Abstract:
Extant genera and subgenera of the Trogidae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) are reviewed.
Contemporary classifications of this family have been based exclusively on morphological
characters. The first molecular phylogeny for the family recently provided strong support for
the relationships between morphologically defined genera and subgenera. On the basis of
morphological, molecular and biogeographical evidence, certain taxonomic changes to the
genus-level classification of the family are now proposed. Trogidae is confirmed as being
divided into two subfamilies, Omorginae Nikolajev and Troginae MacLeay, the former with
two genera, Omorgus Erichson and Polynoncus Burmeister; and the latter with two genera,
Trox Fabricius and Phoberus MacLeay stat. rev. Phoberus is restored to generic rank to
include all of the Afrotropical (including Madagascan endemic) species; Afromorgus is
confirmed at subgeneric rank within the genus Omorgus; and the monotypic Madagascan
genus Madagatrox syn. n. is synonymised with Phoberus. The current synonymies of
Pseudotrox Robinson (with Trox), Chesas Burmeister, Lagopelus Burmeister and Megalotrox
Preudhomme de Borre (all with Omorgus) are all accepted to avoid creating speculative
synonyms before definitive phylogenetic evidence is available. New combinations resulting
from restoring Phoberus to a monophyletic genus are listed as an Appendix.
