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      Taxonomic revision of Madagascan Rhantus (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae, Colymbetinae) with an emphasis on Manjakatompo as a conservation priority

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          Abstract

          Abstract

          We review the diving-beetle genus Rhantus Dejean of Madagascar (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae, Colymbetinae) based on museum collection holdings and recently collected expedition material. Both morphology and DNA is used to test species boundaries, in particular whether newly collected material from the Tsaratanana mountains in the north represent a new species or are conspecific with Rhantus manjakatompo Pederzani and Rocchi 2009, described based on a single male specimen from the central Ankaratra mountains. DNA of the holotype of R. manjakatompo was successfully extracted in a non-destructive way and sequenced. The general mixed Yule coalescent model applied to an ultrametric tree constructed from mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I ( COI) sequence data delimited three species. Morphological characters supported the same species unambiguously. We therefore recognise three species of Rhantus to occur in Madagascar: R. latus (Fairmaire, 1869), R. bouvieri Régimbart, 1900 and R. manjakatompo Pederzani and Rocchi, 2009. All three species are endemic to Madagascar and restricted to the highlands of the island. Rhantusstenonychus Régimbart, 1895, syn. n., is considered a junior synonym of R. latus. We designate lectotypes for R. bouvieri and R. goudoti Sharp, 1882, the latter a junior synonym of R. latus. We provide descriptions, a determination key, SEM-images of fine pronotal and elytral structures, distribution maps, habitus photos, and illustrations of male genitalia and pro- and mesotarsal claws. We discuss the role of the Manjakatompo forest as a refugium for Madagascan Rhantus diversity and other endemics of the montane central high plateau.

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          Sequence-based species delimitation for the DNA taxonomy of undescribed insects.

          Cataloging the very large number of undescribed species of insects could be greatly accelerated by automated DNA based approaches, but procedures for large-scale species discovery from sequence data are currently lacking. Here, we use mitochondrial DNA variation to delimit species in a poorly known beetle radiation in the genus Rivacindela from arid Australia. Among 468 individuals sampled from 65 sites and multiple morphologically distinguishable types, sequence variation in three mtDNA genes (cytochrome oxidase subunit 1, cytochrome b, 16S ribosomal RNA) was strongly partitioned between 46 or 47 putative species identified with quantitative methods of species recognition based on fixed unique ("diagnostic") characters. The boundaries between groups were also recognizable from a striking increase in branching rate in clock-constrained calibrated trees. Models of stochastic lineage growth (Yule models) were combined with coalescence theory to develop a new likelihood method that determines the point of transition from species-level (speciation and extinction) to population-level (coalescence) evolutionary processes. Fitting the location of the switches from speciation to coalescent nodes on the ultrametric tree of Rivacindela produced a transition in branching rate occurring at 0.43 Mya, leading to an estimate of 48 putative species (confidence interval for the threshold ranging from 47 to 51 clusters within 2 logL units). Entities delimited in this way exhibited biological properties of traditionally defined species, showing coherence of geographic ranges, broad congruence with morphologically recognized species, and levels of sequence divergence typical for closely related species of insects. The finding of discontinuous evolutionary groupings that are readily apparent in patterns of sequence variation permits largely automated species delineation from DNA surveys of local communities as a scaffold for taxonomy in this poorly known insect group.
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            Aligning conservation priorities across taxa in Madagascar with high-resolution planning tools.

            Globally, priority areas for biodiversity are relatively well known, yet few detailed plans exist to direct conservation action within them, despite urgent need. Madagascar, like other globally recognized biodiversity hot spots, has complex spatial patterns of endemism that differ among taxonomic groups, creating challenges for the selection of within-country priorities. We show, in an analysis of wide taxonomic and geographic breadth and high spatial resolution, that multitaxonomic rather than single-taxon approaches are critical for identifying areas likely to promote the persistence of most species. Our conservation prioritization, facilitated by newly available techniques, identifies optimal expansion sites for the Madagascar government's current goal of tripling the land area under protection. Our findings further suggest that high-resolution multitaxonomic approaches to prioritization may be necessary to ensure protection for biodiversity in other global hot spots.
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              New Guinea highland origin of a widespread arthropod supertramp.

              The biologically and geologically extremely diverse archipelagos of Wallacea, Australasia and Oceania have long stimulated ecologists and evolutionary biologists. Yet, few molecular phylogenetic analyses of the terrestrial fauna have been carried out to understand the evolutionary patterns. We use dense taxon and character sampling of more than 7000 bp DNA sequence data for a group of diving beetles ranging from the Holarctic throughout Asia to as far east as French Polynesia. We here show that an ecologically diverse, common and widespread (Portugal to New Zealand) arthropod supertramp species originated in the highlands of New Guinea, ca 6.0-2.7 Myr ago. The approximately 25 closely related species are narrow endemics in Australasia/Oceania. The ancestor of this clade colonized that region from Eurasia ca 9-7 Myr ago. Our finding contradicts the widely held view of local endemism as an evolutionary dead end, as we find multiple peripatric speciation events within the Pleistocene and complex colonization patterns between the Oriental and Australian zoogeographic regions, including the recolonization of Eurasia, jumping across Wallace's line and colonization of continental Australia out of New Guinea. Our study strongly highlights the importance of dispersal over water gaps in shaping biogeographic patterns.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Zookeys
                Zookeys
                ZooKeys
                ZooKeys
                Pensoft Publishers
                1313-2989
                1313-2970
                2013
                14 November 2013
                : 350
                : 21-45
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Department of Entomology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Box 50007, SE-10405 Stockholm, Sweden
                [2 ]Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Georg-Viogt-Straße 14-16, D-60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
                [3 ]Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, SE-10405 Stockholm, Sweden
                [4 ]Departement d’Entomologie, Faculté des Sciences, B.P. 906, Université d’Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar
                [5 ]Programme National de Lutte contre le Paludisme de Madagascar, Androhibe, Antananarivo (101), Madagascar
                Author notes
                Corresponding author: Johannes Bergsten ( johannes.bergsten@ 123456nrm.se )

                Academic editor: M. Fikácek

                Article
                10.3897/zookeys.350.6127
                3837497
                fbdf7631-b5f5-4522-8366-7a796c4b6efe
                Anna Emilia Hjalmarsson, Rasa Bukontaite, Tolotra Ranarilalatiana, Jacquelin Herisahala Randriamihaja, Johannes Bergsten

                This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 (CC-BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

                History
                : 20 August 2013
                : 24 October 2013
                Categories
                Article

                Animal science & Zoology
                refugium,gmyc,species delimitation,new synonymy,lectotype designation,madagascar,diving beetles

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