| Platythelphusa | |
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| Platythelphusa armata | |
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| Genus: | Platythelphusa A. Milne-Edwards, 1887
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| Type species | |
| Platythelphusa armata A. Milne-Edwards, 1887 | |
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Platythelphusa is a genus of freshwater crabs endemic to Lake Tanganyika. It has been placed in a number of families, including a monotypic family, Platythelphusidae, as well as Potamidae and its current position in the Potamonautidae, and has also been treated as a subgenus of Potamonautes. It forms a monophyletic group, possibly nested within the genus Potamonautes, which would therefore be paraphyletic.[1] The genus is the only evolutionary radiation of crabs to have occurred in a freshwater lake, and it occurred recently, probably since the Pliocene.[2] This parallels the better known radiation of cichlid fishes in Lake Tanganyika.[3] Only one other species of freshwater crab is found in Lake Tanganyika, Potamonautes platynotus.[2]
- ^ Neil Cumberlidge, Richard M. von Sternberg & Savel R. Daniels (2008). "A revision of the higher taxonomy of the Afrotropical freshwater crabs (Decapoda: Brachyura) with a discussion of their biogeography". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 93 (2): 399–413. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2007.00929.x.
- ^ a b Saskia A. E. Marijnissen; Ellinor Michel; Savel R. Daniels; Dirk Erpenbeck; Steph B. J. Menken; Frederick R. Schram (2006). "Molecular evidence for recent divergence of Lake Tanganyika endemic crabs (Decapoda: Platythelphusidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 40 (2): 628–634. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.03.025. PMID 16647274.
- ^ Walter Salzburger; Tanja Mack; Erik Verheyen; Axel Meyer (2005). "Out of Tanganyika: Genesis, explosive speciation, key-innovations and phylogeography of the haplochromine cichlid fishes". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 5 (1): 17. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-5-17. PMC 554777. PMID 15723698.