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Genetic factors predict hybrid formation in the British flora.
Natural hybridization can have a profound evolutionary impact, with consequences ranging from the extinction of rare taxa to the origin of new species. Natural hybridization is particularly common in plants; however, our understanding of the general factors that promote or prevent hybridization is hampered by the highly variable outcomes in different lineages. Here, we quantify the influence of different predictors on hybrid formation across species from an entire flora. We combine estimates of hybridization with ecological attributes and a new species-level phylogeny for over 1,100 UK flowering plant species. Our results show that genetic factors, particularly parental genetic distance, as well as phylogenetic position and ploidy, are key determinants of hybrid formation, whereas many other factors such as range overlap and genus size explain much less variation in hybrid formation. Overall, intrinsic genetic factors shape the evolutionary and ecological consequences of natural hybridization across species in a flora
Digest: Multiple factors influence mountain orchid diversity and distribution.
How have orchid species diversified in the campos rupestres, Brazil? Fiorini et al. (2023) use genomic data sets and multidisciplinary approaches, including phylogenetics and population genomics, to investigate the diversity of Bulbophyllum. They demonstrate that geographic isolation alone does not explain diversification patterns in Bulbophyllum species throughout the sky forests. Some taxa show considerable evidence of gene flow, and lineages not previously identified as closely related could present a novel source of their genetic diversity
Chandragupta Maurya: The Creation of a National Hero in India
We take it for granted that some historical figures become heroes, and others do not. Chandragupta Maurya evolved from obscure ruler to contemporary national icon. The key moment in the making of this Indian hero was a meeting by the banks of the River Indus between Chandragupta and Seleucus, founder of the Seleucid empire and one of Alexander the Great’s generals, in c.305-3 BC. This significant event was a moment of peace-making at the end of conflict. But no reliable account exists in early sources, and it is not even clear which ruler was victorious in battle. This uncertainty enabled British and Indian historians of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to interpret the sources in radically different ways. With Chandragupta representing India and Seleucus standing in for Britain, British scholars argued that Seleucus defeated Chandragupta, while Indian academics contended the opposite.
The writing and reception of history fundamentally influences how we engage with the past, and the evolving colonial and post-colonial relationship between Britain and India is crucial here. In India, the image of Chandragupta as an idealised hero who vanquished the foreign invader has prevailed and found expression in contemporary popular culture. In plays, films, television series, comic books and historical novels, Chandragupta is the powerful and virtuous Hindu ruler par excellence. The path to this elevated standing is charted in this book
Rebuttal to “(2786) Proposal to change the conserved type of Ipomoea, nom. cons. (Convolvulaceae)”.
The Newspaper Press Directory (1846-1920) - enriched and structured version
Mitchell's Newspaper Press Directories contained an almost complete list of newspapers published in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. It was published regularly from 1846 onwards and provided a detailed description of the newspaper landscape over time. This version contains a structured, tabular representation of the directories (as CSV or Excel Spreadsheet). Each row describes a newspaper at a specific point in time. We record title, politics, price, location and other information. Please consult the data card for a detailed overview of the data structure and this blog post for more background on the digitisation process
World Catalogue of the family Lonchaeidae (Diptera, Cyclorrhapha, Acalyptratae)
A catalogue of world species of Lonchaeidae is provided. Ten valid genera and 611 valid species in two subfamilies are listed. For each valid species the list includes author, year of publication, full publication name, page number of original description and, where known, type locality and type depository. All validly named taxa described before 1 January 2023 are included and for species where there are issues relating to taxonomy, distribution, type status or type depositories, 84 supplementary notes are provided. Colour plates are provided showing a representative species of each genus. The world distribution of Lonchaeidae is tabulated by genus, species and biogeographical realm. Details on species that occur in more than one realm and information on online maps that are available for each species is provided. A synopsis of the fauna of each realm is given that includes references to the key literature sources. The use of following nominal genus as valid is necessary due to the previously used nominal genus not meeting ICZN publication standards: Priscoearomyia Morge, 1963a (previously considered a junior synonym of Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962), new status. The following is a new genus authority necessary due to the previously used authority not meeting ICZN publication standards: Neosilba Waddill & Weems: 1978 (for Neosilba McAlpine, 1962). The following four genus names are new synonyms: Dasyops Bezzi, 1891 (= Dasiops Rondani, 1856), Lonchaba Korytkowski & Ojeda 1971(= Lonchaea Fallén, 1820), Protearomyia Hennig, 1967 (= Priscoearomyia Morge, 1963a) and Togocesa Koçak & Kemal, 2010 (= Lonchaea Fallén, 1820). The following five names represent new species authority details necessary due to the previously used names not meeting ICZN publication standards, or previous mistakes or uncertainties: Priscoearomyia cordillerensis (McAlpine, 1983) (for Protearomyia cordillerensis McAlpine, 1962), Priscoearomyia greciana (McAlpine, 1983) (for Protearomyia greciana McAlpine, 1962), Priscoearomyia martinia (McAlpine, 1983) (for Protearomyia martinia McAlpine, 1962). Lonchaea orientalis MacGowan, 2013 (for Lonchaea orientalis MacGowan, 2007). Neosilba certa (Walker, 1853) (for Neosilba certa (Walker, 1850-1856), Neosilba certa (Walker, 1850) and Neosilba certa (Walker, 1852)). The following four species names are new synonyms: Lonchaea angustitarsis Malloch, 1920a (= Lonchaea deutschi Zetterstedt, 1837), Lonchaea avida McAlpine, 1960 (= Lonchaea choreoides Bezzi, 1923), Lonchaea palpata Czerny, 1934 (= Lonchaea peregrina Becker, 1895), Silba malaysia MacGowan, 2007 (= Silba kuantani MacGowan, this work). The following 12 species names are new combinations: Priscoearomyia cordillerensis (McAlpine, 1983; Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962), Priscoearomyia greciana (McAlpine, 1983: Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962), Priscoearomyia hermonensis (MacGowan & Freidberg, 2008: Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962), Priscoearomyia iberica (MacGowan 2014a: Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962), Priscoearomyia jonesi (MacGowan & Reimann, 2021: Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962), Priscoearomyia mallochi (McAlpine, 1983: Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962), Priscoearomyia martinia (McAlpine, 1983: Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962), Priscoearomyia occidentalis (MacGowan 2016: Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962), Priscoearomyia rameli (MacGowan, 2014a: Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962), Priscoearomyia trichopleura (McAlpine, 1983: Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962), Priscoearomyia withersi (MacGowan, 2014a: Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962), Silba malaysia (MacGowan 2005a; Lonchaea Fallen, 1820) The following new replacement name was necessary due to homonymy: Silba kuantani MacGowan (for Silba malaysia MacGowan, 2007), The following three species are removed from the Lonchaeidae: Lonchaea albimanus Walker, 1858, Lonchaea brasiliensis Walker, 1853 and Lonchaea discrepans Walker, 1861. A First Reviser action was taken on Neosilba laura and N. lauraea Strikis, 2011 with N. laura being chosen here as the correct original spelling
Review of Information Studies Courses in Higher Education for Web Archive Provision
This project reviewed the curriculum of information studies postgraduate courses in a number of countries across Europe. The curriculum for Library Studies, Archival Studies, Record Management and Digital Curation/Preservation and Digital Humanities were reviewed to see if there was any reference to web archiving. As these web pages were reviewed in Spring 2023 they were mostly advertising their course modules for a September 2023 start date
Pittosporum (Pittosporaceae) in Malesia and Papuasia.
Pittosporum (Pittosporaceae, Apiales), an attractive genus of horticulturally important trees and shrubs, is revised for Malesia (Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, the Philippines, Timor-Leste) and Papuasia (Papua Barat (Indonesia), Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands). In this report, 52 species are recognised, including many species reinstated from synonymy. Three taxa are raised to species rank (P. owenstanleyense, P. patelliplacenta and P. purpurascens), one is a new combination in Pittosporum (P. impressum), and four new species are described: P. sulawesiense, P. isolatum, P. schoddei and P. sogeriense
We need to encourage a plurality of voices in collections-based research
Stories have too narrow a perspective, says John Giblin and Phoenix Arche