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Observations zoologiques et expériences dans le <i>Kitāb al-Ḥayawān</i> d’al-Ǧāḥiẓ
No full textLes études sur l’histoire de la zoologie arabe médiévale connaissent depuis quelques années un nouvel essor grâce à un renouveau historiographique convoquant à la fois le regard du philologue, celui de l’historien et celui du biologiste. Ces travaux récents ont permis de mettre en évidence l’usage d’une méthodologie véritablement « scientifique » par le savant littérateur et naturaliste al-Ğāḥiẓ (776-868). Elle se manifeste par l’étude objective du monde animal à travers l’observation et la description, ainsi que par l’analyse et le recours à l’expérience. La zoologie ğāhiẓienne, héritière des travaux d’Aristote mais également tributaire d’une culture naturaliste locale (arabe anté-islamique, indo-persane) se présente comme une combinaison entre sources livresques et savoirs empiriques, entre attitude contemplative et investigation à la recherche d’explications rationnelles des phénomènes biologiques. Les propos d’Aristote ou d’autres autorités sont discutés à la lumière de l’observation et soumis à l’examen critique de la raison. Dans l’idée de défendre une approche historienne et non rétrospective des sciences de la vie, nous souhaitons examiner les efforts d’explication et de démonstration du savant médiéval, en nous demandant comment ils se déploient dans un cadre méthodologique, entre assimilation et discussion des sources, recours à l’observation et à l’expérience et usage de la raison.Studies on the history of medieval Arabic zoology have been given a new impetus in recent years, thanks to a historiographical renewal that brings together the views of the philologist, the historian, and the biologist. These recent works have made it possible to highlight a truly “scientific” methodology in the works of the Arab scholar al-Ğāḥiẓ (776-868). His work is an objective study of the animal world through observation, description and experimentation. The Ğāḥiẓian zoology, heir to the works of Aristotle but is also dependent on a local naturalist culture (pre-Islamic Arabic, Indo-Persian). This appears as a crossroad between scholarly sources and empirical knowledge, between contemplative attitude and investigation aiming at rational explanations of biological phenomena. The statements of Aristotle or other authorities are discussed in the light of observation, subjected to the critical examination of reason. Defending a historical and contextualised approach to the life sciences, we would like to focus on the biologist’s point of view in the process to understand ancient texts and the methods of access to knowledge that emerge from them, and to examine the extent to which the medieval scholar, in a different conceptual and methodological framework, works on the explanation and demonstration, between assimilation and discussion of sources, recourse to observation and experience and use of reason.</p
<i>Récolnat Annotate-On</i> : un outil pour améliorer votre expérience avec les collections virtuelles
No full textLe logiciel Annotate-On (https://www.recolnat.org/en/annotate) est mis librement à la disposition des botanistes pour mener des recherches sur des collections d’herbiers virtuels. Il contient des outils pour réaliser facilement et rapidement des analyses morphologiques et morphométriques sur des images de spécimens : mesures physiques (longueurs, périmètres, surfaces, angles), marquage et comptage de points d’intérêts, et annotations descriptives. Les images proviennent de sources variées : outre la base de données de l’infrastructure Récolnat (https://explore.recolnat.org/) en ligne, toute URL d’images en ligne, ou encore les images d’un disque dur, d’un appareil photographique, d’un microscope, etc. Ces bibliothèques d’images peuvent être classées à l’aide de l’outil de gestion de mots-clés du logiciel. Les annotations effectuées avec Annotate-On sont structurées par une liste de caractères descriptifs éditables – observations ou mesures – dédiés à une étude, une espèce, une hypothèse, etc. Ce modèle peut être importé depuis le logiciel Xper 3, logiciel de gestion de données sur la biodiversité (https://www.xper3.fr/), ou exporté vers lui. Les observations et mesures fondées sur ces modèles sont exportables vers des tableurs, des logiciels de traitement de données, l’application R ou encore des modules d’apprentissage profond (deep learning).Annotate-On software (https://www.recolnat.org/en/annotate) is freely available to botanists for research on virtual herbarium collections. It contains tools to easily and quickly perform morphological and morphometric analyses on images of specimens including physical measurements (lengths, perimeters, areas, angles, counts) and descriptive annotations. The images derive from various sources such as the online Récolnat infrastructure database (https://explore.recolnat.org/), online image URLs or other images. Image libraries can be sorted using the keyword management tool within the software. Annotate-On is built on models structured as lists of editable descriptive characters (observations or measurements) dedicated to a study, a species, an hypothesis, etc. Observations and measurements based on these models can be exported to spreadsheets, data processing software, R applications or deep learning modules. Annotate-On is associated with Xper3 biodiversity data management software (https://www.xper3.fr/).</p
Delimiting <i>Cantheconidea</i> Schouteden 1907, with the description of a new genus (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae: Asopinae)
No full textAmong the 44 genera of predatory stink bugs (Asopinae) described for the Old World, there is a notable lack of recent studies. In this research, we aim to fill this gap by investigating the taxonomic history and morphology of species of Cantheconidea. As results, we present the redescription of the genus and validate three species: C. humeralis, C. javana and C. mitis comb. nov. A lectotype for C. mitis is designated and comments on the type material are given. Additionally, we transfer four species from Cantheconidea to the genus Eocanthecona: E. acuta comb. nov., E. variabilis comb. nov., E. gaugleri comb. nov. and E. insularis comb. nov. To accommodate the unique characteristics of Cantheconidea cyanacantha, we describe a new genus, Cantheconesia Brugnera & Roca-Cusachs gen. nov., and transfer the species, resulting in Cantheconesia cyanacantha gen. et comb. nov. Our study provides detailed redescriptions of species and accompanying images to support taxonomic decisions and presents new distribution records.</p
Description of four new species of the Neotropical genus <i>Scione</i> Walker, 1850 (Diptera: Tabanidae)
No full textAfter 94 years after the last revision of the genus and after 22 years since the last species was named, we describe four new species of Scione from Ecuador and Peru: S. cooperi sp. nov., S. gertrudeae sp. nov., S. kroeberi sp. nov. and S. merianae sp. nov. We provide diagnoses, descriptions, photographs and discussions for each of the species</p
Five new species of the spider genus <i>Heteropoda</i> Latreille, 1804 (Araneae: Sparassidae) from China
No full textFive new species of Heteropoda (Araneae, Sparassidae, Heteropodinae) are described from China: H. bawanglingensis sp. nov. (female; Hainan), H. dulongensis sp. nov. (male, female; Yunnan), H. hainanensis sp. nov. (male, female; Hainan), H. longa sp. nov. (female; Guizhou), and H. vaginalis sp. nov. (female; Yunnan). We provide descriptions and illustrations for each species as well as a distribution map in the current paper.</p
Jumping spiders (Salticidae) of Uganda – revised list, new species and distributional data
No full textThe spider fauna of most African regions is severely understudied, there is a need for revision of old data and publishing new records. The previous list of jumping spiders (Salticidae) of Uganda contained merely 25 species. The presented survey, which is based on material from several museum collections, provides new faunistic and taxonomic information. The data already available in the literature are critically reviewed and an updated checklist of jumping spiders from Uganda is published. Two new genera are established: Phintellosa gen. nov. with type species Maevia comosissima Simon, 1886 and Ruwenzorek gen. nov. with type species Ruwenzorek evansi gen. et sp. nov. Thirty-three species are newly described: Asemonea wagneri sp. nov. (♂), Dendryphantes ruwenzori sp. nov. (♂♀), Dendryphantes sasa sp. nov. (♀), Enoplomischus pulcher sp. nov. (♂♀), Evarcha degeni sp. nov. (♂), Finger minor sp. nov. (♂♀), Hermosa yurai sp. nov. (♂♀), Hermotimus cornutus sp. nov. (♂♀), Hyllus formosus sp. nov. (♀), Icius entebbensis sp. nov. (♂), Icius hortensis sp. nov. (♂), Longarenus mpanga sp. nov. (♀), Massagris budongo sp. nov. (♂♀), Mexcala inopinata sp. nov. (♂♀), Myrmarachne corusca sp. nov. (♀), Phintella bella sp. nov. (♂♀), Phintella jucunda sp. nov. (♀), Phintella nilotica sp. nov. (♂), Plexippoides dentatus sp. nov. (♂), Rhene amabilis sp. nov. (♂♀), Rhene eximia sp. nov. (♂♀), Rhene hexagon sp. nov. (♂♀), Rhene sororis sp. nov. (♀), Rhene ugandensis sp. nov. (♀), Ruwenzorek evansi gen. et sp. nov. (♀), Thiratoscirtus africanus sp. nov. (♂♀), Thiratoscirtus bwindi sp. nov. (♀), Thiratoscirtus magnus sp. nov. (♀), Thiratoscirtus spinifer sp. nov. (♂), Thyene masindi sp. nov. (♂♀), Thyene perfecta sp. nov. (♂), Tusitala ugandensis sp. nov. (♀) and Vicirionessa ignota sp. nov. (♀). Five specific names are synonymized: Enoplomischus spinosus Wesołowska, 2005 with Enoplomischus ghesquierei Giltay, 1931, Evarcha elegans Wesołowska & Russell-Smith, 2000 [removed from synonymy of Evarcha werneri (Simon, 1906)] with Hyllus dotatus (Peckham & Peckham, 1903), Myrmarachne mussungue Wanless, 1978 with Myrmarachne evidens Roewer, 1965, Plexippus fibulatus Dawidowicz & Wesołowska, 2016 with Schenkelia modesta Lessert, 1927 and Vicirionessa prenanti (Berland & Millot, 1941) with Vicirionessa fuscimana (Simon, 1903). Two new combinations are proposed: Phintella chopardi (Berland & Millot, 1941) comb. nov. ex Cosmophasis and Phintellosa comosissima (Simon, 1886) gen. et comb. nov. ex Maevia. The as yet unknown females of nine species are described for the first time: Alfenus calamistratus Simon, 1902, Baryphas scintillans Berland & Millot, 1941, Dendryphantes elgonensis Wesołowska & Dawidowicz, 2014, Depreissia myrmex Lessert, 1942, Mikrus ugandensis Wesołowska, 2001, Phintella brevis Wesołowska & Russell-Smith, 2022, Phintellosa comosissima (Simon, 1886), Thiratoscirtus patagonicus Simon, 1886 and Thyene verdieri (Berland & Millot, 1941). The resulting list of salticids from Uganda now contains 141 species, of which 116 are recorded in this country for the first time. There is little overlap in the species list of Uganda and that of the neighbouring countries, not exceeding 40%.</p
Les porcs-épics dans l’Égypte ancienne ? Un problème épineux réévalué
No full textUne seule représentation sans ambiguïté d’un porc-épic a été identifiée dans l’art égyptien ancien. Les chercheurs s’accordent à dire que l’image, trouvée sur un fragment de relief de la tombe de Pehenuka, dans l’Ancien Empire, représente un porc-épic à crête d’Afrique du Nord (Hystrix cristata Linnaeus, 1758), une espèce qui n’existe plus en Égypte. D’autres images égyptiennes, antérieures à cet exemple ont également été initialement considérées comme des porcs-épics, mais ensuite réinterprétées comme des animaux hybrides mythiques, sur la base de ce qui semble à première vue être une combinaison inhabituelle de leurs caractéristiques morphologiques. Cependant, si l’on considère à la fois les principes de la représentation graphique égyptienne et le comportement naturel des porcs-épics, leur identification en tant que porcs-épics à crête est confortée. Cette découverte souligne l’importance d’appliquer les règles graphiques égyptiennes lors de l’analyse de l’art de toutes les périodes et suggère que les porcs-épics à crête d’Afrique du Nord sont plus courants dans l’art égyptien ancien qu’on ne l’a estimé jusqu’à présent.Only one unambiguous representation of a porcupine has been identified in ancient Egyptian art. Scholars agree that the image, which is found on a relief fragment from the Old Kingdom tomb of Pehenuka, depicts a North African crested porcupine (Hystrix cristata Linnaeus, 1758), a species that is no longer extant in Egypt. Other Egyptian images, which pre-date this example, have also been initially viewed as porcupines but then subsequently re-interpreted as mythical hybrid animals, based on what appears at first glance to be an unusual combination of their morphological characteristics. When both the principles of Egyptian graphic representation and the natural behaviour of porcupines are considered, however, greater support is found for their identification as crested porcupines. This finding highlights the importance of applying Egyptian graphic rules when analysing art from all periods, and suggests that North African crested porcupines are more common in early Egyptian art than has hitherto been appreciated.</p
New species of <i>Kontrimavichusia</I> Makarikov & Binkienė, 2022 (Eucestoda: Hymenolepididae) from arvicoline rodents (Rodentia: Cricetidae) from the North Caucasus
No full textTwo previously unrecognized species attributable to the genus Kontrimavichusia Makarikov & Binkienė, 2022 in arvicoline rodents from the North Caucasus are described. Kontrimavichusia testiculata sp. nov. is described from Microtus majori (Thomas, 1906) from the northwestern Caucasus (Republic of Adygeya and Karachay-Cherkess Republic, Russia) and Kontrimavichusia hobergi sp. nov. is described from Microtus daghestanicus (Shidlovsky, 1919) from the central Caucasus (Republic of North Ossetia, Russia). Kontrimavichusia testiculata is readily distinguishable from K. asymmetrica (Janicki, 1904) and K. hobergi in having a larger number of testes (4–6 per proglottis), larger suckers and a longer cirrus and cirrus-sac. In addition, the new species differs from its congeners by the position of the cirrus-sac with regard to the poral osmoregulatory canals and position of distal end of the rostellar pouch relative to the posterior margins of the suckers. Kontrimavichusia hobergi can be readily distinguished from its congeners by the arrangement of the testes in a triangle and the position of the cirrus-sac with regard to the poral osmoregulatory canals. In addition, this previously unrecognized species differs from K. asymmetrica and K. testiculata by the smaller dimensions of the fully developed strobila and a narrower ovary. The cirrus-sac of K. hobergi is larger than that in K. asymmetrica but smaller than that in K. testiculata. We also used partial sequences of the nuclear ribosomal 28S rRNA gene and mitochondrial nad1 gen to justify the generic arrangement and independent status of these two new species which are characterized in the current manuscript.</p
On species of <i>Asclerocheilus</i> Ashworth, 1901 (Annelida: Scalibregmatidae) from Brazil
No full textScalibregmatidae Malmgren, 1867 is a family of annelids, with only few taxa reported from Brazil. In this work, we describe two new species of Asclerocheilus Ashworth, 1901. The new species A. geiseae sp. nov. and A. blakei sp. nov. were collected during scientific expeditions to the Espírito Santo and Campos sedementary basins. These expeditions were coordinated by PETROBRAS/CENPES. The species A. geiseae sp. nov. is unique among its congeners by the presence of acicular spines with rounded and curved tips in two rows. The second species, A. blakei sp. nov., differs from its congeners by the combination of the presence of a trapezoidal prostomium, acicular spines on chaetigers 1–3, lyrate chaetae from chaetiger 3 on notopodia and 2 on neuropodia. Moreover, we report the species A. tropicus Blake, 1981 from the localities sampled on this study. We also provide an identification key to all species of Asclerocheilus of the world.</p
3D X-ray microscopy (Micro-CT) and SEM reveal Zospeum troglobalcanicum Absolon, 1916 and allied species from the Western Balkans (Ellobioidea: Carychiidae)
No full textThough recent investigations have contributed substantially to our understanding of the Alpine-Dinaric radiation of the genus Zospeum Bourguignat, 1856, its southernmost member, Zospeum troglobalcanicum Absolon, 1916, has remained a taxonomic ghost. The assumed absence of type material, the insufficient original description, and the lack of new samples from its Western Balkan type locality have stymied further clarification. The recent discovery of a single syntype shell housed at the Natural History Museum Vienna now enables the first morphological assessment via 3D X-ray and SEM imaging. Based on this image data, different characters for assessing the southernmost members of the genus are determined and a lectotype is designated. Eleven allied species from 15 Western Balkan populations are described from museum material and recent sampling efforts: Z. amplioscutum Jochum & Ruthensteiner sp. nov., Z. biokovoense Jochum & Ruthensteiner sp. nov., Z. constrictum Jochum & Ruthensteiner sp. nov., Z. dubokidoense Jochum & Ruthensteiner sp. nov., Z. intermedium Jochum & Ruthensteiner sp. nov., Z. kolbae Jochum, Inäbnit, Kneubühler & Ruthensteiner sp. nov., Z. neuberti Jochum & Ruthensteiner sp. nov., Z. njegusiense Jochum & Ruthensteiner sp. nov., Z. njunjicae Jochum, Schilthuizen & Ruthensteiner sp. nov., Z. tortuosum Jochum & Ruthensteiner sp. nov. and Z. tumidum Jochum, Schilthuizen & Ruthensteiner sp. nov. One species, Z. kolbae, is described using DNA sequence data and one species, Z. simplex Inäbnit, Jochum & Neubert, 2021 for which DNA sequence data is already available, is supported by morphological data presented in this study. The DNA sequence dataset (COI, 16S and H3) is included here and implemented in the most recent phylogenetic reconstruction of the genus. A translation of Karel Absolon’s notes from the Balkan scientific expeditions is provided.</p