Equal Rights for Zombies?: Phenomenal Consciousness and Responsible Agency

Intuitively, moral responsibility requires conscious awareness of what one is doing, and why one is doing it, but what kind of awareness is at issue? Neil Levy argues that phenomenal consciousness—the qualitative feel of conscious sensations—is entirely unnecessary for moral responsibility. He claims that only access consciousness—the state in which information (e.g., from perception or memory) is available to an array of mental systems (e.g., such that an agent can deliberate and act upon that information)—is relevant to moral responsibility. I argue that numerous ethical, epistemic, and neuroscientific considerations entail that the capacity for phenomenal consciousness is necessary for moral responsibility. I focus in particular on considerations inspired by P. F. Strawson, who puts a range of qualitative moral emotions—the reactive attitudes—front and center in the analysis of moral responsibility

Revisando la clasificación infraespecífica de Xerodraba patagonica (Brassicaceae) bajo diferentes fuentes de evidencia

Xerodraba (5 spp.) es un género de Brassicaceae restringido a los Andes del Sur y la Patagonia, del cual X. patagonica incluye la subsp. patagonica y la subsp. pycnophylloides. Esta última ha sido reducida recientemente de especie a subespecie por su similitud morfológica con la primera. Sin embargo, para una clasificación taxonómica adecuada de estos nombres (dos especies, una especie con dos subespecies, o una especie sin subespecies), se necesitan estudios adicionales, realizando análisis de diferentes tipos de datos. Aquí, aportamos evidencias para una nueva clasificación de estos nombres contrastando los resultados obtenidos de diferentes análisis filogenéticos, de nicho ecológico y morfológicos. Para ello, analizamos árboles de genes y especies utilizando datos de nrITS y plástidos, comparamos el nicho climático y el rango geográfico de ambas subespecies, y analizamos la variación morfológica asociada a estos nombres. Basándonos en los resultados obtenidos, decidimos sinonimizar a la subsp. pycnophylloides con X. patagonica.Xerodraba (5 spp.) is a genus of Brassicaceae restricted to the Southern Andes and Patagonia, of which X. patagonica includes subsp. patagonica and subsp. pycnophylloides. The latter was recently reduced from a species to subspecies based on morphological similarity to the former. However, for an adequate taxonomic ranking of these names (two species, one species with two subspecies, or one without subspecies), additional studies are needed, conducting analyses of different types of data. Here, we provide evidence for a new classification of these names by contrasting results obtained from different phylogenetic, ecological niche, and morphological analyses. For this purpose, we analyzed gene and species trees using nrITS and plastid data, compared the climatic niche and geographic range of both subspecies, and analyzed morphological variation associated with these names. Based on the results obtained, we here decided to synonymize subsp. pycnophylloides with X. patagonica.Fil: Salariato, Diego Leonel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. Academia Nacional de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Botánica Darwinion; ArgentinaFil: Al-Shehbaz, Ihsan. Missouri Botanical Garden; Estados Unido

Variación morfológica y distribución geográfica de Schizopetalon arcuatum Al-Shehbaz (Brassicaceae), una especie endémica y críptica de la Región de Atacama, Chile

La presente nota ofrece una revisión de la distribución geográfica y variación morfológica de Schizopetalon arcuatum, dado que ambas variables han generado confusión en la identificación de esta especie críptica. Se espera que la información presentada ayude a resolver este problema en relación a sus especies vecinas o cercanamente relacionadas

Molecular data reveal hidden diversity in the central Andean species Weberbauera spathulifolia (Thelypodieae: Brassicaceae)

Weberbauera (Brassicaceae, tribe Thelypodieae) comprises 18 species distributed along the central Andes of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru. Of these species, W. spathulifolia has the largest geographical range in the genus, extending c. 3000 km along the Andean highlands from La Rioja Province in Argentina to Ancash Department in Peru. This species also shows the greatest morphological variation in the genus. However, whether this geographical and morphological variation represents one or more lineages remains unclear. In this study, we analyse W. spathulifolia across its entire distribution range using molecular, morphological and ecological data. Because there is no phylogenetic analysis for the genus, we generated a comprehensive molecular sampling using nuclear (ITS) and plastid (trnL-F and trnH-psbA) sequences for other Weberbauera spp. and representatives of South American Thelypodieae. Results support the presence of two different lineages within W. spathulifolia, one in the northern part of the species range and the other distributed across its southern and central range. In addition to the morphological differences and the allopatric distribution, these lineages also differ in their climatic niches. Therefore, we propose here to retain the northern lineage under W. spathulifolia and to treat the southern-central lineage under W. orophila, comb. nov. Phylogenetic placement of Weberbauera spp. among the South American Thelypodieae is also analysed and discussed. Results of this study contribute to understanding the biodiversity and evolution of the Andean Brassicaceae.Fil: Salariato, Diego Leonel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. Academia Nacional de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Botánica Darwinion; ArgentinaFil: Trinidad, Huber. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; PerúFil: Cano, Asunción. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; PerúFil: Zuloaga, Fernando Omar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. Academia Nacional de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Botánica Darwinion; ArgentinaFil: Al Shehbaz, Ihsan. Missouri Botanical Garden; Estados Unido

Camelina neglecta (Brassicaceae, Camelineae), a new diploid species from Europe

Camelina neglecta is described as a new diploid species and its relationship to the other diploids of the genus and to the somewhat superficially similar tetraploid C. rumelica and hexaploid C. microcarpa, are discussed. SEM of seed and stem trichomes of the new species are presented