Integrating morphology with phylogenomics to describe four island endemic species of Temnothorax from Sicily and Malta (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)
- Temnothorax (Myrmicinae, Crematogastrini) is one of the most diverse Holarctic ant genera, and new taxonomic advancements are still frequent worldwide. The Mediterranean region, a global biodiversity hotspot characterized by a complex geographic history, is home to a substantial portion of its described diversity. Sicily is the region’s largest island and, as ongoing investigations are revealing, it is inhabited by a long-overlooked but highly diverse ant fauna that combines multiple biogeographic influences. We combined qualitative and quantitative morphology of multiple castes with phylogenomic analysis based on ultra-conserved elements (UCEs) to describe four species of Temnothorax endemic to Sicily and the neighboring Maltese Islands (Sicilian Channel). Three of these species, T. marae Alicata, Schifani & Prebus sp. nov., T. poldii Alicata, Schifani & Prebus sp. nov. and T. vivianoi Schifani, Alicata & Prebus sp. nov., are new to science, while a redescription clarifies the identity of T. lagrecai (Baroni Urbani, 1964). These descriptions highlight the current difficulties of delimiting monophyletic Temnothorax species groups based on morphological characters. The intra-insular endemicity patterns we revealed highlight the importance of Mediterranean paleogeography to contemporary ant diversity and distribution in the region.
Author: | Enrico SchifaniORCiD, Matthew M. PrebusORCiD, Antonio AlicataORCiD |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-687603 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2022.833.1891 |
ISSN: | 2118-9773 |
Parent Title (German): | European journal of taxonomy |
Series (Serial Number): | European journal of taxonomy : EJT (833:143–179) |
Publisher: | Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle |
Place of publication: | Paris |
Document Type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of Publication (online): | 2022/08/04 |
Date of first Publication: | 2022/08/04 |
Publishing Institution: | Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg |
Release Date: | 2022/08/04 |
Tag: | Italy; Maghreb; Mediterranean biogeography; island endemics; short-range endemic (SRE) invertebrates |
Volume: | 2022 |
Issue: | 833 |
Page Number: | 37 |
First Page: | 143 |
Last Page: | 179 |
HeBIS-PPN: | 504008501 |
Dewey Decimal Classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 59 Tiere (Zoologie) / 590 Tiere (Zoologie) |
Sammlungen: | Sammlung Biologie / Sondersammelgebiets-Volltexte |
: | urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-257882 |
Licence (German): | Creative Commons - Namensnennung 4.0 |