Mid-Pleistocene Transition as a trigger for diversification in the Irano-Anatolian region: Evidence revealed by phylogeography and distribution pattern of the eastern three-lined lizard

Ghane-Ameleh, Somayeh; Khosravi, Milad; Saberi-Pirooz, Reihaneh; Ebrahimi, Elham; Aghbolaghi, Marzieh Asadi; Ahmadzadeh, Faraham

doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01839

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…Thus, given the weak support for the role of several climatic niche variables in diversification (i.e. T max , PREC max , ELEV avg ) and the results of recent studies in subsets of the group (Ghane‐Ameleh et al, 2021), we cannot completely exclude the possibility that climatic niche evolution may have contributed to speciation dynamics of this group during climatic oscillations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Allopatric speciation, niche conservatism and gradual phenotypic change in the evolution of European green lizards

Enriquez‐Urzelai

Martínez‐Freiría

Freitas

et al. 2022

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim:The contributions of historical biogeography, morphology and climatic niche evolution in shaping species diversification have been typically examined separately. To fill this gap, we assessed the relative role of geologic history, environment and phenotypic trait evolution in lineage diversification of green lizards in the Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot.Location: Eurasia and North Africa.Taxon: Green lizards (genera Timon and Lacerta).Methods: For all green lizard lineages, we characterized distributional ranges and external morphological traits across discrete biogeographical areas, occupied macro-habitats and climatic niches using environmental variables that represent average and extreme climatic conditions. To assess the contribution of geographical factors in shaping diversity patterns, we evaluated the fit of 24 biogeographical models. We used BAMM and estimated phylogenetic signal to assess the rates of lineage diversification and of phenotypic and climatic niche evolution, and to determine whether these processes occurred steadily or at specific time periods as a response to palaeogeological or palaeoclimatic events. Finally, we tested for associations between phenotypic traits and lineage diversification using trait-dependent diversification analyses (QuaSSE, ES-sim and STRAPP).Results: Biogeographical analyses favoured a dispersal-vicariance model explaining speciation patterns in green lizards, including jump dispersal and constrained dispersal by geographical distance. Lineages accumulated gradually towards the present, with minor divergence in morphological traits and conservatism of climatic niches.In contrast, in the Lacerta agilis lineage, niche evolution may have allowed expansion towards colder environments. Morphological and climatic niche evolution were uncoupled from diversification rates.Main Conclusions: Biogeographical processes largely explain the constant lineage diversification of green lizards in the Mediterranean Basin since the Miocene, followed by gradual phenotypic divergence unrelated to cladogenesis. Climatic niche conservatism promoted the accumulation of lineages within the Mediterranean, except for L. agilis, where climatic niche evolution might underpin its range spread towards higher latitudes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Allopatric speciation, niche conservatism and gradual phenotypic change in the evolution of European green lizards

Enriquez‐Urzelai

Martínez‐Freiría

Freitas

et al. 2022

Journal of Biogeography

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“…Irano-Anatolian and Caucasus biodiversity hotspots are known for their highly endemic alpine and subalpine flora which correlates with a high degree of topological isolation caused by the recent uplift in the various mountain systems in these regions, such as the Turkish-Iranian plateau plateau and its major mountainous components, i.e., Zagros, Alborz, Caucasus, and Kopet-Dag mountains. Although some studies attempted to assess the huge diversity within some endemic taxa in these regions in terms of molecular clock, biogeography, and dispersal patterns (Ghane-Ameleh et al 2021; Noroozi et al 2018), our study is the first to address the issue of mega-diversity in the endemic taxa of Irano-Anatolian and Caucasus biodiversity hotspots through phylogeny, molecular clock, and statistical analyses of diversification.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary dynamics in Irano-Anatolian and Caucasus biodiversity hotspots: Evolutionary radiation and its drivers inGypsophila(Caryophyllaceae)

Madhani,

Rabeler,

Heubl

et al. 2023

Preprint

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SummaryIrano-Anatolian and Caucasus biodiversity hotspots, characterized by a high degree of alpine endemism and extremely dynamic geographical history, are among the 36 globally defined biodiversity hotspots. However, the dynamics of evolution and the cofactors of diversification have not been investigated in these regions.We explore the evolutionary dynamics ofGypsophila(Caryophylleae: Caryophyllaceae), a large and diverse genus with a high degree of endemism in the Irano-Anatolian and Caucasus biodiversity hotspots. We investigate the diversification rate and its biotic and abiotic cofactors within the Caryophylleae tribe, with a special focus onGypsophila.We identified a shift in the diversification rate ofGypsophilathat started about 3 million years ago and was influenced by both biotic and abiotic forces. The results suggest that the diversity insideGypsophilaevolved due to evolutionary radiation that was triggered by both paleoenvironmental factors and acquiring morphological novelties.The result of this study demonstrates a highly dynamic evolutionary history across the Caryophylleae clade andGypsophila, which is consistent with the extensive fluctuation in the geological and climatological history of Irano-Anatolian and Caucasus biodiversity hotspots. This study significantly improves our understanding of the dynamics of evolution in the Irano-Anatolian and Caucasus biodiversity hotspots and the impact of environmental changes on the rate of diversification.

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“…Pleistocene warming–cooling cycles become more similar in intensity and duration at about 0.9–0.8 Mya, which is in the middle Pleistocene transition [ 65 , 66 ]. Intraspecific diversification of many ectothermic taxa in the Mediterranean Basin and surrounding regions have been found to be related to this later period, e.g., [ 58 , 67 , 68 ]. Although the periods of divergence and diversification found for H. viridiflavus mostly predate the past-climatic scenarios used to infer the range dynamics of the species (i.e., the oldest period is the last interglacial, LIG, which occurred about 0.12–0.14 Mya), they are representative of the warming–cooling cycles that occurred in the late Pleistocene and are representative of the posterior warming tendency.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phylogeographic and Paleoclimatic Modelling Tools Improve Our Understanding of the Biogeographic History of Hierophis viridiflavus (Colubridae)

Romero-Iraola,

Freitas,

Jiménez-Ruíz

et al. 2023

Animals

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Phylogeographic and paleoclimatic modelling studies have been combined to infer the role of Pleistocene climatic oscillations as drivers of the genetic structure and distribution of Mediterranean taxa. For the European whip snake, Hierophis viridiflavus, previous studies based on paleoclimatic modelling have depicted a low reliability in the pattern of past climatic suitability across the central Mediterranean Basin, which barely fits the species’ genetic structure. In this study, we combined phylogeographic and paleoclimatic modelling tools to improve our understanding of the biogeographic history of H. viridiflavus, particularly extending the sampling and phylogeographic inferences to previously under-sampled regions. Phylogeographic analyses recovered two major clades that diverged at the beginning of the Pleistocene and had diversified in different ways by the late Pleistocene: the east clade (composed of three subclades) and the west clade (with no further structure). Paleoclimatic models highlighted the temperate character of H. viridiflavus, indicating range contractions during both the last inter-glacial and last glacial maximum periods. Range expansions from southern-located climatic refugia likely occurred in the Bølling–Allerød and Middle Holocene periods, which are supported by signals of demographic growth in the west clade and South–East–North subclade. Overall, this work improves our understanding of the historical biogeography of H. viridiflavus, providing further insights into the evolutionary processes that occurred in the Mediterranean Basin hotspot.

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Mid-Pleistocene Transition as a trigger for diversification in the Irano-Anatolian region: Evidence revealed by phylogeography and distribution pattern of the eastern three-lined lizard

Cited by 12 publications

References 85 publications

Allopatric speciation, niche conservatism and gradual phenotypic change in the evolution of European green lizards

Allopatric speciation, niche conservatism and gradual phenotypic change in the evolution of European green lizards

Evolutionary dynamics in Irano-Anatolian and Caucasus biodiversity hotspots: Evolutionary radiation and its drivers inGypsophila(Caryophyllaceae)

Phylogeographic and Paleoclimatic Modelling Tools Improve Our Understanding of the Biogeographic History of Hierophis viridiflavus (Colubridae)

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