Origin of the inland Acari of Continental Antarctica, with particular reference to Dronning Maud Land |
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| Authors: | DAVID J. MARSHALL PHILIP J. A. PUGH F.L.S. |
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| Affiliation: | Fitzpatrick Institute, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa;British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET |
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| Abstract: | The extant Acari occurring on the inland mountain ranges and nunataks of Continental Antarctica comprise only pre-Pleistocene endemic Prostigmata and Cryptostigmata of which the Prostigmata are the probable earlier colonists. The inland acarofauna of Continental Antarctica has a different origin from that of Maritime Antarctica, though both are the relict descendants of a Mesozoic acarofauna, which has been radically depleted by one or more Mesozoic and/or Cenozoic glacial events. |
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| Keywords: | Acari Antarctica biogeography endemism immigration origin |
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