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8 results for “Evolutionary dead-end”
Data from: Phylogenetic evidence from freshwater crayfishes that cave adaptation is not an evolutionary dead-end
Caves are perceived as isolated, extreme habitats with a set of uniquely specialized biota, which long ago led to the idea that caves are 'evolutionary dead-ends.' This suggests that cave-adapted taxa may be doomed for extinction before they can diversify or transition to a more stable state. However, this hypothesis has not been explicitly tested in a phylogenetic framework with multiple independent cave-dwelling groups. Here we use the freshwater crayfish, a group with dozens of cave-dwelling species in multiple lineages, as a system to test this hypothesis. We consider historical patterns of lineage diversification and habitat transition as well as current patterns of geographic range size. We find that while cave-dwelling lineages have small relative range sizes and rarely transition back to the surface, they exhibit remarkably similar diversification patterns to those of other habitat types and appear to be able to maintain a diversity of lineages through time. This suggests that cave-adaptation is not a 'dead-end' for freshwater crayfish, which has positive implications for our understanding of biodiversity and conservation in cave habitats.
Data from: Digging their own macroevolutionary grave: Fossoriality as an evolutionary dead-end in snakes
The tree of life is highly asymmetrical in its clade wise species richness and this has often been attributed to variation in diversification rates either across time or lineages. Variations across lineages are usually associated with traits that increase lineage diversification. Certain traits can also hinder diversification by increasing extinction and such traits are called evolutionary dead-ends. Ecological specialization has usually been considered as an evolutionary dead-end. However, recent analyses of specializations along single axes have provided mixed support for this model. Here, we test if fossoriality, a trait that forces specialization at multiple axes, acts as an evolutionary dead-end in squamates (lizards and snakes) using recently developed phylogenetic comparative methods. We show that fossoriality is an evolutionary dead-end in snakes but not in lizards. Fossorial snakes exhibit reduced speciation and increased extinction compared to non-fossorial snakes. Our analysis also indicates that transition rates from fossoriality to non-fossoriality in snakes are significantly lower than transition rates from non-fossoriality to fossoriality. Overall our results suggest that broad scale ecological interactions that lead to specialization at multiple axes limit diversification.
Data from: Phylogenetic evidence from freshwater crayfishes that cave adaptation is not an evolutionary dead-end
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Data from: Digging their own macroevolutionary grave: Fossoriality as an evolutionary dead-end in snakes
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Data from: Is specialization an evolutionary dead-end? Testing for differences in speciation, extinction and trait transition rates across diverse phylogenies of specialists and generalists.
Specialization has often been claimed to be an evolutionary dead end, with specialist lineages having a reduced capacity to persist or diversify. In a phylogenetic comparative framework, an evolutionary dead end may be detectable from the phylogenetic distribution of specialists, if specialists rarely give rise to large, diverse clades. Previous phylogenetic studies of the influence of specialization on macroevolutionary processes have demonstrated a range of patterns, including examples where specialists have both higher and lower diversification rates than generalists, as well as examples where the rates of evolutionary transitions from generalists to specialists are higher, lower or equal to transitions from specialists to generalists. Here, we wish to ask whether these varied answers are due to the differences in macroevolutionary processes in different clades, or partly due to differences in methodology. We analysed ten phylogenies containing multiple independent origins of specialization and quantified the phylogenetic distribution of specialists by applying a common set of metrics to all datasets. We compared the tip branch lengths of specialists to generalists, the size of specialist clades arising from each evolutionary origin of a specialized trait and whether specialists tend to be clustered or scattered on phylogenies. For each of these measures, we compared the observed values to expectations under null models of trait evolution and expected outcomes under alternative macroevolutionary scenarios. We found that specialization is sometimes an evolutionary dead end: in two of the ten case studies (pollinator-specific plants and host-specific flies), specialization is associated with a reduced rate of diversification or trait persistence. However, in the majority of studies, we could not distinguish the observed phylogenetic distribution of specialists from null models in which specialization has no effect on diversification or trait persistence.
Data from: Is specialization an evolutionary dead-end? Testing for differences in speciation, extinction and trait transition rates across diverse phylogenies of specialists and generalists.
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Data from: Is asexual reproduction an evolutionary dead-end in lichens?
Classical hypotheses in lichenology predict pairs of species in which sexual lineages are ancestral and long-lived evolutionarily and that these give rise to derived, evolutionarily transient asexual lineages. Extensive phylogenetic information generated over the last 20 years regarding relationships within and among various groups of lichens makes possible an investigation of polarity and lability in reproductive mode across diverse clades. To test the long-held hypothesis of asexual reproduction as an evolutionary dead end in lichens, existing phylogenetic data from 23 studies were utilized to reconstruct gains and losses of sexual and asexual reproduction in a model-based statistical framework. Summed across all studies, between 26–44 origins of asexual reproduction from sexual ancestors (forward transitions) and 14–25 origins of sexual reproduction from asexual ancestors (reverse transitions) were identified. However, the higher number of gains of asexual reproduction was concentrated in a relatively low number of clades (e.g. Dirina). The greater number of forward compared to reverse transitions is consistent with dogma in both lichenology and evolutionary biology, but nonetheless this study documents numerous reverse transitions, suggesting that asexual lineages represent a source for evolutionary innovation.
Data from: Is asexual reproduction an evolutionary dead-end in lichens?
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