engleski

Biodiversity patterns of pseudoscorpions in Dinaric Karst

Dinaric Karst of the Western Balkan Peninsula is one of the major biodiversity hotspots, containing a plethora of endemic taxa and cryptic species, including an exceptional subterranean fauna. Pseudoscorpions are one of the most diverse arachnid lineages in Croatia with 146 described species. Among these, the genera Neobisium and Chthonius are especially diverse and many species have been described from the Dinaric Karst in the last 30 years. However, the present state of taxonomy is highly problematic because type specimens are either lost or deposited in private collections, and many type localities are vague, thereby slowing down, or even completely preventing, taxonomic revisions. We morphologically examined 2.208 specimens collected from 172 localities in the Dinaric Karst and generated molecular data from two genes: mitochondrial COI for 502 specimens, and nuclear 28S for 96 divergent haplotypes within the families Chthoniidae and Neobisiidae to reveal patterns of genetic diversity ; construct the first evolutionary trees of Croatian pseudoscorpions ; and test the monophyly of species and genera from the Dinaric Karst. Several species delimitation methods were used to examine concordance between sequence clustering and traditional taxonomy. Preliminary data indicate a high level of intraspecific variability and the presence of several cryptic and/or undescribed species and at least one undescribed genus. Our study forms the baseline for in-depth taxonomic studies that focus on biogeography and evolutionary patterning for taxa from the Dinaric Karst. Furthermore, we identified hotspots of subterranean biodiversity at the genetic level, which facilitates the protection of endemic species and their subterranean habitats.

Arachnida ; Cryptic diversity ; Dark taxa ; Speciation, Species delineation

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