Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1038/s41598-023-38999-6
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Molecular phylogeny of mega-diverse Carabus attests late Miocene evolution of alpine environments in the Himalayan-Tibetan Orogen
Author Schmidt, J.; Opgenoorth, L.; Mao, K.; Baniya, C.B.; Hofmann, S.
Source Titel Scientific Reports
Year 2023
Department NSF
Volume 13
Page From art. 13272
Language englisch
Topic T5 Future Landscapes
Supplements https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1038%2Fs41598-023-38999-6/MediaObjects/41598_2023_38999_MOESM1_ESM.docx
Keywords Biogeography; Ecology; Entomology; Evolution; Palaeoecology; Palaeontology; Phylogenetics; Speciation; Taxonomy; Zoology
Abstract The timing, sequence, and scale of uplift of the Himalayan-Tibetan Orogen (HTO) are controversially debated. Many geoscientific studies assume paleoelevations close to present-day elevations and the existence of alpine environments across the HTO already in the late Paleogene, contradicting fossil data. Using molecular genetic data of ground beetles we reconstruct the paleoenvironmental history of the HTO, focusing on its southern margin (Himalayas, South Tibet). Based on a comprehensive sampling of extratropical Carabus, and ~ 10,000 bp of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA we applied Bayesian and Maximum likelihood phylogenetics. We show that Carabus arrived in the HTO at the Oligocene-Miocene boundary. During the early Miocene, five lineages diversified in different parts of the HTO, initially in its southern center and on its eastern margin. Evolution of subalpine-alpine taxa occurred during the late Miocene. There were apparently no habitats for Carabus before the late Oligocene. Until the Late Oligocene elevations must have been low throughout the HTO. Temperate forests emerged in South Tibet in the late Oligocene at the earliest. Alpine environments developed in the HTO from the late Miocene and, in large scale, during the Pliocene-Quaternary. Findings are consistent with fossil records but contrast with uplift models recovered from stable isotope paleoaltimetry.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=27217
Schmidt, J., Opgenoorth, L., Mao, K., Baniya, C.B., Hofmann, S. (2023):
Molecular phylogeny of mega-diverse Carabus attests late Miocene evolution of alpine environments in the Himalayan-Tibetan Orogen
Sci. Rep. 13 , art. 13272 10.1038/s41598-023-38999-6