Baltic amber members of the extant Micrillus–Scymbalium lineage of the Paederinae rove beetles (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) and their systematic and ecological significance

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Paederinae, a diverse subfamily of rove beetles (Staphylinidae), is poorly explored with an outdated subtribal and generic classification lacking proper phylogenetic perspective. Therefore, the discovery of two Baltic amber fossil specimens resembling the genera Micrillus and Scymbalium, which are particularly challenging in terms of systematics, called for a thorough analysis to infer their phylogenetic position and their ecological requirements. The fossils were examined with light microscopy supplemented by X-ray micro-computed tomography, and then scored into a Paederinae-specific matrix of 99 morphological characters, along with a broad sample of recent Paederinae and non-paederine outgroups. Morphological phylogenetic analyses were conducted, using Bayesian Inference and Maximum Parsimony. The obtained phylogeny confirmed that the genera Scymbalium and Micrillus form a lineage outside Lathrobiina; therefore, both genera are now classified as Lathrobiini incertae sedis pending a more inclusive phylogenetic work on Paederinae. The analysis firmly placed both fossils in that recent lineage, albeit rendering Micrillus paraphyletic with respect to Scymbalium. Without a more extensive analysis based on the revised world fauna, any systematic changes would be premature. Thus, the fossils are described as Micrillus electrus, sp. nov. and Scymbalium phaethoni, sp. nov. in accordance with the current diagnoses of both genera. Given that the recent species of Micrillus and Scymbalium are predominantly thermophilic and mainly confined to dry open landscapes in Africa, southern Eurasia and Australia, the finding of Baltic amber representatives implies the very diverse landscape and the equable (sub)tropical palaeoclimatic conditions of the Eocene amberiferous ‘forest’, the latter being the subject of continued debates.

Related collections

Most cited references 21

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Weighted parsimony outperforms other methods of phylogenetic inference under models appropriate for morphology

J. Salvador Arias, Ambrosio Torres, Pablo Goloboff (2017)

One of the lasting controversies in phylogenetic inference is the degree to which specific evolutionary models should influence the choice of methods. Model-based approaches to phylogenetic inference (likelihood, Bayesian) are defended on the premise that without explicit statistical models there is no science, and parsimony is defended on the grounds that it provides the best rationalization of the data, while refraining from assigning specific probabilities to trees or character-state reconstructions. Authors who favour model-based approaches often focus on the statistical properties of the methods and models themselves, but this is of only limited use in deciding the best method for phylogenetic inference-such decision also requires considering the conditions of evolution that prevail in nature. Another approach is to compare the performance of parsimony and model-based methods in simulations, which traditionally have been used to defend the use of models of evolution for DNA sequences. Some recent papers, however, have promoted the use of model-based approaches to phylogenetic inference for discrete morphological data as well. These papers simulated data under models already known to be unfavourable to parsimony, and modelled morphological evolution as if it evolved just like DNA, with probabilities of change for all characters changing in concert along tree branches. The present paper discusses these issues, showing that under reasonable and less restrictive models of evolution for discrete characters, equally weighted parsimony performs as well or better than model-based methods, and that parsimony under implied weights clearly outperforms all other methods.

0 comments Cited 134 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: not found
Article: not found

A MONOGRAPH OF THE BALTIC AMBER BEES AND EVOLUTION OF THE APOIDEA (HYMENOPTERA)

MICHAEL S. ENGEL, Jasmine Thum, Adam Sage … (2001)

0 comments Cited 129 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Niche conservatism above the species level.

Paula A Spaeth, Elizabeth Hadly, Ji-Cheng Li (2009)

Traits that enable species to persist in ecological environments are often maintained over time, a phenomenon known as niche conservatism. Here we argue that ecological niches function at levels above species, notably at the level of genus for mammals, and that niche conservatism is also evident above the species level. Using the proxy of geographic range size, we explore changes in the realized niche of North American mammalian genera and families across the major climatic transition represented by the last glacial-interglacial transition. We calculate the mean and variance of range size for extant mammalian genera and families, rank them by range size, and estimate the change in range size and rank during the late Pleistocene and late Holocene. We demonstrate that range size at the genus and family levels was surprisingly constant over this period despite range shifts and extinctions of species within the clades. We suggest that underlying controls on niche conservatism may be different at these higher taxonomic levels than at the species level. Niche conservatism at higher levels seems primarily controlled by intrinsic life history traits, whereas niche conservatism at the species level may reflect underlying environmental controls. These results highlight the critical importance of conserving the biodiversity of mammals at the genus level and of maintaining an adequate species pool within genera.