To converge or not to converge in environmental space: testing for similar environments between analogous succulent plants of North America and Africa

Alvarado-Cárdenas, Leonardo O.; Martínez‐Meyer, Enrique; Feria, Teresa Patricia; Eguiarte, Luis E.; Hernández, Héctor M.; Midgley, Guy F.; Olson, Mark E.

doi:10.1093/aob/mct078

Cited by 34 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 53 publications

(66 reference statements)

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“…As such, convergent evolution is regularly treated as evidence for adaptation (Harvey & Pagel, ; Larson & Losos, ). Some of the best known examples of convergent evolution are seen in the similarity in body plans of the succulent plants in Euphorbiaceae and Cactaceae (Alvarado‐Cárdenas et al ., ) and Old and New World anteaters (Beck et al ., ), or the similarity of skull shape between the marsupial Thylacine (Tasmanian wolf) and that of the placental canids (Wroe & Milne, ; Goswami et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phylogenetic convergence and multiple shell shape optima for gliding scallops (Bivalvia: Pectinidae)

Serb

Sherratt

Alejandrino

et al. 2017

J of Evolutionary Biology

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An important question in evolutionary biology is how often, and to what extent, do similar ecologies elicit distantly related taxa to evolve towards the same phenotype? In some scenarios, the repeated evolution of particular phenotypes may be expected, for instance when species are exposed to common selective forces that result from strong functional demands. In bivalved scallops (Pectinidae), some species exhibit a distinct swimming behaviour (gliding), which requires specific biomechanical attributes to generate lift and reduce drag during locomotive events. Further, a phylogenetic analysis revealed that gliding behaviour has independently evolved at least four times, which raises the question as to whether these independent lineages have also converged on a similar phenotype. Here, we test the hypothesis that gliding scallops display shell shape convergence using a combination of geometric morphometrics and phylogenetic comparative methods that evaluate patterns of multivariate trait evolution. Our findings reveal that the gliding species display less morphological disparity and significant evolutionary convergence in morphospace, relative to expectations under a neutral model of Brownian motion for evolutionary phenotypic change. Intriguingly, the phylomorphospace patterns indicate that gliding lineages follow similar evolutionary trajectories to not one, but two regions of morphological space, and subsequent analyses identified significant differences in their biomechanical parameters, suggesting that these two groups of scallops accomplish gliding in different ways. Thus, whereas there is a clear gliding morphotype that has evolved convergently across the phylogeny, functionally distinct morphological subforms are apparent, suggesting that there may be two optima for the gliding phenotype in the Pectinidae.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phylogenetic convergence and multiple shell shape optima for gliding scallops (Bivalvia: Pectinidae)

Serb

Sherratt

Alejandrino

et al. 2017

J of Evolutionary Biology

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“…Distantly related succulents in dry parts of North America and Africa have converged on similar strategies for preserving water, including globular forms (Alvarado‐Cárdenas et al. ) and stem morphologies that reduce stomatal water loss (Felger and Henrickson ). Among mammals, there are spectacular examples of convergence both between placental and marsupial mammals, and between major placental clades (Madsen et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species introductions and the phylogenetic and functional structure of California's grasses

Sandel

Tsirogiannis

2016

Ecology

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Many species assemblages represent a nonrandom subset of a larger species pool. When an assemblage tends to contain close evolutionary relatives or species with similar functional traits, it can be described as phylogenetically or functionally clustered. Clustering is often interpreted as evidence for filtering by some combination of environmental and biotic factors. At sufficiently large spatial extents, however, biogeographic barriers can also lead to strong clustering. Here, we suggest that the breakdown of biogeographic barriers associated with human introductions of exotic species can be used as an unintentional experiment to assess their importance in driving phylogenetic and functional structure. An important role of biogeographic barriers would be revealed by a breakdown in clustering, particularly phylogenetic clustering, following species introductions. On the other hand, a role of filtering can be supported by similar patterns of clustering in the native and exotic assemblages along environmental gradients. We test these predictions using the grasses of California, a diverse group including many introduced species. Native grass assemblages in the state are highly clustered with respect to the global grass species pool, both phylogenetically and functionally. Within the state, variation in the strength of clustering is well explained by climatic variables, suggesting an important role for environmental-biotic filtering. Further, subregions within the state with highly clustered native assemblages also contain highly clustered exotic assemblages. Contrary to expectation, though, the introduction of exotic species led to even more strongly clustered assemblages. We conclude that biogeographic barriers have generally not excluded the major grass lineages (e.g., tribes) from the state and likely act only on finer taxonomic scales (for example, excluding particular genera). Our approach should prove broadly applicable and contribute to improved understanding of broad-scale patterns of assemblage structure.

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“…A role for contingency is most easily assessed in comparisons among species occupying similar environments (Losos and Ricklefs ). Such species are often convergent in many features, including spectacular examples of morphological convergence that are present between distantly related species (Fain and Houde ; Alvarado‐Cárdenas and Martínez‐Meyer ), as well as closer relatives (Losos and Ricklefs ; Mahler et al ). However, convergence is rarely complete.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, convergence is rarely complete. If residual differences between environments can be ruled out as the cause (Alvarado‐Cárdenas and Martínez‐Meyer ), the failure to converge should reflect effects of the genetic and phenotypic make up of ancestors on the subsequent radiation, that is, historical contingency (Schluter ; Losos and Ricklefs ; Prunier et al ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

SWS2 visual pigment evolution as a test of historically contingent patterns of plumage color evolution in warblers

et al. 2015

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Distantly related clades that occupy similar environments may differ due to the lasting imprint of their ancestors – historical contingency. The New World warblers (Parulidae) and Old World warblers (Phylloscopidae) are ecologically similar clades that differ strikingly in plumage coloration. We studied genetic and functional evolution of the short-wavelength sensitive visual pigments (SWS2 and SWS1) to ask if altered color perception could contribute to the plumage color differences between clades. We show SWS2 is short-wavelength shifted in birds that occupy open environments, such as finches, compared to those in closed environments, including warblers. Phylogenetic reconstructions indicate New World warblers were derived from a finch-like form that colonized from the Old World 15-20Ma. During this process the SWS2 gene accumulated 6 substitutions in branches leading to New World warblers, inviting the hypothesis that passage through a finch-like ancestor resulted in SWS2 evolution. In fact, we show spectral tuning remained similar across warblers as well as the finch ancestor. Results reject the hypothesis of historical contingency based on opsin spectral tuning, but point to evolution of other aspects of visual pigment function. Using the approach outlined here, historical contingency becomes a generally testable theory in systems where genotype and phenotype can be connected.

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To converge or not to converge in environmental space: testing for similar environments between analogous succulent plants of North America and Africa

Cited by 34 publications

References 53 publications

Phylogenetic convergence and multiple shell shape optima for gliding scallops (Bivalvia: Pectinidae)

Phylogenetic convergence and multiple shell shape optima for gliding scallops (Bivalvia: Pectinidae)

Species introductions and the phylogenetic and functional structure of California's grasses

SWS2 visual pigment evolution as a test of historically contingent patterns of plumage color evolution in warblers

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