Letters to the Editor

Mees, Paul; BRINDLE, RAY; PATTERSON, JEFFREY; Wyatt, Ray

doi:10.1080/07293682.1993.9657594

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…Additionally, there is evidence of strong gene flow between Queensland and New South Wales. Our results are consistent with what we know about silvereye movements in this region since the Tasmanian silvereye and population of Z. l. westernensis from Victoria display partial migration, whereby many individuals migrate during winter, a number of which reach southern Queensland (Chan, 1995; Mees, 1969). Tasmania is a continental island that was connected with the mainland by a land bridge until the end of the Pleistocene, approximately 12,000 years ago (Kennett et al, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…We know that the most recent colonisations stem from Tasmania because the arrival of silvereyes to New Zealand is historically documented and the subspecies that arrived is Z. l. lateralis , endemic to Tasmania (Mees, 1969). Since the arrival on the South Island of New Zealand, silvereyes colonised Chatham Islands, the North Island of New Zealand and Norfolk Island (Mees, 1969). The French Polynesian populations are a result of a human-assisted introduction consisting of a low number of silvereyes from the South Island of New Zealand in 1937 (Guild, 1938).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Zosterops species outside of this region can also be categorised as great speciators, including the southwestern Pacific silvereye ( Zosterops lateralis ). This species has at least 16 morphological subspecies (11 on islands and the rest on the Australian continent) (Mees, 1969). The island populations have been hypothesised to represent multiple independent colonisations from the Australian mainland (Mees, 1969), with the most recent colonisation from Tasmania to New Zealand and outlying islands being historically documented (Clegg et al, 2002; Sendell-Price et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Islands promote diversification within the silvereye clade: a phylogenomic analysis of a great speciator

Estandía,

Recalde,

Sendell-Price

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Geographic isolation plays a pivotal role in speciation by restricting gene flow between populations through distance or physical barriers. However, the speciation process is complex, influenced by the interplay between dispersal ability and geographic isolation, especially in “great speciators” – bird species present on multiple islands that, at the same time, have many subspecies. Comparing population differentiation in both continental and insular settings can help us to understand the importance of geographical context in the emergence of great speciators. The highly diverse white-eye family Zosteropidae includes several great speciators, including the silvereye (Zosterops lateralis) which consists of 16 subspecies, 11 occurring on islands. The distribution of the silvereye on the Australian continent and numerous southwest Pacific islands allows us to explore the influence of different forms of geographic isolation on population divergence. To do this, we conducted a comprehensive phylogenomic analysis of the silvereye and compared patterns of population divergence in insular versus continental silvereye populations. We estimate that the silvereye lineage emerged approximately 1.5 million years ago, followed by the split of the two main silvereye clades: Southern Melanesia and the broader South Pacific (encompassing Australia, New Zealand, and outlying islands). Continental populations show low genetic population structure, which suggests that they can overcome multiple forms of geographic barriers across long distances. In contrast, most island populations are highly structured even over relatively short distances. Divergence statistics further support the idea that water barriers lead to a higher population differentiation when compared to continental distances. Our results indicate that islands promote divergence and provide an empirical example of the geographical conditions that result in the emergence of great speciators.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Islands promote diversification within the silvereye clade: a phylogenomic analysis of a great speciator

Estandía,

Recalde,

Sendell-Price

et al. 2024

Preprint

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“…While larger size of island silvereyes appears generally to be favoured, other species, and indeed other Zosterops white-eye species that co-occur, could impose local constraints on size. For example, on Lifou, an island in New Caledonia, three Zosterops species occur in sympatry: the relatively small-sized endemic Z. minutus , the large endemic Z. inornatus , with the silvereye being intermediate in body size between the two (Mees 1969). An alternative but untested possibility is that variants arise from introgression with sympatric Zosterops species (Gill 1970).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Standing genetic variation andde novomutations underlie parallel evolution of island bird phenotypes

Estandía

Sendell‐Price

Robertson

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Parallel evolution occurs when the same trait evolves in closely related lineages in response to similar ecological contexts and provides some of the best examples of determinism in evolutionary biology. However, from a genetic standpoint, this process can be driven by either new mutations that appear independently in each diverging population or by selection on existing genetic variation common to both lineages. Small bodied birds, for example, tend to increase in size after they colonise a new island, following what is known as the 'island rule'. Such is the case of the Silvereye, a prolific natural coloniser of southwest Pacific islands. Island forms of this bird species increase in body size after they establish, with the pattern and pace of change consistent with directional natural selection and evident even in the most recent colonisations within the last 200 years. The system provides an exceptional opportunity to explore the genomic basis of repeated body size evolution. We sequenced 377 whole genomes from 31 different Silvereye populations, which revealed that both mechanisms are at play: in some lineages, new mutations are highly associated with body and bill size, but there are also highly associated polymorphisms present across all populations. Our research sheds light on the genomic basis of repeated body size evolution and emphasises that multiple molecular mechanisms can underlie similar evolutionary trajectories even within a single taxon.

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“…Eurasian blackbirds were first introduced to New Zealand in 1862, and song thrushes in 1867 by acclimatisation societies aiming to establish exotic species in New Zealand [71]. Silvereyes, however, are thought to have naturally dispersed to New Zealand from Australia in the early 1800s [72]. Due to the lack of passerine sampling worldwide, it’s not possible to ascertain whether they brought these viruses with them when they were first introduced to New Zealand.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metatranscriptomic comparison of viromes in endemic and introduced passerines in New Zealand

French

Filion

Niebuhr

et al. 2022

Preprint

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New Zealand has many endemic passerine birds vulnerable to emerging infectious diseases. Yet little is known about viruses in passerines, and in some countries, including New Zealand, the virome of wild passerines has received little research attention. Using metatranscriptomic sequencing we characterised the virome of New Zealand endemic and introduced species of passerine. Accordingly, we identified 34 possible avian viruses from cloacal swabs of 12 endemic and introduced bird species not showing signs of disease. These included a novel siadenovirus, iltovirus and avastrovirus in the Eurasian blackbird (Turdus merula, an introduced species), song thrush (Turdus philomelos, introduced) and silvereye (Zosterops lateralis, introduced), respectively. This is the first time novel viruses from these genera have been identified in New Zealand, likely reflecting prior undersampling. It also represents the first identification of an iltovirus and siadenovirus in blackbirds and thrushes globally. These three viruses were found only in introduced species and may pose a risk to endemic species if they were to jump species boundaries, particularly the iltoviruses and siadenoviruses that have a prior history of disease associations. Further virus study and surveillance is needed in New Zealand avifauna, particularly in Turdus populations and endemic species.

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Letters to the Editor

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Islands promote diversification within the silvereye clade: a phylogenomic analysis of a great speciator

Islands promote diversification within the silvereye clade: a phylogenomic analysis of a great speciator

Standing genetic variation andde novomutations underlie parallel evolution of island bird phenotypes

Metatranscriptomic comparison of viromes in endemic and introduced passerines in New Zealand

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