Evolution underground: shedding light on the diversification of subterranean insects.
A recent study in BMC Evolutionary Biology has reconstructed the molecular phylogeny of a large Mediterranean cave-dwelling beetle clade, revealing an ancient origin and strong geographic structuring. It seems likely that diversification of this clade in the Oligocene was seeded by an ancestor already adapted to subterranean life.
Juan
Carlos
C
Department de Biologia, Universitat de les Illes Balears, 07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain. cjuan@uib.es
Emerson
Brent C
BC
D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D049810:Genetic Speciation; D005843:Geography / Q000379:methods; D007313:Insecta / Q000145:classification; D010802:Phylogeny