scholarly journals Molecular evidence for an Asian origin of monitor lizards followed by Tertiary dispersals to Africa and Australasia

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 853-855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Vidal ◽  
Julie Marin ◽  
Julia Sassi ◽  
Fabia U. Battistuzzi ◽  
Steve Donnellan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Eocene ◽  
Molecular Evidence ◽  
Major Event ◽  
Asian Origin ◽  
Old World ◽  
Biogeographic History ◽  
Australian Plate ◽  
Molecular Dataset ◽  
Monitor Lizards ◽  
Divergence Estimate

Monitor lizards are emblematic reptiles that are widely distributed in the Old World. Although relatively well studied in vertebrate research, their biogeographic history is still controversial. We constructed a molecular dataset for 54 anguimorph species, including representatives of all families with detailed sampling of the Varanidae (38 species). Our results are consistent with an Asian origin of the Varanidae followed by a dispersal to Africa 41 (49–33) Ma, possibly via an Iranian route. Another major event was the dispersal of monitors to Australia in the Late Eocene–Oligocene 32 (39–26) Ma. This divergence estimate adds to the suggestion that Australia was colonized by several squamate lineages prior to the collision of the Australian plate with the Asian plate starting 25 Ma.

Phylogenetics of the mycoheterotrophic genus Thismia (Thismiaceae: Dioscoreales) with a focus on the Old World taxa: delineation of novel natural groups and insights into the evolution of morphological traits

2020 ◽  
Vol 193 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ekaterina A Shepeleva ◽  
Mikhail I Schelkunov ◽  
Michal Hroneš ◽  
Michal Sochor ◽  
Martin Dančák ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Morphological Diversity ◽  
Taxonomic Revision ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Morphological Description ◽  
Molecular Evidence ◽  
Ancestral State ◽  
Old World ◽  
Molecular Phylogenetic ◽  
Floral Characters

Abstract Thismia is a genus of > 80 mycoheterotrophic species characterized by a peculiar appearance and complex floral morphology. A significant proportion of the species and morphological diversity of Thismia has only been uncovered in the past two decades, and new discoveries continue to be made. Given that many new data have recently become available, and the most comprehensive taxonomic revision of the genus from 1938 addresses less than half of the currently known species, previous hypotheses for species relationships and infrageneric taxonomic classification in Thismia was in need of review. Extensive molecular phylogenetic studies of Thismia at the genus level have never been presented. We investigate the phylogenetic relationships of 41 species (and one variety) of Thismia from the Old World. Our study comprises 68 specimens (for 28 of which the data were newly generated), including outgroup taxa broadly representing Thismiaceae (= Burmanniaceae p.p. sensuAPG IV, 2016), and is based on two nuclear and one mitochondrial marker. We use maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference to infer relationships among the taxa. We also constructed a morphological dataset of 12 mostly floral characters, comparing these characters to hypotheses based on molecular evidence to identify putative synapomorphies for major clades and to discuss hypotheses regarding the evolution of structural traits in the genus. Our analyses indicate that the majority of currently accepted infrageneric taxa of Thismia are polyphyletic. We find support for the monophyly of the Old World group, in which we recognize five well-supported lineages (clades); the only New World species studied appears to be related to the Neotropical genus Tiputinia. Ancestral state reconstructions demonstrate that the evolution of most morphological characters was homoplastic, but we identify characters that provide each of the five clades of Old World Thismia with a unique morphological description. The geographical distribution of the species under study is also shown to be consistent with the major clades. Our investigation provides a phylogenetic basis for the development of a novel sectional classification of Thismia reflecting morphological and geographical traits.

Out of Africa: biogeographic history of the open-habitat chats (Aves, Muscicapidae: Saxicolinae) across arid areas of the old world

2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niloofar Alaei Kakhki ◽  
Mansour Aliabadian ◽  
Manuel Schweizer
Keyword(s):  
Arid Areas ◽  
Old World ◽  
Open Habitat ◽  
Biogeographic History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Out Of Africa

scholarly journals Phylogenomics of Monitor Lizards and the Role of Competition in Dictating Body Size Disparity

2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian G Brennan ◽  
Alan R Lemmon ◽  
Emily Moriarty Lemmon ◽  
Daniel M Portik ◽  
Valter Weijola ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Size Variation ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Character Displacement ◽  
Comparative Methods ◽  
Morphological Data ◽  
Trait Evolution ◽  
Biogeographic History ◽  
Size Disparity ◽  
Multiple Orders ◽  
Monitor Lizards

Abstract Organismal interactions drive the accumulation of diversity by influencing species ranges, morphology, and behavior. Interactions vary from agonistic to cooperative and should result in predictable patterns in trait and range evolution. However, despite a conceptual understanding of these processes, they have been difficult to model, particularly on macroevolutionary timescales and across broad geographic spaces. Here, we investigate the influence of biotic interactions on trait evolution and community assembly in monitor lizards (Varanus). Monitors are an iconic radiation with a cosmopolitan distribution and the greatest size disparity of any living terrestrial vertebrate genus. Between the colossal Komodo dragon Varanus komodoensis and the smallest Australian dwarf goannas, Varanus length and mass vary by multiple orders of magnitude. To test the hypothesis that size variation in this genus was driven by character displacement, we extended existing phylogenetic comparative methods which consider lineage interactions to account for dynamic biogeographic history and apply these methods to Australian monitors and marsupial predators. Incorporating both exon-capture molecular and morphological data sets we use a combined evidence approach to estimate the relationships among living and extinct varaniform lizards. Our results suggest that communities of Australian Varanus show high functional diversity as a result of continent-wide interspecific competition among monitors but not with faunivorous marsupials. We demonstrate that patterns of trait evolution resulting from character displacement on continental scales are recoverable from comparative data and highlight that these macroevolutionary patterns may develop in parallel across widely distributed sympatric groups.[Character displacement; comparative methods; phylogenetics; trait evolution; Varanus.]

scholarly journals Hyainailourine and teratodontine cranial material from the late Eocene of Egypt and the application of parsimony and Bayesian methods to the phylogeny and biogeography of Hyaenodonta (Placentalia, Mammalia)

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew R. Borths ◽  
Patricia A. Holroyd ◽  
Erik R. Seiffert
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Bayesian Methods ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Late Eocene ◽  
Biogeographic History ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Material ◽  
Latest Eocene

Hyaenodonta is a diverse, extinct group of carnivorous mammals that included weasel- to rhinoceros-sized species. The oldest-known hyaenodont fossils are from the middle Paleocene of North Africa and the antiquity of the group in Afro-Arabia led to the hypothesis that it originated there and dispersed to Asia, Europe, and North America. Here we describe two new hyaenodont species based on the oldest hyaenodont cranial specimens known from Afro-Arabia. The material was collected from the latest Eocene Locality 41 (L-41, ∼34 Ma) in the Fayum Depression, Egypt.Akhnatenavus nefertiticyonsp. nov. has specialized, hypercarnivorous molars and an elongate cranial vault. InA. nefertiticyonthe tallest, piercing cusp on M1–M2is the paracone.Brychotherium ephalmosgen. et sp. nov. has more generalized molars that retain the metacone and complex talonids. InB. ephalmosthe tallest, piercing cusp on M1–M2is the metacone. We incorporate this new material into a series of phylogenetic analyses using a character-taxon matrix that includes novel dental, cranial, and postcranial characters, and samples extensively from the global record of the group. The phylogenetic analysis includes the first application of Bayesian methods to hyaenodont relationships.B. ephalmosis consistently placed within Teratodontinae, an Afro-Arabian clade with several generalist and hypercarnivorous forms, andAkhnatenavusis consistently recovered in Hyainailourinae as part of an Afro-Arabian radiation. The phylogenetic results suggest that hypercarnivory evolved independently three times within Hyaenodonta: in Teratodontinae, in Hyainailourinae, and in Hyaenodontinae. Teratodontines are consistently placed in a close relationship with Hyainailouridae (Hyainailourinae + Apterodontinae) to the exclusion of “proviverrines,” hyaenodontines, and several North American clades, and we propose that the superfamily Hyainailouroidea be used to describe this relationship. Using the topologies recovered from each phylogenetic method, we reconstructed the biogeographic history of Hyaenodonta using parsimony optimization (PO), likelihood optimization (LO), and Bayesian Binary Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) to examine support for the Afro-Arabian origin of Hyaenodonta. Across all analyses, we found that Hyaenodonta most likely originated in Europe, rather than Afro-Arabia. The clade is estimated by tip-dating analysis to have undergone a rapid radiation in the Late Cretaceous and Paleocene; a radiation currently not documented by fossil evidence. During the Paleocene, lineages are reconstructed as dispersing to Asia, Afro-Arabia, and North America. The place of origin of Hyainailouroidea is likely Afro-Arabia according to the Bayesian topologies but it is ambiguous using parsimony. All topologies support the constituent clades–Hyainailourinae, Apterodontinae, and Teratodontinae–as Afro-Arabian and tip-dating estimates that each clade is established in Afro-Arabia by the middle Eocene.

Molecular systematics of Old World Apioideae (Apiaceae): relationships among some members of tribe Peucedaneae sensu lato, the placement of several island-endemic species, and resolution within the apioid superclade

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (4) ◽  
pp. 506-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen R Downie ◽  
Mark F Watson ◽  
Krzysztof Spalik ◽  
Deborah S Katz-Downie
Keyword(s):  
Endemic Species ◽  
Nuclear Ribosomal Dna ◽  
Apium Graveolens ◽  
Molecular Evidence ◽  
Rps16 Intron ◽  
Old World ◽  
Island Endemic ◽  
Rdna Its ◽  
Heracleum Candicans ◽  
Endemic Genera

Comparative sequencing of the two internal transcribed spacer regions of nuclear ribosomal DNA was carried out to examine evolutionary relationships among representatives of Old World Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) subfamily Apioideae. Emphasis was placed on delimiting groups within the previously designated apioid superclade and clarifying relationships within and among the peucedanoid genera Angelica, Ferula, Heracleum, and Peucedanum. These spacer data, and those obtained from the chloroplast rps16 intron for a subset of the taxa, also enabled hypotheses on the phylogenetic placement of several narrowly distributed endemic species. The monophyly of Drude's tribe Echinophoreae is confirmed and it is sister to the Socotran endemic genera Nirarathamnos and Rughidia; the Balearic Islands endemic genus Naufraga allies with Apium graveolens; tribes Careae and Pyramidoptereae are recognized formally to be the previously designated clades "Aegopodium" and "Crithmum"; and tribes Oenantheae and Scandiceae are each expanded to include two species of Apium, previously attributable to Helosciadium, and four species of Ferula, respectively. Within the apioid superclade, five major lineages are recognized that are consistent with all available molecular evidence: tribe Echinophoreae, the clades "Pimpinella" and "Heracleum," and the more narrowly circumscribed clades "Angelica" and "Apium." Angelica and Ferula each comprise at least two lineages; Heracleum is polyphyletic if Heracleum candicans is retained in the genus; and Peucedanum is distributed in three well-separated clades with some species allied with those species of Angelica referred to Xanthogalum.Key words: Apiaceae subfamily Apioideae, nuclear rDNA ITS, chloroplast rps16 intron, Umbelliferae.

scholarly journals Did true frogs ‘dispersify’?

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 20170299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kin Onn Chan ◽  
Rafe M. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Range Expansion ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Late Eocene ◽  
Fundamental Interest ◽  
Biogeographic History ◽  
Ideal System ◽  
History Of ◽  
Biogeographic Regions ◽  
Geographical Expansion ◽  
The Impact

The interplay between range expansion and concomitant diversification is of fundamental interest to evolutionary biologists, particularly when linked to intercontinental dispersal and/or large scale extinctions. The evolutionary history of true frogs has been characterized by circumglobal range expansion. As a lineage that survived the Eocene–Oligocene extinction event (EOEE), the group provides an ideal system to test the prediction that range expansion triggers increased net diversification. We constructed the most densely sampled, time-calibrated phylogeny to date in order to: (i) characterize tempo and patterns of diversification; (ii) assess the impact of the EOEE; and (iii) test the hypothesis that range expansion was followed by increased net diversification. We show that late Eocene colonization of novel biogeographic regions was not affected by the EOEE and surprisingly, global expansion was not followed by increased net diversification. On the contrary, the diversification rate declined or did not shift following geographical expansion. Thus, the diversification history of true frogs contradicts the prevailing expectation that amphibian net diversification accelerated towards the present or increased following range expansion. Rather, our results demonstrate that despite their dynamic biogeographic history, true frogs diversified at a relatively constantly rate, even as they colonized the major land masses of Earth.

IsOligomeris(Resedaceae) indigenous to North America? Molecular evidence for a natural colonization from the Old World

2009 ◽  
Vol 96 (2) ◽  
pp. 507-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santiago Martín-Bravo ◽  
Pablo Vargas ◽  
Modesto Luceño
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Molecular Evidence ◽  
Old World

scholarly journals Taxonomic review of Australian Mecyclothorax Sharp (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Moriomorphini) with special emphasis on the M. lophoides (Chaudoir) species complex

2018 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
James K. Liebherr
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Species Complex ◽  
Sister Group ◽  
Late Eocene ◽  
Sister Species ◽  
Sister Group Relationship ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Species Pair ◽  
Spermathecal Duct ◽  
Biogeographic History

The Australian fauna ofMecyclothoraxSharp (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Moriomorphini) is reviewed, with special focus on species assigned to the monophyletic subgenus Eucyclothorax Liebherr:M.isolatus,sp. n.from Western Australia,M.mooreiBaehr,M.punctatus(Sloane),M.curtus(Sloane),M.blackburni(Sloane);M.eyrensis(Blackburn);M.peryphoides(Blackburn);M.darlingtoni,sp. n.from Queensland;M.jameswalkeri,sp. n.from Western Australia;M.lophoides(Chaudoir); andM.cordicollis(Sloane). The last six species listed above–theM.lophoidesspecies complex–have been the source of long-term confusion for taxonomists, with male genitalic characters providing trouble-free species circumscription. One new subspecies,M.lewisensisestriatus,subsp. n.from Queensland is added to the seven previously described taxa of the monophyletic subgenus Qecyclothorax Liebherr. The balance of the fauna consists of four species in the subgenus Mecyclothorax:1and2, the sister-species pairM.lateralis(Castelnau) andM.minutus(Castelnau);3,M.ambiguus(Erichson); and4,M.punctipennis(MacLeay).Mecyclothoraxfortis(Blackburn),syn. n., is newly synonymized withM.minutus.MecyclothoraxovalisSloane is recombined asNeonomiusovalis(Sloane),comb. n., and a neotype is designated to replace the destroyed holotype. Phylogenetic relationships for the AustralianMecyclothoraxare proposed based on information from 68 terminal taxa and 139 morphological characters. The biogeographic history of AustralianMecyclothoraxis deduced based the sister-group relationship betweenMecyclothoraxand theAmblytelus-related genera, with both groups hypothesized to have originated during the late Eocene. Diversification withinMecyclothoraxhas occurred since then in montane rainforests of tropical Queensland, temperate forest biomes of the southwest and southeast, and in grasslands and riparian habitats adjacent and inland from those forests. Several species presently occupy interior desert regions, though no sister species mutually occupy such climatically harsh habitats. TheM.lophoidesspecies complex exhibits profound male genitalic diversification within the context of conserved external anatomy. This disparity is investigated with regard to the functional interaction of the male internal sac flagellum and female spermathecal duct. Though limited association of flagellar and spermathecal duct configurations can be documented, several factors complicate proposing a general evolutionary mechanism for the observed data. These include:1, the occurrence of derived, elongate spermathecal ducts in three species, two of which exhibit very long male flagella, whereas males of the third exhibit a very short flagellum; and2, a highly derived and exaggerated male flagellar configuration shared across a sister-species pair even though the two species can be robustly diagnosed using external anatomical characters, other significant genitalic differences involving male parameral setation, and biogeographic allopatry associated with differential occupation of desert versus forest biomes.

scholarly journals Molecular Evidence for an Old World Origin of Galapagos and Caribbean Band-Winged Grasshoppers (Acrididae: Oedipodinae: Sphingonotus)

PLoS ONE ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. e0118208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Husemann ◽  
Jan Christian Habel ◽  
Suk Namkung ◽  
Axel Hochkirch ◽  
Daniel Otte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Evidence ◽  
Old World

scholarly journals Phylogenomics of monitor lizards and the role of competition in dictating body size disparity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian G. Brennan ◽  
Alan R. Lemmon ◽  
Emily Moriarty Lemmon ◽  
Daniel M. Portik ◽  
Valter Weijola ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Size Variation ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Character Displacement ◽  
Trait Evolution ◽  
Terrestrial Vertebrate ◽  
Biogeographic History ◽  
Exon Capture ◽  
Size Disparity ◽  
Multiple Orders ◽  
Monitor Lizards

AbstractOrganismal interactions drive the accumulation of diversity by influencing species ranges, morphology, and behavior. Interactions vary from agonistic to cooperative and should result in predictable patterns in trait and range evolution. However, despite a conceptual understanding of these processes, they have been difficult to model, particularly on macroevolutionary timescales and across broad geographic spaces. Here we investigate the influence of biotic interactions on trait evolution and community assembly in monitor lizards (Varanus). Monitors are an iconic radiation with a cosmopolitan distribution and the greatest size disparity of any living terrestrial vertebrate genus. Between the colossal Komodo dragon Varanus komodoensis and the smallest Australian dwarf goannas, Varanus length and mass vary by multiple orders of magnitude. To test the hypothesis that size variation in this genus was driven by character displacement, we extended existing phylogenetic comparative methods which consider lineage interactions to account for dynamic biogeographic history and apply these methods to Australian monitors and marsupial predators. We use a phylogenomic approach to estimate the relationships among living and extinct varaniform lizards, incorporating both exon-capture molecular and morphological datasets. Our results suggest that communities of Australian Varanus show high functional diversity as a result of continent-wide interspecific competition among monitors but not with faunivorous marsupials. We demonstrate that patterns of trait evolution resulting from character displacement on continental scales are recoverable from comparative data and highlight that these macroevolutionary patterns may develop in parallel across widely distributed sympatric groups.

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