Millipedes of Taiwan and the surrounding islands: taxonomy, systematics and zoogeography
Informations
- Funding country
Hungary- Acronym
- -
- URL
- -
- Start date
- 7/1/2007
- End date
- 6/30/2011
- Budget
- 25,146 EUR
Fundings
| Name | Role | Start | End | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thematic Programme | Grant | 7/1/2007 | 6/30/2011 | 25,146 EUR |
Abstract
Taiwan (Republic of China), an island of 36 000 sq. km, lies in the sea ca 150 km eastward from mainland China, S of Japan and N of the Philippines. Its topography is extremely rough, the highest peak is almost 4000 m, the climate is predominantly subtropical. The geography and the geological history of the island makes it an interesting target area for description and interpretation of multifactorial zoogeographical processes. The fauna is a combination of Palaearctic, Oriental and Australasian elements, but also has a high endemism ratio. The millipedes (Diplopoda) of Taiwan are poorly known, presently only 56 species belonging to 10 orders are listed. It is estimated that the actual species number can be more than 3 or 4 times higher than that. The aim of the present project is to explore the millipede fauna of the island in 4 years, with co-operation of local partner institutes. Collecting trips will be carried out, also once each to Japan and the Philippines, and museum reference collections will be built in both countries. University level education (2 Hungarian PhD students) and training for myriapodology in the host country is also planned. Expected results, based on the traditional morphological taxonomy of millipedes, include a taxonomical groundplan, systematic revisions of certain millipede genera, and the publication of a comprehensive, illustrated guidebook.