Search results for "Western Palaearctic"

Carex sect. Rhynchocystis (Cyperaceae): a Miocene subtropical relict in the Western Palaearctic showing a dispersal‐derived Rand Flora pattern

2017

Aim To evaluate how Cenozoic climate changes shaped the evolution and distribution of Carex section Rhynchocystis. Location Western Palaearctic and Afrotropical regions (Rand Flora pattern). Methods DNA regions ITS, ETS (nuclear), matK and rpl32-trnLUAG (plastid) were amplified for 86 samples of species from section Rhynchocystis. Phylogenetic and phylogeographical relationships were inferred using maximum parsimony, Bayesian inference and coalescent-based species tree approaches. Divergence times and ancestral areas were also inferred. Results Carex section Rhynchocystis is a clade that diversified during the middle Miocene in Europe. Most cladogenesis events date to the middle and late Mi…

Genetic variability in Peregrine falcon populations of the Western Palaearctic region

2018

We analyzed variation in ten polymorphic microsatellites and a portion of cytochrome b mitochondrial DNA in 4 populations of the Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus). living in northern and southern Italy. Spain and Czech Republic to assess species diversity in the poorly investigated Western Palearctic region. The Spanish population lives in the contact zone between F. peregrinus peregrinus and F. p. brookei. both the northern Italian and the Czech populations live within the range of F. p. peregrinus and the southern Italian is within the F. p. brookei. We added to our cytochrome b sequence dataset comprising 81 samples. previously published mitochondrial DNA sequences (n = 31) of English …

Description of the sexual generation of Dryocosmus destefanii (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini) and disclosure of its life cycle

2020

The sexual generation of Dryocosmus destefanii Cerasa & Melika, 2018 that emerges from galls on Q. suber L. in Italy is described for the first time, establishing its heterogonic life cycle. We provide observations on its distribution, illustration of adults and galls and information on its biology as supported by morphological and molecular data. An illustrated identification key to Western Palaearctic Dryocosmus species is also given. 

Late Cretaceous-Early Eocene origin of yams (Dioscorea, Dioscoreaceae) in the Laurasian Palaearctic and their subsequent Oligocene-Miocene diversific…

2015

Aim: Dioscorea (Dioscoreaceae) is a predominantly pantropical genus (< 600 species) that includes the third most important tropical tuber crop and species of pharmacological value. Fossil records from both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres were used to test hypotheses about the origin of the genus Dioscorea, and to examine potential macroevolutionary processes that led to its current distribution. Location: Pantropical distribution. Methods: Divergence times were estimated using the most comprehensive phylogeny of the group published to date based on plastid sequences and fossil calibrations, applying a relaxed-clock model approach. Ancestral areas and range shifts were reconstructed us…

Is it really you,Orthotrichum acuminatum? Ascertaining a new case of intercontinental disjunction in mosses

2015

Intercontinental disjunct distributions are a main issue in current biogeography. Bryophytes usually have broad distribution ranges and therefore constitute an interesting subject of study in this context. During recent fieldwork in western North America and eastern Africa, we found new populations of a moss morphologically similar to Orthotrichum acuminatum. So far this species has been considered to be one of the most typical epiphytic mosses of the Mediterranean Basin. The new findings raise some puzzling questions. Do these new populations belong to cryptic species or do they belong to O. acuminatum, a species which then has a multiple-continent disjunct range? In the latter case, how c…

The GenusCaenophanesFoerster, 1862 (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Doryctinae) in the Western Palaearctic

2011

The Western Palaearctic species of the genus Caenophanes Foerster are reviewed. A new species from the Canary Islands, C. lapalmaensis sp. nov., is described. The name C. rugosifrons (Picard) is restored from synonymy (stat. resurr.). The redescriptions of C. incompletus (Ratzeburg) and C. rugosifrons are given. A key to the Western Palaearctic species of Caenophanes is suggested.

2007

The lack of obvious morphological differences between species impedes the identification of species in many groups of organisms. Meanwhile, DNA-based approaches are increasingly used to survey biological diversity. In this study we show that sequencing the mitochondrial protein-coding gene NADH dehydrogenase, subunit 1 (nd1) from 534 bats of the Western Palaearctic region corroborates the promise of DNA barcodes in two major respects. First, species described with classical taxonomic tools can be genetically identified with only a few exceptions. Second, substantial sequence divergence suggests an unexpected high number of undiscovered species.

Cryptic Diversity in Mongolian Vespertilionid Bats (Vespertilionidae, Chiroptera, Mammalia). Results of the Mongolian-German Biological Expeditions S…

2012

In contrast to the Eastern Palaearctic region a high degree of cryptic diversity was discovered among temperate bats of the Western Palaearctic region in the last ten years. Climatic oscillations caused severe changes in the distribution of species throughout the Palaearctic region during the Pleistocene. Exploring multiple taxa can help to understand general evolutionary differentiation processes. In the present study genetic variation within and among 94 Mongolian vespertilionid bats of six genera (Hypsugo, Eptesicus, Vespertilio, Myotis, Plecotus, and Nyctalus) was screened by sequencing a 798 bp fragment of the mitochondrial ND1 gene and then subsequently compared with those of Western …

Rediscovery of Cerroneuroterus apenninus (Trotter, 1923) (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini) a valid species from Italy with description and neotype d…

2021

Neuroterus apenninus Trotter, 1923 associated with a Cerris section oak, Quercus cerris L., was rediscovered in Italy in 2017. Alessandro Trotter (1903) described a leaf gall collected on Q. cerris from the Italian Apennines; he did not obtain the gall inductor and ascribed the galls to the genus Neuroterus, based on morphological similarity with other Neuroterus galls. We have found the same gall and obtained the gall inducer. Detailed study of morphological characters of adults revealed that the species belongs to the genus Cerroneuroterus Melika &amp; Pujade-Villar, 2010. The asexual generation of Cerroneuroterus apenninus comb. n. is described for the first time, a neotype is designated…

Poleward range expansion without a southern contraction in the ground beetle Agonum viridicupreum (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

2011

We investigated the extent of poleward shifts in the distribution range of Agonum viridicupreum due to climate change in the western Palaearctic. Species' records were obtained from extensive literature sources as well as from collections, and consistent amateur entomologists' recordings. Within the general geographic range of the species, we analyzed in detail two parts of both, the northern and southern distribution range boundaries: (1 and 2) north-western Germany (leading or high-latitude edge), (3) Israel and (4) southern Italy (rear or low-latitude edge). Temporal changes in the occurrence data of the species indicated a northward shift of the leading edge of a minimum of 100 km withi…