Tropical mountains are hot spots of biodiversity and endemism, but the evolutionary origins of their unique biotas are poorly understood. In varying degrees, local and regional extinction, long-distance colonization, and local recruitment may all contribute to the exceptional character of these communities. Also, it is debated whether mountain endemics mostly originate from local lowland taxa, or from lineages that reach the mountain by long-range dispersal from cool localities elsewhere. Here we investigate the evolutionary routes to endemism by sampling an entire tropical mountain biota on the 4,095-metre-high Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, East Malaysia. We discover that most of its unique biodiversity is younger than the mountain itself (6 million years), and comprises a mix of immigrant pre-adapted lineages and descendants from local lowland ancestors, although substantial shifts from lower to higher vegetation zones in this latter group were rare. These insights could improve forecasts of the likelihood of extinction and 'evolutionary rescue' in montane biodiversity hot spots under climate change scenarios.

Water mites of the genus Hygrobates are widely distributed in all biogeographic regions except the Antarctic. Palaearctic Hygrobates species with reticulated soft integument generally have been considered as representatives of one common and widely distributed species, Hygrobates fluviatilis Strøm, 1768. Based on partial COI sequences (DNA-barcodes) and statistical analysis of morphological data, we show that these mites belong to six distinct lineages. Two of them are widely distributed in Central Europe: Hygrobates fluviatilis here redescribed based on a neotype designated from the type locality in Norway, and a species new to science, H. arenarius Smit & Pešić. The four remaining lineages represent additional species new to science that appear to have more restricted distributions: H. corsicus Pešić & Smit (Corsica, Sardinia), H. marezaensis Pešić & Dabert (Montenegro, Albania, Croatia), H. turcicus Pešić, Esen & Dabert (Turkey), and H. persicus Pešić & Asadi (Iran, E Turkey). Statistical morphometric analysis reveals that the latter two species cannot be separated on morphological characters and should be considered true cryptic species. We provide data concerning biology and geographical distributions together with a key to all species of the complex.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Based on published records and original data from recent research, a list is presented of the water mite (Acari: Hydrachnidia) fauna of the Balkan countries, i.e. Croatia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Serbia, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Greece. It includes 382 species and subspecies in 77 genera and 34 families. Numerous new records for national faunas are reported, and five taxa, Sperchon pelopeius (Greece), Atractides stankovici (Croatia), Axonopsis graeca (Greece), Woolastookia minuta (Bosnia and Hercegovina, Greece) and Arrenurus ornatus graecus (Greece) are described as new to science. Atractides moniezi (Motaş, 1927) is synonymized with A. lacustris (Lundblad, 1925). The assumption of K. O. Viets (1987) that Pionopsis subruber Đ orđević, 1903 is a synonym of P. lutescens (Hermann, 1804) is confirmed. The characteristics of the water mite fauna in the treated area are briefly outlined. Additional field work is highly desirable for a more appropriate evaluation of the extant water mite biodiversity in the Balkans.

-