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opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

Data from: Immigrant reproductive dysfunction facilitates ecological speciation

The distributions of species are not only determined by where they can survive – they must also be able to reproduce. Although immigrant inviability is a well-established concept, the fact that immigrants also need to be able to effectively reproduce in foreign environments has not been fully appreciated in the study of adaptive divergence and speciation. Fertilization and reproduction are sensitive life history stages that could be detrimentally affected for immigrants in non-native habitats. We propose that 'immigrant reproductive dysfunction' is a hitherto overlooked aspect of reproductive isolation caused by natural selection on immigrants. This idea is supported by results from experiments on an externally fertilizing fish (sand goby, Pomatoschistus minutus). Growth and condition of adults were not affected by non-native salinity whereas males spawning as immigrants had lower sperm motility and hatching success than residents. We interpret these results as evidence for local adaptation or acclimation of sperm, and possibly also components of paternal care. The resulting loss in fitness, which we call 'immigrant reproductive dysfunction', has the potential to reduce gene flow between populations with locally adapted reproduction, and it may play a role in species distributions and speciation.

opencc-zeroDec 2012View details →

Data from: Ecology and sexual selection: evolution of wing pigmentation in calopterygid damselflies in relation to latitude, sexual dimorphism and speciation

Our knowledge about how the environment influences sexual selection regimes and how ecology and sexual selection interact is still limited. We performed an integrative study of wing pigmentation in calopterygid damselflies, combining phylogenetic comparative analyses, field observations and experiments. We investigated the evolutionary consequences of wing pigmentation for sexual dimorphism, speciation and extinction and addressed the possible thermoregulatory benefits of pigmentation. First, we reconstructed ancestral states of male and female phenotypes and traced the evolutionary change of wing pigmentation. Clear wings are the ancestral state and that pigmentation dimorphism is derived, suggesting that sexual selection results in sexual dimorphism. We further demonstrate that pigmentation elevates speciation and extinction rates. We also document a significant biogeographic association with pigmented species primarily occupying northern temperate regions with cooler climates. Field observations and experiments on two temperate sympatric species suggest a link between pigmentation, thermoregulation and sexual selection, although body temperature is also affected by other phenotypic traits such as body mass, microhabitat selection and thermoregulatory behaviors. Taken together, our results suggest an important role for wing pigmentation in sexual selection in males and in speciation. Wing pigmentation might not increase ecological adaptation and species longevity, and its primary function is in sexual signalling and species recognition.

opencc-zeroNov 2021View details →

Evidence for ecological processes driving speciation among endemic lizards of Madagascar

Although genetic patterns produced by population isolation during speciation are well documented, the biogeographic and ecological processes that trigger speciation remain poorly understood. Alternative hypotheses for the biogeography and ecology of speciation include geographic isolation combined with niche conservation (soft allopatry), or parapatric distribution on an environmental gradient with niche divergence (ecological speciation). Here we utilize species' distributions, environmental data and two null models (Random Translation and Rotation, RTR, and the Background Similarity Test, BST) to test these alternative hypotheses among 28 sister pairs of micro-endemic lizards in Madagascar. Our results demonstrate strong bimodal peaks along a niche divergence-conservation spectrum, with at least 25 out of 28 sister pairs exhibiting either niche conservation or divergence, and the remaining pairs showing weak ecological signals. Yet despite these significant results, we do not find strong associations of niche conservation with allopatric distributions, or niche divergence with parapatric distributions. Our findings thus provide strong evidence of a role for ecological processes driving speciation, rather than the classic expectation of speciation through geographic isolation, but demonstrate that the link between ecological speciation and parapatry is complex and requires further analysis of a broader taxonomic sample to fully resolve.

opencc-zeroJul 2022View details →

Reevaluating claims of ecological speciation in Halichoeres bivittatus

Allopatry has traditionally been viewed as the primary driver of speciation in marine taxa, but the geography of the marine environment and the larval dispersal capabilities of many marine organisms render this view somewhat questionable. In marine fishes, one of the earliest and most highly cited empirical examples of ecological speciation with gene flow is the slippery dick wrasse, Halichoeres bivittatus. Evidence for this cryptic or incipient speciation event was primarily in the form of a deep divergence in a single mitochondrial locus between the northern and southern Gulf of Mexico, combined with a finding that these two haplotypes were associated with different habitat types ("tropical" vs. "subtropical") in the Florida Keys and Bermuda, where they overlap. Here we examine habitat assortment in the Florida Keys using a broader sampling of populations and habitat types than were available for the original study. We find no evidence to support the claim that haplotype frequencies differ between habitat types, and little evidence to support any differences between populations in the Keys. These results undermine claims of ecological speciation with gene flow in Halichoeres bivittatus. Future claims of this type should be supported by multiple lines of evidence that illuminate potential mechanisms and allow researchers to rule out alternative explanations for spatial patterns of genetic differences.

opencc-zeroJan 2022View details →

The ecological stage maintains preference differentiation and promotes speciation

Influential models of speciation by sexual selection posit either a single shared preference for a universal display, expressed only when males are locally adapted and hence in high condition, or that shared loci evolve population-specific alleles for displays and preferences. However, many closely related species instead show substantial differences across categorically different traits. We present a model of secondary contact whereby females maintain preferences for distinct displays that indicate both male condition and their match to distinct environments, fostering reproductive isolation among diverging species. This occurs even with search costs and with independent preference loci targeting independent displays. Such preferences can also evolve from standing variation. Divergence occurs because condition-dependent display and female preference depend on local ecology, and females obtain different benefits of choice. Given the ubiquity of ecological differences among environments, our model could help explain the evolution of striking radiations of displays seen in nature.

Fig. 2 a–c in Non-ecological speciation, niche conservatism and thermal adaptation: how are they connected?

Fig. 2 a–c. Strong sexual isolation between two congeneric species of demoiselles (Odonata: Calopteryx) in Europe. a These two species differ mainly in the male's secondary sexual character (amount of wing melanization, while females of both species are very similar. The banded demoiselle (C. splendens) has about 50 % of the wing covered with melanin, whereas the beautiful demoiselle (C. virgo) has almost the entire wing melanized. b At a sympatric locality in southern Sweden ("Klingavälsåns Naturreservat") these two species are strongly sexually isolated from each other and mate assortatively, although a few heterospecific pairs are found. c Experimental manipulation of

Fig. 5 a–c in Non-ecological speciation, niche conservatism and thermal adaptation: how are they connected?

Fig. 5 a–c. Mate preferences and species recognition is learned, rather than purely genetic among females of the banded demoiselle (C. splendens). a Female C. splendens discriminate between con- and hetero-specific males based on a visual cue: the amount of wing melanization (see also Fig. 2). Females (middle, below the two males) were allowed to choose and/or physically interact with either con- or hetero-specific males, and their mate responses were recorded (b, c). b Species discrimination is not present among sexually naïve C. splendens females that have been isolated since emergence from males of both species, but is present among sexually experienced females that have interacted with males in the field. Filled symbols Heterospecific

Fig. 4 a–c in Non-ecological speciation, niche conservatism and thermal adaptation: how are they connected?

Fig. 4 a–c. Sexual and natural selection on 12 morphological traits in the banded demoiselle (C. splendens), based on field observations of mating success of marked individuals. a Sexual selection is stronger than natural selection across all traits, irrespective over which time scale sexual selection is measured ("short" vs "long", referring to minutes and hours vs days). b Natural selection on the morphological

Fig. 3 a–c in Non-ecological speciation, niche conservatism and thermal adaptation: how are they connected?

Fig. 3 a–c. Weak interspecific thermal niche divergence between phenotypically and ecologically similar demoiselles (C. splendens and C. virgo). a Thermal images obtained from infrared (IR) photographs of demoiselles can be used to obtain accurate estimates of body temperatures, ambient temperatures and substrate temperatures. Here a copulating pair of C. virgo (pair in middle of figure). Note the white colour of the male, which reveals his substantially higher body temperature than the substrate (temperature scale on the right). b Interspecific niche divergence between C. splendens and C. virgo in minimum thorax temperature, substrate temperature, maximum substrate temperature and ambient temperature at a sympatric site ("Klingavälsåns Naturreservat" in southern Sweden). There is no

opencc-by-4.0Jun 2024View details →

Data for "Completing the speciation cycle: Ecological niches and traits predict local species coexistence in birds across the globe"

These are files to replicate all analyses in our article: A data file in xlsx format. A phylogeny in nexus format. An R code for analyses.

opencc-zeroDec 2012View details →

Data from: Ecological speciation in anemone-associated snapping shrimps (Alpheus armatus species complex)

Divergent natural selection driven by competition for limited resources can promote speciation, even in the presence of gene flow. Reproductive isolation is more likely to result from divergent selection when the partitioned resource is closely linked to mating. Obligate symbiosis and host fidelity (mating on or near the host) can provide this link, creating ideal conditions for speciation in the absence of physical barriers to dispersal. Symbiotic organisms often experience competition for hosts, and host fidelity ensures that divergent selection for a specific host or host habitat can lead to speciation and strengthen pre-existing reproductive barriers. Here, we present evidence that diversification of a sympatric species complex occurred despite the potential for gene flow and that partitioning of host resources (both by species and by host habitat) has contributed to this diversification. Four species of snapping shrimps (Alpheus armatus, A. immaculatus, A. polystictus and A. roquensis) are distributed mainly sympatrically in the Caribbean, while the fifth species (A. rudolphi) is restricted to Brazil. All five species are obligate commensals of sea anemones with a high degree of fidelity and ecological specificity for host species and habitat. We analysed sequence data from 10 nuclear genes and the mitochondrial COI gene in 11–16 individuals from each of the Caribbean taxa and from the only available specimen of the Brazilian taxon. Phylogenetic analyses support morphology-based species assignments and a well-supported Caribbean clade. The Brazilian A. rudolphi is recovered as an outgroup to the Caribbean taxa. Isolation–migration coalescent analysis provides evidence for historical gene flow among sympatric sister species. Our data suggest that both selection for a novel host and selection for host microhabitat may have promoted diversification of this complex despite gene flow.

opennotspecifiedOct 2022View details →

Figure 3 in Using 3D geometric morphometrics to aid taxonomic and ecological understanding of a recent speciation event within a small Australian marsupial (Antechinus: Dasyuridae)

Figure 3. Pairwise comparisons between mean shapes of each clade (Antechinus stuartii south vs. A. stuartii north, P = 0.003; A. stuartii north vs. A. subtropicus, P = 0.003; A. stuartii south vs. A. subtropicus, P = 0.003; all p-values were adjusted with following the Bonferroni method). The 3D images are the specimen closest to the overall mean warped correspondingly to the mean shapes of each clade. Tukey post-hoc analyses of linear measurements after size correction were performed; significance levels (*P <0.05, **P <0.01, ***P <0.001) are shown in the boxplots. For each comparison, we have labelled the best differentiator diagnostic; i.e. the size of the major palatine foramina (mapf) for differentiating A. stuartii south and A. stuartii north, the size of the incisive foramina (inf) for differentiating A. stuartii north and A. subtropicus, and the interpalatal distance (intp) for differentiating between the three clades. Clades are consistently labelled as per Figure 1.

opennotspecifiedOct 2022View details →

Figure 1 in Using 3D geometric morphometrics to aid taxonomic and ecological understanding of a recent speciation event within a small Australian marsupial (Antechinus: Dasyuridae)

Figure 1. Distribution map of the specimens used for this study. Labelled are Antechinus stuartii south, A. stuartii north, A. subtropicus, specimens of unknown identity within the A. stuartii–A. subtropicus species complex, the holotype of A. subtropicus and the neotype of A. stuartii. All figures in this paper are labelled: A. stuartii south in orange, A. stuartii north in pink and A. subtropicus in green. The phylogeny is adapted from Mutton et al. (2019).

opennotspecifiedOct 2022View details →

Figure 2. A in Using 3D geometric morphometrics to aid taxonomic and ecological understanding of a recent speciation event within a small Australian marsupial (Antechinus: Dasyuridae)

Figure 2. A, box plot and dot plot of centroid size labelling each clade as per Figure 1. Centroid size differences were clear only between the larger Antechinus subtropicus and the smaller A. stuartii (both mean comparisons between A. subtropicus and the two clades of A. stuartii were significant; P = 0.003), but not between A. stuartii south and A. stuartii north (P = 0.282). B, allometry plot consisting of centroid sizes versus shape scores obtained from the regression of shape on size (Drake & Klingenberg, 2008).