Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 84 (1): 65-82, 2011
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Historical biogeographic analysis of the family Fanniidae (Diptera: Calyptratae),
with special reference to the austral species of the genus Fannia (Diptera: Fanniidae) using dispersal-vicariance
analysis
The purpose of this study was to achieve a hypothesis explaining the
biogeographical history of the family Fanniidae, especially that of the species from Patagonia, the Neotropics, Australia,
and New Zealand. We used “dispersal-vicariance analysis” (DIVA), an event based parsimony method, to analyze the most
parsimonious phylogenetic hypothesis for the family, obtained by Domínguez & Roig-Juñent (2008). The analysis
resulted in 32800 alternative equally optimal reconstructions that indicate that the ancestor of the Fanniidae was widely
distributed across different regions of the world, which along with the subsequent separation of two clades that correspond
to the Laurasic and Gondwanan Landmasses allow the proposal of an older age than in previous hypothesis (Late Jurassic
or early Cretaceous times instead of upper Cretaceous) and a Pangeic origin for the Fanniidae. The northern hemisphere
species of Fanniidae included in this study highlight the difficulty that arises when analysing with DIVA a tree with a large
amount of paralogy or redundant distributions, as illustrated here with several examples. The southern hemisphere species
of Fanniidae indicate a clear pattern of vicariance and dispersal consistent with the rupture of
Gondwana.
Key words:
age of
Fanniidae, dispersal, DIVA, Gondwana, vicariance
