Uncovering cryptic evolutionary diversity in extant and extinct populations of the southern Australian arid zone Western and Thick-billed Grasswrens (Passeriformes: Maluridae: Amytornis)

Austin, Jeremy J.; Joseph, Leo; Pedler, Lynn; Black, Andrew

doi:10.1007/s10592-013-0504-9

Cited by 31 publications

(48 citation statements)

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“…The same pattern of east/west divergence has been suggested for mainland devils based on fossil occurrences, but is not observed in the fossil distribution of mainland thylacines, possibly due to taphonomic bias (Brown, ; Owen, ). The Nullarbor and/or Lake Eyre regions are well‐characterized biogeographical barriers for many terrestrial vertebrates and may have obstructed gene flow between populations during and after the LGM, a pattern that is evident in numerous extant vertebrate fauna (Austin, Joseph, Pedler & Black, ; Byrne et al., ; Marin et al., ; Neaves, Zenger, Prince & Eldridge, ). Several thylacine samples used in our study are from the Nullarbor with ages ranging from 3–7 thousand years, indicating that the western group was present on the Nullarbor immediately preceding the groups extinction.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient mitochondrial genomes reveal the demographic history and phylogeography of the extinct, enigmatic thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus)

White

Austin

2017

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim: The Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine, is an infamous example of a recent humanmediated extinction. Confined to the island of Tasmania in historical times, thylacines were hunted to extinction <150 years after European arrival. Thylacines were also once widespread across the Australian mainland, but became extinct there c. 3,200 years before present (BP). Very little is known about thylacine biology and population history; the cause of the thylacines extirpation from the mainland is still debated and the reasons for its survival in Tasmania into the 20th century are unclear. In this study, we investigate the thylacine's phylogeography and demographic history leading up to their extinction on both the mainland and Tasmania to gain insight into this enigmatic species.Location: Southern Australia. Methods:We generated 51 new thylacine mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genome sequences from sub-fossil remains and historical museum specimens, and analysed them to reconstruct the species' phylogeography and demographic history. Results:We found evidence that thylacines had contracted into separate eastern and western populations prior to the Last Glacial Maximum (c. 25,000 yr BP), and that the ancient western population was larger and more genetically diverse than the historical Tasmanian population. At the time of European arrival in c. 1800 CE, Tasmanian thylacines had limited mtDNA diversity, possibly resulting from a bottleneck event broadly coincident with an El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) associated climate event, although we find some indication that the population was expanding during the late Holocene.Main Conclusions: The timing of this putative expansion, in concert with a climate event, suggests that climate change had an influence on thylacine population dynamics. Given that ENSO effects are known to have been more severe on mainland Australia, we suggest that climate change, in synergy with other drivers, is likely to have contributed to the thylacine mainland extinction.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient mitochondrial genomes reveal the demographic history and phylogeography of the extinct, enigmatic thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus)

White

Austin

2017

Journal of Biogeography

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“…Onychophora clade (Murienne et al, 2013); 15 Petrogale lateralis (Potter et al, 2012); 16 Pseudomys shortridgei (Salinas et al, 2009); 17 Phascogale tapoatafa (Spencer et al, 2001); 18 Gymnorhina tibicen (Toon et al, 2007); 19 Anas gracilis/A. castanea-1 ; 20 Biziura lobata (Guay et al, 2010); 21 Amytornis textilis (Austin et al, 2013); 22 Stipiturus malachurus ); 23 various bird species (Dolman & Joseph, 2012); 24 Anas gracilis/A. castanea-2 (Dhami et al, 2013); 25 Pezoporus (Murphy et al, 2011); 26 Acanthorhynchus 27 Malurus (McLean et al, 2012); 28 Calyptorhynchus (White et al, 2011);29 Melithreptus (Toon et al, 2010); 30 Lerista (L. viduata/L.…”

Section: (A) Ancient Cladesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biogeography and speciation of terrestrial fauna in the south‐western Australian biodiversity hotspot

et al. 2014

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The south-western land division of Western Australia (SWWA), bordering the temperate Southern and Indian Oceans, is the only global biodiversity hotspot recognised in Australia. Renowned for its extraordinary diversity of endemic plants, and for some of the largest and most botanically significant temperate heathlands and woodlands on Earth, SWWA has long fascinated biogeographers. Its flat, highly weathered topography and the apparent absence of major geographic factors usually implicated in biotic diversification have challenged attempts to explain patterns of biogeography and mechanisms of speciation in the region. Botanical studies have always been central to understanding the biodiversity values of SWWA, although surprisingly few quantitative botanical analyses have allowed for an understanding of historical biogeographic processes in both space and time. Faunistic studies, by contrast, have played little or no role in defining hotspot concepts, despite several decades of accumulating quantitative research on the phylogeny and phylogeography of multiple lineages. In this review we critically analyse datasets with explicit supporting phylogenetic data and estimates of the time since divergence for all available elements of the terrestrial fauna, and compare these datasets to those available for plants. In situ speciation has played more of a role in shaping the south-western Australian fauna than has long been supposed, and has occurred in numerous endemic lineages of freshwater fish, frogs, reptiles, snails and less-vagile arthropods. By contrast, relatively low levels of endemism are found in birds, mammals and highly dispersive insects, and in situ speciation has played a negligible role in generating local endemism in birds and mammals. Quantitative studies provide evidence for at least four mechanisms driving patterns of endemism in south-western Australian animals, including: (i) relictualism of ancient Gondwanan or Pangaean taxa in the High Rainfall Province; (ii) vicariant isolation of lineages west of the Nullarbor divide; (iii) in situ speciation; and (iv) recent population subdivision. From dated quantitative studies we derive four testable models of historical biogeography for animal taxa in SWWA, each explicit in providing a spatial, temporal and topological perspective on patterns of speciation or divergence. For each model we also propose candidate lineages that may be worthy of further study, given what we know of their taxonomy, distributions or relationships. These models formalise four of the strongest patterns seen in many animal taxa from SWWA, although other models are clearly required to explain particular, idiosyncratic patterns. Generating numerous new datasets for suites of co-occurring lineages in SWWA will help refine our understanding of the historical biogeography of the region, highlight gaps in our knowledge, and allow us to derive general postulates from quantitative (rather than qualitative) results. For animals, this process has now begun in earnest, as has the process of ta...

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“…Terrestrial vertebrates show a range of phylogeographic patterns in response to biogeographic barriers across southern Australia. Many species of birds and mammals—i.e., ground parrot (Murphy, Joseph, Burbidge, & Austin, ), whipbird (Burbidge et al., ), grass wrens (Austin, Joseph, Pedler, & Black, ), birds (Dolman & Joseph, ), thylacine (White, Saltre, et al, 2018), native mice (Cooper, Bertozzi, Baynes, & Teale, )—show strong east–west phylogenetic divergence, consistent with isolation in western and eastern refugia. Typically these patterns are consistent with two well‐characterized biogeographic barriers—the Nullarbor and Lake Eyre regions—at Plio‐Pleistocene timescales.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Ancient DNA tracks the mainland extinction and island survival of the Tasmanian devil

Brüniche‐Olsen

Jones

Burridge

et al. 2018

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), currently restricted to the island of Tasmania, was found over most of the Australian mainland prior to its extinction ~3,000 years ago. Recent debate has focused on the roles of humans, climate change and dingoes as drivers of the mainland extinction. Determining past genetic diversity and population dynamics of both populations is a fundamental component to understand why the species went extinct on mainland Australia, but survived in Tasmania. Here, we investigate the phylogeography and demographic history of the Tasmanian devil across southern Australia over the last ~30k years. Location Australia. Taxon Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii). Methods We used complete and partial mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genomes from 202 devils representing the extinct mainland (n = 17) and the extant Tasmanian (n = 185) populations to investigate the population dynamics of southern mainland and Tasmanian devils. The samples were sub‐fossil bones, historical museum specimens and modern tissue samples, dating from the present to 17k years before present. Using summary statistics, frequentist inference and Bayesian phylogenetic analysis we explored whether levels of genetic diversity were similar, and if the southern mainland experienced a gradual rather than an abrupt decline prior to its extinction. Results MtDNA genomes from mainland devils suggest that this population was larger and had more genetic diversity than the Tasmanian population. Directly dated samples indicates that the southern mainland population expanded after the last glacial maximum and remained stable until its extinction. The Tasmanian population has much lower diversity and descends from a single mtDNA lineage ~3,000 years ago. The recent origin for all Tasmanian mtDNA diversity is concordant with a previously documented late‐Holocene population bottleneck and is broadly contemporaneous with the extinction of the southern mainland population. Main conclusions This pattern shows striking similarity to the demographic history of thylacines, suggesting that a shared factor initiated population declines in both species on the southern mainland and in Tasmania. El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO)‐related climate change is the only factor common to both mainland Australia and Tasmania. Additional, direct or indirect, pressures from humans and/or dingoes on the mainland may have ultimately resulted in their extinction.

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Uncovering cryptic evolutionary diversity in extant and extinct populations of the southern Australian arid zone Western and Thick-billed Grasswrens (Passeriformes: Maluridae: Amytornis)

Cited by 31 publications

References 38 publications

Ancient mitochondrial genomes reveal the demographic history and phylogeography of the extinct, enigmatic thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus)

Ancient mitochondrial genomes reveal the demographic history and phylogeography of the extinct, enigmatic thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus)

Biogeography and speciation of terrestrial fauna in the south‐western Australian biodiversity hotspot

Ancient DNA tracks the mainland extinction and island survival of the Tasmanian devil

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