Habitat-dependent diversification and parallel molecular evolution: Water scavenger beetles as a case study
Abstract Habitat shift is a key innovation that has contributed to the extreme diversification of insects. Most groups are well-adapted to more or less specific environments and shifts usually only happen between similar habitats. To colonize a profoundly different habitat type does not only present...
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Published in | Current zoology Vol. 60; no. 5; pp. 561 - 570 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
01.10.2014
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Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Abstract
Habitat shift is a key innovation that has contributed to the extreme diversification of insects. Most groups are well-adapted to more or less specific environments and shifts usually only happen between similar habitats. To colonize a profoundly different habitat type does not only present ecological opportunities but also great challenges. We used Hydrophiloidea (water scavenger beetles) as a system to study transitions between terrestrial and aquatic environments. We estimated the diversification rate of different clades using phylogenetic trees based on a representative taxon sampling and six genes. We also investigated possible evolutionary changes in candidate genes following habitat shifts. Our results suggest that the diversification rate is relatively slow (0.039?0.050 sp/My) in the aquatic lineage, whereas it is distinctly increased in the secondarily terrestrial clade (0.055?0.075 sp/My). Our results also show that aquatic species have a G (Glycine) or S (Serine) amino acid at a given site of COI, while terrestrial species share an A (Alanine) amino acid with terrestrial outgroups. This indicates that habitat factors may create selection pressure on the evolution of functional genes and cause homoplasy in molecular evolution. |
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ISSN: | 1674-5507 2396-9814 |
DOI: | 10.1093/czoolo/60.5.561 |