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Article Reference Host Traits Impact the Outcome of Metagenomic Library Preparation From Dental Calculus Samples Across Diverse Mammals
Dental calculus metagenomics has emerged as a valuable tool for studying the oral microbiomes of humans and a few select mammals. With increasing interest in wild animal microbiomes, it is important to understand how widely this material can be used across the mammalian tree of life, refine the related protocols and understand the expected outcomes and potential challenges of dental calculus sample processing. In this study, we significantly expand the breadth of studied host species, analysing laboratory and bioinformatics metadata of dental calculus samples from 32 ecologically and phylogenetically diverse mammals. Although we confirm the presence of an oral microbiome signature in the metagenomes of all studied mammals, the fraction recognised as oral varies between host species, possibly because of both biological differences and methodological biases. The overall success rate of dental calculus processing, from extractions to sequencing, was 74\%. Although input sample weight was positively associated with the number of produced library molecules, we identify a negative impact of enzymatic inhibition on the library preparation protocol. The inhibition was most prevalent in herbivores and frugivores and is likely diet-derived. In contrast, hosts with an animalivore diet posed fewer challenges during laboratory processing and yielded more DNA relative to sample weight. Our results translate into recommendations for future studies of dental calculus metagenomics from a variety of host species, identifying required sample amounts, and emphasising the utility of dental calculus in exploring the oral microbiome in relation to broader ecological and evolutionary questions.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2025
Article Reference Along the Mekong: a new leaf-toed gecko (Gekkonidae: Dixonius sambhupura) from northeastern Cambodia
We describe Dixonius sambhupura sp. nov. from the western bank and Koh Klap (island) of the lower Mekong River in Kratie Province, northeastern Cambodia. The new species differs from all currently recognized Dixonius by the following combination of morphological characters and pattern: maximal known snout-vent length of 49.0 mm, 14 or 16 longitudinal rows of dorsal tubercles; 34 to 37 paravertebral tubercles; 24 to 27 longitudinal rows of ventral scales across the abdomen; six precloacal pores in males, no pores in females; no marked canthal stripe; strongly barred lips; and a spotted to blotched dorsal pattern in adult males and females. We provide a cranial osteological description and a phylogenetic analysis of the new species. The discovery of this new species endemic to Cambodia brings the number of recognized Dixonius species to 20.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2025
Article Reference A new sandstone-dwelling leaf-toed gecko (Gekkonidae: Dixonius hinchangsi) from Khon Kaen Province, northeastern Thailand
We describe Dixonius hinchangsi sp. nov. from a sandstone area near Hin Chang Si, Khon Kaen Province, northeastern Thailand. The new species differs from all currently recognized Dixonius by the following combination of morphological characters and pattern: maximal known snout-vent length of 50.1 mm, 12 longitudinal rows of dorsal tubercles; 30 to 34 paravertebral tubercles; 23 to 27 longitudinal rows of ventral scales across the abdomen; six to eight precloacal pores in males, no pores in females; no canthal stripe; strongly barred lips; and a spotted to uniform dorsal pattern in males and females. We provide a cranial osteological description and a phylogenetic analysis of the new species. This discovery brings the number of recognized Dixonius species to 19, among them nine species endemic to Thailand.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2025
Article Reference A new limestone-dwelling Four-clawed Gecko from Sa Kaeo Province, eastern Thailand (Squamata, Gekkonidae: Gehyra)
We describe Gehyra shiva sp. nov. from limestone cave and hills in Khlong Hat District, Sa Kaeo Province, eastern Thailand, near the border with Cambodia. The new species differs from all currently recognized Southeast Asian Gehyra by the following combination of morphological characters and dorsal color pattern: maximal known snout–vent length of 53.8 mm, 8–10 supralabials, 54–67 dorsal and 46–56 ventral scale rows around midbody, absence of skin folds on limbs, 34–37 preanofemoral pores in males in a continuous series extending along the whole length of the femur (pores absent in females), tail not to moderately widened behind vent in adults, a single row of widened subcaudals, digits and toes unwebbed, 7 or 8 divided subdigital lamellae on 4th toe, and a dorsal pattern with five regular dark brown bands between limb insertions, separated or not by pairs of large, white round paravertebral spots.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2025
Article Reference Oligodon cicadophagus, a new kukri snake from southern peninsular Thailand (Squamata: Colubridae)
We describe a new kukri snake, Oligodon cicadophagus sp. nov., from the limestone reliefs of the Phuket Mountain Range in Krabi and Phang-Nga provinces in southern peninsular Thailand. A member of the Oligodon cinereus group, it can be distinguished from all other congeneric species by the combination of its maximal known snout-vent length of 537 mm; 11 maxillary teeth; eight supralabials; one preocular and one presubocular; 17-17-15 dorsal scale rows; 159–168 ventrals, and 50 subcaudals in males; a single anal scale; hemipenes bilobed with large broad lobes, no distinct flounced calyces and unforked sulcus spermaticus; dorsal surface of head, body and tail uniformly olive-gray, without nuchal chevron, dorsal stripes, crossbands, blotches or reticulations; and a venter cream anteriorly turning to dark gray posteriorly.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2025
Article Reference Gekko (Gekko) emshiva, a new limestone-dwelling gecko from Sa Kaeo Province, eastern Thailand (Squamata, Gekkonidae)
We describe Gekko shiva sp. nov. from limestone cave and hills in Khlong Hat District, Sa Kaeo Province, eastern Thailand, near the border with Cambodia. The new species, a member of the subgenus Gekko, differs from all currently recognized Gekko species by the following combination of morphological characters and pattern: maximal known snout-vent length of 131.9 mm, lack of contact between nostrils and rostral, 28 or 29 interorbital scales between supraciliaries, 80–86 scale rows around midbody, 18 dorsal tubercle rows at midbody, 35–37 ventral scale rows at midbody, 9–12 precloacal pores in males, one or two postcloacal tubercles on each side of the base of the tail, 13–15 subdigital lamellae on 1st toe and 18 or 19 on 4th toe, no Y-shaped mark on head, white spots on head, brown dorsal background with irregular bands of white spots on dorsum, yellow venter, and greenish golden iris.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2025
Article Reference Gekko (Gekko) dam, a new dark-colored tokay gecko from the Thai-Malay border (Squamata, Gekkonidae)
We describe Gekko dam sp. nov. based on type specimens from a limestone hill in Palian District, Trang Province, southern peninsular Thailand. The new species is also found in Satun Province, southern peninsular Thailand, and in Perlis State, northwestern Peninsular Malaysia. A member of the subgenus Gekko, it differs from all currently recognized Gekko species by the following combination of morphological characters and pattern: maximal known snout-vent length of 149.1 mm, lack of contact between nostrils and rostral, 21–24 interorbital scales between supraciliaries, 72–83 scale rows around midbody, 12–14 dorsal tubercle rows at midbody, 26–28 ventral scale rows at midbody, 22 precloacal pores in males, two postcloacal tubercles on each side of the base of the tail, 14–17 subdigital lamellae on 1st toe and 19–21 on 4th toe, a Y-shaped mark on head, white spots on head, dark grey to black dorsal background with four regular bands of contrasting white spots on dorsum between limb insertions, throat and venter white with orange patches, and a copper iris.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2025
Article Reference New distributional data and species records of Cypriot ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) based on museum collections
Specimens deposited in Natural History Museum collections are vital for the study of biodiversity, human drivers of biodiversity loss, and other environmental and socioeconomic problems. Despite recent advances in filling our knowledge gaps regarding the myrmecofauna of Cyprus, the island’s biodiversity is considered to be under-sampled. In this article, ant specimens from Cyprus deposited at the Natural History Museums of Crete, the Agricultural University of Athens (Greece), the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de Genève (Switzerland), the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (Belgium), and the Lund University Biological Museum (Sweden) are examined, presenting a total of 163 specimens belonging to 24 species examined. Stigmatomma denticulatum Roger, 1859 (Amblyoponinae), Myrmecina graminicola (Latreille, 1802), Stenamma debile (Foerster, 1850) (Myrmicinae), and Biogeographia 40 (1): a047 Demetriou et al., 20252 Cryptopone ochracea (Mayr, 1855) (Ponerinae) are reported for the first time for the island of Cyprus, raising its known ant diversity from 77 to 81 species, while additional distributional data are given for species with only a handful of distributional records, i.e. Tapinoma festae Emery, 1925 (Dolichoderinae), Aphaenogaster subterraneoides Emery, 1881 (Myrmicinae), and Hypoponera eduardi (Forel, 1894) (Ponerinae.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2025
Article Reference First comprehensive catalogue of hibernating Darwin wasps in the Western Palaearctic (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae)
Background In the Western Palaearctic, many species of Darwin wasps exhibit a form of diapause known as free-living adult diapause, similar to hibernation in certain beetle, bumblebee and butterfly species. This study provides a first comprehensive overview of all known hibernating species and aims to improve the current ecological knowledge. New information We reviewed 439 species, confirming free-living adult diapause in 340; 81 remain unverified and 18 are excluded, which have been incorrectly reported as hibernators in the past. The validated dataset includes 7443 records from 27567 specimens, spanning over 235 years of both published and unpublished observations. We report 29 species as hibernators for the first time. Amongst the records, 388 provide the first evidence of hibernation for a species in a given country, with 67 also representing the species' first national record. We highlight the value of field-based data and caution against relying solely on collection dates to study diapause. The observed variability in diapause strategies and hibernacula underscores the importance of nature management for biodiversity conservation, especially preservation of microhabitats.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2025
Article Reference First Measurements of Mixed Floral Traits Influencing Anacardium occidentale (Anacardeacae) Attractiveness to Bees in Côte d'Ivoire: Conservation and Agricultural Implications
In Sub-Saharan Africa, cashew plants face challenges in suitable pollination and good agronomic performances. These challenges can largely be attributed to the ability of cashew floral traits in pollinator attraction. However, especially in Côte d'Ivoire, little is known about the roles of morphology and density of cashew flowers and floral rewards in attracting bee species. Likewise, the relationships between plants' attractiveness, number of pollinator visits, and fruiting rate are rarely the focus of study. Therefore, we contrasted in 3 Ivoirian regions two categories of cashew seeing the bees' foraging preference toward their flowers: trees with high foraging intensity versus trees with low activity (respectively called preferred versus non-preferred plants). Our aim was to know whether the floral traits varied among these categories of plants, and whether this variation might affect bees' foraging intensity and the yield. Results showed that the two categories of cashew were significantly different in density of flowers, quantity of pollens and nectars, and their contents in sugars and amino-acids in the pollens and nectars, and showed that these floral traits were strongly involved in bee pollinators recruitment (Wilks = 0.002384, df = 1, p < 0.0001). These floral traits also significantly increased the bees' visitation networks from 11 to 38 species and their interactions from 984 to 8271 visits, and agronomic performances from 10.63% ± 6.65% to 50.15% ± 5.34%. Floral traits related to bee visitations, if well-investigated, may be used to identify high-yielding cashew plants and preserve pollinators.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2026