Cryptic species and co‐diversification in sand scorpions from the Karakum and Kyzylkum deserts of Central Asia

Abstract

Little is known about species diversification within the deserts of Central Asia. For example, the degree of lineage divergence and timing of population differentiation, as well as potential biogeographic barriers driving diversification, are nearly unknown. Here, we analysed a multi‐locus data set for a widespread sand scorpion (Mesobuthus gorelovi) to evaluate cryptic species diversity and phylogeographic patterns across the Karakum and Kyzylkum deserts. We also combined these data with previously published sequence data to test for a signal of co‐diversification. A consensus species delimitation approach indicated that the widespread M. gorelovi is likely composed of up to five distinct species that began to diversify at the Miocene–Pliocene boundary. We observed shared patterns of lineage divergence across the Amu Darya River region in three scorpion taxa and found support for a shared history of assemblage diversification across this biogeographic barrier. Thus, major river systems appear to facilitate diversification among desert scorpions.

Genetic and toxinological divergence among populations of Tityus trivittatus Kraepelin, 1898 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) inhabiting Paraguay and Argentina

“…Preliminary BEAST runs using the uncorrelated lognormal clock model revealed a low ucld.stdev value (<1.0), so we used a strict clock model for final runs (as suggested in the BEAST manual).To calibrate the BEAST analyses, we used normal clock rate priors with a mean rate (ucld.mean) of 0.007 substitutions per site per million years, as previously estimated for other buthid scorpions [32]. Following [33], we adjusted the standard deviation so 95% of the normal distribution included minimum and maximum rates estimated for COI in other studies of scorpions (SD: 0.00270). We conducted two independent MCMC runs for 20 million generations each and sampled every 10,000 generations.…”

Phylogeography of the desert scorpionMesobuthus mongolicusilluminates a route out of Central Asia and Junggar Basin as a corridor for faunal exchange between Central and East Asia

“…Scorpions of Mesobuthus (sensu Gantenbein et al 2003) faithfully followed this general rule, thus emerging as an excellent model for studying biogeographical evolution in drylands of Asian interior (Graham et al 2019;Shi et al 2013). Since the late Miocene, this group has undergone extensive diversification and biogeographic evolution driven by regional tectonics (Mirshamsi et al 2010;Mirshamsi et al 2011) and climate changes (Shi et al 2013), which gave rise to more than two dozen species widely spread in mid latitude Eurasia with Central Asia being center of species diversity (Fet et al 2021;Fet et al 2018;Fet et al 2000;Graham et al 2019). Currently, at least five species of Mesobuthus occur in China which was hypothesized as an outcome of multiple 'Out of Central Asia' evolution of the ancestral species (Shi et al 2013).…”

Out of India, thrice: diversification of Asian forest scorpions reveals three colonizations of Southeast Asia

“…Trees were linked across all partitions and a birth–death tree prior implemented. Clock rates for the mitochondrial COI and 16S loci have been published for scorpion taxa from families Buthidae, Vaejovidae Thorell, 1876 and Bothriuridae Simon, 1880 122 – 131 . A normal clock rate prior was applied to the COI and 16S loci with the following settings: μ = 0.007, σ = 0.00146 for COI and μ = 0.005, σ = 0.00270 for 16S, such that 95% of the normal distribution included minimum and maximum values of the COI and 16S loci in scorpions 131 .…”

“…Clock rates for the mitochondrial COI and 16S loci have been published for scorpion taxa from families Buthidae, Vaejovidae Thorell, 1876 and Bothriuridae Simon, 1880 [122][123][124][125][126][127][128][129][130][131] . A normal clock rate prior was applied to the COI and 16S loci with the following settings: μ = 0.007, σ = 0.00146 for COI and μ = 0.005, σ = 0.00270 for 16S, such that 95% of the normal distribution included minimum and maximum values of the COI and 16S loci in scorpions 131 . Rates for all other loci were estimated using uniform priors with the following constraints: 12S, ucld.min = 0.002 and ulcd.max = 0.5; 18S and 28S, ucld.min = 0.0001 and ulcd.max = 0.01 127 .…”