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Langmore NE, Grealy A, Noh HJ, Medina I, Skeels A, Grant J, Murray KD, Kilner RM, Holleley CE. Coevolution with hosts underpins speciation in brood-parasitic cuckoos. Science 2024; 384:1030-1036. [PMID: 38815013 DOI: 10.1126/science.adj3210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2023] [Accepted: 04/23/2024] [Indexed: 06/01/2024]
Abstract
Coevolution between interacting species is thought to increase biodiversity, but evidence linking microevolutionary processes to macroevolutionary patterns is scarce. We leveraged two decades of behavioral research coupled with historical DNA analysis to reveal that coevolution with hosts underpins speciation in brood-parasitic bronze-cuckoos. At a macroevolutionary scale, we show that highly virulent brood-parasitic taxa have higher speciation rates and are more likely to speciate in sympatry than less-virulent and nonparasitic relatives. We reveal the microevolutionary process underlying speciation: Hosts reject cuckoo nestlings, which selects for mimetic cuckoo nestling morphology. Where cuckoos exploit multiple hosts, selection for mimicry drives genetic and phenotypic divergence corresponding to host preference, even in sympatry. Our work elucidates perhaps the most common, but poorly characterized, evolutionary process driving biological diversification.
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Affiliation(s)
- N E Langmore
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - A Grealy
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
- Australian National Wildlife Collection, National Research Collections Australia, CSIRO, Canberra, Australia
| | - H-J Noh
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - I Medina
- School of Biosciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - A Skeels
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - J Grant
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - K D Murray
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - R M Kilner
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - C E Holleley
- Australian National Wildlife Collection, National Research Collections Australia, CSIRO, Canberra, Australia
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Attisano A, Gill BJ, Anderson MG, Gula R, Langmore NE, Okahisa Y, Sato NJ, Tanaka KD, Thorogood R, Ueda K, Theuerkauf J. Polymorphism at the nestling stage and host-specific mimicry in an Australasian cuckoo-host arms race. J Anim Ecol 2023; 92:30-43. [PMID: 36426636 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2022] [Accepted: 11/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Decades of research have shown that the coevolutionary arms race between avian brood parasites and their hosts can promote phenotypic diversification in hosts and brood parasites. However, relatively little is known about the role of brood parasitism in promoting phenotypic diversification of nestlings. We review field data collected over four decades in Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand to assess potential for coevolutionary interactions between the shining bronze-cuckoo (Chalcites lucidus) and its hosts, and how diversification at the nestling stage may be generating different subspecies. The shining bronze-cuckoo is a specialist parasite of a few hosts in the family Acanthizidae. It has diversified into subspecies, of which the nestlings closely mimic the respective host nestlings in each region. Additionally, some cuckoo subspecies have polymorphic nestlings. The Acanthizidae hosts have similar breeding and nesting habits and only moderately effective frontline defences against parasitism at cuckoo egg laying or at the egg stages. However, some hosts have developed highly effective defences at the nestling stage by recognising and ejecting cuckoo nestlings from the nest. As with the cuckoo nestlings, some hosts have polymorphic nestlings. The coevolutionary interactions in each region suggest different evolutionary stages of the arms race in which either the parasite or the host is currently in the lead. The presence of moderately effective defences at the egg laying and egg stages might explain why some hosts do not have defences at the nestling stage. The south-Pacific cuckoo - host systems are excellent models to explore the evolutionary mechanisms driving the diversification at the nestling stage in the coevolutionary arms race between avian brood parasites and their hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alfredo Attisano
- Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Brian J Gill
- Auckland Museum (retired), Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Michael G Anderson
- School of Natural Sciences, Auckland Campus, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Roman Gula
- Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Naomi E Langmore
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | | | | | | | - Rose Thorogood
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.,HiLIFE Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.,Research programme in Organismal and Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | | | - Jörn Theuerkauf
- Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
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