نشریه تاکسونومی و بیوسیستماتیک
سال یازدهم شماره 3 (پیاپی 40، پاییز 1398)

 Iran, in terms of biogeography, has considerable diversity. Considering the importance of conducting faunistic and taxonomic investigations and identifying the fauna of insects in different climates of the country, in this study, which was conducted to identify and examine the taxonomy of the subfamily Noctuinae in Isfahan province during the years 2011 and 2012, moth specimens were collected by light traps from different geographic regions. The collected specimens were then transported to the laboratory and pinned, and slides were prepared from their genitals.  The samples were identified with the help of reliable scientific sources. Among the 22 collected species and subspecies belonging to this subfamily, 17 species and subspecies belonging to eight genera were reported for the first time in Isfahan province. Taxonomic characters of the species and subspecies and their distribution and biological information as well as the image of whole insects are presented.

In the present research, the flora of Tang-e Khoshk region located in Boyer Ahmad city, Kohgiloyeh Boyer Ahmad province, with an approximate area of 10/000 hectares and an altitude range between 2037 and 2600 meters above sea level and in a geographical position between the eastern longitude 51˚41ʹ to 51˚48ʹ E and the northern latitude of 30˚28ʹ to 30˚30ʹ N have been investigated during the years 1395 and 1396 (2016 and 2017). The sampling techniques of survey and linear transect were used. The results showed that 296 species belonging to 187 plant genera and 56 families grew in this area. From 296 species, one species belonged to the genus Gymnospenrms and 295 species belonged to Angiosperms (44 species from the category of Monocotyledons and 251 species from the category of Dicotyledonds). The families of Asteraceae (with 38 species), Fabaceae (with 28 species), and Lamiaceae (with 23 species) were the most important in this region. The most important genera of the region were Astragalus (with 9 species) and Euphorbia and Centaurea (each with 5 species). Also, most of the geographical elements of the flora were related to the Iran-Turani region (52/3%) and the most important biological forms of plant elements in the region included Hemicryptophytes (44/2%) and Therophytes (33/1%), respectively. The high percentage of Hemicryptophytes indicated the cold and mountainous climate of the region. Based on the results of this study and due to the rich vegetation of the region, the conservation and reproduction of native species in natural habitats or out of natural habitats are emphasized with proper management and conservation.

 This study was conducted to examine the phylogenetic relationship of the genus Turcinoemacheilus in Iran based on osteological characteristics. A total of 25 fish specimens of four species belonging to the genus Turcinoemacheilus from Tigris and Isfahan basins were considered as in-group and Cobitis linea as out-group. The skeletal elements were examined after clearing and staining. A total of 19 character-states were described that showed differences between the studied taxa. Phylogenetic analysis was performed using osteological characters with the maximum parsimony method. Based on the results, the most parsimonious tree with a length of 29, the consistency index of 1, and a retention index of 1 was obtained. Turcinoemacheilus hafezi and T. bahaii with 76% support were in a sister group and the two species of T. kosswigi and T. saadii with 97% support were in another clad. The presence of the lateral fontanel in T. hafezi, the overlap of the internal lateral-wall of autoplatinii with posterior lateral-wall of the ethmoid, symmetry of the posterior part of the autoplatinii and divergence of the hemal spin’s process in T. kosswigi, ratio of the ascending process to the horizontal process of the maxillary, and beginning of the first dorsal-fin petrigiophore to vertebra 17 in T. bahaii were distinguishing osteological characters of the studied species.

 The monitor lizards (the Varanidae Family) are an ancestral group of the Anguimorph reptiles. The monitor lizards, crocodiles, and pythons are the largest living ectothermic predators. The varanid lizards are distributed in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, the Indonesian archipelago, and Australia. The genus Varanus encompasses three species in Iran. The species studied in this survey include Varanus griseus and Varanus nesterovi. In the present study, samples kept in the laboratory of Razi University of Kermanshah and a body of Varanus griseus were used. To study the skeleton, two methods of a) removing the skeletal components and photographing them, and b) using the CT-scan method were used. The Varanus skull contained 39 components of braincase as well as 12 elements of the lower jaw and hyoid apparatus. The comparison of the skulls showed that the skull of Varanus griseus and Varanus nesterovi had no significant difference except in the form of the nasal bones. The characteristic of the skull in some lizards is an important diagnostic key among various species including Varanus griseus and Varanus V. nesterovi. The similarity in skull structure in the two studied species is probably the result of their close relationship as well as the very similar method of nutrition.

Summer savory (Satureja hortensis L.), belonging to the Lamiaceae family, is one of the most important medicinal plants. This plant is used in the wild and cultivated forms. In this study, the genetic diversity of 20 accessions of S. hortensis from different places of Iran and other parts of the world were characterized by morphological, phytochemical, and essential oil yield traits. The data was analyzed using univariate and multivariate analyses. The results of the analysis of variance showed a significant difference between the studied characteristics. The results of the morphological analysis showed that traits such as the leaf number, bract number, 100-seed weight, and seed number per plant were very diverse. Bulgaria and Uzbekistan accessions were best in most of the traits and essential oil yield was higher in Karaj accession. The correlation coefficients among traits showed that the plant diameter had the highest correlation with the leaf number trait (0.99) and leaf number had a significant positive correlation with all traits. Factor analysis indicated that the six factors explained 85.85 of the variability among the accessions. Cluster analysis divided the accessions into four major groups. Considering the grouping, there was no relationship between genetic diversity and the geographical distance of the accessions. The results confirmed a considerable genetic variation among S. hortensis accessions.

 Analysis of song structure characteristics in the passeriform can be used as a powerful index in determining the taxonomical status of species of genus or subspecies of a species. Black-headed bunting (Emberiza melanocephala) and red-headed bunting (E. bruniceps) meet in a hybrid zone southeast of the Caspian Sea, Iran, and produce hybrid bunting individuals. This phenomenon, which creates these hybrid individuals may originate from the fact that there is a high similarity in the male song of the two species which may cause females to make a mistake in identifying the species they choose to mate with. This study was conducted to investigate the similarities and differences of the male songs of these two species by downloading their songs from the open-access online repository Xeno-Canto. Thirty audio files were selected for analysis in the warbleR software. The spectrograms and principal components were extracted according to the offered functions of this package. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed no clustering of signals detected by this technique as well as overlap in some of the sound characteristics of the two species. The results of the present study revealed that despite the evolution of plumage and morphometric differences between the two species, the mechanism of reproductive isolation between them (including the development of acoustic signals to correctly identify males and females of each species and exclude other species individuals) was still incomplete which may cause gene flow and consequently hybridization.