From April 1, 2022, I have become a Special Postdoctoral Researcher at the Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical (iTHEMS) program, RIKEN. I am very enthusiastic about this new researcher position, and I will continue doing my best at exploring new aspects of my research line on plant speciation.
More details about iTHEMS, RIKEN, here: https://ithems.riken.jp/en
A new cycad species from Mexico was described: Dioon salas-moralesae. The new species represents one lineage that was previously considered part of the circumscription of D. merolae.
The article can be read in Phytotaxa: http://doi.org/10.11646/PHYTOTAXA.528.2.3
Citation:
Gutiérrez-Ortega, J. S., Pérez-Farrera, M. A., Chemnick, J., & Gregory, T. J. (2021). A reassessment of Dioon merolae (Zamiaceae) leads to the description of Dioon salas-moralesae, a new cycad species from Southeastern Oaxaca, Mexico. Phytotaxa, 528(2), 93-110.
The epithet was modified from Dioon salas-moralesae to Dioon salas-moralesiae by the World List of Cycads: https://cycadlist.org/taxon.php?Taxon_ID=895
We recently published the description of a new cycad species from Mexico: Ceratozamia dominguezii. This species is part of the C. robusta species complex, lives in Uxpanapa, southeastern Veracruz, Mexico, and it is distinguishable by having the longest rachides and the widest separation of leaflets along the rachis in the complex. Also, the cones have a dark-violet color in the distal faces of the sporophylls, unique in the genus.
The description of C. dominguezii contributes to understanding the actual cycad diversity in Mexico, and clarifies the role of the climatic refugia (the Uxpanapa region, in this case) in the diversification of tropical plants in Mexico.
The article can be found here:
https://doi.org/10.3390/taxonomy1040026
Or it can be downloaded here:
We recently published the description of a new cycad species from northern Oaxaca, Mexico: Ceratozamia aurantiaca.
The new species is closely related to C. robusta and C. subroseophylla, but as the epithet suggests, the new species can be easily distinguished by the emerging leaves of orange color.
The recognition of this species elevates the number of species in the genus Ceratozamia to 34.
This article can be found in Taxonomy: https://doi.org/10.3390/taxonomy1030018
How to cite:
Pérez-Farrera M.A., Gutiérrez-Ortega J.S., Haynes J.L., Chemnick J., Salas-Morales S.H., Calonje M., Vovides A.P. 2021. Ceratozamia aurantiaca (Zamiaceae): A new cycad species from the northern rainforests of Oaxaca, Mexico. Taxonomy 1(3): 243-255. https://doi.org/10.3390/taxonomy1030018
It can also be downloaded here:
We recently published the description of a new cycad species from Chiapas Highlands, Mexico: Ceratozamia sanchezae.
This new species lives at high altitudes (>1500 masl), has partially subterranean trunks, arched leaves with thin petioles sparsely armed with thin prickles, oblanceolate leaflets in juveniles, and linear lanceolate or falcate in adults.
This article can be found in Phytotaxa: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.500.3.4
How to cite:
Gutiérrez-Ortega J.S., Pérez-Farrera M.A., Vovides A.P., Chávez-Cortázar A., López S., Santos-Hernández N.G., Ruíz-Roblero S.K. 2021. Ceratozamia sanchezae (Zamiaceae): a new cycad species from Chiapas Highlands (Mexico). Phytotaxa 500 (3):201-216. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.500.3.4
The epithet was modified from Ceratozamia sanchezae to Ceratozamia sancheziae by the World List of Cycads: https://cycadlist.org/taxon.php?Taxon_ID=903
I am very happy for the publication of our new article entitled “Speciation along a latitudinal gradient: The origin of the Neotropical cycad sister pair Dioon sonorense–D. vovidesii (Zamiaceae)” in the journal Ecology and Evolution.
In this study, we evaluated the history of lineage divergence between two sister species from North-western Mexico: Dioon sonorense and D. vovidesii. We used population genetics and ecological niche models to identify the demographic and environmental factors involved in speciation. This study demonstrate that the speciation within this species group includes a genetic component that is influenced by disparate genetic drift and natural selection, and an geographic/ecological component that has an additive factor associated with speciation.
How to cite:
Gutiérrez-Ortega J.S., Martínez J.F., Molina-Freaner F., Pérez-Farrera M.A., Vovides A.P., Hernández-López A., Tezuka A., Nagano A.J., Watano Y., Takahashi Y., Murakami M. Kajita T. 2021. Speciation along a latitudinal gradient: The origin of the Neotropical cycad sister pair Dioon sonorense-D. vovidesii (Zamiaceae). Ecology and Evolution. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7545
Open Access!
You can find our manuscript here: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7545
Or download it here:
On March 25th, 2021, I had the great pleasure to participate in the iTHEMS seminars on Biology, RIKEN. RIKEN is famous for their top researchers, and for their interdisciplinary team, in which many members don’t have any experience on biological research. Thus, it was very challenging to explain my research to a broad public of brilliant scientists of other disciplines.
Further details here: https://ithems.riken.jp/en/news/biology-seminar-dr-jose-gutierrez-march-25-2021
Last week, I had the great chance to participate in the 68th meeting of the Ecological Society of Japan (ESJ). I am amazed by the great number of presentations, symposia and workshops that were held online in just a small bunch of days. Also, it is great to learn from experts in a great variety of research fields in ecology.
This time, I presented our progress in our research on the history of diversification of cycads, particularly our most recent researches in the sister pair of cycads Dioon sonorense and D. vovidesii.
Additionally, I was honored to receive this year the 9th Young Scholar Award of the Ecological Society of Japan (Suzuki Award)! I appreciate the great attention that our research has received in the ESJ. I was allowed to give a talk about my life in research and the contributions of our researches in science.
Also, congratulation to the other award winners! And see you in the 69th meeting, hopefully, in person.
My participation:
The 20th Annual meeting of the Japanese Society for Plant Systematics (日本植物分類学会第 20 回大会) was held online on March 8-9, 2021. Although we couldn’t see each other in person this year, it was nice to share findings, ideas and nice conversations among members of the society through our screens.
This time, I had the chance to present the progress of our research entitled “Speciation along a latitudinal gradient: The origin of the Neotropical cycad sister pair Dioon sonorense–D. vovidesii (Zamiaceae)”. I appreciate the comments and the interesting questions that I received!
In addition, I felt honored to receive the Award for Young Scientists of the Japanese Society for Plant Systematics! I was invited to give a commemorative award talk that I entitled “Revealing the evolutionary history of the Neotropical cycad genus Dioon (Zamiaceae)”. This was a good opportunity to summarize several years of efforts! Thank you very much for this recognition!
How to cite:
We are glad to introduce a new cycad species from Oaxaca, Mexico: Dioon oaxacensis.
Dioon oaxacensis represents a lineage of cycads that evolved in arid habitats of eastern Oaxaca. It shares morphological similarities with its sister D. merolae and a closely related species, D. purpusii. You can find the article in Phytotaxa:
https://www.biotaxa.org/…/article/view/phytotaxa.474.1.5
How to cite:
Gutiérrez-Ortega J.S., Pérez-Farrera M.A., Vovides A.P., Salas-Morales S.H., Chemnick J. 2020. Dioon oaxacensis (Zamiaceae): a new cycad species from the arid central valleys of Oaxaca (Mexico). Phytotaxa 474 (1): 51-61. DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.474.1.5
José Said Gutiérrez-Ortega 