Historical biogeography of New World passalid beetles (Coleoptera, Passalidae) reveals Mesoamerican tropical forests as a centre of origin and taxonomic diversification

Abstract

Aim:The fauna of Mesoamerica is extraordinarily species rich and exhibits a high degree of local, regional and high-elevation endemism. Traditionally, this area has been seen as a transition zone between the Nearctic and Neotropical regions; in contrast, new data suggest that Mesoamerica is a centre of origin and taxonomic diversification. For example, the diversity of species and genera of Passalidae in Mesoamerica is concentrated in montane environments and there are many locally endemic taxa; thus, Mesoamerica has been suggested as a centre of origin and taxonomic diversification for the group. However, this hypothesis has not been formally tested.Location: New World tropics, with an emphasis on Mesoamerica. Taxon: Coleoptera, Passalidae (tribes Passalini and Proculini) Methods: We studied timing and geographic patterns in the taxonomic diversification of Neotropical Passalidae. We used DNA sequence data from 3 genes (CAD, Wingless, 28S) for 93 species of Passalidae, along with information from the fossil record, to generate a time-calibrated phylogeny for the group. Additionally, we performed Ancestral Area Estimation and Ancestral State Reconstruction of the altitudinal distribution niche. Results: The divergence time analyses recovered a much older estimated timing of origin and diversification events in Passalidae than previously proposed. We recovered the origins of the New World Passalidae in the late Jurassic and the split between Passalini and Proculini during the mid-Cretaceous. Moreover, we observed congruence between timing and patterns of clade diversification and major paleogeographical events; for example, the origin and crown diversification of montane genera during the uplift and emergence of Mesoamerica from the sea. Main conclusions: Orogenic events throughout the Paleogene and Neogene played a major role in the diversification of New World Passalidae. Moreover, Nuclear and Southern Mesoamerica are centres of origin and taxonomic diversification for Proculini.

A diversification relay race from Caribbean-Mesoamerica to the Andes: historical biogeography of Xylophanes hawkmoths

“…Similar scenarios have also been found in other Neotropical insect groups (e.g. [ 9 , 11 , 61 ]). During a second phase, a low speciation rate is found in Caribbean-Mesoamerica lineages ( figure 4 ), and our GeoHiSSE tests support the ‘museum’ hypothesis of Caribbean-Mesoamerica for Xylophanes (electronic supplementary material, appendix S9).…”

“…Studies have identified this region as important for in situ speciation (e.g. [8,9]) with lineages originating © 2022 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.…”

“…Studies have identified this region as important for in situ speciation (e.g. [8,9]) with lineages originating in Caribbean-Mesoamerica and dispersing to South America (e.g. [7,[10][11][12]).…”

Chewing through challenges: Exploring the evolutionary pathways to wood‐feeding in insects

“…Indeed, coal was formed when carboniferous trees died and failed to decompose. This occurred during a time early in the evolution of lignin‐ and cellulose‐degrading organisms, at least 100 million years before the evolution of wood‐degrading fungi, [ 3 ] passalid beetles, [ 4 ] and termites [ 5 ] .…”

The Brachypterous Species of Passalus (Pertinax) (Coleoptera: Passalidae), with the Description of a New Species from Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia

“…Although most known cases of brachyptery occur in Neotropical species of Passalidae (mainly in the tribe Proculini), there are also Ethiopian, Oriental, and Australian brachypterous species (Hincks 1933 ), this characteristic being apparently related to the habit of living in mountains (Reyes-Castillo 1970 ; Ariza-Marín and Amat-García 2021 ). In Proculini, which originated in the mountains of Mesoamerican (Beza-Beza et al 2021 ), this condition seems to be more widespread, with almost all genera (16 of 20) having brachypterous species and some genera comprised entirely of flightless species (e.g., Ogyges , Proculejus , and Proculus ). Meanwhile, in Passalini, which is postulated to have originated in South America (Reyes-Castillo and Halffter 1978 ; Fonseca 1987 ), of the seven genera (Jiménez-Ferbans et al 2022 ) only Passalus contains brachypterous species.…”