Sporobolus heterolepis
(A.Gray) A.Gray · speciesAt a glance
Sources11 archives
Databases and archives Sporobolus heterolepis's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation3 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility1 876 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI9 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics19 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Sporobolus heterolepis, commonly known as prairie dropseed, is a species of prairie grass native to the tallgrass and mixed grass prairies of central North America from Texas to southern Canada. It is also found further east, to the Atlantic coast of the United States and Canada, but is much less common beyond the Great Plains and is restricted to specialized habitats. It is found in 27 states and four Canadian provinces.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology5
Life cycle & reproduction26
Diet & foraging1
Habitat & environment25
Physiology & chemistry25
Uses & economy15
Other traits4
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Sporobolus heterolepis has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
The complete instruction manual Sporobolus heterolepis carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
2n 722×CCDB · ipcn-api-dl · CCDB · book-atlas-flowering-plants
polyploid inferred1×PloiDB · genus-scale
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
Record type1 876 records
Origin
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions49 of 73 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| International Salmonella Centre (W.H.O.)location not on record | 149 |
| St. Paul, US | 130 |
| Madison, US | 88 |
| Wuzhou, CN | 65 |
| Saint Louis, US | 24 |
| DOI/NPS, Colonial National Historical Parklocation not on record | 22 |
| Ann Arbor, US | 18 |
| Spearfish, US | 16 |
| Bloomington, US | 15 |
| Museo civico La Terra e l'Uomo di Crocetta del Montellolocation not on record | 15 |
| WINlocation not on record | 15 |
| Bronx, US | 13 |
| New Haven, US | 12 |
| Denver, US | 11 |
| Musee des Dinosaures d'Esperaza (Aude)location not on record | 9 |
| Chongqing Museumlocation not on record | 8 |
| University of Stellenboschlocation not on record | 8 |
| Tampa, US | 8 |
| Chadron, US | 8 |
| Logan, US | 7 |
| Montréal, CA | 6 |
| Dekalb, US | 6 |
| Millersville, US | 5 |
| Toronto, CA | 5 |
| University of Alberta Museumslocation not on record | 4 |
| Chicago, US | 4 |
| Davenport, US | 4 |
| Québec, CA | 4 |
| Université Lavallocation not on record | 4 |
| Museum of the Rockieslocation not on record | 4 |
| Albuquerque, US | 3 |
| University of Guelph, OAC Herbariumlocation not on record | 3 |
| Mount Pleasant, US | 3 |
| Little Rock, US | 2 |
| LINUlocation not on record | 2 |
| Vancouver, CA | 2 |
| Riverside, US | 2 |
| LPMMBHlocation not on record | 2 |
| USFS/BHSClocation not on record | 2 |
| Karlsruhe, DE | 2 |
| San Angelo, US | 2 |
| US | 2 |
| Canadian Department of Agriculturelocation not on record | 2 |
| Lincoln, US | 2 |
| Kirksville, US | 2 |
| Whitewater, US | 2 |
| University of Winnipeglocation not on record | 2 |
| Burlington, US | 2 |
| Philadelphia, US | 1 |
| Fort Worth, US | 1 |
| Moscow, US | 1 |
| McWane Science Centerlocation not on record | 1 |
| Whitehorse, CA | 1 |
| Macomb, US | 1 |
| University of Wisconsinlocation not on record | 1 |
| Brookings, US | 1 |
| Fayetteville, US | 1 |
| Durango, US | 1 |
| Bruce Peninsula National Parklocation not on record | 1 |
| Green Bay, US | 1 |
| Royal Botanical Gardenslocation not on record | 1 |
| US | 1 |
| Canadian Museum of Nature, National Herbarium of Canadalocation not on record | 1 |
| Edmonton, CA | 1 |
| Beijing, CN | 1 |
| Uniwersytet Jagiellońskilocation not on record | 1 |
| Staten Island, US | 1 |
| Ypsilanti, US | 1 |
| University of Central Missourilocation not on record | 1 |
| Springfield, US | 1 |
| Science Museum of Minnesotalocation not on record | 1 |
| Flagstaff, US | 1 |
| Williamsburg, US | 1 |
Where the DNA of Sporobolus heterolepis was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.