Historical biogeography of the Andean region: evidence from Listroderina (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Rhytirrhinini) in the context of the South American geobiotic scenario

Abstract

The weevil subtribe Listroderina belongs in the tribe Rhytirrhinini (subfamily Cyclominae), and has 25 genera and 300 species in the Americas. The distributional history of this subtribe was reconstructed applying dispersalvicariance analysis (DIVA) using its genera as terminals. The results suggest that Listroderina originated within an area presently represented by the Central Chile, Paramo, Puna, Patagonia and Subantarctic subregions of the Andean region. Posteriorly, the subtribe was affected by extinctions and was confined to Central Chile, Paramo and Subantarctic subregions. Later, extinctions and dispersals took place and the subtribe was restricted to the Paramo and Puna subregions. From there, a dispersal event to the Subantarctic subregion occurred, enlarging again the geographical range of the subtribe. Subsequently, a vicariant event separated the Puna and Paramo subregions from the Subantarctic one. While the Macrostyphlus generic group was confined to the Paramo and Puna subregions and from there dispersed to other areas, the Antarctobius , Falklandius , Listronotus , and Listroderes generic groups diversified in the Subantarctic subregion. The results obtained by DIVA may be linked to major geological events of South America. Thus, the geobiotic scenarios recorded in this subcontinent since the late Cretaceous could be used to interpret the biogeographical events which drove Listroderina evolution.

Cenozoic biogeography and evolution in direct-developing frogs of Central America (Leptodactylidae: Eleutherodactylus) as inferred from a phylogenetic analysis of nuclear and mitochondrial genes

“…However, the diversity of mammalian fossils of strictly North American affinity collected from a mid-Miocene formation in central Panama suggests that continuous land stretched from North America to Panama 19-16 mya (Ferrusquía-Villafranca, 1975;MacFadden, 2005;Whitmore and Stewart, 1965). For northern South America we followed Hoorn (1993), Díaz de Gamero (1996), Marshall and Lundberg (1996), Vergara (1997), Iturralde-Vinent and MacPhee (1999), Audemard and Audemard (2002), and Donato et al (2003). We present the paleogeographic reconstruction in Fig.…”

Revision and Analysis of Pseudosaldula Cobben (Insecta: Hemiptera: Saldidae): A Group with a Classic Andean Distribution

“…Even allowing for several widespread distributions within Pseudosaldula, the available data nonetheless suggest that at least five areas of endemism can be recognized within the genus and that these areas show a strong correspondence with the areas postulated by Donato et al (2003). The areas we recognize are identified on map 15 and can be summarized as follows with a listing of the species that inhabit them: Species listed inside square brackets have widespread distributions relative to the other 10 species and cannot be treated as precinctive to one of the above-listed provinces simply on the basis of inspection.…”

“…Furthermore, all of the areas as defined have a few outlying distributional points. The existence of Central Chile as an area of endemism is a conclusion drawn from its recognition in taxa other than Pseudosaldula (Donato et al, 2003;Lizarralde and Szumik, 2007), rather than the fact that one or more of the Pseudosaldula spp. is restricted to that area; nonetheless, P. chilensis and P. pilosa both have distributions that include Central Chile, and the distributions of both of these species overlap with those of other taxa that do not occur in Central Chile.…”

“…Furthermore, the Andean Region has been the subject of recent papers that have sought to test theories concerning areas of endemism and to use up-to-date methodological approaches for understanding the interrelationships of those areas. Among these are the work of Donato et al (2003), which employed DIVA (Ronquist, 1997) as a way of interrelating areas of endemism within the subtribe Listroderina (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and that of Lizarralde and Szumik (2007), which employed algorithmic methods for the recognition of areas of endemism (Szumik et al, 2002;Szumik and Goloboff, 2004) as a way to better understand areas of endemism within the genus Pelinoides Cresson (Diptera: Ephedridae). These papers offer a background for better understanding the nature of endemism within the genus Pseudosaldula as well as the interrelationships of those areas.…”

“…Areas of endemism in Pseudosaldula: Donato et al (2003) treated distributions in the Andean Region in a very coarse manner, recognizing four subregions, on what might be described as a qualitative basis. The methods proposed by Szumik et al (2002) and Szumik and Goloboff (2004) offer promise for determining areas of endemism on a more strongly analytic basis.…”