The evolutionary challenges of extreme environments (Part 1)

Waterman, Talbot H.

doi:10.1002/(sici)1097-010x(19991215)285:4<326::aid-jez3>3.0.co;2-t

Cited by 16 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 235 publications

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“…However, species that have successfully penetrated such habitats often exhibit novel traits that help them to accommodate such demands [1], [2]. Gobioid fishes found in the streams of many volcanic, oceanic islands provide prominent examples of this pattern.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary Novelty versus Exaptation: Oral Kinematics in Feeding versus Climbing in the Waterfall-Climbing Hawaiian Goby Sicyopterus stimpsoni

et al. 2013

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Species exposed to extreme environments often exhibit distinctive traits that help meet the demands of such habitats. Such traits could evolve independently, but under intense selective pressures of extreme environments some existing structures or behaviors might be coopted to meet specialized demands, evolving via the process of exaptation. We evaluated the potential for exaptation to have operated in the evolution of novel behaviors of the waterfall-climbing gobiid fish genus Sicyopterus. These fish use an “inching” behavior to climb waterfalls, in which an oral sucker is cyclically protruded and attached to the climbing surface. They also exhibit a distinctive feeding behavior, in which the premaxilla is cyclically protruded to scrape diatoms from the substrate. Given the similarity of these patterns, we hypothesized that one might have been coopted from the other. To evaluate this, we filmed climbing and feeding in Sicyopterus stimpsoni from Hawai’i, and measured oral kinematics for two comparisons. First, we compared feeding kinematics of S. stimpsoni with those for two suction feeding gobiids (Awaous guamensis and Lentipes concolor), assessing what novel jaw movements were required for algal grazing. Second, we quantified the similarity of oral kinematics between feeding and climbing in S. stimpsoni, evaluating the potential for either to represent an exaptation from the other. Premaxillary movements showed the greatest differences between scraping and suction feeding taxa. Between feeding and climbing, overall profiles of oral kinematics matched closely for most variables in S. stimpsoni, with only a few showing significant differences in maximum values. Although current data cannot resolve whether oral movements for climbing were coopted from feeding, or feeding movements coopted from climbing, similarities between feeding and climbing kinematics in S. stimpsoni are consistent with evidence of exaptation, with modifications, between these behaviors. Such comparisons can provide insight into the evolutionary mechanisms facilitating exploitation of extreme habitats.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary Novelty versus Exaptation: Oral Kinematics in Feeding versus Climbing in the Waterfall-Climbing Hawaiian Goby Sicyopterus stimpsoni

et al. 2013

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“…It has recently been discovered that despite stressful and unfavourable conditions, a wide range of eukaryotes inhabit most extreme environments (e.g. Waterman 1999; Lopez‐Garcia et al . 2001; Amaral Zettler et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phylogeography of a subterranean amphipod reveals cryptic diversity and dynamic evolution in extreme environments

et al. 2006

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Extreme conditions in subsurface are suspected to be responsible for morphological convergences, and so to bias biodiversity assessment. Subterranean organisms are also considered as having poor dispersal abilities that in turn generate a large number of endemic species when habitat is fragmented. Here we test these general hypotheses using the subterranean amphipod Niphargus virei. All our phylogenetic analyses (Bayesian, maximum likelihood and distance), based on two independent genes (28S and COI), revealed the same tripartite structure. N. virei populations from Benelux, Jura region and the rest of France appeared as independent evolutionary units. Molecular rates estimated via global or Bayesian relaxed clock suggest that this split is at least 13 million years old and accredit the cryptic diversity hypothesis. Moreover, the geographical distribution of these lineages showed some evidence of recent dispersal through apparent vicariant barrier. In consequence, we argue that future analyses of evolution and biogeography in subsurface, or more generally in extreme environments, should consider dispersal ability as an evolving trait and morphology as a potentially biased marker.

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“…Successful maintenance of homeostasis in organisms tolerating extreme environments requires costly adaptations absent in closely related taxa (Sibly & Calow, ; Townsend, Begon & Harper, ). Studies of organisms inhabiting extreme environments have mostly focused on identifying mechanisms that allow them to survive exposure to particular physiochemical stressors, and strategies for coping involve modifications of biochemical and physiological pathways, morphology, behaviour, life history and even symbioses with other organisms (Waterman, ; Van Dover, ; Bergman et al ., ; Ip, Kuah & Chew, ). Divergent selection in extreme environments not only drives population differentiation in phenotypic traits associated with tolerating physiochemical stressors, but may also lead to the emergence of reproductive isolating barriers among populations inhabiting extreme and adjacent benign environments (Gross et al ., ; Lexer & Fay, ; Gompert et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Convergent changes in the trophic ecology of extremophile fish along replicated environmental gradients

et al. 2015

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Summary Divergent selection along environmental gradients connecting locally restricted extreme habitats and adjacent benign habitats can shape convergent evolution of traits involved in coping with physiochemical stressors and can drive speciation. At the same time, the presence of such stressors alters aspects of the biotic environment, including resource availability and competitive regimes. However, it remains unclear whether and how the ecology of populations occurring in both extreme and benign environments varies in a predictable fashion. We investigated the trophic ecology of live‐bearing fishes of the genus Poecilia that have independently colonised multiple springs containing toxic hydrogen sulphide in southern Mexico. Sulphide spring fish are adapted to the unique environmental conditions and are reproductively isolated from ancestral populations in adjacent non‐sulphidic habitats. We used gut content analyses to test whether colonisation of extreme habitats was accompanied by shifts of trophic resource use and expansions of trophic niche width. Furthermore, we tested whether dietary shifts were reflected in trophic morphology by comparing intestinal tract lengths among populations using both wild‐caught and common garden‐raised individuals. Gut content analyses revealed that fish inhabiting toxic springs expanded their trophic niche width and changed their dietary resource use from detritus and algae to sulphide bacteria and invertebrates. This dietary shift was paralleled by changes in intestinal tract morphology, whereby sulphide spring fish had shorter intestines than fish from adjacent non‐sulphidic habitats. Analysis of common garden‐raised fish indicated that morphological differences between sulphidic and non‐sulphidic populations are at least in part due to genetic differentiation. Both patterns of trophic resource use and differentiation in trophic morphology were consistent across replicated pairs of sulphidic and non‐sulphidic populations, although the magnitude of differentiation varied among river drainages. Our results suggest that colonisation of and adaptation to sulphide springs in southern Mexico was paralleled by convergent changes in trophic ecology. This highlights the complexity of environmental gradients and the necessity of considering multiple sources of selection when studying the evolution of complex phenotypes.

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The evolutionary challenges of extreme environments (Part 1)

Cited by 16 publications

References 235 publications

Evolutionary Novelty versus Exaptation: Oral Kinematics in Feeding versus Climbing in the Waterfall-Climbing Hawaiian Goby Sicyopterus stimpsoni

Evolutionary Novelty versus Exaptation: Oral Kinematics in Feeding versus Climbing in the Waterfall-Climbing Hawaiian Goby Sicyopterus stimpsoni

Phylogeography of a subterranean amphipod reveals cryptic diversity and dynamic evolution in extreme environments

Convergent changes in the trophic ecology of extremophile fish along replicated environmental gradients

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