Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 393 in total

Abstract:
Sort:
  1. Thompson CW, Phelps KL, Allard MW, Cook JA, Dunnum JL, Ferguson AW, et al.
    mBio, 2021 01 12;12(1).
    PMID: 33436435 DOI: 10.1128/mBio.02698-20
    Despite being nearly 10 months into the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic, the definitive animal host for SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2), the causal agent of COVID-19, remains unknown. Unfortunately, similar problems exist for other betacoronaviruses, and no vouchered specimens exist to corroborate host species identification for most of these pathogens. This most basic information is critical to the full understanding and mitigation of emerging zoonotic diseases. To overcome this hurdle, we recommend that host-pathogen researchers adopt vouchering practices and collaborate with natural history collections to permanently archive microbiological samples and host specimens. Vouchered specimens and associated samples provide both repeatability and extension to host-pathogen studies, and using them mobilizes a large workforce (i.e., biodiversity scientists) to assist in pandemic preparedness. We review several well-known examples that successfully integrate host-pathogen research with natural history collections (e.g., yellow fever, hantaviruses, helminths). However, vouchering remains an underutilized practice in such studies. Using an online survey, we assessed vouchering practices used by microbiologists (e.g., bacteriologists, parasitologists, virologists) in host-pathogen research. A much greater number of respondents permanently archive microbiological samples than archive host specimens, and less than half of respondents voucher host specimens from which microbiological samples were lethally collected. To foster collaborations between microbiologists and natural history collections, we provide recommendations for integrating vouchering techniques and archiving of microbiological samples into host-pathogen studies. This integrative approach exemplifies the premise underlying One Health initiatives, providing critical infrastructure for addressing related issues ranging from public health to global climate change and the biodiversity crisis.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biodiversity
  2. Bittleston LS, Wolock CJ, Yahya BE, Chan XY, Chan KG, Pierce NE, et al.
    Elife, 2018 08 28;7.
    PMID: 30152327 DOI: 10.7554/eLife.36741
    The 'pitchers' of carnivorous pitcher plants are exquisite examples of convergent evolution. An open question is whether the living communities housed in pitchers also converge in structure or function. Using samples from more than 330 field-collected pitchers of eight species of Southeast Asian Nepenthes and six species of North American Sarracenia, we demonstrate that the pitcher microcosms, or miniature ecosystems with complex communities, are strikingly similar. Compared to communities from surrounding habitats, pitcher communities house fewer species. While communities associated with the two genera contain different microbial organisms and arthropods, the species are predominantly from the same phylogenetic clades. Microbiomes from both genera are enriched in degradation pathways and have high abundances of key degradation enzymes. Moreover, in a manipulative field experiment, Nepenthes pitchers placed in a North American bog assembled Sarracenia-like communities. An understanding of the convergent interactions in pitcher microcosms facilitates identification of selective pressures shaping the communities.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biodiversity
  3. Dow RA
    Zootaxa, 2014;3795:181-6.
    PMID: 24870471 DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3795.2.7
    Onychogomphus marijanmatoki is described from a male from Gunung Mulu National Park, Miri Division, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. One of only two onychogomphine species known from Borneo, it differs from all others of the group in characters of the genital ligula and terminal appendages.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biodiversity*
  4. Tan MK, Kamaruddin KN
    Zootaxa, 2013;3710:389-94.
    PMID: 26106700
    Material based on a taxonomic collection in Bukit Fraser, Pahang of Malay Peninsula enables the review of two genera of bush katydid (Phaneropterinae). The female of Elimaea (Rhaebelimaea) pseudochloris Ingrisch, 1998 is described and recorded for the first time outside its type locality, Thailand. One new species of Pseudopsyra from Bukit Fraser is described: Pseudopsyra bispina sp. n.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biodiversity
  5. Kodada J, Kadubec M, Ciampor F
    Zootaxa, 2013;3646:68-74.
    PMID: 26213745
    Three species have been recognized in the genus Geoparnus Besuchet, 1978, all collected by sifting ground debris from tropical rainforests of Malaysia. The new species Geoparnus loebli sp. nov. is described; morphological similarities to known species G setifer Besuchet, 1978 and G rhinoceros Kodada, Jach, Ciampor Jr & (Camporova-Zat'ovicova, 2007 are discussed. Habitus of adult, male and female genitalia as well as other diagnostic characters are illustrated.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biodiversity
  6. Mound LA
    Zootaxa, 2013;3741:181-93.
    PMID: 25112982 DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3741.1.7
    Species of Apelaunothrips are fungus-feeders on dead leaves, particularly in leaf-litter, and they are recorded across the Old World tropics from Africa to northern Australia and southern Japan. All species in this genus have the maxillary stylets 4-6 microns in diameter, considerably broader than the 2-3 micron diameter that is typical among Phlaeothripinae. The species are largely uniform in structure, but in four species the larger males have fore femora enlarged with a conspicuous tubercle on the inner margin at the base. In one of these species, the males are dimorphic, with no intermediates between large and small individuals, in contrast to the continuous variation in structure found in many polymorphic Phlaeothripidae. A key is provided to the 37 recognised species of Apelaunothrips, including the following: A. desleyae sp.n. from northern Australia; A. bogor sp.n. from Java; A. gombak sp.n. from Peninsular Malaysia.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biodiversity
  7. Lü L, Zhou HZ
    Zootaxa, 2015;3992(1):1-94.
    PMID: 26250256 DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3992.1.1
    Oxytelus species are widespread over all continents except Antarctica. Southeast Asia is one of the biodiversity hotspots in the world. In this paper, we review the Oxytelus species currently known from Southeast Asia. Seven species are described as new to science: O. castaneus sp. nov. (Vietnam), O. finitimus sp. nov. (Laos), O. grandiculus sp. nov. (Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand), O. insulanus sp. nov. (Malaysia and Indonesia), O. lompobatangensis sp. nov. and O. poecilopterus sp. nov. (Indonesia), and O. sublividus sp. nov. (Vietnam and Laos). Seven new synonymies are proposed: O. ruptus Fauvel = O. sublucidus Cameron, O. lucens Bernhauer = O. malaisei Scheerpeltz, O. puncticeps Kraatz = O. (Anotylus) micantoides Scheerpeltz, O. subferrugineus Cameron = O. kedirianus Cameron, O. megaceros Fauvel = O. kalisi Bernhauer, O. subincisus Cameron = O. fruhstorferi Cameron, O. antennalis Fauvel = O. cheesmani Bernhauer. Lectotypes are designated for the following names: O. armiger Fauvel, O. bellicosus Fauvel, O. discalis Cameron, O. gigantulus Fauvel, O. ginyuenensis Bernhauer, O. javanus Cameron, O. kalisi Bernhauer, O. kedirianus Cameron, O. lucens Bernhauer, O. lucidulus Cameron, O. mandibularis Cameron, O. megaceros Fauvel, O. nilgiriensis Cameron, O. subferrugineus Cameron, O. subincisus Cameron, O. sublucidus Cameron, O. subsculptus Cameron, O. antennalis Fauvel (New Caledonia, New Guinea and Australia), O. cheesmani Bernhauer (New Hebrides), O. cheesmanianus Cameron (Papua New Guinea), O. hingstoni Cameron (India), and O. tibetanus Bernhauer (China). The species O. (Anotylus) transversipennis Scheerpeltz is transferred to the genus Anotylus. Other than the new species, nine previously known species are redescribed, a key to 30 species and line drawings or color photographs of 42 species are provided. Thus, a total of 30 species are recorded from Southeast Asia.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biodiversity
  8. Ishak NHBA, Adam N'B, Kassim Z
    Zootaxa, 2018 May 25;4422(4):451-477.
    PMID: 30313479 DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4422.4.1
    The marine pelagic tunicates of Family Salpidae Lahille, 1888 presence in the coastal waters of Terengganu was studied for the first time. Samples were collected from April to July 2016 using 200µm Bongo net; hauled vertically from a stationary vessel; and preserved in 5% buffered formaldehyde. A total of 4 species under this family were found, observed and identified: Thalia rhomboides (Quoy and Gaimard 1824); Thalia sibogae (van Soest 1973); Weelia cylindrica (Cuvier 1804) and Brooksia rostrata (Traustedt 1893). All species were identified as new records in Malaysian waters. The description on morphological characteristics and a key to the solitary and aggregate of the recorded species is added. The distribution was analyzed from the 18 sampling stations in theTerengganu waters including Pulau Bidong, Pulau Yu and Pulau Kapas. The collected data was then compiled with previous available global literature on the distribution and occurrence of these four species, consequently updating the biodiversity of Malaysian fauna and its worldwide biogeography distribution.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biodiversity*
  9. Schmelz RM
    Zootaxa, 2018 Oct 04;4496(1):6-10.
    PMID: 30313683 DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4496.1.3
    This Special Volume of Zootaxa unites forty papers written in honor of the late András Zicsi (1928-2015), the eminent earthworm taxonomist. They deal with the taxonomy, systematics and distribution of earthworms and enchytraeids, the two major groups of soil-dwelling Oligochaeta. Altogether, 71 new species-group taxa are described, 60 species and subspecies of earthworms and 11 species of enchytraeids. They are from 15 countries all around the globe: Spain, Italy, Hungary, Turkey, Botswana, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biodiversity
  10. Grismer LL, Wood PLJ, Ahmad AB, Baizul-Hafsyam BS, Afiq-Shuhaimi M, Rizal SA, et al.
    Zootaxa, 2018 May 29;4425(1):87-107.
    PMID: 30313468 DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4425.1.5
    Two new species of diminutive, sympatric, lowland, leaf-litter skinks of the genus Tytthoscincus Linkem, Diesmos Brown from the Sekayu region of Hulu Terengganu, Terengganu State in northeastern Peninsular Malaysia are described on the basis genetic and morphological data. One of the new species, T. monticolus sp. nov., was collected in a hilly riparian area along Sungai (=river) Bubu and is most closely related to an undescribed species from the Tembak Reservoir area. The other, T. keciktuek sp. nov. collected along Sungai Peres, is most closely related to T. perhentianensis Grismer, Wood, Grismer from Pulau (=island) Perhentian Besar. Sympatry and syntopy of multiple, specialized, unrelated, leaf-litter species of Tytthoscincus was previously only known from upland areas and these new species represent the first example of lowland of sympatry. More importantly, however, these endemic species add to a growing body of research and discoveries that continue to underscore the unrealized biodiversity of the riparian systems of Hulu Terengganu and the Sekayu region and their need for protection and continued study.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biodiversity
  11. Sinev AY, Yusoff FM
    Zootaxa, 2018 Jun 21;4438(2):362-372.
    PMID: 30313150 DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4438.2.10
    Unlike those in the mainland of Southeast Asia, the Cladocera of the Malay Archipelago has not been intensively studied, except for the state of Sabah in the north-eastern part of the Borneo island. This study aimed to complete the inventory of the Cladocera in Sabah by looking at different types of water bodies including oxbow lakes, small lakes, reservoirs, ponds, ditches and paddy fields. From 32 sites examined, 35 species of cladocerans, nine of which were new records to Sabah, were found from 25 localities. With this new finding, the total number of cladoceran species in Sabah increased to 39 species, including five species of Sididae, four species of Daphniidae, one species of Moinidae, five species of Macrothricidae, two species of Ilyocryptidae, and 22 species of Chydoridae. Only 8 % ( three species) of Sabah cladocerans are true planktonic. This study illustrated that most cladocerans were associated with substrates in the littoral zone and thus appropriate sampling methods should be employed in different microhabitats for comprehensive biodiversity assessment.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biodiversity
  12. Tan MK, Kamaruddin KN
    Zootaxa, 2016 May 12;4111(1):21-40.
    PMID: 27394894 DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4111.1.2
    Bukit Larut is a hill station at the southern tip of the Bintang Range, Perak of Peninsular Malaysia. While the biodiversity of Bukit Larut has been previously documented, its entomofauna, including the Orthoptera, remains relatively unknown. A faunistic survey was conducted in 2015 as part of the continuous exploration of the highlands in Malay Peninsula. An annotated species list of 71 (24 Caelifera and 47 Ensifera) species of Orthoptera from ten families (five from each order) is presented here. While the coverage of lineages in the orthopteran phylogeny is well-represented, the diversity in Bukit Larut is dominated by the three main families: Acrididae, Gryllidae and Tettigoniidae. Eight new locality records for Bukit Larut and/or Peninsular Malaysia and potential new species awaiting description highlight that the orthopteran diversity in Bukit Larut is not exhaustive.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biodiversity*
  13. Robert R, Lee DJ, Rodrigues KF, Hussein MA, Waheed Z, Kumar SV
    Zootaxa, 2016 Nov 29;4200(2):zootaxa.4200.2.2.
    PMID: 27988618 DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4200.2.2
    Acropora is the most biologically diverse group of reef-building coral, and its richness peaks at the Indo-Malay-Philippine Archipelago, the centre of global coral reef biodiversity. In this paper, we describe the species richness of Acropora fauna of North Borneo, East Malaysia, based on review of literature and as corroborated by voucher specimens. Eighty-three species of Acropora are reported here; four species are literature based and 79 are supported by voucher specimens that were subsequently photographed. New records for North Borneo were recorded for 12 species, including Acropora suharsonoi Wallace 1994 that was previously thought to be confined to a few islands along Lombok Strait, Indonesia. The diversity of Acropora in North Borneo is comparable to that of Indonesia and the Philippines, despite the area's smaller reef areas. This further reinforces its inclusion as part the global hotspot of coral biodiversity.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biodiversity
  14. Kazim AR, Houssaini J, Tappe D, Heo CC
    Zootaxa, 2022 Dec 02;5214(3):301-336.
    PMID: 37044900 DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5214.3.1
    Literature records of sucking lice (Phthiraptera: Anoplura) from Malaysia were checked and reviewed, resulting in a list of 34 established species belonging to 11 genera (Ancistroplax, Atopophthirus, Enderleinellus, Haematopinus, Hamophthirius, Hoplopleura, Linognathus, Neohaematopinus, Pedicinus, Polyplax and Sathrax). Furthermore, three local and six cosmopolitan louse species are regarded as dubious in Malaysia, due to misidentifications or lack of locality records. Also, pathogens known to be associated with the sucking lice are listed. The alarming conservation status of some Malaysian mammalian host species and their sucking lice warrant more research and imminent action to preserve the biodiversity of the country. This paper presents the first complete checklist of anopluran lice from both Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo, including localities, literature references and a host-louse list.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biodiversity
  15. Matsui M
    Zoolog Sci, 2006 Sep;23(9):821-30.
    PMID: 17043405
    Three new megophryid species, Leptolalax melanoleucus, L. fuliginosus, and L. solus, are described from southwestern and southern Thailand on the bases of acoustic and morphological characteristics. Leptolalax melanoleucus and L. fuliginosus are similar to L. pelodytoides from northern Thailand, but differ from it completely in advertisement call characteristics and ventral color. Leptolalax solus is similar to L. heteropus from peninsular Malaysia, but differs from it by advertisement call, as well as by some body proportions. The distributional pattern of Leptolalax within Thailand is discussed.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biodiversity
  16. Sun ZJ, Zhu W, Zhu WB, Zhao CL, Liao CL, Zou B, et al.
    Zool Res, 2021 Jul 18;42(4):412-416.
    PMID: 34075734 DOI: 10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2020.341
    Functional diversity is an integrative approach to better understand biodiversity across space and time. In the present study, we investigated the spatiotemporal patterns (i.e., elevation and season) and environmental determinants of anuran functional diversity on Tianping Mountain, northwest Hunan, China. Specifically, 10 transects were established from low (300 m a.s.l.) to high (1 492 m a.s.l.) elevations, and anuran communities were sampled in spring, early summer, midsummer, and autumn in 2017. Four functional diversity indices were computed for each transect in each season using ecomorphological functional traits. Our results demonstrated that these indices had contrasting responses to increasing elevations. However, they did not differ significantly among seasons in terms of temporal patterns. Interestingly, the unique spatiotemporal functional diversity patterns were impacted by distinct environmental variables, such as leaf litter cover, water temperature, number of trees, and water conductivity.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biodiversity*
  17. Deeleman-Reinhold CL, Miller J, Floren A
    Zookeys, 2016.
    PMID: 26877691 DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.556.6174
    Depreissia is a little known genus comprising two hymenopteran-mimicking species, one found in Central Africa and one in the north of Borneo. The male of Depreissia decipiens is redescribed, the female is described for the first time. The carapace is elongated, dorsally flattened and rhombus-shaped, the rear of the thorax laterally depressed and transformed, with a pair of deep pits; the pedicel is almost as long as the abdomen. The male palp is unusual, characterized by the transverse deeply split membranous tegulum separating a ventral part which bears a sclerotized tegular apophysis and a large dagger-like retrodirected median apophysis. The female epigyne consists of one pair of large adjacent spermathecae and very long copulatory ducts arising posteriorly and rising laterally alongside the spermathecae continuing in several vertical and horizontal coils over the anterior surface. Relationships within the Salticidae are discussed and an affinity with the Cocalodinae is suggested. Arguments are provided for a hypothesis that Depreissia decipiens is not ant-mimicking as was previously believed, but is a mimic of polistinine wasps. The species was found in the canopy in the Kinabalu area only, in primary and old secondary rainforest at 200-700 m.a.s.l. Overlap of canopy-dwelling spider species with those in the understorey are discussed and examples of species richness and endemism in the canopy are highlighted. Canopy fogging is a very efficient method of collecting for most arthropods. The canopy fauna adds an extra dimension to the known biodiversity of the tropical rainforest. In southeast Asia, canopy research has been neglected, inhibiting evaluation of comparative results of this canopy project with that from other regions. More use of fogging as a collecting method would greatly improve insight into the actual species richness and species distribution in general.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biodiversity
  18. Dayrat B, Goulding TC, Khalil M, Comendador J, Xuân QN, Tan SK, et al.
    Zookeys, 2019;877:31-80.
    PMID: 31592220 DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.877.36698
    As part of an ongoing effort to revise the taxonomy of air-breathing, marine, onchidiid slugs, a new genus, Laspionchis Dayrat & Goulding, gen. nov., is described from the mangroves of South-East Asia. It includes two new species, Laspionchis boucheti Dayrat & Goulding, sp. nov., and Laspionchis bourkei Dayrat & Goulding, sp. nov., both distributed from the Malacca Strait to the Philippines and Australia. This study is based on extensive field work in South-East Asia, comparative anatomy, and both mitochondrial (COI and 16S) and nuclear (ITS2 and 28S) DNA sequences. The two new species are found in the same habitat (mud surface in mangrove forests) and are externally cryptic but are distinct anatomically. Both species are also strongly supported by DNA sequences. Three cryptic, least-inclusive, reciprocally-monophyletic units within Laspionchis bourkei are regarded as subspecies: L. bourkei bourkei Dayrat & Goulding, ssp. nov., L. bourkei lateriensis Dayrat & Goulding, ssp. nov., and L. bourkei matangensis Dayrat & Goulding, ssp. nov. The present contribution shows again that species delineation is greatly enhanced by considering comparative anatomy and nuclear DNA sequences in addition to mitochondrial DNA sequences, and that thorough taxonomic revisions are the best and most efficient path to accurate biodiversity knowledge.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biodiversity
  19. Schilthuizen M, Perreau M, Njunjić I
    Zookeys, 2018.
    PMID: 30100790 DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.777.23212
    The available knowledge of the round fungus beetle subfamily Cholevinae (Leiodidae) from the island of Borneo is reviewed, and the results of newly studied material presented. The currently known 30 species (of which 14 are newly described herein) represent the genera Micronemadus (one species), Catops (one species), Baryodirus (one species), Ptomaphaginus (14 species), and Ptomaphaminus (13 species). The following new species are described: Micronemadussondaicus Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n., Ptomaphaginusgrandis Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n., P.louis Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n., P.muluensis Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n., and P.isabellarossellini Schilthuizen, Njunjić & Perreau, sp. n., and Ptomaphaminuskinabatanganensis Njunjić, Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n., P.testaceus Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n., P.nanus Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n., P.marshalli Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n., P.hanskii Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n., P.sarawacensis Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n., P.layangensis Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n., P.microphallus Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n., and P.alabensis Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n. It is expected that the cholevine biodiversity of Borneo is still far from completely known. Nonetheless, provisional identification keys to all species known so far are presented.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biodiversity
  20. Ng TH, Dulipat J, Foon JK, Lopes-Lima M, Alexandra Zieritz, Liew TS
    Zookeys, 2017.
    PMID: 28769673 DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.673.12544
    Sabah, a Malaysian state at the north-eastern tip of Borneo, is situated in one of the Earth's biodiversity hotspots yet its freshwater gastropod diversity remains poorly known. An annotated checklist of the freshwater gastropods is presented, based on specimens deposited in the BORNEENSIS collection of the Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation at Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia. A KMZ file is also provided, which acts as a repository of digital images and complete collection data of all examined material, so that it can be shared and adapted to facilitate future research.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biodiversity
Filters
Contact Us

Please provide feedback to Administrator (afdal@afpm.org.my)

External Links