Hybridization promotes speciation in Coenonympha butterflies

Abstract

Hybridization has become a central element in theories of animal evolution during the last decade. New methods in population genomics and statistical model testing now allow the disentangling of the complexity that hybridization brings into key evolutionary processes such as local adaptation, colonization of new environments, species diversification and extinction. We evaluated the consequences of hybridization in a complex of three alpine butterflies in the genus Coenonympha, by combining morphological, genetic and ecological analyses. A series of approximate Bayesian computation procedures based on a large SNP data set strongly suggest that the Darwin's Heath (Coenonympha darwiniana) originated through hybridization between the Pearly Heath (Coenonympha arcania) and the Alpine Heath (Coenonympha gardetta) with different parental contributions. As a result of hybridization, the Darwin's Heath presents an intermediate morphology between the parental species, while its climatic niche seems more similar to the Alpine Heath. Our results also reveal a substantial genetic and morphologic differentiation between the two geographically disjoint Darwin's Heath lineages leading us to propose the splitting of this taxon into two different species.

Independent homoploid hybrid speciation events in the Macaronesian endemic genus Argyranthemum

“…Few studies have explicitly investigated this hypothesis although Liu, Abbott, Lu, Tian, and Liu () demonstrated that the homoploid hybrid species Ostryopsis intermedia B. Tian and J. Q. Liu occupies a largely distinct niche from the parental progenitors and Capblancq et al. () demonstrated significant overlap between the homoploid hybrid species Coenonympha darwiniana Staudinger and one of the progenitors.…”

Spatial and temporal genetic dynamics of the grasshopper Oedaleus decorus revealed by museum genomics

“…Understanding processes shaping the genetic variation in species through space and time is crucial in various fields of biology, ranging from informing conservation decisions (e.g., Inoue, Lang, & Berg, ; Mukesh, Sharma, Shukla, & Sathyakumar, ) and unraveling the demographic history of species (e.g., Gong et al., ; Tsuda, Nakao, Ide, & Tsumura, ; Vera Escalona, Habit, & Ruzzante, ) to disentangling key evolutionary processes (e.g., Capblancq, Després, Rioux, & Mavárez, ). Investigating genetic variation through space has proven valuable to unravel the role of environment in genetic divergence (Björklund, Alonso, & Edelaar, ; D'Amen, Zimmermann, & Pearman, ).…”

“…disentangling key evolutionary processes (e.g., Capblancq, Després, Rioux, & Mavárez, 2015). Investigating genetic variation through space has proven valuable to unravel the role of environment in genetic divergence (Björklund, Alonso, & Edelaar, 2013;D'Amen, Zimmermann, & Pearman, 2013).…”

The uplift of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and glacial oscillations triggered the diversification of Tetraogallus (Galliformes, Phasianidae)

“…When allopatric taxa became sympatric again, moreover, speciation can accelerate because of secondary contact such as the genus Drosophila (Coyne & Orr, 1997). For instance, the Darwin's Heath (Coenonympha darwiniana) originate through hybridization between the Pearly Heath (C. arcania) and the Alpine Heath (C. gardetta) with different parental contributions (Capblancq, Després, Rioux, & Mavárez, 2015), and hybridization promotes speciation in Coenonympha butterflies.…”