| Biogeographic patterns within the longhorn beetle genus Moneilema are examined using phylogenetic, coalescent, and population genetic approaches to study the consequence of extrinisic climatic and geological events on the evolution, distribution, and diversity of this group of insects on a variety of geologic time scales. The history and major literature of historical biogeography and the biogeography study of the American deserts are reviewed, and future research goals within these areas are identified. Mitochondrial DNA sequences are analyzed using parsimony, maximum likelihood, spatial autocorrelation, nested clade, and coalescent analyses to examine intraspecific phylogeographic patterns within three species in the genus Moneilema, and to examine the consequences of Pleistocene climate changes on these species. Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data are combined and analyzed using parsimony and maximum likelihood to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships between species within this genus, and resulting phylogeny estimates are used to interpret the age, origin, and history of the North American deserts. |
