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The subfamily Saprininae is a group of moderately large histerid beetles that exhibits remarkable morphological and biological diversity. Although all species are predaceous, feeding on larvae of flies and other arthropods, numerous ecologically diverse lineages appeared during the evolution of the group, including taxa adapted for life in sand. These psammophiles conquered the Earth's arid and sandy desert regions. They are endowed with profound morphological adaptations, and the beginning of their radiation largely coincides with the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum, which constituted the peak of the long-term early Cenozoic global warming. Earth's temperature during that time was believed to be globally ~8 °C warmer than it is today, and the aridification played an important role in the desertification of the planet. Here, we present the first comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of Saprininae to date, based on 115 taxa of 37 (sub)genera, which represent all major Saprininae genera. Our analyses resulted in a well-resolved phylogeny of the group, partly congruent with earlier phylogenetic hypotheses. We find support for the monophyly of the Saprininae and four major clades within it. Ultra-psammophily has evolved at least three times independently, with convergent morphological features arising in different desert regions, as a response to similar selective pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of natural selection in phenotypic evolution is central to evolutionary biology. Phenotypic evolution is affected by various factors other than adaptation, and recent focus has been placed on the effects of phylogenetic constraints and niche conservatism on phenotypic evolution. Here, we investigate the relationship between the shell morphology and habitat use of bradybaenid land snails of the genus Aegista and clarify the causes of the divergence in shell morphology among phylogenetically related species. The results of ancestral state reconstruction showed that arboreal species have evolved independently from ground-dwelling species at least four times. A significant association was found between shell shape and habitat use, despite the existence of a certain degree of phylogenetic constraint between these traits. A principal component analysis showed that arboreal species tend to have a relatively high-spired shell with a narrow umbilicus. By contrast, ground-dwelling species have a low-spired shell with a wide umbilicus. Although the latitude and elevation of the sampling locations showed no relationship with shell morphology, the geology of the sampling locations affected the shell size of arboreal species. The development of a well-balanced shell shape is one effective method for reducing the cost of locomotion under the force of gravity in each life habitat, resulting in the divergence in shell morphology and the independent evolution of morphologically similar species among different lineages. The present study suggests that ecological divergence is probably the cause of shell morphology divergence in land snails. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2014, 114, 229-241. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent mtDNA phylogenies of Australasian agamid lizards are highly incongruent with existing morphological views. To resolve this discrepancy we sequenced two nuclear gene regions, c- mos and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). These were highly concordant with each other and the mtDNA phylogeny, but not the morphology. A combined molecular analysis reveals substantial hidden support (additional phylogenetic signal that emerges only when the data sets interact in a combined analysis). Bayesian posteriors, and a partitioned bootstrap procedure introduced here, indicate strong support for most nodes. The resultant tree implies extensive morphological homoplasy, with many genera emerging as non-monophyletic ( Amphibolurus, Rankinia, Ctenophorus, Physignathus, Diporiphora). The water and forest dragons ( Physignathus and Hypsilurus) form a paraphyletic basal assemblage to the more derived Australian forms such as Amphibolurus and Ctenophorus, which include almost all the xeric taxa. However, the thorny devil Moloch horridus is a basal lineage and not closely related to the other arid forms. Tree topology, inferred divergence dates, palaeogeographical and palaeoclimatic data are all consistent with Miocene immigration into Australia from the north by mesic forest ecomorphs, followed by initial diversification in mesic habitats before radiation into xeric habitats facilitated by increasing aridity. © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2008, 93, 343–358. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the phylogenetic and phylogeographical relationships of arvicolines, we use several Western European ground voles. More particularly, our study is focused on Microtus ( Terricola) savii and M. ( T.) pyrenaicus. These two allopatric species are usually considered as having originated from the same ancestor, possibly M. ( T.) mariaclaudiae. We propose molecular and morphological approaches: nucleotidic data from the mitochondrial cytochrome b and 12S rRNA genes and global morphological analyses from the first lower molar. Four other Terricola species ( multiplex, lusitanicus, duodecimcostatus, subterraneus) were added to the data set for both analyses, and two other vole species ( Clethrionomys glareolus and Chionomys nivalis) as outgroup to the molecular analysis, and five fossil populations to the morphological one. Palaeontological data are also widely taken into account. Both molecular and morphological analyses indicate that intra- Terricola relationships reflect the present-day geographical distribution of our data set species. Our results show that M. ( T.) savii and M. ( T.) pyrenaicus are from separate speciation events leading to two different biogeographical groups, respectively the Alpine–Italian group and the French–Iberian group, the latter being much more homogeneous. These speciation events could be related to Quaternary climatic changes, which induced southward migration, leading first to M. ( T.) savii and second to M. ( T.) pyrenaicus. The classical hypothesis of a geographical speciation for these two taxa from M. ( T.) mariaclaudiae is invalid. However, the morphological data suggest a potential phylogenetic relationship between M. ( T.) mariaclaudiae (ancestor) and M. ( T.) pyrenaicus (descendant). © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2008, 93, 309–323. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to assess the consequences of tectonic events and temperature regime on the diversification of Indo-West Pacific (IWP) turban shell species. Bayesian and parsimony methods were used to construct a phylogenetic hypothesis using sequence data from three genes for the turban shell genus Turbo and for a larger data set including representatives of all known genera in the subfamily Turbininae. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that all IWP Turbo species form a single clade approximately 68 Myr in age, predating the closure of the Tethys Sea and therefore predating the physical separation of the IWP from other biogeographical regions. All but one of the IWP subgenera tested in Turbo also predate the closure of the Tethys Sea. Fossil evidence for Marmarostoma, the largest subgenus, confirms that at least some Turbo lineages currently restricted to the IWP were previously more widespread. The combination of the phylogeny with the fossil evidence suggests that present day diversity in IWP Turbo is the result of the evolutionary persistence within the IWP of several, morphologically distinct lineages, some of which were more widespread in the Oligocene. Some IWP lineages show significant increases in diversification in the early Miocene, probably as a result of the increased availability of both shallow-water habitats due to tectonic plate movements and increased carbonate platforms in the central IWP resulting from coincident diversification of zooxanthellate corals. The IWP is therefore behaving as both a cradle of diversity (with new species originating in situ) and a museum of diversity (with lineages that predate its isolation also being maintained). Bayesian and parsimony analyses of the subfamily recovered five clades and mapping the temperature regime (tropical or temperate) of each species onto the molecular tree using parsimony suggested that temperate habitat is an ancestral character in at least four of the clades. This result was also supported by Bayesian reconstruction of ancestral states. Astralium (the fifth clade) may also prove to have a temperate origin, but this could not be determined with certainty given the available data. The origin of diversity in tropical regions is of particular interest because it has been suggested that the tropics are the source of many evolutionary novelties and have provided a species pool, from which temperate regions were populated. The present study suggests that Turbininae may be an exception to this rule. The tree shape also suggests that temperature has had an effect on speciation rates; temperate Turbininae are apparently evolving more slowly or suffering more extinction than their tropical sister clades, which show greater diversity. © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2007, 92, 573–592. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A phylogeny of gekkotan lizards was derived from C-mosnuclear DNA sequence data. Forty-one currently recognized genera, representing all major gekkotan lineages, were included in the study. A total of 378 bp of partial C-mosgene sequences was obtained and aligned. Maximum parsimony (MP) and maximum likelihood (ML) trees were generated based on unweighted analysis using PAUP*; similar tree topologies were recovered by both methods. The Eublepharidae were monophyletic and its relationship to other major clades was poorly resolved. The Pygopodidae of Kluge (1987) was monophyletic, but relationships within this group differed from those retrieved by previous analyses. The Diplodactylini + padded carphodactylines were the sister group of pygopods + padless carphodactylines. The Gekkonidae were monophyletic, but we found no evidence in support of the Teratoscincinae, asTeratoscincuswas embedded well within the gekkonids. Both MP and ML analyses supported the basal position ofSphaerodactyluswithin the gekkonids, in contrast to morphologically based hypotheses. We propose a new higher order classification of the Gekkota that reflect these results. Five gekkotan families: Eublepharidae, Gekkonidae, Pygopodidae, Diplodactylidae, and Carphodactylidae are recognized. The higher order status of the sphaerodactyls will require more intensive sampling of this group. Our results support the hypothesis that the early cladogenesis of the Gekkota was associated with the split of Eastern Gondwanaland from Western Gondwanaland. Divergences among living genera in the Eublepharidae and the Eastern Gondwanan lineages (Diplodactylidae, Pygopodidae and Carphodactylidae) may be older than those in the Gekkonidae. © 2004 The Linnean Society of London,Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2004,83, 353–368. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]