Geological Changes of the Americas and their Influence on the Diversification of the Neotropical Kissing Bugs (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae)

Abstract

We found that most of the diversification events observed within the Rhodniini and Triatomini tribes are closely linked to the climatic and geological changes caused by the Andean uplift in South America and that variations in sea levels in North America also played a role in the diversification of the species of Triatoma in that region.