Thezoogeographical analysis of the mechanism of biodiversity in vertebrates from Indochinese and Sundaic Region

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The field surveys were undertaken in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, Taiwan and the other Asian countries. The genome samples, skeletons and skins were collected to prepare the inventory in the future. Mitochondrial DNAs are being sequenced, and the karyotypes are being examined from the lung tissues. We collected the skeletons and organs for morphological investigations, and preared the skin specimens of mammals and birds and the pickled specimens of reptiles and amphibians to examine the external morphology. We also collected the morphological data of tree shrews, mouse deer, squirrels, moles and shrews, and the data were used to clarify the geographical variation among populations and discuss on the adaptational strategy. The mastication muscles were compared among species of the squirrels and mouse deer to describe the relationships between ecological adaptation and the architecture of the masticatory muscles. The digestive and genital organs were morphologically examined also in the pangolins. The species closely-related to the genus Rattus were morphologically compared among the populations from Southeast Asia to Japan. It enabled us to describe the new species, Tokudaia tokunoshimensis, from Tokynoshima Island of Japan. We also carried out the comparative morphological studies of the specimens of the vertebrates in natural history museums in England, France and USA.