Biogeographical patterns in the hard-tick genus Amblyomma Koch (Acari: Ixodidae)

Amblyomma Koch is a genus of hard-ticks with approximately 130 species. Its geographical range is typical for organisms with a Gondwanan origin.  A majority of these species are endemic to the Neo- and Afrotropical regions, with the remaining taxa dispersed throughout Southeast Asia, Australia and the Pacific islands.  Based on this distribution, we hypothesize that the genus dispersal patterns will mirror the fragmentation and continental drift of the Gondwanan supercontinent.  Analyses of a combination of mitochondrial (12S rDNA, COI, COII, control region) and nuclear (18S and 28S rDNA, ITS2 spacer region) molecular markers results in phylogenies which reveal that species dispersion may be more complex than simple continental drift hypotheses suggest.