Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic; Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic; Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden; The Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, Göteborg, Sweden.
Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York City, NY, USA.
Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2018 Jun;123:16-25. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.02.007. Epub 2018 Feb 13.
The Malay Archipelago and the tropical South Pacific (hereafter the Indo-Pacific region) are considered biodiversity hotspots, yet a general understanding of the origins and diversification of species-rich groups in the region remains elusive. We aimed to test hypotheses for the evolutionary processes driving insect species diversity in the Indo-Pacific using a higher-level and comprehensive phylogenetic hypothesis for an ant clade consisting of seven genera. We estimated divergence times and reconstructed the biogeographical history of ant species in the Prenolepis genus-group (Formicidae: Formicinae: Lasiini). We used a fossil-calibrated phylogeny to infer ancestral geographical ranges utilizing a biogeographic model that includes founder-event speciation. Ancestral state reconstructions of the ants' ecological preferences, and diversification rates were estimated for selected Indo-Pacific clades. Overall, we report that faunal interchange between Asia and Australia has occurred since at least 20-25 Ma, and early dispersal to the Fijian Basin happened during the early and mid-Miocene (ca. 10-20 Ma). Differences in diversification rates across Indo-Pacific clades may be related to ecological preference breadth, which in turn may have facilitated geographical range expansions. Ancient dispersal routes suggested by our results agree with the palaeogeography of the region. For this particular group of ants, the rapid orogenesis in New Guinea and possibly subsequent ecological shifts may have promoted their rapid diversification and widespread distribution across the Indo-Pacific.
马来群岛和热带南太平洋（以下简称印太地区）被认为是生物多样性热点地区，但对于该地区物种丰富类群的起源和多样化仍缺乏普遍的了解。我们旨在利用包含 7 个属的一个蚂蚁类群的更高层次和更全面的系统发育假设，测试驱动印太地区昆虫物种多样性的进化过程的假设。我们估计了分歧时间，并重建了 Prenolepis 属组（膜翅目：蚁科：蚁亚科：Lasiini）蚂蚁物种的生物地理历史。我们使用化石校准的系统发育来推断祖先的地理范围，利用包括创始事件物种形成的生物地理模型。我们对选定的印太类群的蚂蚁生态偏好和多样化速率进行了祖先状态重建。总的来说，我们报告说，亚洲和澳大利亚之间的动物群交流至少发生在 20-25 Ma 之前，并且在早中新世（约 10-20 Ma）期间早期向斐济盆地的扩散发生了。印太类群之间多样化速率的差异可能与生态偏好广度有关，而这反过来又可能促进了地理范围的扩大。我们的研究结果表明的古老扩散路线与该地区的古地理相符。对于这组特定的蚂蚁来说，新几内亚的快速造山运动以及可能随后的生态变化可能促进了它们在印太地区的快速多样化和广泛分布。
