Wherefore and Whither the Ring Species?

Kuchta, Shawn R.; Wake, David B.

doi:10.1643/ot-14-176

Cited by 35 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 80 publications

(143 reference statements)

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“…The concept of ring species has fascinated evolutionary biologists for more than half a century (Alcaide et al., ; Coyne & Orr, ; Mayr, ; Wake, ). Effectively using space as a surrogate of time, it illustrates the process of speciation by gradual changes and exemplifies the formation of reproductive isolation in the presence of continuous gene flow (Coyne & Orr, ; Irwin et al., , ; Kuchta & Wake, ). Mayr () considered it the “perfect demonstration of speciation.” In the case of the green odorous frog, its small spatial scale (micro‐ring) and significant mobility may hit on the balance between gene flow and isolation as suggested by Kuchta and Wake (), where gene flow may actually constrain the formation of reproductive isolation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Effectively using space as a surrogate of time, it illustrates the process of speciation by gradual changes and exemplifies the formation of reproductive isolation in the presence of continuous gene flow (Coyne & Orr, ; Irwin et al., , ; Kuchta & Wake, ). Mayr () considered it the “perfect demonstration of speciation.” In the case of the green odorous frog, its small spatial scale (micro‐ring) and significant mobility may hit on the balance between gene flow and isolation as suggested by Kuchta and Wake (), where gene flow may actually constrain the formation of reproductive isolation. The balance between gene flow and isolation mechanisms (e.g., drift and selection) during speciation is a major topic in modern evolutionary biology.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evolutionary melting pots and reproductive isolation: A ring‐shaped diversification of an odorous frog (Odorrana margaratea) around the Sichuan Basin

Qiao

Wen

et al. 2018

Molecular Ecology

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Quaternary climatic oscillations and geography are of primary importance in shaping intraspecific genetic diversity. We examined the diversification patterns and inferred processes for the green odorous frog (Odorrana margaretae) of western China. Species distribution modelling showed that the species has a continuous circular distribution around the Sichuan Basin while the basin itself is largely uninhabitable. Population genetic and phylogenetic analyses revealed that the species has a ring‐shaped divergent pattern. While the chain of populations around the Basin maintains a mostly gradual and continuous genetic variation, populations between the north and west showed little gene exchange. Two processes, glacial refugial history and geography, likely contributed to the observed patterns. Our genetic clustering analysis revealed two clusters, suggesting two refugial groups among the populations, one from the west and the other from the east. Postglacial expansion may have created two contact zones. One at the south had extensive population admixture and produced a gradual transition between the western and eastern populations. Consequently, this region has the highest genetic diversity and represents an evolutionary “melting pot.” In contrast, the second contact zone at the northwestern side of the Basin has limited admixture, suggesting partial reproductive isolation between the northern and western populations. Furthermore, an isolation‐by‐distance analysis revealed a strong correlation (Mantel r = 0.745) between the genetic and geographic distances, when we assumed that populations were connected following the circular distribution without gene flow across the NW contact zone. We also explored alternative explanations, such as a one‐refugium scenario. With its micro‐ring, the green odorous frog is poised to make an excellent model system for understanding the process of speciation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary melting pots and reproductive isolation: A ring‐shaped diversification of an odorous frog (Odorrana margaratea) around the Sichuan Basin

Qiao

Wen

et al. 2018

Molecular Ecology

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“…I am a Darwinian nominalist (Wake 2009;Kuchta and Wake 2016), in the framework of the unified species concept (de Queiroz 2011). Species are separately evolving lineage segments, in the spirit of de Queiroz, who advocated recognizing species at the point of the initial separation of descendant lineages.…”

Section: How Many Species Of Plethodontid Salamanders Shouldmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When protein and mtDNA datasets are congruent, taxonomic revision and even new species descriptions may (e.g., Batrachoseps bramei and related taxa; Jockusch et al 2012) or may not (e.g., Batrachoseps major complex; Martínez-Solano et al 2012) follow. Cases of incongruence are common, the best-known among plethodontids likely being that of Ensatina (Pereira and Wake 2009;Kuchta and Wake 2016).…”

Section: How Many Species Of Plethodontid Salamanders Shouldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Persistent Plethodontid Themes: Species, Phylogenies, and Biogeography

Wake

2017

Herpetologica

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“…This is a useful term, as it is far less restrictive and likely to provoke less controversy than the term ‘ring species’, which is generally taken to mean, at a minimum, a loose geographic ring through which there is a single strong species boundary; two forms are reproductively isolated at one point in the ring but connected by a chain of populations through which there is no species boundary (Mayr ; Cain ; Irwin et al . ; Irwin & Wake ; Kuchta & Wake ). ‘Ring diversification’ can be used to describe situations such as the eastern tree frog in which a chain of populations has differentiated while encircling a geographic barrier, regardless of complications such as whether the terminal forms are reproductively isolated.…”

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A tree of tree frogs around the Black Sea

Irwin

2016

Molecular Ecology

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Speciation, the process by which one species evolves into two or more, is a major focus of ongoing debate, particularly regarding the geographic context in which it occurs. Geographic models of speciation tend to fall into discrete categories, typically referred to as allopatric, parapatric and sympatric speciation, according to whether two groups evolve reproductive isolation while geographically isolated, differentiated but connected by gene flow, or completely co‐occurring. Yet molecular studies indicate that full development of reproductive isolation can take very long compared with the timescale at which climatic oscillations occur, such that the geographic context of differentiating forms might change often during the long process to full species. Studies of genetic relationships across the ranges of organisms with low‐dispersal distances have the potential to reveal these complex histories. In a particularly elegant example in this issue, Dufresnes et al. () use genetic variation and ecological niche modelling to show that a ring of populations of the eastern tree frog (Hyla orientalis) surrounding the Black Sea had a complex history of geographic differentiation. Alternating phases of geographic fragmentation and phases of gene flow between neighbouring populations have produced a pattern of gradual genetic change connecting the western, southern and eastern sides of the ring, with the northwestern and northeastern forms being most differentiated. In the north, a population in Crimea appears to have been produced through mixture of the two extreme forms. The overall genetic relationships are reminiscent of those found in ring species, which have been used as prime demonstrations of the process of speciation. The difference, however, is that the terminal forms appear to have mixed rather than be reproductively isolated, although more research is needed to infer whether there might be some reproductive isolation on the northern side of the ring.

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Wherefore and Whither the Ring Species?

Cited by 35 publications

References 80 publications

Evolutionary melting pots and reproductive isolation: A ring‐shaped diversification of an odorous frog (Odorrana margaratea) around the Sichuan Basin

Evolutionary melting pots and reproductive isolation: A ring‐shaped diversification of an odorous frog (Odorrana margaratea) around the Sichuan Basin

Persistent Plethodontid Themes: Species, Phylogenies, and Biogeography

A tree of tree frogs around the Black Sea

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