scholarly journals Constraints on the ecomorphological convergence of zooplanktivorous butterflyfishes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer R Hodge ◽  
Yutong Song ◽  
Molly A Wightman ◽  
Analisa Milkey ◽  
Binh Tran ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Swimming Performance ◽  
Morphological Evolution ◽  
Distinct Type ◽  
Ancestral State ◽  
Multiple Traits ◽  
Visual Identification ◽  
Form Function ◽  
Morphological Distinction ◽  
Foraging Modes

Abstract Whether distantly related organisms evolve similar strategies to meet the demands of a shared ecological niche depends on their evolutionary history and the nature of form-function relationships. In fishes, the visual identification and consumption of microscopic zooplankters, selective zooplanktivory, is a distinct type of foraging often associated with a suite of morphological specialisations. Previous work has identified inconsistencies in the trajectory and magnitude of morphological change following transitions to selective zooplanktivory, alluding to the diversity and importance of ancestral effects. Here we investigate whether transitions to selective zooplanktivory have influenced the morphological evolution of marine butterflyfishes (family Chaetodontidae), a group of small-prey specialists well known for several types of high-precision benthivory. Using Bayesian ancestral state estimation, we inferred the recent evolution of zooplanktivory among benthivorous ancestors that hunted small invertebrates and browsed by picking or scraping coral polyps. Traits related to the capture of prey appear to be functionally versatile with little morphological distinction between species with benthivorous and planktivorous foraging modes. In contrast, multiple traits related to prey detection or swimming performance are evolving toward novel, zooplanktivore-specific optima. Despite a relatively short evolutionary history, general morphological indistinctiveness, and evidence of constraint on the evolution of body size, convergent evolution has closed a near significant amount of the morphological distance between zooplanktivorous species. Overall, our findings describe the extent to which the functional demands associated with selective zooplanktivory have led to generalisable morphological features among butterflyfishes and highlight the importance of ancestral effects in shaping patterns of morphological convergence.

scholarly journals An integrative method for testing form–function linkages and reconstructed evolutionary pathways of masticatory specialization

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (107) ◽  
pp. 20150184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Jack Tseng ◽  
John J. Flynn
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Morphological Evolution ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Deep Time ◽  
Integrate Form ◽  
Functional Changes ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Form Function ◽  
Evolutionary Pathways ◽  
And Function

Morphology serves as a ubiquitous proxy in macroevolutionary studies to identify potential adaptive processes and patterns. Inferences of functional significance of phenotypes or their evolution are overwhelmingly based on data from living taxa. Yet, correspondence between form and function has been tested in only a few model species, and those linkages are highly complex. The lack of explicit methodologies to integrate form and function analyses within a deep-time and phylogenetic context weakens inferences of adaptive morphological evolution, by invoking but not testing form–function linkages. Here, we provide a novel approach to test mechanical properties at reconstructed ancestral nodes/taxa and the strength and direction of evolutionary pathways in feeding biomechanics, in a case study of carnivorous mammals. Using biomechanical profile comparisons that provide functional signals for the separation of feeding morphologies, we demonstrate, using experimental optimization criteria on estimation of strength and direction of functional changes on a phylogeny, that convergence in mechanical properties and degree of evolutionary optimization can be decoupled. This integrative approach is broadly applicable to other clades, by using quantitative data and model-based tests to evaluate interpretations of function from morphology and functional explanations for observed macroevolutionary pathways.

scholarly journals Cellular morphology of leg musculature in the water bear Hypsibius exemplaris (Tardigrada) unravels serial homologies

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (10) ◽  
pp. 191159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Gross ◽  
Georg Mayer
Keyword(s):  
Fine Structure ◽  
Functional Morphology ◽  
Cellular Structure ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Ancestral State ◽  
Leg Muscles ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
Attachment Sites ◽  
Functional Implications ◽  
Water Bears

Tardigrades (water bears) are microscopic, segmented ecdysozoans with four pairs of legs. Lobopodous limbs that are similar to those seen in tardigrades are hypothesized to represent the ancestral state of Panarthropoda (Tardigrada + Onychophora + Arthropoda), and their evolutionary history is important to our understanding of ecdysozoan evolution. Equally important is our understanding of the functional morphology of these legs, which requires knowledge of their musculature. Tardigrade musculature is well documented but open questions remain. For example, while the muscular organization of each trunk segment and its legs is unique, three of the four trunk segments are nevertheless relatively homonomous. To what extent, then, do leg muscles show segmental patterns? Specifically, which leg muscles are serially repeated and which are unique? The present study addresses these questions using a combination of techniques intended to visualize both the overall layout and fine structure of leg muscles in the eutardigrade Hypsibius exemplaris . In doing so, we propose serial homologies for all leg muscles in each of the four legs and reveal new details of their cellular structure and attachment sites. We compare our results to those of previous studies and address the functional implications of specialized muscle cell morphologies.

First Dicranomyia Stephens, 1829 (Diptera, Limoniidae) in Colombian copal

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
WIESŁAW KRZEMIŃSKI ◽  
IWONA KANIA ◽  
KATARZYNA KOPEĆ ◽  
MAGDALENA OKOŃ
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Morphological Evolution ◽  
History Of ◽  
A New Species

The description of a new species of the genus Dicranomyia Stephens, 1829 (Diptera: Limoniidae) from Colombian copal is presented. The newly described species Dicranomyia (Dicranomyia) colombiana sp. nov. is the first representative of the genus in Colombian copal. The ecological and biogeographical patterns, morphological evolution and the aspects evolutionary history of extinct and extant representatives of Dicranomyia (with particular references to the representatives in Colombian copal) are discussed. 

Where Fossils Dare and Males Matter: combined morphological and molecular analysis untangles the evolutionary history of the spider ant genus Leptomyrmex Mayr (Hymenoptera : Dolichoderinae)

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 765 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phillip Barden ◽  
Brendon Boudinot ◽  
Andrea Lucky
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Morphological Evolution ◽  
Sister Group ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Fossil Material ◽  
First Case ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Surprising Discovery

The distinctive ant genus Leptomyrmex Mayr, 1862 had been thought to be endemic to Australasia for over 150 years, but enigmatic Neotropical fossils have challenged this view for decades. The present study responds to a recent and surprising discovery of extant Leptomyrmex species in Brazil with a thorough evaluation of the Dominican Republic fossil material, which dates to the Miocene. In the first case study of direct fossil inclusion within Formicidae Latreille, 1809, we incorporated both living and the extinct Leptomyrmex species. Through simultaneous analysis of molecular and morphological characters in both Bayesian and parsimony frameworks, we recovered the fossil taxon as sister-group to extant Leptomyrmex in Brazil while considering the influence of taxonomic and character sampling on inferred hypotheses relating to tree topology, biogeography and morphological evolution. We also identified potential loss of signal in the binning of morphological characters and tested the impact of parameterisation on divergence date estimation. Our results highlight the importance of securing sufficient taxon sampling for extant lineages when incorporating fossils and underscore the utility of diverse character sources in accurate placement of fossil terminals. Specifically, we find that fossil placement in this group is influenced by the inclusion of male-based characters and the newly discovered Neotropical ‘Lazarus taxon’.

scholarly journals Two NLR immune receptors acquired high-affinity binding to a fungal effector through convergent evolution of their integrated domain

eLife ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Białas ◽  
Thorsten Langner ◽  
Adeline Harant ◽  
Mauricio P Contreras ◽  
Clare EM Stevenson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Plant Pathogens ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Domain Architecture ◽  
Affinity Binding ◽  
Ancestral State ◽  
Evolutionary Mechanisms ◽  
High Affinity Binding ◽  
High Affinity ◽  
Immune Receptors

A subset of plant NLR immune receptors carry unconventional integrated domains in addition to their canonical domain architecture. One example is rice Pik-1 that comprises an integrated heavy metal-associated (HMA) domain. Here, we reconstructed the evolutionary history of Pik-1 and its NLR partner, Pik-2, and tested hypotheses about adaptive evolution of the HMA domain. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that the HMA domain integrated into Pik-1 before Oryzinae speciation over 15 million years ago and has been under diversifying selection. Ancestral sequence reconstruction coupled with functional studies showed that two Pik-1 allelic variants independently evolved from a weakly binding ancestral state to high-affinity binding of the blast fungus effector AVR-PikD. We conclude that for most of its evolutionary history the Pik-1 HMA domain did not sense AVR-PikD, and that different Pik-1 receptors have recently evolved through distinct biochemical paths to produce similar phenotypic outcomes. These findings highlight the dynamic nature of the evolutionary mechanisms underpinning NLR adaptation to plant pathogens.

scholarly journals Phylogeny, morphology and the role of hybridization as driving force of evolution in grass tribes Aveneae and Poeae (Poaceae)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Tkach ◽  
Julia Schneider ◽  
Elke Döring ◽  
Alexandra Wölk ◽  
Anne Hochbach ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analysis ◽  
Phylogenetic Trees ◽  
Morphological Evolution ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Data Matrix ◽  
Hybrid Origin ◽  
Molecular Phylogenetic Analysis ◽  
Study Group ◽  
Ancestral State ◽  
Molecular Phylogenetic

ABSTRACTTo investigate the evolutionary diversification and morphological evolution of grass supertribe Poodae (subfam. Pooideae, Poaceae) we conducted a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic analysis including representatives from most of their accepted genera. We focused on generating a DNA sequence dataset of plastid matK gene–3’trnK exon and trnL– trnF regions and nuclear ribosomal ITS1–5.8S gene–ITS2 and ETS that was taxonomically overlapping as completely as possible (altogether 257 species). The idea was to infer whether phylogenetic trees or certain clades based on plastid and nuclear DNA data correspond with each other or discord, revealing signatures of past hybridization. The datasets were analysed using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian approaches. Instances of severe conflicts between the phylogenetic trees derived from both datasets, some of which have been noted earlier, unambiguously point to hybrid origin of several lineages (subtribes, groups of genera, sometimes genera) such as Phalaridinae, Scolochloinae, Sesleriinae, Torreyochloinae; Arctopoa, Castellia, Graphephorum, Hyalopodium, Lagurus, Macrobriza, Puccinellia plus Sclerochloa, Sesleria, Tricholemma, American Trisetum, etc. and presumably Airinae, Holcinae and Phleinae. ‘Calamagrostis’ flavens appears to be an intergeneric hybrid between Agrostis and Calamagrostis. Most frequently there is good agreement of other regions of the trees, apart from intrinsic different phylogenetic resolution of the respective DNA markers. To explore the to date rather unclear morphological evolution of our study group a data matrix encompassing finally 188 characters was analysed for ancestral state reconstructions (ASR) using the tree from the combined molecular dataset as presumably best approximation to the species phylogeny. For 74 characters ASRs were feasible and yielded partly surprising results for the study group as a whole but also for some of their subdivisions. Considering taxonomy and classification it became evident, that many morphological characters show a very high degree of homoplasy and are seemingly able to change within comparatively short timespans in the evolution of our grasses. Most of the taxonomic units distinguished within our study group, e.g. as subtribes, are defined less by consistent morphological characters or character combinations and should be rather understood as clades revealed by molecular phylogenetic analysis. One reason for this extreme homoplasy concerning traditionally highly rated characters of inflorescences or spikelets and their components might be that they have little to do with pollination (always wind) or adaptation to pollinators as in other angiosperms but rather with dispersal and diaspores. Easily changing structure of spikelet disarticulation, of glume, lemma or awn characters might be advantageous in the rapid adaptation to different habitats and micro-habitats, which was evidently most successfully accomplished by these grasses. A partly revised classification of Poodae is presented, including a re-instatement of tribes Aveneae and Poeae s.str. Following a comparatively narrow delineation of preferably monophyletic subtribes, Antinoriinae, Avenulinae, Brizochloinae, Helictochloinae, Hypseochloinae are described as new. New genera are Arctohyalopoa and Hyalopodium. New combinations are Arctohyalopoa lanatiflora, A. lanatiflora subsp. ivanoviae, A. lanatiflora subsp. momica, Colpodium biebersteinianum, C. kochii, C. trichopodum, C. verticillatum, Deschampsia micrathera, Dupontia fulva, Festuca masafuerana, Hyalopodium araraticum, Paracolpodium baltistanicum, Parapholis cylindrica, P. ×pauneroi. Festuca masatierrae is a new name.Supporting Information may be found online in the Supporting Information section at the end of the article.

scholarly journals Plant organ evolution revealed by phylotranscriptomics in Arabidopsis

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Lei ◽  
Joshua G Steffen ◽  
Edward J Osborne ◽  
Christopher Toomajian
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Morphological Evolution ◽  
Sequence Divergence ◽  
Rna Seq ◽  
Plant Organ ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Adaptive Signal ◽  
Floral Bud ◽  
Gene Expression Levels

ABSTRACTThe evolution of species’ phenotypes occurs through changes both in protein sequence and gene expression levels. Though much of plant morphological evolution can be explained by changes in gene expression, examining its evolution has challenges. To gain a new perspective on organ evolution in plants, we applied a phylotranscriptomics approach. We combined a phylostratigraphic approach with gene expression based on the strand-specific RNA-seq data from seedling, floral bud, and root of 19 Arabidopsis thaliana accessions to examine the age and sequence divergence of transcriptomes from these organs and how they adapted over time. Our results indicate that, among the sense and antisense transcriptomes of these organs, the sense transcriptomes of seedlings are the evolutionarily oldest across all accessions and are the most conserved in amino acid sequence for most accessions. In contrast, among the sense transcriptomes from these same organs, those from floral bud are evolutionarily youngest and least conserved in sequence for most accessions. Different organs have adaptive peaks at different stages in their evolutionary history, however, from the Magnoliophyta stage to the Brassicale stage, all three organs show a common adaptive signal. Our research is significant because it offers novel evolutionary insight on plant organs revealed by phylotranscriptomics.

scholarly journals Total-Evidence Framework Reveals Complex Morphological Evolution in Nightbirds (Strisores)

Diversity ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Chen ◽  
Noor D. White ◽  
Roger B.J. Benson ◽  
Michael J. Braun ◽  
Daniel J. Field
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Sequence Data ◽  
Morphological Evolution ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Total Evidence ◽  
Morphological Data ◽  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
Anatomical Data ◽  
Evidence Framework

Strisores is a clade of neoavian birds that include diurnal aerial specialists such as swifts and hummingbirds, as well as several predominantly nocturnal lineages such as nightjars and potoos. Despite the use of genome-scale molecular datasets, the phylogenetic interrelationships among major strisorean groups remain controversial. Given the availability of next-generation sequence data for Strisores and the clade’s rich fossil record, we reassessed the phylogeny of Strisores by incorporating a large-scale sequence dataset with anatomical data from living and fossil strisoreans within a Bayesian total-evidence framework. Combined analyses of molecular and morphological data resulted in a phylogenetic topology for Strisores that is congruent with the findings of two recent molecular phylogenomic studies, supporting nightjars (Caprimulgidae) as the extant sister group of the remainder of Strisores. This total-evidence framework allowed us to identify morphological synapomorphies for strisorean clades previously recovered using molecular-only datasets. However, a combined analysis of molecular and morphological data highlighted strong signal conflict between sequence and anatomical data in Strisores. Furthermore, simultaneous analysis of molecular and morphological data recovered differing placements for some fossil taxa compared with analyses of morphological data under a molecular scaffold, highlighting the importance of analytical decisions when conducting morphological phylogenetic analyses of taxa with molecular phylogenetic data. We suggest that multiple strisorean lineages have experienced convergent evolution across the skeleton, obfuscating the phylogenetic position of certain fossils, and that many distinctive specializations of strisorean subclades were acquired early in their evolutionary history. Despite this apparent complexity in the evolutionary history of Strisores, our results provide fossil support for aerial foraging as the ancestral ecological strategy of Strisores, as implied by recent phylogenetic topologies derived from molecular data.

scholarly journals Probable basal allosauroid from the early Middle Jurassic Cañadón Asfalto Formation of Argentina highlights phylogenetic uncertainty in tetanuran theropod dinosaurs

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver W. M. Rauhut ◽  
Diego Pol
Keyword(s):  
Middle Jurassic ◽  
Late Jurassic ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Morphological Evolution ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
Rapid Radiation ◽  
Theropod Dinosaurs ◽  
Extinction Event ◽  
The Common ◽  
Early Radiation

AbstractTetanurae, the most successful clade of theropod dinosaurs, including modern birds, split into three major clades early in their evolutionary history: Megalosauroidea, Coelurosauria, and Allosauroidea. The oldest tetanurans occur in the earliest Middle Jurassic, but the early fossil record of the clade is still poor. Here we report one of the oldest known and most complete pre-Late Jurassic tetanuran, the probable allosauroid Asfaltovenator vialidadi gen. et sp. nov., which has an unusual character combination, uniting features currently considered to be apomorphic of different tetanuran lineages. A phylogenetic analysis resulted in a monophyletic Carnosauria (Allosauroidea + Megalosauroidea), and the inclusion of the new taxon significantly changes topology within carnosaurs. The analysis shows concentrated homoplasy in proximal nodes at the base of Tetanurae, and a temporal peak at the Pliensbachian-Toarcian extinction event, recently identified as a potential driver of tetanuran radiation. These results highlight the complex morphological evolution in the early radiation of tetanuran theropods, in which convergences and parallelisms were extremely common. This pattern seems to be a common feature in rapid radiation events of major clades of vertebrates and might explain the common difficulties to unravel phylogenetic relationships of important lineages at the base of major clades.

scholarly journals Diversity trends and their ontogenetic basis: an exploration of allometric disparity in rodents

2009 ◽  
Vol 277 (1685) ◽  
pp. 1227-1234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura A. B. Wilson ◽  
Marcelo R. Sánchez-Villagra
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Morphological Evolution ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Morphological Diversity ◽  
Taxonomic Diversity ◽  
Morphological Integration ◽  
Morphological Features ◽  
Phylogenetic Relations ◽  
Ontogenetic Trajectories ◽  
Efficient Processing

It has been hypothesized that most morphological evolution occurs by allometric differentiation. Because rodents encapsulate a phenomenal amount of taxonomic diversity and, among several clades, contrasting levels of morphological diversity, they represent an excellent subject to address the question: how variable are allometric patterns during evolution? We investigated the influence of phylogenetic relations and ecological factors on the results of the first quantification of allometric disparity among rodents by exploring allometric space, a multivariate morphospace here derived from, and encapsulating all, the ontogenetic trajectories of 34 rodent species from two parallel phylogenetic radiations. Disparity was quantified using angles between ontogenetic trajectories for different species and clades. We found an overlapping occupation of allometric space by muroid and hystricognath species, revealing both clades possess similar abilities to evolve in different directions of phenotypic space, and anatomical diversity does not act to constrain the labile nature of allometric patterning. Morphological features to enable efficient processing of food serve to group rodents in allometric space, reflecting the importance of convergent morphology, rather than shared evolutionary history, in the generation of allometric patterns. Our results indicate that the conserved level of morphological integration found among primates cannot simply be extended to all mammals.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document