A Cretaceous-aged Palaeotropical dispersal established an endemic lineage of Caribbean praying mantises.

ABSTRACT: Recent phylogenetic advances have uncovered remarkable biogeographic histories that have challenged traditional concepts of dispersal, vicariance and diversification in the Greater Antilles. Much of this focus has centred on vertebrate lineages despite the high diversity and endemism of terrestrial arthropods, which account for 2.5 times the generic endemism of all Antillean plants and non-marine vertebrates combined. In this study, we focus on three Antillean endemic praying mantis genera, Callimantis, Epaphrodita and Gonatista, to determine their phylogenetic placement and geographical origins. Each genus is enigmatic in their relation to other praying mantises due to their morphological affinities with both Neotropical and Old World groups. We recovered the three ge

SUBMITTER: Svenson GJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5627202 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature