Time-scaled phylogenetic analysis of extant Lamiinae (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) species of East of Marmara Basin, Türkiye, and their evolutionary similarity with the Eurasian congeners

Abstract

Lamiinae is a tremendous subfamily of Cerambycidae, with around 20,000 members dispersed across continents. The knowledge of the evolutionary history of the subfamily is scarcely, and there are growing doubts about the phylogenetic relationships due to the recognised illusion caused by the convergence of the morphological characters. The present study contributes to the evolutionary history and phylogenetic relationships of the tribes Acanthocinini, Acanthoderini, Agapanthiini, Batocerini, Dorcadionini, Lamiini, Mesosini, Monochamini, Phytoeciini, Phrynetini, Pogonocherini (including Exocentrini) and Saperdini with Neighbor-Joining (NJ), Maximum Likelihood (ML) and time-scaled Bayesian analyses based on partial mitochondrial COI and 16S rRNA and nuclear 28S rRNA gene regions (2257 base pair alignment length). The most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of the taxa included in the analyses appeared during the Middle or Late Cretaceous, and the MRCAs of the closely related tribes emerged in Paleogene. The MRCA of Dorcadionini, Lamiini and Monochamini was younger than the common ancestors of the other close tribes. The hypothetical ML phylogram was consistent with the Bayesian chronogram in the proximity of Batocerini to Lamiini, Acanthocinini to Acanthoderini, Phyretrini to Pogonocherini, and Phytoeciini to Saperdini, in addition to the affiliation of Lamiini, Dorcadionini and Monochamini. At the COI-based NJ and ML gene trees, Paraleprodera and Lamia (Lamiini) were sisters to Imantocera (Gnomini), Oberea (Obereini) to Phytoecia (Phytoeciini), and Hippopsis (Agapanthiini) to Omosarotes (Acanthomerosternoplini). The present results support Dorcadionini Gnomini and Monochamini as synonyms of Lamiini; and Obereini and Phytoeciini of Saperdini. We suggest that the emergence of the living tribes included in this study was during Paleogene, and the intrageneric diversifications occurred in Cenozoic, mostly during Neogene.