Comparative Phylogeography of Southern African Bird Species Suggests an Ephemeral Speciation Model

Diversity

Gary Voelker¹  Jerry W. Huntley¹  Guinevere O. U. Wogan²  Rauri C. K. Bowie³ 

[1] Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA;Department of Integrative Biology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA;Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 3101 Valley Life Science Building, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3160, USA;

关键词: Africa;    climate change;    comparative phylogeography;    ecological niche modeling;    ephemeral speciation;    refugia;   

DOI  :  10.3390/d13090434

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Southern Africa is remarkably rich in avian species diversity; however, the evolutionary and biogeographic mechanisms responsible for that diversity are, in general, poorly understood, and this is particularly true with respect to the many species that are endemic or near-endemic to the region. Here, we used mtDNA to assess genetic structure in three southern African bird species to determine whether each was genetically panmictic, or whether there was standing genetic variation upon which abiotic factors (e.g., climate, biome boundaries, geographic features) could have acted to drive lineage diversification. Haplotype diversity was partitioned into two (two species) or three (one species) distinct haplotype clusters that did not reflect biogeographic or biome partitioning; instead, haplotype clusters overlapped in central South Africa. Population and demographic analyses, along with ecological niche modeling and Bayesian Skyline Plots, indicated that each of the three species were likely isolated in refugia during Pleistocene climatic perturbations, with subsequent expansions from refugia resulting in present-day overlapping distributions. Collectively, our analyses suggest that an ephemeral speciation model is operating in southern Africa, driven by the dynamic climatic oscillations that characterize the region. At least some of the regional endemic bird species (e.g., White-eyes, Zosterops spp.) may be the result of sufficiently long periods in refugia as opposed to the distinct but ephemeral clusters recovered within our three focal species.

【 授权许可】

Unknown