No abstract

Globorotalia truncatulinoides is an extant species of planktic foraminiferans commonly used for stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental analyses. It originated ∼2.8 m.y. ago in subtropical areas of the South Pacific, spread to all subtropical and temperate regions of the world ocean, and expanded its range to southern subantarctic waters between 500 and 200 Ka. The wide geographic distribution of G. truncatulinoides is associated with a latitudinal morphological variability considered as an ecophenotypic variation within a single species. Here, we present the first molecular, morphological, and ecological evidence that G. truncatulinoides corresponds to a complex of four genetic species adapted to particular hydrographic conditions. The different species are separated by significant genetic distances in several ribosomal genes (SSU, ITS-1, 5.8S, ITS-2). Species 1 and species 2 characterize subtropical waters, species 3 is abundant exclusively in the Subantarctic Convergence, while species 4 inhabits subantarctic waters. By using an absolute molecular clock, we deduce the time of divergence between the subtropical and frontal/subantarctic species at ∼300 Ka, which is in agreement with stratigraphic data and suggests an adaptive radiation of the species allowing it to colonize the nutrient-rich and cold subantarctic waters. This genetic dichotomy is associated with a morphological differentiation identified using outline analysis. Species of the same regions are more similar in test shape but can be distinguished by coiling direction. The evolutionary patterns recognized here by combining DNA and morphological analyses from plankton-tow specimens mirror and allow a new interpretation of the data available from Recent sediments. They highlight the importance of adaptation and heterochronic processes, leading to cryptic speciation, in planktic foraminifera.

Recognition of evolutionary units (species, populations) requires integrating several kinds of data, such as genetic or phenotypic markers or spatial information in order to get a comprehensive view concerning the differentiation of the units. We propose a statistical model with a double original advantage: (i) it incorporates information about the spatial distribution of the samples, with the aim to increase inference power and to relate more explicitly observed patterns to geography and (ii) it allows one to analyze genetic and phenotypic data within a unified model and inference framework, thus opening the way to robust comparisons between markers and possibly combined analyses. We show from simulated data as well as real data that our method estimates parameters accurately and is an improvement over alternative approaches in many situations. The power of this method is exemplified using an intricate case of inter- and intraspecies differentiation based on an original data set of georeferenced genetic and morphometric markers obtained on Myodes voles from Sweden. A computer program is made available as an extension of the R package Geneland.

BackgroundPlasticity, i.e. non-heritable morphological variation, enables organisms to modify the shape of their skeletal tissues in response to varying environmental stimuli. Plastic variation may also allow individuals to survive in the face of new environmental conditions, enabling the evolution of heritable adaptive traits. However, it is uncertain whether such a plastic response of morphology constitutes an evolutionary adaption itself. Here we investigate whether shape differences due to plastic bone remodelling have functionally advantageous biomechanical consequences in mouse mandibles. Shape characteristics of mandibles from two groups of inbred laboratory mice fed either rodent pellets or ground pellets mixed with jelly were assessed using geometric morphometrics and mechanical advantage measurements of jaw adductor musculature.ResultsMandibles raised on diets with differing food consistency showed significant differences in shape, which in turn altered their biomechanical profile. Mice raised on a soft food diet show a reduction in mechanical advantage relative to mice of the same inbred strain raised on a typical hard food diet. Further, the soft food eaters showed lower levels of integration between jaw regions, particularly between the molar and angular region relative to hard food eaters.ConclusionsBone remodelling in mouse mandibles allows for significant shifts in biomechanical ability. Food consistency significantly influences this process in an adaptive direction, as mice raised on hard food develop jaws better suited to handle hard foods. This remodelling also affects the organisation of the mandible, as mice raised on soft food appear to be released from developmental constraints showing less overall integration than those raised on hard foods, but with a shift of integration towards the most solicited regions of the mandible facing such a food, namely the incisors. Our results illustrate how environmentally driven plasticity can lead to adaptive functional changes that increase biomechanical efficiency of food processing in the face of an increased solicitation. In contrast, decreased demand in terms of food processing seems to release developmental interactions between jaw parts involved in mastication, and may generate new patterns of co-variation, possibly opening new directions to subsequent selection. Overall, our results emphasize that mandible shape and integration evolved as parts of a complex system including mechanical loading food resource utilization and possibly foraging behaviour.