A TAXONOMIC REVISION OF THE MADAGASCAR-ENDEMIC GENUS BEMANGIDIA (SAPOTACEAE), WITH DESCRIPTION OF A SECOND SPECIES

Abstract

Bemangidia L.Gaut. (Sapotaceae) is a genus endemic to a restricted area in the southeastern lowland moist evergreen forests of Madagascar. It was published in 2013 to accommodate an undescribed species, Bemangidia lowryi L.Gaut., which showed a combination of characters unique in the family Sapotaceae. At the time of description, three atypical collections from the same locality but growing on a ridge, slightly higher in altitude, were already known. Although matching well with the Bemangidia genus, they were phenotypically different from B. lowryi and were therefore not included in the species description. In the present study, we evaluate whether these specimens correspond to a new species, using a combination of morphological and genetic data based on 638 nuclear genes. The results show that Bemangidia contains two lineages, each one corresponding to a different morphology, with a genetic branch length similar to those observed among species pairs in other genera of Sapotaceae. We conclude that the genetic and  morphological differences are sufficient to consider the two lineages as two distinct species. Consequently, the genus is here revised and a second species described.