Toward a biogeographic regionalization of the Nearctic region: Area nomenclature and digital map

We provide a preliminary nomenclatural proposal and a digital map of the Nearctic region, based on published regionalizations, especially Dice (1943), and applying the International Code of Area Nomenclature. The Nearctic region is comprised of three subregions (one of them with two dominions), one transition zone and 29 provinces. The Arctic subregion, in northern North America and Greenland, includes the Eskimoan, Hudsonian, Aleutian and Sitkan provinces. The Western subregion, in western North America, includes the Californian dominion, with the Californian and Oregonian provinces; and the Rocky Mountain dominion, including the Montanian, Saskatchewan, Palusian, Artemisian, Coloradan, Kansan, Mohavian, Navahonian, Sonoran, Chihuahuan, Comanche, and Baja California provinces. The Alleghany subregion, in eastern North America, includes the Illinoian, Canadian, Carolinian, Texan, Austroriparian, and Tamaulipan provinces. The Mexican Transition Zone, situated in the area of overlap with the Neotropical region, includes the Sierra Madre Occidental, Sierra Madre Oriental, Transmexican Volcanic Belt, Sierra Madre del Sur and Chiapas Highlands provinces.

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Analysing the assembly of cenocrons in the Mexican transition zone through a time-sliced cladistic biogeographic analysis

Australian Systematic Botany ◽

10.1071/sb16048 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 29 (6) ◽

pp. 489 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Violeta Corral-Rosas ◽

Juan J. Morrone

Keyword(s):

Transition Zone ◽

Volcanic Belt ◽

Neotropical Region ◽

Ecological Processes ◽

Sierra Madre ◽

Close Relationship ◽

Sierra Madre Del Sur ◽

Relationship Of ◽

Mexican Transition Zone ◽

Nearctic Region

A transition zone shows the overlap between two or more regions and represents an event of biotic hybridisation, where different cenocrons assembled as a result of historical and ecological processes. The Mexican transition zone, the area where the Nearctic and Neotropical regions overlap, includes the following five biogeographical provinces: Sierra Madre Occidental, Sierra Madre Oriental, Sierra Madre del Sur, Transmexican Volcanic Belt and Chiapas Highlands. Within this transition zone, the following five cenocrons have already been recognised: Paleoamerican, Mexican Plateau, Mountain Mesoamerican, Nearctic and Typical Neotropical. We undertook three cladistic biogeographic analyses on the basis of 49 cladograms of terrestrial taxa, partitioning them into three time-slices, namely, Miocene (Mountain Mesoamerican cenocron), Pliocene (Mountain Mesoamerican plus Nearctic cenocrons) and Pleistocene (Mountain Mesoamerican, Nearctic and Typical Neotropical cenocrons). For the Miocene time-slice, we observed a close relationship of the Transmexican Volcanic Belt with the Neotropical region, whereas, for the Pliocene and Pleistocene time-slices, the closest relationship of the Transmexican Volcanic Belt was with the Nearctic region. We conclude that the Transmexican Volcanic Belt may have played a different role according to the cenocron analysed, and that the Mexican transition zone differs in its delimitation depending on the taxa analysed, strengthening the idea that it is a complex area.

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Mexican biogeographic provinces: Map and shapefiles

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.4277.2.8 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4277 (2) ◽

pp. 277 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

JUAN J. MORRONE ◽

TANIA ESCALANTE ◽

GERARDO RODRÍGUEZ-TAPIA

Keyword(s):

Transition Zone ◽

Chihuahuan Desert ◽

Volcanic Belt ◽

Neotropical Region ◽

Sierra Madre Occidental ◽

Biogeographic Provinces ◽

Sierra Madre ◽

Sierra Madre Del Sur ◽

Mexican Transition Zone ◽

Nearctic Region

We provide a map of the 14 biogeographic provinces of Mexico based on the ecoregions recognized for the country, which combine climatic, geological and biotic criteria. These provinces belong to the Nearctic region (Californian, Baja Californian, Sonoran, Chihuahuan Desert and Tamaulipas provinces), Neotropical region (Pacific Lowlands, Balsas Basin, Veracruzan and Yucatán Peninsula provinces) and the Mexican transition zone (Sierra Madre Occidental, Sierra Madre Oriental, Transmexican Volcanic Belt, Sierra Madre del Sur and Chiapas Highlands provinces). In order to facilitate future biogeographic analyses, we provide a file of the biogeographical regionalisation of Mexico by converting the map into a polygon shapefile and a raster file with all provinces. We also separately provide each of the provinces in vector and raster format. All the maps are in geographical and Lambert Conformal Conic projections.

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Checklist of net-winged beetles (Coleoptera: Lycidae) from Mexico

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.4623.2.2 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4623 (2) ◽

pp. 239-260

Author(s):

CISTEIL X. PÉREZ-HERNÁNDEZ ◽

SANTIAGO ZARAGOZA-CABALLERO ◽

ALBERTO ROMO-GALICIA

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Transition Zone ◽

Geographical Distribution ◽

Endemic Species ◽

Volcanic Belt ◽

Neotropical Region ◽

Valid Species ◽

The Family ◽

Mexican Transition Zone ◽

Nearctic Region

A checklist, distribution records, and the updated nomenclature for Mexican Lycidae are presented here. Two subfamilies, 7 tribes, 24 genera, 2 subgenera and 168 valid species of Lycidae (Coleoptera: Elateroidea) taxa were recorded from Mexico, including 111 (66%) endemic species. For each species, synonyms used in Mexico and geographical distribution in Mexican states were provided. The highest species richness was recorded in Veracruz, Chiapas and Oaxaca, while Aguascalientes and the Yucatan Peninsula states had very few records of Lycidae species probably due to the lack of fieldwork. In the Nearctic region, Lycidae diversity comprised 4 tribes, 10 genera and 27 species; in Mexican transition zone, 5 tribes, 17 genera and 100 species; and in Neotropical region, 7 tribes, 19 genera and 94 species. The highest species richness of Lycidae was recorded in the Veracruzan, Transmexican Volcanic Belt and Chiapas Highlands provinces. Although there has been a relevant rise in taxonomical work concerning Mexican lycid fauna in the last two decades, it is still necessary to continue in systematic, ecological, and biogeographical studies of the family in Mexico, especially in scarcely studied regions.

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Testing the biogeographical regionalization of the Mexican Transition Zone based on the distribution of Curculionidae (Insecta: Coleoptera)

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.4530.1.1 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4530 (1) ◽

pp. 1

Author(s):

PATRICIA G. GARCÍA-NAVARRETE ◽

JUAN J. MORRONE

Keyword(s):

Transition Zone ◽

Volcanic Belt ◽

Entire Area ◽

Independent Analysis ◽

Sierra Madre ◽

The Family ◽

Third Stage ◽

Sierra Madre Del Sur ◽

Mexican Transition Zone ◽

The Relationship

A test of the biogeographical regionalization of the Mexican Transition Zone (MTZ) is presented, resulting from a Parsimony Analysis of Endemicity (PAE) based on the distributional patterns of 575 species of the family Curculionidae. The analysis was carried out in three stages. First, a PAE was carried out to define a general regionalization scheme for the MTZ, identifying areas and microareas of endemism for the entire area. Then PAEs were undertaken for each province. Third, a PAE was carried out to determine the relationship between the provinces of the MTZ. The analysis of the entire MTZ resulted in four areas and 57 microareas of endemism, while in the independent analysis of each province, five areas and 67 microareas of endemism were obtained. Both analyses coincide basically in the location of the areas and microareas of endemism, which are subordinated to biogeographic units defined by different authors. In the consensus cladogram of the third stage of the analysis, the Transmexican Volcanic Belt (TVB) is the sister area to the Sierra Madre Occidental (SMOC); then, they are the sister area to the Sierra Madre Oriental (SMOR); and finally the previous provinces are united in a trichotomy with the Sierra Madre del Sur (SMS) and the Chiapas Highlands (CHIS). It is assumed that the differences found when comparing our results with different cladistic biogeographic studies of the MTZ reflect the complexity of the study area. Since the data used to perform the analyses are not uniform, and both geographical units and taxa are different, the comparison between different analyses is difficult.

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Population differentiation and phylogeography in Lycianthes moziniana (Solanaceae: Capsiceae), a perennial herb endemic to the Mexican Transition Zone

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society ◽

10.1093/biolinnean/blaa198 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Marco Antonio Anguiano-Constante ◽

Pilar Zamora-Tavares ◽

Eduardo Ruiz-Sanchez ◽

Ellen Dean ◽

Aarón Rodríguez ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Transition Zone ◽

Volcanic Belt ◽

Perennial Herb ◽

Sierra Madre Occidental ◽

Sierra Madre Oriental ◽

Mexican Volcanic Belt ◽

Sierra Madre ◽

Sierra Madre Del Sur ◽

Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt ◽

Mexican Transition Zone

Abstract Lycianthes moziniana (Solanaceae: Capsiceae) is a perennial herb with edible fruits that is endemic to Mexico. Three varieties are recognized, all known in the Mexican Transition Zone. Lycianthes moziniana var. margaretiana grows in the Sierra Madre Oriental, whereas L. moziniana var. moziniana is common along the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt and in the Sierra Madre Occidental. Lycianthes moziniana var. oaxacana is found exclusively in the Sierra Madre del Sur. The Mexican Transition Zone is a complex geological, climatic and biogeographical area, the result of tectonic and volcanic activity that has promoted genetic divergence and speciation. We determined the genetic variation and structure of L. moziniana. Using phylogeographical approaches, we described the demographic history and evolutionary processes leading its divergence. The intergenic spacers rpl32-trnL and ycf1 were sequenced for 133 individuals pertaining to 15 populations. The genealogical relationships were analysed using haplotype networks. Finally, based on ecological niche models, we inferred the palaeodistribution of L. moziniana during the Pleistocene. The genetic differences and the haplogroups matched the three described varieties. Geological and climatic events of the Mexican Transition Zone facilitated these results. The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt isolated the populations of the Sierra Madre Oriental and the Sierra Madre del Sur, while allowing the migration to the Sierra Madre Occidental, during the middle Holocene.

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GEOGRAPHIC AFFINITIES OF THE NORTH AMERICAN MECOPTERA

Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada ◽

10.4039/entm120144025-1 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 120 (S144) ◽

pp. 25-30 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

George W. Byers

Keyword(s):

North America ◽

Western Australia ◽

North American ◽

Fossil Record ◽

Neotropical Region ◽

Eastern North America ◽

The North ◽

Asiatic Species ◽

Early Cenozoic ◽

Nearctic Region

AbstractMecoptera of the Nearctic Region are, in general, more like those of the eastern Palaearctic than of any other faunal region. But the fossil record shows that our major extant genera have been in the northern continents since Early Cenozoic. Panorpidae and Panorpodidae probably entered North America by way of Beringia in the Eocene or Oligocene. Nearctic Bittacidae probably came from the Neotropical Region, but a few exhibit peculiar affinities with some eastern Asiatic species, suggesting migration out of the Nearctic into the Palaearctic. Boreidae appear to have been of North American origin but are now Holarctic; they are unknown as fossils. The Meropeidae were probably widespread in mid–Mesozoic but now are found only in eastern North America and western Australia.

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