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Molecular phylogeny, classification, biogeography and diversification patterns of a diverse group of moths (Geometridae : Boarmiini)

Murillo-Ramos, Leidys LU orcid ; Chazot, Nicolas LU ; Sihvonen, Pasi ; Õunap, Erki ; Jiang, Nan ; Han, Hongxiang ; Clarke, John T. ; Davis, Robert B. ; Tammaru, Toomas and Wahlberg, Niklas LU (2021) In Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 162.
Abstract

Understanding how and why some groups have become more species-rich than others, and how past biogeography may have shaped their current distribution, are questions that evolutionary biologists have long attempted to answer. We investigated diversification patterns and historical biogeography of a hyperdiverse lineage of Lepidoptera, the geometrid moths, by studying its most species-rich tribe Boarmiini, which comprises ca. 200 genera and ca. known 3000 species. We inferred the evolutionary relationships of Boarmiini based on a dataset of 346 taxa, with up to eight genetic markers under a maximum likelihood approach. The monophyly of Boarmiini is strongly supported. However, the phylogenetic position of many taxa does not agree with... (More)

Understanding how and why some groups have become more species-rich than others, and how past biogeography may have shaped their current distribution, are questions that evolutionary biologists have long attempted to answer. We investigated diversification patterns and historical biogeography of a hyperdiverse lineage of Lepidoptera, the geometrid moths, by studying its most species-rich tribe Boarmiini, which comprises ca. 200 genera and ca. known 3000 species. We inferred the evolutionary relationships of Boarmiini based on a dataset of 346 taxa, with up to eight genetic markers under a maximum likelihood approach. The monophyly of Boarmiini is strongly supported. However, the phylogenetic position of many taxa does not agree with current taxonomy, although the monophyly of most major genera within the tribe is supported after minor adjustments. Three genera are synonymized, one new combination is proposed, and four species are placed in incertae sedis within Boarmiini. Our results support the idea of a rapid initial diversification of Boarmiini, which also implies that no major taxonomic subdivisions of the group can currently be proposed. A time-calibrated tree and biogeographical analyses suggest that boarmiines appeared in Laurasia ca. 52 Mya, followed by dispersal events throughout the Australasian, African and Neotropical regions. Most of the transcontinental dispersal events occurred in the Eocene, a period of intense geological activity and rapid climate change. Diversification analyses showed a relatively constant diversification rate for all Boarmiini, except in one clade containing the species-rich genus Cleora. The present work represents a substantial contribution towards understanding the evolutionary origin of Boarmiini moths. Our results, inevitably biased by taxon sampling, highlight the difficulties with working on species-rich groups that have not received much attention outside of Europe. Specifically, poor knowledge of the natural history of geometrids (particularly in tropical clades) limits our ability to identify key innovations underlying the diversification of boarmiines.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
BAMM, BioGeoBEARS, Biston, boarmiines, Cleora, female flightlessness, Lepidoptera, polyphagyPolyphagy
in
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
volume
162
article number
107198
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • pmid:33989807
  • scopus:85107016938
ISSN
1055-7903
DOI
10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107198
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
98d7deb5-57ad-4866-bdd1-569c183fef1b
date added to LUP
2021-12-27 14:59:56
date last changed
2024-04-20 19:27:36
@article{98d7deb5-57ad-4866-bdd1-569c183fef1b,
  abstract     = {{<p>Understanding how and why some groups have become more species-rich than others, and how past biogeography may have shaped their current distribution, are questions that evolutionary biologists have long attempted to answer. We investigated diversification patterns and historical biogeography of a hyperdiverse lineage of Lepidoptera, the geometrid moths, by studying its most species-rich tribe Boarmiini, which comprises ca. 200 genera and ca. known 3000 species. We inferred the evolutionary relationships of Boarmiini based on a dataset of 346 taxa, with up to eight genetic markers under a maximum likelihood approach. The monophyly of Boarmiini is strongly supported. However, the phylogenetic position of many taxa does not agree with current taxonomy, although the monophyly of most major genera within the tribe is supported after minor adjustments. Three genera are synonymized, one new combination is proposed, and four species are placed in incertae sedis within Boarmiini. Our results support the idea of a rapid initial diversification of Boarmiini, which also implies that no major taxonomic subdivisions of the group can currently be proposed. A time-calibrated tree and biogeographical analyses suggest that boarmiines appeared in Laurasia ca. 52 Mya, followed by dispersal events throughout the Australasian, African and Neotropical regions. Most of the transcontinental dispersal events occurred in the Eocene, a period of intense geological activity and rapid climate change. Diversification analyses showed a relatively constant diversification rate for all Boarmiini, except in one clade containing the species-rich genus Cleora. The present work represents a substantial contribution towards understanding the evolutionary origin of Boarmiini moths. Our results, inevitably biased by taxon sampling, highlight the difficulties with working on species-rich groups that have not received much attention outside of Europe. Specifically, poor knowledge of the natural history of geometrids (particularly in tropical clades) limits our ability to identify key innovations underlying the diversification of boarmiines.</p>}},
  author       = {{Murillo-Ramos, Leidys and Chazot, Nicolas and Sihvonen, Pasi and Õunap, Erki and Jiang, Nan and Han, Hongxiang and Clarke, John T. and Davis, Robert B. and Tammaru, Toomas and Wahlberg, Niklas}},
  issn         = {{1055-7903}},
  keywords     = {{BAMM; BioGeoBEARS; Biston; boarmiines; Cleora; female flightlessness; Lepidoptera; polyphagyPolyphagy}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution}},
  title        = {{Molecular phylogeny, classification, biogeography and diversification patterns of a diverse group of moths (Geometridae : Boarmiini)}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107198}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107198}},
  volume       = {{162}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}