Marine incursion into East Asia: a forgotten driving force of biodiversity |
| |
Authors: | Lu Yang Zhonge Hou Shuqiang Li |
| |
Institution: | 1.Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, People''s Republic of China;2.University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People''s Republic of China |
| |
Abstract: | Episodic marine incursion has been a major driving force in the formation of present-day diversity. Marine incursion is considered to be one of the most productive ‘species pumps’ particularly because of its division and coalescence effects. Marine incursion events and their impacts on diversity are well documented from South America, North America and Africa; however, their history and impacts in continental East Asia largely remain unknown. Here, we propose a marine incursion scenario occurring in East Asia during the Miocene epoch, 10–17 Ma. Our molecular phylogenetic analysis of Platorchestia talitrids revealed that continental terrestrial populations (Platorchestia japonica) form a monophyletic group that is the sister group to the Northwest Pacific coastal species Platorchestia pacifica. The divergence time between the two species coincides with Middle Miocene high global sea levels. We suggest that the inland form arose as a consequence of a marine incursion event. This is the first solid case documenting the impact of marine incursion on extant biodiversity in continental East Asia. We believe that such incursion event has had major impacts on other organisms and has played an important role in the formation of biodiversity patterns in the region. |
| |
Keywords: | habitat shift biogeography molecular phylogeny Platorchestia |
|
|