Phytotaxa 456 (3): 244–255 ISSN 1179-3155 (print edition) https://www.mapress.com/j/pt/ PHYTOTAXA Copyright © 2020 Magnolia Press Article ISSN 1179-3163 (online edition) https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.456.3.2 Unravelling the complexity of Mexican biogeographical patterns by naturalists in the 19th century: From Alexander von Humboldt (1769—1859) to Francis Sumichrast (1829—1882) FABIOLA JUÁREZ-BARRERA1,2,4, ISOLDA LUNA VEGA3,5, JUAN J. MORRONE3,6, ALFREDO BUENO- HERNÁNDEZ2,7 & DAVID ESPINOSA2,8 * 1 Programa de Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas, Coordinación de Estudios de Posgrado, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), 04510 Mexico City, Mexico. 2 Facultad de Estudios Superiores Zaragoza, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), 09230 Mexico City, Mexico. 3 Departamento de Biología Evolutiva, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), 04510 Mexico City, Mexico. 4
[email protected]; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7190-0952 5
[email protected]; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7243-9018 6
[email protected]; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5566-1189 7
[email protected]; https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4663-9937 8
[email protected]; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9938-4686 *Corresponding author:
[email protected] Abstract Gonzalo Halffter developed the concept of a transition zone in Mexico during the mid-twentieth century, when he superimposed the distributional patterns of different groups of Coleoptera, finding that some groups share a common biogeographical history. The complexity of the Mexican biogeographical patterns had already caught the eyes of nineteenth- century naturalists, who tried to discern some kind of order within this biotic complexity.