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Content with tag speciation .

the shrew genus Crocidura in Sundaland

what are the processes that have originated this high diversity in the tropics? Researchers of the Doñana Biological Station – CSIC wanted to address this question in their latest study, looking into the drivers that have originated this high diversity of shrews in the tropics, specifically in Sundaland, South-East Asia. The work has been carried out in collaboration with scientists from Geneva, Harvard and Smithsonian museums and Sabah Parks (Malaysia).

A new subspecies of Manx shearwater to the Canary Islands

The taxonomy of Procellariiformes, particularly petrels and shearwaters, is still unresolved. The Manx shearwater Puffinus puffinus is one of the best studied seabirds worldwide. Most of the information known on this seabird is focused on the northern core populations where the species is abundant. However, the species shows a high number of peripheral populations, which are extremely small and difficult to study in comparison to central populations. Using an integrative approach, this...

Deep genetic divergences between the lowland Sunda tree squirrels

A surprising amount of hidden phylogenetic diversity exists in the small to medium size, drab colored squirrels of the genus Sundasciurus. This genus is endemic to Sundaland and the Philippines, where it is widespread. An earlier revision of this genus found that the high elevation ‘populations’ of the widespread, lowland slender squirrel (S. tenuis) were different species. Previous phylogenies based on mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences also suggested that the widespread, lowland Low’s...

A new species of bat was hiding in our forests

While it is believed that European biodiversity no longer brings surprises, an unusual discovery has just been made: in Western Europe a new species of bat has been described. More exactly, it is distributed along the northern mountain forests of Iberia, south of France and Italy.