Open AccessHistorical biogeography and ecology of a Continental Antarctic mite genus, Maudheimia (Acari, Oribatida): evidence for a Gondwanan origin and Pliocene‐Pleistocene speciation
Author(s) -
MARSHALL DAVID J.,
COETZEE LOUISE
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
zoological journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.148
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1096-3642
pISSN - 0024-4082
DOI - 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2000.tb00011.x
Subject(s) - biology , biogeography , vicariance , oribatida , ecology , biological dispersal , acari , endemism , genus , pleistocene , glacial period , clade , phylogenetic tree , zoology , paleontology , population , demography , sociology , biochemistry , gene
Of the eight genera (30 species) of extant Acari in Continental (= East) Antarctica, the genus Maudheimia Dalenius & Wilson, 1958 (Oribatida; Maudheimiidae) is uniquely endemic. A Gondwanan origin is proposed for the genus based on antiquity, inferred from endemism, a widespread distribution throughout Continental Antarctica and a limited dispersal capacity. Adaptation for a high montane epilithic existence, a necessity for the origination and long‐term persistence in Antarctica, is inferred from the life history, physiology and ecology of Maudheimia. Phylogenetic analysis placed all four Maudheimia species in a single (generic) clade with the following structure (M. pelronia Wallwork, 1962 (M. tanngardenensis Coctzee, 1997 (M. manhalli Coetzee, 1997 (M. wilsoni Dalenius & Wilson, 1958)))). Geographical distributions of the Maudheimia species, in relation to their phylogenetic relationships, support the hypothesis that post‐Gondwanan speciation occurred as a consequence of isolation during glaciation of Antarctica.