Madagascar is home to many endemic plant and animal species owing to its ancient isolation from other landmasses. This unique fauna includes several lineages of termites, a group of insects known for their key role in organic matter decomposition in many terrestrial ecosystems. How and when termites colonised Madagascar remains unknown. In this study, we used 601 mitochondrial genomes, 93 of which were generated from Malagasy samples, to infer the global historical biogeography of Neoisoptera, a lineage containing more than 80% of described termite species. Our results indicate that Neoisoptera colonised Madagascar between 7 and 10 times independently during the Miocene, between 8.4 and 16.6 Ma (95% HPD: 6.1–19.9 Ma). This timing matches that of the colonization of Australia by Neoisoptera. Furthermore, the taxonomic composition of the Neoisopteran fauna of Madagascar and Australia are strikingly similar, with Madagascar harbouring an additional two lineages absent from Australia. Therefore, akin to Australia, Neoisoptera colonised Madagascar during the global expansion of grasslands, possibly helped by the ecological opportunities arising from the spread of this new biome.

中文翻译：

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新等翅目在中中新世气候最适宜期后反复定居马达加斯加

由于自古与其他大陆隔绝，马达加斯加是许多特有植物和动物物种的家园。这种独特的动物群包括几个白蚁谱系，白蚁是一群昆虫，因其在许多陆地生态系统中的有机物分解中发挥关键作用而闻名。白蚁如何以及何时在马达加斯加定居仍然未知。在这项研究中，我们使用了 601 个线粒体基因组（其中 93 个来自马达加斯加样本）来推断新等翅目的全球历史生物地理学，该谱系包含超过 80% 的所描述的白蚁物种。我们的结果表明，新等翅目在中新世期间独立地在马达加斯加定居了 7 到 10 次，时间间隔为 8.4 到 16.6 Ma（95% HPD：6.1–19.9 Ma）。这个时间与新等翅目在澳大利亚的殖民时间相吻合。此外，马达加斯加和澳大利亚的新异翅目动物群的分类组成惊人地相似，马达加斯加还拥有澳大利亚所没有的另外两个谱系。因此，与澳大利亚类似，新等翅目在草原全球扩张期间殖民了马达加斯加，这可能得益于这种新生物群落传播所带来的生态机会。