An integrative approach to systematics and evolution of Trigonopterus, a hyperdiverse genus of flightless weevils from South Asia and the West Pacific

美拉尼西亚的高度昆虫多样性是众所周知的，但它的起源和产生它的过程却鲜为人知。在这里，我们建议继续一个项目，研究高度多样化的象甲属三翅象属的进化和生物地理学。这些不会飞的甲虫有一种明显的地方性倾向。然而，累积的分布范围很广，从苏门答腊岛到萨摩亚，从东到西，从新喀里多尼亚到菲律宾，从南到北。这使得三翅目昆虫成为在这一地质高度复杂的地区进行生物和系统地理研究的理想模式系统。在过去的几年里，我们描述了225个新物种，并创建了500个物种的系统发育图。在这一框架内，本项目将在澳大利亚、新几内亚和萨摩亚地区扩大对这一群体的进化和生物地理研究。目前的目标是：(1)编制包括1,000个三翼鸟物种的经过时间校准的系统发育图；(2)确定神秘的澳大利亚物种并模拟其生态位演化；(3)研究萨胡尔大陆架和地质综合的新几内亚的祖先分布范围；(4)研究新几内亚当地规模的物种形成和扩散过程；(5)总结手头所有物种的系统发育数据，并研究可能导致该物种进化成功的生活史和关键特征，例如纹状体装置和防御性锁定机制。

The high insect diversity of Melanesia is well-known, but its origins and the processes that generated it are barely understood. Here, we propose continuation of a project investigating the evolution and biogeography of the hyperdiverse weevil genus Trigonopterus Fauvel. These flightless beetles have a remarkable tendency towards local endemism. Yet, the accumulated distribution is vast, ranging east-west from Sumatra to Samoa and south-north from New Caledonia to the Philippines. This makes Trigonopterus an ideal model system for bio- and phylogeographic investigations in this geologically highly complex region. In the past years we have described >225 new species and created a phylogeny of > 500 species. Within this framework, the present project will extend evolutionary and biogeographical studies on this group in the area of Australia, New Guinea and Samoa. Present objectives are (1) to prepare time-calibrated phylogenies comprising >1,000 Trigonopterus species; (2) to identify cryptic Australian species and to model their niche evolution; (3) to study ancestral distribution ranges of the Sahul shelf and geologically composite New Guinea; (4) to study speciation and dispersal processes on a local scale in New Guinea; (5) to summarize phylogenetic data for all species at hand and to study the evolution of life histories and key-characters, e.g. stridulatory devices and defensive locking mechanisms, possibly leading to the evolutionary success of the group.