@ARTICLE{TreeBASE2Ref20428,
author = {Patrick Pachl and Katja Domes and Garvin Schulz and Roy A Norton and Stefan Scheu and Ina Schaefer and Mark Maraun},
title = {Convergent evolution of defense mechanisms in oribatid mites (Acari, Oribatida) shows no "ghosts of predation past."},
year = {2012},
keywords = {Convergent evolution, Oribatid mites, Predator-prey interaction, Morphology, Defense, Soil},
doi = {},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2012.06.030},
pmid = {},
journal = {Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution},
volume = {65},
number = {},
pages = {412--420},
abstract = {Oribatid mites are diverse and abundant terrestrial soil arthropods that are involved in decomposition of
organic matter and nutrient cycling. As indicated by fossils starting from the Devonian, they evolved varied
mechanisms and structures for defense from predators. We investigated four of these defensive structures
(ptychoid body, hologastry, mineralization and opisthonotal glands) and used ancestral character
state reconstruction to determine whether they evolved convergently and how many times this may have
happened. Phylogenetic trees based on 18S rDNA were constructed for 42 oribatid mite species and two
outgroup taxa using likelihood and Bayesian algorithms. The results suggest that at least three of the four
defensive structures evolved convergently several times; for opisthonotal glands convergent evolution
remains equivocal. This high level of convergence indicates that predation has been an important factor
throughout the evolution of oribatid mites, contributing to morphological diversity and potentially also
to species richness, as there are indications that some taxa radiated after the evolution of defense structures.
Despite the ancientness of oribatid mites, defense structures seems to have been rarely lost, suggesting
that they still are functional and necessary to reduce predation, rather than being ?ghosts of
predation past?.}
}
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Citation title: "Convergent evolution of defense mechanisms in oribatid mites (Acari, Oribatida) shows no "ghosts of predation past."".
