Cladistic analysis of Cnemalobus (Coleoptera: Carabidae), fossorial adaptations and description of a new species

Abstract

The genus Cnemalobus Guérin-Ménéville can easily be distinguished from other southern South American carabids by its large number of umbilicate setae. Recent expeditions reveal the existence of a new species that has more than 170 umbilicate setae in the margin of pronotum and 180–240 in the umbilical elytral series. In addition, it has a second medial protibial tooth unique in the genus. These characters would be related to a strong fossorial adaptation by this new species. In this contribution, we describe the new species of Cnemalobus, locate it into a key for the species of the genus, and analyze the phylogenetic relationships and the fossorial adaptations of the entire genus related to the habitat condition.