Formation of the Japanese carabina fauna inferred from a phylogenetic tree of mitochondrial ND5 gene sequences (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

Phylogenetic analyses based on the mitochondrial ND5 gene comparisons and the geohistory of the Japanese Islands suggest that each Japanese species belonging to the subtribe Carabina has its own history for the establishment of its present habitat in the Japanese Islands. It can be roughly classified into two categories: (1) species which were derived from the ancestry that inhabited ancient Japan at the time of its split from the Eurasian Continent [ca, 15 million years ago (MYA)], followed by diversification within the Japanese Islands; and (2) species which invaded Hokkaido from the Eurasian Continent through land-bridges from Sakhalin and/ or the Kuriles or from western Japan from the Korean Peninsula during the glacial era (<2 MYA).