Crotoniidae are a family of

mites Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods) of two large orders, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari. However, most recent genetic analyses do not recover the two as eac ...

of the Holosomata group that may be the first animal lineage to have abandoned

sexual reproduction Sexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that involves a complex life cycle in which a gamete ( haploid reproductive cells, such as a sperm or egg cell) with a single set of chromosomes combines with another gamete to produce a zygote tha ...

and then re-evolved it. This is a spectacular case of

atavism In biology, an atavism is a modification of a biological traits structure or behavior whereby an ancestral genetic trait reappears after having been lost through evolutionary change in previous generations. Atavisms can occur in several ways, ...

, and later

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last comm ...

.Norton, R. (2007), ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'', April 24, cited in ''Science News'', vol. 171, p. 302

Species

* '' Crotonia'' Thorell, 1876 ** '' Crotonia alluaudi'' (Berlese, 1916) — Africa ** '' Crotonia americana'' (Berlese, 1901) — South America ** '' Crotonia ardala'' Luxton, 1987 —

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

** '' Crotonia blaszaki'' Szywilewska, Olszanowski & Norton, 2005 —

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

** '' Crotonia borbora'' Luxton, 1987 — Australia ** '' Crotonia brassicae'' Wallwork, 1977 —

St. Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

** '' Crotonia brevicornuta'' (Wallwork, 1966) —

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

** '' Crotonia camelus'' (Berlese, 1910) —

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

** '' Crotonia capistrata'' Luxton, 1987 — Australia ** '' Crotonia caudalis'' (Hammer, 1966) —

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

** '' Crotonia cervicorna'' Luxton, 1982 — New Zealand ** '' Crotonia chiloensis'' Wallwork, 1977 — Chile ** '' Crotonia cophinaria'' (Michael, 1908) — Argentina, New Zealand ** '' Crotonia cupulata'' Luxton, 1982 — New Zealand ** '' Crotonia dicella'' Colloff, 1990 — Natal, South Africa ** '' Crotonia ecphyla'' Colloff, 1990 — Natal ** ''

Crotonia flagellata ''Crotonia'' or Crotonia may refer to: * '' Crotonia'', a genus of mites in the family Crotoniidae * Crotonia, a literary society {{Disambiguation ...

'' (Balogh & Csiszar, 1963) — South America ** '' Crotonia jethurmerae'' Lee, 1985 —

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

** '' Crotonia lanceolata'' Wallwork, 1977 — St. Helena ** '' Crotonia longibulbula'' Luxton, 1982 — New Zealand ** '' Crotonia lyrata'' Colloff, 1990 — Natal ** '' Crotonia marlenae'' Olszanowski, 1997 —

Serra do Mar The Serra do Mar (; ) is a system of mountain ranges and escarpments in Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeastern Brazil. Geography The Serra do Mar runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean coast from the state of Espírito Santo to southern Santa Ca ...

, Parati area;

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

** '' Crotonia nukuhivae'' (Jacot, 1934) — Pacific islands ** '' Crotonia obtecta'' (Cambridge, 1875) — Chile, New Zealand ** '' Crotonia ovata'' Olszanowski, 2000 —

Hellyer River The Hellyer River is a perennial river located in north western Tasmania, Australia. The river flows for before joining into the Arthur River. High quality cool temperate rainforest and tall eucalyptus forest grows along much of the river. Si ...

gorge:

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

** '' Crotonia pauropelor'' Colloff, 1990 — Natal ** '' Crotonia perforata'' Wallwork, 1977 — St. Helena ** '' Crotonia pulchra'' (Beck, 1962) — Neotropics ** '' Crotonia reticulata'' Luxton, 1982 — New Zealand ** '' Crotonia rothschildi'' (Berlese, 1916) —

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

** '' Crotonia tryjanowskii'' Olszanowski, 2000 — New England N.P.:

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

** '' Crotonia tuberculata'' Luxton, 1982 — New Zealand ** '' Crotonia unguifera'' (Michael, 1908) New Zealand * '' Holonothrus'' Wallwork, 1963 ** '' Holonothrus artus'' Olszanowski, 1999 — Aisen, Queulat National Park, Puerto Cisnes area:

;

Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from New Guinea in the west to the Fiji Islands in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Vanu ...

** '' Holonothrus concavus'' Wallwork, 1966 — Antarctica ** '' Holonothrus foliatus'' Wallwork, 1963 — Antarctica ** '' Holonothrus gracilis'' Olszanowski, 1997 — South Island, Nelson Lakes National Park: New Zealand ** '' Holonothrus mitis'' Olszanowski, 1991 — Tasmania, Australia ** '' Holonothrus naskreckii'' Olszanowski, 1997 — South Island, Nelson Lakes National Park; New Zealand ** '' Holonothrus nortoni'' Olszanowski, 1999 — Dominica, Trois Pitons:

Leeward Islands The Leeward Islands () are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In Engl ...

** '' Holonothrus novaecaledoniae'' Olszanowski, 1997 — Mount Paine:

** '' Holonothrus papua'' Balogh & Balogh, 1986 —

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

** '' Holonothrus pulcher'' Hammer, 1966 — New Zealand ** '' Holonothrus robustus'' Olszanowski, 1991 — Tasmania, Australia ** '' Holonothrus venetiolanus'' Olszanowski, 1999 — Mérida, Laguna Negra:

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

; neotropical ** '' Holonothrus virungensis'' Norton & Olszanowski, 1989 — Congo:

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

Footnotes

References

*Subías, Luis S. (2007): Listado sistemático, sinonímico y biogeográfico de los ácaros oribátidos (Acariformes: Oribatida) del mundo (Excepto fósiles)
PDF
* Acari families Acariformes {{acari-stub