蜣螂后胸叉骨形态演化趋势及其在系统发育分析中的意义(鞘翅目:金龟科)

后胸叉骨是昆虫胸部的内骨骼,是重要的肌肉联结点,在昆虫运动中起着不可替代的作用。该结构在鞘翅目高级阶元系统发育关系重建中扮演了重要角色,但由于其在低级阶元间的差异较小以及在形态分析中使用困难等因素限制,致使后胸叉骨的研究并未受到广泛重视。国内学者对于甲虫后胸叉骨的研究非常少,甚至长期以来没有中文名称,相关内容只零星散布于教科书和学位论文中,针对蜣螂后胸叉骨形态学研究尚未见报道。本文对金龟科蜣螂亚科9族65种的后胸叉骨进行了详细的比较形态学研究,归纳了族级形态特征,进而探究蜣螂后胸叉骨形态演化趋势及其在系统发育分析中的意义。此外,还对利用现代形态学和几何形态学等方法研究后胸叉骨功能形态的前景进行了阐述。

Morphological evolutionary trends and their implications for the phylogenetic analysis of metendosternite in Chinese dung beetles （Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae）

Metendosternite, or metafurea, is a chitinous, internal structure in higher pterygote insects that plays a significant role in movements such as flight and walking. Previous studies mainly focused on the comparative morphology of metendosternite in high level Coleopteran taxa. However, no research has been done on morphological evolutionary trends in metendosternite at the tribal level in Chinese dung beetles. We investigated this subject in 65 species of nine tribes of the Scarabaeinae. The diagnostic characteristics of each tribe and a key to tribes based on metendosternite characters are provided. The implications of morphological trends in metendosternite evolution for phylogenetie analysis and future research directions are also discussed.