Browsing by Subject "systematics"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    A systematic study of the genus Pseudopentameris (Arundinoideae: Poaceae)
    (1995) Barker, N P
    The genus Pseudopentameris Conert is examined morphologically and anatomically. A phenetic study of the morphologica ly  variable species  P. macrantha indicates that two taxa should be recognised. One of these.  P. caespitosa N.P. Barker, is described as new. In addition, the study supports the inclusion of  Pentameris obtusifolia in  Pseudopentameris. The genus Pseudopentameris is re-delimited to accommodate the new taxa, and a key to species is provided. Details of the cytology, phylogeny and conservation status of taxa in the genus are also discussed.
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    Belesica madiba and Cremastus tutui (Ichneumonidae: Cremastinae) two entomological gems from South Africa
    (2014) Rousse, Pascal; van Noort, S
    The Afrotropical cremastine fauna (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) is characterized by the near absence of the genus Cremastus, with a single species reported from Madagascar. The fauna is also characterized by the presence of several endemic genera. Among the latter is the exceptional monotypic genus Belesica. We describe two new species from these extremely rare Afrotropical genera, namely Belesica madiba sp. nov. and Cremastus tutui sp. nov.. Both are only known from South Africa.
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    Open Access
    Beyond just species: is Africa the most taxonomically diverse bird continent?
    (Academy of Science of South Africa, 2013) Lotz, Chris N; Caddick, John A; Forner, Monika; Cherry, Michael I
    We analysed avian diversity in 8 similar-sized regions of Africa, and in an additional 16 regions spread across the world; half of these 24 regions were tropical and the other half were temperate. For each region, counts of species, genus, family and order were recorded rather than only a species count. We assert that this approach gives more accurate insights into diversity patterns, as we show that in relatively species-rich parts of the world species are on average taxonomically more similar to each other than in species-poor areas. Northwestern South America is the world's most species-rich region for birds, but we show that sub-Saharan Africa has greater diversity at higher taxonomic levels and is thus arguably the richest corner of the world for birds: the Mozambique–Zimbabwe region displays the highest diversity at the order level (with 30 orders), with all other sub-Saharan regions having between 27 and 29 orders each. Northern India is also extremely diverse (surprisingly so for a marginally temperate region) at all taxonomic levels below that of order. We hope that our study might generate further analyses of avian diversity beyond the species level.
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    Open Access
    External fruit morphology of southern African Arundineae (Arundinoideae: Poaceae)
    (1994) Barker, N P
    Fruits of a number of taxa of all indigenous southern African arundinoid genera were examined by means of SEM. Size, shape, compression, surface sculpturing, embryo anti hilum features were recorded and fruits of all genera are illustrated. Results are compared to existing descriptions. The genera are placed in five informal groups according to similarities noted in the fruits.