Biodiv Sci ›› 2021, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (9): 1159-1164.  DOI: 10.17520/biods.2021160

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A geometric morphometric dataset of stag beetles

Yijie Tong1,2, Mengna Zhang1,3, Josh Jenkins Shaw1, Xia Wan4, Xingke Yang1,5,*(), Ming Bai1,*()   

  1. 1 Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101
    2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049
    3 Shenzhen Fangsen Gardening & Flowers Co., Ltd, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055
    4 School of Resources & Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601
    5 Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Conservation and Resource Utilization, Guangdong Public Laboratory of Wild Animal Conservation and Utilization, Institute of Zoology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510260
  • Received:2021-04-26 Accepted:2021-05-21 Online:2021-09-20 Published:2021-06-13
  • Contact: Xingke Yang,Ming Bai
  • About author:First author contact:

    #Co-first authors

Abstract:

Stag beetles (Coleoptera: Lucanidae) have become an important model group for morphological research due to their sexual dimorphism, male polymorphism, and unique behaviors. Here we present a preliminary database of geometric morphometrics for 1,302 stag beetles, which includes nearly 99% of described species from around the world. This new dataset comprises morphological information from two continuous traits, the curves of the pronotum and elytron, both of which are typical characters of stag beetles. Two curves were measured from the left contours of the pronotum and elytron to represent their external forms. Curve 1 was measured from the middle of the anterior margin of the pronotum to the middle of the posterior margin of the pronotum. Curve 2 started from the anterior margin of the left elytron and terminated at the rear edge. Each curve was resampled into 25 and 50 equally spaced semi-landmarks, respectively. Our dataset provides a baseline for future research in several disciplines, including biodiversity, phylogeny and evolutionary biology.

Key words: geometric morphometrics, stag beetle, continuous characters, pronotum, elytron