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The Natural History Museum is an international leader in the study of the natural world. Our science describes the diversity of nature, promotes an understanding of its past, and supports the anticipation and management of the impact of human activity on the environment.
The Museum's repository provides free access to publications produced by more than 300 scientists working here. Researchers at the Museum study a diverse range of issues, including threats to Earth's biodiversity, the maintenance of delicate ecosystems, environmental pollution and disease. The accessible repository showcases this broad research output.
The repository was launched in 2016 with an initially modest number of journal publications in its database. It now includes book chapters and blogs from Museum scientists.
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A revision of Discodon tricolor (Guérin-Méneville) and its mimics from the Atlantic forests of Brazil (Coleoptera: Cantharidae)Discodon tricolor (Guérin-Méneville, 1832) was thought to be a common species widely distributed in the Atlantic Forests of Brazil, yet showing morphological and chromatic variations. After examination of a large number of specimens from different regions of the Atlantic Forest biome, we found that Discodon tricolor actually represents a complex of many similar and sometimes sympatric species. Thirteen species in this complex are recognised as valid: Discodon tricolor, D. neoteutonum sp. nov., D. vanini sp. nov., D. obscurior Pic, 1906 stat. nov., D. lineaticorne sp. nov., D. aurimaculatum sp. nov., D. marginicolle sp. nov., D. tenuecostatum sp. nov., D. nigrocephalum Pic, 1949, D. tamoio sp. nov., D. viridimontanum sp. nov., D. crassipes Wittmer, 1952, and D. testaceipes Pic, 1930 stat. nov. The species Discodon albonotatum Pic, 1906 is confirmed as a synonym of D. tricolor, while the subspecies D. albonotatum obscurior and D. albonotatum testaceipes are elevated to specific status. The subgenus Acanthodiscodon Wittmer, 1952 is synonymised with Discodon Gorham, 1881. All the species are described and illustrated in detail and an identification key is provided. Despite being chromatically similar, the species show major morphological differences in their aedeagus and antennal structures, suggesting that they do not form a monophyletic clade. A potential mimicry ring involving these species of Discodon as well as other members of Cantharidae, Lampyridae, Cerambycidae and Belidae is discussed. Comments are made on the conservation of these species and their habitats within the Atlantic Forest biome.
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Who are you, Griselda? A replacement name for a new genus of the Asiatic short-tailed shrews (Mammalia, Eulipotyphla, Soricidae): molecular and morphological analyses with the discussion of tribal affinitiesThe first genetic study of the holotype of the Gansu short-tailed shrew, Blarinella griselda Thomas, 1912, is presented. The mitochondrial analysis demonstrated that the type specimen of B. griselda is close to several recently collected specimens from southern Gansu, northern Sichuan and Shaanxi, which are highly distinct from the two species of Asiatic short-tailed shrews of southern Sichuan, Yunnan, and Vietnam, >B. quadraticauda and B. wardi. Our analysis of four nuclear genes supported the placement of B. griselda as sister to B. quadraticauda / B. wardi, with the level of divergence between these two clades corresponding to that among genera of Soricinae. A new generic name, Parablarinella, is proposed for the Gansu short-tailed shrew. Karyotypes of Parablarinella griselda(2n = 49, NFa = 50) and B. quadraticauda (2n = 49, NFa = 62) from southern Gansu are described. The tribal affinities of Blarinellini and Blarinini are discussed.
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Bones and genes: resolution problems in three Vietnamese species of Crocidura (Mammalia, Soricomorpha, Soricidae) and the description of an additional new speciesRecent investigations of Southeast Asian white toothed shrews belonging to the genus Crocidura have revealed discrepancies between the results of morphological and molecular studies. The following study concerns three species of Crocidura occurring in Vietnam, namely Crocidura attenuata, Crocidura tanakae and Crocidura wuchihensis, and an undescribed fourth species revealed by molecular analysis. For many years Crocidura attenuata has been known to occur in Vietnam but, until very recently, the morphologically similar and comparably sized Crocidura tanakae was believed to be restricted to Taiwan. Following several molecular studies over the last few years, this species is now believed to be considerably more widespread and recognised as occuring also in Vietnam. The results of one of these recent molecular studies also revealed the presence of an undescribed species of Crocidura, similar in size and morphology to Crocidura wuchihensis, which is herein described. Data are provided on geographical variation in Vietnam and the problems of defining morphologically similar yet molecularly disparate species are discussed.
