Aridification and major geotectonic landscape change shaped an extraordinary species radiation across a world’s extreme elevational gradient
Abstract Understanding the profound influence of climatic and tectonic histories on adaptation and speciation is a crucial focus in biology research. While voyages like Humboldt’s expedition shaped our understanding of adaptation, the origin of current biodiversity remains unclear – whether it arose...
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| Format: | Article |
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Nature Portfolio
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Communications Biology |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-07181-7 |
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| author | Adrián Villastrigo Steven J. B. Cooper Barbara Langille Erinn P. Fagan-Jeffries William F. Humphreys Lars Hendrich Michael Balke |
| author_facet | Adrián Villastrigo Steven J. B. Cooper Barbara Langille Erinn P. Fagan-Jeffries William F. Humphreys Lars Hendrich Michael Balke |
| author_sort | Adrián Villastrigo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Understanding the profound influence of climatic and tectonic histories on adaptation and speciation is a crucial focus in biology research. While voyages like Humboldt’s expedition shaped our understanding of adaptation, the origin of current biodiversity remains unclear – whether it arose in situ or through dispersal from analogous habitats. Situated in the geologically complex Australopacific region, our study focuses on Limbodessus diving beetles (Dytiscidae), a diverse genus distributed from underground aquifers in Western Australia to alpine meadows in New Guinea. Using low-coverage whole-genome sequencing, we established a time-calibrated phylogenetic tree, elucidating Limbodessus’ origin in the mid-late Miocene, most likely in the Sahul continent (i.e., Australia and New Guinea) and western Pacific archipelagos. Our results provide evidence for parallel colonization and speciation at extreme altitudinal ends, driven by aridification in Australia, influencing subterranean colonization, and in situ diversification of alpine taxa by passive-uplifting of local biota in New Guinea. Furthermore, our findings highlight instances of subterranean speciation in isolated underground aquifers, marked by recurrent independent colonizations of this habitat. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9c50abc618d44d2e8e43b75d11ccab0b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2399-3642 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Biology |
| spelling | doaj-art-9c50abc618d44d2e8e43b75d11ccab0b2024-11-17T12:42:50ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Biology2399-36422024-11-017111110.1038/s42003-024-07181-7Aridification and major geotectonic landscape change shaped an extraordinary species radiation across a world’s extreme elevational gradientAdrián Villastrigo0Steven J. B. Cooper1Barbara Langille2Erinn P. Fagan-Jeffries3William F. Humphreys4Lars Hendrich5Michael Balke6Division of Entomology, SNSB-Zoologische Staatssammlung MünchenSouth Australian MuseumDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, and Environment Institute, The University of AdelaideDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, and Environment Institute, The University of AdelaideWestern Australian MuseumDivision of Entomology, SNSB-Zoologische Staatssammlung MünchenDivision of Entomology, SNSB-Zoologische Staatssammlung MünchenAbstract Understanding the profound influence of climatic and tectonic histories on adaptation and speciation is a crucial focus in biology research. While voyages like Humboldt’s expedition shaped our understanding of adaptation, the origin of current biodiversity remains unclear – whether it arose in situ or through dispersal from analogous habitats. Situated in the geologically complex Australopacific region, our study focuses on Limbodessus diving beetles (Dytiscidae), a diverse genus distributed from underground aquifers in Western Australia to alpine meadows in New Guinea. Using low-coverage whole-genome sequencing, we established a time-calibrated phylogenetic tree, elucidating Limbodessus’ origin in the mid-late Miocene, most likely in the Sahul continent (i.e., Australia and New Guinea) and western Pacific archipelagos. Our results provide evidence for parallel colonization and speciation at extreme altitudinal ends, driven by aridification in Australia, influencing subterranean colonization, and in situ diversification of alpine taxa by passive-uplifting of local biota in New Guinea. Furthermore, our findings highlight instances of subterranean speciation in isolated underground aquifers, marked by recurrent independent colonizations of this habitat.https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-07181-7 |
| spellingShingle | Adrián Villastrigo Steven J. B. Cooper Barbara Langille Erinn P. Fagan-Jeffries William F. Humphreys Lars Hendrich Michael Balke Aridification and major geotectonic landscape change shaped an extraordinary species radiation across a world’s extreme elevational gradient Communications Biology |
| title | Aridification and major geotectonic landscape change shaped an extraordinary species radiation across a world’s extreme elevational gradient |
| title_full | Aridification and major geotectonic landscape change shaped an extraordinary species radiation across a world’s extreme elevational gradient |
| title_fullStr | Aridification and major geotectonic landscape change shaped an extraordinary species radiation across a world’s extreme elevational gradient |
| title_full_unstemmed | Aridification and major geotectonic landscape change shaped an extraordinary species radiation across a world’s extreme elevational gradient |
| title_short | Aridification and major geotectonic landscape change shaped an extraordinary species radiation across a world’s extreme elevational gradient |
| title_sort | aridification and major geotectonic landscape change shaped an extraordinary species radiation across a world s extreme elevational gradient |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-07181-7 |
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