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The roles of vicariance and isolation by distance in shaping biotic diversification across an ancient archipelago: evidence from a Seychelles caecilian amphibian. BMC Evol Biol 2020; 20:110. [PMID: 32847507 PMCID: PMC7448330 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-020-01673-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2020] [Accepted: 08/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Island systems offer excellent opportunities for studying the evolutionary histories of species by virtue of their restricted size and easily identifiable barriers to gene flow. However, most studies investigating evolutionary patterns and processes shaping biotic diversification have focused on more recent (emergent) rather than ancient oceanic archipelagos. Here, we focus on the granitic islands of the Seychelles, which are unusual among island systems because they have been isolated for a long time and are home to a monophyletic radiation of caecilian amphibians that has been separated from its extant sister lineage for ca. 65–62 Ma. We selected the most widespread Seychelles caecilian species, Hypogeophis rostratus, to investigate intraspecific morphological and genetic (mitochondrial and nuclear) variation across the archipelago (782 samples from nine islands) to identify patterns and test processes that shaped their evolutionary history within the Seychelles. Results Overall a signal of strong geographic structuring with distinct northern- and southern-island clusters were identified across all datasets. We suggest that these distinct groups have been isolated for ca. 1.26 Ma years without subsequent migration between them. Populations from the somewhat geographically isolated island of Frégate showed contrasting relationships to other islands based on genetic and morphological data, clustering alternatively with northern-island (genetic) and southern-island (morphological) populations. Conclusions Although variation in H. rostratus across the Seychelles is explained more by isolation-by-distance than by adaptation, the genetic-morphological incongruence for affinities of Frégate H. rostratus might be caused by local adaptation over-riding the signal from their vicariant history. Our findings highlight the need of integrative approaches to investigate fine-scale geographic structuring to uncover underlying diversity and to better understand evolutionary processes on ancient, continental islands.
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Labisko J, Griffiths RA, Chong-Seng L, Bunbury N, Maddock ST, Bradfield KS, Taylor ML, Groombridge JJ. Endemic, endangered and evolutionarily significant: cryptic lineages in Seychelles’ frogs (Anura: Sooglossidae). Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/bly183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jim Labisko
- Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
- Island Biodiversity and Conservation, Anse Royale, Mahé, Seychelles
| | - Richard A Griffiths
- Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | | | - Nancy Bunbury
- Seychelles Islands Foundation, Victoria, Mahé, Seychelles
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, UK
| | - Simon T Maddock
- Island Biodiversity and Conservation, Anse Royale, Mahé, Seychelles
- School of Biology, Chemistry and Forensic Science, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, UK
- Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London, UK
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK
| | | | - Michelle L Taylor
- Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Jim J Groombridge
- Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
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Rocha S, Perera A, Bunbury N, Kaiser-Bunbury CN, Harris DJ. Speciation history and species-delimitation within the Seychelles Bronze geckos,Ailuronyxspp.: molecular and morphological evidence. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/bij.12895] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sara Rocha
- Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Immunology; University of Vigo; Campus Lagoas-Marcosende; 36310 Vigo Spain
| | - Ana Perera
- CIBIO-InBIO; Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources; Campus Agrário de Vairão; Rua Padre Armando Quintas; 4485-661 Vairão Portugal
| | - Nancy Bunbury
- Seychelles Islands Foundation; La Ciotat Building; Mont Fleuri PO Box 853 Victoria, Mahé Seychelles
| | | | - David J. Harris
- CIBIO-InBIO; Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources; Campus Agrário de Vairão; Rua Padre Armando Quintas; 4485-661 Vairão Portugal
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Langone JA, Camargo A, de Sá RO. High genetic diversity but low population structure in the frog Pseudopaludicola falcipes (Hensel, 1867) (Amphibia, Anura) from the Pampas of South America. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2015; 95:137-51. [PMID: 26639101 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2015.11.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2015] [Revised: 11/03/2015] [Accepted: 11/07/2015] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Relative to South America's ecoregions, the temperate grasslands of the Pampas have been poorly studied from a phylogeographic perspective. Based on an intermediate biogeographic setting between subtropical forest (Atlantic Forest) and arid ecosystems (Chaco and Patagonia), Pampean species are expected to show unstable demographic histories due to the Quaternary climatic oscillations. Herein, we investigate the phylogenetic relatedness and phylogeographic history of Pseudopaludicola falcipes, a small and common frog that is widely distributed across the Pampean grasslands. First, we use molecular data to assess if P. falcipes represents a single or multiple, separately evolving cryptic lineages. Because P. falcipes is a small-size species (<20mm) with extensive coloration and morphological variation, we suspected that it might represent a complex of cryptic species. In addition, we expected strong genetic and geographic structuring within Pseudopaludicola falcipes due to its large geographic distribution, potentially short dispersal distances, and multiple riverine barriers. We found that P. falcipes is a single evolutionary lineage with poor geographic structuring. Furthermore, current populations of P. falcipes have a large effective population size, maintain ancestral polymorphisms, and have a complex network of gene flow. We conclude that the demographic history of P. falcipes, combined with its ecological attributes and the landscape features of the Pampas, favored a unique combination among anurans of small body size, large population size, high genetic variability, but high cohesiveness of populations over a wide geographic distribution.
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Affiliation(s)
- José A Langone
- Sección Herpetología, Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Casilla de Correo 399, Código Postal 11.000, Montevideo, Uruguay.
| | - Arley Camargo
- Programa de Desarrollo Universitario, Centro Universitario de Rivera, Universidad de la República. Ituzaingó 667, Código Postal 40.000, Rivera, Uruguay.
| | - Rafael O de Sá
- Sección Herpetología, Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Casilla de Correo 399, Código Postal 11.000, Montevideo, Uruguay; Department of Biology, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA 23173, USA.
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Maddock ST, Day JJ, Nussbaum RA, Wilkinson M, Gower DJ. Evolutionary origins and genetic variation of the Seychelles treefrog, Tachycnemis seychellensis (Duméril and Bibron, 1841) (Amphibia: Anura: Hyperoliidae). Mol Phylogenet Evol 2014; 75:194-201. [PMID: 24555995 PMCID: PMC4101239 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2014.02.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2013] [Revised: 02/06/2014] [Accepted: 02/08/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The hyperoliid frog Tachycnemis seychellensis, the only species of its genus, is endemic to the four largest granitic islands of the Seychelles archipelago and is reliant on freshwater bodies for reproduction. Its presence in the Seychelles is thought to be the product of a transoceanic dispersal, diverging from the genus Heterixalus, its closest living relative (currently endemic to Madagascar), between approximately 10-35Ma. A previous study documented substantial intraspecific morphological variation among island populations and also among populations within the largest island (Mahé). To assess intraspecific genetic variation and to infer the closest living relative(s) of T. seychellensis, DNA sequence data were generated for three mitochondrial and four nuclear markers. These data support a sister-group relationship between T. seychellensis and Heterixalus, with the divergence between the two occurring between approximately 11-19Ma based on cytb p-distances. Low levels of genetic variation were found among major mitochondrial haplotype clades of T. seychellensis (maximum 0.7% p-distance concatenated mtDNA), and samples from each of the islands (except La Digue) comprised multiple mitochondrial haplotype clades. Two nuclear genes (rag1 and tyr) showed no variation, and the other two (rho and pomc) lacked any notable geographic structuring, counter to patterns observed within presumably more vagile Seychelles taxa such as lizards. The low levels of genetic variation and phylogeographic structure support an interpretation that there is a single but morphologically highly variable species of Seychelles treefrog. The contrasting genetic and morphological intraspecific variation may be attributable to relatively recent admixture during low sea-level stands, ecophenotypic plasticity, local adaptation to different environmental conditions, and/or current and previously small population sizes. Low genetic phylogeographic structure but substantial morphological variation is unusual within anurans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon T Maddock
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK; Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK.
| | - Julia J Day
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Ronald A Nussbaum
- Museum of Zoology and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079, USA
| | - Mark Wilkinson
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK; Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
| | - David J Gower
- Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
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Robertson JM, Langin KM, Sillett TS, Morrison SA, Ghalambor CK, Funk WC. Identifying Evolutionarily Significant Units and Prioritizing Populations for Management on Islands. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014. [DOI: 10.3398/042.007.0130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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