Molecular analyses of pseudoscorpions in a subterranean biodiversity hotspot reveal cryptic diversity and microendemism.

ABSTRACT: Nested within the Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot, the Dinaric Karst of the western Balkans is one of the world's most heterogeneous subterranean ecosystems and renowned for its highly diverse and mostly endemic fauna. The evolutionary processes leading to both endemism and diversity remain insufficiently understood, and large-scale analyses on taxa that are abundant in both subterranean and surface habitats remain infrequent. Here, we provide the first comprehensive molecular study on Croatian pseudoscorpions, a lineage of arachnids that is common and diverse in both habitats. Phylogenetic reconstructions using 499 COI sequences derived from 128 morphospecies collected across the Dinaric Karst show that: (i) occurrence in karstic microhabitats boosters speciation and endemism in the mo

SUBMITTER: Hlebec D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9829860 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature