Morphologically tortured taxonomic placement of an Antarcti
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TitleMorphologically tortured taxonomic placement of an Antarctic springtail (Collembola Isotomidae) misguided by morphology and ecologyAbstractAn endemic springtail from northern Victoria Land, Antarctica, was recently moved from Desoria to the new genus Chionobora, erected for a new species C. amila from lakes in the central highland plateau of Tasmania. This new combination for klovstadi was based on characters similar to both species (although not definitive) and an apparent preference for aquatic habitats. Here we show that neither of these inferences are valid. We sampled from two lake localities to obtain C. amila, and in doing so, we describe its habitat as riparian, not aquatic. We compared specimens of C. amila with klovstadi within a phylogeny using three genes (mtDNA COI, 18S rDNA, D1-D5 of 28S rDNA) for 59 Isotominae terminals. We show that klovstadi is not closely related to the genus Chionobora that has closest affinities to the genus Isotomurus. As previously identified, klovstadi has no close affinities to any existing genus in Isotominae. Based on additional ecological, morphological and molecular evidence, we erect a new genus for klovstadi, Kaylathalia gen. n. Copyright 2016 Royal Swedish Academy of SciencesAcknowledgementsThanks to Chris Emms, David Fulford, Michael Driessen (Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service) for advice on access, and to Penny Greenslade for information regarding collecting localities in the Central Plateau. All collecting undertaken with permits (No. FA 15063) issued by the Depart. Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment.Thanks also to Christophe Daugeron (Museum national dHÌistoire naturelle, Paris) for his assistance in collecting inTasmania. We are extremely grateful for logistic and/or financial support that contributed in part to this study from Antarctica New Zealand (K024), Australian Antarctic Division (ASAC 2355), BoEM laboratory, CaFoTrop, Techmo-hygiene and the MNHN parallel computing cluster.Funding DetailsASAC 2355, AAD, Australian Antarctic Division; K024, Antarctica New Zealand; MNHN, Museum National dHÌistoire Naturelle
TypeArticleCitationStevens, M. and D'Haese, C. (2017). Morphologically tortured: taxonomic placement of an Antarctic springtail (Collembola: Isotomidae) misguided by morphology and ecology. Zoologica Scripta, 46(2): 180-187 IdentifierStevens2017Relevancerank5Antarctica NZ supported?YesNZARI?No
