The discovery of Iberobaeniidae (Coleoptera: Elateroidea): a new family of beetles from Spain, with immatures detected by environmental DNA sequencing

The ongoing exploration of biodiversity and the implementation of new molecular tools continue to unveil hitherto unknown lineages. Here, we report the discovery of three species of neotenic beetles for which we propose the new family Iberobaeniidae. Complete mitochondrial genomes and rRNA genes rec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2016-05, Vol.283 (1830), p.20152350
Main Authors: Bocak, L., Kundrata, R., Fernández, C. Andújar, Vogler, A. P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biodiversity
Coleoptera - anatomy & histology
Coleoptera - classification
Coleoptera - genetics
Coleoptera - physiology
DNA, Mitochondrial
Endemism
Male
Mitogenomes
Molecular Phylogeny
Neoteny
Phylogeny
Sequence Analysis, DNA - methods
Soil Arthropods
Spain
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Summary:The ongoing exploration of biodiversity and the implementation of new molecular tools continue to unveil hitherto unknown lineages. Here, we report the discovery of three species of neotenic beetles for which we propose the new family Iberobaeniidae. Complete mitochondrial genomes and rRNA genes recovered Iberobaeniidae as a deep branch in Elateroidea, as sister to Lycidae (net-winged beetles). Two species of the new genus Iberobaenia, Iberobaenia minuta sp. nov. and Iberobaenia lencinai sp. nov. were found in the adult stage. In a separate incidence, a related sequence was identified in bulk samples of soil invertebrates subjected to shotgun sequencing and mitogenome assembly, which was traced to a larval voucher specimen of a third species of Iberobaenia. Iberobaenia shows characters shared with other elateroid neotenic lineages, including soft-bodiedness, the hypognathous head, reduced mouthparts with reduced labial palpomeres, and extremely small-bodied males without strengthening structures due to miniaturization. Molecular dating shows that Iberobaeniidae represents an ancient relict lineage originating in the Lower Jurassic, which possibly indicates a long history of neoteny, usually considered to be evolutionarily short-lived. The apparent endemism of Iberobaeniidae in the Mediterranean region highlights the importance of this biodiversity hotspot and the need for further species exploration even in the well-studied European continent.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2015.2350