The phylogeny of Iberian Aphodiini species (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea, Scarabaeidae, Aphodiinae) based on morphology

Abstract.  The phylogeny of Iberian Aphodiini species was reconstructed based on morphology. Wing venation, mouthparts, male and female genitalia, and external morphology provided ninety-four characters scored for ninety-three Aphodiini species. Phylogenetic analyses were based on maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference criteria. Maximum parsimony consensus trees recovered Acrossus species as a sister group of the remaining Aphodiini, followed by two other branches, one including Neagolius , Plagiogonus , Ahermodontus and Ammoecius species, and the other including Oxyomus , Nimbus , Heptaulacus and Euheptaulacus species. The remaining studied taxa clustered in an unresolved group. Bayesian inference trees recovered Acrossus as the sister group of the remaining Iberian Aphodiini, followed by Colobopterus erraticus and the rest of the Iberian Aphodiini, but this latter branch was unresolved. The general lack of statistical support for the inferred phylogenetic relationships at terminal nodes using both maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference suggests that variation in morphological characters useful for phylogenetic inference in the present study is small, perhaps as a consequence of a radiation event occurring at the origin of the tribe. A probable evolutionary pattern for Aphodiini is proposed which infers six groups, namely Acrossian, Ammoecian, Oxyomian, Aphodian s.str., Colobopteran and Aphodian s.l. clades.