Anaspidacea, Bathynellacea (Crustacea, Syncarida), generalised tracks, and the biogeographical relationships of South America

Abstract

The spatial evolution of South American Syncarida (Anaspidacea and Bathynellacea) and related taxa is evaluated applying a panbiogeographic approach, where Ocean basins are used to identify major patterns of intercontinental distribution. The Pacific basin, corresponding to a southern temperate track, is identified as the major evolutionary centre for Stygocaris(Stygocarididae), Bathynella (Bathynellidae), Atopobathynellu, and Chilibathynella (Parabathynellidae), whereas distribution of Nannobathynella (Bathynellidae) and Cteniobathynella (Parabathynellidae) is centred on the Atlantic Ocean, belonging to a northern tropical track. It is concluded that the biotic origin of the South American Syncarida is complex, implying the existence of at least two ancestral biotas.

Biogeographic Areas and Transition Zones of Latin America and the Caribbean Islands Based on Panbiogeographic and Cladistic Analyses of the Entomofauna

“…Two cladistic biogeographic analyses based on plant, fungal, and animal taxa, including Coleoptera, Diptera, Ephemeroptera, Hemiptera, and Mecoptera (19, 151), showed that South America is a composite area because southern South America is more closely related to the southern temperate areas that correspond to the Austral kingdom, whereas tropical South America is more closely related to Africa and North America. Other cladistic and panbiogeographic studies (18,48,65,78,113) also support the hypothesis that South America is a composite area, with the Andean region closely related to the southern temperate areas and the Neotropical region closely related to the Old World tropics. Other authors have addressed the dual nature of South America (20,51,53).…”

Tropical Amphi-Pacific disjunctions in the Cladocera (Crustacea: Branchiopoda)

“…Better studied are some smaller invertebrate taxa from the subterranean realms, where the Anaspidacea and the Bathynellacea (Crustacea: Syncarida) provide perhaps the best examples of strong disjunctions between southern South America on one side and south-eastern Australia and New Zealand on the other, explained by the Gondwanan transantarctic dispersal scenario (e.g. Stygocaris Noodt, 1963, Atopobathynella Schminke, 1973, Chilibathynella Noodt, 1963 (Schminke, 1974;Lopretto and Morrone, 1998). In the Rotifera, the distribution pattern remains unstudied even though this old group shows typical Gondwana-type disjunctions (e.g.…”

VIEWPOINT. Is the Australian subterranean fauna uniquely diverse?

“…Further these Gondwanan links between the major continents (e.g. the 'cosmopolitan' Bathynellacea (Lopretto and Morrone 1998)) are likely to be an indicator of new regions of subterranean faunal significance. To date, Africa remains largely unexplored, apart from the Mediterranean north coast and Atlas Mountains.…”