The role of sea-level and climate changes in the assembly of Sri Lankan biodiversity: A perspective from the Miocene Jaffna Limestone

Reuter, Markus; Harzhauser, Mathias; Piller, Werner E.

doi:10.1016/j.gr.2020.12.014

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…This is noteworthy because, despite having been connected by a broad isthmus during episodes of low sea level, post-Miocene biotic exchanges of forest-adapted taxa between India and Sri Lanka have been infrequent [ 5 , 10 , 11 ]. Though subaerial for most of the Plio-Pleistocene, the Palk Isthmus appears, because it was too arid, to have acted more of a filter than a conduit for the dispersal of forest-adapted taxa [ 5 , 8 , 10 ]. While P. nigrofasciata is a rainforest-adapted species, P. cumingii and P. reval are not obligatory rainforest associates (discussed below).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…7 Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya 20400, Sri Lanka. 8 Ichthyology Section, Australian Museum, 6 College Street, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia. 9 Aquatic Ecology and Evolution, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.…”

Section: Abbreviationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, the Palk Isthmus has been the only route for the dispersal of aquatic organisms between the mainland and Sri Lanka. Despite periodic inundations during sea-level high stands, the isthmus has been exposed for most of the past 15 My and until as recently as 10 kya [ 3 , 8 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite extensive terrestrial connectivity with the mainland, however, biotic exchange across the Palk Isthmus appears to have been strongly mediated by climate [ 5 , 8 , 10 ]. Arid conditions on the isthmus led, especially during the Plio-Pleistocene, to it serving more as a filter than a conduit for biotic exchange [ 5 , 8 , 10 , 11 ]. Hence, much of the island’s remarkable biodiversity derives from insular diversifications stemming from a small number of immigrant dispersals, as in the case of its 59 endemic treefrog species and 50 endemic crab species, shown to be monophyletic by Meegaskumbura et al [ 12 ] and Beenaerts et al [ 13 ], respectively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Molecular phylogeny and phylogeography of the freshwater-fish genus Pethia (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) in Sri Lanka

Sudasinghe

Ranasinghe²,

Herath

et al. 2021

BMC Ecol Evo

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Background Sri Lanka is a continental island separated from India by the Palk Strait, a shallow-shelf sea, which was emergent during periods of lowered sea level. Its biodiversity is concentrated in its perhumid south-western ‘wet zone’. The island’s freshwater fishes are dominated by the Cyprinidae, characterized by small diversifications of species derived from dispersals from India. These include five diminutive, endemic species of Pethia (P. bandula, P. cumingii, P. melanomaculata, P. nigrofasciata, P. reval), whose evolutionary history remains poorly understood. Here, based on comprehensive geographic sampling, we explore the phylogeny, phylogeography and morphological diversity of the genus in Sri Lanka. Results The phylogenetic analyses, based on mitochondrial and nuclear loci, recover Sri Lankan Pethia as polyphyletic. The reciprocal monophyly of P. bandula and P. nigrofasciata, and P. cumingii and P. reval, is not supported. Pethia nigrofasciata, P. cumingii, and P. reval show strong phylogeographic structure in the wet zone, compared with P. melanomaculata, which ranges across the dry and intermediate zones. Translocated populations of P. nigrofasciata and P. reval in the Central Hills likely originate from multiple sources. Morphological analyses reveal populations of P. nigrofasciata proximal to P. bandula, a narrow-range endemic, to have a mix of characters between the two species. Similarly, populations of P. cumingii in the Kalu basin possess orange fins, a state between the red-finned P. reval from Kelani to Deduru and yellow-finned P. cumingii from Bentara to Gin basins. Conclusions Polyphyly in Sri Lankan Pethia suggests two or three colonizations from mainland India. Strong phylogeographic structure in P. nigrofasciata, P. cumingii and P. reval, compared with P. melanomaculata, supports a model wherein the topographically complex wet zone harbors greater genetic diversity than the topographically uniform dry-zone. Mixed morphological characters between P. bandula and P. nigrofasciata, and P. cumingii and P. reval, and their unresolved phylogenies, may suggest recent speciation scenarios with incomplete lineage sorting, or hybridization.

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