A Cretaceous-aged Palaeotropical dispersal established an endemic lineage of Caribbean praying mantises

Abstract

Recent phylogenetic advances have uncovered remarkable biogeographic histories that have challenged traditional concepts of dispersal, vicariance and diversification in the Greater Antilles. Much of this focus has centred on vertebrate lineages despite the high diversity and endemism of terrestrial arthropods, which account for 2.5 times the generic endemism of all Antillean plants and non-marine vertebrates combined. In this study, we focus on three Antillean endemic praying mantis genera, Callimantis, Epaphrodita and Gonatista, to determine their phylogenetic placement and geographical origins. Each genus is enigmatic in their relation to other praying mantises due to their morphological affinities with both Neotropical and Old World groups. We recovered the three genera as a monophyletic lineage among Old World groups, which was supported by molecular and morphological evidence. With a divergence at approximately 107 Ma, the lineage originated during the break-up of Gondwana. Ancestral range reconstruction indicates the lineage dispersed from an African + Indomalayan range to the Greater Antilles, with a subsequent extinction in the Old World. The profound ecomorphic convergence with non-Caribbean groups obscured recognition of natural relationships within the same geographical distribution. To the best of our knowledge, the lineage is one of the oldest endemic animal groups in the Greater Antilles and their morphological diversity and restricted distribution mark them as a critical taxon to conserve.

Keywords: Greater Antilles; Mantodea; biogeography; endemism; oceanic dispersal; phylogenetic.

Figure 1.

Live habitus images of Caribbean genera including: (a) Callimantis male from Puerto Rico; (b) Callimantis female from Puerto Rico; (c) Gonatista male from Dominican Republic; (d) Gonatista female from Dominican Republic; (e) Epaphrodita male from Dominican Republic; (f) Epaphrodita female from Dominican Republic.

Figure 2.

Time-calibrated phylogeny and time-slice palaeogeographic renderings. Major clades are collapsed and median node age and 95% CI bars are included for deep-level nodes. The endemic Caribbean lineage is highlighted with red, the Neotropical clades are highlighted with yellow and Old World groups retain a purple background. Pie charts for eight nodes of interest map probability reconstructions (electronic supplementary material, table S6) of ancestral ranges with corresponding range colours presented in the legend. (a) Mid Lower Cretaceous prior to the divergence of the endemic Caribbean lineage. (b) Later Lower Cretaceous when an ancestor of the endemic Caribbean lineage dispersed from Africa. (c) Upper Cretaceous when the endemic Caribbean lineage was established on the exposed islands on the eastern and northern edge of the Caribbean Plate. (d) Mid Palaeogene when first extant Neotropical Acanthopoidea dispersed to Jamaica. (e) Late Palaeogene when Neotropical Acanthopoidea and Mantidae dispersed to the Greater Antilles. (f) Present day range of the endemic Caribbean lineage in the Greater Antilles with one species of Gonatista in the southeastern United States.