Historical biogeography of New World Passalidae

Aim: The fauna of Mesoamerica is extraordinarily species rich and exhibits a high degree of local, regional, and high-elevation endemism. Traditionally, this area has been seen as a transition zone between the Nearctic and Neotropical regions; in contrast, new data suggest Mesoamerica is a center of origin and taxonomic diversification. For example, the diversity of species and genera of Passalidae in Mesoamerica is concentrated in montane environments and there are many locally-endemic taxa; thus, Mesoamerica has been suggested as a center of origin and taxonomic diversification for the group. However, this hypothesis has not been formally tested.

Location: New World tropics, with an emphasis on Mesoamerica

Taxon: Coleoptera, Passalidae (tribes Passalini and Proculini)

Methods: We studied timing and geographic patterns in the taxonomic diversification of Neotropical Passalidae. We used DNA sequence data from 3 genes (CAD, Wingless, 28S) for 93 species of Passalidae, along with...