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Berasategui JA, Žerdoner Čalasan A, Zizka A, Kadereit G. Global distribution, climatic preferences and photosynthesis-related traits of C 4 eudicots and how they differ from those of C 4 grasses. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10720. [PMID: 37964791 PMCID: PMC10641307 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Revised: 10/25/2023] [Accepted: 10/30/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023] Open
Abstract
C₄ is one of three known photosynthetic processes of carbon fixation in flowering plants. It evolved independently more than 61 times in multiple angiosperm lineages and consists of a series of anatomical and biochemical modifications to the ancestral C3 pathway increasing plant productivity under warm and light-rich conditions. The C4 lineages of eudicots belong to seven orders and 15 families, are phylogenetically less constrained than those of monocots and entail an enormous structural and ecological diversity. Eudicot C4 lineages likely evolved the C4 syndrome along different evolutionary paths. Therefore, a better understanding of this diversity is key to understanding the evolution of this complex trait as a whole. By compiling 1207 recognised C4 eudicots species described in the literature and presenting trait data among these species, we identify global centres of species richness and of high phylogenetic diversity. Furthermore, we discuss climatic preferences in the context of plant functional traits. We identify two hotspots of C4 eudicot diversity: arid regions of Mexico/Southern United States and Australia, which show a similarly high number of different C4 eudicot genera but differ in the number of C4 lineages that evolved in situ. Further eudicot C4 hotspots with many different families and genera are in South Africa, West Africa, Patagonia, Central Asia and the Mediterranean. In general, C4 eudicots are diverse in deserts and xeric shrublands, tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas and shrublands. We found C4 eudicots to occur in areas with less annual precipitation than C4 grasses which can be explained by frequently associated adaptations to drought stress such as among others succulence and salt tolerance. The data indicate that C4 eudicot lineages utilising the NAD-ME decarboxylating enzyme grow in drier areas than those using the NADP-ME decarboxylating enzyme indicating biochemical restrictions of the later system in higher temperatures. We conclude that in most eudicot lineages, C4 evolved in ancestrally already drought-adapted clades and enabled these to further spread in these habitats and colonise even drier areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica A. Berasategui
- Prinzessin Therese von Bayern Lehrstuhl für Systematik, Biodiversität & Evolution der PflanzenLudwig‐Maximilians Universität MünchenMünchenGermany
- Institute for Molecular PhysiologyJohannes Gutenberg‐University MainzMainzGermany
| | - Anže Žerdoner Čalasan
- Prinzessin Therese von Bayern Lehrstuhl für Systematik, Biodiversität & Evolution der PflanzenLudwig‐Maximilians Universität MünchenMünchenGermany
| | - Alexander Zizka
- Department of BiologyPhilipps‐University MarburgMarburgGermany
| | - Gudrun Kadereit
- Prinzessin Therese von Bayern Lehrstuhl für Systematik, Biodiversität & Evolution der PflanzenLudwig‐Maximilians Universität MünchenMünchenGermany
- Botanischer Garten München‐Nymphenburg und Botanische Staatssammlung MünchenStaatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen BayernsMünchenGermany
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2
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Springer MS, Emerling CA, Gatesy J. Three Blind Moles: Molecular Evolutionary Insights on the Tempo and Mode of Convergent Eye Degeneration in Notoryctes typhlops (Southern Marsupial Mole) and Two Chrysochlorids (Golden Moles). Genes (Basel) 2023; 14:2018. [PMID: 38002961 PMCID: PMC10671557 DOI: 10.3390/genes14112018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2023] [Revised: 10/20/2023] [Accepted: 10/25/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Golden moles (Chrysochloridae) and marsupial moles (Notoryctidae) are textbook examples of convergent evolution. Both taxa are highly adapted to subterranean lifestyles and have powerful limbs for digging through the soil/sand, ears that are adapted for low-frequency hearing, vestigial eyes that are covered by skin and fur, and the absence of optic nerve connections between the eyes and the brain. The eyes of marsupial moles also lack a lens as well as retinal rods and cones. Two hypotheses have been proposed to account for the greater degeneracy of the eyes of marsupial moles than golden moles. First, marsupial moles may have had more time to adapt to their underground habitat than other moles. Second, the eyes of marsupial moles may have been rapidly and recently vestigialized to (1) reduce the injurious effects of sand getting into the eyes and (2) accommodate the enlargement of lacrimal glands that keep the nasal cavity moist and prevent the entry of sand into the nasal passages during burrowing. Here, we employ molecular evolutionary methods on DNA sequences for 38 eye genes, most of which are eye-specific, to investigate the timing of relaxed selection (=neutral evolution) for different groups of eye-specific genes that serve as proxies for distinct functional components of the eye (rod phototransduction, cone phototransduction, lens/cornea). Our taxon sampling included 12 afrothere species, of which two are golden moles (Amblysomus hottentotus, Chrysochloris asiatica), and 28 marsupial species including two individuals of the southern marsupial mole (Notoryctes typhlops). Most of the sequences were mined from databases, but we also provide new genome data for A. hottentotus and one of the two N. typhlops individuals. Even though the eyes of golden moles are less degenerate than the eyes of marsupial moles, there are more inactivating mutations (e.g., frameshift indels, premature stop codons) in their cone phototransduction and lens/cornea genes than in orthologous genes of the marsupial mole. We estimate that cone phototransduction recovery genes were inactivated first in each group, followed by lens/cornea genes and then cone phototransduction activation genes. All three groups of genes were inactivated earlier in golden moles than in marsupial moles. For the latter, we estimate that lens/cornea genes were inactivated ~17.8 million years ago (MYA) when stem notoryctids were burrowing in the soft soils of Australian rainforests. Selection on phototransduction activation genes was relaxed much later (5.38 MYA), during the early stages of Australia's aridification that produced coastal sand plains and eventually sand dunes. Unlike cone phototransduction activation genes, rod phototransduction activation genes are intact in both golden moles and one of the two individuals of N. typhlops. A second marsupial mole individual has just a single inactivating mutation in one of the rod phototransduction activation genes (PDE6B). One explanation for this result is that some rod phototransduction activation genes are pleiotropic and are expressed in extraocular tissues, possibly in conjunction with sperm thermotaxis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark S. Springer
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
| | | | - John Gatesy
- Division of Vertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA;
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3
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Prideaux GJ, Warburton NM. A review of the late Cenozoic genus Bohra (Diprotodontia: Macropodidae) and the evolution of tree-kangaroos. Zootaxa 2023; 5299:1-95. [PMID: 37518576 DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5299.1.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023]
Abstract
Tree-kangaroos of the genus Dendrolagus occupy forest habitats of New Guinea and extreme northeastern Australia, but their evolutionary history is poorly known. Descriptions in the 2000s of near-complete Pleistocene skeletons belonging to larger-bodied species in the now-extinct genus Bohra broadened our understanding of morphological variation in the group and have since helped us to identify unassigned fossils in museum collections, as well as to reassign species previously placed in other genera. Here we describe these fossils and analyse tree-kangaroo systematics via comparative osteology. Including B. planei sp. nov., B. bandharr comb. nov. and B. bila comb. nov., we recognise the existence of at least seven late Cenozoic species of Bohra, with a maximum of three in any one assemblage. All tree-kangaroos (Dendrolagina subtribe nov.) exhibit skeletal adaptations reflective of greater joint flexibility and manoeuvrability, particularly in the hindlimb, compared with other macropodids. The Pliocene species of Bohra retained the stepped calcaneocuboid articulation characteristic of ground-dwelling macropodids, but this became smoothed to allow greater hindfoot rotation in the later species of Bohra and in Dendrolagus. Tree-kangaroo diversification may have been tied to the expansion of forest habitats in the early Pliocene. Following the onset of late Pliocene aridity, some tree-kangaroo species took advantage of the consequent spread of more open habitats, becoming among the largest late Cenozoic tree-dwellers on the continent. Arboreal Old World primates and late Quaternary lemurs may be the closest ecological analogues to the species of Bohra.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gavin J Prideaux
- College of Science & Engineering; Flinders University; Bedford Park; South Australia 5042; Australia.
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4
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Mossop KD, Lemmon AR, Moriarty Lemmon E, Eytan R, Adams M, Unmack PJ, Smith Date K, Morales HE, Hammer MP, Wong BBM, Chapple DG. Phylogenomics and biogeography of arid-adapted Chlamydogobius goby fishes. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2023; 182:107757. [PMID: 36925090 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2023.107757] [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: 10/04/2022] [Revised: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/17/2023]
Abstract
The progressive aridification of the Australian continent from ∼ 20 million years ago posed severe challenges for the persistence of its resident biota. A key question involves the role of refugial habitats - specifically, their ability to mediate the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation, and their potential to shape opportunities for allopatric speciation. With freshwater species, for example, the patchiness, or absence, of water will constrain distributions. However, aridity may not necessarily isolate populations if disjunct refugia experience frequent hydrological connections. To investigate this potential dichotomy, we explored the evolutionary history of the Chlamydogobius gobies (Gobiiformes: Gobiidae), an arid-adapted genus of six small, benthic fish species that exploit all types of waterbodies (i.e. desert springs, waterholes and bore-fed wetlands, coastal estuarine creeks and mangroves) across parts of central and northern Australia. We used Anchored Phylogenomics to generate a highly resolved phylogeny of the group from sequence data for 260 nuclear loci. Buttressed by companion allozyme and mtDNA datasets, our molecular findings infer the diversification of Chlamydogobius in arid Australia, and provide a phylogenetic structure that cannot be simply explained by invoking allopatric speciation events reflecting current geographic proximity. Our findings are generally consistent with the existing morphological delimitation of species, with one exception: at the shallowest nodes of phylogenetic reconstruction, the molecular data do not fully support the current dichotomous delineation of C. japalpa from C. eremius in Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre-associated waterbodies. Together these findings illustrate the ability of structural (hydrological) connections to generate patterns of connectivity and isolation for an ecologically moderate disperser in response to ongoing habitat aridification. Finally, we explore the implications of these results for the immediate management of threatened (C. gloveri) and critically endangered (C. micropterus, C. squamigenus) congeners.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krystina D Mossop
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
| | - Alan R Lemmon
- Department of Scientific Computing, Florida State University, Dirac Science Library, Tallahassee, FL, USA
| | | | - Ron Eytan
- Marine Biology Department, Texas A&M University at Galveston, Galveston, TX 77554, USA; Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Mark Adams
- Evolutionary Biology Unit, South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia; School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
| | - Peter J Unmack
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia; Centre for Applied Water Science, Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, ACT 2617, Australia
| | - Katie Smith Date
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia; Museum Victoria, Sciences Department, GPO Box 666, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia
| | - Hernán E Morales
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia; Section for Evolutionary Genomics, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Michael P Hammer
- Natural Sciences, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT 0801, Australia
| | - Bob B M Wong
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
| | - David G Chapple
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia.
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5
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Heimburger B, Maurer SS, Schardt L, Scheu S, Hartke TR. Historical and future climate change fosters expansion of Australian harvester termites, Drepanotermes. Evolution 2022; 76:2145-2161. [PMID: 35842838 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2022] [Revised: 05/05/2022] [Accepted: 05/25/2022] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Past evolutionary adaptations to Australia's aridification can help us to understand the potential responses of species in the face of global climate change. Here, we focus on the Australian-endemic genus Drepanotermes, also known as Australian harvester termites, which are mainly found in semiarid and arid regions of Australia. We used species delineation, phylogenetic inference, and ancestral state reconstruction to investigate the evolution of mound-building in Drepanotermes and in relation to reconstructed past climatic conditions. Our findings suggest that mound-building evolved several times independently in Drepanotermes, apparently facilitating expansions into tropical and mesic regions of Australia. The phylogenetic signal of bioclimatic variables, especially limiting environmental factors (e.g., precipitation of the warmest quarter), suggests that the climate exerts a strong selective pressure. Finally, we used environmental niche modeling to predict the present and future habitat suitability for eight Drepanotermes species. Abiotic factors such as annual temperature contributed disproportionately to calibrations, while the inclusion of biotic factors such as predators and vegetation cover improved ecological niche models in some species. A comparison between present and future habitat suitability under two different emission scenarios revealed continued suitability of current ranges as well as substantial habitat gains for most studied species. Human-mediated climate change occurs more quickly than these termites can disperse into newly suitable habitat; however, their role in stabilizing arid ecosystems may allow them to mitigate effects on some other organisms at a local level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bastian Heimburger
- Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, 37073, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Santiago Soto Maurer
- Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, 37073, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Leonie Schardt
- Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, 37073, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Stefan Scheu
- Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, 37073, Göttingen, Germany.,Centre of Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Use, Büsgenweg 1, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Tamara R Hartke
- Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, 37073, Göttingen, Germany
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6
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Mariotti A, Croke J, Bartley R, Kelley SE, Ward J, Fülöp RH, Rood AH, Rood DH, Codilean AT, Wilcken K, Fifield K. Pre-development denudation rates for the Great Barrier Reef catchments derived using 10Be. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2021; 172:112731. [PMID: 34454389 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2021] [Revised: 04/24/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Understanding of the pre-development, baseline denudation rates that deliver sediment to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) has been elusive. Cosmogenic 10Be in sediment is a useful integrator of denudation rates and sediment yields averaged over large spatial and temporal scales. This study presents 10Be data from 71 sites across 11 catchments draining to the GBR: representing 80% of the GBR catchment area and provide background sediment yields for the region. Modern, short-term, sediment yields derived from suspended load concentrations are compared to the 10Be data to calculate an Accelerated Erosion Factor (AEF) that highlights denudation "hot-spots" where sediment yields have increased over the long-term background values. The AEF results show that 58% basins have higher modern sediment yields than long-term yields. The AEF is considered a useful approach to help prioritise on-ground investments in remediation and the additional measured empirical data in this paper will help support future predictive models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Apolline Mariotti
- School of Earth Science, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland; iCRAG - Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geosciences, University College Dublin, Ireland.
| | - Jacky Croke
- School of Geography, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - Rebecca Bartley
- CSIRO Land and Water, GPO Box 2583, Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia
| | - Samuel E Kelley
- School of Earth Science, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - Jay Ward
- Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Réka-Hajnalka Fülöp
- Australia's Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Lucas Heights, NSW 2234, Australia; School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Anna H Rood
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK; Department of Earth and Environmental Science & A. E. Lalonde AMS Laboratory, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Dylan H Rood
- Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK; Department of Earth and Environmental Science & A. E. Lalonde AMS Laboratory, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Alexandru T Codilean
- School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Klaus Wilcken
- Australia's Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Lucas Heights, NSW 2234, Australia
| | - Keith Fifield
- Research School of Physics, The Australian National University, ACT 2601, Australia
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7
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Multi-Species Phylogeography of Arid-Zone Sminthopsinae (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae) Reveals Evidence of Refugia and Population Expansion in Response to Quaternary Change. Genes (Basel) 2020; 11:genes11090963. [PMID: 32825338 PMCID: PMC7563968 DOI: 10.3390/genes11090963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2020] [Revised: 08/14/2020] [Accepted: 08/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Historical population contraction and expansion events associated with Pleistocene climate change are important drivers of intraspecific population structure in Australian arid-zone species. We compared phylogeographic patterns among arid-adapted Dasyuridae (Sminthopsis and Planigale) with close phylogenetic relationships and similar ecological roles to investigate the drivers of phylogeographic structuring and the importance of historical refugia. We generated haplotype networks for two mitochondrial (control region and cytochrome b) and one nuclear (omega-globin) gene from samples distributed across each species range. We used ΦST to test for a genetic population structure associated with the four Pilbara subregions, and we used expansion statistics and Bayesian coalescent skyline analysis to test for signals of historical population expansion and the timing of such events. Significant population structure associated with the Pilbara and subregions was detected in the mitochondrial data for most species, but not with the nuclear data. Evidence of population expansion was detected for all species, and it likely began during the mid-late Pleistocene. The timing of population expansion suggests that these species responded favorably to the increased availability of arid habitats during the mid-late Pleistocene, which is when previously patchy habitats became more widespread. We interpret our results to indicate that the Pilbara region could have acted as a refugium for small dasyurids.
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8
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Petrick B, Martínez-García A, Auer G, Reuning L, Auderset A, Deik H, Takayanagi H, De Vleeschouwer D, Iryu Y, Haug GH. Glacial Indonesian Throughflow weakening across the Mid-Pleistocene Climatic Transition. Sci Rep 2019; 9:16995. [PMID: 31740711 PMCID: PMC6861309 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-53382-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2019] [Accepted: 10/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) controls the oceanic flux of heat and salt between the Pacific and Indian Oceans and therewith plays an important role in modulating the meridional overturning circulation and low latitude hydrological cycle. Here, we report new sea surface temperature and aridity records from the west coast of Australia (IODP Site U1460), which allow us to assess the sensitivity of the eastern Indian Ocean to the major reorganization of Earth’s climate that occurred during the Mid-Pleistocene Transition. Our records indicate glacial coolings at 1.55 and 0.65 million years ago that are best explained by a weakening of the ITF as a consequence of global sea level and tectonic changes. These coincide with the development of pronounced gradients in the carbon isotope composition of the different ocean basins and with substantial changes in regional aridity, suggesting that the restrictions of the ITF influenced both the evolution of global ocean circulation and the development of the modern hydrological cycle in Western Australia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Petrick
- Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Climate Geochemistry Department, Hahn-Meitner-Weg 1, 55128, Mainz, Germany.
| | - Alfredo Martínez-García
- Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Climate Geochemistry Department, Hahn-Meitner-Weg 1, 55128, Mainz, Germany
| | - Gerald Auer
- Department of Biogeochemistry Frontier Bldg, 4F, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, 237-0061, Japan
| | - Lars Reuning
- Kiel University, Institute for Geosciences, Ludewig-Meyn-Str. 10, 24118, Kiel, Germany.,RWTH Aachen University, Geological Institute, Wüllnerstrasse 2, 52062, Aachen, Germany
| | - Alexandra Auderset
- Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Climate Geochemistry Department, Hahn-Meitner-Weg 1, 55128, Mainz, Germany
| | - Hanaa Deik
- RWTH Aachen University, Geological Institute, Wüllnerstrasse 2, 52062, Aachen, Germany
| | - Hideko Takayanagi
- Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Tohoku University, Aobayama, Sendai, 980-8578, Japan
| | - David De Vleeschouwer
- MARUM-Center for Marine and Environmental Sciences, Klagenfurterstraße 2-4, Bremen, 28359, Germany
| | - Yasufumi Iryu
- RWTH Aachen University, Geological Institute, Wüllnerstrasse 2, 52062, Aachen, Germany
| | - Gerald H Haug
- Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Climate Geochemistry Department, Hahn-Meitner-Weg 1, 55128, Mainz, Germany.,Geologisches Institut, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, 8092, Zürich, Switzerland
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9
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Gray JA, Sherratt E, Hutchinson MN, Jones MEH. Evolution of cranial shape in a continental‐scale evolutionary radiation of Australian lizards. Evolution 2019; 73:2216-2229. [DOI: 10.1111/evo.13851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2019] [Revised: 07/31/2019] [Accepted: 09/26/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Jaimi A. Gray
- School of Biological Science, Thomas BuildingUniversity of Auckland Auckland 1142 New Zealand
| | - Emma Sherratt
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological SciencesUniversity of Adelaide North Terrace Adelaide South Australia 5005 Australia
- South Australian Museum Kintore Avenue Adelaide South Australia 5000 Australia
| | - Mark N. Hutchinson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological SciencesUniversity of Adelaide North Terrace Adelaide South Australia 5005 Australia
- South Australian Museum Kintore Avenue Adelaide South Australia 5000 Australia
| | - Marc E. H. Jones
- Earth SciencesNatural History Museum London SW7 5BD United Kingdom
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10
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Shelley JJ, Dempster T, Le Feuvre MC, Unmack PJ, Laffan SW, Swearer SE. A revision of the bioregionalisation of freshwater fish communities in the Australian Monsoonal Tropics. Ecol Evol 2019; 9:4568-4588. [PMID: 31031928 PMCID: PMC6476826 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2018] [Revised: 02/16/2019] [Accepted: 02/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The Australian freshwater fish fauna is very unique, but poorly understood. In the Australian Monsoonal Tropics (AMT) biome of northern Australia, the number of described and candidate species has nearly doubled since the last attempt to analyse freshwater fish species composition patterns and determine a bioregionalisation scheme. Here, we utilise the most complete database of catchment-scale freshwater fish distributions from the AMT to date to: (a) reanalyze spatial patterns of species richness, endemism and turnover of freshwater fishes; (b) propose a biogeographic regionalisation based on species turnover; (c) assess the relationship between species turnover and patterns of environmental change and historic drainage connectivity; and (d) identify sampling gaps. Biogeographic provinces were identified using an agglomerative cluster analysis of a Simpson's beta (β sim) dissimilarity matrix. A generalised dissimilarity model incorporating eighteen environmental variables was used to investigate the environmental correlates of species turnover. Observed and estimated species richness and endemism were calculated and inventory completeness was estimated based on the ratio of observed to estimated species richness. Three major freshwater fish biogeographic provinces and 14 subprovinces are proposed. These differ substantially from the current bioregionalisation scheme. Species turnover was most strongly influenced by environmental variables that are interpreted to reflect changes in terrain (catchment relief and confinement), geology and climate (runoff perenniality, stream density), and biotic responses to climate (net primary productivity). Past connectivity between rivers during low sea-level events is also influential highlighting the importance of historical processes in explaining contemporary patterns of biodiversity in the AMT. The inclusion of 49 newly discovered species and candidate species only reinforced known focal points of species richness and endemism in the AMT. However, a number of key sampling gaps remain that need to be filled to fully characterise the proposed bioregionalisation.
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Affiliation(s)
- James J. Shelley
- School of BioSciencesUniversity of MelbourneMelbourneVictoriaAustralia
| | - Tim Dempster
- School of BioSciencesUniversity of MelbourneMelbourneVictoriaAustralia
| | | | - Peter J. Unmack
- Institute for Applied EcologyUniversity of CanberraCanberraAustralian Capital TerritoryAustralia
| | - Shawn W. Laffan
- School of Biological Earth and Environmental SciencesUniversity of New South WalesSydneyNew South WalesAustralia
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11
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The antiquity of Nullarbor speleothems and implications for karst palaeoclimate archives. Sci Rep 2019; 9:603. [PMID: 30679669 PMCID: PMC6345804 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-37097-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2018] [Accepted: 11/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Speleothems represent important archives of terrestrial climate variation that host a variety of proxy signals and are also highly amenable to radiometric age determination. Although speleothems have been forming on Earth for at least 400 million years, most studies rely upon the U-Th chronometer which extends only to the mid Pleistocene, leaving important questions over their longer-term preservation potential. To date, older records, exploiting the advantages of the U-Pb chronometer, remain fragmentary ‘snapshots in time’. Here we demonstrate the viability of speleothems as deep time climate archives by showing that a vast system of shallow caves beneath the arid Nullarbor plain of southern Australia, the world’s largest exposed karst terrain, formed largely within the Pliocene epoch, with a median age of 4.2 Ma, and that, in these caves, even the most delicate formations date from this time. The long-term preservation of regional-scale cave networks such as this demonstrates that abundant speleothem archives do survive to permit the reconstruction of climates and environments for much older parts of Earth history than the ~600 ka period to which most previous studies have been limited.
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Gray JA, Sherratt E, Hutchinson MN, Jones MEH. Changes in ontogenetic patterns facilitate diversification in skull shape of Australian agamid lizards. BMC Evol Biol 2019; 19:7. [PMID: 30621580 PMCID: PMC6325775 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-018-1335-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2018] [Accepted: 12/17/2018] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Morphological diversity among closely related animals can be the result of differing growth patterns. The Australian radiation of agamid lizards (Amphibolurinae) exhibits great ecological and morphological diversity, which they have achieved on a continent-wide scale, in a relatively short period of time (30 million years). Amphibolurines therefore make an ideal study group for examining ontogenetic allometry. We used two-dimensional landmark-based geometric morphometric methods to characterise the postnatal growth patterns in cranial shape of 18 species of amphibolurine lizards and investigate the associations between cranial morphology, and life habit and phylogeny. RESULTS For most amphibolurine species, juveniles share a similar cranial phenotype, but by adulthood crania are more disparate in shape and occupy different sub-spaces of the total shape space. To achieve this disparity, crania do not follow a common post-natal growth pattern; there are differences among species in both the direction and magnitude of change in morphospace. We found that these growth patterns among the amphibolurines are significantly associated with ecological life habits. The clade Ctenophorus includes species that undergo small magnitudes of shape change during growth. They have dorsoventrally deep, blunt-snouted skulls (associated with terrestrial lifestyles), and also dorsoventrally shallow skulls (associated with saxicolous lifestyles). The sister clade to Ctenophorus, which includes the bearded dragon (Pogona), frill-neck lizard (Chlamydosaurus), and long-nosed dragon (Gowidon), exhibit broad and robust post-orbital regions and differing snout lengths (mainly associated with scansorial lifestyles). CONCLUSIONS Australian agamids show great variability in the timing of development and divergence of growth trajectories which results in a diversity of adult cranial shapes. Phylogenetic signal in cranial morphology appears to be largely overwritten by signals that reflect life habit. This knowledge about growth patterns and skull shape diversity in agamid lizards will be valuable for placing phylogenetic, functional and ecological studies in a morphological context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaimi A. Gray
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Room 205E, Darling Building North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5005 Australia
| | - Emma Sherratt
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Room 205E, Darling Building North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5005 Australia
- South Australian Museum, Adelaide, SA 5000 Australia
| | - Mark N. Hutchinson
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Room 205E, Darling Building North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5005 Australia
- South Australian Museum, Adelaide, SA 5000 Australia
| | - Marc E. H. Jones
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Room 205E, Darling Building North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5005 Australia
- South Australian Museum, Adelaide, SA 5000 Australia
- Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD UK
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Ryan DD, Bourman RP, Price DM, Murray-Wallace CV. Identification of a penultimate interglacial (marine isotope stage 7) alluvium in South Australia and its climatic and sea-level implications. T ROY SOC SOUTH AUST 2018. [DOI: 10.1080/03721426.2018.1509415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Deirdre D. Ryan
- MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
- GeoQuEST Research Centre, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia
| | - Robert P. Bourman
- GeoQuEST Research Centre, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia
| | - David M. Price
- GeoQuEST Research Centre, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia
| | - Colin V. Murray-Wallace
- GeoQuEST Research Centre, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia
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Larter M, Pfautsch S, Domec JC, Trueba S, Nagalingum N, Delzon S. Aridity drove the evolution of extreme embolism resistance and the radiation of conifer genus Callitris. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2017; 215:97-112. [PMID: 28378882 DOI: 10.1111/nph.14545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2016] [Accepted: 02/26/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Xylem vulnerability to embolism is emerging as a major factor in drought-induced tree mortality events across the globe. However, we lack understanding of how and to what extent climate has shaped vascular properties or functions. We investigated the evolution of xylem hydraulic function and diversification patterns in Australia's most successful gymnosperm clade, Callitris, the world's most drought-resistant conifers. For all 23 species in this group, we measured embolism resistance (P50 ), xylem specific hydraulic conductivity (Ks ), wood density, and tracheary element size from natural populations. We investigated whether hydraulic traits variation linked with climate and the diversification of this clade using a time-calibrated phylogeny. Embolism resistance varied widely across the Callitris clade (P50 : -3.8 to -18.8 MPa), and was significantly related to water scarcity, as was tracheid diameter. We found no evidence of a safety-efficiency tradeoff; Ks and wood density were not related to rainfall. Callitris diversification coincides with the onset of aridity in Australia since the early Oligocene. Our results highlight the evolutionary lability of xylem traits with climate, and the leading role of aridity in the diversification of conifers. The uncoupling of safety from other xylem functions allowed Callitris to evolve extreme embolism resistance and diversify into xeric environments.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sebastian Pfautsch
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia
| | - Jean-Christophe Domec
- Bordeaux Sciences AGRO, UMR 1391 ISPA INRA, 1 Cours du Général de Gaulle, Gradignan Cedex, 33175, France
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
| | - Santiago Trueba
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA, 621 Charles E. Young Dr. South, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
- IRD, UMR AMAP, BPA5, Noumea, 98800, New Caledonia
| | - Nathalie Nagalingum
- National Herbarium of New South Wales, Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Mrs Macquaries Rd, Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia
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Shute E, Prideaux GJ, Worthy TH. Taxonomic review of the late Cenozoic megapodes (Galliformes: Megapodiidae) of Australia. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2017; 4:170233. [PMID: 28680676 PMCID: PMC5493918 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.170233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2017] [Accepted: 05/17/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Megapodes are unusual galliform birds that use passive heat sources to incubate their eggs. Evolutionary relationships of extant megapode taxa have become clearer with the advent of molecular analyses, but the systematics of large, extinct forms (Progura gallinacea, Progura naracoortensis) from the late Cenozoic of Australia has been a source of confusion. It was recently suggested that the two species of Progura were synonymous, and that this taxon dwarfed into the extant malleefowl Leipoa ocellata in the Late Pleistocene. Here, we review previously described fossils along with newly discovered material from several localities, and present a substantial taxonomic revision. We show that P. gallinacea and P. naracoortensis are generically distinct, describe two new species of megapode from the Thylacoleo Caves of south-central Australia, and a new genus from Curramulka Quarry in southern Australia. We also show that L. ocellata was contemporaneous with larger species. Our phylogenetic analysis places four extinct taxa in a derived clade with the extant Australo-Papuan brush-turkeys Talegalla fuscirostris, L. ocellata, Alectura lathami and Aepypodius bruijnii. Therefore, diversity of brush-turkeys halved during the Quaternary, matching extinction rates of scrubfowl in the Pacific. Unlike extant brush-turkeys, all the extinct taxa appear to have been burrow-nesters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elen Shute
- Author for correspondence: Elen Shute e-mail:
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Edwards DL, Melville J, Joseph L, Keogh JS. Ecological Divergence, Adaptive Diversification, and the Evolution of Social Signaling Traits: An Empirical Study in Arid Australian Lizards. Am Nat 2015; 186:E144-61. [DOI: 10.1086/683658] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Aggerbeck M, Fjeldså J, Christidis L, Fabre PH, Jønsson KA. Resolving deep lineage divergences in core corvoid passerine birds supports a proto-Papuan island origin. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2013; 70:272-85. [PMID: 24125832 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2013.09.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2013] [Revised: 09/26/2013] [Accepted: 09/28/2013] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
It is well established that the global expansion of songbirds (Oscines) originated in East Gondwana (present day Australo-Papua), and it has been postulated that one of the main constituent groups, the "core Corvoidea", with more than 750 species, originated in the first islands that emerged where New Guinea is now located. However, several polytomous relationships remained within the clade, obstructing detailed biogeographical interpretations. This study presents a well-resolved family-level phylogeny, based on a dataset of 22 nuclear loci and using a suite of partitioning schemes and Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian inference methods. Resolving the relationships within the core Corvoidea provides evidence for three well-supported main clades, which are in turn sister to the New Zealand genus Mohoua. Some monotypic lineages, which have previously been considered Incertae sedis, are also placed in a phylogenetic context. The well-resolved phylogeny provides a robust framework for biogeographical analyses, and provides further support for the hypothesis that core corvoids originated in the proto-Papuan island region that emerged north of Australia in the late Oligocene/early Miocene. Thus, the core Corvoidea appear to represent a true island radiation, which successfully colonized all continents except Antarctica.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie Aggerbeck
- Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
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Weisbecker V, Goswami A. Marsupials indeed confirm an ancestral mammalian pattern: A reply to Isler. Bioessays 2011; 33:358-61. [DOI: 10.1002/bies.201100013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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Heimsath AM, Chappell J, Fifield K. Eroding Australia: rates and processes from Bega Valley to Arnhem Land. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2010. [DOI: 10.1144/sp346.12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
AbstractWe report erosion rates determined from in situ produced cosmogenic 10Be across a spectrum of Australian climatic zones, from the soil-mantled SE Australian escarpment through semi-arid bedrock ranges of southern and central Australia, to soil-mantled ridges at a monsoonal tropical site near the Arnhem escarpment. Climate has a major effect on the balance between erosion and transport and also on erosion rate: the highest rates, averaging 35 m Ma−1, were from soil-mantled, transport-limited spurs in the humid temperate region around the base of the SE escarpment; the lowest, averaging about 1.5 m Ma−1, were from the steep, weathering-limited, rocky slopes of Kings Canyon and Mt Sonder in semi-arid central Australia. Between these extremes, other factors come into play including rock-type, slope, and recruitment of vegetation. We measured intermediate average erosion rates from rocky slopes in the semi-arid Flinders and MacDonnell ranges, and from soil-mantled sites at both semi-arid Tyler Pass in central Australia and the tropical monsoonal site. At soil-mantled sites in both the SE and tropical north, soil production generally declines exponentially with increasing soil thickness, although at the tropical site this relationship does not persist under thin soil thicknesses and the relationship here is ‘humped’. Results from Tyler Pass show uniform soil thicknesses and soil production rates of about 6.5 m Ma−1, supporting a longstanding hypothesis that equilibrium, soil-mantled hillslopes erode in concert with stream incision and form convex-up spurs of constant curvature. Moreover, weathering-limited slopes and spurs also occur in the same region: the average erosion rate for rocky sandstone spurs at Glen Helen is 7 m Ma−1, similar to the Tyler Pass soil-mantled slopes, whereas the average rate for high, quartzite spurs at Mount Sonder is 1.8 m Ma−1. The extremely low rates measured across bedrock-dominated landscapes suggest that the ridge–valley topography observed today is likely to have been shaped as long ago as the Late Miocene. These rates and processes quantified across different, undisturbed landscapes provide critical data for landscape evolution models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arjun M. Heimsath
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
| | - John Chappell
- Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
| | - Keith Fifield
- Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
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