Origin and diversification of Chlorocyphidae (Odonata: Zygoptera)

Monday, November 11, 2024

9:00 AM – 9:12 AM MST

Location: Phoenix Convention Center, 225 B, PCC

Presenting Author(s)

Judicael Fomekong-Lontchi

PhD Student
Brigham Young University
Provo, Utah

Co-Author(s)

VK

Vincent Kalkman

Researcher
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands
SB

Seth M. Bybee

Professor
Brigham Young University
Provo, Utah

Chlorocyphidae is a family of damselflies with 162 currently described species. Their current distribution extends across Africa and Asia, with the most diversity present in Asia. Current phylogenetic work recovers the family as sister to Calopterygidae and ~27 Ma. Members of both Calopterygidae and Chlorocyphidae share unique courtship behavior, where the males perform a specific dance to impress the female. Preliminary analyses suggest that African species form a monophyletic clade sister to a series of pectinate clades from Asia. It is hypothesized that the group originated in Asia, and then moved to Africa through a single colonization event. This hypothesis is yet to be tested. The rate of diversification in both Africa and Asia has to be studied. Recent fossil evidence will allow us to explore both of these aspects of Chlorocyphidae evolution. Here we provide a time-calibrated phylogeny of Chlorocyphidae based on 20KB sequence data from the majority of Chlorocyphidae species and outgroups, to reconstruct the ancestral distribution of the group and investigate possible correlation of courtship behavior evolution and diversification in the group.