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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0PLOS One

Two regions, two lineages: Untangling two centuries of confusion between Machilus glaucescens and M. macranthus (Lauraceae) through integrative taxonomy

  • Nabasmita Malakar1
  • Ravikanth Gudasalamani2
  • Ganesan Rengaian3
  1. 1Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India
  2. 2Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bangalore, India
  3. 3Sugadaira Research Station, Mountain Science Centre, University of Tsukuba, Nagano, Japan
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Abstract

The Asian genus Machilus (Lauraceae) of the Persea group is widely distributed across South and Southeast Asia. Like many other genera of Lauraceae, Machilus has received limited systematic attention, particularly in India. As a result, the nomenclature and systematic positions of Machilus glaucescens (Nees) Wight and M. macranthus Nees have remained unclear. In this study, we employed an integrative taxonomic approach to disentangle the taxonomy, phylogenetic relationships and distributions of M. glaucescens (restricted to Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot) and M. macranthus (restricted to Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats-Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot). We analysed morphological, molecular, and distribution data to elucidate the systematic relationships following the mix-up of taxonomic status. We examined 28 morphological characteristics using cluster analysis and reconstructed phylogenies with two nuclear markers (ITS and LEAFY intron II). Additionally, we studied the distribution range of both species with ecological niche modelling. The combined evidence from nomenclature, morphological clustering, phylogenetic analyses, as well as the species distributional range limits confirms that M. glaucescens and M. macranthus are two distinct species with their current distributions restricted to separate biogeographic regions of Asia.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{malakar2026regions,
  title = {{Two regions, two lineages: Untangling two centuries of confusion between Machilus glaucescens and M. macranthus (Lauraceae) through integrative taxonomy}},
  author = {Nabasmita Malakar and Ravikanth Gudasalamani and Ganesan Rengaian},
  journal = {PLOS One},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0357315},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0357315},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Two regions, two lineages: Untangling two centuries of confusion between Machilus glaucescens and M. macranthus (Lauraceae) through integrative taxonomy
AU  - Nabasmita Malakar
AU  - Ravikanth Gudasalamani
AU  - Ganesan Rengaian
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/09
JO  - PLOS One
DO  - 10.1371/journal.pone.0357315
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0357315
AB  - The Asian genus Machilus (Lauraceae) of the Persea group is widely distributed across South and Southeast Asia. Like many other genera of Lauraceae, Machilus has received limited systematic attention, particularly in India. As a result, the nomenclature and systematic positions of Machilus glaucescens (Nees) Wight and M. macranthus Nees have remained unclear. In this study, we employed an integrative taxonomic approach to disentangle the taxonomy, phylogenetic relationships and distributions of M. glaucescens (restricted to Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot) and M. macranthus (restricted to Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats-Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot). We analysed morphological, molecular, and distribution data to elucidate the systematic relationships following the mix-up of taxonomic status. We examined 28 morphological characteristics using cluster analysis and reconstructed phylogenies with two nuclear markers (ITS and LEAFY intron II). Additionally, we studied the distribution range of both species with ecological niche modelling. The combined evidence from nomenclature, morphological clustering, phylogenetic analyses, as well as the species distributional range limits confirms that M. glaucescens and M. macranthus are two distinct species with their current distributions restricted to separate biogeographic regions of Asia.
SN  - 1932-6203
ER  -