First confirmed record of the Corsac Fox,Vulpes corsac,from Iran and considerations on its status (Mammalia: Canidae)

The occurrence of the Corsac Fox, Vulpes corsac, is replete with ambiguity and uncertainty in the literature. We present the first confirmed record of the species from Iran. In the course of a survey, we found two Corsac Fox furs in Tehran Market in 2013 and separately recorded one adult and a group of three young in semi-arid steppes in central Turkmen Sahra, Golestan Province, in June 2014. Great Gerbil (Rhomobomys opimus), Libyan Jird (Meriones libycus), and Long-eared Hedgehog (Hemiechinus auritus) are among prey items. The Corsac Fox has a limited range in Iran and is threatened by habitat fragmentation and road kill.     

Preferential phenotypic association linked with cooperation in paper wasps

Animals can influence their social environment by preferentially associating with certain conspecifics. Such preferential association has gained increasing theoretical attention, as it may influence social evolution and population dynamics. However, relatively little empirical work has examined the occurrence of preferential association and its effects on cooperative group formation. Here, we test the factors associated with cooperative group formation in Polistes dominulus nest‐founding queen wasps. P. dominulus are a good system to study preferential association, as foundresses can nest alone or in groups and group membership is flexible. We found that both social and environmental factors were associated with partner choice. First, facial patterns were associated with cooperation. Wasps with more similar facial patterns were more likely to cooperate than wasps with less similar facial patterns. This preferential phenotypic association fits the theoretical criteria for the evolution of tag‐based cooperation. Season was also associated with cooperation; wasps on early‐season nests were more likely to cooperate than wasps on late‐season nests. High levels of aggression by nest owners during initial interactions were also correlated with lower probabilities of subsequent cooperation, suggesting that nest owners have some control over group membership. Other factors including body weight, weight similarity and nest productivity were not linked with cooperation. Overall, multiple factors influence cooperation in paper wasps, including facial pattern similarity. The occurrence of preferential phenotypic association in paper wasps is quite interesting and may influence the evolution of cooperation and population divergence in this group.     

华南地区黒眶蟾蜍的遗传变异和地理分化

黒眶蟾蜍Bufo melanostictus(Anura,Bufonidae)是亚洲常见的蟾蜍,广泛分布于中国华南地区。由于华南地区分布着众多的大陆架岛屿及其地貌的复杂性与多样性,因而不同地区的黑眶蟾蜍种群可能存在地理上的遗传变异。本文首次采用DNA序列分析方法,检测了采自我国华南6个省市地区(福建、广东、广西、海南、香港、台湾),包括4个主要大陆架岛屿(海南岛、大屿山、南澳岛、台湾岛)的12个黑眶蟾蜍种群共84个个体,获得mtDNA控制区序列长956bp的片段,共有75个变异位点(26.3%为单个多态位点,73.7%为简约信息位点),12个插入/缺失。所获得的44个单倍型中有5个为种群间共享的单倍型。华南地区黒眶蟾蜍较高的的遗传多样性(单倍型多样性h=0.977)不但表现为海岛种群内普遍具有较高的遗传变异,而且遗传分化指数(FST)、基因流(Nm)、Amova和Samova等分析均表明种群之间已经发生了明显的遗传分化。从Amova分析和分子系统发育分析结果来看,华南地区分布于大陆与分布于海岛的种群之间并未发生明显的遗传分化,说明由陆缘浅海造成的阻隔作用(isolation by barrier)并不能很好地解释华南地区黑眶蟾蜍种群之间遗传分化的原因。遗传距离与地理距离的低度相关(Mantel测试R=0.192,P<0.001)说明华南地区黑眶蟾蜍的种群分化並不完全符合距离决定分化(isolation by distance)的假说。Samova的结果表明华南沿海大陆东部的3个种群(广东汕头、福建莆田和东山)与其它地区9个种群之间的变异最大(FCT=0.35097),因此,推测黑眶蟾蜍这2个地理区域组之间应该存在着其它地理隔离屏障,对两地黑眶蟾蜍的迁移有一定的阻隔作用,产生此隔离效应的天然地理屏障可能为莲花山脉。黑眶蟾蜍种群在历史上曾发生多次局部扩张,时间大约在距今0.025MYA左右,这与最后一次冰期结束的时间相吻合,而位于我国华南大陆周边的4个主要大陆架岛屿(海南岛、大屿山、南澳岛、台湾岛)可能是华南地区黒眶蟾蜍在第四纪冰期的"避难所"。南澳岛种群所存在的特殊单倍型验证了这一岛屿避难所的存在。本研究揭示的地理种群之间的遗传变异和分化,对进一步了解华南地区乃至亚洲的黒眶蟾蜍的生物地理关系有重要意义。     

Strong temporal consistency in the individual foraging behaviour of Imperial Shags Phalacrocorax atriceps

Individual consistency in foraging behaviour can generate behavioural variability within populations and may, ultimately, lead to species diversification. However, individual‐based long‐term behavioural studies are particularly scarce in seabird species. Between 2008 and 2011, breeding Imperial Shags Phalacrocorax atriceps at the Punta León colony, Argentina, were tracked with GPS devices to evaluate behavioural consistency during their foraging trips. Within a breeding season, individuals were highly consistent in the maximum distances they reached from the shore and the colony, as well as in the time invested in flight and diving across consecutive days during early chick rearing. In addition, each individual had its specific foraging area distinct from the foraging area of other individuals. Comparing between early and late chick rearing in the same season, individuals were consistent, to a lesser degree, in the maximum distance they reached from the colony and the shore, increasing in consistency later on in the season. Within the season, females were more consistent than males in the maximum distance they moved from the colony and the shore, the sexes segregated in their foraging areas and individual females were segregated from one another. Twenty‐eight individuals tracked in different breeding seasons were marginally consistent in their trip durations and maximum distance reached from shore across seasons. Among seasons, foraging locations differed between sexes and among individual females. Individuals from this colony exhibited consistency over time in several aspects of foraging behaviour, which may be due to a combination of individual characteristics such as learning abilities, breeding experience or health, as well as targeted prey type and stability of the environment at this location.     

RELATIONSHIP OF GENETIC DIVERSITY AND NICHE CENTRALITY: A SURVEY AND ANALYSIS

The distribution of genetic diversity within and among populations in relation to species’ geographic ranges is important to understanding processes of evolution, speciation, and biogeography. One hypothesis predicts that natural populations at geographic range margins will have lower genetic diversity relative to those located centrally in species’ distributions owing to a link between geographic and environmental marginality; alternatively, genetic variation may be unrelated with geographic marginality via decoupling of geographic and environmental marginality. We investigate the predictivity of geographic patterns of genetic variation based on geographic and environmental marginality using published genetic diversity data for 40 species (insects, plants, birds, mammals, worms). Only about half of species showed positive relationships between geographic and environmental marginality. Three analyses (sign test, multiple linear regression, and meta‐analysis of correlation effect sizes) showed a negative relationship between genetic diversity and distance to environmental niche centroid, but no consistent relationship of genetic diversity with distance to geographic range center.     

Matching floral and pollinator traits through guild convergence and pollinator ecotype formation

Background and Aims

Pollinator landscapes, as determined by pollinator morphology/behaviour, can vary inter- or intraspecifically, imposing divergent selective pressures and leading to geographically divergent floral ecotypes. Assemblages of plants pollinated by the same pollinator (pollinator guilds) should exhibit convergence of floral traits because they are exposed to similar selective pressures. Both convergence and the formation of pollination ecotypes should lead to matching of traits among plants and their pollinators.

Methods

We examined 17 floral guild members pollinated in all or part of their range by Prosoeca longipennis, a long-proboscid fly with geographic variation in tongue length. Attractive floral traits such as colour, and nectar properties were recorded in populations across the range of each species. The length of floral reproductive parts, a mechanical fit trait, was recorded in each population to assess possible correlation with the mouthparts of the local pollinator. A multiple regression analysis was used to determine whether pollinators or abiotic factors provided the best explanation for variation in floral traits, and pollinator shifts were recorded in extralimital guild member populations.

Key Results

Nine of the 17 species were visited by alternative pollinator species in other parts of their ranges, and these displayed differences in mechanical fit and attractive traits, suggesting putative pollination ecotypes. Plants pollinated by P. longipennis were similar in colour throughout the pollinator range. Tube length of floral guild members co-varied with the proboscis length of P. longipennis.

Conclusions

Pollinator shifts have resulted in geographically divergent pollinator ecotypes across the ranges of several guild members. However, within sites, unrelated plants pollinated by P. longipennis are similar in the length of their floral parts, most probably as a result of convergent evolution in response to pollinator morphology. Both of these lines of evidence suggest that pollinators play an important role in selecting for certain floral traits.     

基于化学成分及分子特征中药材肉苁蓉生态型研究

中药材生态型多样性是道地药材研究的重要组成部分.道地药材—"沙漠人参"肉苁蓉(Cistanche deserticola)是中国最具特色的干旱区濒危药用植物和关键物种,新疆和内蒙古是其重要主产区和传统道地产区.前期研究表明,内蒙古阿拉善高原和新疆北疆是肉苁蓉两大生态适宜生产集中区(两类生态型),本文进一步对两大产区肉苁蓉化学成分、分子地理标识及生态因子进行考察.应用UPLC-QTOF/MS技术对肉苁蓉苯乙醇苷及环烯醚萜苷类成分进行分析;基于psbA-trnH序列对不同产地肉苁蓉进行分子鉴别及分析;通过"中国气象科学数据共享服务网",获得两大产区包括温度、水分、光照等生态因子数据;运用生物统计、数量分类等分析方法,对肉苁蓉进行生态型划分.UPLC-QTOF/MS分析表明,内蒙古与新疆产肉苁蓉明显不同,鉴定出16种成分,其中2′-乙酰毛蕊花糖苷可作为区分两大产地肉苁蓉的指标成分;psbA-trnH序列比对分析发现,肉苁蓉不同产地间序列位点存在差异,新疆产肉苁蓉在191位点为G,内蒙古产则为A,NJ tree分析表明,肉苁蓉两个产地明显分为两支,差异显著;生态因子数据亦表明,肉苁蓉的两大气候地理分布格局.本文为研究不同生态区域中药生态型及品质变异的生物学本质提供了一种新思路,也为深化道地药材理论研究奠定重要基础.     

Phylogeographic structure,demographic history and morph composition in a colour polymorphic lizard

In polymorphic species, population divergence in morph composition and frequency has the potential to promote speciation. We assessed the relationship between geographic variation in male throat colour polymorphism and phylogeographic structure in the tawny dragon lizard, Ctenophorus decresii. We identified four genetically distinct lineages, corresponding to two polymorphic lineages in the Northern Flinders Ranges and Southern Flinders Ranges/Olary Ranges regions respectively, and a monomorphic lineage in the Mt Lofty Ranges/Kangaroo Island region. The degree of divergence between these three lineages was consistent with isolation to multiple refugia during Pleistocene glacial cycles, whereas a fourth, deeply divergent (at the interspecific level) and monomorphic lineage was restricted to western New South Wales. The same four morphs occurred in both polymorphic lineages, although populations exhibited considerable variation in the frequency of morphs. By contrast, male throat coloration in the monomorphic lineages differed from each other and from the polymorphic lineages. Our results suggest that colour polymorphism has evolved once in the C. decresii species complex, with subsequent loss of polymorphism in the Mt Lofty Ranges/Kangaroo Island lineage. However, an equally parsimonious scenario, that polymorphism arose independently twice within C. decresii, could not be ruled out. We also detected evidence of a narrow contact zone with limited genotypic admixture between the polymorphic Olary Ranges and monomorphic Mt Lofty Ranges regions, yet no individuals of intermediate colour phenotype. Such genetic divergence and evidence for barriers to gene flow between lineages suggest incipient speciation between populations that differ in morph composition.     

A preliminary report on the distribution of lizards in Qatar

We have updated the list of the lizard species present in Qatar and produced the first distribution maps based on two field surveys in 2012 and 2013. We used the QND95/Qatar National Grid with a grid of 10 × 10 km squares for mapping. Our results show the occurrence of 21 lizard species in Qatar, from the 15 species indicated in the last biodiversity report conducted in 2004. The most abundant family found in Qatar is Gekkonidae with nine species (Bunopus tuberculatus, Cyrtopodion scabrum, Hemidactylus robustus, H. flaviviridis, H. persicus, Stenodactylus arabicus, S. slevini, S. doriae, Pseudoceramodactylus khobarensis), followed by Lacertidae with four species (Acanthodactylus schmidti, A. opheodurus, Mesalina brevirostris, M. adramitana), Agamidae with three species (Trapelus flavimaculatus, Uromastyx aegyptia, Phrynocephalus arabicus), Scincidae with two species (Scincus mitranus, Trachylepis septemtaeniata), and Varanidae (Varanus griseus), Sphaerodactylidae (Pristurus rupestris) and Trogonophiidae (Diplometopon zarudnyi) with one species each. The species richness fluctuated largely across Qatar between one and eleven species per grid square. We believe that the lizard fauna records in Qatar are still incomplete and that additional studies are required. However, our study here fills a gap concerning lizard biodiversity knowledge in the Gulf Region.