Disentangling the diversity and taxonomy of Hymenophyllaceae (Hymenophyllales, Polypodiidae) in the Comoros

The inventory of biodiversity in the Comoros archipelago is still in progress. We propose here to contribute to this effort by assessing the diversity of the Hymenophyllaceae family, which forms one of the most diverse and emblematic fern communities in rainforests of the region. Data were extracted...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ahamada H. Saïd, Sabine Hennequin, Germinal Rouhan, Jean-Yves Dubuisson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Consortium of European Natural History Museums 2017-04-01
Series:European Journal of Taxonomy
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.europeanjournaloftaxonomy.eu/index.php/ejt/article/view/439
Description
Summary:The inventory of biodiversity in the Comoros archipelago is still in progress. We propose here to contribute to this effort by assessing the diversity of the Hymenophyllaceae family, which forms one of the most diverse and emblematic fern communities in rainforests of the region. Data were extracted from floras, literature, recent collects and observations, and from an exhaustive investigation of the Paris herbarium collection. We also completed an online knowledge database including a computer-aided identification (CAI) tool by using the Xper platform. Our checklist recognizes 21 taxa involving 1 endemic and 7 species newly reported for the archipelago. The taxonomy and discrimination of each taxon is discussed and a dichotomous key is provided. We also defined 80 morphological characters and their corresponding states into the Xper database and CAI that could be easily enriched for neighbouring areas and additional taxa.
ISSN:2118-9773