An object-oriented framework is presented for developing and simulating individual-based models of cell populations. The framework supplies classes to define objects called simulation channels that encapsulate the algorithms that make up a simulation model. These may govern state-updating events at the individual level, perform global state changes, or trigger cell division. Simulation engines control the scheduling and execution of collections of simulation channels, while a simulation manager coordinates the engines according to one of two scheduling protocols. When the ensemble of cells being simulated reaches a specified maximum size, a procedure is introduced whereby random cells are ejected from the simulation and replaced by newborn cells to keep the sample population size constant but representative in composition. The framework permits recording of population snapshot data and/or cell lineage histories. Use of the framework is demonstrated through validation benchmarks and two case studies based on experiments from the literature.

O nematóide das lesões Pratylenchus coffeae é um dos principais parasitos do cafeeiro e de outras culturas e sua variabilidade biológica, que dificulta a adoção de métodos de controle, contribui para aumentar a sua importância no Brasil. Pela importância da cafeicultura e a falta de estudos com esse nematóide no Brasil, foram realizados experimentos com dois de seus isolados (K5 e M2), com os objetivos de correlacionar densidades populacionais do nematóide aos danos causados e estabelecer possíveis fontes de resistência de cafeeiros ao isolado K5. Foram testadas diferentes densidades populacionais iniciais do isolado M2 em plantas (seis pares de folhas) e plântulas (dois pares de folhas) do cafeeiro arábico ‘Catuaí Vermelho’. As densidades populacionais utilizadas foram de 0, 333, 1.000, 3.000 e 9.000 nematóides por plântula ou planta. A avaliação ocorreu aproximadamente cinco (plântulas) e sete (plantas) meses após a inoculação. Os resultados mostraram que houve uma acentuada redução do crescimento das plântulas, bem como massa fresca das raízes e massa seca da parte aérea, já a partir das densidades mais baixas. A variação populacional (Pf/Pi) foi menor que um (1,0) para todas as densidades de inóculo, indicando que esta cultivar, no estágio de plântulas com dois pares de folhas, mostrou-se intolerante ao parasitismo. Em relação à inoculação das plantas, já com seis pares de folhas, não houve diferenças significativas nas variáveis analisadas e ocorreram decréscimos populacionais do nematóide, indicando que, nessas condições, ‘Catuaí Vermelho’ mostrou-se resistente ao isolado M2. Em relação ao isolado K5, foram realizados cinco experimentos, visando caracterizar as reações de genótipos de Coffea canephora ('Robusta' e 'Conilon'), além de C. arabica ‘Mundo Novo’, comparado às reações frente ao nematóide de galhas Meloidogyne incognita raça 2. No Experimento 1, foram utilizadas plantas de C. arabica ‘Mundo Novo’, inoculadas com 1.480 nematóides por planta (isolado K5 e M. incognita). Após sete meses da inoculação foi feita a avaliação, mostrando que o crescimento populacional dos nematóides foi alto e a reação de suscetibilidade. Mesmo em mudas desenvolvidas de cafeeiro ‘Mundo Novo’, o isolado K5 destacou-se como tão agressivo quanto M. incognita. Os outros genótipos testados, de C. canephora, foram inoculados com 3.000 nematóides por planta. Nos Experimentos 2 e 3, as linhagens IAC 4804 e IAC 4810 de ‘Robusta’ foram suscetíveis ao isolado K5, mas em um deles (IAC 4804) ocorreu grande variação entre as repetições em relação à M. incognita. Apenas o isolado K5 promoveu redução do crescimento do cafeeiro, evidenciado na variável massa fresca das raízes, em ambas as linhagens, sendo que IAC 4810 comportou-se como resistente a M. incognita. No caso de C. canephora ‘Conilon’, ambas as linhagens testadas (IAC 4764 e IAC 4765) foram resistentes ao isolado K5 e suscetíveis a M. incognita. / The lesion-nematode Pratylenchus coffeae is a major pest of coffee and other economic crops and its biological variability, which often makes difficult the adoption of control methods, contributes to increase the importance of this parasite in Brazil. Due to the importance of coffee production and the lack of studies involving this nematode species in Brazil, experiments were set with two of its available isolates (K5 and M2) to correlate initial population densities with the damage caused on coffee plants and to establish possible resistance sources in relation to the isolate K5. Different population densities of isolate M2 were tested in plants (six pairs of leaves) and seedlings (two pairs of leaves) of Coffea arabica ‘Catuaí Vermelho’. The population densities (Pi) were: 0, 333, 1.000, 3.000 and 9.000 nematodes per seedling or plant. The evaluation was done at approximately five (seedlings) and seven (plants) months after inoculation. The results showed that there was a marked reduction of the height, as well as root fresh weight and shoot dry weight of the seedlings, starting from the lower Pi values. The nematode population decreased (Pf/Pi < 1), indicating that this cultivar, at the seedling stage, was intolerant to parasitism. In relation to the inoculation of older plants, there were no significant differences in the growth parameters and the nematode population also decreased allowing ‘Catuaí Vermelho’ to be rated as resistant to the isolate M2. In relation to isolate K5, five experiments (referred to as 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5) were set to characterize the reaction of different genotypes of Coffea canephora ('Robusta' and 'Conilon') and C. arabica ‘Mundo Novo', as compared with their reaction to the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita race 2. In Experiment 1, plants of C. arabica ‘Mundo Novo’ were inoculated with 1,480 nematodes per plant (K5 and M. incognita). The final evaluation after seven months of the inoculation showed a high populational increase of the nematodes and that both were pathogenic at a same extent. The other genotypes tested, belonging to C. canephora, were inoculated with 3,000 nematodes per plant. The genotypes (IAC 4804 and IAC 4810) of ‘Robusta’ were susceptible to isolate K5, but in one of them (IAC 4804) there was great variation among the repetitions in relation to M. incognita. The isolate K5 caused marked reduction in the growth of coffee Robusta plants as evidenced particularly through the root fresh weight values in both tested genotypes; in addition, IAC 4810 was rated as resistant to M. incognita. With regard to C. canephora 'Conilon', both tested genotypes (IAC 4764 and IAC 4765) were resistant to isolate K5 and susceptible to M. incognita.

One of the biggest attractions of the tropics is its stunning diversity; the origin and determinants of this diversity are amongst the most important questions in evolution and biogeography. There are two ways of looking at diversity: diversity as observed in clades on the tree of life and diversity as distributed in space. Various processes drive patterns in clades leading to a gradient of evolutionary radiations. These radiations are amongst the major contributors to Earth's biological diversity and act as good model systems to test the relative significance of processes governing macroevolutionary patterns of diversification. My research presented here revolves around one such evolutionary radiation of frogs that we uncovered from the Western Ghats, a tropical mountain system in Peninsular India. The broad aim of my thesis is to understand the causes and consequences of diversification, the primary process that drives evolutionary radiations and diversity differences in clades. The ultimate goal is to use a model system in a regional setting to explore diversification process¬es in clades against the backdrop of existing theory and ultimately paint a broader picture to further our understanding of diversity patterns in space. I have organized this thesis into six chapters. The first chapter serves as an introduction to the concepts, models and problems addressed, while chapters two to five form the crux of this thesis, and the final chapter pro¬vides a synthesis of results and directions to carry this research forward. In the first chapter, I have provided a conceptual link between diversity in Glades, evolutionary radiations and diversification and its drivers, all of which form the backbone for the following chapters. I review the potential historical processes that acted independently or in combination to give rise to one of the global biodiversity hotspots, the Western Ghats of the Indian sub-continent. I also introduce the model system, bush frogs, and provide a brief overview of their current taxonomic and systematic status. Finally, I have described the goal and questions addressed in this thesis. In chapter 2, I address the problem of delimiting lineages and provide a base for the remaining chapters 3, 4 SE 5, which form the core of this research. In this chapter, I address two major issues in biogeography. namely the 'Linnean shortfall' (the problem of undescribed lineages) and the 'Wallacean shortfall' (the lack of distribution data), and use an extensive sampling regime and a phylogenetic framework to delimit lineages. When I began my sampling, 21 lineages had been described from the Western Ghats. Three years of sampling across 13 major massifs has led to an increase in the number of the lineages to 70. These lineages were delimited using a hierarchical multi-criteria approach using a haplotype phylogenetic tree, genetic distance, geography and morphology. Lineages recovered in this study range from shallow to deep divergences and are spatially distributed from lowlands to Massif summits. Further, inclusion of geography as a variable in the hierarchical approach increased efficacy in delimiting lineages. This approach was used to establish a working hypothesis of lineages for later chapters, where I address questions related to the drivers behind the diversification of these Lineages. The goal in chapter 3 was to examine the evolutionary and biogeographic processes underlying in-situ Glade diversification in the bush frog clade at broad temporal and spatial scales. First, I examined the Glade for characteristics of an evolutionary radiation. One of the fundamental challenges in characterizing evolutionary radiations is to discern independent colonization from in-situ diversification. Phylogenetic reconstructions shows that bush frog lineages in the Western Ghats belong to two clades: a larger Glade composed of 67 lineages, with their ancestral origin centered in the Western Ghats Escarpment, and a set of three lineages with their distribution in Western Ghats, but phylogenetically nested within the Sri La.nkan bush frog Glade. The larger Western Ghats clade recovered here lends strong support for in-situ radiation of bush frogs, the origin of which can be dated to Eocene - Oligocene boundary. The bush frogs are a relatively young radiation compared to recent reports of ancient lineages and potential radiations whose origins date to the Cretaceous. Within the Western Ghats, bush frogs make up the largest vertebrate radiation, and when considered with the sister clade in Sri Lanka, constitute the largest vertebrate radiation in South Asia. These clades attain greater significance because of the limited geographical space in which the whole radiation has occurred. Temporal patterns of line-age diversification in the Western Ghats bush frog Glade show strong signatures o f an early burst, considered as one of the characteristic features of evolutionary radiations, especially adaptive radiations. Considering that a similar pattern could arise from the initial formation of geographical isolates, I tested the Glade for the role of regional biogeographic barriers in the initial diversification of the Glade. Ancestral range reconstruction showed that the initial diversification of the bush frog Glade is coincident with the Palghat Gap, a prominent geographical break in the Escarpment. Two sister clades, North and South, could be discerned, with their respective centres of origin north and south of the Palghat Gap. There was limited dispersal across the gap and a number of these dispersal events resulted in diversification in the adjoining regions. These results, for the first time, lend strong evidence for the biogeographic significance of the Palghat gap for amphibian diversification. The discovery of the North and South sister-clades, apart from elucidating the significance of Palghat gap as a barrier in the initial diversification of the Glade, provided a unique setting to gain further insights into diversification processes. using the sister clades. The South Glade shows support for the models of early burst and subsequent diversity-dependent decline, while the North Glade did not differ from a constant pure-birth model of diversification. The sister clades also showed strong differences in the number of lineages and in the ecological and morphological diversity of component lineages. In terms of the ecological diversity of the clades, the lineages in the South Glade are predominantly closed canopy dwellers and occupy all the vertical strata of the forest from understorey to canopy. In contrast, the North Glade is characterized by the absence of canopy lineages and also in the relative increase in the number of open canopy lineages. I excluded area as a causal factor, considering the relatively smaller area of the region of the South Glade, south of Palghat Gap, compared to the North Glade. Taken together, an early burst in lineage diversification, high species richness and Glade-level endemism, narrow geographical range of the Glade, restriction of canopy lineages to this Glade and persistence of a historical rainforest refugium in this area suggested a potential role for ecological opportunity in the adaptive radiation of the South Glade. The results from Chapter 3 brought out the strong contrast in the ecological diversity of extant lineages among the bush frog sister clades occurring in this region. One major ecological pattern is the predominance of closed canopy lineages in the South Blade, while the North Glade was characterized by relatively more open canopy lineages. However, what caused the origin of open canopy lineages and the predominance of such lineages in the North Glade was not known. In chapter 4, I explore whether signatures of the global climate mediated emergence of open canopy biomes can be discerned in the habitat shift and in the observed contrast in ecological disparity between the sister clades. The results show multiple habitat shifts among bush frog lineages in the Western Ghats, with a strong contrast between the sister clades; the North Glade exhibited a greater number of habitat shifts compared to the South Blade. A unique shift to the bamboo reed Ochlandra could be discerned in the South Glade. The study provided the first evidence for independent shifts to grass associated habitats among bush frogs and frogs in general. Examination of ecomorphology brought out further interesting insights. For the same body size, lineages occurring in grass-associated habitats, Oehiandra reeds and grasslands have independently evolved smaller hind limbs compared to lineages that occur in the forest and shrub-land habitats. This convergence in limb-size and a. pattern of reduced limb-size provides support for the adaptive nature of this trait in relation to grass associated habitat shifts among bush frog lineages. Examination of this morphological trait in time, using disparity through time plots, showed high disparity within the North Glade as expected from the patterns of greater habitat shift. These results lend support for orbitally forced habitat dynamics as a driver for the intra-cladal patterns of ecological disparity in bush frog sister clades. Researchers in the past have largely tested evolutionary radiations for adapt signatures under the assumption of ecological opportunity. One of the drawbacks of temporal models of diversification is the exclusion of geography. Mountain systems slid-the -Western Ghats provide an ideal setting to explore diversification in space. In chapter took a biogeographic approach and tested the relative importance of Quaternary glaciatic ecological gradients and Earth related processes on the spatial patterns of lineage and s dada! diversification in a mountain setting. This was done using a set of a-priori predict', on the phylogenetic, spatial and temporal patterns of lineage diversification based on geological and climatic history of the Western ghats. These were tested using sister-lines and latitudinal and elevational range data obtained from field sampling across 13 mass Independent methods were used to test for the alternative processes. A majority of recer diverged bush frog sister - lineages were characterized by non-overlapping geographi ranges, and were isolated on adjacent massifs, indicating allopatric speciation eves Independent transitions along elevational gradients among sub-clades during the Mioc' lend support for diversification mediated by the uplift of the escarpment. In-situ diversificat in the montane zone of the two highest massifs shows the effect of past - climate media forest-grassland dynamics, but divergence times lend less support for the role of Quatern glaciations. These results highlight the important role of geological processes in the line; diversification of bush frogs. By examining patterns in a large radiation, I was also able bring out the temporal and spatial significance of different processes. Diversification in s Glades shows that recent non-adaptive processes have masked the effect of initial adapt radiation. Based on these findings, we recognize the massifs in this Escarpment as cent of lineage diversification and generators of diversity and the lowland and medium elevat habitats in the southern Western Ghats, with deeply divergent lineages, as museums. Through this research, I have provided a number of insights — many for the first time — into the macroevolutionary patterns and historical processes behind this large vertebrate radiation in a global biodiversity hotspot. The thesis also sets a foundation to explore the processes driving ecological and biogeographic patterns — species richness, endemism and community assembly — in space.

An object-oriented framework is presented for developing and simulating individual-based models of cell populations. The framework supplies classes to define objects called simulation channels that encapsulate the algorithms that make up a simulation model. These may govern state-updating events at the individual level, perform global state changes, or trigger cell division. Simulation engines control the scheduling and execution of collections of simulation channels, while a simulation manager coordinates the engines according to one of two scheduling protocols. When the ensemble of cells being simulated reaches a specified maximum size, a procedure is introduced whereby random cells are ejected from the simulation and replaced by newborn cells to keep the sample population size constant but representative in composition. The framework permits recording of population snapshot data and/or cell lineage histories. Use of the framework is demonstrated through validation benchmarks and two case studies based on experiments from the literature.

Le genre Angraecum est un groupe d’orchidées tropicales qui compte environ 221 espèces réparties en Afrique subsaharienne, dans l’ouest de l’Océan Indien, et au Sri Lanka. Plus de la moitié des espèces se trouvent à Madagascar, dont au moins 90% sont endémiques à l’île. L’étude systématique et taxonomique du genre Angraecum a toujours été problématique à cause de sa grande diversité morphologique. Pour faciliter la classification, des sections ont été établies dont la plus connue est celle de Garay (1973), qui regroupe les espèces sous 19 sections. Plusieurs analyses phylogénétiques avaient montré que le genre Angraecum et les sections de Garay ne sont pas monophylétiques. Cependant, aucune révision systématique n’a été apportée à cause du faible échantillonnage dans ces analyses. En incorporant un plus grand nombre d'espèces et en ajoutant d’autres caractères morphologiques dans l’analyse, nous avons apporté une plus grande résolution à la reconstruction phylogénétique du groupe. Cette résolution concerne surtout les nœuds plus profonds qui représentent les différents clades à l’intérieur d'Angraecum, qui correspondent à des sections naturelles. A partir de ces clades, nous avons redéfini 14 sections monophylétiques toute en reconnaissant cinq nouvelles. Grâce à cette nouvelle phylogénie d'Angraecum, nous avons pu étudier la diversification du genre et de la sous-tribu Angraecinae en utilisant des méthodes macroévolutives, notamment les roles joués par les traits floraux dans la spéciation, tout en l'interprétant grâce aux histoires géologique et paléoclimatique. Le modèle de diversification chez les Angraecinae semble avoir été celui communément rencontré dans les forêts tropicales humides, c’est-à-dire une diversification par accumulation graduelle d’espèces à travers le temps et non pas une radiation adaptative rapide, comme souvent observée chez des lignées animales malgaches. Plusieurs caractères morphologiques jouent un rôle important dans la diversification des espèces d'Angraecum. Le début de la diversification d'Angraecum à Madagascar coïncide avec le mouvement progressif de l’île vers le nord, l’établissement de la mousson dans la partie nord de l’île durant le Miocène, et l’expansion de la forêt tropicale malgache pendant cette période. Notre étude de l’histoire biogéographique des Angraecinae suggère une origine malgache de la sous-tribu et du genre Angraecum. On observe de la dispersion à longue distance à partir de Madagascar vers le reste du monde dans le genre Angraecum. La forêt tropicale humide du Nord Est de Madagascar est le point de départ de la diversification des espèces d'Angraecum. Le premier événement de dispersion a débuté à l’intérieur de l’île vers la fin du Miocène. Cet évènement est marqué par une migration du Nord Est vers le centre de Madagascar. Par ailleurs, la majorité des événements de dispersion à longue distance se sont produits durant le Pliocène-Pléistocène à partir soit du centre, soit du Nord Est de l'île. On assiste à des migrations indépendantes vers l’Afrique de l’est et les Comores d’une part, et vers les Mascareignes d’autre part. Un seul événement fondateur ayant conduit à l’apparition de la section Hadrangis est observé dans les Mascareignes. La saison cyclonique joue un rôle significatif dans la dispersion à longue distance des graines d’orchidées, comparée aux vents dominants qui soufflent dans la région ouest de l’Océan Indien, notamment l’alizé et la mousson. La similarité des niches écologiques a facilité l’expansion des espèces d'Angraecum dans les Comores et les Mascareignes. / Angraecum is a group of tropical orchids that includes ca. 221 species distributed in Sub-Saharan Africa, the western Indian Ocean region, and Sri Lanka. At least half of the species are found in Madagascar, 90% being endemic to the island. Taxonomic studies of Angraecum have always been problematic because of the great morphological diversity of the group. To facilitate classification, sections have been proposed, the best-known system to date being that of Garay (1973) that subdivides the genus into 19 sections. Previous phylogenetic studies had shown that genus Angraecum and Garay’s sections are not monophyletic. However, no systematic review was made because of a reduced species sample in these analyses. Using a greater sampling from Madagascar and adding morphological characters to the analyses, we brought greater resolution to the phylogenetic reconstruction of the group. This resolution mainly concerns the deeper nodes representing different clades within Angraecum, which basically correspond to natural sections. By using these clades, we redefined 14 sections and recognized five new ones. Using this phylogeny of Angraecum, we evaluated species diversification using macroevolutionary methods, essentially the effect of floral traits in speciation. The great diversity of Angraecum species in Madagascar, the high endemicity, and the geology and paleoclimate histories allowed us to evaluate diversification patterns within the genus as well as sub-tribe Angraecinae. The model of diversification in Angraecinae follows that of most tropical rain forest taxa, which results from the gradual accumulation of species through time and not from a rapid adaptive radiation, as is often the case for Malagasy fauna lineages. Several morphological characters are involved in the diversification of Angraecum. The beginning of Angraecum diversification in Madagascar coincided with the progressive movement of the island northwards, the establishment of a monsoon regime in the northern part of the island during the Miocene, and the expansion of the Malagasy rainforest during that period. Our historical biogeographic study of Angraecinae suggests a Malagasy origin of the subtribe Angraecinae and Angraecum. We observed out-of Madagascar long-distance dispersal in Angraecum. The north-eastern Malagasy rainforest is the center of species radiation for the genus. The first dispersal event within the island started in the late Miocene. This event was a migration from the north to the central highland. The majority of long-distance dispersal events outside Madagascar occurred during the Pliocene-Pleistocene, originating from either the center or the North East of the island. There were multiple independent dispersals to East Africa and the Comoros, and to the Mascarenes. A single founder-effect event in section Hadrangis is observed in the Mascarenes. The cyclonic seasons play a significant role in long-distance dispersal of orchid seeds, as compared to prevailing winds in the western Indian Ocean region, essentially trade wind and monsoon. Ecological niche similarity favored the expansion of Angraecum species in the Comoros and Mascarene archipelagos.

No description available.

Im Fokus dieser Studie stehen mehrere Gruppen von tragbaren Skulpturen unterschiedlicher Größe und aus unterschiedlichem Material gefertigt (Bronze bzw. Papiermaché), die eine bestimmte Überlieferungslinie von Lehrern der Lamdre-Tradition darstellen. Lamdre („Der Weg und das Resultat“) bildet das zentrale religiöse Lehrsystem der Sakya-Schule des tibetischen Buddhismus und ihrer wichtigsten Zweigschule, der Ngor-Schule. Diese wenig bekannten oder weitgehend unerforschten Skulpturen und Skulpturengruppen befinden sich in der Sammlung des Klosters Namgyal in Mustang (Nepal), dem ehemaligen Königreich von Lowo (Glo bo), an der Grenze zu Tibet gelegen. Sie stammen aus dem späten 15. bis frühen 16. Jahrhundert, einer höchst innovativen Phase buddhistischer Kunstproduktion in Tibet und dem Himalaya, in der sich regionale Stile entwickelten und neue künstlerische Gestaltungsformen erprobt wurden, einschließlich verschiedener Arten des Porträts. Hierzu zählen idealisierte, typisierte, und gelegentlich hoch-expressive, Darstellungen von Lehrern innerhalb einer Überlieferungslinie ebenso wie individualisierte, realistische Einzelporträts von bedeutenden buddhistischen Meistern, die offensichtlich nach dem lebenden Modell geschaffen wurden. Basierend auf einer vergleichenden kunsthistorischen Analyse zeigt die Arbeit, dass der Repräsentation der Überlieferungslinie als Ganzes eine höhere Stellung beigemessen wurde als der Schaffung von Ähnlichkeit mit den einzelnen Figuren innerhalb einer Skulpturengruppe. Die Bildwerke reflektieren außerdem die religiösen, historischen und künstlerischen Verbindungen zwischen Mustang und angrenzenden Königreichen in West-Tibet, der Provinz Tsang und dem Kathmandu-Tal. Sie zeigen, dass die lokalen Klöster auf ein etabliertes Netzwerk von buddhistischen Klostergemeinschaften, machtvollen und wohlhabenden Stiftern und künstlerischen Traditionen aufbauen konnten, und dass sich die Region als ein Zentrum skulpturaler Produktion von höchster Qualität und Innovation etablierte. / This two-volume dissertation on lineage portraiture in Tibetan Buddhist art investigates in its core a body of portable sculpture preserved in a monastery in Mustang, Nepal. Most of these sculptures were originally part of sets documenting the person-to-person transmission of the most important teaching of the Ngor tradition, the Lamdre or “Path with the Result.” The Ngor tradition is a sub-tradition of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism to which this teaching traces back. Accordingly, most Sakyapa and Ngorpa monasteries may have had one or more Lamdre lineage sets in painting and/or sculpture. The focus of the study is on the iconographic and overall visual conceptions of different sets representing the same teacher lineage produced for or within the same regional context (Mustang in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries). A comparative analysis of the different sets shows that depicting the lineage teachers as a collective entity was deemed more important than creating physical likenesses of the individual teachers. This is reflected in the variation of the depiction of individual teachers from one set to another in terms of facial features, hand gestures, and even the type of practice a teacher may be associated with. The study also considers the emergence and evolution of teacher lineages within the Sakya school, introducing lineage representations on monumental backrest arches in repoussé work at the Sakya Lhakhang Chenmo in south-western Tibet. It also discusses teacher portraits produced outside the Lamdre lineage to reflect on questions of individuality, realism and likeness in Tibetan portraiture. A special focus is on portraits of two princely monks from the ruling house of Mustang, Lowo Khenchen and Lodrö Gyaltsen Pelzangpo. Overall, the lineage depictions and individual portraits are analyzed in relation to art history research on portraiture, Tibetan religious and political history, as well as their religious significance and ritual use.

The central argument that underpins this thesis is that the Bataung, Bafokeng and the Bakuena lineages are found across all the Basotho groups of Basotho (Southern Sotho), Batswana and Bapedi. The thesis concerns itself with the similarity of the Sotho groups, a topic that has seldom received a sustained scholarly attention. Scholars have devoted much attention in discussing Sotho groups of Batswana, Basotho (Southern Sotho) and Bapedi, but their concern has mostly been to describe one group at the time discussing their cultural, social and political dimensions.The thesis aim investigates the oneness of Sotho by discussing the cultural, social and political similarities of the Batswana, Basotho (Southern Sotho) and Bapedi. The thesis drew on a range of semi-structured interviews with academics, senior people with knowledge of Sotho culture and literature to crystallise the information from the narrative analysis of documents, media and secondary literature. The thesis maintains that Basotho (Southern Sotho), Batswana and Bapedi are similar people. Their cultural dimension shows they have similar languages that share the same collection of words (langue) that indicates the same same origin. They also share the name ‘Basotho’ ~ Abeshundu that emanates from their similar way of dressing. The Sotho groups’ social dimension shows that they have similar practices of birth, raising children, lebollo (initiation school) and handling of death. They share similar games, folktales and taboos that reflect the aforementioned four cycles of human experiences in similar narratives across the groups. The thesis finds that Sotho groups have similar way of governance. They come together in the hierarchy of similar clans (e.g. Bafokeng, Bataung and Bakuena), chiefdoms and a group. These subdivisions in a group help with the allocation of resources for each individual and maintaining status quo in governance. The Sotho groups have similar proverbs and idioms to counsel proper leadership. The thesis discusses Sotho groups together as they come from the same origin although they have gone their separate ways. The thesis uses Gellner and Smith theories of ethnicity to explain the similarity of the Sothogroups. Gellner’s view is that one chooses to belong to a particular culture and associates oneself with people who practice this culture. Ethnicity is socially constructed due to experiences and people’s circumstances. Smith complements the description of the Sotho in forming different groups by saying that in these groups, there are memories of shared historical past. There is a continuum of the original culture where the groups have resemblance in their ways of life and symbolical elements, although adapted to their new environments and time. The variations of the groups’s practices are not their differences but they are changes caused by a quest to adapt to the new environment. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)