Evolutionary history and eco‐climatic diversification in southern African dung beetle Sisyphus

Abstract

Aim The high diversity of species in southern Africa has been attributed to geological and palaeoclimatic factors. The timing of radiations in some groups is held to be linked to these geoclimatic trends. Using the Scarabaeinae dung beetle genus, Sisyphus, as a model system, we investigate how geological uplift and climatic changes in the late Cenozoic affected its diversification patterns in southern Africa. Location Southern Africa. Taxon The dung beetle genus, Sisyphus Latreille, 1807 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Methods A dated molecular phylogeny of southern African Sisyphus was compared with a factor analysis of species distribution data that statistically defined groups of species according to current climatic distribution. We used these climatic clusters to estimate ancestral ranges using the “BioGeoBEARS” R package. A lineage through time plot was calculated using the R package ‘APE’. We used Bayesian diversification models (compound Poisson process on mass extinction times) to test hypotheses on how late Cenozoic uplift and climatic changes affected speciation and extinction of Sisyphus. Furthermore, we implemented ecological niche modelling in MaxEnt to predict the habitat suitability of species under present climatic conditions. Results Four species groups defined from factor analysis of current climatic distribution data are primarily restricted to the moist summer rainfall region in the northeast. Species diversification occurred from the mid‐Miocene until the Pleistocene, during which the central southern African plateau was uplifted in tandem with the advent of winter rainfall and arid climatic zones to the southwest. The ancestor of Sisyphus was centred in eastern low to mid‐altitude areas. Speciation rates were higher in the Miocene to Pliocene, followed by a dramatic drop during the transition to the Pleistocene. Main conclusions The taxonomic and eco‐climatic diversification of sisyphines is coincident with geological uplift and changes in climate in east‐central southern Africa. However, phylogenetic relationships of southern African Sisyphus species are not homogenously distributed with respect to geography and climate.

Dung beetle tribal classification (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae): progress, problems, and prospects

“…Recent phylogenetic studies using molecular (Daniel et al 2020a(Daniel et al , 2020c and morphological data (Daniel 2019) supported the monophyly of the tribe and its sister relationship with the Epirinini. However, the studies of Daniel et al (2020a) and Daniel et al (2020c) on southern African sisyphines showed that the genus Sisyphus Latreille, 1802 was paraphyletic relative to Neosisyphus Müller 1942. A partial taxonomic revision of the tribe was effected by reinstating the subgeneric status of Neosisyphus and downgrading the status of the genus Parasisyphus Barbero, Palestrini & Zunino, 1991 to a subgeneric rank.…”

“…This juxtaposition led Tarasov and Dimitrov (2016) to combine the 2 lineages as the tribe, Sisyphini sensu novo. Subsequently, this arrangement was overturned on evolutionary, morphological and biogeographical grounds (Daniel et al 2020a) resulting in separation of the 2 lineages as the Sisyphini, in its former strictest sense, and the revalidated tribe, Epirinini. Recent phylogenetic studies using molecular (Daniel et al 2020a(Daniel et al , 2020c and morphological data (Daniel 2019) supported the monophyly of the tribe and its sister relationship with the Epirinini.…”

“…Subsequently, this arrangement was overturned on evolutionary, morphological and biogeographical grounds (Daniel et al 2020a) resulting in separation of the 2 lineages as the Sisyphini, in its former strictest sense, and the revalidated tribe, Epirinini. Recent phylogenetic studies using molecular (Daniel et al 2020a(Daniel et al , 2020c and morphological data (Daniel 2019) supported the monophyly of the tribe and its sister relationship with the Epirinini. However, the studies of Daniel et al (2020a) and Daniel et al (2020c) on southern African sisyphines showed that the genus Sisyphus Latreille, 1802 was paraphyletic relative to Neosisyphus Müller 1942.…”

“…The Sisyphini have been retrieved as monophyletic in several morphological and molecular studies (Philips et al 2004b, Monaghan et al 2007. Although the history of different cited sister groups is complex (Daniel et al 2020a(Daniel et al , 2020b, the tribe was recently placed as sister to the Afrotropical, former deltochiline genus, Epirinus (Tarasov and Dimitrov 2016). This juxtaposition led Tarasov and Dimitrov (2016) to combine the 2 lineages as the tribe, Sisyphini sensu novo.…”

Soil type, vegetation cover and temperature determinants of the diversity and structure of dung beetle assemblages in a South African open woodland and closed canopy mosaic

“…2002; Daniel et al . 2020, 2021). However, at a regional or local scale, aspects such as habitat fragmentation, climate or environmental variables tend to have a more critical effect (Davis 1993; Davis et al .…”