[Entomology • 2024] Doliops comvalensis • A New Species of Doliops Waterhouse, 1841 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Apomecynini) from Davao de Oro with notes on other endemic species and mimicry complex in greater Mindanao Philippines

Doliops comvalensis Medina, 

in Medina, Agbas, Obrial et Cabras, 2024. 

 DOI: doi.org/10.25221/fee.507.3  

Doliops comvalensis Medina, sp. n. is described from Candalaga Range in Maragusan, Davao de Oro, Mindanao, Philippines. High-definition images of other known species of Doliops which are considered as the close congeners of the new species are also provided. The mimicry complex between the new species and the members of the tribe Pachyrhynchini known from Candalaga Range is discussed.

Key words: long-horned beetles, Lamiinae, Apomecynini, Pachyrhynchini, taxonomy, new species, mimicry, Mindanao, Oriental Region.

Habitat of Doliops comvalensis Medina sp. nov. in Mt. Candalaga.
 A-B – the montane forest in Mt. Candalaga showing the newly opened road and soil erosion,
C – fallen Shorea contorta, the host plant of D. comvalensis, D – D. comvalensis (in situ).

Doliops comvalensis Medina, sp. n.  

DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS. The new species is similar to its Mindanao endemic congeners, Doliops cuellari Vives, 2012, D. edithae Vives 2009, and D. halconensis Vives, 2012 (Fig. 2), in the size and elytral maculation. However, the new species can be easily distinguished from these species in its unique maculation in pronotum. Pronotal maculation is similar to D. cuellari except that it does not have a thin band of whitish pubescence at the pronotal disc. Elytral maculation is similar to one of variations of D. halconensis but can be easily distinguished based on pronotal differences.

HABITAT. New species was found in the forest near the road and soil erosion (Fig. 3). The host plant is fallen Shorea contorta. 

DISTRIBUTION. Philippines: Mindanao (Davao de Oro: Mt. Candalaga, Maragusan, Davao de Oro). 

ETYMOLOGY. The new species is named after Compostela Valley, the former name of the province of Davao de Oro.

Medina M.N., Agbas D., Grayden Obrial G., Analyn Cabras A. 2024. Description of A New Species of Doliops Waterhouse, 1841 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Apomecynini) from Davao de Oro with notes on other endemic species and mimicry complex in greater Mindanao Philippines. Far Eastern Entomologist. 507: 15-24. DOI: doi.org/10.25221/fee.507.3  

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[PaleoBotany • 2022] First fossil-leaf floras from Brunei Darussalam show Dipterocarp dominance in Borneo by the Pliocene

in Wilf​, Zou, Donovan, ... et Lambiase, 2022.  

DOI: 10.7717/peerj.12949 

twitter.com/RadioGondwana 

Abstract 

The Malay Archipelago is one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth, but it suffers high extinction risks due to severe anthropogenic pressures. Paleobotanical knowledge provides baselines for the conservation of living analogs and improved understanding of vegetation, biogeography, and paleoenvironments through time. The Malesian bioregion is well studied palynologically, but there have been very few investigations of Cenozoic paleobotany (plant macrofossils) in a century or more. We report the first paleobotanical survey of Brunei Darussalam, a sultanate on the north coast of Borneo that still preserves the majority of its extraordinarily diverse, old-growth tropical rainforests. We discovered abundant compression floras dominated by angiosperm leaves at two sites of probable Pliocene age: Berakas Beach, in the Liang Formation, and Kampong Lugu, in an undescribed stratigraphic unit. Both sites also yielded rich palynofloral assemblages from the macrofossil-bearing beds, indicating lowland fern-dominated swamp (Berakas Beach) and mangrove swamp (Kampong Lugu) depositional environments. Fern spores from at least nine families dominate both palynological assemblages, along with abundant fungal and freshwater algal remains, rare marine microplankton, at least four mangrove genera, and a diverse rainforest tree and liana contribution (at least 19 families) with scarce pollen of Dipterocarpaceae, today’s dominant regional life form. Compressed leaves and rare reproductive material represent influx to the depocenters from the adjacent coastal rainforests. Although only about 40% of specimens preserve informative details, we can distinguish 23 leaf and two reproductive morphotypes among the two sites. Dipterocarps are by far the most abundant group in both compression assemblages, providing rare, localized evidence for dipterocarp-dominated lowland rainforests in the Malay Archipelago before the Pleistocene. The dipterocarp fossils include winged Shorea fruits, at least two species of plicate Dipterocarpus leaves, and very common Dryobalanops leaves. We attribute additional leaf taxa to Rhamnaceae (Ziziphus), Melastomataceae, and Araceae (Rhaphidophora), all rare or new fossil records for the region. The dipterocarp leaf dominance contrasts sharply with the family’s <1% representation in the palynofloras from the same strata. This result directly demonstrates that dipterocarp pollen is prone to strong taphonomic filtering and underscores the importance of macrofossils for quantifying the timing of the dipterocarps’ rise to dominance in the region. Our work shows that complex coastal rainforests dominated by dipterocarps, adjacent to swamps and mangroves and otherwise similar to modern ecosystems, have existed in Borneo for at least 4–5 million years. Our findings add historical impetus for the conservation of these gravely imperiled and extremely biodiverse ecosystems.

Study area. (A) Inset series showing location of Brunei Darussalam, the capital Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB),
and the two fossil sites studied here at Berakas Beach (B), and Kampong Lugu (C).

Kampong Lugu fossil site (see also Fig. 1) and stratigraphic section. A sharp, ca. 30° angular unconformity separates the lower unit, the Miocene Miri Formation, from the horizontal, dark, onlapping beds of the new stratigraphic unit, which is exposed in a horseshoe around the west and north sides of the local hill as shown (marker A; bottom photograph shows the north face of the outcrop). Fossil leaves are abundant throughout the dark claystones. Google Earth Image © 2017 CNES/Airbus.

Dipterocarpus sp. BR01.
(A) UBDH F00253b (Kampong Lugu), with well-preserved plications; (B) UBDH F00090a (Berakas Beach), with subtle preservation of plications; (C) UBDH F00156 (Kampong Lugu), preserving base and stout petiole; (D) UBDH F00096 (Berakas Beach), large leaf fragment with good vein preservation; (E) UBDH F00140b (Kampong Lugu), under low-angle unidirectional light to show the stout midvein and strong longitudinal folding of the blade. (F) UBDH F00140a, counterpart of specimen in E, preserving margin and venation details.

Shorea sp. BR04. UBDH F00097b (Berakas Beach).
White arrow, shared visual reference point at a wing juncture with the nut body. (A, B) Surface view, showing an ovoid nut with two clasping, obovate, apparently subequal fruit wings (calyx lobes); the wing at left is missing its apex (fragments distal to the wing are dark-stained matrix, not fossil), but the wing at right is relatively complete; (C) Rotational views of CT scans, showing an additional large wing (dark color) embedded in the sediment directly underneath the broken wing at the surface, subequal in size and shape to the more complete wing at the surface. Inset, initial scan that captured fragments of the embedded wing (dark) clasping the obverse surface of the nut well toward the base.

Conclusions

We report two new late Cenozoic compression assemblages from Brunei Darussalam, a nation with extraordinarily biodiverse and intact tropical rainforests. The new plant fossils are the first from that country and the first Cenozoic compression floras from the Malay Archipelago in the modern era. We also report co-occurring palynofloras, and both the macro- and microfossils are unbiased collections. Our results, most broadly, show that the principal features of northern Borneo’s coastal vegetation (e.g., Thia-Eng, Loke Ming & Sadorra, 1987; Wong & Kamariah, 1999) have changed little for at least 4–5 million years. Dipterocarps overwhelmingly dominate both macrofossil assemblages, showing for the first time from compression floras, which record localized paleoecological information, that the dipterocarp-dominated rainforests that define lowland forest structure throughout Malesia are ancient. At least three genera (Dipterocarpus, Dryobalanops, and Shorea) and four species of dipterocarps are present, and dipterocarps represent 79% of all identifiable macrofossils. All other elements identified are also present in the living Brunei flora and include the first reliable macrofossil occurrences for the region of Melastomataceae, Rhamnaceae (Ziziphus), and Araceae (Rhaphidophora).

Rich palynofloras from the same strata as the leaves detail fern- and mangrove-swamp depositional environments with input from adjacent tropical rainforests and diverse, well-structured communities. The pollen data provide a large number of taxon occurrences that complement the macrofloras, with few overlaps. Dipterocarp pollen is notably rare, at less than 1% abundance. Thus, our work directly tests and supports the idea that the low representation of dipterocarp pollen in many regional assemblages results from significant taphonomic bias, providing a caveat for palynological studies. Macrofossils offer an outstanding opportunity to assess patterns of dipterocarp diversity, abundance, and dominance through time and, more broadly, the evolution of the modern vegetation structure and dominance patterns of Southeast Asia. Our discovery of dipterocarp-dominated coastal rainforests in Borneo from 4–5 million years ago raises the conservation significance of their highly threatened yet still strikingly diverse and ecologically foundational living analogs.

Peter Wilf​, Xiaoyu Zou, Michael P. Donovan, László Kocsis, Antonino Briguglio, David Shaw, J.W. Ferry Slik and Joseph J. Lambiase. 2022. First fossil-leaf floras from Brunei Darussalam show Dipterocarp dominance in Borneo by the Pliocene.   PeerJ. 10:e12949. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.12949

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[Botany • 2018] Vatica najibiana (Dipterocarpaceae) • A New Species from Limestone in Peninsular Malaysia

Vatica najibiana  Ummul-Nazrah

in Ummul-Nazrah, Hairul, Kamin, Kiew & Ong, 2018.

  DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.98.23903

Abstract

Vatica najibiana Ummul-Nazrah (Dipterocarpaceae), from the Relai Forest Reserve, Gua Musang, Kelantan and Gua Tanggang, Merapoh, Pahang, is described and illustrated. This species is Endangered and known from small populations restricted to two isolated karst limestone hills. The type locality, Relai Forest Reserve limestone, is currently under threat from encroaching oil palm plantations and ongoing logging, which, if it continues, will threaten the Kelantan population with extinction. The morphology of V. najibiana and the similar V. odorata subsp. odorata and V. harmandiana is compared.

Keywords: Dipterocarpaceae, Vatica, Kelantan, Pahang, limestone hills, oil palm, logging

Figure 1. Vatica najibiana. A Plant in its natural habitat B Bole C Inner bark D–E Leafy shoots with infructescences F Fruit. (Photographs by K. Imin & A.R. Ummul-Nazrah). 

Figure 2. Vatica najibiana. A Leafy shoot with fruits B Calyx C Petal D–E Fruit F Long & short calyx lobes of fruit G Stellate hair H Fruit nut. (Drawn by N. Mohamad-Aidil from Ummul-Nazrah et al. FRI 86369).

Vatica najibiana Ummul-Nazrah, sp. nov.

Diagnosis: Amongst the Vaticas with a half inferior ovary, it groups with Vatica harmandiana and V. odorata (Griff.) Symington subsp. odorata. Vatica harmandiana occurs on limestone hills and rocks but is different in having leaves that are elliptic-lanceolate, leaf base cuneate and nut diameter 7–10 mm as oppose to the obovate-elliptic leaf, leaf base cordate-subcordate and nut diameter of 5–6 mm in V. najibiana. Vatica odorata subsp. odorata is closely similar to the new species but can be separated by its elliptic-oblong leaf, leaf base obtuse, leaf apex acuminate, nut diameter 8–9 mm and occurrence in lowland and hill forest (Table 1).

....

Etymology: This species is named in honour of the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, for his strong interest in nature conservation and protection of the environment.

Habitat: It is an emergent tree on the rugged summit of karst limestone at 178–520 m altitude growing in rock fissures with a thick layer of leaf litter.

Distribution: Endemic in Peninsular Malaysia, known only from Kelantan (Relai Forest Reserve, Gua Musang) and Pahang (Gua Tanggang, Merapoh).

 Abdul Rahman Ummul-Nazrah, Mohd Amin Mohd Hairul, Imin Kamin, Ruth Kiew and Poh Teck Ong. 2018. Vatica najibiana (Dipterocarpaceae), A New Species from Limestone in Peninsular Malaysia.  PhytoKeys. 98: 99-106.  DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.98.23903

[Botany • 2017] Hopea macrocarpa • A New Species (Dipterocarpaceae) from Peninsular Thailand

Hopea macrocarpa Poopath & Sookch. 

in Poopath, Sookchaloem, Duangjai & Pooma. 2017

ชันหอม  || DOI: 10.20531/tfb.2017.45.2.02 

ABSTRACT

A new species of the important timber tree family Dipterocarpaceae, Hopea macrocarpa Poopath & Sookch., from Hala-Bala forest, Narathiwat, Thailand is described and illustrated. Hopea macrocarpa is morphologically similar to H. mengarawan Miq. from Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo in its leaf shape, leaf size, leaf blade texture and number of secondary nerves. The new species differs from H. mengarawan, however, by having bigger flower buds, bigger fruits and longer fruit stalks.

KEYWORDS: Conservation assessment, Hala-Bala forest complex, Hopea, taxonomy.

Figure 2.  Hopea macrocarpa Poopath & Sookch.:
 A. stilt roots & bark; B. resin; C. inner bark; D. inflorescences; E. flowers; F. fruit.

Photographed by Manop Poopath.

 Hopea macrocarpa Poopath & Sookch., sp. nov. 

— Hopea sp., Poopath, Sookchaloem & Santisuk, Thai Forest Bull., Bot. 40: 80, 2012.

— Hopea sp. 1, Pooma, Poopath & M.F.Newman, Flora of Thailand Vol. 13(4): 617. 2017.

Thailand.— PENINSULAR: Narathiwat

[Sukhirin, Ban Phu Khao Thong, alt. 250 m, 15 May 2005, Poopath B105 (BKF); ibid, alt. 250 m, 11 July 2005, Poopath B118 (BKF); Waeng, Hala-Bala Wildlife Sanctuary, alt. 220 m, 8 June 2004, ....].

Distribution.— Endemic to Thailand, known only from Narathiwat Province. 

Ecology.— Tropical rain forest, foot hills to ridges, 50–300 m alt., rather rare, associated with lowland Dipterocarps species, i.e. Dipterocarpus grandiflorus (Blanco) Blanco, Shorea parvifolia Dyer, S. singkawang (Miq.) Miq., Hopea pedicellata (Brandis) Symington, H. latifolia Symington, H. bracteata Burck and Vatica bella Slooten. 

Vernacular.— Chan hom (ชันหอม). 

Etymology.— The specific epithet ‘macrocarpa’ refers to the large fruit.

Manop Poopath, Duangchai Sookchaloem, Sutee Duangjai, Rachun Pooma. 2017. Hopea macrocarpa (Dipterocarpaceae), A New Species from Peninsular Thailand. THAI FOREST BULL., BOT. 45(2); 94-98. DOI: 10.20531/tfb.2017.45.2.02

   

[Herpetology • 2012] Evolution of Gliding in Southeast Asian Geckos and Other Vertebrates is Temporally Congruent with Dipterocarp Forest Development

Figure 1. (a,c,e) Gliding geckos and (b,d,f) non-gliding relatives. Note digital webbing and lateral flaps in gliders. (a) Hemidactylus (Cosymbotus) craspedotus; (b) Hemidactylus garnotii; (c) Luperosaurus cumingii; (d) Lepidodactylus vanuatuensis; (e) Ptychozoon lionotum and (f) Gekko vittatus.

doi: dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2012.0648

Abstract

Gliding morphologies occur in diverse vertebrate lineages in Southeast Asian rainforests, including three gecko genera, plus frogs, snakes, agamid lizards and squirrels. It has been hypothesized that repeated evolution of gliding is related to the dominance of Asian rainforest tree floras by dipterocarps. For dipterocarps to have influenced the evolution of gliding in Southeast Asian vertebrates, gliding lineages must have Eocene or later origins. However, divergence times are not known for most lineages. To investigate the temporal pattern of Asian gliding vertebrate evolution, we performed phylogenetic and molecular clock analyses. New sequence data for geckos incorporate exemplars of each gliding genus (Cosymbotus, Luperosaurus and Ptychozoon), whereas analyses of other vertebrate lineages use existing sequence data. Stem ages of most gliding vertebrates, including all geckos, cluster in the time period when dipterocarps came to dominate Asian tropical forests. These results demonstrate that a gliding/dipterocarp correlation is temporally viable, and caution against the assumption of early origins for apomorphic taxa.

Keywords: volant, parachuting, Sundaland, phylogeny, Reptilia, Mammalia

Matthew P. Heinicke, Eli Greenbaum, Todd R. Jackman and Aaron M. Bauer. 2012. Evolution of Gliding in Southeast Asian Geckos and Other Vertebrates is Temporally Congruent with Dipterocarp Forest Development. Biol. Lett. 1–4. doi: dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2012.0648
http://royalsocietypublishing.org/content/8/6/994

http://todd.jackman.villanova.edu/GlidingGeckosBiologyLetters2012.pdf

[Botany • 2012] The Dipterocarpaceae of Hala-Bala Forest Complex, Narathiwat and Yala Provinces, Peninsular Thailand | พรรณไม้วงศ์ยางในกลุ่มป่าฮาลาบาลา จังหวัดนราธิวาส และยะลา คาบสมุทรไทย

 

พรรณไม้วงศ์ยางในกลุ่มป่าฮาลาบาลา จังหวัดนราธิวาส และยะลา คาบสมุทรไทย

Abstract

Seven genera, 43 species and one subspecies of the family Dipterocarpaceae were recorded from the Hala-Bala forest complex, Narathiwat and Yala provinces, Peninsular Thailand. Eleven species and one subspecies of dipterocarps are new records for Thailand. Identification keys to the genera and species of Dipterocarpaceae encountered in the Hala-Bala forest complex are also provided.

Key words: Dipterocarpaceae, dipterocarp, Hala-Bala forest, Thailand.

2012. The Dipterocarpaceae of Hala-Bala Forest Complex, Narathiwat and Yala Provinces, Peninsular Thailand. Thai For. Bull. (Bot.). 40: 57–101. 

http://web3.dnp.go.th/botany/PDF/TFB/TFB40/TFB40_11_Dipterocarpaceae.pdf