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Monthly Archives: January 2023

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Sri Lanka is no more among the top 5 countries that discharge mismanaged waste plastics to the world’s oceans.

 

A recent publication of the Center for Marine Science and Technology, Department of Zoology, University of Sri Jayewardenepura has proven that Sri Lanka is no more among the top 5 countries that discharge mismanaged waste plastics to the world’s oceans.

The publication proves that Sri Lanka’s 5th position in the worst polluters list is due to an error in source data and interpretation and the researchers request that the Government, publications, and general public to avoid referring Sri Lanka’s position in the worst polluters ranking hereafter since it is such an irrational claim.

However, the researchers also highlight that we are not doing good in managing marine plastic waste, single-use plastics in particular, the next struggle that we all have to take part in. The open-access publication is available at the following link.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/3/2687/htm

Categories Publications

Pseudophilautus pardus, a junior synonym of P. viridis (Amphibia: Anura: Rhacophoridae)

Pseudophilautus pardus, was first described in 2007, based on a single specimen collected in Sri Lanka during the 19th century. Its absence in recent surveys suggested that the species was extinct. The distinctive spotted dorsal coloration, together with other morphological features, was used to distinguish it from congeners. In 2013, we discovered a specimen resembling the holotype of P. pardus in Samanala Strict Nature Reserve. A DNA analysis based on the 16S rRNA mt-DNA locus recovered a low uncorrected pairwise genetic distance of 0.77–0.96% between the recent example of ‘P. pardus’ and a congener, P. viridis. Molecular species delimitation methods suggest P. pardus and P. virids to be a single operational taxonomic unit. Morphological analyses using the freshly collected specimen, together with numerous photographic records show P. viridis to be a highly polychromatic species within which the coloration observed in P. pardus too occurs, though rarely. We conclude that P. pardus is a junior synonym of P. viridis.

https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.5227.4.4

WIJAYATHILAKA, N., PERERA, U., MANAMENDRA-ARACHCHI, K.E.L.U.M., ELLEPOLA, G., ADHIKARI, H., WIJAYASEKARA, S., WICKRAMASINGHE, M., PRATHAP, V. and MEEGASKUMBURA, M., 2023. Pseudophilautus pardus, a junior synonym of P. viridis (Amphibia: Anura: Rhacophoridae). Zootaxa, 5227(4), pp.459-472.