Ancient diversification, biogeography, and the role of climatic niche evolution in the Old World cat snakes (Colubridae, Telescopus)
Küçük Resim Yok
Tarih
2019
Dergi Başlığı
Dergi ISSN
Cilt Başlığı
Yayıncı
Academic Press Inc Elsevier Science
Erişim Hakkı
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
Özet
The process of species diversification is often associated with niche shifts in the newly arising lineages so that interspecific competition is minimized. However, an opposing force known as niche conservatism causes that related species tend to resemble each other in their niche requirements. Due to the inherent multidimensionality of niche space, some niche components may be subject to divergent evolution while others remain conserved in the process of speciation. One such possible component is the species' climatic niche. Here, we test the role of climatic niche evolution on the diversification of the Old World cat snakes of the genus Telescopus. These slender, nocturnal snakes are distributed in arid and semiarid areas throughout Africa, southwest Asia and adjoining parts of Europe. Because phylogenetic relationships among the Telescopus species are virtually unknown, we generated sequence data for eight genetic markers from ten of the 14 described species and reconstructed a timecalibrated phylogeny of the genus. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that the genus is of considerably old origin that dates back to the Eocene/Oligocene boundary. Biogeographical analyses place the ancestor of the genus in Africa, where it diversified into the species observed today and from where it colonized Arabia and the Levant twice independently. The colonization of Arabia occurred in the Miocene, that of the Levant either in the Late Oligocene or Early Miocene. We then identified temperature and precipitation niche space and breadth of the species included in the phylogeny and examined whether there is phylogenetic signal in these climatic niche characteristics. Despite the vast range of the genus and its complex biogeographic history, most Telescopus species have similar environmental requirements with preference for arid to semiarid conditions. One may thus expect that the genus' climatic niche will be conserved. However, our results suggest that most of the climatic niche axes examined show no phylogenetic signal, being indicative of no evolutionary constraints on the climatic niche position and niche breadth in Telescopus. The only two variables with positive phylogenetic signal (temperature niche position and precipitation niche breadth) evolved under the Brownian motion model, also indicating no directional selection on these traits. As a result, climatic niche evolution does not seem to be the major driver for the diversification in Telescopus.
Açıklama
Anahtar Kelimeler
Aridity, Biogeography, Phylogeny, Reptiles, Squamata, Systematics
Kaynak
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
WoS Q Değeri
Q2
Scopus Q Değeri
Q1
Cilt
134
