2010/09/01 by F. Roets, Francois Roets, K.C. Oberlander +1 · 1 citation
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Mediterranean and Iberian flora and fauna #Plant and soil sciences #Scarabaeidae Beetle Taxonomy and Biogeography
paper · doi:10.4001/003.018.0213
openalex publication_date 2010/09/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
At a global scale, the ancient dung beetle tribe Canthonini (Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) displays a mainly Gondwanan distribution, with most African genera having very restricted ranges (Davis et al. 2008; Deschodt & Scholtz 2008). As currently defined, the African Canthonini comprises 24 genera and about 100 described species (see Deschodt & Scholtz (2008) for a key to the African genera). However, preliminary molecular and morphology-based phylogenetic analyses of the Scarabaeinae indicate that the tribe consists of multiple paraphyletic lineages (Philips et al. 2004; Monaghan et al. 2007) and that generic inclusion should be reconsidered. Most of the 22 African genera currently placed in the Canthonini are species-poor and nine are currently monotypic. A large proportion of the African genera (14) are restricted to the isolated montane or coastal forest patches from Kenya to the Cape Peninsula of South Africa (Scholtz & Howden 1987; Deschodt & Scholtz 2008). The South African forest-associated Canthonini currently include the genera Bohepilissus Paulian, Endroedyolus Scholtz & Howden, Gyronotus Lansberge, Outenikwanus Scholtz & Howden, Peckolus Scholtz & Howden and the recently described Aliuscanthoniola Deschodt & Scholtz, Dwesasilvasedis Deschodt & Scholtz, Parvuhowdenius Deschodt & Scholtz and Nebulasilvius Deschodt & Scholtz (Scholtz & Howden 1987; Deschodt & Scholtz 2008). With the exception of Gyronotus (Davis et al. 2001), these are all endemic to South Africa.