The origin of the endemic African grasshopper family Lentulidae (Orthoptera: Acridoidea) and its climate-induced diversification

Aim: Forest relicts in the mountainous regions of Africa represent one of the most diverse ecosystems on our planet, but the processes that have generated this remarkable diversity are still poorly understood. We estimate divergence times for an endemic, flightless grasshopper family and reconstruct a potential scenario for their colonization of Africa to test the hypothesis that the diversity of these mountain-top endemics has been generated by multiple fragmentations and reconnections of tropical rain forests in parallel with climatic fluctuations.

Location: Sub-Saharan Africa.

Taxon: Lentulidae (Orthoptera)

Methods: We inferred the phylogeny of 7 genera and 28 species of the Lentulidae based on COI, 16S and Histone 3 sequences by using a Bayesian approach, and we also estimated divergence dates. Based on our molecular phylogeny as well as the available information on the relationship of 6 additional genera and local occurrence records for 120 lentulid species across Africa, ...