bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/186775; this version posted September 10, 2017. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. 1 Research article 2 The widespread misconception about the Japanese major biogeographic boundary, the 3 Watase line (Tokara gap), revealed by bibliographic and beta diversity analyses 4 5 Shohei Komaki1,2, Takeshi Igawa1,3 6 7 1Division of Developmental Science, Graduate School for International Development and 8 Cooperation, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8529, Japan 9 2Division of Biomedical Information Analysis, Iwate Tohoku Medical Megabank 10 Organization, Iwate Medical University, Yahaba, Iwate 028-3694, Japan 11 3Amphibian Research Center, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739- 12 8526, Japan 13 14 Email addresses: 15 Shohei Komaki (
[email protected]) 16 Takeshi Igawa (
[email protected]) 17 18 Corresponding author: 19 Shohei Komaki 20 Division of Biomedical Information Analysis, Iwate Tohoku Medical Megabank 21 Organization, Iwate Medical University, Yahaba, Iwate 028-3694, Japan 22
[email protected] 1 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/186775; this version posted September 10, 2017. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. 23 ABSTRACT 24 The biota of the Japanese Archipelago is divided into the Palearctic and Oriental realms by 25 the Watase line (Tokara gap), a major biogeographic boundary of Japan. This boundary is 26 generally placed between Akusekijima and Kodakarajima Islands of the Tokara Archipelago, 27 and has been the subject of many biogeographic debates.