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Abstract
<p class="first" id="d5626456e85">The brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus) parasitises
dogs. Over the past decade,
two distinct lineages have been recognised - R. sanguineus sensu lato "temperate lineage"
and R. sanguineus sensu lato "tropical lineage". The nominal taxon R. sanguineus (Latreille,
1806) was recently associated with the "temperate lineage". We here identify the "tropical
lineage" as Rhipicephalus linnaei (Audouin, 1826) using material from Australia, where
no other Rhipicephalus species parasitises dogs. Whole genome sequencing of R. linnaei
from Australia, Fiji and Laos, and assembly of their complete mitochondrial DNA (~15 kb)
confirms the genetic identity and distinctness from all other known species within
the brown dog tick species complex. Designation of the species R. linnaei is unequivocally
supported by material available through the Australian National Insect Collection,
Australia. Accordingly, we are formally justified in using R. linnaei for the "tropical
lineage".
</p>