Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Volume 269, Issue 1507, Pages 2351-2356Publisher
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2002.2157
Keywords
Coleoptera : Adephaga; Hydradephaga relationships; biodiversity; new species; genus and family; simultaneous phylogenetic analysis; evolution of swimming
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The six extant aquatic families of Hydradephaga (Coleoptera) known so far represent a diverse group of beetles morphologically highly modified for life in the water. We report the discovery of a new genus with two species from South Africa and China, which differ greatly from all extant families, but resemble the Jurassic-Cretaceous daggerLiadytidae (the dagger symbol indicates that the taxa are known only as fossils). Based on a combined phylogenetic analysis of molecular and morphological data we erect a new family, Aspidytidae, which is the sister group of Dytiscidae plus Hygrobiidae. We propose a new scenario for the evolution of swimming behaviour in adephagan beetles, in which the transition into the aquatic environment is followed by complex and repeated changes in lifestyles, including the secondary complete loss of swimming ability in Aspidytidae.
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