Csősz Sandor, Loss Ana C, Fisher Brian L
Evolutionary Ecology Research Group, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological Research, Vácrátót, Hungary.
National Institute of the Atlantic Forest, Santa Teresa, Brazil.
PeerJ. 2021 Mar 2;9:e10900. doi: 10.7717/peerj.10900. eCollection 2021.
Madagascar is famous for its extremely rich biodiversity; the island harbors predominantly endemic and threatened communities meriting special attention from biodiversity scientists. Continuing ongoing efforts to inventory the Malagasy ant fauna, we revise the species currently placed in the myrmicine genus Mayr. One species described from Madagascar, Forel, is synonymized with the Palearctic Latreille This species is considered neither native to Madagascar nor established in the region. This revision focuses on the balance of species in the group which are all endemic to Madagascar.
The diversity of the Malagasy fauna was assessed via application of multiple lines of evidence involving quantitative morphometric, qualitative morphological, and DNA sequence data. (1) Morphometric investigation was based on hypothesis-free (NC-clustering) combined with (PART) to estimate the number of morphological clusters and determine the most probable boundaries between them. This protocol provides a repeatable and testable approach to find patterns in continuous morphometric data. Species boundaries and the reliability of morphological clusters recognized by these exploratory analyses were tested via confirmatory Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). (2) Qualitative, external morphological characteristics (e.g., shape, coloration patterns, setae number) were subjectively evaluated in order to create a priori grouping hypotheses, and confirm and improve species delimitation. (3) Species delimitation analyses based on mitochondrial DNA sequences from cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene fragments were carried out to test the putative species previously delimited by morphological and morphometric analyses.
Five species can be inferred based on the integrated evaluation of multiple lines of evidence; of these, three are new to science: ., (Emery, 1899), , , and Forel, 1886. In addition, three new synonymies were found for Forel, 1886 ( Santschi, 1915 , Forel, 1891 and Santschi, 1911 ). Descriptions and redefinitions for each taxon and an identification key for their worker castes using qualitative traits and morphometric data are given. Geographic maps depicting species distributions and biological information regarding nesting habits for the species are also provided.
马达加斯加以其极其丰富的生物多样性而闻名；该岛拥有主要为地方性和受威胁的群落，值得生物多样性科学家特别关注。在持续不断地努力对马达加斯加蚂蚁动物区系进行编目过程中，我们对目前置于蚁亚科迈尔属的物种进行了修订。一种来自马达加斯加的物种，福尔描述的，被认定为古北区拉特雷尔的同物异名。该物种既不被认为原产于马达加斯加，也未在该地区定殖。此次修订聚焦于该类群中均为马达加斯加地方性物种的平衡。
通过应用多条证据对马达加斯加蚂蚁动物区系的多样性进行评估，这些证据包括定量形态测量、定性形态学和DNA序列数据。（1）形态测量研究基于无假设的（NC聚类）结合（PART）来估计形态学聚类的数量并确定它们之间最可能的界限。该方案提供了一种可重复且可检验的方法来在连续的形态测量数据中寻找模式。通过验证性线性判别分析（LDA）测试这些探索性分析所识别的物种界限和形态学聚类的可靠性。（2）对定性的外部形态特征（如形状、色斑模式、刚毛数量）进行主观评估，以创建先验分组假设，并确认和改进物种界定。（3）基于细胞色素氧化酶I（COI）基因片段的线粒体DNA序列进行物种界定分析，以测试先前通过形态学和形态测量分析所界定的假定物种。
基于多条证据的综合评估可推断出5个物种；其中，3个为科学上新发现的物种：……，（埃默里，1899年），……，……，以及福尔，1886年。此外，还发现了福尔，1886年（桑奇，1915年，福尔，1891年和桑奇，1911年）的3个新同物异名。给出了每个分类单元的描述和重新定义，以及使用定性特征和形态测量数据对其工蚁品级的鉴定检索表。还提供了描绘物种分布的地理地图以及关于物种筑巢习性的生物学信息。
