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Issue: Vol. 4040 No. 2: 10 Nov. 2015
Type: Article
Published: 2015-11-10
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4040.2.5
Page range: 187–203
Abstract views: 27
PDF downloaded: 2

The classification and phylogenetic status of Jekelius (Reitterius) punctulatus (Jekel, 1866) and Jekelius (Jekelius) brullei (Jekel, 1866) (Coleoptera: Geotrupidae) using molecular data

Department of Biogeography and Global Change, National Museum of Natural Sciences, Consejo Superior de Iinvestigaciones Científicas. c/ José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain.
Department of Biogeography and Global Change, National Museum of Natural Sciences, Consejo Superior de Iinvestigaciones Científicas. c/ José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain.
Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, 1 Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria.
Natural Museum of Natural History, 1 blvd. Tzar Osvoboditel, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria.
National Genetic Laboratory, 2 Zdrave str., 1431 Sofia, Bulgaria.
Department of Zoology, Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Sciences, Viničná 7, CZ-128 43 Praha 2, Czech Republic.
Department of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, National Museum of Natural Sciences, Consejo Superior de Iinvestigaciones Científicas. c/ José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain.
Instituto Universitario de Investigación Centro Iberoamericano de Biodiversidad, University of Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, 03080 Alicante, Spain.
Coleoptera Geotrupinae dung beetles Balkan Peninsula potential distribution

Abstract

The phylogenetic placement of Jekelius brullei (Jekel, 1866) and J. punctulatus (Jekel, 1866) (Coleoptera: Geotrupidae) was assessed using mitochondrial and nuclear molecular data to discern contrasting nomenclatural views provided by López-Colón (1996) and the Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera (Löbl et al. 2006). Our results support both the monophyletic and classification status of the genus Jekelius López-Colón, 1989; and the splitting of the genus into the subgenera Jekelius López-Colón, 1989 and Reitterius López-Colón, 1996. The basal phylogenetic placement of these two species also suggests an oriental origin for Jekelius within the western Palaearctic region. Finally, we include a potential distributional map of Jekelius (Reitterius) punctulatus (Jekel, 1866) based on an exhaustive search of occurrence data.