| The evolutionary relationships between island and mainland faunas of the 24 species of insular freshwater crabs in the Afrotropical region are reviewed in the light of phylogenetic studies. Twenty insular species of freshwater crabs are endemic, and four are also found on the neighboring mainland of Africa. The Atlantic Ocean islands of Sherbro, Bioko, Príncipe, and São Tomé support five species of Potamonautidae, while the Western Indian Ocean islands of the Seychelles, Zanzibar, Pemba, Mafia, and Madagascar together have 16 species of Potamonautidae, and Socotra has three species of Potamidae. Disjunct distributions of non-endemic insular species of Afrotropical freshwater crabs with conspecifics on the mainland are the result of past lower sea levels... |
