Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
Department of Genetics, Faculty of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian Universität München, Germany.
Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2024 Jan;190:107954. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2023.107954. Epub 2023 Oct 28.
Species are seen as the fundamental unit of biotic diversity, and thus their delimitation is crucial for defining measures for diversity assessments and studying evolution. Differences between species have traditionally been associated with variation in morphology. And yet, the discovery of cryptic diversity suggests that the evolution of distinct lineages does not necessarily involve morphological differences. Here, we analyze 1,684,987 variant sites and over 4,000 genes for more than 400 samples to show how a tropical montane plant lineage (Geonoma undata species complex) is composed of numerous unrecognized genetic groups that are not morphologically distinct. We find that 11 to 14 clades do not correspond to the three currently recognized species. Most clades are genetically different and geographic distance and topography are the most important factors determining this genetic divergence. The genetic structure of this lineage does not match its morphological variation. Instead, this species complex constitutes the first example of a hyper-cryptic plant radiation in tropical mountains.
物种被视为生物多样性的基本单位，因此它们的划分对于确定多样性评估措施和研究进化至关重要。传统上，物种之间的差异与形态变异有关。然而，隐种多样性的发现表明，不同谱系的进化不一定涉及形态差异。在这里，我们分析了超过 400 个样本的 1,684,987 个变异位点和 4000 多个基因，以展示热带山地植物谱系（Geonoma undata 物种复合体）是如何由许多未被识别的遗传群体组成的，这些群体在形态上没有明显的区别。我们发现，11 到 14 个分支与目前公认的三个物种不对应。大多数分支在遗传上是不同的，地理距离和地形是决定这种遗传分化的最重要因素。该谱系的遗传结构与形态变异不匹配。相反，这个物种复合体构成了热带山脉中超隐种植物辐射的第一个例子。
