Molecular phylogeography reveals island colonization history and diversification of western Indian Ocean sunbirds (Nectarinia: Nectariniidae)

Warren, Ben; Bermingham, Eldredge; Bowie, Rauri C. K.; Prŷs-Jones, Robert; Thébaud, Christophe

doi:10.1016/s1055-7903(03)00063-0

Cited by 105 publications

(110 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…In the absence of independently derived calibration points, and given that Piciformes have relatively high rates of mtDNA sequence evolution (33), we used maximum rate estimates to conservatively estimate a minimum divergence time between the two lineages. Even using the fastest estimated rates of mtDNA sequence evolution in birds (33)(34)(35), the 14.8% mtDNA divergence between Greater Honeyguide lineages corresponds to an evolutionary age of ∼3 My. For comparison, the common cuckoo C. canorus host races (gentes) appear to have diverged on the order of ∼80,000 y ago (13) and have shown imperfect host fidelity since that time (13,17).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient host specificity within a single species of brood parasitic bird

Spottiswoode

Stryjewski

Quader

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Parasites that exploit multiple hosts often experience diversifying selection for host-specific adaptations. This can result in multiple strains of host specialists coexisting within a single parasitic species. A long-standing conundrum is how such sympatric host races can be maintained within a single parasitic species in the face of interbreeding among conspecifics specializing on different hosts. Striking examples are seen in certain avian brood parasites such as cuckoos, many of which show host-specific differentiation in traits such as host egg mimicry. Exploiting a Zambian egg collection amassed over several decades and supplemented by recent fieldwork, we show that the brood parasitic Greater Honeyguide Indicator indicator exhibits host-specific differentiation in both egg size and egg shape. Genetic analysis of honeyguide eggs and chicks show that two highly divergent mitochondrial DNA lineages are associated with ground-and tree-nesting hosts, respectively, indicating perfect fidelity to two mutually exclusive sets of host species for millions of years. Despite their age and apparent adaptive diversification, however, these ancient lineages are not cryptic species; a complete lack of differentiation in nuclear genes shows that mating between individuals reared by different hosts is sufficiently frequent to prevent speciation. These results indicate that host specificity is maternally inherited, that host-specific adaptation among conspecifics can be maintained without reproductive isolation, and that host specificity can be remarkably ancient in evolutionary terms.coevolution | gentes | phylogeography | W chromosome hypothesis S pecies interactions can be powerful generators of evolutionary diversity (1, 2). In host-parasite relationships, different hosts can exert divergent selection for parasitic specialization. Although this sometimes results in speciation in the parasitic lineage (3-5), in other cases multiple strains of host specialists coexist within a single parasitic species. A textbook example is seen in avian brood parasites such as cuckoos, in which the individuals of a single parasitic species specialize on different hosts and show phenotypic differentiation in traits such as host egg mimicry (6, 7). How phenotypically distinct host races [also known as "gentes" in the context of avian brood parasitism (8)] can evolve and be maintained over evolutionary time in the face of interbreeding among conspecifics has long remained paradoxical (9-12).Genetic data have provided important insights by allowing a test of whether lineages of parasitic females consistently specialize on particular host species. Studies of the common cuckoo Cuculus canorus (13) and the shiny cowbird Molothrus bonariensis (14), both of which show host-specific phenotypic differentiation in egg traits (7, 15), have revealed subtle genetic differentiation in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotype frequencies in relation to host use. These results are potentially consistent with the long-standing hypothesis that egg mimicry might ...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient host specificity within a single species of brood parasitic bird

Spottiswoode

Stryjewski

Quader

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Isolation, geographic placement, varied geological histories, and environmental heterogeneity have all contributed to the diversity of endemic species. With a greater age range than most other island systems, the SWIO island bioregion offers a unique opportunity to explore mechanisms driving the accumulation of restricted-range species at regional and local levels (Warren et al 2003, Wilmé et al 2006.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A revision of <i>Pheidole</i> Westwood (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the islands of the Southwest Indian Ocean and designation of a neotype for the invasive <i>Pheidole megacephala</i>

Fischer¹,

Fisher²

2013

Zootaxa

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The myrmicine genus Pheidole Westwood is revised for the smaller islands of the Southwest Indian Ocean: Comoros, Juan de Nova Island, Mauritius, Mayotte, Réunion, and the Seychelles. Descriptions and keys are provided for the thirteen spe-cies on these islands of which seven are newly described: P. decepticon sp. n., P. dodo sp. n., P. komori sp. n, P. loki sp. n., P. megatron sp. n., P. ragnax sp. n., P. vulcan sp. n.; and six were previously described: P. braueri Forel, P. fervens Smith, F., P. jonas Forel, P. megacephala (Fabricius), P. parva Forel, and P. teneriffana Forel. New synonymies (with the senior synonym listed first) include P. parva Mayr = P. flavens var. farquharensis Forel, P. parva Mayr = P. tarda Don-isthorpe, P. megacephala (Fabricius) = P. picata Forel, P. megacephala (Fabricius) = P. punctulata r. gietleni Forel, 1905, P. megacephala (Fabricius) = P. picata var. bernhardae Emery, 1915, P. megacephala (Fabricius) = P. megacephala r. scabrior Forel, and P. teneriffana Forel = P. voeltzkowii Forel. Furthermore, lectotypes are designated from the syntypes of P. braueri, P. fervens, P. jonas, P. parva, and P. teneriffana in order to provide a single name-bearing specimen and to facilitate future taxonomic studies. Finally, a neotype is provided for the untraceable or possibly lost type of the cosmo-politan and invasive P. megacephala, which was originally described by Fabricius from Mauritius (the former ‘Ile de France’).

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“…All nectarivorous Passeriformes belong to the oscine clade, which has no fossil record before the Late Oligocene [9]. Calibrated molecular phylogenies including a comprehensive sampling of Nectariniidae and Meliphagidae do not exist, but analyses of smaller subsets suggest their diversification after the Eocene [22,23]. Fossils of crown group Psittaciformes are unknown before the Early Miocene [24], and molecular divergence estimates indicate that the flower-visiting parrot taxa likewise evolved after the Eocene [25].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eocene fossil is earliest evidence of flower-visiting by birds

Mayr

Wilde

2014

Biol. Lett.

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Birds are important pollinators, but the evolutionary history of ornithophily (bird pollination) is poorly known. Here, we report a skeleton of the avian taxon Pumiliornis from the middle Eocene of Messel in Germany with preserved stomach contents containing numerous pollen grains of an eudicotyledonous angiosperm. The skeletal morphology of Pumiliornis is in agreement with this bird having been a, presumably nectarivorous, flower-visitor. It represents the earliest and first direct fossil evidence of flower-visiting by birds and indicates a minimum age of 47 million years for the origin of bird-flower interactions. As Pumiliornis does not belong to any of the modern groups of flower-visiting birds, the origin of ornithophily in some angiosperm lineages may have predated that of their extant avian pollinators.

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Molecular phylogeography reveals island colonization history and diversification of western Indian Ocean sunbirds (Nectarinia: Nectariniidae)

Cited by 105 publications

References 65 publications

Ancient host specificity within a single species of brood parasitic bird

Ancient host specificity within a single species of brood parasitic bird

A revision of <i>Pheidole</i> Westwood (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the islands of the Southwest Indian Ocean and designation of a neotype for the invasive <i>Pheidole megacephala</i>

Eocene fossil is earliest evidence of flower-visiting by birds

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