1
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Pierson TW, Kozak KH, Glenn TC, Fitzpatrick BM. River Drainage Reorganization and Reticulate Evolution in the Two-Lined Salamander (Eurycea bislineata) Species Complex. Syst Biol 2024; 73:26-35. [PMID: 37879625 DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syad064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2023] [Revised: 09/14/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 10/27/2023] Open
Abstract
The origin and eventual loss of biogeographic barriers can create alternating periods of allopatry and secondary contact, facilitating gene flow among distinct metapopulations and generating reticulate evolutionary histories that are not adequately described by a bifurcating evolutionary tree. One such example may exist in the two-lined salamander (Eurycea bislineata) species complex, where discordance among morphological and molecular datasets has created a "vexing taxonomic challenge." Previous phylogeographic analyses of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) suggested that the reorganization of Miocene paleodrainages drove vicariance and dispersal, but the inherent limitations of a single-locus dataset precluded the evaluation of subsequent gene flow. Here, we generate triple-enzyme restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (3RAD) data for > 100 individuals representing all major mtDNA lineages and use a suite of complementary methods to demonstrate that discordance among earlier datasets is best explained by a reticulate evolutionary history influenced by river drainage reorganization. Systematics of such groups should acknowledge these complex histories and relationships that are not strictly hierarchical. [Amphibian; hybridization; introgression; Plethodontidae; stream capture.].
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Affiliation(s)
- Todd W Pierson
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA 30144, USA
| | - Kenneth H Kozak
- Bell Museum and Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Travis C Glenn
- Department of Environmental Health Science and Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30609, USA
| | - Benjamin M Fitzpatrick
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
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2
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Lyons TA, Arbuckle K. The neoteny goldilocks zone: The evolution of neoteny in Ambystoma. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11240. [PMID: 38590547 PMCID: PMC10999947 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11240] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2024] [Revised: 03/18/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Neoteny is a developmental strategy wherein an organism reaches sexual maturity without associated adult characteristics. In salamanders, neoteny takes the form of individuals retaining aquatic larval characteristics such as external gills upon maturation. Mole salamanders (Ambystoma) occupy a wide range of habitats and areas across the North American continent, and display examples of non-neotenic, facultatively neotenic and obligate neotenic species, providing high variation for investigating the factors influencing the evolution of neoteny. Here, we use phylogenetic comparative methods to test existing hypotheses that neoteny is associated with elevational and latitudinal distribution, cave-associated isolation, and hybridisation-related polyploidy. We also test if neoteny influences the diversity of habitats a species can occupy, since the restriction to an aquatic life should constrain the availability of different niches. We find that neoteny tends to occur in a narrow latitudinal band between 20-30° North, with particularly narrow latitudinal ranges for obligate compared to facultative neotenic species (16-52° North). We also find that facultatively neotenic species occur at elevations more than twice as high as other species on average, and that species with a higher frequency of neoteny typically have lower habitat diversity. Our results suggest that evolutionary transitions between non-neotenic and facultative neoteny states occur at relatively high and approximately equal rates. Moreover, we estimate that obligate neoteny cannot evolve directly from non-neotenic species (and vice versa), such that facultative neoteny acts as an evolutionary 'stepping stone' to and from obligate neoteny. However, our transition rate estimates suggest that obligate neoteny is lost >4-times faster than it evolves, partly explaining the rarity of obligate species. These results support the hypothesis that low latitudes favour the evolution of neoteny, presumably linked to more stable (aquatic) environments due to reduced seasonality, but once evolved it may constrain the diversity of habitats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thom A. Lyons
- Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Science and EngineeringSwansea UniversitySwanseaUK
| | - Kevin Arbuckle
- Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Science and EngineeringSwansea UniversitySwanseaUK
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3
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Manenti R, Di Nicola MR, Zampieri V, Grassi G, Creanza T, Mauri E, Ficetola GF, Barzaghi B. Wandering outside of the Styx: Surface activity of an iconic subterranean vertebrate, the olm (Proteus anguinus). Ecology 2024; 105:e4252. [PMID: 38329178 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2023] [Revised: 11/29/2023] [Accepted: 12/27/2023] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Raoul Manenti
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
- Laboratorio di Biologia Sotterranea "Enrico Pezzoli", Parco Regionale del Monte Barro, Galbiate, Italy
| | - Matteo Riccardo Di Nicola
- Unit of Dermatology, IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy
- Asociación Herpetológica Española, Leganés, Spain
| | - Veronica Zampieri
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - Giorgio Grassi
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - Thomas Creanza
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | | | | | - Benedetta Barzaghi
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
- Laboratorio di Biologia Sotterranea "Enrico Pezzoli", Parco Regionale del Monte Barro, Galbiate, Italy
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4
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Darcy HE, Anderson PSL. Morphological variation in the vomer of aquatic and terrestrial spelerpini salamanders. J Morphol 2023; 284:e21618. [PMID: 37585223 DOI: 10.1002/jmor.21618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2023] [Revised: 06/28/2023] [Accepted: 07/01/2023] [Indexed: 08/17/2023]
Abstract
The vomer is an important tooth-bearing cranial bone in the lungless salamanders (Caudata: Plethodontidae) that serves different functional roles in aquatic versus terrestrial feeding. Vomerine tooth rows that run parallel with the maxillary teeth are thought to help grasp prey while expelling water from the mouth, while posterior extensions of the tooth row may help terrestrial taxa bring prey down the throat. We hypothesize that these two general morphological types will correlate with the habitat (aquatic vs. terrestrial) of adult salamanders. Alternatively, variation in form may be due to taxonomic effects, such that closely related species will have similar vomer morphology regardless of adult habitat. To test this hypothesis, we examined vomer shape on a set of species of the morphologically diverse tribe Spelerpini, in which two of the five genera (Eurycea and Gyrinophilus) include both aquatic and terrestrial species. Data were collected using micro computed tomography (micro-CT) scans from specimens from the Field Museum of Natural History and the Illinois Natural History Survey; additional data was obtained from public online repositories including Morphosource.org. Two-dimensional geometric morphometric analyses were performed to capture shape variation of both the vomer and the vomerine tooth row. We found clear separation between aquatic and terrestrial taxa, with most of the variation due to differences in the vomerine tooth row. Differences ascribed to habitat use likely correspond to feeding behavior, and the functional role of the vomer in prey processing warrants further investigation in this species-rich salamander family.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah E Darcy
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois, USA
| | - Philip S L Anderson
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois, USA
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5
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The evolution of reproductive modes and life cycles in amphibians. Nat Commun 2022; 13:7039. [PMID: 36396632 PMCID: PMC9672123 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-34474-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2021] [Accepted: 10/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Amphibians have undergone important evolutionary transitions in reproductive modes and life-cycles. We compare large-scale macroevolutionary patterns in these transitions across the three major amphibian clades: frogs, salamanders, and caecilians. We analyse matching reproductive and phylogenetic data for 4025 species. We find that having aquatic larvae is ancestral for all three groups and is retained by many extant species (33-44%). The most frequent transitions in each group are to relatively uncommon states: live-bearing in caecilians, paedomorphosis in salamanders, and semi-terrestriality in frogs. All three groups show transitions to more terrestrial reproductive modes, but only in caecilians have these evolved sequentially from most-to-least aquatic. Diversification rates are largely independent of reproductive modes. However, in salamanders direct development accelerates diversification whereas paedomorphosis decreases it. Overall, we find a widespread retention of ancestral modes, decoupling of trait transition rates from patterns of species richness, and the general independence of reproductive modes and diversification.
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6
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Ponssa ML, Fratani J, Barrionuevo JS. Phalanx morphology in salamanders: A reflection of microhabitat use, life cycle or evolutionary constraints? ZOOLOGY 2022; 154:126040. [DOI: 10.1016/j.zool.2022.126040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2021] [Revised: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 08/01/2022] [Indexed: 10/16/2022]
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7
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Speciation with gene flow in a narrow endemic West Virginia cave salamander (Gyrinophilus subterraneus). CONSERV GENET 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10592-022-01445-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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8
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Salamander braincase morphology as revealed by micro‐computed tomography. J Morphol 2022; 283:462-501. [DOI: 10.1002/jmor.21454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2021] [Revised: 01/13/2022] [Accepted: 01/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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9
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Vassilieva AB, Smirnov SV. Increasing Hormonal Control of Skeletal Development: An Evolutionary Trend in Amphibians. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.733947] [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] Open
Abstract
The biphasic life history of amphibians includes metamorphosis, a complex developmental event that involves drastic changes in the morphology, physiology and biochemistry accompanying the transition from the larval to adult stage of development. Thyroid hormones (THs) are widely known to orchestrate this remodeling and, in particular, to mediate the development of the bony skeleton, which is a model system in evolutionary morphological studies of amphibians. Detailed experimental studies of the role of THs in the craniogenesis of diverse urodelan amphibians revealed that (i) these hormones affect both the timing and sequence of bone formation, (ii) TH involvement increases in parallel with the increase in divergence between larval and adult skull morphology, and (iii) among urodelans, TH-involvement in skull development changes from a minimum in basal salamanders (Hynobiidae) to the most pronounced in derived ones (Salamandridae and Plethodontidae). Given the increasing regulatory function of THs in urodelan evolution, we hypothesized a stronger involvement of THs in the control of skeletogenesis in anurans with their most complex and dramatic metamorphosis among all amphibians. Our experimental study of skeletal development in the hypo- and hyperthyroid yellow-bellied toad (Bombina variegata: Bombinatoridae) supports the greater involvement of THs in the mediation of all stages of anuran cranial and postcranial bones formation. Similar to urodelans, B. variegata displays enhancing TH involvement in the development of cranial bones that arise during larval ontogeny: while the hormonal impact on early larval ossifications is minimal, the skull bones forming during metamorphosis are strictly TH-inducible. However, in contrast to urodelans, all cranial bones, including the earliest to form, are TH-dependent in B. variegata; moreover, the development of all elements of the axial and limb skeleton is affected by THs. The more accentuated hormonal control of skeletogenesis in B. variegata demonstrates the advanced regulatory and inductive function of THs in the orchestration of anuran metamorphosis. Based on these findings, we discuss (i) changes in THs function in amphibian evolution and (ii) the role of THs in the evolution of life histories in amphibians.
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10
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Bonett RM, Ledbetter NM, Hess AJ, Herrboldt MA, Denoël M. Repeated ecological and life cycle transitions make salamanders an ideal model for evolution and development. Dev Dyn 2021; 251:957-972. [PMID: 33991029 DOI: 10.1002/dvdy.373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2021] [Revised: 04/16/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Observations on the ontogeny and diversity of salamanders provided some of the earliest evidence that shifts in developmental trajectories have made a substantial contribution to the evolution of animal forms. Since the dawn of evo-devo there have been major advances in understanding developmental mechanisms, phylogenetic relationships, evolutionary models, and an appreciation for the impact of ecology on patterns of development (eco-evo-devo). Molecular phylogenetic analyses have converged on strong support for the majority of branches in the Salamander Tree of Life, which includes 764 described species. Ancestral reconstructions reveal repeated transitions between life cycle modes and ecologies. The salamander fossil record is scant, but key Mesozoic species support the antiquity of life cycle transitions in some families. Colonization of diverse habitats has promoted phenotypic diversification and sometimes convergence when similar environments have been independently invaded. However, unrelated lineages may follow different developmental pathways to arrive at convergent phenotypes. This article summarizes ecological and endocrine-based causes of life cycle transitions in salamanders, as well as consequences to body size, genome size, and skeletal structure. Salamanders offer a rich source of comparisons for understanding how the evolution of developmental patterns has led to phenotypic diversification following shifts to new adaptive zones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ronald M Bonett
- Department of Biological Science, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
| | | | - Alexander J Hess
- Department of Biological Science, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Madison A Herrboldt
- Department of Biological Science, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Mathieu Denoël
- Laboratory of Ecology and Conservation of Amphibians (LECA), Freshwater and Oceanic science Unit of reSearch (FOCUS), University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
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11
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Geography is more important than life history in the recent diversification of the tiger salamander complex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2014719118. [PMID: 33888580 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2014719118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The North American tiger salamander species complex, including its best-known species, the Mexican axolotl, has long been a source of biological fascination. The complex exhibits a wide range of variation in developmental life history strategies, including populations and individuals that undergo metamorphosis; those able to forego metamorphosis and retain a larval, aquatic lifestyle (i.e., paedomorphosis); and those that do both. The evolution of a paedomorphic life history state is thought to lead to increased population genetic differentiation and ultimately reproductive isolation and speciation, but the degree to which it has shaped population- and species-level divergence is poorly understood. Using a large multilocus dataset from hundreds of samples across North America, we identified genetic clusters across the geographic range of the tiger salamander complex. These clusters often contain a mixture of paedomorphic and metamorphic taxa, indicating that geographic isolation has played a larger role in lineage divergence than paedomorphosis in this system. This conclusion is bolstered by geography-informed analyses indicating no effect of life history strategy on population genetic differentiation and by model-based population genetic analyses demonstrating gene flow between adjacent metamorphic and paedomorphic populations. This fine-scale genetic perspective on life history variation establishes a framework for understanding how plasticity, local adaptation, and gene flow contribute to lineage divergence. Many members of the tiger salamander complex are endangered, and the Mexican axolotl is an important model system in regenerative and biomedical research. Our results chart a course for more informed use of these taxa in experimental, ecological, and conservation research.
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12
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Tribondeau A, Sachs LM, Buisine N. Are paedomorphs actual larvae? Dev Dyn 2021; 250:779-787. [DOI: 10.1002/dvdy.304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2020] [Revised: 01/05/2021] [Accepted: 01/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Alicia Tribondeau
- UMR7221 Physiologie Moléculaire et Adaptation, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Muséum National d'Historie Naturelle Paris Cedex 05 France
| | - Laurent M. Sachs
- UMR7221 Physiologie Moléculaire et Adaptation, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Muséum National d'Historie Naturelle Paris Cedex 05 France
| | - Nicolas Buisine
- UMR7221 Physiologie Moléculaire et Adaptation, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Muséum National d'Historie Naturelle Paris Cedex 05 France
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13
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Wen F, Ljustina O, Vicknair W, Perrera B, Lamb JY. Reproductive Phenology and the Larval Period of the Western Dwarf Salamander (Eurycea paludicola) in Southeastern Louisiana. SOUTHEAST NAT 2021. [DOI: 10.1656/058.020.0104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Florence Wen
- Department of Biological Sciences, Southeastern Louisiana University, 808 N. Pine Street Hammond, LA 70402
| | - Oliver Ljustina
- Department of Biological Sciences, Southeastern Louisiana University, 808 N. Pine Street Hammond, LA 70402
| | - Wren Vicknair
- Department of Biological Sciences, Southeastern Louisiana University, 808 N. Pine Street Hammond, LA 70402
| | - Brooke Perrera
- Department of Biological Sciences, Southeastern Louisiana University, 808 N. Pine Street Hammond, LA 70402
| | - Jennifer Y. Lamb
- Department of Biology, St. Cloud State University, 720 Fourth Avenue South, St. Cloud, MN 56301
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14
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Stuart BL, Beamer DA, Farrington HL, Beane JC, Chek DL, Pusser LT, Som HE, Stephan DL, Sever DM, Braswell AL. A New Two-Lined Salamander (Eurycea bislineata Complex) from the Sandhills of North Carolina. HERPETOLOGICA 2020. [DOI: 10.1655/0018-0831-76.4.423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Bryan L. Stuart
- North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Section of Research & Collections, 11 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27601, USA
| | - David A. Beamer
- Nash Community College, Department of Natural Sciences, 522 North Old Carriage Road, Rocky Mount, NC 27804, USA
| | - Heather L. Farrington
- North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Section of Research & Collections, 11 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27601, USA
| | - Jeffrey C. Beane
- North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Section of Research & Collections, 11 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27601, USA
| | - Danielle L. Chek
- North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Section of Research & Collections, 11 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27601, USA
| | | | - Hannah E. Som
- North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Section of Research & Collections, 11 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27601, USA
| | - David L. Stephan
- North Carolina State University, Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology, Campus Box 7613, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
| | - David M. Sever
- Southeastern Louisiana University, Biology Department, 151 Biology Building, Hammond, LA 70402, USA
| | - Alvin L. Braswell
- North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Section of Research & Collections, 11 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27601, USA
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15
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Metamorphosis shapes cranial diversity and rate of evolution in salamanders. Nat Ecol Evol 2020; 4:1129-1140. [PMID: 32572219 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-020-1225-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2019] [Accepted: 05/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Metamorphosis is widespread across the animal kingdom and induces fundamental changes in the morphology, habitat and resources used by an organism during its lifetime. Metamorphic species are likely to experience more dynamic selective pressures through ontogeny compared with species with single-phase life cycles, which may drive divergent evolutionary dynamics. Here, we reconstruct the cranial evolution of the salamander using geometric morphometric data from 148 species spanning the order's full phylogenetic, developmental and ecological diversity. We demonstrate that life cycle influences cranial shape diversity and rate of evolution. Shifts in the rate of cranial evolution are consistently associated with transitions from biphasic to either direct-developing or paedomorphic life cycle strategies. Direct-developers exhibit the slowest rates of evolution and the lowest disparity, and paedomorphic species the highest. Species undergoing complete metamorphosis (biphasic and direct-developing) exhibit greater cranial modularity (evolutionary independence among regions) than do paedomorphic species, which undergo differential metamorphosis. Biphasic and direct-developing species also display elevated disparity relative to the evolutionary rate for bones associated with feeding, whereas this is not the case for paedomorphic species. Metamorphosis has profoundly influenced salamander cranial evolution, requiring greater autonomy of cranial elements and facilitating the rapid evolution of regions that are remodelled through ontogeny. Rather than compounding functional constraints on variation, metamorphosis seems to have promoted the morphological evolution of salamanders over 180 million years, which may explain the ubiquity of this complex life cycle strategy across disparate organisms.
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16
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Bon M, Bardua C, Goswami A, Fabre AC. Cranial integration in the fire salamander, Salamandra salamandra (Caudata: Salamandridae). Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blaa020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Abstract
Phenotypic integration and modularity are concepts that represent the pattern of connectivity of morphological structures within an organism. Integration describes the coordinated variation of traits, and analyses of these relationships among traits often reveals the presence of modules, sets of traits that are highly integrated but relatively independent of other traits. Phenotypic integration and modularity have been studied at both the evolutionary and static level across a variety of clades, although most studies thus far are focused on amniotes, and especially mammals. Using a high-dimensional geometric morphometric approach, we investigated the pattern of cranial integration and modularity of the Italian fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra giglioli). We recovered a highly modular pattern, but this pattern did not support either entirely developmental or functional hypotheses of cranial organisation, possibly reflecting complex interactions amongst multiple influencing factors. We found that size had no significant effect on cranial shape, and that morphological variance of individual modules had no significant relationship with degree of within-module integration. The pattern of cranial integration in the fire salamander is similar to that previously recovered for caecilians, with highly integrated jaw suspensorium and occipital regions, suggesting possible conservation of patterns across lissamphibians.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margot Bon
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Kensington, London, UK
| | - Carla Bardua
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Kensington, London, UK
- Department of Genetics, Evolution & Environment, University College London, Bloomsbury, London, UK
| | - Anjali Goswami
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Kensington, London, UK
| | - Anne-Claire Fabre
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Kensington, London, UK
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17
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Hart PB, Niemiller ML, Burress ED, Armbruster JW, Ludt WB, Chakrabarty P. Cave-adapted evolution in the North American amblyopsid fishes inferred using phylogenomics and geometric morphometrics. Evolution 2020; 74:936-949. [PMID: 32187649 DOI: 10.1111/evo.13958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2019] [Revised: 02/23/2020] [Accepted: 02/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Cave adaptation has evolved repeatedly across the Tree of Life, famously leading to pigmentation and eye degeneration and loss, yet its macroevolutionary implications remain poorly understood. We use the North American amblyopsid fishes, a family spanning a wide degree of cave adaptation, to examine the impact of cave specialization on the modes and tempo of evolution. We reconstruct evolutionary relationships using ultraconserved element loci, estimate the ancestral histories of eye-state, and examine the impact of cave adaptation on body shape evolution. Our phylogenomic analyses provide a well-supported hypothesis for amblyopsid evolutionary relationships. The obligate blind cavefishes form a clade and the cave-facultative eyed spring cavefishes are nested within the obligate cavefishes. Using ancestral state reconstruction, we find support for at least two independent subterranean colonization events within the Amblyopsidae. Eyed and blind fishes have different body shapes, but not different rates of body shape evolution. North American amblyopsids highlight the complex nature of cave-adaptive evolution and the necessity to include multiple lines of evidence to uncover the underlying processes involved in the loss of complex traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pamela B Hart
- Museum of Natural Sciences and Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70803
| | - Matthew L Niemiller
- Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama, 35899
| | - Edward D Burress
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, California, 95616
| | - Jonathan W Armbruster
- Museum of Natural History and Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, 36830
| | - William B Ludt
- Department of Ichthyology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, 9007
| | - Prosanta Chakrabarty
- Museum of Natural Sciences and Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70803
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18
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Capshaw G, Soares D, Carr CE. Bony labyrinth morphometry reveals hidden diversity in lungless salamanders (Family Plethodontidae): Structural correlates of ecology, development, and vision in the inner ear. Evolution 2019; 73:2135-2150. [PMID: 31436320 DOI: 10.1111/evo.13837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2019] [Revised: 07/29/2019] [Accepted: 08/09/2019] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Lungless salamanders (Family Plethodontidae) form a highly speciose group that has undergone spectacular adaptive radiation to colonize a multitude of habitats. Substantial morphological variation in the otic region coupled with great ecological diversity within this clade make plethodontids an excellent model for exploring the ecomorphology of the amphibian ear. We examined the influence of habitat, development, and vision on inner ear morphology in 52 plethodontid species. We collected traditional and 3D geometric morphometric measurements to characterize variation in size and shape of the otic endocast and peripheral structures of the salamander ear. Phylogenetic comparative analyses demonstrate structural convergence in the inner ear across ecologically similar species. Species that dwell in spatially complex microhabitats exhibit robust, highly curved semicircular canals suggesting enhanced vestibular sense, whereas species with reduced visual systems demonstrate reduced canal curvature indicative of relaxed selection on the vestibulo-ocular reflex. Cave specialists show parallel enlargement of auditory-associated structures. The morphological correlates of ecology among diverse species reveal underlying evidence of habitat specialization in the inner ear and suggest that there exists physiological variation in the function of the salamander ear even in the apparent absence of selective pressures on the auditory system to support acoustic behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grace Capshaw
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742
| | - Daphne Soares
- Department of Biological Sciences, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, 07102
| | - Catherine E Carr
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742
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19
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Edgington HA, Taylor DR. Ecological contributions to body shape evolution in salamanders of the genus Eurycea (Plethodontidae). PLoS One 2019; 14:e0216754. [PMID: 31091252 PMCID: PMC6519905 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2019] [Accepted: 04/26/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Body shape can be both a consequence and cause of a species' evolution and ecology. There are many examples of phenotypes associated with specific ecological niches, likely as a result of specific selective regimes. A classic example of this is the phenotypic change associated with colonization of caves, including body and limb elongation. However, studies explicitly testing for differences in body shape between cave-dwelling and non-cave-dwelling lineages have been limited and so the role of the cave environment in determining morphological characteristics is still not completely understood. Here we examine variation in body shape among 405 individuals representing 20 species in the salamander genus Eurycea (Plethodontidae) and select outgroups exhibiting great diversity in morphology, ecological niche, and life history. RESULTS After analyzing morphometric data in a phylogenetic context using phylogenetic MANOVA and examination of the phylomorphospace, we found significant differences in body shape among cave-dwelling and non-cave-dwelling species and between aquatic and terrestrial species. Notably, limb elongation and reduced body and tail size characterized cave-dwelling species. Terrestrial species also exhibited elongation of the limbs and digits. We also observed differences in shape variance among paedomorphic and biphasic species. Our results suggest that the functional limitations imposed by habitat and life history played a key role in the evolution of body shape in this group in the context of their phylogenetic history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hilary A. Edgington
- Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Douglas R. Taylor
- Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States of America
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20
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ten Brink H, de Roos AM, Dieckmann U. The Evolutionary Ecology of Metamorphosis. Am Nat 2019; 193:E116-E131. [DOI: 10.1086/701779] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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21
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Denoël M, Drapeau L, Winandy L. Reproductive fitness consequences of progenesis: Sex-specific pay-offs in safe and risky environments. J Evol Biol 2019; 32:629-637. [PMID: 30927549 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2018] [Revised: 02/16/2019] [Accepted: 03/22/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Progenesis is considered to have an important role in evolution because it allows the retention of both a larval body size and shape in an adult morphology. However, the cost caused by the adoption of a progenetic process in both males and females remains to be explored to explain the success of progenesis and particularly its biased prevalence across the sexes and environments. Here, through an experimental approach, we used a facultative progenetic species, the palmate newt (Lissotriton helveticus) that can either mature at a small size and retain gills or mature after metamorphosis, to test three hypotheses for sex-specific pay-offs of progenesis in safe versus risky habitats. Goldfish were used because they caused a higher decline in progenetic than metamorphic newts. We determined that progenetic newts have a lower reproductive fitness than metamorphic newts. We also found that, when compared to metamorphs, progenetic males have lower reproductive activity than progenetic females and that predatory risk affects more progenetic than metamorphic newts. By identifying ultimate causes of the female-biased sex ratios found in nature, these results support the male escape hypothesis, that is the higher metamorphosis rate of progenetic males. They also highlight that although progenesis is advantageous in advancing the age at first reproduction, it also brings an immediate fitness cost and this, particularly, in hostile predatory environments. This means that whereas some environmental constraints could favour facultative progenesis, some others, such as predation, can ultimately counter-select progenesis. Altogether, these results improve our understanding of how developmental processes can affect the sexes differently and how species invasions can impair the success of alternative developmental phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathieu Denoël
- Laboratory of Fish and Amphibian Ethology, Behavioural Biology Group, Freshwater and OCeanic science Unit of reSearch (FOCUS), University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Laura Drapeau
- Laboratory of Fish and Amphibian Ethology, Behavioural Biology Group, Freshwater and OCeanic science Unit of reSearch (FOCUS), University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Laurane Winandy
- Laboratory of Fish and Amphibian Ethology, Behavioural Biology Group, Freshwater and OCeanic science Unit of reSearch (FOCUS), University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.,Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique, CNRS-Université Paul Sabatier-UMR 5174, Toulouse, France.,Station d'Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale, CNRS UMR 5321, Moulis, France
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22
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Denoël M, Drapeau L, Oromi N, Winandy L. The role of predation risk in metamorphosis versus behavioural avoidance: a sex-specific study in a facultative paedomorphic amphibian. Oecologia 2019; 189:637-645. [PMID: 30809707 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-019-04362-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2018] [Accepted: 02/18/2019] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Evolutionary theory predicts the evolution of metamorphosis over paedomorphosis (the retention of larval traits at the adult stage) in response to life in unfavourable habitats and to the benefits of dispersal. Although many organisms are canalised into obligatory complex or simple life cycles, some species of newts and salamanders can express both processes (facultative paedomorphosis). Previous research highlighted the detrimental effect of fish on both metamorphic and paedomorphic phenotypes, but it remains unknown whether predation risk could induce shifts from paedomorphosis to metamorphosis, whether behavioural avoidance could be an alternative strategy to metamorphosis and whether these responses could be sex-biased. Testing these hypotheses is important because metamorphosed paedomorphs are dispersal individuals which could favour the long-term persistence of the process by breeding subsequently in more favourable waters. Therefore, we quantified the spatial behaviour and timing of the metamorphosis of facultative paedomorphic palmate newts Lissotriton helveticus in response to predation risk. We found that fish induced both male and female paedomorphs to hide more often, but behavioural avoidance was not predictive of metamorphosis. Paedomorphs did not metamorphose more in the presence of fish, yet there was an interaction between sex and predation risk in metamorphosis timing. These results improve our understanding of the lower prevalence of paedomorphs in fish environments and of the female-biased sex ratios in natural populations of paedomorphic newts. Integrating sex-dependent payoffs of polyphenisms and dispersal across habitats is therefore essential to understand the evolution of these processes in response to environmental change.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Denoël
- Behavioural Biology Group, Laboratory of Fish and Amphibian Ethology, Freshwater and OCeanic science Unit of reSearch (FOCUS), University of Liège (ULiège), Liège, Belgium.
| | - L Drapeau
- Behavioural Biology Group, Laboratory of Fish and Amphibian Ethology, Freshwater and OCeanic science Unit of reSearch (FOCUS), University of Liège (ULiège), Liège, Belgium
| | - N Oromi
- Behavioural Biology Group, Laboratory of Fish and Amphibian Ethology, Freshwater and OCeanic science Unit of reSearch (FOCUS), University of Liège (ULiège), Liège, Belgium
| | - L Winandy
- Behavioural Biology Group, Laboratory of Fish and Amphibian Ethology, Freshwater and OCeanic science Unit of reSearch (FOCUS), University of Liège (ULiège), Liège, Belgium.,Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique, CNRS, UMR 5174, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France.,Station d'Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale, CNRS UMR 5321, Moulis, France
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23
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Denoël M, Ficetola GF, Sillero N, Džukić G, Kalezić ML, Vukov T, Muhovic I, Ikovic V, Lejeune B. Traditionally managed landscapes do not prevent amphibian decline and the extinction of paedomorphosis. ECOL MONOGR 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/ecm.1347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mathieu Denoël
- Laboratory of Fish and Amphibian Ethology Behavioural Biology Group Freshwater and Oceanic Science Unit of Research (FOCUS) University of Liège Liège Belgium
| | - G. Francesco Ficetola
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy Università degli Studi di Milano Milan Italy
- Université Grenoble‐Alpes CNRS Laboratoire d’Écologie Alpine (LECA) Grenoble France
| | - Neftali Sillero
- Centro de Investigação em Ciências Geo‐Espaciais University of Porto Porto Portugal
| | - Georg Džukić
- Department of Evolutionary Biology Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković” University of Belgrade Belgrade Serbia
| | - Miloš L. Kalezić
- Department of Evolutionary Biology Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković” University of Belgrade Belgrade Serbia
| | - Tanja Vukov
- Department of Evolutionary Biology Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković” University of Belgrade Belgrade Serbia
| | - Irma Muhovic
- Montenegrin Ecologists Society Podgorica Montenegro
| | - Vuk Ikovic
- Montenegrin Ecologists Society Podgorica Montenegro
| | - Benjamin Lejeune
- Laboratory of Fish and Amphibian Ethology Behavioural Biology Group Freshwater and Oceanic Science Unit of Research (FOCUS) University of Liège Liège Belgium
- Laboratory of Oceanology Freshwater and Oceanic Science Unit of Research (FOCUS) University of Liège Liège Belgium
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24
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Bonett RM, Phillips JG, Ledbetter NM, Martin SD, Lehman L. Rapid phenotypic evolution following shifts in life cycle complexity. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 285:rspb.2017.2304. [PMID: 29343600 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.2304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2017] [Accepted: 12/11/2017] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Life cycle strategies have evolved extensively throughout the history of metazoans. The expression of disparate life stages within a single ontogeny can present conflicts to trait evolution, and therefore may have played a major role in shaping metazoan forms. However, few studies have examined the consequences of adding or subtracting life stages on patterns of trait evolution. By analysing trait evolution in a clade of closely related salamander lineages we show that shifts in the number of life cycle stages are associated with rapid phenotypic evolution. Specifically, salamanders with an aquatic-only (paedomorphic) life cycle have frequently added vertebrae to their trunk skeleton compared with closely related lineages with a complex aquatic-to-terrestrial (biphasic) life cycle. The rate of vertebral column evolution is also substantially lower in biphasic lineages, which may reflect the functional compromise of a complex cycle. This study demonstrates that the consequences of life cycle evolution can be detected at very fine scales of divergence. Rapid evolutionary responses can result from shifts in selective regimes following changes in life cycle complexity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ronald M Bonett
- Department of Biological Science, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA
| | - John G Phillips
- Department of Biological Science, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA
| | | | - Samuel D Martin
- Department of Biological Science, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA
| | - Luke Lehman
- Department of Biological Science, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA
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25
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Gladstone NS, Carter ET, Niemiller KDK, Hayter LE, Niemiller ML. A new maximum body size record for the Berry Cave Salamander (Gyrinophilus gulolineatus) and genus Gyrinophilus (Caudata, Plethodontidae) with a comment on body size in plethodontid salamanders. SUBTERRANEAN BIOLOGY 2018. [DOI: 10.3897/subtbiol.28.30506] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Lungless salamanders in the family Plethodontidae exhibit an impressive array of life history strategies and occur in a diversity of habitats, including caves. However, relationships between life history, habitat, and body size remain largely unresolved. During an ongoing study on the demography and life history of the paedomorphic, cave-obligate Berry Cave Salamander (Gyrinophilusgulolineatus, Brandon 1965), we discovered an exceptionally large individual from the type locality, Berry Cave, Roane County, Tennessee, USA. This salamander measured 145 mm in body length and represents not only the largest G.gulolineatus and Gyrinophilus ever reported, but also the largest plethodontid salamander in the United States. We discuss large body size in G.gulolineatus and compare body size in other large plethodontid salamanders in relation to life history and habitat.
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26
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Oromi N, Valbuena‐Ureña E, Soler‐Membrives A, Amat F, Camarasa S, Carranza S, Sanuy D, Denoël M. Genetic structure of lake and stream populations in a Pyrenean amphibian (
Calotriton asper
) reveals evolutionary significant units associated with paedomorphosis. J ZOOL SYST EVOL RES 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/jzs.12250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Neus Oromi
- Departament de Ciència Animal (Fauna Silvestre) Universitat de Lleida Lleida Catalonia Spain
- Laboratory of Fish and Amphibian Ethology Behavioural Biology Group Freshwater and OCeanic science Unit of reSearch (FOCUS) University of Liège Liège Belgium
| | - Emilio Valbuena‐Ureña
- Unitat de Zoologia Facultat de Biociències Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Barcelona Catalonia Spain
- Centre de Fauna Salvatge de Torreferrussa (Catalan Wildlife Service – Forestal Catalana) Finca de Torreferrusa Barcelona Catalonia Spain
| | - Anna Soler‐Membrives
- Unitat de Zoologia Facultat de Biociències Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Barcelona Catalonia Spain
| | - Felix Amat
- Àrea d'Herpetologia Museu de Granollers Ciències Naturals Granollers Catalonia Spain
| | - Sebastià Camarasa
- Departament de Ciència Animal (Fauna Silvestre) Universitat de Lleida Lleida Catalonia Spain
| | - Salvador Carranza
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC‐Universitat Pompeu Fabra) Barcelona Spain
| | - Delfi Sanuy
- Departament de Ciència Animal (Fauna Silvestre) Universitat de Lleida Lleida Catalonia Spain
| | - Mathieu Denoël
- Laboratory of Fish and Amphibian Ethology Behavioural Biology Group Freshwater and OCeanic science Unit of reSearch (FOCUS) University of Liège Liège Belgium
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27
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Camarasa S, Amat F, Sanuy D, Oromi N. The occurrence of facultative paedomorphosis in a lacustrine population of the Pyrenean newt (Calotriton asper): morphology and age structure. J NAT HIST 2018. [DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2018.1516831] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sebastià Camarasa
- Departament de Ciència Animal (Fauna Silvestre), Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain
| | - Fèlix Amat
- Àrea d’Herpetologia, Museu de Granollers, Ciències Naturals, Granollers, Spain
| | - Delfí Sanuy
- Departament de Ciència Animal (Fauna Silvestre), Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain
| | - Neus Oromi
- Departament de Ciència Animal (Fauna Silvestre), Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain
- Laboratory of Fish and Amphibian Ethology, Behavioural Biology Unit, Freshwater and Oceanic Science Unit of Research (FOCUS), University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
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28
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Wray KP, Means DB, Steppan SJ. Revision of the Eurycea quadridigitata (Holbrook 1842) Complex of Dwarf Salamanders (Caudata: Plethodontidae: Hemidactyliinae) with a Description of Two New Species. HERPETOLOGICAL MONOGRAPHS 2017. [DOI: 10.1655/herpmonographs-d-16-00011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth P. Wray
- Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4295, USA
| | - D. Bruce Means
- Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4295, USA
| | - Scott J. Steppan
- Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4295, USA
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29
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Evidence for complex life cycle constraints on salamander body form diversification. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:9936-9941. [PMID: 28851828 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1703877114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Metazoans display a tremendous diversity of developmental patterns, including complex life cycles composed of morphologically disparate stages. In this regard, the evolution of life cycle complexity promotes phenotypic diversity. However, correlations between life cycle stages can constrain the evolution of some structures and functions. Despite the potential macroevolutionary consequences, few studies have tested the impacts of life cycle evolution on broad-scale patterns of trait diversification. Here we show that larval and adult salamanders with a simple, aquatic-only (paedomorphic) life cycle had an increased rate of vertebral column and body form diversification compared to lineages with a complex, aquatic-terrestrial (biphasic) life cycle. These differences in life cycle complexity explain the variations in vertebral number and adult body form better than larval ecology. In addition, we found that lineages with a simple terrestrial-only (direct developing) life cycle also had a higher rate of adult body form evolution than biphasic lineages, but still 10-fold lower than aquatic-only lineages. Our analyses demonstrate that prominent shifts in phenotypic evolution can follow long-term transitions in life cycle complexity, which may reflect underlying stage-dependent constraints.
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30
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Mathiron AGE, Lena JP, Baouch S, Denoël M. The 'male escape hypothesis': sex-biased metamorphosis in response to climatic drivers in a facultatively paedomorphic amphibian. Proc Biol Sci 2017; 284:rspb.2017.0176. [PMID: 28424346 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.0176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2017] [Accepted: 03/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Paedomorphosis is a major evolutionary process that bypasses metamorphosis and allows reproduction in larvae. In newts and salamanders, it can be facultative with paedomorphs retaining gills and metamorphs dispersing. The evolution of these developmental processes is thought to have been driven by the costs and benefits of inhabiting aquatic versus terrestrial habitats. In this context, we aimed at testing the hypothesis that climatic drivers affect phenotypic transition and the difference across sexes because sex-ratio is biased in natural populations. Through a replicated laboratory experiment, we showed that paedomorphic palmate newts (Lissotriton helveticus) metamorphosed at a higher frequency when water availability decreased and metamorphosed earlier when temperature increased in these conditions. All responses were sex-biased, and males were more prone to change phenotype than females. Our work shows how climatic variables can affect facultative paedomorphosis and support theoretical models predicting life on land instead of in water. Moreover, because males metamorphose and leave water more often and earlier than females, these results, for the first time, give an experimental explanation for the rarity of male paedomorphosis (the 'male escape hypothesis') and suggest the importance of sex in the evolution of paedomorphosis versus metamorphosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony G E Mathiron
- Laboratory of Fish and Amphibian Ethology, Behavioural Biology Unit, Freshwater and Oceanic Science Unit of Research (FOCUS), University of Liège, 4020 Liège, Belgium
| | - Jean-Paul Lena
- Laboratoire d'Ecologie des Hydrosystèmes Naturels et Anthropisés, University of Lyon 1, 69622 Villeurbanne, France
| | - Sarah Baouch
- Laboratory of Fish and Amphibian Ethology, Behavioural Biology Unit, Freshwater and Oceanic Science Unit of Research (FOCUS), University of Liège, 4020 Liège, Belgium
| | - Mathieu Denoël
- Laboratory of Fish and Amphibian Ethology, Behavioural Biology Unit, Freshwater and Oceanic Science Unit of Research (FOCUS), University of Liège, 4020 Liège, Belgium
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31
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Beachy CK, Ryan TJ, Bonett RM. How Metamorphosis Is Different in Plethodontids: Larval Life History Perspectives on Life-Cycle Evolution. HERPETOLOGICA 2017; 73:252-258. [PMID: 29269959 PMCID: PMC5736161 DOI: 10.1655/herpetologica-d-16-00083.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Plethodontid salamanders exhibit biphasic, larval form paedomorphic, and direct developing life cycles. This diversity of developmental strategies exceeds that of any other family of terrestrial vertebrate. Here we compare patterns of larval development among the three divergent lineages of biphasic plethodontids and other salamanders. We discuss how patterns of life-cycle evolution and larval ecology might have produced a wide array of larval life histories. Compared with many other salamanders, most larval plethodontids have relatively slow growth rates and sometimes exceptionally long larval periods (up to 60 mo). Recent phylogenetic analyses of life-cycle evolution indicate that ancestral plethodontids were likely direct developers. If true, then biphasic and paedomorphic lineages might have been independently derived through different developmental mechanisms. Furthermore, biphasic plethodontids largely colonized stream habitats, which tend to have lower productivity than seasonally ephemeral ponds. Consistent with this, plethodontid larvae grow very slowly, and metamorphic timing does not appear to be strongly affected by growth history. On the basis of this, we speculate that feeding schedules and stress hormones might play a comparatively reduced role in governing the timing of metamorphosis of stream-dwelling salamanders, particularly plethodontids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher K. Beachy
- Department of Biological Sciences, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA 70402, USA
| | - Travis J. Ryan
- Department of Biological Sciences, Butler University, Indianapolis, IN 46208, USA
| | - Ronald M. Bonett
- Department of Biological Science, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA
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32
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Edgington HA, Ingram CM, Taylor DR. Cyto-nuclear discordance suggests complex evolutionary history in the cave-dwelling salamander, Eurycea lucifuga. Ecol Evol 2016; 6:6121-38. [PMID: 27648230 PMCID: PMC5016636 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.2212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2015] [Revised: 04/28/2016] [Accepted: 05/02/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Our understanding of the evolutionary history and ecology of cave‐associated species has been driven historically by studies of morphologically adapted cave‐restricted species. Our understanding of the evolutionary history and ecology of nonrestricted cave species, troglophiles, is limited to a few studies, which present differing accounts of troglophiles’ relationship with the cave habitat, and its impact on population dynamics. Here, we used phylogenetics, demographic statistics, and population genetic methods to study lineage divergence, dates of divergence, and population structure in the Cave Salamander, Eurycea lucifuga, across its range. In order to perform these analyses, we sampled 233 individuals from 49 populations, using sequence data from three gene loci as well as genotyping data from 19 newly designed microsatellite markers. We find, as in many other species studied in a phylogeographic context, discordance between patterns inferred from mitochondrial relationships and those inferred by nuclear markers indicating a complicated evolutionary history in this species. Our results suggest Pleistocene‐based divergence among three main lineages within E. lucifuga corresponding to the western, central, and eastern regions of the range, similar to patterns seen in species separated in multiple refugia during climatic shifts. The conflict between mitochondrial and nuclear patterns is consistent with what we would expect from secondary contact between regional populations following expansion from multiple refugia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hilary A Edgington
- Ontario Institute for Cancer Research Toronto ON Canada; Department of Biology University of Virginia Charlottesville Virginia
| | - Colleen M Ingram
- Department of Biology University of Virginia Charlottesville Virginia; Division of Vertebrate Biology American Museum of Natural History New York City New York
| | - Douglas R Taylor
- Department of Biology University of Virginia Charlottesville Virginia
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33
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Oromi N, Michaux J, Denoël M. High gene flow between alternative morphs and the evolutionary persistence of facultative paedomorphosis. Sci Rep 2016; 6:32046. [PMID: 27534370 PMCID: PMC4989185 DOI: 10.1038/srep32046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2016] [Accepted: 08/02/2016] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Paedomorphosis and metamorphosis are two major developmental processes that characterize the evolution of complex life cycles in many lineages. Whereas these processes were fixed in some taxa, they remained facultative in others, with alternative phenotypes expressed in the same populations. From a genetic perspective, it is still unknown whether such phenotypes form a single population or whether they show some patterns of isolation in syntopy. This has deep implications for understanding the evolution of the phenotypes, i.e. towards their persistence or their fixation and speciation. Newts and salamanders are excellent models to test this hypothesis because they exhibit both developmental processes in their populations: the aquatic paedomorphs retain gills, whereas the metamorphs are able to colonize land. Using microsatellite data of coexisting paedomorphic and metamorphic palmate newts (Lissotriton helveticus), we found that they formed a panmictic population, which evidences sexual compatibility between the two phenotypes. The high gene flow could be understood as an adaptation to unstable habitats in which phenotypic plasticity is favored over the fixation of developmental alternatives. This makes then possible the persistence of a polyphenism: only metamorphosis could be maintained in case of occasional drying whereas paedomorphosis could offer specific advantages in organisms remaining in water.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neus Oromi
- Laboratory of Fish and Amphibian Ethology, Behavioural Biology Unit, Freshwater and Oceanic Science Unit of Research (FOCUS), University of Liège, 22 Quai van Beneden, 4020 Liège, Belgium
| | - Johan Michaux
- Conservation Genetics, University of Liège, Institute of Botany (Bat. 22), 2 Chemin de la Vallée, 4000 Liège, Belgium
| | - Mathieu Denoël
- Laboratory of Fish and Amphibian Ethology, Behavioural Biology Unit, Freshwater and Oceanic Science Unit of Research (FOCUS), University of Liège, 22 Quai van Beneden, 4020 Liège, Belgium
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Abstract
Mental glands and their associated delivery behaviors during courtship are unique to the plethodontid salamanders. Because previous interpretations of the evolution of these features were conducted using older phylogenetic hypotheses, we reanalyzed these traits with newer courtship descriptions and contemporary phylogenetic methods. Using Bayesian ancestral state reconstruction methods that have been developed since the first phylogenetic analyses were conducted in the mid-1990s, we reconstructed mental gland and courtship behavior evolution on a Bayesian phylogeny of the nuclear gene Rag1. The most probable ancestral condition for plethodontids was resolved as presence of a mental gland. Loss of a mental gland occurred in each subfamily and was recovered as the most probable ancestral condition for the Spelerpinae. In contrast, parsimony reconstruction recovered the presence of a mental gland in the ancestor to Spelerpinae with multiple secondary losses. We hypothesize that that absence of a mental gland is possibly ancestral in some clades (i.e., Spelerpinae) and secondary in others (e.g., paedomorphic Eurycea). The most probable ancestral form of the mental gland is likely to be the large pad-type distributed extensively in Plethodontinae and Bolitoglossinae. Desmognathans have the most unique mental glands, occurring in an anterior protrusion or bifurcated form (in Desmognathus wrighti). Fan-shaped mental glands evolved independently in Eurycea and Oedipina. Small pads arose independently in Bolitoglossinae, Plethodontinae, and Spelerpinae. Head-rubbing behavior for mental gland delivery mode was recovered as the most probable and parsimonious ancestral state for the Plethodontidae, with independent losses of this behavior in Plethodontinae and Spelerpinae. Because head-rubbing was observed in outgroups, we hypothesize that head-rubbing behavior predated mental gland evolution. Pulling, snapping, slapping, and biting behaviors evolved independently in the Plethodontinae and Spelerpinae and are not homologous with head-rubbing. All hypotheses of mental gland and courtship evolution invoke homoplasy.
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Affiliation(s)
- David M Sever
- Department of Biological Sciences, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, Louisiana 70402
| | - Dustin S Siegel
- Department of Biology, Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, Missouri 63701
| | - Michael S Taylor
- Department of Biology, Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, Missouri 63701
| | - Christopher K Beachy
- Department of Biological Sciences, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, Louisiana 70402
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Percino-Daniel R, Recuero E, Vázquez-Domínguez E, Zamudio KR, Parra-Olea G. All grown-up and nowhere to go: paedomorphosis and local adaptation inAmbystomasalamanders in the Cuenca Oriental of Mexico. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/bij.12750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Ruth Percino-Daniel
- Instituto de Biología; Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; AP 70-153 Circuito Exterior Ciudad Universitaria México DF CP 04510 México
| | - Ernesto Recuero
- Departamento de Ecología de la Biodiversidad; Instituto de Ecología; Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; Ap. Postal 70-275 Ciudad Universitaria México DF 04510 México
| | - Ella Vázquez-Domínguez
- Departamento de Ecología de la Biodiversidad; Instituto de Ecología; Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; Ap. Postal 70-275 Ciudad Universitaria México DF 04510 México
| | - Kelly R. Zamudio
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Cornell University; Ithaca NY 14853 USA
| | - Gabriela Parra-Olea
- Instituto de Biología; Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; AP 70-153 Circuito Exterior Ciudad Universitaria México DF CP 04510 México
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36
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Bonett RM. An Integrative Endocrine Model for the Evolution of Developmental Timing and Life History of Plethodontids and Other Salamanders. COPEIA 2016. [DOI: 10.1643/ot-15-269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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37
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Folt B, Garrison N, Guyer C, Rodriguez J, Bond JE. Phylogeography and evolution of the Red Salamander (Pseudotriton ruber). Mol Phylogenet Evol 2016; 98:97-110. [PMID: 26872531 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2016.01.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2015] [Revised: 01/04/2016] [Accepted: 01/28/2016] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Phylogeographic studies frequently result in the elevation of subspecific taxa to species given monophyly, or the synonymy of subspecies that are not monophyletic. However, given limited or incongruent datasets, retention of subspecies can be useful to describe hypothesized incipient species or to illustrate interesting biological phenomena driving morphological diversity. Four subspecific taxa have been used to describe largely allopatric geographic variation within the species Pseudotriton ruber, a plethodontid salamander occupying stream and spring habitats across eastern North America: P. r. vioscai occurs in lowland Coastal Plain habitats, while P. r. ruber, P. r. nitidus, and P. r. schencki occupy upland regions in and around the Appalachian Mountains. Pseudotriton ruber co-occurs through its distribution with the aposematic newt Notophthalmus viridescens, and both species are hypothesized to be part of a Müllerian mimicry complex. In this study, we sequenced regions of two mitochondrial (cytochrome b, NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2) and one single copy nuclear protein-coding gene (pro-opiomelanocortin) from individuals sampled across much of the distribution of P. ruber and then used maximum-likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic inference to test the monophyly of subspecies, reconstruct biogeographic history, and make inferences about morphological evolution. Phylogeographic hypotheses from mitochondrial and nuclear datasets described structure among populations of P. ruber which separated Coastal Plain and upland Appalachian populations, but subspecies were not monophyletic. Biogeographic reconstruction estimated the ancestor of all populations to have occupied and initially diverged in the Coastal Plain during the Pliocene (∼3.6mya), before one lineage subsequently invaded upland areas of Appalachia. Bold bright coloration of high elevation subspecies P. r. nitidus and P. r. schencki appears to have evolved twice. We hypothesize that the Müllerian mimicry complex with N. viridescens and P. ruber may provide a selective mechanism driving the co-evolution of striking bright and dull morphological variation among populations of both species. While P. ruber subspecies were not consistent with our criteria for diagnosing species (monophyly) and therefore could not be elevated to species, we advocate for the retention of subspecies because they describe hypotheses about an incipient species (P. r. vioscai) and how Müllerian mimicry may shape morphological diversity of species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian Folt
- Department of Biological Sciences and Museum of Natural History, 331 Funchess Hall, Auburn University, AL 36849, USA.
| | - Nicole Garrison
- Department of Biological Sciences and Museum of Natural History, 331 Funchess Hall, Auburn University, AL 36849, USA
| | - Craig Guyer
- Department of Biological Sciences and Museum of Natural History, 331 Funchess Hall, Auburn University, AL 36849, USA
| | - Juanita Rodriguez
- Department of Biological Sciences and Museum of Natural History, 331 Funchess Hall, Auburn University, AL 36849, USA
| | - Jason E Bond
- Department of Biological Sciences and Museum of Natural History, 331 Funchess Hall, Auburn University, AL 36849, USA
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38
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Rabosky DL. Challenges in the estimation of extinction from molecular phylogenies: A response to Beaulieu and O'Meara. Evolution 2015; 70:218-28. [PMID: 26593734 DOI: 10.1111/evo.12820] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2015] [Accepted: 11/13/2015] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Time-calibrated phylogenies that contain only living species have been widely used to study the dynamics of speciation and extinction. Concerns about the reliability of phylogenetic extinction estimates were raised by Rabosky (2010), where I suggested that unaccommodated heterogeneity in speciation rate could lead to positively biased extinction estimates. In a recent article, Beaulieu and O'Meara (2015a) correctly point out several technical errors in the execution of my 2010 study and concluded that phylogenetic extinction estimates are robust to speciation rate heterogeneity under a range of model parameters. I demonstrate that Beaulieu and O'Meara underestimated the magnitude of speciation rate variation in real phylogenies and consequently did not incorporate biologically meaningful levels of rate heterogeneity into their simulations. Using parameter values drawn from the recent literature, I find that modest levels of heterogeneity in speciation rate result in a consistent, positive bias in extinction estimates that are exacerbated by phylogenetic tree size. This bias, combined with the inherent lack of information about extinction in molecular phylogenies, suggests that extinction rate estimates from phylogenies of extant taxa only should be treated with caution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel L Rabosky
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48103.
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39
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Kalinka AT. Towards an ecological understanding of morphological evolution. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY. PART B, MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION 2015; 324:383-392. [PMID: 24890454 DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2014] [Revised: 05/05/2014] [Accepted: 05/07/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
The roots of modern evo-devo can be traced back to the comparative anatomy of the 19th century. Inheriting from this tradition, the field has maintained a mechanistic approach to understanding the origins of distinct animal morphologies. While this focus has produced a valuable body of work, we argue here that a fuller understanding of why species diverge morphologically must be centered on the selective forces driving divergence, and these forces ultimately reside in the ecological context in which organisms live and reproduce. We discuss reasons why we expect many morphological novelties to evolve largely secondarily to, and often as a by-product of, primary selection on life-history traits. By shifting the focus to proximate evolutionary causes, our perspective necessarily prioritises selection experiments as a means of empirical testing. We outline experimental approaches designed to dissect the role of ecological variables in the evolution of animal development and morphology, and we show how methods and advances in fields as diverse as population genomics and ecological stoichiometry can contribute to progress in this direction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex T Kalinka
- Institut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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40
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Scott JE. Lost and found: The third molars of Callimico goeldii and the evolution of the callitrichine postcanine dentition. J Hum Evol 2015; 83:65-73. [PMID: 25887279 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.03.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2014] [Revised: 01/09/2015] [Accepted: 03/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
This study tests the hypothesis that the third molars of Callimico goeldii represent a reversal in evolutionary tooth loss within the Callitrichinae. Loss of third molars is part of a suite of unusual characters that has been used to unite marmosets and tamarins in a clade to the exclusion of Callimico. However, molecular phylogenetic studies provide consistent support for the hypothesis that marmosets are more closely related to Callimico than to tamarins, raising the possibility that some or all of the features shared by marmosets and tamarins are homoplastic. Here, I use the binary-state speciation and extinction (BiSSE) model and a sample of 249 extant primate species to demonstrate that, given the shape of the primate phylogenetic tree and the distribution of character states in extant taxa, models in which M3 loss is constrained to be irreversible are much less likely than models in which reversals are allowed to occur. This result provides support for the idea that the last common ancestor of Callimico and marmosets was characterized by the two-molared phenotype. The M3s of Callimico therefore appear to be secondarily derived rather than plesiomorphic. This conclusion may also apply to the other apparently plesiomorphic traits found in Callimico. Hypotheses regarding the re-evolution of M3 in the callitrichine clade and the origin and maintenance of the two-molared phenotype are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremiah E Scott
- Department of Anthropology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA.
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41
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Winandy L, Denoël M. Expression of sexual ornaments in a polymorphic species: phenotypic variation in response to environmental risk. J Evol Biol 2015; 28:1049-56. [PMID: 25847588 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2014] [Accepted: 03/20/2015] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Secondary sexual traits may evolve under the antagonistic context of sexual and natural selection. In some polymorphic species, these traits are only expressed during the breeding period and are differently expressed in alternative phenotypes. However, it is unknown whether such phenotypes exhibit phenotypic plasticity of seasonal ornamentations in response to environmental pressures such as in the presence of fish (predation risk). This is an important question to understand the evolution of polyphenisms. We used facultative paedomorphosis in newts as a model system because it involves the coexistence of paedomorphs that retain gills in the adult stage with metamorphs that have undergone metamorphosis, but also because newts exhibit seasonal sexual traits. Our aim was therefore to determine the influence of fish on the development of seasonal ornamentation in the two phenotypes of the palmate newt (Lissotriton helveticus). During the entire newt breeding period, we assessed the importance of phenotype and fish presence with an information-theoretic approach. Our results showed that paedomorphs presented much less developed ornamentation than metamorphs and those ornamentations varied over time. Fish inhibited the development of sexual traits but differently between phenotypes: in contrast to metamorphs, paedomorphs lack the phenotypic plasticity of sexual traits to environmental risk. This study points out that internal and external parameters act in complex ways in the expression of seasonal sexual ornamentations and that similar environmental pressure can induce a contrasted evolution in alternative phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Winandy
- Laboratory of Fish and Amphibian Ethology, Behavioural Biology Unit, Department of Biology, Ecology and Evolution, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - M Denoël
- Laboratory of Fish and Amphibian Ethology, Behavioural Biology Unit, Department of Biology, Ecology and Evolution, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
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42
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Book Reviews. COPEIA 2014. [DOI: 10.1643/ot-14-144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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43
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Bonett RM, Steffen MA, Robison GA. Heterochrony repolarized: a phylogenetic analysis of developmental timing in plethodontid salamanders. EvoDevo 2014; 5:27. [PMID: 25243058 PMCID: PMC4169133 DOI: 10.1186/2041-9139-5-27] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2014] [Accepted: 07/21/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Disentangling evolutionary shifts in developmental timing (heterochony) is dependent upon accurate estimates of ancestral patterns. However, many classic assessments of heterochronic patterns predate robust phylogenetic hypotheses and methods for trait reconstruction, and therefore may have been polarized with untested ‘primitive’ conditions. Here we revisit the heterochronic modes of development that underlie the evolution of metamorphosis, maturation, and paedomorphosis in plethodontid salamanders. We focus on the tribe Spelerpini, which is a diverse clade that exhibits tremendous variation in timing of metamorphosis and maturation, as well as multiple independent instances of larval form paedomorphosis. Based on morphology and biogeography, early investigators concluded that the most recent common ancestors of plethodontids, and also spelerpines, were large salamanders, with very long larval periods and late maturation times. This prevailing assumption influenced subsequent heterochronic assessments, which concluded that most modern spelerpines (with shorter larval periods) were derived through multiple independent accelerations in larval development. It was also concluded that most occurrences of larval form paedomorphosis in this clade resulted from progenesis (acceleration of gonadal development relative to metamorphosis). Results By reconstructing the time to metamorphosis on a molecular-based phylogeny of plethodontids, we find that ancestral spelerpines likely had relatively shorter larval periods than previously proposed. Taken together with the credibility interval from our ancestral state estimation we show that very long larval periods are likely derived decelerations, only a few lineages have undergone appreciable accelerations in metamorphic timing, and the remaining taxa have lower probabilities of being different than the ancestral condition (possibly due to stasis). Reconstructing maturation age across nodes concomitant with the evolution of larval form paedomorphosis in one large radiation does not show clear evidence of progenesis, but more likely indicates a case of neoteny (delayed metamorphosis). Conclusions This study demonstrates cases in plethodontid salamanders where phylogenetic-based character reconstructions reject previously hypothesized ancestral life history conditions. As a result, several prior hypotheses of heterochronic evolution in this family are reversed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ronald M Bonett
- Department of Biological Science, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA
| | - Michael A Steffen
- Department of Biological Science, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA
| | - Grant A Robison
- Department of Biological Science, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA
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44
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Aran RP, Steffen MA, Martin SD, Lopez OI, Bonett RM. Reduced effects of thyroid hormone on gene expression and metamorphosis in a paedomorphic plethodontid salamander. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART B-MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION 2014; 322:294-303. [DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2014] [Accepted: 05/08/2014] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Robert P. Aran
- Department of Biological Science; University of Tulsa; Tulsa Oklahoma
| | | | - Samuel D. Martin
- Department of Biological Science; University of Tulsa; Tulsa Oklahoma
| | - Olivia I. Lopez
- Department of Biological Science; University of Tulsa; Tulsa Oklahoma
| | - Ronald M. Bonett
- Department of Biological Science; University of Tulsa; Tulsa Oklahoma
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45
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Evolution of rapid development in spadefoot toads is unrelated to arid environments. PLoS One 2014; 9:e96637. [PMID: 24800832 PMCID: PMC4011863 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0096637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2014] [Accepted: 04/10/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The extent to which species' life histories evolve to match climatic conditions is a critical question in evolutionary biology and ecology and as human activities rapidly modify global climate. GIS-based climatic data offer new opportunities to rigorously test this question. Superficially, the spadefoot toads of North America (Scaphiopodidae) seem to offer a classic example of adaptive life-history evolution: some species occur in extremely dry deserts and have evolved the shortest aquatic larval periods known among anurans. However, the relationships between the climatic conditions where spadefoots occur and the relevant life-history traits have not been explicitly tested. Here, we analyzed these relationships using GIS-based climatic data, published life-history data, and a time-calibrated phylogeny for pelobatoid frogs. Surprisingly, we find no significant relationships between life-history variables and precipitation or aridity levels where these species occur. Instead, rapid development in pelobatoids is strongly related to their small genome sizes and to phylogeny.
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