Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
Current Address: Department of Biological Sciences, New York City College of Technology, City University of New York, Brooklyn, New York, 11201.
Evolution. 2022 Mar;76(3):476-495. doi: 10.1111/evo.14403. Epub 2021 Dec 9.
How biotic and abiotic factors act together to shape biological diversity is a major question in evolutionary biology. The recent availability of large datasets and development of new methodological approaches provide new tools to evaluate the predicted effects of ecological interactions and geography on lineage diversification and phenotypic evolution. Here, we use a near complete phylogenomic-scale phylogeny and a comprehensive morphological dataset comprising more than a thousand specimens to assess the role of biotic and abiotic processes in the diversification of monitor lizards (Varanidae). This charismatic group of lizards shows striking variation in species richness among its clades and multiple instances of endemic radiation in Indo-Australasia (i.e., the Indo-Australian Archipelago and Australia), one of Earth's most biogeographically complex regions. We found heterogeneity in diversification dynamics across the family. Idiosyncratic biotic and geographic conditions appear to have driven diversification and morphological evolution in three endemic Indo-Australasian radiations. Furthermore, incumbency effects partially explain patterns in the biotic exchange between Australia and New Guinea. Our results offer insight into the dynamic history of Indo-Australasia, the evolutionary significance of competition, and the long-term consequences of incumbency effects.
生物和非生物因素如何共同作用塑造生物多样性是进化生物学中的一个主要问题。最近可获得的大型数据集和新的方法学方法的发展为评估生态相互作用和地理对谱系多样化和表型进化的预测影响提供了新的工具。在这里，我们使用近完整的系统发育尺度系统发育和一个包含一千多个标本的综合形态数据集来评估生物和非生物过程在巨蜥科（Varanidae）多样化中的作用。这种具有魅力的蜥蜴类群在其进化枝中表现出物种丰富度的显著差异，并且在印度-澳大利亚（即印度-澳大利亚群岛和澳大利亚）发生了多次特有辐射，这是地球上生物地理最复杂的地区之一。我们发现，家族内部的多样化动态存在异质性。特殊的生物和地理条件似乎驱动了三个特有印度-澳大利亚辐射的多样化和形态进化。此外，在位效应部分解释了澳大利亚和新几内亚之间生物交换的模式。我们的研究结果为印度-澳大利亚的动态历史、竞争的进化意义以及在位效应的长期后果提供了深入的见解。
