The discovery of Iberobaeniidae (Coleoptera: Elateroidea): a new family of beetles from Spain, with immatures detected by environmental DNA sequencing
Author(s)
Bocak, L
Kundrata, R
Fernandez, CA
Vogler, AP
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The ongoing exploration of biodiversity and the implementation of new molecular tools continue to unveil hitherto unknown lineages. Here, we report the discovery of three species of neotenic beetles for which we propose the new family Iberobaeniidae. Complete mitochondrial genomes and rRNA genes recovered Iberobaeniidae as a deep branch in Elateroidea, as sister to Lycidae (net-winged beetles). Two species of the new genus Iberobaenia, Iberobaenia minuta sp. nov. and Iberobaenia lencinai sp. nov. were found in the adult stage. In a separate incidence, a related sequence was identified in bulk samples of soil invertebrates subjected to shotgun sequencing and mitogenome assembly, which was traced to a larval voucher specimen of a third species of Iberobaenia. Iberobaenia shows characters shared with other elateroid neotenic lineages, including soft-bodiedness, the hypognathous head, reduced mouthparts with reduced labial palpomeres, and extremely small-bodied males without strengthening structures due to miniaturization. Molecular dating shows that Iberobaeniidae represents an ancient relict lineage originating in the Lower Jurassic, which possibly indicates a long history of neoteny, usually considered to be evolutionarily short-lived. The apparent endemism of Iberobaeniidae in the Mediterranean region highlights the importance of this biodiversity hotspot and the need for further species exploration even in the well-studied European continent.
Date Issued
2016-05-04
Date Acceptance
2016-04-11
Citation
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2016, 283 (1830)
ISSN
0962-8452
Publisher
Royal Society, The
Journal / Book Title
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Volume
283
Issue
1830
Copyright Statement
© 2016 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.
Sponsor
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Grant Number
NE/M021955/1
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Biology
Ecology
Evolutionary Biology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine - Other Topics
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
biodiversity
endemism
mitogenomes
soil arthropods
molecular phylogeny
neoteny
COMPREHENSIVE PHYLOGENY
LYCIDAE INSECTA
CLASSIFICATION
ELATERIFORMIA
EVOLUTION
ALIGNMENT
NEOTENY
ECOLOGY
ORIGINS
MODELS
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
20152350