1993 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Derivation and formation of the alpine coleopteran fauna of Japan
| Project/Area Number |
03640633
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Research Field |
動物形態・分類学
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| Research Institution | National Science Museum, Tokyo |
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Principal Investigator |
UENO Shun-ichi National Science Museum, Zoology, Chief Curator, 動物研究部, 室長 (00000109)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1991 – 1993
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| Keywords | Japan / Alpine zone / Coleopteran fauna / Derivation |
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| Research Abstract |
It has been generally considered that the alpine coleopteran fauna of Japan was derived from cold-adapted ancestors which came from the Asian Continent to Japan through land bridges during the Glacial Periods of the Pleistocene. This explanation may be applied to many alpine beetles, but there are others whose derivation cannot be elucidated by such a simple way. Some show strangely discontinuous distribution suggesting sweepstakes dispersal of their alate ancestors. In many cases, this kind of transmarine dispersal seems to have been accomplished by the agency of strong west wind, mainly from the southern part of the Russian Far East to northern Japan. On the other hand, investigation of the alpine fauna in northeastern Honshu, where recent isolated volcanoes - usually Postglacial - are scattered among old non-volcanic mountains, shows that even very young volcanoes are inhabited by certain endemic species of beetles. This means that such endemic species became differentiated in less than ten thousand years. The inference may appear implausible, but all the evidences obtained from this study warrant the conclusion. It is also worth noting that non-volcanic mountains are primarily inhabited by species of relatively old lineages, making a sharp contrast to recent volcanoes inhabited by species of young lineages.
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