scholarly journals Firefly bioluminescence outshines aerial predators

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gareth S. Powell ◽  
Natalie A. Saxton ◽  
Yelena Pacheco ◽  
Kathrin F. Stanger-Hall ◽  
Gavin J. Martin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Predator Avoidance ◽  
Phylogenetic Reconstruction ◽  
Divergence Time ◽  
Ground Beetles ◽  
Sexual Signals ◽  
Robust Estimate ◽  
Fossil Calibration ◽  
Genomic Scale ◽  
Firefly Bioluminescence ◽  
Avoidance Strategy

Bioluminescence is found across life and has many functions. Yet we understand very little about its timing and origins, particularly as a predator avoidance strategy. Understanding the timing between bioluminescence and predator origins has yet to be examined and can help elucidate the evolution of the ecologically important signal aposematism. Using the most prevalent bioluminescent group, fireflies, where bioluminescence primarily functions as aposematic and sexual signals, the timing for the origins of both potential predators of fireflies and bioluminescence is explored. Divergence time estimations were performed using a genomic-scale phylogenetic reconstruction Lampyridae, and multiple fossil calibration points, allowing for a robust estimate for the origin of beetle bioluminescence as both a terrestrial and aerial signal. Our results recover the origins of terrestrial beetle bioluminescence at 141 mya and aerial bioluminescence at 133 mya. These ages predate the origins of all known extant aerial predators (i.e., bats and birds) and support the much older terrestrial predators (frogs, ground beetles, lizards, snakes, and hunting spiders) as the most likely drivers of bioluminescence in beetles.

scholarly journals Conserved transcriptomic profiles underpin monogamy across vertebrates

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (4) ◽  
pp. 1331-1336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca L. Young ◽  
Michael H. Ferkin ◽  
Nina F. Ockendon-Powell ◽  
Veronica N. Orr ◽  
Steven M. Phelps ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Mating Systems ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Divergence Time ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Evolutionary Divergence ◽  
Social Monogamy ◽  
Evolutionary Origins ◽  
Species Pairs ◽  
Genomic Scale

Social monogamy, typically characterized by the formation of a pair bond, increased territorial defense, and often biparental care, has independently evolved multiple times in animals. Despite the independent evolutionary origins of monogamous mating systems, several homologous brain regions and neuropeptides and their receptors have been shown to play a conserved role in regulating social affiliation and parental care, but little is known about the neuromolecular mechanisms underlying monogamy on a genomic scale. Here, we compare neural transcriptomes of reproductive males in monogamous and nonmonogamous species pairs ofPeromyscusmice,Microtusvoles, parid songbirds, dendrobatid frogs, andXenotilapiaspecies of cichlid fishes. We find that, while evolutionary divergence time between species or clades did not explain gene expression similarity, characteristics of the mating system correlated with neural gene expression patterns, and neural gene expression varied concordantly across vertebrates when species transition to monogamy. Our study provides evidence of a universal transcriptomic mechanism underlying the evolution of monogamy in vertebrates.

The effects of brown trout (Salmo trutta morpha fario) on habitat selection by larval Fire Salamanders (Salamandra salamandra): a predator-avoidance strategy

2018 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-219
Author(s):  
Aneta Bylak
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Brown Trout ◽  
Predator Avoidance ◽  
Salmo Trutta ◽  
Predatory Fish ◽  
Heterogeneous Habitats ◽  
Microhabitat Distribution ◽  
Brown Trout Salmo Trutta ◽  
Salamandra Salamandra ◽  
Avoidance Strategy

Predatory fish can have a major impact on aquatic amphibian assemblages. Knowledge regarding the influence of habitat heterogeneity on predator–prey dynamics is extensive, but not much is published on how the habitat structure influences the co-occurrence of brown trout (Salmo trutta Linnaeus, 1758 morpha fario) and Fire Salamander (Salamandra salamandra (Linnaeus, 1758)). I examined the microhabitat distribution of larval salamanders relative to the presence of brown trout and stream morphology, hypothesizing that larval salamanders will increase their habitat use in the presence of trout to avoid predation. Fish and salamanders were sampled with an electroshocker in 62 instream habitat patches. In the stream zone populated by brown trout, larval salamanders avoided high-quality habitats such as pools, whereas they strongly preferred them in the fishless zone (their densities were ∼10 times lower in pools than in riffles). Brown trout mainly occupied deeper pools. The co-occurrence of larval Fire Salamanders with trout suggests the presence of an effective predator-avoidance strategy. The predator-avoidance response and habitat-use pattern decreased interspecific overlap, leading to the use of different instream spaces. Heterogeneous habitats enable habitat partitioning between larval salamanders and brown trout, which means that the natural characteristics of streams promote coexistence between fish and amphibians.

scholarly journals The Biogeography of Dromiciops in Southern South America: middle Miocene transgressions, speciation and associations with Nothofagus

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian F. Quintero-Galvis ◽  
Pablo Saenz-Agudelo ◽  
Juan L. Celis-Diez ◽  
Guillermo C. Amico ◽  
Soledad Vazquez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Nuclear Dna ◽  
Divergence Time ◽  
Time Estimation ◽  
Southern South America ◽  
Divergence Time Estimation ◽  
Fossil Calibration ◽  
Biogeographic History ◽  
Climatic Optimum

AbstractAimSeveral geological events affecting Southern South America during the middle Miocene climatic optimum acted as important drivers of diversification to the biota. This is the case of Microbiotheria, for which Dromiciops is considered the sole surviving lineage, the sister group of Eomarsupialia (Australian marsupials). Three main Dromiciops genetic lineages are known, whose divergence was initially attributed to recent Pleistocene glaciations. Using fossil-calibrated dating on nuclear and mitochondrial genes, here we reevaluate this hypothesis and report an older (Miocenic) biogeographic history for the genus.LocationSouthern South America.MethodsPhylogenetic reconstruction using sequences from two mitochondrial DNA and four nuclear DNA genes in 159 specimens, from 31 sites across Chile and Argentina. Divergence time estimation using fossil calibration.ResultsOur phylogenetic analysis resolved four well supported clades with discrete geographic distributions. The oldest and most differentiated clade corresponds to that of the northern distribution (35.2°S to 39.3°S), which would be a different species (D. bozinovici, sensu D’elia et al. 2016). According to our estimations, this species shared a common ancestor with D. gliroides (southern clades) about 13 million years ago (95% CI: 6.4-25.3). The southern clades (39.6°S to 42.0°S), showed a divergence time ranging from 9.57 to 6.5 Mya. Strong genetic structure was detected from north to south but not across the Andes, or between Chiloé island/ mainland. Demographic equilibrium is inferred to the northern clade, and recent demographic expansions was detected in the central and southern clades.Main conclusionsThe whole diversification of Dromiciops occurred within the Miocene, being the Middle Miocene transgression (MMT), the massive marine flooding that covered several lowlands of the western face of los Andes between 38-48° S, the most likely diversifying force. This was the result of an increase in global sea levels due to the Miocene climatic optimum, which shaped the biogeographic origin of several species, including Nothofagus forests, the habitat main of Dromiciops.

scholarly journals Low-Coverage Whole Genomes Reveal the Higher Phylogeny of Green Lacewings

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 857
Author(s):  
Yuyu Wang ◽  
Ruyue Zhang ◽  
Yunlong Ma ◽  
Jing Li ◽  
Fan Fan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Reconstruction ◽  
Divergence Time ◽  
Sister Group ◽  
Data Matrix ◽  
Limited Sampling ◽  
Green Lacewings ◽  
Whole Genomes ◽  
History Of ◽  
Low Coverage ◽  
Cretaceous Period

Green lacewings are one of the largest families within Neuroptera and are widely distributed all over the world. Many species within this group are important natural predators that are widely used for the biological control of pests in agricultural ecosystems. Several proposed phylogenetic relationships among the three subfamilies of Chrysopidae have been extensively debated. To further understand the higher phylogeny as well as the evolutionary history of Chrysopidae, we newly sequenced and analyzed the low-coverage genomes of 5 species (Apochrysa matsumurae, Chrysopa pallens, Chrysoperla furcifera, Italochrysa pardalina, Nothochrysa sinica), representing 3 subfamilies of Chrysopidae. There are 2213 orthologs selected to reconstruct the phylogenetic tree. Phylogenetic reconstruction was performed using both concatenation and coalescent-based approaches, based on different data matrices. All the results suggested that Chrysopinae were a monophyletic sister group to the branch Apochrysinae + Nothochrysinae. These results were completely supported, except by the concatenation analyses of the nt data matrix, which suggested that Apochrysinae were a sister group to Chrysopinae + Nothchrysinae. The different topology from the nt data matrix may have been caused by the limited sampling of Chrysopidae. The divergence time showed that Chrysopinae diverged from Apochrysinae + Nothochrysinae during the Early Cretaceous period (144–151 Ma), while Aporchrysinae diverged from Nothochrysinae around 117–133 Ma. These results will improve our understanding of the higher phylogeny of Chrysopidae and lay a foundation for the utilization of natural predators.

scholarly journals Prey aggregation is an effective olfactory predator avoidance strategy

PeerJ ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. e408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asa Johannesen ◽  
Alison M. Dunn ◽  
Lesley J. Morrell
Keyword(s):  
Predator Avoidance ◽  
Avoidance Strategy

scholarly journals Reconstructing the evolutionary and ecological history of the sea skaters Halobates spp. (Heteroptera: Gerridae)

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristian Román Palacios ◽  
Daniela Moraga Lopez
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Reconstruction ◽  
Divergence Time ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Diversity Pattern ◽  
Ecological History ◽  
Independent Events ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Pelagic Environment ◽  
History Of

The genus Halobates includes the only five insect species that have been successful in a pelagic marine environment. Different scenarios of independent colonization events of that environment have been proposed, considering the appearance of pelagic distribution in several non-sister clades in the phylogeny of the genus. In this paper, we aim to update the phylogenetic hypothesis under the criterion of Bayesian inference, calibrate a molecular clock using the only fossil described in the genus and also analyze the diversity pattern of the lineage since its divergence. High support values were found in the phylogenetic reconstruction, which tend to decrease with an increase of the distances from the root. Low supports for the most derived clades or relatively recent divergences cast doubt on the delimitation of some species. Although the divergence time for Halobates was estimated at 42.01 mya (± 8.13) the emergence of the lineage probably happened a few million years before, so the estimated time of divergence probably also marked the start of diversification of the marine lineages of this genus. Since divergence, the richness of genus showed continuous linear growth for approximately 24.4 my, when the lineages began to diversify more quickly with a significantly lower extinction rate.The colonization of the pelagic environment which occurred nearly 42 mya, could also have been the starting point of the colonization of the marine pelagic environment when changes in their morphology, physiology and behaviour enabled them to exploit novel ecological niches. Ancestors of pelagic marine insects probably inhabited areas close to the seacoast more than 41 mya ago. The ecological history of Halobates was probably not limited to a pair of open water colonization events as indicated by earlier proposals. We hypothesize instead that at least three independent events of open water colonization by Halobates species have occurred. In this sense, the ecological character of coastal or pelagic distribution is considered to be a homoplasic character without direct implications on the net diversification of Halobates.

Accounting for Uncertainty in the Evolutionary Timescale of Green Plants Through Clock-Partitioning and Fossil Calibration Strategies

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuan Nie ◽  
Charles S P Foster ◽  
Tianqi Zhu ◽  
Ru Yao ◽  
David A Duchêne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Climate ◽  
Divergence Time ◽  
Tree Topology ◽  
Molecular Dating ◽  
Crown Group ◽  
Green Plants ◽  
Fossil Calibration ◽  
Divergence Time Estimates ◽  
Time Estimates ◽  
Chloroplast Genomes

Abstract Establishing an accurate evolutionary timescale for green plants (Viridiplantae) is essential to understanding their interaction and coevolution with the Earth’s climate and the many organisms that rely on green plants. Despite being the focus of numerous studies, the timing of the origin of green plants and the divergence of major clades within this group remain highly controversial. Here, we infer the evolutionary timescale of green plants by analyzing 81 protein-coding genes from 99 chloroplast genomes, using a core set of 21 fossil calibrations. We test the sensitivity of our divergence-time estimates to various components of Bayesian molecular dating, including the tree topology, clock models, clock-partitioning schemes, rate priors, and fossil calibrations. We find that the choice of clock model affects date estimation and that the independent-rates model provides a better fit to the data than the autocorrelated-rates model. Varying the rate prior and tree topology had little impact on age estimates, with far greater differences observed among calibration choices and clock-partitioning schemes. Our analyses yield date estimates ranging from the Paleoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic for crown-group green plants, and from the Ediacaran to Middle Ordovician for crown-group land plants. We present divergence-time estimates of the major groups of green plants that take into account various sources of uncertainty. Our proposed timeline lays the foundation for further investigations into how green plants shaped the global climate and ecosystems, and how embryophytes became dominant in terrestrial environments.

scholarly journals Appropriate Assignment of Fossil Calibration Information Minimizes the Difference between Phylogenetic and Pedigree Mutation Rates in Humans

Life ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renata Capellão ◽  
Elisa Costa-Paiva ◽  
Carlos Schrago
Keyword(s):  
Mutation Rate ◽  
Divergence Time ◽  
Mutation Rates ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Fossil Calibration ◽  
Divergence Time Estimates ◽  
Time Estimates ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Coalescent Time

Studies that measured mutation rates in human populations using pedigrees have reported values that differ significantly from rates estimated from the phylogenetic comparison of humans and chimpanzees. Consequently, exchanges between mutation rate values across different timescales lead to conflicting divergence time estimates. It has been argued that this variation of mutation rate estimates across hominoid evolution is in part caused by incorrect assignment of calibration information to the mean coalescent time among loci, instead of the true genetic isolation (speciation) time between humans and chimpanzees. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of estimating the human pedigree mutation rate using phylogenetic data from the genomes of great apes. We found that, when calibration information was correctly assigned to the human–chimpanzee speciation time (and not to the coalescent time), estimates of phylogenetic mutation rates were statistically equivalent to the estimates previously reported using studies of human pedigrees. We conclude that, within the range of biologically realistic ancestral generation times, part of the difference between whole-genome phylogenetic and pedigree mutation rates is due to inappropriate assignment of fossil calibration information to the mean coalescent time instead of the speciation time. Although our results focus on the human–chimpanzee divergence, our findings are general, and relevant to the inference of the timescale of the tree of life.

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