New species of Baripus and biogeographic considerations of the genus

ROIG JUÑENT, S.; E. RUIZ MANZANOS; SERGIO ROIG-JUÑENT; AGRAIN, F.; TOGENLLI, M.

Pittsburgh

Congreso; International Meeting of Carabidologists; 2006

Carnegie Museum

Baripus Dejean is a genus of the family Carabidae of Southern South America. Three subgenera are recognized within the genus; one of them, Cardiophthalmus Curtis, is endemic to the Patagonian Steppe. Together with the members of the genus Cnemalobus Guérin Ménéville, they are the largest Carabidae of the Patagonian Steppe. New studies in the northern region of Patagonia, the Payunia, reveal the presence of a new species restricted to an isolated mountain, and a new subspecies of Baripus (C.) mendozensis Roig-Juñent. In this paper, we provide a morphological description of the new taxa with illustrations of male and female genitalia. We also include phylogenetic analyses using all known species of Baripus. The analyses show that the new species is the adelphotaxon of Baripus mendozensis. Both species are allopatric, but their distribution areas are in close proximity to each other. The subspecies of Baripus mendozensis are also allopatric. The distribution pattern, together with the phylogenetic pattern, suggests a possible peripatric pattern of speciation. We used a predictive model of species distribution to establish the present, past, and future distribution of the subspecies. Based on these analyses, we speculated that the current pattern of speciation may be a result of climatic changes during the Pleistocene.             Key words: Coleoptera, Carabidae, Baripus, phylogeny, pattern of speciation, vicariance, new species, new subspecies.