Monthly Archives: September 2023

by Piter Keo | September 3, 2023 · 6:19 pm

Call for Papers: Biodiversity Research in Central America

by Piter Kehoma Boll

Dear readers,

As you may know, I am the editor-in-chief of the journal Neotropical Biology and Conservation.

We are now preparing a Special Issue on Biodiversity and Research in Central America.

Central America hosts about 5–12% of the world’s biological diversity and is often referred to as a hyperdiversity hotspot in the Neotropical region. Amongst others, it is one of the top five most diverse regions for vascular plants. Because of its geographical placement, Mesoamerica is a key area for understanding both ecological and evolutionary processes to which tropical species are subjected. The dynamic landscape of Central America had a direct impact on the diversification and colonization of biota in the isthmus, thus creating new niches. Despite the region’s potential for investigation, relatively little attention has been given in comparison to other Neotropical regions. This special issue aims to create a space to promote research conducted in this unique and diverse region and to give it the recognition it deserves.

If you think your research is suitable for this Special Issue, we invite you to submit a manuscript. The submission deadline is 30 December 2023.

All manuscripts submitted and accepted to this special issue will be published free of charge. This is a great opportunity to publish your work open access for free!

The editors of this special issue are Monika Lipińska, Maria Mercedes Lopez-Selva and José Monzón Sierra.

We are looking forward to receiving your manuscripts!

The Cow Tongue’s taste revealed! Giant planarian found eating giant snail!

by Piter Kehoma Boll

Polycladus gayi is an iconic land planarian found in Chile and locally known as lengua de vaca (cow tongue). Despite being the largest land planarian in Chile and one of the first land planarians to be described, back in 1845, we know almost nothing about its ecology.

However, things are changing! In the past months, two specimens have been found eating in the wild, and, in both cases, the prey was the same species, the giant black snail, Macrocyclis peruvianus, the largest snail in Chile. Both observations occurred in Chilean protected areas, Villarrica National Park and Alerce Costero National Park, and were recorded by nonspecialists visiting the areas. One more important discovery that happened thanks to citizen science!

The land planarian *Polycladus gayi* attached to snail *Macrocyclis peruvianus* and feasting on its flesh. Photo by Yerko Lloncón.*

After almost two centuries since P. gayi was discovered, we finally know something about its place in the food chain! And, of course, it also helps us see M. peruvianus from a new perspective since this also seems to be the first record of one of its predators! Even though snails are a common item in the diet of land planarians, not all species feed on them, and we cannot assume that both groups are always directly connected in the food web.

Come see how chubby the planarian got after eating the whole snail!

There is still much more to discover about these two unique Chilean creatures, and the partnership between researchers and the general public is an important way to speed up the process of gathering knowledge about the creatures around us!

Reference:

Boll PK, Lloncón Y, Almendras D (2023) Records of the land planarian Polycladus gayi (Tricladida, Geoplanidae) preying on black snails Macrocyclis peruvianus (Gastropoda, Macrocyclidae). Austral Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.13430

* This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

New Species: August 2023

by Piter Kehoma Boll

It’s been 84 years, but we are finally having a new species post again! Yay!

Here is a list of species described this month. It certainly does not include all described species. You can see the list of Journals used in the survey of new species here.

Bacteria