SG: A revised taxonomy of the palm genus Iguanura

This project aims to document the biodiversity of a group of Asian palms and update its classification. This project will improve understanding of the geographic distribution and abundance of these species of palms, enabling informed decisions about conservation priorities. Additionally, the results of the project will be combined with results from many other, similar studies on palms and serve to further the understanding of the biology of the economically important palm family.

All the resulting data from the project will be freely available to any interested party, and the final publication will be in open access format. This project will also serve as a model for other studies of species delimitation by employing a rigorous scientific methodology to the systematic study of palms.

Iguanura is the name given to a group of small, stilt-rooted, understory palms with undivided or pinnate leaves, leaflets with jagged margins, and unusually variable fruits. The genus occurs in tropical rainforests in Myanmar, Peninsular Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra, and Borneo. Approximately 34 species have been recognized, including a recently described species that was discovered over 1,800 km north of the nearest known locality in Peninsular Thailand, emphasizing how the genus has been poorly understood.

The most recent systematic study of the whole genus was carried out over 45-years ago and relied entirely on the relatively few herbarium specimens existing at that time. A second important study, published over 15-years ago, dealt only with species from Peninsular Malaysia and relied on extensive field work and collecting. Neither of these studies employed an explicit species delimitation methodology.

The present study of Iguanura will employ an explicit, repeatable methodology based on a clearly stated species concept. It will test previously published species as hypotheses based on the quantitative analysis of data, using all relevant specimens in the larger herbaria in the US, Europe, and Asia. This analysis, along with extensive study of herbarium specimens, will form the basis for a modern taxonomic revision of the genus.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.