The phylogenetic analysis of Sergestoidea based on 253 morphological characters and encompassing all 99 valid species confirmed all previously recognized genus-level clades. Analysis retrieved five major robust clades that correspond to families Luciferidae, Sergestidae, Acetidae fam.n., Sicyonellidae fam.n. and Petalidiumidae fam.n. Synonymy, emended diagnoses and composition of revealed famil...

The Oak genus (Quercus L.) is one of the most important genera of beach family (Fagaceae) that has ecological and economical importance. Chestnutleaf oak (Quercus castaneifolia C.A. Mey.) is native to Iran and distributed in Hyrcanian forests. Pure and mixed stands of this taxon have covered about 6.5 % of Hyrcanian forests. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of ecological factor...

The wild mint "Mentha longifolia (L.) Hudson subsp. noeana (Briq.) Briq." is an important medicinal plant which contains several worthy components like: menthone, pulegone, pipertenon, menthol, thymol, and carvone in its essential oil. This plant grows extensively in center of Asia including Iran. Because of so worthy components and its big role in traditional and modern medicine, the wild mint...

Hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) is the one of the native and valuable shrub in Iran. Identification of the superior genotypes of hazelnut is the firs step for cultivation developing and breeding programs of this nut crop. In this research, had been studied phenological, morphological and pomological characters according to hazelnut’s descriptor for two years (2009-2010) on four populations of ha...

The cosmopolitanism paradigm in the biogeography of freshwater invertebrates is currently being replaced by non-cosmopolitanism or continental endemism. Benthic water fleas (Cladocera) from the family Chydoridae were the first group of freshwater invertebrates for which non-cosmopolitanism and cryptic diversity was substantiated by morphological studies. Yet, little is known about genetic diffe...

Aspergillus subgenus Nidulantes accommodates species of industrial and medical importance. Thirty isolates morphologically assigned to subgenus Nidulantes were studied, 25 isolated from cereals in the north and northwestern provinces and the rest from other substrates in Iran. Based on morphological and molecular data (sequences of the ITS rDNA and β-tubulin), nine species were identified belon...

Molecular and morphological data have important roles in illuminating evolutionary history. DNA data often yield well resolved phylogenies for living taxa, but are generally unattainable for fossils. A distinct advantage of morphology is that some types of morphological data may be collected for extinct and extant taxa. Fossils provide a unique window on evolutionary history and may preserve co...

Bustam BM (2010) Systematic studies of Australian stipoid grasses (Austrostipa) based on micro-morphological and molecular characteristics. Biodiversitas 11: 9-14. This research is one of many studies on stipoid grasses organized by the International Stipeae Working Group (ISWG). This research tested the subgeneric classification of Austrostipa proposed by Jacobs and Everett (1996) and tested h...

Molecular data offer great potential to resolve the phylogeny of living taxa but can molecular data improve our understanding of relationships of fossil taxa? Simulations suggest that this is possible, but few empirical examples have demonstrated the ability of molecular data to change the placement of fossil taxa. We offer such an example here. We analyze the placement of snakes among squamate...