scholarly journals The Genealogical Divergence Index Across a Speciation Continuum in Hercules Beetles

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jen-Pan Huang
Keyword(s):  
Species Delimitation ◽  
Integrative Taxonomy ◽  
Biological Species ◽  
Multispecies Coalescent ◽  
Genetic Groups ◽  
Allopatric Species ◽  
Geographic Populations ◽  
Speciation Continuum ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
Genetic Structures

Abstract The genealogical divergence index (gdi) was developed to aid in molecular species delimitation under the multispecies coalescent model, which has been shown to delimit genetic structures but not necessarily species. Although previous studies have used meta-analyses to show that gdi could be informative for distinguishing taxonomically good species, the biological and evolutionary implications of divergences showing different gdi values have yet to be studied. I showed that an increase in gdi value was correlated with later stages of divergence further along a speciation continuum in an Amazonian Hercules beetle system. Specifically, a gdi value of 0.7 or higher was associated with diverge between biological species that can coexist in geographic proximity while maintaining their evolutionary independence. Divergences between allopatric species that were conventionally given subspecific status, such as geographic taxa that may or may not be morphologically divergent, had gdi values that fell within the species delimitation ambiguous zone (0.2 < gdi < 0.7). However, the results could be drastically affected by the sampling design, i.e., the choice of different geographic populations and the lumping of distinct genetic groups when running the analyses. Different gdi values may prove to be biologically and evolutionarily informative should additional speciation continua from different empirical systems be investigated, and the results obtained may help with objectively delimiting species in the era of integrative taxonomy.

scholarly journals Validation and description of two new north-western Australian Rainbow skinks with multispecies coalescent methods and morphology

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3724 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana C. Afonso Silva ◽  
Natali Santos ◽  
Huw A. Ogilvie ◽  
Craig Moritz
Keyword(s):  
Species Delimitation ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Integrative Taxonomy ◽  
Gene Trees ◽  
Separate Species ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Multispecies Coalescent ◽  
Alternative Species

While methods for genetic species delimitation have noticeably improved in the last decade, this remains a work in progress. Ideally, model based approaches should be applied and considered jointly with other lines of evidence, primarily morphology and geography, in an integrative taxonomy framework. Deep phylogeographic divergences have been reported for several species ofCarliaskinks, but only for some eastern taxa have species boundaries been formally tested. The present study does this and revises the taxonomy for two species from northern Australia,Carlia johnstoneiandC. triacantha. We introduce an approach that is based on the recently published method StarBEAST2, which uses multilocus data to explore the support for alternative species delimitation hypotheses using Bayes Factors (BFD). We apply this method, jointly with two other multispecies coalescent methods, using an extensive (from 2,163 exons) data set along with measures of 11 morphological characters. We use this integrated approach to evaluate two new candidate species previously revealed in phylogeographic analyses of rainbow skinks (genusCarlia) in Western Australia. The results based on BFD StarBEAST2, BFD* SNAPP and BPP genetic delimitation, together with morphology, support each of the four recently identifiedCarlialineages as separate species. The BFD StarBEAST2 approach yielded results highly congruent with those from BFD* SNAPP and BPP. This supports use of the robust multilocus multispecies coalescent StarBEAST2 method for species delimitation, which does not requirea prioriresolved species or gene trees. Compared to the situation inC. triacantha, morphological divergence was greater between the two lineages within Kimberley endemicC. johnstonei, which also had deeper divergent histories. This congruence supports recognition of two species withinC. johnstonei. Nevertheless, the combined evidence also supports recognition of two taxa within the more widespreadC. triacantha. With this work, we describe two new species,Carlia insularissp. nov andCarlia isostriacanthasp. nov. in the northwest of Australia. This contributes to increasing recognition that this region of tropical Australia has a rich and unique fauna.

scholarly journals Molecular Species Delimitation of Larks (Aves: Alaudidae), and Integrative Taxonomy of the Genus Calandrella, with the Description of a Range-Restricted African Relic Taxon

Diversity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 428
Author(s):  
Martin Stervander ◽  
Bengt Hansson ◽  
Urban Olsson ◽  
Mark F. Hulme ◽  
Ulf Ottosson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
Molecular Species ◽  
Species Delimitation ◽  
Integrative Taxonomy ◽  
West African ◽  
Northwest Africa ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Plateau State ◽  
Avian Family ◽  
Relic Population

Larks constitute an avian family of exceptional cryptic diversity and striking examples of convergent evolution. Therefore, traditional morphology-based taxonomy has recurrently failed to reflect evolutionary relationships. While taxonomy ideally should integrate morphology, vocalizations, behaviour, ecology, and genetics, this can be challenging for groups that span several continents including areas that are difficult to access. Here, we combine morphometrics and mitochondrial DNA to evaluate the taxonomy of Calandrella larks, with particular focus on the African C. cinerea and the Asian C. acutirostris complexes. We describe a new range-restricted West African taxon, Calandrella cinerea rufipecta ssp. nov. (type locality: Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria), with an isolated relic population 3000 km from its closest relative in the Rift Valley. We performed molecular species delimitation, employing coalescence-based multi-rate Poisson Tree Processes (mPTP) on cytochrome b sequences across 52 currently recognized lark species, including multiple taxa currently treated as subspecies. Three species-level splits were inferred within the genus Calandrella and another 13 across other genera, primarily among fragmented sub-Saharan taxa and taxa distributed from Northwest Africa to Arabia or East Africa. Previously unknown divergences date back as far as to the Miocene, indicating the presence of currently unrecognized species. However, we stress that taxonomic decisions should not be based on single datasets, such as mitochondrial DNA, although analyses of mitochondrial DNA can be a good indicator of taxa in need of further integrative taxonomic assessment.

scholarly journals The BPP program for species tree estimation and species delimitation

2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (5) ◽  
pp. 854-865 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ziheng Yang
Keyword(s):  
Species Delimitation ◽  
Genomic Sequence ◽  
Sequence Data ◽  
Species Tree ◽  
Joint Analysis ◽  
Coalescent Model ◽  
Species Phylogeny ◽  
Multispecies Coalescent ◽  
Tree Estimation ◽  
Nuclear Loci

Abstract This paper provides an overview and a tutorial of the BPP program, which is a Bayesian MCMC program for analyzing multi-locus genomic sequence data under the multispecies coalescent model. An example dataset of five nuclear loci from the East Asian brown frogs is used to illustrate four different analyses, including estimation of species divergence times and population size parameters under the multispecies coalescent model on a fixed species phylogeny (A00), species tree estimation when the assignment and species delimitation are fixed (A01), species delimitation using a fixed guide tree (A10), and joint species delimitation and species-tree estimation or unguided species delimitation (A11). For the joint analysis (A11), two new priors are introduced, which assign uniform probabilities for the different numbers of delimited species, which may be useful when assignment, species delimitation, and species phylogeny are all inferred in one joint analysis. The paper ends with a discussion of the assumptions, the strengths and weaknesses of the BPP analysis.

scholarly journals Integrative taxonomy reveals a cryptic species of the nudibranch genus Polycera (Polyceridae) in European waters

2020 ◽  
Vol 100 (5) ◽  
pp. 733-752
Author(s):  
Cecilie Gotaas Sørensen ◽  
Cessa Rauch ◽  
Marta Pola ◽  
Manuel António E. Malaquias
Keyword(s):  
Species Delimitation ◽  
Molecular Phylogenetics ◽  
Mitochondrial Gene ◽  
Haplotype Network ◽  
Integrative Taxonomy ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Yellow Orange ◽  
Anatomical Characters ◽  
Taxonomic Approach ◽  
Barcode Gap

AbstractThis work aimed to test whether the colour variability featured by the European nudibranch Polycera quadrilineata is consistent with the concept of a single polychromatic species or may hide multiple lineages. Samples from across the geographic range of P. quadrilineata together with representatives from worldwide species with a focus on Atlantic diversity, were gathered and studied using an integrative taxonomic approach. Morpho-anatomical characters were investigated by light and scanning electron microscopy. Bayesian molecular phylogenetics using MrBayes, the Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery species delimitation method, and haplotype network analysis using the PopArt software were employed to help delimit species using the mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI). The results supported the existence of a second species, here described and named Polycera norvegica sp. nov., only known from Norway where it is sympatric with P. quadrilineata. The COI uncorrected p-genetic distance between the two species was estimated at 9.6–12.4%. Polycera norvegica sp. nov. differs by exhibiting a black dotted or patchy dotted pattern occasionally with more or less defined orange/brown patches, but never black continuous or dashed stripes as in P. quadrilineata. The two species share a common colouration with a whitish base and yellow/orange tubercles. Anatomically, P. norvegica sp. nov. has a weaker labial cuticle, a smaller radula with fewer rows, and only four marginal teeth, a reproductive system with a single lobed bursa copulatrix, shorter reproductive ducts, and a penis armed with two kinds of spines: needle-like and hook-shaped penile spines.

Species delimitation of the blue-spotted spiny lizard within a multilocus, multispecies coalescent framework, results in the recognition of a new Sceloporus species

2017 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 185-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brenda Díaz-Cárdenas ◽  
Eduardo Ruiz-Sanchez ◽  
Patricia Castro-Felix ◽  
Gamaliel Castañeda-Gaytán ◽  
Sergio Ruiz-Santana ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Delimitation ◽  
Multispecies Coalescent

scholarly journals The challenge of delimiting cryptic species, and a supervised machine learning solution

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahan Derkarabetian ◽  
James Starrett ◽  
Marshal Hedin
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Cryptic Species ◽  
Species Delimitation ◽  
Genetic Data ◽  
Biological Characteristics ◽  
Supervised Machine Learning ◽  
Training Dataset ◽  
Dispersal Ability ◽  
Data Types ◽  
Multispecies Coalescent

The diversity of biological and ecological characteristics of organisms, and the underlying genetic patterns and processes of speciation, makes the development of universally applicable genetic species delimitation methods challenging. Many approaches, like those incorporating the multispecies coalescent, sometimes delimit populations and overestimate species numbers. This issue is exacerbated in taxa with inherently high population structure due to low dispersal ability, and in cryptic species resulting from nonecological speciation. These taxa present a conundrum when delimiting species: analyses rely heavily, if not entirely, on genetic data which over split species, while other lines of evidence lump. We showcase this conundrum in the harvester Theromaster brunneus, a low dispersal taxon with a wide geographic distribution and high potential for cryptic species. Integrating morphology, mitochondrial, and sub-genomic (double-digest RADSeq and ultraconserved elements) data, we find high discordance across analyses and data types in the number of inferred species, with further evidence that multispecies coalescent approaches over split. We demonstrate the power of a supervised machine learning approach in effectively delimiting cryptic species by creating a "custom" training dataset derived from a well-studied lineage with similar biological characteristics as Theromaster. This novel approach uses known taxa with particular biological characteristics to inform unknown taxa with similar characteristics, and uses modern computational tools ideally suited for species delimitation while also considering the biology and natural history of organisms to make more biologically informed species delimitation decisions. In principle, this approach is universally applicable for species delimitation of any taxon with genetic data, particularly for cryptic species.

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