° 43, 21" Long. W) and from Tayrona National Park to the north east of Santa Marta (11° 20, Lat. N and 74 05, Long. W). Ten species are new records to Colombia, one of them appeared to be undescribed as yet (Holothuria thomaú sp. nov. Pawson & Caycedo, in preparation). A key to these species is given. The occurrence of some species in abundance in different habitats is discussed in order to elucidate ecological interrelationships and facilitate field identification.


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