FNZ 68 - Simuliidae (Insecta: Diptera) - Age of New Zealand Austrosimulium
Craig DA, Craig REG, Crosby TK 2012. Simuliidae (Insecta: Diptera). Fauna of New Zealand 68, 336 pages.
(
ISSN 0111-5383 (print),
ISSN 1179-7193 (online)
;
no.
68.
ISBN 978-0-478-34734-0 (print),
ISBN 978-0-478-34735-7 (online)
).
Published 29 June 2012
ZooBank: http://zoobank.org/References/9C478D54-FEB2-45E8-B61C-A3A06D4EB45D
The maximum divergence (Fig. 509) between New Zealand Austrosimulium and Simulium (generally agreed to be the sister genus to Austrosimulium overall), is some 19%, equating to a separation ca 8 Mya (early Late Miocene). However, the inclusion of taxa absent from the molecular analysis, such as Paraustrosimulium anthracinum, ?Austrosimulium colboi, Cnesiamima atroparva, and ?Paracnephia pilfreyi (the outgroups), and Australian exemplars of Austrosimulium, might well suggest a different scenario.
Given, however, that the basal groups of New Zealand Austrosimulium, the Australian sister taxa, and related forms in South America, have immatures that require high-altitude cold-water habitats, the New Zealand Austrosimulium probably arrived in New Zealand pre-adapted to those conditions, and did not adapt to the early Southern Alps as they arose starting in the Early Pliocene. So, with present understanding, we consider it is unlikely that New Zealand Austrosimulium are “Ghosts of Gondwana” (Gibbs 2006) — but they are first or second cousins.