Parm Viktor von Oheimb’s research while affiliated with Museum für Naturkunde - Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity and other places

The Ryukyu Islands, an island chain in southwestern Japan, originated from land masses that separated from the Eurasian continent due to the formation of sea barriers about 1.55 million years ago. In this study, we investigated the phylogenetic relationships of the operculate land snail genus Cyclophorus (Caenogastropoda: Cyclophoridae) in the Ryukyu Archipelago and surrounding regions based on DNA sequence data. According to our results, all studied Cyclophorus specimens from Japan form a monophyletic group containing eight subclades. Six of these subclades were found only on the Ryukyu Islands. On most islands of the Ryukyu Archipelago, no more than one Cyclophorus subclade was recorded, which may be due to limited ecological niche space and competition. No subclade was found to occur on both sides of the Watase Line, a regional zoogeographical boundary. Divergence times were estimated based on a time-calibrated phylogeny. We found that multiple splits among the Japanese Cyclophorus subclades predate the emergence of major sea barriers in the Ryukyu Archipelago. Vicariance due to sea barrier formation, as assumed for many other taxa from the region, was thus likely not the main driver for subclade divergence in these snails. Instead, certain geographical features might have shaped the diversification of subclades prior to sea barrier formation. Given that Cyclophorus populations were also present on islands that have never been connected to other land masses, the snails must have colonized them via oversea dispersal. As not all nominal taxa corresponded to monophyletic groups, our molecular phylogenetic approach revealed that a taxonomic revision of the Japanese Cyclophorus fauna is necessary. The eight subclades may be regarded as potential species-level groups based on COI p-distances. A canonical discriminant analysis using shell morphological data revealed slight differences among the subclades.

VIETBIO [Innovative approaches to biodiversity discovery and characterisation in Vietnam] is a bilateral German-Vietnamese research and capacity building project focusing on the development and transfer of new methods and technology towards an integrated biodiversity discovery and monitoring system for Vietnam. Dedicated field training and testing of innovative methodologies were undertaken in Cuc Phuong National Park as part and with support of the project, which led to the new biodiversity data and records made available in this article collection. VIETBIO is a collaboration between the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin – Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science (MfN), the Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin (BGBM) and the Vietnam National Museum of Nature (VNMN), the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources (IEBR), the Southern Institute of Ecology (SIE), as well as the Institute of Tropical Biology (ITB); all Vietnamese institutions belong to the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST). The article collection "VIETBIO" (https://doi.org/10.3897/bdj.coll.63) reports original results of recent biodiversity recording and survey work undertaken in Cuc Phuong National Park, northern Vietnam, under the framework of the VIETBIO project. The collection consist of this “main” cover paper – characterising the study area, the general project approaches and activities, while also giving an extensive overview on previous studies from this area – followed by individual papers for higher taxa as studied during the project. The main purpose is to make primary biodiversity records openly available, including several new and interesting findings for this biodiversity-rich conservation area. All individual data papers with their respective primary records are expected to provide useful baselines for further taxonomic, phylogenetic, ecological and conservation-related studies on the respective taxa and, thus, will be maintained as separate datasets, including separate GUIDs also for further updating.

The high-elevation Tibetan Plateau (western China) is inhabited by a unique though not particularly species-rich community of organisms. We explored the species content and evolutionary history of the Tibetan Plateau endemic freshwater snail genus Tibetoradix. Phylogenetic relationships within the genus were reconstructed based on available sequence data. We used a single-rate Poisson Tree Processes approach for species delimitation and compared putative species-level clades with already described taxa. We found that the genus consists of at least six species, of which we described four as new to science. Shell and soft body morphology was examined and the radula in Tibetoradix was described for the first time. Based on our findings, the diversification of the genus did not result in a prominent morphological differentiation and a number of species can be regarded as morphologically cryptic. Single species found in different drainage areas indicate relatively good passive dispersal abilities of the snails. The allopatric distribution of the species could result from competitive exclusion between them. The absence of Tibetoradix spp. outside the Tibetan Plateau could be explained by a scenario of an “evolutionary trap”, where adaptations to high elevation conditions prevented the taxa from a successful colonization of lower elevations. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Most of the present knowledge on animal reproductive mode evolution, and possible factors driving transitions between oviparity and viviparity is based on studies on vertebrates. The species rich door snail (Clausiliidae) subfamily Phaedusinae represents a suitable and unique model for further examining parity evolution, as three different strategies, oviparity, viviparity, and the intermediate mode of embryo-retention, occur in this group. The present study reconstructs the evolution of reproductive strategies in Phaedusinae based on time-calibrated molecular phylogenetics, reproductive mode examinations and ancestral state reconstruction. Our phylogenetic analysis employing multiple mitochondrial and nuclear markers identified a well-supported clade (including the tribes Phaedusini and Serrulinini) that contains species exhibiting various reproductive strategies. This clade evolved from an oviparous most recent common ancestor according to our reconstruction. All non-oviparous taxa are confined to a highly supported subclade, coinciding with the tribe Phaedusini. Both oviparity and viviparity occur frequently in different lineages of this subclade that are not closely related. During Phaedusini diversification, multiple transitions in reproductive strategy must have taken place, which could have been promoted by a high fitness of embryo-retaining species. The evolutionary success of this group might result from the maintenance of various strategies.

Limestone karsts can form terrestrial habitat islands for calcium-dependent organisms. In Vietnam, many karst habitats are threatened, while their rich biodiversity is still far from being thoroughly explored. Given that conservation of karst biota strongly relies on correct species identification, the presence of undetected cryptic species can pose severe problems. The present study focuses on cryptic diversity among karst-inhabiting land snails of the genus Cyclophorus in northern Vietnam, where specimens with a similar shell morphology have been reported from various regions. In order to examine the diversity and evolutionary history of this “widespread morphotype”, we generated a Bayesian phylogeny based on DNA sequence data. Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery (ABGD) and the Bayesian implementation of the Poisson tree processes model (bPTP) contributed to species delimitation and analyses of shell shape and size aided the morphological characterisation of individual species. We found that the examined specimens of the widespread morphotype did not form a single monophyletic group in the phylogeny but clustered into several different clades. We delimited nine different species that develop the widespread morphotype and described four of them as new. Processes of convergent evolution were probably involved in the origin of the delimited species, while their generally allopatric distribution could result from interspecific competition. Our findings indicate ongoing processes of speciation and a potential case of morphological character displacement. The high degree of morphological overlap found among the species underlines the importance of DNA sequence data for species delimitation and description in the genus Cyclophorus. Given the findings of the present study and the high potential that as yet undiscovered cryptic taxa have also evolved in other groups of karst-inhabiting organisms, we argue for a systematic and efficient detection and description of Vietnam’s karst biodiversity to provide a solid basis for future conservation planning.

The insular limestone karsts of northern Vietnam harbor a very rich biodiversity. Many taxa are strongly associated with these environments, and individual species communities can differ considerably among karst areas. The exact processes that have shaped the biotic composition of these habitats, however, remain largely unknown. In this study, the role of two major processes for the assembly of snail communities on limestone karsts was investigated, interspecific competition and filtering of taxa due to geographical factors. Communities of operculate land snails of the genus Cyclophorus were studied using the dry and fluid‐preserved specimen collections of the Natural History Museum, London. Phylogenetic distances (based on a Bayesian analysis using DNA sequence data) and shell characters (based on 200 semilandmarks) were used as proxies for ecological similarity and were analyzed to reveal patterns of overdispersion (indicating competition) or clustering (indicating filtering) in observed communities compared to random communities. Among the seven studied karst areas, a total of 15 Cyclophorus lineages were found. Unique communities were present in each area. The analyses revealed phylogenetic overdispersion in six and morphological overdispersion in four of seven karst areas. The pattern of frequent phylogenetic overdispersion indicated that competition among lineages is the major process shaping the Cyclophorus communities studied. The Coastal Area, which was phylogenetically overdispersed, showed a clear morphological clustering, which could have been caused by similar ecological adaptations among taxa in this environment. Only the community in the Cuc Phuong Area showed a pattern of phylogenetic clustering, which was partly caused by an absence of a certain, phylogenetically very distinct group in this region. Filtering due to geographical factors could have been involved here. This study shows how museum collections can be used to examine community assembly and contributes to the understanding of the processes that have shaped karst communities in Vietnam.

Patagonia and the Tibetan Plateau both harbor various freshwaters with relatively low temperatures. Pulmonate freshwater gastropods are widely distributed in these water bod- ies. Both regions, however, also possess a number of geothermal hot springs. Such springs might have served as refugia for freshwater taxa during the Pleistocene. In the present study, two hot spring systems, one in Patagonia and one at the Tibetan Plateau, were examined. Individuals of Chilina patagonica (in Patagonia) as well as Radix cf. auricularia and Gyraulus sp. (at the Tibetan Plateau) were found living in the warm water. These taxa typically live at much lower water temperatures. At the Patagonian hot spring system, gastropods occurred continuously from warm to cold water. Analyses of mitochondrial DNA sequence data revealed very close relationships of Tibetan Plateau hot spring gastropods to cold water populations. Acclimatization and not adaptation is thus probably the main thermal adjustment process involved. Given these findings, it is plausible that hot springs have served as glacial refugia for these freshwater gastropods.