In a
study published in BMC Evolutionary Biology, Ribera et
al. [5] have investigated the origin and evolution of a
diverse lineage of subterranean beetles of the tribe
Leptodirini (family Leiodidae) (Figure 1a), focusing on the
distribution of this group in the western Mediterranean.
This study is one of the first in which the evolutionary
history of a presumably monophyletic group composed of
mostly subterranean species is examined using molecular
data. Samples of a large number of species from genera
occurring in the Iberian Peninsula plus representatives
from Sardinia and the Carpathians are included in the
study. DNA sequences totalling 4 kilobases from five
mitochondrial and two nuclear DNA fragments were used
to construct robust phylogenies using different methods
and to quantify diversification patterns and times from
molecular clock calibrations.