Impacts of Quaternary glaciation, geological history and geography on animal species history in continental East Asia: A phylogeographic review

Abstract

The Quaternary global climatic oscillations play a key role in determining the genetic diversity, its structure and patterns of distribution of many species in the temperate zones of the northern hemisphere (Hewitt, 2000(Hewitt, , 2004. Species often retracted to their southern range or refugia during cold glaciation periods, and expanded their distribution ranges during the warm interglacial periods. Glacial refugia are often located at the south, and postglacial expansions are often northward. These patterns are particularly strong in North America and Europe, resulting in a genetic diversity pattern of 'southern richness to northern purity' (Hewitt, 2000).

Does coevolution in refugia drive mimicry in bumble bees? Insights from a South Asian mimicry group

“…While a strict refugium and coevolution hypothesis is not supported, this does not mean refugia were not involved in generating shared patterns. Despite having a mild inferred climate shift during the LGM, glacial refugia likely occurred around the Himalaya and southwest China regions ( 37 ), and our data support stronger mimicry in this region. Furthermore, given that these species are on the edge of the bumble bee range, small shifts in climate could create local habitat shifts, generating refugia hard to infer with these models.…”

“…As a climate-sensitive taxon largely confined to temperate, alpine, and arctic zones ( 19 , 36 ), paleoclimate shifts play a key role in the Bombus radiation ( 22 ). However, compared to regions like Europe and North America, the South Asian regions have experienced much milder climate oscillation during the Quaternary ( 37 ) that make refugia associated with glaciation less important.…”

The Morphological Differentiation and Evolutionary Origins of Artemia in China

“…Compared to Europe and North America, the East Asian continent underwent a mild Quaternary climate due to its complex terrain and strong influence from monsoons. However, the cold-warm climate oscillations that were caused by the alternation of ice ages and interglacial periods still affected many species in terms of diversity and distributions [52]. According to the results of the divergence time and ancestral distributions, we propose the most likely scenario to have occurred to depict the evolutionary route of A. sinica.…”

Range-Wide Phylogeography and Ecological Niche Modeling Provide Insights into the Evolutionary History of the Mongolian Racerunner (Eremias argus) in Northeast Asia

“…Additionally, because E. argus has developed a strong adaptation to a diverse habitat, the aridification caused by glaciers would not put much stress on its persistence. On the other hand, the subsequent strengthening of the monsoon in East Asia since the mid-Late Pleistocene would have created a variety of new habitats for the "habitat generalist" [101]. As expected, the expansion of steppe-desert fields during glacial periods would have provided E. argus with a suitable matrix for burrowing, allowing them to effectively buffer the climate extremes.…”