, a new species of Lauraceae from Kaeng Krachan National Park, southwest Thailand.

A new species of Lauraceae, M.Z.Zhang, Yahara & Tagane, from Kaeng Krachan National Park, Phetchaburi Province, southwestern Thailand, is described and illustrated.

Freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae) from the rising sun (Far East Asia): phylogeny, systematics, and distribution.

Freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae) is a diverse family with around 700 species being widespread in the Northern Hemisphere and Africa. These animals fulfill key ecological functions and provide important services to humans. Unfortunately, populations have declined dramatically over the last century, rendering Unionidae one of the world's most imperiled taxonomic groups.

A taxonomic monograph of the liphistiid spider genus , endemic to Japanese islands.

Among the eight extant genera of primitively segmented spiders, family Liphistiidae, two are confined to East Asian islands, Kishida, 1923 and Haupt, 1983. In this paper, a taxonomic revision of the genus (Heptathelinae) from Kyushu and Ryukyu archipelago, Japan is provided. This study follows a multi-tier species delimitation strategy within an integrative taxonomic framework that is presented in a parallel paper, in which diagnosable lineages are considered as valid species.

Revision of Simulium rufibasis (Diptera: Simuliidae) in Japan and Korea: Chromosomes, DNA, and Morphology.

The widespread nominal black fly Simulium (Simulium) rufibasis Brunetti was reexamined morphologically, chromosomally, and molecularly to determine the status of populations in Japan and Korea with respect to S. rufibasis from the type locality in India and to all other known species in the S. (S.

The genus Blepharella Macquart (Diptera: Tachinidae) in Japan, with notes on the Oriental species B. lateralis Macquart.

The genus Blepharella Macquart belongs to the tribe Goniini of the Tachinidae (Diptera). Three new species of this genus are described from Japan (B. bomolocha sp.

Filling gaps in distribution of Japanese Paraneseuthia Franz: discovery of br />a new species on Okinawa-jima (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, cydmaeninae).

Five currently known Japanese species of the eutheiine genus Paraneseuthia occur on Honshū, Shikoku, Kyūshū, and Ishigaki-jima of the Ryūkyū Archipelago. The southernmost Japanese species was separated from its geographically (and very likely phylogenetically) closest relatives that live on Kyūshū by over a thousand kilometers of the Pacific Ocean. Paraneseuthia zanetae sp.

New genus of dikraneurine leafhopper (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Typhlocybinae) from Japan, with description of two new species.

A new genus, Stictotettix gen. nov. and two new species of Dikraneurini, S.

Global distribution of earthworm diversity.

Soil organisms, including earthworms, are a key component of terrestrial ecosystems. However, little is known about their diversity, their distribution, and the threats affecting them. We compiled a global dataset of sampled earthworm communities from 6928 sites in 57 countries as a basis for predicting patterns in earthworm diversity, abundance, and biomass.

The phylogeny of desmostylians revisited: proposal of new clades based on robust phylogenetic hypotheses.

Background: Desmostylia is a clade of extinct aquatic mammals with no living members. Today, this clade is considered belonging to either Afrotheria or Perissodactyla. In the currently-accepted taxonomic scheme, Desmostylia includes two families, 10 to 12 genera, and 13-14 species.

Heterogony in (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini) From Rearing Experiments and DNA Barcoding.

Heterogony was confirmed in the cynipid genus Melika and Tang in rearing experiments with DNA barcoding. These experiments involved Tang and Melika, which was previously only described from the sexual generation adult. The first rearing experiment was conducted using unidentified asexual generation females collected from Blume, and gall formation by the sexual generation offspring was confirmed on folded or unfolded young leaves of .

Ecological, phylogenetical, and pharmacognostical characteristics of Aconitum kiyomiense endemic to Hida highlands, Takayama city, Gifu Prefecture, Japan.

Aconitum kiyomiense Kadota (Ranunculaceae) is endemic to Takayama city, Gifu Prefecture, central Japan. We collected specimens from marshes and flood plains at altitudes ranging from 852 to 1085 m and from a new habitat consisting of a mesic meadow in the subalpine belt (1681 m). Glabrous pedicels and flowering sequence of inflorescence were used for identification, but intra-species variations in the pilus of pedicels (glabrous, pilose, and chimeric types) were observed.

sp. n., a new species of Stereomerini (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Aphodiinae), and description of the male of .

is described from Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia and represents the third species of the genus Vårdal & Forshage, 2010 (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Aphodiinae, Stereomerini). A description of the previously unknown male of Král & Hájek, 2015, and a key to the species of the genus are also provided.

Winnertz from the Himalayas, with nine species new to science (Diptera, Mycetophilidae).

An extensive collection of fungus gnats from Nepal and Bhutan, deposited at Kyushu University Museum in Japan, has been examined and revealed nine species of Winnertz, 1864 new to science: Magnussen, , Magnussen, , Magnussen, , Magnussen, , Magnussen, , Magnussen, , Magnussen, , Magnussen, , and Magnussen, All specimens were collected at high altitudes in the central and eastern Himalayas. The species all belong to the subgenusAllodia s. str.

A paleopathological approach to early human adaptation for wet-rice agriculture: The first case of Neolithic spinal tuberculosis at the Yangtze River Delta of China.

The earliest evidence of human tuberculosis can be traced to at least the early dynastic periods, when full-scaled wet-rice agriculture began or entered its early developmental stages, in circum-China countries (Japan, Korea, and Thailand). Early studies indicated that the initial spread of tuberculosis coincided with the development of wet-rice agriculture. It has been proposed that the adaptation to agriculture changed human social/living environments, coincidentally favoring survival and spread of pathogenic Mycobacterial strains that cause tuberculosis.

Paraneseuthia Franz of Japan: two new species and rediscovery of the enigmatic P. holzneri Franz (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae).

To date, three nominal species of the eutheiine genus Paraneseuthia were known to occur in Japan (in Honshū and Kyūshū). A female of an undescribed species was also recorded from Iriomote Island of the Ryūkyū Archipelago. Two new species are here added to this list: P.

Population history of deep-sea vent and seep snails (Mollusca: Abyssochrysoidea) in the northwestern Pacific.

Background: Gastropods of the genus are abundant and widely distributed in deep-sea chemosynthetic environments with seven extant species described in the northwestern Pacific.

Methods: We investigated the population history and connectivity of five species in the northwestern Pacific through population genetic analyses using partial sequences of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene.

Results: We found that , the most abundant and genetically diverse species, is genetically segregated by depth.

Whole-Genome Sequencing of 84 Japanese Eels Reveals Evidence against Panmixia and Support for Sympatric Speciation.

The Japanese eel (), European eel (), and American eel () are migratory, catadromous, temperate zone fish sharing several common life cycle features. The population genetics of panmixia in these eel species has already been investigated. Our extensive population genetics analysis was based on 1400 Gb of whole-genome sequence (WGS) data from 84 eels.

A long-forgotten 'dinosaur' bone from a museum cabinet, uncovered to be a Japan's iconic extinct mammal, (Desmostylia, Mammalia).

Here, we report a new 'discovery' of a desmostylian fossil in the geological collection at a national university in Japan. This fossil was unearthed over 60 years ago and donated to the university. Owing to the original hand-written note kept with the fossil in combination with interview investigation, we were able to reach two equally possible fossil sites in the town of Tsuchiyu Onsen, Fukushima.

Rapid glaciation and a two-step sea level plunge into the Last Glacial Maximum.

The approximately 10,000-year-long Last Glacial Maximum, before the termination of the last ice age, was the coldest period in Earth's recent climate history. Relative to the Holocene epoch, atmospheric carbon dioxide was about 100 parts per million lower and tropical sea surface temperatures were about 3 to 5 degrees Celsius lower. The Last Glacial Maximum began when global mean sea level (GMSL) abruptly dropped by about 40 metres around 31,000 years ago and was followed by about 10,000 years of rapid deglaciation into the Holocene.

Early stage litter decomposition across biomes.

Through litter decomposition enormous amounts of carbon is emitted to the atmosphere. Numerous large-scale decomposition experiments have been conducted focusing on this fundamental soil process in order to understand the controls on the terrestrial carbon transfer to the atmosphere. However, previous studies were mostly based on site-specific litter and methodologies, adding major uncertainty to syntheses, comparisons and meta-analyses across different experiments and sites.

Photo images, 3D models and CT scanned data of loaches (Botiidae, Cobitidae and Nemacheilidae) of Japan.

Background: Loach is one of the major cypriniform fishes in freshwater habitats of Japan; 35 taxa/clades have, until now, been recognised. Parallel to genetic studies, morphological examinations are needed for further development of loach study, eventually ichthyology and fish biology. Digital archiving, concerning taxonomy, ecology, ethology etc.

The prehistoric peopling of Southeast Asia.

The human occupation history of Southeast Asia (SEA) remains heavily debated. Current evidence suggests that SEA was occupied by Hòabìnhian hunter-gatherers until ~4000 years ago, when farming economies developed and expanded, restricting foraging groups to remote habitats. Some argue that agricultural development was indigenous; others favor the "two-layer" hypothesis that posits a southward expansion of farmers giving rise to present-day Southeast Asian genetic diversity.

The turnover of continental planktonic diatoms near the middle/late Miocene boundary and their Cenozoic evolution.

Fossil evidence indicates that modern assemblages of temperate nonmarine planktonic diatoms began near the middle/late Miocene boundary when the genus Actinocyclus, an important constituent of lacustrine planktonic diatom assemblages during the early to middle Miocene, was replaced by genera of the family Stephanodiscaceae. This floral turnover has been confirmed in many regions of the world, except eastern Asia where taxonomic data about early and middle Miocene planktonic diatom assemblages have until recently been scarce. Our analysis of Lower and Middle Miocene lacustrine diatomaceous rocks in Japan confirms that species of nonmarine Actinocyclus were important constituents of lake phytoplankton there as well.

The enigmatic Mixia osmundae revisited: a systematic review including new distributional data and recent advances in its phylogeny and phylogenomics.

The enigmatic basidiomycete genus Mixia includes intracellular parasites of Osmunda and Osmundastrum ferns. Here, the authors review the systematic and phylogenetic history of M. osmundae, originally known as Taphrina osmundae, and provide new data from investigations of specimens of Osmunda japonica collected in Yunnan Province, China, which we determine to be conspecific with M.

Contamination Status of Seven Elements in Hooded Cranes Wintering in South-West Kyushu, Japan: Comparison with Red-Crowned Cranes in Hokkaido, Japan.

The hooded crane is designated as an endangered species. The cranes breed primarily in wetlands in southeast Russia and China in summer. Most of the hooded crane population winters in the Izumi plain in Japan.