Evidence for Eurogondwana: the roles of dispersal, extinction and vicariance in the evolution and biogeography of Indo‐Pacific Hormuridae (Scorpiones: Scorpionoidea). (5th February 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Monod, Lionel; Prendini, Lorenzo
• Is Part Of: Cladistics. Volume 31:Number 1(2015:Feb.)
• Page Start: 71
• Page End: 111
• Publication Date: 2014-02-05
• Subjects: Cladistic analysis -- Periodicals; 578.012
• DOI: 10.1111/cla.12067
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0748-3007

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="cla12067-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>Scorpions previously assigned to the genus <italic>Liocheles</italic> Sundevall, 1883, of the family Hormuridae Laurie, 1896, are widely distributed in the tropical forests of the Indo‐Pacific region. Revisionary systematics of these poorly known scorpions has revealed a tremendous diversity of species. As part of an ongoing investigation, the first analysis of Indo‐Pacific hormurid scorpion phylogeny based on morphological data scored for all currently recognized species of <italic>Hormiops</italic> Fage, <xref ref-type="link" rid="cla12067-bib-0040">1933</xref>, <italic>Hormurus</italic> Thorell, 1876, and <italic>Liocheles</italic>, is presented. The taxonomy of these scorpions is reassessed and their biogeography reinterpreted in the light of the phylogeny. Phylogenetic, morphological, and distributional data support the revalidation of <italic>Hormiops</italic> and <italic>Hormurus</italic>, previously synonymized with <italic>Liocheles</italic>. The phylogeny indicates that the Australasian hormurids are more closely related to the Afrotropical and Neotropical hormurids than to the Indian hormurids, as previously proposed, refuting the "out‐of‐India" origin of Asian hormurids. A recent paleogeographical hypothesis, the "Eurogondwana model", is supported instead. According to this hypothesis, hormurid scorpions colonized Laurasia from Africa via the Apulia microplate (Europa terrane) in the Cretaceous, subsequently colonized the Australo‐Papuan archipelago in the early‐mid Cenozoic, and then went extinct in the Northern Hemisphere during the second half of the Cenozoic. These results suggest that, contrary to the traditional paradigm, dispersal and extinction may affect spatial and temporal biotic distributions as much as vicariance, even in animals with limited vagility, such as scorpions.</p> </abstract>