A taxonomist‘s nightmare – Cryptic diversity in Caribbean intertidal arthropods (Arachnida, Acari, Oribatida)

Pfingstl, Tobias; Lienhard, Andrea; Baumann, Julia; Koblmüller, Stephan

doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107240

Cited by 23 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…From the evolutionary emergence of primitive organisms to today's broad variety of organisms, people have been constantly exploring how many species there are on the earth and what kind of evolutionary relationship among species. With the development of open science and technological innovation, methods of species identification range from using morphological characteristics to the integration of various methods (e.g., molecular biology, bioinformatics, bionomics) [1][2][3][4][5], which help us gain a more in-depth understanding of the evolutionary process between organisms and their accurate position in the tree of life. Due to the multi-disciplines combination and the improvement of sharing databases, many misclassifications hidden in the past have been gradually discovered, and their key morphological boundaries have also been redefined.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Finding Hidden Outliers to Promote the Consistency of Key Morphological Traits and Phylogeny in Dennstaedtiaceae

et al. 2021

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With the development of open science and technological innovation, using sharing data and molecular biology techniques in the study of taxonomy and systematics have become a crucial component of plants, which undoubtedly helps us discover more hidden outliers or deal with difficult taxa. In this paper, we take Dennstaedtia smithii as an example, based on sharing molecular database, virtual herbarium and plant photo bank, to clarify the outliers that have been hidden in Dennstaedtia and find the key morphological traits with consistent of molecular systematics. In molecular phylogenetic analyses, we used rbcL, rps4, psbA-trnH and trnL-F sequences from 5 new and 49 shared data; the results showed that Dennstaedtia smithii is nested within Microlepia rather than Dennstaedtia. We further studied the morphological characters based on the phylogeny result and found that D. smithii is distinguished from other species of Dennstaedtia by spore ornamentation and the unconnected of grooves between rachis and pinna rachis. According to morphological and molecular phylogenetic studies, our results supported that D. smithii should be a new member of Microlepia and renamed Microlepia smithii (Hook.) Y.H. Yan. Finding hidden outliers can promote the consistency of morphological and molecular phylogenetic results, and making the systematic classification more natural.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Finding Hidden Outliers to Promote the Consistency of Key Morphological Traits and Phylogeny in Dennstaedtiaceae

et al. 2021

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“…orbicularis have been shown to be close genetic groups [ 6 ] and could represent recently diverged species that have not accumulated any morphological differences yet. However, the nine species sampled in the present study are part of three very divergent genera (i.e., Fuscifolium , Porphyra , and Pyropia ; [ 68 ]), and the evolutionary convergence or morphological stasis linked to life in the highly stressful intertidal zone (e.g., [ 71 ]) could be hypothesized in bladed Bangiales.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

More than What Meets the Eye: Differential Spatiotemporal Distribution of Cryptic Intertidal Bangiales

Cid‐Alda

Valdivia

Guillemin

2022

Plants

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Morphologically similar but genetically distinct species have been termed cryptic and most have been assumed to be ecologically similar. However, if these species co-occur at a certain spatial scale, some niche differences at finer scales should be expected to allow for coexistence. Here, we demonstrate the existence of a disjointed distribution of cryptic bladed Bangiales along spatial (intertidal elevations) and temporal (seasons) environmental gradients. Bladed Bangiales were identified and quantified across four intertidal elevations and four seasons for one year, at five rocky intertidal sites (between 39° S and 43° S) in southern Chile. Species determination was based on partial sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase 1 (COI) gene amplification. To assess species gross morphology, thallus shape, color, and maximum length and width were recorded. Hundreds of organisms were classified into nine Bangiales species belonging to three genera (i.e., Fuscifolium, Porphyra, and Pyropia), including five frequent (>97% of specimens) and four infrequent species. All species, except for Pyropia saldanhae, had been previously reported along the coasts of Chile. The thallus shape and color were very variable, and a large overlap of the maximum width and length supported the cryptic status of these species. Multivariate analyses showed that the main variable affecting species composition was intertidal elevation. Species such as Py. orbicularis were more abundant in low and mid intertidal zones, while others, such as Po. mumfordii and Po. sp. FIH, were principally observed in high and spray elevations. Despite all numerically dominant species being present all year long, a slight effect of seasonal variation on species composition was also detected. These results strongly support the existence of spatial niche partitioning in cryptic Bangiales along the Chilean rocky intertidal zone.

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“…Adaptation to homogeneous and highly constraining environments, such as soil, has been suggested to impose stabilising selection for morphology, resulting in highly conserved morphological traits within evolutionary lineages (Colborn et al, 2001; Lefébure et al, 2006; Pfingstl et al, 2021). Such selection complicates the use of diagnostic morphological characters for classical taxonomic delimitation of species, something that has been identified as resulting in broader species diversity being lumped within a more limited number of taxonomic names (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such selection complicates the use of diagnostic morphological characters for classical taxonomic delimitation of species, something that has been identified as resulting in broader species diversity being lumped within a more limited number of taxonomic names (e.g. Cicconardi et al, 2013; Morek et al, 2021; Pfingstl et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hidden island endemic species and their implications for cryptic speciation within soil arthropods

Pérez‐Delgado

Arribas

Hernando

et al. 2022

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim Specialisation to the soil environment is expected to constrain the spatial scale of diversification within animal lineages. In this context, flightless arthropod lineages, adapted to soil environments, but with broad geographical ranges, represent something of an anomaly. Here we investigate the diversification process within one such ‘anomalous’ soil specialist, an eyeless and flightless beetle species strongly adapted to the endogean environment but distributed across several oceanic islands. Location Canary Islands. Taxon Geomitopsis franzi Coiffait, 1978 (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae). Methods We performed an integrative study, including molecular phylogenetics, population genomics and morphometry. Four DNA regions (two mitochondrial and two nuclear) were amplified and sequenced for 159 specimens from 58 localities sampled across five islands for phylogenetic analyses, and a dated phylogenetic tree was obtained using a mitogenome dataset. ddRAD‐seq data were generated to evaluate mtDNA lineages in sympatry against the biological species concept. Results We found high levels of genetic differentiation (>8% COI gene divergence) among populations from different islands and among geographically coherent lineages within single islands. Lineages within Tenerife presented significant patterns of isolation by distance, with ddRAD‐seq providing evidence that lineages represent biological species. Morphometric analyses revealed limited variation. Main conclusions Geomitopsis franzi is comprised of at least seven lineages that merit consideration as biological species, and is best considered as a complex of cryptic species. The limited morphological variation across these lineages is consistent with adaptation to the endogean environment placing strong constraints on morphological change. The evolution of cryptic species should be favoured when such constraints are coupled with limited dispersal ability, a trait that broadly characterises the soil mesofauna.

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A taxonomist‘s nightmare – Cryptic diversity in Caribbean intertidal arthropods (Arachnida, Acari, Oribatida)

Cited by 23 publications

References 86 publications

Finding Hidden Outliers to Promote the Consistency of Key Morphological Traits and Phylogeny in Dennstaedtiaceae

Finding Hidden Outliers to Promote the Consistency of Key Morphological Traits and Phylogeny in Dennstaedtiaceae

More than What Meets the Eye: Differential Spatiotemporal Distribution of Cryptic Intertidal Bangiales

Hidden island endemic species and their implications for cryptic speciation within soil arthropods

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