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Issue: Vol. 5665 No. 3: 23 Jul. 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-07-23
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5665.3.5
Page range: 397-409
Abstract views: 68
PDF downloaded: 3

Independent lineages from five zoogeographic realms: the mitochondrial genome of Ornithodoros (Pavlovskyella) gurneyi Warburton, 1926 (Acari: Argasidae) confirms paraphyly of the subgenus Pavlovskyella Pospelova-Shtrom, 1950

Epidemiology; Parasites and Vectors; Agricultural Research Council-Onderstepoort Veterinary Research; Onderstepoort 0110; South Africa; Department of Life and Consumer Sciences; University of South Africa; South Africa; Department of Zoology and Entomology; University of the Free State; Bloemfontein 9301; South Africa
Department of Parasitology; School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences; The University of Queensland; Brisbane; Queensland 4072; Australia; Department of Disease Control; Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine; Hokkaido University; Hokkaido 060–0818; Japan
Dung Beetle Solutions International; 37 Cave Avenue; Bridgewater SA 5155
The Australian Museum; 1 William Street; Sydney; NSW 2010; Australia
Department of Parasitology; School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences; The University of Queensland; Brisbane; Queensland 4072; Australia; Department of Disease Control; Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine; Hokkaido University; Hokkaido 060–0818; Japan
Department of Parasitology; School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences; The University of Queensland; Brisbane; Queensland 4072; Australia
Epidemiology; Parasites and Vectors; Agricultural Research Council-Onderstepoort Veterinary Research; Onderstepoort 0110; South Africa; Department of Zoology and Entomology; University of the Free State; Bloemfontein 9301; South Africa
The Biotechnology Platform; Agricultural Research Council-Biotechnology Platform; Onderstepoort 0110; South Africa
CSIRO; Health and Biosecurity; Canberra; ACT; Australia
Department of Disease Control; Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine; Hokkaido University; Hokkaido 060–0818; Japan; Division of Parasitology; Veterinary Research Unit; International Institute for Zoonosis Control; Hokkaido University; Hokkaido 0001–00200; Japan
Acari Argasidae Ornithodoros Pavlovskyella gurneyi

Abstract

Mitochondrial (mt) genomes have played a major role in elucidating evolutionary relationships in ticks (Ixodida), especially in soft ticks (Argasidae). Mitochondrial genomes have been sequenced for representatives of most of the genera and other major lineages. This includes members of the Afrotropical, Nearctic, Neotropical and Palearctic Pavlovskyella Pospelova-Shtrom, 1950, which is a subgenus of Ornithodoros Koch, 1844. These continent-associated lineages do not form a monophyletic group: rather, the subgenus Pavlovskyella is paraphyletic. The only zoogeographic region for which mt genomes are not available is the Australasian region. Here we report the first mt genome of an Australasian Pavlovskyella: Ornithodoros (Pavlovskyella) gurneyi Warburton, 1926, the kangaroo soft tick. [The companion paper to the present work, Barker et al. (2025), presents the mt genome, 18S and 28S rRNA of the only other known Australasian Pavlovskyella, McMillan’s Australian tree-hollow argasid, Ornithodoros (Pavlovskyella) macmillani Hoogstraal & Kohls, 1966.] Our phylogenetic trees reveal that the two Australasian Pavlovskyella have their own clade (i.e. are sister-taxa) which does not have a sister-group relationship with species of Pavlovskyella from any of the four other zoogeographic regions. We propose that the Pavlovskyella from the Afrotropical, Australasian, Nearctic, Neotropical and Palearctic zoogeographic regions have independent evolutionary histories and thus are best considered different genera. Molecular dating leads us to propose that continental drift may have caused the evolution of five different lineages of Pavlovskyella, each in a different zoogeographic region of the world.

 

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How to Cite

Mans, B.J., Kelava, S., Doube, B.M., Shaw, M.D., Teo, E.J.M., Barker, D., Pienaar, R., Castro, M.H.D., Gofton, A., Nakao, R. & Barker, S.C. (2025) Independent lineages from five zoogeographic realms: the mitochondrial genome of Ornithodoros (Pavlovskyella) gurneyi Warburton, 1926 (Acari: Argasidae) confirms paraphyly of the subgenus Pavlovskyella Pospelova-Shtrom, 1950. Zootaxa, 5665 (3), 397–409. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5665.3.5