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Ecology
Andrew J. Helmstetter, Rosana Zenil-Ferguson, Herve Sauquet, Sarah P. Otto, Marcos Mendez, Mario Vallejo-Marin, Juerg Schoenenberger, Concetta Burgarella, Bruce Anderson, Hugo de Boer, Sylvain Glemin, Jos Kafer
Summary: This study synthesized data from 152 studies on angiosperm clades using state-dependent speciation and extinction models, and found that intrinsic traits related to reproduction and morphology are often linked to species diversification. However, a set of universal drivers did not emerge as these traits had inconsistent effects across clades. Additionally, the study found that data set properties such as tree size, age, and sampling quality were correlated to SSE model results, and provided best practices for study design and reporting.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Michael J. Landis, Ignacio Quintero, Martha M. Munoz, Felipe Zapata, Michael J. Donoghue
Summary: Geographical features have an impact on species dispersal, extinction, and speciation. This study uses a Bayesian hierarchical modeling framework to transform regional features into evolutionary rates. The results show that distance between regions affects dispersal rates and speciation rates.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Andrew M. Hosie, Jane Fromont, Kylie Munyard, Nerida G. Wilson, Diana S. Jones
Summary: This study investigated the diversity and phylogenetic relationships of sponge-inhabiting barnacles in Western Australian waters, identifying high levels of host specificity among these organisms. Using molecular and morphological methods, the study identified 42 MOTUs of barnacles representing four genera, showing that COI is a more reliable barcoding region. The phylogenetic analysis revealed non-monophyletic genera and well-supported clades of MOTUs, indicating host specialists and the significant role of host usage dynamics in the evolutionary history of these organisms.
MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Chung-Chi Hwang, Wei-Chuan Zhou, Mang-Jye Ger, Yunhai Guo, Zhou-Xing Qian, Yen-Chieh Wang, Chi-Li Tsai, Shu-Ping Wu
Summary: By utilizing molecular phylogenetic analysis, this study investigated the evolutionary history of the land snail genus Acusta in East Asia, revealing that the recognized species in Acusta are polyphyletic and challenging previous assumptions about the colonization of East Asian islands via land bridges during the Pleistocene glaciations. The genus originated in the late Miocene-Pliocene from an area around North and Northeast China to South China and East Asian islands, leading to three major evolutionary lineages with distinct evolutionary histories.
MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Fern Spaulding, Jessica F. McLaughlin, Rebecca G. Cheek, Kevin G. McCracken, Travis C. Glenn, Kevin Winker
Summary: This study examines the divergence and speciation processes in a clade of ducks and reveals the uncertain relationships and species limits within the green-winged teal complex. By analyzing mitochondrial and genome-wide nuclear DNA, the researchers determined the phylogenetic relationships and gene flow among different lineages. The results showed that while nuclear DNA suggests three subspecies and a close relative from South America, the mitochondrial genomes revealed a different phylogeny. The study highlights the power of ultraconserved elements in studying systematics and population genomics in cases with uncertain relationships and species limits.
MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Robert M. Lasley Jr, Nathaniel Evans, Gustav Paulay, Francois Michonneau, Amanda Windsor, Irwansyah, Peter K. L. Ng
Summary: Molecular studies have found that many species in the Indo-West Pacific have allopatric mosaics of endemic lineages, indicating the need for substantial time for isolating mechanisms to evolve. A phylogeny of Chlorodiellinae crabs showed allopatric lineages without divergent male genitalia, suggesting that divergence occurs after isolation in allopatry. However, genital morphological evolution plays an important role in completing speciation in these crabs.
MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Dan A. Greenberg, R. Alexander Pyron, Liam G. W. Johnson, Nathan S. Upham, Walter Jetz, Arne O. Mooers
Summary: The study found that lineages with higher recent speciation rates have elevated extinction risk, potentially driven by the fact that rapidly diversifying clades predominantly comprise range-restricted, and extinction-prone, species. These evolutionary patterns in current imperilment may have important consequences for how we manage the erosion of biological diversity across the Tree of Life.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jeremias N. Brand, Gudrun Viktorin, R. Axel W. Wiberg, Christian Beisel, Lukas Schaerer
Summary: This study reports on a global sampling campaign aimed at increasing taxon sampling and geographic representation of the genus Macrostomum. Using extensive transcriptome and single-locus data, the researchers generated phylogenomic hypotheses including 145 species. The results show consistent clades across different phylogenetic methods, but the exact grouping is unclear, possibly due to a radiation early in Macrostomum evolution. Additionally, the study reveals a large undescribed diversity, with 94 of the studied species likely being new to science, and identifies multiple novel morphological traits.
MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Justin G. Cally, Devi Stuart-Fox, Luke Holman, James Dale, Iliana Medina
Summary: Sexual selection influences phylogenetic diversity by affecting speciation rates in passerine birds, with male-biased sexual selection and sexual size dimorphism predicting speciation rates. This relationship is independent of environmental factors, and there is no association between proxies of sexual selection and extinction rates.
Article
Zoology
Pascale Lubbe, Nicolas J. Rawlence, Olga Kardailsky, Bruce C. Robertson, Robert Day, Michael Knapp, Nicolas Dussex
Summary: The biogeographical origins of the endemic birds of New Zealand, particularly the Callaeidae family, have attracted great interest. The formation of Pliocene marine seaways, such as the Manawatu Strait, is likely to have played a significant role in the divergence of North Island and South Island kokako and saddlebacks/tieke.
ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Zoology
Joan C. Hinojosa, Leonardo Dapporto, Ernst Brockmann, Vlad Dinca, Valentin Tikhonov, Nick Grishin, Vladimir A. Lukhtanov, Roger Vila
Summary: The study of the butterfly Muschampia proto using mitochondrial and nuclear markers, as well as geometric morphometrics of male genitalia, identified three cryptic species. This research reveals the presence of hidden diversity even in well-studied groups, emphasizing the importance of further investigation into potential cryptic species.
ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY
(2021)
Article
Biology
Caroline Parins-Fukuchi
Summary: Parametric phylogenetic approaches have gained popularity among comparative biologists for delineating different modes of speciation in fossil taxa. This study extended a maximum-likelihood approach to examine ancestor-descendant relationships, focusing on budding speciation in fossil hominins. The results highlight the importance of spatial dynamics in understanding speciation patterns and suggest that inferences of speciation mode are primarily influenced by stratigraphic data.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Gaston I. Jofre, Ashutosh Singh, Heidi Mavengere, Gandhi Sundar, Emmanuel D'Agostino, Anuradha Chowdhary, Daniel R. Matute
Summary: This study identifies a distinct lineage of Histoplasma in the Indian subcontinent, showing significant genetic differentiation and unique signals of natural selection in its genome.
FUNGAL GENETICS AND BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Andrzej S. Wolniewicz, Yuefeng Shen, Qiang Li, Yuanyuan Sun, Yu Qiao, Yajie Chen, Yi-Wei Hu, Jun Liu
Summary: This study reports a new species - Prosaurosphargis yingzishanensis gen. et sp. nov. - from the Early Triassic of South China, representing the earliest known occurrence of the Sauropterygia clade. A phylogenetic analysis confirms saurosphargids as a part of sauropterygians, forming a clade with eosauropterygians and excluding placodonts. The classification of several Sauropterygia species from the Early and Middle Triassic, such as Atopodentatus, Hanosaurus, Majiashanosaurus, and Corosaurus, is also clarified.
Article
Ecology
Rodrigo Cogni, Tiago B. Quental, Paulo R. Guimaraes Jr
Summary: The classic paper by Ehrlich and Raven on coevolution has had a significant impact on the study of coevolution and has inspired generations of scientists. Their contributions include exploring the genetic mechanisms of coevolutionary interactions, investigating the association between coevolutionary diversification and ecological network organization, and examining micro- and macroevolutionary mechanisms and patterns under their hypothesis. This paper discusses overlooked aspects and future directions for the study of coevolutionary dynamics and diversification.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jason L. Robinson, James A. Fordyce
Article
Ecology
Romina D. Dimarco, James A. Fordyce
Article
Ecology
Zachary H. Marion, James A. Fordyce, Benjamin M. Fitzpatrick
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Samridhi Chaturvedi, Lauren K. Lucas, Chris C. Nice, James A. Fordyce, Matthew L. Forister, Zachariah Gompert
Article
Biology
Chris C. Nice, James A. Fordyce, Katherine L. Bell, Matthew L. Forister, Zachariah Gompert, Phil J. DeVries
Article
Ecology
Timothy J. Rogers, Christy Leppanen, Veronica Brown, James A. Fordyce, Anthony LeBude, Thomas Ranney, Daniel Simberloff, Melissa A. Cregger
Article
Ecology
Samuel R. Borstein, James A. Fordyce, Brian C. O'Meara, Peter C. Wainwright, Matthew D. McGee
NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2019)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Chris C. Nice, Matthew L. Forister, Joshua G. Harrison, Zachariah Gompert, James A. Fordyce, James H. Thorne, David P. Waetjen, Arthur M. Shapiro
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2019)
Editorial Material
Plant Sciences
P. Brandon Matheny, James A. Fordyce
Article
Forestry
Hannah L. Mullally, David S. Buckley, James A. Fordyce, Beverly Collins, Charles Kwit
Article
Ecology
Matthew L. Forister, Su'ad A. Yoon, Casey S. Philbin, Craig D. Dodson, Bret Hart, Joshua G. Harrison, Oren Shelef, James A. Fordyce, Zachary H. Marion, Chris C. Nice, Lora A. Richards, C. Alex Buerkle, Zach Gompert
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2020)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
M. L. Forister, C. A. Halsch, C. C. Nice, J. A. Fordyce, T. E. Dilts, J. C. Oliver, K. L. Prudic, A. M. Shapiro, J. K. Wilson, J. Glassberg
Summary: Uncertainty remains regarding the role of anthropogenic climate change in declining insect populations, partly because our understanding of biotic response to climate is often complicated by habitat loss and degradation among other compounding stressors. We found a 1.6% annual reduction in the number of individual butterflies observed over the past four decades, associated in particular with warming during fall months. The pervasive declines that we report advance our understanding of climate change impacts and suggest that a new approach is needed for butterfly conservation in the region, focused on suites of species with shared habitat or host associations.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Vivaswat Shastry, Katherine L. Bell, C. Alex Buerkle, James A. Fordyce, Matthew L. Forister, Zachariah Gompert, Sarah L. Lebeis, Lauren K. Lucas, Zach H. Marion, Chris C. Nice
Summary: In this study, the presence and genetic diversity of Wolbachia infections in North American butterflies of the genus Lycaeides were investigated using genotype-by-sequencing data. The results revealed high infection frequencies in most sampling localities, suggesting interspecific transfer between host lineages as the major mode of infection acquisition. Multiple Wolbachia strains were also observed, indicating complex dynamics between strains and hybridization between butterfly lineages.
G3-GENES GENOMES GENETICS
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Chloe L. Lash, James A. Fordyce, Charles Kwit
Article
Ecology
Zachary H. Marion, James A. Fordyce, Benjamin M. Fitzpatrick