La Bioespeleología: un mundo por descubrir

La Bioespeleología: un mundo por descubrir

viernes, 13 de junio de 2014

Dos interesantes trabajos publicados en ZOOTAXA

El primer trabajo publicado es sobre un reptil descubierto en cuevas de la Península de Malasia, y que se ha denominado Lycodon cavernicolus. El trabajo se ha titulado: "A diminutive new species of cave-dwelling Wolf Snake (Colubridae: Lycodon Boie, 1826) from Peninsular Malaysia".


El resumen del trabajo lo podéis ver aquí: RESUMEN.

ABSTRACT:
A newly discovered, diminutive, cave-dwelling, lowland species of the colubrid snake genus Lycodon Boie is described from a limestone cave along the Thai-Malaysian border in the state of Perlis, northwestern Peninsular Malaysia. Lycodon cavernicolus sp. nov. is most closely related to L. butleri Boulenger, an endemic, upland, forest-dwelling species from Peninsular Malaysia of the fasciatus group but is separated from L. butleri and all other species of the L. fasciatus group and the closely related L. ruhstrati group by having the combination of 245 (male) and 232 (female) ventral scales; 113 (male) and 92 (female) paired, subcaudal scales; a single precloacal plate; nine or 10 supralabials; 10 or 11 infralabials; a maximum total length of 508 mm (female); a relative tail length of 0.25–0.27; an immaculate venter in juveniles and darkbrown, posterior, ventral scale margins in adults; and dorsal and caudal bands in juveniles white. The discovery of L. cavernicolus sp. nov. adds to a rapidly growing list of newly discovered reptiles from karst regions and limestone forests of Peninsular Malaysia, underscoring the fact that these areas should be studied before they are quarried as they harbor a significant portion of the Peninsular Malaysia’s herpetological diversity.

El segundo trabajo es sobre anfipodos subterráneos de Brasil. El trabajo se ha titulado "A new troglobiotic species of Hyalella (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Hyalellidae) with a taxonomic key for the Brazilian species".


El resumen del trabajo lo podéis ver aquí: RESUMEN.

ABSTRACT:
The freshwater crustaceans from the order Amphipoda occur mainly in cold and temperate climates. However, in the tropics, these animals can be more abundant in subterranean environments, where the temperatures are milder than in surface. Despite being accepted that the number of species of freshwater amphipods in South America is lower when compared to other regions, recent descriptions have shown that its diversity is certainly underestimated. In this study, a new species of the genus Hyalella is described for Brazil, the fourth troglobiotic species of Hyalella for the country and the sixth in the world. The new species was found on the epikarst of a cave in São Paulo state, Southeastern Brazil. Besides, the new species shows typical characteristics from organisms adapted to the subterranean environments, a pattern also observed in the other troglobiotic species of the genus.

Enhorabuena por estos dos fascinantes trabajos.