Phylogeography of the desert scorpion illuminates a route out of Central Asia.

ABSTRACT: A comprehensive understanding of phylogeography requires the integration of knowledge across different organisms, ecosystems, and geographic regions. However, a critical knowledge gap exists in the arid biota of the vast Asian drylands. To narrow this gap, here we test an "out-of-Central Asia" hypothesis for the desert scorpion Mesobuthus mongolicus by combining Bayesian phylogeographic reconstruction and ecological niche modeling. Phylogenetic analyses of one mitochondrial and three nuclear loci and molecular dating revealed that M. mongolicus represents a coherent lineage that diverged from its most closely related lineage in Central Asia about 1.36 Ma and underwent radiation ever since. Bayesian phylogeographic reconstruction indicated that the ancestral population dispers

SUBMITTER: Shi CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10443618 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature