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Mulder KP, Alarcón-Ríos L, Nicieza AG, Fleischer RC, Bell RC, Velo-Antón G. Independent evolutionary transitions to pueriparity across multiple timescales in the viviparous genus Salamandra. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2021; 167:107347. [PMID: 34763070 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2021] [Revised: 10/21/2021] [Accepted: 11/03/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The ability to bear live offspring, viviparity, has evolved multiple times across the tree of life and is a remarkable adaptation with profound life-history and ecological implications. Within amphibians the ancestral reproductive mode is oviparity followed by a larval life stage, but viviparity has evolved independently in all three amphibian orders. Two types of viviparous reproduction can be distinguished in amphibians; larviparity and pueriparity. Larviparous amphibians deliver larvae into nearby ponds and streams, while pueriparous amphibians deliver fully developed juveniles and thus do not require waterbodies for reproduction. Among amphibians, the salamander genus Salamandra is remarkable as it exhibits both inter- and intraspecific variation in the occurrence of larviparity and pueriparity. While the evolutionary relationships among Salamandra lineages have been the focus of several recent studies, our understanding of how often and when transitions between modes occurred is still incomplete. Furthermore, in species with intraspecific variation, the reproductive mode of a given population can only be confirmed by direct observation of births and thus the prevalence of pueriparous populations is also incompletely documented. We used sequence capture to obtain 1,326 loci from 94 individuals from across the geographic range of the genus, focusing on potential reproductive mode transition zones. We also report additional direct observations of pueriparous births for 20 new locations and multiple lineages. We identify at least five independent transitions from the ancestral mode of larviparity to pueriparity among and within species, occurring at different evolutionary timescales ranging from the Pliocene to the Holocene. Four of these transitions occurred within species. Based on a distinct set of markers and analyses, we also confirm previous findings of introgression between species and the need for taxonomic revisions in the genus. We discuss the implications of our findings with respect to the evolution of this complex trait, and the potential of using five independent convergent transitions for further studies on the ecological context in which pueriparity evolves and the genetic architecture of this specialized reproductive mode.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin P Mulder
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal; BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal; Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 1000 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20560, USA; Center for Conservation Genomics, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, 3001 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008, USA.
| | - Lucía Alarcón-Ríos
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal; BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal; Departamento de Biología de Organismos y Sistemas, Universidad de Oviedo UO, Oviedo, Spain
| | - Alfredo G Nicieza
- Departamento de Biología de Organismos y Sistemas, Universidad de Oviedo UO, Oviedo, Spain; Biodiversity Research Institute (IMIB), University of Oviedo-Principality of Asturias-CSIC, 33600 Mieres, Spain
| | - Robert C Fleischer
- Center for Conservation Genomics, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, 3001 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008, USA
| | - Rayna C Bell
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 1000 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20560, USA; Herpetology Department, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA
| | - Guillermo Velo-Antón
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal; BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal; Universidade de Vigo, Grupo GEA, Departamento de Ecoloxía e Bioloxía Animal, Vigo, Spain.
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Liedtke HC, Müller H, Hafner J, Penner J, Gower DJ, Mazuch T, Rödel MO, Loader SP. Terrestrial reproduction as an adaptation to steep terrain in African toads. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 284:rspb.2016.2598. [PMID: 28356450 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.2598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2016] [Accepted: 02/27/2017] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
How evolutionary novelties evolve is a major question in evolutionary biology. It is widely accepted that changes in environmental conditions shift the position of selective optima, and advancements in phylogenetic comparative approaches allow the rigorous testing of such correlated transitions. A longstanding question in vertebrate biology has been the evolution of terrestrial life histories in amphibians and here, by investigating African bufonids, we test whether terrestrial modes of reproduction have evolved as adaptations to particular abiotic habitat parameters. We reconstruct and date the most complete species-level molecular phylogeny and estimate ancestral states for reproductive modes. By correlating continuous habitat measurements from remote sensing data and locality records with life-history transitions, we discover that terrestrial modes of reproduction, including viviparity evolved multiple times in this group, most often directly from fully aquatic modes. Terrestrial modes of reproduction are strongly correlated with steep terrain and low availability of accumulated water sources. Evolutionary transitions to terrestrial modes of reproduction occurred synchronously with or after transitions in habitat, and we, therefore, interpret terrestrial breeding as an adaptation to these abiotic conditions, rather than an exaptation that facilitated the colonization of montane habitats.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Christoph Liedtke
- Department of Environmental Science (Biogeography), University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 27, 4056 Basel, Switzerland .,Ecology, Evolution and Developmental Group, Department of Wetland Ecology, Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC), 41092 Sevilla, Spain
| | - Hendrik Müller
- Institut für Spezielle Zoologie und Evolutionsbiologie mit Phyletischem Museum, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Erbertstraße 1, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Julian Hafner
- Department of Environmental Science (Biogeography), University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 27, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.,WSL Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Johannes Penner
- Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany.,Chair of Wildlife Ecology and Management, University of Freiburg, Tennenbacher Straße 4, 79106 Freiburg, Germany
| | - David J Gower
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
| | | | - Mark-Oliver Rödel
- Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany
| | - Simon P Loader
- Department of Environmental Science (Biogeography), University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 27, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.,Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK.,Department of Life Sciences, University of Roehampton, London SW15 4JD, UK
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