bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/056556; this version posted June 3, 2016. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. Cryptic diversity and multiple origins of the widespread mayfly species group Baetis rhodani (Ephemeroptera: Baetidae) on northwestern Mediterranean islands Roberta Bisconti a, Daniele Canestrelli a,*, Roberta Tenchini a,b, Carlo Belfiore a, Andrea Buffagni b, Giuseppe Nascetti a. a Dipartimento di Scienze Ecologiche e Biologiche, Università della Tuscia. Viale dell’Università s.n.c., I- 01100 Viterbo, Italy. b CNR – IRSA, Water Research Institute, Via del Mulino 19, 20861 Brugherio (MB), Italy *Correspondence address: Dipartimento di Scienze Ecologiche e Biologiche, Università della Tuscia. Viale dell’Università s.n.c., I-01100 Viterbo, Italy. e-mail:
[email protected] phone: +39-0761-357414 1 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/056556; this version posted June 3, 2016. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. Abstract How the often highly endemic biodiversity of islands originated has been debated for decades and it remains a fervid research ground. Here, using mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequence analyses, we investigate the diversity, phylogenetic relationships, and evolutionary history of the mayfly Baetis gr.