Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics Group, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Av. Américo Vespucio 26, 41092, Sevilla, España.
Institut für Zoologie, Stiftung Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover, Bünteweg 17, 30559, Hannover, Germany.
Ecol Lett. 2019 May;22(5):884-893. doi: 10.1111/ele.13246. Epub 2019 Mar 13.
Replicate radiations, the repeated multiplication of species associated with ecological divergence, have attracted much attention and generated as much debate. Due to the few well-studied cases, it remains unclear whether replicate radiations are an exceptional result of evolution or a relatively common example of the power of adaptation by natural selection. We examined the case of Eleutherodactylus frogs, which radiated in the Caribbean islands resulting in more than 160 species that occupy very diverse habitats. A time-calibrated phylogeny revealed that these frogs independently diversified on all larger islands producing species that occupy a broad range of microhabitats in different islands. Using phylogenetic comparative methods, we found an association between morphological traits and particular microhabitats, and for most microhabitats detected significant morphological convergence. Our results indicate Caribbean Eleutherodactylus are a novel example of replicate radiations, and highlight the predictability of evolutionary processes, as similar ecological opportunities can lead to similar outcomes.
复发性辐射，即与生态分歧相关的物种的重复繁殖，引起了广泛关注并引发了大量争议。由于研究案例较少，因此尚不清楚复发性辐射是进化的特殊结果，还是自然选择适应力的相对常见范例。我们研究了加勒比海岛屿上的 Eleutherodactylus 青蛙的案例，这些青蛙在那里辐射产生了 160 多种物种，它们占据了非常多样化的栖息地。一个时间校准的系统发育树揭示了这些青蛙在所有较大的岛屿上独立多样化，产生了在不同岛屿上占据广泛微生境的物种。使用系统发育比较方法，我们发现形态特征与特定小生境之间存在关联，并且对于大多数检测到的小生境，形态上存在明显的趋同。我们的研究结果表明，加勒比海 Eleutherodactylus 是复发性辐射的一个新范例，突出了进化过程的可预测性，因为类似的生态机会可能会导致类似的结果。
