Abstracts - Deutsche Zoologische Gesellschaft

98 Zoological Systematics SymposiumO ZS.11 (Sa) - ENThe phylogeny of blattopteran insects: neuropeptides as a new character setBastian Fromm 1 , Steffen Roth 2 , Susanne Neupert 1 , Reinhard Predel 11Institut für Allgemeine Zoologie und Tierphysiologie, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena; 2 Institutefor Biology, University of Bergen, NorwayTo establish neuropeptides as a novel character set, we examined a number of neuropeptides, namelyCapa-peptides, adipokinetic hormones, sulfakinins and pyrokinins (altogether 13 peptides) frommore than 100 insect species. The sequences of these peptides are highly conserved due to the constraintof fitting into their receptors. For that reason they are very good suited for phylogenetic analyses.After dissecting single neurohaemal organs (abdominal perisympathetic organs, corpora allata,and corpora cardiaca), all sequences were identified by using MALDI-Tof mass spectrometry. Thephylogeny of cockroaches is highly disputed and several authors also dealed with the arrangement ofcockroaches, termites and praying mantids within Dictyoptera. Therefore our taxon sampling representsthe major lineages of cockroaches (Polyphagidae, Cryptocercidae, Blattidae, Blaberidae, Blattellidae),a Praying Mantid Popa spurca and the termite Mastotermis darwiniensis (Mastotermitidae).The alignment resulted into more than 150 characters (ClustalX) and the following topologiesof the phylogenetic analysis (MP) are in general agreement with the formerly published relationships,based on molecular analyses of different gene loci, but show also differences which are wellsupported with bootstrap-values (1000 repeats). In addition, we identified apomorphic characters inmass fingerprints for most of the higher and a number lower taxa that are easily detectable.O ZS.12 (Su) - ENSpur-thighed tortoises (Testudo graeca) in the western Mediterranean: old complexdivergence in North Africa and recent arrival in EuropeUwe FritzMuseum für Tierkunde, Staatliche Naturhistorische Sammlungen DresdenNorth African Testudo graeca harbour four major mitochondrial lineages that constitute together thesister clade of an east Caucasian subspecies. Phylogenetic relationships within North African lineagesare badly resolved. Lineage A is distributed in Tunisia and adjacent Algeria, lineage B in Algeriaand northern Morocco, lineage C on the Cyrenaica, and lineage D north of the High Atlas Mts.and in the Souss Valley (southern Morocco). Lineage B is subdivided into two subgroups, B 1(easternMorocco and Algeria) and B 2(north-western Morocco). Italian tortoises harbour haplotypes oflineage A, Spanish tortoises of subgroup B 1. Western Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and southeastEuropean spur-thighed tortoises are estimated to have diverged approximately 4.2-1.8 Ma ago. TheWestern Mediterranean lineages were dated to have diverged 1.4-0.7 Ma ago. Italian and Spanishtortoises represent the North African lineages A and B 1, respectively, suggesting either introductionby man or recent trans-oceanic dispersal. Spur-thighed tortoises invaded North Africa probably viaNear Eastern landbridges emerging in the Late Tertiary. Their diversification in North Africa seemsto be correlated with Pleistocene habitat aridization cycles. The complex differentiation of T. graecain North Africa could indicate that the model of a bipartite east-west differentiation, as proposedfor other Maghrebinian amphibians and reptiles, may be too simplistic, reflecting rather incompletelocality sampling than actual phylogeographical differentiation.