Phylogeny of the genus <i>Percus</i> (Coleoptera: Carabidae) – nuclear genes and the basal splits

Abstract

The phylogeny of the western Mediterranean genus Percus s.l. (Coleoptera, Carabidae) was analysed using partial DNA sequences of the nuclear 28S rRNA gene (865 bp). All 18 species of Percus s.l. with exception of P. espagnoli from the Balearic Islands were included. Phylogenetic analysis using the Maximum likelihood method reveals that the genus splits into three groups. The French Percus villai stands on its own. The Tyrrhenian species of Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily and the Italian mainland form the second group. Within this group, the phylogenetic relationships are not resolved. The third group includes Percus plicatus from Mallorca and the species of the subgenus Pseudopercus from the Iberian Peninsula. These results indicate that the subgenus Percus s.str. is paraphyletic. The split of Pseudopercus and P. plicatus probably occurred with the separation of the Balearic islands from the Iberian peninsula (20million years ago) or by the flooding of the Mediterranean after the Messinian salinity crisis (5.3 million years ago). Based on these assumptions, the divergence rate of the 28S gene can be estimated as being at 0.22–0.27% or at 0.99–1.01% per million years.