EvolutionPub Date : 2025-02-03DOI: 10.1093/evolut/qpae161
Stephen R Proulx, Taom Sakal, Zach L Reitz, Kelly M Thomasson
{"title":"Selection on sporulation strategies in a metapopulation can lead to coexistence.","authors":"Stephen R Proulx, Taom Sakal, Zach L Reitz, Kelly M Thomasson","doi":"10.1093/evolut/qpae161","DOIUrl":"10.1093/evolut/qpae161","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In constant environments, the coexistence of similar species or genotypes is generally limited. In a metapopulation context, however, types that utilize the same resource but are distributed along a competition-colonization trade-off can coexist. Prior work used a generic trade-off between within-deme competitive ability and between-deme dispersal ability. We show that sporulation in yeasts and other microbes can create a natural trade-off such that strains that initiate sporulation at higher rates suffer in terms of within-deme competition but benefit in terms of between deme dispersal. Using chemostat dynamics within patches, we first show that the rate of sporulation determines the colonization ability of the strain, with colonization ability increasing with sporulation rate up to a point. Metapopulation stability of a single strain exists in a defined range of sporulation rates. We pairwise invasability plots to show that coexistence of strains with different sporulation rates generally occurs, but that the set of sporulation rates that can potentially coexist is smaller than the set that allows for stable metapopulations. We also show how a continuous set of strains can coexist and verify our conclusions with numerical calculations and stochastic simulations. Stable variation in sporulation rates is expected under a wide range of ecological conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":12082,"journal":{"name":"Evolution","volume":" ","pages":"249-260"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142686582","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EvolutionPub Date : 2025-02-03DOI: 10.1093/evolut/qpae164
Stephen J Gaughran, Rachel Gray, Alexander Ochoa, Menna Jones, Nicole Fusco, Joshua M Miller, Nikos Poulakakis, Kevin de Queiroz, Adalgisa Caccone, Evelyn L Jensen
{"title":"Whole-genome sequencing confirms multiple species of Galapagos giant tortoises.","authors":"Stephen J Gaughran, Rachel Gray, Alexander Ochoa, Menna Jones, Nicole Fusco, Joshua M Miller, Nikos Poulakakis, Kevin de Queiroz, Adalgisa Caccone, Evelyn L Jensen","doi":"10.1093/evolut/qpae164","DOIUrl":"10.1093/evolut/qpae164","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Galapagos giant tortoises are endemic to the Galapagos Archipelago, where they are found in isolated populations. While these populations are widely considered distinguishable in morphology, behavior, and genetics, the recent divergence of these taxa has made their status as species controversial. Here, we apply multispecies coalescent methods for species delimitation to whole-genome resequencing data from 38 tortoises across all 13 extant taxa to assess support for delimiting these taxa as species. In contrast to previous studies based solely on divergence time, we find strong evidence to reject the hypothesis that all Galapagos giant tortoises belong to a single species. Instead, a conservative interpretation of model-based and divergence-based results indicates that these taxa form a species complex consisting of a minimum of 9 species, with most analyses supporting 13 species. There is mixed support for the species status of taxa living on the same island, with some methods suggesting multiple populations of a single species per island. These results make clear that Galapagos giant tortoise taxa represent different stages in the process of speciation, with some taxa further along in that evolutionary process than others. Our study provides insight into the complex process of speciation on islands, which is urgently needed given the threatened status of island species around the world.</p>","PeriodicalId":12082,"journal":{"name":"Evolution","volume":" ","pages":"296-308"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142644249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EvolutionPub Date : 2025-02-03DOI: 10.1093/evolut/qpae176
Jente Ottenburghs
{"title":"Digest: Stabilizing selection drives sperm length divergence in promiscuous passerines.","authors":"Jente Ottenburghs","doi":"10.1093/evolut/qpae176","DOIUrl":"10.1093/evolut/qpae176","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Divergence in gametic traits can play a key role in reproductive isolation. Lifjeld et al. (2025) examined the evolution of sperm length in pairs of songbird populations at various stages along the speciation continuum. Their analyses demonstrated that sperm length diverges more rapidly in species with higher levels of female promiscuity, likely due to stabilizing selection favoring sperm cells that fit within female sperm storage structures. This divergence in sperm length may kickstart speciation in promiscuous songbirds.</p>","PeriodicalId":12082,"journal":{"name":"Evolution","volume":" ","pages":"324-325"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142806264","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EvolutionPub Date : 2025-02-03DOI: 10.1093/evolut/qpae167
Folmer Bokma, Masahito Tsuboi, Nils Chr Stenseth
{"title":"Brain-body coevolution in incipient versus established primate species-evaluating Simpson's \"most important distinction\".","authors":"Folmer Bokma, Masahito Tsuboi, Nils Chr Stenseth","doi":"10.1093/evolut/qpae167","DOIUrl":"10.1093/evolut/qpae167","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Are differences between species the long-term consequence of microevolution within species, or does speciation involve fundamentally different processes? We analyzed the brain and body sizes of present-day primate species using a novel phylogenetic comparative method that decomposes the phenotypic covariance of these traits into speciational and anagenetic components. We estimated that approximately half of speciation events are accompanied by accelerated phenotypic change. Equivalent in magnitude to approximately 7 million years of gradual microevolution, such speciational changes in brain and body size account for about 58% of the phenotypic variation among extant species. Interestingly, speciational changes in brain and body size appear significantly less correlated (r ≈ 0.83) than gradual, microevolutionary changes in these same traits (r ≈ 0.97). This indicates that the strong allometric constraint that dictates microevolution in brain and body sizes is relaxed at speciation events. These results suggest that phenotypic evolution is not only accelerated during speciation but also involves events that seldomly occur at microevolutionary timescales.</p>","PeriodicalId":12082,"journal":{"name":"Evolution","volume":" ","pages":"319-323"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142667129","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EvolutionPub Date : 2025-02-03DOI: 10.1093/evolut/qpaf020
Evan T Saitta, Lilja Carden, Jonathan S Mitchell, Peter J Makovicky
{"title":"Feather Evolution Following Flight Loss In Crown Group Birds: Relaxed Selection And Developmental Constraints.","authors":"Evan T Saitta, Lilja Carden, Jonathan S Mitchell, Peter J Makovicky","doi":"10.1093/evolut/qpaf020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/evolut/qpaf020","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Feathers are complex structures exhibiting structural/functional disparity across species and plumage. Flight was lost in >30 extant lineages from ~79.58 Ma-15 Ka. Effects of flight loss on senses, neuroanatomy, and skeletomusculature are known. To study how flightlessness affects feathers, we measured 11 feather metrics across the plumage of 30 flightless taxa and their phylogenetically closest volant taxa, with broader sampling of primaries across all orders of crown birds. Our sample includes 27 independent flight losses, representing nearly half of extant flightless species. Feather asymmetry measured by barb angle differences between trailing and leading vanes decreases in flightless lineages, most prominently in flight feathers and weakest in contour feathers. Greatest changes in feather anatomy occur in older flightless lineages (penguins, ratites). Comparative methods show some microscopic feather traits are not dramatically modified after flightlessness compared to body mass increase and relative wing and tail fan reduction, but changes toward greater symmetry are stronger. Relaxing selection for flight does not rapidly modify feather flight adaptations, apart from asymmetry. Feathers of recently flightless lineages resemble their volant relatives. Developmental constraints and relaxed selection for novel feather morphologies may explain some observed changes. Macroscopic changes to flight apparati (skeletomusculature, airfoil size) are more evident in recently flightless taxa and could more reliably detect flightlessness in fossils, with increased feather symmetry as a potential microscopic signal. We observed apical modification in later stages of feather development (asymmetric displacement of barb loci), while morphologies arising during early developmental stages are only altered after millions of years of flightlessness.</p>","PeriodicalId":12082,"journal":{"name":"Evolution","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143079083","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EvolutionPub Date : 2025-02-03DOI: 10.1093/evolut/qpae173
{"title":"Correction to: Allometric scaling of somatic mutation and epimutation rates in trees.","authors":"","doi":"10.1093/evolut/qpae173","DOIUrl":"10.1093/evolut/qpae173","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12082,"journal":{"name":"Evolution","volume":" ","pages":"328"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142817581","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EvolutionPub Date : 2025-02-03DOI: 10.1093/evolut/qpae165
Darien R Satterfield, Bernice Yin, Sky Jung, Samantha Hodges-Lisk, Dylan K Wainwright, Michael D Burns, Peter C Wainwright
{"title":"Weak integration allows novel fin shapes and spurs locomotor diversity in reef fishes.","authors":"Darien R Satterfield, Bernice Yin, Sky Jung, Samantha Hodges-Lisk, Dylan K Wainwright, Michael D Burns, Peter C Wainwright","doi":"10.1093/evolut/qpae165","DOIUrl":"10.1093/evolut/qpae165","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In functional systems composed of many traits, selection for specialized function can induce trait evolution by acting directly on individual components within the system, or indirectly through networks of trait integration. However, strong integration can also hinder diversification into regions of trait space that are not aligned with axes of covariation among traits. Thus, non-independence among traits may limit functional expansion. We explore this dynamic in the evolution of fin shapes in 106 species from 38 families of coral reef fishes, a polyphyletic assemblage that shows exceptional diversity in locomotor function. Despite expectations of a strong match between form and function, we find subtantial fin shape disparity across species that share a swimming mode. The evolution of fin shape is weakly integrated across the four functionally dominant fins in swimming and integration is weakened as derived swimming modes evolve. The weak integration among fins in the ancestral locomotor condition provides a primary axis of diversification while allowing for off-axis diversification via independent trait responses to selection. However, the evolution of novel locomotor modes coincides with a loss of integration among fins. Our study highlights the need for additional work on the functional consequences of fin shape in fishes.</p>","PeriodicalId":12082,"journal":{"name":"Evolution","volume":" ","pages":"261-279"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142667148","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EvolutionPub Date : 2025-02-03DOI: 10.1093/evolut/qpae159
Jacob S Suissa, Makaleh Smith
{"title":"The evolution of reproductive leaf dimorphism in two globally distributed fern families is neither stepwise nor irreversible, unless further specialization evolves.","authors":"Jacob S Suissa, Makaleh Smith","doi":"10.1093/evolut/qpae159","DOIUrl":"10.1093/evolut/qpae159","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A contemporary interpretation of Dollo's Law states that the evolution of a specialized structure is irreversible. Among land plants, reproductive specialization shows a trend toward increasing complexity without reversion, raising questions about evolutionary steps and the irreversibility of reproductive complexity. Ferns exhibit varied reproductive strategies; some are dimorphic (producing separate leaves for photosynthesis and reproduction), while others are monomorphic (where one leaf is used for both photosynthesis and spore dispersal). This diversity provides an opportunity to examine the applicability of Dollo's Law in the evolution of reproductive leaf specialization. We analyzed 118 species in Blechnaceae and Onocleaceae, applying quantitative morphometrics and phylogenetic comparative methods to test the pillars of a modernized interpretation of Dollo's Law. The evolution of dimorphism in Blechnaceae is neither stepwise nor irreversible, with direct transitions from monomorphism to dimorphism, including several reversions. In contrast, Onocleaceae exhibits an irreversibility to monomorphism only upon further specialization of fertile leaves for humidity-driven spore dispersal; this suggests that additional specialization, not dimorphism alone, may facilitate irreversibility. These results provide insight into the canalization of fertile-sterile leaf dimorphism in seed plants, where the addition of traits like heterospory and integuments lead to further specialization and potential irreversibility. These findings suggest that as new specialized traits evolve alongside preexisting ones, reversion may become increasingly unlikely.</p>","PeriodicalId":12082,"journal":{"name":"Evolution","volume":" ","pages":"164-175"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142564173","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EvolutionPub Date : 2025-01-30DOI: 10.1093/evolut/qpaf018
Gokul Valiya Parambil, Kavita Isvaran
{"title":"Costly traits in a dynamic world: trait responses to fine-scale varying environment differ according to selection pressures in a tropical lizard.","authors":"Gokul Valiya Parambil, Kavita Isvaran","doi":"10.1093/evolut/qpaf018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/evolut/qpaf018","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Under current climate change patterns, rapidly changing environments can impose strong selection on traits. Costly traits that require heavy investment and strongly affect fitness may be particularly vulnerable to such changes. Despite organisms experiencing dynamic environments, our knowledge of costly trait response is limited as longitudinal studies across generations are rare. Using a long-term 11-generation dataset, we examined how fine-scale spatial and temporal variation in ecological and demographic conditions modify costly traits, specifically positive allometry in morphological traits under different selection pressures, in Psammophilus dorsalis, a short-lived socially polygynous lizard. We comprehensively measured males and females across non-overlapping generations and space and quantified fine-scale variation in key ecological and demographic parameters. Positive allometry in male head width (under sexual selection) varied dramatically over generations and space. Limited rainfall, harsh temperatures, and greater competition promoted positive allometry in male head width. In stark contrast, positive allometry in female interlimb length (under fecundity selection) only weakly correlated with environmental conditions. We demonstrate that costly traits are sensitive to changing environments depending on the underlying selection pressure, with sexually selected traits showing larger effects in tropical lizards. Future climatic predictions, indicating accelerated warming and altered rainfall, can strongly impact phenotypes in tropical lizards.</p>","PeriodicalId":12082,"journal":{"name":"Evolution","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143064835","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
EvolutionPub Date : 2025-01-28DOI: 10.1093/evolut/qpaf016
Jenna M Hulke, Charles D Criscione
{"title":"Comparing the hermaphroditic mating system of a parasitic flatworm between populations with an ancestral, 3-host life cycle and a derived, facultative-precocious life cycle.","authors":"Jenna M Hulke, Charles D Criscione","doi":"10.1093/evolut/qpaf016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/evolut/qpaf016","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Evolutionary changes in development and/or host number of parasite life cycles can have subsequent ecological and evolutionary consequences for parasites. One theoretical model based on the mating systems of hermaphroditic parasites assumes a life cycle with fewer hosts will result in more inbreeding, and predicts a truncated life cycle most likely evolves in the absence of inbreeding depression. Many populations of the hermaphroditic trematode Alloglossidium progeneticum maintain an ancestral obligate 3-host life cycle where obligate sexual reproduction occurs among adults in catfish third hosts. However, some populations have evolved a facultative precocious life cycle, where sexual development can occur while encysted within crayfish second hosts, likely leading to high inbreeding as individuals are forced to self-mate while encysted. Whether selfing represents a derived state remains untested. We compared selfing rates of 5 precocious populations to that of 4 populations with an ancestral obligate 3-host life cycle. We also compared demographic estimates to genetic estimates of selfing to test the prediction of no inbreeding depression in precocious populations. Results showed that while the ancestral obligate 3-host life cycle is associated with high outcrossing rates, the facultative precocious populations are highly selfing and show little evidence for inbreeding depression.</p>","PeriodicalId":12082,"journal":{"name":"Evolution","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143052005","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}