Abstract
Cockroaches are among the most recognizable of all insects. In addition to their role as pests, they play a key ecological role as decomposers. Despite numerous studies of cockroach phylogeny in recent decades, relationships among most major lineages are yet to be resolved. Here we examine phylogenetic relationships among cockroaches based on five genes (mitochondrial 12S rRNA, 16S rRNA, COII; nuclear 28S rRNA and histone H3), and infer divergence times on the basis of 8 fossils. We included in our analyses sequences from 52 new species collected in China, representing 7 families. These were combined with data from a recent study that examined these same genes from 49 species, resulting in a significant increase in taxa analysed. Three major lineages, Corydioidea, Blaberoidea, and Blattoidea were recovered, the latter comprising Blattidae, Tryonicidae, Lamproblattidae, Anaplectidae, Cryptocercidae and Isoptera. The estimated age of the split between Mantodea and Blattodea ranged from 204.3 Ma to 289.1 Ma. Corydioidea was estimated to have diverged 209.7 Ma (180.5–244.3 Ma 95% confidence interval [CI]) from the remaining Blattodea. The clade Blattoidea diverged from their sister group, Blaberoidea, around 198.3 Ma (173.1–229.1 Ma). The addition of the extra taxa in this study has resulted in significantly higher levels of support for a number of previously recognized groupings.
Highlights
Cockroaches are considered to play a key role in terrestrial ecosystems, recycling dead plants, dead animals and excrement and contributing to ecosystem functioning via the breakdown of organic matter and the release of nutrients[1]
Three recognized major lineages of Blattodea from Maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) inferences were recovered with high support: Corydioidea, Blattoidea and Blaberoidea
Corydioidea was recovered as sister to the remaining Blattodea (MLB = 100, BPP = 100), and was the first clade within Blattodea
Summary
Cockroaches are considered to play a key role in terrestrial ecosystems, recycling dead plants, dead animals and excrement and contributing to ecosystem functioning via the breakdown of organic matter and the release of nutrients[1]. The morphologically and ecologically diverse group Blattodea including Isoptera is widely accepted to be a monophyletic[2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13] Despite these advances, the evolutionary relationships among the main lineages of Blattodea have yet to be well resolved, and a number of other results from previous studies remain under discussion. The evolutionary relationships among the main lineages of Blattodea have yet to be well resolved, and a number of other results from previous studies remain under discussion These include: (i) the proposal that Tryonicidae and Lamproblattidae are given family status and excluded from Blattidae[6]; (ii) the proposed sister grouping between Nocticolidae and Corydiidae (=Polyphagidae)[11]; (iii) the sister group relationships between Lamproblattidae and Blattidae[12]; (iv) the sister group of Cryptocercidae + Isoptera, which may be either Tryonicidae, Anaplecta, or Tryonicidae + Anaplecta[12]. 12S reverse 16S Forward 16S Reverse 16S F1 16S R1 COII-F COII-R Modified A-tLeu B-tLys Hux Win H3 AF H3 AR
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