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This paper includes a comprehensive taxonomical study based on seed morphology of 31 Euphorbia L species from Türkiye. The studied Euphorbia taxa have been examined for morphological traits such as seed color, dimensions, surface ornamentation, cell wall structures, lipid granule presence, and caruncle shape and dimensions with Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and stereo microscopy to develop a better understanding of the basis of its species. The outcomes show that the species differ based on seed shape and color. The seed width dimensions are between 0.55 and 3.83 mm and the length dimensions are between 1.03 and 5.87 mm. Euphorbia lathyris, E. prostrata, and E. nutans are marked differently from the rest of the studied species based on their seed dimension. The seed surface ornamentation is classified into 12 different types: tuberculate, reticulate, areolate, colliculate, verrucate, alveolate, rugose, alveolate‐reticulate, slightly reticulate, reticulate‐areolate, pusticulate, and ruminate. The most common form is reticulate, found in eight species. The tuberculate (in E. helioscopia), areolate (in E. oblongata), slightly reticulate (in E. amygdaloides), and ruminate (in E. herniariifolia) ornamentation types are each characterized by only one species. The presence of lipid granules and anticlinal and periclinal cell walls disclose interspecific relationships within the examined taxa. Also, an identification key is offered for the studied species based on seed characters. Research Highlights: The seeds of Turkish Euphorbia species have been studied in depth.The morphological characters of seeds of Turkish Euphorbia species have been examined utilizing SEM and light microscopy for the first time and discussed the taxonomic practice of these characteristics.A dichotomous key containing seed morphological data has presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Claws of avian raptors have been used to make symbolic objects and decorations in many geographic regions and cultures; thus, their species identification increases our ability to draw more in‐depth conclusions from zooarcheological materials. It is the first ever manual for identification of ungual phalanges of European Accipitridae. It can be used in conjunction with a previously published manual for owls and falcons as well as independently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is the first of two scheduled publications for this project. It contains a dichotomous key to the identification of the ungual phalanges of European owls and falcons; the second part will contain accipitrids. The manual(s) will facilitate the work of zooarchaeologists and palaeontologists, especially since comparative specimens in osteological collections are often difficult to access and/or incomplete. This, in turn, will indirectly contribute to a more in‐depth interpretation of zooarcheological materials, because bird talons were used to produce symbolic objects and decorations in different archeological periods and in various geographical areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Werneria villosa is a species well defined by its yellow ray limbs. In the recent monograph of the genus Werneria, a few populations from northwestern Argentina displaying white ray limbs were tentatively also included in this species following previous authors and because of lack of information for making an accurate taxonomic decision. However, as a result of field‐work carried out in Salta and Jujuy, I have concluded that the plants with white ray limbs correspond to a distinct taxonomic entity and, accordingly, it is here described as the new species W. praetermissa. Detailed pictures of living plants, distribution maps and a dichotomous key to the Argentinian Werneria species is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Springs ecosystems are globally abundant, geomorphologically diverse, and bio‐culturally productive, but are highly imperiled by anthropogenic activities. More than a century of scientific discussion about the wide array of ecohydrological factors influencing springs has been informative, but has yielded little agreement on their classification. This lack of agreement has contributed to the global neglect and degradation of springs ecosystems by the public, scientific, and management communities. Here we review the historical literature on springs classification variables, concluding that site‐specific source geomorphology remains the most diagnostic approach. We present a conceptual springs ecosystem model that clarifies the central role of geomorphology in springs ecosystem development, function, and typology. We present an illustrated dichotomous key to terrestrial (non‐marine) springs ecosystem types and subtypes, and describe those types. We identify representative reference sites, although data limitations presently preclude selection of continentally or globally representative reference springs of each type. We tested the classification key using data from 244 randomly selected springs of 13 types that were inventoried in western North America. The dichotomous key correctly identified springs type in 87.5% of the cases, with discrepancies primarily due to differentiation of primary vs. secondary typology, and insufficient inventory team training. Using that information, we identified sources of confusion and clarified the key. Among the types that required more detailed explanation were hypocrenes, springs in which groundwater is expressed through phreatophytic vegetation. Overall, springs biodiversity and ecosystem complexity are due, in part, to the co‐occurrence of multiple intra‐springs microhabitats. We describe microhabitats that are commonly associated with different springs types, reporting at least 13 microhabitats, each of which can support discrete biotic assemblages. Interdisciplinary agreement on basic classification is needed to enhance scientific understanding and stewardship of springs ecosystems, the loss and degradation of which constitute a global conservation crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Statistical fisheries data are usually obtained during landings, through rapid fish classification and their categorization under the trade names given to species or groups of species. However, species classification is often difficult, particularly concerning elasmobranchs whose fins and heads have been removed, leading to labelling errors.The aim of this paper is to identify the ray species composition landed in south‐east Brazil, providing identification strategies to support a plan for more efficient labelling and management.Samples were obtained from artisanal fleet landings, between November 2012 and May 2014. For taxonomic identification of whole or processed animals (n = 279, belonging to 10 species), morphological, metric, and molecular techniques were employed. The common name used by fishermen was more related to the location where they lived than the fishing gear used.Morphometric analyses resulted in pectoral fin to length and weight conversion equations of whole individuals for each species, and 10 variables were found to be diagnostic of each genus.A genetic identification, based on sequencing of the mitochondrial genes cytochrome b and cytochrome oxidase I, was applied to verify morphological identification. A dichotomous key that allowed ray identification at the species level from pectoral fin morphology was developed. The approach was field tested and deemed adequate, leading to a robust monitoring strategy for estimating the biomass of specific landed rays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The stylohyoid is the largest bone in the hyoid complex surrounding the throat in artiodactyls. There is little published information to allow its identification to species or anatomical side. Our study examined comparative stylohyoid bones to provide criteria for taxonomic identification, using 494 animals representing 13 artiodactyl species, including all species native to the continental United States. The goal was to find criteria showing at least 95% success in separating between species or species groups. Osteometric and discrete feature criteria were found to provide strong distinctions between some species through an iterative set of comparisons arranged in a dichotomous key. For example, a small artiodactyl bone could be identified as pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) with 100% success (n = 260) if it exhibited both an S‐shaped dorsal aspect and a ratio of angle width to anterior end width > 1.6. Consistent criteria could not be found for some other species, notably between small bovids and between the 2 species of deer (Odocoileus sp.). Our study also extracted stylohyoids in place to provide criteria for siding, using 28 carcasses representing 7 species, and found they can be readily sided based on a marked concavity on the lateral side. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Effective management of aquatic fauna requires knowledge of the ways in which populations in different catchments and sub-catchments are connected. A powerful way to estimate this is using genetic markers, which provide information on the average amount of genetic connectivity among populations over generations. Although many studies of genetic connectivity have appeared in the literature, there are innumerable species that have not been studied. 2. This study explores whether it is possible to make broad generalisations about population connectivity, based on readily available information in the form of species life history and architecture of the aquatic habitat. 3. A number of models have been proposed to explain the pattern of connectivity shown by aquatic species with different life-history characteristics, for example, the stream hierarchy model, Isolation by Distance, the Death Valley Model, the headwater model and panmixia. 4. In this study, we propose a dichotomous key to assign species to different models of potential connectivity. The key is based on a few very simple questions about the life history of the species and the geographical arrangement of study sites. We then assessed the performance of the key with 109 data sets of Australian fish and macroinvertebrates, using genetic data to provide an estimate of realised connectivity. 5. The realised connectivity fitted the proposed potential connectivity model in over 70% of cases, and we suggest this might be a useful initial approach for managers where empirical data are lacking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 27 March 1689, Richard Waller, Fellow and Secretary of the Royal Society presented his "Tables of the English Herbs reduced to such an order, as to find the name of them by their external figures and shapes" to his assembled colleagues at a meeting of the Royal Society. These tables were developed for the novice by being color images, composed in pencil and watercolor, of selected plants and their distinguishing characteristics. The botanical watercolors for the tables are now a Turning-the-Pages document online on the website of the Royal Society. However, for the past 320 years, the scientific context for the creation of these outstanding botanical watercolors has remained obscure. These tables were developed by Waller as an image-based dichotomous key, pre-dating by almost 100 years the text-based dichotomous keys in the first edition of Flora Française (1778) by Jean Baptiste Lamarck, who is generally given priority for the development of the dichotomous key. How these large folio images were arranged to illustrate a dichotomous key is unknown, but an arrangement based on Waller's description is illustrated here as leaf-ordering for the separate hierarchical clusters (tables). Although only 24 species of watercolored dicot herbs out of a total of 65 in the set of watercolors (the others being monocots) are used in these tables, they are a "proof of concept", serving as models upon which a method is based, that of using a key composed of dichotomous choices for aiding identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species identification is a necessary component of most studies of biological diversity, and computational approaches are beginning to automate it. In particular, leaves of plants provide taxon-specific information that has successfully been applied to plant identification. Prior studies have not investigated the number of leaves or the resolution of the digitized leaf image required to represent a species' shape. Moreover, the relationship between accuracy and the size of the leaf shape database, and methods to integrate automated approaches with more traditional dichotomous keys have yet to be explored. Here, I use a database of 2,420 leaves from 151 species to address these issues. Using distance metrics derived from Fourier and Procrustes analyses, it is found that a minimum of 10 leaves of each species, 100 margin points, and 10 Fourier harmonics are required to accurately represent leaf shape of a species. These results are used to assess the success of species identification from images of leaves: 72% for all 151 species. The tight relationship between database size and accuracy is then used in conjunction with results from probability theory to predict accuracy of species identification when dichotomous multiple-entry keys and combined Fourier and Procrustes analysis are used together. Combining these two approaches to identification can greatly improve identification accuracy. Open-source software is available to implement the automated distance-based approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]