
Michele Rossini- Master of Science
- PostDoc Position at University of Padua
Michele Rossini
- Master of Science
- PostDoc Position at University of Padua
Scarabaeine dung beetles, Bolboceratidae beetles, taxonomy, systematics, biogeography, insect collections, museums
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41
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Introduction
Current institution
Publications
Publications (41)
Five indigenous species of Scarabaeinae are known from Mauritius island, classified into two genera: the monotypic Nesovinsonia Martinez & Pereira, 1958 and Nesosisyphus Vinson, 1946. This study conducts a taxonomic review of the latter genus Nesosisyphus, and evaluates its recent extinction using historical and new occurrence records, subfossils,...
Wood-boring beetles and, in particular, Scolytinae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) are one of the most successful groups of invasive species worldwide. They can be easily transported across continents at the larval stage as their development takes place inside the tissues of live plants, timber, wood products and wood-packaging materials. This grants t...
Although several methods exist for extracting and sequencing historical DNA originating from dry-preserved insect specimens deposited in natural history museums, no consensus exists as to what is the optimal approach. We demonstrate that a customized, low-cost archival DNA extraction protocol (∼€10 per sample), in combination with Ultraconserved El...
Scolytinae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) are one of the most successful groups of invasive species. They are generally moved among continents transported within live plants, timber and wood-packaging materials. The damages caused by these insects, of economic and ecological relevance, can be caused both by the direct action of burrowing within host p...
Based on male and female fossil beetle remains recorded in the Pilauco deposits (northern Chilean Patagonia), a new and extinct dung beetle genus and species from an upper Pleistocene sequence (16.4 to 12.8 kyr BP) namely, Gomphocopris ashworthi gen. et sp. nov. (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Homocoprini) is described and illustrated. The morphological...
Background
Numerous taxonomic studies have focused on the dung beetle genus Helictopleurus d’Orbigny, 1915, endemic to Madagascar. However, this genus stilll needs a thorough revision. Semantic technologies, such as nanopublications, hold the potential to enhance taxonomy by transforming how data are published and analysed. This paper evaluates the...
The Eastern Arc Mountains (EAMs) in Tanzania and Kenya are renowned for their exceptional species endemism often restricted to isolated mountain blocks. Forest fragmentation during the Pliocene-Pleistocene played a significant role in shaping the EAMs' biodiversity by facilitating allopatric speciation between different mountains. However, only a f...
Tribes Coriacephilini, Corthylini, Cryphalini, Ernoporini, Trypophloeini, Xyloctonini, and Xyloterini (Coleoptera: Curculionidae; Scolytinae) include spermophagous, phloeophagous, and xylomycetophagous species. Besides direct damage caused by burrowing into host plant tissues, some species are vectors of aggressive pathogens causing plant dieback a...
Although several methods exist for extracting and sequencing historical DNA originating from drypreserved insect specimens deposited in natural history museums, no consensus exists as to what is the optimal approach. We demonstrate that a customized, low-cost archival DNA extraction protocol (∼ €10 per sample), in combination with Ultraconserved El...
In this study, we revise the taxonomy of the endemic Mexican genus Ceratotrupes Jekel, 1865. It comprises three species, distributed in the Sierra Madre Occidental and Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (Ceratotrupes fronticornis (Erichson, 1847) and Ceratotrupes bolivari Halffter & Martínez, 1962), and the Sierra Madre del Sur (Ceratotrupes sturmi (Jekel...
The investigation of the Bolboceratidae collection of the Stockholm Museum of Natural History (NHRS) yielded 12 type specimens of eight Afrotropical and one Australian species. The majority of these types belongs to species described by Carl Henrik Boheman (1796-1868) based on specimens collected by Johan August Wahlberg (1810-1856) in southern Afr...
The origin of the dung-feeding habits in dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) is debatable. According to traditional views, the evolution of dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) and their feeding habits are largely attributed to mammal dung. In this paper, we challenge this view and provide evidence that many dung beetle communities are actua...
Paleotropical clades with largely disjunct distributions are ideal models for biogeographic reconstructions. The dung beetle genera Grebennikovius Mlambo, Scholtz & Deschodt, Epactoides Olsouffief and Ochicanthon Vaz‐de‐Mello are distributed in Tanzania, Madagascar and Réunion, and the Oriental region, respectively. We combine morphology and molecu...
New findings of fossil remains of one of the Pilauco dung beetles, Onthophagus pilauco Tello, Verdú, Rossini and Zunino, 2021 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), extinct at the base of the Younger Dryas chronozone at the end of the Pleistocene (~12,800 years before the present) in northern Patagonia, Chile, are described and illustrated. Recent analyses of...
We describe a new species of dung beetle, Epactoides giganteus sp. nov. , from a single female specimen allegedly collected in the 19 th century on Réunion island and recently found at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris. This species differs from other species of Epactoides by larger size and a set of other distinctive morphological ch...
The study of the type material of Onthophagus viviensis d’Orbigny, 1905 and Onthophagus laevatus d’Orbigny, 1902
(Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae: Onthophagini) revealed that these two species described from Africa are instead
two South American Onthophagus Latreille, 1802. The male of O. viviensis is described for the first time and its sys...
The South American Pleistocene–Holocene transition has been characterized by drastic climatic and diversity changes. These rapid changes induced one of the largest and most recent extinctions in the megafauna at the continental scale. However, examples of the extinction of small animals (e.g., insects) are scarce, and the underlying causes of the e...
In this study, we test and corroborate the phylogenetic position of Heterosyphus within Helictopleurus using mitogenomes and nuclear loci. Our recent samplings revealed that males of the former Heterosyphus sicardi Paulian, 1975 (today under Helictopleurus d'Orbigny, 1915) have extraordinary bilateral clypeal horns which are exclusive within the ge...
Dichotomius (Dichotomius) quadrilobatus new species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae: Dichotomiini), from western Amazonia (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) is described and its putative systematic position within the Dichotomius boreus species group is discussed. An updated identification key to the species of the Dichotomius boreus spec...
We conducted a morphologically based taxonomic revision of the Dichotomius mamillatus species group (Scarabaeinae). A new species, Dichotomius (Dichotomius) gandinii sp. nov., from western Amazonia is described, illustrated and included in this group, along with Dichotomius (Dichotomius) mamillatus (Felsche, 1901), Dichotomius (Dichotomius) robustu...
Accurate delimitation of species is crucial for a stable taxonomy, which provides the foundation for the study of evolutionary biology, ecology and essentially all biological disciplines. Several approaches towards impartial and repeatable taxonomic practices are available but all existing methods have potentially unacceptable shortcomings. In part...
The taxonomy of the American Onthophagus Latreille, 1802 included in the “hirculus” group is revised, and a study of their morphology allows for the delineation of five species-complexes. Herein, we provide a diagnosis of the “hirculus” group, an illustrated key to the complexes, along with a descriptive overview of their taxonomy and geographic di...
The taxonomy of the osculatii complex of the hircus group is revised, with descriptions of two new species from South America (Onthophagus chacoensis sp. nov. and Onthophagus basicarinatus sp. nov.). We provide illustrated keys to the species assigned to the complex, along with descriptions and updated geographical distributions of the known Onthop...
A new name, Onthophagus froggattellus Monteith & Rossini, nom. nov. is proposed for the preoccupied Onthophagus bicornis Macleay, 1888 and its type specimens and type locality near King Sound, NW Australia, are clarified. It occurs in a number of disjunct distributional foci across tropical Australia and specialises on dung of the fungus-feeding no...
The genus Isocopris Pereira and Martínez, 1960 is revised, with the description of Isocopris xacriaba, a new species from Minas Gerais, Brazil. All the known Dichotomius with eight antennal segments were re-examined and assigned to the genus Isocopris. Dichotomius hypocrita, D. imitator and D. nitidus are resurrected from synonymy and placed in the...
With more than 2300 species, Onthophagus Latreille, 1802 is a mega diverse genus within the subfamily Scarabaeinae. Recent revisions have yielded an over-abundance of redundant species names accumulated over the years as results of bad and inappropriate taxonomic practices. Indeed, the difficulty of access to public entomological collections, the u...
Recent intensive samplings carried out across the mountainous regions of El Pinal (Puebla, Mexico) have provided new insights into the main environmental factors that affect the geographic distribution of the scarabaeinae beetles of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt above 2500 m a.s.l. This study is part of an ongoing project investigating the divers...
A new American Onthophagus of the chevrolati species-group is described (Onthophagus bolivari sp. nov.), providing also identification keys to the aztecus complex. Dorsal habitus and genital structures of the new species are illustrated. The relationships and geographical distribution of the aztecus complex are discussed, giving particular attentio...
Onthophagus columbianus Boucomont, 1932 is a new case of transcontinental mislabeling within the genus. The species name is here considered to be new synonym under the Madagascan Onthophagus elegans Klug, 1832. Historical notes, lectotype designations and illustrations of the primary type specimens of both species are provided.
Recently, a new paper authored by two of us (Rossini & Vaz-de-Mello, 2015) addressed a taxonomic revision of Chalcocopris Burmeister, 1846, describing a second species for the genus and expanding our knowledge of its distribution and morphological diversity. In the present work, we address additional nomenclatural and historical issues not covered...
Species included in the genus Chalcocopris Burmeister, 1846 are reviewed, including the description of a new species (Chalcocopris inexpectatus sp. nov.) from Central Brazil, and the designation of a neotype for Copris hesperus Olivier, 1789. Pictures, diagnostic characters and an identification key are provided.
Citation: Rossini M, Vaz-de-Mello FZ, Mann DJ (2014) Onthophagus cervicornis Kirby, 1825, new synonym under Onthophagus dama Abstract After examining syntypes of Onthophagus cervicornis Kirby, 1825, previously considered to be a synonym of the North American Onthophagus striatulus (Palisot de Beauvois, 1809), we confirm the true identity and new sy...
Despite the increasing interest to understand the long term variability in biodiversity, especially in the face of drastic environmental changes, it is very difficult to have reliable data from comparative samplings. The core question of this paper is: how do dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) species richness, abundance, diversity and composi...
Despite the increasing interest to understand the long term variability in biodiversity, especially in the face of drastic environmental changes, it is very difficult to have reliable data from comparative samplings. The core question of this paper is: how do dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) species richness, abundance, diversity and composi...
Se estudia la biodiversidad estacional en una comunidad de coleópteros Scarabaeoidea degradadores de una pradera pastoreada por caballos, ubicada cerca de Pergola (provincia de Pesaro-Urbino, Italia centro-oriental), y muestreada por medio de colectas periódicas realizadas entre el 7 de Febrero y el 12 de Noviembre de 2008. Se colectaron un total d...
Questions
Questions (2)
While molecular data are today quite easily available for many organisms (e.g. GenBank), there is still a considerable lack of data for many others, especially insect groups for which do not exist standardised collecting methods, and species are poorly represented in natural history collections. Many studies that investigate trophic web systems rely on distance-based trees (i.e. inferred from molecular data). How to do if researchers can rely only on morphology? Are morphology-based phylogenies so useless in trophic web analyses? If not, is there any way to properly use them in these studies?
Any help or literature advice is very appreciated! Cheers,
Michele
Can anybody give me details about the material that I need to carry out molecular analyses on a sample of about 60 species and at least 3 individuals/species?
As part of my PhD, I’m applying for a grant to support my research and, since I never dealt with molecular analyses, I’d like to know what are the material and costs that I have to consider so that I can provide an exhaustive budget for my research. Such information are strongly recommended in the grant application. Thanks!