Phylogenetic reconstruction of trans-Tibet dispersal events in wingless ground beetles helps to understand the paleoenvironmental evolution of the Tibetan Plateau

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During the last decade, we developed ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) as a new paleoenvironmental proxy in high mountains of low latitudes. We showed that the combination of ecological and phylogenetic information from species groups endemic to the Himalayan-Tibetan orogeny (HTO) allows for the development of scenarios of the spatio-temporal evolution of paleoenvironments and thus, for regional surface uplift in the HTO. To understand the environmental evolution of the central part of the HTO, the Tibetan Plateau (TP), information about timing of trans-Tibet distribution events in wingless ground beetle species groups are particularly informative. The detailed phylogenetic study of these species-groups in combination with a fossil based molecular clock approach and investigation of the habitat preferences of the species will indicate timing of the development of high montane and alpine environments on the TP. The here proposed study will thus provide new data and insight for a better understanding of the paleoecology and paleotopography of the HTO during different stages of orogenesis.