New and noteworthy species of Indigofera (Leguminosae) from NE Africa

Six new species of Indigofera are described: I. eremophila Thulin from E Ethiopia, I. mooneyi Thulin from the highlands of SW Ethiopia, I. boranica Thulin from SE Ethiopia and NE Kenya, I. gyrata Thulin and I. ammophila Thulin from NE Kenya, and I. cana Thulin from north–central Ethiopia. I. cavallii Chiov., previously known only from the type from S Somalia, is reported also from NE Kenya.     

A taxonomic revision of Socotran Indigofereae (Leguminosae—Papilionoideae) with insights into the phytogeographical links of the Socotran Archipelago

This revision of Socotran Indigofereae (Leguminosae) treats two genera, Microcharis and Indigofera , and 16 species, one with two varieties. Indigofera coerulea var. coerulea and I. nugalensis are new records for the archipelago. Indigofera nephrocarpoides, I. marmorata (lectotypified here) and I. socotrana are endemic, whilst Microcharis disjuncta vat. fallax and Indigofera nugalensis are near-endemic to the Socotran islands. This study indicates that the closest relatives of the Socotran Indigofereae are to be found in African lineages. The strongest affinities are between Socotra and extreme NE Somalia ( Indigofera pseudointricata, I. nugalensis ) and, to a lesser extent, with SW Oman ( Microcharis disjuncta var. fallax ), SW Pakistan ( I. nephrocarpa ) and Southern Yemen. Socotran Indigofereae are mainly derived from Tertiary African palaeotropical and drought-adapted lineages. We also suggest that following the separation of the islands from mainland Africa some Indigofereae would have reached the archipelago as a result of recent, long-distance dispersal events.     

Three new species of Heliotmpium (Boraginaceae) from the Horn of Afiica region

Heliotropium subspinosum sp. nov., from the coastal and subcoastal zones of Yemen, Oman and Somalia, is described and illustrated. This is a woody species with small leaves, and particularly the only 1–4–flowered inflorescences, the axes of which become subspinescent, are remarkable in the genus. H. laxum sp. nov., a slender shrublet from central Somalia, is described, and H. personatum sp. nov., a shrublet that is widespread and scattered, particularly on gypseous ground, in eastern Ethiopia, most parts of Somalia and in southern Yemen, is described and illustrated.     

Taxonomic revision of the genus Heliotropium (Boraginaceae s.l.) in south Yemen

The flora and fauna of Arabia, particularly southern Yemen, has recently attracted the interest of many authors. In this study, the genus Heliotropium L. (Boraginaceae) is taxonomically revised in southern Yemen. Ten species are recognized. Nomenclature, typification, representative specimens and a diagnostic key to all species are provided, along with their distribution in southern Yemen. The taxonomically most valuable characters in the genus are those of flowers (calyx, corolla, androecium and gynoecium) and nutlets, and those characters are thoroughly investigated and discussed. Both light and scanning microscopy are used in the investigation. Papillate anther apices (brush‐like) were recognized in some species. Connate anthers and deep or shallow ventral circular depressions on the nutlets were found to be useful in distinguishing members of H. sect. Orthostachys (viz. H. strigosum, H. rariflorum and H. ovalifolium), while winged nutlets were found only in H. pterocarpum. The length and hairiness of the style and stigma also proved to be taxonomically useful.     

Echidnopsis globosa sp. nov. (Asclepiadaceae-Stapelieae) from Yemen

Thulin, M. & Hjertson, M. 1995. Echidnopsis globosa sp. nov. (Asclepiadaceae-Stapelieae) from Yemen. — Nord. J. Bot. 15: 261–262. Copenhagen. ISSN 0107–055X.
The new species Echidnopsis globosa from rocky hillsides on limestone in the Hadramaut Region in Yemen is described and illustrated. It belongs to a group of species including E. squamulata from Yemen and E. ericiflora from Kenya, but is unique in the genus by its almost perfectly globose flowers.     

A new species of Sarcostemma (Apocynaceae-Asclepiadoideae-Asclepiadeae) from Yemen

Sarcostemma areysianum Bruyns is described from the southern mountains of Yemen. It appears to be most closely related to S. arabicum Bruyns & P. Forst. and S. socotranum Lavranos, differing from both by the taller gynostegium with narrow, mostly acute inner corona lobes. A key to the species from Arabia and Socotra is provided.     

576. HELICHRYSUM ARWAE

Summary.  Helichrysum arwae J.R.I.Wood, a narrow endemic from the Yemen Arab Republic, is described and illustrated, along with its cultivation requirements. Its position within Helichrysum is discussed, and comparisons made with H. sessile and H. sessilioides , two similar species from southern Africa.     

Pleistocene-Holocene boundary in Southern Arabia from the perspective of human mtDNA variation

It is now known that several population movements have taken place at different times throughout southern Arabian prehistory. One of the principal questions under debate is if the Early Holocene peopling of southern Arabia was mainly due to input from the Levant during the Pre‐Pottery Neolithic B, to the expansion of an autochthonous population, or some combination of these demographic processes. Since previous genetic studies have not been able to include all parts of southern Arabia, we have helped fill this lacuna by collecting new population datasets from Oman (Dhofar) and Yemen (Al‐Mahra and Bab el‐Mandab). We identified several new haplotypes belonging to haplogroup R2 and generated its whole genome mtDNA tree with age estimates undertaken by different methods. R2, together with other considerably frequent southern Arabian mtDNA haplogroups (R0a, HV1, summing up more than 20% of the South Arabian gene pool) were used to infer the past effective population size through Bayesian skyline plots. These data indicate that the southern Arabian population underwent a large expansion already some 12 ka. A founder analysis of these haplogroups shows that this expansion is largely attributed to demographic input from the Near East. These results support thus the spread of a population coming from the north, but at a significantly earlier date than presently considered by archaeologists. Our data suggest that some of the mtDNA lineages found in southern Arabia have persisted in the region since the end of the Last Ice Age. Am J Phys Anthropol 149:291–298, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A new species of Campylanthus (Scrophulariaceae) from Yemen

Thulin, M. 1995. A new species of Campylanthus (Scrophulariaceae) from Yemen. — Nord. J. Bot. 15: 191–192. Copenhagen. ISSN 0107–055X.
Campylanthus antonii , a new species from the Mahrah Region in Yemen, is described and illustrated.     

Migration of a Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus calidus from Saudi Arabia to Cape Town as revealed by satellite telemetry

In boreal autumn 1995, we tracked a migrating adult Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus calidus from the border of Saudi Arabia and Yemen to near Cape Town, South Africa, a distance of 6 346?km. While on migration it covered 288?km d?1, on average. During its migration in Africa it migrated faster than any other Peregrine tracked so far using satellite telemetry. Falco p. calidus is an uncommon, but regular, migrant to southern Africa, where it overlaps with the resident F. p. minor, but no other bird has been tracked so far south.     

A new species of Caralluma (Apocynaceae–Asclepiadoideae–Ceropegieae) from the Yemen

In this paper a new species, Caralluma faucicola Bruyns, closely related to C. hexagona Lavranos, is described from near the border between the former North and South Yemen in Arabia.     

Regional differences in the distribution of the sub-Saharan, West Eurasian, and South Asian mtDNA lineages in Yemen

Despite its key location for population movements out of and back into Africa, Yemen has not yet been sampled on a regional level for an investigation of sub-Saharan, West Eurasian, and South Asian genetic contributions. In this study, we present mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) data for regionally distinct Yemeni populations that reveal different distributions of mtDNA lineages. An extensive database of mtDNA sequences from North and East African, Middle Eastern and Indian populations was analyzed to provide a context for the regional Yemeni mtDNA datasets. The groups of western Yemen appear to be most closely related to Middle Eastern and North African populations, while the eastern Yemeni population from Hadramawt is most closely related to East Africa. Furthermore, haplotype matches with Africa are almost exclusively confined to West Eurasian R0a haplogroup in southwestern Yemen, although more sub-Saharan L-type matches appear in more northern Yemeni populations. In fact, Yemeni populations have the highest frequency of R0a haplotypes detected to date, thus Yemen or southern Arabia may be the site of the initial expansion of this haplogroup. Whereas two variants of the sub-Saharan haplogroup M1 were detected only in southwestern Yemen close to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, different non-African M haplotypes were detected at low frequencies (approximately 2%) in western parts of the country and at a higher frequency (7.5%) in the Hadramawt. We conclude that the Yemeni gene pool is highly stratified both regionally and temporally and that it has received West Eurasian, Northeast African, and South Asian gene flow.     

703. INDIGOFERA HOWELLII

Indigofera howellii Craib & W.W. Smith from NW Yunnan and NE Myanmar is described and illustrated. Cultivated specimens of I. howellii from several gardens are discussed.     

Eimeria sinaitae n. sp. (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from the Rock Agama (Agama sinaita) in Saudi Arabia

Eimeria sinaitae n. sp. is described from the gall bladder of Agama sinaita from Wasie, Saudi Arabia. Sporulated oocysts are elongate-ellipsoid 34.4 times 22.0 (29.0–40.0 times 17.4–24.5) μm. Oocyst wall is smooth, greenish yellow, 1.2 (1.0–1.4) μm thick, and two-layered. Micropyle, polar granule, and oocyst residuum are absent. Sporocysts are ellipsoid 11.4 times 7.6 (9.8–15.0 times 6.7–9.0) μm. Sporocyst residuum is present. The sporocysts lack a Stieda body. Sporozoites are crescent-shaped, blunt at one end and tapered at the other. Eimeria species from Agamidae are compared.     

Polymorphism of the cultivated barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) of South Arabia at hordein-coding loci

Electrophoresis in starch gel was used to study the polymorphism of hordeins controlled by loci Hrd A, Hrd B, and Hrd F in 89 samples of the local barleys from South Arabia (Yemen). Overall, 36 alleles were detected for locus Hrd A; 48 alleles, for Hrd B; and 5 alleles, for Hrd F. The existence of the blocks of hordein components controlled by loci Hrd A and Hrd B was demonstrated. Calculation of genetic distances allows us to conclude that the barley populations from Yemen and Ethiopia are more similar compared with the populations from Egypt. This confirms the hypothesis of Bakhteev on the origin of Ethiopian barleys.     

A new subgenus and species of Glyptomorpha (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) from Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan and Yemen, with a reappraisal of the status of Teraturus

Abstract A new subgenus and species, Glyptomorpha (Zanporiu) egyptiaca from Egypt, Arabia, Yemen and Pakistan are described and illustrated. G. Zanporia differs from G. Glyptomorpha in the form of the scapus and the lengh of the ovipositor. The status of Teraturus Kokujev is reconsidered and it is proposed that it should be treated as a subgenus of Glyptomorpha Holmgren, The relationship of Glyptomorpha to Rhadinobracon Szépligeti and Victoroviella Tobias is also discussed.