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(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

Phylogenomics, Biogeography, and Morphometrics Reveal Rapid Phenotypic Evolution in Pythons After Crossing Wallace's Line

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Author(s):
Esquerre, Damien [1] ; Donnellan, Stephen [2, 3] ; Brennan, Ian G. [1] ; Lemmon, Alan R. [4] ; Lemmon, Emily Moriarty [5] ; Zaher, Hussam [6, 7] ; Grazziotin, Felipe G. [8] ; Keogh, J. Scott [1]
Total Authors: 8
Affiliation:
[1] Australian Natl Univ, Res Sch Biol, Div Ecol & Evolut, Canberra, ACT 0200 - Australia
[2] Univ Adelaide, Sch Biol Sci, Adelaide, SA 5005 - Australia
[3] South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5000 - Australia
[4] Florida State Univ, Dept Sci Comp, 400 Dirac Sci Lib, Tallahassee, FL 32306 - USA
[5] Florida State Univ, Dept Biol Sci, 319 Stadium Dr, POB 3064295, Tallahassee, FL 32306 - USA
[6] Univ Sao Paulo, Museu Zool, Ave Nazare 481, BR-04263000 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil
[7] Sorbonne Univ, CNRS, MNHN, CR2P Ctr Rech Paleontol, 8 Rue Buffon, CP 38, F-75005 Paris - France
[8] Inst Butantan, Lab Colecoes Zool, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil
Total Affiliations: 8
Document type: Journal article
Source: Systematic Biology; v. 69, n. 6, p. 1039-1051, NOV 2020.
Web of Science Citations: 2
Abstract

Ecological opportunities can be provided to organisms that cross stringent biogeographic barriers towards environments with new ecological niches. Wallace's and Lyddeker's lines are arguably the most famous biogeographic barriers, separating the Asian and Australo-Papuan biotas. One of the most ecomorphologically diverse groups of reptiles, the pythons, is distributed across these lines, and are remarkably more diverse in phenotype and ecology east of Lydekker's line in Australo-Papua. We used an anchored hybrid enrichment approach, with near complete taxon sampling, to extract mitochondrial genomes and 376 nuclear loci to resolve and date their phylogenetic history. Biogeographic reconstruction demonstrates that they originated in Asia around 38-45 Ma and then invaded Australo-Papua around 23 Ma. Australo-Papuan pythons display a sizeable expansion in morphological space, with shifts towards numerous new adaptive optima in head and body shape, coupled with the evolution of new micro-habitat preferences. We provide an updated taxonomy of pythons and our study also demonstrates how ecological opportunity following colonization of novel environments can promote morphological diversification in a formerly ecomorphologically conservative group. (AU)

FAPESP's process: 11/50206-9 - Origin and evolution of snakes and their diversification in the Neotropics: a multidisciplinary approach
Grantee:Hussam El Dine Zaher
Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants