BIOGEOGRAPHIC PATTERNS OF MONTANE MEXICAN AND CENTRAL AMERICAN CARABIDAE (COLEOPTERA)

Carabid taxa inhabiting the montane forests of México and Central America are analyzed using cladistic biogeographic methods. Taxa exhibiting the Nearctic, Meso-American Montane, and Paleo-American distributional patterns are included in the analysis. Widespread taxa are assumed to indicate that the areas of endemism they inhabit are closely related, and the general pattern of area relationships is determined using parsimony analysis. Of the nine areas of endemism recognized in the analysis, the Sierra Madre Oriental is considered the most distinct. The northern Sierra Madre Occidental, Arizona Mountains, and Sonoran Desert comprise one monophyletic set of areas, as do the more southerly areas of the Sierra Transvolcanica, Sierra Madre del Sur, Chiapan–Guatemalan highlands, and Talamancan Cordillera. The southern Sierra Madre Occidental area of endemism is equivocally related to both areas to the north and areas to the south. Biogeographic information derived from widespread species is as congruent with the general area cladogram as information derived from groups with precinctive species, indicating that the same biogeographic barriers often limit distributions of both widespread species and more inclusive clades comprising precinctive species. Taxa exhibiting the Meso-American Montane Pattern are more congruent with the general area cladogram than those representing the Nearctic Pattern, even though they exhibit less fidelity to highland habitats.