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Medina I, Dong C, Marquez R, Perez DM, Wang IJ, Stuart-Fox D. Anti-predator defences are linked with high levels of genetic differentiation in frogs. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20232292. [PMID: 38264783 PMCID: PMC10806439 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/13/2023] [Indexed: 01/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Predator-prey interactions have been suggested as drivers of diversity in different lineages, and the presence of anti-predator defences in some clades is linked to higher rates of diversification. Warning signals are some of the most widespread defences in the animal world, and there is evidence of higher diversification rates in aposematic lineages. The mechanisms behind such species richness, however, are still unclear. Here, we test whether lineages that use aposematism as anti-predator defence exhibit higher levels of genetic differentiation between populations, leading to increased opportunities for divergence. We collated from the literature more than 3000 pairwise genetic differentiation values across more than 700 populations from over 60 amphibian species. We find evidence that over short geographical distances, populations of species of aposematic lineages exhibit greater genetic divergence relative to species that are not aposematic. Our results support a scenario where the use of warning signals could restrict gene flow, and suggest that anti-predator defences could impact divergence between populations and potentially have effects at a macro-evolutionary scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iliana Medina
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Australia
| | - Caroline Dong
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Australia
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70115, USA
| | - Roberto Marquez
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Michigan Society of Fellows, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Daniela M. Perez
- Max Plank Institute of Animal Behaviour, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Ian J. Wang
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, Rausser College of Natural Resources, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Devi Stuart-Fox
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Australia
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2
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Population diversification in the frog Mantidactylus bellyi on an isolated massif in northern Madagascar based on genetic, morphological, bioacoustic and ecological evidence. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0263764. [PMID: 35358210 PMCID: PMC8970393 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0263764] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2021] [Accepted: 01/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
In the processes that give rise to new species, changes first occur at the population level. But with the continuous nature of the divergence process, change in biological properties delimiting the shift from “individuals of divergent populations” towards “individuals of distinct species”, as well as abiotic factors driving the change, remain largely ambivalent. Here we study diversification processes at the population level in a semi-aquatic frog, Mantidactylus (Brygoomantis) bellyi, across the diverse vegetation types of Montagne d’Ambre National Park (MANP), Madagascar. Genetic diversity was assessed with seven newly developed microsatellite markers as well as mitochondrial DNA sequences and concordance with patterns of ecological, morphological, and bioacoustic divergence evaluated. We found M. bellyi lacking mitochondrial differentiation within MANP, while microsatellite datasets partitioned them into three highly differentiated, geographically separated subpopulations (with indications for up to five subpopulations). The molecular grouping–primarily clustering individuals by geographic proximity–was coincident with differences in mean depth and width of waters, suggesting a possible role of fluvial characteristics in genetic exchange in this stream-breeding species. Genetic clustering not consistent with differences in call properties, except for dominant call frequencies under the two-subpopulations model. Morphological divergence was mostly consistent with the genetic clustering; subpopulations strongly differed by their snout-vent length, with individuals from high-elevation subpopulations smaller than those from populations below 1000 m above sea level. These results exemplify how mountains and environmental conditions might primarily shape genetic and morphological divergence in frog populations, without strongly affecting their calls.
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3
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Clark MI, Bradburd GS, Akopyan M, Vega A, Rosenblum EB, Robertson JM. Genetic isolation by distance underlies colour pattern divergence in red-eyed treefrogs (Agalychnis callidryas). Mol Ecol 2022; 31:1666-1681. [PMID: 35034406 PMCID: PMC8923152 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2021] [Revised: 10/21/2021] [Accepted: 01/04/2022] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Investigating the spatial distribution of genetic and phenotypic variation can provide insights into the evolutionary processes that shape diversity in natural systems. We characterized patterns of genetic and phenotypic diversity to learn about drivers of colour-pattern diversification in red-eyed treefrogs (Agalychnis callidryas) in Costa Rica. Along the Pacific coast, red-eyed treefrogs have conspicuous leg colour patterning that transitions from orange in the north to purple in the south. We measured phenotypic variation of frogs, with increased sampling at sites where the orange-to-purple transition occurs. At the transition zone, we discovered the co-occurrence of multiple colour-pattern morphs. To explore possible causes of this variation, we generated a single nucleotide polymorphism data set to analyse population genetic structure, measure genetic diversity and infer the processes that mediate genotype-phenotype dynamics. We investigated how patterns of genetic relatedness correspond to individual measures of colour pattern along the coast, including testing for the role of hybridization in geographic regions where orange and purple phenotypic groups co-occur. We found no evidence that colour-pattern polymorphism in the transition zone arose through recent hybridization. Instead, a strong pattern of genetic isolation by distance indicates that colour-pattern variation was either retained through other processes such as ancestral colour polymorphisms or ancient secondary contact, or else it was generated by novel mutations. We found that phenotype changes along the Pacific coast more than would be expected based on genetic divergence and geographic distance alone. Combined, our results suggest the possibility of selective pressures acting on colour pattern at a small geographic scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meaghan I. Clark
- Department of Biology, California State University Northridge, Northridge, California, USA,Department of integrative Biology, Ecology, Evolution and Behavior Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA,W.K. Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University, Hickory Corners, Michigan, USA
| | - Gideon S. Bradburd
- Department of integrative Biology, Ecology, Evolution and Behavior Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
| | - Maria Akopyan
- Department of Biology, California State University Northridge, Northridge, California, USA,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | | | - Erica Bree Rosenblum
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA,Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Jeanne M. Robertson
- Department of Biology, California State University Northridge, Northridge, California, USA,Department of Herpetology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, USA
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4
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Lyra ML, Monteiro JPC, Rancilhac L, Irisarri I, Künzel S, Sanchez E, Condez TH, Rojas-Padilla O, Solé M, Toledo LF, Haddad CFB, Vences M. Initial Phylotranscriptomic Confirmation of Homoplastic Evolution of the Conspicuous Coloration and Bufoniform Morphology of Pumpkin-Toadlets in the Genus Brachycephalus. Toxins (Basel) 2021; 13:816. [PMID: 34822600 PMCID: PMC8620806 DOI: 10.3390/toxins13110816] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2021] [Revised: 11/12/2021] [Accepted: 11/15/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The genus Brachycephalus is a fascinating group of miniaturized anurans from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, comprising the conspicuous, brightly colored pumpkin-toadlets and the cryptic flea-toads. Pumpkin-toadlets are known to contain tetrodotoxins and therefore, their bright colors may perform an aposematic function. Previous studies based on a limited number of mitochondrial and nuclear-encoded markers supported the existence of two clades containing species of pumpkin-toadlet phenotype, but deep nodes remained largely unresolved or conflicting between data sets. We use new RNAseq data of 17 individuals from nine Brachycephalus species to infer their evolutionary relationships from a phylogenomic perspective. Analyses of almost 5300 nuclear-encoded ortholog protein-coding genes and full mitochondrial genomes confirmed the existence of two separate pumpkin-toadlet clades, suggesting the convergent evolution (or multiple reversals) of the bufoniform morphology, conspicuous coloration, and probably toxicity. In addition, the study of the mitochondrial gene order revealed that three species (B. hermogenesi, B. pitanga, and B. rotenbergae) display translocations of different tRNAs (NCY and CYA) from the WANCY tRNA cluster to a position between the genes ATP6 and COIII, showing a new mitochondrial gene order arrangement for vertebrates. The newly clarified phylogeny suggests that Brachycephalus has the potential to become a promising model taxon to understand the evolution of coloration, body plan and toxicity. Given that toxicity information is available for only few species of Brachycephalus, without data for any flea-toad species, we also emphasize the need for a wider screening of toxicity across species, together with more in-depth functional and ecological study of their phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariana L. Lyra
- Instituto de Biociências, Departamento de Biodiversidade (Campus Rio Claro), Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Avenida 24A, N 1515, Bela Vista, Rio Claro 13506-900, SP, Brazil; (M.L.L.); (J.P.C.M.); (C.F.B.H.)
| | - Juliane P. C. Monteiro
- Instituto de Biociências, Departamento de Biodiversidade (Campus Rio Claro), Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Avenida 24A, N 1515, Bela Vista, Rio Claro 13506-900, SP, Brazil; (M.L.L.); (J.P.C.M.); (C.F.B.H.)
| | - Loïs Rancilhac
- Zoological Institute, Technische Universität Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany; (L.R.); (E.S.)
| | - Iker Irisarri
- Institute for Microbiology and Genetics, Department of Applied Bioinformatics, University of Goettingen, Goldschmidtstr, 1, 37077 Göttingen, Germany;
| | - Sven Künzel
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, 24306 Plön, Germany;
| | - Eugenia Sanchez
- Zoological Institute, Technische Universität Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany; (L.R.); (E.S.)
| | - Thais H. Condez
- Unidade Passos, Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais (UEMG), Avenida Juca Stockler 1130, Passos 37900-106, MG, Brazil;
| | - Omar Rojas-Padilla
- Laboratório de Sistemática de Vertebrados, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga 6681, Porto Alegre 90619-900, RS, Brazil;
| | - Mirco Solé
- Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus 45662-900, BA, Brazil;
| | - Luís Felipe Toledo
- Laboratório de História Natural de Anfíbios Brasileiros (LaHNAB), Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas 13083-862, SP, Brazil;
| | - Célio F. B. Haddad
- Instituto de Biociências, Departamento de Biodiversidade (Campus Rio Claro), Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Avenida 24A, N 1515, Bela Vista, Rio Claro 13506-900, SP, Brazil; (M.L.L.); (J.P.C.M.); (C.F.B.H.)
| | - Miguel Vences
- Zoological Institute, Technische Universität Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany; (L.R.); (E.S.)
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5
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Girard MB, Elias DO, Azevedo G, Bi K, Kasumovic MM, Waldock JM, Rosenblum EB, Hedin M. Phylogenomics of peacock spiders and their kin (Salticidae: Maratus), with implications for the evolution of male courtship displays. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blaa165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Understanding diversity has been a pursuit in evolutionary biology since its inception. A challenge arises when sexual selection has played a role in diversification. Questions of what constitutes a ‘species’, homoplasy vs. synapomorphy, and whether sexually selected traits show phylogenetic signal have hampered work on many systems. Peacock spiders are famous for sexually selected male courtship dances and peacock-like abdominal ornamentation. This lineage of jumping spiders currently includes over 90 species classified into two genera, Maratus and Saratus. Most Maratus species have been placed into groups based on secondary sexual characters, but evolutionary relationships remain unresolved. Here we assess relationships in peacock spiders using phylogenomic data (ultraconserved elements and RAD-sequencing). Analyses reveal that Maratus and the related genus Saitis are paraphyletic. Many, but not all, morphological groups within a ‘core Maratus’ clade are recovered as genetic clades but we find evidence for undocumented speciation. Based on original observations of male courtship, our comparative analyses suggest that courtship behaviour and peacock-like abdominal ornamentation have evolved sequentially, with some traits inherited from ancestors and others evolving repeatedly and independently from ‘simple’ forms. Our results have important implications for the taxonomy of these spiders, and provide a much-needed evolutionary framework for comparative studies of the evolution of sexual signal characters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeline B Girard
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Damian O Elias
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Guilherme Azevedo
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Ke Bi
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Michael M Kasumovic
- Ecology & Evolution Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, UNSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Julianne M Waldock
- Collections and Research, Western Australian Museum, Welshpool, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Erica Bree Rosenblum
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Marshal Hedin
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
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Ledent A, Gauthier J, Pereira M, Overson R, Laenen B, Mardulyn P, Gradstein SR, de Haan M, Ballings P, Van der Beeten I, Zartman CE, Vanderpoorten A. What do tropical cryptogams reveal? Strong genetic structure in Amazonian bryophytes. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2020; 228:640-650. [PMID: 32488881 DOI: 10.1111/nph.16720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2020] [Accepted: 05/25/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Lowland tropical bryophytes have been perceived as excellent dispersers. In such groups, the inverse isolation hypothesis proposes that spatial genetic structure is erased beyond the limits of short-distance dispersal. Here, we determine the influence of environmental variation and geographic barriers on the spatial genetic structure of a widely dispersed and phylogenetically independent sample of Amazonian bryophytes. Single nucleotide polymorphism data were produced from a restriction site-associated DNA sequencing protocol for 10 species and analyzed through F-statistics and Mantel tests. Neither isolation-by-environment nor the impact of geographic barriers were recovered from the analyses. However, significant isolation-by-distance patterns were observed for 8 out of the 10 investigated species beyond the scale of short-distance dispersal (> 1 km), offering evidence contrary to the inverse isolation hypothesis. Despite a cadre of life-history traits and distributional patterns suggesting that tropical bryophytes are highly vagile, our analyses reveal spatial genetic structures comparable to those documented for angiosperms, whose diaspores are orders of magnitude larger. Dispersal limitation for tropical bryophytes flies in the face of traditional assumptions regarding their dispersal potential, and suggests that the plight of this component of cryptic biodiversity is more dire than previously considered in light of accelerated forest fragmentation in the Amazon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice Ledent
- Institute of Botany, University of Liège, B22 Sart Tilman, Liège, 4000, Belgium
| | - Jérémy Gauthier
- Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, route de Malagnou 1, Genève, 1208, Switzerland
| | - Martinha Pereira
- Department of Biodiversity, National Institute for Amazonian Research, Petrópolis, CEP 69060-001, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - Rick Overson
- Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85281, USA
| | - Benjamin Laenen
- Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Science for Life laboratory, Stockholm University, Stockholm, 106 91, Sweden
| | - Patrick Mardulyn
- Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, 1050, Belgium
| | - S Robbert Gradstein
- Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, EPHE, Sorbonne Université, CP 39, 57 rue Cuvier, Paris, F-75005, France
| | - Myriam de Haan
- Research Department, Meise Botanic Garden, Meise, 1860, Belgium
| | - Petra Ballings
- Research Department, Meise Botanic Garden, Meise, 1860, Belgium
| | | | - Charles E Zartman
- Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, route de Malagnou 1, Genève, 1208, Switzerland
| | - Alain Vanderpoorten
- Institute of Botany, University of Liège, B22 Sart Tilman, Liège, 4000, Belgium
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7
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Crottini A, Orozco-terWengel P, Rabemananjara FCE, Hauswaldt JS, Vences M. Mitochondrial Introgression, Color Pattern Variation, and Severe Demographic Bottlenecks in Three Species of Malagasy Poison Frogs, Genus Mantella. Genes (Basel) 2019; 10:E317. [PMID: 31018611 PMCID: PMC6523892 DOI: 10.3390/genes10040317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2019] [Revised: 04/09/2019] [Accepted: 04/15/2019] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot particularly rich in amphibian diversity and only a few charismatic Malagasy amphibians have been investigated for their population-level differentiation. The Mantellamadagascariensis group is composed of two rainforest and three swamp forest species of poison frogs. We first confirm the monophyly of this clade using DNA sequences of three nuclear and four mitochondrial genes, and subsequently investigate the population genetic differentiation and demography of the swamp forest species using one mitochondrial, two nuclear and a set of nine microsatellite markers. Our results confirm the occurrence of two main mitochondrial lineages, one dominated by Mantellaaurantiaca (a grouping supported also by our microsatellite-based tree) and the other by Mantellacrocea + Mantellamilotympanum. These two main lineages probably reflect an older divergence in swamp Mantella. Widespread mitochondrial introgression suggests a fairly common occurrence of inter-lineage gene flow. However, nuclear admixture seems to play only a limited role in this group, and the analyses of the RAG-1 marker points to a predominant incomplete lineage sorting scenario between all five species of the group, which probably diverged relatively recently. Our demographic analyses show a common, severe and recent demographic contraction, inferred to be in temporal coincidence with the massive deforestation events that took place in the past 1000 years. Current data do not allow to conclusively delimit independent evolutionary units in these frogs, and we therefore refrain to suggest any taxonomic changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angelica Crottini
- CIBIO Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, InBIO, Universidade do Porto, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, N° 7, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal.
| | - Pablo Orozco-terWengel
- School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Sir Martin Evans Building, Museum Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK.
| | - Falitiana C E Rabemananjara
- Mention Zoologie et Biodiversité Animale, Faculté des Sciences, Université d'Antananarivo, BP 906, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar.
| | - J Susanne Hauswaldt
- Zoological Institute, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Mendelssohnstr. 4, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany.
| | - Miguel Vences
- Zoological Institute, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Mendelssohnstr. 4, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany.
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