Solving the mystery behind a flightless beetle's transatlantic journey
They can't fly or swim, so why do their closest relatives appear on different continents? Grey Gustafson, an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, discovered through DNA sequencing that the ancestors of some of today's tiger beetles existed in South America and Africa before the two continents separated. What's more, North America's largest tiger beetles are related to…
This article explores the mystery of how flightless tiger beetles, specifically the giant tiger beetles (Amblycheila) and the night-stalking tiger beetles (Omus), found in North America, are related to their closest relatives in South America and Africa. Associate Professor Grey Gustafson from the Department of Biological Sciences discovered through DNA sequencing that the ancestors of these North American tiger beetles existed in South America and Africa before the continents separated.
The research team found that the Manticorini tribe, to which these beetles belong, evolved at a time when South America and Africa were part of the supercontinent Gondwana. This suggests that the North American beetles did not cross the ocean but originated before the ocean separation.
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